Indian Summer Classic: A Bitter-schweet Symphony

Did the race today...

Overall, it was a great day. My training buddy, Jen, had an awesome day -- exceeding her goal for the day. Mine was medium. I made some errors, not the least of which was going out WAY. TOO. FAST. None of this ruined my day, but it did make for a somewhat anti-climactic first race back after Ironman. Of course, the root error was not training consistently (big surprise). I think I'll finally be able to get into a groove re: school/training scheduling this week. You know, just in time for midterms.

Anyway, here's the rundown of the day:

Bitter: Staying up past midnight making a mix CD for the ride.
Schweet: Jen stayed up past midnight doing the same thing.

Bitter: Jen's CD player wouldn't read either of the independently-created CDs we both stayed up way too late making.
Schweet: THE WEATHER!!! A clear, Indian summer morning on Lake MacBride -- the widest possible spectrum of fall colors!

Bitter: 10:18/miles with more than a few walk breaks
Schweet: Motivation to work harder these next six weeks to the Girls on the Run 5K.

Bitter: Crashed HARD for 2 hours when I got home.
Schweet: Having the universe plop a super duper magna fantastic training partner into my lap -- in a way that is usually what ends such partnerships. *cryptic* Maybe I'll tell that story another time.

And the grand finale: previewing the bike ride we'll take tomorrow -- have I mentioned before how beautiful Iowa is? I friggin' LOVE living here!

Hello Summer Vacation!

I can't speak to the quality of this paper, but it is off my desk and it is now officially summer!

Halle-farkin'-lujah!

Neither New nor Kids...Discuss

Oh. My. Gawd.

I just heard the new NKOTB song "Summertime" on the radio this afternoon, and I am so underwhelmed I almost have nothing to say.

Almost.

I will admit, I expected/hoped their new stuff would be deliciously bad on the order of Britney (expected) or even the soundtrack to Grease 2 (hoped). But it's bland in a way that even Miley Cyrus cannot match. And there's something especially ookie about listening to a bunch of guys approaching 40 singing a song that includes a lyric about getting a girl's number and being warned not to call after 10.

According to The Toronto Star here's what they've been up to in the hiatus:
"Since disbanding in 1994, members Jordan Knight, Joey McIntyre and Danny Wood each released solo albums [Danny released a solo album?] while Donnie Wahlberg turned to acting [but acting turned him away] and Jonathan Knight became a real estate developer [and was so successful at it he went back to boy-banding?]."

Truth be told, I admit to having a wall plastered with their pinups...in 1989...when I was 13. Jonathan was my favorite. Later, I found out that he and Tiffany dated for a while (the original Britney and Justin?) which made Tiffany a little better and Jon a little worse in my eyes. But I got into and over all of it in the span of about 3 months (in time for my 14th birthday). How's that for quintessential boy-band fandom? I will also say that Jonathan continues to be my favorite if only because he's the only one who appears to have been gainfully employed in the last 15 years.

So...back to the title of this post. They aren't new and they aren't kids. Which makes them Old Men on the Block. And where I come from (a land of heavy Law & Order viewing), those are called pedophiles (see aforementioned lyric).

Okay, maybe not that far, but at least creepy and sad

...like Bret Michaels.

Settling a Bet

A friend of mine has been giving me the bizness for the last week because I'd never heard this song "We Don't Have to Take Our Clothes Off" by Jermaine Stewart before he played it at the last gathering.



I whole-heartedly admit that this is firmly situated within my musical purview, but I'm arguing that (1) I didn't *really* start listening to non-country music until 1987 and (2) I just don't think this song was big on the West Coast. (Mostly #2 -- apparently on the West Coast, we insist on clothes off.)

The only other West Coast guy at the gathering last night (who grew up in Berkeley) said he'd never heard it. And a quick phone call to my Cali peeps also confirmed.

So long story short, I lost the $5 bones I'd earned in the "Cocktail was released in 1988" bet over this nonsense.

One foot in front of the other. Repeat.

Well, I'm leaving tomorrow morning. I can't believe I'm really going through with this marathon business. Even if I have to crawl, I will finish this.

Unless the weather's bad...then I'll spend the morning with Scott, Ana, and mimosas. :D

Happily, the weather report predicts clear skies and highs in the upper 50s. It should be a great day; a grand adventure.

I really, really, really want to have a great story when I return. Yes. I am nervous, excited, frightened.

This first semester back in school has kinda put me through the wringer, so I am looking forward to the 26.2 miles of running back to myself (my old stomping grounds, my old friends, my old athletic self).

Anyway, thanks for stickin' with me through my absence and non-posting. Just three more weeks of school, 90 pages of writing, 850 pages of reading -- not that I'm counting.

Oh yeah...I've lost 20 pounds since I got here.

I Am My Own Nemesis

So I got up, had breakfast, got all dolled up in my running outfit and gathered my things: sunglasses, visor, race number, safety pins, gels. With my hands full, I told the dogs to be good little babies and then closed the door behind me.

Notice anything missing from that list?

KEYS! Sonuva!

That's right. I locked myself out and by the time the locksmith worked his magic, I missed the race by 10 minutes. What an idiot I am.

I managed to pull a hip flexor last week and NOT stay off of it (beautiful weather + lure of ultimate = painful ultimate). SOOO, it is probably a good thing for me to have missed this race to give myself a little more time to heal. (I've got a bag of ice tucked into my shorts right now.)

Missing this race means I must do the Des Moines half-mary in a couple weeks -- and I should learn the lesson of staying away from sprinting sports for a little while.

Double-dog dang. :(

Windows of Opportunity

Oy. What a night.

From Accuweather.com:
Another Night of Storms
7/17/2007 2:35 PM The storm system that hammered the central Plains on Monday will produce strong thunderstorms across the Upper Midwest tonight.

Hammered is a good way to put it. I was up 'til 1am with Boots and her thunderstorm anxiety. I don't know if the thunder here is louder, or if my strong, sturdy house with a foundation in New Mexico did a better job of muffling the sound than my confidence-shaking mobile home.

Either way, even I got a little ansty last night, getting through my first tornado watch (we had them in New Mexico, too, but I think they mean it here in Iowa).

Then I got in a little nap until 4am, when the storming started all over again.

Another nap from 11:30 until 1:30. I took advantage of the break in the storm to get Boots to the vet for some stronger medication (like Alprazolam). Benadryl just isn't going to cut it.

I also took advantage of the brief sun to sneak in a 12-mile bike ride.

Okay, that's not me.

But that's pretty much what my route looks like. Corn, corn, corn. I did the same loop as last Monday, only backwards. It smelled of wet poop (cow, dog, pig, who knows?) the WHOLE way.

A shower and another nap from 8-9.

The storms are supposed to start again at midnight tonight and go on until Friday morning.

So here's the thing: along with naps I snuck a bike ride into my day? I might turn this leaf over yet.

I Can't Believe It's Not Poop

Fine. Have it your way. No poop for anybody.