Busy, But an Exciting Weekend!

So tonight is the rehearsal/ rehearsal dinner for my brother's wedding! I'm really excited. No, not just for the free food. My brother's fiance, Amy, is so good with my niece. She deserves a great step mom to spoil her, like I had!

Any way- I'm leaving for work to head down there (Irish Hills). Then I have to come back up for the heart walk in the a.m. We raised almost $500 which doesn't seem like a lot but the coordinator that I got the shirts from seemed to think it was. Maybe she was just being nice :) Oh well- it was my first year as the team captain, I'll probably do it next year too.

After the heart walk I'll need to get ready really fast and head back down to Tecumseh for the wedding!

Then of course there will be the reception and I'm sure I'll stay until the end and help clean up since I won't be there to help set up, coordinate, etc. Then I'll probably go back to Josh's grandparent's for the night. I would like to come back up to Ann Arbor early Sunday- but I'm sure I'll end up staying down there all day. Kelsey and I are supposed to run.

I decided not to re-sign the lease to my apartment and find a cheaper place. I'm just barely getting by and I need to be able to save money for a car. Things just aren't working out financially at the moment so I needed to make a change. I'm not sure where I'm going to live yet- but I have until 6/12 to figure that out I guess.

Any recommendations, suggestions or advice are welcome. Because I don't know wth I'm going to do yet.

It's May :)

I'm glad it's May and getting closer to the pool opening! Although, it's been frickin' cold. Oh well, before we know it we'll all be sweatin' our balls off.

I have two 5ks coming up at the beginning of June. One I'm already signed up for, the other I have to wait until I get paid again.

My oldest brother is getting married Saturday! I'm excited for the wedding and rehearsal. I also have the Heart Walk this weekend (I'm our team captain). We're not going to reach our goal- but we did raise SOME money, it's over $300 I know that for sure.

Man... I really have nothing to talk about. Just not in the blogging mood I guess. This was a struggle. Maybe I'll feel like another one later.

Things Other Than Running...

So, a little bit of a crisis. I've decided that I need to move. With this job I have I can't afford this freaking apartment anymore and a car. I'm just getting by now and it's not because I blow my money all over town. I go out occasionally but nothing ridic.
I will have to move out of ann arbor because I need a new car and the only way I can afford a new car is with a much lower rent. I would be willing to commute quite a ways if I had a reliable car. Even from the Onsted area. The problem is that I won't find an apartment I can afford BY MYSELF--ANYWHERE. Doesn't matter where it is. So- do I try to find a random room mate on craigslist? Do I try to find someone I know? I would much prefer someone I know. It would be really cool if I had a bunch of friends and we got a big house but pretty much all of my friends are married or living with their significant other and happy as clams.
Not sure what I should do. Any suggestions are welcome!

Half Marathons Are Hard.

My half marathon was yesterday and guess what... it was really freaking hard. I finished, and I wasn't last. But I'm not happy with my time. Although, not unhappy enough to really want to run one again, haha. I think that's all for half and full marathons for me. Maybe when I'm old. A lot of old people run those things. I guess because they have so much time on thier hands... :-P Any way- it's just really freaking boring... like I've said before I would much rather concentrate on how fast I run than how far I run. I just don't have the strong desire to run a full marathon like I did before. A full marathon takes some SERIOUS dedication... how am I supposed to gather up all that will power and dedication when I'm not really sure I want to run it in the first place? It's not that it's too hard or too painful... it's just- boring.

We'll see. I may change my mind.

My next "challenge" is a 5k in June. It's called Flirt with Dirt . Should be fun :) I know it's a lot less than the half I just ran... 10 miles less to be exact... but I want to run it FAST. So I'm resting this week, then starting a training plan. I'm pretty sure I won't be sticking to ANY of the time restrictions, because that is just too slow. I'm running this 5k under 30 and that's all there is to it. I've had ENOUGH of my wimpy 5k times! It's time to get serious.

:)

I love Josh. He is good to me. He came to my race and waited around for over 3 hours in nasty weather. I think he took a nap... but still :) He makes me happy. I just really want to make him proud.

That's about all I care to blog about at the moment.

<3

Oh boy.

So, I set out for a ten mile run yesterday after work, feeling pretty good- excited to run the farthest I've EVER ran. Even farther than my skinny cross country days.

I'm running feeling good, taking my time because I know I have a long way to go. I see a bike heading my way on the small shoulder. He's facing me because bikes go with traffic and runners go against traffic. So he passes me we nod and 30 seconds later he's up behind me holding out a water bottle I dropped. Very nice of him.

Onward. I get to Huron River Drive. Yes, a rest at the cross walk and the park! And nice big sidewalks. I cross even though it said don't cross because I just didn't want to rest too much. Ran over the bridge, saw a beautiful swan and the lovely Huron River. People kayaking, golfing, running- beautiful day!

I check my watch- wow, I'm making good time!

Hm, doesn't feel like I'm 3.5 miles in. Oh well.

More running- feelin' the burn. A lot of people jog with their kids in strollers, I really want to do that when I have kids. Someone with a golden retriever runs by- I wish I could take Lola for runs! Maybe someday when she grows out of her puppiness.

