Fun in the Sun

I wish that were me.

But I'm still sick.

(Dontcha just dig my 'new' chaise lounge? Sammy sure does)

Sick sick sick

I've been down for the count due to very annoying cold that has turned into laryngitis. I came down with it before leaving for Baton Rouge, but I thought it was just allergies. Boy was I wrong. At the end of my first workshop I had completely lost my voice and all I wanted to do was curl up into a little ball and roll away. So, after a miserable night in Hotel Ghetto, I had to go back to the computer lab and 'tell' (more like whisper) the students who showed up for the workshop that class was rescheduled for May. Many of them had driven up the day before for the workshop from New Orleans, and had stayed overnight, so were therefore a little testy about class being canceled. But most were sensible and realized that I had not lost my voice intentionally, so were very nice and understanding.

So I get to go back to Baton Rouge week after next (this time will not be booking at Hotel Ghetto again), and will get to drink more Community Coffee (yum) and maybe eat some scrimps.

What sucks about all this is that I've not been able to run since Tuesday (hey folks, my snot is bright yellow and I still feel like turds), so not sure how to handle next Sundays 8 mile run.

And you know, it occurred to me recently that I started to feel oogey the day after my 6 mile run. What does that mean? Does running make me sick?

Maybe I should just give up running, blow off the Peachtree race, and instead head up to Washington instead for Willie's Annual Fourth of July Picnic.

Okay, not really (just wanted family members to momentarily freak out). Hopefully, he'll live another year and I can go to his picnic some other time.

I hate being sick.

Sheryl Crow Kicks A**

Did you read about the encounter between Sheryl Crow/Laurie David and Karl "The Creep" Rove?

They were trying to engage him in a conversation about global warming, and, well... he doesn't appear to be a very engaging dinner companion.

He's such a schmuck.

Ain't Got No....

Hair!

Y'all better be happy, cause my own mother hasn't even seen it yet (she'll probably cry when she does)

I think I kinda favor Rizzo... Whaddya think?



(Don't ya just dig the subtitles?)

What the...?

Why doesn't the comments option appear in my last post?

*Stomps feet*

Me name is Hobble "The Gimp" McDodder...

AARRRRRR!!!

Why can't it be Talk Like a Pirate Day? I never feel like talking like a pirate when the day finally comes around. I'll bet me good friend Cutthroat Katie McKyle never has that problem. She's a REAL pirate. Not like me- I'm a pretend pirate.

Okay, cut me some slack folks, I ran SIX MILES today. So, I'm feelin a little woozy in de membrane.

So, I was a total pooz and slept through my alarm this morning, so I missed the group run (but I totally had a good excuse- I didn't get back from airport until late the night before, and that was after a day of missed connections due to stupid fog in Houston). But, I still ran the 6 miles later, with my own personal support vehicle (that'd be B on his bike of course) on the Springwater trail.

Gosh, it was hard.

I was really slow too- it took me an hour and fifteen, so I'm hoping to shave off a few minutes of that by the P'tree (also a 10K), but I'm not gonna cry if I can't, because I can run for longer than an hour! Absolutely blows my mind.

So now I'm really really sore (hence the title of this post)- will have to do yogurt tomorrow since I can't afford a massage, but yoga does the trick pretty good. And frozen peas. Can't forget the stupid peas.

In traveling news: I was in Montgomery Al for just one day, but I got to see the lovely and sparkely girls from Auburn (Diane and Laura) for an entertaining evening of margaritas and too many chips and salsa. Laura is graduating this week with a Masters degree in Landscape Architecture (and no, she said she won't do your backyard) and Diane is diligently (ahem) working on completing her PhD in Forestry- she's going to save our forests from nasty pollution (wave to everyone, girls). I'm so proud of them. I could just kick myself because they invited me to stay for one more day to accompany them to a Blues and BBQ fest the next day, which was really tempting, but I was concerned about not finding another flight out without having to pay too much in change fees, so I sadly declined...

...and then ended up stuck in a plane on the tarmac of the New Orleans airport for half the afternoon. And, yes I said New Orleans. That's because the flight from Montgomery couldn't land in Houston (my connecting city) due to fog, so the plane was diverted to New Orleans (sad flying over it by the way- still too many blue tarps) until the fog could clear up. By the time we were able to continue on, I'd missed my connecting flight, so had to hang out at the Houston airport for six hours. Doh! I could not stop thinking about how I could have been eating bbq and listening to excellent music sitting out in the grass on a beautiful southern spring day. Stupid!

