They had some time on their hands

The Race

So continuing my fine tradition, yesterday's race was run on 3 1/2 hours sleep and with killer heartburn. Apparently, I am not meant to have a pre-race dinner of a pasta with red sauce. Next time I'll stick with mac & cheese. The heartburn lasted the entire race and didn't go away until I hobbled across the street to buy overpriced antacids at a beach souvenir shop.

Still, even with all that, I kicked ass on my race. I shaved 4 minutes off my Seattle time and I even stopped to pee (and that took like 3 minutes because my running pants are so tight). However, I did want to die a little when I was done.



No more half marathons for me. Now I'm going to concentrate on getting my 5k time down and actually be able to run for more than 3 minutes at a time.

And I'm off like a herd of turtles

on my way to Virginia Beach. Which was spared by Hurricane Earl. Yay.

They did not teach me this in dance class

About 10 years ago I got this wild idea that I should take tap dancing classes. And so I did, through the University of Texas (and no, that does not make me a longhorn, bite your tongue). Anyway, I did not have enough rhythm and coordination to do even the basic steps, much less dance like this.

One Month

A lot can happen in a month. You can lose 5 pounds, you can win the lottery, you can follow your favorite band across the country or you can start to fall in love. I've only done one of these things in the last month.

In one month I will be 37.
Seriously, how does that happen?

Race music

I'm being optimistic that Hurricane Earl is going to take a turn and pass Virginia Beach by. Also that my sinus infection thing will clear up in the next couple of days, because running with clogged ears will be a bitch. Plus I'll have to turn my ipod up to eleven!!11.

So I'm working on crafting the perfect playlist and thought I'd share some with you. Some are new to me and some are just faves. No judging.

Bruno Mars- Just the Way You Are. Watch more top selected videos about: Just the way you are, Just the Way You Are

There's also a whole lot of Britney (in her trashy phase), 80s and early 90s one hit wonders and twangy you-broke-my-heart-so-now-I'm-gonna-kilt-yer-dawg type country. Don't judge my music until you've run 13.1 miles in a hurricane.

Why?!

What is it with me and hurricanes? Argh. Despite my best intentions I haven't made it to the beach all summer and I just want to spend Friday and Saturday laying on the beach working on my tan and reading trashy books.

Hurricane Earl is threatening to ruin my Labor Day vacation. I know I haven't trained for this 1/2 marathon as well as I should have but I swear I didn't pray for a hurricane to wipe things out.

In a pinch

Here's a tip I bet you won't read on Hints From Heloise:

If you just need to iron the hem of something and don't want to drag out your iron and ironing board, just use your flat iron! It works really great if you are already wearing the item in question. Just be careful not to burn yourself.

There's a new app in town

The official Netflix app for the iPhone came out recently and it is awesome . It streams the "watch now" videos right to the phone. No longer do I have to sit at my desk to catch up on Weeds. Now I can do it from the comfort of my recliner, just like I watch all my other television.
Seriously I was almost as excited about this app, which is free but I would have paid for it, as I was when I found out The Container Store is opening in Raleigh.

Who told?

Ain't that some shit

Why is that about a week before every single one of my 1/2 marathons I start to get some kind of sinus infection? Is that really necessary? Aren't I going to feel bad enough after I hobble across the finish line? Do I really need to feel like my eye balls are made of sand paper and about to pop out of my head for the next 5 days?

Also, there are still 34 days until I turn 37. But apparently, Competitor Wireless thinks that is already my age. I went to their site today to sign up some peeps to get texts about my race progress and was not very happy to see a big ol 37 listed as my age. Oh well. I still look good, right?

Anyway, I've got one extra spot if anyone is just dying to find out exactly how slow I run. Keep in mind the race starts at...you know, I don't even know what time it starts but it's probably between 6 and 7am (EST). I wear a little chip on my shoe and I'm timed at the 5k, 10k and 10-mile markers.

As for the title to this post, it's from my new favorite song, by Cee Lo Green, which I'm not going to link here because it's very very inappropriate but it cracks me up and will definitely be in heavy rotation for 13 miles next Sunday.

