Jackasses

In the span of two hours at work tonight, three separate people came in and asked me where the Beyond section was. Hahahaha!! That's soooooo funny!! I've NEVER heard THAT one before!! So very clever!!

I think the rain makes people stupider.

Just another day in New Port Nowhere :-P

Mondays blow

Rode the bike today for an hour. No big whoop. Nothing exciting. Still look like a dork, butt still hurts, just another day, blah blah blah.

Ordered a new pair of running shoes this morning. My shins are starting to twinge a little, which usually means my shoes are wearing out. It's time--they have over 400 miles on them.

Song of the day: "Come a Little Closer" by Dierks Bentley. Mostly because I saw the video this morning. Crazy-hot song/video. Mmmmmm, Dierks.

Closed Down the Chili's

Work didn't go as badly as I had expected last night. It just went by mind-numbingly S-L-O-W-L-Y because we were completely dead. Afterward, my friend and I headed over to the Chili's in our shopping plaza and drank our troubles away for two and a half hours. There must be some good tequila in those Presidente margaritas, because I was goofy and giggly. It was fun, something I should probably do more often. Just maybe not drink quite so much next time :)

She's got me half-convinced to try the internet dating thing again, but with eHarmony this time. Maybe I will, but not right now. It's not that I don't want a relationship; I just don't feel like I have much to offer right now, what with me still being in school and my living situation being what it is and all. And I'm kind of obsessive about the marathon/tri thing, so I'm not the right girl for every guy. I've learned that from personal experience. I know there's someone out there who is right for me; I'm just not sure who or where he is.

18 Miles

Ran 18 miles this morning at 5:15 AM. Felt pretty decent for most of it, got a little hot with about three miles to go. I figure I'm supposed to ponder life and explore my deepest thoughts while running, but the deepest I got was, "Endorphins are a myth. At a certain point, this shit just hurts." Sorry. But if you'd like to know some of the inane things that ran through my mind this morning, read on.

*5 AM is really, really dark. Really.
*5 AM sucks, no matter what you're doing.
*Even at 5 AM, it's friggin' HOT.
*Frogs totally creep me out.
*When you're half-asleep, every twig that falls off a tree into the street looks like a snake in the shadows.
*Armadillos are kinda gross. Like possums with a hard candy coating.
*I really need to move. I hear the Yukon is nice this time of year.
*It's friggin' HOT.
*Since they're clearing that big ditch down the road, exactly *where* are all the gators and snakes that lived in there going to go? Running the neighborhood, most likely. We'll probably be on the news. (Looking behind me periodically to check for gators.)
*A Labor Day marathon in Mississippi was a FANTASTIC idea!!
*After 7 years, 13-2/3 marathons, and at least 10 half marathons, Gu STILL makes me gag.
*It's friggin' HOT.

After Thursday's hills, yesterday's brick, and today's run, my legs are tired. Since our AM was practicing creative scheduling, I'm working 5-11 tonight, so I figured I should get my long run over with today, but that leaves me with a free day tomorrow. Maybe I'll hit the pool.

Song of the day: "Songs About Rain" by Gary Allan. Come on--"I thought I was over you but I guess maybe I'm not; 'Cause when I let you go, looks like lonely was all that I got." There's nothing more deliciously country than that!
(**Wondering when exactly I became a redneck**)

Since it was a long run, I'm doing another one. Girl power song of the day: "Settlin'" by Sugarland. "I ain't settlin', just getting by; I've had enough so-so for the rest of my life; Tired of shootin' too low, so raise the bar high; just enough ain't enough this time." Yeah, baby.

OWorkN: I'm closing with the store manager, Sparky the Ass Clown, so the game of the evening will be Beat the Assistant Manager's Closing Time. He will see that E got us out at 10:05 on Thursday, so he'll make that his target. Except he's incompetent and too stubborn to hand the reins over to me, so he'll do it himself, which means that things will be done wrong and some things won't get done at all. And I'll just smile and nod my head at him. At least I'll get out early.
(Apparently I not only have low motivation for this job, I also don't respect "authority" figures. I think it's time to move on.)

Brick

Did a brick today, 10 miles on the bike, 3 mile run, which is what I'll be doing next Saturday. Took me about 1/2 mile to get my "road legs." The ol' stems were pretty Jello-y for a while. And since I'm still ambivalent about the bike, I thought I'd focus on the positive aspects, like I did with the treadmill.

*It's doing awesome things for my legs
*Hills are more fun. Well, going DOWN hills is fun. Going up still sucks. But not as much as running up them. At least there aren't any ginormous hills around here. Except for that one.
*Spitting off the bike is pretty fun (Yes, I spit. Get over it.)
*The neighborhood kids think the bike is cool
*Not ALL drivers are discourteous. Some actually leave for work early enough that they don't have to run over you to make it on time. Golfers late for their tee time, however, will run over any old lady pushing a carriage full of babies and puppies to get to the clubhouse (our subdivision is a golf course community.)

