It Might Be Time To Freak Out

I keep thinking I have all sorts of time to train for the NYC Marathon, but it's getting frighteningly closer. I keep checking the New York Road Runners page, not for marathon updates, but for swag updates. Because God knows, I am going to go cray cray buying things with that logo on it.

But then I saw the count down. (Cue ominous music here)

Well, yikes. That's pretty close.

I've actually been training, but it's not pretty. Like, at all. I've done several double digit runs, but I've been hovering in the 12 to 13 mile range, because, well, anything longer just blows. Plus, being the slow turtle-like runner that I am and the Florida-esque humidity along with the Arizona hellish heat, it has just been really, really miserable. I know, I know, boo hoo. Suck it up.

My new awesome weather app.

 

I keep imagining how much nicer the weather will be in NYC, but it will be crappy here until pretty much the weekend before we leave. In a lot of ways, I keep wanting to just blow it all off and wing it, but I also don't want to have a completely horrible experience. After all, how many times will I get the opportunity to run this race?

In the meantime, I've been trolling the NYRR store website. In 2012, they offered really cool finisher jackets for pre-order that you could have delivered right to your hotel the next day. How cool is that?! This year's finisher jackets haven't been released, yet, but there's other cool stuff.

A little pricey for a t-shirt, but I want it.

 

Water bottle? Yes, please.

Of course, the thing I'm really holding out for is the Asics NYCM back pack. My sister got me one from when I was supposed to run it in 2012 as a gift. Now, it doesn't have the year on it, but it has the old ING logo. NYRR has partnered up with TCS and the logo is different. So of course, I need a new one, right? Right?

The answer is yes. I'm a sucker for awesome backpacks and the Asics NYCM backpack is really reasonably priced and really good quality. At least the one I have is. I haven't seen the new one, but I emailed them and they assured me that one would be offered this year. #priorities

Somebody help me use restraint. Anyway, looking at merchandise helps motivate me to get out there and run. Mainly by scaring the shit out me.

This app is the best. Seriously.

 

 

 

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Medal Monday

Lately, I've been trolling eBay. You see, last year I found these amazing casual boots through an online saddle shop and I love them. Mainly because they fit. I'm a short person with giant calves, so tall boots of any kind are really hard for me to find. You don't even want to know what my custom riding boots cost me. Trust me, I nearly choke when I think about it.

Now imagine these babies in black.

Anyway, I bought these boots in brown, but at the time, I really wished they were black, because black is my favorite color to wear. They actually fit, thanks to the adjustable straps and they are comfortable to wear all day long. The saddle shop I ordered them from only offered brown, so it didn't occur to me that they might come in black.

I happened to look at the inside of the boot and realized that they are made by a completely different company than is advertised by the tack store. So I hopped online and found similar boots by that company on eBay. I held out and kept looking for the specific boot and finally the heavens opened up, rainbows appeared, angels sang and those very same boots appeared in black. It was like I won the lottery. (I believe in having low expections in life.)

Anyway, of course I bought them. And they cost less than my original pair. Score! They have yet to arrive, or even actually ship from the seller even though I ordered them 8 days ago (but who's counting, right?) but I'm waiting on pins and needles for them to show up.

And thus, an addiction to eBay was born. You can find all sorts of random shit on there. It's fun to shop around. So, of course, I searched marathon medals.

Now, I don't really care if people want to sell their medals, to be honest. Personally, I don't see myself selling mine, but on the other hand, I've raced a lot in the last 4 years, so I have a pretty good collection at this point. I can see why someone might sell theirs. What I am curious about is who would actually buy them?

$50?? Hmmmmm...

Especially if it's from a recent runDisney event. I could understand replacing a lost medal or a damaged one, but I know runDisney is pretty good about helping out their runners. I heard about someone getting their Dopey medals stolen out of their luggage and runDisney replaced them.

$149.99?! Notice the lack of bids?

I definitely couldn't imagine parting with a Boston medal.

I could understand wanting a vintage medal, say from an early Boston Marathon or New York City. Or maybe one of the early Mickey medals.

