Century Mark

It's the end of the month and I've passed a mileage mark. For the month of March I've officially run over 100 miles! (108.6 to be exact!) I never thought I hit that mark in a month! It never even occurred to me to try, but I'm very excited that I noticed it! (Thank God I have a training log so that I can celebrate such events!) Woo-Hoo!!

I'm feelin' like a Rock Star!! (A very sore and tired rock star, but a rock star none the less!)

Sad Tales

This kid was a student at my school. He transfered out (to the other school down the block).

It just seems that in this day and age, we should be able to prevent stuff like this.

Hug Bank

I am officially at the point where marathon training is kicking my ass. I'm tired, sore and crabby. This has been my status for the entire week. I'm not looking forward to next week (it's the Big Run--and by 'Big Run', I mean the 20 miler), because I'm sick of having my ass kicked.

I know, I know, I did this to myself.It's not that I want to quit. I'm not even entertaining the thought. I think the major reason that I'm feeling this way is that I've had a nasty sinus infection for 3 weeks now. The antibiotics I'm on only seem to take the edge off. They're not killing whatever is making me miserable. I'm not even death's door sick. I'm just congested (nose and lungs) and I tire easily. All I want is for this sinus thing to be done with!!

I guess I'm just at the point where I could use a serious hug.

I think that there should be a place that gives out hugs. Like a Hug Bank. Huggers, of course would have to go through a background check. No one wants a hug that makes them feel icky (bad touch! bad touch!!).

There would also be certain scented huggers. For some reason, the smell of onions on your hands is very comforting to me. Growing up, it seemed like Mom's hands always had that smell from cooking. It's not a straight up onion smell, it's combined with other things that she was cooking. It's not that her hands were dirty, it's just the residual from being in the kitchen. It's what Mom smelled like, and after a scraped knee, there was nothing like a band-aid and a hug from Mom! Sometimes my hands smell like that...usually after making chicken soup. Call me weird, but you know what I'm talking about. Maybe be it's cookies, or a special dish--everyone's got their thing.

But, I digress. The point is, whatever was comforting to you...your Hugger would smell just that way. And you could pick your Hugger. You know, there are different types of hugs. You could get a Mom Hug. Maybe a Big Bear Hug. Or one of those hugs that also cracks your back. Maybe Huggers could get overtime, if they were needed for a crying hug. There could be group hugs or quick hugs.

And just for convenience there could be some High Fiver's too. Sometimes you're so awesome you deserve a high five and no one's around. This would solve the problem. High Fivers would also be responsible for Pats on the Back (it just seems logical).

I also think that dedicated Huggers should have some sort of badge. Then you'd know they were safe, and you could stop one on the street if you needed a hug...much like a Hug ATM, if you will.

I think that we could get people to do this job. It would be excellent for senior citizens. Instead of being a greeter at WalMart, they could be Huggers instead. There are voluenteer baby huggers in the NICU, so why can't this be spread to grown ups?

I need a hug.

Gettin' My Shamrock On

So...according to a bartender at a bar that I frequent; for St. Patrick's Day I made quite a performance. I was apparently dancing on the bar singing a parody of a song that I made up...

Clearly I thought that "My shamrocks bring all the boys to the yard...(Damn right! They're better than yours!)" was going to be a hit.

Are there any pictures out there? I hate to admit it, but that sounds like something I would do...

Machines Love Me

Today it seems that machines love me. I went to Judy's gym this afternoon (I'm house sitting) and got on one of the funky ellipticals that my gym doesn't have. I started my run and it seems that my 5 miles went much quicker than normal. In fact, I finished in 43:55--that's crazy fast for me!! Sure, I was trying to push myself, but I've never had an 8:47 split in my life!!

Then before I showered, I stepped on Judy's scale and I couldn't believe the numbers: 9 pounds lighter than Saturday!! S0 AWESOME!!!

Yeah, yeah. I know the machines are probably miss-calibrated. But if that's the case, maybe I should buy a lottery ticket or something. It's clear that machines are working in my favor today!

