Seawheeze Half Marathon and Compression Socks

On Saturday my running partner (in crime)/mother and I ran the Seawheeze Half Marathon in Vancouver BC. It was a wonderful race. Here is a little re-cap.

My mom and I headed up to Vancouver on Friday afternoon (my mom worked a half day and I currently am studying for my boards/applying for jobs). There was a lot of traffic in the afternoon, but what else do you expect.

We checked into the Delta Suites Vancouver (which I highly suggest staying in) around 5pm and proceeded immediately to pick up our race packets. Our hotel was in walking distance to the convention center (and race start), so picking up our packet was easy. The race did not give out bibs, but instead gave us bracelets with our information on them. I like that because 1.) I am so short that the bib takes up my entire torso and 2.) the bibs are just kind of annoying, especially during a long race. The rest of the night consisted of eating a carb filled dinner (maybe a glass of wine) and going to bed early.

My Mom and I selfie

The view of the water in Vancouver

The next morning was pre-race ritual as normal. Woke up, had my bagel and headed down to the race.

The race was spectacular. The start was done in waves, so I started approximately 25 mins after 7am. The views were wonderful and there was plenty of water and cheering support. This race is relatively flat with a few minor hills, so if you are looking to PR, this is a good one. I did not PR (or come close). The 1st 10 miles felt great. I was keeping up a decent pace. But right at mile 10.1 my body decided to be done. I knew this was going to happen because although I did train with long runs, I did not run enough through out the week to add up my mileage. That is okay though, I still had a wonderful time. I will be doing this race again next year!

Here are some pictures during the race. Photo source: Seawheese FB page

The start of the race

Cheer stations…Probably the best one

My mom after the race wearing the medal and the shorts you get with this race!

During the race I noticed a lot of people wearing compression socks. I have had people tell me that I should wear them and I have had people ask me what they are good for. Hey, just because I am a doctor now doesn't mean I know everything! But I do know how to look things up…so I did.

Source

Performance manufactures claim that compression socks improve power, endurance and aid in recovery after high intensity activities.

One study found that the compression gear did not increase maximum jump height, but did help maintain a higher repetitive jump height compared to not wearing the compression gear. This means, the socks do not make you jump higher, but you will be able to sustain a higher jump height when jump over and over again. This study also reported that people reported lower rate of perceived exertion (RPE) when wearing compression gear than without compression gear. (Rugg)

Another study found that anaerobic and aerobic thresholds were more favorable with compression socks and that speed was significantly higher with compression socks than without. This article did not find a difference in HR or O2 max. (Kemmier)

Both articles suggested that compression socks have positive effects on venous hemodynamics, arterial perfusion, deeper tissue oxygenation and muscle oscillation (which means that you are getting better blood flow and more oxygen to your muscles and blood back to your heart), along with decreased muscle breakdown, fatigue, soreness with the use of compression socks. Both articles are not 100% sure how compression socks work, but they feel that there is a proprioceptive input (proprioception means knowing where your body is in space) to your muscles making them more efficient.

The second article stated that there was only at most a 2% difference in their findings, so if you are a high end athlete, this could make all the difference with winning gold or silver, but will only help you a little if you are just average Joe or Jane. But hey, anything to shave off a minute or two when I am running.

I think I will give these socks a try!

Does anyone use compression socks and what are your thoughts on how they work?

References:
1. Rugg S, Sternlicht E. The effects of graduated compression tights, compared with running shorts, on counter movement jump performance before and after submaximal running. Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research. 2014: 28;1067-1073.

2. Kemmier W, Stengel SV, Kockritz C, Mayhew H, Wassermann A, Jurgen Z. Effect of compression stockings on running perforance in men runners. Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research. 2009: 23(1); 101-105.

Done and Done

I completed my goal of finishing 30 half marathons by the end of 2013 (because I turned 30 this year). On November 30th I crossed the finish line of the Seattle Ghost Half Marathon around 10:15ish. Not my best race time, but definitely not my worst. I felt pretty good for the first 7 miles (which was expected since that is about the amount of training I did). Every mile after that was a little painful, but I knew I was one step closer with every step I took to completing my goal. I ran the Seattle Ghost last year, so for more information on this race check out my past post.

As for now, I am not going to do any long distance running and let my quad recover. I also think I am getting to the point where running 4 half marathons in a year is not very good for my body. I think I will stick to 1 or 2 per year from now on. I already have my next half planned out. It is in August in Vancouver Canada and is sponsored by Lululemon.

