Well, more like feeling the aches and pains, but I’m smiling. Today I met up with my team for our weekly Team in Training run. It was supposed to be an hour and 45 minute run, and the mileage range from 8-10 miles, depending on your skill level. Well I went out and found a good running partner and we ROCKED it. We ended up going 6 miles out, 6 miles back in 2 hours for a grand total of TWELVE MILES!!! Can you believe it? And we’re only training for a half marathon, which is 13.1! After running 12, I can safely say I can do this race in October. It wasn’t easy to do 12, especially when in the last mile we had to run up a steep hill that seemed endless. I was really regretting getting that small Starbucks coffee before the run too. What was I thinking? But at the end of the run, it was all worth it. That is further than anything I’ve ever run before and I am so proud of myself.

I was really feeling sorry for myself this week and really putting myself down and my appearance. I was feeling lazy, and even though I was doing cross training, I felt that it wouldn’t be enough, and I should have been out there running. Well now I know that cross training really does help! Also the motivation from my teammates was enough to push me to keep running. Oh, and I ran the whole way, I didn’t even do the run/walk like a lot of the team does. I actually felt better that way, because I never lost my stride. The water stops and the goo packs for energy they gave us were a godsend, and I’m definitely going to stock up on those for the race.

Now if you’ll excuse me I’m going to take a much needed shower and a well deserved lounge session. WHEW!

Welcome to Lil' Oregon Bug! If you're new here and you like what you are reading, you may want to subscribe to my RSS feed. Thanks for visiting!

Technorati Tags: marathon, pacing, running, stride, team in training, Working Out

Hip hip hooray for a three day weekend! I am so excited to have some time to relax. Monday Dill Pickle and I will get a full day off together because of the holiday. I’ve got a surprise date planned for Sunday night which will hopefully go over well.
It’s Friday and I’m having trouble focusing at work. I can’t wait to go to Dyl’s parent’s house where we’re going to bbq and swim. With this heat that’s all I want to do is cool off. It’s been in the high 90s, low 100’s every day this week I think. I just wish I had some sexy swimwear to wear for the backyard pool party. The one I have now is about 3 years old. Right now I’m still not feeling too confident in a bikini, but that’s why I have my workout goals. Swimming is an excellent workout, and it will help ease my guilt over eating hamburgers and sausages. I hope everyone enjoys the holiday weekend!

If you’ve been keeping up with my posts, you’ll know that I’ve been training for the Nike Women’s Half Marathon, coming up October 19th. I have a workout schedule, and sometimes it’s hard to stay motivated to stick to it. My friend Ruthie told me about the Healthy You Challenge, and it looked pretty cool to me. Basically the challenge is to become a healthier version of you. Everyone who joins has a different goal. For some it’s to lose weight, for some it’s to eat right, and for some like me, it’s to stay on track with my exercise routine, and to continually challenge myself to stay in shape and tone up.
So every Tuesday I’m going to be checking in and giving a little update on my Healthy You Challenge and make some goals for myself.
So my goals for this week are:
1. Stick to the team in training workout schedule which means,
Mon- run or walk 30 min
Tues- buddy run 1 hour
Weds-cross train
Thurs-do track drills for 1 hour
Fri-rest or go for a walk
Sat- run 8-10 miles
Sun-rest
2. Ice my leg every night and stretch-I’ve been suffering from some injuries which makes me far less motivated to work out. If I can take care of my legs every day, the race will be that much easier.
3. DRINK WATER-I should be drinking 8-10 cups of water a day.
4. Eat healthy, avoid giant meals. Working out has made me extremely hunger, to the point where I’m negating all the calories I’ve burned by gobbling up twice that at dinner. My goal is to eat 5 light meals instead of 3 heavy ones.

So wish me luck, staying motivated to run all those miles has been tough. Hopefully the challenge will help me succeed.

Technorati Tags: Healthy You Challenge

As I was channel surfing last night, I couldn’t help but be revolted by the choices we have now. Everything is a reality show, I mean everything.
I finally stumbled on a rerun on Step By Step and it brought me back to the days of acne cream and teen angst. But seriously those were the days of good tv. Remember TGIF? I think the line up were shows Step By Step, Sabrina the Teenage Witch, Boy Meets World, Family Matters. None of this Who Wants to Marry My Mom and all the other crap shows they put on tv.
Now there are a couple of reality shows that I do enjoy, like Platinum Weddings, or any countdown on VH1 that pokes fun of celebrities (i.e. Top 20 best celebrity breakups). But beyond those few shows, I would really rather have a good ol’ sitcom, and it makes me so mad when shows get canceled that had so much potential.
Here is a list of the shows I wish hadn’t been canceled:

1. Arrested Development: by far the most brilliant, funny comedy I think I’ve ever seen. Lines like,

Tobias Fünke: [footage of Tobias trying on a Speedo with his cut-offs on] Excuse me, do these effectively hide my thunder?

