That's So Gay!

I guess I spoke too soon yesterday...because today is even windy-er than yesterday!  And it's brown outside...so much dirt and trash and germs and allergy-inducing-pollen are flying around it's hard to just see 10 feet in front of you!  Hence the return to the gym this afternoon.  I've been having such a good time running the trails these days that I haven't been to the gym in 2 weeks!  But today I think the treadmill actually improved my run...I like how it controls my pace and makes me feel faster than I am out on the roads!

Have you seen this?

Source

Just a wonderful showing of love...in the military!  This picture made me smile, so I thought I'd share it!  How can some people not see past their gender and notice the love and caring and excitement and joy between them?  This is probably the most amazing feeling in the world and everyone has the right to enjoy it!  My eyes fill with tears to see how happy these two are!

My mind is going.  I don't consider myself old, although I'm older than most all of my friends, but 33 is very young...I've got so much life ahead of me, but my mind is going!  I just can't seem to remember to wipe my butt after pooping anything!  I've even started keeping a notebook next to the bed so I can jot down things so I'll remember it in the morning.  I write things on my hand while I'm driving because I'll forget it in the 20 minutes it takes to get to work.  If I lay another piece of paper on top of something at work, I'll forget about it for the next 2 weeks.  I'm pretty sure my mind is off running ultra-marathons because it races all night long and never lets me have a good nights sleep, but I wish it would just come back to me for a few more years.  Go away closer to 40 maybe!

Does your mind go places while you're trying to sleep?

~Chix

The Wind, The Soda, The Class

Thar she blows!

It's a friggin windy day here in The Land of Enchantment!  It's making what would be an extremely beautiful day, just miserable and cold!  Nobody likes the wind...people like snow, and rain, and sunshine, but I've never heard anybody ever say they like the wind!  We had to move our grill inside because the wind keeps knocking it over...not sure why we care anymore since all the handles are broken off, but I guess more could be ruined now that it doesn't have the handles to catch the fall!  We're gonna get a new grill real soon, so the GF is pretty stoked about that!

Rest day today!  Lunch with BFJ and it was good to see her...it's been a couple weeks...she's been recuperating from a head injury, so I'm glad she's back on her feet.  She said she gave up candy and sweets for Lent and then gave me an envelope marked "candy"...hmmmm...wonder what that's about!  Actually, it's a birthday card for the GF, but if there was candy in it, I'm all over it!  I'm not religious one bit, but I did give up soda for Lent.  I like to give stuff up because it's like a little challenge to myself.  Jim Beam is very upset with this decision, but I told him it's only 40 days!  We'll hang out again real soon and I'll make up for the lost time!

The 'handle' is always a better deal!  Not sure it lasts longer than the non-handle, but a great deal!

I'm trying to drink more water anyway, so I guess giving up soda is a good thing, although our fridge at work is stocked with Coke!  Don't confuse soda with beer though...completely different...I still enjoy beer on the weekends! 

3 more classes until Spring Break!  I'm starting to really understand the students in my class and that some of them just don't give a shit are working really hard to earn their grades!  Typical methods of assessment, like homework, quizzes, tests...we've all been there, but apparently it's brand new to half my class!  Not sure how they made it through high school!  I sound like a broken record and I'm really beating a dead horse, but I will continue to tell them "homework's due tomorrow" and it doesn't get through.  Granted, some students turn it in, but just do it all wrong...literally, the entire assignment is wrong!!  Good times!

Did you give something up for Lent?

~Chix

Weekend Breakdown

How Will I Know
What a weekend!  And I still haven't even watched the Oscars yet (red carpet starting now)!  I love the Oscars because not only is it a chance to see all my favorite actors in one place, but since I never actually see all the movies they're nominated for, I'm excited by the winners because I never know what's gonna happen (or how horrible their performances were).  Let me begin with Friday night.  We went to see "Damn Yankees"!  What a great show!  Especially because you could tell that everyone in the audience hated the Yankees too!  The songs were great, the dancing was great, the story was great, overall it was a great show...and my boss had tickets right in front of us!

Run to You
Saturday, the GF had a meeting to go to and I decided I'd run to her.  Literally.  I left the house and had a great 5 mile run through our side of town until I found her.  AND she has officially lost 5% of her weight in just 4 weeks.  So Proud.  We showered up and went on a 4 hour shopping-fest.  Nothing special, just groceries and project supplies.  We've got a big project due in 2 weeks that we're kind of excited to start working on, although it's been such a great weekend that we're kind of tired now.  Last night we started catching up on all of our recorded shows and although we watched about 6 hours worth of shows, we're still so far behind!

Exhale
All weekend my BFT was in Palm Springs coaching her softball team to victory...well, almost victory!  Her team played amazing ball this weekend, and played against some amazing teams which provides some great experience to the girls on her team.  Although they only came away with one win, there were lots of high points in their overall performance.  Even though I didn't get to watch all the action (couldn't find links to live stats all weekend), I'm sure the entire team is taking a deep breath now that it's all over.  Unfortunately there's not enough time to rest because they're at it again next weekend in Las Vegas (I think).

I'm Every Woman
SUAR posted the other day, that we need to keep positive images in our mind while we're running so if things get tough, we can think of them and it'll help get us through.  You better believe I was repeating mantras through my head during my long run today.  I did 8 miles today and I went pretty well, thanks to my positive thoughts of being the best person ever, being the best runner in the world, and knowing my GF was waiting for me 8 miles away!  And I have a small letter I'd like you all to read:
Dear Bike Riders on the Bike Path Today,

As I was out on my long run today, many of you passed me as I was chugging along.  And I'd like to take this moment to say Thank You!  Many of you said Good Morning to me, or gave just a simple Hi or Hello!  You didn't know that I was only 1 mile or 5 miles into an 8 mile run.  You didn't even know if I was some crazed psycho killer who I was and you took two seconds as you sped by in a vehicle faster than my two shoes to acknowledge that I was sharing the path with you.  You helped me complete my run.  You gave me energy when I had 7 more miles to go and you gave me hope when I knew the finish was just around the corner.  So thanks for sharing the road and not scaring me when coming up from behind (That's what she said)!

Your friend, The Best Runner Around!

