March of the Pink Zebras

Last Saturday Rockstar came over and we went to The Old Spaghetti Factory to carbo load in prep for the 5K. There's a strong possibility we may have OD'ed on the carbs but it was so delicious, we couldn't stop! We both had salad, spinach and cheese ravioli, two loaves of bread, and spumoni ice cream. Every last bite. Gone. She hadn't eaten all day. Me? I'm just a pig.

I think our server was impressed by our hearty appetite. I tried to make his day by writing "you're cute" on my credit card receipt. Cute in the nervous, little boy way that is. He was just a baby, maybe 19??

We planned on catching a 7:20 showing of Smart People, but when 7:00 rolled around and our ice cream had just arrived, we were in need of a change in plans. Rockstar doesn't get out too much in Minneapolis so it was kind of fun to show her some of the places where I frequently black out hang out.

We first stopped by The Loop and bellied up to the bar for a drink. Then we headed to 508 where I experienced déjà vu. Or downtown is just that small, as three of the guys I met on T.'s birthday were there as well. After we got our first drink and sat down, I recognized none other than, Wheelchair Guy. He was with a group of guy friends (some I recognized) and an attractive blonde chick -- it quickly became clear she was the infamous psychotic girlfriend. Unfortunately for us, she didn't unleash that side of her but maybe it was because we made it a point to sort of steer clear of her man. She was pretty cute for him. It must have been his suave dance moves that got her.

It was fun to run into him and his buddies again. Rockstar immediately went up to him and told him she'd heard about his wheelchair move, but he claimed to be too sober to do it. I later learned "too sober" meant "not allowed to have fun" when he came up to me and apologized for not hanging out and having fun with us due to his girlfriend's presence. How hilarious is that? Even though he couldn't hang with us, we danced with his friends while mocking complete strangers. Can you ask for a better time? I think not.

One of the more interesting parts of the evening was when I was dancing with Wheelchair Guy's buddy and some girl shoved me out of the way and proceeded to take my place in dancing with him. I was taken aback but it wasn't like I was interested in the guy or anything so I merely walked away and told Rockstar about it. Later the guy came back and told me that girl was his sister so I guess she thought it was funny, which more or less, just kinda creeped me out that she was there watching him grind on chicks. If I saw my brothers doing that, I'd be scarred for life.

I also saw Stephen, but keep in mind, I did NOT look hot. Far from it. I hadn't planning on going out. And since I have poison ivy on my neck that looks like a giant hickey, I had a jumbo band-aid covering it up, my hair was in a ponytail so it wouldn't brush up against the rash, and I was wearing tennis shoes...to a downtown bar on Saturday night. I looked so very-not-cute. So even though we walked right by Stephen and his buddy, I wasn't exactly feeling up to saying hello when I looked like a total scrub. And if he saw me, he didn't say anything, probably because he was too frightened by my appearance!

And then there's Jason. He texted me Friday night but I was hanging out with TheGuy and then I guess we both ended up being at 508 at the same time on Saturday but he ended up leaving pretty quickly to go to some birthday celebration at another bar. It was for the better, since I looked awful. There is a slight chance he saw me, took one look at a big band-aid, bad outfit, and hair that looked like shit and ran far, far away. And I would never know because I have no idea what the guy looks like! If I never hear from him again, I'll know why.

In my last post I referenced looking like a lesbian. A dude came up to Rockstar and flat-out asked if she was straight and then wanted to know if her and I were together (we happened to be wearing very similar outfits -- go figure).

Anyway, I learned that even when you look like shit at a bar, you can still have fun.

Even when you have to get up the next day and run a 5K!! The race went well but the temperature was on the chilly side. We all wore pink zebra bandanas which was totally fun so we better have made the pictures this year! At least we weren't wearing pig noses like some runners. We're not that dorky.

Running Goals

Though it's been an excruciatingly slow process, I've gradually begun to rebuild speed and distance with my running. I had a terrific run outside yesterday topping off around four and a half miles that could've extended to the six range, but I didn't want to overdo it. Plus I went to the gym in the evening with TheGuy where I continued to struggle when benching the bar, but at least my arm muscles aren't sore today. I also tackled squatting with the bar but it proved to be just as much of a challenge as I anticipated. My legs still burn. And once again, my horrible form caused me to look like a buffoon.

Short-term Goal: Running of the Pigs Part Deux. Last year RockStar and I participated in this 5K that marked the very first race for both of us. Naturally, there was a mixture of nervousness and excitement. This year, however, I can just relax and enjoy it! We've even recruited several others to join us so it should be a good time. In looking at the website, we were disappointed to notice we didn't make any of the photos so we plan to get noticed this year by sporting pink bandanas. The guys aren't too thrilled about it, but too bad for them.



Mid-term Goal: I'm going to do the Downtown Half which will be my first half marathon. It's an iPod friendly race that takes place right outside my apartment so how can I NOT do it? Plus there will be a lot of dogs there since they're having a couple 5K's where they allow you to run with one or two dogs. Unfortunately, I don't think Brody is up to the challenge. Maybe next year.



Long-Term Goal: I will do Twin Cities Marathon again. If I don't PR, I'll kill myself. Luckily, this is still a long ways off. Because I'm not mentally prepared to really start focusing on this yet.

Running of the Pigs: 5K Fun Run

The Running of the Pigs was a great experience. I'm glad we chose to do a race with fewer participants as our first one so it wasn't too intimidating. I saw online somewhere that there were about 400 people, which seems about right, maybe more like 350.

After a rough Friday evening, I got a really good night's sleep the following night. I awoke at 7 am on race day feeling like a new person! The race wasn't until 10:30, but Kim arrived at my place at 9 since we had no idea how early we needed to be there. It definitely helped that it was a beautiful morning! The race location was Midway Stadium and as part of the deal, we paid $25 (plus a $2 fee if you registered online) and received a black, long-sleeved shirt that said what else, 'Running of the Pigs' with a picture of a pig. We checked in and received our numbers, mine was 1107, and we were stoked when we found out we could use MP3 players. Very happy with my iPod shuffle by the way!

It was sunny but chilly in the morning, so we sat in my car before the race, talking and making notes of the other runners. We played the game of "male or female" with one ambiguous identity parked a few cars down. The course for the race was extremely boring. It was running down Energy Park Drive so there wasn't much to see along the way. There were competitors of all ranges, from serious runners to walkers pushing their children in strollers to joggers with dogs. At the start, we were behind a group of older women wearing pipecleaners curled like a pig tail. There also was one gentleman beside us who acted as the cheerleader. He was hollering, "Woo hoo, running of the pigs! Let's hear an 'oink oink'!"

The $25 registration fee also included a lunch meal and a St. Paul Saints ticket. We weren't expecting much for the meal, but were pleasantly surprised to hear they were serving Buca's (one of the sponsors). Salad, spaghetti, fettucine, bread and tiramisu!! It was pretty good. All in all, we both enjoyed our first run and are looking forward to the next one.

Running of the Pigs

My friend Kim and I are doing this 5K run/walk next weekend in St. Paul. Kind of exciting since it will be the first competitive race for both of us (not including track in high school). She was the one who encouraged me to run long distance in the first place. Too bad I am nowhere near the same physical condition I was back then! It also doesn't help that I have been getting my 2nd wind around 3.5 miles (this is only 3.1 m) lately. Oh well, still looking forward to my first 5K!