“There is a very old and beat up white armored truck that has been parked outside my house all morning,”* and I suspect an organization with three letters in its name is keeping an eye on my next door neighbors. For three weeks now they have mowed their yard at noon every day without regard to July’s heat and humidity. This, along with my observation that they never exit their cars without first closing the garage doors behind them, makes me wonder if they’re watching their backs. We all know the mob likes to hit people when they least expect it, so perhaps my neighbors are using their lawn mowing as a preemptive strike against the mob. But this doesn’t explain why they mow every day or how the white armored truck came to be sitting outside my house.
Perhaps I was wrong about the three-lettered organization. Perhaps my neighbors are working with this organization and by mowing every day are hoping the mob will try to take them out so the three-lettered organization can combat the mob’s presence in my small suburb. Whatever the case may be, I should probably get out of my house in case anything goes down this afternoon.
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*Thanks to G who posted this fun little writing prompt this morning. Sometimes I miss freshman composition.
July 25th, 2008
Wow! Last week was so much more productive than the previous two combined! Of course, I’m pretty sure my increased motivation came from an increasing number on my bathroom scale. I haven’t checked my body fat percentage in a long time, but I’m hoping the few pounds I’ve gained are a result of increased muscle mass rather than an increase in body fat. I certainly haven’t increased in inches anywhere, and my clothes still fit fine. We just happen to live in a “vanity number” society, and even though we’re healthy as horses, we hate the scales to reach certain numbers (and I’m getting a little too close for comfort to my vanity number). Here’s what I did this week:
Monday, July 14, 2008
- Workout Type. Running
- Route. Forest Park subdivision
- Feeling.
- Time. 33 minutes
- Distance. 3 miles
- Pace per mile. 11 min/mile
- Additional notes. Felt good for being the first time I was out in a week! Even though I wanted to hit the road hard for an hour or so, I held myself back. I tend to work too hard on Mondays and Tuesdays and then have zero energy for workouts later in the week. I’m pacing myself.
Tuesday, July 15, 2008
- Workout type. Cycling class
- Route. YMCA
- Feeling.
- Time. 59 minutes
- Distance. 12.6 miles
- Pace per mile. 4:40 minutes/mile
- Additional notes. Our instructor didn’t show up, so I “warmed up” for 20 minutes before a sub took over. It’s encouraging to see that I can easily get in 12 miles in less than an hour, which will help me finish the triathlon in less than 2 hours.
Wednesday, July 16, 2008
- Workout type. Running
- Route. Forest Park subdivision
- Feeling.
- Time. 58 minutes
- Distance. 5 miles
- Pace per mile. 11:40 minutes/mile
- Additional notes. Still incorporating walking into my runs. I find that when I stop and walk when necessary, I can go faster when I’m actually running, so my overall time is faster, too. Even with all the time off from running this winter, my pace is right where I left it when I did the half marathon last fall.
Thursday, July 17, 2008
- Workout type. Cycling class
- Route. YMCA
- Feeling.
- Time. 46 minutes
- Distance. 9.6 miles
- Pace per mile. 4:48 minutes/mile
- Additional notes. Just another cycling class. Actually, they’re getting to be old hat for me. Maybe I should look into learning how to teach a cycling class. Every time I get out of one, I think about the music I would use, how I would plan the class, and how I would encourage my students. Ooh, and if I teach, I could probably get a discount on my gym membership. Dave Ramsey would be proud!
Saturday, July 19, 2008
- Workout type. Cycling (road)
- Route. Forest Park subdivision (4 laps)
- Feeling.
- Time. 56 minutes
- Distance. 12 miles
- Pace per mile. 4:40 minutes/mile
- Additional notes. I actually aired up my tires and rode outside! Of course, I was a genius and went out at 2 o’clock in the afternoon, and it was miserable, but I didn’t notice the heat until after I got off the bike. I did four 3-mile loops around my subdivision. My subdivision is by no means hilly, but it rolls in a few places, and I handled those spots just fine. I knew I could do 12 miles in cycling class, but I wasn’t sure once I got out on the road, so I was thrilled that this 12 miles was pretty easy for me. Once I finished, I dropped my bike in my yard and ran a lap around my block (4 minutes). That was the most painful part: for one, I realized just how hot it was. Secondly, I realized how much my quads had been working on my bike ride (I don’t have bike clips, which let you use your hamstrings more). My legs felt like jello for that four minutes. I’ll have to work on my transitions in the next month or so!
