Sex and the Grad Student

I'm typing this ahead of time, so bear with me as there will be a pre- and probably -post to the message!! But yes, that headline means what it says...actually true on both senses of the word. I am seeing (will probably have seen by the time this gets posted) Sex & the City tonight. So excited for this movie and to celebrate I'm having a pre party for some friends, we are going to have cosmos, some snacks (including better than sex cupcakes!) and a bottle of champagne, because we are celebrating!! That's right, the other part of the message. Starting fall of 2008 I will officially be a grad student! Yes, that's right, Thursday at 2:30 I had a phone call congratulating me on my acceptance into a very good MBA program in the area....there are really only two here (that really count) and I got into one of them!! I'm so excited (so much so we even drove by and parked by my school last night!). I have been wanting this for so long and now I finally get to start on it.

The movie...was excellent. For those that love the show, definitely see it. For those that saw some episodes and kind of liked it, go see it and for those that never saw the show? Still go see it. It's a grea movie about friendships, how they can get you through everything...love, live, laughs...and for guys, hey, it's insight into the female psyche!

The celebration was perfect too. One other friend had to bail due to a recent accident she had, but there were six of us that went. We had cocktails (including champagne, Cristalino, if you drop the end it's Cristal!! to celebrate my news!) and snacks and then the movie. And then downtown to a more upscale bar where we hung out on the patio after having a dirty martini a la a favorite bartender. (only my second ever) And then flirtinis, just because!!

Today is a wedding so I have to run now, literally, my parents and a cousin are going to be here in an hour for breakfast so have to run and be showered and ready to get it started before they get here!!

The flowers were from mom and dad congratulating me. They were done by, well the nephew of my uncle that died last fall. He's not a blood cousin but that's how I think of him. He does excellent and unique bouquets. Floral Logic.

Stay Tuned...

A big announcement coming very soon...just a couple of things that need to be firmed up and people to be told!

New Endeavors

Today was something different...other than being lazy too, and not getting to the bike ride I had planned for after work...namely I think it's that I can't just go out and ride. I need a destination and tonight I had nothing in mind...and didn't want to just walk either. Plus I'm having people over for a pre-Sex & the City movie party so I had to buy a few things and get them ready for Friday. I only got one thing baked though since I'm out of oil for the cake I need to make (and didn't know how olive oil would work nor did I want to waste that expensive stuff!) and I don't have any milk for the banana bread...so that's tomorrow. But tonight I made biscotti. You know, I'vc never even had biscotti before...so yeah, deciding to make it was interesting. But someone had suggested it to me, because, you know, there's that episode of S&TC where Charlotte brings over biscotti when they are watching the gay porn...ah...funny things!! So yes, I made almond biscotti, and yes, I have never made it or had it before and why follow a recipe either?? I did a little of this, a little of that, added something changed something and we have S&TC Almond Cinnamin Chocolate Chunk Biscotti (in my mind you can add cinnamin to almost anything cookie related when baking) and it turned out quite...how it goes with Cosmos, who knows but Friday should be fun.

I did get a workout in this morning...not a great one (I am on a fall back week this week), strenth and a short bike ride...and no...hottie wasn't there...sad days...

Memorial Weekend in Recap

Friday:

Went to a small bar in a nearby small town. Was trying to see a band (found out I was off by a week on when they were playing) and met up with a friend that lives there when she got done with work at midnight. We had a little catch up time and a conversation with a guy that came over to keep me company just before she got there.

Saturday:

Cleaned some in my garage, straightened out my closet some, did a little picking up and then kind of vegged and watched TV. Oh yeah, had my 12 miler too…then met up with a friend to go to the local hang out. Had nice conversation and a nice evening.

Sunday:

Woke up and had a friend call me about going to lunch. That sounded nice and what was meant to be lunch turned into brunch at a cute little French café in the Uptown area of Minneapolis. Bellinis, mimosas and good conversation then a walk around the lake followed by ice cream at a little coffee shop and then took her dog for a walk before having a couple of glasses of presecco on her deck…had a phone call from a friend and caught up with her and then a nice evening and early night.

