Lady Gaga's In Town!

What a friggin busy day!  Class this morning, work all day (errands, piles of files), lunch, run after work, laundry, grading papers!  I guess I signed up for this!  And I loved only the parts involving teaching every minute of it!

Last night my seester made the GF and I dinner.  It was amazing!  So amazing that I'm tempted to ask her to come over once a week just to cook for us.  My nephew had a blast with the pups.  After their 3 mile walk and 15 minute sprints at the doggie park, my nephew played with them for about another 3 hours!  Well, mostly he screamed at them and ran from them and threw the ball on the counter for them!  The pups were exhausted!  Cutest thing of the night: my nephew tried to pout and was walking away from me dragging his blankie...I almost got a Linus picture!

My niece was busy at a Lady Gaga party.  A Lady Gaga party for 6 to 8 year olds.  A Lady Gaga party where all the kids had to dress up like Lady Gaga!  I mean, when's the cutoff?  Anywhoo, when my niece got to the house after the party and I asked her how it went, she said Lady Gaga was at the party...the real Lady Gaga!  How exciting is that?  Lady Gaga in the Land of Enchantment?  I'm still wondering if any kids showed up covered in meat!  Well, they danced the night away and she ended up having a great time.  The seester was smart enough not to dress her in some skimpy outfit!  She's only 6 for cryin out loud!

I ran 3 miles after work today and although my neck was tight and achy all day, it felt just fine while I ran.  I'll try again tomorrow and just keep going until it really hurts again.  I'm planning on signing the GF and I up for a race this weekend anyway, so I gotta get ready!  Speaking of races, I'd like to take a quick moment to talk about a new race on the calendar: The Virtual Run for Sherry Arnold: February 11, 2012.  Some of you may have heard about it on the news, but here's a quick excerpt from Shut Up & Run's page:

"On January 7, 2012, my cousin Sherry, age 43, left her house in the small town of Sidney, Montana at 6:30 a.m. for an early morning run. She didn’t always run in the morning because as a teacher, it was often difficult to fit in runs before she headed to Sidney High School to teach math. January 7 was a Saturday, however, and Sherry had a bit more time to spare. After her run she planned to meet her sister, Rhonda, and head out to their parent’s ranch a few miles outside of town. Her husband, Gary, had gone for a walk at 5:30 a.m. and when he returned home he could tell that Sherry had already left for her run because of the toothpaste splatters in the sink and a light that was on in the kitchen.


Sherry often ran within the town limits and January 7 was no exception. When Sherry did not come home later that morning, however, her husband began to worry. He called the police and a search ensued. By 3:00 p.m. hundreds of volunteers were searching for Sherry and only one clue had been found, Sherry’s right Brook’s running shoe.


My aunt called to tell me that “something bad had happened in Montana.” As the details unfolded, a weight sat in the pit of my stomach. I hoped for the best, but feared the worst. Please find her. Please bring her home.


For several days there was no sign of Sherry. On the seventh day, a tip was received on the FBI’s tip line that led to the arrest of two men, one in North Dakota and one in South Dakota. One of the men confessed to killing Sherry. She had been abducted at 6:40 a.m., only about a mile from her house.


Sherry’s body has not yet been found.


Sherry’s traumatic and heinous death has shocked, angered and saddened her small community. On a much larger scale, it has also rocked the running world from coast to coast and abroad. How could something so random, violent and senseless happen to someone so giving, someone loved by so many?"

This is very sad, especially because it's not supposed to happen to someone we know!  It's never supposed to be this close to home.  So, on February 11th, if you'd like to run/walk/bike or anything with me to honor Sherry Arnold, let me know!  Shut Up & Run has a link on her blogsite where you can also donate to Sherry's family (for her kids) if you so choose.

With that, I'll leave you with one last thing...Good Night!!

