Prepared? No. No, I'm not.

It's race month (St. Pete Rock 'n' Roll Half on Feb. 12), and I don't feel prepared. 

How did this happen, you ask. Good question. I asked myself the same thing. My answer: taking a break from running, being a long run loser and a a recent run-in with a massive headache and resulting burns on my legs probably had something to do with it. Or almost everything to do with it. 

Then there's the fact that after pretty strict training for my first half marathon, I feel like it ended in a big puddle of disappointment. Yeah, I finished the race. But nowhere near the time I wanted, and I was pretty miserable the majority of the race. What if heat and humidity rear their ugly heads during this race, too?

Sweating through my shirt before mile 5. Not a good sign, folks.

Really, though, these are all just excuses. I should be better trained. I'm kind of disgusted at myself (some things I obviously can't control, like illness, but I should be able to work around the other things). 

But, there's nothing I can do about it now (besides doing my best with my remaining runs before the race). And, train better for my next race.

Wacky Wednesday

You want randomness? This post's for you:

• When I write "This post's for you," it makes me think of "This Bud's for you," which makes me think of Budweiser (obviously), which makes me think of commercials, which makes me think of Super Bowl commercials (timely topic), which makes me think of the frogs. I loved these guys.

• Celebrity breakups don't usually bother me (aside from Jessica Simpson and Nick Lachey ... I love her. I love them together. Sigh.), but the Heidi Klum-Seal breakup kind of shocked me. I don't know why. I guess I probably shouldn't trust any celebrity pairing, but they seemed solid. And, I liked them together (not as much as Jessica and Nick, but I still liked them). 

• And because I mentioned Jessica Simpson, I must include a photo of her. She's gorgeous. Funny. Generous. Great singer. Smart businesswoman (yes, I wrote "smart"). Just all-over awesome. And, I was fortunate enough to see her in concert. She rocked (of course). 

•  And, she runs. Well, I'm not sure if she's been running lately (due to being extremely pregnant), but she used to run. In "Newlyweds: Nick & Jessica," she'd go out for a run fairly often (in between "dropping kids off at the pool" and eating chicken ... or was it fish?).

I wish I looked this good running. Not even close, unfortunately.

From headache to burns to misery

I had the worst headache ever. From Wednesday-Sunday. Five long, tortuous, miserable, dreadful, awful days. 

I tried Advil. I tried a massage. I tried cold compresses. I tried steam. I decided to try spicy food (thinking if it were a sinus issue, spicy food could eliminate the problem). This is where things really started to go downhill (not that they weren't already bad enough).

On Saturday (day four of major head pain), I decided to make some Korean noodle soup (extremely spicy and delicious). I cooked it, poured it in a bowl, and brought it to the table to eat. I took one bite. Then, I proceeded to spill the entire bowl on my legs. Yes, a bowl of boiling, spicy water on my legs. As you can imagine, "YOWEE!"

Spicy and dangerous

I flew out of my seat, threw my pajama pants off (don't judge; I wasn't feeling well and the PJ pants are comfortable) and ran into the shower to start running cold water over my poor legs. After 15 minutes, my legs finally felt somewhat back to normal. 

So, I still had a headache and now had red patches and the beginnings of blisters on my legs (I'll spare you the photos. You're welcome.).  I spent the rest of the night in a dark, unhappy, poor-me place. A majority of the reason for this feeling: I couldn't do a long run on Sunday with burn wounds on my legs. This after missing my Thursday run due to my pounding head. Boo!

My half marathon is Feb. 12. Just when I was getting in a groove, I get a massive, long-standing headache and burn my legs with spicy boiling Korean noodle soup. Gah!

On the upside, the headache is gone and the burns are healing (aloe vera is my best friend right now), and I think I'll be able to run again soon.

Wacky Wednesday

It's that time again. Time for randomness:

• I want to go back to Hawaii. Like, really, really want to go back. 

Can you understand why I want to go back?

• Although, I live in a pretty darn nice place. With a beach. And tropical weather. 