Greatest Love of All / I Will Always Love You
I bet you saw this one coming...I couldn't be more proud of the GF these days.  I mentioned earlier that she's lost 5% of her weight since starting the Weight Watchers diet, which she says, "Is the most amazing life decision she's ever made, because it doesn't feel restricted like diets do, it feels empowering because it's a life change!"  She thinks everyone who feels like they can lose some weight should give WW a try...it'll change your life.  It's already changed hers!  She also ran 4 miles today...and you know how excited that makes me!  She took the dogs this time and they are so worn out!  And now she's making me dinner.  How could you not love her?  She impresses me every day!

I just wanted to take one more quick second to say RIP Whitney Houston.  If you didn't notice, each heading was one of her songs!  She brought me some serious joy when I was younger romping around the house to I Wanna Dance With Somebody.  I'm not gonna get caught up in the politics of it all, but she will be missed.

~Chix

Update and Comparisons

Update: I have run a total of 135.8 Miles this year!  That averages out to 2.5 Miles per day this year.  Unfortunately, I need to be running 2.7 Miles per day, so I should be at 150 Miles already, but this is huge for me!!

I was totally gonna do a Double Day today.  I ran this morning before work and I had every intention of running on my lunch break, until I remembered that we were taking a fellow co-worker to lunch because she's taking time off for maternity leave.  So, luckily I ran this morning, but I was so excited for my first two-a-day running-wise!  And tonight we have a show to go to, so no running after work.  I'm excited for the weekend though, cause I get to satisfy my addiction and wear leather pants to a local goth rave run the trails!  I have 8 miles on the plan for this weekend, so we'll see how that goes.

I have a problem, and the whole world does too, with comparing myself to others.  I'm not as fast as so-and-so.  I'm not as skinny as whats-her-name.  I'm not as funny as that-guy.  Well, I'm gonna try to quit doing that so much.  I am who I am and only I can change that (if I want to).  A few months ago I accepted the fact that I wasn't gonna be losing any weight any time soon.  I bought jeans that were comfortable for my weight and just accepted that I love drinking beer and wasn't gonna get caught up with worrying anymore.  Since then, I've lost about 7 to 10 pounds without even trying.  (Besides the default Weight Watchers diet I'm on). 

Now, I have to keep reminding myself that my pace is MY PACE!  I wanna be faster someday, but that's on me...I can't just become faster by reading other running blogs and wishing and hoping I was someone else because they ran a half in under 2 hours.  I need to focus on how to get MYSELF across that finish line Sub 2 hours.  I can't dwell on the fact that someone says running 10 miles the day after a marathon in 1 hour 15 minutes is an "Easy Run"!  I need to run my own race at my own pace!  Just beating my current time in a race is fast enough for me.  I'm never gonna be an 8 minute miler, so why keep comparing myself to them?

As for the Funny thing...I think I'm pretty darn funny!  I think highly of myself, remember!

Who do you compare yourself to?

~Chix

I'm Addicted

I'm addicted to trail running!  The weather was so great today (about 51 degrees) that during lunch I did 4.5 miles near the river.  It was a scheduled speed training day, but I thought "what the heck, today may be my only good day of the week" so I headed to the trails.  It was gorgeous out.  The sun was shining on my face, my legs were minimally sore, and my back...my back felt like a million bucks!  It was a great mid-week run!

Speaking of my back being a million bucks, I went to go see the wonderful Chiropractor yesterday.  Not only is he a funnyman, or a great friend, he's a miracle worker.  He was able to finally pop my neck and back in all the places I needed for so long.  I actually hadn't been to see him in 3 years...talk about a much needed SNAP! CRACKLE! POP!  Needless to say, I appreciate his role in my life!  We used to shower together after football games, and now I see him every 3 years for a quickie on his bendy-table!  How can you not appreciate that?

On a serious note, last nights GLEE was very emotional.  It dealt with bullying and what it can lead too and it made me very sad.  They also touched on the life where everything is going right until that one bad thing happens to break your world apart.  Such an intense episode full of so many meanings and lessons.  Great episode.  Speaking of tv, this has got to be the worst season of The Biggest Loser!  So many whiners and complainers and cruel, cruel personalities.  For the season of no excuses, there's been nothing but!  I'm getting really sick of listening to them complain for 2 straight hours!

Do you watch The Biggest Loser or Glee?

Do you enjoy trail running?

~Chix

Oh Canada!

I have this long lost Canadian friend who lived here and worked here for quite a long time...and then she got deported moved back to Canada!  It's been a sad, sad 2 years without her around.  We actually thought she'd never be able to travel again, because she was sort of an outlaw for so long, but she tricked the system and Canada is none the wiser!  Well, today is her birthday, so I'm gonna appreciate her for a moment!

I appreciate that she's an inspiration!  She is a silver medalist in the Commonwealth Games for diving!  She's very determined when it comes to her sport and she pushed all the girls that looked up to her at our local university.  She has gotten auditions all over the world for her first class diving talents and one day we'll be watching her represent Canada at the Olympics!  Or she'll be in some vodka drinking competition at the Olympic lounge!  Either way, she's an inspiration!

I appreciate that she's fun!  I've got some unforgettable stories from hanging out with this chick.  Anytime you wanna be stranded for 4 hours in a moving vehicle and feel like all hope is lost of ever getting home, just hang out with her on her birthday.  Today's date brings back many memories of keeping her from fighting, dancing all night, and the neverending party bus to nowhere!

I appreciate that she's physically fit!  She is seriously a very beautiful lady!  She's probably blushing right now, but she knows how much I love her and her awesome dimples and sweet ass calf muscles!  Watching her workout at the gym was amazing.  She put the guys to shame with the way she bounced around the gym showing off her muscles.  She could swim faster than I can run...not that that's saying a lot cause I'm a snail, but she really worked hard for her hard body!  (Embarrassed yet?)

I appreciate that she has a soft side.  We've been through a lot together and she is one of those friends that you can just call up and lay out all your problems and she'll make them go away.  Or at least be able to talk you out of a tree and calm you down.  And she knows I'll do that for her anyday.  She's the kind of friend that you can call up and it's like you were together just 2 days ago!

