No Roofies. No New Friends. We Run SF.

San Fran was more fun than I could have imagined. I'm so glad that Amanda went with me and that we had cameos from Rick all weekend.

The weather was a little cold, but soooo good!

Pre San Fran my keys and wallet were stolen, so this was a bit of a challenging trip. Sadly, I don't have a passport, or any photo ID other than the paper license I got at the DMV. (So please stop asking me if I have any other ID, I obvs would have started out with that!)

After minimal push back from security, and almost missing my flight, I managed to make it to San Fran! I shared a cab with a random fellow runner, checked into the hotel with some difficulty (because of the ID), then went straight to the expo to get my number!

Amanda arrived a while later and met me at the Nike Store. After grabbing lunch at the cutest burger place that shamed me for paying with cash we headed to the bike shop to bike the Golden Gate Bridge!
We had such a good time, especially with the wrong turn bonus hill I added. By the time we hit the Salsolido check point the sun had set, it was cold, and we decided that the Forest we had talked about biking to might have turned into the Forbidden Forest, so we grabbed the ferry back.

We were pretty tired (I had been up since 4:30a Texas time), but decided to throw off the PJs, popped out old lady hips back into place, and meet up with Rick and some of the San Fran office at HiFi.

Naturally the door man turned me away because of my ID, but Amanda used that sweet Louisiana accent to sweet talk him (or show him the business) until he agreed to let me in. We had a blast, saw a magic trick (and the wire used for the trick. Can't fool us!), got accused of being bottle rats (which we aren't. We actually did know the person the party was for, a lot of the guests, and are your co-workers from the Texas office, dick.), didn't get roofied, gave the stink eye to thirsty girls (#girlcode), didn't end up locked in a basement, and danced harder than anyone else on the floor. Basically, we made HiFi our bitch.

We stopped for food on our way home and talked about boys...and Amanda's disagreement with my choice. Then we managed to tell the taxi driver the wrong hotel (surprisingly not the first time that happened that day. Majestic and Mystic are just too close in name), but finally made it home after 24 hours of being awake.

Naturally I woke up a few hours later at 7am so we went to breakfast. I don't think the fellow guests appreciated our energy, songs, and dance. Surprisingly that is my life even when I am sober.

A few more hours of sleep and we were ready to hydrate and take a bus tour of San Fran. This was Amanda's first San Fran trip, and I feel terrible that we had a bad driver. He would give us half stories and facts, and we didn't always know what he was talking about.

We had a late dinner, due to the 2 hour wait at Cheesecake Factory, with Rick. I was surprised he didn't hangry rage at us or fall asleep waiting for our table. I did get to hear about how he used to rescue stuffed animals when he was little. That was a pretty cute story.

We were back at the hotel before 10p so I could prepare for race day. I was so afraid I was going to sleep through my alarms and miss the race (I had a few nightmares about that) so I barley slept and kept checking my phone like a crazy person. Hey Amanda, sorry I kept waking you up too!

Race day finally arrived! I was nervous because I wasn't hill prepared. But I kept reminding myself that this one was for fun. No need to speed through it since there were so many inclines I would need energy for. The weather was great. It's crazy how different my body feels running there compared to Houston. I could feel my muscles getting worked, but nothing started hurting until mile 10. The last 3 made me want to lay down and die. Ok, that's an exaggeration. They weren't that bad, but my hips were getting tighter with every step, my arches were starting to feel the pressure, and my phone decided to take a nap so I was mentally trying to stay calm about how I was going to find Rick and Amanda using only telepathy.

I was excited to finally see the finish....until I got a few feet past it to find it was backed up getting through the chute. Patience were not on my side at this point. Seriously, WTF were people doing? Must we stop for every finisher to take a picture with the tuxcedo clad fireman handing out the necklaces? I didn't think so. I just wanted my necklace, food, and room to strech. I was freezing and my body was starting to stiffen up. When I fiinnnnaaallllyyyyy got to the front, the lady behind me asked if I wanted her to take my picture. I told her I wasn't necessary because I didn't want a picture with a strange, although attractive, man. So I grabbed my necklace and carried on to find Rick and Amanda so we could head home.

