vanHealys 'R Us

Costa Rica hightlights (so far!)

2008-04-29T13:07:00.000-07:00

so far:

the Pura Vida hotel in Alajuela - just north of san jose and beautiful!
the breakfast at PV. . .yum!!
leaves and lizards (name of our hotel) near Arenal. like being in a tree house
going on a night hike up to the arenal volcano - and seeing lava. cool!
going horse back riding to a water fall
monica getting bucked off the horse - and getting back on! (okay, maybe not a highlight, but memorable!)
the waterfall. . . ahhhhhh
zip lining. awesome!
finding the free hot springs under the highway.
doggy - the house dog at l + l
driving to manuel antonio. beautiful
the beach here. unforgettable.

gotta go back to the beach now.

cheers, m + k

Ahhhh.....Puerto Viejo

2008-04-23T15:21:00.000-07:00

That about sums up Puerto Viejo, Costa Rica. It´s all about relaxing on the beach, drinking $1.80 beers and surfing (if you are into that sort of thing. . .) Since we got to CR 3 days earlier, we decided to head to the east coast and check out this town. It took us about 3.5 hours to get there, including about an hour on a super bumpy road into town, but it was well worth it. it´s the most relaxed beach town we´ve ever seen. it felt like jamaica (although neither of us have been to jamaica, but who cares!) we were sad to leave it today, even if we did get nice sunburns as souvenirs.

today, we are in san jose, waiting to pick up olivia and eithne who arrive at 9 pm. kieran is getting a hair cut now (will he look like ricky martin?!) and i am online for just 500 soles an hour! sounds expensive, right? not! the exchange rate is like 500 to $1. I took out 10,000 colones bills. it´s only a $20, but boy does that make you feel rich!

cheers, monica + kieran

Mucho Humo

2008-04-19T07:27:00.001-07:00

Today is our last day in BA. There are some major grass fires about 60 miles north of Buenos Aires that are producing major smoke. It was suppossed tob e 80 degrees and clear today, and the city is just covered in smoke. We were actually going to head north for a few days (to Rosario), but that is exactly where the fires our. our luck, right? we had actually decided against rosario before we knew about the smoke. just call us psychic!

the smoke looks like fog, but only dirtier. We were going to rent bikes and cycle through the city, yet the smoke is just too heavy. We are off to costa rica tomorrow morning - we have a 6:30 am flight - and we can´t wait!! sun, beaches, fresh fruit. . .yum

see you later buenos aires! or as the locals woulds say - ciao!

punta del este

2008-04-16T07:58:00.000-07:00

we hung out in buenos aires until monday morning. we caught a football (aka soccer) match on sunday between 2 local teams, Racing + Arsenal (not the british arsenal). It was cool. the stadium shook a few times when the home team, Racing, scored. i really want to start my own crazy fan section for the SF Giants when I get home. It will be at the top of my to do list, for sure!

on monday, we took a 3 hour ferry to uruguay, then picked up our rental car in montevideo to head to punta del este. punta del este is considered the french riviera of south america. the problem, though, is that we decided to come in the start of their winter and on weekdays. the place is like a ghost town! the beaches are incredible though - and we did get in the water. even if it was cold to the locals, it was hot compared to sf and ocean beach! it's just eerie around here. it reminds us of Maui, but without anyone around. spoooookkkky. . . .

the saving grace of this trip is our cool hotel, L'Auberge. It's a 5 star hotel that we would not be able to afford had this been the high season. our room was on the top floor of their tower. i felt even more like a princess! also, we ordered room service (sooooo nice!) and the food was delicious!! we are getting tired of all of the meat and cheese that argentine people love around here, so it was nice to get some fresh veggies.

