I can't keep up!  There's so much out there from the emails, website, blog, twitter and facebook, who can keep it all straight, and fresh!  Oh yeah, then there's this work-smirk stuff, followed by this crazy drive to continue competing.  And we are moving into XC season.  Loggin the miles, hitting 50's regularly, now working in some tough workouts.  All this makes for a very tired running diva!

I realize I promised a summary of the National track meet up in Eugene -- and I haven't forgotten about it!  Actually, it continues to keep me extremely motivated.  What a day, what a memory, and a buzz that continues!  I will get the photos on the web at some point, and hopefully, along w/ the images i will be able to portray the experience we had up in Track Town USA -- yes, a chance of a lifetime -- and fully engulfed!

But for now, I'm mosing do the bedroom, brushing my teeth, getting some water for the evening.  Then up early in the morn to go out to the XC course and meet up w/ some fellow running divas.  The divas that are getting dirty, loggin the miles and getting burly for XC season! 

aero out

Wow.  Well, the weekend up at Eugene was just amazing.  It was crazy getting there, but we had tons of fun in Seattle on Thursday and Friday working the Rock n Roll expo. 

We did great, running divas were very well accepted by the ladies in the pacific northwest.  We stayed downtown at an art hotel (Max) and luck w/ their great sushi bar that has two happy hours (the second one starts at 10 pm.).  Ideal for a late plane ride to Seattle.

The walk to the expo took us right through the core of Seattle.  Tons of tall buildings, hilly terrain and the windy effects of the bay kept whipping by.  The Qwest Center is nice -- great sports complex for both the Seahawks and Marioners.  Felt for the fans and marathoners on Thursday -- both groups where headed to the center simultaneously and no one was movig very fast.  Never a good thing for attitude at the expo, if everyone has to battle the traffic just to get parked. 

One thing I'll always remember was the buzz through the crowds talking about Michael Jackson, of course at the diva booth we also talked about Farrah.  Overall had a great time in Seattle -- we'll be back!

Friday nite we rushed off for Eugene.  Finally found a taxi outside the expo center and made it to the airport w/ plenty of time to spare.  That airport is interesting w/ the underground trains that you take to get to your gate.  After three separate trains we get to our terminal -- it's late around 10 pm and realatively empty at the airport.  There is an attendant at our gate, we check in and then are told we are on standby and the plane if full -- what?  I bought the tickets, full price, why am I know on standby?  We lucked out though (after I had a slight nervous fit) and were provided our tickets.

Talked to Emil while waiting for the board the plane.  Really didn't want to cause and inconvenience w/ their schedule (baby and all), but he insisted on picking us up at the Eugene airport.  I'm stoked he did, because at 12 midnight I think it would have taken us a while to track down a taxi at that airport. 

When we got to the house in Eugene, we were so happy to see all the amenities.   It was a Frank Loyd inspired house w/ a large court yard and a separate guest house that Marc and I moved into.  On Friday nite, the best aspect for us was the hot tub!  Just what we needed for a good nite sleep. 

This is a good stopping point -- later I'll pick it up on Saturday -- what a day!  This is where the track fun kicks into full gear. 

I'm off to groceries -- tried my best to avoid it today, but here I go.  My plan is to continue tomorrow w/ the USATF track meet -- w/ photos and stories.  I'm sure you just can't wait ;)

aero out

What better way to bring in a new year (42 that is) than with a 1500 race in front of thousands of track enthusiasts, racing with a group of other ladies in the Exhibition masters 1500.  It's bound to be very interesting -- this race will be held on the last day of the USA Track and Field National Championships where athletes across the country are competing for a spot on the World Championship team.  For me, it's a pleasure to be invited to race in an exhibition to show the great fans at Hayward Field what athletes are able to do in the later year of your competitive live.

