Day 5/6 of Marathon Training

Today I did my long run, on the treadmill at Riverpoint Sports & Wellness because I was over on the West Side to get a pedicure with my friends Jessica and Jena. (We went to Nail Time at Montano Plaza-- it's where Jena always goes and they were very good. They're a bit on the expensive side but in my opinion, well worth it.) I ran 4 miles; I alternated my pace but overall my time was 44 minutes. I always run faster and get more of a workout on the treadmill; it's my preferred way to run but I try not to do it too often because I need the altitude and incline training that's more in line with a real road race, and my dog Venus can't exactly run with me on the treadmill.

I signed up for the Run for the Zoo 5K tomorrow. I'm not in race shape but I figure it will give me a good starting time to build off of. I've never done the race but I've heard it's a fun time.

Speaking of races, I received some bad news: our group did not get chosen in the lottery to run the Nike Women's Marathon in San Francisco. :( I'm so bummed because I was really looking forward to it. My sister and I are going to pick another marathon to run around that same time period. So for now I'm training for a marathon, but I'm not sure which one!


Yesterday was a much-needed rest day. I was so busy I didn't get time to run; plus it was time to give my body a break anyway!

I took Katie to the physical therapy vet and they said she is doing very well in her progress of recovering after surgery. :-) They put her in the water treadmill for a little bit and she loved it, even though she usually hates water! They also showed me some exercises to do with her on a fitness ball. The vet pinched her front paw with pliers and she felt a little bit of pain; the vet said that's a good sign for sensation returning to that leg that they were worried about due to nerve damage. So that was great news, and then I brought Katie into the office with me. She was pooped and I think a bit overwhelmed by the visitors; she basically just slept by my desk until I took her home. Everyone at work was so concerned about her and happy to meet her; it was sweet.

After work I did some much-needed grocery shopping and household goods shopping at Walmart. Boy do I hate Walmart and I usually try to avoid it but the vet had said to get Katie's heating pads there. I got $130 worth of other stuff as well! I finally have some food and paper towels and stuff.  When I got back home I did Katie's electro-magnetic therapy treatment while I finished watching the movie Conviction. It is based on the true story of a woman who went to law school solely to prove that her brother, who was convicted of murder and sentenced to life without parole, was innocent. It was very inspiring and happy-sad; I found myself crying! I would really recommend it. It was nice to see a movie about lawyers that seemed realistic, although there were a few things that didn't make sense or seem right to me about the process (but I don't do criminal law so I'm not sure.) As a bonus Juliette Lewis has a small but great part in the movie, and I love love love her.

Hilary Swank as a law student preparing to free her brother from prison

Oh, Juliette -- you're so good at playing crazy people!

My BFF Jessica was on a bowling date and she asked if I wanted to meet up for drinks. So I met her at Anodyne downtown. It's a pretty chill place with an eclectic crowd, mostly hippy-types and students. I was in really relaxed clothes and it was funny to walk down Central by all the girls decked out in club clothes. We had a nice chat and a couple drinks and then I went back home to go to bed! That was my Friday night-- I sure am getting old.

Day 4/4 of Marathon Training

Today I did a speed interval run along the ditch bank with Venus. I included six repetitions of two minutes of running as fast as I could, interspersed with jogging, some walking, and some regular running. It wasn't ideal-- I would have liked to steadily alternate minutes and pick up my non-sprinting pace, but it was hard because I'm out of shape, so I'm just glad I did it. :) Overall it was 40 minutes and I think about 3.5 miles. It was a sunny, hot day and I went at about 5:15 pm.  It was a hard workout but a good one!

