I don't really have anything to say... Photo Friday!

I have been extra super lazy this week. I am saying it's because I have an achy knee (seriously, medial knee pain? Anyone?). But really I'm just kind of... feeling lazy.

This weekend I have my first tri swimming lessons, and I'm super pumped. Even if I have to wear this nonsense.

Hm. Even Gab doesn't look convinced that this is a good idea.

Random pictures found on my phone this week....

I seriously dislike these stick people. But dancing stick people!? Even worse.

5pm. I know. I'd hate me too.

Okay, this is a little awkward, but WHY can I not ever find pants that just fit me properly? Is that too much to ask? WHY?

PSA: This stuff is vile. So terrible.

I was a little bit in love with this skirt, but couldn't justify it. But it's SO GREEN.

And finally...

I don't know.

Three Things Thursday

1. Race pictures that don't suck? Who knew it was even possible!?

2. I've had hair issues since Running Day 1 - I have a LOT of hair, it's thick, it's frizzy, it's LONG, it's dumb. On top of that, I'm a pretty irritable runner, and cannot STAND to have my hair touching me. I've tried braids, pony tails, a bun... nothing REALLY satisfied me... until I stole Mom vs Marathon's double buns! Magic. Thanks, MvM, for the inspiration!

3. I haven't run since Sunday. My knee is bugging. I think I'm perhaps too old for this nonsense.


.....and, because I like you, here's a bonus.

4. A hug is like a strangle you haven't finished yet.

How to have the best Birthday Weekend ever

(So, first, I'm just calling it out. I'm quitting Suck Less. Not forever, but for this week, at least. I need a break, I'm tired of the program right now, and just bleh. I'm going to try to incorporate some other cross-training things, but for now, I don't even want to discuss a push up or tricep dip.)

Anyway.

Recipe for the Best Birthday Weekend Ever

1. Show a 10K who's boss.

2. Have a husband who not only accepts your love of The Mouse...

...but also makes TWSS jokes.

3. Have the best internet friend ever, who didn't believe The H when he said "She likes bright things to run in", but bought these for you anyway....

4. After finishing the day with pizza, beer, and pool, and the cutest, most disgruntled baby ever....

....sleep from 10pm until 8am. Because that's not your baby.

5. Follow up French Toast and bacon in the morning with a stop at the farmers market, where a miracle happens. You find the Baconmania truck.

No words.

6. Go shoe shopping, "for The H"...

7. Let #3 try on anything that looks fun at Target...

8. Use the Sports Authority gift cards that you got for Mother's Day to buy a swimsuit appropriate for a tri...

...and also appropriate if you ever get lost at sea and need to be found.

9. Finally, FINALLY, bake the perfect cupcake. Vanilla, with mocha frosting, and toasted coconut.

The end.

Plan for the Week, and Cypress 10K Recap

I didn't do a lot last week, training wise. I over scheduled myself, and just had too much going on. It was like chaos. I love chaos. But probably not at the expense of training.

Note to self - schedule better.

What was planned vs. what happened:
Monday - Suck Less. Nope. Didn't. (Dinner with a friend)
Tuesday - 4x800's, total 4 miles. 4x800's DONE, ended just shy of 3.5 miles. (pool with friend)
Wednesday - Suck Less. Still didn't. (Dinner for work)
Thursday - 4 miles, tempo. Didn't. (TNT Winter Kick Off)
Friday - Suck Less. Didn't. (puking, see taco's below)
Saturday - 10K. Done, and dominated.
Sunday - 5 miles on the bike in 15 min, folled by slow half mile on the treadmill. Killing time before playing in the pool.

Good news is, this week is NOT jam packed with must-do's, so hopefully, I'm back on track.
Monday - Suck Less
Tuesday - 3 miles easy
Wednesday - Suck Less
Thursday - 4 miles tempo
Friday - Suck Less
Saturday - 8 miles, slow
Sunday - my FIRST tri swimming lesssons, followed by 1-2 miles easy

yep. Tri Swimming. That's happening.

*************************

Birthday 10K

As I posted Friday, my goals for the 10K were...
Goal 1: 1:05. Lofty, but possible?
Goal 2: 1:10. Seems doable.
Goal 3: Don't die.

Obviously I didn't die (and I appreciate those of you who said it wouldn't happen).

