My boy, Johnny

First, happy Mother's Day to all of the moms out there with 2 legged and 4 legged children! My little niece sent this to me:

Isn't she cute?

I'm feeling much better today, now that I'm back on the wagon. And by 'back on the wagon', I mean that I didn't eat foods that upset my stomach. I'm giving myself one last day off from running and then I'm hitting the gym hard tomorrow. I need to add some time to my treadmill work out to make up for how little training I did this weekend.

I went to see Dark Shadows tonight. I can't decide if I like it or not. The cast was really good and so was the acting, but I felt like it was a little drawn out and could have been a little shorter.

The character of Barnabas Collins was a little too similar to Captain Jack Sparrow. But I liked it anyway.

                                      Oh, yeah. Sexy nails, Johnny!                        (source)

I also love Johnny Depp and Helena Bonham Carter together. Although, in this movie, there's a scene where she looks remarkably similar to Dana Scully.

                                                            Scully?                                        (source)

I'm convinced that Helena Bonham Carter is probably crazy in real life.

Seriously, try Google Image Searching her.
Every picture looks nutty.

There were lots of scenes that made me laugh and I really wanted to love the movie, but like I said, it was a little drawn out and some of it was way too cheesy. Over all, I'm glad I saw it, but I didn't love it. Boo.

But I still love Johnny Depp.

Insanity

I've made myself seriously sick.

I'm feeling pretty mad at myself because I had planned to go out and do a 6 mile run tonight, but I've been sick most of the day. The cause? Eating things my body rejects.

Yup. I'm a dummy.

Now, I've been pretty dedicated to a gluten free lifestyle, because I've already proven (multiple times. See a pattern?) to myself that gluten gives me horrible heartburn and stomach cramps. The problem is, I will often just skip grains all together, and I think that makes me feel even better.

Then slowly, I start eating more and more of things like rice and other gluten free carbs and after awhile, I start to get sick. I'm also suspicious of having a problem with dairy since I've been sick after eating too much of it several times...like today.

Now I don't want to sound like some whiny whackadoo. Trust me. I love all things made of gluten. I could live solely on bread and pasta. Then add cheese and I'm in heaven.



I know, me too.

I'm actually a little depressed over this because, hell, what am I supposed to eat? Just meat, fruits and veggies? I guess that actually sounds pretty healthy, but yikes. Boring as hell. But the other option is to feel poorly.

If someone tells me I have to give up coffee, I may throw myself off of a bridge. For real.

Now I'm behind in my marathon training, which at this stage in the game, is probably not that big of a deal. I'm still beating myself up over it, though.

Hopefully, I will feel better by Monday and can start anew.

                       Stupid baby is showing me up.           (source)

Sickly

Nice circles under my eyes...

Should this be my new Blogger pic? I look sexy as hell!

This is how I was feeling today, although I will admit, it was more to entertain my coworker than a reflection of my emotional state.

Last night, I gorged myself on sushi, despite knowing better. I paid the price and my stomach didn't feel great for most of the morning. For those that don't know, I have a sensitivity to gluten and grains.




Chinese food was brought in for lunch today at work, but I was strong and got myself some gluten free lunch elsewhere.

Then something happened later in the day. Any and all self control flew out the window and I snarfed a bunch of left over rice.

I know, I know! Stop yelling at me!

So, despite the fact that I even changed into my running clothes at work and was ready to head over to the gym, I ended up going home because I felt sick to my stomach. Now I'm mad at myself because I have plans tomorrow night and won't be able to run then, either.

I think I'm more sensitive than ever. It used to take days for bad eating to catch up with me, but now it seems like if I have too much grain-based things I will not feel right pretty much within hours.

Hee hee, it's sad how true this can be.

It's like I have to convince myself over and over that I really do have an intolerance to these things. Isn't that the definition of crazy? Doing the same things hoping for a different outcome? Well, I wouldn't be the first time someone called me crazy!

Lunch Time Love Affair

My work BFF, Tiana, and I are creatures of habit. Not only do we go to lunch together every day, sometimes I get texts like this even though she sits one cubicle away:

We have a relaxed dress code...

Although, nothing tops my favorite picture of us and this makes me laugh every single time I see it:

Yes, this is a work function.

Anyway, Tiana and I have been working together for an eternity several years and so we have a usual rotation of classy dining establishments which we frequent for lunch, inlcuding Jersey Mike's, where my imaginary boyfriend works.

As luck would have it, his name is Jamie, too (although spelled differently), and he's adorable. He always says hi to us and Tiana always jokes about seeing "my man" when we go there for lunch. Well today, even though there was a line, he had my lunch already made by the time I got to the front to order. I definitely don't tend to change up the things I like to eat if a stranger knows what I'm going to order without even asking. I don't know why this made my day, but it was cute. And I could have sworn he was a little embarrassed. Hee hee

After work, I met up with my friend, Kate, at our usual sushi joint, Kampai, where I consumed one too many glasses of plum wine.

Between the wine and soy sauce (non-gluten free, so I might pay for that later), I'm already retaining water. It was delicious and Kate is always fun. She's actually a buyer for one of my clients, but happened to move to Phoenix and work from home so we go out for sushi a couple of times a month. I'm going to have to spend a little more time on the treadmill tomorrow since I didn't run tonight and my ankles will look like sausages from water retention. Lovely!

     Oh, so this isn't normal behavior? Huh...   (source)

On a more serious note, my friend, Theresa, was diagnosed with stage II lymphoma a few weeks ago. She's had an incredible attitude. Last week, after her first chemo treatment, but before she started losing her hair, she donated 17 inches to Locks of Love. She got a really cute hair cut, but her hair is now falling out and huge chunks and it's horribly sad to see.