•  Nancy Grace irritates to me to no end, yet I find myself watching her show quite often. Why do I do this? Why do I watch someone so annoying? Darn you, Nancy Grace.
• Lately, I keep rapping these lines non-stop, all day, over and over and over again: "Psycho, I’m liable to go Michael; Take your pick, Jackson, Tyson, Jordan, Game 6." It's from Jay-Z and Kayne's "Paris" (the nice way to say it, trust me), and I can't stop. I'm not even sure I actually like the song, but I do love all Michaels mentioned. Maybe that's why?

I love running; I hate running

Tempo runs aren’t my thing. I’m terrible at picking a sustainable pace that is faster than my usual comfortable training pace. What is this pace? I have no idea. I think this is why tempo runs aren’t my thing (On a side note, whenever I hear tempo, I think of music. This makes me think of band. I played the trumpet and wore a terrible outfit with a funny hat).

Not my finest fashion moment.

But Thursday, after months of training, I finally rocked a tempo run. I picked a faster pace, and I ran that faster pace for 45 minutes (for a 60-minute total run). My average pace, including the warm up and cool down, was 11:04. For me, this is downright speedy. And, I felt awesome.

After this rockin’ tempo run, I was ready for my 9-mile long run on Sunday to be a breeze. I may have been ready for it, but there was no breeze. I felt some kind of strange calf pain for the first half of the run. Then, my left foot went numb. Strange.

During this time, my thoughts were:

“Why does my calf hurt? Running sucks.”

“My foot is numb now. Awesome. Running sucks.”

“I’m never running another half marathon. Running sucks.”

You may notice a theme here.

But, I just kept running (which is what I’m sure you’re supposed to do if you think you’re injured) and eventually it went away.

I stopped once to retie my shoe. I tried to put it off as long as possible because I hate stopping. I’m always afraid I won’t start again or I will want to keep stopping. But after retying, I restarted and didn’t stop until I hit the 9-mile mark.

From about the 5-mile point on, my thoughts were:

“This is awesome. Running rocks!”

“I love running, and it loves me. Running rocks!”

“I can’t wait for my next half marathon. Running rocks.”

Wide range of emotion, folks.

Race days

I picked up the January/February edition of "Florida Race Place," which lists running events in the area. Holy crapola! There are a ton of races. And, I want to run them all (well, all of them except marathons and ultras ... I'm not ready for that high mileage stuff yet). 

I've never had this problem. I just started running last year, and I kind of needed prodding-encouragement-pressure to sign up for any race last year. But, this year is a different story. I'm trained. I'm motivated. I want to push myself. I want to get faster. To be completely honest, I want some cool shirts and medals, too. 

So, I started registering. And this is my schedule (so far):

Feb. 12: Rock 'n' Roll Half Marathon St. Petersburg
Feb. 25: Suncoast Classic 10K (my first)
March 4: Gasparilla Distance Classic Half Marathon
March 18: Florida Beach 5K
April 14: Turtle Trot 5K (I HAD to sign up for this. HAD to.) 

I'm slightly tempted to do another half on April 22. But, it's bound to be hot and it involves a big, scary bridge (as in a major hill). I'd kind of hate to end my race season on a bad race. I probably shouldn't think so negatively ... but, I think that's a wait-and-see race. 

So, my question: is this normal (I know I'm not normal, but is planning races in advance normal)? How far ahead do you plan?

Wacky Wednesday

Time for the weekly dose of randomness:

• The boyfriend and I went to see “The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo” this weekend. We’re still talking about it. SO good. I didn’t read the book; I just watched the movie and enjoyed it tremendously. Go see it! 

• I love celeb-reality shows in a serious way. Love them. But, I didn’t think I’d watch “T.I. and Tiny: The Family Hustle.” Well, I thought wrong. I watched it once and was mesmerized. I think mainly because I love listening to T.I. talk. His voice has a soothing quality to it. 

• Speaking of celeb-reality shows, “Ice Loves Coco” is back on Feb. 19. Yeah, didn’t think I’d like this one either. Turns out, I don’t like it, I love it! They are the sweetest couple, and I can’t stop watching. 

• Does anyone else like almond milk? I randomly decided to give it a try, and wow! Deliciousness.