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Waking up this morning was hard. HARD. I had to get up around 4:30, which isn't that much earlier than I do for work, but it was a holiday, and so I would've loved sleeping in. my blood sugar was great and I had a couple hours before the race, so I made sure to have a decent sized breakfast. In my world, this translates to PBJ and a glass of milk. Maybe I should have stuck with frosted wheat cereal, but oh well.
Went to pick up my rental car/Zipcar down the street, and decided it would make for a good quarter mile warm-up run. Fitness speaking, it was indeed a nice warm up run and felt good. Weather wise, I really began to question why I was doing this. It was cold and rainy, and apparently in Naperville there was legitimate snow. Snow? Really? It wasn't too late to just say screw it, but that would've been stupid. Got to the rental car and realized my hands were absolutely freezing. Everything else was fine though, particularly my legs since I was wearing shorts, so that made me feel good about my clothing choices for race day. Decided to run in to Walgreen's, and bought cheap $3 gloves that hopefully wouldn't be too warm.
From here, I packed up the rental car back home and was feeling pretty good about the whole thing. Had my family recipe Swedish Meatballs packed up, a change of clothes, and was warmed up and stretched for the race so I hit the road. Ok, that was an exaggeration. I said it was cold and rainy, right? I wanted to cry. What kind of weather was this for a race? This was absolutely ridiculous; I really began to question my sanity. And my dedication. But I drove off anyways.
After getting lost, and then finally making it to the parking lot, it took quite a bit of will power to keep moving. Once again, I felt good about my clothing choices, seeing other people wearing shorts, and after hitting a puddle in the parking lot, realized the new socks I purchased were really good, as I didn't feel the water at all within 5 minutes. F'ing Metal. I saw a bunch of people wearing numbers and their chip-timers, and started to wonder if I wasn't supposed to pick all this up ahead of time, and began to think again how easy it would be to turn around. What kept me going now, however, was seeing everyone else there. Young people, old people, families, students, strollers. It was kind of fun to see all these people doing it, so I smiled and trudged on to the school to make sure my registration was all done.
I saw the "lines" at the registration and wondered if 30 minutes was actually enough time to get to the race. Turns out the lines were non-existent, just the gym was packed with people trying to stay warm and dry. Ok, right, fine. Find my number, get to my table, and grab my little number that I'm supposed to wear and my chip-timer, which gets laced through my shoe. I should point out now how awfully uncoordinated I am and that my manual dexterity is somewhere around a 3 (Yes, still a D&D nerd). So by the time I'm finished with that, I hear "10 minutes to race time". Ok, good. They have goodie bags, but I have no time to get it back to the car so I see if they'll let me pick it up after. What's that, if supplies last? Ok, let's get the shirt and just wear it. At worst I'll be a little warm, but I definitely wanted to bring home the shirt. It's like a trophy, but I can still suck.
Stretch out a bit more and head out to the starting line. Well, near the back of the mass that's lined up, anyways. This is when I start to second guess my self again. I see all these shirts "Chicago Marathon", "Chicago Half-Marathon". Kids from high school cross country teams, etc... OMG I DON'T BELONG WITH THESE PEOPLE. So I look for overweight people and people talking about walking. Oh yea, there we go. I feel a little awful, but hey, I don't look down on them, I feel more like them than any of the others. And besides, looking at them and saying "hey, at least there out here" reminded me that I should think that way about myself too.
After the gun, it was about 7 minutes before I actually got to the starting line. I began running, and had to force myself to slow down to a jog. I'm so used to running on a treadmill; it was hard to control my speed. I ran for as long as I could at first and a little bit further after that, but I didn't make it to the first mile marker. I have no idea just how far, and another thing I miss from treadmills (or running outdoors with more landmarks), is knowing how far I did. I don't know if I ran more or less than I would have if I tried specifically to make certain times/distances.
I broke the first mile marker at just around 13 minutes, feeling great about myself, continuing to run/walk my way to victory. (Victory!) Then, of course, all those of us closer to the back got to watch the runners going home the opposite way, continuing to run like they hadn't just ran 3 miles. Jerks. But I still made it to mile marker two at 26 minutes. I was so happy, I thought I could make my 42 minute goal. Unfortunately, that last mile killed me. That was kind of the breaking point; I couldn't keep running as much as I had the other two miles. I think I could have pushed myself more, but the pain was getting to me too much, with the hard asphalt causing problems with shin splints.