And because I really hate blog posts without photos, check out this awesome cupcake I had today. Dark chocolate with peanut butter buttercream frosting. It was delicious. My coworker made it.

I'm ashamed

Driving to the park tonight I found myself racing down the highway rocking out to Justin Bieber. It was much more rockin' in my car going 80 mph down 40. I swear.

Wakka wakka

You find the craziest things on the internet.

Eat Pray Love

I know, everyone is writing about this movie. You know me, ever the follower, just like a sheep. Baaa baaa baaa. Anyway. Last night I went to see this movie with my good friend from college, Nikki, who even though she lives just down the road I hardly ever see. But last night we managed to meet up, have dinner and squeeze in some shopping before the movie.

We popped into Target to get cheap candy for the movie because after paying $10 for a movie ticket I refuse to pay $12 for a box of m&ms. Okay it might not be $12 but you know what I mean. While I was in there I bought some new shoes. They are beautiful burgundy red patent pumps. I'm wearing them now. With my t-shirt and running shorts. It's hot. I know.

So on to the movie. I hadn't read the book and didn't really know much about the story. I was just going because the trailer looked interesting and I wanted to hang out with my friend. The movie was alright. Personally, I think they could have cut out most of the India section. But it really made me want to take a long trip to Italy so I could learn Italian and eat delicious food.

The Bali section was fun to watch too, mostly because then I want to spend some time lounging around in a thatched roof hut without a care in the world. In this scene you were supposed to be all "awwww romantic" but I was "damn, that house is awesome". Okay, the romance bit was good too. But I was distracted because Javier Bardem looks so much like Jeffrey Dean Morgan. And you all know how I feel about JDM.

So now I really need to start playing the lottery, because I hear that really helps increase your odds of winning, so that I can someday run off to Italy and Bali and dozens of other fabulous places.

Yumm!

Today I went to Lily's Pizza for lunch. My choice was this giant meat-meat-meat calzone. Just what I needed after putting in 10 miles on the trail in the morning.

Hot Tub Time Machine

Many months ago I blogged the trailer for the movie Hot Tub Time Machine and last night I finally saw it. OMG. It was hilarious. Very crude but so very funny. At one point I was laughing so hard I nearly fell off the sofa. If you liked The Hangover, you'll like this, specially if you grew up in the 80s.



So run out to your nearest Redbox and rent it this weekend!

I guess I should be comforted....

that there are 3 fire stations within 5 miles of my apartment. One is practically in my backyard so I hear its sirens frequently, the other is directly across from my office and the 3rd is just down the road from there. Tonight I could tell that the sirens weren't going away from me, but rather towards me. Two minutes later, or maybe even less, the truck pulls up right in front of my building. Guess it's a good thing I don't need to go anywhere because my car is now blocked by a fire engine and an ambulance.

Yes, I took Lulu out there as my "excuse" to be a nosy nelly to see what was going on. Some one is in their car and receiving medical attention. It looks like someone else was going to drive them to the hospital (I really should figure out where one is around here) but decided that it was better to call 911.

Anyway, just another exciting evening in suburbia.

This is just a test

Do not be alarmed.

Testing out mobile blogging app.

Blinded by the bling

My third half marathon is in 4 weeks and I feel ill prepared. It's been so hot that I've totally slacked off on running except for the crack of dawn Saturday morning trainings. But I have to do it. It's the only way I can get the medals. Next year I swear I am going to take a vacation that does not involve running of any sort. Not even running for a plane. At least by going to Virginia Beach for this last race I have a day to just lounge on the beach.

Only in Texas....

will you need to learn how to ski on a small astro-turf covered hill. When I was a kid, in preparation for a ski trip to Colorado, my dad took me to Mt. Aggie. I don't really remember much from that time on the hill. Maybe I've blocked it out because skidding your face on astro-turf is not a pleasant experience. Who knows.

The music is awful in this video so I recommend turning the sound off.