Playing Dress Up

I have always liked to dress up, except, strangely, on Halloween. I can be creative 364 (or, this year 365) days a year, but I can't get it right on that one day. That might be why I like hash runs where there's a theme (Red Dress, Green Dress, Toga, Redneck) that I can try to comply with. I've done the red Goth Girl thing, green tube dress with cowboy boots and Elvis glasses, and a Princess Leia toga... I can accessorize for sure.


However it is time to take on an actual character instead of an idea...


Minnie Mouse.


For the Minnie Marathon (it's a 15k, I don't know why they call it a marathon...?) I am going to do like probably a hundred or so other women and dress up as Minnie Mouse. I think it'll be more fun and besides, I have some killer red and black Nike+ shoes that I designed over on NikeID. I already have the sequined ears, and I think I found a black top I like at Dicks, both of which will go GREAT with this running skirt:

Thoughts?

City Confidential

Okay, I am going to spend all day on here (and watching The Birdcage).

I just signed up for the Nike+ City Challenge 2008 - whose city can run the most miles over 35 days, beginning March 3, with one team getting eliminated every week (hopefully not Jax!). For those of you with Nike+ (cough, Mike, cough cough, Darcey) you need to get in on this! Challenges make having the Nike+ more fun and interactive.

Derailed

So yoga didn't happen... at the end of my work day, my throat started to get scratchy. I fixed myself a glass of tea with tons of honey to coat the throat, and no luck. However, since I hadn't eaten much, I had a nice giant Bonzai Pipeline wave of nausea hit. Lovely. So I headed home, stopping by Target on the way. Grabbed what I needed, and talked to the pharmacist. I told him with the scratchy throat, I knew what was coming next. He got me some Benadryl, telling me that the post nasal drip (I know you love all this TMI) was causing my throat to feel raw, and that if I don't try to get the head cold to go away now, while I am not run down and feel pretty decent, that it'll be a full blown chest cold here soon. It's important to note here one valuable lesson I learned last fall - *you can't run with a chest cold. Period.* I refuse to get too sick to run 7 miles at the beach this weekend, so I started on the Bendadryl. Woke up this morning, and I felt like I had this guy in my throat. While I am a big fan of turtles and all, I hate the feeling of a large one with spikes on his back every time I try to swallow. So, considering how I feel from the neck up and how contagious I probably am, I opted to stay home today.

I am so very bored.

No TV, no running, too cold to lay out, and Billy made me pretty much promise not to go to the gym and try to lift weights. So it's me, the MacBook, my apple cider sinus steam bath, and lots of Kleenex. And a Donna brownie.

I think I am going to do some more research on home remedies for head colds...

I'm not even checking the thermometer

I think according to the news, it was about 42 when I went for my run today. I didn't need to know that. According to my iPod, I did 4.98 miles, but Map My Run wants to say it was more like 5.6 (I don't know about all that).

I think I need to start doing some stretching. With my weight lifting and running... I have to admit, I am a bad stretcher. In fact, I don't stretch. But I promise tonight I am actually going to yoga to get the kinks out. If you need some runner's yoga and don't feel like going to a class, read this article: Runner's World - Yoga For Runners

And, best of all, I think I am coming down with a cold. I did a hot apple cider and water sinus flush (thanks, Susan!) and that helped a little, but here it is 3 hours later and I think I can use another one.

Ortega Recap - 5 mi

So I have decided I have a few preferred distances - 5k, because it's easy and they usually give you beer at the end of good ones, and Half Marathon, because they give you medals and you go home knowing you pushed yourself hard all morning. But my little 5 mile Ortega River Run was just fantastic! The neighborhood is gorgeous (I call these "Real Estate Runs", where you are checking out all the houses), with the right amount of hills and a view of the river (in between mansions, of course), and even has two bridges for those of you who just have to have some challenge. 1:04:27 beat my projected time of 1:07.

And I even made it into the paper...

Run For This Weekend?

Just a thought... I am tired of running the Ft. Caroline route so I told Mike I'd come up with one better...

Thoughts on Running

I wish I'd written this down on Sunday during or after the race. But I was to obsessed with not dying.

I am a terrible runner. Slow. Easily distracted. Goofy Fuel Belt. But I love it. I'm not winning any money anytime soon... in fact, they're pretty much taking my money and allowing me to cause myself pain and momentary misery, but it's all worth it...

I am a masochist. I dig the pain. Sore back, sore hips, blisters, sunburn, swelling my shoes to their limit. I like feeling like I got up and did something worthwhile with my day. Lots of people don't have leg strength, strong muscles, nerves to tell them that things hurt... some even legs at all. I'm so glad God gave me all of that, it'd be almost wrong not to push them to their limits.

I am a voyuer. I like to watch. Speed, form, muscles moving, sweat dripping, feet leaving the ground and returning, arms pumping, abs turning... the human body is amazing.

I am all about the camraderie. We're an elite group, those of us who consider it the greatest sport of all to achieve so much without any equipment aside from our shoes. That the magic lies not in the bat, the club, the engine, the ice, the ball... but in the ability to put one foot in front of the other with determination, that the only way to win is to get back home.

I have always been a vain fan of pedicures. I loved my pretty, shiny red toenails. But like a badge of honor, my blisters, scars, and broken toenails remind me that I am tough, and I can go and go and go and go in a way those pretty red toenails only dreamed about.

Blogtastic!

Okay, so I am going to attempt this... again. Wish me luck!