After the run I went to look at the apartment that my former landlord is renting out. There are some good things about it and some bad things about it but for the price I think it's a good deal, and what's most important is that he doesn't care about the pets, and the place has a fenced, private "backyard" (more like a big dog run, but, that's fine for our purposes. ;)  I am pretty sure I'm going to do it.  I may spend tomorrow looking at a few other places to be sure -- I can never make up my mind about anything though so I should probably just jump off and do it.  My current lease ends May 31st and my last month's rent was paid in advance, so I think I'll sign up for the new place starting May 15th, which gives me two weeks to move everything out. I am a bad procrastinator and I hate doing practical things like moving, so, hopefully this will be ideal. 

Then I went to meet my friend Carey and her husband Sonu at Gecko's in Nob Hill. It was originally supposed to be for the purpose of picking up some things I accidentally left in Carey's car yesterday, but she invited me to have dinner and drinks with the group of anesthesiologists that Sonu was meeting with (he is in the last year of his anesthesiology residency at UNM).  We sat out on the patio and it cooled off and it was a lovely evening to do that!

Then I went to see my friend Jessica's new casita she's renting in Nob Hill. It's really cute--small but practical, and it has wood and cute trim and painting, etc. And it costs less than the place I'm considering. I thought about trying to find something like it but it doesn't have an enclosed yard.

Finally I went bowling with Jess, her sister Richelle who is in town to help her move, and a guy that Jessica is dating. We like to go to Holiday Bowl on Thursday nights because there's karaoke, cosmic bowling and $4 pitchers. Definitely a young crowd though-- high school and college. It was fun but I bowled terribly and stayed out too late!

Oh, today I had a meeting with my financial advisor and I wrote out a big check to my mutual funds company so that I can invest money for the future instead of keep spending it. Go me! :-) I have to really live off of a budget now, something I'm not used to at all, and I'm going to try to keep saving up more money.  Living in the new place will be almost $300 a month cheaper than my current place, and my current landlord was raising my rent by $100 so it will now be $400 a month cheaper! I still have to pay some of my mortgage after my own tenants pay their rent, so alltogether it's rather pricey but not nearly as bad as if I stay where I'm at now. I also plan to axe my gym membership at Sports & Wellness because it's way too expensive, and join Planet Fitness for only $10 a month. Plus I'm really going to try to cook more instead of going out so much and spending so much money on food and alcohol when I'm out, but, that is probably going ot be the most difficult goal to accomplish because it seems like I always have something going on.

Finally, I've lost two pounds in three days. :-) I still have so many more to go but it feels good to get a start at it, and I know I've lost them the right way, so they won't be coming back if I keep this up!

Day 3/3 of NWM Training

Today I ran almost three miles with my good friend Carey (2.83 according to her Evo). It took us 32 minutes, which is an 11 minute per mile pace. I realized how very out of shape I am - she kicked my butt! ;) I need to keep running with her for the challenge!

Me, Carey, Venus and Tux at the Doggie Dash a couple years ago

We ran on the ditch bank near my house and then to some lateral ditches that were hard to maneuver because they were narrow and on the edge of water with tree trunks sticking into the path. We had my dog Venus with me and Carey is like a dog whisperer- she can get Venus to behave, not go after other dogs, not pull her arm off trying to get into the water, etc. I am really trying to learn how to do that because I tend to let Venus run wild.

We went running after work, at about 7, and then we went to Ezra's Place with Carey's friend Darbie (who's a vet and an awesome person--it's the first time I'd met her). Ezra's Place is this little hole-in-the-wall dive (it's actually in a bowling alley, Rt. 66 Bowl) in the North Valley (4th & Montano-ish, across from Smith's).  Carey is in love with their food, especially the fish tacos. I had Ezra's Salad which came with grilled asparagus and avocado, yum. There was an acoustic guitar player who was playing folk versions of the Eagles and other bands. At one point only the three of us were left in the place and he kept asking us for requests and not knowing how to play them (Dave Matthews Band, Counting Crows). He said he had a repertoire of over 19,000 songs and Darbie jokingly said "Not 19,000 cool songs, apparently." It was really fun. Then when the restaurant stopped serving alcohol we moved over to the bar in the bowling alley and Carey was delighted to find a Photo Hunt video machine; she loves that game. (To me both photos always look exactly alike!) Our name for the scoreboard was CarDarTa and I kept saying "Ta isn't really doing much to win these points." ;) 

