Tuesday, July 31, 2012

The Circle of Laziness

So I've been a little, uh, lazy . . . both with this blog and exercise. I have an excuse for the exercise part . . . mainly I still have this damn headache. I need to invest in some new medicine. But I'm far too lazy to drive to the store, talk to some dumbass pharmacist to find something close to Excedrin and then experiment with it to see if it actually works. It's like the circle of life or something. And it all revolves around my laziness. *sigh* As for my blogging, well I have no real excuse aside from the fact that since I haven't been exercising like I should, I have little to talk to you about. But from now until school starts, I'm going to have quite a bit of time on my hands and probably a lot of things to avoid, so exercise is always a good way to do that. I did buy a new pair of running shorts and a tank top (on sale at Dick's). Very brightly colored. Figured that might motivate me to get back out there. It hasn't yet, but I've been busy.

As far as food goes, well we might as well go back to me being lazy and my headache. First, I can't afford much as far as groceries go. Second, what I do have I'm too lazy/don't have the energy to cook. Third, I have zero patience for the morons at the grocery store. And, well, grocery shopping takes time. Time that could be better spent trying to sleep off this headache (which obviously isn't working, but that's not gonna stop me from trying). You might consider that laziness. I consider that to be productive. I'm trying to accomplish something. And if at first you don't succeed, try, try, try, try, again. Ignore your failures! I'm aware that I have some problems okay? Don't point them out.

I've been eating pbjs (I don't mind . . . I actually like those)  and what's left of my apples, broccoli, and cheese sticks. I'm sure those will run out before the week is up. I do have pasta (no spaghetti squash though) and sauce, so I guess when I get desperate I could actually cook something. Where's the fun in that? If it weren't for having to boil the noodles, pasta would be so much easier. I just don't like standing there waiting for them to boil (yeah, yeah "a watched pot never boils" but the second I walk away that pot is gonna boil over and my noodles will be inedible, so I watch).

I have decided I won't be going to the Apple store this weekend to get my mac "tax-free." I did the math (which may or may not be entirely accurate) and it will only save me around $150 at most. And the Apple store will be beyond crowded that weekend, I'm sure, and I can't deal with crowds. Or spending my entire day there waiting amongst morons. So I'm going to wait a few weeks. I'd rather spend the extra hundred or so than waste an entire day dealing with all those people. Plus, the longer I wait to get it (which is hard because I'm really impatient and want it now), the less I'll have to pay because when I get my loan refund, I'm using part of it to pay for the computer (assuming financial aid doesn't screw up . . . which isn't likely).

Later this week/weekend, I'll get back out there and run (unless this headache never goes away, in which case I'll spend the weekend in bed). Call me lazy. I've accepted it. I suppose I could be called worse. And really, I'm not that lazy. It's not like I'm sitting around doing nothing and eating whatever I want (which I can't afford anyway) and saying I should work out and never do. I want to go run. Whoever cursed me with this headache does not want me to run, for whatever stupid reason. At least being poor will help keep me from getting fat? Except there's the whole "junk food is cheaper than healthy food" thing, so that's a bit of a problem. Circles, circles, circles. It's all just a vicious cycle. Maybe some day I'll break it, if I'm ever not poor. Ha.

Sunday, July 29, 2012

Changes

Sorry for not posting anything yesterday. It was quite a busy day. I went for a run at Creve Coeur park pretty early in the morning. It was okay. Not great. I stopped a few times because the toes on my left foot kept going numb. I pushed myself at the end of my run to keep going and by the time I was done it felt like most of my left foot was numb. I had these problems when I got my last pair, so I'm not too concerned about it. It should stop once they're more broken in. The inside of my left ankle was also bothering me. Most of yesterday and today I've had a headache and my legs have been extremely sore.

Yesterday was pretty nice overall, aside from my run. I got to see a lot of family I don't get to see too often. It was a fun party. I've been extremely tired though, so by the time I left I was exhausted and still had my headache and my legs were hurting worse. It felt like I had been drinking all day, even though I only had a couple beers. It took quite a bit of Motrin to get my legs to stop hurting enough to fall asleep. I slept pretty good though once I did. And woke up this morning to rain! It makes me so happy to wake up to rain.

I really wanted to go for a run since it was just rain and no storms but my head hurt so bad. I haven't been able to get rid of it. Once I got home this afternoon I took a shower (which was a major struggle) and then went straight to bed and slept for 3-ish hours. It was a wonderful nap. It didn't get rid of my headache though, so that was disappointing. I thought maybe having some dinner might help. Nope. Headaches are so irritating. Excedrin works wonders for most of my headaches. Unfortunately I used the last of mine last week and apparently it will not be back on the market until October. I'm gonna need to find something to get me through until then. Motrin is not cutting it.

A lot of things have been changing lately. Some of them have been hard to accept and deal with. Others are exciting. It's forced me to really take a look at the people in my life, who matters, who doesn't. People are leaving and that's part of life. It's hard to accept sometimes. It's hard when you stop being best friends with someone you've been best friends with for years. We grow up, we grow apart. It's been difficult to accept all these changes. But I know better things are coming and I'm excited about what they might be.

Friday, July 27, 2012

Finally Friday!

It's lunchtime! I had my leftover pasta from the other night. Not as good reheated . . . it was a little dry and I didn't have cheese with me to put on it. So perhaps it would have been better if I added a tad more sauce and had some cheese.

That storm last night was pretty intense. I quit watching tv for a few reasons. 1. If the storm is still going, the channel you're watching keeps changing to some stupid shopping channel for the Emergency Alert System. The noise is irritating and so is the voice of whoever is reading these "alerts." 2. I was watching a show I DVR'd earlier in the week. It freaking interrupted a recording to "alert" me that there's a freaking storm outside. So I decided to make some dinner and watch French movies on netflix instead. It stormed from the time I got home from work until well after I had fallen asleep (I sleep great during storms).

I woke up once really early in the morning (it was still dark . . . didn't check my phone for the actual time though because I'm lazy) and it was pretty hot in my room, but I get hot when I sleep, so I figured that's all it was and fell back asleep. When I woke up this morning and tried to turn the lamp next to bed on, it wouldn't turn on. I checked my phone which apparently had stopped charging hours ago. Yeah, no electricity. No wonder it was so horribly hot. Luckily my phone has a flash light app. So I attempted to use that to put my contacts in, brush my teeth, wash my face, put some makeup on, get dressed, etc. Got all that done with the limited capabilities of my phone flash light. I go sit on the couch waiting for it  to be 7:30ish so I can go get breakfast before work, and the power comes back on. Of course it does. After I'm dressed and ready for work, I have power. Jerks.

I'm glad it's back on though. Packing for a weekend in St. Louis with no power would have been awful and would have taken me forever. I'd be lucky if I packed matching outfits for the weekend (my closet is big and dark . . . flash light doesn't cover much). Also, my alarm wasn't set to get up early for my run this morning, so I didn't go. Might have still been storming at that point, who knows? I'm glad it didn't go off though. I would have found out sooner that the power was out and that would have made me mad. And my room is still super dark at 5am, so I really wouldn't have been able to see anything to get dressed. No thanks.

