Wednesday, August 29, 2012

The domino day

This morning, I had some tempos scheduled. But that was not meant to be; no, I had to sleep in. Had to. And by "sleeping in," I mean 5 a.m.

I figured that would be a kick off to a bummer day. But no, I had a great day! It was one of those days that almost everything went right. All the dominos fell into place, one right after another.

And then I came home to this:


My new subscription! I am so totally excited, I can't even describe.

And tomorrow, I'm hitting the road for a few (ahem, five?, ahem) miles before work. Hell or high water, baby.

For now, it's off to bed. Ah, the life of a young-thirties couple without kids, going to bed at 8:30! Woot, woot! Dreamland may involve 13.1 miles tonight.

Tuesday, August 28, 2012

4am bonding

Waking up at 4am sucks my big toe. But running makes waking up so very worth it. And running with my sweetie?


BEYOND worth it! I proposed that we make this a morning ritual, but no, he doesn't like running every morning, and he walks more than I do. Total bummer, because for the maybe half mile that we ran together, we were able to talk and motivate each other! I can't wait for our next run together.

Sunday, August 26, 2012

Painted vacation

I always have to take a deep breath on Sunday evening, a cleansing, refreshing, rejuvenating, invigorating, energizing, deep breath. It seems that my three day weekends always go by much faster than the first three days of my four day work week. There's always more "nothing" that needs to be done on the weekends, and always more work to do on weekdays.

This week, though, might be a little different, because it's the week before Labor Day, and boy do I have plans for that four-day weekend (movies, movies, "Lost," nachos, "Lost," "Lost"...)!

Of course, Tim has other plans: painting the upstairs bedrooms. I'm planning to be sick if he really goes through with that idea.

I hate painting. I hate shopping for colors. I hate moving furniture to the middle of the room. I hate doing prep. I hate taping off the borders. I hate doing a second coat. I hate watching for drips. I hate missing a spot. I hate doing touch-ups. I hate doing clean-up. I hate waiting for the paint to dry. I hate moving furniture back into place.

Do you paint? Do you like any part of it, besides the finished product?

Lost love, new love

I have failed to take ANY pictures at all this week. I think I'm losing my mind - not an excuse, just an explanation. We have been so busy!

I finished my second half marathon a little over a week ago (in 2:57); our neice came to visit; we had friends over for dinner last night; we have become singularly obsessed with "Lost;" and we work four ten-hour days. Plus, I'm training for half marathon #3 this November.

Oh yeah, and I found my new best friend: PINTEREST. Maybe our "singular obsession" with "Lost" was an understatement.


I've been looking for this as a bumper sticker for my car. Maybe I can get a sticker for my cell phone case; I would settle for that.


I found this in the DIY section, and I love it, I want it, I need it, ooooh baby. Here's the thing: we don't have kids, I'm not pregnant, no immediate plans or anything. I just want it.


One of my favorite sections in Pinterest is the quotes. This one really applies to someone in my life right now. Time after time, I try to reach out, and time after time, this person refuses to take responsibility, and doesn't do anything to help their situation. And then resents me. It's frustrating, to say the least.

Any newfound loves in your life? TV, apps, flavors, scents, anything?

Thursday, August 23, 2012

Gatorade otter pops and #3

Where was I? I hit a wall at about mile 9, at the beginning of the second hill.


See? Taking more pictures...


I didn't know there was such great scenery around here, but from the top of Rocky Hill, it's great, love it. Really refreshing after miles of climbing.

One thing that I loved about this race was the goodies. They had water stations almost every mile or mile and a half. Mid-way up the second hill, they had Gatorade otter pops, which I combined with my quickly-vanishing water to help cool it down.

I was really nervous about this race because I hadn't run at.all. in the two weeks leading up to it; that, plus the heat, and the hills. I thought I would add at least an hour to my race time (the first and only other time I've run a half marathon, I did it in 2:22). I was beyond shocked when I finished this race in just 2:57, a mere 35 minutes more!


The last 5K is what really killed me, I just wanted to be done already.


I love race shirts, especially tech tees, like this one. Maybe I won't wear it to run (I prefer tank tops by, like, five billion percent), but it feels nice and light.


Remember I said I love this race for the goodies? Well, it didn't stop at the finish line! They gave out breakfast burritos, Odwalla Super Protein, oranges... So much stuff!

True to form, though, all I wanted to do was go home, shower, and sleep.


So that was what we did, watch episode after episode of Pawn Stars and nap on the couch.

All in all, a delightful day, and already I'm training for half #3, in Fresno in November. Third time's a charm, right?

Wednesday, August 22, 2012

Heavy on the half, light on the burrito

And they're off!


Technically, the picture above was at least a couple of miles into the race, but it was the first picture I took during the Hell of a Half Marathon this past weekend.


I was super nervous about this race, but decided to view it as motivation to get back into the running habit (and so far, since I finished, it's worked). I hadn't run for two full weeks before this half, and this was my first-ever race with hills...and those hills were BIG. I guess anything bigger than 10 feet in elevation would seem "big" to me, though. Still, starting at that first hill, nearly everyone walked.