An Irish Blessing

Three of my favorite Irish Blessings:
(Three because a shamrock has three leaves??? Sure that sounds good!)

• May the road rise up to meet you. May the wind be ever at your back. May the sunshine warm upon your face, and the rain fall softly on your fields. And until we meet again, May God hold you in the hollow of his hand.

• These things, I warmly wish for you-
  Someone to love,
  Some work to do,
  A bit of o’ sun,
  A sip o’ beer,
  And a guardian angel
  Always near.

• May you be half an hour in Heaven before the Devil knows you’re dead!

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

Missed Calling

I should have gone in to marketing...maybe I could have been the genius that thought this up...

Thanks to the Land Down Under (ironic, isn't it?) For having a sense of humor! Way better than the American versions!!

I miss sleep

I've been awake, for no reason, for the last hour. I've been sleeping like crap lately. This is not helping me get over this cold!!!

Where's Mr. Sandman when you need him?

Tagged

Victoria tagged me on her blog...so here it goes!

10 years ago:
Spring of freshman year of college at Augustana... That means pledging, I probably had a sinus infection as I do right now (blah!!) I’m thinking it was around Pig Roast time.

5 Things on my to-do list today:
Put my staple gun in my bag for work
Lesson Plans
Go to the gym
Do a load of laundry
Go to bed early, I still feel like crap!

5 Snacks I enjoy:
Cadburys Cream Eggs, Roasted Peeps and Jelly Bellys (it’s close to Easter, you know!)
Chips and Guac/Salsa
The Potato in any form
Beer (totally a snack...that's what I "snack" on during football games!)
Cheese
Any fruit (yep, that's more than 5...get over it!)

What I would do if I were suddenly made a billionaire:
Pay off bills and debts
Try to buy the Chicago Bears (If nothing else, I’d get my season tickets!!) and the Chicago Cubs (don’t worry, it would still be Wrigley Field!)
Help some people out
Donate (church, former schools, charity)
Have the most kick ass art room in CPS
Buy my dream house on LSD
Invest
Travel

3 of my bad habits:
I’m messy
I’m excessively hard on myself.
I’m insanely sarcastic.

Places I have lived:
Chicago, IL
Rock Island, IL
Milan, IL
Munich, Germany
Paris, France
London, England

Jobs that I have had:
Babysitter
Switchboard Operator
Office Assistant
Art Tutor
Retail—Things Remembered
Mail Room Clerk
Psychiatric Rehab Research Assistant
Art Teacher

5 Things people don't know about me:
I’m too chicken to try to sell my art.
I once climbed to the top of my refrigerator when I was a toddler. My mom found me sitting up there eating cookies.
My socks and underwear drawers are organized by type (ie running socks, athletic socks and dress socks…)
I have 25% smaller lungs than I should have for someone my height and weight.
I have no idea how to do my taxes.


And I tag Deanna, Ben and Julia! You’re it!

Gophers and My Dirty Little Secret

I have a dirty little secret. I love doing it. I love convincing others to do it. I even love watching it on tv. I even use the internet to get it.

I hear admitting you have a problem is the first step. So here it goes:

My name is Bethie and I am a Track and Field junkie.

Whew! I guess that wasn’t so bad! :)

But seriously, I’ve always loved watching Track and Field. Maybe it’s the fact that I was on the Track team from the time I was in the 4th grade until I was a sophomore in college. I really do love everything about it—I’m just a jock at heart.

Anywho, I was checking out some of the indoor season races/championships and I came across this video from the Big Ten Conference Meet. First check it out. It’s actually the second race that I want you to see…the Women’s 600 meter race (about 45 seconds in). I’m sure you’ll know what I’m talking about when you see it.



OH MY GOD!! DID YOU SEE THAT?!?!