After a shower I was ready to continue our vacation, so we headed to the Stinking Rose for lunch. That was the longest walk of my life, but I took it like a champ. We then walked to Fisherman's Wharf for some Ghiradelli ice cream, sea lion watching, and just hanging out. As the day went on the pain and stiffness started to set in. And I may have had a mini fit after we were asked to leave a bar because of my ID. I didn't even want to drink, I just wanted to sit!

I was exhausted and was in bed before 8p because I had an early flight and a surprise full body pat down waiting for me.

NWSF: Week 1

From my experience I do a crap job at creating and following my own running plans. So I did some research and decided to go with the half marathon plan on my RunKeeper app.  I already record my workouts on here, so it just made sence to have all of the information in one place. It's also nice because it has all 76 workouts already set up in my activity calendar so I don't have to worry about not knowing what comes next.

Monday is my running off day, which also happens to be leg day at the gym. So naturally I upped some of my weight, you know, because that's always a good day before your first 5 mile run in wayyyy too long. Luckily the run went well. The next hurdle was the fact that I was going on vacation the day of the second run.

So here is the breakdown of week 1.

1: 5 slow miles - they were exactly that. It started to sprinkle half way through, so I'll take that as a good omen of new beginnings.

2: 3 slow miles with a few fast (:20) slow (2:00) intervals at the end - This was a hard one because I was having a lot of IT band issues. It took longer than normal because I had to mix in walking to relieve the pain. After some foam rolling, ice, and rest, it felt a lot better.

3: 5 slow miles - Not too bad once I got in the zone. The best part? No IT band pain! But I made sure to roll & ice to prevent it from coming back.

4: 5 slow miles - yeah....I managed to squeeze out 2.39. My legs were beat from all of the walking we had been doing the last two days and I lost the mental battle

5: 7 miles at 9:20-10 pace - After a 5 hour drive home, grocery shopping, and beginning meal prep, I headed out to log some miles. It wasn't pretty, but I finished. Thank you 71% humidity for almost killing me.

Nike Women's

 I ran the Nike Women's 1/2 Marathon 4 years ago as part of Team In Training.

Last year I was ready to return to San Fran...but didn't win the lottery drawing.

But this year? I won the drawing and will be 1 of the 30,000 runners! And by win I mean they drew my name and then I paid them a nice sum of money in order to put my body through a semi torturous process because I somehow think this is fun?

I'm still sticking with the 1/2 because I am more of a one and done marathoner, so I knocked that out 8 years ago and realized long distance isn't my thang (and my knees agree).

Anyway. I was checking my email about every 5 min on June 28 (the day the runners were notified). And finally I got the email during lunch. I was afraid to open because I didn't want to read a rejection, but I was also afraid to be accepted in because I haven't been consistently running since my IT band issue that sidelined me in January.

So I read it. Twice. Then threw my hands up in Victory. Then read it again out of fear that I was having a Zoolander moment and Hansel had really won instead of me. (Ugh, not again!).

I teared up a little because I was so excited and filled with joy (and terror at the memory of those hills) that I got in.

So I spent the weekend researching training plans, revising my current workout schedule, and mentally preparing for what the next 16 weeks will entail.

I have a time goal in mind, given that my body avoids injury, and I know this will be hard, but I am ready!

Color Run

Emma showing her support

Months ago Kari got me and Britt on board for the color run. This isn't my kind of thing with all the gimmicks, but I was excited to run with her so I was all in.

Then she got knocked up and dropped out. Thanks a lot Kari.

Brittany was on the fence about running it and I decided that if she didn't run, then I would drop out since it's not my idea of a "fun" run.