~Chix

FYTO 5K Recap

Today I participated in the 2nd Annual Freeze Your Thorns Off Virtual 5K!  This race was organized by The Boring Runner and I'm glad he did it.  Here's a few reasons why:

• When I woke up yesterday to run the race, my neck and back were VERY sore, so I knew that it probably wasn't gonna happen.  I thought I'd take Saturday as a rest day and hopefully Sunday I'd be out the door running!
• Sunday I woke up with still sore areas, so I decided to walk the 5K instead.  This benefitted the whole family!  The GF joined me as did the pups!
• It was a gorgeous day outside, so it was more like a Cool Breeze Your Thorns Off instead!
• We made a large loop around our neighborhood that included a small park, a library, a ditch, some new houses, some old houses, lots of dogs trying to get out of their yards, a doggie park (where we stopped for 15 minutes), a large park, some police officers, and a few people!
• I feel so good about being able to get out of the house for over an hour, even with some sore joints and muscles.
• And I got some great pics of the pups with their race bibs on!

  

  Which way did we come from?

  

  

  Can we please take these off now?

  

  

  That's enough! Where's the water dish?

I'm hoping they'll sleep through the rest of the afternoon now!  So, a big thank you to The Boring Runner for organizing this race.  Hopefully I'll be in better shape to run during the summer race!

~Chix

Four More Things Friday!

1. I mentioned in my earlier blog, yes this is my second blog of the day, I mentioned that I would rather take a nap than do my 3 easy miles...well...I made it to the gym and ran 3 miles on the Mill and I watched House instead of CSI.  They talk a lot faster on House, so it was a lot more challenging to read the captions as I was running and listening to my iPod.  I'm a multi-tasker!

Anywho, the run felt great and fast.  I'm not trying to build my speed this week, so I took it easy and I don't punch it in for the last .2 or anything, but the time just flew by today.  I'm SOOOO glad I went to the gym instead of laying down on the office couch!

2. A lady I work with has ants in her pants a problem with ants.  They're the baby ants that crawl across your kitchen floor and by the sink and are the most annoying ants in the world.  I already knew she had this problem from when we house-sat for her months ago.  Anyway, apparently this morning she put her purse on her kitchen counter and the ants crawled in.  Then at work, she put her purse on my desk and the ants crawled out!  So all day I've been having ants crawling all over my stuff.  It's very irritating because I hate ants.  Taking It On just mentioned in one of her last posts how much she f*cking hates ants and says they warrant the f-word!  And I totally agree!

3. Most of you already know this, but I have a mild case of OCD! 

 As I was dressing at the gym I noticed that when I put my socks and shoes on, I go sock-shoe-sock-shoe.  This may seem normal to most of you, and some of you are thinking how you might do it, and still some of you are thinking that sock-sock-shoe-shoe is better, but most of you are thinking "She's crazy!"  But I've always been a firm believer that if a fire breaks out while I'm putting on my shoes, at least I can hop through the gravel with one shoe on!  Another thing I'm very weird about is the toilet paper roll.  The roll must be over the top instead of under the bottom!  If someone else replaces the tp roll, I will fix it if it's not over the top!  Again I should be institutionalized weird, I know!

4. When I got back to the office this afternoon, I was pulling out things to have for lunch.  I had a turkey sandwich that the GF made me, a golden delicious apple, some grapes, and a tomato.  I love eating tomatoes with salt.  I used to love tomatoes, then I hated tomatoes, now I love them again...with salt.  Once I finished my tomato, I still wanted to have salt.  I'm addicted to salt.  Probably not good for cholesterol or sodium levels or probably a lot of other health things, but I've always loved salt.  Quick moment to apologize to my seester and bro for their daughter turning out like me!  Anyway, I decided to pour some salt on my apple slice and HOLY TASTE BUDS!!!  It was amazing!  It might be my new thing now!

What's one of your weird eating habits?

What's one of your weird every day habits?

~Chix

Five Thing Friday

1.  Last night the GF and I went to a show called Forever Tango!  When we bought the tickets, the ad boasted about how Cheryl Burke from Dancing with the Stars was featured in this show, so we were pretty excited to see it.  About 2 months ago we received a letter in the mail saying Cheryl Burke had to leave the show for family reasons and taking her place would be the ever so talented Anna Trebunskaya, another dancer from Dancing with the Stars. 

She's made it close to the mirror ball trophy a couple times and I knew she was gonna be good, so although we were sad to be missing Cheryl Burke, we still decided to attend.  The show was 2 hours long and featured 10 professional dancers and an amazing band.  Of the 16 to 20 dances performed, Anna Trebunskaya was in ONE!  That's right, one measly dance.  She was good, but it definitely didn't warrant saying she was the star of the show, "Must come see, Anna is amazing, blah blah blah!"  As the lights rose up on each dance you could hear the audience hold their breath in hopes that it would be Anna...and it wasn't!  Although she was a big disappointment, the rest of the cast was not...they were amazing!  The things they could do with their feet and the speed at which they moved them, was great.  Our favorite though, was one lady who did all these amazing flips and twirls and jumps and things...good stuff!

