Monthly Archives: February 2012

Pro(u)st

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The (in)famous Proust Questionnaire has been going viral this past week. Vanity Fair prints it in their magazine but since chances are slim to none that I will ever be interviewed by said magazine, voila:

1.What is your idea of perfect happiness? being with the person I love most

2.What is your greatest fear? losing the person I love most; being buried alive

3.What is the trait you most deplore in yourself? lack of creativity

4.What is the trait you most deplore in others? righteousness

5.Which living person do you most admire? Paula Radcliffe

6.What is your greatest extravagance? running shoes

7.What is your current state of mind? content

8.What do you consider the most overrated virtue? wealth

9.On what occasion do you lie? when I don’t want to hurt someone’s feelings

10.What do you most dislike about your appearance? my nose

11.Which living person do you most despise? Donald Trump

12.What is the quality you most like in a man? intelligence; sense of humor; strong work ethic

13.What is the quality you most like in a woman? intelligence; sense of humor; strong work ethic

14.Which words or phrases do you most overuse? awesome

15.What or who is the greatest love of your life? David

16.When and where were you happiest? with David

17.Which talent would you most like to have? creativity

18.If you could change one thing about yourself, what would it be? be more ambitious

19.What do you consider your greatest achievement? my successful marriage

20.If you were to die and come back as a person or a thing, what would it be? my dog

21.Where would you most like to live? Venice

22.What is your most treasured possession? it was Nelson

23.What do you regard as the lowest depth of misery? loneliness

24.What is your favorite occupation? running; spending time with friends; travelling

25.What is your most marked characteristic? honesty; loyalty; directness

26.What do you most value in your friends? their ability to accept me for who I am

27.Who are your favorite writers? Jane Austen; Charles Dickens; Bob Woodward; Walter Isaacson

28.Who is your hero of fiction? Jai Raventhorne in “Olivia and Jai”

29. Who is your heroine of fiction? Portia in “The Merchant of Venice”

30.Who are your heroes in real life? Gandhi; JFK; Albino Luciani; Peter Benenson; Barack Obama; all those who contribute to improving the human condition

31.Who are your heroines in real life? Margaret Sanger; Aung San Suu Kyi; again, all those who contribute to improving the human condition

32. What are your favorite names? Ella and Miles

33. What is your favorite color? blue

34. Who is your favorite painter? Georgia O’Keeffe; Marc Chagall

35. Who is your favorite composer? Mozart

36.What is it that you most dislike? injustice

37.What is your greatest regret? not going into medicine

38.How would you like to die? quick and unexpected

39.What is your motto? Born to run

Today’s Running Tip: Run for fun!

Runners who overdo it on races often dread the next time they have to line up at the start. Take a break! Stop training for the next PR or race goal and just run for fun for a while. Then sign up for a race without putting the pressure  of a specific finish time on yourself! You will rejuvenate and find your love for running again.

New Beginnings

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January! Always the first month of the year. We can truly leave the old year behind and look forward to new beginnings and possibilities for the current one that has just begun. This year I was more than ever to say “Good Bye” to the old year. A year that ended with such an immense loss for us.

January was the first full month we lived without Nelson and although we have (more or LESS!!!) adjusted to not having him by our side at all times, it has not been easy. The raw pain we felt right after he died has eased but we miss him constantly. I don’t cry every day anymore but it still does not take much to get me tearing up, especially when I come across something I am not expecting (a video of him on our camera taken just days before he passed away), or when someone asks about him. The mother of one of my best friends said it best: “Time does not actually heal wounds, it just allows them to scab over. And every scab can be ripped off at a moment’s notice!” I know that for some it is hard to understand that I could grieve over a dog like I do, but to us Nelson was truly a family member and the pain of losing him is just as great as losing a human one.

Our friends and neighbors keep asking if we will get another dog. Eventually we will, but for now we need to let our hearts heal and fulfill some travel plans. The last two years of his life we did not want to leave Nelson for extended periods of time as he was getting older and frailer, even though we had wonderful friends who looked after him lovingly. We had really only gone away for long weekends at the most and would love to travel more frequently and extensively now that we don’t have the responsibility of a furry friend at home. We will know when the time is right and we are able to love another but for now we will take a break and enjoy our friends’ dogs and cat.

The winter so far has been nothing but brilliant weather wise and January brought us temperatures in the mid 80s. I am not complaining!

I took a trip up to Santa Barbara to see my friend Wendy graduate with her Ph.D. from the school I used to work at. I am so incredibly proud of her as she had to overcome many obstacles to reach this admirable achievement. It was nice to see former co workers, some of whom are wonderful friends.

Talking of wonderful friends, one of our “oldest” came to visit us for two weeks. I met Barry on Thanksgiving Day in 1987 and David has known him even longer. For a while we lived close to each other and saw each other regularly, but then he moved to Tuscany (I KNOW!!!). It was nice to catch up and spend time together and we made plans to visit him this summer (I KNOW!!!).

And to wrap up a month of friendships and (re)connections, I went to my friend Hayley’s baby shower this past weekend. I met Hayley through Team in Training in Santa Barbara and have loved her from the day I met her. I actually knew her husband, Nick, before I knew Hayley and I could not be more thrilled that they are expecting their first child, a son, who is due in April. I cannot wait to meet Baby Mullen and a trip to NYC, where they live now, is planned. It was a lovely even with fabulous (running) friends, friends I love dearly even if I do not see them that much any more.

And speaking of running: I felt great all month, even ran through a short cold without feeling crappy. I have to believe that Nellie’s gentle soul was shining down on me. Let’s hope February will continue on this track.

Total Distance: 230.52 miles
Total Time: 51:39:22 min
Run Distance: 186.4 miles
Run Time: 23:44:22 min
Walk Distance: 44.12 miles 
Walk Time: 14:55:00 min
  • Shortest run: 5 miles
  • Longest run: 6.8 miles
  • Average speed: 7:38 min/miles
  • Strength & Endurance: 9 hours
  • Spinning: 3 hours
Today’s Running Tip: Running with a cold!
Even though this has been a mild winter nation wide so far, cold and flu season always brings up the question: “Can I run while sick?” The rule of thumb is that if your symptoms are below the neck (chest cold, bronchial infection, body ache) you should take a break from running and rest until you are well again. If your symptoms are above the neck (runny nose, stuffiness, sneezing) you can continue with your workouts.