My coffee smells delicious but is too hot to drink.

So only a few days left until the 10k, and I pretty much stopped training.  Now, if I were actually trying to run this thing and make good time, I would have probably trained harder or at least tried to.  However, here I am, not training, kind of concerned, but mostly just looking forward to the weekend.

Why, you ask?  Because I will be partying down like it's 1999 with some good friends.  Poor Jack will have so many names to learn, but he told me that if he can't remember he's making one up.  What's funny about him is that he hardly remembers names and stuff, but this ONE time, I randomly ran into someone in Staunton that I hadn't seen in years, and I briefly introduced him, and he always remembers their names.  That boy's mind needs to be studied.

Nothing else new to report.  Sooooo booooooor-iiing.

Running up that hill.

Did not "train" all weekend due to headaches/feeling not so great.  So, yesterday, when I go to do my set mileage, I feel terrible, like my legs are like lead.  I managed to keep running for a mile but I stopped soon after that.  It didn't make me feel great (because I should have done more), but I can't be disappointed because at least I did SOMEthing.

More than anything, I got Vegas on the brain.  We fly out Sunday, and I'm really looking forward to it.  It's going to be a fun awesome vacation with fun awesome friends, and it's just what I need.

Now that Angel & Buffy are all done (at least DVD wise...), I need a new show.  Of course, I went delving into the world of cult shows, and I came up with Veronica Mars.  I was pretty certain I would love this show for a long time, but again, I held off.  Mostly, when I don't watch a show that has a lot of buzz around it, it is because a) everyone else is watching it and so I am trying to be too cool for school, b) Jack tells me I need to quit watching so much TV/he tells me I already watch a show almost identical to it/he tells me I watch enough shows that aren't good solely for entertainment purposes (that boy doesn't understand my addiction, huh?), or c) it came on the same time as one of my favorites and this is pre-DVR times and therefore I could not watch.  With VM, I have no idea which one of these typical reasons it was but I'm guessing it fell into the realm of b.  Either way, I think I needed to be a fan of 2 things before I started VM- Buffy (duh) and Party Down.

Party Down is one of my new favorite shows because it has a great cast and it reminds me of Arrested Development.  ANYTHING that can invoke memories of AD is a blessing in my book, because there are not a lot of shows that can garner that kind of compliment.  Party Down does, because it's got dysfunctional characters doing somewhat ridiculous things that are hilarious and awkward at the same time.  That to me is television gold. 

However, PD is produced by Rob Thomas (NOT of MB20), and he's the creator of Veronica Mars.  Therefore, lots of crossover in casting.  This is also the reason by being a Buffy fan was crucial to pre-VM viewing, because there are many old Buffy cast members that grace the VM line-up.  I'm looking forward to episodes featuring Charisma Carpenter, who I didn't like much at the beginning of Buffy but broke my heart by her last episode of Angel.

Either way, Veronica is filling up the void in my life left by finishing one of my new favorite TV franchises.  Fast-paced and unique dialogue, interesting characters, excellent pacing of plotlines, and dynamic casting.  Do I like TV too much?  Perhaps.  I don't think so.  I think it's my hobby.  I know that sounds weird... but it's true.  I watch it a lot, but it's not a passive activity.  Sincerely, my dream job would be a TV writer-- NOT a writer of TV shows (though I think I'd be really good at that...) but someone who writes about TV, like a reviewer, and get paid for it.  Basically what I do now with more focus and MUCH more money.  One can dream...

This got rambly.

ANOTHER goal met!

Ran for over 1.5 miles STRAIGHT last night.  To me, that's awesome.  The other thing that I was very excited about is that I reached the point where I could run and not think about it.  I was on the treadmill, staring at the wall in front of me, and I wasn't thinking, "OH, my legs hurt!" or "Just a little bit more, just a little bit more" or anything like that.  I was listening to the music and listening to my breathing, and my legs didn't even feel like they were moving.  It was pretty freaking great.  I'm very confident that I'll be able to finish the race within that 90 minute time that Mom wants.

Nothing else other than that.  Just feeling good about running, which is weird...

A Goal Met, and A Wee-Little Rant

I officially started the 10K training yesterday.  I say official because I hadn't been running, just Shredding.  I should have started 8 weeks before the "race" and so I was a little concerned as to how I would do today.  Today was a 2.5 mile day, and I usually don't go that far when I jog/run/whatever.  When I was doing that "couch to 5k" thing, I would run according to time rather than distance.  So, I was a little nervous, but I was like, whatever, I gotta do it so I was just gonna try it.