2. I've almost made it through all my work piles!  I've done a tremendous amount of filing and an even larger amount of procrastinating!  What sucks is that I know I have tons of stuff to do and I get these little spurts of motivation and then my boss asks me to do something that's not on my list, and it ruins my flow!  If only there wasn't tv on the computer, I might get more done around here!

3. 3 easy miles on the schedule today and I'm beyond tired.  My original plan was to run outside around the office, but it's cold and windy, so of course I'll be heading to the gym, but it's Friday which means there will be no CSI on during the lunch hour...hmmm...what to watch?  I'd much rather go home and nap (the GF would like that too), but since this is the season of no excuses on the Biggest Loser  I already took yesterday off, I should push through.  Maybe it'll help get me motivated after lunch.

4. If you remember from a previous post I mentioned that I was doing a 30-day Food Journal Challenge.  Well, as you can imagine, it was definitely a challenge.  I'm not sure I actually remembered to write everything down for all 27 days so far, and I didn't write out complete calories, carbs, fat, etc., but I definitely learned some things about my eating habits and how my body responds to the crap I put in my body!  Bud Light and dairy make me fart and poop!  Running leaves me dehydrated and craving beer.  Sports beans and GU really do give me energy while running.  I love to eat, but eat more while on vacation then I do at home.  While at home I eat more junk like popcorn and chips.  And I've increased the amount of water I drink!  The next 30 Day Challenge is on Appreciation, so I hope you all look forward to some nice things I'm about to say about you!

5. I'm going to take a quick moment to let you all know that the GF's birthday is coming up!  The other night she informed me that there are 20 days til her birthday!  I'm as excited as she is, but I think she was really telling me because that's how long I have to buy her the best gifts in the world.  I'm one of those creative types already, but if you have any fun suggestions let me know.  For instance, I once did a scavenger hunt and she had to solve clues to find all her gifts!  I've made her things and bought her things and sent her things, so I'm open to anything!

What do you appreciate today? That it's Friday and I have the whole weekend to prepare for class on Monday!

What's a favorite birthday gift that you've received? Nite Lights...or when the GF sewed the buttons on all my shorts!

Have a great weekend!
~Chix

Whatever you do today, STAY HOME!

I don't know what's in the air today, but I've seen about 4 car accidents today!  The GF reported a semi had turned over on its side, there was a car on a tow truck about to be hauled away, there was a car smashed in and another car on it's side, and yet another crash on the highway with the windshield borken in and the guy being loaded into the ambulance!  Everybody stay home and stay safe!  Maybe it's the good weather...nobody would ever think that it snowed here yesterday.  I really regret running indoors today!

Speaking of running, I did 5 miles today and felt great...like I could've gone another couple miles!  Of course that might have been a different story if I had been outside running in the high temps of 48 degrees.  Well, maybe I wouldn't have wanted to run outside...it's still a bit too cold for me!  Wuss!  This Saturday is the 2nd Annual Freeze Your Thorns Off Virtual 5K!

I will be doing this race on Saturday sometime and I'll let you all know how it goes.  I could possibly win some prizes too...wouldn't that be great!  Although, I have yet to win anything from another blogger, so we'll see! 

As of time of publication, I was informed of yet another accident on the highway...seriously people, stay home, drink a glass of wine, and watch some tv!

Are you doing the FYTO5K?

~Chix

Spotty Service

Can you hear me now?



It's as if I forget that I'm a blogger sometimes.  You're getting spotty service from me lately, like I got from Sprint ALL weekend!  It really makes you feel far away from reality when you're "roaming" in the comfort of your own home!  Anywho, my cell phone is back to life and so am I.  I am finally out of the 'resting' stage after my last halfer.  Last week I worked out once and the rest of the week I was so tired and out of it I opted to lay off the running for a while.  Today felt like a good day to get up on that horse again!  It was just an easy easy run and I sweat and I am happy!

