Another year

The cliche that they pass more quickly is true. Still, I like celebrating my birthday - the more the better. Henry and I had breakfast at the Four Seasons this morning, perfectly decadent and a great way to start the day. This evening the LDI holiday party and then dinner with Susie, Lesley and Chris at Melograno. Gretchen Butts sent a really nice e-card. I got a paper card from an office mate and e-mail singing from my friend Lucy. All is good, and I will stick to the thought of wiser, better, more....

Really sank in today

That I'm not going south to show this year. Last year, I had already done a weekend in Florida and was about to do the first horse trial of the season. Prior years, this was packing for Aiken weekend. It became visceral today. Although, it didn't make me sad. I'm enjoying hearing about Keebler's progress with Debi and not having to go out in the cold (broken arm aside). Looking forward to getting back to a more regular exercise schedule including more running. Have lots of dinners booked with friends that there normally isn't time for. Will even be having dinner with Henry on Valentine's day, which is a Saturday this year -- what a concept!

A new day

I was able to see live feed of Obama's inaguration speech and think it really set the tone for a new direction. A leader in women's health and choice was quoted as saying the last 8 years have been a desolate wildnerness for progress in that area. I've decided to act locally in this year's exercise fund-raising and dedicate the Rock 'n' Roll series to raising money for a really great Philadelphia organization, www.backonmyfeet.org. If you'd like to donate, go here:

http://www.active.com/donate/raceforbackonmyfeet/seema_sonnad

1 down for me, down and out for the Eagles

I ran the rock 'n' roll Arizona 1/2 marathon yesterday. Did running with a broken wrist in a splint slow me down, not really. Did running after 2 weeks of no exercise at all slow me down, possibly. Did running in the Arizona desert slow me down, absolutely. But thanks to my great coach at www.2Lcoaching.com, even after the 2 weeks, I was in good enough shape to run the 1/2 marathon in my usual pre-coaching half marathon time. So I am started on the plan to run all 10 of the rock 'n' roll events this year, 9 half marathons and one full.

The metro light rail in Phoenix is a great thing. I didn't rent a car and was able to take light rail to and from the airport, to and from dinner and from the race finish line back to my hotel. Service was a little spotty timewise on Sunday afternoon, but it was otherwise really great.

On the bad news side of the weekend, the Eagles lost the NFC championship game to the Cardinals. I was at PHX at the time and there were a lot of happy people there, but more disconsolate ones on the plan back to Philly. Still, it was a good end of the year run and two championships in one year would probably be more than the city could really handle.

May I say triple brrr!!

Those of you who spend time with me, know that double brrr is my usual expression for cold weather (well ok, Florida buddies may not know that), but the high today is only 18 degrees and Philadelphia has turned me into a total cold-weenie. Of course, the Keebler boy was supposed to be enjoying being somewhere warm and it is 22 degrees in Alabama right now, so that theory isn't foolproof. Were I at Ashmore, I could be enjoying 60 degrees or in Aiken with a liveable, though still pretty darned chilly 35. Of course, tomorrow I head for Phoenix, where the expected low is 47 and the high 76. I'll be trying to soak up enough warmth to bring some home.

my guilty pleasure

American Idol returns to the screen tonight. While I don't pay much attention in between seasons, I do tune in for my Tuesday night doses of "bad TV" (in my world, any TV that is not sports) during the idol season. I like watching, and rooting. Unlike many, I prefer the good singers to the bad/worse/ridiculous auditions. It is interesting to see which contestents, not always the winners become stars and the other things that they go on to do. While I'm admitting to my pop culture vices....my favorite CD of each of the past several years ---- The Grammy Nominees. Looking forward to this year's release

no pain, all gain

Surgery went great on Friday. I made the anesthesiologists do it with only the axillary block, no sedative, but it worked great and allowed me to go out for drinks with Lesley and Maripeg on Friday evening, less than 5 hours after end of surgery. The down side was the 11 tries it took the team to get an IV in (which finally ended up in the left foot after trying, right hand, right arm, right wrist, right foot).

No pain and no pain killers meant dinner at the BYO was also on Saturday night. It was great to catch up with Nicole, Jenna, Rick and Charles and the wine was excellent. We highly recommend Majolica in downtown Phoenixville.

On Sunday, the Eagles won and will go on to the NFC championship game. I will actually be in Phoenix, AZ, since I'm running the Rock 'n' Roll AZ half marathon that day. Hope to be done running (or walking, depending on the wrist) in time to plop down at a Sports Bar in the airport to watch the game.

Trying to be sanguine about no exercise until the run/walk (not supposed to expose wound healing to dampness, so no sweating) and have resolved to add meditation to my days.

Silver Lining

So, I was putting on my socks this morning (a longer than usual process with one wrist in a splint) and I realized having not done the long run on Sunday may have saved my toenails. They are still pretty black, but I am thinking they may not actually fall off this round, which they have done many times in the past. Toenails....wrist, not sure about that trade-off, but I'll take what I can get.

Did it again

And this is not the Britney song! I managed to break my wrist again, this time falling off a school horse during a lesson, pretty damned embarrassing. Also, annoying, but luckily, not particularly painful. The plan is for surgery Friday, then about 6 weeks of pt to get back to full function. Decided to go ahead and try to do the rnraz.com 1/2 marathon on the 18th. Stay tuned for an update on how that goes. I'm willing to walk it if need be. Luckily Keebler is attended to.