Surprise!

Hi!  I'm here!  Stop all your "Whoa, where'd she go's" and your "Wait, who is this again's" and just enjoy my post!

Florists are so so so extremely nice!  I think one day I want to retire and become a florist!  I have had to call for flower deliveries twice today and both ladies I talked to were over-the-top nice to me!  I'd probably have to learn how to "arrange" the flowers, but maybe they'd just let me be really nice to people on the phone.  It really made my day (twice) to talk to these ladies.  So, thanks, Janet and Emily!

I've got a bad back.  Most of have heard my complain about it already, but it's not good.

In fact, I'm pretty sure I complained about having back pain last time I blogged!  But most of you can't remember that far back!  So, here I am again, complaining of the same problem.  I've deduced that it is a combination of sciatic nerve issues along with back spasms.  It's hard to sit, stand for long periods of time, sleep in a comfortable position, and get up from the couch.  BUT, I went for a 2 mile run for the first time in 2 weeks today and so far so good.  Ask me again tomorrow though!

Speaking of running, since that's really what this blog is about (hence the no blogging, since I haven't been running much), my last race this year is in 6 weeks: Vegas RnR!  Now, I know most everyone out there had issues with the Vegas race last year, but I had an absolute blast!  It was so much fun and I looked forward to doing it again this year.  The best thing about the race this year is it ends right in front of my hotel!  This means I can start drinking even quicker than I did last year!

That's enough for this post...just like starting up training again, I don't want to over do it the first time back!

~Chix

Running Rainbow

Running after a hiatus is so much fun.  Today I felt like I could just keep going and going and going...but I didn't!  I had to stop myself at 3 miles because I knew I'd be really sore and mad at myself tomorrow if I kept going!  Also, I needed to shower before my ride left me!

But my quick 3 miles felt amazing.  My body didn't forget what to do even though it's my 4th run in 4 weeks!  My back didn't hurt...much.  I feel motivated, which is good cause Denver will be here sooner than I know it!

The Color Run is here!  This Saturday the GF and I will be participating in The Color Run.  It's a 5K race and at every kilometer they throw a different color of powder paint on all the runners, so when you finish you're a running rainbow!  How exciting is that?  Well, I'm really excited, so I'll be sure to let you know how it goes!

I may have a few races on the horizon before Denver (I'm still looking into them), but my biggest decision right now is if I want to run the Hot Chocolate 15K the weekend after the Denver Halfer.  I've heard really good things about the Hot Chocolate races (mostly good things) and if I did it, I'd want to do more than just the 5K, but I can't quite decide yet...so, we'll see about that too...and again, I'll keep you posted!

Hood to Coast is upon us and here I sit without a team to race with...that'll change one day.  Good luck to everyone running...I'll be rooting for you!

Friday's coming!

~Chix

3rd Times The Charm!

I am back from vacation!  Mexico was amazing, but now we're spoiled and can probably never go on another vacation that's not all-inclusive!  The weather was great, which also means I came back with an awesome tan!  I drank and ate A LOT!  It truly was a great and relaxing vacation!

Now I'm back in the grind of work.  Classes start next week and I'm already busy getting ready for that too.  The poor GF started classes two days ago and is all stressed out, but I'm sure she'll find her groove soon!  She has tons of reading to do for all her classes, so things are gonna be pretty quiet around the house this semester!

I hurt my back a week and a half before we left so I didn't run for 11 days, but the day before we left I ran 8 miles...actually didn't feel too bad!  But now that we're back, we got to get back to training since Denver is only a month away (from today).  I was planning on running today at lunch, but I tweaked my back again this morning...not as bad as before, but definitely stiff and sore (that's what she said)!  So, we'll see how well it goes today.

I got my hair braided on vacation and the Mexican ladies made me look like Coolio!

It was not very attractive, so I took it out about an hour later!  When we got back home I had my cousin do it and although I didn't look like Coolio, my hair was just too soft for her and too stubborn to stay up.  So the next day I had my cousin's mom do it for the 3rd time and finally it cooperated...well, the best it was gonna get!  The front looked amazing, but the back came out very quickly, so I had to mousse it and matte it down for 3 days, just so I could keep it in for a while!  Now I'm back to my afro...can't decide what to do next.

Off to do my job now!  Miss you all like crazy...lots of catching up to do in so many ways!!

~Chix

Muscle Orspasms!

I can honestly say right now that I will not be completing everything on my weekly To Do List.  Oh well!  First of all, I hurt my back, and then yesterday I had a freak attack of muscle spasms in my shoulder and up my neck, which hurt like hell (I even missed work) and I could barely move all day.  So much for a speed workout or arm workout...pretty much ANY workout for that matter!  And because I went to the doctor for my back, I got pain meds which causes me to get drowsy, so I clearly am not reading anything before bedtime!  And it's hard to get work done when you're at home sleeping all day.  Let's just hope I finish the important stuff before vacation...that's my new To Do List...Finish Everything!

So, I haven't run since my long run on Saturday.  I'm gonna try a small run tomorrow morning with the GF just to see how my back and shoulder feel.  I've got that "wrong side of the bed" stiffness right now, so maybe it'll ease up over night.  I've also got a softball tourney this weekend, but luckily for the GF, I just found out we have subs, so I'll be able to take it easy all weekend AND I won't ruin her vacation!  I haven't really been motivated to run lately and have been extremely exhausted, so I'm hoping with the pain meds helping me sleep and the week off of running, that I'll be back to new again and will want to get back out there.

