Six on Saturday

Holla!

1. So much for my crazy training. I knew it would have to come to an end sometime because that's pretty much how I roll. Actually, I have a decent excuse this time. I got pretty sick last Friday.

The last time I got sick was in 2010 right as I was buckling down and training for my very first half marathon. I got really, really sick twice within a month's time. I was starting to think that I was invincible. It really sucks to find out you're a mere mortal. *sigh*

I didn't even get to take a sick day! I got sick last Friday and was sick all weekend. So I pretty much haven't run in over a week. I'm feeling pretty good today, so I might actually go out for a slow jog around the neighborhood tonight.


2. My sister had her first baby, so I am now a brand new auntie! Because I was sick, I haven't been able to go see the baby, yet. Hopefully, my sister will deem me healthy enough to visit her this coming week.



Kaitlyn Abigail

I've already been informed that I am not allowed to get her involved with horses (hrmph) so maybe I can get her involved in running. I'm excited to be an aunt. It's much better than having one myself! Disney Kids Races, here we come!! (Too soon?)

3. I'm also becoming obsessed with the show, Hannibal. I'm on the fifth episode. I can't believe that they can air stuff that gruesome on network television. It's as gross as Silence of The Lambs. It's really twisted. Check it out of you're into that kind of thing.

Watch it. I'm hooked.

Gillian Anderson is guest starring next week!! I was the biggest X-Files nerd, like ever, so I can't wait for the former Agent Scully to appear as a guest star!

(source)

4. I'm really starting to wish I had signed up for the Inaugural Dopey Challenge. It seems like I'm seeing Dopey hype everywhere. I can't stand it!! I can't afford to go in 2014, so really, it's a moot point. But still. I want to do it! At least I can console myself with the fact that Dumbo Double Dare is going to be so freaking fun. I've got a pretty good idea for one of my race costumes, but I need an idea for the second. Hmmmm...

He's so cute!

5. Registration is now open for the New York City Marathon. Somehow, I keep forgetting that I'm running it this year. Maybe after all of the hype from last year and then the drama of having it cancelled, it sort of floated to the back of my mind. It's six months away. At least this year, I'm starting with a better base. Last year, I sat on my ass for most of the spring, so when training started, it was a real bitch. Right now, I'm regularly running 5 to 8 miles, so I have a bit of a head start.

Hopefully, I will get to actually cross
 the finish line this time...

6. I still need to do my recap from the Pat Tillman Run a couple of weeks ago, but I'm feeling a little lazy. I've been cleaning my house for most of the day, so I need to get back to work. I hope everyone is having a great weekend so far. Happy Saturday!

A Summer Sunday When You Went Insane..

Was anyone else a fan of Cowboy Mouth? The title of this post is borrowed from lyrics in their song Jenny Says which I listened to nonstop in 1996...and maybe 1997. I even went to their concert which I remember as being awesome. But I wasn't even 21 then, so what did I know?

Anyway, it was 112 here today and my brain is fried, so the title seems appropriate. This post is all sorts of random. Don't say that I didn't warn you.

First, how cute is this pony?

I'm developing an unhealthy addiction to Pinterest. Seriously. Once I start, I'm sucked in for what seems like hours. Strangely, I do not like the web based version, but the app version rocks on my phone. I need to do a separate post just about the awesome things I've found, particularly places around the globe that I want to visit and some that I didn't even know existed. Like this amazingness:

Forgotten Temple of Lysistrata, Greece

I need to see this in my lifetime. And what about this?

Innsbruck, Austria at Christmastime

Not to mention the things that appeal to my sense of humor.

Oh Julie, you read my mind!

I considered going running this evening, but it's a dark and still 109, so um, screw that.



It's sad that 97 at the end of the week
will actually feel good.

Run Disney posted a picture of the Disneyland Half Marathon Medal on their facebook page and holy cow, the amount of whining was really annoying. Yes, it's the same design as last year. That's how Disney does their races. They use the same design for 4 years, have a special aniversary medal for the 5th year, use a new design for the next 4 years, have a special anniversary medal for the 10th year and so on. Sometimes I wonder if Disney regrets setting up a facebook page with the constant complaining I see on there.

I still like it.

On a more serious note, and hey this is TMI, but isn't that what blogs are for? I've been struggling a lot with my anxiety. I really, really do not want to be on medication, although sometimes it seems serious enough to warrant the risk. A dear friend of mine talked me off of the ledge today (thank you, D.) but it got me researching natural remedies and magnesium supplementation came up multiple times.