Today, we are heading back to buenos aires. being in a beach town makes us really want to be in the sun. we are thinking of heading to costa rica a few days earlier to get started on our sun bathing. the weather in BA is suppossed to be in the 70's, yet it is in the 80's in CR. . . ahhhhh. ..

cheers, m + k

Buenos Aires

2008-04-12T09:33:00.000-07:00

We arrived into BA on Wednesday morning (around 4 am). we stayed at a hostel for just that morning - but then decided to find something nicer. spoiled, yes! we found a great hotel in San Telmo - the Don Telmo. San Telmo is one of the oldest BA neighborhoods. it reminds me a lot of the lower east side in NYC. Cool, trendy, yet sorta sketchy. I love it!

We met up with our inca trail friends, Jaime, Geoff & Jen the first night here to see a tango show. super cool. then, we went out until like 4 in the morning. This city is a SUPER LATE city. many restuarants don´t open until 8 pm for dinner and 10-11pm is the normal time to eat. last night, we ate at 11 and it was crowded! we have had our share of argentine beef. good, for sure, but i´m kinda done with beef right now!

yesterday, the olympic torch came through BA. we parked ourselves near the obelisk (a big monument in BA) and saw it come through. well, wait until you see the video i took. it was like being in a melee. i totally got manhandled by argentine police. but it´s all good. no big protests like in sf, london, paris.

today, we are going to mosey around again. BA is the city of walking, eating (late) and drinking. we love it! on monday, we go to uruguay for a few days.

cheers, monica + kieran

Inca Trail

2008-04-07T09:30:00.000-07:00

There is so much to say about our 4 day journey on the Inca Trail to Machu Picchu. The first and foremost thing to say is - WE LOVED IT!!! It was incredibly challenging and rewarding. Far better than any marathon or cycle century I have done. We really lucked out with our group and tour guide though. In the end, no one wanted to leave.

Here is just a brief bit about the journey:

day one - 15 km
we were picked up at our hotel at 4:20 am, then took a 2.5 hour bus ride to km 82 of the trail. the whole trail from cusco to machu picchu is about 123 km. our portion was 41 km (about 26 miles. . .yeah, another marathon under my belt!) we started walking after a brief yummy breakfast. the first portion was very nice. gradual up and downs. then, we encountered a steep, yet short uphill climb. at the top, there was an andean family living there. it´s really incredible how people can live. i am so spoiled. anyway, at this point, one couple (in their late 30´s) decided to stop. the woman had breathing troubles, and according to our guide, erick, it was only going to get worse. another woman was struggling more, but decided to keep going. stubborn i guess.

then, we hiked and hiked until lunch. i guess we were a bit slow (we had to wait a lot for that woman) because as soon as we ate, we were out of there. the good thing at this point is that we got a porter to carry our bag. the best decision ever. it was 85 usd, but totally worth it in the end. all we carried were our camelback day packs.

after lunch, we climbed up 700 meters to our first camping site. Before i go on, the night before the hike, we had a briefing with our guide who said ´my friends, this is the inca trail.´then, he showed us a drawn outline of the hills. it looked like this:

___/\_/\_/\___

holy crap is what I thought. luckily, we hiked up almost half of the first pass on the first day. if not, we would have had to hike 1200 meters up in one day! that´s like over 3600 feet. And if you don´t know already, we are already at a super high elevation. Cusco is at about 10,000 feet above sea level. Basically, we were mountain climbing, not just hiking.

day two - 13 km.
before day two could even begin - I woke up in the middle of the night with major indigestion and stomach cramps. i knew that the cha cha chas were coming. I tossed and turned all night. we were woken up around 5:45 am and i was shivering. i felt sick and weak and could not think of hiking another mile - never mind the 8 miles we had to do that day. Plus, the first 500 meters was all uphill. I tried to eat - but had no appetite. luckily, our guide, Erick, gave me a pill to stop the cha cha chas that had arrived. i also bought some gatorade from a local there - and i think that is what saved me. erick took a look at me and said that i would be fine - just weak and slow. hey, i´m kinda used to that, so what the heck? i was going to do it.