I did my race/training calendar last night!  Although I have yet to sign up for the races I listed, I still put them on the calendar...something to look forward to!  I might have even talked a friend into running the April 21st halfer with me...well, probably not "with" me since she's faster than me, but run the race!  And another friend was the one who talked ME into running it, although I have yet to tell her I've actually verbally committed that I'm doing it.  Confused yet?

Woke up this morning around 5am and it was pouring rain outside, by 8am it was snowing, and by noon the sun was peeking through the clouds, and now it's partially cloudy with the sun blazing in my office window!  Gotta love the all the seasons in one day! 

Because of the cold, I got to wear my new favorite sweatshirt today!  I wanna get more because they are so so comfortable!  Maybe I'll go surprise myself!  If the weather starts getting a little better, then I can start running outside again...we all know I hate the cold.  My garmin is just waiting for me to put more miles on it!

What race are you looking forward to?

Do you like running outside in the cold?

~Chix

Few Things Friday

Catch Up

I have been in catch up mode for 2 weeks now and I'm still so far behind.  I'm pretty sure it's because I'm the laziest pile of shit ever so busy, but I just can't seem to find a complete 8 hours of motivation.  I have about an hours worth, tops.  Then I slack off for 3 hours, and then maybe one more hours worth before I realize it's almost time to go home.  I sometimes get REALLY motivated in the last 15 minutes of the day, but then don't finish anything because it's the end of the day!  I'm also so tired because my mind races at night about all the stuff I need to get done at work, so I don't sleep very well!

Next Race

I've finally decided that my next half marathon is going to be the Albuquerque Half on April 21st.  This gives me 3 months to run some small local races and to really intensify my training plan.  By intensify, I mean add mileage, get in my long runs, and try to increase my speed.  I've been too scared to pump up the treadmill or run a little faster AND we all know that my long runs have been a bit lackadaisical or really just lacking!  So, I'm going to work on my new training plan this weekend and find some local races to fit in and sign up for the halfer next week!  San Diego halfer will be 6 weeks after that, and so far that's the proper amount of time I need to recover and retrain.

Super Bowl Predictions

This weekend are the last two playoff games to determine the Superbowl teams.  I am going for the 49ers and Ravens to win.  I'm sick of the Patriots, not because they beat the Broncos, but because I'm sick of them!  And I'm convinced that the 49ers can beat the Giants...if the defense can capitalize on Eli Manning's dumb throws mistakes and the offense can give Alex Smith enough time to find an open Vernon Davis player, then I think they can pull off a Dubya!  So that's my prediction!  Just a side note: a lot of my Broncos guys have made the Pro Bowl game (which means they weren't originally voted in, but because of injuries, they've been chosen to replace the guys who were voted in)!  I bet Dawkins and McGahee will be a lot nicer than Bailey too!

I hope everyone has a great Friday!

~Chix

World's Best Teacher!

I'm in a no-race-to-train-for mood. 

The next one I'm thinking about doing is in late April, becaues I haven't found one in early March I'd like to do.  Actually, I've found a few I'd like to do, but we'd have to travel for them and we don't have the money to do that.  So, I'll be doing lots of local 5K's and 10K's until April rolls around.  So, I'm in a mood.  I will just do what I want to do for the next couple of weeks...maybe 3 or 4 days a week of running...we'll see.

I'm an instructor now! 

That's right...they let me teach people stuff...real stuff, like Business Math!  Scary thought to some of you, but it's actually my dream to become a teacher at a college, so one class this semester is my "foot in the door"!  And it's going great!  I've had 3 classes so far!  I've taught them one full chapter all on my own and they believed every word I said to them.  I've also gone over the syllabus and class schedule 3 times...fun stuff!

I just don't understand the students sometimes though.  For example(s), I am giving away free points in class!  That's right...FREE POINTS!  It's not a test or an actual homework assignment, just little things that can earn them free points.  Like emailing me "hello"! That's all they need to say...hello!  Seems easy?  Wrong...about 5 people missed out on these easy points.  They have to turn in to me a questionnaire about themselves (which they can fill out during class while I'm talking)...easy?  Wrong...about 5 people missed out on these easy points.  Like I seriously hand them the sheet and say "Fill this out right now" and they still don't do it!