Anyway, the night before the race Britt called to ask about packet pick up, so the race was back on.

I wasn't too thrilled about the color part or all of the walkers I anticipated we would encounter, BUT the fact that this was Brittany's first race ever did get me pumped. 

Brittany & Me before

Cole, being the presh husband that he is, picked me up so he could drop us off early for packet pickup. We got our numbers pinned on, bought sunglasses to protect our eyes from the color (best purchase ever) and waited an eternity for it to start.

I was committed to keeping whatever pace Brittany wanted so that we would finish together. And if she wanted a walk break I was more than ready to yell at motivate her. That's what friends are for!

We start off strong dodging walkers left and right, fell into a nice pace, and encountered our first color zone - blue.  To be completely honest, it was a little frightening. The color was so dense we could hardly see and it felt like chaos. I was annoyed that the color throwers were standing scattered on the road, and not just along the sides of it. So yes, I ran into one of them.

The other color zones weren't as bad.

At one point Britt and I passed a couple of girls talking about how they think that everyone needs to enjoy the experience so they don't know why people are trying to run it. I don't know if they heard me, but as I passed I said "Some people enjoy the running part because IT IS part of the experience."

We finished in a little over 30 min. I was so proud of Brittany for not stopping and completing her first 5k!

Will I ever do a color run again? Absolutely not. It's just not my thing.
Will I ever do a regular race with Brittany again? Absolutely yes.

Brittany and Me After

Fall Races

I ran a few 5k races these last few months, and I have a bone to pick.

Brawt Trot 5k

I ran this one as a last min decision when I was in Dalhart in October. The night before the race my Papa saw something about it in the paper, it sounded fun, so I signed up and the grandparents cheered me on to victory!

The only thing that irritated me (other than the dry climate) is that there wasn't a water stop. I've ran a few 5K races, and they have all had water stops. Yeah, 5k isn't that far, but when I'm breathing in cold dry air some water would be nice because my insides felt like they were drying up.

Monster Mash 10k

I ran this last year with Kari and enjoyed it. It was three loops (that was kind of annoying), but not that bad.

This year they decided to switch it up by having us start on the horse track. WTF?!? This is one of those times when I probably should have read the race details...Anyway, so we start on a horse track for a little over a loop of sand running. Seriously. Yes, I would love to tire my legs out a bit and risk rolling my ankle (which almost happened once).

Firefly 5k

This one had the potential to be great because it was at night and the weather was really great! I was running a decent pace and felt good. When I finished I checked my watch for the stats: ummm, 2.87 is not a 5k. I know that my garmin is occasionally off, but never has it been off by this much. According to the race results I have a new PR...but since the distance was off I didn't really PR, so it's a lie and is driving me nuts.

To summarize: Please have water, don't make me run on sand, and have an accurate race distance. Please and thank you.

Racing Season Is Here

I've been on running hiatus while my body has been acting a fool. Since most things are now in order it's time to start prepping for racing season.

As of now my race calendar looks like this:

• October 27 - Monster Mash 15k
• November 3 - Firefly 5k
• November 11 - Color Run 5k
• December 9 - Run Girl 1/2 Marathon
• December 23 - Santa Dash 1/2 Marathon
• March 2 - Woodlands 1/2 Marathon

As long as I can stay injury free this is going to be a lot of fun!

I officially start 1/2 Marathon training on October first - I think that's 10 weeks out from Run Girl...close enough anyway.

September has been focused on easing back into it and working on my base. I'm not going to lie, it's been rough. The heat & humidity combo makes me want to lay down and die. To get me through my runs I've been mentally focusing on what I like about running, how I feel when I'm done, the memories of how much I liked it while it was happening (still just a memory at this point), and the delicious chocolate milk I'll get when it's done!

I'm hoping to add running in and only make minimal changes to my workout schedule.