Monday:

Did a LOT of cleaning. Got my house organized and looking good, watched some TV and got a run in. Got home to find a text from a friend asking what I had going on. Since I had no plans we decided to meet up at a place with a nice patio. Unfortunately the weather wasn’t great for sitting outside, feet were freezing!! But we sat outside, chatted with the bartenders and a few others and had a nice evening. I even tried a bailey’s and coffee at one point since it was so cold.

All in all one of the best Memorial weekends I’ve had. I spent it with 3 different friends (Monday was the same friend as Friday but we had more time than we had had on Friday) and had quality girl time each day. Friends are so fabulous and I’m lucky I have the friends I do.

This week’s big highlight. Sex & the City party on Friday night and movie viewing!!

The Smell is in the Air

Of decent runs and spring? Yes, it’s why I love this time of year…why I continue to tolerate the crappy, cold weather year after year…because spring smells so fantastic. Lilacs in bloom, dogwoods, apple blossoms…it’s pretty, the weather is great (except for the stupid Minnesota wind that is now blowing all the pretty blossoms OFF the trees!!) and runs are feeling and smelling good. Heel, still sore, but oh well. Mostly it’s fine. Not worse, maybe a bit better.

Run on Friday was just meant to be relaxing, it didn’t necessarily feel great, but the times were there.

Total Time, Friday Run: 33:19 – 8:19 pace
Mile 1 – 8:36
Mile 2 – 8:27
Mile 3 – 7:51
Mile 4 – 8:21

Today was a decent one. Things started out feeling good. I wanted to shoot for a slower, easier pace, which first mile was…I am terribly at pacing, as you can see, but oh well. This was a bit of a hilly run, both up and down. I did take two water breaks and am realizing with the warmer weather now, any run over 10 miles I definitely have to carry water, and probably some sport beans or something since I was feeling it a bit and could’ve used something more at the end.

Total Time, Saturday Run: 1:44:14 – 8:41 pace
Mile 1 – 9:09
Mile 2 – 8:31
Mile 3 – 8:37
Mile 4 – 8:14
Mile 5 – 8:39
Mile 6 – 9:00 – took water
Mile 7 – 8:34
Mile 8 – 8:27
Mile 9 – 9:06 – water stop
Mile 10 – 8:34
Mile 11 – 8:49
Mile 12 – 8:27

Managed a nap, cleaned up my garage a bit, organized my closet and am in the process of getting things further cleaned up in my house. I can't get over how messy it can get!!

Maybe it’s Old Age??

I can’t seem to focus. I don’t know what my problem is but it’s frustrating to me. I can’t get anything done and my resolve was to throw more of myself into my job after my birthday. Sigh….

There really hasn’t been anything exciting to write about. I’m working on some fun for the summer. Trying to see more of the shows of my favorite band, of course I’m referencing GB. I get this way it seems. It’s kind of like with a guy I might meet. I’m interested, excited, etc…but if I don’t hear from him in a week, or if it’s a guy I’ve even been out with and am into, don’t see him, then it’s done. I forget…but once I’m reminded, it’s all on, all over again. I think I have it worked out to see them at least 3 times in June though, so that’s a start!! Maybe I need to add a music link. Have it play my top songs of theirs…get everyone who reads this hooked too!!

No hottie reports. I’ve wanted to sleep in the past two days but dragged my butt out of bed and nope, he hasn’t been at the gym. Sigh…I’m guessing I won’t be seeing him much anymore. It’s nice out, people move out of the gym and onto the road, bikes, running, etc…what a bummer! I wouldn’t give up spring…but man, to not see hottie…he made some mornings!!
I really do need to get myself into the pool again one of these days. I haven’t been in since November. I got a new suit then, and I haven’t used it yet. Ooops.

Today is a day off from running. I ran Tuesday hard (well, felt fairly easy but was almost a tempo run). Then I ran yesterday, it felt hard. Only 4 miles but I didn’t eat enough. Tonight I’m thinking a bike ride though. I strength trained and did elliptical this morning, but I’d like to get a yoga session and bike ride in maybe yet today too.

