hamburgers and road bikes

I know you must be dying to know about my two biggest weekend accomplishments.

1. ate lots of strawberries

2. test rode a road bike while wearing a tube top

I never eat strawberries because I never buy strawberries because I can never eat them fast enough. and I never wear a tube top let alone test ride expensive bicycles in them. I now know one looks very silly in a tube top and helmet. but I also know it may be a good idea to wear this same outfit (minus the husband) when I actually do buy the bike. possible discount involved.

riding a road bike wasn't as scarey as I thought it would be. after hearing my husband describe it as 'like riding on ice' I had high and uncomfortable expectations of the difficulty level required for this. I found wearing the helmet and knowingly ruining my already messy hair actually more difficult than cruising around on tires as narrow as my thumb.

my only problem now is the investment this sport requires. I left the shop with no bike (because buying something over $200 without shopping around is just dumb), but I did buy a helmet. imagine a tastey filet mignon with the most perfect cab sauv.. only in the shape of my head with holes and straps. that is how much the helmet cost.

I see this entire thing becoming overwhelmingly expensive and hamburgers in my future.

wardrobe check

Iheartwine.

so it made sense to celebrate #27 with it. lots of it. I met up with some friends to go to the local wine bar (*they had cheese too. BONUS!). but it was cold. really cold. and husband and I did not bring jackets. so husband decides he's had enough, and is going to my most favorite store to buy himself a jacket. "buy me something!!" I said. part joke but part serious. and I remain in my cold skin on my cold seat eating a hot dog with my hot friends.

he came back with a man jacket. and nothing else. at least he's true to his word.

SO, I set off today back to my most favorite store by myself. it's my birthday weekend dammit. and I planned all of my own birthday festivities. I deserve something to thank myself.

upon arriving at the ever-so-popular outdoor mall we here call Santana Row I proceeded to look for parking for over 25 minutes!!! every motorcycle parked in a normal space makes me yell an unkind word. I drove here for a purpose, and I'm not leaving without taking care of that purpose. after wandering through 4 separate parking lots, success. and it's a celebrity. nice.

after finally making it to my most favorite place, I start the hunt for a wardrobe addition. I hit the fitting room with 6 items. that's a good number. while minding my business removing things and adding things in my personal space of a change room, I hear a mom and her daughter enter. mom's giving daughter praise on the clothes they grabbed together. and while daughter is in the room changing in to her next item, mom says "see what you can do honey, when you have your own job! you can buy whatever you want!"

omg. I'm too old to shop here.

hugawhat?

today I'm a little older. oh well.

I made a joke to some friends about sporting this really old shirt to work that I have had since I don't know when, but have never worn. well, I brought it to work. but didn't wear it. you see, what this shirt promotes, I usually find awkward. arms over, arms under, one under one over? tight squeeze, the pat, the rub, the light nice-to-meet-you-but-don't-know-you-well-enough-to-do-this-better, the drunk I'm-going-to-pick-you-up, the one arm. so many combinations. I have a hard time assigning which one fits which aquaintenance, friend, pal, bosom buddy.

so, since I'm so selective, I'd like to thank all of those who have remembered what day today is with this because frankly, you truly are 100% huggable:

the power of the cupcake

much to my butt's disapproval, I ran yesterday. you see, my trip to the gym with my running crowd gave me lots of time to work out my ass area. lots of squats, lunges, one-legged squats, etc. at the time, it didn't feel like much. I am used to squats with a bar and lots of weights and since I didn't have that for this gym trip, everything felt like a piece of cupcake.

I was wrong. and when we started our 3.3 mile run yesterday at Rancho, my butt told me how angry it was. I kept waiting for one side to snap, causing me to grasp that maximus and slow to a lying down pace... awaiting the hunter that shot me to come finish me off.

but I ended up finishing. which was a nice feeling at the time. until today. today the healing begins with multiple elevator trips instead of stairs followed by a drive straight home after work (no gym stop. no trail stop.), and a fresh cupcake. which I will be baking 24 of later. which will go straight to my ass. and make it feel better.

a do

a switch has been magically switched. and I'm not sure why or how.

my husband is out of town for work for 4 nights. my #27 is almost here and my 'plans' are proving to be pretty dumb. and I have no desire to push myself to do anything. none. not even to grin at passers by. it's too much effort.

they might get the wrong impression.

my brain tells me I must do something to change it up but, the second half of that statement requires a 'DO'. and I don't want to DO anything.

and so the world continues to turn.

poop and exercise

big plans for the upcoming weekend. I'm preparing for it by working out as much as possible this week, and purchasing sleeping bag pad thingies.