I miss you dear Canadian friend.  Won't you come back to me?  Have a very SAFE and Happy Birthday!  I can only imagine what's on the schedule for this birthday!

~Chix

My Buddy and Me

My BFT is an amazing person and I appreciate that she takes the time out of her busy schedule to text or email just to say hi!  We don't see each other very much.  we live 3 hours away from each other and have very busy schedules.  She is a softball coach at a D1 University and works too hard for her pay scale!  We've told her time and time again that she works too hard for nothing, but she's so passionate about what she does, that she puts up with it!  She's such a hard worker.  Even if we go visit her, we have learned to respect her ridiculous work schedule!

I appreciate that she's such an individual.  You'll never EVER find anyone like her!  She's got the biggest heart, but doesn't take any sh*t from anyone.  She'll tell you how it is.  She cares about your feelings for sure, but she'll be honest with you no matter what.  You can tell that she's been hurt in the past, but you can also tell that it just makes her stronger.  She has a vulnerable side and isn't afraid to reveal it to me, but she's got a tough side too so she can protect herself when necessary.

I appreciate that she's so lovable.  Talk about the biggest teddy bear friend I have!  A hug from her will cure any problems you're having.  We also have our own special ways of showing appreciation to each other!  She's always available to listen to my problems, no matter what time of day or what kind of problem (not that I have many), but I know I can call her at 3am if I needed to and she'd talk me out of a tree.  Sometimes just a 3 word text from her can cure an unhappy afternoon at work.

I appreciate her brains.  She's not just a softball coach, she's pretty damn smart.  Not to mention that she has the coolest talent in the world...I can call her up at any moment in time and ask her the artist and name of a song and she knows it!  It's amazing...maybe not many country songs, but anything hip hop and she knows it...how friggin cool is that!!

I appreciate her!  She's a best friend that came from weird circumstances and although the situation sucked, I would do it all over again just to have her in my life.  She's my buddy!  I wouldn't replace her for anything!  Now if only we could fix this distance problem! 

Love you buddy!

~Chix

I Keep Saying That

I may have spoken a little too soon yesterday when I said my and the GF's run was the Best.Ever!  Today's run was amazing.  We're housesitting and if you remember from last time we housesat, I was very upset that I never took the chance to run on the trails near the house. Well, I didn't miss out this weekend.  I decided to do my long run up in the trails at the mountain base!  I wish I would have taken my camera because it was beautiful.  It was the hardest run/hike of my life, but it was awesome!  The entire 2nd and 3rd miles were an uphill hike and it was one of the hardest things I've ever done in my training program.  Then I just weaved in and out of all the trails until I went about 7 miles.  It was amazing. (I keep saying that!)

Last night we celebrated the GF's birthday Saturday with dinner at Red Lobster with my brother and my niece.  Get better wishes sent out for my seester and nephew...they couldn't join us because they were feeling under the weather.  BFJ was supposed to join us too, but she got a mild concussion last week and needed her rest!  Then we went to see This Means War with Reese Witherspoon.

One of the funniest movies we've seen in a long time.  It was especially refreshing after our stint with not so great movie watching!  It's a must see, if not for hot Reese, than for her two hot costars, or better yet, the extrememly witty Chelsea Handler!

Then we met up with some friends at the bowling alley for some karaoke!  I sang my signature song.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=08cp9AL_7F0

I may not be as good as Adam Sandler, but all my friends seem to think I am because they request it every time we go to karaoke!  I pretty much brought the house down.  I luckily went after some guy who butchered some song, so of course I was awesome sounded great!  We got back to the house and the dogs hadn't killed each other, so all-in-all it was a great night!

Did you have a great run this weekend? 

Do you have tomorrow off work?

~Chix

Best.Run.Ever.

AMAZING RUN TODAY!  The GF and I did a 4-mile dirt trail run this afternoon and it was amazing!  I'm sure the GF thinks otherwise, but I thought it was a great run.  The GF ran nonstop for all 4 miles.  I'm so proud of her.  I know she really wanted to stop, but she kept pushing on until we finished it out!  Although she was in pain during the run, I bet she's proud of herself too.  She hasn't run 4 continuous miles in a long time.  I have been waiting for this run all week, so I was really excited.  I might go run the trails again tomorrow for my long run!

Today is the GF's Birthday Saturday.  So I'm taking her out to dinner and a movie and a special treat!  She deserves it.  Her favorite birthday present was a new set of pillows from our favorite hotel.  She was so surprised and jumped up and down when she opened the box.  Let's just say she hasn't to get out of bed for the last 2 days, especially this morning when I said it was time to go running!

I went another week without drinking alcohol during the week.  It's a long weekend, so we'll see if I drink on Monday or not.  I kinda like this not so silent anymore goal of not drinking during the weekdays.  I need some more silent goals, but I can't tell you until I've accomplished them!  Convenient because if I never accomplish them, then you'll never know!

Enjoy your running this week!

~Chix

My Amazing Niece

No breakfast makes running hard.  I had absolutely no energy for my run today.  I meant to have some toast this morning, but kept getting sidetracked with work and it never happened.  Then it was time for the gym...and I didn't have any GU in my bag, so I was without energy for my run.  I wanted to get in a big run today too.  Oh well.  I'm glad I got in what I got in!

I also have some issue with my neck-upper-back on the left side that was irritating me during my run.  Well, it was irritating all day yesterday, all night last night, and all morning today, so I knew it'd hurt during my run.  I tried to stretch it out really good after running, and I'll do some heat tonight, but I hope it doesn't hinder my weekend running.  I've been looking forward to my weekend running, so I'm not gonna miss it!

Last night, the GF and I woke up to our neighbors down the block having a crazy loud fight.  They were pushing and shoving and screaming and crying and at some point I thought I heard mention of a gun.  A guy from the house across the street came out and started yelling too.  It was going on for about half an hour, needless to say I couldn't fall back asleep for a half hour after that.  Then a couple hours later they started screaming again, so I just got up for good!  I guess this could help explain why I'm so tired today!

Today I'm going to appreciate my niece. 

If my Seester or Bro could please read this to her.  Thank you.

