Hump Day randomness

It's time for some mid-week ramblings.

• I’m always looking for new, fun and functional (i.e., soaks up massive amounts of sweat) headbands. When I came across Spandits!, I immediately loved their funky patterns. I kept debating which pattern I wanted to order. While I was deciding (I’m not the best decision maker), I participated in a “name the new pattern” contest. And, my name for the pattern, White Noise, won! Because of my fabulous naming abilities, Spandits! sent me a headband in the pattern. And, I’m in love. I love the fun pattern. I love its sweat-soaking abilities. And, now my decision is made. I’m ordering multiple patterns.
  
  Disclosure: I received a free headband from Spandits! because I helped named the pattern in a contest. That’s it. I’m just writing about it because I really like it. These opinions are entirely my own. 

White Noise winner

• Two of my favorite things are wine and baseball. So, when I heard the Rays are having a girls’ night out at the Trop with a wine tumbler, wine and baseball (duh), I thought they created the event just for me. They didn’t. But, I can pretend. Girls’ night out is Aug. 15 at 7:10 p.m. The Rays are taking on the Seattle Mariners. Use code GIRL3 here to get a $25 lower reserved ticket that includes a Rays wine tumbler and one glass of wine.

• The Bruno Mars concert is in three weeks! EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE! So much for keeping my cool. But, I’m super-duper excited. Love that little guy.
• Klout is a tool for measuring your online social influence. I look at it occasionally, and I’m not entirely sure what it tells me, but I did find this quite humorous (although I’m sure my parents are crying).

Charlie Sheen is my number one influence.

• I saw a movie in the theater for the first time in months recently and saw "Wolverine." I never expect to like the X-Men movies, but I always do. I also recently saw "Pitch Perfect," which I adored and didn't expect to, and the Katy Perry movie, "Part of Me," which I didn't expect to like and loved. Thanks for not meeting my expectations, movies!

Do you wear headbands? Have you ever named one? Do you like wine? Baseball? Have you seen any of those movies? What did you think?

Things that Rock Thursday

Since I'm posting this in a different time zone, I'm still calling this Thursday.

Even though this Thursday is way more awesome than the usual Thursday, I'm still posting some things that rock to make it even better (because some things are still not cool about this day – like a huge blister from shoes that I've worn for years without problem that has kept me from running for a week and a mysterious sore throat).

Sweet past week

This past week involved six glorious days of baseball. When it's one of your favorite things, that makes for a pretty sweet week.

Sweet race shirt

Although I'm a bit worried about the race itself (the reasons: not liking 5Ks, the mysterious blister and mysterious sore throat), I love the shirt.

Sweet dog

My brother's dog is so awesome. He's a bit slobbery and stinky, but Dude is the sweetest dog. And, he loves to run into the basement and flop down on the cool floor (especially when it's 102 degrees).

A whirlwind week

This week is a whirlwind (rain, wind, a leaky roof, the scariest drive ever, major cleaning, hectic workweek, my dad visiting), so my thoughts are a whirlwind, too.

• Debby has left the area, and I have left the craptastic gym. That place wasn’t as bad as I thought it was going to be, thank goodness. 

• I’m not really excited about the running part of this All-Star Game 5K run. I’ve decided 5Ks just really aren’t my thing. I get frustrated that I’m not faster (it doesn’t bother me as much in half marathons, but I get really irritated with myself with 5Ks). I guess I’ll just approach it with a “just have fun” attitude, not worry about time and take in all the baseball goodness.
• I got sucked into the YouTube music vortex earlier this week, and now I can stop listening to this song and reliving the good rap days of the 1990s-early 2000s. Man, I miss good rap and good Busta Rhymes. Note: this is an uncensored version and contains foul language. Sorry.

 

• I don’t have a potty mouth, and I rarely (if ever) utter a curse word. But, I’m completely OK with expletive-filled raps.

Making purposeful runs with a dreamy race

You may have noticed my running talk hasn’t been too detailed lately. I mention it, but that’s about it. That’s because there isn’t much worth mentioning.

I’m running, but it’s nothing spectacular. I feel like I’m running without a purpose, which sounds enjoyable, but it’s really not. I don’t feel like I’m pushing myself or getting better, I’m just running.

Part of that is due to recent traveling, and part of it is due to having a non-existent race schedule until October.

So, I remedied that by registering for my dream race.

OK, that may be taking it too far since it’s a 5K. But, aside from the 5K part, it’s pretty dreamy.

I’m running the Major League Baseball All-Star Game Charity 5K in Kansas City on July 8.

When I read this, I was hooked:   

 “Participants will run and walk on an All-Star themed course, featuring MLB legends, mascots and celebrity guests.”

I love baseball, I love mascots, and I love celebrities. This race is for me. 

Love.

Love.

Love (Disclaimer: I haven't read that Jessica Simpson is making an
appearance (but wouldn't that be sweet?), I just chose a celebrity).

Not only am I excited for the race, I’m excited about training for something. I need to make my runs have purpose, and I think this will do the trick.

Wacky Wednesday no more

This is my last Wacky Wednesday. Why? Because every day is wacky and random. And, I can write about that along with my running adventures. 

I guess when I first started blogging about running, I thought that's all I could write about (yeah, I'm a smart one). Obviously, that's always the focus, but there are other things in life like baseball, my dog, celebrity gossip, Elvis, Jessica Simpson, boy bands, Kansas State (and purple), music, movies and wine that are blog-worthy (or not). And, these other interests happen on days besides Wednesday. And, they are a part of my life as much as running. 

So, I'm just going to incorporate those other things into regular posts (not relegate them to Hump Day only). 