I have to say, this was the hardest physical thing i have done - ever! 3 marathon, 2 centuries, a black belt test - none of it compared to trying to walk 13 km up and down hills with little food in your stomach, no energy, dizziness and the constant need to fart. i kept telling myself -´don´t fart, don´t fart´ as i knew it would not be pretty. (okay, that was a bit of TMI there - but honestly, i could have been a lot more graphic. . .)

The best part of the day, though, was that kieran stayed with me the entire time (ahh, how nice :-) and so did our guide Erick. it was like we had our own personal tour guide. the rest of the group wasn´t too far ahead, but Erick made sure we were okay. he was just so awesome like that!

There was an optional hike to some ruins right before our camp, but I decided to skip it. Kieran went and told me it was a bunch of rocks ;-) I rolled into camp around 3:30 pm and passed out! I was able to eat some dinner - and was starting to feel better. thank god because there was no way i was doing that again the next day. that night, it poured at our campsite - so much so that it woke us up. i didn´t care though - i woke up without stomach pains and knew the worse was behind me (no pun intended!)

day 3 - 9 km
This day was going to be a breeze. I woke up feeling like a million times better and the terrain that day was not going to be as hard. 150 meters uphill, then 1000 meters down (3000 steps!) to lunch, which was also our last campsite. It was a beautiful day - I could actually enjoy the terrain. The trail is made up of 2 major parts - the restored trail and the actual original trail laid out over 600 years ago. We learned that the trail was 'opened' back up in 1979 by the peruvian government who restored the parts overrun by vegetation. after lunch on day 2, the trail we hiked on was the actual inca trail. it was actually nicer in parts as the incline and declines were not so severe. there were still a million stairs, but not as bad. more narrow though. anyway, it was nice to really enjoy it on this day.

we got into camp (winay wanya) around 11:45 am, grabbed our 4 soles (about $1.75) and headed for the showers! we were the 2nd group to arrive it was so nice to get clean. then, we ate lunch around 1 pm, grabbed more soles and headed up to the bar! it was so much fun. there was music to sing to (sheryl crow´s 1st album played over and over and over again - but we did not care!) we missed the 3 pm hike that erick was giving, but when he got back around 5 pm, he had the porters bring down our popcorn (from the 4 pm tea we also missed!) and we got drunk with them in the bar. we ate dinner around 7 pm and seriously, it was a rowdy crowd! i have to say, it didn´t look like any other group was having not even one tenth of the fun we had. we lucked out, seriously!

after dinner, the porters sang us a song 'Sexy Woman' and we all danced with them. kieran has it on video and i will put it up here when i returned. they all had super pachamama hands! tough buggers, i tell you. the porters carry about 50 lbs each and practically run you over on the trail. the average height is about 5 feet tall and they can´t weigh more then 120 lbs. toughest people i have ever seen.

we all passed out around 9 pm as we had a 3:45 am wake up call. tomorrow: machu picchu.

day 4 - 4 km
We were all so excited to get going this day. only 4 km (about 2.5 miles) until machu picchu. we were the 2nd group at the check point that opened up at 5:30 am. we got there around 4:50. by 5:30, the line up the trail was about 50 meters back! this day, i have to say, was the most stressful when it came to hiking. we had been ahead of most of the groups up until this point (most camp where we had lunch on days 1+2), so all of a sudden, they were all behind us.

We got to the sun gate, where you could see machu picchu on a clear day. it was fogged over, so we just kept hiking. in just a few minutes though, erick told us to run as we were going to be the FIRST group into Machu Picchu that day! Our group had formed such a bond that we became a super competitive force at this point. there was this one british group that were always on our heels - and we beat them to the end! it was the closest thing to the amazing race in my life!

========================
I will write more later - we are leaving Cusco today (Tuesday) instead of thursday. the elevation is kicking our behinds. i will finish up my machu picchu experience later. in the meantime - plan your own journey here. it is hard, but SOOOOOOOO worth it! you can check out our tour company at http://www.enigmaperu.com/

cheers, monica + kieran

We made it!