I killed Goal 2. Killed. And came wicked close to Goal 1.

I ran by packet pick up Friday afternoon on my way home from work, and met fellow Twit @julie16750. Pick up was super easy and fast - in and out in 5 minutes. I love smaller races.

Because I'm a crack-head, I had tacos for dinner Friday night. Who does that? Crazy people. I felt like puking all night, and all morning, and it was gross.

Lesson learned: Tacos make poor pre-race meals.

Up freaking early, and out the door by 6:15, and parked by 6:40 (ahem, OUaL). There were real bathrooms, apparently somewhere else, but at the starting line, there was a line of 10 port-o's. Which ran out of paper by 7:15. Really? Really.

I was worried about the weather... it was cool and overcast when I got there, which was perfect, but it looked like the sun was starting to peek out...

and I wilt in the sun. Luckily, it stayed put behind the clouds until I hit mile 5. That, I can live with.

Hanging out at the start line before the race, I saw Operation Jack warming up, and met the lovely ChaCha. Stretched a bit... this muscle?

Whatever the hell it is, it was TIGHT. Annoying.

That's my last race picture, I was busy... racing.

Race started a few minutes late... and started 10K, 5K, and walkers all at the same time.

I don't know if you recall, but back in November I ran the Dana Point Turkey Trot and almost had to stab a kid and his dumb mother.... So, needless to say, I ran very, very carefully during the first mile until things thinned out a bit.

Oh, and also, I thought the tacos were going to make a reappearance, so that also made me consider stopping by mile 1. Effing tacos.

The course ran through some cute Cypress neighborhoods, with families hanging out outside and cheering on the runners. Some guy somewhere around mile 2 had his sprinklers on for the runners, which pissed me off when I saw it, but made me giddy when I experienced it. My ONLY real complaint about the course, was it was an almost two mile stretch on a straight road to the finish line - so you could see the finish line for-freaking-ever.

I had some asthma situation early on in mile 5, but got it under control, and finished in.....

1:06:05.

The course (for me, and ChaCha) measured almost .1 long. So, I'm calling that Goal 1 MET!

Afterwards, grabbed my popsicle, waited for the 10K results to be posted, and met (the VERY tall) Canadian Runner, who apparently... got stopped on the course to let cars pass? I would have stabbed someone. You can read her recap HERE.

Anyway, it turned out to be a great race. It took me until mile 2 or so to really warm up and feel okay, so considering, I'm ecstatic with the time. Of note for me, was I hit the 5K mark at just over 31 minutes.... which led to me stalking fall 5K's with a sub-30 goal in mind.

Refueled with a quick stop at the gas station...

The BEST way to start your birthday. Seriously - find a race on your birthday, and do it.

I am what time, circumstance, history, have made of me, certainly, but I am also, much more than that. So are we all.

I mentioned before that Gabby was selected to be the Honored Teammate for Team In Training OC/IE chapter's marathon team.

We went to the Winter Kick Off Party last night... And it was amazing. Total strangers, recognized Gab when we walked in, and were all motivated to go run a marathon in honor of her. Unreal...

This weekend, if you missed my previous billion mentions, is Birthday 10K weekend... But, if you're running the City of Cypress 5 or 10K, come find me and say hi. I'll be in a BRIGHT ASS PINK shirt, and black running skirt.

Goal 1: 1:05. Lofty, but possible?
Goal 2: 1:10. Seems doable.
Goal 3: Don't die. That always seems like a reasonable goal.

TTT - whiny edition

1. Back in January, when Gab first got diagnosed with leukemia and we started discussing treatments, the oncologist declared it a 2 1/2 year treatment plan. What they didn't mention, and I didn't think about, was the times where Gab's counts drop too low to recieve treatment. Every.single.time that happens, it puts everything on hold. So while I THOUGHT we would be in maintenance by the end of summer, turns out? Not so much. It's so incredibly frustrating. I'm really glad I ended up not booking a camp-site or something for August like I intended to. Making plans with Becka and A this for Disneyland Half... Disneyland? Out. Beach? Out.

And every time I complain about it, I feel like a dumbass, because she's REALLY had such minimal side-effects, there are so many ways this could have all been so awful for her... and I'm just bitching because I can't go frolick in the woods or something stupid. It's petty, in the grander scheme, and I try to remember that, but... it's hard, sometimes.