No plans for the weekend as of yet. There is a happy hour I might check out tomorrow night for a bit. I need to clean out my garage finally…it’s such a mess, and I want to get a small freezer into it, so that means tossing out some stuff! I need to also get rid of some stuff out of my closet…get spring stuff moved to the front of it, winter stuff to the back…get some more cleaning done, maybe rent a steam cleaner and clean the carpets…oh yes, I have my work cut out for me this weekend I think. Will I get any of it done? Knowing me…probably not!! My one thing for sure is a 12 mile run, probably Saturday morning. And some time at my happy place of course too.

Hottie Spotting?

OK, still owe an update needed from Saturday, there wasn't much to it. Lunch at my favorite resturant, visited an art fair, stopped by DQ for cake, back to my sister's to grill, a drink with my dad, brother and mom and a friend at a bar for a drink, back to grill, then cake and out to the bar. Plan was to hit a few places but found out that one place we thought we knew the bartender but he was done before we headed there so we just hung out at the one place. Should've gone to see GB again!! Ah well.

Sunday recovered, dog sat for Max, then went for a walk...that was about it.

Yesterday I saw the dentist. No cavities! Yay.

Today...I went for a run. Headed out of my house on one of my normal routes and see a guy coming toward me, walking a bike...and as he gets closer, he so looked like my hottie. As we went past each other, I still couldn't decide if it was him...it might have been. He was wearing sunglasses, so I couldn't see his eyes, but man it so looked like him. I continued on my run and was just on a high from the thought of him that my planned 6-7 turned into 8...and it was around an 8:12 pace...and I was just running easy. (I say around that pace because Garmin lost the signal just before 5 miles and I stopped, trying to get the signal and haven't recalculated everything) So today, not bad...whether it was hottie or not. And he hasn't been in the gym in forever...not since the day he said "morning" to me.

AND He Can Sing...

Yeah, didn't mention that about my man from GB Leighton!! Just check out any of the video clips. If they come to your area, definitely worth checking out!!

More details about yesterday to come, but I wanted to do a quick post and I also found this. It's from the one mile...I hated all of the others, but this one wasn't too bad...

It's Good to be Alive

Apparently another year hasn't slowed me down. Went for my traditional birthday run...yes, today I turn another year older...I wasn't sure if I would mention it or not, but hey, it's out there and so far it's been pretty good. I ran 10 miles and averaged an 8:19 pace! That was after going to bed at 2:30 after being at the show (picture in post from earlier and more a tthe end of this post) having had 6 beers (but in 6 hours, that's light actually, no drunken debauchery last night!) and I did have a birthday shot bought by my friend, but then the guys we were by when she bought it bought me one as well. We were then discussing GB, who they were fans of as well, and one of them used to live by his former violinist. We were up front and I caught Brian's (lead singer) eye when I was singing along to one of their songs (he always notices people singing and loves it) and then during "Come and Get Your Love" (their rendition) he danced with me and when I told him it was my birthday he wished me a happy birthday and after the show came and talked to me and posed for pics. He's such a nice guy and the music is awesome. I might be a little biased though.

In a bit I'm going to meet my mom and sister for lunch at my favorite Italian place then we are going to enjoy the gorgeous weather with a walk around the lakes, some shopping at a few places and whatever else I want to do, then later grilling with friends and family, out to my favorite watering hole and possibly to a few other places...tomorrow will be a recovery day (both from running AND from today!!) and I'm well on my way to mileage rebuild and I ran in new shoes today. It's definitely the 11s that will be my marathon shoe (I have a new pair of my shoe in model 10 and 11 and 11 is best). Anyway, more reports tomorrow time to go enjoy my gorgeous, gorgeous weather (smelled flowers and fresh cut grass today!).

Isn't he hot??

And don't we make a good match?? Too bad he's married...sigh...