Oh well. At least I had all of Season 2 of Grey's Anatomy on my computer (oh, I love me some pirates), so I settled in next to an outlet and watched 6 episodes back to back whilst fighting off other stranded passengers in the terminal who wanted to watch with me (not kidding).

So, it's good to finally be home, although I turn around in a few days and head to Baton Rouge. Should find some good eats there. Maybe I'll meet a Cajun pirate too! Maybe someone like Ragin Cajun Carville. Only not so creepy.

Orewar! (That's 'goodbye' in Creole, yo)

Best Salad In The World...and Beans!

So how come no one told me about this before?

• Mixed baby greens
• Blue cheese crumbles
• Candied walnuts (or pee-cans)
• Basalmic vinegarette

Jiminy cricket! It's so rad! And healthful!

Part of the problem might be that I have always hated nuts in things. Don't mind them by their lonesome, but as soon as you sprinkle them on brownies, or pies, or salads...ACK! So to give everyone the benefit of the doubt, you probably just knew this about me, and didn't feel like arguing.

I found out about this salad when one night, much to my surprise, I tried a bite of B's salad that he ordered in one of his braver moments (he's like I am about unlikely food combos), and to my even bigger surprise (because I've also got an aversion to cheese that is blue/bleu- whatever), I loved it! So, that is how Ptown Peach now gets her leafy greens via this oh so frenchy frou-frou manner. Who knew?

Since I've been trying to phase meat out of my diet, I've been looking for protein replacements, and have settled on black beans and rice (brown, since white is a no-no) as something I can eat frequently. It has been so rockin my world. Here's how I prepare it:

• A few healthy scoops of dried black bean bought from the bulk section of grocery
• Soak beans overnight after picking out rocks (!) and weird shrively things
• Place in big ol' pot submerged by water (you'll want water at least 2 inches above beans)
• A few bay leaves, a teaspoon (at least) of cumin, a few tablespoons of kosher salt, black pepper, cayenne pepper, and tons of red pepper flakes (if you like it spicy, yo)
• Bring to a boil, then let simmer all day, adding water as necessary to keep them submerged
  
• At end of day, when beans are still hard, call Mom in a panic and ask her what to do
• Follow her instructions regarding bringing back to a boil and cook on medium high for next 3 hours until beans are soft and edible* (yay!)
• Saute a coupla cloves of minced garlic and diced yellow onion in a few tablespoons of olive oil and dump this in right before serving
  
• Serve with Trader Joe's amazing frozen brown rice (nuked first of course)
• (don't forget the Beano)

* Mom also says next time to soak for two days...or buy beans in a can.

*****

So I ran for thirty minutes today per the almighty VFit schedule, would have been able to go longer except that I included a pretty sizable hill, which totally kicked my ass, so I stopped right at thirty minutes. Because I'm following the schedule. With no deviations.

I'm such a wimp.

*****

And lastly for your viewing pleasure, since it's been awhile...

Mmmm...endorphins...

Hi!

Today was the 5 mile run with the Pfit group (I should start calling it VFit, since I'm running on the Vancouver side, but, oh well) , and it went swimmingly. Our route was a gradual uphill the first four miles that wound by a military base and through a pretty college campus (oh, the cherry blossoms were spectacular!) and the last mile was a steep downhill. I am so proud that I made it up all the hilly parts without stopping, even though I haven't encountered such hills before. I was running in a cluster with about 5 other folks, and even though we didn't talk much to each other, it was really comforting having them around. I've decided that I really like running with other people- something about it just feels very right. Maybe it's an evolutionary thing. Maybe we were all gazelles in a former life. Yeah, that must be it.

Anyway, I don't think this was the elusive 'runners high' people talk about, but after about 3 miles, I began to feel tingly and a little chilled (in a good way) and all of a sudden, I wanted to run up to someone and tell them something like "this is so much fun!, and isn't everything beautiful today!" But my better judgement prevented me from looking like a total dunderhead (but I know I had a stupid grin on my face for at least a half a mile).

I only really felt tired at around mile 4.5, at which point my body started to put the brakes on, because, well, that's about as far as I've ever run. It started in on that whole annoying refrain again, what the !@#$ are you doing, idiot? This is waaay too far! Of course that just made me want to run faster. Stupid voice. It should know better.

