Five or Seven?? Hmm... SEVEN!

Today was the long run with the team. Half marathoners training were to run 5 miles, and those training for the full marathon were up to 7 miles. I woke up and felt pretty refreshed so I drove out towards the Sunport to meet with the team. I got there, stretched a little and found someone to run with... then started the run.

I got to the turn-around point and instead of turning back, I felt really good so I decided to keep going to the full marathoners turn-around point. Wow. In all actuality, I probably walked about a good mile - there was a hill that was unbelievably long and gradually got steeper. My legs and body (ok, and lungs and feet and arms and EVERYTHING) just wanted to stop, so instead of stopping I walked. I ran to the 3.5 mark where there was water and Gatorade waiting. We had ran to the northeast side of the Journal Pavilion. Amazing.

The run back wasn't as hard (mostly because I could run down the ridiculous hill, but it was still hard. I was really proud of myself for finishing it. My legs and arms feel like Jello, and I would like nothing more than to crawl into bed and sleep the rest of the day.

I may attempt to start training like I was going to run the full marathon. If I decide to change back to a half, I can do it up until the morning of the marathon. Who knows. It's all up in the air.

Three musical miles

Yesterday I woke up bright and really early (6 am) to go for my three mile run. It was SO nice and fresh outside at that time. I finally bought myself the armband for my iPod, so I had company singing in my ear this run. Nothing too exciting besides the fact that I finished the run and for the first time felt as though I could go a little more. And by a little more, I mean I could have made it to the end of my block and then walked back.

In other news................... :)

As of Monday (7/18) I will officially be an Assistant Editor for Albuquerque the Magazine!!! That's right! Six months after graduating college I have a real job in the profession that I wanted to be in. Amazing. It's going to be a tough job, but I couldn't be happier. I get to write for a magazine and get paid for it. It doesn't hurt that everyone I work with is awesome and I like everything I'm writing about. WOOHOO!!!!!

Just wanted to share my good news with everyone!

two miles down

I am not a fast runner. That's what I was telling myself as I was taking what felt like baby steps this morning. I am getting faster, though. What used to be 15 minute miles are now 11 minute miles. Granted, I'm only running two miles here, and three miles there - with the occasional 5 miles thrown in (I may die doing that this Sunday....). It seemed a little easier today. A little. My legs didn't hurt as much, and when they did I think it's just the shoe correcting my stride. The hardest part for me always seems to be that last half mile, and it doesn't help that it's usually uphill.

During the last part this morning I thought about the cancer patients getting pumped with drugs that are literally sucking every ounce of energy out of their life. That pushed me a little bit - knowing that I have the energy to finish. Hopefully I can keep that motivation up for the next several months!

I remember watching a Sex and the City episode when Samantha was going through chemo. It really made me mad because she would 'go get chemo' and then go out that night to some promotional thing. It drove me crazy and really made me lose respect (I realize it's just a TV show) for the creators. You don't have the energy to do anything!! Sorry, I was just thinking about that....

Today I think I'll pick up the iPod runny thingy for sure - I don't want to just listen to the constant rhythm of my breathing, or the pitter-patter of my shoes on the road.

Shout outs: A HUGE thank you to my parents, for putting out the first donation, and to Brandon for the second donation and encouragement. Matt Akers, thank you for the e-mail you sent me...it's a huge motivator!

Two miles to Wyoming

Apparently I live in a convenient area for running because from my house to Wyoming (the street, obviously) is 1 mile. To Academy is 3 miles. Each stop light in between is about .5 of a mile. It's nice. I only ran two miles today, but it seemed to be the hardest run so far. I don't know if it's because I got new shoes and I'm working them in, or because at 9:30 in the morning it was already hot, and i was running up hill on the way back. I don't know. Every time I run I feel different muscles being used, and today they were in my feet and calves - I'm hoping that was from the new shoes straightening out my stride. I have five more miles to go this week and then Sunday's run is either a 5 or 6 mile run...I think.

I need to get my an iPod runny thing. Yup. "iPod runny thing" is the official word for the thing that goes on your arm so you can listen to music while running.

In other news, yesterday was my last day at Flying Star. They have a tradition there for anyone's last day...they whip cream you. I'm not talking about a little squirt of whipped cream. No. I'm talking about a showering of the sweet stuff from head to toe. I was taking out the trash and the next thing I knew I was literally covered in whip cream. Jen and Nichole both got me with the canisters, and the two chiefs smashed whip cream pies in my face. My shoes, jeans, shirt, hair, glasses, face, everything was completely covered. I ended up changing into a chef's coat to get out of my gross t-shirt. I'll miss the people there, but I'm moving on to bigger and better things! The girls are supposed to send me more pictures, so I'll post them as I get them.

