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.

A lovely run

Tuesdays are running days – even if it is Valentine’s Day. But, it wasn’t an ordinary run.

Everyone had to wear one of these.

Taken

Some of the single people really drew attention to their “single” status by underlining, circling or putting arrows to it. I’m not sure if any hookups resulted, but I loved the idea.

After the 40-minute run, all of the women got flowers.

Flowers make me happy.

And, there were sandwiches, smoothies, beer, wine and a raffle after the run. A pretty sweet Valentine’s Day.

Rock 'n' Roll St. Petersburg Half Marathon, Feb. 12: race review (Part 2)

Race day morning was a disaster. Here’s why:

• I woke up 15 minutes late (at 5:45 a.m.). Because I’m not a morning person, and I dread waking up early on a weekend, I didn’t allow any extra time in my schedule. So, I left the house 15 minutes later than I wanted.
• On the way to my friend’s house (her husband was dropping us off at the start line – only a few miles from their house), I realized I couldn’t find my timing chip. I didn’t put in on my shoe before I left because I wasn’t sure what shoes I was wearing (old or new – both Brooks Adrenaline GTS). I still held out hope I’d find it, though. I have a gigantic purse – it was a possibility it was buried.
• I arrived at Caroline’s house 10 minutes late (about 6:55 a.m.). As soon as I pulled into the driveway, I was dumping out my purse. I still couldn’t find the stupid timing chip. Caroline dumped out my backpack of post-race stuff to see if the stupid timing chip was in there. I started looking under seats and in between seats. No luck.
• Finally, we decided to get to the race and deal with it there. Surely, I could get a replacement stupid timing chip. We left her house around 7:05 a.m., and I continued panicking on the way there.
• After arriving at the race, we ran to the first tent we saw: hospitality tent. Darn. Next tent: information. Darn. Next tent: lost bibs and stupid timing chips. Whew!
• At the correct tent, I asked for a new stupid timing chip. The reply: “OK, that’s $5. Cash only.” I would have paid almost anything at the point. Problem: I had no cash. Who carries cash to a race? Caroline had no cash either because, again, who carries cash to a race? The woman wasn’t happy, but she reluctantly gave me a stupid timing chip. I also had to change my bib to match the number on my stupid timing chip.

The stupid timing chip

At this point, the disaster ended. We still had 10 minutes before the race started. I had my new bib pinned on and my stupid timing chip on my shoe. We made it to our corral (number 10) with plenty of time to spare. Whew!

Even with all of this running around, I wasn’t hot. Why? It was the coldest day of the winter (high in the low 50s). Normally, I hate the cold. On a running morning, I love it. Living in Florida, I don’t experience this often. Because of this, I didn’t really dress properly for the race. Usually I just wear what shows the least sweat. This wasn’t the best plan on this day. I wore Capri pants, a tech short-sleeve shirt and a jacket I planned on ditching at the start (to donate to charity). Turns out, I needed the jacket the entire race.

The race started right on time at 7:30 a.m. With a staggered start, we didn’t cross the start until about 7:40 a.m. Even with the staggered start, the first ½ mile of the race was a little crowded, but it thinned out after that.

The first three miles flew by. There were bands, a flat course, and I was enjoying every bit of this race. If I’m going to struggle in a long run, it’s usually those first three miles. The fact that these miles were easy was a great sign for me.

I kept flying along at turtle speed and enjoying every minute of this race. It was cold; it was sunny; it was beautiful. The bands along the route were actually pretty awesome, and the route was wonderfully flat and beautiful.

This race is what running is supposed to feel like: enjoyable. I had a smile on my face the majority of this race. I didn’t struggle. I didn’t repeat over and over that I hated running. I loved running on this day. 

Even though I look like a tool, I'm having fun

I kept running and kept enjoying the scenery: downtown St. Petersburg and the bay. I never took water from a water stop, but there seemed to be plenty and they looked well-stocked.

