The Midnight Train
Current mood: blank
Category: Blogging

I am a commitment phobe.  I'm moving my blog.  Those who have followed me in my various incarnations already know I got issues.

It's back to Blogger!

http://nettiethevainglorious.blogspot.com/

7:18 PM - 3 Comments - 3 Kudos - Add Comment

Gratuitous Photo of Me
Current mood: sleepy
Category: Life

I just got an e-mail from the Alpine Runners telling me that someone was taking pictures on the course, but there may or may not be one of myself.  So, I go to check it out and on the first page, there I was!

Isn't it awesome?  Don't I look like an actual real-life runner?

9:42 PM - 4 Comments - 7 Kudos - Add Comment

I Love New York 2!
Current mood: calm
Category: Movies, TV, Celebrities

Just got done watching the premier of I Love New York 2 and let me just say, this one is about to be waaaay better than the first one.  Come jump on train wreck my pretties!

And, oh, The Bachelor is back on and surprise, surprise, it's another white guy!

7:03 PM - 1 Comments - 0 Kudos - Add Comment

Um hi
Current mood: blah
Category: Life

Yeesh, what a week!

Zee Tube

The TV season is off to a roaring start and I've already missed one of my fave shows: The Office.  It didn't record because the season premiere of Supernatural was on at the same time as Grey's Anatomy and it can't do three things at once.  Unfortunately, I don't even watch Grey's anymore. 

I know the reasoning behind Isaiah Washington's firing, but really his character and his character's relationship with Christina was one of the things that made the show good to me.  Now that it's down to Izzie and George and Meredith and McDreamy, I just have zero zilch interest.  I'm just especially turned off by the Izzy thing.  Blech.  I'm extremely open-minded, but infidelity in a monogamous relationship bound by an extravagant (or not so much so) wedding really turns my stomach like nobody's business.

The State of the Leg and My Weekend

I've been stretching the offending muscles and walking is becoming mo' betta.  I'm going to attempt running at a slow, steady speed this Saturday followed by boxing up my shit in preparation to get the hell out of this fucked up place I call home.  Sunday is a marathon day of volunteering at the Chicago Marathon, setting up an illegal aid station near my roach-infested crib for some people I know, consuming mass quantities of beer with my internet friends, and getting ready for my "new" position on Monday.  Two words for Monday: Blood shot.

So, I've been at the gym 3 days in a row starting Tuesday.  Today, I did 2 hours on the Fit Strider (it's kinda like and elliptical) to simulate the 10-miler I would have been doing if I could actually run.

Afterwards, I get some food and have my bank account butt raped without the courtesy of lube by Starbucks.  My $10 meal of a tuna wrap and a grande caramel apple cider was actually quite delicious though.

Oh yeah, I hate people

Then, I end up walking home because the bus was taking entirely too long.  I get to Roach Terrace and there are some pre-teens waiting for the elevator as well as some random dude in his late 20s/early 30s.  The elevator finally arrives and the random dude says that somebody smells.

Wow.  That was real fucking polite.  Obviously, I was the only person with workout clothes on and I was doing sweat-inducing cardio for 2 hours, so no shit I stink.  Then the male pre-teen says it's one other girl in the elevator.  Then when random dude gets off the elevator, the accused girl tells me that the male pre-teen just sniffed me.  So, I glare at the boy, but I can't even move myself to say anything.  Spitting vitriol at random ass people I don't know is just not in my nature; though, I really wish it was sometimes.

I really can't wait to move.  I dislike the building.  I dislike the majority of the people.  I dislike the management.  Moving to this new place is really going to put a hurting on my funds, but man will I feel at least 50% more human when I get up out of here.  Ignorance abounds.

Oh, and then, this week, I've been paying with change at a lot of places.  Just emptying my change 2-3 dollars at a time.  So, I go to Walgreens today after carefully counting out $2 worth of change and putting it in one pocket and the putting the remainder in another.  I was going to buy a bottle of water for $1.19 and a package of peanut butter M&Ms for $0.69 or whatever it goes for these days.  However, the M&Ms were still on sale 2/$1, so I got two...of course!