For my next running goal...I am putting this online so I have to do it (but I am not setting a time frame), I would love to run the New York Marathon.

Right now I am focusing on recovering and strengthening. I signed up for 2 months of yoga at Yoga Bliss, which is one of my favorite yoga studios. Yoga has been so beneficial to me. It is helping my quad to recover by strengthening and stretching it as well as toning my arms for my wedding...

Speaking of which...ahhhhh...My wedding is 4 days away. I have been spending a lot of family time and getting things done for the wedding. That is where I have been for the past 3 weeks. So off to complete some more wedding stuff and I'll be sure to show lots of pictures in my next post.

I hope your Thanksgiving was filled with fun and full tummies.

Any exciting trips planned for the Holidays?

Half Marathon #29 and Patellar Taping

On Sunday I did the Sandy Feet Temecula Half Marathon, thus completing my 29th half marathon. Notice the word choice "did" and not "run". Okay, I did run most of it and I did finish, but it was not pretty. I debated not running this race because of my bum knee…thus, I did not train for this race and thus the above verbiage. 

Well, I am not one to sign up for a race and not do it (hell, I ran a half last year with a bad cold), so on Saturday afternoon, I headed down to Oceanside (near San Diego) to spend the night at my friend Kelsey's (aka co-crazy runner) house. We watched girly movies and made a delicious pasta dinner. We went to bed early because we had to wake up at 5am. Luckily, 5am is when I wake up everyday for work, so it wasn't that big of a deal. We were on the road by 6am and at the race start (after a quick Starbucks stop) by 7am. The race started at 7:30. 

We were off. I will spare you the gory details, but the course was mostly loose pack dirt and large steep hills. My legs (and knee) felt great for the first 7 miles  but the last 6 miles were HELL. My knee started to hurt, then it stopped, but that is because I think my entire body went numb. I might have curse out Kelsey in my head (who picked this race and ran it significantly faster than me) during the entire twelfth mile. When it was over all I could think of was how happy I was done. 

Kelsey and I at the finish line

Did I mention that the race started and ended at a winery? Well it did, so we might have participated in some wine tasting after the race. It was just what I needed to ease the pain.

The medal

I am going to take a month off of running and concentrate on strengthening and stretching. I need to give my legs a break because on Nov 30th, I have my last half marathon of the year and I plan on it not being excruciatingly painful.

On the Physical Therapy side of things, I did try taping my knee with Leukotape.

There are a few different types of tape. The ever popular one right now is Kinesio tape. This is the tape that you see many athletes wearing. Kinesio tape actually helps move your muscle or inhibits it from working. It can also help with edema (swelling). Supposedly it creates a pull on the skin and allows for fluid to flow. It also helps restrict or help muscle movement without restricting movement in that limb. I am currently doing research on kinesio tape, so I will get back to you when I have a little more information. 

The main purpose of taping is to use as a crutch to help you heal quicker, but it should not be something that you use all the time. 

I used Leukotape. The purpose of this tape is to restrict movement in a muscle to prevent further injury or pain…I figured if it was a quad problem, this type of taping would help...

Above are the 2 methods I used during training and during the race to off load my quad to not pull on my patella (knee cap) and prevent pain. Both methods helped, but not 100% affective.

source 

I also considered that my patella was sitting in the wrong place. This method is moving the patella and placing it where it should be. I thought if my patella was in the right place I wouldn't have pain when I run. I only used this method during a training run and it did not help.

When taping…it is important to know where to place the tape, where and which direction the pull should be placed, and what to do if redness and swelling occurs, so make sure to consult your PT before applying tape.

Running and a Bum Knee

As I have mentioned in (a few) past post or two, I have a plan to run 30 half marathons by the end of this year. Well I am two away from completing this goal and low and behold, I am hurt :( After the trail run, a few miles into any run my knee starts to hurt, and not the good kind of hurt.

My next half is Oct 20th and I would like to train for it. But at this rate, who knows. I talked to my clinical instructor about what she thinks I should do and here was her advice…

"As a PT, you should rest, stretch your quads, strengthen your glut meds, and ice…As a runner, you can take 3 Advil before a run and then ice it afterwards. But I don't suggest doing #2."