 

I do like these old school medals.

The one thing all of these medals up for auction have in common is that they have zero bids. So I guess there's not a huge market for them. Anyway, it's fun to search them out just to see. Last week, I saw a collection of Coast to Coast medals priced at $399. I think there were maybe 7 of them.

In the meantime, I'll just keep trolling eBay for lost treasures.

 

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Apple iProducts Versus runDisney

Once upon a time, in a land far, far away (we'll call that land "Arizona"), I was an Android phone owner. I know, I know! What was I thinking?!

I never get tired of using this picture.

 

You see, I was a long time t-Mobile customer. And when I say "long time" I'm not joking. I joined T-Mobile when it was still called Voicestream. So yeah, like 12 years. That's practically enough time for my Prince to come rescue me from my contract with a kiss, right?

When the iPhones first appeared, I figured there was no way they could really be that much better than the Google phones being pushed by T-Mobile. Which is just laughable in hindsight because the G1 and the G2 were crappy phones by all standards; Apple and Android alike.

Finally, in July 2012, I ditched T-Mobile (they still didn't have the iPhone then) and joined Verizon just because at some point I figured that I needed the iPhone since all of the cool kids had iPhones. I immediately fell in love with my iPhone and have had an unhealthy relationship with it ever since.

I can't help it, I had to post this.

 

You know what that means! My two year contract was up in July and I'm ready to upgrade my 4s for the magical iPhone 6. Now mind you, my 4s has been an awesome phone and I really have no need for a new one, but I really, really want the 6.

My precioussssss

 

Also...an Apple Watch? Do I need that? Of course not, but I want it. Which means my brain is obsessing about how to get my grubby paws on these items without selling my soul to the devil for money.

Gah. I'm probably going to need this, too.

 

So, how is this related to runDisney? Well, because iPhone mania reminds me a wee bit of the runDisney mania that occurs right before a new race is announced or registration opens for a runDisney event.

Apparently, Apple.com had a count down to this morning's announcement on their website and they had planned to do a live broadcast so everyone could drool into their iPads over the new products but sadly, it crashed. Just like Active.com does every time a runDisney race opens for registration.

I hear there was tons of pissed off tweeting and the like. I don't know for sure because I'm too lazy to log on to twitter to find out. But that sounds like every time I lurk on the runDisney Facebook page. Ahhhh, nostalgia.

I'm not really sure that I have a point here, but just know that I've gone bat shit crazy about needing to know everything about the iPhone 6 and I'm aware in some little corner of my mind that I'm exhibiting signs of being a lunatic. Just like the mild anxiety attacks I get when runDisney registrations open up and I suddenly feel a compulsion to sign up for a race I don't even really want to do because ZOMG, runDisney!!

Yup.

So yeah, I'm totally getting the iPhone 6...anyone else jumping on the iCrazyTrain with me?

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Why I'm Not Quitting My Day Job

Training for a marathon simultaneously makes you feel like the world is crushing your very soul while also making you think that you have super powers.

Often while I'm out pounding the pavement, my brain starts concocting these grandiose ideas such as, I know! I'll become a famous best selling author!

I blame this phenomenon on the fact that I often listen to dramatic soundtrack music while I'm running and create all sorts of amazing scenes in my head. I get all into my own thoughts and have these incredible story arcs that are brilliant and artistic.

So I trot along getting all excited at my own amazingness. I mean, I'm going to write the next big thing! Look out Hunger Games and Harry Potter! There's no reason I can't write something that thrilling, right? (For young adults, mind you. I know my limits)

Then I use the remainder of my run spending my future millions on horses and travel. Life is going to be the bombdiggity once I'm a billionaire living in Malibu.