I will also be participating in XLMIC Taking It On's Ellimpics!  It's the Olympics of rehab machines!  I'm pretty excited about this because it's gonna take me off the ol' Mill and help me switch it up for a week on other gym machines.  The GF is going to participate too.  I think we're gonna do the Elliptical 10K and 5K.  The GF is going to attempt an Elliptical Half Marathon and I'm going to attempt the Stair Master 5 Mile.  Then I think I'm gonna put together some sort of multi-athlon of 2 to 3 miles on about 2 to 3 machines (elliptical, stair, bike, row, etc.)  It's gonna be great fun!

This weekend is also the 3rd Annual Sweat Your Thorns Off 5K!  You can read about it here!  So, it looks like I'll have to incorporate a 5K into my weekend runs somehow!  These virtual races are always so much fun because everyone has such interesting stories of how and where they ran...and it encourages people to get out and move!  For his winter edition, we took the dogs and they actually got a shoutout on his blog!  This edition might be a bit off balance with a bad back and all, but I'll try my best!

Everyone have an amazing weekend!  And please be safe!

~Chix

No Comment

All through May and June I had some heavy foot traffic coming through here!  What that really means is that I logged about 20+ viewers for each blog I posted.  Maybe even one or two comments came from those viewers.  Nobody really signed up to become a follower, but I was getting more people over to my site to read what I had to say.  Then I take a 2 week break and those viewers are taking their feet elsewhere.  Maybe I'm not writing very interesting stuff anymore.  Maybe they forgot all about me while I wasn't writing during my 2 week hiatus!  Whatever the problem is, I'm beginning to think I need to find a better way to "get out there"!  The obvious thing to do is to give something away for free, or host a virtual event in someone's honor, or even become the funniest person in the world so everyone starts talking about me.

Well, I have nothing to give away cause my blog hasn't generated much foot traffic to cause companies to start giving me free stuff to give away (see paragraph 1).  And if nobody comes to my site in the first place then nobody is going to find out about my virtual run anyway.  And, let's face it, I'm actually already pretty damn funny, which is why it's so baffling that nobody's coming around to read.  So, I'm done trying to "get out there"...and it only took me about 100 words to decide that!  If it happens it happens!  So, from now on, this is my Dear Diary that my 16 followers can read if they want, but my 9 other "forced followers" will get entries automatically sent to their emails every day...You're welcome!

You lucky people get to read my lists within lists.  You get to listen to me whine about not having followers or comments.  You get to laugh at the funny sh*t I say.  You also get to listen to me ramble on about random things.  You also get to read as I give dumb advice and talk about stuff that I know nothing about!  So, to you folks...THANKS and COME AGAIN!

Running!

I just said that since this is also a blog about running!

~Chix

My Eyes Are Spoiled

I have been getting "spoiler alerted" for the past 5 days!  I hate that the Olympics are 7 hours ahead of us and NBC is waiting around to show the events, because I can't even turn on my computer without finding out who won the latest fencing match, or how many dunks LeBron James had!  On one hand, it totally ruins the experience of getting to watch the event and actually being surprised by the outcome, but on the other hand, it really frees up my evening!

I went to the doctor today!

My back has been killing me lately.  I can't sleep and it's really hard to sit down all day.  I surprisingly can still run, so that's a plus, but as soon as I'm done, my back gets all tight and then I regret even moving!  So, he gave me something to sleep better at night in hopes that it'll loosen up these spasms and problem solved.  I'll keep you posted!

3 more actual class days!!!  Woohoo...summer term is almost over!  Then it's on to vacation!  I still feel like I have so much to do though...maybe I need to make lists within my lists.  I'll make one huge gigantic To Do List, but within each thing to do, I'll make a small list of things to do to get that thing done!  Sounds fun!

Have a random day!

~Chix

Does Monday Show Up Every Week?

Just when I started enjoying my weekend, another week comes along!  So, here's where we are:

Last Week:


1. Clean up the backyard!! I'm totally halfway there...not enough room in the trashcan for everything!
2. Refill the Fish tank! I did this, but I'm still unsure of whether Mr. Bubbles is gonna make it.
3. Download pictures from my camera Well, I thought about doing this...does that count?
4. Finish the laundry, put it away, and clear out the bed!  Did ALL laundry and GF helped with the clearing of the bed!
5. Finish all timesheets by Friday!  Haha!  Yeah right!  I didn't say WHICH Friday!
6. Have a medium run during the week of 5 miles.  Hell yeah!  And it felt awesome!

This Week:
1. Download Ipod songs
2. Finish all work requirements before vacation
3. Prepare packing list (cause I'm a geek)
4. Read at least one chapter a night of something other than school books!
5. Do a speed workout AND an arm workout this week

This seems to be enough for the week.  Especially since it'll be wrapped up with all this Olympic excitement in the air.  Speaking of which, Skeet Shooting is a new favorite of mine, as is Equestrian Dressage!  It's as if I've never watched sports before!

Another blogger has been posting her adventures for her Ragnar Team, and it's making me really excited to one day do a relay run like this.  Not that I'm on a team for anytime in the near future, but it's gonna happen one day.  I can't wait!

Well, the only way to get number 2 out of the way is to get off the blogosphere, so have great rest of your Monday and I'll catch up with you later!

~Chix