2. I *really* miss my kids. And I still have, like, 3 more weeks! What was I thinking?!

3. Those purple shoes hated me. What ought one do with a foot covered in blisters 2 days before a 10K?

Warning. This is gross.

Random Wednesday Ramblings

• Last night, I scheduled myself for 4x800's at 4:34-4:47. Dude. 800's are TOUGH. They are, like, twice as hard as 400's, no joke. But, I did it. Actual: 4:43, 4:27, 4:31, 4:31.



• Tomorrow, I made plans for my cousin to come for dinner. I was stumped in figuring out logistics, because I was ALSO scheduled for 4 miles at 10K pace (hello, birthday 10K in 3 days!). And, also, I committed to meeting the Winter Group for Team in Training OC/IE Thursday night. All of the things, apparently, happen on Thursday. TNT won out, dinner and run rescheduled.



• But speaking of Birthday 10K, the weather looks shady. And by shady, I mean sunny. And by sunny, I mean blazing hot. Dislike. Race gods, why are you toying with me?



• Be quiet, I know it was my own fault for registering for a July race.



• I have a big thing tomorrow, and I'm really nervous.



• I'm wearing these shoes today, but they are giving me a blister.
  
  
  
  
  I've done a lot of unecessary walking today (not by choice, or by plan). Stupid choices. But they're so cute.




• I got one of these the other day - oh happy day!
  
  
  
  
  It's REALLY summer when the treat recipets come out to play!




• Then, when I went back for my $2 drink, I was FAMISHED, and grabbed this as well.
  
  
  
  
  It was good. But $5 good? Not so much.




• I think the people in my office are just messing with me. Who does this?!
  
  
  
  
  And then later, there's this!
  
  
  
  
  
  The world. It's conspiring against me.
  
  

Tuesday Tidbits....

I didn't Suck Less last night (TWSS). Instead, I went to dinner with my Internet BFF, and over mojitos and guac, we talked about all the ways we have been wronged over the last few weeks. Girl talk > Pusk Ups, any day.

Molly, the Sleeper Baker, tagged me with....


...wherein I provide random facts about me.

Ready? Go.

1. Favorite cartoon character? It's all about The Mouse...

2. My favorite thing to photograph? Lucky for you all, I'm not Rose, so no SWASS-shots here. I'll go with the obvious, my kids...


But a very close second would be flowers...

3. My favorite thing to cook... this is a tough one. I really, really love to cook. Really. And bake. I don't know that there's anything I DON'T like to cook...

And, apparently, I have an affinity for Mickey shaped foods... See also, question 1.

4. My favorite way to exercise... Honestly, I really think that if I could eat what I want to, and NOT gain weight without exercise, I might just be the laziest person alive. But, since that's not the case, running has kind of grown on me. Cycling might be coming up a quick second. Followed by hiking. And way, WAY in the back of the "Things I Like" line, would be Suck Less. Sit ups, Push ups, Tricep dips, and plank are NOT a few of my favorite things.

5. My favorite movie... Eek. That's tough. I can watch this movie over and over (and over - and in fact did watch it this past weekend)

Seriously. If you haven't watched the Firefly series, you're missing out.

6. My favorite article of clothing is... well, right now it's the Skinny Jeans.

But outside of still being high on Skinny Jeans, I don't really have a favorite. Maybe these gold Michael Kors platform sandals?

7. My favorite flowers... POPPIES! They always look so happy.

8. My favorite breakfast is... coffee. Seriously, I'm not a breakfast person normally. I make myself force down something - usually toast or bagel thin with peanut butter and honey, but breakfast isn't really my thing. Unless it's happening at, like, 10:30 with a mimosa attached.

....and that's a wrap!

For this, I'm tagging the first 5 commenters on my last post...
http://laurenontherun.blogspot.com/
http://nycelife.blogspot.com/
http://drizzleofsunshine.blogspot.com/
http://www.journeythrulifeblog.com/
http://littlefruitfly.blogspot.com/

Plan for the Week

So, on Saturday, I met up with three of my favorite bloggers - OUaL, The Faster Bunny, and Fat Girl/Skinny Body - at the Irvine Farmers Market. You'd think, you know, as a blogger, I'd... I don't know... take a freaking picture or something. Blogger fail.