I do plan on running early tomorrow morning, hopefully beating most of the heat, assuming my lungs don't feel like they're collapsing. After which I'll go to my parents house to do my laundry and things and then I get to go see my family and celebrate birthdays and such! Can't wait :)

Thursday, July 26, 2012

Realizations

I skipped yesterday. Oops. But I figured since I posted twice Tuesday, it would be okay. You all survived, right? Besides I was busy going to lunch and dinner with my boyfriend and then going to the see The Dark Knight Rises. And it was incredible. If you haven't seen it yet, Go. Definitely one you should see in theaters. I just loved it. Might be my new favorite Batman movie.

Obviously, I did not work out yesterday. I had considered going for a run/walk after work but oh dear god it was so awful hot. My alarm went off at 5am this morning and I did not get out of bed. I needed sleep. I thought about going this afternoon but my asthma has been kicking my butt (or lungs?) all day. Hard to run when you can't breathe. Also it's storming, and from what I've heard, severe damaging winds and possible hail. Not gonna run in that. I will enjoy the storm from inside my apartment.


 I'm coming to some sad realizations this week. First of all, I'm poor. I can't afford registration fees for the 5 and 10k's coming up that I want to do. So how the hell am I going to afford almost 150 for the half marathon? I don't know. And don't tell me to save my money. That's hard to do when you have very little money left after paying your bills and you need gas in your car and food in your fridge. So I'm not ruling it out completely that I could possibly afford to pay for it, but as of now, it doesn't look likely.

In addition to that, my training for the half marathon just sucks. I can't run as often as I should because, as I said, it's pretty damn hard to run when you can't breathe. I woke up in the middle of the night a day or two ago and couldn't breathe to the point I needed my inhaler. Clearly I don't have Exercise Induced Asthma. I should probably go back to the doctor, but that takes time that I don't have right now. It's hard to train for a half marathon when you can barely get through a couple miles with or without an inhaler.

As for dinner, I was really in the mood for a grilled cheese. Then I remembered my cheese was moldy and I threw it away Sunday. Sooo I'm probably going to have ravioli or something instead. Also, assuming this storm continues, they keep doing those emergency warning things. And for whatever reason, it changes the channel every time it does it. It changes it back eventually, but doesn't allow you to exit out of it or change back to the channel you were watching. It's irritating.

But it's almost Friday! Yay! :)

Tuesday, July 24, 2012

Spaghetti Squash


The end result. The best dinner I've had in a very long time.


I mad my spaghetti squash "pasta" and it's probably the best thing I've ever made (and possibly ever will make, because I don't like to cook). It took some work and close to an hour or a little more to cook, but that's mainly because I didn't know what I was doing.

After a phone call to mom (and then she called a friend), I learned the easiest way to cook spaghetti squash is in the microwave (unlike most websites that will tell you it has to be baked in the oven then boiled, etc). So, I cut it in half long-ways, then put it cut-side down on a plate (I didn't have a big enough dish/plate for both halves so I cooked them separately). For each half, I cooked it in 3-minute intervals. After about 9 minutes it was tender. Took them out and let them cool (they were really, really hot).

While those were cooking, I cooked the pancetta, cut up my veggies, etc. I have not mastered cooking pancetta yet. I seem to overcook it every time so that it's really crunchy (how I like my bacon). It was still good though. Once I let the squash cool for a bit, I started shredding it (it was still pretty hot though, so I held it with a dish towel). First you have to get the seeds out, which is kind of a pain, and you're never really sure you got it all. And I was worried b/c I was pulling out the "spaghetti" with the seeds. No worries though, there was more than enough.

The squash "noodles." Looks just like pasta.
When I was finished shredding the sqaush I put it in a bowl and then added my sauce and veggies and mixed it all up. The end result was delicious. And I'm pretty damn proud of myself for it. Almost the entire dish if vegetables. I figured I could splurge a little and get some good alfredo sauce (bought the sauce from "the Hill" and it was totally worth it--best store-bought alfredo sauce I've ever had).
Pancetta, fresh tomatoes, peas, and asparagus in alfredo sauce.


The "gutted" squash halves. There was still some "spaghetti" in there, but I just couldn't get it all, and i had more than enough. 

Waiting for Tonight . . . (no, not the JLo song)

Yay lunchtime post! I haven't done one of these in a while. Mostly because I'm generally a slow eater so by the time I finish my food, it's time to get back to work. But I've got some time today . . . because my lunch was an apple and a pbj. Go me! At least I can say it's healthy haha.

And in case you're wondering, I still felt like crap this morning. Headache, stomach ache, less than 4 hours of sleep, what have you. I somehow managed to get myself out of bed and go run. When my alarm at 5 went off, I was quite tempted to just turn it off and go back to sleep for another hour and a half or so. Instead, I just hit snooze, slept for 10 more minutes and then got up. This run was rough. New shoes need much more breaking in. And it was already hot. And I didn't feel my best. So I cut my run a little shorter than usual. But I ran almost the entire way. And I owned those hills. Running a little is better than not at all right?

I read this article earlier while I was eating (5 Ways to Trick Your Body into Being More Awesome) and I just love articles like this. They're witty and you learn stuff. There are some pretty good tips in there for college/grad students. Like how to pull an all-nighter (in case you're a naive soon-to-be freshman who thinks you won't have to stay up all night, you're in for a rude awakening. Awakening, ha). One thing I found quite interesting was the part about not stretching before workouts. I'm not going to explain all the science here because if you're too lazy to go read that article than you're probably too lazy to read this entire post anyway. Anyway, I think I'm going to give it a try and see how I feel. The only problem with not stretching is that I need to come up with a better warm up before my runs. Walking doesn't seem to do the trick. The article sort of suggest things like squats and lunges, so I think I'll give those a shot. And maybe just Google it. Goole has all the answers.

As I mentioned in my last post, I'm making some yummy pasta tonight for dinner. If it turns out good, or at least just looks pretty, I will take a picture of it for all to see my culinary skills (which as many of you may know, are quite limited). It will be hard to not want to start cooking as soon as I get home from work. I am not my grandparents, I will not eat before 5:30 pm. A light snack, however, is always acceptable. I'm also going to attempt to make spaghetti squash, and if that turns out okay, noodles! If not, I have back up noodles from the store :) It's nice to be prepared (mostly thanks to my momma).

Sidenote: I'm not going to edit this before posting--my brain hurts. So if you happen to come across any errors or typos, KEEP THEM TO YOURSELF. I DON'T CARE TODAY.

You all are just lovely people. Thanks for reading!

Monday, July 23, 2012

Mondays are a Headache

As you all probably know, Mondays suck. I've had a headache since yesterday afternoon. I've tried two different types of medicine, naps, and caffeine. Nothing has helped. So I will not be working out today because my head throbs every time I move. The thought of running or any other kind of movement sounds way too painful. Also I spilled milk all over the kitchen floor this morning. That's how my day started. Oh boy. 