Seriously, I can’t believe this didn’t happen to me! Most of you know the stories of my extreme klutziness. I won’t even go into the mishaps that occurred when I was still on a track team. I googled this athlete to find out who she was; and I have to say: Heather Dorniden, YOU ARE MY HERO!! You seriously kick ass! Words can’t describe how completely awesome you are!!! Sure you completely biffed in a major race and got trampled wildebeest style by other runners (who I’m positive were wearing shoes with spikes on them!) but you got up and finished the race!! Not only did you get up and finish, but you closed the 50-some meter gap and WON in the last 200 meters of the race!!!! HOLY CRAP!!

Heather Dorniden, I officially name you the Mayor of Ballsville—You Rock!!

More on Norris...

So I was having a discussion about Chuck Norris with Barb; actually it was the notion of Chuck Norris vs. Steven Seagal...

We Googled and found this:



That's an awesome six seconds of Chuck Norris!

Finally, a reason to like Favre!

I am a Bears fan (Yep, that statement wins the award for “DUH”!). Some have argued that I’m more than just a fan, but you can ask those for their testimonials if you want. Moving along, I have to say that for every action there is an equal an opposite reaction, yin for yang and black for white. As a result, the tried and true Bears fan that I am was born to hate all things Packers.

It’s truly the oldest rivalry in the books. And while I can respect the long standing traditions of Green Bay, it doesn’t mean that I have to like them one bit. I take pride in reading stories that a loss to the Bears made Vince Lombardi cry (on more than one occasion). I admit, it’s a little funny that the Pack had a 5 pound bag of horse manure delivered to the Bears locker room before a game in 1984 (Hell, I wish we had thought of it!!) I loathe the fact that Packer Backers wear foam cheese hats. I am appalled that the Packers do not have a fight song, rather sing “Roll Out the Barrel”(Seriously, WTF?!?!). I can only equate it to the former cold war between the United States and the Soviets…I just don’t like the fans that are above the Cheddar Curtain.

So you must know the delight that I felt when I saw on the gym’s tvs that Brett Favre is retiring!! Hallelujah!! I’ve never run 8 miles with a bigger smile on my face!! I thought it was a good day when I learned that morning that we had traded Griese to Tampa Bay for a draft pick in 2009, let alone to hear of the fall of a legend!

There are several reasons why I don’t like Brett Fav-re. First of all, he’s not a Chicago Bear. Yeah, yeah. I can admit he’s a damn good quarterback and a stand-up guy…but he’s still a Packer. Second of all, he named his son Indiana. I hope it’s a family name, because Indiana, the state, blows. I also hate how he sprints about the field waving his finger. Ugh. And his laughing after he takes a hit. Come on, you can’t tell me that doesn’t hurt. Stupid Brett Favre.

I also have to say, I’m going to miss making Brett Favre jokes. After 17 years, I’ve got an excellent stock of them. (I think the two minute drill one is my favorite.) Now that the torch is being passed, I have to come up with some Aaron Rogers jokes. The only one I had was that I wanted his job…to be the Favre’s back up quarterback. I could sit on the bench and draw a pay check. Now I would not want Rogers’ job…to be the guy who has to fill those shoes—sucks to be him! I don’t want to be that guy!

Also want to know what John Madden is going to do? Seriously, everyone knows Madden has a man-crush on Favre. I think we’re going to find a distraught Madden riding his bus all over the backwoods of Mississippi looking for his favorite QB.

So long, Brett Favre. Go on, retire. I have a feeling you’re retiring because you know the Pack won’t make it to the Superbowl next year, and you want to end your career in the playoffs. Go off to your cabin in the woods, and take your Prilosec. I’m certain everywhere above the Cheddar Curtain bunting is hanging in your honor.

Foiled by a Pint

I was gonna blog about Farvre retiring, but Guinness got in the way. (I hate it when drinking gets in the way of ripping on the Packers!)

So, I'll just say "Hi!!" to my new Irish friend, Greg. and tell everyone that Pear and Coffee favored jelly beans are a bad combo (dude, trust me on this one).

Ding-dong-the-witch-is-dead. GO BEARS!!

(I really need to have a lable called "drinking" or "drunk posts")

Galvin Rocks! Thanks for washing my car, Jacek!!