I will be camping at Manresa State Beach with friends, husband, dog, and good wine (and / or beer - I am indecisive at this point). a sunburn is in my future and sand is in my shoes. already. it's from two weeks ago.

high hopes I have. and high hopes can bring nothing but disappointment in one way or another. maybe I'll get pooped on by a bird. or step in poop. or not poop. all 3 would be pretty crappy.

ha.

as for today, my running 'group' of 3 (or running 'crowd' I guess I should say) is going to stink up my apartment gym by way of sweat. as opposed to other methods. 'strained-muscle' friend needs to do activities that do not involve repetitive stomping on a surface so this seemed like a good alternative to get us all together to do something involving physical strain.

plus, it's nice to have a good sweat and then come home to a dog. makes me feel loved when he greets me like I'm a giant walking salt-lick. with my husband gone to Vegas for 4 nights, my dog licking off my inner-elbow sweat is as exciting as things get.

a little spring in my step

I have spent my weekend filling myself up with as much frozen yogurt as possible. not realizing I wouldn't shit for another week. oh well.

after running alone last week, I took a spinning class alone. I like doing things solo. but not when everything I do is solo. the next day I met up with my friends for a short run. a short run at 5pm right when spring is starting to get hot. ginormous buzzing bugs fly at your face and you do the limbo to avoid them. fresia permiates the air in a bad way. birds fly low while frolicking and I imagine their beaks stabbing my eyeball in some freakish running accident.

this was not going to be fun.

then, whilst getting over my 'running while hot' jitters, my friends tell me they want to run a half marathon.

now let me tell you how I felt in as many words as possible.

premature disappointment in myself.

on to page 2. mermaid 5k photos are now available!

like a polaroid picture

before jumping to other topics, I offer a follow up to yesterday's mental debate. husband was unavailable for an afternoon jaunt. so after hyping myself up to run alone, I realized I hadn't packed my socks. once I finished cussing myself out, and got over the deep disappointment (with some secret happiness somewhere), my friend offered her extra pair of socks for me to use.

3 + miles alone, while a personal feat, was not fun. revealing that I have more hurdles that I thought.

on to other, more exciting things.

a friend of mine has created a public playlist of some tunes online that I find myself visiting every day at approximately 3:42pm. people think I'm on the phone, so they leave me alone. unless they see me sit-dancing. then they know it's just headphones and I obviously don't care what anyone thinks of me. call me crazy but Electrolane deserves a good, solid, and committed head-bobble and air bass drum.

if this song existed, and was played at that one part-rave party I went to 5 years ago? I just might have tossed my inhibitions aside and climbed up on that kitchen counter to shake it like a polaroid picture (even if it does sound completely un-dance-able - I could still throw some moves together). instead, I now sit in my ergonomically incorrect chair and head-bobble my life away.

mid-life crisis, here I come.

http://www.mitchtai.muxtape.com/

talking out the miles

months ago, when I first told myself I wanted to be able to go for a run and enjoy myself rather than feel like I was suffering through some evil mind / lung game, I realized the first thing I needed were running friends.

people that could either suffer with me, or watch me suffer and push me along.

first customer? the husband.

the husband, at that time, was busy hibernating and avoiding all contact with sunlight. no matter how much I begged, it was not going to happen. Fall and Winter are evidently designated as couch-warming, beer-sipping months for the male that I selected to be my life partner. and Spring and Summer, albeit good running months, are for him to push himself and leave the slower-paced wifey in the dust.

second customer? coworker.

she eats yogurt, fruit, and trail mix every single day and avoids ALL sweets and sugars ALL the time. surely she can help me out. and she did. for 2 months. she did my first 5k with me and has been on injured reserve ever since. (me secretly thinks she is pregnant and is avoiding all sorts of impact exercises but she has not admitted to this as of yet)

third customer? previous coworker / hiking companion

sure, he wants to actually GAIN weight so running probably isn't the best thing for him but, he can never turn down a friend. so we run together for a couple months before pains in his leg force him to buy new fancy shoes. different pains arise before he finally heads to a doctor to find out his tendons didn't want him to run afterall. he is now slowly turning his running back on but tis going to be a slow process.

fourth customer? friend I spoke to while drunk at a party

she's a marathoner / constant runner that can go weeks without running and still spit out a solid handful of miles no problem. we run together every weekend, adding a mile every time until finally I do my first 10k with her and it was awesome (minus the chafing). I continued to plan early Saturday runs with her but then cancelled several in a row due to negligent Friday night alcohol consumption. sad, but true. I haven't planned another one yet for fear I would cancel again and feel even more horrible.

fifth and sixth customer? old high school friends

one that just had a baby and one that wants to get in to running for the first time. the 3 of us hit it off really well on the trails and visit them 3 sometimes 4 times a week. we ran a 5k together over at Shoreline and we all did really well. now one of them has pulled muscle groups and has been light on the running. the other is fine.. but this leads me to...

today.

no one is available. the ones that aren't hurt are busy. and it's brought me to desperate measures. I have asked my husband to run with me.

last time we ran together, I did fine. he was not so fine. but he did it anyway. the time before THAT, he was pulling me along in the dead sun (which I am allergic to when it comes to exerting any sort of energy) before he said "come on! you HAVE to pass that old lady!" and so I stopped. time before that, I believe he used the word 'pathetic' when I struggled to run in the sun. my husband is not mean - he is a nice, loving, hilarious, and happy person. but he isn't the best at motivating or.. being available for someone else in a positive way. quite frankly, he intimidates the hell out of me.

the question is, which is more intimidating? running with him, or running solo.

too much fuel for my fire

yesterday, I added another 4 miles to my legs. but not to my stomach.

because as I have noticed over the past couple of months, I am consuming 75% of the food that I buy for my husband and myself. my mouth thinks I need more fuel than I really do. so while my thighs get more toned (but not my calves because they're cankles at heart) my stomach can fill a tiny little pot. maybe one for dessert sauces or a small amount of melted butter.

after my run yesterday, I looked down to check out my cool mermaid 5k shirt I sported and spit on and I could not help but notice my little pot takes up more horizontal space than the boobies. uh oh.

time to add some crunches to the work out. and I'm not talking about baked chips.