I'm baaaaaaaack (did anyone notice I was gone?:))

I haven't posted in a while because Richard and I have been on a fabulous trip home to Arkansas for a post-Christmas Christmas vacation. It was a great trip, which I'll recap in words and pictures for your viewing delight after work today when I get my pics uploaded. We got to visit with our families and a few friends, play some blackjack and roulette at the casino, shoot skeet (well I spectated and helped my mother-in-law put away some Goose...the bev not the bird), eat and drink way to much, watch lots of movies, open Christmas presents, run endless 0.6 mile laps around my parents neighborhood, and just generally enjoy a week and a half of no work and no dogs/cats to take care of!

Just a random thought...to me, January is the worst month of all. Christmas is over, there is not much to look forward to until Valentine's Day, if that is a day you even look forward to at all. The "new" has worn off of winter yet spring is nowhere near. So, anybody out there love January and want to share why so maybe I can stop hating it? (sorry Elvis, Kim and Lynette, didn't mean to trash your birthday month)

10 Miles

Today's long run was 10 miles. It has been almost a year since I've run that far, since training for last March's Little Rock half-marathon. Richard was working, and I had to come to work at 2:00 so I was on my own this morning. I was armed with my Ipod, my fuel belt with water, orange gatorade (blue is my favorite but the gas station was out), half a pack of orange flavored Cliff Shot Bloks, and an espresso Hammer Gel. After the butt-kicking the Cooper River Bridge gave me the last time I attempted it, I thought I should tackle it again today. The weather was much more cooperative today, in the upper 50's when I started and mid 60's by the end with sunny skies and very light wind. I did the first couple miles on trails, then the next couple up and over the bridge into downtown, a mile or so into downtown, then back. I just ran for 2 hours, and figured that would cover at least 10 miles. It probably ended up being closer to 11, that's just a mind game I like to play with myself so 13.1 will seem shorter than I think. I assume 12 minute miles when I'm actually running more like 11:30 so I go farther than I think. I ate the Shot Bloks at 4 miles and the gel at 8 miles. That Hammer Gel was deelish! It tasted like squirting your mouth full of hershey syrup. There were lots of other walkers, runners and riders so it was nice to have lots of people to look at.

I wore my SkirtSports Marathon Girl skirt, which I love...but perhaps not the most appropriate item for running up a bridge with a tailwind. On the way back over the bridge the wind had picked up quite a bit and this skirt does what most skirts do in the wind, kept blowing up. It has built in spankies/panties/bloomers/whatever you wanna call them and I finally resigned myself to the fact that I could either run holding my skirt down or just let all the cars and other peeps o the bridge see what was under my skirt. I'm not the most modest gal around, so I opted for the latter after briefly attempting the former unsuccessfully. I just kept my head down so that nobody could make out my face and check out my bloomers simultaneously. I learned that at Mardi Gras in college, if you pull your top up, make sure it covers your face...but that's another post in itself, about a friend of mine, not about me of course. I finished feeling really strong, and pushed the pace up (relatively speaking) the last mile or so. It was a great run--no serious pain, great weather, good spirits. My spirits are not so good now that I'm at work on a Saturday night, but I ranted about that one in the last post so I'll spare you now.

I had to drive back over the bridge to get downtown for work this afternoon, and I talked some serious trash to it. Basically saying things along the line of "I dominated you today bridge" and "You're my bitch bridge!." I know, I'm wierd.

I'd like to give a big Congratulations to Lindsey at Chasing the Kenyans who is running the Goofy Challenge this weekend. That's a half-marathon on Saturday and a marathon on Sunday. She totally rocked the half today and I can't wait to see how she does tomorrow. Stop by her blog and give her some props!

And finally, here's a pic us with of our friends new baby, Keegan Matthew. We love him!

