Evily Deliciousness

Because my husband has a job that requires him to spend time with little kids, every year he is exposed to the evil that is Girl Scout Cookie Time. Knowing that his wife has a redonkulous sweet tooth, he buys cookies every year. This year, he bought eight boxes, for which he might need to take a loan out to pay for them. But he is not an eater of sweets, so the task falls squarely on my shoulders. In the last 14 hours, I have consumed an entire sleeve (that's half a box) of Thin Mints.

Let me state for the record that I am a fan of the Girl Scouts. I spent 12 years as an active (although I did the bare minimum) Girl Scout. And I do admit that the only reason I stayed with it in high school was for the trip to Europe. For my 26th birthday (yes, you read that right) I got a lifetime membership to the Girl Scouts. I wonder if I will ever be upgraded to Woman Scout?

During my Sophomore year of college, I went to a summer camp job fair and I got roped in to work as a lifeguard at a Girl Scout camp in the middle part of North Carolina (FYI: Sophia, North Carolina, in months of July and August, is hotter than the bottom-center of an active volcano). I was still kind of mentally and emotionally drained (read:crazy) from a bad break-up a few months prior, and I was excited to have the excuse to avoid my hometown all summer. Turns out that was one of best decisions (in the top three) that I have ever made.


It was hard, it was hot, I didn't make a ton of money, but I did get to spend copious amounts of time at the pool, eat an absolutely obscene amount of S'mores, become a member of the Order of the Forks, and I made some great friends. I got to hone my skills as an emcee for "talent" shows (see picture). I ended up working there for two more summers, plus a few weeks here and there while I was burning up comp-time after I had my first full-time job.

But digress ...

The husband has hidden the one (out of eight) boxes of cookies that he wants to keep out of my sugar-coated fingers. I will report back if Thin Mints are a good pre-run meal. They are shaping up to be a pre-"anything I do for the next two weeks" meal.

Runnin' review

I got in five miles today. And at a blistering 10:16 average pace! Seriously, that is the fastest I have run since October, and I am overjoyed about it. I even rocked out an obnoxious 9:30 for the last mile.

As previously mentioned, I saw Spirit of the Marathon the other night. It was definitely worth the ten bucks, but I didn't come away feeling so motivated that I wanted to run home from the theatre. It was enough to make me get up and run three the next morning though. I think that it suffered from the over-hype that several movies have suffered with me lately: The Simpsons and Superbad coming to mind first. I really enjoyed each flick, but they had been built up to something that they could never attain.

SLIGHT SPOILER WARNING (for anyone who would be upset at a spoiler for a documentary)

All of that being said, I will probably purchase Spirit and watch it a few more times. The old guy (Jerry) was my favorite. I was very much on the edge of my seat though for the finish of the women's race. I had no idea who was going to win, and I was pulling of course for Deena Kastor. Had they followed the training of that chick who finished second who had the seemingly wildly flailing arms, I would have been cheering for her. I have become a Paula Radcliffe fan (yes, I actually have a favorite marathoner now - I would put a sticker on my car for her to show my fandom if I could find one) and I liked seeing even the short interviews with her. The segment of the flick about Katherine Switzer and her running of Boston was edited pretty cleverly too.

Weak White Woman

It's chilly here in Nashville today. I brought some cold weather gear with me, but I still opted for the hotel fitness center. The treadmill though seemed to have an incline no matter how many times I hit the down arrow. It even read the incline as "zero" but I could swear that it was at least still at a three. I ran about 30 seconds before I abandoned it for the elliptical. But then that machine was all funky too. It worked like a top, but it was just weird feeling. It's not as crappy as the one I usually work out on, so that must have just thrown my legs for a loop. I did that machine for about 2 minutes. Maybe my body knew that I had already showered once today, and it was rebelling at any activity that would require another shower later on. Eh, some days you just aren't feelin' it.