I used to grab every possible point I could get in my classes.  I utilized the teacher for everything...every single question I had, I asked it.  Every problem I wasn't sure about, I asked about it.  Every assignment I turned in on time.  I showed up for every test and study group and review session.  I wasn't shy when it came to getting good grades.  The GF is the exact same way.  She'll go to the teachers office hours every week if she has to, just to make sure she understands what she's doing.  AND it's a good way for the teacher to know how hard you're working in case you ever need to change a B+ to an A.

We'll see how the rest of the semester goes.  I've already got some favorite students...you know, the ones who always offer up answers in class WITHOUT being called on!  The ones who actually read the chapter before I go over it in class!  I've got 3 months to go of this, so I'm sure I'll get some great stories!  I've been told that it takes 3 semesters before you get things down solidly!  I can't wait til all I'm doing is teaching.  Poor Bob's not gonna know what to do...Oh well!

Were you a school nerd?  I totally was a chronic student.  I loved going to class and organizing all my materials.

Were you a teacher's pet?  Teachers loved me because I always talked and asked the questions that others were thinking.

~Chix

Halfer Recap Part 2: The Aftermath

In my previous post, I mentioned how crazy fast I was in the race!  Even the people I had tracking me while I ran said they were scared when they got my 5K time!  Fast out the gates!  Understand that the womens half marathon winner only beat me by 1 hour!  That's how fast I am!

Anyway, after my fist pump at the finish line, I winded through the finisher's chute grabbing my medal, some water, some gatorade, and a fruit cup.  I met a lady who I sort of paced with during the race.  We thanked each other for keeping the pace for each other.  Funny how things work out like that.  I remember seeing her near mile 7 and thinking she was someone else (someone I really dislike too), but luckily it wasn't.  Anyway, her name is Michelle and she's from the Bay Area.  Really nice lady!  I also met the Mayor of Tempe!  He ran the half course backwards before it actually started (in 2:04:00), then ran it again with everyone (something like 2:16 or 2:19), pretty crazy! But I introduced myself...he was nice!  Then I took my finishers photo...2 thumbs up!

I worked my way to find the GF!  Before I could even look for her amongst the crowd surrounding the "O", she came barreling out of the pack with a huge smile on her face screaming 2:18! 2:18! You ran it in 2:18!  She almost knocked me over when she hugged me.  Tear in my eye!  After changing clothes we headed to the free beer tent!  Michelob Ultra, I love you.  The past few races have been serving MGD 64, which is horrible...I think I'd rather drink my own throw up...so you could only imagine my excitement when I saw the Mich Ultra tents!  As I drank 2 beers, we sat and watched a really cute old dude in an aviators hat and goggles dance around.  I then went back to the tent and got 2 more beers as we sat and waited for the B-52's to take the stage.  An hour later they finally came on, and after about 4 songs, we started getting hungry, so we headed to the light rail to ride back to the hotel.  Please note that since my 3rd pee trip BEFORE the race, I still hadn't gone pee AFTER the race (even after a water, a gatorade, and 4 beers)!

After we showered up and I eventually peed (not in the shower), we walked over to the Four Peaks Brewery that was just down the street.  It was packed!  So many runners were in there and had not even showered yet...it was gross, but fun!  We found 2 seats up at the bar right away, only to be encroached by some dude sitting next to me...well, sitting on my lap really!  We ordered some food and beverages and watched the beginning of a NY Giants takeover.  We walked back to the hotel stopping off at the store again to get some candy bars.  Once we got back to the hotel we laid around and finally fell asleep and flew out the next day.  Airport observation: there were about 200 people in their race tech shirts or other race clothing and about a handful were wearing their medals!  Show offs!

I'm gonna say it was a very successful trip.  I can't wait to run another one!  I ran 3 miles at the gym this afternoon and my body felt great!  Oh, and now I have 957.1 miles to go!

~Chix

RnR Phoenix Halfer Recap

I WAS AMAZING!  That should be all the recap you get, but lucky you I have diarrhea of the mouth lots to say!  I'm not quite sure how it happened, but I pretty much ran the best race of my life!  Not a PR, but I wasn't far off!  I beat last year's time by 17 minutes!  I knew I'd beat it, but I didn't think I'd crush it!  And I was only 3 minutes away from my Personal Best!  The running gods all came together and helped me make it through this race unharmed and happy!