Well, I don't have a choice. I have been trying not to run, strengthening my quads and butt muscles, but the last few days I have decided to take a few Advil, run and then ice. Bad me. Do as I say and not as I do. But I promised myself I would complete this goal and gosh darnit, I am doing it.

It is tough to know that my body is telling me to rest but that my brain is telling me to go. Well my brain is also telling me to rest because I know the consequences of what can happen if I injury myself worse. So I guess it would be my heart telling me to keep going.

What is something that you have pushed through to complete a goal?

That Was a Hot One

Here is a little (late) update on my Labor Day Weekend.


It technically started last Thursday night when I met some Seattle friends who were in town to run the Disneyland half for dinner at Gabby's in Old Town. Third time is the charm, the food was even better than last time I ate there, plus the company was fabulous. It was totally worth going to bed late! A week ago Friday was a little tough, but I did have the opportunity to take a long nap when I got home from work before picking my mom up from the airport. Oh yes, apparently my mother is making it a tradition to come down to visit on Labor day. It may just be a 2 year thing because I will definitely be back in Washington at this time next year. Friday night was relaxing. My mom and I just chatted and went to bed (relatively) early.
Saturday of Labor Day weekend we woke up at a leisurely hour, made breakfast and headed up to LA to meet with some friends which entailed shopping for wedding jewelry, chocolate, amazing food, a drag show, and catching up. That is the synopsis, here are some more details.
I have mentioned this jewelry in a past blog post, but Bonnie (our friend who we visited) makes jewelry that I may have purchased  as wedding jewelry and maybe a little something else (not for the wedding) for me. I am not going to show you what I bought for the wedding, but you can check out her website and try to guess what I might have bought (or buy something for yourself)...Love and Piece Jewelry. I will show you the earrings I bought (oops)
On Sunday, before heading back to Orange, we went to West Hollywood for brunch. We ended up going to Hamburger Mary's where they were currently having Drag Brunch.
Monday morning, which included not working (since it was a holiday), my mom and I went down to Newport Beach and ran along the back bay.
What do you do to deal with the heat?

Another wonderful thing that occurred last Saturday night was this…

Yes, that is an 11lb chocolate bar. No I did not eat the whole thing.

Drag brunch is exactly what it sounds like. A drag show while you eat brunch. I actually had a burger (hey the place is called Hamburger Mary's) while listening to the wonderful "Whitney Houston" and  a little Disney's Pocahontas. It was fabulous!

 It was a beautiful day, but definitely a little too hot for my liking. You can tell by the glisten on our bodies. After the run and before my mother had to leave, we walked around Balboa Island. Here is what we saw.

 A woman trying not to get sun burned (but looking ridiculous)

Someone who obviously did not listen to their parent's when they said it was time to go in after the 4th of July. 

This has been the weather lately…

And this is how I have been dealing with it...

Apparently I melt when the temperature hits over 90 deg. This is why I am a true Seattle Girl!

Long Commute and Pepper Spray

I just finished my 2nd week of my pediatric rotation. I am enjoying the clinic, my clinical instructor (CI), my "co-workers",  and the program, but my rotation is about 40 miles away and takes me an hour and a half to get home every day:( It is only for 12 weeks (officially 10 now) and I know I am going to learn a lot at this clinical rotation, so that is more important…right? I am working with children who have neurological insults such as Cerebral Palsy (CP), brain injuries, spinal cord injuries, and Spina Bifida. Most of the kids have CP and are relatively high functioning, but it has been a challenge to find a way to not take home my emotions at the end of the day. I had a long talk with my CI about dealing with the emotions of working with this population and she put it into a nice perspective. There are going to be children that have these aliments and it is our job to make them as happy and comfortable as possible, then I am doing my job and I feel happy about that.

My knees have been hurting me since I ran that trail run (aka my 28th half marathon), so I have taken some long walks instead of running. Last Sunday my knees were feeling better. No pain with walking, squatting or going up stairs, so I decided to knock out 8 miles. I told myself that if my knees started to hurt I would turn around, well my knees did decide to start hurting about 1/2 way through my run. I did turn around, but walking 4 miles sounded miserable, so I decided to run until my knees hurt then stretch out my quads then start running again. My knees would feel good for about a half mile and then I would have to stop :( Urrrr this is so frustrating because I have another half marathon coming up in October and I would like to be decently trained for it. I haven't run since then, but I can tell that my quads are super tight.