So tonight I'm gonna be good and eat my veggies, relax and watch some tv, or read, or whatever hurts my head the least. And tomorrow morning my alarm will go off at 5am and headache or no headache, I'll drag myself out of bed and put on my new shoes and at least go for a walk, because new shoes are a pretty good motivation. Except for today. Because it's Monday. I have a headache. Oh and it's stupid hot outside again. 

I'm pretty excited for tomorrow though. I'm gonna make some yummy pasta for dinner. Alfredo, noodles, peas, asparagus, and pancetta. Sounds delicious! If I didn't have such a bad headache, I'd probably be making it now. Also, boyfriend is coming for a visit tomorrow night, so I suppose I'll save him some pasta to eat when he gets here :) 

I really, really want it to be the weekend though. My Aunt Rose is in town, and my cousin Tommy is on leave and we're celebrating his 21st birthday (and his sister's 16th) on Saturday and I can't wait to see everyone! 

So, here's to hoping the rest of the week goes by fast (and has fewer milk spills)! 

Sunday, July 22, 2012

First Run in New Shoes

Today's run was not what I had hoped it would be. I had walked at least half a mile to warm up and then started running. About a half mile into my run I realized I forgot to take my inhaler. I was too far to go back to get it (that would have taken way too much time) so I walked a lot more than usual. I did run occasionally though, but not for long periods of time unfortunately. It was probably a good thing though since the guy from Feet Fleet told me not to do a lot of running with those inserts in my shoes until they were a little broken in. He told me to walk in them a few times first, so my inability to breathe forced me to do what I was told to do in the first place.

The shoes felt pretty good. They took a lot of impact off my shins and knees, but they were uncomfortable. That's about how it felt when I got my last pair of shoes though, so I know once I break them in they're going to feel even better. It's also probably not a terrible thing I didn't run the whole time today since it was in the middle of the day and around 100 degrees.

I also did not eat extremely healthy today either (and by that, I mean not at all). I had Cheez-its, an ice cream York Peppermint Patty, and McDs for lunch. I did get some veggies though and I plan on making a delicious pasta this week sometime. And my mom gave me some cucumber and onions in vinegar. Can't wait to eat those. For dinner I wasn't extremely hungry, but I know if I don't eat something I'll be way hungrier in the morning, so I had a bowl of Cinnamon Toast Crunch. And it was delicious.

Tomorrow I'm either going to run or just do a work out at home after work. I'm leaning more towards the workout because I can't decide where I want to run. This weekend went by way too fast. However, I'm ending it on a good note: Batman Begins is on tv :) I hope you all enjoyed your weekend!

Saturday, July 21, 2012

New shoes!

I didn't go run today. I had a nice big breakfast at Ihop with my boyfriend and I can't run after such a big meal. It was hot and I would have thrown up. Yuck. But! I did go get new running shoes today! Same as my older pair of Brooks but the newer style. I also got arch support inserts. They feel so much better!

I am, however, glad I didn't go run. Trying on/running in a lot of different pairs of shoes is tiring and made my legs pretty sore. But I think the new shoes with the supports will feel much better. I can't wait for my next run! Which will probably hopefully be tomorrow sometime.

I hope you all are having a great weekend! More tomorrow!

Friday, July 20, 2012

Frustrations

First and foremost, many thoughts and prayers to the victims and their families in the shooting in Colorado. What a terrible, awful thing. If you haven't seen the news, you can read the story here. I checked a couple different news sites and the stories vary as far as how many were severely injured, the time the shooting started, etc. The important thing is that they have the suspect in custody. When I first heard there was a shooting in Colorado, naturally I expected it to be a school shooting. I was surprised to find out it was in a movie theater during The Dark Knight Rises. Sadly, the people watching movies in other theaters heard the noise and some thought it was fireworks while others thought it was just an action part of the movie.

I did a little research on Colorado's gun laws. They do have a conceal and carry for persons of 21 years of age or older, although it doesn't specify when/where you can carry a concealed weapon. In Missouri, you must be at least 23 years old for a conceal and carry permit. Also in Missouri, there are very few places that prohibit concealed weapons (most of which are logical places such as government buildings, airports, schools, colleges, churches, etc.) source: Handgun Laws. I've had a difficult time finding any useful information on Colorado's gun laws. From a few different articles I have read, however, it appears that their laws are not as strict as Missouri as far as who can purchase/carry a gun, and incidents like this are highly unlikely to change the citizens' views on gun laws(The Washington Post).

I've given up on Colorado gun laws. The official state site is about as useless as Wikipedia, if not more so. One major difference I did see was that in Missouri, you are not eligible to carry a firearm if you are a convicted felon, mentally ill, dishonorably discharged from the military, or if the sheriff reasonably believes the person is a danger to him/herself or others. From what I could find, Colorado has the one that prohibits convicted felons from carrying firearms. So, the 24 year old man who shot the people in the theater may not have been diagnosed mentally ill, but could very well have been considered a danger and he would have been given his permits or whatever anyway (yes I'm very aware that some of these people are able to act like normal, not totally crazy people). I just wonder if they had more restrictions, maybe that would at least help prevent things like this from happening.

Okay I'm done talking about all that now. On to the activities of the day:

This morning's run was not as good as yesterday's. I woke up with a headache, but I decided to tough it out anyway. I started off okay, but after a while, my neck and shoulders and upper back started hurting and were really tense. Toward the end of my run I had to stop and tried to stretch my arms out but it didn't help. Maybe some Ibuprofen before my run would have helped? I don't know.

I'm going to try again tomorrow at Creve Coeur and see how it goes. And I'm definitely going to go look at shoes and some hands-free water options. This is going to make me sound super weak and lame, but whatever . . . Carrying a bottle of water while running gets heavy after a while (which could partially explain why my arms were hurting) and it's just uncomfortable to carry in general. So I'm on the market for something different. I've been considering regular hydration belts that have a couple small water bottles and I've also considered a Camelbak. My biggest concerns is that they'll move around/shift/bounce. And that will drive me absolutely insane if I have to keep readjusting things. Seriously, today, for whatever reason, my hair kept falling out of my headband and it was really pissing me off (which didn't help the already sort of bad run I was having). I know, I'm weird.

Thursday, July 19, 2012

Feelin' Good

This morning's run was great! As I've said before, the right music makes all the difference. Two Greek Fire songs came on and their music is really good to run to (if you don't have their CD, you should; if you haven't seen them live, you definitely should). It definitely keeps me going, and they both came on at perfect times today during my run as I was getting tired near the end and really, really wanted to stop. I did stop once during my run. Anyone familiar with the Cape area probably knows the hill on Lexington going up to Perryville by Winks gas station. That hill is long and steep. But I ran the entire way. And then had to stop because I couldn't breathe. I only stopped for a minute and then kept going. I ran the entire way before and after I stopped that one time.

It felt great! One of the best runs I've had in a long time. It was only about 2.5 miles, but I ran every one of those hills and I'm proud of myself. I think it's definitely time for new shoes though. My left foot was really uncomfortable. It didn't hurt, but it was just uncomfortable for most of my run. Also, on Cape Rock, those people have ridiculous driveways. It's so hard to run across them because they're so uneven and oddly steep in places. So that places pressure on my foot, and because it's a weird incline I think that might be part of what's causing my shin splints, and my left shin generally hurts more. Those things are rough. Might need to start running in the street when I get to that point.

