Fifth Annual 29th Birthday Run

Saturday, May 26, was my 33rd birthday. Or my fifth annual 29th birthday. It's a joke that kind of took off on my 30th birthday and never died around here :) I always do a run on my birthday, so I decided to take my camera with me, just so my friends who don't live near me can kind of see where I live. I made a birthday mix of songs for my iPod. I went with country music in honor of my redneck Pasco County home ;) Hope y'all enjoy!

Our house. There used to be a big-ass camphor tree in the hole in the middle of the lawn, but it was cracking the driveway, so my folks had it taken out. And we took the shutters off the windows so we can get the hurricane shutters up if need be (let's hope we don't need them...)

My mom, Carol (in the middle) and our neighbors across the street, Jim and Lydia (the Nicest People EVER.) Jim is a retired Army captain from Boston, and Lydia is from Argentina. My mom threatened me physically if this photo of her showed up online. What she don't know...hehehe She was doing yard work. She cleans up good ;)

The 17th green of the Beacon Woods Golf Course, aka, Jim and Lydia's backyard

Our hibiscus

Ain't they purty? They look so tropical...

I'm 97.5% sure these are azaleas...

(Update 6/2: These are actually oleander. Thanks, Linae!)

I was pretty far away from this guy, and the picture got all blurry when I zoomed in. These dudes run amok around the neighborhood.

Hill. It's worse than it looks. We'll call it a bad camera angle. Or we can call me a wuss ;)

I love this little condo area. One of these babies will only set you back $250,000 with an in-ground caged pool. $230,000 without the pool. They're about 1200 square feet. Being a Midwesterner, I find that slightly insane, but whatever...

I'm not sure if these are ibis or egrets. I get the two mixed up. I want to say ibis, because egrets have longer, more 'S'-shaped necks. I think.

(Update 6/2: These *are* ibis. Thanks Ellie!)

Yep, we're in Florida :)

Magnolia. It smells absolutely heavenly around here between the magnolias and the gardenias

Two and a half years and I still have only seen one...

The road leading back to the house

Brown anole, one of several who live in our grill. We have to shake it before we fire it up, the little bastards...

My birthday cake. It was soooooo gooooood. My eyes still roll back when I think of it

My dad was on his way to California for work, so he wasn't able to be here. He called me while I was running and sang a birthday song he made up :) Mom and I went to dinner at a little Mexican restaurant, Estela's. Excellent food. And great margaritas! (I wanted to get a picture of me drinking one, but I forgot my camera, and I have the only cell phone in North America that doesn't have a camera in it.)

Then I had a Will Ferrell movie-thon: "Anchorman," "Old School," and "Talladega Nights." So I worked off some of the calories I had ingested by laughing my fool head off.

So nothing fancy, just a nice, quiet day :)

Random

I'm bored. I don't wanna do anything. I think I may skip out after lunch. Too bad I can't skip out of work tonight. I can't think of anyplace I would like to be less than the Hellhole today. However, if I keep up with the trend of no motivation, I will never complete my program and I will be stuck at the Hellhole for the rest of my life. It's a vicious circle.

Forgot my sunblock yesterday and got a farmer tan (burn) on my arms.

I now have incontrovertible, real-life, actual-experience proof that I am socially retarded when it comes to guys/relationships. My fate as the Crazy Cat Lady is all but sealed.

I'm about ready to start running again. I've had just over a week off completely. It feels wonderful to not have to keep training for yet another marathon. Of course, training for Marine Corps starts in July (when the weather is just lovely in Florida...) but I'll probably have forgotten how friggin' long a marathon actually is by that point ;) Anyway, I'm planning on running Tuesday morning.

Well, that's all I've got in the way of pointless, random thoughts this morning. Except for the ones about Keith Urban, but nobody wants to hear those...

I hope all the moms out there had a great Mother's Day!

And now--I'm out!

Flying Pig Photo Report

Marathon, and state, number 10! I finished in 6:04:03, which I'm pleased with considering I ran three marathons in three months. We had a great time, and it was fun to meet Jo and her Toronto contingent, and Barbara from Boston. And, of course, it was wonderful to see *jeanne* again!

Downtown Cincinnati, taken from a bridge

Courthouse in Covington, Kentucky

Who's your daddy? I was mighty tempted...


Hey, maybe it's Ocho-Cinco (Chad Johnson) in there!