Dear best niece in the whole wide world,
First of all I love you!  I appreciate the look on your face when you come to see me.  You look excited to hang out with me and it makes me feel loved.  I appreciate your creativity.  Your imagination just blows my mind.  I appreciate your energy.  You're always so talkative and you've got tons of stories to tell.  I appreciate your mind.  You are one of the smartest 6 year olds I've ever known and I already know you're smarter than me.  I appreciate your cute little teeth.  Although you won't let me pull them out with my pliers, I enjoy your smiling face every time I see you.  I appreciate your crazy hair.  Although it's not as curly as your brother's hair, it's still pretty crazy and I love the designs that have been created with your hair.  Oh, and I love when you mistakenly thought you should cut it yourself!  I appreciate your attitude.  You need to remember to always listen to your parents, but it's okay to be a little sassy at times.  And I really appreciate how much you love me.  You used to be so shy around me, but I think you've grown to know that I'm pretty cool!  And so are you.  You have grown up to be such a wonderful niece, and I look forward to all the years we get to spend together in the future.  Now, when are you coming over again?
Love, your Auntie Chicken!

I hope you all have a great weekend.  We've got more plans to celebrate the GF's B-Day!

~Chix

Up on a Pedestal

The GF is an amazing person.  In fact, she's perfect.  When we first met, her only goal was making sure I didn't score a touchdown.  Not a lot of people can say they met their significant other on the football field.  I did, and so far it's been the most amazing 6 and a half years of my life.  She's taught me so many things over those years, like Mutton Bustin, the funniest sport around!



She's taught me how to be a bit more sensible with my decisions in life.  She's been there for many of my highs, like becoming a teacher, graduating with my Masters, running my races, and turning 30.  She's been there for many of my lows, like having thumb surgery, anytime that I'm sick, and turning 30.  She has supported me in everything that I've ever done, even if they were stupid decisions!

We've done a tremendous amount of things together, which makes doing them that much more enjoyable.  Like running the Seattle Half Marathon together and traveling all over the world!  Two years ago we bought a house together and it's the greatest investment we've ever made, other than our two puppies.

I can't thank her enough for everything she's ever done for me cooking, cleaning, dishes, laundry.  She has truly made me a better person.  She makes life so easy for me and I couldn't be more grateful.  And boy does she make me laugh!  You know that show "Kids say the darndest things"?



Well, I really wanna send the GF to that show!  Seriously!  You never know what she's gonna say.  Like the time she asked what happens when you poop into a bidet (toilet) and you flush it...does it fly up into the air and hit the ceiling?  The laughs never stop when you're around her.

I've never loved anything or anyone more than I love her.  She means the world to me, and there's nobody I'd rather spend the rest of my life with.  Being with her gives me the satisfaction in knowing that I'm gonna smile and laugh and be happy for all my days to come.  Happy Birthday!  I love you baby!

It's Finally Happened!

I am somebody!  It's finally happened...I've become somebody!  See for yourself!  If you "saw for yourself", I am included amongst 500+ other running bloggers in a new database created by 2 Slow 4 Boston!  He created this amazing database that lists running bloggers, their sites, their cities and states, so you can meet people you never knew existed.  I searched myself, of course, and there I was!  How exciting huh!!

Today's a special day!  It's the GF's birthday!  Yay!  I don't want to clutter my appreciation for her with me "becoming somebody", so I'll be posting again, all about her!  I'd stay tuned if I were you!

~Chix

Fast Cory Shout Out

Last night the GF was hoping and praying that there was gonna be a snow day today!  Although it snowed a little, we didn't get out of school today.  My students were also VERY disappointed that they had to sit in class today!  Oh well...at least we had fun today!

Outside my office this morning at 6:53am.  It was melted by the time I got back at 10:07am.

Fast Cory, who I've mentioned before, runs in the most beautiful scenery day in and day out.  He's tirelessly working to keep Hostess in business.  He's training for another 100-miler.  He plays the piano and takes the greatest pictures ever while he's out on his run.  He's probably the coolest guy I've never met!  He wants to give me GU!  That's right, me!  Actually, he's having a giveaway that includes GU, so I'm just pretending I'm the only one in competition!  I have yet to win a giveaway, so I'm picking this one!  And if I don't win, he's still a cool guy that takes really cool pictures, and I have GU in my bedside drawer...win/win!

Went running after work today.  Had a speed workout.  I felt really fast too!  It's nice to know that feeling fast is running near a 9 minute mile!  One day I'll PR my half!  And that'll still be slower than a 9 minute mile pace!  Don't you just love running non-stop for over 2 hours?  Anywho, I gotta pump out some miles in the days to come.  And I'm really excited about my run this weekend.  Gonna go back to the dirt river trails!!

Have you won a giveaway?

What's your fast pace?

~Chix

My Vote: Worst Valentine's Day Ever!

It's Valentine's Day...the day that people all over the world use as an excuse to buy their loved ones gifts and cards and candy and stuffed animals and jewelry and flowers.  Why does it just have to be today.  I follow the rule of get your loved one something any time of the year...now THAT shows true love!  Although, I was sooooo tempted to stop by one of those side-of-the-road-tents where people sell those large cellophane teddy bear baskets.

It could go down as one of the greatest Valentine's Day gifts ever and how would I ever top that, so I stuck to something simple this year.  Can't say what it is though, cause it hasn't been given yet!

Instead on my way to work, I got stopped by this guy:


In case you can't see, it says Hydrochloric Acid!

What in the world are they gonna use this for?  I just had visions of a car coming the other direction and not stopping in time and careening into this train.  What then?  Worst Valentine's Day ever is my vote!

Today is my Seester's appreciation day.  I know it's Valentine's Day, but that's not why I'm appreciating her...it's because I love her and she is truly one of the greatest individuals I've ever known!  I thank my bro for bringing her into my life.  Not only has she tamed the wild beast (my bro), she has had two of the cutest, greatest, smartest kids ever!  She's mom-of-the-year, parent-of-the-year, wife-of-the-year, daughter-of-the-year, volunteer-of-the-year, and seester-of-the-year.  She's the one who does it all and still has time to see me every once and again.  Do you remember that awesome dinner she cooked us a couple weeks ago?  She's just an all around tremendous human being!  And I wouldn't trade her for the world!  Love you seester!