Now, I feel I must thank Jillian AGAIN.  I did something I haven't done in a really long time, if ever.  This is kind of sad, but I'm excited so I thought I would say it.

I ran for one whole mile straight.

This has been a goal of mine since I started doing more athletic/work-out things.  I used to run track in middle school (one whole year!  woooo!), and my "event" was half mile.  Even then, when I was running DAILY and competing, I don't remember going a whole mile without stopping to walk for a bit.  And I was 12 years old!  You're supposed to be all crazy active and crap when you're 12!  So yesterday was a pretty awesome day for me.  Maybe it's a silly goal, but hey, it's MY goal and I reached it.  THEN, I did my 2.5 miles, and I kept up the pace we'd need to keep to finish in 90 minutes, like Mom wants to.  In general, WTG, me.

I've been watching/reading/listening to all this Kevin Smith stuff lately.  I love the Kev, as I have since I was 15 years old.  I know he's a big dude, and I know this is kind of a blown-out-of-proportion story, but holy crap, this is so embarrassing.  I wouldn't wish this kind of press on anyone, even someone I hate.  The other thing about this is, so I read the comments other people post on major news sites about this story.  THAT is the most terrifying part, because they are hate-filled rants about how all fat people need to die and they are disgusting and they should kill themselves for being so disgusting and good for Southwest for telling him he's gross.  That boggles my mind, because... that's a kind of hate I don't understand.  I want to say I can't believe it, but the sad part is I can.  This is one of those hot button issues that usually gets swept under the rug, but I seriously feel like there is a hatred of fat people here, which is weird because Americans ARE FAT.  We eat processed foods, and we're sedentary, if I can generalize.  This is why I work out, this is why I try to eat better.  I am habitually lazy (have been all my life!), and if it weren't for some excellent recessive genes, I would easily be one of those people that has a hard time and struggles with their weight, and that thought scares me because I don't want to become a "person of size" as Southwest calls them.  I'm not saying we should all be lazy and eat what we want and not worry about health issues and stuff; I'm just saying we shouldn't HATE people to the point of TELLING THEM TO DIE because they are overweight.  That is simply horrifying to me.

Blah blah blah, snow snow snow.

Have I mentioned I'm over it?  Well, here it is one more time: OVER IT.  I did appreciate a 3 day weekend, though.  It gave me time to really gain some Angel momentum.  I'm into Season Four now, and I love it because ANGELUS is back.  You can tell the difference between Angel & Angelus because Angel is sad and mopey, and Angelus is a huge ass who wears eyeliner and leather pants.  Plus, Angelus will occasionally speak in a very terrible Irish accent.  Woo.  It's kind of like how you can tell when Buffy isn't Buffy because her hair is crimped.  I kid you not.

Many power outages around the area this weekend.  We are lucky because we live in a more centralized and populated area of the county, so our power was never out for long.  It was simply annoying- it would go out, come back, go out, come back, blah blah blah.  However, TWICE, it went out while I was doing my Shred.  WTF?  The first time, I had literally just started, so I made up my own Shred.  I mean, it's 3 minutes strength (30 sec core exercise, 1 min legs & arms), 2 minutes cardio (two different exercises, 30 seconds and alternate), 1 minute abs, repeat twice.  So... I did a pretty good job, probably somewhere between a Level 1 and a Level 2.  I worked my abs too much, because now they are super sore.  And so again this morning, I was in the middle of Circuit 2, and I was feeling pretty good, when BANG.  Power out AGAIN.  And this time, I had to go to work!  I definitely needed a shower.  So, i tried to finish that circuit and make up another one, finished cleaning off my car, and when I came back in?  Power on.  UUUUUGH.  It's just annoying.

I need to officially start training for this 10K.  With the massive amounts of ice and snow in this town, I get nervous about going to our "workout room" at work because there is lots of snow all around the building and I feel wussy.  However, I need to just suck it up and do it.  I want to be able to get through this race with a good time, and I want to be strong enough to inspire my mom to keep up with me.  I think it's important for us to do this together.  Very awesome bonding.

20 days til Vegas.  PLEASE GO BY AS FAST AS POSSIBLE, you 20 days.  I want to be here.

[insert witty and punny title here]

Lost last night.  Whoa and meh.  A couple of things I liked, a couple I didn't, and some I just didn't care about.  I'm kind of ready for questions to be answered rather than more questions be introduced.  I am quite confused about Sayid's resurrection, but we'll see, I guess.  Also, the revelation that John Locke = Evil Man in Black from last season's finale was not a big WOW moment for me, because that's the only logical explanation as to who he could be.  Don't really know how I feel about it yet, but I can tell you this- I loved seeing Bernard & Rose together, even though it made me so sad.  They won't get their happy life together, because she's sick.  On the island, at least they were together with Vincent and stuff.