July 23rd, 2008
I have a case of nobody-likes-me-guess-I’ll-eat-some-worms tonight. It’s not true. Plenty of people like me, but I’m feeling particularly best friendless right now. It sucks.
I’ve made some efforts to meet new people in the last month or so: at the gym, at church, at a book club. But making friends is so hard. Everyone has a family or a job or a million other people vying for their friendship, but no one has time. I could argue that I don’t have time for friends either, but if the right gal(s) came along, I would drop everything to be her friend.
It’s no secret that making friends is hard for me. I don’t give the best first impression, I hate small talk, and I’m brutally honest (and sometimes lack a filter). I’m just not a sorority girl who has 1,000 friends on Facebook and who’s in a wedding every other weekend. Hell, I’ve never even been a bridesmaid, and I only had two in my own wedding.
Can I help that it takes months for me to warm up to someone new? When I try to do it sooner, I can’t help but feel like I’m trying to hard or that I’m being fake. Speeding through the process just doesn’t do it for me; if you want to be my friend, it’s gonna take a lot of time and a lot of sweat, but I promise that I’ll be your friend for life. I’m fiercely loyal, and I don’t let my real friends get away easily. Take a chance on me!
Sorry for being a downer tonight. Just needed to get it out.
July 20th, 2008
You’d think having a new laptop would increase my productivity, but no, that hasn’t happened. In fact, I think I’m even lazier than before. Who knew that was possible? Anyway, I haven’t shared with you all what I’ve been reading (laziness has increased in that department, too), and here’s some material to get you up to speed.
Continue Reading July 18th, 2008
I took five minutes of my Thursday afternoon to retrieve the office mail from the post office, and on my return, I observed two forklifts driving down the road. I’d like to thank the employees at 68 Lumber for demonstrating the versatility of this equipment, for I am now considering it as my next mode of transportation. I don’t think anything can beat the ability to pick up slow-moving cars that are in one’s way. And they’re a lot like convertibles. And they come in orange.
July 17th, 2008
I just realized I haven’t updated you all on the triathlon training in a few weeks. Two weeks ago I was on vacation, so I was pretty lazy, and last week was my first week back, and I slacked off. Even though I haven’t been over-the-top dedicated to training, I still feel good about the race.
Continue Reading July 14th, 2008
Omigosh! This week has been insane! Of course, I’m playing catch-up at work from being out ten days (OK, who are we kidding, it’s taken maybe two collective hours to get up to speed).
No, the biggest distraction of the week is my new MacBook! I am finally in the club! So I’ve been playing with that all week, and pretty much, blogging has gone out the window. My Gateway laptop started having problems again last week (I’ve had problems with it ever since I bought it in 2002), and Chris and I started checking out used Macs on eBay. We sent an email to some of our friends to see if they knew of anyone aching to get rid of a used Mac laptop, and one of our friends bit! Turns out, she compulsively bought this computer last week, felt like she could’ve put the money to better use, and offered it to us at a reduced rate. And the money we paid is going to a good cause, not just our friend’s pocketbook. Everyone wins! God is so frickin’ good!
More later, I promise! I have some sweet Independence Day weekend photos to share (once I figure out this iPhoto thing).
July 9th, 2008
Overall, not a bad week. No running, but I got in some great cycling and swimming workouts. Here’s what I did:
Continue Reading July 2nd, 2008
OK. I’m a total slacker, but I’ve finally gotten around to posting pictures from our traipse up to Clinton to hang out with my family. Sadly, we didn’t take too many pictures of my family; instead, Chris got all creative taking advantage of my brother’s photogenic horses and dog.
Continue Reading June 30th, 2008
They’re a little late in coming, but I’ve finally uploaded my photos from the Running of the Squirrels 5K in Marionville. I ran the race with my friend Sarah and her husband Ryan. My final time was 33:11.
I hope you’ll enjoy the photos from mystery guests #798 and #561.
Continue Reading June 29th, 2008
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