• Body Pump - 3x a week. This was fine last season, I just won't focus on increasing my squat weight too much because it exhausts my legs and I usually run after class.
• Body Jam - 3-4x a week. Last time this got dropped because it irritated my shin splints. I hope with extra icing and rolling I can keep this in the mix because it's just so much fun! And I've already learned that I'll have to modify some moves because my knees are not all about the jumping around.
• Pole - 2x a week. I'm concerned about this because it irritates and bruises my shins from the pole rubbing on them. But hopefully with the ice and rolling I can keep this in the mix because I love it!
• Body Flow - 1x a week. This will be fine.

I haven't designated the running days yet, but I plan on running 3-4 times a week. That seems to be the magic number to help prevent injury for my legs.

Do you have any upcoming races? Or are you in the anti-running club?

Rock n Pole

Saturday night I met up with J and Honey to attend "Nothing Like a Classic," hosted by Melee on the Bayou. This was a mini pole showcase that was slightly more theatrical than the typical show, but had some pretty good performances.

Cleo The Hurricane

Like Cleo the Hurricane. Of course I didn't know who she was because I don't really follow pole competitions, but she's Miss Pole Dance Australia Champion 2012 and she's amazing. I can't even put words to how good she is. She has so much energy and the way her legs moved? I didn't know someone could be that flexible! Pretty sure my jaw was on the floor. 

This is her performance from the show:

She had stopped by PLT during the week to perform, unfortunately I missed that, but she gave Erica some stretching tips on how she increased her flexibility to basically make her body move as though it's unhinged. That's def something that's now a work in progress.

Sunday was another early running day. This time with Garmin!

I quickly got showered and ready for my breakfast and antiquing date with Amanda and Jes. The girls were running late because Jes was waiting on Amanda and couldn't get a hold of her. I told her to just pick me up and we'll hit up breakfast and Amanda can meet up later. I saw on fb that she was out for a friends bday party the night before, so I figured she'd just overslept and wasn't ditching us on purpose.

We had breakfast at Egg & I which has become one of my fave places to grab a waffle, other than my own kitchen.I'm glad Jess likes it too! Amanda finally came back to life by the time we were done with breakfast and explained about how her phone had died so she didn't know she had overslept. I wasn't mad since I got food, just sad that we didn't get to hang.

The antique thing was ok. I didn't find anything I loved, but Jess did. It was outside and hot as hell. Literally, burning. It def encouraged us to get in and out pretty quick.

So we stopped at Yogurtland on the way home. I got a little carried away and ended up with a little too much. Which I didn't realize until I ate it all, went to open pole, and felt like I wanted to vomit my guts out. Yeah, def not a good time.

It was Harry Potter weekend on ABC Family, so I started watching that and ended up taking a 3 hour nap during Prisoner of Azkaban. But I woke up in time for Half Blood Prince. I really don't know why I bother watching them on TV when I can just pop in the DVD and get back at least an hour of my life. Oh well, I guess it just gave me more time to soak in the facts so I can continue to be a HP Scene It champ.

Rodeo Run 10K - Yeeehawwww!

It's rodeo time here in Houston. This basically means that every Texas stereotype will be on display for the next few weeks.

Yes, I have even become one myself. Check out those sweet boots!

Yes, they even had a live longhorn for a photo op after the race. I swear we aren't all a bunch of hillbillies.

Going into this race I just knew it wasn't going to be a good one. My legs were tight from continuing to break in my boots the whole day before. But I'm not one to give up, so I figured I'll show up, take it nice and slow, and make it a respectable finish...Yeah.

The weather was great for running and I listened to "Proud Of You" by Drake on repeat most of the race with "Cracks (Flux Pavilion Rmx)" by Freestylers Ft. Belle Humble mixed in a couple of times. Who knew Drake was such a good running buddy and so proud of me. He's so sweet!

This is the first race where I have been really irritated with a few things.

