I'm in the final week before the Chicago Marathon, and to try to keep from focusing on how nervous I am I spent some time going through my running records. I made sure to use my Garmin for all of my runs and kept detailed logs of my mileage and pace. It's interesting to go back and see how I've improved.

When I started training for the marathon this year, I wasn't a beginning runner. I ran a half marathon in May, but threw my back out after that, then had my sinus surgery, so I definitely started the marathon training slow. But when I compare my run today with similar runs in the first few weeks, it's pretty impressive. My weekday runs over the first few weeks were around 3-5 miles, and I had a hard time running any of them under 13 minutes per mile. When I remember back, I felt pretty stretched when I finished. Today, I ran 4 miles at 11 minutes per mile, and I felt like I ran it pretty easy. I was disappointed to come in and wanted to run farther, but of course that's a bad idea the week before the marathon. While I know a good part of that is the weather (running any distance at 50 degrees is infinitely preferable to 80) it's still nice to see such tangible results of all this training.

I'm not good without a specific goal, so after the marathon I think my next objective will be to work on speed. I'll never be fast, but I'd like to be able to consistently run 5ks at 10 minutes per mile. 

In the meantime, there's still the marathon. I'm a bit worried about the weather. It's currently expected to be in the mid-30s for race start, warming up to low 50s by the time I come in. I would generally wear shorts at 40s and up, but I haven't had a chance to run wearing pants in quite a while. I ran in capris last week, and after a couple of miles they started slipping off! I've lost weight since spring. But I really can't buy new clothes for the race during the week before. That would be begging for a vicious chafing. So I'm just going to have to start out with shorts and cheap sweatpants and get rid of the pants once I warm up enough.

Seriously, who would ever have thought I'd turn into a marathon runner?

Oops. This place has gotten a bit dusty. *sneeze* Must do some neatening.

 Life goal #573:

I want to be an extra in an action movie. Specifically, I want to be a background bad guy in a big fight sequence and do the Bad Guy Dance.


This clip is a great example of Bad Guy Dance. Go ahead to about the 4:00 point. Don't look at the guys getting their butts kicked; watch the ones waiting for their turn to attack. Shuffle forward. Shuffle back.  Twirl weapon menacingly. Repeat. 

I'm simultaneously amused and horrified by this conversation...

( Clickety click click )

1.) Leave me a comment and I will give you a letter.
2.) Then, write 10 things that you love starting with that letter. Post the list in your journal.
3.) Give out letters to those who comment in return.

brookielaw  gave me the letter "T"

1. Thievery Corporation - In two weeks, I will be seeing them twice! Once at HOB and once at Lollapalooza. I can't think of many other bands I would see twice in as many days.
2. Travel - For anyone who has had more than a five minute conversation with me, this is a d'uh!
3. Target - You can find everything in the world here, including tasty wine "juice boxes." :)
4. Tennant, David - I don't think anything more needs to be said.
5. Tiki - I have a tiki-themed living room, and I love all things tiki!
6. Triplets of Belleville - If you haven't yet seen this movie, go watch it now! Seriously, right now. I'll wait.
7. Tabla - All dance music should include the tabla. Coolest drums in the world!
8. The Tick - SPOON!
9. Tacos - I love tacos, yum yum yum. I love tacos, tacos are fun. I love tacos, yum yum yum. I love tacos, tacos are fun. I love tacos, yum yum yum. I love tacos, tacos are fun. I love tacos, yum yum yum. I love tacos, tacos are fun. I love tacos, yum yum yum. I love tacos, tacos are fun. I love tacos, yum yum yum. I love tacos, tacos are fun. I love tacos, yum yum yum. I love tacos, tacos are fun.
10. Three Little Birds - One of my favorite songs. It never fails to make me feel better when things are rough.
11. And a bonus one... Today!

Watch this...

Then this.

Even MJ was infected with Pachelbel. I'll see you in hell, Pachelbel!

I blame Pam and Mike for this. I had a pretty gruesome nightmare last night and needed to get something else in my mind before going back to bed. This did the trick.

The (almost) aftermath...

I got all the packing taken out and felt dramatically better. They numbed up my nose very well so that it didn't hurt, and it didn't look as oogy as I expected, but I squirmed and whimpered and carried on like a child anyway. So much for my claims of being stoic! Now my voice echoes in my head very oddly, and when it's quiet it sounds like my breaths are going through a wind tunnel. Is reality always this noisy for you properly-breathing people? Very disconcerting.

My nose is still a bit tender, and one nostril is pretty swollen where the nose split slipped a little and rubbed.

There is still some nastiness as the remainder of the ick that was in my sinuses clears (I will spare the details and extra ick that I have subjected Steph to already) and as the soreness eases. I drastically need a god facial scrub. My nose is nasty. Hopefully this will last me for a while. I don't want to do it again!

I'm rather amazed at how thoroughly this surgery has wiped me out. I barely left the couch after coming home on Thursday and all day yesterday. Today I've been mostly lying around but have at least stayed awake a bit. I managed a bath without drowning (although hair washing seemed like a bit too much) and after I have a recovery nap I will try doing without my face gauze and see if I can start resembling a normal human being.

Hopefully the after-effects will be worth all of the ickiness!

Now back to sleep.

Thank you, Pam! In honor of my sinus surgery.

I'm not generally a fan of PETA. I think they do more harm to the cause of animal rights than good. But any organization that causes this can't be 100% bad.