2008-04-07T09:29:00.000-07:00

We mawe arrived in lima about 5 hours earlier then we had expected. we originally had a 6 hour lay over in san salvador, but in a walk around the airport, we found a flight going to lima in about 40 minutes. we pleaded to get on the ´closed´ flight - using all of our amazing race skills, thank you very much! - and were able to get on the flight. yeah for not checking luggage ;-)! we had booked a hotel in lima in central lima thinking we were going to get there, sleep, then get up to get on a flight to cusco. now that we had a few hours to kill - we decided to explore. lima is crowded (10 million people) & polluted. if you ever get there - don´t stay long. we walked around central lima and didn´t feel like eating down dingy alley ways - so we took a taxi to the miraflores area. much nicer. touristy, but hey, we don´t look like locals, so why act like them! we had a yummy dinner (monica - loma saltado, kieran- ceviche) at a place called las trajas (anniette, barb - translation por favor¿¡) then, had a few cervezas and went back to the hotel with no hot water. nice place- but no hot water.

we flew to cusco on monday. we took elevation meds in lima to help with any sickness. none yet- just really tired- we took a 1 hour nap in lima when we got there - we took a 4 hour nap in Cusco! our hotel is called the Ninos Hotel and is super nice. plus it´s a nonprofit that takes care of street kids. www.ninoshotel.com if you ever come here. close to the plaza de armas and super hot showers! plus, they have a little cafe downstairs with good, cheap food. our full breakfast today (juice, coffee, fruit, bread with jam + butter, eggs, yogurt with honey) only cost about $4. and that´s considered expenisve here! yesterday, we just aclimated in the city and of course, found an irish pub - paddy o´flaherty´s. it´s the highest irish pub in the world at over 10,000 feet.

today, we are looking into some trips for when we return from the inca trail - macchu pichu. tomorrow, our trip organizers pick us up at 4 am. ouch. we hike for 6 hours tomorrow, 8 the next day, 7 the next, then 2 on the final day into macchu pichu. wish us luck! we will report back next week some time.

that´s it for now. back to exploring.

xoxo monica + kieran

Save the Tour!

2008-02-18T10:05:00.000-08:00

http://www.letleviride.com/

While you were sleeping . . .

2008-02-02T21:32:00.000-08:00

I rode my fat patooty around Point Reyes in the rain for 34 miles today. I have to say, even though I was super de duper soaked - I mean drippy, sponge soaked - it was a lot of fun. I heart my ride group. We really love TMI - and that always works for me.

Today was Cole's Ride - in honor of little Cole Regan who passed away 3 and a half years ago. I was lucky enough to have met him - he was such a sweet little thing. As Coach Al said many times, it's like no one ever told him he had cancer. I hope that I can be so positive when life kicks me down. He was just full of life and I miss the little guy.

to get more details of the day - check out Phil's blog. He just says everything I am thinking, you know? Plus, I'm lazy - WORD! Good Luck tomorrow Phil!!

bored & not wanting to train

2008-01-20T11:25:00.000-08:00

'nuff said.

holy SH&$#*T

2008-01-14T21:04:00.000-08:00

this is what I did on Saturday. . . on my bike:

yeah, i'm tough shit, right?

thanks phil - I stole your graph!

Brenda is following me. . .

2008-01-14T20:56:00.000-08:00

Okay, so after you read my post about the umbrella and agreed with me that weird things were happening - i found my umbrella. Hung up in the garage.

so, here is my explanation for that.

Brenda is following me. I know it.

I bought that umbrella the day of her memorial as rain was in the forecast. I wanted something pretty so she would see me from heaven. So, i picked out this cool umbrella with dragon flies on it. I had never seen another like it.

Until last week.

How is that the SAME EXACT umbrella is living in the center median on my block. I mean - the same umbrella.