Water stop just past mile 8. Cincinnati Parrothead Club

Mr. Incredible, aka Mark Carlson of Bloomfield Hills, Michigan

Pete Rose Way. Any 'bets' on whether I'll finish? bwahahaha

Considering it was near mile 26, the odds are very good ;)

Finished! Jo from Toronto, *jeanne*, and me

Statue just past the "Finish Swine"

It's all about the bling, baby! Medal and technical shirt

Four Days Pre Pig

This morning, I went out for an easy three mile run. It was already hot and humid at 8 AM. Aaaaand we're back to the days of having to get your run done by 7 AM to beat the heat. Oh well, it's only for another eight months :-P

Then I did some laundry, mostly stuff I'm taking with me, including my beloved Bermuda shorts. Girls, bring your sunglasses, because I'm unleashing my brite white legs on Cincinnati!! But, being the Midwest, I probably won't even have the whitest legs there, seeing as how mine have been exposed (although properly lubed with SPF 36) for the better part of two-and-a-half years now.

Painted my toenails a bright coraly-red (OPI Cajun Shrimp, thankyouverymuch), because, as PR Goddess Nancy T. told me in Panama City Beach, "Red is fast!" My toenails were papaya-colored in Atlanta, and look what happened to me there. We only THOUGHT it was the lack of water, killer hills, and searing unseasonable heat wave that was responsible for my demise. No, my friends, it was the pretty peach nail polish. So I'm back to red, and all shall be right in my running world again ;)

Tomorrow is packing and a bit of cleaning, maybe another easy short run, and then lots of nothing.

Buh-bye, Flames

Detroit 2, Calgary 1 in double overtime. Detroit wins the series 4-2. And all is right in Hockeyworld again...

Bring on the Sharks. Um, or the Stars. But probably the Sharks.

:-D

Not the bird...

Got this from Una's blog. Guess what finger I *thought* I'd be?? ;)

You Are a Ring Finger

You are romantic, expressive, and hopeful. You see the best in everything. You are very artistic, and you see the world as your canvas. You are also drawn to the written word. Inventive and unique, you are often away in your own inner world. You get along well with: The Pinky Stay away from: The Index Finger

What Finger Are You?

Georgia Marathon Photos--Better Late Than Never

Start in the dark--15,000 bodies crammed in the street

Atlanta skyline

Shut the hell up!!

Entrance to a local park

This sign was pinned on a guy's back. Personally, I blame Kay ;)

Speak of the devil--Kay (on right) with her friend Laura

Typical residential neighborhood we ran through. I was surprised at how pretty much of Atlanta is.

Georgia State Capitol. Aaaaand a row of portolets. Adds character to the photo, right??

Finish line waaaaaay down Peachtree Street. I thought I'd NEVER get there!

The finisher's medal and technical shirt. It's all about the bling!

ING Georgia Marathon Report

Many of you have already read this report (probably more than once), but I'm re-posting it here in case there's someone who reads this and isn't on any of my lists. And for posterity ;)

=======================================================

I'm back, and alive (barely).

I think I could have handled EITHER the hills *OR* the heat *OR* the pollen,but mix them together, and you have a recipe for disaster, at least for me. I have truly never been more miserable in my life. I would have started crying,but there was not enough moisture (or salt) in my body to form tears. I was extremely unpleasant toward the end--I even snapped at one of those annoyingTeam in Training motivational people. Bouncing around looking all cute and clean and wearing her half marathon finisher's medal, telling me how great I look and the finish line is JUST a half mile up the road!!! Wooo Hooo!! (smile smile smile) Shut the hell up. I KNOW what I look like. My friends (Daria and Kay) TOLD me I looked like hell. Kay ran with her friend Laura, who owns the Marathon Charms booth, and even *she* said I looked terrible (I guess she saw me around mile 25) I felt like I was gonna die. There's no way I would believe I look "fantastic!!"and that I was "going strong!!" I was wandering listlessly down friggin' Peachtree Street, praying to God to not let me die on the streets of downtown Atlanta, licking my arms because I hadn't had any Lava Salts for the past 9 miles and I was worried about dying of hyponatremia(seriously).