I got to the start line about 45 minutes early and peed twice.  The race started about 15 minutes late, so I peed one last time for good measure!  It paid off because I didn't have to stop during the race!  I saw the GF at mile 1.5 and of course that was my fastest mile of the bunch!  When I hit the 5K mark and saw 30:34, I knew I had started out the gates a bit fast my liking, but what the heck, I felt good!  By mile 4, my shirt was already halfway soaked.  The sun was shining strong and it was forecasted to only get warmer. 

As I approached the 10K mark, I still felt really well and when I looked down and saw 1:03:02 my heart started a little jig.  I'd never run a 10K in under 1 hour 4 minutes, so I was stoked!  My Garmin said I still had yet to run any mile over 11 minutes, so I decided mid run to stay under an 11 minute pace for as long as possible.  Miles 7 and 8 appeared faster than I had anticipated, but I kept trucking along. By mile 8, I knew I had a mile and a half left of this uphill climb and I didn't want to give in so I pushed it hard up the mountain side.  You could literally see yourself running up this hill and waiting for the landscape to even out indicating that you were over the hill and running downhill now.  At mile 10, my Garmin said 1:44:12 and I knew that if I ran a 30 minute 5K I would get my personal best.  I also knew that that was never going to happen!

This was when I struggled a bit.  Miles 10 and 11 were tough.  I just concentrated on leg turnover and somehow managed to get through, but those were over 11 minutes each.  Mile 12 was over the Salt River and the clouds started covering the sky, so I think the cool breeze from the river helped me kick in to gear for the last 2 miles.  I took the final turn at the 20K mark and saw the GF with about .3 to go!  She said I still looked strong toward the finish.  I'll believe her just this once because I sure did feel great!  I crossed the finish line, looked at my watch, and did a huge fist pump because I had an amazing time!  I finished in 2:18:46!  That's fast for me!

My goals were simple, beat my last year's time and don't stop running!  Check and check!  Now I just gotta get faster for next year!  Maybe I'll post some pictures of me running soon.  I don't take a camera or phone with me while I run, so I don't have as many pics as others!  I still have work to do though, because I'm still hitting that wall around miles 9 or 10.  Other than running the Vegas half 6 weeks ago, my farthest long run before Sunday was 7 miles.  I had two 6 milers, two 5 milers, ten 2 to 4 milers, three speed workouts, I was sick for a week and a half, 14 rest days, and played 6 days of baseball.  This doesn't sound like a winning training program.  I'll need to revamp my plan and goals and hopefully I'll do even better next time!

Thank you to everyone who wished me well for the race.  It helps knowing that people are rooting for you!

~Chix

Pre-Race Prep

Flew into Phoenix this morning!  The hotel actually had a room available for us at 8:30am!  Pretty impressive, although our bathroom light didn't turn on, our toilet wouldn't stop running, the fridge/micro wasn't producing any cold, and the towels were dirty!  The small price you pay to stay near the race course!  And I literally mean, small price!

Went to the Expo and spent our usual 2 plus hours there walking up and down each aisle.  I picked up my race packet and the t-shirts for this race are white...really??  White?  Oh well, I'm sure I'll still wear it!  Then I bought a new red long sleeve race shirt.  Then I did it!  That's right, I signed up for both the San Diego halfer and the Denver halfer!  Because I did that I received yet another t-shirt for the San Diego race, and a water bottle for the Denver race.  Then we got two more cool water bottles at some booth.  Numerous other small random things and then it was time for lunch.

We headed to the Hard Rock Cafe just down the street from the Expo and while we ate, we watched the US Olympic Marathon Trials!  It was really exciting and motivating to see these athletes race to get the opportunity to represent the USA at the Olympics.  The only unfortunate thing was right before the marathons finished, the bar had to change the channels to the football game!  So, we headed back the the hotel to watch one of the best football games ever!  The 49ers won it in the end, and what a fight it was!  The Broncos are currently losing in supreme fashion, so we're watching the Miss America contestants strut in their bikinis!

We took a quick trip up the street to Food City and I bought some microwaveable meals for my pre-race dinner!  Pretty exciting huh!  It's what you do when you have no car and the nearest Olive Garden is 20 minutes away!  I've set out all my race clothes and gotten everything ready, so hopefully I'll have a smooth morning!  I always get nervous and my stomach does backflips until the 2nd mile, so if everything else goes smooth, then dry heaving is all I have to worry about!