A Good Start to the 17th

Not being sure about this day, I did get to start it with my FAVORITE band. And he even gave me a kiss on the cheek and recognized that I know their most recent album (he winked at me and continued to make eye contact with me as I sang along on one of the songs from it). They are so good. I always forget how much I love them. And I can thank Auntie Chris for turning me onto them...for the last 10 years I've been following them and it's too bad they aren't more known nationally because people are really being deprived. Seriously check out the links on my side bar (I'm even in one of the videos). He is so nice too...too bad he's attached. But thanks Brian, and GB Leighton for making this a great start to the day.

Spring Time

I did enough griping about how cold and crappy it has been. How long winter held on, etc, etc...and after the bad beginning to the day (the girl that was supposed to open the club was there when I went and lunch and she was apologizing, she had overslept...it happens...I wasn't too upset as I still got a workout in, just not all that I had planned, it's too bad hottie hadn't been there though as I might have been able to talk to him standing outside!!) I was driving to meet with my financial advisor after work, and it was 70 (or close to it) and it was not windy, and the sky was clear, the sun was out...it was a PERFECT spring day. It was one of those days that remind me of why I live in MN to begin with. Seriously, I LIVE for these days. Of course I was working most of it, but oh well. Tomorrow I am off and it's supposed to be even warmer, although might be windy...and Saturday and Sunday are supposed to be nice too. I'm looking forward to it. And Saturday looks to actually be a fun day. For once I have people to do something with that day...we'll see how it goes. I owe my sister a big thank you though. Hope I don't get too drunk and forget!!

Frustration!!

Ah, this morning I really didn't want to get up...but you know, I needed my workout, and hey, hottie might be there right? (and tomorrow I might not get up for the gym because I'm taking tomorrow off work and I'm debating if I will go in at the normal time or not) So I get there and there are people standing around outside...gym opens at 5. I was even there earlier this morning that I have been before (5:10) and it wasn't open...someone had called other clubs and someone called back and said he was calling others, then he called again and said he had tried numerous places and no one was getting back to him. At 5:50 I gave up and came home and will be at work really early today. It sucks...I've been partly doing the morning or after work workout to conserve gas, but I think today I'll run to the gym during lunch and get my strength workout in at least. Sigh...

Hmmm...

I'm tired...I'm definitely going to bed early tonight. I don't know what's wrong with me this week...well, I kind of do, but not sure yet if I'm going to talk about it. But I was up early again today, didn't see hottie...although I think he might have somehow been leaving when I was leaving...was he maybe swimming?? (if so damn, I KNEW I should be getting in that pool somedays) Anyway, haven't seen him still since last Tuesday, except that brief siting today. But got home after what felt like a very long day and I went for an OK 7 miler (well, 7.28, I'll explain) at an 8:30 or so pace. Ended up being 7.28 because I had been trying to turn off the alerts (I set them to keep me running fast during my mile) and hit the reset button, and at the end I wanted to know my final pace for my last mile...and then know the paces for the 7 (59:34). But back to being tired. I got home, ate some dinner, had my shower and now there is nothing on TV...I think that means I should go crawl into bed, watch a show or two on my PC that I have missed in the last couple weeks and call it a night. First have to get my bag ready for tomorrow of course.

Final Results TC 1 Mile

This is the person who took first (she also was second overall, she has also been in Runner’s World):

PRs: 1500m 4:06.13(2004); Mile 4:29.2 (2005); 3000m 8:52.67 (2002); 5000m - 15:04.07 (2004)

Career Highlights: 2004 Olympic Trials 1500m champion; 2004 U.S. Indoors 3000m runner-up; 2nd at 2002 USATF Winter Cross Country 4k Champs; 5-time NCAA Champion; 1995 USA Juniors 1500m runner-up

Second place was a Lithuanian runner who I couldn’t find a lot of stats on and third went to a Kenyan whose PRs are: 5K – 15:29, 3K – 8:58 and 1500 – 4:11 (which is about a 4:40 or so mile I believe in conversions).

So take those three (who were part of the championship invite only group) out of the mix and I was 8th in my age group. One place up from last year, and had I been on my game and running what I want to, and what I know that I can run, I’d have placed 4th, or by these standards first in my age group. Ah well.

