Another 3

We're going out tonight
Dressed up in black and white
-Sunriser

Today's blog is brought to you by small positive numbers.  I ran 3 miles today in twenty-four minutes.  That's two four.  Which is how you order a case of beer at The Beer Store (yep, that's the name) in Canada.  "I'll have a two four."  But before you get clever, you can't do it for a 12-pack.  If you ask for a one two, they'll look at you like you're crazy.  Or like you asked for Tecate.  They have Tee-Kate, but they certainly don't know what you are saying if you ask for Tecate. 

You might say that I ran 3 eight minute miles, but you would be wrong.  I learned today that it is possible to go out too fast, even on a short run.  My first mile was fast - but my last one was slow.  The last one felt kind of like mile 12 of a half marathon.  Running, but moving slower than people who are walking.

Happy Halloween. 

Just Like A Wavin' Flag

Put me in a special school

’Cause I am such a fool

And I don’t need a single book

To teach me how to read
-Weezer

3 miles today - at a decent pace.  A wise man (OK - it was Ran Dumb Thoughts) told me that 20 miles per week was the magic number.  I can dig it.  For me, I will try for 4 x 3 during the week and then 6 on the weekend.  Oh yeah, and then round up.  Whatever - it's my new plan.  And it started today perfectly.

My run was through the neighborhood again today and instead of being distracted by the Halloween decorations, I focused on the number of flags being flown.  Nope - not patriotic Americans getting ready for the election.  College football fans.  OK - if you want to fly a flag for your team - whatever, knock yourself out.  But here's the thing - you really can't fly two flags.  A&M and Texas.  LSU and A&M.  Texas Tech and LSU.  I saw all these combinations and more.  Look - if you think that you are supporting two teams, you aren't - you are supporting none.  I get it, I've been conflicted before, but I pick a side - as much as I love our Northern neighbors, I always root for the US against Canada.  Except in curling.

I stole my personality

From an anonymous source
And I'm getting paid for it, too
I don't feel bad about that
 - Hockey, Song Away

Yes I stole this great song from Bad Haircut.  It is a good one.  I did 4.5 on the mountain today, and ran a lot of it.  Great workout, but it was warm even at 9am.  I left a part of me on the mountain this morning. 

Meh

I'm leavin
On a jet plane

This is gonna be a busy week for me so not sure what running will look like. Today I took fat dog and we ran one and walked one at around 1230, which was fine for both of us. I then had fried chicken for dinner at one of my fav places and bf even made me feel better about it by having grilled cheese sliders.

Illuminating

I belong with you, you belong with me

-The Lumineers

I ran 5 miles today and again felt better at the end than the beginning.  Maybe running really is good for you.  Long sleeves today - it was great.

On the  run today, I saw lots and lots of Halloween decorations.  People going all out.  There are several houses where they have hung great quantities of those plastic pumpkins (the kind you would take trick-or-treating) in their front yard tree.  A couple of the houses had to have between 50 and 100.  I had an interesting conversation with Great Expectations about this.

GE:  Those look pretty cool

Me:  They remind me of lumineers

GE:  The band?

Me:  No, those paper bags with candles

GE:  Those are luminarias

Me:  Then what's a lumineer?

GE:  Still, just a band

OK.  Fair enough.  More interesting than my inability to know the difference between a pumpkin with no candle, a bag with a candle, and a folk band - is the question of what these people do with their pumpkins the other 11 months.  Do they just throw them away?  Do they have storage space for 100 pumpkins that don't nest or stack?   

Maybe today

We can put the past away.

I had quite a good run up the mountain today. I ran further than I ever have before on the way up. I walked a lot of the way down due to stomach discomfort. This is why fiber makes me sad.

fat girl/skinny girl

Today I worked a benefits fair, which involves about ten biddies sitting behind tables with fancy table cloths and stacks of colorful give-away pens, first aid kits and keychain flashlights.  After lunch, the host biddy walked around with a plate of cookies and everyone took one.  About an hour later, I heard the following conversation: 

fat girl:  Hey, eat that cookie!  Why didn't you eat that cookie?  I can't believe it's still sitting there.
skinny girl:  Oh, I've been so busy getting this work done!
fat girl:  I can't believe it's still sitting there!  That's why you're skinny and I'm not.
(awkward silence)
fat girl:  Hey!  Look at this, her cookie is still sitting there. I told her to eat that cookie!
biddy:  Huh, yeah
fat girl:  Can you believe that?  I told her that's why she's skinny and I'm not
skinny girl:  No!  No!  I eat Taco Bell at least 3 times a week, every week!
biddy:  Don't you love their crunchy tacos?
fat girl:  Yeah, but I have to eat at least 3 of them
skinny girl:  Yeah!  There's no point in one or two, it takes at least three to fill up!