It's Brenda. I know it. She misses me as much as i miss her i guess.

weird weird weird

2008-01-07T08:09:00.000-08:00

Okay, there are ghosts playing tricks on me - i know it. I mean, i am not senile yet - am I?!

first piece of evidence: i lent craig's sister my umbrella. then, i was driving down my street and noticed it in the center median all twisted and funky from the rain. i thought 'oh well, i guess she got caught in that crazy downpour at noon on saturday.' the problem, though, is that i really liked that umbrella (it was super pretty with dragon flies on it), so i was bummed. then, on sunday morning, i was talking in my kitchen, and i SWEAR, i saw that umbrella hanging on a hook in our stairwell. i even thought 'cool, that umbrella i saw was not mine.' then, today, i went to grab the umbrella, and it wasn't there. . . .weird. luckily it wasn't raining, so i started walking to the bart station, sans umbrella. then, i noticed my mangled umbrella in the median. seriously. i saw it on the hook. i'm not kidding.

second piece of evidence: when i got to my spin class this morning, i grabbed a bike and started to adjust it. i sat down and it totally felt wrong. well, the seat was on backwards. who rides like that?! anyway, i think it was someone playing a trick on me

okay, here is my final piece of evidence that ghosts exist in my world: the escalators at the civic center bart station were flipped around. so the one that normally goes up, was going down and the one that goes down was going up. where are we - europe?!

i'm not senile. there are ghosts. i swear!

i heart. . .

2008-01-01T21:42:00.001-08:00

my husband :-)
clean linens
spin class (okay, I'm starting to heart it :-)
living in san francisco
peet's coffee
my friends & family (this is starting to sound like something out of a yearbook!)
tae kwon do
whiskey
murphy & shannon
joe's jeans - honey fit
SNL
a piece (or 2!) of dark chocoalate California brittle from see's candies
thinking of all of the good things that will come in 2008!

happy2008

2007-12-28T15:11:00.001-08:00

That's Ms. Black Belt to you

2007-12-16T21:57:00.001-08:00

nyc marathon

2007-11-05T20:23:00.000-08:00

so, i never completely recapped my NYC marathon experience. Luckily, I had jotted down my thoughts on the Monday night after the marathon. Instead of trying to make sense of them now - here they are for your reading pleasure! you can also check out pics by clicking here: nycmarathon07

getting to train: kieran walked me there at 5:30 am - drunk man made me drunk just by asking me a question - waited 20 + mins for train - waited for lindsay at staten island ferry term - good free trip for NYC

start line: cold. cold. cold. - dressed by kieran's uncle tommy - old tennis clothes :-) - tried to sleep, but had to pee (and other things) over and over again!) - disrobed and we were off - heard a cannon - and slowly moved along the road

verazano narrows (sp?) bridge - first and biggest hill on course. nice, but lots of clothes everywhere - for about a mile - shed my gloves early

brooklyn was awesome. maybe because it was early, but there were a billion people out. we went up 4th ave foreeeeeeeeeeeeeever! we ran for 5 minutes, walked for 3. fun - or NOT! - lindsay, claudia and i stayed together for about 17 miles - lindsay felt faint around mile 7? - and ditched fuel belt - if you find it in brooklyn, send it to her in ca.

felt good walking fast - someone told us that we were leaving brooklyn, yet we didn't - forever! it was nice, but they lied.

went through williamsburg in brooklyn - a hasidic jewish community. girls just looked at us, yet one group cheered on the side. one girl slapped my hand so hard, it still hurts.

finally got to queens at mile 14? went over some bridge where an elderly russian woman was singing (in russian.) very funny.

got on queensboro bridge. very dark, eerie and lonely. the bridges were very lonely actually - no one on the sides of the road

turned into manhattan (mile 16) and found kieran waiting for me there. i was looking good and I think the expression on his face was amazed - saw lindsay's mom, philip, rocky & lackshman just a few feet down.

got a bit of a surge - although the crowds were thin. the drunk frat boys in the upper 80's really helped us get through them. no beer though :-(

made our way to harlem, where people were still out and cheering. :-) went over willlis bridge (?) into the Bronx. made a left turn and we were done with that borough!

turned back into manhattan down 5th ave. it's funny how you go from harlem where the people are just excited to give their free concerts to the upper east side with furry dogs and furrier coats. i think they were returning from afternoon tea by the time I scooted by.

