Went running again this morning. Logged 4 miles this time. It felt good, real good. The best part about today’s run (well there were two good things) was that it was foggy the entire time. Not just a little fog-around-the-corner type of fog, but the I-can-barely-see-in-front-of-me kind. It was awesome. Not to mention, the fog was spraying me with mist every once in awhile, which was more than pleasant. It gave me flashbacks to when I lived in England. That was one of the most enjoyable things about living out there. I LOVE the thick fog that was out every morning and night; everything seemed so serene and perfect – ahhhh!

The second fantastic thing about my run was that I changed my route a little bit (see below):

Since I had a long run yesterday along the same route I’ve been going on I decided to change things up a bit. Instead of going north, I ran west – downhill!!!! It was easier on my psyche, but just as hard on my body because I had to control myself from the gravity. Still had the runner’s high afterwards-woohoo!!

This weekend I’m going up to Red River (talk about more serenity!) for our little family tradition. That’s funny, I sad “little” and “family” in the same sentence. My family is nothing but little. We rented only two rooms this year though because not everyone can make it. Last time I went up there it was with almost all my cousins and it was the day after Thanksgiving. It snowed while we were there ☺ I’m just expecting it to be cold this weekend.

I’m planning on running eight miles this Sunday up in the mountains. I’m also planning on huffing and puffing my way through it. Ha. I hope I’m just kidding about the huffing and puffing despite the increase in altitude – CAN’T WAIT TO RUN AT SEA LEVEL!!!!

FIVE

How far is five miles you ask? Well let me tell you. It's from the bottom of my driveway to Paseo Del Norte.


Can you believe that? I can't.

I also can't believe I was up before the sun was. That's just wrong on so many levels. People should not wake up before the sun wakes up. I have to say though, that the sunrise this morning was beyond spectacular. It was so amazing I'm tempted to figure out a way to run with my camera from now on. There were these huge storm clouds sprawling over the Sandias, and once the sun started creeping out it turned the clouds into a work of art. It started as a pale pink, then rose, hot pink, violet, lavender then a bright purple. I thought it was done after that and the clouds would turn gray, but instead they started turning gold, yellow, orange, copper. It was fantastic. Sadly though, I was running in the opposite direction of the view, so I had to keep turning around to see it.

I have a gripe about drivers in the morning, but I don't feel like ruining my morning by complaining about them. Long rant short, drivers need to remember what they learned in elementary school and look BOTH ways when they get to a stop. I haven't been hit yet, but I definitely get close enough to hit the car - only then do they realize some people actually run/walk/bike against the traffic. Silly people.

It's cloudy outside today - I love it. Fall is coming :)

My Heritage

I need better pictures of my parents and possibly a better baby pictures, although how do you get cuter than this:

Whirlwind Week

The reason for my absence in blogging can be described as a "long story short" tale.

My friend Kat flew in a week and a half ago from London. We basically played tourist around the Southwest for a week. It was a ton of fun. We spent a couple long, hot days in Las Vegas (didn't win any money, didn't see any movies stars, did drink a little and did have a lot of fun), traveled to see the Grand Canyon, followed by Petrified Forrest and the Painted Dessert in Arizona and then went to Northern New Mexico to check out everything in the Taos/Santa Fe area.

She also got to witness her first American Football game (complete with cheerleaders) and her first cockroach. We went up the tram and even made it to the NM State Fair. All in all it was a long, fun and somewhat educational 10 days!

I even managed to get my long runs in. What I didn't do was run during the week, and I definitely felt that during my 10-mile run on Sunday. It was hard. REALLY hard. My legs felt like lead and I felt like I weighed 1,000 pounds. I finished it and vowed to get all of my weekday runs in until the race and to keep up with drinking lots of water.

If anyone has any fundraising ideas, I'm all ears. I still need more. My deadline is October 1st.

me

Like: Wine, red grapes, white grapes, green grapes, craisins
Dislike: raisins

some things

I haven't blogged in awhile, just haven't really been in the mood honestly. Tonight feels like a decent time to write though. I had a busy/productive weekend. To spare the boring and lazy parts, I'll skip ahead to Sunday when I helped with the New Mexico Marathon. I was volunteering by being a "motivation station" for the runners. My mom, dad, brother and Emily all woke up WAY before the sun was awake and set up on the very north side of Tramway. Truth be told, I didn't even know Tramway goes the way it does (we were in between Sandia Casino and Country Line Restaurant - WAY OUT THERE!). Anyway, it was really fun to see runners smile because of the signs we had and the "woo hoos" we were giving!

I forgot...On Saturday I bought a new comforter from Kohl's during their fantagreat sale:

I really like it. A LOT. It's ridiculously comfortable and it makes me want to never get out of my bed. Oh! AND the bed frame is new, courtesy of someone from Craigslist who was giving it away for free. Also courtesy of my cousin Francisco for moving it for me!