For breakfast, I treated myself to Smoothie King again. And hopefully someday soon, I'll get that blender I want so I can make my own smoothies and save some money. Lunch was a yummy gyro. I had planned on eating food from home today, so I brought Spaghetti-O's ( I know, not all that healthy, but better than fast food, right?). Unfortunately, I didn't put them in a bowl before I left. I just brought the can. And we don't have a can opener at work. So I went for a gyro instead. Those are at least sort of healthy. And delicious. For dinner tonight I think I'm going to make some cheese ravioli.

Tomorrow I'm going to run again in the morning. I really hate getting up so early, but I think I enjoy it more. There's not a lot of people out doing stuff and it's nice and quiet. And both times this week I've almost gotten caught in sprinklers. Barely dodged those, although it was pretty hot (80 degrees at 5am), so I probably wouldn't have minded. I'm going to run again Saturday and I'm thinking about going to Feet Fleet in St. Charles to start looking for shoes. Might as well spend my birthday money on that rather then using it for smaller stuff here and there. I have no idea what else I'll be doing this weekend, but if I get to choose, it will be a whole lot of nothing but relaxing. Because I'm tired. And the adrenaline and energy I get from running at 5am does not last all day, unfortunately.  These shoes are similar to what I have now. I think I paid more for mine lol

Wednesday, July 18, 2012

Allergies? :(

So my day started around 6 am with uncontrollable sneezing and a scratchy throat and difficulty breathing (I think a combination of the sneezing and asthma). So I eventually just got up, took some allergy medicine and continued sneezing the entire time I was getting ready for work. It was pretty irritating. Oh and I had a lovely headache to go along with it. I was feeling a little better earlier. Now my headache is back, worse than before. And it's thundering and lightning outside, so I think I'm just going to go home and try to get some sleep and hope that helps.

I suppose I shouldn't really complain about this since I haven't had allergies this bad since before summer started. Unless it's a cold. I will totally complain about that, even though I haven't been sick in quite a while either *knock on wood*.

Another factor could be dust. I've been moving stuff around in my office the past few days and I'm sure I'm stirring up a lot of dust--which, of course, I'm allergic to. Even so, it's worth it. I feel like I've gotten a lot done and I feel more organized. I still have a lot to do though.

On a totally different note, I was looking at the "stats" for my blog. A couple things were interesting. One person came across my blog by searching the terms "runchata bottle pic." I don't think they found what they were looking for. Second, you can also see where people are reading your blog by country. 85 in the US, 19 in Russia, and 1 in India. I'm not sure that that means they are regular readers, but I still think it's pretty awesome that people in Russia and India are reading my blog. Makes me feel kinda cool.

Anyhoo,  back to all the blah feelings of the day. I feel so far from where I should probably be right now in training for this half marathon. Part of it is my own fault, I know. But some of it is just a bunch of shit I can't control (or if I can I sure as hell don't know how). Like my asthma. I can't figure out why it's so much worse sometimes than others. Some times I run and I'm okay. Other times I feel like I'm dying. And more often than not, my inhaler doesn't seem to help. I know it helps a little, but some days it's just not enough. And headaches like the one I have today (which is above/behind my left eye which makes it hard to see--hence naptime) I have no clue how to prevent them or get rid of them so I can go run. So far today, medicine has not helped. Some people have suggested that headaches can be caused by dehydration and said maybe that could be my problem. These people have not seen me drink water. I have at least two 32-ounce mugs of water every day. Sometimes/usually more. Dehydration is not my problem. And for anyone thinking it (and the dumb doctors who have suggested it to me): No my headaches are not related to my menstrual cycle. Obviously.

I think those are the two main things holding me back. Oh and the heat. Which makes it even harder to breathe. And I have zero control over the weather. Don't tell me to go run on a treadmill, either. I'll cut you. Treadmills suck. You don't go anywhere. Sure, you can run on it in your moldy basement and watch some lame tv show. But you're not getting any fresh air. When I run on treadmills, I feel like I've accomplished nothing. And I'm more likely to stop and walk, or stop altogether on a treadmill. When I'm outside, I can convince myself to run to the next tree, then to the corner, etc. You can't do that on a treadmill.

Ok I'm done ranting for now. Possibly more tomorrow :) And for those of you currently getting a downpour like we are, go play!

Tuesday, July 17, 2012

Starting to like Morning Runs

A good playlist can make all the difference. Yes, I got out of bed at 5 today and went for a run. It was really great. Saw quite a few other people running too, which I don't normally see in the mornings that early. Overall, it was a pretty good run. I ran a little farther than normal, and my new playlist definitely helped to keep me going, especially at the end.

I did stop two or three times though :( Twice I just couldn't breathe. My asthma was really bad this morning, and it's still bad. I don't know if the pollen count is high or something else, but man I couldn't breathe. I felt like I was being suffocated by my own breath. Yeah that doesn't make a lot of sense but you get the idea. The one time in the middle of my run, I was running up a big hill, and doing great I might add, and when I get close to the top, I somehow got my hand caught up in the cord to my headphones, pulling one of the earbuds out of my ear and pulling the nano off of my shorts. Thankfully it didn't  hit the ground, but I was so mad. I was running so hard, and feeling good, and so close to the top and I had to stop because of that. Grr. And I was listening to such a good song too! Get Out Alive is a pretty motivational song when your running. Specifically the lyrics "If you want to get out alive, run for your life." Good stuff. As I said, a good playlist can make a big difference.

Tomorrow I will not be doing a 5am run. I'm going to run at Arena Park again. And hopefully run more than I walk. I'm putting off running there in the mornings because I'm worried I won't have enough time. I have to drive there, run a few miles, and drive back. This morning took me around a half hour to do 2.5 miles, plus warm up and cool down. Add in a drive there and back and I'm gonna feel super rushed. And I don't like that. Plus I might not have time to go to Smoothie King for a smoothie. That's my treat after my morning runs (unless I start running every morning...that's way too expensive). But once I get the smoothie/blender I want from GNC, I can have smoothies at home after my runs! Need to set aside 30 bucks for that.

Monday, July 16, 2012

More on Blisters (mainly because Adam loves reading about them)

Went for a run this afternoon after work with my new iPod. It is so much better than my old Zune. If I didn't have my earbuds in, I wouldn't have known it was there at all! It's so light, so it doesn't bounce around. I actually checked a few times to make sure it was still there because my old one bounced so much. That said, I haven't made a running playlist yet, so picking what to listen to was hard, and not exactly helpful on my run. So tonight I plan on making a playlist so when I run in the morning tomorrow I'll have something good and motivating to listen to.

