Happy New Year!

Has it really been 3 months since I last posted? I have a lot of good qualities but apparently stick-to-it-ivism is not one of them. Alas, I am going to make another go at it. It's a new year - 2011, which is crazy. I will be 32 this year, which is also crazy. 32 is one of those ages that I remember thinking "Wow, she is a GROWN UP" about when I heard someone was that age, all the way up through my early twenties. And now I am here.

So, since September I have continued working at my same bogus but lucrative contractor gig. In October we went to Memphis, which was awesome, I would buy a condo there if they were $40k. In November, I felt slightly sorry for myself one Friday night and the next day we wound up with an 8 week old puppy. She is perfect - Nadine. Crazy, and puppies/dogs are hard, but we love her very much. Then later that month I completed the Philly Half after not running since early October due to a painful groin [that's what she said]. I was nervous but determined. My goals were finish, don't stop/walk unless dying, don't die and break 3 hours. I succeeded with all at 2:51, even walking to dinner that night. Walking is a loose term, I was gimping hard-core. And for like a week after. But I am very proud of myself and proud to poo-poo people who thought I was kidding. It was a good feeling - required a lot of Advil and gummi bears and gatorade and I almost cried at mile 12 but the end was worth it. I will actually train for one next year and maybe get up to my goal time of around 2:20-25. We shall see.

For 2011, my goals are pretty simple. Floss more, complain less, run, learn to drive a stick, maybe get married. Side notes are losing 30 pounds and getting my shit together [cue the laugh track, when aren't those my goals]. I started out today by eating ok - "healthy" bagel with 2 fried eggs, tea, some juice, an apple. I had this all after a 2.4 miles run that I completed in slightly less than 32 minutes. Kind of suck city but I hadn't run since November [the Half Marathon] so I was glad to just get out - it's also 50 degrees out [after a gnarly blizzard last week] and I would be an absolute lazy shit if I hadn't gone out. I will work on short bursts and try to get down to 10-11 minute miles. I can do it, I think. I also need a new race for this year. I should do a late winter one but I'm guessing that won't happen. So spring, summer - we'll see.

Ed just made a fantastic sauce, so we had some fusili and salad and garlic bread. Now I am having some wine and probably some chocolate. Not a bad way to start off the year!

Crestfallen

I'm not actually the above, a bit tired and sore as shit [6.9 miles, with hills! 1hr31min, which is bad but a 13.2 min pace is eons above the 15 minute shit I was pulling a few weeks ago, so there]. They just used the word in Mad Men and I think I may steal it and insert it into my lexicon. Crestfallen is the new despondent, embrace it.

So this week was good, I ran Monday and then did the bike Wed and Thurs nights, along with my arms both nights. I am up to 30 reps of my 7 arm exercises - woot! I took Friday off from exercise and did the bike again yesterday [a half hr on strength each time, like 7-8 miles depending on how lazy I am] and my arms, then ran and did my arms today. I am back to drinking after not drinking from 8/22 through 9/3, my version of 2 weeks. So far I've been reminded that drinking makes me tired and/or gives me a headache, so I'm thinking I'll cut that back way more in general. Seriously, Shirley Temples are the shit. Beyond that, I felt good running today, I'm feeling better about the half marathon...go go go!

God this show mades me want a dictaphone and a bar cart.

All Terrain

So the 5k last night was in the mother-fucking FOREST. What?! Like beautiful non-humid night and lovely part of RI but seriously, roots and wood chips and rocks, ugh. And I should really train at least a little if I'm going to run. And maybe eat more than like a bagel in the day time. I finished last, 41:44. Ugh. But I did it, I ran the whole thing, I finished. Blah and Blah. I feel kind of sucky today but not as bad as I thought.

I did some arms tonight and ate too many cookies. I am done with my antibiotics so I can stop using that as an excuse to eat bread, bread and more bread. Work is becoming an issue, I need to stop going out to eat. That Bamboo isn't even good and is a diet-killer. And I'm supposed to be saving money. Ah, life. I still have my attitude problem, hopefully that will get better as I start to feel better.

