Humidity

Who knew humidity could be my friend, definitely not me! There are times when a good humid day benefits my ego. An old friend of mine was in town for Memorial Weekend and whenever we see each other we always go for a run.

For some odd known reason whenever John and I run the competitive side of me shows up. Our runs are short in distance and the guy has been playing soccer since birth and is still playing…he’s older than me so you do the math. Shorter distances are his forte except for one small fact…he lives in Seattle. This is when humidity is on my side, who knew…

We were set to run Monday at 7am. I wanted to go earlier but John is a wuss. I was on the lake all of Sunday in the hot sun and of course hydrating myself with Tecate beer all day long and topped the night off with quesadillas and a Mexican martini, because this is the best way to prepare for a run in the Texas humidity.

I secretly hoped John would send a text wimping out. No such luck! 7am we’re off. I was a tad concerned we may see my Mexican martini from the night before…Actually when we took off there was a nice drizzle. The drizzle was short lived and followed by some serious soup like conditions for us to run in.

The first 2 miles of our run were pretty uneventful. The second 2 miles I really thought the quesadillas were on their way back to haunt me. I could tell my Seattle friend was suffering. We talked steadily in the first 2 miles. The second half of our run he kept asking me open ended questions, which I know was a trick to make me talk and run out of breath. No such luck Hot Shot! My goal is to torture you today! Honestly, when we passed the rowing club I wanted to crawl into a canoe and wait for my death. However, John was 2 steps behind me and I couldn’t give into my weakness so we kept plodding along back to the Rock.

He admitted later on at coffee that he was wiped out. His Mother confirmed he had been complaining since we got done running. Mission accomplished!!!

I think the torture good ‘ole Johnny experienced is payback for choosing to ski Tahoe instead of pacing me at the AT&T Marathon back in ’07. Just sayin.’

It's Time

Well, I am days away from starting my training for the California International Marathon in December. I haven't been very consistent with my running since my last marathon, which was February '07 (yeah, you read that right). I've never trained in the summer mainly because I despise the humidity. Yes, I'm aware I live in Texas but I usually get on my bike or do some wimpy runs at this time of year.

This years training season will be dedicated to my mental training, which has been my arch nemesis since I started racing way back when. I've never had an issue with my cardio fitness it has always been the voices in my head (yes, I am crazy, duh!). Today was one of those days where the voices were very loud.

I stepped outside this morning to meet Brenda and Jon for a 6 miler and I'll be damned if it wasn't thick as molasses outside at 5:45am. Geez, it's May people! We started running and I swear I needed a straw to extract some oxygen from the air. I felt like a 90 y/o woman with emphysema running without her oxygen tank. This was before we even hit mile 1...I thought to myself no way I can make 6 and immediately my confidence was flushed down the toilet. I started questioning my ability to train during these summer months.

Now, I'm in the process of reading a book called 'Running Within' which addresses the mental aspects of training. I worked on putting some of the ideas to test today and let's say I may need to read this book 2 to 3 more times for it to sink in. I start one of the reverse negative thinking ideas and it lasts about a milli-second before my body says, 'no way lady, you're not running in this humidity.' The good news is my training partners held me accountable today and I kept trudging along with them.

Here's to a new training season!!!

Reckless Kelly

'Nuff said...seriously! Alright, I'll explain. This started back in January towards the end of football season over at Cousin Lyle's house. Well, he's not my cousin but later you'll need to know he's Cousin Lyle (let's call him CL for short). I'm enjoying some wine and chili with CL, M & 510. Later on M looks at me and says Willy and posse are coming to CL's in a bit and she has the look of love in her eyes. Oh, Lord here we go with M and her bad boys. She has a thing for the wild ones. I in turn think nothing of this. Later on Willy and posse show up (aka- Reckless Kelly) since their Lyle's cousin it's normal for them all to hang out. I'm still unimpressed in Willi and posse. M is about to flip out of her chair and I'm more enthralled with my glass of wine.

Fast forward to SXSW in March at the Dirty Dog. I am introduced to my first Reckless Kelly performance. Now, mind you these SXSW shows are only 30 minutes long but I am hooked. All I know is I'm not a country music lover but Willy with his crooked grin have convinced me otherwise.

Nutty Brown Cafe this past Friday I go to my first full performance by Reckless Kelly and I *heart* Willy and his crooked grin. Do NOT think for 2 seconds that grin is meant for you. I am certain he sang to me all night Friday...I had stars in my eyes and will now and forever be a groupie of Reckless Kelly. Sorry, Thievery Corporation I really want to see you when you come to town BUT it's the same night as RK and I'm not the cheatin' kind;-)

No Words Can Explain It.

I consider going back to school one of the hardest decisions I've ever made. I will say I'm enjoying it even if it involves all nighters (remember these don't involve margaritas, a dance floor or my friends), little to no social life and NEVER seeing the male species...that's quite a bit of sacrifice if you ask me. However, there is a perk to this school thing and it comes twice a year. Oh, yeah, you guessed it semester break. A whopping 4 weeks mind you, no projects, no all nighters (the un-fun all nighters) and no commuting for an entire 4 weeks. It's so exciting words can't even describe it;-)

It's Official!!!

I passed Residential Studio...Yay, Me!!! Nothing like your fate being sealed in an envelope you had to self-address. Thank goodness I needed some good news. Whew!!!

Now I really need to study for my last final;-)