But then the universe shifts and splits and some sort of other dimensional phenomenon takes place where one of three things always happens as soon as I walk through the front door:

1. I realize my lap top is upstairs in my bedroom. So, theoretically, I could be on my way to greatness, but there's like 20 stairs and the TV is right here in front of me. I'll start my greatness tomorrow.
2. I actually fetch the laptop and even turn it on (overachiever, right here!). I get ready to purge all of my creativity into a Word file and I literally find that what I'm seeing in my brain will just not appear on my screen. It's like I suddenly am incapable of stringing together two sentences without sounding like a dropped out of school in 6th grade.
3. I turn on my lap top, sit down to write and then realize, I'm basically stealing plot lines from teenager shows on the WB. *big huge dramatic sigh of defeat*

So yeah, I currently am not doing any actual writing, I just create awesome stuff in my mind that someone else has already made millions with and then can't actually produce anything. I'm a talented person trapped in an untalented body. #firstworldproblems

Edited to fix a few typos. I can't imagine why I'm not famous, yet!

 

 

 

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It's Getting Closer

Fall is here! And that might be exciting if you lived somewhere that has seasons, but I don't. So it's still like 110 here. I was all gung-ho to have a great Labor Day weekend filled with awesome long runs, but that didn't happen. I only did one long run on Saturday because Monday was spent feeling sorry for myself on my couch binge watching Vampire Diaries because I had some sort of weird sickness that made me feel like utter crap until about Tuesday.

Seriously, Damen is SUCH an asshole, but so hot.

Saturday I pounded out 12 miles. Thank God we decided to go to a new location to torture ourselves because I'm so sick of that desert trail that I get hostile and angry just pulling into the parking lot. We went to a place that has a path that goes for miles and miles and is known as the Green Belt because there's a whole lot of green and that doesn't happen naturally in the desert unless you run sprinklers every 10 seconds. Also, unlike the NATURE I am forced to endure in the desert, bugs are not allowed on the Green Belt, despite the number of puddles to be found. This is because the Green Belt is in Scottsdale and the bugs can't afford rent. Also, I'm pretty sure there is a whole lotta bug spray to be found in the soil.

Green!

I realize that I, too, live in Scottsdale, but I live in Ghetto Scottsdale. If you don't believe me, check out the Walmart across the street from my house. Full of weirdos.

Annnnyway, I ran 12 miles with Lara in the nasty heat and actually felt pretty damn good all the way until maybe mile 10 or 11. So, I'm feeling pretty positive about my run. I didn't hate life the whole time, so that's a win in my book.

Much better scenery.

Also saw some graffiti art, which I thought was kind of cool, but creepy, too.

Ummm, what?

The NEW YORK CITY MARATHON (EEEEEKKK!!) is less than 2 months away. I keep trying to remind myself to stay motivated by remembering just how cool it was to see the finish line in 2012 when I first attempted to run it.

2012 Finish Line

I'm pretty excited, but also a little scared. I've already got hotel reservations and plane tickets, so at least I can scratch that off of the list.

Less than two months!

I don't know how many full marathons are in my future, but the next one I do needs to be in the winter or spring because training in this heat is just stupid. Why are most of the awesome marathons in the fall? Maybe I'll do the full at Disney again without all of the hoopla of a challenge. At least I'd be training for that in better weather.

Now, if I could just figure out how to pipe Netflix directly into my brain so I can watch Vampire Diaries while on my long runs, life would be grand.

 

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A Running Story

It probably doesn't seem like it, but I have been actually running. I just haven't blogged about it. I mean, how many times can I blog about how I dragged my sorry ass out to run, it was hot, I was miserable, the end?

Last week, I met my friend, Lara, at this mountain trail we run usually once a week. I will preface this little story by saying that if it weren't for Lara, I would get pretty much no running done at all. I do tend to get super cranky toward the end of our runs because if you've ever run with someone much faster and in better shape than you, then you know how hard it can be to keep up, even when that person is slowing themselves down for your sake. So, thank you, Lara! You're my running rock, or as I affectionately like to call her- an alien billy goat.

Pretty much...

I fully believe that Lara is impervious to pain, heat, and bad attitudes, which I can fully appreciate...as long as I'm not suffering. But I'm always suffering on runs because I hate running. But I like racing and I have to do a few training runs occasionally to pretend like I'm an athlete.