Now, onto the randomness:

• Is Jessica Simpson really still pregnant? Holy crap. She's got to be uncomfortable. And, her baby totally missed my birthday. 
• Chloe enjoyed the beautiful weather today ... or was avoiding the stairs. We live in a 7th floor condo, and the elevator was broken.

• I loved New Orleans. It was beautiful, fun and had delicious food. Now that I'm not relegating content like this to Wednesdays, I can do a full post about it later (because it deserves it). 
• I watched "Friends With Benefits." Didn't love it, but it kept me entertained. I like Justin Timberlake, but I think I like him better as a singer (more specifically, a singer in a boy band). He's an OK actor I guess, but bring back *NSYNC.

Wacky Wednesday

Time for some weekly wackiness:

• I'm SO slow to get hip to this (as turtles usually are), but I've become mildly obsessed with Twitter. I can follow all of my favorite celebrities and sports stars and help fulfill my need for daily celebrity gossip and information.
• It's the coolest thing. You can learn about things before they hit the mainstream news. Like I knew that Chad Ochocinco got peed on by a lion at a charity event instantly instead of waiting to read about in the news a day later. Important stuff, people!
• I love sports. Especially baseball. So, I'm super pumped that spring training is here. My dad always comes to visit for a week, and we hit as many baseball games as we can.

• It's also one of the few times I'm able to see this guy (since he's decided to hide in his house every Sunday during my long runs).

You can run, Derek Jeter, but you can't hide. Well, except on Sundays.

Wacky Wednesday: the random 11

Thanks to Maggie at Run Happy for tagging me and giving me some of my favorite blogging material: random stuff.

But, I'm going to break some rules because that's how I roll. Well, and I think every blog I read has already done the 11 random things.

The Rules

Post these rules. **I followed this rule.

You must post 11 random things about yourself. ** I followed this rule.

Answer the questions set for you in their post. ** I will do this next Wednesday.

Tag 11 people (can't be the person who tagged you). ** I broke this rule.

Create 11 new questions for the people you tag. ** I broke this rule.

Go to their blog and tell them you’ve tagged them! ** I broke this rule, too.

Three out of six isn't bad! Anyway, on to randomness.

The 11 Random Things About Me

1. I'm addicted to lip balm. I gotta have it. Multiple times per day.

2. I think Elvis rocks. He died before I was born, but I love him (and I love dressing up like him).

3. I love diet pop, particularly Diet Dr. Pepper (Yes, I call it pop. I'm from the Midwest. And calling it all Coke is just silly to me. I can deal with soda or soda pop, but not Coke for everything.).

4. I hate whipped cream. Most people think I'm crazy, but I think they're crazy for liking that nasty stuff.

5. I love watching sports. Baseball is my favorite, but I also love football and basketball. I watch sports and sports shows more than my boyfriend.

Watching my favorite sport with my dad

 6. Anything below 70 degrees feels cold to me.

7. Purple is my favorite color.

8. I'm a sucker for celeb-reality shows. I'll even watch "Kourtney & Kim Take New York" (as painful as it may be). 

9. I can't imagine my life without animals. I have a dog, turtles and fish.

10. Jessica Simpson is my favorite celebrity.

11. I bite my nails when I'm nervous.

Rock 'n' Roll St. Petersburg Half Marathon, Feb. 12: race review (Part 1)

Well, because I’m being extremely wordy, I decided to break this review in two. Part 1 chronicles the day before the race (race expo, preparation) and Part 2 will chronicle the actual race and aftermath. 

Going into the Rock ‘n’ Roll St. Petersburg Half Marathon, I was scared. I'd heard the horror stories of other Rock ‘n’ Roll races, and I questioned why I signed up for this race in the first place. Oh, yeah. It was local, convenient, a flat course and my training group had a plan for it. So, I went for it. 

I was still a little nervous when I heard they were charging $15 to park for the free expo that you had to attend to pick up your race packet. It took place at Tropicana Field, my summer home and home of the Tampa Bay Rays. Technically, I think it was Tropicana Field charging for the parking (their policy is to charge for any nonprofit event taking place there), not the Rock ‘n’ Roll series, but come on. This had to be disclosed in the contract Rock ‘n’ Roll had with Tropicana Field. And, they should have nixed discussions there or agreed to pay for the parking, in my opinion. 

With my dad at my summer home

Thankfully, as I mentioned, this is my summer home and I’m very familiar with the area, so I had my boyfriend drop me off outside the parking lot so I could walk in and pick up my packet. I noticed many others doing this same thing.

Once inside, the packet pickup was easy, organized and quick. And, it happened in the outfield of a Major League Baseball field (major bonus in my book).

Once I grabbed my race bib, I moved easily on to grab my T-shirt and swag bag. I like the T-shirt (and it fits — a bonus). The swag bag was OK — nothing too exciting.

Since I didn’t really need anything (and with my boyfriend and my dog waiting patiently outside), I kind of sped through the expo. I grabbed a few freebies: a 5-Hour Energy (love this stuff), soy ice cream products (a fudge bar and an ice cream sandwich that I split with my boyfriend — we both thought they tasted a little funky) and the major score: a carton of almond milk. Yes, a full-sized carton.

Since the entire expo was on a baseball field, it was spread out nicely. And, even though I went on Saturday afternoon, it wasn’t crowded (or didn’t feel crowded due to the large space).

After the expo, we hit Starbucks, the dog park and had dim sum for dinner. Even with plans for an early bedtime, I didn’t make it to bed until 11:30 p.m. for a 5:30 a.m. alarm … or so I thought.