Last week, I hit everything I had planned...

Monday - Suck Less, 167 push ups, 255 sit ups, 110 tricep dips

Tuesday - sucktastic morning "tempo" run. Goal was 4 miles at 10:40. Actual was 4 miles at 11:43. Fail.

Wednesday - Suck Less, 185 push ups, 289 sit ups, 130 dips, 3:30 plank

Thursday - Scheduled for 4 miles at 10k Pace. Goal: 10:28. Actual: 10:18. Splits: 10:48, 10:26, 10:23, 9:37. Stellar.

Friday - Suck Less, 200 push ups, 317 sit ups, 155 tricep dips. No plank

Sunday - Long slow run. Run Less, Run Faster pace 12:28. Actual - 12:18.

I don't know what happened after my 7 miles Sunday, but I felt "off" the entire rest of the day. Tired, blah, slightly pukey, and - this is really what concerned me - not famished. Hm.

Anyway.... on tap for this week...
Monday - Suck Less
Tuesday - 4x800, with 200 RI, 4 miles total (yikes... this one makes me nervous)
Wednesday - Suck Less
Thursday - 4 miles 10K pace <- this one is gonna be tricky. I have invited people over for dinner.... Why do I do that to myself?!
Friday - Suck Less
Saturday - 10K! Because what else do you do for your birthday? Race. Duh.

Anyone else in OC running City of Cypress 10K/5K this weekend? I know that Canadian is... and possibly Ms. Chacha? (and, PS, check out the "Come Run With Me!" tab up top to see my full race lineup!)

Have a great Monday!

I don't care. You won't make it.

You guys. The race pace 4 miles I was totally freaked out about yesterday?

I totally killed it.

And I didn't die.

And I didn't feel like I was close to death, either.

Goal pace: 10:28.

Actual pace: 10:18.

Splits: 10:48, 10:26, 10:23, 9:37 <------ 9:37, wtf is that?!

That is all. Go have a beer. I'm declaring this week over, because it sure couldn't get better from there.

*********
OC blogger meetup at the Irvine Farmers Market Saturday morning - email me if you'd like to meet up, we'd love to meet you!
*********

Friday Funny.... OMC, indeed.


....Gabby's ANC number came back REALLY super low this week (meaning, her immune system is REALLY depressed right now), so we were pretty much homebound this weekend anyway. No Carmageddon here.

Have a great Friday!

Three Things Thursday

Suck Less last night - 185 push ups, 289 sit ups, 130 dips, 3:30 plank

FIRST.... I'm meeting some other OC bloggers at the Irvine Farmers Market Saturday morning - email me if you'd like to meet up, we'd love to meet you!

*****************
1. I just realized I have a 10K in 9 days. Tonight I'm scheduled to do 4 miles at race pace. Eek. I wasn't really ready for that.

2. I meant to wake up early today and cycle for a bit. I fell asleep last night with a heating pad on my (still achy) back. I'm old. I didn't cycle.

3. Grab a glass, and toast... today, I'm wearing the Skinny Jeans. You know those jeans you keep, forever, even though they just do NOT fit any more, but you're convinced some day, they just might?

Today is the day. Jeans that fit me 20lbs and 1 kid ago.... Fit perfectly now....

Except around my quads. They're a little snug there...

There are worse problems to have.

Wordless Wednesday.... Trip Recap Edition

In case you missed it, and were interested, the rest of the Trip Rcap can be found...
Accommodations
The Adventures
The Kids
The Place

aka, Part Cinco: Things I Did Instead of Running...

Trip Recap - The Accommodations....

So, like I said in Part 1, I grew up in a tiny town, Safety Harbor. It's small, but it's home to the World Famous Safety Harbor Resort and Spa (as it was called the several times it was a prize destination on Wheel of Fortune - true story). I snagged it at an unbelievable price on Priceline, and it's walking distance to my parent's house - win.

It was super nice, especially for the price I paid. Weird things, thought, like chipped paint all over my room door, faucets with hot/cold water reversed... odd. Whatever. $60/night, it was awesome.

(from their website - the rest are mine)

View from my room... I had a bay view... hard to see, but there's water there, really.