I was scarcely paying attention when this conversation was going on, but it came back to me on my (LONG) drive home, and it made me grumpy.  Why is it people seem so comfortable commenting on the eating habits of thin people?  Can you imagine the response of the room if the skinny girl had lifted her chin to one of the other biddies and said, 'Hey, check that out.  She ate TWO cookies!  That's why she's fat and I'm not." 

Now, I'm not gonna sit here and say it's equally offensive the other way, because I get it.  It's socially acceptable and desirable in America to be thin.  It is unacceptable and even offensive to be fat.  So maybe that's why people feel so comfortable calling out thin people on how they eat, because they're on the "acceptable" side of the spectrum.  And then skinny people feel they have to defend their unorthodox eating habits that they didn't put any thought into (except possibly "I'm no longer hungry" or "I don't want that") in order to assuage the wounded feelings and agitated egos of others who unknowingly watch their plates. 

But I have to tell you, it's uncomfortable!  And it is no less rude!  I wish I had been paying more attention and jumped in to save skinny girl.  But, maybe I was hiding, hoping the whole conversation would blow by me without any eyeball turning to me.  Maybe I didn't want to get involved.  Maybe I was having post-traumatic stress over a similar conversation about ham fat. 

Now that I've got that off my chest, I'm going to walk (not run) fat dog. 

Recruiting

There’s a bunker of regret that you’re defending
And there’s a trench in my soldier’s heart
Not only can I not imagine this ending, I can’t remember when it started
-Ron Hawkins

8 treadmill miles.  Over the past two days.  Today, I walked at incline 2.75 miles.  It was boring.  But yesterday was fascinating.  I ran 5.25 on the treadmill.  And as I predicted, my Navy Fit Test from a couple of weeks did not go unnoticed.  After I started running, an undercover representative from the Amish Army showed up.  How did I know he was undercover?   He didn't look Amish at all.  Clever.  How did I know he was from the Amish Army?  He was wearing a sweatshirt that said ARMY and sweatpants that said ARMY.  Could not have been more obvious.  Especially when he walked behind me to check out what I was doing on the treadmill.  Or to get a towel. 

Then, in comes a guy wearing a workout outfit - matching shirt and shorts.  He starts doing the most ridiculous series of stretches, including lifting one leg at a time over the handlebars of the stationary bike.  This isn't something anyone should do.  Anyway, he reminded me of Woody Harrleson's character in White Men Can't Jump.  I was pretty sure that the hustle was on - maybe he was going to fall of the treadmill and then challenge me to a running contest - with a bet to make it interesting.  But luckily, there were only two treadmills in the joint, and neither me nor the above-mentioned recruiter were leaving.

Until a guy comes in who proceeds to tell me his life story and how he is signing up for the Army tomorrow.  And that he lost 90 pounds in the last year.  And that he is the third fastest runner in the state.  And after his four years he is going to get married and then re-enlist.  Wait - how did you determine you were the third fastest runner in the state?  Nevermind - I didn't ask.  I didn't even get a word in edgewise.  It was odd.  The whole gym emptied in about 5 minutes.

Fatdog, fatdog
Alone in the world is a little fatdog
- Nickelodeon, Catdog

Sunday was inadvertently a 6 mile day. It would never be my intention to undertake such a foolhardy task. I did the mountain for 4 miles and ran about half of it. Then bf and I went shopping for some trail running shoes and we got these awesome matching Addidas shoes, his with orange accents and mine pink. So, we had to go try out the trails and I did another 2 and ran most of it this time while bf did 3. I was fatigued Monday! So I took the day off. Today I did 3.5 in the hood and then took the dog for another .75 or so wherein she dumped 3x and peed 5x but aside from that her ass was jogging! Back into shape for fatdog!

Ya know Mo, I'll probably get ten years
So just give me beers til they get here
- Rehab, Sittin at a Bar

This is a really great song, and funny. I highly recommend it. Today I took far dog on my 3.5 mile hood route at around noon. It was warm and direct sunlight most of the way but I intended this to be a lazy run so I didnt mind the frequent potty stops. I was concerned, however, about the 3 times she just stopped and laid down in the shade. And the first was only mile in. I gotta whip this dog into shape.