I didn't have the greatest run, and I walked a few times, but there's plenty of stupid reasons for that. First, I just couldn't breathe. I have no idea why it was so hard. I took my inhaler before I left. I shouldn't have had any problems. Grrr. Second, my feet. As I've mentioned before, I've got a multitude of blisters. The socks I bought did help though. None of them broke open or bled, so that's good (didn't ruin the new socks), but they still hurt pretty badly while I was running. Third, my shins are still hurting. Not as bad, as last week or however long ago it was. They mostly hurt on the hills, which I expected. I'm hoping tomorrow will be better. I seem to do better in the mornings (and I feel a lot better afterward). And I'm sure a new playlist will help. 


Here's a question: Is it okay to stretch after a run without your shoes on? I ask because obviously my blisters were killing me by the time I got home. I wanted to take my shoes off immediately but I didn't because I wasn't sure if it was bad for your feet. Does it make a difference at all? If any of you lovely folks happen to have an answer to this, please let me know! It probably doesn't help that I'm in need of new shoes to begin with either. 


I've read in a few different places that when running, you should dress for weather 10 degrees warmer than what it is (which makes sense in the summer, but not so much in the winter). Generally, I take that advice as far as I can go. Meaning running in a sports bra and shorts. Anything less would just be . . . ick. Today, however, it didn't feel as hot as it had been the past couple weeks (meaning not 107 degrees) so I decided to wear a tanktop. HUGE mistake. It was horribly hot. Tank top was black. And fitted. So once I warmed up and started sweating, it was clinging to me. Yuck. I felt disgusting and even considered taking the tank top off and leaving it behind if necessary. I didn't, but I really wanted to. 


Also, I think I may have mentioned this yesterday, but the A/C in my car is fixed and it is oh so splendid!


  (not mine, but similar...mine's red, and awesome)

Sunday, July 15, 2012

Lessons Learned

Lessons learned from birthday festivities:
1. New shoes will give you blisters.
2. A second pair of new shoes will give you blisters in different places.
3. I get drunk off of 3 or 4 beers now.
4. I also get a severe headache the next morning after what I would have previously referred to as a light night of drinking.
5. It's true. No one likes you when you're 23. Especially your body.

So my blisters hurt. A lot. But I can't go any longer without running. So I went to target today to get some socks that come up higher in the back so my ankles don't rub against my shoes so badly (I hope). As for the other blisters, well, I'm just gonna slather them in Neosporin (or whatever works) and suck it up.

Also, I got some bday money. So I think I'll be using that to get some new shoes and other things I need/want. And if I have enough, register for some of the races I want to do.

I had a wonderful time this weekend with my friends and family. Minus spending all day Saturday shopping for shoes for my new dress. From now on I need to make sure I already have the shoes before I buy the dress. Sheesh. I went to soooo many places. It was just awful. I hate shopping for shoes. But later we went to church and then to dinner at Hendel's and it was a really great time. I got to see my best friend, have a delicious dinner and dessert and a few drinks. Then Chris and I went to Main Street in St. Charles. I hadn't been there in a long time, and I hadn't been there on a weekend in even longer, so I was surprised with how crowded everything was. We had a really good time though.

And today, I finally got my air conditioning in my car fixed!!!! I had a glorious drive home in the ac! It was a really great feeling to not be soaked in sweat when I got home. :)

Friday, July 13, 2012

Birthday Festivities

Wednesday was incredible. Possibly one of the best birthdays ever. Surprise daisies sent to my work from Chris. Then I met him at his work, where he impatiently waited to give me my present (iPod nano!). Then we went to Pi and it was so yummy! We ordered garlic bread, which for some reason we both thought was garlic cheese bread, and it was, in fact, neither. They brought out bread that was not fully sliced all the way through. No cheese. No garlic. The garlic came from the butter they brought out with the bread. It was good, but I've never had "garlic" bread served that way. Then we had to make a stop at the mall because we don't know how to eat like mature adults. I thought it was funny :)

Then we got to the Muny (we're starting to get pretty good at finding our way around Forest Park). Note to self and anyone else: Don't wear new shoes if you're going to be doing a fair amount of walking. Ouch. I have blisters on the back of both ankles, and on the tops of my big toes. :( Aside from that, it was a good night. Saw my aunt and uncle, and a few of my Gamma Sig sisters--the two most important being my little and adopted little. So glad I ran into them. We got margaritas (yes, we got the kiddie souvenir cups--they are awesome) and it wasn't too hot. A little, but it wasn't totally uncomfortable. The show was pretty good. They had live camels! The only thing I didn't like was that they included a lot of songs that weren't in the movie. Which would be okay if they were good songs, but I didn't think they were. And several of them were just way too long. But that aside, I loved it. And the genie was funny.

More fun to come today. Dinner with my family, and I get to see my bestest friend for the first time in . . . well I don't know how long it's been, but it's been way too long! Possibly going out after dinner. Because as far as I'm concerned, it's still my birthday! :)

As far as running goes, well, as I've mentioned before, after a night of drinking (or just half a night) my legs always ache like I ran constantly the day before. So, not gonna run today. Oh and those blisters will be much worse. I'm wearing flip flops and they hurt. The idea of running shoes makes me cringe. I was going to try to run this weekend but its just not going to happen. My blisters have been bleeding and I know if I run I will be miserable. So I'm going to give it a couple more days.

Thursday, July 12, 2012

Special Post: Why I Need (technically want) an IPhone 4S

My apologies for not posting this last night as promised. My phone is a gigantic pos. So, here you have it: why I need an iPhone (ya know, since mine sucks).

So I do want an iPhone. I hate my phone. And I don't think I've ever heard any real complaints from people about the iPhone. Everyone I know who has one loves it. The more I read about it, the more I want one, and soon. I recently read (I can not for the life of me remember where) about some of the cool things the iPhone can do for you while you're on a run. Two of the obvious, music and you have your phone if there's an emergency. There are also some cool apps that record your pace with your music so you know which songs you run faster to, which ones are slower, etc. So that's pretty cool. And there's the GPS feature if you get lost, or if you just want to keep track of your miles. I think that would be handy, especially at the trail I run on down here. The miles are not clearly marked at all, so I'm always just guessing as to how far I've actually run. I know I'm pretty close to whatever it is, but it'd be nice to have an exact number.

I'm sure there's other cool things that are helpful, but the one thing I really, really, really want the iPhone for is Siri. If you get an email or text while running, you can have her read it to you, and respond for you (at least for the text messages, I don't know that she can respond to the emails). Although I generally like my running to be stress free, not having to worry about who has called or texted me while I'm out. It could be handy though. The best thing is, if you think of something you need to do, or something to add to the grocery list, you can just have her make a note of it, or have her remind you to do it later. Awesome. I often think of things I need to do, but obviously can't write them down, so I usually just forget. Even better, I usually come up with pretty decent lines/ideas for poetry, but by the time I get home--if I remember any of it at all--it's not even close to the original line and sounds much, much worse. It would be so great when something pops into my head to just have her remember it for me so I can write it down later.

I'm making the switch to Apple (like I said, I rarely hear bad things about their products). I'm hopefully going to be getting the Airbook, and I really want an iPod nano. They are small, but they have a clip on the back, so there's no need for an arm band or anything like that.