It was a really nice time and we stayed out (in our running clothes -- Darbie was in her riding clothes because she had just come from the barn) until 11 pm which I hadn't been expecting. I need to spend more time with Katie-dog! It is so hard on the weekdays when I work and then go see friends. I will give her extra time this weekend. It was nice to hang out with Carey, which is a kind of rare thing these days, and to meet Darbie. I need to really keep running hard and watch what I eat-- I think the fact that I'm about 25 pounds overweight has a lot to do with my slow performance on runs! I haven't weighed this much in my whole life! :-( But I'm determined to get into the best shape of my life, ever. :-) Thirty seems to be a good age to do that!

Day 2/2 of NWM Training

Today makes 2 out of 2 straight days of training for the Nike Women's Marathon, in San Francisco this October.

This morning, before work, I ran for half an hour, which I think was at least 2.5 miles, although I still can't find my Garmin charger and therefore have to guess at the distance and pace. This amount is less than I'm aiming to run on a regular basis, but I acheived my goal of getting up early and running first thing. I am so not a morning person but I've realized that getting up a bit earlier and using the mornings for running is a sure-fire way to fit my goals in. Plus, I am really busy today, with my weekly counseling appointment over lunch and my weekly writing group after work (Tuesdays are always busy for me!), plus having to go back and forth to my house to take my sick dog Katie out and do some of her physical therapy exercises, so it was half an hour this morning or nothing. I'm trying to stay positive and focus on what I do accomplish rather than what I don't. :-) So go me!

I ran with my dog Venus along the ditch bank by my house. That is one of the things I'll miss if I move out of my current place, which I am now 99% positive I'm going to do, as part of my plan to save up money and for other reasons. Right now I'm renting a townhouse that happens to be across the street (cate-corner!) from the townhouse that I own. It's a long story but let's just say my life had been in some self-caused upheavel and up in the air for awhile, with some major changes, and I had been thinking about moving back East (I'm from southern Pennsylvania, right along the border of Maryland) to be near my family.  I became a nomad for a bit, during which time I rented out my townhouse to tenants, and then, when I returned to some of my senses (or so I thought), I took this townhouse with the intention of moving back across the street when their lease expired. Well, their lease expired in March but I had gotten used to lower monthly payments! My rent isn't as much as my mortgage, and their rent payment covers a big chunk of my mortgage, although not all of it. So by March I was still getting my footing and I didn't want to bid forever adieu to these stable, good tenants and starting paying for my expensive mortgage on my own, only to later wish I could still rent it out to them. I gave them the option to extend the lease for another year, and they took it (although they still haven't signed the lease, so, as usual, nothing is for certain as of yet).

The townhouse that I'm renting (and obviously the one that I own, across the street) is in Albuquerque's North Valley. I love living here because it's the greenest part of Albuquerque (although nothing compared to Pennsylvania, of course ;), and it's very eclectic, with a mix of different types of people, houses, stores, plants, animals, you name it, all coinciding together. It's centered around the Rio Grande river and it's the oldest section of Albuquerque. I love the history and the landscape and I also love that it's centrally located-- right between the East and West sides of the city, and a close drive to nearly anywhere within it (although it seems annoyingly far away from Nob Hill and from my BFF Jessica's apartment near Kirtland Air Force Base, where she works. It only takes me, however, seven minutes to get to my office/downtown from my house). Oh, and it has a lot of bike and jogging trails, like the one along the ditch bank where I take Venus running, but most places in Albuquerque do, because we are actually a very bike-friendly city.