I’m also confused because my time of 6:15 that I saw when I ran across the mats (ok, a split second before I ran across the mats, I first saw the clock about 15 feet or so from the finish, maybe further, and it read 6:13, by the time I hit it it was switching the 6:15 and the mats were RIGHT after the clock), at least according to chip time for me, I was at 6:18 (still a second faster than last year, but I don’t believe it’s right). How can my chip time be SLOWER than clock time? I know it can be faster, if you are toward the back and don’t start right away, but I was at the front and started right away. It’s kind of annoying as I forgot to hit stop on my Garmin and it had lost signal so I can’t even check the mile stat…but I’m calling it 6:15 since that’s what I saw on the clock (I suppose they could’ve delayed starting the clock but by 3 seconds?)!!

So for last week I had 23 miles. I’m going to push to maybe 25-28 (depending on a few factors) this week and then cut back next week and build up from there into the 30s…hopefully that will keep all things healthy and get me back to real training. No hottie spottings since last Tuesday…hopefully he’ll be there tomorrow!! I’m still debating taking Friday off work too. If it’s nice I’m probably going to, otherwise maybe I’ll take next Monday…I want to take one of the days off coming up though. Yes, I realize Memorial day is coming, but I like the idea of my own day and it’s something I usually end up doing this time of year. Just happens the day I usually take off falls over the weekend…and I keep getting asked what is going on this weekend…so far I have not made any decisions…had thoughts of going to see a band play both nights, had thoughts of a half marathon (that obviously isn’t happening since I had the heel stuff and can’t quite get to doing that distance yet) and who knows what else…I just hate to say I want to do this as I know people will find excuses not to or end up not making it and I’ll just be disappointed by it so I think I might have decided to just hang out at home and drink a good bottle of wine…sounds like a plan to me!!

Mother's Day Weekend

So was at my home town over the weekend for Mother's day. Every year my family does a Race for the Cure walk around my town, it's been determined it's too much hassle doing it at the real race since it gets so crowded. There were about 20 of us that did it. One of my aunt's, a survivor, and we carried on the memory of her sister that lost her battle 7 years ago this October, and the other sister who lives in Denver but is also a survivor. It's a random group of friends and family that make it each year, but it's a good walk. And this year an additional stop for screwdrivers and bloody marys at some friends was added, and then there was brunch for all. Susan G. Koman is such a good organization. While it may seem that there isn't always a lot of progress made, and there is always so much money raised you wonder where it goes? But I can tell you, my aunt, the survivor that was walking today, might not be here if not for Susan G. Koman. See after her diagnosis, she went through her chemo, and radiation (after a mastectomy) and then went through a clinical trial of an anti-cancer drug. This drug proved to be so good in the trial, that they stopped the trial early, and pushed it to market. My aunt was told she had been given the drug and came away with a clean bill of health. This August will mark 6 years since she was through all treatments and she's still cancer free. Five years clean is almost considered to be cured...So while there may be questions about the reasearch, I definitely think it's worthwhile. Without that drug, who knows how she'd be doing now. It's just too bad that it wasn't found soon enough for her sister. Hopefully someday they will be able to wipe out breast cancer, but until then, it's definitely an organization worth supporting.

TC 1 Mile 2008

Today is my one mile race. I’m not going to post this till I actually end up doing the run, but thought I’d at least have something started before I get to it. This will be my first official race this season too. I had a few others I wanted to or contemplated doing but for various reasons didn’t. This race I had a pretty high goal for myself…high school PR…yes, you read that right. I wanted to beat what I haven’t run since I was…oh…14 or 15…yes, I set my PR Freshman year I think…can’t remember for sure. But now, training myself, I thought to better that. Pretty ambitious! Of course that was before my heel issues, which had me take about 2 weeks off in April and now has me just slowly building back up so I have done none of the training that I wanted to. Hence an adjustment to my goal. Right now if I run a 6:30 I’ll probably be feeling pretty happy about that. Last years time was 6:19, good for 9th in my age group, but not as good as I would’ve liked to have had (last year I wanted to break 6, again no speed work due to many things). I’m also debating if I’ll run in the open category, or the smaller, for my age group, that I did last year and signed up for again this year (there is an option of running in any group and I might just run in one of the other age groups to have a smaller group and still not have to wait, it’s all chip timed so doesn’t matter, that’s even stated on the web site). It’s a 30 minute or more time difference between them though and I don’t really want to wait that long. I have things I do need to do tonight to be ready to head to my parents after work tomorrow…and I need to get to sleep early so I can get up and get to the gym to see hottie, I mean to get a workout in and hope that hottie is there!!

