Firecracker 5k or Bust!

It's official - I'm going to run the Firecracker 5k on Wednesday. I couldn't resist. It's a flat course and in town. I may not set a PR but at least I'll get a nice 3.1 mile run in first thing in the morning! I'm already nervous. Will I cramp? Will I go out too fast? Will I have to walk? Will I be last? Gotta love it. While I was at the running store I also signed up for the All Dirt 5k in two weeks. That should be interesting. My evening's plans kind of fell apart so I'm not so patiently waiting for the temperature to drop so I can go running. When all else fails - RUN! Niiiiiice stress buster.

Me and my cheese!

Most internet quizzes that determine your personality based on random questions are pretty laughable - and predictable. I once took one to find out which Gilmore Girl I was most like. Color me shocked when the person I was most like turned out to be the person I clicked to be my favorite character. I was impressed with the sandwich personality match up - it's like the internet read my mind...especially on the ham sandwich part - yuck!

You Are a Grilled Cheese Sandwich

You are a traditional person with very simple tastes. In your opinion, the best things in life are free, easy, and fun. You totally go with the flow. And you enjoy every minute of it! Your best friend: The Peanut Butter and Jelly Sandwich Your mortal enemy: The Ham Sandwich

What Kind of Sandwich Are You?

Another craptastic day in the neighborhood.

I haven't felt this grumpy in a long time. I feel like death on a triscuit. I slept until 10:00 (oops) and all I want to do is go back to bed. It's cloudy here and lightly sprinkling, so basically the weather isn't helping my mood much. My run last night was great... at least in terms of me finally running 4 miles. Everything else about my run sucked. Along the way I thought I was going to die. At one point I stopped, bent over, fully expecting to leave my afternoon snack on some New Englander's front lawn. I'm sure they would have appreciated that. I really should have taken better notes the first time around because I know I had this same feeling once before. (Note to self: Just say no to bananas before ANY run.)

I stayed up too late watching The Departed. It's one long frickin' movie! Basically it's 2.5 hours of the Boston Mafia vs. Boston Cops - lots of rats, shoot 'em ups, whispering calls, text messages, and f-bombs. The Bostonian accents were probably the most entertaining part of the whole movie. It was predictable. I wasn't on the edge of my seat or anything. In the acting department, I was a tad disappointed with Matt Damon. Leonardo DiCaprio wiped the floor with him in that respect. They are in two different leagues in my opinion.

Naps should be mandatory.

I hadn't planned on taking a nap yesterday, it just sort of happened. There I was reading about the Korean War and enjoying the cool breeze from my air conditioner and then lights out! I couldn't have fought off that nap with all of MacArthur's army on my side. It was a good nap too. I didn't toss and turn. It was the nice deep sleep kind of nap. It really made me wish that naps were mandatory, like in preschool.

I'd be perfectly content with having to roll out a little nap mat every afternoon for a little timeout, refresher nap. Maybe that's what the world needs - just one mandatory nap everyday. It could have a domino effect ... less disgust and stress with work could lead to less road rage, fewer accidents and cheaper car insurance. People would be refreshed, have more energy to exercise and become healthier, leading to cheaper health insurance. People then could use their new healthy bodies to commute to work by bicycle, making us all less dependent on oil and ultimately ending the war and saving the earth from global warming!! We could all play and nap safely in our own separate corners of the world. Oversimplified and quixotic??? Just a tad, I know. Maybe I'll call up Obama or someone and tell them my plan to save the world. We could start with a grassroots campaign. "Stop the war. Take a nap." "Guns for pillows." "Have you had your nap today?"

The glass is half full...

While the working six days a week thing is getting old, I have managed to think of one upside to being stuck inside the office for 10 hours every Sunday. Working keeps me safely inside my climate controlled office - ok, freezing office - for a majority of the day. By the time I finally get home, it's a much better temperature for running. I had a great run this evening which is encouraging following my craptastic run yesterday. My pants are looser! And I'm not nearly as stiff and sore by day's end as I usually am. Progress! I love it! I finally broke 10 miles for the week. I came in at 11.3 miles!

Netflix rocks! Have I said that before?

The first movie of the weekend was kind of a disappointment. I'd heard such wonderful things about Memoirs of a Geisha that I probably had my expectations too high. It was good, just not excellent. In all of my Japanese studies it never seemed that there was ever anything close to resembling a fairy tale ending for any geisha. Entertainers yes, prostitutes no - that's what all the Ivory Tower types say. For once Hollywood probably tells the more realistic side with men bidding on a geisha's virginity. It's an odd happy ending in that geisha gets her man kind of way - kind of like Pretty Woman but with an eastern Asia, mid-20th century twist. It may be one of those movies that would be better upon second viewing. Only one worm thumb up.


I know I've already professed my geekiness once before in this blog with admitting my love for N'Sync and thus, Justin Timberlake, but in a totally unbiased opinion, JT can act! Ok, so maybe it's not entirely unbiased. It's hard to be unbiased when someone is that hot! Drugs, f-bombs, cigarettes, tattoos, guns, and one 15 year old kid that gets popped - perfect combination! Seriously, I had a glimmer of hope that Frankie (JT) would pull through in the end and save the kid from being riddled with bullets, but then the movie wouldn't be based on a true story, and we can't have that now can we? I actually felt sorry for Frankie. Me, sorry for a criminal?? Hmm, again, JT can act. And he's hot. All tattooed up and everything. Grrr. Two worm thumbs up!

Someone pass the Kleenex.

Bleepin' allergies. This is what I get for actually working. I set a deadline at work to get this massive project done before the fall semester starts, which ultimately means that I have to get my rear out of the office and into the field. Apparently the field wasn't happy to see me because over the past week and half my allergies have gradually been getting worse. A crummy night of sleep last night (thanks to my pain in the arse cat) probably didn't help my situation. Today has been, by far, the most craptastic of allergy days.

And it's dorrito casserole night at the folks' place. Basically it means the forces of nature are working against me for a run tonight. Not only will I be bogged down from the greasy, cheesy dinner, but I won't be able to be breathe through my nose - should be a good time, yeah? I'll just keep reminding myself that a short run is better than no run.

It's been a while since I've had a movie mention. No worries - Netflix and I still remain friends. I even bumped up to three movies at a time for the summer. Earlier this week I watched Blood Diamond. I'm not the biggest fan of Leonardo DiCaprio but usually end up liking whatever film he is in, Blood Diamond continued that trend. The rough Aussie accent was a bit distracting at first but by the end I thought the whole movie had been well acted. I don't normally just sit down and watch a movie, but I couldn't help but plop for the last 30 or so minutes of this film. It was a great story with a good message that wasn't overly preachy. I was never a big fan of diamonds to begin with, but if on the off chance I do end up getting married in this lifetime, I think I'll forgo the traditional diamond ring. That's probably not surprising to the people who actually know me.

Give me fuel...

I have no energy. Zilch. None. I'm munching on a PowerBar and hoping beyond on all hope that it's the magic ticket today. It's been almost a week since I ran. I have a charlie-horse pain in my left calf that's gradually been getting worse. I think it's my body protesting to my being a bum and half the last 6 days. Camping was fun but I ate too much junk food while I was gone. I'm sure that's going to come back to haunt me. I'm ok with that though because campfire smores are totally worth it!

And I'm now officially under the month-to-go mark before my second ever 5k. I better pick it up a notch if I don't want to look like a complete granny-with-a-walker when it comes time to run. I should probably try hitting a dirt trail or two before then too. I'm sure I'd run much faster when I started seeing all the rattlesnakes that hang out up by the reservoir. Four minute miles would be a snails pace compared to what I'd be running!