2. Men in Trees: this was definitely a girl’s show, but I loved it. It was about a single woman finding herself. This show got me through a rough single girl period in my life, and the stupid network ended it before even letting the show wrap up the story. How rude!

3. Notes From the Underbelly: I really liked this show, it was funny and quirky. I’m pretty sure it was canceled without finishing its story either.

4. Cupid: I loved this show, with Jeremy Piven’s great delivery. I hear they might be making a new one version of the show, basically allowing the writer to redo his work.

5. October Road: This show wasn’t the greatest, but it had a real cliffhanger. Who was the little boy’s real dad? I wish they would have at least ended the show with a little closure.

Technorati Tags: Arrested Development, Cupid, Men in Trees, Notes From the Underbelly, October Road

Last Thursday Dyl Pickle and I went to see the much anticipated Dark Knight. I had high hopes for this movie, and it exceeded all my expectations. I got tears in my eyes from Heath Ledger’s performance as The Joker. He was incredible, but it was bittersweet knowing he won’t be making any more films. Such a sad thing. He was an amazing, gifted actor and I hope that he gets the Oscar he deserved, even after death.
Even though Heath stole the show, Christian Bale did a great job revising his role as Batman. I like that he changes his voice every time he switches from playboy Bruce to the Dark Knight. I don’t remember the previous Batmen doing that and it helps hide his identity.
My only complaint about this movie was the choice in actresses for leading lady. Honestly, I hated that they chose Katie Holmes for the first movie, but Maggie Gyllenhaal as Rachel Dawes? Seriously? I’m not trying to be harsh here, but I just don’t think she’s pretty. And here are hunk of all hunks Christian Bale, not to mention Aaron Eckhart in his own handsome right, fighting over this Bassethound faced woman? I think she’s a good actress, but I do not think she’s beautiful, certainly not in the traditional comic book way.
Think back to the Batman Beauties, only focusing on the good movies (1 and 2, not the atrocities that were 3 and 4). There was Kim Bassinger and Michelle Pfieffer. Two classic beauties who know how to act. I just think it would have been a bit more believable to have Batman torn up over someone equal to their beauty. Besides that though this movie was excellent, and I really hope they make another.

Technorati Tags: Batman, comics, Dark Knight, entertainment

Yesterday was my lil nephew’s first birthday. I have one other nephew, and one niece all the way up in Portland, OR and I miss out on all the fun moments with them. It is nice to have a nephew that I get to see at least once a month, and I’ve had the chance to watch him grow. It’s amazing how time flies! When he was born he was just this tiny little peanut premee, not even 4 pounds. And now he’s all cheeks and rolly polly babiness. You can’t help but smile when you look at him. For his birthday his parents (my little brother and his wife) got him his own personal cake so he could tear it apart. He had a blast basically painting his face with blue and white frosting. He howled when we tried to wipe his face clean. It was such a funny thing to watch. After cake we had present time, and he was of course more thrilled with the wrapping paper than his impressive loot, which included toys and lots of clothes for him to grow into. Yours truly got him a few outfits about how trouble is his business and business is good. I plan on helping him live up to that. It’s only fair, helping nephew cause mischief is what aunties do best!
I wish I had known about these children’s books when I was buying his presents though. A personalized book would be a pretty cool present, and a fun keepsake. Well there is always my niece’s first birthday to look forward to. Or I could wait until Ayden gets a little older and can recognize his picture and his name on a book. How cool would that be for a 5 year old? To be the star of your own book? I’ll definitely have to check into the personalized books when Christmas gets closer.