So anyway, last week, we met at the mountain. I hadn't done any running for a week and a half prior to that when on a 10 miler, we were attacked by vicious Mosquitos in the middle of the desert. Shouldn't that be illegal? I mean, it's the desert for sobbing out loud. I could practically feel the West Nile Virus attacking my cells.

The mountain trail is 4 miles out and 4 miles back, but I have a hard time doing the full 8 miles before it gets dark. I have no problem running in the dark, per se, but I do have a problem with the horrible footing, which Lara prances over like a magical unicorn, and the possibility of rattle snakes. More on the snakes later.

The first mile of that trail is steadily uphill and a total bitch, because you feel winded before you've barely started. Lara asked me, as she always does, "how far do you want to run today?"

My standard answer is 5 or sometimes even 6. The problem is that if you decide to go 6 miles, the last hill is to the turn around is brutal. I'm not capable of running up it. I pretty much crawl up it, huffing and puffing and cursing Lara. So in an effort to avoid that scenario, I always bring my iPod and cheerfully tell Lara, she can run ahead and it won't hurt my feelings. Then I can plod along like the slug that I am and post pictures on Instagram, which is the real reason why anyone runs in the first place.

So much for not running in the dark.

So, pretty much every run on the mountain goes something like this:

Lara: How far do you want to run?

Me: four, maybe five miles. (I try to keep her expections low)

Lara: Okay. (She likes to pretend she's okay with my answer.)

Somewhere around mile two:

Lara: Are you sure you don't want to do six?

Me: I'm good with five, but it's fine if you want to run ahead.

Lara: how about we run to 2.5 miles, then I'll go on and do 3 while you just walk in that direction and I'll catch you on the way back.

Me: hrmph, fine. But I'm not doing that horrible hill up to mile three.

Lara: (no answer)

When we hit the 2.5 mile mark where she was going to run ahead...

Lara: I know, how about we take a different route back that is more downhill and more direct?

Me: okay, but I'm not doing that hill.

Somewhere close to 3 miles in, I realize I'm halfway up that fucking hill.

Me: Damn it, Lara!!! I said I'm not doing this hill.

Not only did I have to make it to the top of that God forsaken hill, we had to climb even higher to get to the trail to take us back.

I was pretty cranky at this point. Now, I'm a big enough person to admit that it's probably good for me, blah, blah, blah, but I didn't get my way, which is the real crime here.

Me: NO MEANS NO, LARA!

Lara: You're being dramatic.

Anyhoo, I survived, but I'm sure I was unpleasant to be around. Also, we ran into a rattle snake. At first, I thought it was the cicadas getting really loud as they tend to do when it's going to rain, but nope. It was a rattlesnake, rattling away at us and letting us know we were not wanted. I can't remember the last time I had a scare like that. And as much as I would have loved to Instagram that sucker, even I have my limits.

And they lived happily ever after, until the next run during which, I also complained the entire time.

The end.

 

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How To Keep Yourself Entertained On A Long Run

As runners, we find motivation in many different ways. Recently, I considered downloading audio books to listen to for those really long Saturday runs while I'm training for the NYC marathon. Mind you, I have yet to actually complete a super long run this summer because I like living on the edge and figure I'll somehow cram for marathon training much like I crammed for tests in high school, but I hear people do complete long training runs. Some people do it without any entertainment, which I can not even fathom. I'm considering downloading Divergent (should that be italicized or underlined? Any English majors out there?) for tomorrow morning.

But then I got to thinking that I probably need to be even more creative with my running routes because just running in any old pattern is for ROOKIES. I should map out some really cool route so when I look at my completed run on Runkeeper, I have a nice design like a heart or a flower. Or maybe Super Mario.

Impressive

OR A PENIS. Yep, that's right. That's a thing the cool kids are doing right now. My friend, Amber, sent me an article about a woman that likes to make drawings on her Nike+ app. You should check out her tumblr for more pictures.

I mean, who doesn't want to draw a penis when they run?

I gotta go. I have to map out a run for tomorrow that may or may not include male genitalia.

 

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