United States of Rafa 2011 - Semifinals

(Back in the finals again!)

Our Hero, Rafael Nadal will get the chance to defend his 2010 US Open title tomorrow, after defeating no. 4-seed Andy Murray in the semifinals on Saturday 6-4, 6-2, 3-6, 6-2. It was a very solid performance from Rafa. I think I only saw a couple points of it while it was unfolding, as I had a lovely wedding to attend just that evening. But I was happy to check the score on my phone once the reception was in full swing and saw that Rafa had one. After that shaky first round match, he's really played a fantastic tournament.

So the final will be a rematch of last year's final. Djokovic against Nadal. Ugh. It amazes me that only a year ago I felt GOOD about this match up. Nadal has lost 5 finals to Novak this year, including the Wimby Final. I really hope Nadal can take it to him tomorrow afternoon, but recent history and Novak's unbelievable success throughout the year would suggest that at the very least Nadal is not the favorite to win. That's kinda okay though, Rafa feeds off struggle and feeling like the underdog. I know my guy has it in him. I just hope it translates on the court tomorrow.

I can't believe Novak even made it to the final this year. Somehow, his semifinal with Federer turned out to be a crazy repeat of last year when Federer had match point against Djokovic on his serve and somehow Novak came up with these total go for broke insane shots that landed in and wound up shifting the whole momentum of the match right at the end. I felt so bad for Fed. I wanted him to win!! Hopefully history from last year will continue to repeat itself and Rafa can take another Slam title. I just want him to be able to play his absolute best and if Djokovic still beats him, then there's nothing else that can be done. You just have to say "too good." But despite my pre-match fretting, there's no reason to believe Rafa can't win again. He's a champion. He's playing amazing. Only one match to go. He can get it done. VAMOS!!!!

United States of Rafa 2011 - Quarter Finals

(Rafa is all freakish intensity as he destroys Andy Roddick in the quarters.)

The US Open continues to zip along now with clear skies as we try to cram all the later rounds of play into the next three days. Luckily, all the extra matches in a short amount of time does not seem to be having an ill-effect on Our Hero, Rafael Nadal. He completely pummeled Andy Roddick in their quarter final meeting yesterday, taking it in straight sets 6-2, 6-1, 6-3. It was a shame for Andy, who could not shake off the fatigue from an intense battle with David Ferrer the day before in the Round of 16 to put up any sort of fight against Nadal. I was actually surprised Roddick managed to get passed Ferrer, who has been playing really well this year and is currently no, 5 in the world. Roddick gave that match his all, and it was not enough recovery time for him to be at his best again. He just had no weapons against Nadal who was in rare form, even by his high standards. One telling stat: Nadal finished with 22 forehand winners compared to ZERO for Roddick. Zero? That's unbelievable! Not typical Roddick at all. Rafa took the opportunity of facing a hampered Roddick to secure the match in under 2 hours. That means he comes in the fresher man against Andy Murray (who had a hard fought win over John Isner yesterday) when they play their semifinal match... this afternoon. Stay healthy, guys! Whichever one of you meets Federer or Djokovic in the Final on Monday is gonna have a tough mountain to climb!

Fun facts: it's the second time this year the top four men have advanced to the semifinals at a Grand Slam. It also happened at the French Open. Also it's the third straight major, Nadal and Murray will face off in the semis. Rafa beat Murray in 3 sets at the French Open and in 4 sets at Wimbledon..We liked the results at this year's French! Let's see that happen again! We want Rafa over Murray in 3 quick sets! Vamos!

A Year Without Cookies - Week 36

(get this boy some cookies!)

Another week down and no cookies and no soda. This week seemed to breeze by with the Labor Day weekend mixed in. I didn't face too much horrible temptation this week. Except once when it was really humid out and I walked into a little deli and there was a delicious looking cold bottle of root beer staring at me through a freezer door. IT was a tough 10 seconds of longing before I broke away.

This week's exciting discovery was that I'm thinner than I thought I was! Oh, not by a lot. It's not like I'm in line to star in The Machinist 2: A Year Without Cookies, or something (but seriously, what a great title!). I was trying on my suits yesterday, though, for my friend Jessie's wedding which is happening TONIGHT (so excited to see her and party with some of my oldest friends!) and I was ready for the suit pants to maybe be a little tight since I haven't been doing my usual running regimen all summer but nooooo, oh, they all fit so nice! It was a lovely moment. I mentioned my good news on the FB and my friend T, suggested it might have something to do with my no cookies and soda crusade. I'm gonna to go with that theory. Thank you, Year Without Cookies, for giving me some breathing room in my dress-up duds! I will try to post photographic evidence of me looking smooth upon my return from the ceremony in Philly!

United States of Rafa 2011 - Round of 16

(Rafa loves the US Open so tenderly...)

After what was pretty much 48 hours of constant rain in NYC, Our Hero, Rafael Nadal, advanced to the quarter finals with a straight sets victory over Gilles Muller on Thursday 7-6(1) 6-1 6-2. Because of the crazy rain, Rafa's bottom half of the draw is in a race to play catch up, and the tourney will still have to end on Monday instead of Sunday. That means in 5 days (Thursday through Monday) the players in Rafa's half will have to play 4 best-of-fives matches. That's a lot of hardcourt tennis and it puts whoever gets through in the top half of the drawer at a definite advantage heading into the Championship Match. We can only hope that Rafa has some easy matches against tough players so he has enough left in the tank to face either (hopefully!) Federer or (regrettably, probably) Djokovic on Monday.

