Dear Thanksgiving...

Dear Thanksgiving Holiday,

You may have the turkey, the stuffing, the amazing mashed potatoes made with sour cream and 4 sticks of real butter. You may have every family recipe, each home-made by my 79 year old grandmother so it has an extra hint of tender love and care, but I...I have a plan!

When a 5k Slaps you Square in the Face
This morning I headed off with my newest running amigo, Mary, to the 1st Annual L.E.G.A.C.Y. 1 mile, 5k, and 10k run. For being the 1st annual run it had a fairly decent turn out, and they handed out lots of prizes! I couldn't believe how many donations they must have received, plus all the proceeds went to preventing child abuse....how amazing!

So, I wasn't too concerned about pushing through a 3 miler, considering I've been running 4 miles with ease this past week. That so called "lack of concern" came to dead and vengeful halt when I started running down the pavement around 8:00 a.m..

The Shin Splint Fairy, you remember him?



Well he came back to stamp on my shins the entire 3.1 miles of the race. I was mad as hell, hot, and had the beautiful Corpus Christi sun staring into my eyes the entire race. You could have called me Bitter Betty until I turned the corner to complete the race and met a fabulous cheering section of already-complete 1 mile and 5k runners. I love a good cheering section! They can really make a race.

Post Run
So after my embarrassing 3.15 miles in 34 minutes, I decided to get my act together. I cannot allow myself to slip through the cracks of the holidays, no matter how much I love to get off the running wagon from time to time.

I must maintain a decent speed at 4 miles, in prep for the Sites and Sounds 5k in December. I must also not lose momentum for my 1/2 marathon in February.

The Plan
Just take it 1 holiday at a time. Thanksgiving I will follow my week 5 training as I have been doing for the past few weeks.





I WILL complete 16 miles during the week of Thanksgiving, and I WILL not overindulge on Thanksgiving treats, like pumpkin pie....oh pumpkin pie, how I've missed you!

Wanna Avoid the Turkey-binge?
Or just keep track of your running? I love the Daily Mile. It's a great way to track your mileage.




Daily Mile Turkey Trot Goal

Wish me luck....I know myself, and I'm going to need it to push out 16 miles the week of glorious food.

Aggies versus Islanders

Aggies versus Islanders

Will the real Texas A&M please stand up
I'm sorry, that was rude...I do love being an Islander. Yet after living in College Station for 2 years and being engulfed in Aggie-pride on a daily basis, I couldn't help but feel torn when I attended the 2010 Aggies v. Islanders basketball game.



Each team did well. The Islanders really gave it their best shot and I feel I cheered equally as possible for both teams! In the end...Aggs took the game 86-65.

1st I must commend the Islander fans. There was an entire cheering section, the band was in rare form, and the American Bank Center was packed! So being the great game that it was, I was a little shocked by the halftime show. The cheerleaders went out and did their thing, then they aloud the dance squad to go out and shake it for a few minutes, but then....something very strange happened.

#1 turn the volume down, people (ie. myself) get a little out of control with the cheering.

#2 I apologize for the brief moments of foul language or perversion.




If anyone knows why this event happened, please let me know.

Runner's Gear Update

Recently Reese's and another good friend Mills ran the San Antonio Rock and Roll 1/2 Marathon! I got to hear all about it when Reese's came back into town and I'm am SOOOO jealous. Consider me rockin' and rollin' in SA next November!

Anyhow, apparently the two 1/2 marathon divas made a very interesting purchase before the race...The Spy Belt.



Now this dude has and ultra shiny one, which I don't have great feelings about, but he models well, and he's a fellow blogger, so I wanted to use his pic! Click Spy Belt above and you can see all of his Spy Belt modeling...very runway.

By now you all know my personal feelings about fanny packs in general, but especially while running. So Reese's went on and on about how wonderful her Spy Belt was during the 1/2 marathon, how it didn't move an inch on her body, stored several items with it's stretch-to-max-capacity feature, and most importantly didn't have the typical fanny pack "bounce."



I mean look at this guy. You know once he gets going on his power-walk through Disney World, or wherever he's touring this summer, that fanny pack will start to bounce up, then fall and hit his hip with each and ever powerful stride!

Yes...I Sported the Fanny
Naturally after all this Spy Belt talking up, I decided to borrow Reese's and try it out for a test run....and yes, I was ashamed! I just kept telling myself I was testing a new product and no one knows me here anyway, other than my homeless friends. If they would have made fun of my fanny pack I would have been crushed!