On Labor Day (Monday) I decided to buy something I've had my eye on for awhile, an Exotic Retreat Bookcase from Target:


:) So, I bought it. Along with this 3-Shelf Bookcase in Espresso:


I spent 2 1/2 hours building this last one, and ended up hurting my lower back a little. BUT, I finished it! Here it is:

I'm really excited about it! The other bookcase is 6-feet tall and will most likely take more time to assemble, that and I don't have room for it in my bedroom, so I'll just wait awhile to put it up.

I also found out I can take a panoramic picture with my camera, so this is what happened when I did that:



Other than my big purchases, I haven't been doing much of anything. Just running. My fundraising has pretty much slowed way down these days. I still would like to get more. If anyone is interested in an Albuquerque the Magazine subscription, let me know - they are giving me $6 (half) of every subscription sold. They make good gifts!!!

Ok...time for sleep. Hope you enjoyed the pictures!

My RUN in with the law

So, this blog doesn't actually have anything to do with running, except for the fact that I'm no longer a good citizen in the eyes of the City of Albuquerque. Awhile ago I received a parking ticket for staying too long in a 30-minute loading zone. I forgot about this $20 ticket until a warrant for my dad's arrest came in the mail on Tuesday. (My car is registered under his name...) Seeing the warrant reminds me of two other tickets I received when Kenny was in town. We went out to lunch and then to see a movie and I completely forgot about my car parked in front of the office.

It was all my fault, I should have just parked in the parking structure, but I remember being very busy and going from interview to interview that day, so I parked in the convenient location instead. That's my excuse anyway.

Ok, so apparently if you don't pay your ticket within 15 days the price triples and you get the nice warrant. Well, with three tickets, all tripled in price, the total amount I owe the lovely City of 'Burque is $180. SO STUPID. I actually went to the parking ticket office and tried to get out of paying it because i was only a day - ONE DAY - late, and they wouldn't even budge. They shooed me away and told me to go to Metropolitan Court.

I go to the court and have to circle around about three times before I realize there's no place to park. I finally find a structure and the rent-a-cop there tells me I have to pay to park there. I tell him I'm not paying anymore money for parking. He says to park down the road on a residential. Lucky for me, all the residential parking places have the "Do Not Park Between 9am-5pm" signs. I finally find a place about 3 blocks down. I rush into the building with about 15 minutes to spare before they close and I'm greeted with X-Ray machines and another rent-a-cop (he may have been a real police though because I saw a nice gun on his hip). The 'cop' looks in my purse and tells me I can't take my cell phone in. I tell him 'fine, I'll leave it up here with you.' He says 'no, you can take it back to your car.' I explain to him that my car is three blocks down and I don't have time. Then he tells me that I can leave it with the hot dog man right down the street. Umm....hmmmm... NO!!!

I got mad and stormed out of the court, getting a little bruise on my hand because of how I slammed the door. I was furious - mostly at myself for not paying the stupid tickets as soon as I got them - but also for how the system is. I'm a good citizen and now I owe the city how much money just because i parked in one spot a little longer than I should have?

My gosh! I think the police and the city need better things to do with their time than walk around putting little yellow envelopes on people's cars...how about they go and
bust more paraplegic pot smokers. Real good use of their time.

Anyway, I took my frustration to Cake Fetish and threw $20 down the drain at Sandia Casino (I was feeling lucky enough to win back my $180!!) and called it a day.

....I didn't go running today, instead I cleaned my room and put up my new bed frame. Tomorrow the running will commence.

TERRIFIC TEN

Ten miles. No sweat (figuratively speaking of course...there was mucho perspiration going on this morning). Seriously though, this is the best I've felt running, especially for a long run. No pain, no huffing and puffing, didn't stop sweating and didn't get the chills, this was running! I saw three rabbits, two lizzards, a man running with only one arm, two hot air balloons, the smell of cereal being made at the Kellog factory (mmm...I really wanted come cereal!!)...I think I'm finally figuring this thing out!! I know it sounds silly, but it really didn't seem that far. I even came in a little under my 15 minute mile pace - woo hoo!!!

I think drinking more water throughout last week really helped, so I need to keep it up. I am pooped right now though. I could stay on this couch and sleep the day away, but I think I'm going to get up and go get some grub...I'm hungry.

:) I'm almost there...only 1 month and 25 days. I can so do this!!

....If you haven't yet (whoever's reading this), tell your friends and family about my blog and TNT website. I only need a little under $1,000!!!

Thanks for reading :)

I love my job

I do. I love my job. It's fantastic. I actually look forward to coming into work everyday. Even on days when I have to wake up early to do something I love it because I know I'm interviewing someone interesting, or doing something exciting. It's great.

Great. Great. Great. Fantasgreat even. Yes, I know that isn't a real word.

I lied yesterday when I said I'm not running less than 3 miles. I only ran two today because i didn't think I'd have time to get to my interview. Turns out I would've had time do get three in... darn. Maybe, just maybe, I'll go to the gym this afternoon. I highly doubt it though.

Time to get working!!!

mental 3

I think I stopped mentioning how far I was going on my weekday runs. I'm sticking to the magic number of 3 these days. I think I'm supposed to be up to 4 miles during the week, but I just can't get myself up that early... maybe tomorrow?