My heart is breaking for her. She still comes to work and still has a good attitude, but today she was wearing a hat and seemed more subdued. It really puts everything into perspective. Sitting next to her, I'm reminded every day how precious life is. I don't want to seem cheesy by saying that, but watching someone go through this is really an eye opener. It reminds me not to give up on people, goals, or life in general.

It reminds me that we can be and do anything we want. As lazy as I can be, I really do think of Theresa when I think about skipping going to the gym and training. I think about things I want to accomplish and that not everyone gets a chance to fulfill their dreams.



If you woke up this morning, then it's not too late to become the person you want to be, mend broken relationships or chase dreams.

Why you shouldn't run on Cinco de Mayo...

Because I'm a super party animal, my big Saturday night plans called for a 6 mile run. I could have gotten up early (which was my original plan) but I haven't had a day to sleep late in forever, so I slept until 8:00. I know that 8:00 isn't really that late, but I hate running in the sun here. It's brutal.

He just got done running in Phoenix

So, like the cool hipster that I am, I decided to go out running around 8pm instead. I was excited to run while the Super Moon was out. It truly was beautiful. I tried to take some pics on my phone, but they didn't turn out. I had forgotten that it was Cinco de Mayo and as I looped the neighborhood, it seemed like EVERY SINGLE FAMILY was out barbecuing. Seriously, I couldn't run 100 feet without smelling delicious hamburgers and steaks.

It's hard to run when the whole neighborhood smells like this! (source)

My run didn't go so well, either. I got a horrible stitch in my side about a mile in and it never went away. I walked/jogged for 4 miles and called it quits. In addition, my knee was killing me. When I was moving my stuff back to my house, I found a new pair of Brooks Adrenalines that I had stocked up on when that particular style was discontinued. Score! I had thought that I had gone through them all, but I still had one new pair. I ran in them tonight when I pounded out 45 minutes on the treadmill and my knees felt great.

All in all, my healthier lifestyle is going well...



This is healthy, right?

Mentally, I feel great with all of this exercising and I've even lost a few pounds, which is awesome. On that note, I will leave you with this:

Hee hee hee

Derby Day...and movies.

Today is the 138th running of the Kentucky Derby. Now I'm not a huge horse racing fan despite the fact that a huge percentage of my clientele works Santa Anita, Hollywood Park, Los Alamitos and Del Mar. There are a lot of things that happen on the back side of the race track that I don't agree with. However, I try to tune in for the Derby, the Preakness and the Belmont Stakes - the three races that make up the Triple Crown of horse racing.

I think that the most exciting race I've ever watched was when Mine That Bird won the KY Derby in 2009. Today's winner was I'll Have Another who was in second until the very end, passing Bodemeister who had been in the lead from the first turn of the backstretch, in the last 100 yards. So the ending was cool, but meh. Not a very exciting race this year.

                          He sure is cute, though!                     (source)

I also went shopping for new breeches today because we have a little mini clinic at our barn tomorrow and I needed a nicer pair of breeches than the pair that I am currently wearing.

I gave myself last night off from working out and went to go see The Five Year Engagement instead.


Slight Spoilers (and my own sad opinion) Below....

It was cute and I liked it, but it also depressed me. It has a good ending, so don't worry about that, but they really struggle to find happiness. When we think of being in love, we always think of gooey, silly excitement but in reality, that part only lasts a little while. Then real life happens and I think this movie did a pretty good job of showing how even the nicest of people struggle in relationships.

I guess that's what I liked about this movie: the realness of it. Too often Hollywood tells love stories that are extremely dramatic such as war time romance, etc, but this movie is about a regular couple that tries to make each other happy, but neither of them are. I guess that might have been why I found it a little depressing.

The cast is really good and there's a lot of comedy, but like Bridesmaids, there's an underlying sadness about everything.

Maybe it's just me, but it's one thing when one part of the couple is a douchebag and things are rough, but it's another when both people are good people and they're still unhappy.

I'm probably not the best one to listen to, though, because I'm the only one I know that found the underlying theme of Bridesmaids to be sad. Everyone else thought it was hilarious.

Okay, I've procrastinated enough. I need to take a nap so I can pound out six miles after the sun goes down...

Sleepy Thursday

I was feeling fairly worn out today after killing myself on the treadmill last night. T - who I shall now refer to as Tara, because A.) that is her name, B.) that's what she calls herself on her own blog so I'm not revealing any classified information and C.) I'm fairly certain she is not part of Witsec - warned me against working out when I'm already worn down because that's when she tends to get sick.

Anyhoo, in an effort not to lose my training momentum, I reluctantly dragged myself to the gym after deciding that I would do an easy, light elliptical workout for a measly 30 minutes. I'm an athlete, after all (stop laughing), and I knew I would feel guilty if I gave myself the night off.

It's sad how true this is. I can't stand the sound of my own labored breathing...

Well, the elliptical machine Kicked. My. Ass.

For real.

I had it on the easiest setting and figured 30 minutes would be nice and easy. I do not remember the elliptical being this hard. I was not only huffing and puffing, but my quads were burning. Just goes to show that even with riding my horse 5 days a week and running 3 or 4, there are still muscles that are not getting a workout.

Once again, I over did it. I even dragged out the foam roller when I got home and I hate that thing.

I haven't been on an elliptical machine since before my first half marathon. I just don't remember them being this hard. Maybe I was on a particularly hard machine or maybe it was because my body was already feeling fatigued, but damn.

I'm definitely taking tomorrow off. My first long run is Saturday morning: 6 miles. I will try not to drink tomorrow night, but I can't promise. It's Friday, after all.

I wish this movie was opening this weekend:

I've had a long love affair with Johnny Depp. I'm not sure I dig his pale visage here, but hey, it's Johnny Depp. And Michelle Pfeiffer. Doing a Tim Burton movie. Sounds perfect to me.