So our little gaggle finished in exactly one hour. And what that means is my pace has finally increased from really slooow to just plain slow. Woop woop! And for those of you that need a little help with the math, that's a 12 minute mile, and I was holding back a bit. Nothin to write home about (obviously doesn't stop me though), but it's a little bitty milestone (heh, get it?) for me. Previously, my not pushing it pace was closer to a 13 min/mile. Now I can at least run faster than most (but not all) of the walkers out there.

After the run was over, and we were all laid out in the parking lot stretching, a lovely girl in my red group introduced herself to me, and we chatted a bit, so I may have a new friend!

Oh, and one other thing- I have been having issues with my head feeling like it's overheating, so I cut my hair off. (sorry, no pictures will be posted yet) And you know what? I didn't even cry because it's kinda cute! B even said it looked good, which is something, cause he never gives compliments. And the running with my newly shorn Joan of Arc hair-do? It was dee-vine. I love it.

Land of Sweet Tea and BBQ

Did you know that Birmingham, Alabama has more bbq shops per capita than any other US city?

So, wouldn't it be silly if I didn't sample some of that dee-licious bbq while here?

Although 'sample' implies that I only tried a small amount...Pffft!

'Oh wait!' (Looks around) 'Did I click on the wrong link?' How did I end up on this bbq blog? I thought this was a blog about running!'

Sorry. Especially to those of you linking from the RBF. If you stick around here, you'll notice that there is not much I won't talk about, but I do try to mention running at least every other post. So, just for you RBF folks, let's talk about running...

I have some advice: don't run after guzzling a gallon of sweet tea. You will deeply regret it, and you'll be lucky if you don't hurl it up everywhere. Today I was to run 30 minutes- easy peasy, or so I thought... Shit! I only made it 25 minutes on the stupid machine before I had to stop or else I totally would have barfed all over cute European boy running next to me. Shit! Now he thinks I'm a total pooz. But it was SWEET tea!!! I have zero self control. I was waiting in the restaurant for my bbq to take back to my hotel room, and I hit the sweet tea refill jug about three times while waiting, cause it's SWEET tea! So, what is it? Is it the sugar or the caffeine that makes your tummy hurt so? I mean I can drink a gallon of water and not feel like hurling.

*****

Oh. Wow. I just completely burst into tears while sitting here minding my own business in the hotel room. I have the tv on (half watching "Shockwaves!: The Imus Effect!" - please shoot me now, cause Paula Zahn makes me want to stick things in my eye) and I just saw the ASPCA commercial that shows video clips of puppies and kittens looking so sad and sweet while Sarah Mclaughlin sings "In the Arms of an Angel" in the background. I barely managed to wipe the snot up before I called and donated $3,000.00 to the ASPCA. Okay, not really, but I want to save them all. I really did cry by the way. If you don't at least get a little choked up while watching that commercial, then you're the devil.

*****

ANYWAY. (Stupid tv) At least I managed 25 minutes- tomorrow I'll do 30. (I'm tryin to stick to the Pfit schedule, mkay?)

And I found my mantra (because 'just keep swimming' doesn't work for me, Brad). So, here it is: 'Run to eat bbq, run to eat bbq, run to eat bbq...'

Has kind of a nice cadence, dontcha think?

On Civility

I've been thinking a lot about this these last few days since the Don Imus thing...

Since when did "politically correct" become the phrase we use for civility? And if they are now one and the same, when the hell did it become fashionable to be uncivil towards each other?

I get pretty irritated when folks whine and wax nostalgic about the time "back when we didn't have to worry about being so politically correct".

Really?...You mean back in them good ol' days when we could use words like the 'N' word?

Sorry, but for all those idiot 'shock jocks', who can only make a living by appealing to the worst in us, and 'entertaining' through insult and derision, tough noogies. Sometimes, enough is enough, and through the power of our collective 'best side', we will vote you off the island.

Hoppy Easter!

Get any yummy Peeps in yer basket? I got my Peeps last week when I was home, plus a lovely easter bonnet from Mom. Try putting the Peeps in the microwave for 10-15 seconds, and watch them turn into huge Stay-Puft marshmallow chicks. It's a great party trick.