On my long run last Sunday, I ran on a (cement) trail. I have become a little more paranoid lately about running alone and especially in a place that does not have a lot of people traffic. So, I brought pepper spray with me. I don't really know how to use it (I don't think it is that hard and I bet I could figure it out), but it still made me feel a little better about running alone.

This is what the trail looks like (Source)

Source

This is what my pepper spray looks like. Yes it is pink and fits in the palm of my hand. What precautions do you take when running or walking by yourself? Or are you not concerned that anything is going to happen? 

I am so happy the weekend is finally here because I am sleep deprived. I am not use to waking up so early, and even though I have been going to bed earlier and earlier every night, I am using a lot of brain power right now so not only am I physically exhausted, I am also completely mentally exhausted. I am going to sleep in as late as I can tomorrow, which might be a challenge because my mom is coming into town! I am excited to see her and I bet we will go to bed relatively early tonight. The plan for the weekend is to be active and eat good food, but I am just excited to get to hang with my mom.

I hope you all have a wonderful Labor Day weekend. Anyone have exciting plans for the long weekend?

Well That Was Tough

On Sunday I completed my 28th half marathon and this one was definitely a challenge. It was called the Mud and Chocolate Trail Run which included a 4.5 mile & 1/2 marathon trail run. I knew it was going to be 3 loops and there were going to be trails, but I was not fully aware (or did not want to admit to myself) that the whole run was on a trail. Here was the low down.

Trail running is a completely different beast from street running. The path is narrow, it is much harder to pass people (in the beginning), you use completely different muscles on trails than you do on concrete, you have to pay attention to where you are going, and finally, you have to pay attention to where your feet are being placed.

The first loop of this race, I felt like I was stuck behind people who were going at a different pace than I would have liked to run, but by the second loop, I was all by myself on the path for the majority of the time. I didn't realize how much I need the energy of other people while I am running. I would get a burst of energy when someone would pass me or when I caught up to someone else. I think the hardest part of this race was having to be mentally on the entire time. I almost rolled my ankle a couple of times and you can't zone out in the end (which I like to do) because you have to make sure you don't trip. To top it off, since I didn't train on trails, my hip flexors were screaming at me around mile 6 because I was lifting my legs higher than I normally do to avoid branches and rocks.

I sound like I am complaining. I am not, I was just not as prepared as I should have been. Luckily my running experience got me through, but I highly suggest training on dirt and trails before completing this endeavor. I thoroughly enjoyed myself. This was definitely a new challenge and I must admit I felt pretty hardcore.

The end of the race was sweet…Literally. I ended with a chocolate medal and a buffet of chocolate goodies.

And this race definitely lived up to its name…Mud and Chocolate

My chocolate medal, chocolate cupcake and muddy legs

I don't think I will be participating in another half marathon trail run anytime soon, but I can see myself running in shorter distances of 6 miles or less.

On Tuesday I was rewarded with an amazing 2 hour massage. The massage was a 30th birthday present, but it was definitely needed after this race. I felt sore in muscles I have never felt before.

So do as I say and not as I do, and if you are planning on running a "normal" road race, train mostly on concrete. If you are planning on running a trail run, train mostly on dirt. It is important to "teach" our body's tissue to work on what ever surface it needs to work on. That being said, if you think you have bad knees, don't run mostly on the grass and dirt and then complete a long race on concrete, your body will not be trained to work on that surface. And vice versa, running on concrete did not harden my joints and muscles up for this trail run, I was probably less stable because my muscles were not use to stabilizing me on such uneven/unsteady ground. I would have benefitted from running on more uneven surfaces before this race and then I might not have been as sore as I was.

Has anyone completed a challenge that they were not prepared for?

Bon Fires and Wipe Out

Well School has been stressful. This semester was easy breezy (well as easy as 7 classes can be) until this last month. Then all hell broke loose. I was so tired on Thursday that when my classmates were giving a presentation, I did not even attempt to keep my eyes open. It was good sleep though.

Finally this week was over, and on Friday afternoon, Leslie and I decided to do a 10 mile run since the rest of the week had been a good temperature for such an event. But about 2.5 miles into the run, the weather changed and it turned from a nice overcast to blistering hot. We finished, but not without some complaining and an ice stop along the way. Plus, I changed races…I went from white to beet red. Seriously, I never learn my lesson.

After relaxing for a couple of hours or so after our excruciating run (but hey, we did it), I headed down to Huntington Beach for a bon fire with my classmates.