A very amusing blog was passed along to me yesterday. Stuff White People Like - very funny, and spot-on, stuff. Of the current 73 items, I dig more of them than I care to mention. There were of course a few things I have a complete dislike for, most glaringly item #52, Sarah Silverman. I don't care for the "Wait, why are you laughing. Oh, is what I'm saying funny? I didn't realize it." shtick. I am not a prude, and I can appreciate offensive things, but I just don't care for her delivery. Or her jokes. Although I do love equally acceptable "alternative" comic David Cross. Ahh, Tobias. And as far as Tobias is concerned, see item #38, Arrested Development.

But like most white people, I love irony (#50), kitchen gadgets (#53), expensive sandwiches (#63), dogs (#53), and 80's Night (#29). Were I at home, I would scan a picture of an absolutely awesome 80's Night from college to prove my love of 80's Night.

And OF COURSE, running is on there - item #27, Marathons:

In life, there are certain milestones of physical activity that can define you. A sub 5 second 40 yard dash, a 40 inch vertical leap and so forth. To a white person, the absolute pinnacle of fitness is to run a marathon. Not to win, just to run.

White people will train for months, telling everyone who will listen about how they get up early in the morning, they run when it rains, how it makes them feels so great and gives them energy.

When they finish the marathon, they will generally take a photo of themselves in a pair of New Balance sneakers, running shorts, and their marathon number with both hands over their head in triumph (seriously, look it up, this is universal).

They will then set goals like running in the Boston Marathon or the New York Marathon.

If you find yourself in a situation where a white person is talking about a marathon, you must be impressed or you will lose favor with them immediately. Running for a certain length of time on a specific day is a very important thing to a white person and should not be demeaned.

Also worth nothing, more competitive white people prefer triathlons because Kenyans can’t afford $10,000 specialty bicycles. If the subject ever comes up, just say that triathletes are in better shape than football and basketball players. It’s not true, but it will make the conversation a lot more genial.

I would write more, but there is a Whole Foods just down the road and I need to check it out.

I've got spirit, yes I do...

I've got spirit, how 'bout you?

Went to see Spirit of the Marathon last night. I quite enjoyed it, and it was an excellent motivation booster. It was very cool to see that so many of those emotions are universal.

I wish I could quit you, treadmill

Dearest Treadmill,

I know there has been quite a bit of 'distance' between us as of late. Just this time last year, we were happily spending miles and miles together. Then came the warmer weather and my need for a change of scenery. I fell in love with the places called The Greenway, The Riverwalk, and The Cross Country Trail. I tried to come back to you on the warmest days of the summer, but I just couldn't - I had changed. "I'll be so bored," I thought. "Even with the four televisions and the radio set to that obnoxious 'light favorites while you work' station."

I eventually found myself back in your home, but ignoring you in order to spend time on the elliptical and the stationary bike. I know that hurt you.

But today was so nice. Just like old times. We spent 31:00 wonderful minutes together. Thank you for that. Perhaps we can rekindle our relationship again. If only until mid-March when the weather in nice again.

Hootie

My dog is awesome.

Sure, there were the times he ate Gnumoon's sunglasses, my sunglasses, Gnumoon's husband's dress shoes AND flip flops, one-quarter a queen-sized fleece blanket, etc... There was the time he peed down the Hubs back (which was really funny for everyone except the Hubs). Oh, the time he chewed clean through subwoofer power cord. He has also left several magazines and DVDs in his wake, including Season 2, Disc 1 of Chapelle's Show and some subtitled artsy movie (thank you Netflix for just letting that one slide by). And then there's the small fortune at the vet for this, that, and the other. But he is still awesome.

This morning's show of awsomeness involved being such a complete whiny pain in the ass that the only solution (short of a trip to the pound) was to take him for a run. We covered 3 miles in 33:00, and I think we both have one foot in the grave to show for it.

So a special thanks to Awesome Pup for getting me off my behind and making me run today. I feel better for it and I'm sure you are happier too.

Jemaine for a Friday

Not much to report here. I am feeling better, but still a bit yucky. This should have cleared up by now, so I am to report to the doctor tomorrow if it is not any better. (I am not pregnant. I have had to make this disclaimer to many people, including my ever hopeful mother and mother-in-law.)