This will be my first ever Masters Competition.  I've generally been competing in open races, stirring it up w/ the college racers along w/ some open competitors, and this has been a pleasure to toe the line with women who could actually be my children -- and on my good days actually beating a handful of them.  This has been one of my main goals with running track -- to show the young ladies that competition after college can be a reality!  Who knows, there are many like myself who have actually been able to run personal records well into my 30s.  Running up in Eugene is a great venue (I think the best in US) to reach to track fans with hopes of extending their competitive spirit to the great oval!  Let's face it, not everyone enjoys racing on the roads.  With cross country in the fall, followed by track in the spring who has time to even consider road racing.

Running Divas will be up in Seattle on Wednesday - Friday for the inaugural Rock n Roll in Seattle, and then Marc and I are flying down to Eugene to partake in the great track meet!  On Saturday nite we'll be able to watch the women's 1500, then my race is Sunday at noon.  We're meeting up w/ Christine and Emil and sharing a house with them and another couple.  Christine and I have run many races together, but not for some time.  So this will be a very special homecoming for the two of us! 

But for now I need to relax for the next week and a half.  We have three more hard workouts, and lots of rest and recovery.  Need to be calm throughout this time and use my energy wisely -- even at the office. 

Have a great week.  Talk w/ you soon.  aero

Wow, I'm quite behind on this bloggin thing.  It seems the 140 twitter micro-blog is less intimidating and much easier to update on a frequent, off-the-cuff fashion. 

There has been quite a lot happening throughout the spring w/ track season fully underway.  I ran in 5 meets, and have another 4 scheduled throughout mid July.  Focusing predominately on the 1500 which is a surprise seeing how I went into this season thinking 800s would be fun.  My fitness continues to improve, which is always good in a track season.  I think my confidence is following!  The past two weeks we've been at home, so I've been able to get in some extremely solid workouts in on Wednesdays and Saturdays.  This should be a big help on the last four meets of the year! 

Next two races are open invites down in So Cal.  Should be some great competition which is always good for running fast!  Then I'm actually jumping into my first masters competition ever.  The evolution over to masters has been an interesting endeavor.  I'm looking forward to meeting up w/ many inspiring individuals who truly are lifestyle track competitors! 

Eugene / Hayward Field is in the mix -- an exhibit women's master 1500 will take place on Sunday -- the final day of the USA Track & Field National Championship meet.  I must say I would prefer to be racing in the open 1500 (which would mean I ran a sub 4:17.5 earlier in the season), but that's not yet in the cards, so to be asked to compete in the master's 1500 is quite an honor.  I hope many fast ladies enter into the race, and we impress the fans at Hayward Field with vat amount of talent and grace at this great age!

Speaking of grace, I had the opportunity to be interviewed by Carmel Papworth-Barnum, she's the creator and editor of the website women running together (http://www.women-running-together.com/index.html).  It was very flattering to be poised with inspiring questions as to what running is to me.  In addition to an email interview, we also talked on the phone in more detail sharing our thoughts of women's running.  Please check out her website, and see the resources and interviews from other ladies in the field. 

Here's my interview w/ Carmel -- now you get to know even more great information about the running diva!  http://www.women-running-together.com/aeronarlingenet.html

Next up this weekend, Marc and I are taking the running divas to the San Diego Rock n Roll Marathon Expo!  We are looking forward to some great fun, meeting up w/ divas of our past as well as new ones who have never even seen what we have to offer.

Talk w/ you soon!  Thanks for checking in.  aero

Marc and I are continuing on the road tour.  It's awfully tough when you combine the spring marathon expo season w/ Boston and Big Sur into the spring track season.  I really paid the price for the hours of standing on concrete at last weekend's 1500 at Payton Jordan Invite at Stanford.  Let's hope today I'll notice this week's focus on resting and recovery and have some spunk in my legs when I hit lap three.

Marc's the best -- very patient, willing to give up his Saturday's to drive around California for a whooping 4 + minute race!  It's always so much easier if I race well, so that's what I'm going for today!  We are very familiar w/ the Eagle Rock area, and have a great Mexican food spot to visit when the race is over (love Senior Fish).