I didn't go to church this morning (cause I'm a heathen), but I started the holy day today celebrating my one year anniversary of being smoke free by beginning marathon training with Portland/Vancouver Fit. I have to run with the Vancouver, Washington (no, not Vancouver BC) group on the other side of the Columbia on Sunday mornings, cause the Portland group runs are Saturday mornings, which are hard for me to make since I usually get home really late Friday night. But I'm actually kind of happy about that since I heard that approximately 1200 people showed up for the Portland run on Saturday, and there were only about 120 people this morning in the Vancouver group, which is much more manageable and intimate. I think I'll have a better chance connecting with some people in a smaller group.

So, we met outside this restaurant on the banks of the Columbia at 8am, and after a seminar on safety (don't run in front of cars), we split into three groups: the speedy colors of yellow, blue and green, the purple walkers, and my group, the poky red runners. Go red! (And actually, the reds are anyone who runs 10 minute miles or longer, so not necessarily all that pokey)

We ran for four miles today, and I chatted briefly here and there, but no connections yet with anyone, which is okay since there will be 24 more weeks of this to get to know folks better. After the run, one of the coaches (a physical therapist) led us in a group stretch, and promised that the massage therapist would be on hand starting next week (we get 5 minute massages as part of the deal). Which is good, since we're adding a mile every week, working our way up to 26 miles. YIKES!!! But I'm excited. There are many coaches and assistant coaches who run with us and are there to guide, inspire, and help us avoid injury while training. We've got a strict weekly schedule that we all follow together, which is running for a certain number of minutes three times during the week on our own, and then on the weekend we do our long mileage run together as a group. Plus we get t-shirts!

After the run, I took a long bath, cooked a healthy veggie scramble, then crashed with the cat for a long nap. So it's been a good day.

Hope yours has been too.

Traveling Sucks

Flying to a different city each week gets really old sometimes. And some weeks are much worse than others, depending on a variety of factors.

Take transportation for example. I landed in Baltimore Wednesday night around 8 pm looking foward to getting to my hotel as quickly as possible after a really long day in airplanes. So I bopped down to the Super Shuttle desk to wait for my ride to the Hilton in Pikesville (burby area westside of Baltimore). After 45 minutes, the driver shows up, and I get in the van and join two other passengers. The driver pulls out from the airport and slowly pulls onto the interstate- and I mean slowly. He's going about 40 miles an hour on the Beltway. With his brights on. And drifting to and fro like the white lines have grown kinks. I look at the military-looking guy sitting next to me with alarm, and he returns the expression with an added shrug, but he does ask the driver if it's possible to speed it up a bit. So the driver complies for a few minutes, until he forgets, and slows down again, while resuming his game of 'hit me if you can' with the other cars on the freeway. At one point, as I'm looking at the rearview mirrow at the driver, I notice his eyes begin to close like he's about to fall asleep...

So in a panic, I clap my hands next to his head (I'm sitting right behind him) to wake him up and shout "what the hell is wrong with you?!" He spins around and yells, "What are you doing?! I'm trying to pay attention to get you people where you need to go!" To which I reply, "Well, you're OBVIOUSLY not doing such a great job of that, and how much does it take to go the speed limit and stay between the lines?" By the way, at this point I'm only getting support from the guy sitting next to me, the other passenger has been in the back of the van talking on his cellphone the whole time (in Russian), seemingly oblivious to the current situation.

So I'm getting completely freaked out and I start whispering with the guy sitting next to me about what to do, and as we're trying to devise a plan, the driver has just gone through a toll booth, and is now driving in reverse (still on the freeway by the way), to our horror and the irritation of a few semi's that blare their horns at us as they nearly jackknife to avoid us. Evidently, he was too far to the left to get off at the exit he was looking for, so he went past it, but decided it would be more convenient to just pop it into reverse and get off that way. So I'm in a real panic now, heart thumping, wildly looking for a gas station or anywhere to get off this Shuttle from Hell, but there is nothing, and I have no clue where we are (and neither does the guy next to me- I asked him if he knew and he told me he'd just moved to Baltimore a week ago...yeesh).

So, we are now driving through this dark industrial wharf area at about ten miles an hour, and I've begun to try to dig my cellphone out of my bag to call 911 because I've become convinced that the driver is going to rob us, and then kill us in brutal Quentin Tarantino style...but alas, the blob in the back pipes up to tell the driver he's missed his turn. So the Russian guy lives on one of the boats in this scary place. He gets out and while the driver is out back pulling his luggage free, me and the other guy are furiously whispering about what exactly is wrong with our driver, and how do we get out of this in one piece. We don't get much worked out (other than that soldier boy will kick his ass if he doesn't get his act together), and next thing I know, we're back on the road heading to where soldier boy lives. I'm still on the lookout for semi-safe looking places to get out, but we're back on the interstate...and more of the same, but I'm actually a little relieved that he's not going to chop us into little pieces, but that he's just drunk or high, and dying in a crumpled and blazing automobile is sooo much better...