I did the marathon a month and a day ago, and since then I have logged six miles. I have done some other workouts, but this stomach bug thing has had me completely sidelined for about a week now. I keep thinking I will feel good enough to go for a workout, but when I get up to change into my workout clothes, something tells me it would be a bad idea.

If I can't get to training soon though, I am afraid to register for the half marathon. I don't want to go in with not enough training. I certainly didn't train enough for the marathon, although I was able to finish somewhat respectably and in relatively little pain. I would really hate to do the half marathon and finish SLOWER than last year.

By the numbers, part II

Total pounds lost while training for a marathon: 1
Total pounds lost over the last 36 hours: like 4

I am actually feeling much better, although I am still on a steady diet of Sierra Mist Free and saltine crackers. I do think that my neighbor (who spent the whole day with us on Saturday) is feeling a little icky now. I fee like an outbreak monkey.

Celebrate good times, c'mon!

The varsity teams won their state titles last night. I celebrated by getting some sort of stomach bug and puking at several different points along the side of I-24 on the drive home last night. Right after the swim meet was over, we did dine at Steak & Shake. I didn't have very much of my usually delicious Frisco Melt. I was feeling a little "off" and it wasn't looking very appetizing. The few bites that I did have looked even less appetizing a mere 45 minutes later.

On the upside, husband is quite terrified of catching something from me, so he slept on the couch. I had the whole bed last night to sleep fitfully in, and I didn't have to worry about the unpleasant sounds from the bathroom keeping him awake.

I just braved about half of a chicken sandwich. Our fingers are crossed that the worst is over.

100

This is my 100th post. I really don't have anything special to write about, but everyone seems to mention their 100th, so here mine is.

I haven't done very many miles, but I have been elliptical-ing and other exercise-ish things. The knee is feeling very good actually.

Completely unrelated, a good friend of ours received quite an honor yesterday. He is way too humble to show his excitement about it, but we are very happy for, and proud of, him. Congratulations DJ!

In about an hour we are off to Nashville to the State swim meet. Several swimmers from the Hub's team won events last night, and even broke a few state records in the process. Today's events should be even stronger for the group that is there, so hopefully the team will be coming home late tonight as the State Champions.

Apologies for the image on this post. Things got a bit out of hand. Leonidas looks like he would have been a bad-ass swimmer, don't you think? Although he would have had to shave that beard and lose the cape. It would create way too much drag in the water.

I need these guys

A trip to the new orthopedist revealed what I kind of already knew: I have ridiculously weak quads. He gave me a quite detailed of exercises to do to alleviate this problem, and hopefully the left knee issue in the process. If it's not better in six weeks, we will do an MRI.

But the good news is that I can still keep running as long as I feel like it, but I need to keep distances under four miles for the next few weeks. Since I got the green light, I am going to officially register for the half marathon on my earliest convenience (read: payday).

Snake Oil Medicine Show

(not the band)

I bundled up yesterday morning and hit my favorite four mile route. There was frost on everything, but the sun was starting to melt it away in spots. Beautiful morning.

The first two miles were great. About a 10:07 pace, and not much knee pain until right at two miles. I stopped at my turnaround point and stretched out. Knee pain gone. The last two miles seemed to go by much faster for some reason, although my pace was close to 10:45-11:00. I had to stop and stretch a few more times as the knee got a bit more achy.

I felt GREAT the rest of the day. Was it "ahh, I ran again, it was good, so now I feel great," kind of like the placebo effect? Or was it the actual physiology of running that they are always telling us about? Little bit of both, I guess. Whatever it was, I am so so glad I got up and went out yesterday morning.

I'll take two more bottles please.

Breakfast with Murray

I have been on quite the "scrambled egg on (whole wheat) english muffin" kick. Every morning I scramble an egg, sometimes with a little cheese and crumbled bacon in it. And for the past few days, I have been singing the song "Eggy Blonde" while I make it. A slight take off of "Leggy Blonde," from episode seven of Flight of the Conchords.



"eggy, eggy, eggy, eggy, blondie, blondie, blondie, blondie..."