So, I got in my run early this morning, before work, which is rare!  Although I was dry heaving as I started, by the end I felt good, and slightly regretted not running another mile.  I am tempted to run again over the lunch hour, but I've got big plans to finish my GF Birthday shopping!  It's her birthday week, so things are just starting to heat up!  I was gonna buy her the new Breaking Dawn DVD this weekend, but she bought it for herself before I had a chance!  She was so excited and watched it Saturday afternoon...for those who aren't in the know...it came out Saturday morning!  She wastes no time!

How do you feel about Valentine's Day?

~Chix

Why, Why, Why

Why I like being a teacher:

• I get to dress up on Mondays and Wednesdays and I think I clean up pretty well.
• The students actually laugh at my jokes.
• I can yell at them for failing their exam, but then reward them with Valentine's candy.
• It gets me out of my other office for 2 hours twice a week.
• It's my dream job...AND I'M DOING IT!

Why I appreciate teachers:

• Because of all the hard hours they put in to help students excel.
• Because they will do anything to make sure a student understands the material.
• Because some times they cut you a little slack.
• Because they know you're smarter than you think you are.
• Because they push you to do your best.
• Because you'll always remember the special ones.

Why I write this blog:

• I will always have a transcript of this point in my life.
• I can vent to anyone who cares to read.
• I have followers that actually comment once in a while.
• I have a way of communicating with my brother even if we don't talk every day.
• I can express MY OWN opinions on things and not care what other people think.
• I can hold myself accountable for goals I make.

Why I appreciate bloggers:

• Because they're not afraid to open their lives to complete strangers.
• Because they encourage me to comment on the random things they say.
• Because they teach me new things about running and racing.
• Because I can relate to their stories.
• Because they express their own opinions on things and don't care what other people say.
• Because they make us think and do things we never thought possible.

~Chix

One Part Sherry Arnold, Two Parts Running

First things first, I have a double appreciation moment: I appreciate Beth at Shut Up and Run for organizing what seems like the largest Virtual Run in the history of time.  And I appreciate everyone that participated in the Sherry Arnold Virtual Run.  What feels like a million people all got together this weekend and at some point ran in honor of Sherry Arnold.  Official numbers are not in yet, but I'm suspecting SUAR will report back one million runners!  And I appreciate the fact that all one million of us ran to show the world (and 2 scumbags) that you can't hold us down.  We're gonna continue to run, we're gonna continue to thrive.  It's reported that 500 people showed up for the run/walk in Sidney, Montana.  Kudos Beth...you've done your cousin justice!

I had 2 running ventures this weekend to report.  Let's start with my race today: The Sweetheart Run 10K.  When I woke up this morning it was snowing.  So, I was a bit worried that it might be a bit cold!


Snow at the race site...

Cold is an understatement, but I bought these awesome new running pants that kept my legs so warm!!


My foot in the snow and a glimpse of my new pants!

So, anywho the race began and we were off...it was freezing.  I had a great first mile though, from there on out though I just slowed down every mile.  I finished with a time of 1:03:15ish, not horrible, so I'll take it!  I ran into a good friend at the race too.  She was running with a friend of hers.  Doing the 10K also.


Does it look like I'm trying to get away?  It's actually cause I'm stinky and I just met the guy!

Anyway, I finished the 10K, but because I'm on 7 miles this week, I ran for another .8 to round out 7 miles.  It was a slow recovery jog, but I got it done!  Overall, a good BUT FREEZING race day!

So, I saved the best for last...my relaxing run on Saturday!  The GF dropped me off at the River Trail and I knew I had 2 hours until she came back to get me, so I wasn't quite sure what I was gonna do.  Since the first mile to the actual trail is all downhill I, of course, ran that!  After the first mile, I walked for half a mile, but it was so cold.  I couldn't pick up the running because I had to pee so bad, so I found a nice nature spot and relieved myself.  I walked for another half mile up to the trail that leads into the actual Bosque.  When I say "river trail" I mean the paved path alongside the Bosque which is next to the river.  I got a wild hair up my rear and decided to get onto the dirt trails right on the river's edge.

I walked for about a mile just looking at the scenery (and peeing again) and realized I'd gone a full 3 miles away from where I needed to be picked up in an hour.  So, I decided to run the dirt trails.  AND IT WAS AMAZING!  I got a complete runners high while running.  For two miles I just cruised along these trails, not worrying about my time, and weaving in and out of trees and branches and rocks and bushes.  I'm already looking forward to running the trails again next weekend.  I read other blogs about trail running and now I understand why they love it so much.  I still would love to one day run with Fast Cory on his "backyard" trails, but that's another day!

I had a great weekend of running!  Hope you had a good weekend too!

~Chix


Four Things Friday

Online World
Today I appreciate my instructor for my online class!  I'm in a class online to learn how to teach classes online.  It's pretty interesting, but I've noticed it's not gonna be easy being an online teacher.  So, today I told her I appreciated all she was doing for us in this fast-paced online course.  We all must seem like the biggest group of non-tech savvy fools, but she seems to reel us in and control our random discussions!  I appreciate that she understands that we're new to this teaching online business.  I appreciate that she answers our questions within hours of us asking them.  And I appreciate that she's giving us room to error and shine.  I'm still convinced the face-to-face classes are better than full online courses, but people have been making some valid points about the other.  I'm gonna stick with tech enhanced traditional setting classes.

Machine #7
With that heading, I'm sure you already guessed that I got my machine today!  I could've had it yesterday, but when I got upstairs there was only one guy on the mills and he was on #8.  It would have been very awkward if I got on the Mill right next to him when there were more than 12 others to choose from.  So, I took #5 since it's been so good to me lately.  I might switch between those two now!  I got in a good 4 miles today.  My body wanted to do 4 today, so away we went.  I watched The Princess Diaries on tv and pretended like I was in a race with the guy next to me.  He was beating me, so I pretended I was in a race with the pregnant lady on the other side of me.  FYI: I beat her!

A Little Anxiety
I couldn't sleep last night and my minds been all over the place today.  I graded my students' tests last night and it wasn't good!  I'm not gonna go into detail here with you now, but let's just say only a few people are gonna be celebrating on Monday!  Unfortunately, I'm the one worried about the outcome because it sort of reflects my teaching ability.  I'll get over it, but I could use a pick me up.