I'm going to try and keep momentum going and run 4-5 miles tomorrow, I have no real weekends to myself until mid-September. And work will be insane by then. I am so annoyed by everyone and everything. Except Ed and those cookies and MTV programming. These are good things.

Ddejncjsdncjjc

Again with the re-examining of life. I've been putting off blogging intentionally because I have to REALLY think of things I like besides Ed, my cat, my family, my bed, my iPhone and laptop, and eating. I am glad it's summer even if it is HORRENDOUSLY hot. Like bad. I did a 5k yesterday in 35:20, not awful. My legs kill today but I did 6 miles on the bike too. Getting it together but for now it is a suckfest.

I'm going to wuss out and go with TV shows I look forward to. So sad.
1. Locked Up Abroad
2. Mad Men
3. Dexter [wtf?]
4. Intervention
5. The Office. I have 2 seasons to catch up on now, will make for a lovely fall saturday.
Because I prob don't have a free Saturday until then, FML.

Beyond that, I look fat in Martha's wedding pix and I look fat in Daddy's pix from yesterday. Didn't stop me from carbo-loading today. Vicious cycle.

Also, starting the wedding plans, discreetly. I'll just figure it all out and tell Ed we're doing it. This is how we work.

lazy, busy, blah blah blah

time warp week, and it's looking like this will be too. when does it end? how do people work this much? when do you LIVE????

is this why people have children, to feel something? i can almost understand that. not get behind it or buy into it, but i get it.

ran 1.5 miles this am, did the shortest lamest bike ride EVER after work. less than 10 minutes, no joke. but no spills. and i love my helmet. 7.5 mi race on sunday was bumped to a lame old 5k. yuck. daddy and i need to plan a longer run, they are impossible to find. whatevs.

1. My potential snack shop life plan. Details to follow.
2. My week off. I need it.
3. Fireworks, next weekend!
4. Stupid quarter being over.
5. More dog-looking, hopefully dog-getting. My parents have HIGH standards. Of course, they'd have 6 pitbull rescues by now if it was up to me.

back to ed's depressing poulltion documentary. who am i dating?

TGIF

For real, this week has been bleeccchhhh. Way too busy with work stuff and post-work commitments. Last week too. On the positive, I am so much more productive when stressed and time-crunched, but the production is for work or stuff for other people. Translate to, my house is still a mess and tomorrow is going to be frantic up until 3:58. I need to figure out how to channel my energy to the parts of my life that matter.

happy or good list-
1. Chesterfield sofas, come on.....
2. Chanel purses
3. Tea
4. McDonald's sundaes. [what's up, profile pic!]. Maybe McDonald's in general, minus the whole giant corporation, fake food, people are fat aspect
5. Macerated strawberries, I'm making you tonight

I'm thinking I may need to move this list to Thursday and make Friday a lessons learned from the week post. This week I learned:

1. I will use any excuse in the world to "not find time to exercise". Even with a SEVEN.FIVE miles RACE coming up in THREE WEEKS. I haven't run in 2! FML.

2. I am a crazy person when it comes to my job. Fickle and emotional and all over the place. I am completely the opposite of this in every other part of my life. And I should clarify, I'm not fickle or emotional or nutso when doing actual work, just when thinking about where I'm at, where I'm going, what I want. This better go away by 35.

3. Parties make me nervous. I knew this.

4. Ed and I can fight while cleaning without breaking things, progress - yay!

5. I love spending money. LOVE. I knew this too, but it needs to be typed because it can turn into a Bad Scene.

3 Day Instant Weekend

3 glorious days off and squat to show for it. I had such grand hopes and basically wound up breathing in too much bleach and yelling at Ed. Which would be fine except that he got me a beauteous new macbook for my birthday and I am a big jerk. But he is also a big jerk as I have no time this week to do anything and we have my birthday party on Saturday, so we were supposed to get the house into tip-top shape. And he promised! The promise resulted in him hanging 2 shades and a couple curtains. Thanks.