 I dragged my heat stroke suffering ass out this evening to Whole Foods to pick up some magnesium. And delicious sushi. They have a really good sushi counter there. I would have taken a picture, but I snarfed it down before I thought about it. Oops.

Hee hee

I'm willing to try a little magnesium to see if it works. Strangely, it's also given to performance horses to help relax them and ease tight muscles, so it might just help me.

And right now, I watching the closing ceremony of the Olympics. The opening ceremony felt like a trip down Schizophrenia Lane and the closing isn't much better. I'm sad that the Olympics are over. I watched a lot more of the events than I usually do. Congratulations to all of the athletes.

That's all for me, folks. Hope you all had a nice weekend.

WTF Wednesday

Welcome to my random world! I present a hodge podge of topics for your enjoyment today. Try to contain your enthusiasm.

1. We decided to take a group photo at work today. That's a lot of estrogen in one room!



I'm on the far right. And for some reason, my boobs look huge in this pic!

2. A 15 page letter containing doping charges was presented to Lance Armstrong yesterday. I honestly don't know how I feel about that. If it's true, then I'm seriously disappointed in him as an athlete and a human being. But I also have no idea if it's actually true, so I'll wait until all of the facts are in before I decide. But you can read about it here.

(source)

 3. Ahhh. Goofy Challenge.

Registration for the Tinkerbell Half opened yesterday. I think Tink is my favorite Disney race. I posted that on the Running At Disney blog and she asked me why it was my favorite. I answered her in several paragraphs, so I suppose that would be a good blog entry later. Last year, there were two weeks between WDW Marathon Weekend and the Tinkerbell Half so we managed to do both events. It was moved to the weekend immediately after WDW and I just don't think I can pull it off, which is bumming me out. Luckily, it took no effort at all to convince Tara that we should do Wine & Dine in November next year, so that will be cool. I can only go so long in between Disney races. I would also like to do Princess again, but that will most likely have to wait until 2014. Or until I win the lottery. Whichever comes first.

I bought this key chain at Disneyland to keep me motivated.
 Mostly, he just mocks me all day at my desk.

4. Last night I went to a new restaurant called the Windsor. It's in central Phoenix and pretty cool. The food was great and so was the atmosphere. And the entire back wall is lined with cassette tapes. I want to do this in my hallway at my house...if I still had any cassettes, that is.

Love this!

 5. This super cute dude was waiting for me this morning.

6. This is what I had for dinner. Oh yes, I did. Now I'm just waiting for it to cool down so I can go run some of it off.

 That pretty much sums things up for right now. Have a good night!

Love Is Weird

I love, love, love this.

(source)

You can even get it as a bracelet! I want it!

Neil Patrick Harris once again rocked my socks off hosting the Tony Awards.

(source)

And the Les Miserables trailer is out. OMGOMGOMG.  So freaking excited!

Enough randomness. I'm exhausted and off to bed. Good night!





Brain purge

I feel much, much better today. I'm not really sure what was wrong with me yesterday, but um, yeah. I was not in good shape. But I feel pretty good.

I also decided to sign up for the Rock 'n' Roll San Diego Half Marathon today. Woot! I really like the logo.

I wasn't really planning to do any Rock 'n' Roll races this year since I was going to cut back on traveling, not to mention the utter debacle of the R 'n' R Las Vegas Marathon. Then last night I was chatting with a friend of mine that lives in SD and she mentioned me coming to visit. T is planning on running it with a few of her friends, so I thought, "I should go!" Plus, this year the race entry includes a free pass to Sea World. If you registered today, you also got a free gift. Of course I had to enter, right? Unfortunately, the whole point of registering was to get together with a friend and I haven't her back from her, so I hope she's going to be in town.

In other news, I have another horse show this weekend. Ugh. I'm not even sure why I do this to myself. Once this show is over, I will be off the hook as far as horse shows are concerned for quite awhile. Then I can begin planning out my running schedule to get myself back on track. Not mention, I have to start building endurance for a full marathon.

I need this sign....  (source)

In other news, my friend Kristy, and I always talk about how people post nasty things passive aggressively on social websites. You can always tell when someone is going through a break up when they start posting things like, "The next girl I date isn't going to be a lying, cheating whore." You can also tell when someone gets their feelings hurt when status updates such as, "I guess now I know who my real friends are" start to flood their timeline. Apparently, someone made a card about this:

Thanks, Facebook/Tumblr/Twitter for giving us the opportunity to passive aggressively express ourselves!