So I opted to run my age group wave again...and I have to say I'd like to order up the weather today for Twin Cities...race was around 55 or so degrees and no wind, a little cloudy...perfect. There were over 2600 runners there today. I did some warm up and wandered around and killed time till the race started. I even used 3 different bathrooms! Yeah...Anyway, lined up finally for my race wave and 3 minutes to start I realized I DID NOT want to run this race. Bad timing, I know...anyway, blow horn went off and we were off. This year they changed the course and we had a nice hill early on, but it was short enough and you run this fast enough you don't even notice. There wasn't split times at the quarter like they said, instead as I was dying trying to figure out how I was going to make, oh at least another half, I heard the splits at the half...I was just under 6 minutes there...WTF?? Uh huh...didn't feel like I was going that fast, but no wonder I was hurting. From there on it's a straight shot and you just pray to keep it up...I was counting down the blocks and praying for the finish. I saw the finish finally, no real kick left (not that I had built one up anyway) and crossed the mat...it was 6:14 or 6:15...so faster than last year. That shocked me. I'm not nearly as ready or in as good a shape as then...maybe it was the 6 miles I had done during the day before the mile last year that got me (and the 25 miles for the week by that point!!). Anyway, I know I have better in me...next time...My heel...hurt pretty bad all day. Not good. And it took 2 miles of warm up, some stretching and still was a little sore, but didn't really notice it during the race. I was burning at the end. Lungs still hurt and I fininshed an hour ago...that distance hurts!!

Dreams

If only dreams could be reality…no, I didn’t have a dream about hottie…I dreamt I was running a marathon (go figure, so how many of you have had these dreams, or any race distance?), it was weird cause it wasn’t Twin Cities this fall, but I was running Boston, to qualify for Boston, but since I was trying to qualify, I was running the reverse route…yes, weird…anyway…I had a time that was 3:29 and some odd seconds…one can only hope! If all things come together perfectly that’s right in the range I’m shooting for…

Another weird thing today. Remember my mentioning this wedding and trip out to New York that I’m making in August? Well, got an email today that the big wedding is off, instead it’s now a private ceremony…apologies to those that have already bought plane tickets but they hadn’t realized the hardships some were going through trying to make it to the big wedding…so they cancelled it and are doing it on their own. This leaves me with a ticket to NY and decisions to make. 1) I could attempt to change the ticket (for a fee) and hopefully get it to get me to Portland, which I need to get a ticket for in July and am having a rough time finding a decent fare…doubting I can get that though since it’s a non-refundable ticket. 2) I can just make the trip, I have one friend out there I was going to visit part of the trip anyway, another friend was hopefully coming to the city as well, but no guarantees there 3) I can make the trip, spend a couple of days in NY with the one friend then train it up to Providence and maybe to Boston again, which I’ve mentioned I love…of course I have to be sure people are going to be around and this is going to be an option…decisions, decisions…

I had a fairly pleasant evening run after a long work day (Minitab training, one more day...it's all stats all day!). I ran an errand, literally, to the bank...needed to deposit some money and it's 3 miles to the bank. Then I ran back home and added on 2 miles along the way for a total of 8 miles. First mile was a warm up but from there on it was 8:30s or better, averaged 8:22...not bad. Guess I haven't lost my speed being off for that time and in this slow build up phase. Only wish I could've done some speed work for my mile race tomorrow.

Ah Hot Day!