Normally, I'd say something like "Just finishing is good enough for me!"  But that's bull!  I really wanna beat my time from last year.  I feel good this year, so I'm thinking I can kill the time from last year.  If I run the race I did in Vegas, then I'll beat it by 10 minutes.  Otherwise, I'm just gonna stay relaxed and run my race.  Because of the no car situation, I won't have the luck of seeing the GF anywhere between mile 2 and 13, but little does she know, I'll be thinking of her the whole way anyway!  She's pretty motivating and I can't believe she lets me drag her to all these races.

So, goodnight my fellow supporters!  Wish me luck tomorrow because I'll need it.  I'll let you know how it turns out.

Go Chicken!

~Chix

Baseball Camp Recap

Sarasota, Florida is beautiful this time of year.  It's beautiful in other times too, but I rarely get to visit "those other times".  We stay at the lovely Hotel Indigo and play Baseball at Pirate City in Bradenton.  We have 2 teams of Campers and 7 Professionals who are the coaches and most of them actually play with us!  We play 10 total 7-inning Baseball games, drink lots of beer, eats loads of food, and have the best time ever.

This year the weather started out cold and windy, but by the 2nd day of Camp it was in the low 70's...perfect Baseball weather.  Not only do I pretty much organize the whole Camp, I also catch for whatever team I'm on!  We wear whatever major league team uniform we want and get out there and play hardball!

I had a so-so week.  I hit the ball out of the infield maybe twice.  I jammed my hand real bad at the beginning of the week and right as it was healing up, I strained my left thumb tagging a guy out at home!  I don't think thumbs were made to bend the opposite direction.  So, my hitting was way off this year.  My fielding, though, is a different story!  I made some great pop-up catches behind the plate, I made some great plays AT the plate, and I even made some good plays in the field...I think I even turned a double-play!

The guys I play with are real good friends.  My boss plays of course...and he had a tremendous year in the outfield and with the bat!  We had a few new guys who fit in quite well and I'm pretty sure they enjoyed themselves too...hopefully they'll be back next year!

I started this food journal 30-day challenge on Jan.1 and I stuck to it pretty good the whole time I was in Florida, although it contained many many food and beverage entries.  Things changed the day I got home because I certainly don't eat as much or drink as much when I don't have all these free meals offered!  As much as I like to drink, it really doesn't do much for me!  I'm still having issues with dairy products too.

As for my training schedule, it was like night and day from last year's training while at Camp.  This year I actually kept it in the back of my head that I had a race a week after Camp ended and I made sure to get some runs in while in Florida...even if I played two games that day, I still tried to get in at least 3 miles.  I needed to keep my knees healthy, since last year they crapped out on me.  I ran 6 miles the other day and they knees felt great.  I also think I was healthier and in better physical shape going into Camp this year.  I felt a lot better and seemed to be thinking clearer.

Overall, Baseball Camp went fantastic this year!  I hope we can find a few more guys and keep it going next year.  I'll definitely need to practice my hitting!

~Chix

Go Meat!

Good afternoon!  Since I haven't talked to you all since the 2nd of January, I've got lots of catching up to do.  I'll do a Baseball Camp Recap, a Teaching Recap, and soon to be a RnR Phoenix Halfer Recap.  But for now I'd like to say how much I've missed you.  I haven't even had time to read all the blogs I follow...that's a lot of reading.

I'm busy catching up with EVERYTHING!  My desk has piles of crap on it as usual.  My mind is racing all day and all night, which means I don't sleep very well, or for long periods of time.  I've been able to get in a couple workouts before the big race and my joints seem to be working well this go-round.  I think I can lug out 10 miles before I realize I don't wanna be running anymore!  I'm also gonna sign up for 2 more races while I'm in Phoenix!

As of right now, my countdown is at 976.2 miles to go!  This is gonna be one interesting year!  Oh, and I thought I broke my thumb last week at Camp.  Actually it bent all the way backwards and was swollen to the size of a Hillsbury Farm Bratwurst and now it's really blue and green.  It's just strained, obviously, but it hurts like a bitch and being that I'm a pussy little baby, I really want this pain to go away.  I'm still icing it because of the swelling, but I really just wanna be back to normal.  It's my bracelet wearing hand too and my brother just got me this Fraggle Rock bracelet and I can't even fit it over my hand!  Blasphemy!