Forward- hurtin- going to stop half way and rest- 5 miles! I get to the turn around point and stop to stretch out my calves/ shins because they hurt like hell! Glance at my watch... then I look closer... NOWAY! I'm about 10 minutes faster than I thought! Great! But then this sinking feeling starts to creep up... maybe I measured the route wrong... maybe it's not 10 miles.

I consider calling Josh and having him map it out for me again on the computer... but I figure I must just be having a good day. And it HURTS enough to feel like 5 miles...

So I start my journey back. Remembering all the hills I had to climb as I stride down them, and then vise versa. The sun is starting to get low, I'm pretty chilly, but it makes me want to run more, it makes me not want to stop.

A golfer waves and says "perfect day to be outside" I nod, although I totally disagree. If it was a perfect day my arms wouldn't feel like cold bricks and the sweat on my back wouldn't feel like ice cubes.

I get to a part of the shoulder that is just too skinny- so I cross the road and run with traffic instead of against. I feel like I'm breaking the law.

Soon after resuming my run on the correct side of the road- a cop car drives by. I wave. Good thing they stayed at the donut shop 3 minutes longer otherwise I'd be in hand cuffs.

SO close to home. Should I kick it into high speed? HELL NO. I can barely run. I'm afraid of pushing too much- my legs ache like nothing I've felt before. I guess this is how it feels to run 10 miles. Wrong.

I walk the last half mile.

It's ok. I knew I would have to walk some.

I'm home. Josh gives me a hug and tells me he's proud- it feels great. 10 miles! Really??? I look at my watch. The sinking feeling that creeped earlier now rushed. There was no way in hell I ran 10 miles in that amount of time. So I went right to my computer, www.mapmyrun.com- and almost cried. I only ran 7.1 miles.

Now I'm sure some of you are saying- 7 miles is great! But when I have 13 to run on Sunday and 7 miles about killed me-it's not great. It's bad.

I'm scared. What if I can't finish on Sunday? What if I'm too slow and I come in last or, worse, they close the course and the little gator comes and picks me up and I don't get to finish... just like those girls I pitied so much at my high school cross country races. I would think to myself- how can someone run the same course like 20 minutes slower than me? It's just a 5k. Now I wonder if there will people watching me finish (or not finishing) who will say - How can someone run that much slower than me? It's just a half marathon.

*sigh*

I know I'll be ok. I know I will finish. I just have to get my fears out. It helps me get over them.

Unfortunately they are still lingering... but I still have until Sunday :)

$$$

So if I had a million dollars probably half a million would be spent on clothes/ accessories. Half of half a million ($250,000 for those paying attention) would be spent on running 'stuff'. It's not so much that I would buy a lot, which I would, it's just the fact that the good stuff is so damn expensive.

I don't necessarily have a specific brand I buy, I just get whatever is on sale. If money was not an option, and with 1/4 million dollars to spend on running clothes I would say it's not, then I would probably buy a lot of Under Armour Brand. All the UA that I own (not very much) is awesome and my favorite and has been with me through thick and thin and not ripped at the seams. When I say thick and thin I really just mean thick, get it? :)

I must protect this house.

Another Sunday

Not much to blog about today. I had a good, productive weekend. 

I was supposed to go to NC this weekend for a friend's bachelor-ette party but plans fell through at the last minute. It's probably a good thing any way, I need to save money!

Friday night Josh and I went out with Ashley B. to Olive Garden. It was awesome. I've been to Olive Garden like a total of 5 times in my life. 

There was kind of a long wait for a table so we mozied over to art van. I REALLY need a new bed. I've been sleeping the same futon for about 7 years and it's definitely time for something new. Josh happened to be with me so we had a little couples "evaluation". We pretty much got to lay on a lot of insanely comfortable beds that we can't afford and asked tons of questions. It was actually a lot  of fun. We can't afford a bed right now, but I'm really excited for when we can!

For peeps that don't know- Josh and I are hopefully moving in together in June. That's the plan as long as he can get a job! He had me go over his resume today so I think he's getting serious about applying for jobs. So- if anyone hears of a computer engineering job let me know! Especially if it's in A2! 

We also started watching "Lost" on Netflix, Season 1. And I TOTALLY get what all the fuss is about. It's a really good freaking show. 

Went to the gym yesterday and today. Nothing crazy/amazing, but still good strong work outs. I am planning a 2 hour run tomorrow. I find if I concentrate more on time than miles, it's really helpfully-mentally. I'm a freaking mental case when it comes to running. My room mate also gave me some good advice. She said that every hour I should be "re-fueling"... which makes sense- I guess I just didn't think it applied to me, lol. She gave me this stuff called "GU Energy Gels".

I was going to do my 2 hour run today, so I popped one of these 15 minutes prior to starting my run (as directed), and I planned to take another one half way through... but- I had to poop. And when I tried to get back on the treadmill my chafed legs were on fire... hurt SO bad. Wrong shorts to wear. These are the right shorts to wear for fat girls:

I wish I could just go on a shopping spree for running clothes. 

I did just order this water belt thingy- 

I'm so happy I found out how to post pics, aren't you? :)

<3