Anyhow, I'm back to my nearly constant state of no relaxation and no productivity. Barf. I did sleep a lot. And had some good burgers. And this thing is so shiny and perfect it kind of makes up for it. Needless to say, my week will not allow for exercise nor did last week. I have been eating ok, still too much but I cut back on sweets. Minus the JP Licks trip I berated Ed into tonight. I have a 7.5 miler on June 27th so June 7th training goes into full gear minus Martha's wedding. It seems daunting, but I think I'm just despondent in general. Off to bed, this post is just to put in writing [cause that helps so much...] that I now have no excuse to shy away from the blog. Half marathon in less than SIX MONTHS - FTW!

20 Day Time Warp

I've been a bad blogger, again. Whatever, starting a-fresh today.

Ran my 10k yesterday! Woo-hoo! It was EIGHTY-FIVE DEGREES. I'm not joking. In April, I was afraid it would be too cold but never even considered it feeling like July. A little preview of summer training I guess? I will def need to start waking up early. However, I ran the whole thing and didn't die or pass out so I call that a victory. 1 hr and 18 minutes, I came in like 1650 of 1750 - whatever. I wasn't last, I broke 1.5 hours and I didn't die. Goals = Met. Daddy was proud of me.

One goal I have not met is my weight loss. I think I am moving into hardass crazy pants diet for May [minus Vaca] and up until my birthday. This will be challenging in summer, BBQs and Sox games, but I really need to get lighter so I can run faster so I can EAT MORE> the ultimate goal.

For today, no exercise as my legs feel like Jell-O, I worked from home and had:

2 eggs fried in EB [late, brunch-ish]
2 sausage links
Cup of tea
some watered down juice
An apple
A yogurt

Dinner now, I am starving!

Erin Go Bleerghhaackkk

My sentiments exactly.

WFH today, had some yogurt and tea for br, banana.
2 pieces WPF toast, more tea, some juice. Had PB&J on a tortilla, I like that even if Ed says it's totally weird. More juice, went for a run. Sucked at first, got better, got even better to the point that I thought I could do 2 miles but I bailed after halfway through my 7th lap [so 1.5 straight...not awful]. My plan is to be up to 2 miles this Saturday, then I guess start taking it to the streets?

Daddy says the course is flat, that's good. I will go on google maps and find a local flat course. I know it won't be a huge difference but the race is not on a track and that's all I've been running on. Today was a bit encouraging but exercise is still not the urge I wish it was in me. Alas. I will have to take some advil next time and maybe look into good muscle food...like bananas? There have to be others. I am sore.

So hit up WF and had a salad of tomatoes, mozzarella and cucumbers and 2 big pieces of garlic toast on the WPF. Some kind of dill onion, it has big chunks of onion in it, not a fan comparatively. Not that it's stopping me from eating it. No trivia tonight due to St Patty's, next week. Now I am going to make some tea and have a sweet while I watch season 2 of The Tudors: a nice simple night. So far it's ok, except the king has a bad teenage mustache and more hair this season, not sure how I feel about that. Beyond that, mindless and medieval as usual.

The Kindness of Strangers

WFH, snowy-as-hell Monday [in March: yee-haw!]. Ate my bagel and some tea, a banana, more tea. Busy like crazy today - up and running at 7:30, shoveled, sent some emails, showered. Then go-go-go: I didn't eat lunch nor go out to shovel again until after 3.

And when I did go out to shovel, somebody had already snowblowed my whole walk way! We had done some to get the car out for Ed this AM but it definitely snowed after and some super nice person decided to help us out. I am so touched, especially after the jackass that destroyed my sister's rear windshield Saturday night. The worst part is, I think the party responsible for the kindness is the dude I refer to as the meth-head that loves behind us. I'm obviously totally kidding and just trying to be funny, but will abstain from that moniker going forward. I need to give humanity a chance, I just get so bogged down with the bad stories, octo-moms and vile behavior. This made my day. Which was particularly welcome in a day that was cold and snowy and I felt nutty the whole day.