Oh! Also, the other day I was at Albertson's with my mom and I saw this girl steal a bottle of alcohol! I've never actually seen anyone steal something before, so my eyes didn't really believe it. I told a worker, but the girl was already out the door. Oh well.

Day three/four - three miles

Yesterday there was an awesome thunderstorm in the afternoon. I laced up my running shoes and hit the pavement for a run after the rain. It turns out that from my house to Academy is exactly 3 miles. It seems like more. It felt like more. The wind during the run was the hardest thing to overcome; it never even considered letting up. I felt fine after the run except for my feet. My feet were ridiculously sore.

This morning I woke up and went to the Dinosaur by Riverpoint and ran another three miles. I can't get over how nice everybody on the team is. Emilie, my mentor, ran with me today. We're supposed to run at a conversational pace - HAHAHAHAHAHA - so she did most of the talking while I added filler comments. I really appreciated a faster runner taking the time to run with me, it was nice.

After the run my feet hurt again. They really hurt. I have three blisters on my feet; two on each pinky toe and one beneath my big toe...it sucks. So, about an hour ago I went out and bought me some running shoes from Fleet Feet. These should be good for me, so I'm excited to run in them.

It's time for a nap.

Day Two - Two miles

I realize I'm a little late with my second day of running, but let me try to explain. I ran with TNT on Sunday, May 20, and then that Thursday I flew to Florida. Yeah, I should have ran sometime that week, or while I was in Florida, but I didn't. Ok, so I got back to Albuquerque and landed with a cold - just my luck. I had planned on going running with TNT on the 3rd, but my little cough had turned into me hacking up a lung...or two. I was even sent home from Flying Star one night because they didn't want me coughing on people. Long story short (sorry, too late for that!), today was the first day I felt up for it and the first day we didn't have 50 mph winds.

I just ran 2 miles at the gym on the treadmill - I didn't think I liked them, but I didn't mind it all that much. I realize it's only two miles and I should have done more, but I didn't want to overdo it. As of right now I'm planning on running again tomorrow and will hopefully hit 3 miles - that's what I'm going to push for. I need to figure out some routes around my house so I can go running outside in the morning.

Pretty soon, once I get a decent running schedule down, I'm going to start doing Yoga with a girl from work. I think it'll be good for me.

Time for bed. More running to come.

Day one - three miles

Oh. Man. Yesterday I woke up early; 6:45 on a Sunday, early. I laced up my running shoes - ok, so they're really just old Pay Less tennis shoes that I'm planning on running in till I can buy an actual decent pair of shoes - and started driving towards Riverpoint Sports and Wellness on the West Side. It was my first day for training with TNT. I signed up last week and this was the first training event I could go to (since I missed the first last Sunday). We all met in the parking lot and talked before we started our run. There must have been about 30 people there of all different ages.

And then we ran. We ran 3 miles yesterday, and today I'm paying for it. My body is definitely not used to running and I'm out of shape. My legs are aching like they've never ached before. It's a good ache. The kind of ache that I know will go away and I'll end up feeling strength instead of pain.

My homework for this week is to run 2 miles three times this week...the problem is that I'm still working at Flying Star and I'm leaving for Florida on Thursday. I'll have to find some time to fit it in.

I have to say that the best part of yesterday was driving by the New Mexico Cancer Center. It made me realize that I'm actually doing this for a reason. It made me remember how scared I was the first time I went to see Papa getting chemo. I remember literally shaking before I walked in the doors because I didn't know what to expect, but then feeling calm after I saw him there and talked to the nurses. I'm doing this for the people still sitting in those Lazy-boys with drugs being pumped into them. Drugs that are making their hair leave their body along with their energy. I'm doing this for them.

College was neat.

I took a trip down memory lane a few nights ago. Actually, I guess I took a trip down the internet archives, because I was reading all the blogs I wrote. So much has changed in as little as two years. The floods of memories came back to me, I forgot about a lot of things - it's true that you only remember the good out of situations until the bad are reminded to you. Two years ago my dad had cancer. Reading that again was hard, I felt the same ache in my heart now, as I did back then. He's been in remission for a little over a year - thank God for modern medicine.

When I was in high school I thought I would be best friends with those people forever (Heh, well, I guess that is true in some cases!). But then I moved three hours south and went to NMSU. Living in RGH was the best decision I ever could have made. From there I met so many more friends. Thank you all for being a part of my life.