Fanny History
I haven't worn a fanny pack since I was 6, quite adorable if I do say so myself, and it was a black bear fanny pack that I loved deeply.



No this isn't a picture of me, but it sings such a familiar tune of a happy child hood, all held together by a little black bear. Then one sad day, someone (probably my older sister) informed me I was a loser and should ditch the bear that I so lovingly wore around my waste. It was a sad day to say the least.

Fanny-ing as an Adult
So I was skeptical as to whether or not this Spy Belt fanny would actually hold the amount of junk Reese's had claimed. Here is what I took. Now my iPhone was also placed in the Spy Belt for my run, but I had to use something to take the picture, so it's not included below.



You see the Spy Belt? The little strap there? It held all of that crap and my iPhone without any trouble. Yes, I did have to tighten that thing up as much as it would allow, but it's....dare I say....worth the shame of wearing a fanny pack to have all your running necessities strapped to your body.

3.5 miles of slamming my feet against the pavement and the fanny pack never snapped off my body and I never experienced any such "bounce." Twas a good day for running.

On an Even Happier Note
I found the most delightful salsa at H-E-B. Hell on the Red, party dip-mild. Needless to say I just about party dipped my way into a stomach coma last night. You have to be careful when you're around me and my salsa...I get like a cornered raccoon....and just attack!



Uh! I LOVE SALSA.

Mission not-so Impossible

Your mission if you so choose to accept it is a difficult one, and will take a mind-bottling amount of training and self-control. People involved: myself and good running amigo Running Off the Reese's.

Mission: SMOKE my brother-in-law, Ben O'Kane, at the 2nd Annual Sites & Sounds 5K race, San Marcos, Texas, December 5th, 2010.

Possible Mission-Inhibitors: Mr. O'Kane AKA: The Culprit.



He may very-well be what Reese's and I like to refer to.... "Secret Running." Secret Running involves the secret training for a race while subsequently trash talking your opponents, so when the said secret runner does EXTREMELY well at a race, it is falsely viewed as natural running ability.

Don't worry. Reese's and I are on top of this mission and always prepare for mission complications by having an inside man.

Inside Man: Our inside man is Mrs. O'kane. Yes, somehow this secret running buffoon found a woman and conned her into being his wife. Her 1st name must remain anonymous so we will call her... Agent X, or more commonly known on the streets as the Angel of Death.



She informs us on the weight-loss and running, or lack thereof that The Culprit has been involved in. You can always count on your sister to tell you the low-down on her husband's possible secret running techniques.

Sadly, I still fear the worst. I believe The Culprit really is secret running but knows Agent X's loyalty remains to her blood-family.

We will have to see.

Your Mission!
I need speed-training techniques! I'm totally down for any speed-training tips out there! Email, post, whatev! I can't lose this race to Mr. O'Kane....I just CAN'T!

A Bay-side Run for a Beach-side Nurse

As you can see from the title, I've switched-up my running locale to a more entertaining and visually pleasing bay-side jog down the boardwalk.

I love to say boardwalk! It makes me feel like I'm a California-girl, or Katie Perry, and jogging down the fabulous Cali boardwalk...



...even though downtown Corpus is nothing to be ashamed of, but lets get real. The Corpus Christi boardwalk isn't full of California's so-called "beautiful people," it is actually crawling with homeless people.

(I feel for homeless people, considering rumor has it that a good majority of truly homeless, not looking for a job or a home-people have some sort of mental illness.)

But it can still be pretty creepy when you're jogging happily down the boardwalk and you suddenly catch a whiff of something. Is that rotten eggs I smell? No! A skunk! Oh my gosh there's a skunk trying to spray me! And it turns out 5 homeless men REALLY want to make friends with you.

Maybe I'll start bringing little travel soap bars with me and hand them out on my next run? It could be an every other day deal where I bring a little gift? Hmm....

Corpus Christi Boardwalk
So I'm really diggin' my boardwalk jogs so far. Since I see the boardwalk potential for runners I'm really going to sell it to any CC runners out there! When you're running 4 miles, things get really boring. I also think this is one of the reasons I was so desperate to change jogging locations, I ran out of new things to look at!

So here is what I came across since the switch from Ennis to Boardwalk.

As you're running down this beautiful bay-side scenery, you can check out the solar system....yup, the solar system. All 8 planets, but I still count Pluto, line the boardwalk, each accompanied with a bio about the planet...just in case you never got a chance to attend 3rd grade. Aw! They did it for the homeless people. Duh!