I get to the counter and alert the woman that I am about to give her a handful of change!  The woman takes the change, looks disgusted, lays it out on the counter and slowly counts it.  I mean slowly.  Like how in Hades do you handle money for a living and count change that slowly?  She just had such an attitude.  I mean, sure, maybe I'd be salty too if I was 60 years old and making Walgreen's cashier wages and I always try to counteract my relationships with people that provide services by being extremely polite to them because I know how much it sucks to make some ridiculously paltry hourly wage and have people that make 3 times more than that give you shit because they think they're more important than you are.  However, when I am in the process of being uberpolite and I am treated downright rudely by a person that is providing me a service, that shit chaps my hide.  Oh man.

On a positive note, I love the people at Dunkin' Donuts on Madison between Wells and Franklin!  They get a high volume of customers, but they're always at least mildly nice and usually more than that.  They make my mornings happy.

I Thought I Had More

I was certain I had something else to talk about, but now I can't even think straight.  I need to be in bed.  I find it hard to be sufficiently tired enough for sleep when I am not running.

Well, nighty night readers or good morning or whatever.

9:25 PM - 4 Comments - 5 Kudos - Add Comment

Be Healed!
Current mood: anxious
Category: Life

I signed up for a free injury screeining at my gym.  I honestly wasn't expecting much when I got there today.  I expected to be told that yeah, most likely, I really did have a stress fracture.

But, what really happened was that I went in to my gym after hobbling 2 miles with a constant ache in the inside of my lower left leg. I wasn't sure where to do, but luckily, the Elite Physical Therapy people had what looked like a desk setup just past the front desk.  I talked about what was wrong and then I got on the table thing (which was actually a padded table) and he started examining my lower leg.

He concluded that I have a tight soleus.   We went over some soleus stretches and he says if it doesn't get better in a couple of days, I might want to see a doctor as it might be something more serious.  And, do you know what?  After I left there my leg felt 100% better.  I was walking without pain.  I walked all the way back home with NO PAIN.  It was a miracle!

I will still be taking it easy this week, but dude, I think I may be "cured!"  Apparently, as I keep getting told, I am just really inflexible and it's causing me all kinds of issues.  I guess I might have to start dropping in on those yoga classes at my gym.  That should be fun.  Not.  But, I gotta do something.

I'll keep ya posted.  Oh, and I am still out for Grand Rapids as I don't have the time to adequately train with it being only 3 weeks away, but it looks like I just might be able to salvage Philly!

6:45 PM - 1 Comments - 2 Kudos - Add Comment

Remember When
Current mood: blank
Category: Blogging

I moved my comics to a different album and so the links on my earlier posts may be broken, but you can revisit the entire series here.  Um start from the bottom and work your way up.

7:28 PM - 1 Comments - 2 Kudos - Add Comment

She’s Back!
Current mood: blank
Category: Movies, TV, Celebrities

I present the cast of I Love New York 2!

This should be fun

7:15 PM - 3 Comments - 3 Kudos - Add Comment

Coming to Grips with Reality
Current mood: blah
Category: Sports

Thanks to everyone that felt my pain yesterday. 

So, pretty much I'm certain that Grand Rapids (the marathon) is just not gonna happen.  This will be the second year I did not make it to that marathon.  There is a marathon in Columbus, OH that I might do instead that's in February (yeah, February!) and then there is an April marathon in Novi, MI.  I'd like to get on a schedule of doing a marathon every one to two months (after I get over my injury, of course).

I was just thinking maybe I might even be able to find something in January that might be cheap.  My plan is to try to find small marathons and deals on flights and that's how I'll pick my races.  We will see how that goes.

Anywho, I went to the gym today and got on a Fit Strider (or something like that).  It was awesome!  It was a lot like running except without the lower leg stress.  I was so sweaty.  I felt like crying happy tears.  I have found something that actually feels equivalent to running.  Maybe all of my fitness will not be lost.

I also pumped some iron which I only ever do when my running is going poorly or not at all.  But, I do like it; I just get busy ya know.

7:10 PM - 0 Comments - 0 Kudos - Add Comment

Shoot Me
Current mood: aggravated
Category: Life

I'm pretty sure I have a stress fracture.

I don't even wanna talk about it.