Tuesday is such a good day of the week. I’m not sure why I didn’t notice that before. I got up. I went to the gym. I decided instead of cardio I was going right to the gym floor. I got situated with weights and started a workout…and who did I spot in the mirror?? That’s right…hottie was there!!! I haven’t seen him in a couple of weeks so I was so excited and happy!! Anyway, was working through stuff I was doing and realized I needed to grab a bosu, which were on the other side of the weight floor, and hottie happened to be over at one of the lat pull down machines…he finished as I was walking that way and was heading the opposite direction, he smiled and said “morning” to me…ah…heaven…his eyes are definitely more toward the color of honey than dark brown that I had assumed…I lit up, said morning back and we went on our way. But hey, look, I talked to him!!! At least now next time I see him, we’ve had an initial contact, I can say morning to him next time!! He’s so cute…have I mentioned that??? I suppose he was just being nice, since we had made eye contact, but it still was a thing that made my morning.

Oh yes, and everyday I’m seeing more and more green in the trees…maybe we’ll have flowers blooming soon!! It is forecast to be in the 60s rest of the week too.

Unfortunately, I've had a downturn to the day...kind of hitting a funk. No idea why. Partly maybe the all day of training I sat through...apparently hottie can only get me through a small portion of the day. Lots of things just causing issues I guess.

Denise??

And no, this isn't a dedication to MNFirefly (although she did just graduate last weekend with honors, great job!!)...remember the b**** that lives downstairs from me, there have been some new issues and of course she's been complaining to everyone and has a telephone game going on with no one knowing and/or checking on what might really be happening...but tonight was nice and I went for a run, then I got home and decided to grill a burger...and hag came home. And she saw me. And I hear her call Denise. Denise. Denise. (I'm reading, and I KNOW she's talking to me, but it's not my name, so yes, I'm a child and ignor her) Finally she asks if I'm Denise _______. OK, not going to put my full real name out here...Anyway, I say no, she asks if I live there, and I say yes, I'm DANIELLE (I know her name is Jeanette, and have known that almost the entire time living here). So she goes on how I need to call my insurance and get it into other insurance so the insurance companies can figure out who needs to pay her damage etc. And I said that we need to figure out what is wrong before anything is fixed. She goes on about how the insurance and property manager know it's my new fridge (un huh, cause they have all been out here to look at it) and on and on about the deal...like I said, she doesn't know what happened, she hasn't had a plumber come look (but thinks I SHOULD have one come and rip up my floor apparently)...yeah honey, I'm going to jump all over that when you can't even be sure of my name. My mom is Denise...not me.

Anyway, if only I could've eaten better today. I snacked too much tonight...I got up, biked this morning, did ab work, then ran tonight...and then I ate and undid it all...I'm never going to lose this 8-10 pounds I need gone before October...I keep gaining and losing the same pound or two...ughh...and I have a mile race on Thursday I'm SOOO not ready for. Hmm...looks like a thunderstorm rolling in.