Pick Me Up
One of my "silent" goals this week was to not drink during the week.  I succeeded!  No beer or wine or liquor since Sunday!  So, to get over my anxiety, tonight I will be throwing a couple back.  In fact, just thinking about it is releasing a lot of tension!  Actually, running at lunch released a bunch of tension already.  I guess I'm past that whole test thing now!!  I'm the best teacher ever!!

Ever have anxiety over something silly?

Ever drink run away your problems?

~Chix

Conceited Much?

It happened again!  I showed up to the gym today and my machine, machine #7, was wide open for the taking, but the big smelly hairy guy was on #8 and some chick was on #6, so I opted for #5 again, which was good to me yesterday...and guess what...it was good to me today!  I had a speed workout and I ran my butt off.  I'm not gonna lie though, it was hard Hard HARD (TWSS) trying to get to the gym today!  I am tired and still trying to get over this cold and laying on the couch with my eyes closed sounded a heck of a lot better than speed work.  But, I'm so glad I went, because it's over with and I feel good!

One of the tasks for the Appreciation Challenge was to appreciate yourself daily for something along with appreciating someone else.  This is to be done because sometimes people forget to appreciate themselves sometimes, but as most of you know, I don't have this problem.  For instance, today Amanda at Run to the Finish posted about how every morning you should try to look yourself in the mirror and say something nice to yourself!  I do that already.  I look at myself every single time I pass by a mirror...and I smile!  I tell myself I'm hot or sexy or funny or silly.  I really don't lack any self confidence, nor do I skimp on the compliments I dish out to myself!  All I'm trying to say is that I really appreciate myself for being who I am!  There!  On to the other appreciation part!

I appreciate my granny.  She was the most amazing woman I have ever known!  She died 2 years ago at the age of 96 and up until the day she died she was planning her 100th birthday party!  She's seen and done it all.  She's met Eleanor Roosevelt and would always say that Eleanor "was like a daughter to me".  She was forced into the Japanese internment camps, but because of her ability to speak both Japanese and English, she became an interpreter, which I believe saved her life.  She lived through World Wars, a Great Depression, some bombings, some more wars, pot smoking hippies, the neon 80's, rapper's delight and 90's rock, and saw the turn of the century come and go as she became nothing short of a legend in my eyes.  She had connections to people all over the world and I just saw her as my granny.  She let me live with her both in high school and college and although I lived by my own rules, I appreciate her for trying to teach me life lessons.  She actually taught me how to NOT pee in the bed and I definitely appreciate her for that!  I appreciate that we used to have lunch together every Wednesday.  I appreciate her for taking me to Hawaii even though she had just been in a bad car accident.  I appreciate her for being there for ME!  I think about her most days and I appreciate that she's looking down on me today.  I appreciate that she's the reason I got addicted to running!  I love you and miss you granny!



That's me and granny in 2009!



Eleanor Roosevelt and Granny!



Back in the day when I had long curly hair AND a nose ring!

~Chix

My Lucky #7

When I go to the gym, I like to run on treadmill #7.  The last few weeks I haven't been so lucky as to get #7, so I just move over one or two either direction and settle for another Mill.  Well, today when I got the gym, #7 was open and ready for my big run.  Unfortunately, it was between 2 smelly old guys.  I walked over really excited and as I stood on it, the smell bitch slapped me across the face.  I pretended that I wanted a good view of one of the high tv's, which is total crap because each mill comes with it's own tv, so I moved to another mill. 

I had a good run on mill #5 today.  Because my ipod lost its charge, I watched and listened to CSI today.  I love CSI because I've seen them all, but I still can't remember how they end!!  Anywho, I set the speed and off I went, not looking at the mileage until it was at 4.55miles, so I finished off at 5miles for the day.  I felt amazing today!  Like I could've just kept running for a long long time...which also seems better than returning to the office!  I was really tired this morning and just wanted to make sure I got at least 3 miles in and whadda you know I go to 5!  I need to find a way to push past that pooped out feeling I got at mile 5 in the race on Sunday.  Hopefully I won't poop out this weekend.  Just gonna get some good miles this week!  I'm also on pace to start upping my pace!  Getting excited!

Appreciation Time (A.T.)!

I appreciate my softball coach!  She's not really a "coach", but she's our coach...the only one that has taken it upon herself to try and get all of us slackers in order every season.  She's got to be one of the nicest people in all of the land.  She's an elementary school teacher...not to mention teacher of the year!  She's got great ideas I've heard and her students just love her.  Heck, I love her!  She's so much fun to be around.  She's got a wonderful husband, the cutest little girl ever (who always smiles for me), and a really fun family.  Even with all of this going on, she finds the time to organize our softball team.  We're not the easiest bunch of girls to play with or sometimes get along with (ask any other team in the league, or the GF, she'll tell you).  And she always down to hang out.  She'll drive all the way across town just to meet up with you for a drink or a laugh or a little bit of both.  She'll probably even drive all the way across town to bail you out of jail (haven't been in that situation yet, but I bet she's good for it!).  And she always knows when things will just work themselves out!  I like hanging out with her, she's good people!  I also love that she loves Vegas just as much as me!  She's not scared to scooch up to a table all night long and sip back her Cap'n until the sun comes up!  And because of that, she'll go down as one of my best buds!  Love you coach!

Do you have a special machine that you like to use when you go to the gym?

Do you play softball or any other rec sport?

~Chix

Suberbowl Thoughts

Appreciation Time!

I appreciate my BFJ!  Really, she's amazing!  I may have said this before, but she's the nicest, kindest, sweetest, most honest friend I have.  She's just a great person.  Today she made lunch for me and the GF!  We meet every week for lunch, but it's not nearly enough time spent with her.  We need to hang out more *hint *hint!  Anyway, we were roomies for about 4-ish years.  And we have been BF's for about 8 or 9-ish years.  I think I may be one of her friends that truly "gets" her (as much as she wants to be "getted"!)  I know that she'll always be there for me whether it's for a shoulder to cry on, someone to pick my drunk ass up at 3 in the morning, or just someone to hang out with.  We've always had great conversations.  She makes me think a lot harder than I ever want to.  I make her very uncomfortable in lots of loving ways!  And she's got these great dimples!  We may have had a few bumps in the road over the years, but it's only made our relationship stronger.  She knows that I'm gonna celebrate my birthday for a month, and I know that she's gonna hold it over my head for the other 11.  She knows that I think very highly of myself, and I know that secretly she does too!!  So, really, I appreciate everything she's ever done for me.  I appreciate that she still comes around when she knows how silly I am.  I appreciate that she knows when I wanna be serious on some occasions.  And I appreciate her for being my friend!  Love you J!