It was a nice change in scenery and a great way to be able to relax for a little bit.

The night was complete with a BBQ and s'mores

Huntington Beach Sunset

I went home early and straight to bed because I had to wake up at 6am Saturday morning for a race. Okay, it wasn't a race, it was a 5k run, but it was well worth waking up that early!

This was the Ridiculous Obstacle Course (ROC) race. This run involves running a 5K with obstacles placed about every quarter mile. The obstacles included things such as jumping over barricades, monkey bars, rope walks, rope swing, trampolines, tires, and ending with a large water slide into the finish. They even had a Wipe Out style station called the wrecking ball. It was so much fun and I highly suggest participating in this event.

We had a team of 8 all from the Chapman DPT program and we dressed as Minions from Despicable Me.

Here is the before picture

This was after the race

The Silly Minion (burnt face and all)

We won these huge metals for our awesome costumes.

I may or may have not gone home after the run and took a nap from 1pm to 6pm later that day. Apparently school, running 10 miles, and then waking up early the next day to participate in a fun run is exhausting.

Needless to say, this weekend has been much needed and I am feeling much more relaxed and ready for the last 2 and a half weeks left of school.

What did you do this weekend?

Snail Speed

This is a running post… :)

As you know I have a goal to run 30 half marathons by the end of this year and I am at 27. I signed up for a race in August and I think I am going to sign up for the Long Beach Half in Oct and then the Seattle Ghost half over Thanksgiving, so if I have to walk or crawl any of those races, I will, because I am completing 3 more races this year.

Today, in an effort to procrastinate studying for my cardiopulmonary test (I really like procrastinating, in fact I am doing it right now by blogging), I decided to run 9 miles. I did think about my test and how exercising increases my supply of blood to my heart because of my muscle pump and how my demand for oxygen is higher as well, so really it wasn't completely procrastinating, because I was locking down important concepts for the test. But I thought about that specific topic (and wondering what kind of heart failure I most likely have :) because I was out of breath while running. Usually my leg strength is the limiting factor when I run, but today, the air felt much thinner. I completed my run and I ran the entire time, but man, it was a doozie.

This got me thinking (I know, never a good thing): I don't think my body was built for running. That doesn't mean I am going to stop running. I love it too much, but I know I will never be a fast runner. This is something that I have struggled with since I started running races almost 7 years ago. It is partially my body type, partially my training (right now), and partially anxiety while running in a race. I know in the future that I will complete my goal of running a sub 2 hour half, but right now I have to be okay with my speed and knowing that I am still getting exercise, having fun, and hey, since I am running slower, burning more fat.

Today, gravity was not on my side, but other days I feel like I could run for ever.

My next half in August is a mud and chocolate run. I am doing this race for 3 reasons
1. It involves chocolate (really do I need to give any more reasons?)
2. The date was ideal for my next half with an excellent starting time of 9:30am
3. I know that I am not doing this race for time because I believe there will be chocolate on the course and I would love to eat as much of it as I can.

So here is to being okay with my snail pace, which in reality is really an average pace of all runners and a fast pace to all non-runners. I may not be able to run a 6 min mile, but I can walk on my hands :)

Don't mind the boots.

What is something that you love to do but have slight struggles with?

Memorial Day Weekend!

My itinerary over Memorial Weekend:
Friday afternoon marked the beginning of my Weekend fun. A few of us had bought a Groupon for 2 months unlimited membership at Rock City Climbing in Anaheim, so on Friday after our cadaver lab we headed over for our first climb.

Photo Credit: Leslie Lam

It was really fun and a great work out. I could feel my forearms like I have never felt them before. I have rock climbed before, but never for over an hour. And yes, I was completely sore the next two days, but it was so worth it.

Late Friday night, I flew home to Seattle. I landed around 11pm where Christopher picked me up, with a flower on the front seat, and we headed out to Capital Hill to a cute little bar called Poco Wine and Spirits. We ordered a glass of Kinker Brick Zinfandel that was absolutely delicious! The bar also offered great service and has a cute ambiance.

My rose waiting for me in the Car at the airport.

