I think I’ll remember my own LIFE

EWWW!  So disturbing!

So…after bragging about how cool I was because I was going to go see Foreigner last night…we never made it.  HA!  Way to go us!

Yeah…sorry D…hope you guys had fun picking out the freaks! 

Instead, I went home and went running (like originally planned) and had a HORRIBLE run.  Oh my goodness it was terrible!  I blame the heels I was wearing earlier that day but my calf muscles would not loosen up, my knees were hurting like a mofo and my feet were burning up (um…the feet burning up were most likely due to the temp being 102 or something like that).  Also, the humidity was 102%.  How is that possible???  I apparently have a flawed understanding of percentages or something.  Shouldn’t this mean it’s raining or there are random water particles floating/condensing in the air?  Stupid made up math.

So…I went home, showered and changed and we went to Bar Louie’s for dinner/happy hour.  Their food is really good (although I think some of their prices are kind of ridiculous for what you get) and they have decent beer prices for happy hour.  A friend convinced me to try Shock Top (he claimed it was a great alternative to hefeweizen).  I will never listen to his suggestions again.  Blech.  This beer tasted like orange soda…but grosser!  I was not a fan and actually couldn’t finish it.  I gave it to K and made her drink it.  Then I just had another local brew that I can’t remember what it was called.  That beer was good.  As was my grilled cheese sandwich with bacon.  (Anything with bacon is automatically AWESOME!)

Yeah…we never left the restaurant to actually go to the concert.  We decided we were having more fun sitting outside drinking and eating and talking to actually drive down the road to the concert.  And since none of us had pre-bought the tickets…we didn’t really have any compelling reason to go. 

So…I am apparently a liar and you no longer have a reason to be jealous of me :-P.

But, after yesterday’s awful run I’m so excited to have a day completely off.  No running, no cross training, NOTHING.  Just me being lazy.  Totally awesome.

Last night I decided to jump on the bandwagon and try out the resistance band as a cross training activity.  J talked about how much she loves them back in January (she loves them so much she packed them to go to our grandma’s funeral in Ohio).  A couple of running blogs I read also talked about using them recently.  I finally broke down and pulled mine out. 

The cool thing about MY resistance band thingie is that it comes with a fun 30 minute workout video.  Since I am slow and unmotivated, I need somebody telling me what to do…so this seemed like an awesome addition.  Sadly…I forgot how UNCOORDINATED I also am.  (Thanks a lot mom and dad).  Seriously.  I can’t do workout videos for the life of me.

Example: A friend’s mom gave me her “Firm” workout set b/c she never used it and she knew I was looking for new exercises to do.  Great.  Awesome.  Can’t wait.  One of the first things the instructor says is that there will probably be parts you can’t follow along with right away so just march in place until you’re ready to jump in.  OK.  Got it.  Then they started the exercising.  I realized how slow I really am.  They switched between activities so quickly that by the time I finally figured out how they were moving and was ready to try it myself…they were on to the next step.  I spent 40 minutes MARCHING IN PLACE!!!  I never tried that tape again. 

Anyways, back to last night.  I was having similar problems with this workout as well.  My brain does not process the steps required to follow along in 2 repeats.  It takes a little longer than that.  However, this video is all about the quick changes between exercises.  I basically looked like a flailing chicken while doing the workout.  Awesome.

I did eventually manage to do about 15 minutes of the steps basically the way I was supposed to.  I think eventually I’ll figure this one out.  I guess I just have to stick with it.  (Or…if someone has an idea of what exercises I should do with these things instead…pass it on).  Also…I must remember to close all blinds when doing this workout.  I don’t really feel like providing amusement for the entire apartment complex.  Sigh. 

Anyways, back to running tonight.  This should hopefully be a quick run.  I need to run a 4-5 miler, get home and shower SUPER QUICK and then head out to the West End to go see Foreigner.  (Seriously, how many band members can one band have???)

Yes…I know you’re jealous.  I get to go see Foreigner in concert (I didn’t even know they were still touring).  Even worse.  I have to admit I’m not entirely sure what Foreigner even sings (other than “I want to know what love is”).

Should be an interesting night. 

So I will be going to hell for THAT title.  Also…could it be any longer? 

Anyways, I’m VERY disappointed in today.  Mainly because I’m a MORON and woke up CONVINCED today was Wednesday.  I didn’t figure out it was only Tuesday until I was getting ready to go to a meeting I have on Wednesday and couldn’t figure out why NOBODY else was going.  Stupid stupid!

