Apathy

    Is it just me? Or is this election a serious beat-down? f I can’t stand to hear Hillary/Obama/McPain ramble on. I used to be such a junkie! Come to think of it, I have noticed a certain level of apathy among all people who get really interested in politics. Following or studying politics for a few years is kind of like slowly finding out that your favorite TV show is fake. ….(although I found out that “The Hills” is fake, and I still watch (it’s def. not my fav…))

 What I mean to say is, I’m so tired of the doublespeak in politics. The sound bites. The photo ops. ARgh.

It’s rainy and cold here in Georgia and I haven’t gone running in five days. That could be why I’m in a bad mood.

In other news, I want set my sights on the next big run. 
To be honest, as a ”non-runner,” I did not like running with and in front of so many people during the half marathon at all. I didn’t really think it was a fun experience, but I need a goal to work towards.

Any and all tips would be greatly apperciated! I’d be shocked if I could pull this one off. 
The full marathon is in November.

Also, I want to get the Nina Simone Pastal Blues CD.
I’ve listened to some of her stuff online and it seems good.

Pictures from the Georgia ING:

 
( I didn’t finish at 2:15 – the clock starts when the first people start running. It takes a lot of time to get up to the front. It took me about 13 minutes or so.)

Georgia ING Half

 

I finished the half marathon with 9 minute miles today.
Kinda slow, I know, but it’s just a start.
 I’m just glad I didn’t stop running for the duration of 13 miles.

The race seemed uphill, and it was 40 degrees and rainy.
I pulled both calves at mile nine, but  survived.

Interesting Week

I had a pretty awful week, overall. On Sunday, I dislocated my thumb. On Monday, I woke up extremely sick and missed work. On Tuesday, I was still feeling awful and I was groggy, so made a few mistakes at work because I didn’t sleep the night before. On Wednesday, a drunk driver hit me. On Thursday, I suffered a pretty severe anaphylaxis reaction to some antibiotics. Apparently there were antibiotics in some chicken I had the night before. It’s scary to have a reaction like that.

After I was feeling better today, I ran 6 miles with my brother (who’s home from Union University). The weather was absolutely beautiful and my whole family is still grateful he’s OK after what happened to his school. I guess things are pretty good after all. I still have the rest of the week ahead of me.

Half marathon in three (3) days…..

a slightly cheesy but still interesting video about Union University

Drunk Driver

I was hit by a drunk driver tonight. I’m fine though.

DON’T DRINK AND DRIVE!

No exceptions: even if you are the star of your own “little people” reality television show.

The “Long” Run: Pride Cometh Before a Fall

   I have a 1/2 marathon in two weeks.

AHEM. I would describe myself as a non-runner. As the assigned goalie in high school soccer, I am very good at kicking things very far distances. That’s about it.

So I checked out “Running for Dummies” from the local library. I’ve been running during the week and doing long distance runs on the weekend. I’ve been keeping track of my mileage on a big poster board in my room. I bought a Runner’s World magazine. I’m ready, right?

With almost a year of running under my belt and some modest recent improvements, I got the brilliant idea to “run until I can’t.” My short run were too easy this week and I’ll be honest, I was getting pretty cocky. So I decided to run the distance of my upcoming half marathon (13 miles) for practice.

Well it was about 70* and VERY sunny today. I started running and after about .02 miles, I thought… “Boy. Maybe I should have had some water today.” Kept running.

I got to what I thought was about 5 miles and thought, “Hmm. My teeth are sticking to my lips. I’m not feeling so good. Sandpaper. Hmm.” Kept running. Eventually, I had to run into a Mexican restaurant and got a small cup of water. I drank a little and poured most of it over my head to cool myself down. I kept running.

At what I thought was about four or five miles more, I ran into a gas station. The attendant looked at me like “THIS IS GEORGIA. IT’S HOT. WHY ARE YOU RUNNING AT THIS HOUR…?” (maybe that’s just what I was thinking). Anyway, I grabbed a bit more water and continued . It was a really bad run. I mean, it was WORK. I figured I was at about 9 or 10 miles when I reached my wooded trail. The wooded trail would add about 3 miles to my trek.