I should add, about halfway through mile 2, two guys who were standing in a driveway, kept shouting "encouragement". One wasn't bad, saying "You're almost there!" but his friend kept saying "10 more miles!” Really? Did you think you were funny? A) you're not, B) this is hard, so shut up.
I crossed the finish line at about 53 minutes after the gun was shot, for my own personal time of 46 minutes, 43 seconds. My average mile was 15 minutes, 2 seconds. I can't say, based on where I am in my training, that I'm too upset with this time, but it's still not what I hoped to do, and mildly disappointing. In the end, I placed 4,722nd place out of 5,054 people. That's about the bottom 7%, so I've clearly got a lot of work to do... |
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May. 2nd, 2009 @ 01:18 pm
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I got into Mensa, bitches! I'm a certified genius!!! Woot! |
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So why haven't I been on Livejournal lately?
Lots of reasons. Mostly, because I'm happy right now. I'm actually so happy that it's confusing me, and that's not any kind of sarcasm, I'm actually legitimately confused.
School's been a shit-tarded amount of annoying this semester, but I'm basically glad I'm doing, it feels right, and knowing that I'm doing it is great, even if the actual process is kind of a pain.
I have some great new friends that I see fairly often. Michelle and Diana. I have an off and on thing for Diana, but hell, I'm sort of used to that right now. I've been getting along a lot better with Allie lately, which I owe a lot to finally no longer being in love with her. She still annoys me at times, but things are getting better, and I've gotten better at just walking away when she crosses lines, and she's been learning from that. I'm done with Nichole, and Kelley's been a great partner for the Econ program, which is good because we're on the same graduation path. Drama is at an all-time low, which gives me a lot of time to not be emo myself.
I started my violin lessons this week, in a group class, and I think that's good for me. Much like doing NaNoWriMo with other people finished my novel, I think being in a group of people of equal (read: zero) skill will be good for me. I learned Twinkle Little Star for the 5th time in my life, and I'm hoping to make sure to find time to actually practice so I don't suck out.
I'm hoping to get a new position at work that doesn't involve talking to people, and it would probably come with a nice raise. Not sure if I'll get it, or even when interviews will start... I actually applied the 2nd week of March, but the interviews are done right outside my desk, so I know they haven't interviewed anyone else yet. I think I'm a shoe-in for the job, especially if they actually follow the whole company motto of promoting/recruiting from within. *fingers crossed*
Speaking of uncertanties, I should be getting back my MENSA application results any day now, maybe even tonight once I get home. I'm more nervous about this than anything else in my life. Except maybe for back in the day with Allie, but whatever. If I get in, I have an IQ above 130, in the top 2%, and a certified genius. I think I stand a decent chance, but... if I was certain about it, the thought of it wouldn't make me want to throw up.
My diabetes is almost completely under control for the first time in, pretty much, my entire life. My blood sugars have been in the normal range at least 80% of the time, if not greater than that. It was off once or twice because I passed out shortly after taking the pump out for a shower without putting it back in, and another time for grossly underestimating the amount of carbs that are in rice/sushi. I'm also talking to my doctor about other, less important (than Diabetes) things that are wrong, and she's been working with me on that. If I just had time to work out it'd be perfect.
Mina, of course, has been wonderful. I should post more pictures of her at some point. I'm thinking of having a birthday party for her in July for her first birthday. Sure, she won't know the difference, and would be probably be scared away by the people, but hey, who doesn't like parties? (besides those Mina can, and will, kill with her hair).
All in all, I think the big thing right now is that I finally reached a point in my life where time is more scarce than money. Not that I've ever been rich, but I always used to be bored and sitting around, wasting time. Now, I'm living a full life, and that is costing money, but bringing lots of joy into my life. I wouldn't trade any of it right now, for anything.Current Music: Vienna Teng - Stray Italian Greyhound |
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Yea, I knew I forgot to post a link somewhere last night... It makes more sense if you read DeYoungs article first; it's not very long.
http://craftingfish.blogspot.com/2009/04/rational-dispute.htmlCurrent Music: Above & Beyond - Home |
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Mar. 29th, 2009 @ 07:07 pm
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Apparently my cat playing with a bag sounds surprisingly like rain to my subconscious brain. I passed out on the couch watching TV and I woke to dreams of pouring down rain. |
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So I just got done with the GRE...