Not sure which route we'll take -- HWY 101 may be tough w/ the fires in Santa Barbara.  Need to seek out Bobbie and see how she's doing.  Her home is in the evacuation zone, even the Air District office had to evacuate yesterday!  It scary how hard SB has been hit over the years by fires, and this one hit so early in the season.  Let's hope they get it under control soon and this is the last one for the year. 

Off on a leisurely stroll w/ the doggies.  Great way to shake the legs and mind out prior to packing for the race.  If you haven't visited yet, check out my twitter feed -- the limit w/ 140 characters make it VERY easy to update.

Enjoy the weekend.  aero

We had a good trip down to UCLA on Saturday.  Race went well.  Moving into faster times, and strong competition.  Here's some coverage that Ken Stone w/ Masterstrack.com provided of my race:

I'm glad to be at this point of the week.  It's once again been a hectic, crazy work week, and today things at the office are actually starting the weekend wind-down.  Only three meetings set, and hopefully I'll have a little time to get caught up on those piles covering my desk and that 300 plus email that I haven't even opened -- yikes.

But what's more important is my body is feeling healthy (feet and all) and I have a good race scheduled for Saturday afternoon down at UCLA.  Looks like a strong heat, with fast divas toeing the line in the 1500.  This will be an up and back event for Marc and I, so we won't even need to worry about the doggies -- it's almost like a normal hour work-week day for them.  This will make things simpler for the race and hopefully produce a nice relaxing pre-race mind set.

I've had a great workout routine this week.  Nice strong workout on Wednesday w/ 800s & 200s.  Followed by two "play track" / core days and two days of pool running.  Everything is on schedule -- so we'll see that the payback is on Saturday. 

It even more special knowing that I won't be racing on the track for three more weekends due to our marathon expo schedule on the horizon.  We leave for the Boston Marathon next Thursday, so we'll be missing Mt Sac Invite, then the following weekend we'll be in Big Sur for their marathon.  Glad to have expos on the horizon -- this stinkin economy is making website sales tough.  We definitely need a major website update -- and I hope to put some time in on that front on the drive to/from UCLA this Saturday. 

Need to get going -- first meeting today -- economic stimulus funds for slo co!  Can't wait to fill you in on the race details.  Stay tuned. a

It's always a hard decision to know when to ease up or when to push it harder.  But this weekend, wisdom came my way and we decided to listen to my foot and not to jump in the 800 at Poly Invite.  Of course, I was mopey on Saturday, wishing I was stirrin it up  w/ all the alum from poly.  But instead I rested the foot, hung around the house and got real hungry for my next race down at UCLA this coming weekend.

I think I was starting to get a little case of planter, but w/ a few easy days and not wearing spikes things seem to be much better.  After talking w/ Kara yesterday at "play track" it seems that planter is common, so common she's been dealing w/ it for the past few years, and something she has been able to train through.  But being older, I must remind myself to be wise and rest a ton!

So this week we have a hard workout on Wednesday morning at the track.  It looks like two sets of 1-800 (72ish) & 4 x 200 (35).  Followed by 4 x 150s fast.  I won't be wearing spikes at all during this workout -- saving it for the race on Saturday.  I've entered into the 1500.  Ali will be there so we should be guaranteed to run a fast honest race!  Definitely skipping out of the poly invite has made me hungry to race again! 

One thing I've learned over the years of racing track -- you never know when a fast race will come around the corner or when it may be the last chance to race fast -- so take all opportunities that come your way and race your a$$ off.  The one slogan that totally rings true for racing for me is "pain is the test" -- it's not going to feel easy, and generally speaking the pain is a mental thing that last only temporarily.

Got a crazy work schedule today.  Solid set of meetings (w/ not breaks) from 9 - 4:30.  Oh joy.  The stinkin thing about this schedule is the amount of work that I have stacked up in my office that must be done -- and not much actually moves on my desk when I'm in meetings. I know, I know... the art of delegation.  Something I'm still learning.

aero out

Seems to sum things up for the most part.  Whether it's work, house chores, blogging or even the races this past weekend at Stanford Invite.  It's not easy!