But my butt still hurts and I still look like a dork in my helmet :)

Now, I'm relaxing for the rest of the day. Going to the movies (by myself, yet again) to watch my movie star crush, Will Ferrell, which is mildly disturbing. What can I say? I've got a thing for funny, goofy guys. And tomorrow morning, it's 18 miles at the ass-crack of dawn. Yay. A Labor Day marathon in Mississippi was a FABULOUS idea.

Song of the day: "You Look Good in My Shirt" by Keith Urban. Just 'cuz it rocks :)

Good things about the treadmill

Okay, so I detest running on the treadmill. However, living in coastal Florida, it's the only way I can get some serious hill training in, so it's a necessary evil. Maybe if I focus on the positive aspects, I'll forget it's boring as hell.

*The dining room is climate controlled at 74F with low humidity
*I have three fans on me at all times (ceiling fan, floor stand fan, treadmill fan)
*I don't have to hose myself down with SPF 45
*I have to push myself a bit harder because it's a pain in the ass to stop and restart it on the hill program
*I have my own cheering section in the way of the Great Dane and the Min Pin (okay, so they're napping, not cheering. But I can see that they're cheering for me on the inside every time I look into their confused little eyes)

Ummm, that's it. Still boring as hell.

ORN - 4 miles of hills

Song of the day: "A Little More You" by Little Big Town. Appropriate, as there's someone I'd like to get a little more of. But, as with all my other ill-conceived mini-crushes, it ain't happening. Which is fine. He's probably too young for me, anyway ;)

Six Miles and Movies

Today's numbers:

Miles - 6
Time - 6:40 AM
Duration - 1:13:37
Temp - 77F
Humidity - 84%

Yeah, definitely NOT a dry heat. I was schvitzing within 15 minutes. Ah, the joys of training for a fall marathon in Florida :)

After a nice, cool shower, I settled in and watched The Other Boleyn Girl, which was really good. Who knew Anne Boleyn was such a bitch? (I'm sure some literary license was taken, but still...) So I have TONS of free time over the next month and a Netflix account. If you have any movies that you absolutely LOVED and feel I must see, hit me up, either here or at marathongirl74@yahoo.com.

Thanks!

Busy (but largely unproductive) weekend

So Saturday I worked 9-5 at The Hellhole, which was super-fun as always. It reconfirmed what I always knew--retail is not for me, and I probably shouldn't work with people :-P Although one customer told me I was very pleasant, which indicates to me that my acting skills are improving. One good thing: I got to work with one of my favorite co-workers, who had gotten a total of about six hours of sleep in the past 48 hours because his daughter is cutting her molars. He's even *more* entertaining when he's severely sleep-deprived. The goofiness level was dialed WAY up, which, of course, I enjoy immensely :) His Forrest Gump impersonation over the walkie-talkie gave me the giggles for the rest of the afternoon, and even made all the about-to-be-cranky people in line laugh. Still, I was glad to get the hell out of there for the evening.

Ate loads of Chinese food for dinner and watched "Fool's Gold." It wasn't as bad as I was expecting. One of those movies you don't have to think about too much, which was perfect after a mind-numbing day at the store. Plus, watching Matthew McConaughey run around on-screen largely shirtless isn't exactly a hardship.

Got up at the ass-crack of dawn Sunday morning, ran 16 miles in the skanky, humid, hot morning, got bitched at and dressed-down, took a nap, read for a couple of hours, and watched a marathon of "Deadliest Catch."

Today, I got up, rode 80 minutes around the neighborhood, practiced on the steno machine for two hours, went to the grocery store, watched "Definitely, Maybe" (a pretty good chick-flick,) went through my seemingly-weekly breakdown, wondering how the hell I effed up my life so bad and what I can do to fix it, then practiced for another hour, since that seems to be the only answer I can come up with to fix it. Aaaaaand now I'm here :)

Tomorrow's LSD

I'm running 16 miles tomorrow morning. Temps should be in the mid-70s with about 184% humidity. Anybody who wants to join me, meet me at my house at 5:15 AM. I'll be the idiot in the pink shirt wearing the Garmin.

On the plus side, I probably won't be fully awake until I'm about halfway done :-D

Night, y'all.

One more shot...

This message is generated as confirmation of your recent registration on Active.com. You have been successfully registered for the following:

Registration: Top Gun Triathlon VII (2008)
Purchase Date: 07/18/08
Category: Individual
Event Date: 08/02/08
Name: Shawn Newton

Summer Break!!

"School's out, the night rolls in
Man, just like a long-lost friend
You ain't seen in a while
You can't help but smile
And it's two bare feet on the dashboard
Young love in an old Ford
Cheap shades and a tattoo and a Yoohoo bottle rolling on the floorboard
Perfect song on the radio
Sing along 'cuz it's one we know
It's a smile, it's a kiss, it's a sip of wine
It's summertime, sweet summertime"

--"Summertime," Kenny Chesney

One solid month of not having to get up at 5 AM and fight the friggin' traffic 42 miles ONE WAY into Tampa. Hello, morning marathon and tri training!

Now I just need to stick to the schedule I made for myself so that I don't blow it by staying up all night reading and watching movies :-/