I still haven't caught up on anything, and feel overwhelmed with life. We have some weird leak going down to the basement - fun times. I got some laundry in but no exercise beyond the shoveling, my shins still hurt. And I am already sucking with my March-I-run-outside resolution - thanks mother nature. I need to attempt to do the Magoun's 5k one of these Thursdays, maybe 4/16, that's a good mini-goal. Plus it gives me 10 days to get it together if it's overly painful.

Ok so had some waffles for late lunch and more ta, some juice. Ed came home and made us salads and we had those and half a TJs pizza each. I am STARVING. How can I not eat all day and then suddenly want to ravage a grocery store once it hits 7 pm? No good. I am having a yogurt now and may crack into my early marshmallow easter bunny [per Bob Gaudet] with some more tea shortly.

Watching Season 2 of The Wire now, again. I love this shit, even though I think I've now seen this season 3 times at least. I have no NetFlix and I realized I have yet to see Season 5 so I need to get going with refreshing. Love it! Maybe a new Intervention at 9...and then Monday will be over.

Success!

So we ran our 5k today. Erin and I together placed #786 and 787 and ran THE WHOLE TIME. I felt like death and still feel kind of wacky but I am so proud of us! Josh took pictures, I will post when I get them. Woke up at 6:40, had a yogurt, had some juicy water, had an e muffin with butter. Did I already write this? It's been a long day. We were super nervous, headed down around 8, got registered, paid $20 to homeless people. There were a LOT of people - 900 I've since discovered. I was #860. This was definitely one of those times in Somerville that I 100% felt like the vapid yuppie that I keep pretending I'm not...one day I need to accept that I'm not quitting my job and dyeing my hair pink again any time soon. Days like this smack me in the face of the truism of this notion.

I kept making nervous and stupid jokes Erin has heard repeatedly over the past 17[!] years - given a "Which 'Friend' are you?" Quiz, I'm Chandler. But yeah, I felt SUPER SAT-jittery, but I would've rather been preparing for a school test. Physical challenges [I Heart Double Dare] are not my forte, by any stretch. Debate me, ask me some trivia, have me write an essay, make me crank out a math problem, even sit me in Dunkin Donuts and at gunpoint demand I identify the song that is playing and sing along - THESE are things I can do. Running, moving, not sitting - these are a brave new world and I was terrified of puking, of passing out, of scraping my knee, of sucking in general.

Walked around until 9 to warm up, it was cold! Went to the post office, dropped some stuff at Erin's car [we elected to drive in, smart decision] and puttered. People were stretching and jogging in place like it was a 10 mile run, so weird. I think I'm in Camp Bob Gaudet in that we can stretch and stuff pre-game, but don't HAVE to, everyone is different. Erin stated the simple but I hadn't thought of it goal of running the whole thing, no walking. I stated as long as I broke 45 or 50 minutes, I'd feel good. Keep in mind, in our "training" we've never run more than like a mile? Maybe that one time at Fresh Pond but I have no idea and based on running today, that as def less than or equal to a mile.

Then we were off. The first bit was kind of rough, a hilly sort of stretch but to be honest, we hit the 1st mile [at 11:12] rather quickly. Erin remarked that's the hardest, which was encouraging. Josh and Mia cheered and photog'd around 1.75 miles. In hindsight, the 2nd mile [reached at 22:10 I think?] seemed like a half marathon. Then we were ok, the bulk of the last part was the dog path that we run on so I had a good expectation of time, terrain, hills. We decided to sprint from the end of the path to the end of the race, which I think we both thought was like 25 yards. Not so much. Josh was there at the end again to snap photos, he is a good boyfriend [Princess slept till 11, god bless him]. I'll be 100% honest here, I couldn't feel my legs for the sprint part and I def thought the end was right in front of the theater, but it was more down by ABP. By that point, I felt like semi-fainty and exhausted.