The Cons:

• Since we are downtown, you have to show up early and park far. Really, NBD. The problem is that even though I went to the bathroom twice before I left the house, I still needed to go again by the time I drove, parked, walked to the start. And this isn't a problem due to my dislike or port-a-potties, but rather because I could only find 1 at the start line. ONE! There are 15,000 people running this race, surely they didn't figure one would cover it? The line was too long, so I started the race and hoped for the best. There was def a moment in that first mile that I thought, "Great, today is going to be the day that I pee my pants." Luckily There were 2 right after the first mile. And there was a line. I waited in it because I didn't know when I would get another chance, and being that we were in the city, I couldn't just squat on the side of the rode.
• The race was so crowded. There was a 5K and a 10K, so they them 15min apart. Totally didn't help with the congestion. It was so crowded that I started behind the 10:00 corral. I figured this would only be annoying for a little while, but I basically ended up dodging people for all but the last mile. It was really hard to have room to find my stride and it really made me grumpy. And if you decided that you are going to need to take a walk break, that's fine, but please move to the side because dodging these constantly stopping bodies is like navigating a mine field.

The Pros:

• Good water station spacing.
• Great volunteers. It was great to see their smiling faces handing me water and cheering us on at the mile markers when really I just want to shank the guy that just stopped in front of me.
• Good after party. They had bananas, bagels, candy (heck yes!), ice cream, soda (WTF?), games for the kids that ran, Cliff Bars, etc, and tons of port-a-potties (they probably could have spared a few for the start...), etc.

Would I run this race again? Totally because when I finished and saw they had a live longhorn, it made it worth it and I hope they will have one again next year! He was so cute and soft. I wanted to hug and kiss him, but was afraid he'd get scared and stab me with his horn.

The 5K That Didn't Happen

Yesterday was the first time I had signed up for a race and not run it...frustrating.

Friday night I battled the traffic for 1.5hrs to get to the expo and packet pick up in the Woodlands. The expo was alright, I got some (hopefully) pretty sweet insoles...they were out of my size so I had them ordered.

I thought the race started at 7:30a, so I set my alarm for 5:45 so I could review the parking info and leave by 6:20. Yeah, I got up, ate, got dressed, finally I opened the info to review, turns out it starts at 7! AHHHH! I was confusing this start time with my next race. I got in my car, went speeds that are not eco friendly for Matil the Prius, and made it with 5min to park and get to the start. Yeah, it takes more than 5 min for that stuff. So I turned around and made the 40min drive back home at went to Memorial park for 5miles.

Anyway, my run at the park went well. The temp was really nice and it was a little windy.

I ran to these songs all from "Born To Die" by Lana Del Rey:

• Dark Paradise
• National Anthem
• Diet Mountain Dew

Last month her CD was on the Amazon $5 list, so I got it after previewing a few songs, and I love it! It's all that I've been listening to at home, while driving, and working out this past week.

So yeah, you should totes buy it right now! Seriously!

Cupid Shuffle - 5K

At the last minuet I decided to sign up for this race...Almost literally the last min. Cutoff was midnight, and I registered at 10p. But I made it!

Spoiler Alert: I got 1st in my Division.

I got up at 6 Sunday morning to get ready and head out to Friendswood. We had surprise winter last week, so it was about 35 degrees. Not a good time.

I went into this knowing I was going to PR. What was my exact goal? Didn't really have a number, just better than my last 5K (in July) since I had been running more regularly.

It was so cold I kept my sweatshirt on with my Garmin under the sleeve. I thought the start button was on the left...around mile 1 when I pushed my sleeves up, I discovered that it wasn't. I'm always forgetting to properly start or stop my watch when I run. Oh well.

For the first mile I couldn't feel my legs. hands. body. It was so cold. In those moments, I knew I made the right decision not doing the 5 mile run. I also felt like I was going in slow mo...and since I hadn't started my watch, I had no idea if I was or not.