The Other Side to the Story

I went to see The Other Boleyn Girl. I hate to say it, but I expected this movie to be much more historically accurate. Sure it hit on the major points, but it clearly made some dramatizations.

First of all, while it’s true that Mary was Henry VIII’s mistress, it was never PROVEN that the son she had was his. In fact, she had two sons, and both were rumored to be the kings. The problem was that it couldn’t be proven. Don’t you think that if Henry was that desperate to have sons, he would have done something he knew they were his? Furthermore, once Anne left the court, she was banished. That means…there’s no chance in hell that she was going to come back to defend her sister!! True she remarried, but well before Anne was beheaded.

Second of all, Anne Boleyn probably pregnant before she was married to Henry VIII. Really, the timeline is still off. Furthermore, she had two miscarriages, not one. And the affair that Henry had during her pregnancy wasn’t Jane Seymour, she didn’t come along until later in the time line.

It’s true she was accused of incest, but she was also accused of adultery, with FOUR GUYS! Seriously Hollywood, you missed your chance on an even racier movie. You were already taking creative liberties, why miss out on this one? The movie added the story line of her “marriage” to Wyatt, but that was proven to not have happened. Granted all the charges against her never really made sense, but that’s the Brits for ya.

Finally, the stupidity of people never cease to amaze me. When Anne Boleyn was beheaded, people in the theatre actually sounded surprised!! Really? You didn’t see it coming? It’s like Titanic, you knew it was going to sink. Come on! I learned the poem in the fourth or fifth grade to remember the demise of Henry’s wives: Divorced, beheaded, died, divorced, beheaded, survived. The odds are good that in a movie based on the Tudors, someone’s getting their head chopped off.

Yes, there were plenty more that I didn’t even touch on. But I did appreciate the fact that many of the people of court were accurate, even if the timelines were off. The fact that Oliver Cromwell read Anne’s sentence cracked me up! I guess I shouldn’t expect much out of Hollywood, but it would be nice if they gave people a more accurate account of history, rather than always feeling the need to kill brain cells.

MTU Part 2

Since yesterday’s post I wrote that I was freaking out about this run...I've never gone this far, ever. This was 2 more miles than my longest. Seriously, 15 miles? That’s crazy talk!! Who actually runs that far? I was seriously considered putting my bus pass in my pocket just in case the Lakefront Path made me cry.

To start, I pulled up late; seriously, all the groups were walking out as I was getting in. Part of me wanted to go back to bed. I caught the 12:00 ½ marathon group, and then the 11:30s ½ marathon group. I ran with them through the first 3 miles up to the first water stop at North Avenue. That’s when I caught Betsy and the 11:00s for the full marathon. Elaine (the 12:00 pace group leader) had to work today, and poor Becky has pneumonia (there is no 11:30 for the full). Betsy told me she’d look out for me and that I could try to keep up…and I did! (Who knew?) In fact, I actually heard the phrase: “Beth, slow down!” Seriously, outside of Disney World those words have never been spoken. I was pushing the group to run faster than the 10:30’s!! I didn’t even have an asthma attack or entertain taking a nap at the Art Institute (I’ve never actually done it, but I sure as hell have thought about it!).

We ran from the Waveland Clock tower to the sledding hill on the South end of Soldier Field and back. I maintained that pace up through Fullerton. I started to fall back and was running much slower. I was passed by the 10:30’s about mile 14. But I finished in exactly 3 hours. Not counting the water stops and pee break (both are COMPLETELY necessary) that is a 12:00 minute pace…and if you subtract that time, I ran an 11:00 minute pace!

I forced myself to go grocery shopping after (so I could keep moving) and then I sat in an ice bath for 15 minutes—complete with some MAJOR tourette’s style screaming. My performance would have shamed any pirate or trucker. Sorry, Mom, I fully admit my behavior was less than lady like. I’m ok with it and Seamus doesn’t mind. I think that cheese fries and a Shamrock shake is a completely necessary part of my recovery.

I can’t believe I did it!! I’m sore…and hoping it won’t get too much worse. I only wish all my training runs could be this amazing! I’m feeling like a rock star!!