( Rowr )

I had been slacking on my running, but in the past few weeks I've been slowly getting back on track. Yesterday, I went out for a 12 mile run. The weather was perfect, 70 and sunny but with a strong cool breeze. I kept to a very steady pace the whole time and the run felt great. Yay!

Of course, there's more to it than that. The run itself felt fantastic, but I wiped out around mile 9. Thankfully I didn't do any serious damage, but I shredded my left palm and the inside of my right arm, and either jammed or hyper-extended the joints on the two end fingers on my right hand. I landed pretty hard on my hip, but thankfully today it's not even bruised or sore, just a tiny bit scraped. Being the insane person I am, I sat for a couple of minutes to inspect the damaged, poured water over the open wounds and picked the gravel out, then got up and ran my last three miles. I don't know if that counts as dedication or craziness.

Before that, I had a couple of other interesting encounters along the route. I was passed several times by a guy riding his bike while playing a guitar. That seems like one of the strangest combination of activities I have ever seen! Need to spend time practicing your music but have places to go?

Also, while going into an underpass, I startled a muskrat who was trying to find a way into the river. At least I think it was a muskrat; it was a large brown rodent with large front teeth and about the size of a possum. I scared it as I came around the corner, and, instead of running away from me down the path, it bared its teeth at me, puffed up, growled and shuffled toward me! I stepped back a little, and it scampered away. I didn't really need that display of aggression, little guy!

As my training progresses, I'm getting better at eating properly again. I have always had a hard time with the nutrition for the run. My stomach can be a bit sensitive and I have trouble eating in the morning when I get up, but when going for a long run you have to have some food in you to make it. Many of the supplements like gels also bother my stomach. This time I had a half of an english muffin with peanut butter about a half hour before I ran, and I stopped at miles 3 and 7 to eat some sports jelly beans. I drank about 6 ounces of gatorade before I left and another 20 ounces or so when I got back in. I had a good amount of energy the whole time and very little stomach protests. This is big progress!

*facepalm*

1. Pandemic does not mean we're all going to die. It means that it has spread all over the world. Pandemic + high mortality rate + high infection rate = we're all going to die, but we don't have any of the three yet.

2. H1N1 is a cause for concern, but not being stupid. By concern, they mean show extra care. Wash your hands after touching objects in public or that others might have coughed or sneezed around. If you are feeling unwell, don't go to work or school. Cover your mouth when you sneeze or cough. Basic precautions, but very effective at preventing the spread of disease. So don't yammer about how scary it is then neglect to cover your mouth when you cough, dumbass on the train.This is also a good time to bring out the purell.

3. Scoffing at the few numbers of people who have gotten sick or died isn't a strong argument because this strain has been around about a week. Viruses that are very infectious can spread exponentially, so 20 people sick in the first week can become a whole lot more people in the 8th week. Comparing it to annual statistics of other illnesses doesn't mean anything yet.

4. Mortality rate isn't the only thing of concern. A high infection rate of even a fairly mild flu can be a big deal. Imagine half of the world being sick at the same time. Half of the doctors. Half of the police force. Half of the food delivery people. (I'd starve!) Half of the government. (Wait, let's try that one.) It's a question of keeping the basic functions of society operational.

5. I'm not even going to bring up the idiots worried about eating pork products. More bacon for me then!

Yay! I finished my Instructional Design class. This means I might actually be around on the internet without feeling guilty about not working on my homework. It might also mean a social life, but that's getting a little crazy there.

Work is going alright. Not hugely fond of my job, but hanging in there. I spent the day researching the swine flu today to see about putting together a quick educational program on preparing for a pandemic influenza. Isn't that a fun way to spend a Monday?

While I'm trying to adjust to the concept of free time, here's a fun video courtesy of Mike. (What would I do without YouTube?)

Mwah! I'm in for this year's offering!

Incidentally, bed #2 looks like the one in Dollhouse in Tahmoh Penikett's apartment. Would I ever be able to have the bed and not imagine him shirtless in it? Is that a good thing or a bad thing? And how much more to get the version with him in it?

I received my annual bonus for 2008 from work, and it's a smidge bigger than I expected. So not a windfall, but yay! Most of it will go towards the ever gaping maw of credit card debt (which I might actually finish paying off in the next couple of months!) and I've decided that some of it should go towards buying me a new bed. I have a very nice mattress, but the frame is a cheapy metal frame that I hate. I don't like metal beds, and I'm going to buy myself a wood one.

I went to the furniture store around the corner from me to see what they had and I actually found a few that I like AND can afford! Yippee!

( Pictures of beds. How exciting! )
So that's exciting. I get big-girl furniture! I will probably wait until after Easter to buy it in hopes that I can talk about it with my mother and convince her to buy me a rug for my birthday to complete my apartment happiness. I'm a schemer.

Bwahahaha!



I'm still trying to recover from my meeting. Hopefully a few more days of going to sleep early will help. The end of my semester will help even more. Just a few more weeks!

Yes, I am still alive. Work is a beyotch, as is my class this semester, and I have no other life. Hopefully in a few weeks I can be back to normal. In the meantime, Youtube is my only ray of light. Back to watching shiba inu videos!

Gorgeous actor and lovable muppet separated at birth.

I must get some sleep now. Tomorrow the Evil League of Evil competes for trivia mastery.