*update* my boyfriend got me an iPod nano for my birthday! I can't wait to go home and play with it and try it out this weekend :)

Wednesday, July 11, 2012

What's My Age Again?

Twenty-three today. No one likes me. (It's true, according to Blink-182) Was anyone else excited about turning 23 because of this song? Because I've been waiting for this since I stopped celebrating after turning 21. Who says 21 is your last "big" birthday?

Today's festivities have/will include:
I got my free coffee from Starbucks this morning. Seriously, you can get a lot of free stuff for your birthday for being an awesome customer. Only bad thing is the only Starbucks down here is across town. But I made it to work on time, so that's all that matters.
I had blueberry muffins I baked for myself last night for breakfast this morning. They looked a little...weird. But they were delicious.
For lunch, I have nothing special. Mac 'n Cheese and some veggies. Woo!
At 3 I head to St. Louis! Chris is taking me to Pi for dinner (so excited for pizza!!!) and then we're going to the Muny to see Aladdin! I can't wait! And hopefully it cools off by then.

I came across this blog and it's awesome. Lots of different work outs and stuff. The particular one I read was New GNC Workout: Lean Legs and I saw on there a blender/smoothie maker from GNC. $29.99 for it, has several attachments. Best part? It's a cup so you don't wash anything until you're done drinking it! Which is awesome because I hate trying to wash my stupid blender at home (which is still sitting in the sink "soaking" until I have the time/patience to wash it). I definitely want one of these. Plus, it comes with extra cups, so I could make more than one smoothie at a time and save them for later! Check it out here and if you want to get me a birthday present, that blender would be great :)

What to look forward to:
Later, I'm going to post about why I need a new iPhone. So you have that to look forward to. Believe me, I have plenty of very good reasons.
Also, poverty. Okay, not poverty. But I can't afford said iPhone. Or the Macbook I've been hoping to buy (and yes I do need this). For whatever dumb reason, my loan for this year was cut by more than half. Bye, bye Macbook. I was going to pay for that with any extra money I had from my loan, because, ya know, I will use it 95% of the time for school. And the reason for cutting my loan? NO CLUE because SEMO's financial aid office is a joke and no one knows what the hell they're doing.

Also trying to figure out how to pay for some of the upcoming races I want to do, along with registering for the Half, oh and I need new shoes. Happy birthday to me!

I did by myself a Snickers. And my boyfriend sent me flowers. So that made it all better. Until tomorrow when I head up to the financial aid office and kick some ass. :)

Tuesday, July 10, 2012

Proceed with Caution

Am I going to go run or work out today? No. Why? Two reasons: A. My shins are hurting just walking right now, so the idea of pounding my feet on concrete and feeling 10 times more of that pain in my legs just sounds unbearable. That's my cue to rest. And maybe ice. B. As I have mentioned before, PMS is a ruthless bitch.

I have heard/read/been given advice/blah blah blah/whatever/shut the hell up that exercise is supposed to be an excellent way to reduce pains from cramps (aka feeling like your uterus and ovaries are being ripped out--guys you can just equate that to getting kicked in the balls. Yes, it hurts that bad, and we get it every single month). To whatever asshole (probably a man) suggested exercise is "the best medicine for menstrual cramps" can go crawl in a hole and die. I can assure you, that is not the case. And to the women who suck it up and go exercise anyway, more power to you. I, however, am not that strong.

The best medicine for cramps is a few ibuprofen and sleep. Lots and lots of sleep. Look at it this way: You're grumpy when you don't get enough sleep and everyone hates you all day long for it because you're completely unbearable. When you're in severe pain and running on little to no sleep? Ha! Everyone hates you for a week. And they're probably researching hit men to take you out.

I have read before (and I do think this is good advice) that almost all of our problems can be solved with either a good laugh or a nap. Obviously I prefer a nap. I also think, for everyone's sake, women should get one sick day a month for this nonsense. Be sure to choose wisely in which day you take. Let's face it, you're in pain, sleep-deprived, and acting like a total bitch. You're not being nearly as productive as you are on the other 28 days of the month (or whatever it is). And no one at your office wants to deal with you (did I mention women are especially moody toward each other this time of the month because they're subconsciously competing to attract men? Yeah, I read an article on that. I don't know where it is. Just google it.).

Also, I don't know this to be a proven fact, but I find beer generally helps. Or wine. Whatever you've got. Oh, and mani/pedis. Or one or the other. Which ever you prefer. I went to get a pedicure yesterday thanks to my amazing boyfriend and it was so relaxing. I went alone--which I never do, because talking to Asians who barely speak English is awkward and intimidating--but I think I actually enjoyed it more by myself. It was much more relaxing. And the Asians keep themselves occupied by talking to each other about how gross your feet are, so you don't have to really talk to them either except to tell them what you want. How nice.

And in case you forgot, tomorrow is my birthday :) Setting my alarm for 5am to make an attempt at running. But if I'm gonna be honest here, that is probably not going to happen. No worries! I have another two-hour drive to St. Louis planned, and still no a/c, so I'll just sweat it all out while yelling at all the other morons who don't know how to drive.

Monday, July 9, 2012

Finding Motivation

It's a struggle more days than not to find motivation. Especially on days where I don't feel the best. Or on days where I feel great and can think of a million and one things I'd rather do than go for a run or work out. And unfortunately, just getting out there isn't always enough. As I said in my last post, I went for a run yesterday, and I had a hard time getting started, even after I had gotten to my favorite place to run, had stretched, warmed up, etc.

So how do we motivate? What do we do to keep going? I try to tell myself things like "You can do this, you've done it before." That rarely works though, and I'm not sure why. Music plays a pretty important part in motivation. The right music can keep me going throughout my entire run. The wrong music can slow me down too much. When I'm in a bad mood, I need fast-paced music. The kind of music that does all the yelling and screaming for me and says all the awful things I want to say out loud. And while the music does that, I run hard for as long as I can. When I'm in a good mood, I still need the faster-paced music, but I need something more positive. That's harder to find. Not impossible, but it's hard. I'm not saying that happy music in general is hard to find, or that all happy songs are too slow, or whatever. But it's hard to find the right songs for me, especially to run to. I've also noticed I need to redo my workout playlists. I've started skipping over a lot of songs/artists because I'm tired of hearing them, or they no longer serve as motivation. I'm super lazy about doing that stuff though...

Motivation is hard to do. Sometimes even the right music just isn't enough. It's hard to keep going when your legs ache and it gets increasingly harder to breathe. Honestly? I hate having people see me walk. Sure, they don't know that I just sprinted up a hill. Or that my lungs are about to collapse. For all they know I just finished running 5 miles. But I think everyone assumes that I've either been walking the entire time (and I must be out of shape--look at how much I'm sweating and how out of breath I am) or that I tried running and I quit because it was too hard. That is what I'm thinking every time a car passes me when I'm walking when I should be running. Or when another runner passes me. And God forbid someone I know sees me. So out of this  . . . fear? I've found a new motivator. Would I want someone I know--anyone--to see me walking, to think I'm not in good enough shape to keep running? NO. I want anyone and everyone to know I'm strong enough and capable of running. Even if I have to slow down because it hurts or it's hard to breathe, I'm still running. That's what I want people to see. I don't want them to see me walking--giving up, quitting. I'm better than that, and I know it.