But I had a good run last night.  It was only about 86F and 60% humidity (which is a BIG improvement over the 96F and 80% humidity we have been having).  I ran later than I normally do, which was helpful when it came to weather…but I got light headed near the end of the run b/c I hadn’t eaten anything since about 11 that morning.  Eating is really killing me lately.  I either eat too much (and want to throw up while running) or I eat too little (and feel like passing out).   I haven’t found a happy medium yet.  The worst part was that if not for the light headedness my body was completely ready to run another couple of miles.  Sigh.

However, I did go to Dick’s after running and bought some sport beans which maybe will help me not feel the urge to pass out?  I figured I’ll give them a try on my next run. 

Also…there were a lot of super rude people on the trail last night.  It was insane.  There was the one guy who totally thought he was hot shit.  The path is relatively wide.  It’s big enough for 3 people to walk spreak out next to each other…or 4 people to walk close together across the path.  Anyways, I always hug the edge of the path when I’m running (it’s totally my comfort zone).  So…this guy is running in the opposite direction of me and we’re the only two people on the path at this time.  As I said…I’m HUGGING the edge and even moving over to give him more room.  Asswipe feels the need to run on the wrong side of the path (his left) and basically shoulder check me out of his way.  The hell?!?!?  

Is this some new form of a runner’s wave or something (similar to the jeep wave)?  Was I supposed to be glad he was bumping his shoulder into me or returning the favor???  He did this MULTIPLE times.  No matter what side of the path I ran on or what I did he would try and body check me.  The third time he tried it I stepped on the back of his shoe so it fell off.  He left me alone after that and started picking on someone else on the trail.  It was so weird. 

Then there was the family of four all walking next to each other TAKING UP THE ENTIRE TRAIL and NOT MOVING when I was passing.  So I had to run through the freaking bushes and thorns next to the trail to pass them.  If I get poison ivy I WILL find that family and rub my infected skin all over them.  (Wow…that sounds a lot creepier written down then it did in my head).

Then I just felt bad for the one group of bikers.  There was a group of 5 older ladies riding their bikes together (ages ranged from 45-65???).  However, two of them had definitely NOT ridden a bike in a LONG time.  Either that or they were drunk.  I’m not really sure which.  Anyways, they were passing me at one point so I moved over to get out of their way, and the one lady hit a bump in the trail and fell off her bike ONTO me.  I still haven’t figured out HOW she did this.  One minute I was running along…the next minute my leg is bleeding from the bike pedal and this lady was apologizing and almost crying. 

I think I deserve combat pay or something for this trail last night. 

Hmm…I just realized this run sounds like it filled me with rage and wasn’t very good.  But honestly, it was a great run.  Most of the rude people were met on the first mile and I just ran a different trail for the other 3…so it wasn’t too bad.  Also, the lady I aspire to be was there. 

This lady can run forever.  She’s not really fast and she doesn’t really look like a runner, but seriously…she’s incredible.  She’s ALWAYS at the park no matter what time I get there.  When I run in the morning…she usually passes me a few times.  When I run in the afternoon, she shows up somewhere on the trail.  (I’m trying to decide if she ever goes home).  She just steadily runs along with her hand weights and ankle weights attached. 

I seriously want to run like her.  I don’t care how fast I am, I just want the ability to run as long as I want and not get tired. 

So, I’ve decided I will NOT be going to the trail tonight.  I plan to do some sort of cross-train activity or something else.  I think I need a break from the craziness. 

This weekend was very busy…with very little running involved.  Oy.

I ran another 3 miles Friday after to work to make up for my missed 7 miler attempt. I went out to dinner with K after work, then I ended up going out with some friends from work and did a mini-pub crawl.  Always a good time. 

Saturday morning I woke up and went for a quick 2.5 mile run just to loosen up my muscles (they were really sore from Friday and I’m not really sure why).  Then I headed over to K’s house to help her paint her downstairs rooms.  That was a crazy amount of work.  It was crazy hot and I ended up sacrificing my ugly yoga pants (Ugh I hated those pants) and turning them into ugly yoga shorts…and was happy.  I also was elected to paint the upper half of the walls due to me being the tallest of the painters (yes…at 5′4″…I was the tallest…ugh).  So I spent my day climbing up and down the ladder and stretching high up over my head with a freaking paint roller.  If that doesn’t count as some sort of cross-training activity I will be quite angry. 

Seriously, we started painting around 10 in the morning…and finally finished the second coat around 5 in the evening.  However, we did have some good beer that day.  I drank Pyramid Hefeweizen because it’s one of the few beers I know of that actually starts to taste better as it gets warmer (I’m NOT British and therefore do NOT enjoy most beers at room temperature).  And since I have ADD when it comes to doing two things at once…I would put the beer down to paint and forget about it until half an hour later when it was at room temperature.  Either way…it’s a good beer if you like hefeweizens (and since I do…it made me happy). 