( Read more... )Current Music: 3 Doors Down - Be Like That |
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I used some of my tax refund for the Nintendo Wii...
I now own every home console of the last 2 generations and every current portable system...
And an awesome TV for them too.
For the record, that means:
Xbox
Xbox 360
PS2
PS3
PSP
Gamecube
Wii
DS
And my computer is top of the line too ^^
So I have a teensy weensy obsession...
Feb. 27th, 2009 @ 04:40 pm
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| » Moderations, Depressions, and what makes them so Great (or not) |
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Moderations, Depressions, and what makes them so Great (or not)
http://craftingfish.blogspot.com/2009/01/moderations-depressions-and-what-makes.html
Quite a bit more verbose than the last, but hopefully not too bad...
Jan. 22nd, 2009 @ 10:09 pm
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| » Always picked last |
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So the bowling alley failed to place me on a team.
They sent me home.
YAY.
Seriously, what the hell is wrong with me?
Jan. 11th, 2009 @ 08:41 pm
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I think its kind of funny that at 2pm, I'm finally sitting down to eat breakfast. This is despite being up at 9am and spending an hour at the gym. Crazy.
Let's handle things in reverse chronological order...
I got home around 2am after a fun night out, and my apartment was over 100 degrees, and flooding. Apparently, my radiators were broken. Joy. Luckily, the maintenance guy made it out there while I was at the gym, so I should be able to turn the heat back on.
Last night I was out with Diana and Michelle. I had asked Diana out a few weeks ago, and she declined, but she's still cool about being friends. However, there's been some interesting body language I'm having trouble interpreting. Whatever, I'm not going to dwell on it. Michelle on the other hand... She consistently flakes on just me, but loves being out with both me and Diana at the same time. This wouldn't be notable, except that every time I see her, she's all crazy in to the idea of me hanging out with her more. Its so enthusiastic. And contrary to her behavior; its fucked up.
The night before I spent at Nichole's again.
...
I don't even know what to say about that. She's fucked up.
Prior to that, I went on another, and probably my last, OKC date. It was another one that was lots of fun and we got along seemingly great, but isn't going to go anywhere. She did the whole, go to the bathroom for way too lon and come back with an excuse thing. The goodbye was "it was nice meeting you. Good luck with what you're working on".
Yea, its not worth trying.
Anyways, this might be a two-post day later, since I start a bowling league today and may wanna write about that.
Jan. 11th, 2009 @ 01:59 pm
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I have to spend $50 at Best Buy.
What should I buy?
Erika, you're not allowed to say World of Warcraft. Really, noone is. I do have to finish Grad school, after all.
Dec. 20th, 2008 @ 08:10 pm
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| » Writer's Block: Quarantine Etiquette |
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I'll go to work as long as I'm physically capable.
Two reasons, really.
1. I'd rather use my vacation time not lying in a bed doing nothing. Lying in bed doing something is different, reading, games, playing with Mina...
B. People complain about others coming to work sick like it's the only place germs are. At least I know my coworkers wash their hands. What about the grocery store? The gas station? Or... *shudder* public transportation?
Dec. 15th, 2008 @ 08:48 am
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| » What, you want to know the title of the book? Fine; it's "Acceptable Losses" |
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52,200 words.
91 pages.
NaNo was officially won at 11:30am this morning.
The novel itself completed at 4pm.
After 5 years, I've finally won.
Finally.
Fucking.
Won.
Nov. 30th, 2008 @ 04:04 pm
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| » Everybody else is doing it... mine's not very surprising... |
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Your rainbow is strongly shaded blue. What is says about you: You are a tranquil person. You appreciate friends who get along with one another. You share hobbies with friends and like trying to fit into their routines. Find the colors of your rainbow at spacefem.com.