A lot of my friends are moving away after they graduate this Saturday. It's starting to hit me that we are growing up and moving on with our lives. No more late nights just sitting on the floor of our dorm room (or cheap apartment/house). No more last minute parties on a Monday night. No more BBQs during the perfect New Mexican nights. No more laughing about stupid stuff, or coming up with inside jokes that will last us the rest of our lives. Peppermint Patties for the girls, themed parties and Taco Bell runs five minutes before they close on the weekends will be a thing of the past. People are moving - the times are a changin'.

I guess we'll always have the memories - the good memories.

Why I do what I do:

They say that eyes are the windows to the soul. Does that hold true if, say, you're blind? Today I had the privilege of interviewing someone who lost his sight years ago. The first thing I noticed when I walked into his 15th floor apartment was the astonishing view of New Mexico's west mesa from the heart of Albuquerque's downtown. The second thing I noticed was that this man would never see the complex colors that make a New Mexico sunset. "If I had known I wouldn't be able to see when I bought this place I could have saved a lot of money," is what he told me when I mentioned the view!

In my line of work, it's my job to make people talk. I've learned a few ways to egg people on:
1) Smile. Make them feel as though you are enjoying what they're saying.
2) Make eye contact. Make eye contact while jotting down verbatim the words coming out of their mouth while at the same time remembering in what context they are saying it.
3) Use facial expressions to let them know what you are thinking.
4) Make use of filler words at the right moments: "oh yeah?," "really?," "wow," and so on...

Today I could only use words to let him know that I was still there and paying attention. I could have sat there, bored and just let my recorder do all the work, but instead I saw him as someone who wasn't blind, but as another person with a story to tell.

The thing that made him so unique was that I genuinely had a smile on my face the entire time. Even though he couldn't even make out the lines of my face, his eyes were on me the entire time, engaging me in his life. I smiled and spoke to him with my eyes...hoping that in some way he would catch onto my energy and attentiveness. I walked out of my interview with my cheeks hurting and I loved it!

Check out Albuquerque the Magazine's July or August issue to read my article.

April Fools!

I've been meaning to blog for awhile now. I'm so busy these days that I rarely get to talk to people about the random things I think about throughout the day. For example, I got a phone call from NMSU telling me that I have a check to pick up from the St. Louis trip I went on last year. It was for driving everyone to and from El Paso. The check is in the mail and on its way to me...SWEET!

I've also come across the most amazing thing to happen to the internet since AIM and Google. It's called Stumble and it only works if you use Firefox as a browser. I have Kenny to blame for the fact that I can, and will, and have, spent meaningless hours 'stumbling' onto different sites.

I came across this one and it really got to me: It's about a girl's quest to become a size zero. I read it all and it really made me appreciate the fact that I like food! It also made me sick that people can do that to their body just to get some social satisfaction when in the end they're only hurting and sometimes killing themselves. Nobody is perfect! I like how the girl said that the guys didn't like her the skinny she got...that's gotta show something....

Another site I check regularly is My Strange New Mexico. The author of it, Mike Smith, writes it as a column for the Daily Lobo. Read this blog entry. I love it! I also keep up with Duke City Fix to keep up with everything going on in Albucrazy.

What else has been going on, you ask? Well, my mom just celebrated her birthday and I don't know if it was because she felt like being a kid again or....or...what, but she wanted to celebrate by going to Itz. Not gonna lie, it was a lot of fun. Chris and I got to play some arcade games and I walked away with over 250 tickets (all of which I gave to a little girl). It's like Peter Piper (Pistol Petes) only about 10 times cooler. So cool, they even have a roller coaster, bumper cars and I crazy flying thing that kids can go on. Very neat.

*Sidenote* I am now in love with jalapenos. MMMmmmmm. I love them on my salad, I like them in my burritos, give them to me ontop of nachos. Yummy. I have Laura to blame. I can blame her for my love of jalapenos and country music - two things i used to detest and now can't seem to get enough of.

Know what else I detest? The stupid cell phone law. While I haven't been pulled over (yet) I do think that if they're going to make talking, and sending or receiving texts, a law, then they need to also out law eating food in your car and listening to CDs and/or iPod. All of the above are VERY dangerous while driving. .....lame.....

I know I have more to ramble/rant about, but my break here at Flying Star is almost over.

Till I have more time to write....adios!

Rainy days

*I wrote this last Thursday and forgot to publish it. Ooops. *

I technically have today completely off, so I slept in a whole hour and a half. I woke up to the sound of little raindrops hitting my window and the birds chirping away, enjoying the little shower that was falling from the sky. Spring has definitely arrived and I couldn't be more excited. (I could do without the allergies though.) It's days like today that make me remember why I love New Mexico and Albuquerque so much.