Why, might you ask? The answer my friends, is I have no flippin' idea! A waste of money if you ask me. They could have mile markers or bike lanes, or something!! But the planets? Someone made a donation to the city and thought that PLANETS would be a good way of spending that money.

So Pluto has always been my favorite, even though Chuck Norris round house kicked it down a size, throwing off all U.S. science classes!!



So naturally I had to stop and read about it. Oh! And did I forget to mention I was out of breath and exhausted from running in the sun...it's just not something I like.



...What can I say I'm trying to turn a new leaf.

So by the end of my run I gladly stopped in a little bay-side cabana.



To my demise, the water fountain was broken so I heaved my heavy body on down the road, met a bird...something about birds here...I just love 'em!



Then stopped at the next homeless man-less cabana and guzzled some good old fashioned H2O. Aww, I swear it was an amazing drink. I mean what do they put IN that stuff!! No wonder the homeless guys are all so chipper.

In the end...
I love Pluto.




And I love Chuck, because in all seriousness...



Good day to you all!

Where do you run in Greece?

Greece
So I was just looking at my so-called audience for this blog of mine and noticed there was a small audience in Greece. Now I'm not sure if this is Google playing a joke on me, but I'm gonna roll with it.

Where do people yog in Greece? Wait, why would you yog in Greece when you could be sipping wine and eating entire cheese trays while overlooking the Mediterranean Sea? Whoaaaa now. With those sort of thoughts I could get totally off on my running goals and start saving up to travel to Greece....one goal at a time!

Aww! There is an Athens running club. How wonderful! Next time I'm in the area I'll have to stop by for a long run.

I would donate my brain...wait ENTIRE BODY to science when I die if I could go here...

Mojo say what?

I Got my Mojo Back Yall!



My running mojo that is.
Since getting sick I haven't had the chance to hit the street like I should for about 7 or 8 days so I've been concerned I would totally regress back to a poor-health state.

I'm glad to say I hit 4 miles with ease today...



...and my Mueller will get a chance to switch from one knee to the next like it use to before the illness.



Aww never thought I would be happy to feel my legs hurt.

No More Boring Runs!
I'm so tired of running down my typical track of ugly-ville by my apartment, so as of today I'm doing a new running route closer to the ocean.

Today was a nice drive to the boardwalk so I could stare at kids rolling down a hill in metal tubes. It was hilarious...I'm sure at least one arm HAD to have been broken.

Mile 1. I noticed a massive boat, barge, I'm not sure what the official term for it, but I was so excited I took a rough pic. Now yes, it was a tad gloomy out today, but just perfect for a yog.



Mile 2.5. Now this little fella was my favorite. He was so determined to catch a fish he stood amazingly still. Yes he did get a little freaked that some heavy-breathing woman was stopping and taking pictures of him, but whatever he'll get over it. All I know is if I stood that still staring into the water for 5 straight minutes I would have a serious crick in my neck, and then I'd probably be too mad about it to eat my fish!



Mile 3. Ok the road home was my real favorite part of the yog.



The wind wasn't pushing against me and I got to stare at the boats. Tuesday I plan on going into the boat yard! Mua-hahaha. Maybe I will meet a handsome captain...hmmm



Mile 4. Ended with rain pouring down on me, which wasn't all that bad, other than the fact I couldn't see too well. Overall, a very successful run.

21st Century Phenomena
Adult wipes. I just can't quite wrap my mind around a marketing scheme for these up and coming adult wipes, that are repackaged baby wipes. I thought being an adult meant you could properly wipe your a** and not leave any goodness behind?

Well let's get real I made fun of my cousin for using baby wipes for years and now there might be a box of Cottonelle Fresh adult wipes in my bano.

It all started with a coupon for a free box...I think the ad campaign is called, get fresh with a friend? Hm that saying could be used in more ways that one.

They do leave you incredibly fresh though. So here's the link I went to and got my free box.

Cottonelle FREE Adult Butt Wipes....You know you want 'em.

Back In the Saddle

It's been 11 Days Since my Last Confession
Forgive me for I haven't blogged in almost a fortnight. Sadly I was cursed with the infamous....flu. So being a damsel in distress that I was....



I called my mother and pathetically told her if she wanted to come to Corpus she was more than welcome to. Of course this was via text considering I was a little tied up having flu-like symptoms.

Being the good mama she is....she packed her clothes, slammed her stuff in the suburban, and waved at my dad as she flew out the gate to nurse her sick child back to health. I can just see her blue mom-burban now, flying down 37 and takin' no prisoners when it came to puttin the pedal to the medal!

