Weekend Overview

It was a good, busy weekend. Friday night TheGuy came over and we made dinner, watched a couple movies and enjoyed strawberry daquiris courtesy of my new blender. It was neither the cheapest nor the most expensive -- just a middle of the road blender. I had been using an old hand-me-down blender that only blended 3/4 of its pitcher contents and that was only after multiple trial and error attempts using a wooden spoon to relocate the uncrushed ice cubes down near the blades. After reading reviews and not really finding exactly what I wanted, I settled, as I often do in love and life, for this Oster blender. It only has one speed -- on, but it seems to get the job done and according to reviews, it was the best bargain for my price range, as expressed by consumers and their 4 star rating.



Then Saturday we got up and went to the Minnesota Zoo because I was dying to see the Farm Babies exhibit. We fed baby goats and pet baby sheep, ducks, and bunnies. The baby pigs were pretty darn cute too. We headed to the gym afterwards where I did my first full squat on my second set and increased my 5 reps to 8 for the bench press. My quads were sore for a full four days after my first time doing squats but there's no soreness this time around!

On the relationship front, things are about the same. Am I stupid for hanging out with TheGuy after the whole email scandal? No doubt. But I have no delusions. I like that we spend a fair amount of time together yet we maintain our separate lives. While I'm wary and put off by the heavy, emotional stuff in a relationship, I very much enjoy having someone to embody that role of constant companion. This is what TheGuy fulfills -- my selfish desire for companionship. I never pictured us having a future together and I don't believe he does either. He still talks about wanting to teach English in Korea so I must not be much of a factor in his decision. Where that leaves us, I don't know. If I were a normal human being, I'd have broached the topic of conversation long ago. Normal? Far from that. I did meet his mom for the first time, as she's home visiting for a week, when I stopped by his house last night. She was nice and I was surprised to learn she not only knew I existed, but knew I had a cat.

Saturday night I went out with Ebeth to our usual bar with the usual people. Bumped into C-Sharp in the parking ramp so hung out with him a while too. In the bar, not the parking ramp. A few guys came up to me throughout the night, but I don't know whether they were actually hitting on me. One guy remembered me from college. I didn't know him, but knew of him because he was a nice, friendly guy, but I never would have recognized him. It's funny how you spend four years at a small college where you see all the same people around campus, at parties, and at the bars and never say one word to them but once you see them after college, you have no qualms about approaching one another.

Later on, a guy with thinning hair and a striped button-down shirt came up to me and said, "Do I know you from Vegas?" I'd seen him looking at me as if he knew me and I was wondering if it had been that Jason guy since he had texted me and I'd told him where I was. But as soon as he said Vegas, I breathed a sigh of relief. I believe my response was something like, "Uhhh..." Well, I was in Vegas a few months ago but I was really wasted 90% of the time so I guess anything is possible. Then he added, "Are you a writer/producer in Vegas?" I should have said yes and messed with him, but I didn't, prompting him to turn and walk away sheepishly. Was it a line? Maybe, but I don't think so. I saw him again later that night and he shot me a look of humiliation as he passed by.

Around 12:30, Jason sent a text saying he didn't know if he'd make it to the bar I was at, as he had planned on trying to stop by. I figured it meant he wasn't coming and Ebeth and I were already kinda bored so we both took off around 1. When I got to my car, I sent him a text letting him know I'd gone home early and he responded by saying that he was already on his way. So we missed one another by minutes. Oh well. He had told me, "It's all good" and "hit me up sometime" in his last text. All I know remember of him is this: 1.) He graduated from Eagan in 2000 so he's a year younger than me. I really hate that fact but I could probably deal. 2.) He played soccer. 3.) He lives in Bloomington and his parents live in Milwaukee. I programmed his last name into my phone because I already had another Jason in my phone book, so I'm pretty sure I found him on Facebook but I can't look at his profile and his picture is really tiny with a bunch of groomsmen. I guess I could ask him if he's on Facebook and add him as my friend or I could ask him if he wanted to meet for a drink, but I am kind of scared. And the anticipation of not knowing is probably way more exciting. But now I'm more curious than ever to know what he looks like.