Nov. 29th, 2008 @ 11:22 am
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| » (No Subject) |
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http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5gg5xCtQtLBF6vJqWXStItGEOsJfwD94LTOPG1
I'm sure many of you have heard about this from back when it happened, but the trial has apparently begun. I'm very interested to see how this goes. It won't set a precedent much by itself, so I'm hoping it goes to the court of appeals where it can become part of common law.
By the way, the article doesn't mention that it could have actually been tried in Missouri, the plaintiffs had a choice. Myspace's servers being in California provides them with one of the most liberal venues possible. Not that Missouri is all that conservative either....
Anyways, here's my main hang-up:
Steward insisted the only question is whether Drew violated the terms-of-service agreement of MySpace. He said that Drew, her daughter and assistant Ashley Grills never read the seven-page agreement.
"Nobody reads these things, nobody," he said. "How can you violate something when you haven't even read it? End of case. The case is over."
If any of my friends feel that that is a valid defense argument, I will come over to your house, strap you to a chair, and go over the US Legal System with you. For hours.
Lastly, it will be interesting to see what kind of punishment is doled out. Criminally speaking, very little will/could be done, as far as I can tell. The family honestly should have filed a wrongful death civil suit. There wouldn't be jail time, but you could financially ruin the crazy bitch that started this.
Nov. 25th, 2008 @ 08:10 am
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I'm at 33k. Still on track, barely. And I have projects due for school...
Gwen, and anyone else doing NaNo, check this link:
http://lab.drwicked.com/writeordie.html
Nov. 20th, 2008 @ 05:58 pm
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| » You're my sweet little misery |
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Chicago got it's first appreciable snow tonight, and I missed it doing laundry and repairs. The repairs being for my fridge door that fell off. So I did some ghetto fix and e-mailed that and a handful of other maintenance requests, like my front door's doorknob falling off when I open the door...
I hit 28,000 words to my novel today, so even with the 3 days of not writing I'm still not only on track but ahead by a few hundred words. I'm beginning to hate my novel, but hopefully the sudden injection of a villain into the one world will spice it up a bit, and I get to write the other main character's descent in to madness finally, so that should be interesting as well. It's home stretch time now, and I have 2 all-day write-ins on Black Friday and on the 30th if I do fall behind at all.
Don't know what else to say, I still hate going out to drink, despite enjoying drinking itself. I've been exhausted ever since that night and hope I didn't freak out Kelley by texting her while drunk (I didn't say anything bad, just 'you should be here right now').
I have to write papers, but don't want to... too bad one is due a week before the NaNo cut off... I can at least delay the readings quite a bit...
And work is going to suck, taking off a day at the end of the week to work on my paper, and also going to be downtown for training on wednesday and thursday, plus missing 2 1/2 days at the end of month for Thanksgiving. Joy of Joys, being behind going into December... luckily I have a long winter break from school, and NaNo will be over then too...
Nov. 16th, 2008 @ 09:35 pm
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| » What does the scanner say? |
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This is my 5th year doing NaNo, and being such a round(ish) number, as well as NaNo's 10th anniversary itself, I felt it would be appropriate to be the first year that I'll actually succeed. I've been trying to do my best to stay on top of it, but I'm a little worried that I won't pull it off...
I guess, really there's only one thing I can say about my progress so far...
( Read more... )
Nov. 5th, 2008 @ 09:34 pm
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| » NaNo |
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Went to the first write-in for the Chicago NaNo's, and it was pretty fun. Everyone ended up being pretty friendly, and we even had a nice side discussion of how cats react to you trying to write a novel while they're around (here's a hint: not well..l.l.lllll...l.;.;l.ll;.;l.l)
Anyways, I got about 2,556 words done. I probably could've done more, but I was getting tired, and had just finished mid-terms besides. Still have a decent sized project to work on as well... I guess I was in the top three for how much I had written. One of the organizers was at 3,800, and me and another girl had spent most of the night within 20 words of eachother, but she not only ended up being ahead by the end, but she was staying behind to keep going *shaking fist*.
Anyways, it'll probably go up on DeviantArt at some point, if anyone's interested...
P.S. Didn't catch a single person's name this time around... whoops. Don't think they know mine either...
Nov. 1st, 2008 @ 01:24 am
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