5:53 PM - 3 Comments - 1 Kudos - Add Comment

Park Ridge 5K - Reaching fo the Mid-pack
Current mood: chipper
Category: Sports

Yesterday was a pretty exciting day runningwise for me: I PR'd in a 5K!  PR (for those non-runners out there) means personal record.  Personal records are a good way to keep yourself motivated to get better; the fact is that most of us are never going to outright win any race, so this is a way to "compete" against yourself.

My fastest previous 5K ever was at the Race That's Good for Life in 2006.  I ran a 28:46.  I had been doing a program I got when I signed up with the Runner's World personal trainer program.  I was happy with the results.

This year, my fastest 5K was a 29:2x.  I was just glad it was under 30 minutes.  So, as I haven't been training specifically for a 5K recently and I've only been running 3 times a week, I really wasn't expecting to do terribly well yesterday.  As a matter of fact, I already posted about my predictions in my last post, so I'll spare you.  :)

As I lined up for the race, Angelle came and found me and persuaded me to not line up at the very back as I usually do.  I was completely terrified that I was going to be run over or at least annoy a great deal of people.  Plus, since Angelle has been injured and not running as fast as usual, I had been contemplating attempting to keep up with her anyway as her injured pace from her last race would be a PR for me and it was close enough to my last PR to seem doable if I just cowboyed the fuck up (CTFU).

So, the gun sounded and we were running.  My legs felt like they were moving about 100 miles per hour.  It's so weird.  It's like your body has gears or something.  My legs went numb almost immediately and I knew then that there was no way I was going to keep whatever ridiculous pace I was currently running.

I tried to hang on behind Angelle as best I could, but I was really afraid I would end up walking the last two miles at the rate I was going, so I let myself be content with just keeping her in my sight.

I was quite preturbed by the number of people that were running around me.  When you start at the back of the pack, it spreads out pretty well over that first mile to where it's like you're almost running alone.  But in the group of runners I found myself in, I was constantly surrounded and the sound of my sharp exhales had plenty of company as everyone around me was breathing quite hard.

As the first mile marker approached, I saw something I had never seen before: a number that started with an 8.  I have never run an 8:xx mile in my entire life.  I was in complete shock, but this at least explained why I felt like complete hell.

Mile 1 - 8:30

Ok, now I just had to make it through  2 more short miles, but I was tired.  Very tired and I could feel myself slowing down as people started passing me.  I was too zonked too care.

Angelle was further that before, but I could still see her up ahead.

Mile 2 - 9:03

Wow, that was slower.  I was now afraid that I might end up slowing waaaay down on this last mile.

I felt like I might vomit if I didn't.  I'm not at the point where I want to vomit; that's way too hardcore for the likes of me currently.

So, I slowed down, but after what I felt like might be the half way point, I started speeding up a little more as I knew I'd feel better once it was all over.

The 3 mile marker was thankfully in view and I tried to pick it up a little more for the last 0.1, not too sure how successful I was with that one.

Final time - 27:57.8 (9:01 min/mi pace)

I really can't complain about that.  I broke 28 minutes for the 5K when I would have been perfectly happy with something in the 28s.  However, it would've been nice if my pace was, I dunno 8:59 or something in the 8s.  ;)

I do wonder if I would've done better if I had started off slower and sped up a little later, but who knows.

Angelle took me over to get my PR certificate filled out and then, the funniest thing happened: She convinced me that I might actually have won an age group award.  As I was in 11th place for my age group, I thought this was just about the most ridiculous thing I ever heard, but Park Ridge apparently somehow calculates the number of awards given based upon the results from the previous year and it so turns out that for my age group the awards went 11 deep.

I was squealing to the lady at the prize table about getting 11th place and this girl who was standing next to me and who looked pretty fast probably thought I was insane, but she congratulated me anyway.  :)

Here is a pic that Angelle took of me.  I am still laughing about winning an AG award.

Park Ridge 5K

So, I had previously plugged my PR half-marathon in the McMillian calculator and everything seemed to be aligning right with my races based on my 4M and 5K times, but my marathon time prediction was nearly 5 hours dead on which I think might just be doable this year; however, I just plugged in this 5K time and now all of my other times are way slower than my equivalent times for other distances which just means that if I get in some quality training, I might be on a happy road to finally becoming one of those elusive mid-pack runners.

11:02 AM - 5 Comments - 6 Kudos - Add Comment