Yesterday I went and saw my friend's baby. Babies don't like me, or maybe I don't like them, but he's undeniably cute. He was all smiles yesterday so that was definitely fun to see. Afterwards, I went and visited my old best friend from childhood. Truth be told, I'm racked with guilt anytime I hang out with her. When we were growing up, I was always the leader who made all the decisions in our little group. Then my family moved away when I was in 7th grade and things were never the same. My old best friend started hanging out with the wrong crowd and went drastically downhill from there. I often think about what would've happened if we hadn't moved. Obviously, I was only a kid at the time so I had little to no say when my parents decided to uproot our very important social lives and move to the boonies, but I know my best friend's life would be completely different today.

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.

Work It Out

After taking a long hiatus from working out, and noticing my shirts and pants puckering in places they were once roomy, I forced myself to go to the gym last night. It was a crummy workout, as to be expected when you slack off for months. I ran three miles, pausing several times for various reasons such as water break, muscle cramp, or to mop up my drool from staring at the hot personal trainer. Still gorgeous as ever.

The thing I was most pleased about was how much more energized I felt after the gym. Some days after work, I get home, plop down on the couch, stuff my face, watch Young & the Restless, and stalk my junior high crushes on the internet. Yesterday after I worked out, I went to Old Navy and bought a couple pair of running shorts, got home and showered, made myself a salad for dinner, watched Young & the Restless, cleaned up a bit, made my lunch for today, and did some ironing. I didn't even feel sleepy like I normally do. For most people, this is probably a typical day, but that was super productive for my lazy ass.

This is the worst part -- trying to get back into the swing of things when you're out of shape, but once you're over the hump and you've integrated exercise into your daily routine, it's not so bad and I fully intend to do so. Plus I am planning to sign up for Twin Cities Marathon again so the sooner, the better.

Invisible Sidewalk Crack

I had a near perfect run this morning. It was nice and cool – low 30’s with flurries. So refreshing. Miraculously, I also managed to not flat on my face this time. I inspected the “danger zone” and realized I must be even more of a klutz than I thought because the sidewalk is perfectly flat where I tripped. Did that huge crack I envisioned disappear??

Sorry, I know these are weak posts. Blame NaBloPoMo. I’ll do better next week.

Got Food?

My 'Oh-So-Exciting' Evening:

- The personal trainer half-smiled at me as we crossed paths on the stairs at the club. Courtesy smile, indeed, but hey, I'll take what I can get!

- I went grocery shopping. If any guests open my refrigerator in the next 168 hours, they'll be in for the shock of their lives. My fridge is stocked from top to bottom with actual FOOD. Not with cans and cans of diet soda, but non-expired, perfectly edible food. After six months of avoiding an all-out grocery trip, my most hated chore, I sucked it up yesterday. In equally shocking news, I made my lunch today. And it's not peanut butter and jelly. I brought bow tie pasta with spinach, tomato, red onion, cilantro, feta and Italian Wish Bone Salad Spritzer.

When it comes to diet and exercise, the latter is so much easier than the I-see-something-I like, I-must-eat-it part. I love food. Don't people work out so they can eat whatever they want and not gain a pound?? In my head, this is true. I love vegetables, I really do, but laziness overcomes my desire for the green stuff -- too much prep work. By the time I get home from the gym, I'm inclined to scarf down whatever takes the least amount of time to prepare. Hopefully, I intend to change that by grocery shopping on a regular basis (at least for veggies) and packing my lunch the night before work. However, I've set this goal many-a-time before with zero success rate.

- Watched Big Brother. If you're wondering why you haven't seen any posts on my favorite show, it's because I'm waiting for something to happen! Those in charge of casting should be fired ASAP. Unless, that is, CBS instructed them to find 14 of the most boring people on the planet and stick them in a house together. I honestly couldn't care less who wins at this point -- they're all sticks in the mud.

Weight. Lift.