Of course, with all of this beauty and convenience comes a downside: it's more expensive to live here than in other parts of the city, such as some places in the Northeast Heights, and pretty much all of the West side. This is especially true if you have a roomy-ish two-story, two-bedroom two-bath townhouse (duplex) with a fenced private yard and a garage and your very own washer/dryer etc. There's just not as much bang for your buck here (unless you count convenience/location as bangs, which I do, except that now I'm more worried about bucks.) So for quite some time I've been debating whether to move somewhere cheaper, or maybe even into something similarly priced downtown, so that I'm even closer to my dogs during the day and I can let them out more easily and frequently, especially with Katie's recent surgery, and perhaps even walk or bike to work.

I was trying my best to extend my originally seven month lease month-to-month while I pretend to make up my ever-wavering mind, but my landlord would only go for two months of that rigamarole. Now he's informed me that my rent is going up by $100 a month in June if I want to stay, and that he wants a 6-month lease at that price in September. So he's basically made up my find for me because I don't want to pay what I'm paying for rent, let alone $100 more, and I really don't think the place is worth it, despite it being in my beloved North Valley and despite the fact that he doesn't seem to care that I own an animal menagerie. (Or perhaps he does, and this is why he is raising my rent!)

To top it all off, just recently I've decided I definitely want to move to a new place and start over fresh. I never decorated this place in the eight or so months I've lived here, or even unpacked boxes that I'd brought from the house I shared with my ex. Living in it always felt very temporary and chaotic. I would like a new start in a new place, to de-clutter my life and downsize my junk. At first I worried that it would feel like I was going "backwards" by renting a smaller apartment when I own a nice townhome, but it seems to me that I have to go that way to move forward. Like many Americans I bought my house at the height of the market and had no idea it would crash so bad and end up underwater for [if you know how long please fill me in?], nor did I understand that my tax payments on the house would double after a year, and then go up some more, causing my overall house payment to go up by over $200 in two years.  I guess I rushed into buying my house when I should have sat tight and saved up money and lived in something smaller and more practical.  I'm definitely learning the value of patience! So now I'm going to do things "backwards" and keep saving towards my future rather than spending all my money on a mortgage or expensive rent. The hunt for a new place is officially on! And I'm definitely leaning towards cheaper rent over a location in the North Valley or downtown, although the combintation of both would be perfect of course.

Here's a random funny event: today I emailed someone who had an apartment listed on Craigslist, and when the person wrote me back, it turned out to be my former landloard, from whom I rented an apartment for three years or so when I was in law school! Luckily he always said I was a great tenant. I think it's a sign. :-) I had actually thought about calling him to see if he had anything available, because I knew he probably wouldn't care about my pets and also because the place I rented from him back then was really cheap and I am looking to save money.  Then I started thinking that I should live in a gated community apartment complex with a pool and fitness center etc. so that I can save on some of those bills (except that of course apartments that come with these amenities charge a higher in rent for them than private apartments that don't have them)!

Alas, I ran into some obstacles when almost every apartment complex I called wouldn't accept my dog Venus because she has the blessing-and-curse of being born a Shepherd/Rottie mix, and looks every bit of her ethnicity! (I know it's not called ethnicity in dogs but I don't care; I feel these policies are discriminatory because my corgi Katie is more likely to bite someone than Venus is!) In fact, I got Venus because she looks big and scary and I want protection on my runs around the sometimes-sketchy North Valley (its aforementioned "eclectic-ness" includes a halfway house that is less than a block away from my townhouse complex, several rundown apartment buildings in the vicinity that look like they house people in between their stays in jail, and a biker-bar that is close enough to walk to, but which I only enter when in the company of my no-nosense hispanic friends. ;) But hey-- the Nature Conservatory is close, as is several nice gated housing complexes... you just never know in the North Valley!) 

