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.

Awesome & Awkward Friday

Linking up with From My Grey Desk.

To summarize:

• Successful move. Now I just need to be home long enough to finish the packing and organizing.
• Dramatic sigh at the Blockbuster lady. I don't think she was amused,  but neither was I.
• Jess had me over for a vegetarian dinner. It was delicious! Then we celebrated National Cookie Day while watching New Girl.
• B's Christmas dinner was delish. And catchphrase was entertaining.

Me: What's my dream job?
B: Cupcake
Taffy: Stripper 

Seriously? haha.

• Made this:

•  I obviously already love The Vampire Diaries, but the love great even more when they played my fave song from the Twilight soundtrack:

How was your week?

Pole 3 Graduation: Brought to you by Icy Hot

I missed my last class (and chance to practice) due to my inability to book travel correctly. I was a little stressed about that.

I since I couldn't really practice the whole routine at home, I spent a few days memorizing the order because I'm not ready to free style the whole thing, and this gives me an outline to embellish. Before hitting up the studio I did a run through of the floor work and marking everything else to make sure it felt right with my song options. I ended up going with "Birthday Cake Remix" by Rihanna ft Chris Brown. I had originally planned on wearing my cupcake costume, but was afraid it would get in the way of my invert.

My glute/hip issue has shown progress, but still flares up a few days a week. It chose this day. Betrayed by my own body. I got to the studio early, generously applied icy hot to the left half of my butt, lower back, and hip. Good times.

I stretched it out, tried to maintain easy breathing, warmed up my spins, and did a run through of the dance. I practiced the invert 4 times...a few times too many because it really wears you out!

As soon as I heard Erica arrive I volunteered to go first. I went to the bathroom to wash the sweat off of my legs and hands.

And then it was show time.

By the time I finished the floor work and took to the pole I was already super sweaty again...which makes for less than smooth transitions. Betrayed by my own body again. Much like public speaking, when I'm nervous I dance faster. At the last two graduations I was able to slow down, but I didn't do as well this time. I hit everything except for the superwoman hold because I was too slick. It wasn't a big deal to miss it, it just would have helped with the time factor. I hit the invert, even though there was a fraction of a second when I thought I was going to miss it because I could tell my back was already tired. While inverted I did the crucifix hold...but it didn't last long because my legs started to slip and that could have been a broken neck disaster.

Not my fave performance out of the tree...but then again I'm overly critical of myself.

I can't wait to start 4 and have my original pole sistas back in my life!

Oreo PB & Chocolate Pretzel Bark

Do you want your coworkers to like you? Then make this asap and share it with them. After a piece of this treat my boss told me that between my baking and pole dancing I'll make someone a great wife. I told him to spread the word.

Sarah saw the picture on facebook and sent me a text about them. Since she works in my building it was easy to meet in the lobby so I could share.

Oreo PB & Chocolate Pretzel Bark
1 bag chocolate chips
1 bag peanut butter chips
10 Oreos
2 c pretzels (I used sticks)

• Line your cookie sheet with wax paper and spread out the pretzels.
• Chop the Oreos into fourths.
• In a medium bowl microwave your chocolate chips in 45 second intervals (stirring after each) until smooth, then pour it over the pretzels. Use a spoon or spatula to smooth it out and get everything covered. (The pretzels will move around, but don't panic, just try to flatten them out.
• Next, use the medium bowl to microwave the peanut butter chips in 45 second intervals (stirring after each) until smooth. Pour over chocolate and top with the chopped oreos (press down so they stay in place).
• Place in the fridge or freezer until hard, cut into pieces, and eat!

Pole 3.6

OMG! Only one more class and one practice day before graduation. Panic is starting to set in...like always.

About an hour before class Erica emailed us the details of the dance. This was great because I can't ever remember any of it and improvising for a whole song makes my pulse race from fear.

This class we worked on the twizzler and mine is getting a lot closer to what it should be. It's so important that I get this down because it's the foundation of some pretty cool spin things.

New Skills: Superwoman. This is just a hold once you climb up the pole. You are basically trying to lay parallel to the floor. So you put your legs out and cross at the ankle (The key is to squeeze the pole as hard as you can and hope that your not sweating so much that you start to slide). Grip the pole with either hand a few inches above where your legs are holding on, lay back, pelvis up.

There is this product called Dry Hands that is supposed to help dry up your sweat so you can do holds like this. Yeah, my sweat totally defies it.

Pretty successful class. And I even 'Jack Dawsoned' K.Stew. Turns out her name is Renee.