the park could not come any sooner. pretty. very pretty. it was starting to get dusky - very nice. lindsay's mom met us at mile 23.5 and walked us in. kieran found us around mile 25.5 just appeared from the bushes. mile 26 was loooooooooong! longest one out there for sure!

we turned onto central park south and it's deceiving. don't kick it into high gear here (the 2nd place lady had done that and that is why she was #2!) wait until you turn the corner at columbus circle - which we did. that last 400 meteres (one lap around a track) took forever. but it was done. we held hands and cried (just like they say you will in the TNT video!)

not my hardest, but my most fun. will do it again - and will train! kieran and i took a pedi-cab ride to the pig and the whistle bar on 3rd ave & 55th street, drank guinness, ate small burgers and got a round of applause. some guy asked me how I did and I showed him my medal and told him the truth - I won!

still sore on monday night.

Iheartny

2007-11-05T10:03:00.000-08:00

I finished - the same day I started!

more info (and pictures!) to come when I return home on Saturday. in the meantime, here are 3 truths I realized as I walked 26.2 miles in NYC:

The best way to do a marathon is with someone alongside you the whole time. Thanks Lindsay for suffering. . .I mean moving!. . .along with me the entire time!
I really do love NY. The people are my kind of folks - crazy!
And, my last truth - If I would have trained - I would have won. Or, at least beat Lance. ;-)

Thanks again for everyone's support and well wishes.

heart, monica

Monica HEARTS NY

2007-10-31T19:52:00.001-07:00

I am ready for the New York Marathon.

Not because I have trained and trained for it (because I didn't!)
And not because I don't have a choice to move it back 6 months.
Or even, not because I told too many people about me doing it and I can't back down now.

I'm ready because I have exercised the most important muscle in my body this year - my heart.

So far, 2007 has given my heart some major, shall we say, training. In January, my Tae Kwon Do teacher had a massive stroke - and is still in the hospital today.
In April, my dear friend, Brenda, lost her 2 year battle with leukemia.

My heart has been beaten, kicked and broken this year. And yet, it still beats strong. It beats for those that don't have the choice to run, walk or move a marathon. When I return to TKD, I know my teacher would have made me show off my medal from the marathon. If Brenda was alive, she would be in NY, getting ready to kick my ass on Sunday. I want to repeat 2006 so that I can share this moment with both of them.

I know that this heart has trained and is ready for NY. No doubts about it. I Heart NY will take on a new meaning for me from this day forward. :-)

My heart and I would like THANK YOU for all of your well wishes and good luck! We promise to have a good time, not drink too much :-) and of course, finish strong and with a smile on our face.

But Monica, when will you actually run?

2007-10-30T22:48:00.000-07:00

this weekend, I saw a good cycling buddy, bikinmike, at the alumni ride. He mentioned that he reads my blog from time to time and wondered if I ever got any running in amidst all of the drinking I have been doing. . .!

Well. . um. . yeah. . .right. . . that running thing. . .I guess here is a list of my 'running' over the past few months:

I've run my mouth more than once at TNT events
I've run around town looking for the perfect thanksgiving table decorations
I've run into old friends
I've run after Murphy & Shannon as they chased the ball
I even (almost!) ran out of gas once!

Needless to say, I totally have been running ;-)

5 days to go. . .better start running (& screaming!)

still pooped

2007-10-23T20:09:00.000-07:00

nike is over. thank you jesus! all went well. but I am still pooped and can't believe that I am supposed to move (no longer run. . . ) the NY marathon in 12 days. It will happen. I just have to keep saying that to myself :-)

On a nike related note - check out the blog of one of our super cool honorees, Amy Bartlett. She spoke at the pasta party and is dope! http://www.ichoosehope.com

18 days to go. . .

2007-10-17T21:52:00.000-07:00

this is all that i can think about this week (thank you tnt!):
nikenikenikenikenikenikesleepnikenikenikedon'ttrainnikenike

yeah. a bit tired if you can catch my drift. . .