The strategy of adopting a scary-looking dog sometimes backfires on me when people refuse to believe she's friendly, just based on how she looks. And apparently most apartment complexes in Albuquerque aren't willing to give her a chance. I found one that will definitely take her (no breed restrictions), and one that might take her (I just said she was a shepherd mix, which is what her adoption and vet papers say, but let's not fool ourselves that if they do their homework and investigate, they won't take one look at her and know she's mixed with a rottweiler, which is on their restricted breeds list.  Still, I'm crossing my fingers and am just glad that shepherds aren't on their restricted breeds list-- as they are at many other complexes I've called).

Guess what breeds I am.
Do you think I could pass for a chihuahua on steroids??

In considering an apartment community, however, even though I'd like the pool and fitness center, I wouldn't like not having a yard for the dogs. They don't really need one because I only use it for the convenience of letting them out and occasionally for playing with them back there if I don't have time to take them on their runs.  I don't leave them out there when I'm not home, or when I am home for that matter, unless they're doing their business. Venus stays crated when I'm not home because she has separation anxiety and Katie is low-maintenance enough to just chill indoors. So while a yard isn't necessary, it is a bonus, and the apartment I emailed about, which ended up belonging to my ex-landlord, does have a yard, as well as two bedrooms. Plus he didn't seem to care about Venus the Maneater.  This might be a match made in heaven!  He said he'll email me in a few days when the current tenants move out.  In the meantime I'm going to check out the two apartment complexes where Venus might be welcome, and continue to scour Craigslist. Here's to finding an affordable but practical place to live! :-)





Desperately seeking shelter. ;)




Venus: Mom, I don't know how well your plan to call me a "shepherd mix" is going to work!
Katie: Oh just be quiet while I sit here and look pretty... I'll get us in somewhere!

Mom, how could anyone resist my smiley face?!



Start of NWM Training Program!

Today was Day 1 of my training for the Nike Women's Marathon in San Francisco, in October.  My sister and I just signed up for it.  There's a lottery system and we only get in if our group is pulled (we are in a group of about 300 people, which I was invited to join by a co-worker who is also in the group). If we don't get in, we'll just run another marathon around that time.  But hopefully we'll get in!

I'd been running 2.5 to 3 miles a day a few times a week with my big dog Venus. Part of it was with my little dog Katie, before Katie got hit by a car last week and required surgery, from which she is still healing and may never totally heal enough to run. :-( I had just started interspersing speed and hill intervals and some pace runs, as well as weights. So my new plan has me starting off at 3.5 miles, which I ran today. I ran along the ditch bank near Candelaria, with my dog Venus. I'll increase the distance every week from there, until I'm running 5 to 6 miles regularly, as well as a long run each week, and I will vary the workouts such as hills, speed, pace and tempo.  I also plan to do weights and cross-training. I have a Garmin GPS stopwatch to track my distance, time and pace, but at the moment (and for some time!) I'm not able to find its charger, and it's one of those picky chargers that can't be replaced with a USB cord or phone charger. So for now I'm estimating my distance based on time/feeling. It took me 40 minutes.

Our goal is to be in the best shape ever on October 16th.  Go us!  (Bikini, here I come). I'm at least 25 pounds overweight, so, I have a long way to go, but over 6 months to get there.

(This image is most likely copyright Nike Women's Marathon)

Other than for starting my training program, today was relatively uneventful. At work I found out that two of my small (metro/magistrate court) cases are set for trial in May. My BFF Jessica's car broke down so I took her to the car place -- I'm crossing my fingers for her that it's nothing major!! I took my dog Katie to her physical therapy appointment where they removed her catheter and told me she is making great process (it's been a week and a day since she was hit; she had pelvis surgery on Wednesday, and I brought her home on Friday).  Her disposition and attitude is pretty much back to its normal content, perky, low-key self, which makes me very happy!!!, but she can't stand on her right legs yet at all. I'm supposed to "walk" her with her sling/harness out to the yard to pee. Today it didn't go so well, as she didn't pee outside (she did eat a lot of weeds) but a short while after I brought her in, she peed on the floor.  Good thing it's tile! I just hope she gets the hang of it soon.  I'm considering posting a photo of her when I first brought her home or in the vet hospital, but it's very depressing.  I was sure she was a goner and I can't believe how well she's doing everyday. It's a lot of work-- meds, exercises, first changing her catheter and now taking her outside in her condition, physical therapy/electromagnetic treatment at home, taking her to the vet hospital for progress check-ups, etc... but I'm thinking it's really worth it since she is recovering so well.  Here are a couple pictures, from yesterday (she sure perked up on Easter, so she must have known it was a day to celebrate a new season and new beginnings!):