Anyway. When I could feel my legs all I could feel was the soreness and the muscles tightening from yesterdays run and bodypump. But I soldiered on (I love how I'm writing as if this was wayyy more serious than it was).

As I saw the people coming back from the turnaround I started to count the ladies to see how far behind I was. I was surprised to see only 3 ahead of me.

I passed one of the ladies, and towards the end I was catching up with this adorable 10 year old. As I started to pass her she gunned it. Yes, I got schooled by a child.

The point is I got 1st in my age division. And I got my PR. Sweet day!

Please disregard the 10 year old that came in before me...

 When they announced me as first place, I was tempted to celebrate, but then I realized I was there alone and would just look like a db, so I restrained it to smile, "thank you," and one fist pump...only one.

Work Them Hips, Run Girl

Errr....I'll stop the lyrics of that song right there.

Moving On.

Kari and I finally ran our Run Girl Half Marathon. I say finally as if we had been working on this forever, but really on 12 weeks or something. It was a tumultuous 12 weeks for my legs. I had some shin splint problems before the training began, so I went to the doctor where I paid way too much to get an xray that didn't tell me anything and the advice of maybe I just shouldn't run if I don't want to hurt. Seriously? $350 for that shiz?

Anyway, I took off 4 weeks leading up to the training so the unexplained inflammation would be under control. Things started out pretty well, but every couple of runs would be a run from hell in which I wanted to cut my legs off at the knees. So I cut out one running day a week to help and I slowed down. As much as I don't like to go slow, it really helped. Anyway...things were going decent. I ran our two practice races, the 15k & 11k, with little to no problem. Things were looking good. But when Andrew died, it made things harder. 1. I was in and out of the panhandle where it was too windy to run. I just couldn't adapt. 2. I just felt like the motivation had been knocked out of me.

I finally pulled it back together! And by that I mean I ran a handful of times in the next 4 weeks. I had considered quiting because I felt under prepared and I couldn't get the inflammation under control in my legs. Dad told me that I shouldn't worry about my performance because the true winner is the person that has the most fun. Really Dad? Only people that suck at stuff say that. And I will have fun, if I'm performing up to my standards.

Well, I did it. And on 4 hours of sleep. (I really require much more sleep than that, or at least some day naps, but my weekend schedule didn't allow for it.) I showed up at Kari's house at 5:16a and she asked me if I seriously took the time to put makeup on that morning. No. No I didn't. I just had failure to remove my eye makeup the night before since I got in after 1, but I did wash around it. Please.

While waiting for it to start I gave my legs a pep talk that I can't really share on the blog due to the content. I was slow and steady...then slower. But I finished. I ran the whole thing except for the water stops. I still haven't mastered running and drinking. I usually get it up my nose, down my body, everywhere except in my mouth. Or what does make it in my mouth I choke on. Obviously not a good situation.

Source

Am I pleased with my time? Given my janky leg situation, I will take it. But I wouldn't say I'm necessarily proud. Hopefully they will start acting right so I can pick my pace back up.

After the race Koala provided massages. Of course I got the only table with two people that both happened to be guys. What do I want when I'm all sweaty and sore? Strange men rubbing on me, obviously. When Kari asked me what I had worked on I told her my hip flexors. Kidding. I really don't want strange men getting that personal with me. But seriously, my calfs and quads. I couldn't stop laughing when they were rubbing my quads. It was awkward.

I have taken about a month off from running with hopes that my legs will reward my patience with a much faster race time. Can't wait for Kari and I to pick our next goal!

The Night Was Lit

11/11/11 - Energizer Light the Night 11k.

Kari, R, and I ran this together. Well, not together together since they are a tad faster than I am...but we rode together.

The race was pretty cool since it was at night and we all had these goofy head lights we are to wear. I accidentally had mine on upside down, whatever.