Things I would rather do than lift weights:

- Clean up projectile vomit
- Give my grandma a sponge bath
- Offer Deborah a piggyback ride

Weights are sooooo not my thing. Yet somehow I found the motivation to do them twice in the past couple weeks. I only ran three miles yesterday, then dragged my heels to the weight area. My arms are sore today and I suspect it'll be worse tomorrow. Why do toned arms have to come at such a high price? Mine are nowhere near that. One thing that keeps me going is the gorgeous personal trainer/model. I drool. Literally. If I had the extra money right now, I'd hire him. Today.

$4.99 Plus Tax

That's the amount I should have deducted from my hair stylists' tip last Saturday. When asked if I wanted front-angling, I replied, "sure," under the false presumption it would look fabulous, framing my face. She said she would just do a little bit, so I thought it would be fine. After all, she had a super cute cut and looked like Nelly Furtado and after four long hours together, she'd done a spectacular job with my highlights.

To my horror, she took the scissors and hacked off the front pieces of my hair so now I have stray side bangs. I hate bangs. I especially hate bangs when you're working out and they hang in your eyes and later stick to the side of your face, drenched in sweat. So I went to Target last night and spent $4.99 on two headwraps with an adjustable strap in hopes they will actually stay on my head, but I'm not so optimistic considering I have soft, slippery hair.

I've been nervous for the marathon lately because I haven't taken training seriously. As I've mentioned about 1,000 times now, I've felt lethargic and out of shape, but yesterday I finally had a really great workout, which I desperately needed. I pushed myself and did 6 miles in 53:33 so I was very pleased.

Afterwards, I went and found a pair of running shoes, but they didn't have my size, so I'm going to check a different store today. When I told my friend the other day about my worn-out shoes, she said, "You better buy new ones before you injure yourself!" That never even dawned on me. I also purchased a heart rate monitor -- something I've been wanting for quite a while. I read some reviews on Polar watches beforehand, but I detest the fact Polar requires you mail in your watch to change the battery. So I went with a less expensive, Timex one instead. It's my first HRM so we'll see how this one performs.

Now What?

Ho hum, life is so dreadfully boring as of late. I feel totally unprepared for running 26.2 miles come October 7. My workouts have been sporadic -- I've failed to keep up with my training. I managed to squeeze in 4 days last week, running 6 miles each time, so a grand total of 24 for the week. According to my schedule, I should have completed 18-19 miles so maybe I'll be okay. It's the long Sunday runs I've been neglecting that will ultimately screw me over. I was supposed to do 9 on Sunday, the number rising by 1-2 every Sunday. Much to my horror, the humidity returned in full force after a 6-day stretch of relief, so my run yesterday was not a pleasant one.

Today I headed to the gym for the first time since the "re-modeling." They added new machines and granite benches and countertops to the locker rooms, but other than that, I couldn't tell much difference. Within thirty seconds on the treadmill, I stopped and opted for one of the new elliptical machines. Why is it I had to get stuck beside the guy who insisted on blowing his nose directly into his towel?! The same towel he then proceeded to use to wipe the sweat from his forehead. Trust me, there was nothing discreet about several loud honks of a blow that sounded like a Canadian geese mating call!! Snot and sweat...what a combo.

On my way home, guess who I had the privilege of seeing again? BellyBulgeGuy --same green khaki shorts and all. Like a bowl full of jelly!

5 Miles in Hell

Why did I think I could run in this heat?!? Big mistake. My body prefers cold over hot any day of the year. I figured maybe I should try to acclimate my body to the humidity since this is my last week of freedom before marathon training starts.

In fact, I received my official participant of the '07 Twin Cities Marathon card in the mail today. I don't think the training itself will be the difficult part. I'm actually dreading the commitment of following a regimen more than anything. I hate the fact I'll no longer have the freedom to do whatever I want for my workouts.

TGIF

Yesterday's run was not good. I never fell into "the zone." I'm sick of my songs so it's time I added new music to my shuffle. That may have been part of the problem. I jogged at a slower pace, 6.4, and I kept hoping it would get easier as the miles stacked up, but it never did. I also felt unusually dehydrated. I had a bottle of water in my cup holder but I was too lazy to stop. If I had, my body probably would have shut down altogether, having lost my momentum. It was that kind of day.