Of course that doesn't always work. Sometimes it really is just too hard to breathe to keep going. Or too hot. (Although the high today is only supposed to be 88!) And I do my best to run through the pain. It's difficult to draw the line between running through the pain because it's not really as bad as my head tells me it is, and when I should stop and rest and use ice or whatever before injuring myself badly. Really, how do you tell when you're doing too much before it's too late and the damage is done? It's a fine line.

Another motivation that I find useful (at least at Creve Coeur) is old people who are in great shape (or are trying to be), and overweight people trying to lose weight/be healthier, etc. I see them running or riding bikes and not giving up. If they can do it, so can I. It is a little discouraging when old people are lapping you though. I'm 22 years old and some 80 year old woman just passed me, running with knee replacements, wrinkly arms, and saggy boobs--which reminds me: Ladies, please wear bras in general, and please wear supportive ones while exercising! Living in a college town means a lot more young people exercising which can get discouraging.

Also, I'd like to point out that no, I do not really care what other people think about me generally. But what I don't want people to think is that I'm weak or incapable. Because I'm not. I'm strong and I know it, and I want other people to know that, too. I'm not as strong as I want to be--mentally or physically--but I will be.

If any of you have some motivational techniques you use, feel free to pass them along! :)

Sunday, July 8, 2012

WooHoo!

Woo! 630 page views! Y'all are awesome! That makes this way more successful than my other blog (totally okay with that). If I hit 1000, I'm definitely going to feel legit :) Thank you all!

I ran at Creve Coeur again this morning before I left to go home. I don't know why, but I had a rough time getting started. I stretched, warmed up, remembered my inhaler! Had plenty of water. I started running and didn't get too far before I felt like I needed to stop. I did this a few times before I finally buckled down and just kept going. I don't know what the deal was. I do know that my ankles and shins were/are killing me. Might have been why I was stopping so often at first. Or the fact that even though it was cooler today, it was more humid, which tends to make it harder to breathe. Nonetheless, I finished 3.7 miles in under an hour, which includes the times I walked. And I was running slow. So I'd say that's not too terrible.

I'm considering running down to the river after work tomorrow. I haven't done that in a really long time, and it's one of my favorite places to go. I have also come to the conclusion that it's probably time for new running shoes. I'm getting a lot of blisters lately (I'm sure the heat/ sweat isn't helping), but it could also explain why my legs have been hurting so badly. Also, thanks to all that, I am in desperate need of a pedicure. Which of course, I can't afford right now. And if I can't afford a pedicure, I definitely can't afford new shoes. I want to get them in August sometime though, so I have plenty of time before the race to adjust to them and everything.

Speaking of races (no, I still have not signed up for the half-marathon--have I mentioned I'm poor?) I've noticed more and more races doing this whole "register before this date for whatever price, after that the price goes up another ten dollars, blah blah blah." What the hell? I can understand the half-marathon (sorta). It's a huge race, and registration fees probably contribute a lot to help pay for everything they do. Makes sense. But some of these other races . . . why? I just don't get it. And because I can't afford to pay for them now, it will cost me more later (which I also can't afford, probably). I can't be the only one dealing with this? Anyone want to spot me the funds so I can do these damn races? Ugh.

Anyway, it's Sunday. It has been decently enjoyable. Got home, unpacked, cut up a bunch of vegetables to eat this week with my meals, and then I made lunch and sat on the deck to eat it and read Les Mis for a bit. But it's still hot out. And the sun sets facing the deck, so the sun was directly on me. Might be a good idea to spend some time inside for a few hours. I should probably shower anyway. And read some more. Gosh I love my books. :)

Again, thank you, thank you all for reading my blog. Makes me feel like some of what I say is semi-important. Or funny. Or whatever. But thanks!

Stay excellent!

Saturday, July 7, 2012

Hot, Hot, Hot

The concert last night was great. But it was so hot. I think I may have started my run a little too late this morning. It got really hot really fast. And it didn't help that I had to go back for my inhaler. Which didn't seem to help much today.

It was so hot, hard to breathe, so I had to stop a few times and I ran a lot slower than usual. By the last mile or so I was exhausted and getting a headache. I may have gotten a little overheated. I was soaked in sweat. Yuck.

On the bright side, the excessive heat warning is supposed to break tonight! Hopefully that will make my runs a little easier later this week.

I'm gonna try for another run tomorrow if it's cooler. And as many days this week as possible. With my birthday festivities, it will be more difficult. Maybe I'll get some more early runs in. I'm starting to really enjoy them. Problem is, when I start doing longer runs, I'll have to get up even earlier. Not sure if I can do that. But we'll cross that bridge when we get there.

Enjoy your Saturday everyone!

-A

Friday, July 6, 2012

Feelin' good!

I'm not anti-fast food. I should be, but I enjoy fast food on occasion. In case you were unaware of how bad it is, here's a little story for you: 

On one of my runs last week, I saw a couple bagels on the ground along with the bag and some napkins from Mcd's. A week later (or more, I can't really remember), the trash is gone (I assume blown away, as people don't pick up trash). However, one of the bagels was still on the sidewalk. Completely untouched. 
Gross. Just remember that next time you plan on eating at Mcd's, or anywhere else. Not that it will stop anyone, but maybe it will make us think twice about it at least. 

Obviously I went for a run this morning--hell yes, I woke up at 5 to go run! I feel pretty accomplished. And it was a good run too. I did the "walk the flat areas and run hard up the hills" thing. I don't feel like I was running as fast up hill as I could have, but I was also running more on the down hills and flat areas rather than walking, so I'd say that's pretty good. My head/neck still hurt a little but not as bad. Plus I'm very much awake with a decent amount of energy that I hope lasts all day. I also feel like since I did well on my run today that my run tomorrow morning will be good too. 

I can't wait to be in StL tonight for the concert. Hopefully it will cool off and ya know, maybe cool down to like 95 degrees or so. That'd be great. Also, it was not 88 degrees this morning as I had predicted. It was a comfortable 75 degrees. So I'm hoping it will be cool like that when I go for my run tomorrow. Legs are feeling good . . . not too sore. Although I just remembered I forgot to stretch when I got home. Woops. I hope that doesn't do too much damage. :/ Maybe just stretching more tomorrow before and after my run will help? Let's hope. 

Happy Friday everyone, stay cool! 
-A

Thursday, July 5, 2012

Monday, Monday

Second Monday of the week, oh boy! I've had a headache since yesterday, so that just made it all worse. Even with the headache, I had a fantastic 4th. Barbeque, fireworks, and ice cream. It was all so delicious. Didn't sleep too well though thanks to the headache. So I was exhausted this morning. I was in major need of caffeine. Couldn't find coffee anywhere. Apparently they don't serve coffee anywhere on campus during the summer. I finally found a Starbucks coffee frappuccino. I hadn't had one before, but it was surprisingly good, and it did the trick.