After this weekend, my training program begins. I know, I know. I keep saying that, but now that show season is mostly wrapped up, I can focus on other things besides my naughty little horse and trying to get him shown well.

Until then, my blog will continue to be filled with randomness.

May The Odds Be Ever In Your Favor

For the last decade, I've spent just about every Saturday and Sunday at the barn hanging out with this guy:

I've rearranged my schedule so that Bam Bam gets ridden before work Tues through Friday and then on Sunday. It feels weird to have Saturdays all to myself for the first time is so long. So how am I spending my Saturday? Nerding out. I'm currently watching my 3rd episode of Cities of the Underworld on the History 2 Channel.

(source)

I'm also catching up on my blog reading and trying to discover new entertaining blogs to add to my reading collection. I've discovered that blogging and being obsessed with The Hunger Games goes hand in hand as it appears most the bloggers I follow either saw the early midnight showing Thursday night, took off of work Friday to see it or are seeing it some time this weekend.

I fall into the category of person-lucky-enough-to pick-a-non-IMAX-twilight-showing-at-6:10-at-the-last-minute-and-still-get-tickets. You know, the time just after work but before the 7:00 showings start.

Does he look like Harry Potter or is it just me? (source)

So, what are my thoughts? I really liked it. The book was definitely better. I was honestly expecting the movie to be narrated since the book is in the first person. They did a good job using dialogue to explain things that are outright explained by Katniss in the story. I think that the movie would have flowed a lot better using text narrated by Katniss.

(source)

There are parts of the movie that come across as really cheesy because A.) the lack of time to fully develop the characters and B.) the lack of narration by Katniss. Example: The relationship between Peeta and Katniss. It's a little bit lame in the movie.

(source)

Over all, I really liked it. I don't think I would have enjoyed it as much if I hadn't read the book and could fill in the missing details. The actors did a great job and I'm excited for the rest of the trilogy.

You're probably thinking to yourself, "um, isn't this a running blog? Why don't you get off your ass and go run somewhere?" Hhhmm, you make a good point. I will have to seriously consider doing that...just as soon as I take a wee nap.

Insomnia

I always have the worst cases of insomnia the night before a race. I have to be in my car by 4:30 tomorrow morning. So why am I still awake?

Google Image Searching for insomnia brought up this ridiculously cute guy...

After work, I ran up to the barn for Friday night Happy Hour which often leads to images like this:

Yes, I'm arguing with a dog and wearing a tiara.
Is that weird?

I behaved myself, however, and only drank water. I left early with the intention of being home and in bed by 9:00pm, but as usual, I get distracted easily and it is now nearly 11:00. I'm forcing myself to bed. Good night, sleep tight!

Hydration Station

While typing away at work, I glanced over and noticed that I had not one, not two, but five drinks going on at my my desk. All from today, thank you very much. I have a weird habit of collecting drink options. It's important to properly hydrate...with 2 different cups of coffee.

5 drinks and a picture of a coworker
 and me in Vegas, baby!

So day two of being grain free has gone swimmingly. To a certain extent, it sucks because I love me some carbs! But overall, my mental well being is vastly improved. I was seriously considering getting my thyroid checked because I was so exhausted all of the time. I'm pretty tired today because I was so jazzed yesterday that I stayed up hours later than I normally do. (Seriously, I was keeping a schedule to rival a senior citizen.)

On another note, I had a smack down with Bam Bam the wonder pony this morning. Talk about a complete full body work out. He's not the biggest horse around, but he's damn strong. And he is not afraid to emotionally black mail me with it. Not even a little bit. I would say riding him counts as a serious work out.

Why yes, I did make this card.

He's 12 and I've had him since he was 2. He's always been a monster. But I love him and so I learn to deal with his naughty ways. I present Exhibit A: He ate his Christmas stocking...

But, it's so yummy!

I also have a halter in pieces in my car and if I wasn't feeling so lazy right now, I would go get it and take a picture. But he's just so damn cute!

That's his BFF behind him, Roger. Roger is the instigator most of the time...

So, yeah, I'm boring tonight. Not much to report. I do have a local half marathon on Saturday, for which I am totally undertrained. I know, it's shocking.

My, my, I'm on fire with my boringness. Originally, this was going to just be a running blog, but I find the more personal a blog is, the more fun it is to read and/or write. Have I mentioned how much I love to abuse the Google Image Search feature?

Google Image Search: A treasure trove of random.

Whew, now that I've bored you all to tears, I'm off to bed. Night, night!