Race day is only two months away! I’ve kicked my training up a notch and my feet are suffering as a result. I am cursed with “flat feet” and my feet literally throb when I finish my workouts. I’ve tried the super feet inserts, which have helped a lot, but not completely. Today I tried to run and I realized I was using my toes only, and not heel toe, and my form was horrible. I was limping without even knowing it, and probably doing a lot of damage to my already fragile knee. I’m forcing myself to correct my posture, even walking for now if I have to. Walking right is way more important than running wrong and ruining my body. No race is worth that to me-it’s not like I’m a professional athlete.
Besides training though, my flat feet have cramped (haha, literally) my style. I can’t wear flip flops, and most other cute shoes for more than a few hours without my feet killing me. I have thought about orthotics and also the new MBT shoes. I just heard about these cool shoes that simulate walking in sand. The form of the shoe is supposed to correct posture and strengthen muscles all over the foot and legs, even the core! They’re pretty pricey, so it might be a luxury for the future, but man I would love to try out a pair. Anything to help my aching feet. For now I’ll settle for foot rubs from Dylan.

Yesterday Dylan and I decided to take a ferry boat ride to San Francisco. We’re so close to the city, and yet we had never explored it as a couple. We had some time to kill before the next boat, so we wandered around a cute little shopping center in Larkspur, and enjoyed a couple day bloody Mary’s.

The boat ride was my favorite part of the trip. We couldn’t have asked for better weather-I think it was in the high 70’s all day. We rode past Angel Island and Alcatraz and got all kinds of pictures. There was fog just over the golden gate and you could see the sun peeking out behind it.

When we docked, we made our way through the pier 1 market and made the long trek down to Pier 39. Dyl had never been, and I figured he’d better see one of the more well known tourist traps in SF. Course I forgot how much he hates crowds so it was interesting to say the least. The place was swarming with people! But because we were together, we made it fun as usual. We got some ice cream and plopped down on a park bench to do some grade A people watching. With all those tourists it was easy to see some unusual characters. On our walk we passed the Princess Cruise line and it got us both talking about going on Caribbean cruises together. I hope we get to someday!

On the way back to Pier 1 we found this little garden in the middle of the city. It was tucked away, hidden by Ivy walls, and when we walked in, it was like the city didn’t exist. Just this little tranquil spot in the middle of city life. If I lived in SF, this would have been my spot. There were just a few people there, relaxing and reading or taking pictures. Isn’t it beautiful?

We had a long wait before the last ferry went out of the city, but we had fun people watching, smooching, and just being together. We watched a ferry unload its passengers and it was like watching people get out of a clown car. Just when we thought it was empty, more people just kept flowing off. It was so weird! I couldn’t believe how many people were on that boat.

On the ride home we entertained ourselves by trying to make heart shapes out of pretzels. Dylan did a fine job in the end, but instead of a heart, we decided it looked like a pig nose.

The things we do to pass the time…

It was a great day in the city, but next time I plan on taking Dyl to the tea gardens, or somewhere else a little less crowded. It was fun to see SF, but it made me appreciate our little suburban town.

The half marathon is only 2 1/2 months away and my body is not in the shape I expected it to be. All this training and I was hoping to be fabulously in shape and looking fantastic. Instead not only have I gained weight as I wrote in earlier posts, but I’ve broken out with acne. It is nothing compared to when I was a kid, but all that running and sweat has caused my face to wage war on my skin. I’m looking to find the best acne product but so far I’ve come up short. I think eventually my skin will get used to sweating, and as long as I can get a shower in right after a run I should be ok.
As much as I know I’m doing a good thing by participating in this marathon (raised over $2500 for cancer research yayy) I will still be relieved when it is over. I plan on joining a gym and focusing more on my core instead of running endurance. And maybe I won’t be so tired all the time. This running 15-20 miles a week is exhausting.

I had a nice talk with the roommate the other day, and we agreed that we’re both just watching the calendar, itching to get out of our lease. Our lease isn’t up until January but we both want to move bad. It’s not that we hate each other, it’s that we both want to live with our guys. I’m excited at the prospect, and also the possibility of saving money on rent. Rent is such a huge expense, and such a waste. I can’t wait until I can finally buy a place. The plan is to move someplace cheap, hopefully not too ugly, and save as much as we can, and then buy a house when the time (and income) is right. I blog about it so much, my dreams of owning a home. Just the idea of having a yard again, with cute patio furniture covers and maybe a hammock. I want to try my hand at gardening too. I think it would be really cool to grow my own vegetables instead of having to buy produce at the store. Homegrown lettuce tastes a million times better, and it doesn’t go bad as fast.
But alas, we are still stuck in the lease for now. We’re going to try to convince the landlord to let us leave a month or two early, and let them rent out our place at the new higher price. I think they’ll let us out of the lease since it means more money in their greedy little pockets. So Dyl and I have started scrimping and saving for the move out/move in costs. It’s spendy bouncing around from place to place. I can’t wait for that day when I can finally call my home MY home and have that be true for more than a year.