Is that the correct saying? The pedal to the medal? Or is it the medal to the pedal?

Surprisingly good ole Speed Racer Sue

AKA the Irish Bride:



didn't get a ticket on her way to save me....or so she says. Wait....she never DID say..hmm.

Back In the Saddle I Go



So I didn't exactly fall off a horse...I've never ridden one.

Horses scare me.

But I was down and unable to run for an entire week (3 days of Wurstfest and 4 days of flu). So I got back in the saddle, or I got back in the shoes today and hit the pavement.

Initially I was concerned, thinking my legs would have retreated back to their normal couch-potato-likeness and snap beneath my weight.....but we stood strong! I'm effing strong! (Muahahah).



I will officially be adding Muhammad to my list of aliases.

Only 2 miles....but it was 2 miles in 20 minutes after 6 pounds of fluid loss.

Yeah.....6! What was that? Did someone just call me skinny? Oh stop.

Question of the hour
In the time it's taken me to draft this post I have become shockingly aware of the thought process men have when it comes to a woman's.....weight.

Yeah, ya heard me....a female's scale-number, the 3-digit doomsday number, whatever you want to call it. Whether the female is a friend, girlfriend, fiance, or wife, it seems as though men have a sad misconception about how much we females should weigh. They think we are models. Seriously. Whew.

Ladies, never share your real weight with them....NO MATTER WHAT. They think we're all 105 pounds, or at least that seems to be the general consensus.

Whew...I'm going to be strong and say it. I weigh...

WHOA! I actually wrote out all of my credentials I guess you could call them. What was I thinking? So feel free to answer and those of you who know me...males especially I would really like to know your answer.

Riddle me this: How much do you think a 22 year old female, 5 ft 2 in tall, weighs?

(No judgment boys, promise)

No-Shave November Part 2

Just 1 of the Many Benefits of No-Shave November
I have come to know that it NEVER gets cold in Corpus Christi, Texas. New Braunfels rubbed that fact in my face when I was jogging there last weekend....it was below 70 degrees outside....Heaven. (Which is why No-shave November has come just in time to keep all those legs warm during the long jogs).

Today however, is a new day for Corpus! It is officially 63 degrees out with and 89% humidity.

Oh! AND it's raining...so I get to wear rain boots. Double-yay!!

AKA: A Fabulous day (with a capital F) for an outside jog. Today's jog is a 4-miler. I'll admit I'm really nervous about how it will go. You just never know...let me rephrase, I just never know if my body will want to jog on a day-to-day basis, so I just have to pray that it does. Add on the fact that there is heat and utterly-hellacious humidity here in Corpus and that can equal or horrendous run no matter how physically fit you are (which I am not...humidity+an unfit bod=two strikes for me!)

There's Hope
So there is a little hope in my heart for tonight's run. Part of the hope is that I think it will be nice and cool out, there will still be humidity, but at least it won't be humid AND 90 degrees outside.

My second bit of hope is this.



I know if my body hustled down the street for 5 solid miles last weekend, I've got to be able to do it again tonight right?

Let's hope.

No-Shave November. Yeahhhhh!

I Love Being a Lady
Yes there are the occasional down-sides of being a girl, like:

Down-sides
1. People expect you to be lady-like (including abstaining from burping and engaging in active flatulence)



2. People assume you always look good....MYTH. Don't get me wrong, I like being clean and dressing up to go out for a night on the town, but come on, who puts make-up on EVERYDAY?! It's just not my thing. To me, make up is somewhat like false advertising.

For example: You go out and meet people when you're all dressed up. After a solid 12 hours of sleep, my hair has taken on a Madusa-like personality...



...and my make up is totally gone and people from the night before want to grab lunch...I don't look ANYTHING like I did the night before. False advertising at it's best.

Up-sides
1. But the great thing about being a girl is you don't have thick, nasty hair on your face.



Well...this is usually the case.

2. Ladies never have to turn our heads and cough.

November, a month without sexism
November has a wonderful air that follows it. Not just the cool air of fall, but the air of equality! Yes, Thanksgiving is a huge day in November...but it's only 1 day. There's another phenomena that has come with the entire month of November, and that phenomena is:



An entire month where men commit to not shaving their beards.



I say ladies, that we rise up and participate! No-shave November could also be known for ladies as Nothing-But-Long-Pants-November...so no children are scared in the making of this new tradition for the legs of ladies.

Of course I am kidding.

Remember to Vote 2010 tomorrow!!