It's August, in the Central Valley; what's the very last thing anyone would expect on a day like this? Rain. But that's what we got, so much so that I had to find a way to protect my electronics. Craziness.


Of course, this is also dairy country, and we ran past a bunch of cows. Very smelly, had to document. It was fun to hear them moo as we ran past them. Very cute.


Speaking of cute, I had to take this little kid's picture, because I knew my cheer-er on-ers wouldn't get to see it, and I needed proof that I'm not completely crazy.


Yadda, yadda... More running. Kinda hit a wall at mile 9. Just wanted to be sleeping in my bed by that point. Where the hell is the finish line?


Proof that I made it to the top of Rocky Hill (twice).


Blah, blah... Kill me now. Hot, tired, and chilly (what was that about?).

Wednesday, August 15, 2012

Dark roast kitty

I didn't get in any running this past weekend while we stayed at my parents' house. Which makes me a little more than concerned about my second half marathon on Saturday. If I pass out at mile one, just pull me across the finish line. It could be bad, very very bad.

Despite my failure to log any miles, we did have a bunch of fun, hanging, chilling, eating, and napping.


We got to see and hold some two-week-old kittens, whose cries were ear piercing and heart wrenching. So adorable, especially their little teeny tiny features.


We even fell head over heels in love with this dark one, Sumatra (for a while, I wanted to take him home with us, and nickname him "dark roast"). He is such a lover kitty! At the last minute, we decided not to.

It was a good decision for us to not take the kitty right now, but we love that little guy.

We had lots more fun that just playing with kitties, but I'll tell about that next time. More pictures to come!

Thursday, August 9, 2012

Recycled stupidity

When I was little, maybe ten years old, I decided it would be fun to put our small recycling bin on top of my skateboard, get in the recycling bin, and ride down the driveway.

Problem was, you can't steer a skateboard so well when you're sitting in a recycle bin, so I shouldn't have been surprised when I hit the curb, and flew across the road, landing splayed and scraping my knee and ankle. I call the scars that resulted, my "stupid marks."

Well, I've done it again.


Here is what my knee looked like immediately following what happened this time.


And this is what it looks like now.

It all started when I was cleaning the kitchen, getting rid of a stale baguette. Because sometimes I wonder what it would be like to be a ninja (I can't think of a better excuse than that), I tried hitting the bread on the counter. Nothing happened, it didn't break. Aha! I'll try "hi-ya"-ing it with my knee.

Uh huh. Not only did it NOT break at all, but it made my knee bleed like crazy, and it still hurts to bend it.

So yes, now I'm going to have another "stupid mark" to add to my collection.

Sunday, August 5, 2012

Sweaty Thorns 5k 2012

The original plan was to run somewhere between ten and twelve miles this morning, but when I remembered that this is the weekend for The Boring Runner's Sweat Your Thorns Off 5k, I decided to cut it to 3.1. I promise to be more awake for the Frozen Thorns (sorry, Adam).

This was my first Thorns 5k ever, and I'm prepared to be completely embarrassed by my pictures being posted by The Boring Runner in his recap of the recaps.

When I run, I like to stop and smell the roses, and this time, I found some great sunflowers, big and small.

The run was going great, I negative split the first two miles (wahoo, because any positive I can find about running in the heat is a good thing)! I love trying out new things for running, like clothes, shoes, and snacks. This time, it was a strawberry lemonade nuun - yum! Still, it was absolutely no match for this intense heat, and I'm not prepared to run that half marathon weekend after next.

I'm looking forward to staying firmly on the couch the day before, as well as the day after the half, only because I'm so unprepared. Still, I'll wake up at least three of the four work days this week, and run at leat five miles every morning. At least... that's the plan. And if I keel over and puke after I cross that finish line on the 18th, ah, well, I'll cross that bridge when I come to it.

NOTE: I WILL MOST CERTAINLY CROSS THAT FINISH LINE! This much I know.

This run will stand out forever as the run that I didn't pay to enter, but instead picked up $6 by the side of the road, so it was destined to be a great run.

Sorry about the delayed pictures, but my app isn't working so well. Very odd. So, onto the finish line, and other race pictures:

Thursday, August 2, 2012

On the runs

I ran again this morning.


It was lovely and gorgeous and then... Then, I had to go to the bathroom. After less than a mile.

So I decided to make a right turn into the park area in the middle of the neighborhood, because there are fully stocked bathrooms there, right next to the soccer/football field.

I was worried I wouldn't make it. Tension began to mount. With each step, I knew I was pushing the edge.

And then I reached the bathroom. Locked. At that point, i was only about a half mile from home, that was my next destination. Yay, made it!

And then, because my run had been cut very short, I headed back out, and inadvertently met up with my hubby, who was close to home already. I let his energy propel me toward home, and a nice cool shower.

I ended up running about 2.75 miles, and my husband ran 3.4, but at least I didn't have any more entertaining news. I'll take it. Besides, I'm going to run tomorrow before my dentist appointment, catch myself back up.

Two weeks until Hell of a Half!!! I'm soooo unprepared!