*sidenote* I'm at Satellite and there is a man next to me who's eating with his mouth open and it's seriously grossing me out. I'd move...but not only was I here first, but I like the spot I got. Eh. Maybe he'll be leaving soon. Very soon. GROSS. OMG he is literally smacking his lips...eeeewwwww!

Back to why I love it here. When I lived in England I swore to myself that if I never saw another raindrop in my life I wouldn't mind. THANK YOU GOD for not listening to me! The difference between the rain here and the rain on the other side of the pond is that here it seems to bring new life to everything it touches. People are happy, our cars are shiny and clean and even the brown grass even looks slightly greener.

Don't get me started on the smell! It rained so often in England that I never enjoyed the one perk of having water fall from the sky - the fresh, clean and almost indescribable sweet scent that comes from rain. My brother once told me (and he could have been making this up for all i know) is that the reason it smells when it rains is because when the rain hits the ground, and the dirt, it sends particles in the air that mixes with the water...giving it that scent. I like to think that living in the dessert has its benefits sometimes.

Another thing I always forget about when it's cloudy outside is how mysterious and peaceful our mountains look. They even look somewhat powerful when they have clouds covering different peaks. I don't know what I would do without the mountains to our east. Not to mention when the sun peaks through the clouds and reflects to the west and you can see the mesas on the west side completely illuminated. Tis beautiful!

This is what makes me happy. Days like this. Days where I can come to a coffee shop, drink some tea, listen to good music and type away. I am in my own little world and I love it. I think everyone needs to slow down now and again and take in the beauty of their own location - wherever it may be.

Know what else makes me happy? Knowing that I'm content with where my life is right now. I'm exactly where I wanted to be and I couldn't be more thrilled. In the next few days I'm even going to start figuring and planning out a way for me to visit England for a few weeks.

In the mean time....it's time for me to stop procrastinating and get to work on my...well...work.

My car got broken into :(

The subject of this blog is not a lie. I was woken up this morning not by my alarm around 8:15, but by my mom an hour earlier telling me that someone had broken into my car. Great. Fantastic. ASSHOLES. I struggled to find some pants so I could go outside and see what had been taken.

*Sidenote - Chris, Natalie and I (Laura's coming out tomorrow) are driving to Vegas today. We were going to take my car until my mom said we could use hers. Yesterday we both cleaned out our cars. Mine was a little more ambitious to clean because I don't think stuff has been removed for months... seriously... Anyway, I cleaned my car almost completely out and took it to Octopus Car Wash for a wash that made it look just as new.

So I found some jeans and took my barefooted self outside to see the mess. My mom, who was taking my car to work today, showed me the hole - about the size of a grapefruit - the tiny window on the back left side.

*sidenote - one of the reasons my parents are letting us take their car to Vegas is because my passenger front window regulator is broken and I need to get it fixed. So, now I currently have two broken windows in my car. Will it ever NOT be ghetto???? *end sidenote*

Then I open the doors and start looking for missing things.

Radio - check
CDs - check (apparently these guys don't want to bring sexy back, get down with the Shins, meet Mr. A-Z, sit under a cherry tree w/ KT Tunstall or check out Corrine Baily Rae)
laundry detergent - check (these guys must have been smelly)
graduation cap - check
ipod headphones - check
ipod charger and transmitter - UNCERTAIN ( I can't remember if they were there or not...will confirm later today)
Registration and insurance - check
tampons - check (which makes me suspect these guys were actually guys. If it was a girl they may have taken them.... just saying)
Change - check

Like I said...I didn't have much in there, thank goodness. Here's the thing that pisses me off though - WHY BREAK INTO A CAR AND NOT TAKE ANYTHING? It's not like there was some crazy annoying alarm that went off. Granted I didn't have much that was valuable, but it still really doesn't make sense to me.

I probably shouldn't have touched everything, but I was pretending to be CSI while I was rummaging through my things. This is what I have detected thus far:

HOW THEY DID IT: They used a grapefruit to break the window, then got the grapefruit out of the back seat and ate it once they discovered there was no food in my car.

WHO 'THEY' WERE: They were boys. They did not take the tampons or any of my somewhat girly music.

WHY THEY DID IT: They didn't think the Mercedes across the street would have anything 'good.' Or, someone's been stalking me lately and noticed I keep a lot of stuff in my car and wanted something from it.

That's all I've really concluded. I tried to use my hot breath on the condensation on the car door (as I've seen in CSI) to find fingerprints...but it didn't work. I think their breath must be hotter on the show.