I really didn’t want to go into the woods. I mean really didn’t. The hills are steep and there are a lot of people on that trail. Worst of all, most of them are on BIKES. Psshaw. So easy.

But, true to form, I ran into the woods. After about a mile and a half of steep hills and sharp turns, my upper legs felt like they were going numb. I was gasping for air and running pretty slowly. My arms hurt.
Don’t ask me why.

The sun was burning my skin. My vision was white and blurred. I made it through the woods. I turned the corner and started to run home. I thought about turning back and asking some of the mountain bikers for some water…. an extra water bottle. Gatorade. I thought about drinking from the big pond in the woods. I thought about all the shots of the desert in the English Patient. I thought about lying in a puddle or diving into someones pool. I thought about Waterworld. You know, Kevin Coster actually drinks his own pee in that movie. I actually thought about that scene.

I had a mile left. My legs felt like lead and my feet were making slapping noise against the pavement. Relentless cramps rose up and down my abs. I actually got the chills. I tried to distract myself from the running my calculating the distance in my head. Let’s see. 10 miles in the loop around to the woods. 3 miles in the woods, at least. 1.5 miles home. That’s almost 15 miles! A PR! The half marathon is going to be a breeze! Right?

I actually made a pathetic attempt at a sprint at the very end of my run. I finally reached the end. I got home and gmap-ed my distance.

10.39 miles.
10.39 miles.
10.39 miles.

WHAT?!?!Apparently dehydration affects math skills??

So if you heard a huge whooshing sound coming for the dirty South this afternoon, it was my pride deflating. My intended PR was actually my PW: personal worst. I’ve run that distance before! Maybe it’s because I’ve been cutting calories.
Suffice it to say that this half marathon is going to be veeeerrrry interessstttting.

What?!

President Bush predicts GOP sweeps in November, calls it a “fabulous year for Republicans” and  is “excited about the year 2008.”

 ….somebody should really tell him.

You Wanna Piece of Me(at)?

I ran 10 1/2 miles today. It’s perfect running weather here.
My running has really improved since I starting eating meat again. After about 7 months, I’m back to eating das Fleisch!. Bleh. Small changes in my personal life do not make that a big of a societal difference. Animals are still treated horribly whether I touch it or not. I still won’t eat beef or KFC chicken.  I hope to God things change in that industry. I choose not to think about some of the horrible things I’ve read about slaughterhouses. If they were made of glass, we’d ALL be vegetarians.

 While I’m on the topic of eating, why are women celebrities so skinny? Why is this so popular? I’m as guilty as the next person. I read the magazines and go to the websites. I even think a lot of them look good. But I can’t helping wondering, when did Thin become so In?

 WHY? WHY? WHY? WHY? WHY ARE YOU DOING THIS?

It seems to me that celebs are becoming androgynous. Girls starve themselves too look like boys and boys look like this:

 I wonder where he got that blush. I like that shade.

Women! Stop starving yourselves! We need all the strength we can get out here!!!!! REFUSE to do it! Just be healthy!

Bush Says He’ll Help McCain Win

Right…………………………………………………

March 3

I just finished a discovery response for a restaurant case.
Three of the five witnesses are named J. Hamburger, D. Pack, G. Straws, and J.J. Foods. I’m not kidding. These are real people in the restaurant business.

My life recently has consisted of only work and running. I still want to do the half marathon in 26 days. I keep going back and forth with it. I wish there were more marathons during the year. This seems like my last chance until next year. I don’t want to over do it but I’d really like to try to run this thing.

I Can’t Look at a Computer for Even One More Second

I got a new job. I’ve worked 30 hours so far this week… and it’s Wednesday.
I filed my first response to discovery today. Pretty interesting stuff. More later.