The weather in Albuquerque sucks!  Let's just say I'm still bitter about leaving 76 degree weather and coming to this 49 degree crap.  Otherwise I'm in an amazing mood!

Glad to be back!

~Chix

Baseball Time

994 Miles left!

All the baseball players are rolling in and by 1pm tomorrow eastern time, we'll be out on the field pretending we're Pros!  I love this week of the year!

But, I'm in training, so I ran 6 miles today.  After 5 years of being in Sarasota for the beginning of the year, I finally ran over the big bridge!  It's about a full mile from one side to the other.  It was so bruteal coming back over at mile 5, but I powered through and totally kicked ass on the last mile!  The GF also ran the bridge...so proud of her!

So far in my food journal I've written down 6 beers...I told you I was indulging!

FYI:  My first day of teaching is a week from today.  I'm so excited!  But scared and nervous at the same time.

Have a great evening...hopefully I'll get chances to write the rest of this week!

~Chix

Making vs. Keeping Promises

It's a good thing my New Year's Resolution wasn't to keep my promises, because I know I've promised you all a lot the past couple weeks, and here I am blogging for the 2nd or 3rd time in weeks and I've yet to talk about my year in review or my year to come.  I'm sorry.  It's been a very long past 2 weeks.  Not only was I sick for 9 days before Christmas (remember that?), but I'm pretty sure I'm getting sick again...ain't that the devil trying to tell me something?  Unfortunately, I have Baseball Camp starting in a day and a half, and the Phoenix RnR halfer in 2 weeks!  No time to be sick, so I've stocked up on meds and I'm hoping to kill this thing immediately!

We are in lovely Sarasota, Florida for a week!  That's right, from 56 degree weather in Albuquerque, to 75 degrees in Florida...I cannot wait to run tomorrow!  Outside, in the sun!  The only problem with this whole week is that I tend to indulge too much because I'm around some really good friends that I just like to sit around and talk and catch up and drink with!  Maybe I'll watch myself a bit more this year...yeah, probably not!

My Year In Review isn't spectacular, but I have a few highlights I'd like to mention.  In January, I ran the Phoenix RnR halfer and it sucked, so this year I'm hoping to beat my time.  I also saw Wicked for the first time live, and it was AMAZING!  In February, the GF celebrated her 28th birthday!  Nothing huge in March, April (BFJ's birthday), or May.  June obviously marked the anniversary of my birth!  A day that should be celebrated by all!  July held an amazing trip to Vegas, that was practically paid for because of my award winning performance at the Craps tables!  And I can't forget a 4 year milestone for my Bro.  August was Sugarland and the GF and my 6 year anniversary.  Gosh, I love her!  September we welcomed football and getting back into running again.  October was more running and training.  November brought a new part time job and more running and training.  December was a great halfer in Vegas and a whole lot of crazy stuff to get ready for this new year that I know is going to be amazing!

As for the new year...2012...wow...remember when we were a bit scared that 2000 was the end of the world?  Anywho, this year is gonna be a big year.  I've got so many goals in mind and I just hope I can come close to achieving them.  That's what goals are all about...shooting high and doing the best you can.  Giving yourself a benchmark for the future...that's what it's all about.  Celebrating what you've achieved and pushing harder next time.  Here's what I'm aiming for this year:

1.  Running 1,000 miles
2.  Running 4 halfers
3.  Having a 30 day running streak of at least 1 mile a day
4.  Meet at least 2 of the bloggers that I follow...other than my Bro
5.  Become a better blogger
6.  Increase my average speed to one day run a sub 2hr halfer (2 years time)
7. 

Number 7 is left open to show that my list of goals can be added to...

Lastly, I am beginning a 30 day challenge today thanks to Amanda at Run to the Finish.

That's right, I'm keeping a food journal for the next 30 days.  It hasn't started out too good today because I've been travelling all day and now I'm on vacation and if you remember from above, I like to indulge on this trip!  We'll have to remember to compare this week to next week!

Are you doing the food challenge?

How do you decide what your new year's goals will be?

~Chix