The next morning Chris and I were going to drive up to Bellingham, but because of the I-5 bridge collapse we decided to stay in town and have a Seattle day. So Chris, Andrew (who was also in town), Shelly, and my parents all headed out to Pike Place market where I purchased my usuals: honey sticks and Jelly fruit rolls. After enduring the crowds at the market, we decided to check out the spice store down the street. On the way, we happened upon a little wine tasting room called Masquerade Wines. It is actually based out of Bellingham, but they have a tasting room below the market. We sipped delicious red and white wines and bought their Syrah before heading to the spice market.

Sunday morning, Chris and I headed over to his parents house to celebrate my birthday. Which birthday is this you ask? Well my birthday isn't for another week, but it will be my 30th birthday. We had a lovely brunch with Chris's parents at the Club House in Tam o Shanter on the golf course and then discussed wedding stuff (my new favorite topic). The time flew by and we had to rush home because we were heading out to Palisades to celebrate my 30th and Shelly's 25th birthday with my parents. The restaurant was fabulous.

Photo Credit: Shelly Short

Enjoying my delicious dessert

A little dark, but Chris and I in front of the Seattle backdrop. 

Dinner was amazing spanning from the wine to the service to the food to the company.

My parents dropped Shelly, Chris and I off at a bar on Capital Hill so we could meet up with some friends. It was an intimate group, but the company was fantastic.

Monday, I woke up when my internal clock told me to wake up (I may or may not have been drunk the night before) and my mom and I ran 9 miles from Leschi to Seward and back. We though we were only going to run 8, but to our surprise (and it is always a good one), we did an extra mile. The temperature was perfect, but it did drizzle the entire time, so I was a little wet by the time we got back into the car. The only reason this was an issue is because we were meeting up with the family for lunch. We went to Goldberg's in Factoria where I ordered a Reuben Sandwich. It was amazing, but since it was so big and I could not order a half, I was forced to take the other half back to California with me which I did enjoy for lunch the next day. 

Monday night I flew home and landed in Orange around 10pm. Tuesday was spent in class, enjoying my second half of my sandwich (people were jealous of it) and going rock climbing again followed by a yoga class later that evening. I will say that I am happy I went climbing and did yoga, but my upper extremities and upper back are a tad bit sore. Totally worth it.

What did you do this Memorial Weekend?

Colorful Running

With tradition…The last few races I have run with my mom, I have posted the picture of us after completing the race…So here it is:

You see, it even says Proof that we finished the race.

Okay, now on to the current week...

Saturday morning I completed my 1st color run. What is this you ask? It is a run where you get an array of colors thrown at you at different check points along the course of a 5K. It was so much fun. A group of us from Chapman (plus two guests) met at school at 6:15am (a little bit too early for a Saturday morning, but definitely worth it) and carpooled down to Irvine.

The race started at 8am, but since 15,000 people were all trying to drive into one entrance we thought it would be best to get to the start line a little earlier.

Below are pictures (credit Tiffany Yu) showing how much fun we had at the run.

The group before the race started

One of the color stations, you can see the orange dust.

After the run, a little bit more colorful!

I was trying to add color to my outfit

Our outfits

So much fun, Jumping for joy

The 3.1 mile flew by. In fact when I saw the finish line I was convinced we had only ran half the distance (either because I ran it so fast or I was having so much fun). I did plot the mileage later that day and it was in fact a 5K.

The run was well organized and they did a good job of pumping everyone up so early in the morning. I highly suggest participating in these types of runs. There were so many different shapes and sizes of bodies, people of all different ages, and athletic abilities. It was just a great way to get out and exercise.

On Sunday (after calling my mom and soon to be mother in law), a group of us set out on the town for a project for our Rehab class. The assignment was to have a member in our group do errands in a wheel chair. Our activities were to go to lunch (and the person in the wheel chair had to go to the bathroom), go to the post office to buy stamps, and then go to the schools theatre to watch a show. Here was our day...

Eating lunch at the Gastropub

Crossing the street

At the post office…there were no ramps…definitely not within the ADA guidelines

At Chapman's Theatre.

The project was very eye opening. Although our "patient" was very high functioning and independent with his activities of daily living, getting in and out of a car, through a door, or into public buildings took extra time and work. But it was nice to see (except for getting stamps at the post office), that the city is wheel chair accessible.

The rest of my free time this weekend was spent in the library for two reasons:
1.) It has been so damn hot here that I needed an air conditioned spot (plus they have free cookies in the library because next week is the undergrads finals week)
2.) I have a test on Monday that I just started studying for on Thursday!

Have you had any eye opening experiences lately?