Book 2 of '09

I just finished my 2nd book of the year. It is Family Tree by Barbara Delinsky. It tells the story of a 30 something woman who does not know much about her past/family history and her typical straight off the Mayflower husband whose family is quite wealthy and snobby. Main character lady gets pregnant, has baby, baby looks african american although both of her parents are white as can be. The story goes into both the husband and wife's pasts. There is much digging up of family secrets, learning about oneself, seeing beyond color, yada yada. It is actually a pretty good, albeit predictable, book. It's a quick read and fits nicely into my purse to take to work. Kelly Goodson, if you read this, ignore that last line. (that's my boss)

I am working the evening shift Friday-Sunday nights, those hours are 2:30-11pm. I get out to my car at 2:00 this afternoon ready to leave for work, when I see my keys in the cupholder. The doors are locked. We only have 1 other key. It is on Richard's key ring...with him...at work. He's on a conference call and can't leave. Finally he gets there at 3pm, and I get to work about an hour late. Again, Kelly Goodson, if you're reading this, ignore this entire paragraph. So I made it to work, hit the gift shop for a bag of sour worms, ate 'em all and am now sitting here bored out of my gourd wishing I had a job that didn't require me to work weekends, especially weekend evenings. What I meant to say was: I love my job, I'm thankful for my job, many people don't have jobs right now, I'm so grateful that I have a secure job that pays the bills nicely, that's my mantra, repeat 10 times. No really, I am thankful for my job, doesn't mean I have to love it though. Anyway, thanks to my hard work tonight many patients in the hospital will poop because I entered their docusate, not vomit because I entered their zofran, sleep because I entered their ambien, not reject their new kidney because I entered their cyclosporine, not hear voices in their head because I entered their zyprexa, and just generally be healthier because I entered their multivitamin...it's serious work I do folks. On a funny note, one of the other pharmacists got an order for a patient to use his own penis pump while in the hospital. Yep, really. I'm not sure what it was used for in the first place, and why it is necessary to pump your penis while you are a patient in the hospital, but apparently this guy's doc wanted him to have that option. At least things like that give us a laugh to break up the monotony of typing and answering brilliant questions on the phone for 8.5 hours qday prn mortgages/new shoes/dog food.

Running, a new baby, Emmy

This has been a good week so far. Monday we did a dog run, meaning we took the dog(s) with us. We were aiming for 5 miles divided into 1 mile for Dickson (he has some arthritis) and 2 each for Tanner and Fiona. It was in the upper 70's and humid, and by the time it was Fiona's turn, Richard and I were both ready to call it quits. We walked her 1 mile, finishing up with 3 miles jogged, 1 walked, and 1 punked out on. Tuesday I did 3 miles while Rich was working. I decided to try some speedwork (fartleks? not exactly sure the term). I took each dog for a mile and picked a couple times each mile to really push it for a few seconds, like to the tree or the next trashcan, that sort of thing. Wow, it was fun and much tougher than I anticipated. The dogs were in hog heaven though, running fast with their ears and tongues flapping. Yesterday was 5 miles again, and it was one of those days where all morning I had the internal mental battle of whether or not I was going to do it. When it came time, I had about 3 hours to kill and was torn between going to a movie and sitting on my butt eating popcorn, or going running. I reluctantly chose running and of course was so glad I did. I chose to run on the beach this time instead of just on the roads near the beach. It was low tide so I had plenty of hard sand, and it was a little misty and gray out so the beach was deserted except for a couple windsurfers. It was so enjoyable to jog along the water line and watch the waves come in and get the sea breeze in your face. I jogged for an easy hour and never once wished I was somewhere else, so I consider that a hugely successful run!

Our great friends Erin and Brian just welcomed their first baby into the world yesterday, his name is Keegan Matthew and he is a doll. We got to see Brian's mom meet her first grandbaby, it was so sweet. I'm looking forward to toting the little bugger around the beach this summer. He is a handsome little thing, and a future heartbreaker I'm sure:)

In doggy-land, we took Emmy to the vet yesterday and today to get her 2nd and 3rd (final) shots of her heartworm treatment. She takes the shot like a trooper, but you can tell she is in pain from it all day. It is 3cc of fluid injected deep into the muscles around her spine, and it makes them really really sore. It make me sad to see her hurting, but I know that she'll be back to her feisty self soon and then in a few weeks she will finally be able to run and play and go on long walks since she will be heartworm free!