She was never a lapdog to begin with, but she's been letting me hold her on my lap and bounce her as if she's running, which the vet says is a good exercise for her legs. Here's to Katie's continued recovery. :)

Renewal at Easter

I'm not religious in the traditional sense but I think that today is an important day no matter what religion one practices (or none at all). It's a time of rebirth, regeneration, revival, resurrection. I was just reading up on the Pagan, Jewish and Christian (and even Hindu!) origins and traditions of Easter, all of which have the theme of renewal at their centers.


This is from a Wiccan website that discusses balance and self-discovery at this time of year:

This is a time of tremendous life renewal. Day and night are now equally balanced, but the days are moving in the direction of more light (greater clarity!)

This is a time when we might audit our own lives to check if we also have a healthy balance. This self-audit might include seeking out areas where we require greater inner clarity, greater self-understanding, For example: What kinds of things motivate us? What makes us feel good? What things make us angry or uneasy? Why???

And this is from a Buddhist site that discusses Easter in terms of accepting the different stages & seasons of life--and of course today happens to be about embracing birth and re-birth, which to me is the best stage of all.

Why should we attempt to transcend life and death? Why should we try to stand beyond time? Because to do so means our fear and apprehension of death is gone. It means that our life is fulfilled, whether we live to be 9 or 90. It means that we can truly be one in our hearts with the loved ones we have lost, whether it was last year or fifty years ago. It means that we have the peace of mind to someday leave our loved ones behind when our time too has come. Who is there that would not want to transcend life and death?

I've been doing a lot of self-discovery and have been trying to accept and appreciate my life for what it is. At the same time I've been re-dedicating myself to certain areas of my life that have always been important to me, such as running, writing, and work. So today seemed like an appropriate time to celebrate my life as it is and the new life I'm building for myself.

In particular, yesterday my sister and I signed up for the Nike San Fransisco Women's Marathon in October (at the invitation of one of my co-workers/friends, who is running the half marathon, provided that our group gets in via the lottery system), and my training plan starts tomorrow. I've always been an on-again off-again runner with various levels of consistency and "success," but now I am trying to focus on giving running--and everything else in my life--my all. So I've started this blog to track my running progress as well as my thoughts on life in general.

Here's to new beginnings!  It's a new season and a time for growth. Happy Easter/Passover/Spring Orthodox/Ostara -- whatever today may mean to you.

About This Blog and This Girl

I'm a woman, sister, daughter, friend, lawyer, writer, reader, multiple-pet-owner, dog-lover, cat-lover, and--last but not least--a runner. :) I'm re-finding my footing in all areas of my life and this blog could be and is about a lot of different things. I chose running as its main theme because as my dad--an avid and much faster runner than I am--always says, it's a metaphor for life. Right now, for me, running is a metaphor for discovering and focusing on myself and staying dedicated to things that are important to me. To actively practice things and not just think about them (but I do think a lot!) To, as Nike says (although I'm a loyal Saucony wearer), "Just do it."

My sister and I are running a marathon in the late Fall. I'm not sure which one yet--we signed up for the San Francisco Nike Women's Marathon but didn't get in via the lottery and have to choose a new one. I run to be dedicated to something (which I hope spills over into other areas of my life), to set and meet my goals (ditto), to get and stay stress-free (I have a stress-related sleep disorder--adult night terrors--that I'm always trying to cure, with no luck so far), to get into better shape and lose weight (and, let's face it, as Nike also says, to look better naked ;), and to be emotionally and physically balanced and healthy.

