My heritage

I was invited to a birthday celebration yesterday for a dear Friend who is also Mexican. I haven't had so much fun in a while. It made me realize how much I miss my family and our own celebrations. This party made me feel right at home and for that I am very thankful. I was surrounded by women who discussed child rearing quirks in a Mexican family; women who weren't afraid to be loud and boisterous after a few drinks; strong women with opinions and attitudes. And no one was judging. I haven't had this feeling in a long while and it was awesome!

Some of the best memories I have of family are of being all together, singing, playing guitars, dancing, laughing, and enjoying each others company. This could go on until the late hours of the night and no one seemed to mind. Food was always abundant and tequila (or wine for me) helped everyone lose their inhibitions so even the non dancers danced, the not talkative gave great speeches and the stoic showed a bit of emotion. That's what I call a good party. No regrets. Ever.

I don't get to enjoy these family gatherings very often. In fact, our family rarely gets together anymore, which is sad, but such is the course of life. So I yearn for time with them again, to be together, to enjoy their presence, to learn from them, to be annoyed by their all too familiar characteristics. I hope that my children grow to love this part of their heritage, but I fear that we are much detached from it so they will never appreciate it the way I do. But I am motivated to expose them whenever possible so that they can decide for themselves. What's not to love about being Mexican :)


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The life of a mama

Before I had children I didn't know.. (You may fill in your own blanks)

Anything about myself
I still don't (know anything I mean)
I could have so much and so little patience
I had so much pent up anger
How to enjoy life
And hate it at times
How much emotions scare me
How emotional I can be
How much I value silence
How much I love my children's laughter
That I hate drawn out exits
That my children have their own timeline
That I need lots of personal space
That I love cuddling
That my confidence would soar
That guilt would overshadow it
That my life could be so full
And yet so lonely
That I could love so much
And gain so much
If I could just relax and enjoy the ride...







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2014 Cinderella Trail Run (Mothers Day)

Race recap: Read bullets for summary, a more descriptive translation follows

Favorite things about this race (in order of priority):

1. Location--30 minute drive from my house
2. Course! The course travels through beautiful Joaquin Miller Park to Redwood Regional Park with spectacular views of the Oakland Hills and Bay Area along the way.
3. Cost--$50 for a 30k, cheapest race I've done so far and best served. Hello hamburgers and beer at the finish!
4. Challenge--Trail running is NOT the same as road running and this was my first longish trail run.
5. Date--Perfect excuse for being gone for the first part of the day. Great weather!

Things I would have done differently:

1. Different shoes--I decided to wear my oldest and most worn out running shoes...bad idea! I knew after eating dirt on the first downhill that I was ill-fitted for this run. Trail running shoes are a must!

2. Less ambitious goals--being my first long trail run I should have signed up for the half marathon not the 30k.

3. More downhill training, on trails, not roads--think running uphill is hard? Try running downhill on a trail and see how fast your face lands on the gravel.

Ok, so now for the interested I'm going to provide the most detailed description I can. My brain is still foggy so I may miss a few things but I will do my best.

The race started at 8am sharp. Check in was a breeze, there were plenty of volunteers and a small crowd (a nice plus of trail races, they can be small).

We tackled our first set of hills and my legs thanked me for having done hilI training. I started passing a few runners, some men, and I was able to actually run the uphills (in trail running many runners walk the uphills). By mile 4 I hit my first major downhill and I ate dirt. Yes sir I did. I got up gracefully and decided I was going to walk the downhills, very carefully, if I wanted to finish this race alive. You see, I chose the wrong shoes because I didn't want to ruin my new pair in the mud. Wrong! I should have chosen safety over vanity...oh well.

I remembered from the map that mile 8 was the beginning of the steepest hill so at around mile 7 I ate/drank/swallowed my first gel. Good choice! Check out that hill...woo hoo!





It was a killer! And I ran most of it, slowly. During this stretch I "teamed up" with a group of runners who would zoom by me on the down hills, and then I would catch up on the uphills. Yes it was a huge boost of confidence.

By about mile 12 and with just a little over a mile to go I contemplated stopping at the half marathon mark. It was way too tempting and I dwelled on this thought for a while, but I didn't. I passed the "finish" line and I kept going for the rest of my 5 miles. For a moment I thought I was lost. No runners in sight so I retraced my steps about 500 yards until I met up with some ultra marathoners (crazy people!) who assured me I was on the right path. So I added about a mile to my course, oh well.

The last 5 miles weren't too bad. My right knee was angry but my stamina strong. My legs were ultra wobbly so I slowed down the pace (better shoes would have been nice here!). 2.5 miles to go and I thought: Lucia, you got this. Enjoy the rest. And I did. I finished in 3 hours and 52 minutes, and I came in second for my age category. It was a small race so no huge bragging points here but I felt great!

Last thoughts:

I'm hooked on trail running
Trail races are "chilled." They are mostly on an honor system. There is plenty of opportunity to cheat on your distance, but you only cheat yourself.
I like running with people but I also enjoy running alone--a lot! :)
Need to train on trails. Even though I've done some hill training, my stride is conditioned for roads. I've learned to "glide" when I run and this is it good for trail running.
I like points to point races. There is psychological defeat when I have to repeat the same course twice.
No, I didn't have a hamburger, or a beer, but it was nice that they were available.

See you next year!

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