Superbowl Thoughts

What a game, huh!  Giants win!  Not that I care about the Giants, but I definitely don't care about the Pats.  The commercials were nothing special except for about 2...the dog exercising to be able to fit out of the doggie door and chase down the car, and the M&M shell party!  Seriously lol'ed on that last one.  Madonna was amazing.  I've heard lots of mixed reviews today, but I really enjoyed her performance.  Kelly Clarkson sang a very good National Anthem too.  Very professional-like.  Otherwise, nothing else was very spectacular about the evening...except I did drink, drank, drunk last night...okay maybe not quite to the drunk stage, but close!

Spring Break

Spring Break is almost upon us.  In a month, I will have a week off of school and I am taking advantage of not having to do ANYTHING...except work of course!  We are planning on going to Phoenix for Spring Training and visiting some long lost friends.  Plans are still in the works, but consider me MIA for a week...although I may still blog...who knows!  I will take a couple days off work to really enjoy myself!  The GF will also have a week off of all classes and I'm sure she's counting down the days!  It's already been a busy semester for her, so I know she's gonna welcome the much needed break.  Can't wait to solidify these plans! 

What did you think of the Superbowl?

What are you doing for Spring Break?

~Chix

Superbowl Race Recap

It's official!  I pee more than a pregnant woman!  Friday my whole office went to lunch together.  Before heading back to the office, myself and the prego lady went to the bathroom.  Upon returning to the office, I went to the bathroom again.  And about half an hour later, I went to the bathroom yet again!  This may not surprise most of you, because I am getting old have a small bladder.  But peeing more than a pregnant lady is really bad.  Oh well!

Superbowl 10K went great today!  It was pretty cold at the start, but once we got going I quickly started sweating profusely...as usual!  My niece made a sign for me and the GF that said, "Go Auntie Chicken and Auntie Candy!"  She drew a picture of the two of us, her brother with really curly hair, and herself holding a sign that said the same thing with the same drawing of herself holding a sign and so on...she's pretty smart!  Everytime I passed her, she'd hold it up and point to it in case I wasn't looking at it!

The race started on a high school track, so I felt like a track star taking off out of my blocks...needless to say, when I looked at my watch after half a lap I was running an 8 minutes per mile pace...WHOA BUDDY!  Slow it down!  By the time I left the track, I had settled into a 9:50 pace...much better.  I added about 5 seconds onto each mile as I progressed through the course.  I felt really great the whole time until about 3.5...the 5Kers were taking a left hand turn to the finish, but the 10Kers were continuing on to do another loop before we could finish.  I could hear people cheering and music playing and I really wanted to stop!  By I pushed on...

The second loop seemed a lot shorter, although once I finished mile 5, I started pooping out.  I had run harder than I normally do during any kind of race, but I was getting tired.  I felt like I was dragging ass, but my pace was still on target for a PR.  The whole 10K pack started thinning out, so I was pretty much by myself with about 2 houses in front of me and 2 houses behind me...I could snot rocket all I wanted to and it wouldn't hit anyone!  After the last water station, I knew there was only about half a mile left, so I kicked it in high gear...unfortunately I was already there, so there was not a speed increase.  I could hear the crowd, but I knew I didn't have any juice left to "finish it strong"!  So, I smiled at my family and friends and jogged it in!  Finishing in 1:02:15...a PR for me!  So, all in all, a great race.  Next weekend I have another 10K, so we'll see how that goes!

The GF was amazing, as I had suspected she'd be!  She convinced a friend from her running class to run the 5K with her today.  We kinda of gave her a goal of 45 minutes, since yesterday she ran a 5K on the treadmill in about 44 minutes.  But secretly, I knew she'd blow that out of the water.  She's a competitor and I knew she'd do well!  And she didn't let me down.  She ran the whole thing, barely even stopping at the water stations, and finished in 40:44, crushing the 45 minute goal!  That's amazing!  She's never actually run a 5K race, even though she's done a 10K and a half, so we're gonna add this to her PR list and hope that she can beat that time in a month or so!  I'm so proud of her!  She was also able to finish just in time to see me cross the finish line...so I call that a win-win!

Appreciation Time!

I really appreciate all the runners in the 60+ categories at these races!  Seeing the smile on a 70 year olds' face when he wins his age division is pretty inspiring.  The fact that these folks come out here and race at their age, gives me something to look forward to in life.  I hope my body is healthy enough and able enough to run in 30+ years!  the joy they probably get out of running is on a totally different scale than why I run.  They're out there doing it because they still can and I'm complaining that it's too cold, or my legs hurt, or I'm not motivated.  Makes me feel like kind of a jerk now!  And it really puts me in my place when old man river goes gliding past me out on the course!  So congratulations to you all and may you be running for years and years to come!

Go Commercials!

~Chix

The Pups

I didn't get up to run this morning, knowing that I had lunch plans, and I'm feeling very guilty about it.  It was only supposed to be a 3 mile run, but I still feel bad.  I can put it on the fact that I'm getting sick and I needed the sleep and I shouldn't overdo it and I should rest before my race on Sunday and blah, blah, blah.  But I feel weird not having run today.  I know it's only 3pm and I have all evening to run, but I'm supposed to meet a friend for drinks after work, and running after I've been drinking is a bad combo!  And now my stomach is upset!  Probably because of the pizza I scarfed at lunch, knowing that I shouldn't eat so much, but instead I polished it off.