Get your rear in gear

2007-10-14T19:57:00.000-07:00

I did some training today. Myself, murphy & shannon power walked around lake merced. If I can keep up my pace - which was super comfortable - the marathon will take me 6 hours. yeah, longer then the last 2, but remember, i trained for them ;-)

the Colon Cancer Foundation had their 5k run/walk at LM too. I found it quite funny that their slogan is 'Get Your Rear in Gear.' too funny. yet a bit ironic. 6 months ago today, brenda passed away. in the past few months of her life, she had some major issues with her . . .um. . .shall we say rear :-). So, I had to smile every time one of the walkers went by me. Brenda would be so proud that people (including myself) are getting their rears in gear.

I miss you B. You and your rear.

here i go . . .

2007-10-13T23:06:00.000-07:00

10 miles. sunday. be there or be square.

No rest for the liver.

2007-10-08T14:41:00.000-07:00

here's the skinny on my weekend:

big d. came to town friday night. she and I drank all the good liquor in the house that night. great way to start the weekend. . . with a massive hangover on saturday morn. . .!
carol & mickey got hitched - CONGRATS to the beautiful couple!!

since it was an irish wedding, well, yeah, there was some drinking that night. . .
sunday was spent in the Kezar, watching football and playoff baseball with big d, laura, kieran, craig, andres and random young thang named bill . . . so, again, more bicep curls. Lift the pint to your lips, take a sip, put it down. . .repeat. .. . for about 7 hours. . .
We had hoped the day would look like this:

but it looked more like this:

monday morning: woke up with massive cold that made my hangover seem small.
10 miles is still in the cards for me. . .just not today.

atchoo!

My bicep curling weekend

2007-10-05T11:22:00.000-07:00

Since my NY buddy Diane is coming to town tonight and Carol & Mickey are getting married tomorrow - I think the only exercise I will be getting will be some bicep curls. You know, pick up the pint, bring it to your mouth, put it down on the bar. That kind of exercise. . .

The 10 miles we have planned for Monday is already scaring me. . . .

BTW - I can't seem to get the font size thing down for this blog. If you are blind like me, I can make it real big if you like. I think I choose 'normal' size every time. Yeah. . .that's also true for my life as well, and we all know that's never the case. . .!

Keep on, keepin' on

2007-10-04T21:33:00.001-07:00

to quote my dear friend Yas (from her own blog posting) - i better get crack a lackin' on this training thing! Lindsay and i are planning to complete 10 miles this Monday. How? Well, not in a car. . .that's for certain. And not too fast. . . that's for real certain! I will recount the gory details then. . .

on another note, say a little prayer tonight for a dear friend of mine, k? whoever you pray to, it doesn't matter. just think of me (as you always do when you pray, right?) and then, say one more for my friend. heart, monica

My best excuse yet!

2007-10-01T20:27:00.001-07:00

Today, I totally have my best excuse for not training yet - my nephew Caleb Nate was born!!

these feet will run a marathon one day, I know it!

My sister Amanda gave birth to the cutest little kid today at 11:38 am. I was in charge of calling the family when it happened - and when you are one of 7 kids, that can take a while! I was definitely rewarded for this good deed as Amanda let me come and visit. She had wanted to keep the baby calm for a few days before having any visitors.I guess her epidural had not worn off yet as she asked me to come. . yeah, that would be loud Auntie Monica! Anyway, it was a great excuse to not exercise tonight, don't you agree?

So, Kieran, his hangover and myself jumped on the Harley and headed for Oakland. It was kinda like exercising. You know those 1980's looking machines that wrap an ace bandage around your middle and shake you? I've never been on one (really. . .), but I'm guessing it's the same feeling you get when you are on the back of a Harley on the freeway. :-)

Welcome to world Caleb!! Thanks for providing the best excuse to not train today!

check out the video kieran took of little Caleb (go ahead and ignore our conversation though!!):

yeah. . .got to get on this training thing. . .