Polar Bear Plunge, 9 Mile Long Run, and 1st Book of the Year

Here we are immediately after coming out of the Atlantic for our first Polar Bear Plunge. A local pub hosts this event annually to benefit the Special Olympics, and we decided to go for it. The weather had been so nice and warm for the last few weeks, but New Years morning was in the 30's. It was probably around 40 or so by 2pm when we Plunged. Everyone dresses up in costumes, and lots of people actually wear the costumes into the ocean. I dressed in some 80's garb, complete with loads of blue eye shadow and a scrunchie, and Rich wore his new do-rag (still have no idea how to properly spell that) and bling. That guy in the champagne bottle keeps us line...literally...he is our chiropractor:) For the Polar Bear Plunge, the open container laws do not apply and there are vendors selling beer and bloody marys along the beach. There were several thousand people there, although lots of them were just spectating. You basically run in, splash around, and run out. It felt so good to get back into my warm sweats afterwards!

Yesterday was our long run of 9 miles. I had run a grand total of 1 mile, and Rich 2 miles, in about the last 8 days so we did not have high hopes of completing 9 without walking. But we did it! We went to a flat (everything here is flat) trail, both wore our Ipods and kind of did our own thing. It was cool and misty, overall great running weather. I could tell from the beginning that I would be able to finish it, even though my legs felt heavy and my right hip flexor was tight almost from the first quarter mile. There was never a time where either of us felt we couldn't do it, although Rich did get a little dehydrated since he ran ahead of me and I was wearing the fuel belt. He ate Sport Beans and I took a regular Gu at the halfway mark, and we both finished strong. We went home and showered, then met some friends for lunch. We had delicious salads and pizza! Then we went back to their place for a few hours of Guitar Hero. We had never played before, and I can see why people rave about it. It is really fun!

I finished my first book of the year, so 1 down and 29 to go to reach my goal of 30 in 2009. It was Dean Karnazes' 50/50 that I got Rich for Christmas. WOW, that's about all I can say about the guy. He offers lots of emotional insight and motivation, as well as some practical running and training tips. It was a quick and very inspiring read. I highly recommend it for all you runners, or even for anyone who has ever wondered "Could I even run a mile? 5K? 10K? and so on." It will make you want to test yourself and see just what you can do.

Emmy's Blog

I created a blog for our foster dog Emmy as a way to put up pics and stories about her in hopes of helping get her adopted. Click here to check it out.

Goals and Plans for 2009

Drum roll please.....the moment we've all been waiting for has arrived. The unveiling of the 2009 plans/dreams/wishes/etc.

1. Run 4 half marathons: Myrtle Beach on Feb 14th, Napa to Sonoma on July 19th, and the remaining to our still TBA depending on numerous factors.

2. Run at least 500 miles

3. Go to yoga at least once every other week

4. Go to spin at least once every other week

6. Strength train at least once weekly

5. Try at least 3 new recipes each month

6.Significantly decrease the consumption of delicious beverages of the caffeinated, sugary and/or alcoholic varieties.

7. Send Christmas cards (I have never done this...always been too lazy)

8. Move or be in the process of moving back to Arkansas

9. Get knocked up

10. Read at least 30 books

11. Actually track my progress so I'll know how I did this time next year.

Whew, it simultaneously exausts and scares me to think of all that. It should shape up to be a very exciting year, one way or the other! Today we are off to the Polar Plunge on Sullivans Island. All last week when it was almost 80 degrees out we thought it was a great plan, but I got up this morning to frozen water in the dog bowls and began rethinking that plan. But apparently Richard really wants to so we're going for it, and it is definitely something I've never done before so after today I'll be able to cross that off the bucket list. I never did get to run yesterday. By the time I got home from work and the chiropractor, it was dark and I was feeling crummy again so we just laid low and watched a couple movies. We did stay awake to watch the ball drop and the countdown in Times Square, but I wasn't even up for drinking any champagne (in case you haven't noticed, that is very ouf of character!). Happy New Year everyone, I hope you all have a wonderful start to 2009.