Today was hard. Really had. I don't really know why, all i know is that I was ready to quit about a half mile in. I took way too many walk breaks and wanted to turn around and go back. It was a mental run for sure. I pushed through whatever strange wall was in front of me and completed my three miles only 3 minutes past the ETA I gave my mom (she drives out and picks me up..how nice of her!).

This Sunday is another 10 miler. I'm working on drinking more water. As of 11:32am I've had 32 ounces. My goal is 100 ounces. I'm not getting nearly enough water during the day/week, so I'm going to try really hard to drink more h2o.

In other news, the new issue of the magazine is out. The new pic isn't online, so as soon as it is I'll put a link up to it.

That's all for now.

stinky

Running 8 miles makes you stink. I wonder why God made sweat smell the way it does. Couldn't he have made it smell like flowers, or rain? That way people would actually want to work out all the time? I'm telling you right now - I don't even want to be near me. I'm too lazy to actually get up and go take a shower (once I sit down after a run, i'm here for awhile).

Oh! It turns out I'm a "salty" sweater. Interesting. That means I actually have to eat more salt and drink A LOT more water throughout the week. It's good that I'm finding this all out now. What else? I can now say that I've ran from Tramway and Central to Tramway and Paseo del Norte. yikes.

I am so ready for a nap right now. I'm actually typing this with my head on the floor...mmmm sleep. I can't thought because I have to go shower. Like now. I'm doing the wine tasting fundraiser this afternoon...I really hope people show up. I know it's a little out of the way, but it's WINE!!! I made out really well with my Coaches fundraiser on Wednesday. On Friday I picked up a $250 check from them...SWEET!!!! I'm just barely at $1000 left to go. I hope I can do it.

Ok...it's seriously time for a shower.

guilt

I feel bad. I didn't go running this morning. I was up late last night from the fundraiser at Coaches (thank you to everyone who went - I should find out how much I made on Friday afternoon!!!), and didn't get to bed till about midnight. Combine that with drinking (I wasn't consuming water) and you have me sleeping through my alarm this morning. I really need to get back on track. Tomorrow. I will start tomorrow (can't tonight, going out to dinner for work).

Tomorrow.

Long time no talk. sorry

I decided to take this past weekend off because I had friends in town from college, and my boyfriend came in for several days. I figured one weekend off wouldn't completely kill my training. I did three miles last Thursday and two yesterday, for those of you keeping count.

Tonight is my fundraiser at Coaches, I really hope it goes well. A pretty fair amount of people have said they're going to come by, so I hope they do! I had a few rants I wanted to talk about, but I'm kinda sleepy and just don't have the energy (three enchiladas, beans, papitas, green chile and sopaipillas will make you a little groggy). I actually just made the statement that I wish I could marry green chile. That's how much I love it. Mmmmm.

Anyway. I'll go off on my rant about garage sales some other time. Yes, I said garage sales.

on the run

Ten miles. TEN miles. I ran 10 miles yesterday. Sure, I can feel muscles in my thighs, my arms and my back today, but it’s a good feeling. Sure, I wanted to turn on Paseo and skip out on three miles, but I didn’t. It feels good to accomplish something. I really wish I was faster, but the fact that I’m getting out there and doing this overcomes my longing to not be at the end of the pack. I’m going to have no problem running this in San Francisco. It kinda makes me want to try for the full marathon…kinda…

Yesterday was interesting though. Not only did we start running with 85% humidity - attractive, let me tell you - but around mile 6 or 7 I started getting chills while I was running and I stopped sweating. I looked it up (and from what people told me yesterday) is that I was probably dehydrated. From all the sweat I sweated out the first few miles, i probably should have had more to drink throughout the run. Not only that, but apparently there are sweaters, and then 'salty' sweaters. I may be on the verge of a salty sweater which means I should drink more sports drink type drinks while I run. .....SSOOoooo much to think about while running!

Two months and 15 days till race day. Heh. Race day. That’s a funny concept because I’m not racing I’m just running.

OOOooooo!!!! EXCITING news regarding fundraising: Wine Tasting on Sunday, August 19, from 2pm-6pm at Anasazi Fields Winery. We’re asking for a donation of $10 (more is ALWAYS accepted!) and that includes a wine tasting and appetizers. AND there will also be a raffle for several gift certificates to places around the city: $75 to Scalo’s, $50 to La Provence, $30 to Il Vicino, $25 to Bumble Bee's Baja Grill, a free yoga class, a four pack of sundaes at I Scream Ice Cream, just to name a few. Pretty sweet deal if you ask me. Send me your e-mail if you want me to send you an invitation (you don’t need an invitation to go, but it’s fun to get in your e-mail!

So, I’ve got two fundraisers coming up. Wine Tasting (August 19, from 2pm-6pm) and Coaches Sports Grill (August 15, from 6pm-9pm). Both are a fantastic way to fundraise because not only are you helping me reach my goal, but you’re getting food, wine, goodies and hanging out with people!

lost

No motivation.