So far so good. Rafa had a kinda tough first set, but that was mostly because he fell behind 0-3 back on Tuesday morning when the tournament tried to make them play in the rain. Nadal was NOT pleased with that decision. Upon resuming the match two days later when it was not raining, Rafa quickly climbed back into the driver's seat and then Muller was kinda like "whatevs. it's over." and the next two sets just breezed by. 

Up next is Andy Roddick, and this is not a match up I like. I'm not particularly worried for Nadal, I just take no pleasure in seeing Roddick lose. I want Roddick to do well also. But if I can choose only one, of course I choose Nadal. Hopefully it will be a non-taxing three-set victory! Vamos!

Run For Your Life If You Can, Little Boy - Take 4

(In 18 weeks, my next Finisher's Pic will feature Mouse Ears!)

This week started my 18-week training period for the 2012 Disney World Marathon. That's right, lovelies. 2012 is less than 18 weeks away! So yeah, if you are sitting on some New Year's resolutions or accomplishments for 2011, it's really time to get on it!!

Saturday night I had this incredible dream about running. It involved dodgeball, sleepwalking track teammates and me Latin-ballroom dancing with Angelina Jolie to a song called "Heaven" which doesn't exist in real life. Trust me that it had these amazing brass section "Pow! Pow!" moments where we hits these awesome poses. As great as all the window dressing of the dream was, the best part was really how much I enjoyed the running. I was running around on this track at night and just loved it. I wonder for how long in real time I was running around that track. In the dream it felt like I kept going and going, but it probably was just a matter of minutes or seconds in my head. If only I could zip through the actual marathon that quickly, 18-weeks of training would not be required!

I've begun a new intermediate marathon training schedule (that downloaded so easily into my outlook calendar! I was impressed! In previous years I had to add all my daily runs manually.), and while I will miss the NYC Marathon in November, it was definitely the right choice to give myself the summer off from training and take a longer hiatus from running. Running a different race and training at a different time of year, along with taking tennis lessons in the meantime, was just the mental and physical change-up I needed to keep things fresh. Plus, running through all 4 Disney Theme Parks is gonna be awesome!! We'll see how awesome I think it is when I have a 20-mile run to complete in mid-December, but for now it's all good. "Run, Owen Run!" is back up and... well, running!

United States of Rafa 2011 - Round 3

(Rafa is a fierce competitor! No cramping his style!)

So Our Hero, Rafa Nadal, won his third round victory over David Nalbandian on Sunday, taking it in three sets - 7-6(5), 6-1, 7-5. The first set is a great example of why I love Rafa so much. He was down 5-3 serving at 0-30, and it seemed like he should lose the set. He was not playing his absolute best. Nalbandian was playing his absolute best. Yet somehow, with his back against the wall, Rafa found another gear! Against the odds, he won the game, broke in the next game, won the following game and then took the set in a tie break! Nalbandian must have been so pissed! To play a set so well and somehow still lose??? That's the brilliance of Nadal. Until it is literally game, set, match against him, you have to still give him a better chance than pretty much anybody to turn his fortunes around.

So he wins the match, but all anyone can talk about it is the leg cramps he suffered during his press conference. It was unfortunate timing but not all that shocking that his legs would cramp after the match. It was incredibly humid on Sunday and he was sweating a ton during the match. But the cramping in the presser was kind of an intense moment. If you haven't seen it, you can see it here. Watch as no one moves to help him for over two and half minutes!



Rafa is fine. It was a momentary thing. I saw him on the practice courts today and he was not suffering at all. :) Here's hoping he has an easy uneventful win over Gilles Muller in the Round of 16. Vamos!

A Year Without Cookies - Week 35

(Pick you poison.)

Another week successfully avoiding cookies! But I came across the craziest soda fountain you ever did see. On my trip to see Spy Kids 4, I noticed that the good people at Loews E-Walk 42nd Street have brought their soda dispensary technology into the 21st century. Instead of filling your cup with 85% ice and 15% soda behind the counter, they now give you a cup and send you over to this giant dispensary station which holds every kind of soda known to man (or perhaps just owned by Coca-Cola Company. I did not notice if Pepsi products were also available. I did not get soda, but there was a lemonade option. So i pressed that button on the screen. Yes a screen! And then a sub-screen of 5 additional flavors of lemonade I could have. Grape Lemonade? Tempting, but I stuck with regular old fashioned lemonade. I got Migu a Sprite and that also had an additional sub-screen of flavors to choose from. Grape-flavored Sprite? I might be back to try that one in 2012.

It's a veritable wall of soda. So many delicious possibilities! I would not want the unenviable task of going into the guts of that machinery whenever a certain flavor ran out. It must be an endless maze of tubes and vats of soda in there. But at least we the consuming public can reap the benefits. It's not Star Trek-level replicator technology, but we're getting there. In the meantime, we can control the ice to soda per cup serving ratio. That's progress!!