In other news: I'm excited for Las Vegas. Woot. Woot. Las Vegas.

Lame.

Turns out that there's nothing even remotely exciting going on in my life at the moment. That's a lie. Sorry. On Friday, Natalie and my brother are driving to Las Vegas, NV to spend the weekend there. Laura's flying out on Saturday and then we're all driving back on Monday. I can't wait for this weekend...I'm so excited to go on vacation and spend it in Vegas over St. Paddy's day with the girls (my brother can come too). Besides that...there is something ridiculously awesome going on in my life...but I'll spill those beans in July...

I know what i can do to make this longer and maybe (?) more interesting, I'll put a blog I posted on myspace in here. Read it:

Since you are all my friends I feel the need to share a very big secret with you. There is a web site out there on the ginormous internet called Student Universe. The one, and only, catch I've seen so far is that you HAVE to be a student. I know this because I tried to buy a ticket even though I just graduated. The company (a real person even) has actually called me three times and e-mailed me about 5 times asking me to send in varification that I am at a university. I can't figure out a way to give them the proof they want without committing fraud. With that said, I want to pass this great way to save money along to you. I've never received junk mail from them, only amazing deals for places I wish I could go. I've bought several tickets on this and have never had a problem. Ok. I could literally go on and on about Student Universe. Just go sign up!

While I'm on the subject of travel... IF you're planning on going overseas, or even traveling around America, check out Hostel World. This has a listing of just about every hostel, discount hotel and cheap B&B. It's fantastic...I've used this more times than I can even count. There's another website, Couch Surfing, that sounds cool, but I haven't used it...yet.

I have the itch to travel SO bad. Right now, which is probably why all I want to do is talk about the places I've been, where I've stayed and help other people with their adventures. You can take all of this with a grain of salt, I'm only one person and I've only been to a few places, but if you're reading this and going to London, Paris, Amsterdam, Rome, Venice, Florence, Ireland or Wales.

If you're still reading then I'm going to gush about my upcoming trips, all of which I am ridiculously excited for!!! The day before St. Patty's Day, Natalie, my brother and I are going to drive to Las Vegas, Nevada. The next day Laura is flying in and we will be partying like rock stars. Laura's never been to Vegas, and I've never been with just my friends. I've had MORE than a blast going with my cousins, but this will be great too. SO EXCITED. Then, in May, I'll be flying to Orlando to hang out with Kenny. While this may be on my list of craziest things I've ever done, I couldn't be more happy or excited to go out there and see him and his friends. Not to mention, Jeff and Mike are about 99% sure that they'll be out there at the same time too! I just wish May would get here a little faster.... Flash forward to September when my friend Kat from England makes her trip over the pond to visit America and the Southwest! I'm already planning on taking her to see the Grand Canyon, Las Vegas, Los Angeles, Hollywood, Disneyland, San Diego and maybe Mexico...I can't wait for her to come over! Lots of stuff on my plate, I just wish I could get myself back over to Europe. One of these days....hummm....I need to invest in some lottery tickets!

Till next time... Ciao, Adios, Bye, Latah.

VETO the cell phone law.

I am vetoing the new cell phone law that our awesome mayor just passed. The first offense for being caught while talking on a cell phone is $100. Second offense? $200. I've tried using a hands free device and it was more difficult to use than my cell phone is. I'm so riled up by this for some reason. Maybe it's because I think it's just a stupid ploy to get more money for the city. Why do I think that? Perhaps that's because the money from red light cameras go back to Arizona, the supplier of the cameras. Not only do the red light cameras catch you running a red light, obviously, but they're also speed traps. COME ON! Maybe it'll be better if we just stop driving. I'm being my typical stubborn self and I'm not gonna get a hands free device.

In other news... Anna Nicole Smith died today. Yeah, I know..I kinda want to make a joke about it too. The ironic thing is that this morning on "The View" (I was watching it at the gym...) Rosie went on and on about Anna Nicole and how she looked awful and how she needs to stay out of the news, blah blah blah. It was a typical Rosie bash session.

I made homemade florintine lasagna tonight. No lie! It was good too, and I'm gonna make it again, but tweak it and add vegitables. Yeah, it's gonna be even better than just good. Combine that dinner with a Blue Moon and Ugly Betty and I am one happy camper right now!

This is for the boys:

At Flying Star I usually end up doing the bathroom duty at the end of the night. That involves cleaning the toilet, among other things. Is it too much to ask to have guys AIM when they pee? SERIOUSLY. Just watch where you're going - somebody has to clean it up. That's all for now.

GO BEARS!!