2007-09-30T17:58:00.000-07:00

I decided that today was the day to begin training. . .sorta. I grocery shopped, took the dogs for a long walk and then, went to hang out with Janey at her sister's house. It occurred to me how under-trained I am when Janey asked 'So when did you decide to do the NY Marathon?' anyway, did not get to training for a variety of reasons - but will start tomorrow! thanks janey for the big donation :-)

saturday in sf

2007-09-29T18:28:00.001-07:00

today was super de duper crowded in SF. i had to drive down to powell street and got caught in the love parade traffic. basically, i was surrounded by wanna-be-burning-men-and-women who come to this festival every year. anyway, I got some beard papa cream puffs, so I'm happy. i also bought a cool new duvet cover to match our chocolate brown bedroom walls.

still not training. . . will do that tomorrow, promise!!

thanksthanksthanks

2007-09-28T09:38:00.000-07:00

In just 12 hours, I have already raised $550 - woo hoo!! thanks to anniette & cesar, glenn, haakon & mette, fr. tom, joseph, rudy, lindsay, michelle, emily, carol ann, karla & debbie for being the first in line to donate - YOU ROCK!!

I did get one (quite funny!) propostion as well. Fr. Tom emailed me this:
I will give you $100 for every minute under 3 hours of your total race time for the NYC Marathon. So run Monica...run!
Um, yeah, right. . .How about $100 for every mile I run within the first 3 hours?!

brenda hearts you. . .

2007-09-27T19:09:00.001-07:00

THIS MUCH!

Welcome. . .now donate!

2007-09-27T18:17:00.000-07:00

Here I go again. . .my 3rd marathon is just 6 weeks away. This time, I'm going to the Big Apple, yes New York City, here comes Monica! I paid for my race entry, the plane ticket is bought, and if I could get some training in between now and then, well . . .it's going to be a great success! ;-)

Now, it just wouldn't be right to participate in a marathon and not raise money for The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society through Team In Training. I know that I am biased in choosing a good cause, yet I know that LLS is doing great things with the money you will donate. And I don't mean by paying my itty-bitty salary ;-)

Over the past 20 years, individuals (like yourself) have donated over $800 million dollars so that crazy people (like myself) could complete an endurance event and do something good at the same time. This money has done great things. If you were diagnosed with chronic myelogenous leukemia in 1988 (when TNT started), you had a 55% chance of surviving. Today, you have a 95% chance of surviving. If you needed a support group in 1988, you hoped that you lived in one of the 14 areas of the country that offered one. Today, there are over 68 different chapters offering local support to people with blood cancers.

But we aren't done yet. We have a lot of work to do - and more money to raise.

This past April, my dear friend, Brenda Donato, lost her 2 year battle with leukemia. She was 36 years old, the mother of 2 boys who lived in Concord and drove a minivan. She liked songs from the 80's and couldn't always remember the lyrics. In fact, Brenda reminded me a lot of my friend Janey (although unlike Janey, Brenda liked to exercise ;-) I miss Brenda a lot. And to be honest, I don't want to miss anyone else in my life.

So, here are reasons why you should donate now:
1) It's pay day soon and if you don't donate now, you will spend the money on useless items that you will regret in the future (like every color of pen that is on sale at Walgreens or $5 lattes or a new cell phone ringtone)
2) You don't have any faith in my abilities to complete the NY marathon, but you do have faith that your money will be well spent by LLS.
3) You have people in your life that you don't want to miss like I miss Brenda.

Now that you're ready to donate, click here: www.active.com/donate/tntgsf/MonicaHeartsNY

groundhog day

2007-09-27T17:22:00.000-07:00

yes, today was the day I had planned on starting my training. Instead, this is what I got accomplished:
1) sent out fundraising emails (probably why anyone is reading this!)
2) got truck tires rotated and oil changed
3) bought halloween costumes for murphy (a cowboy) and shannon (an indian)

Tomorrow will be day one again.

good luck in hono, Yas!! mele kalekimaka!