I looked up a 10K training program, since I've got like 8 weeks to go and I should have been training for it.  I took a page out of Amber's book and I'm following a slightly modified Hal Higdon schedule.  I'm still doing the Shred, but I'm kind of doing it my own way.  I'm not worrying about missing days so much (as long as there are just a few here or there, not like every other day or anything), but if I feel terrible, I'm not doing it.  I did Shred this morning, despite the fact that I had a sinus-y headache, but the cool thing is that working out made it go away.  Awesome sauce.  However, my plan is to continue with the Shred at least until Vegas, which is the end of the month.  I also found out that my awesome friend Erin will be in Richmond to celebrate her 30th birthday the same weekend as the 10K!  So, hooray for bonus celebrations and hooray for not having to travel to Richmond for an extra weekend :)

Speaking of said awesome friend, she made me this totally bitchin' hat that I super love.  I have been looking for a hat that looks like this for about... well, to be honest, probably since I was in high school.  It's got that old school 1920's feel to it, like a cloche, and it's pretty much the coolest.  I wore it all around the house yesterday, and I wanted to wear it to work today, but with the crappy crap weather, I decided against it.  Plus, I've been wearing my LL Bean "Holy Crap It's Snow-pocalypse Cold Outside" coat to work, and it would not look as good with it.  Either way, check it out below!!

Love ya, hat!

The sun is out!  Melt that snow!  Melt that snow!  We need to make room for the next foot or more that supposed to be coming this weekend.  (Or, as my brother called it, Snowmageddon 2010: Snow Looking Back)  Siiiiiiiiigh...

30 Day Shred- Day I'm Not Telling

Why am I not telling?  Well, maybe because it's supposed to be Day 18 when I skipped two days recently (the day after the anniversary because I was so full from Melting Pot that I thought I might explode and another day earlier this week because I slept terribly).  Those of you keeping count at home will do the math and say it's Day 16, and you'd be correct.  I feel guilty about it all day when I miss a day.  What I find to be interesting is that when I skipped the day, especially on the day where I had a terrible night's sleep, I felt physically awful all day.  My body didn't feel right, I had hardly any energy, and it was kind of tough to get through the day.  So, for the past few days, I've made myself get out of bed and do it, and then I feel great for the rest of the day.  The thing I notice the most is the energy level.  I know it's basic body science and this is common knowledge, but it's still cool to see actually happen.

I've also been able to recommend this to tons of people, one of which specifically asked about the program rather than me complaining about being tired and sore.  I think she's awesome and she can do it, and I'll probably give her my blog link so she can read my updates about the 30 Day Shred.  If you're reading this, Hi Shiri!  If not, then there's no reason for me to leave you a greeting in my post, IS THERE?

I bought a scale as well to help with tracking.  The weight I posted earlier is from the scale at my parents' house, and all the weights I'll post from here on out will be from my own scale.  That being said, I've lost 2 pounds!  It doesn't seem like much, but it's all in the rounding.  145 rounds up.  143 rounds DOWN.  I've also lost about 2 inches off the waist as of this morning, and my arms actually have some definition!  That is a first for this pasty girl.  I've always been thin, but I've never really been muscular, especially in the upper body.  I used to get pretty smokin' leg workouts in high school from all the marching (don't make fun, that mess works), but the clarinet isn't the heaviest instrument ever.

That paragraph took a nerdy turn.

Finally, I've signed up for the Ukrop's Monument Ave 10K in March.  I think I might be a crazy person, but my mom wants to do it, and I'm running with her so we can push each other to keep going.  I'm also raising money for the VCU Massey Cancer Center.  If you'd like to donate, the link to my site is here.  I'm doing this to honor my grandpa and hope that the money I raise will help other people like him and families like ours.  It's going to be a hard battle for me to get through this race, and I'm DEFINITELY not expecting to win ANYTHING, but I know I'll be able to do it.

I made it through my two seasons of Angel, just waiting on the 3rd one to come in so I can continue.  Psych started again last night, and I'm thankful to have something to entertain my Wednesdays again now that Glee isn't back until April.  However, LOST IS BACK in 6 days.  Oh, Lost, how I miss you.  How sad I will be without you.  How I hope you explain that friggin' Smoke Monster.

Seriously, what the crap are you?