Don't have much time this am for the blog front, but quickly, we had a blast at Stanford this weekend.  Definitely moving into a new transition of the "master" runner on the track.  Definitely had the rest of the field by a solid decade.  And w/ this meet there is a great showing from high school kids from across the nation.  No question about it, I was hangin out racing kids -- my virtual children.  It's great fun carrying the "old lady" flag, and even beating some young butt to boot!

Siince time is tight, I'll just point you to the two races that were covered by FloTrak (what a great thing):

1500: http://www.flotrack.org/videos/coverage/view_video/234811/165158

800: http://www.flotrack.org/videos/coverage/view_video/234811/165337

Overall the season is "on track."  Off to a strong finish, w/ much more speed to come in the near future.  This weekend, Poly Invite where I'll be racing in the 800.  GO MUSTANGS!

For the past week and a half I have been battling this funky feel in my left ankle.  I'm not great at explaining it, but it's a tight twitchy feel that occurs every so often when my foot-placement is just so...   It doesn't seem to last forever, but it definitely comes and goes it it sees fit.  Last Tuesday morning when JR and I were running at 0 dark hundred, for the first 8 minutes this portion of my foot/ankle was talking to me.  Saying "hold on now"  "not so fast"  "I'm a llittle tight here!"

Then after 8ish minutes, wala (sp) the talking was silienced!  Didn't feel a thing. Able to finish my 7 mile run uninterupted -- as planned

Then I had a great workout on Wednesday!  Early morning, extremely cold conditions.  Felt good during the warm-up, but my ankle was a little tight w/ the grass strides.  Started the workout, under-pace (surprise, surprise!).  600s/400/200 x 4. I hit 75 pace for the 600s, 74 pace for the 400s and 34 (68) for the 2s!  held this strong all the way through!  Ended w/ 1 mile of 150 build-ups in my spikes.  Foot/ankle felt great. 2 mile warm down, showed at Cuest and then took off for a meeting in Monterey.  What a day!

It's nice having a work function so close to home.  I think it took about 2.5 hours to drive -- so this was actually time to relax and think about random mind-numbing thingns.  

Took an easy run on Thursday -- just love that trail on the Pacific Ocean between Monterey and Pacific Grove!  Amazing cliffs, seals on rocks, that really just look like rocks.  And dirt to boot!

Anyways, got home on Thursday evening.  Felt pretty good.  Had to get a few more hours in for the APCD (darn Board meetings!).  Ankle started feeling tight. 

Friday worksmirk -- ankle still tight.  At this point, I'm not too excited about the Northridge Invite on Saturday.  Tired from the work week compounded w/ travel -- plus my stinkin ankle keeps talking to me!

Saturday surf's up!  Marc's out the door to catch some waves before the wind picks up.  He'll be back later and we can figure out what workout is up for the day. 

Endless to say, I couldn't get away form my shattery ankle.  no matter how much I walked around the house or what shoes I was wearing, my ankle said -- yo, over here, I'm tight!  

My ankle won!  I was wise and decided to skip my Saturday race (actually decided that on the drive back from Monterey) and my workout on Saturday!  Now I just need to make sure I don't start feeling fat (Ha!).

I was stoked on Sunday when I was able to get a full 10 miler in w/ Kinter.  Good conversation, and i didn't let the ankle thoughts get the best of me.  Surprise, surprise, my ankle felt good all throughout the day!

So, here we are.  Tuesday enening.  The nite before Wednesday's workout.  I've been able to run this morning  I must admit, my ankle was tight -- but not too twitchy, thankfully!

For tomorrow we're starting it off w/ a workout at Cuesta Track!  I'll leave the house at 6 am.  Start my warm-up immediately.  Main difference -- we'll do the strides on the track vs. the grass in-field.  Then proceed to an 8 x 500 (73 pace); 4 x 200 (35) and 2 x 100 (16.5).  Should be fun!

I'll feel you in w/ more great detail 2moro! 

Wishing you and your loved one sweet dreams!  aero out