I pretty much went home after leaving K’s house and cancelled my plans to go out that night.  Instead I took a hot shower, ate some dinner and PASSED OUT at like 7 in the evening (hangs head in shame).  I woke up Sunday morning and my shoulders were KILLING me.  Stupid painting. 

I was lazy all morning.  I just watched some TV and worked on finishing a sock.  Then I tackled my guest room.  All of the stuff from the closet was still chilling on the bed so I went through it and consolidated a bunch of boxes and threw a lot of crap out as well.  The room looks good other than the 50 THOUSAND flattened boxes I’m saving until I move again (um…maybe not 50 thousand…but A LOT of boxes).  All I have to do now is clean out the desk and donate it to Goodwill (the desk…not the stuff inside) and get rid of my desktop computer.  I can’t wait to clear out that space in the room.   

Anyways, I need a break from my weekend.  I’m ridiculously sore from the cleaning and lifting and painting (hi weak arms), and I did hardly ANY running at all.  Today will hopefully just be an easy 4 mile run…and depending how I feel I may add a 5th mile. 

Hope everyone had a lovely weekend!

So…I received an email from the VA Beach Half marathon thing telling me that I MUST tell all my friends to sign up for it now before it sells out!  After all…there are only 700 spots left…one of them MAY BE YOURS!  Not that I think any of my “friends” will really want to sign up for this race…but I feel compelled to do whatever this website tells me to.  Also…I’m sure we have space left in our hotel room if you need to crash (you may have to sneak in a side door or something…but whatever). 

Seriously, I am getting very nervous about running this (AND I DON’T KNOW WHY!!!!!).  It’s supposed to be fun!  How do I turn a fun run into a nerve wracking event????  I find myself COMPULSIVELY checking the website on like a DAILY basis to see if they have added anything new. 

Random side note:  there are 20,000 people in this race.  That means there are 19,999 people to finish ahead of me.  ARGH. 

Hi…People who take care of the park.  If you’re the one who put up the barriers making it impossible to get to the bathroom…I HATE YOU!  With a passion! 

I managed to oversleep (like the good sleeper I am) and had less time than normal to get ready before running.  I like to have 30-40 minutes before leaving so I can eat and go to the bathroom, etc.  I only had 10 minutes this morning…but I really didn’t want to re-schedule my run so I figured if I really had to I could just use the park’s bathroom (which is suprisingly cleaner than expected).  Yay plans!

So the first 3 miles were fine.  Beginning of mile 4 I had to go, but I figured I could just wait to go (the bathroom is right at the end of the mile).  So I finish up mile 4 and had to go to the bathroom RIGHT THEN.  BUT…some jerk blocked the path to the bathroom and then also blocked the actual bathroom door!  ARGH. 

So I had to get in my car and drive to the closest bathroom (which luckily is a WAWA which usually has relatively clean bathrooms as well).  By this point the last thing I want to do is drive back to the park and run another 3 miles.  So…I went to work instead.  I figure I’ll go run another 3 after work today…and then try the long run again on Sunday.  SO frustrating! 

Even worse…as I’m walking in, all sweaty and covered in mud from the trail, my crush walks up behind me.  Sigh.  (Um…for those who don’t know…I have a fake crush on the HOTTEST guy in the world that works here…I don’t care how OLD he is.)  He just kind of laughed at me and kept his distance.  Go me. 

Also, last night’s happy hour kind of sucked.  I had to drive this week (after last week I felt obliged to volunteer so the one kid could actually drink this time) so I couldn’t drink that much, AND my freaking nemesis was invited!!!!  WTF?!?!?!?!  The people I went with don’t even like him either…so how did he get invited???  So not only did I have to hang out with the guy…I had to do it sober…with nothing around to distract myself from the awfulness that is he! 

Anyways, before this turns into a BOOK…enjoy the weekend.  I have big plans of painting and drinking tomorrow morning (don’t ask)…so I know I’ll have fun :-P.

Um…yeah.  Worst Title Ever. 

It’s been a pretty hectic week so far, and it’s starting to get to me. 

Also, my running this week…LAME!  I had a run on Monday that I actually enjoyed.  Tuesday is a rest day.  I was supposed to run yesterday, but due to insane lightening storms in the morning AND afternoon (I hate you summer!), I only managed to sneak in a mile and a half before going home in fear of my life (I’m not as hardcore as some runners I suppose).  That leaves me with today.  My LSD is scheduled for tomorrow morning, and I HATE running on a day before my LSD, but I also feel that 1 day of running is pretty pathetic and I should just suck it up and run today and tomorrow.  I’m really not wanting to push back my LSD to Saturday (we saw how well that went LAST week.) so I’m stuck.  Sigh…

However, on a positive note…my meds are now generic form which means I pay less for them!  Yay!  And I found Legend’s beer at the Kroger’s where I get my prescriptions at…so I used my saved money to buy some good beer.  Although…I really wish they sold 6-packs instead of only 22oz bottles.   