It felt like an eternity between miles 11 and 12, but not painful or hateful. Even though that mile took forever, the next 1.1 miles went quickly. Soon, I was turtle speeding across the finish line to Flo Rida’s “Low” (he was the post-race concert). My time on this glorious running day: 2:33:39. This is 15 (yes, 15) minutes faster than my previous half marathon time.

Still looking like a tool at the finish

With my training severely comprised through the entire month of December and the recent five-day headache and resulting burns, I really didn’t think this time was possible. I’m ecstatic!

I loved-loved-loved this race. The bands were great. It was well-organized. It was such a fun atmosphere.

This is the only photo I could find of Caroline and me. Apparently,
I needed to keep my eyes on Chloe. Crazy dog.

My only complaint: the post-race concert started before I finished. By being slow, I missed Flo. I heard “Low” as I headed toward the finish line. As I got closer to the finish line, the finish line announcer and music they were playing drowned out Flo Rida. By the time I got my post-race snacks (bagel, banana, frozen fruit) and found everyone at the race, Flo Rida was done. I heard he put on an amazing show, but I have no idea. Kind of bummer. But, it really didn’t put a damper on my day. 

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.

Half marathon #2: rocked out

I rocked through 13.1 miles in turtle fashion at the Rock 'n' Roll St. Petersburg Half Marathon today.

I'll write a full recap later, but a hint: while cold weather slows most turtles, it didn't slow this one.

Wacky Wednesday

Weekly wackiness comin' at ya:

• I was one of the estimated 111.3 million people who watched the Super Bowl. I love sports, so I'm going to watch it no matter what. The commercials are a nice bonus ... usually. Are the commercials just not as funny or as clever as they used to be? Maybe, like with most things, they're better when you're younger? I love dogs, so I'm a sucker for the dog commercials. This was my favorite:

• Speaking (typing?) of dogs, my dog doesn't like (or isn't allowed) to chase cars. But, Chloe loves riding in them. I love looking in the rear-view mirror and seeing this (Note: although I was driving, I just held my phone and snapped. I did not linger and cause a dangerous situation.)

• Every time I try to type "marathon," I type "marathong." It always makes me giggle. And, it makes me miss Sisqo (Oops. Did I just type that?).

 

• Ashton Kutcher irritates me. I don't find him that attractive, and I find him highly annoying. The fact that he is ruining my favorite show (Two and a Half Men) doesn't help things. The fact that he replaced one of my favorite actors of all time (yes, Charlie Sheen) could be working against him as well.

Things I've learned since my first half marathon

With my second half marathon fast approaching (this Sunday ... eek!), I started thinking about things I learned from my first half marathon. And, here's the list:

• Don't sweat the things you can't control. Well, let's get one thing straight: I sweat. A lot. Not sweating is not an option for me. But, in this case, I use "sweat" in place of "worry about." (Probably a poor word choice now that I think about it.)
  

  

  Hot mess

  I can't control the weather. If it is hot and nasty, I will be too. I can't change it. I just have to deal with it. Before my last half marathon (in November 2011), I started looking at the weather forecast 10 days out, and I kept obsessively checking it. This was not productive in the least bit. Even if I was worried about the weather, I couldn't change it.

• The race isn't over if you have to stop to walk. I put a ton of pressure on myself to run the entire race. When I stopped for a walk break at mile 6, I thought I was a failure. I kept going and finished the race, but in a way, I kind of gave up at that point, unfortunately. So, this time around, thanks to some brilliant advice from Corey, I've tried to add a stop or a short walk into my long runs. I used to really fear stopping. But now, I know I can stop if needed (to drink some water, tie a shoe, whatever) and restart. Or even add a short walk break in. And, even with a stop or a walk, I can still have a decent (turtle) time. 
  
• It's supposed to be (mostly) fun. During my last half marathon, I focused on the misery. "Wah! It's hot. Wah! I'm sweaty! Wah! I'm miserable." Yes, I acted like a big baby. I did not enjoy the experience. Now, looking back on it, there were so many things to enjoy. But, if you're acting like a big baby, you miss out. You're paying for the race; get some enjoyment out of it.

WAH!