However, we persevered, grabbed some waters, walked around on a side street, I think we were both thinking if our bodies decided to give out in strange and unusual ways, we wanted to be in semi-privacy. Not in the middle of these 20-minute finishers who appeared unfazed, glistening in a cute Americana kind of way. We were red, we were sweaty, hot, panting. Couldn't stop moving, I understand why people at the end of the marathon continue to move, it's hard to stop! And you like can't trust your body if you stop, so you just kind of keep auto-pilot moving. So weird. Final time was 33:31, 10:49 minute miles. That part felt good, if my actual body did not.

Hung out in Davis for a bit, had some Rosebud breakfast - water!, 2.5 fried eggs, some home fries, some white toast, some chocolate milk [I JUST RAN 3 MILES - and I haven't had real chocolate milk in like 10 years], a bonus iced tea they double-poured [thank god, I was thirsty], some sausage. Gave Erin my bacon, surprisingly I am not a big fan of the b. Met up with Bill in Davis, grabbed a skim chai at Diesel and sat around in a field at some bleachers, still stretching and sitting and unwinding until like 12:30? I hate getting up early but it constantly amazes me how much longer the day is if you do manage to get up and out before noon. Tomorrow, I'm sleeping until 4 if my body so desires.

I feel ok, semi-out of it, my legs will hurt tomorrow. Took a couple Advils after, probably will take some more. My neck/shoulders/traps are killing me these past couple days. I'm blaming office job and getting cold, I swear I tense up without knowing it and cause knots and pain. Ed rubbed some Biofreeze [magic junk he gets from his masseuse] and it feels a bit better. I am so thankful my body doesn't hurt on a regular basis, I would be a total douchebag.

Hmm...got home around 1, took a nice hot shower, changed into a Mom outfit [crew neck Hanes sweatshirt, jeans, and some Chucks, so comfy] and we went to New Balance. Ed has wide hooves and beats the shit out of his footwear so needed some new kicks and I decided I would get some wide shoes because, while not today, occasionally I feel like my third toe creeps over my 2nd toe while running. Daddy says us Gaudets have long meta-tarsals? Caroline and I have always referred to them as Hobbit Feet, but Daddy went to a dr after the marathon this year wreaked some havoc so now we have medical confirmation. Anyway, I was due, I think my existing running shoes were $25 at Marshalls, they're New Balance but for who knows what sport or specialty. So yeah, got some wide cushiony running specified shoes, I'm excited for them.

We hit up my reward on the way back - THE ARCHES. It was Ed's idea [he must've been in a mood, he is not as in love with the FF as I am], I had my Cheeseburger HM with a DC and extra Cheeseburger, didn't finish all my fries [decent batch, not amazing]. We sat on some bleachers [my second set of the day - weird] and watched dogs as we ate. I am a total dog-peeper, I'll admit it. I wanted to steal a guy's perfectly stout little black french bulldog [it was jacked - excellent blood line - and kept rolling over like a goof in the sun]. Ed didn't let me.

Got home, sat, reclined, talked to my parents. Daddy was shocked and awed that I actually did this, I specifically kept it quiet in case I failed but he was stoked. Even suggested I aim for the James Joyce 10k in April. I think Erin and I are going to try for another 5k in November around T-Giving, we def both want to keep it up. Running is ok. I'm syncing up my super old iPod Mini with podcasts so that I actually go out by myself when our schedules clash. In a year, I may actually be a healthy 30 year old human!

Took a nap from 5:30 to 8, and here I am blogging again on a Saturday night, such a loser. Ed just made some TJ's corn bread, it's good. He put real roasted corn kernels in it which makes it's more savory and I kind of prefer my CB sweet but it's tasty and most importantly covered in butter. Having that right now with some lite iced tea from one of those weird To-Go packets. I think I will go through my correspondence and watch some bad TV, make some tea and eat a few Double Chocolate Milanos that I have hidden from Darling in our bedroom [not a joke - he eats sweets like Prater Wully if given the opportunity, so I hide food in obscure drawers and storage bins] and the go back to bed. All in all, a good day, and I have very little to do tomorrow too so I feel great. Over and out.