I also finished more socks.  I gave these to the recipient a few weeks ago…and just now got around to posting pics. 

They’re purple…not blue like they appear in the picture.

I’m finishing a second pair for another surprise gift (who doesn’t read this blog so it won’t matter if I post them). 

The yarn is named Virginia.  I haven’t figured out how this yarn looks ANYTHING like this state…but whatever.  It’s still pretty.

I know…my legs are pale…bite me.  Actually I had the best/worst compliment/insult ever today.  A friend told me that “my legs look great and I should wear skirts more often…if only my legs weren’t so pale”.  Sigh.  I was kind of too embarassed to explain that this is TAN for me (yes…that whiter shade of pale is actually my tan).  At least I’m not likely to get skin cancer!

Lastly, I just wanted to end the post on a super cute note.  I can’t believe how big Little H is getting!  (And for random fun…that’s my mom poking her head out behind him!). 

Anyways, happy hour tonight should be fun.  All sorts of things to forget!  My new favorite day is Thursday! 

I made another attempt at an afternoon run yesterday, and it was actually kind of fun.  In an oh my god what did I get myself into kind of way. 

When I first moved here I took Oscar to the park that’s down the road from me.  However, due to his general anti-socialness on a leash, we agreed it was probably not his favorite place to go.  So…I really haven’t gone back.  I remember this park having a dirt path that led down to a lake-ish type body of water and it was relatively flat. 

I was apparently smoking crack the last time I went to the park.

I wanted an easy 4 mile run yesterday but didn’t want to drive to the park I normally run at, so I figured I would just go to the one by me.  Right.  Apparently the path in this park is actually a paved path with nothing but hills…and no lake that I found.  At one point in the run the path actually looked like a Sine wave.  For those mathematically challenged people who can’t remember what a sine wave looks like…here you go:

It was interesting.  I’m not really used to running downhill (and not feeling like I’m about to roll downhill instead) and then running directly uphill afterwards…but it was fun.  I managed to run about 3 miles before my legs were ready to quit on me. 

I walked and stretched for a bit and then got in the car to go home.  I had to stop and get gas (how sad am I for getting excited at spending only $3.79 a gallon…ugh).  When I got out of the car, my legs felt like spaghetti.  It was kind of pathetic. 

Then I got home and did week 3 of the 100 push-up plan.  There was a big leap in the number of push-ups done from week 2 to week 3.  My arms and stomach muscles are killing me today. 

After showering, I sat on my couch, drank a blue moon (I’ve been obsessed with this beer lately and I’m not really sure why), and then…sadly…I watched TMNT2.  I remember this movie being SO much better when I was a kid.  However, any movie that has Vanilla Ice in it…is ok with me.  :-) 

All in all…it was a great night

I feel that I should give everyone to take this opportunity and bow down in AWE of me.  That’s right…START BOWING DAMMIT!  (and some reverent homage would not be inappropriate at this time as well)

I rocked the presentation.  I managed to NOT sound like a chipmunk on speed while talking to everyone.  I gave my 15 minute presentation in 13 1/2 minutes…as opposed to my normal 3 minutes. (Sadly, 3 minutes usually is my average presentation time.  I’m really not kidding).  The two slides magically appeared in my brain at the moment I needed them to (must be the gnomes!).  AND…they said I sounded SMART!  Yes…you read that correctly…SMART!  Like I knew what I was talking about!  (HA!  Little do THEY know.)

My stomach is MUCH happier now that I’ve finished.  In fact…I’m pretty much ravenous.  I was too nervous to eat breakfast this morning, and now I’m pretty much ready to eat my desk.  The cafeteria had best open soon so I can get me some nourishment. 

Also, since I rocked out the presentation so hardcore this morning, I’ve decided that I can be hardcore in OTHER areas and attempt the afternoon run again.  This time…I plan to succeed on my run and NOT pass out.  I feel that that’s a totally acceptable goal.  I will be running slightly later in the day this time.  I am very well hydrated as well this morning.  I’ve already drank 3 bottles of water (and I have made the bathroom trips to prove it), and the high today is only 98 degrees…not the 104 degrees it was on Saturday.  Also…I’m only going to attempt to run 3-4 miles…not 8 :-). 
Seriously, with all this awesomeness I’m exhibiting today…I should be given a day of recognition or something equally as awesome.