My dog Venus is a four-year-old German shepherd/Rottweiler mix who has a lot of energy (some might call it hyper-activity ;) and needs a lot of exercise and outdoors time. So another reason I run is to spend time with her and get her outside. When I bought my house in the summer of 2007 I brought Venus home as a ten-month-old puppy through a local pet fostering organization. My house (which I'm not living in at the moment but that's a whole other story) is in an "eccentric" part of Albuquerque's beautiful North Valley, so I wanted some protection for my runs through the less-than-ritzy areas. (I have a corgi mix who likes to run but she's not very scary-looking!) My plan was to foster big, dark dogs who are the hardest to find homes for. My plan ended when I fell in love with Venus, my first "foster" dog, and decided she was the only big, dark running dog for me! I officially became her mom and gave her the middle name of "Mara" because she's my loyal (although sometimes easily-distracted) marathon training partner.

Best running partner ever

More about me: I'm originally from southern Pennsylvania, right along the Maryland border. I have a large family who still lives in PA/MD. I'm the eldest of five kids, but that doesn't make me old! ;) My very best friend in the universe is my sister Shannon aka Shoopie, who is 22 months younger than me. I am also close with my brother Eric, who is four and a half years younger than me, and now married, and his wife/high school sweetheart Courtney. The three of us (sans his wife, of course) grew up together and now we are blessed to have two younger siblings, who are currently 10 and 9 years old (of course it seems to change all the time since they grow up so fast!) My dad works for the government and my mom is a homemaker.

Me and my family...
awhile ago, on one of my birthdays, hence the fiesta hat...
the kids are bigger now!

I went to college in New York, just above New York City (Sarah Lawrence College, in Yonkers or Bronxville, depending on which part of campus you're on!) and spent one year studying abroad at St. Louis University's campus in Madrid, Spain. I "concentrated" (Sarah Lawrence is "different" so we didn't have "majors") in Literature, mainly Latin American literature, Spanish, and Creative Writing. Oh how I miss those college days!

Goodbye, College Days! I had no idea how much I'd miss you!

I moved to Albuquerque, New Mexico for law school (the University of New Mexico School of Law). Since it's the "land of enchantment/entrapment," I'm still here, and have been here for eight years now. In addition to Venus, I have an 11-year-old corgi mix dog named Katie and an 8(?) year old cat named Merlin. I practice law at a civil defense law firm where I specialize in litigation and enjoy employment law and constitutional rights cases.

Me and Katie Mae, when I was in law school...
I adopted her the day after I moved to Albuquerque,
when she was three years old.

Then along came Merlin, aka Monkey-Baby

Finally, there came Venus Mara, my marathon training partner!
Here we are with our good friends Carey and Tux at a Doggie Dash.
Venus didn't feel like looking at the camera that day...
I think she was embarrassed by her behavior during the run
(she kept trying to chase after other dogs instead of worrying about our time!)

I like living in the gorgeous Southwest although I will admit it took awhile to grow on me due to culture shock from being an East Coast transplant! I miss my family but I try to visit them, and vice versa, as much as possible. I love to travel all over: anything from road trips in New Mexico and the four corners regions to international sightseeing when I get the time. (Shoopie and I recently took a week-long trip to Guatemala, which rocked!) I also love to write and hope to be published one day when I stay dedicated and determined enough to do it! I belong to a great writing group here in Albuquerque that meets weekly. I also enjoy skiing, reading, going out with my friends, especially my best friend Jessica :), and all types of music and movies.

This blog tracks my progress in training as well as my thoughts and activities in other areas of my life. I hope to fill it with positive inspiration to help me stay motivated and dedicated to my goals, in running and in life. Welcome to my journey. :)