Unfortunately the caffeine just gave me a little more energy, but didn't do anything for my headache. And I carried several heavy boxes of books from the building across the street to our office, so by the time I got done with that, my headache was worse, and I was sweating a pretty gross amount. Yuck. So I decided not to go for a run after all that. I just needed medicine and sleep. I took a nap for a couple hours after work and I'm feeling a little better, but it's not completely gone. I set my alarm for 5am tomorrow though so I'm going to try to get out of bed and go for a run before work. At least at 5am it should only be in the 80s. Amazing how after a week-ish of 100+ degree weather, 88 degrees is suddenly a cold front.

Still trucking around in my car with no a/c. It's been a little rough, and more than slightly uncomfortable. I mostly feel sorry for people who ride in my car with me--the passenger window doesn't roll down so they really don't get any air. Knowing my luck, as soon as it gets fixed, temps will drop and I won't need it. Story of my life. And even with as hot as it is outside, I'm still cold inside. Very cold.

Does that stop me from eating ice cream? No. Although this ice cream will be super healthy. I've got a sliced banana in the freezer and as soon as it's frozen solid, I'm tossing it in the blender, maybe with some honey or Nutella, and BOOM! Ice cream. Pretty excited to try this. Especially since my bananas did not last long. I only got to eat about two before they started getting brown (which is when I stop eating them). I might even save some for a nice little snack at work tomorrow. And my lunch consists of green grapes and a pbj. You have no idea how excited I am for that. I love pbj sandwiches. I'm so happy to eat bread and peanut butter again!

And there's a possibility of eating at the Spaghetti Factory tomorrow evening for dinner before the concert. I love eating there. And they have fabulous Italian cream sodas. Delicious! Another busy, but fun weekend ahead, and another run at Creve Coeur on Saturday! Hopefully it's less crowded and I can breathe a little better.

Have a lovely evening everyone!
-A

Wednesday, July 4, 2012

Uno Week Until My Birthday!

Happy 4th of July!
I got my run in this morning at Creve Coeur. Not as good as last time, but it's also a lot hotter. And it was harder to breathe. Didn't check the temp before I went, but I was sweating just stretching. There are a lot of shaded areas there though, so it didn't feel too bad there. It was really crowded though...because of the holiday I suppose.

And we have good news! Florissant didn't cancel their fireworks! I'm so happy. I can't wait to go. And I get to see them with my wonderful boyfriend :)

He bought me Les Miserables (I can't figure out how to put the accent over the e on my phone. Very frustrating). The best boyfriends buy books. And he even found a hardcover copy instead of just buying the Barnes & Noble "classic book" or whatever they're called. Those covers are lame.
Tomorrow will be an afternoon run. And I'm going to try to shoot for a Friday morning run. Going to see Third Eye Blind Friday night so no time for an afternoon run. And I'll do another run at Creve Coeur on Saturday. I've seen quite a few ads for some races in August and September. Assuming I have the money for the registrations, I definitely want to do them.  They sound like a lot of fun. One is a 5k and one is a 5k/10k so I want to try the 10k.

Oh! One week til my birthday! (Sorry about the title. My Spanish speaking abilities are quite limited.)

Enjoy bbq and beer and fireworks and be safe everyone!

-A

Tuesday, July 3, 2012

Happy 4th of July Eve!

The Cardinals won last night! It was a fun game, and our seats were awesome! Minus being stuck next to annoying high schoolers who probably didn't have tickets for those seats. So we moved down, which later screwed us out of possibly catching a foul ball. Oh well. It was a good time, and it wasn't too hot, so that was nice. We had dinner at Friday's before the game and it was just awful. Every time I eat there, something is wrong or messed up or just gross. Not going there again. I don't know how you screw up a cheeseburger and fries, but they did. I had a couple bites of my cool hamburger, complete with an extra crunchy bun, and I had one fry. They were cold.
At the Cards game :)

No workout yesterday (unless you count walking to and from the stadium). And probably none today because I only got a couple hours of sleep. I am so tired. But I'm definitely going to Creve Coeur tomorrow morning-ish for a run. Running there makes me happy. And it makes me feel good to know that I actually can run 4 miles (might try for more tomorrow).

As far as food in general goes, not doing so hot on the still eating healthy thing. But I know I'll get some good stuff at my mom and dad's house tomorrow . . . mom always makes good pasta salad and whatnot. And my sister is a rockstar at "spirit-filled eggs" :) It's hard to consistently eat healthy when you're traveling so much. So that's something I need to work on. Oh and there is a torrential downpour going on right now, and quite a bit of thunder to go with it. Yay for rain! And I'm glad I wasn't planning on running--even if it stops raining, this is definitely enough to soak the ground and make everything muddy.

I'm going to do my best to post tomorrow, especially since I plan on running in the morning, but if I don't, Happy Fourth y'all! Drink beer and blow stuff up (but do it safely and don't start any brush fires!)

-A

Monday, July 2, 2012

Almost to the 4th!

So, I'm pretty sure that yesterday was the first day I didn't write at least one post. I've been doing at least 1-2 a day since I started. I was a little miffed I didn't get to it. But making breakfast with Chris and spending the afternoon at the pool then getting dinner and seeing a movie was totally worth missing it :)
We went to see Ted last night, and it was pretty good. The "Brooklyn" accents were driving me nuts though. But the actors kept with it pretty well (I've seen other movies where the actors slip in and out of their accents frequently, which is also annoying). Overall though, it was a funny movie.

I did not get a run in yesterday. I was too busy enjoying my day with my boyfriend. And I won't be getting a run in today either because we're going to the Cardinals game! I haven't been yet this season, so I'm excited! Although my drive with no a/c will not be fun. I'm hoping it cools down by gametime though. At least it's a night game. Those poor people at yesterday's game just looked miserable. At least they won, so it was worth it.

Man oh man it's gonna be a busy week. StL today for the game, and Wednesday for the 4th (my most favoritest holiday, so you all better be celebrating with bbq, beer, and fire[works]!). Then back to StL for the weekend (more bbq and beer . . . less fire). Oh and in case you didn't know, the 4th is exactly one week from my birthday! I'll be turning 21 for the third time, so it's a pretty big deal. As you can imagine, it's difficult to plan runs/workouts around this messy schedule, but I do have a plan. Tomorrow, I'll run in the evening after work. Wednesday I will either run in my parents neighborhood, or drive to Creve Coeur (sounds wayyy better). Thursday will be a normal run down here and Friday will just be whatever I can fit in. Saturday at Creve Coeur, and Sunday wherever and whenever I can.

I definitely need to make sure I'm running a lot with all the beer and delicious food I'll be enjoying. Oh my, I forgot about the fireworks!! A lot of places have cancelled. Waiting to hear about Florissant's before we decide what to do. Might go downtown, though as we all know, I'm just not a people person. And that's a lot of people, especially when it's 100 degrees. Blah. But, if any of you know of other places in StL that haven't cancelled, or if you hear of more cancelings, please keep me informed! I just can't celebrate my favorite holiday with out seeing some fireworks. I'll be devastated. Overdramatic? Maybe. Am I serious? Yes.