aaaahhhhhhhhhh......... running calms the infernal coconut

i just "ran" a 10k, the first "race" of any length i've attempted in 5 years. my time was quite slow. i have self-diagnosed myself as having upper hamstring tendinopathy after watching videos & reading, so started rehabbing myself at home, but i'm a flake, so i dropped the ball & it's sore again. i've been sick all week, too (read below about My Hero, who often is more tragic hero, actually)... i was slow slow, but i know i can get strong again. it's been near-10 years since i got into running. i guess this one i just did was pretty difficult, through the tejon ranch "conservancy" (how noble of them to preserve all this beautiful land Just for Us... tho i doubt their motives when they used some of that land for an outlet mall & now will jam in a huge town right at the base of the grapevine)...i just found this image of the elevation profile of the total course.

in line for the commode, we meet a bunch of amped-up women in matching workout gear who were hyping their obstacle training course in long beach... tho probably in better shape than i, they fell behind quickly, likely not used to the elevation since they live at sea level (they train on signal hill, which tho a steep hill, is at most a few hundred feet high). i'd be in the same boat if i ran in, say, flagstaff or albq or machu picchu. ha!

the course was quite beautiful; the "conservancy" seems to have a lot more water available than does the general mountain area... green, rolling hills; robin's-egg skies; black and dark green oaks; a lake; the shadows; the breezes: nice... i started off with christy & her daughter, but told them to go on as i immediately felt my hamstring seize. but i finished, i finished, i finished, & the best part of long runs usually IS finishing, unless one is strong enough to run endlessly, & then the pleasure is in the act... but i'm no longer, or maybe just not right now (i hope), that strong....

one of my dear sponsees just called; we had such a great chat! it's amazing how talking with another alcoholic woman can help me so, so much. related to our talk is this:

alcoholism is such an insidious disease. it breaks the hearts of all who love the alcoholic. there are a thousand ways it ruins lives. 12 step programs may not be for you, but please, if you read this & relate, i beg you to change by whatever method works for you. an alcoholic death is a slow, painful, ravaging misery upon you and everyone who loves you. jnypg (sober not because i hate drinking, but because i love it too much, to my ruin) http://www.a-1associates.com/aa/INFO%20LIST/20Questions.htm

(ps, normal drinkers, party on)

a happy day in the u.s.a., poker party folds?, rock&roll pizza yumyumyumyumyumyumyum

here are dos flyers for our uno gig friday night... pizza!! this place publishes pix of its pies that are near-naughty... drool... in its sunset months, dang it (i don't know why he won't keep making shows & posting 'em online; he's got the perfect sunken-living room to film in, a little like the old ackermansion, & a large audience aided by youtube), art & his poker party will host us in the afternoon, then we'll take the freeway down over to the pizza gig... it's gonna be a swell time in the southland that night!! ... i hold hope that art's got too much greasepaint under his nails, & he just ain't gonna stop making shows, cause he loves the underdog too much, & how can he let the fatcats squash the little guy once again? his is the longest-running cable access show in smellay. he knows everyone. he's a stone-cold music freak. it's nerdy cool fun. but who knows. everything has its time, gets old, insert ecclesiastes/byrds song here...
mebbe he's ready to give it up. i know i only had my little paper for 3 yrs & giving it up was kinda like giving up a beloved pet, tho i just had to or go nuts from being overly busy. but a bit of me died.
and that's every change, isn't it? c'est la vie... til it isn't!
oh well. best to art. & thanks for having us. :) :) :) :) good lord, this is all gravy. what an amazing, happy day in the u.s.a.... the rest is all gravy... heck, can you believe it?!?