I apologize to some of you for singling out Skinny Runner yesterday in my post.  She has done so many races in a small amount of time and I had just read her blog before I posted, so she was fresh on the brain.  I neglected to mention how Becka at 50 Half Marathons in 50 States has also had a HUGE January with over 200 logged miles!  And Nicole from Becoming a Mother Runner was on a 58-day running streak that just ended with the Tinkerbell Half Marathon!  And XLMIC at Taking it On is about to run her fastest 5K EVER this weekend!  So, there are plenty of you out there who are just as crazy as SR, or me, or anyone else!

Appreciation Time!

Today I'd like to appreciate my dogs!  I know they can't read this, so I promise to give them plenty of loving at home to show my appreciation...but I thought you'd all like to know how grateful I am for having them in my life.  When I was growing up, I had dogs and cats, but I always loved the cats more.  In high school, I got this really weird fear of dogs and vowed that I'd never put my face in a dogs mouth own one again.  6 years ago, I met Lady (my pups mother) and fell in love with her.  I told the GF we had to have her...so we got something even better...the runt from her first litter, and we named her Jersey!  Jersey has grown to be absolutely beautiful and is smarter than me!  She is the sweetest, most loving dog in the world.  She gives great kisses, she runs on the treadmill to keep her girly figure, she rings a bell for treats, and she obeys her commands fairly well.  A year later, Lady had another litter and that's when we picked out Neko.  Her markings and color were amazing and her eyes were blue.  We had to have her.  Now, as cute as she is, she's not the brightest crayon in the box.  She's smart enough, but doesn't even come close to her sister.  She can follow most commands, but she sure can be a little shit!  She runs from the vacuum cleaner, she pulls down and tears up everything that's within her reach even though she knows it's bad, and she always knows when she's in trouble.

They sleep the wrong way on the bed, they get hair all over the place, they take our socks into the backyard, they drag mud into the house, they jump up on visitors, they want to play fetch for hours, and they could possibly lick you to death, but just when you thought you made a wrong decision, they turn out to be the cutest things in the world and you know you made the right choice...TWICE!

 

 

 

 

 

 

~Chix

Unwanted Visitor

Mr. Head Cold has arrived and it sounds like he wants to hang around for a while!  I told him I wouldn't have too much time for him except for at night because I work all day, workout on my lunch breaks and spend the evenings with my GF.  Hopefully he'll give me my space, but I have a feeling he's gonna get a little clingy real soon.  Maybe he'll hang back on Sunday during my race and let me run it by myself!  The main problem is that if I want him to go away for good, I might need to give him a little one-on-one time.

He did give me some space at the gym this afternoon.  I was able to get in 3 miles today and I actually felt pretty good.  I really wanted to do at least 1, maybe 2 more miles, but I didn't wanna push it, because of my visitor and my upcoming race.  I mean, it's only a 10K race for this half-marathon stud, but it's still a race!  Speaking of races, one of the bloggers I follow, Skinny Runner, is out of control.  She ran the Phoenix marathon, ran a marathon the following weekend, ran a half-marathon last weekend, and is running a marathon on Sunday...that's 4 weekends in a row of races!  She's crazy!  Plus, she's gonna be running a 50K in a few weeks!  I'm nervous even when I have 6 weeks in between half-marathons.  I guess it gives her less time to "think" and more time to "do", but that's a lot of running!  Go SR!

Appreciation Time!

Today I'd like to appreciate all of my Followers!  Don't let this go to your head, but I love you guys!  When I first started blogging, it was just to hear myself talk.  Shortly after that I used my blog to document my journey as I trained for a half-marathon that I ran for my grandmother.  I loved journaling and getting my thoughts on paper.  It's also pretty fun to go back and read about myself 2 years ago.  But since I've started back up, I've gained a small following who actually comment on the randomness I spew out everyday.  They wish me luck in races.  They say congratulations on my accomplishments.  They ask my opinion in their own blogs (well, maybe not me personally).  They read my blog.  And that's all I could ask for.  I wish I could get companies to donate things so I could have giveaways to reward these people for reading.  I may actually just go out and buy something to giveaway!  But what I really want to say is Thank You!  Thanks for reading my blog and giving honest feedback or the encouragement that I'm always looking for!  I look forward to one day meeting each and every one of you!  Thanks!

I'm off to finish typing up a pile of work...sucky!

~Chix

Racing and Appreciation-ing

Sunday is race day.  It's also new commercials day.  And for you people on the (North) East Coast it's superbowl day.  As you can see, the superbowl is not a priority for me this year.  I really don't care for either team playing...I love football, so I'll end up watching, but it's more for the commercials!  If any of them are like the darth vader kid commercial, then they're gonna be good!  Anywho, it's race day.  I am running a 10K that afternoon here in town.  I haven't run a race in town since Halloween, so I'm pretty excited!  It's more of a scheduled 6 mile long run, but knowing me I'll probably try for a PR which is around an hour 4 minutes.

I had a really good speed workout today, so hopefully that'll translate to me going fast on Sunday!  What's totally awesome though, is that the GF is running the 5K at the same time!  I'm so proud of her.  It's more of a baseline race for her, so when I talk her into running another 5K in March and April, she'll have a time to beat!

Today is the first day of my Appreciation Challenge, so I'd like to take a moment to Appreciate my brother!

I've known this guy my whole life.  When I was younger, I remember knocking on his door at night because I had bad dreams and I would ask if I could sleep with him and he'd let me sleep on the floor next to his bed.  When he was older, he would come home drunk and throw up all over the place and I would clean it up so he wouldn't get in trouble.  When I started high school, he wouldn't let me sit near him on the bus to school because I wasn't cool enough.  When I moved out of the house we really never saw each other because our lives went two separate directions.  It wasn't until he got married and had kids that we ultimately became closer than we have ever been.  Not that we agree on everything all the time, but it's nice to know that he's always right around the corner.  He calls me all the time.  He asks for my help every once and again.  He even stops by to see me at school now.  He's one of my biggest fans and I want him to know that I'm one of his biggest fans too.  I appreciate that he never made it easy for me growing up, because it's made me stronger.  I appreciate how strong he was when our dad passed away, because it made me feel safe.  I appreciate that he's seen "rock bottom", because it makes him a better person.  I appreciate that he's an amazing father and husband because it makes him complete.  And I appreciate that he's the bestest brother ever, because I love having him around.  I love you bro!

Have a great day!

~Chix