It's a shame I had no camera because I did see some interesting outfits. I saw one woman wearing a bright orange top with matching pants who looked like she'd just escaped from the nearest prison. Then there's an older guy with a mustache and crazy mullet who always wears the same faded Everlast tanktop with his gut hanging out between where the shirt ends and his shorts begin. One dude on the treadmill worked out in jean shorts. Odd.

Still, the prize for tackiest outfit went to a middle-aged woman with salt and pepper colored hair. I can only assume she came straight from work because she was wearing black nylons under her shorts!!!!! She then had white socks over the nylons paired with white tennis shoes. Ridiculous. I hate nylons with a passion. I can't imagine anyone choosing to work out in them. Why, why, why?!?!

5 Days Later...

I did 6 miles in 54:28! Still not that great of a time, but a vast improvement from my prior record. Upset with myself for skipping 5 consecutive days, I took out my aggression on the treadmill. For the last 1/2 a mile, I even cranked the speed to 6.9. Pretty sure the highest I'd EVER had it before today was 6.7. The weather was beautiful today too, but I forced myself to go to the club because I actually push myself there.

I'd like to buy a heart rate monitor watch, but haven't done enough research on them yet. I really need to get serious and keep track of my splits. I'll be more motivated outdoors that way.

Old habits die hard. Once again, I failed to stretch so I could be in pain tomorrow!

Update: I ran so hard today my favorite Old Navy running shorts chafed my waistline! It hurts. Sigh.

Twin Cities Marathon -- Now or Never

This morning, Dave Ryan talked about the "love it" or "hate it" experience of marathon runners, in preparation for the Twin Cities Marathon. He did Twin Cities last year and loved it. Registration opens Thursday, May 3, and online registration starts Friday, May 4. Running a marathon has always been on my list of things to do before I die. I figure this is the year to do it -- I'm 26 years old so there's a mile for every year of my life. Besides, I'm not getting any younger!! So I'm going to take the plunge and sign up.

It's comforting to know it should be relatively cool that time of year, October 7. Also, Dave said it's pretty much all flat except for a slight incline on mile 19 and no matter where you are on the course, there are supporters cheering you on. No music will be a difficult adjustment for me, but hopefully the adrenaline rush will somewhat compensate. At least if it's horrible, I won't have to spend the rest of my life wondering what it would have been like...

Fitness Fair Hoopla

"Do you wanna go to the fitness fair?" she asks, my co-worker with the 5'2," 200-lb frame and sky-rocketing blood pressure, moments after devouring an apple fritter and chocolate cake doughnut.

"Um, no thanks."

Stretching is Not Overrated

As if I didn't have that pounded into my head every high school track practice by my coach. Yet for some reason, I choose to skip out on warm-ups, cool-downs and stretching during my workouts. Mr. Ertl would be so disappointed. I'd so much rather get it over and done with despite knowing I'm cheating myself out of getting the best results from my workout and potentially preventing injury. My negligence got the best of me the other day when I developed the WORST charley horse in my right calf. Two days later, it's still a little sore. I may have to start stretching. I also need to search online for arm exercises using free weights. My arms looked fat and flabby in pictures taken of me last weekend. Ugh. Didn't run yesterday, had to stay late at work. Today is no good either, which means I can't slack (use excuse of hangover recovery) Saturday and Sunday like I typically do.

New Record

I was dreading going back indoors to the treadmill yesterday, but I had positive results. Usually it takes me a long time to build up speed, gradually increasing with each mile. But I started off strong, running at 6.5. Then at the 2-mile mark, my shoelace came untied. Could there be anything more annoying?!? I always pause my machine because I don't trust myself to be able to get back on at the same pace without falling off. So I lost all my momentum and struggled the next couple miles to regain my stride. It did get easier, however, around 5 miles, particularly when I realized I was beating my old record from a few weeks ago when I mentioned doing 6 miles in 57:18. This time I did 6 in 55:24, so I was very pleased!! Oh, and I was surrounded by three men, all of whom I outran. Must have been the new techno workout album I downloaded from iTunes.