Anyway, to wrap this story up, I ended up getting off before my stop and calling a cab to take me to the Hilton. So, the lesson here is, well, don't hire Super Shuttle in Baltimore.

Okay, not really, there's actually no lesson here, because you can't plan for everything, and you can only control how you react to a situation that's beyond your control. Which anyone who travels often knows, much of what you encounter traveling is beyond your control. The lady who insisted on bathing in Chanel before boarding the plane, the asshole who takes up a whole overhead bin with his too large luggage, the other asshole sitting in front of you who throws his seat back with little warning, the stupid automated toilet flusher in all the airport bathrooms now that flush before you've had a chance to get off the pot (I really hate this one- more on this later), the taxi driver who's windows advertise that he takes credit cards, but when you try to pay with one, the swipey machine is conveniently broken, the bitch at the reception desk who doesn't care that you've paid 161.00 a night for the room, the stupid blanket on the bed that's not even fit for a hobo, and on and on and on....

Now, the best solution I've ever heard for most of these problems and more: a squirt gun.

Yep.

That suggestion was from Brad, who is convinced that a little pfft pfft action from a five and dime squirt gun is the only tool you need to deal with the assholes of the world. Picture it: you arrive at your hotel and the twat at reception can't "find" your reservation (because those assholes routinely overbook), so you just pull out your trusty squirt gun from your pocket and pfft pfft right on her forehead, and voila! after a few seconds of stammering and confusion, your reservation has miraculoulsly appeared.

I wish I'd had one to use on the Super Shuttle driver... But, I don't recommend you use this on everyone; the guy in the seat in front of you on the plane is okay, but the flight attendant...not so much. Unless you want to be frog-marched on CNN.

Also, it won't work on those dumb automatic toilet flushers. Actually it will make it worse.

God, I hope the Birmingham trip next week goes better.

And the race is on!

So it looks like all of our checks cleared! We're in!

Whew!

For those who don't know what the heck I'm talking about, the whole reason I started running was kind of a dare from my Dad and brother that we run the Peachtree Road Race on July 4th in Atlanta to celebrate the transformation from bad-eating-smoking-lazy-general-poor-excuses to fit and healthy human beings. So I've been running since October and loving it.

Since the Peachtree is such a popular annual tradition, they limit the race to 55,000, and accept the first 45,000 applications they recieve in the mail; the remaining 10,000 are chosen lotto style. And the only way you know if yours was accepted is when the 28.00 check clears.

So it's official. I have to run in Atlanta in the summer. Bleh.

I had a semi-preview of what that would be like earlier last week during my visit home, and I went for a jog on a beautiful day of 80 degrees. The thing is, that's the hottest temp I've ever run in. Remember, I'm in Portland and I started running in the fall, so this whole heat/humidity thing is a new experience. No wonder I didn't start running back in Atlanta. How the hell do you people in Florida do it? Not only did I have to deal with breathing in water, but my poor lungs went into overdrive sifting out bazzilions of pollen particles. Jiminy cricket! And in addition to all that, my old new Goodwill running shorts insisted on giving me runners wedgie. So I spent more energy blowing out snotballs and digging my shorts outta my crotch than actually moving my legs back and forth. Fun! And don't even get me started on the hills. *Shudder*

But outside of my painful running escapades, my visit home was lots of fun. Got to see the folks, see dear friend Erin with baby ( so cute!!!), eat bbq, and go shopping with mom (by the way, I don't recommend shopping after watching a marathon of 'What Not to Wear'. You'll just end up spending way too much money thinking it's absolutely necessary to buy that necklace to go with that blouse, and if you buy that necklace, well, you gotta have the earrings too, ect.)

So I'm off to Baltimore next, but don't expect much (couldn't find guided John Waters tour). Although there is a cemetary behind my Hilton, which might make for a fun run report...and then I tripped over the gravestone in front of a funeral procession...

p.s. check out the new 'silliness' video- it'll make you pee it's so funny