Spring, Act 2 Scene 1

Let’s hope, and pray, and do dances to God/the gods that FINALLY, finally…we might be blessed with spring in the cold northern Midwest. We didn’t get the snow predicted. We had rain storms, thunderstorms in fact, and then yesterday was sunny (but cool) all day. And today…today…well, it’s been sunny and hit at least 67!! That had been the forecast and amazingly it held!! I had some errands to run and decided I would go strength train at the gym while out and maybe go to the nursery and get some flowers to plant…Well, as I’m loading up my car, I notice my bike and think, hmmm…why drive just to get there fast, on such a gorgeous day? So I drop stuff back inside and get my bike out and bike the 5 miles in about 25 minutes to my gym (remember, I’m on a mountain bike and no cages or clipless pedals, it’s a down motion, that’s it). I did 40 minutes of strength training and ab work and then got on the bike to hit Target and the grocery store. Yes…on bike. It was about 3 miles to the grocery store, where I just bought the reduced sodium chicken bouillon for grandma (she’s on a restricted sodium diet now due to the heart stuff, hopefully gets good news next Monday when she meets with the surgeon as far as the surgery she may need goes). Since I was on bike, I didn’t have room for the frozen pizzas and/or ice cream that I might also have bought!! At Target I realized I didn’t need much of anything there, but some frozen dinners and potatoes…so I bought a small bag of potatoes and only 3 of the frozen dinners (just like to have them on hand to bring to work on occasion) and hopped on my bike to head home…leaving the cheese popcorn and a few other things I thought about bringing with me behind…I was only on bike!! (not only did I burn calories, but didn’t come with snacky things to eat at home…double bonus!!) I did end up with some chocolate…but oh well. 3.5 miles and 20 minutes later I was home. Yes, I like THAT close to Target (at least with the bike highway I can take part of the way). Not just Target, but Super Target!! When I got home I hung up the bike, took a bit to relax, had a bite to eat (an apple, yummy wheat crackers from Trader Joe’s, and low fat cheese…good mix of carbs and protein!) and then went off for a quick, what turned into, a 4 mile run. It was a good workout day. I did some yoga when I got done. My legs were burning during the run, guess they worked today! And now I’m vegging and going to chill for the rest of the night. My heel…haven’t mentioned it for awhile…but it’s still sore…but seems to almost feel better during my runs. In fact it starts a bit sore, but loosens up and feels better shortly into the run. I said I was going to take it slow starting back and I ran 4 days this week, ok, 5 but one day was just 1 mile to warm up so I could do some plyometrics, so I don’t count that…and just did 19 miles. I’ll build from there over the next two weeks up to 30, take a cut back week and should be back to 40 miles by early June, just in time to start my real marathon program mid-June.

Oh, and I think I detected the scent of flowers in the air, there are buds and some real green leaves on some of the smaller bushes and trees. So spring, MIGHT be here…oh and to Molly and Nicole, you’re right on the move to the south…in MN snow does happen in May…I do remember one year where we had an inch on the ground on Memorial day (OK, yes, it melted right away, but it came down enough to make everything briefly white). I just live with the hope that we’ll have summer…

Cabaret and a Run

Last night I went and saw the show Cabaret at one of the local theater companies. We had a deal through work for opening weekend discount tickets and myself and two friends took them up on it and went to see the show. Dinner before, a couple of beers at a local brew house and then off to the show. I wasn't very familiar with show, and it was very good, but not such a happy ending...but they can't all can they? I definitely didn't know the Germans had some of that in them though!!

Today started with me waking up too early (even though it wasn't an overly late night) at 7:30, got up, had a bite and picked a friend up to drive her to the airport...on the way back I stopped at the gym and did 6 miles on the track, 30 minutes on the bike and then went to Trader Joe's where I spent a small fortune on healthy for me stuff. I got a lot for the money though. Pretty much same amount when I buy crap other places so it's all good. I'm definitely trying to go for more healthy, so even bought milk there to try it. Actually not bad (I've found some milk, namely Oak Grove, I don't like) and doesn't have the hormones and crap in it. Anyway, stopped also at GNC so I could finally get some Accelerade to try and some Endurox R4 to try for recovery after workouts. I'm not good about eating after a workout and that is about the best way to take in some calories and the mix you need. Will try it tomorrow probably...or whenever I next strength train at least.

No snow today. So that's a good thing. We had the fun of going to the theater in a rain storm last night...ah well...at least it wasn't snow!!

Tornado Watch?

Last week when I was out of town, I heard there were weather warnings flashing across warning of the snow (that came). Today, I just saw a warning for tornados...my hometown county was included in that. Yet, in other forecasts for the week, there is chance for rain mixed with snow on Saturday. Should I be surprised? This is Minnesota?

I'm just praying and praying and praying that spring will eventually make it here. I can't not have my spring and summer!!

So no hottie again today. And tomorrow I HAVE to get up even if he's not there as I have plans for tomorrow evening...dinner and going to see Cabaret...can't wait. It's been way too long since I've been to a show!! This morning I did a 1 mile warm up on the indoor track and then 4 laps worth of plyometrics, followed by 40 minutes of strength and stretching and THEN 30 minutes on the bike...the plyo I've been really wanting to get back into my routine...now hope I can keep it up!!