This was one of the first cold nights in Houston, so we decided to switch into our race shirts since they had long sleeves. We went to line up so we could do the warm up lead by the Energizer Bunny, but he didn't come out, so R started warming up even though we had about 45min until the start. He wanted his heart rate to already be at workout level when he started. I'm not sure if that was a good idea, but he was all about it.

When it was about 10min to race time Kari and I started warming up. Everyone was pretty spread out, so I started warming up my hips with some leg swings. When I took my leg back for the 5th one, i kicked a kid. Yeah, I'm the worst person in the world. I wasn't looking behind me because there had been space and I was doing then one after another, so I don't know why her mom walked her into my foot. I apologized and she looked scared to death.

Kari and Me before the race.

The Start time came and went without us starting. I was starting to get a little irritated because I was ready to get this over with! My legs had been giving me trouble, so the faster I got going, the faster I got going home! 15min after it was supposed to start they brought out the Energizer Bunny to lead a warm up. I yelled "Are you serious right now?" really loud and everyone around me turned and stared. That was kinda awkward, but seriously? It's not my fault that people didn't show up to the 4 other packet pickup times so they are holding us down now!

Anyway, once we got started I was able to get my endorphins flowing and I relaxed. It was cool to see all of the lights on peoples heads, and the bunny ears too. I didn't like that the course was two loops, and the same course we had ran our Monster Mash 15k on (three loops. kill me.). But I would def do it again.

It ended up being a pretty good run with my time being 1:01:04.

Adventures in Friend Making

Happy New Year! I know it's a little late, but, whatever.

This year I made a goal of being more social. If you know me, you know I don't like to meet new people, and they don't usually like to meet me either. I have decided to be more active and to build more of a life here in Houston.

I am attempting to do this by saying yes to everything I am invited to, even if I don't want to go. This was going well, except I can't do things on friday night because I have early long runs on Saturday, and now I have my foot in a boot which makes it a hassle to do anything.  Anyway, here are some of my attempts.

1. Cake Decorating

I have wanted to do this for a while, so I finally signed up. I figured it wouldn't hurt to do something I love and meet people at the same time. Good in theory, until I showed up to class. My class is full of grandmothers and moms. Technically I could be "mom age," but I am referring to ladies 30+ with kids. No offense to these ladies, but I don't want to hang out with people that could also be my mom's BFF. There is one girl around my age, I think she's 15. I sit by here in class and we have fun, but she makes me feel soooo old.

I really enjoy cake decorating. So far we have learned how to decorate with butter creme and royal icing. We have focused on the basics: boarders, flowers, and basket weaves. The worst part about cake decorating is that my poor little hand mixer can't take the heat of mixing royal icing, and it has now been retired to the dump. Bummer. Luckily I have a special edition Daniel mixer who know takes care of this fun task for me.

2. Team in Training - The Leukemia and Lymphoma Society

I previously participated in Team in Training (TNT) back in 2007 when I ran the Rock n' Roll Marathon to raise money for LLS. I met some fun people last time, so I figured I would give it a go. What's better than raising money for a good cause, physically and mentally challenging yourself, and meeting new people? Nothing!

I was so excited to meet everyone at my first team run (and hopefully scout a new BFF), only to realize that everyone on my team joined with someone they already knew. WHY??? I figured I would force friendship upon these people, like I do most of my current friends. This plan had potential to go far until I fractured my foot. How? Did I do this running? No. I actually did this walking in a very low (1.5" wedge) on flat ground while I was in a rush to the airport. Long story short - I had a terrible day with my swollen foot shoved into my little shoe. So now I have a fractured foot that keeps me away from training with my team. Instead, I am restricted to aqua jogging. It's a great workout, but boring.

Anyway, I have now switched marathons and am training for one in October. I look forward to reconnecting with and befriending my team as soon as I am released by my physical therapist.

Visit my fundraising website for more information and to make a donation. Thank you in advance.

These are my two main attempts. I can't really say that I have found any new BFFs yet, but I'm working on it.