(The story with that was I was a glutton and hoarded water at the 18-mile marker (you didn't know when you would get it again...) and I spilled some in my baggie full of Lava Salts, which dissolved the capsules and I wound up with a baggie full of powder. So I tried to lick the powder and sip water, which didn't work out so well, but I got the genius idea of pouring some water into the baggie and drinking the mixture, which tasted horrible, but worked fine. Until I dropped the baggie and it spilled all over the ground. And I wasn't quite at the point to where I would get down and lick the ground, although I thought about it briefly.)

Everything you heard was true. It was 86* when I finished. No shade for thelast 7 miles or so. NO POWERADE AT ALL ANYWHERE ON THE COURSE, even though it was heavily advertised. Water on only one side of the street, and you couldn't get to any of the tables anyway, until the half marathoners split off at mile 4. I took water with me, but it only lasted about 5 miles. No water at all between miles 3.5 and 8. A few stations ran out of cups. There were just dozens of gallon jugs of water sitting on the side of the road at one "water station." If it hadn't been for the awesome residents of Atlanta and Decatur, there would have been WAY more sick and dehydrated people than there were. They set up their own water tables, they were handing out pretzels and chips and ice, some had orange slices and gummy bears. They set up their garden hoses to spray us. They offered us beer. They rocked. It was a beautiful course, but the organization was for crap. The RD should have known better. She's run marathons before. I heard she was Jeff Galloway's right hand woman for years. You can skimp on some things, or let them slide, or whatever. I don't think water or Gatorade should be one of those things. But that's just my opinion...

The expo was craziness, but I don't care for huge crowds like that. Too many people crowded into one space for too long makes me cranky. Especially the idiots pushing strollers through those narrow little aisles, banging into people's ankles, and then not even apologizing. I *still* have bruises. We sawKaren B., who looked great. Chatted with her for a while, then wandered around a bit more before heading back to the car and trying to get to the hotel (thank you, Magellan!!)

Anyway, the tech shirt was nice, but kinda plain. The medal was okay. I'll post pictures of both soon. Atlanta was beautiful, and the people couldn't have been nicer, friendlier, or more helpful. Other than the whole crappy marathon thing, I loved it there :) I finished in 6:39 and change, about 50 minutes slower than my most recent efforts, but still not as slow as my PW. Hooray for me :)

What the hell did my $80 fee pay for? Certainly not freakin' Powerade. I am still wiped out, and I'm hoping I'll have more fun at the Pig. I'm sure it will be MUCH better organized, and, hopefully, a bit less brutal weather-wise (I've already got it on good authority that the hills aren't nearly as bad as Baltimore, which was not as bad as Birmingham or Atlanta. Atlanta was the hilliest course I've run yet.)

So, bring on the Pig, and then I am DONE!! Well, for six months, anyway :)

(Pictures are coming soon!)

MIA

Sorry I've been MIA lately. Not a ton of stuff going on. I still owe a Georgia Marathon report and pictures. I'll do that later this week, as we have several days off from school for the Easter holiday.

I'm just very, very tired. They have me scheduled for 6 hours at the Hellhole tonight, which I may call off from because they pissed me off yesterday (when I shouldn't have even *been* there, but I digress...) I go through phases where I truly dread going in there and hate every second I spend in there.

I've also spent an inordinate amount of time in the past couple of weeks feeling sorry for myself. I haven't been running. I haven't been reading much. I have fallen way behind on my blog reading. Even my steno practicing has dropped off. I just don't want to do anything except lie around, which sucks.

Hell, maybe depression is revisiting me.

Ah, well. I'll get over it. Talk to you all later on this week with a marathon report.

Going to Atlanta!!

Kay and I are heading to Atlanta tomorrow to run the ING Georgia Marathon on Sunday. They have runner tracking which you can sign up for at: http://www.doitsports.com/results/MSG-signup.tcl?sub_event_id=189429

My bib number is 5985 and my name is Shawn Newton, if anyone wants to keep track of me :)

It's gonna be warm, and I'm kind of undertrained, so don't look for any land speed records from me. I'm using this as a supported training run for Flying Pig. I'm there for the tech shirt, the medal ('cuz I'm a medal ho--it's all about the bling, baby!!), and the pin in the middle of Georgia on my US map ;)

So take care, and y'all behave yourselves this weekend! I'll talk to you when I get back on Monday evening. Or Tuesday afternoon at the latest :)

Cheers!

Friday!

Well, another Friday is here and that means another update! Yay!

I finished my book last Friday evening. Sobbed like the hyper-emotional wreck that I am (was.) My parents went out to the store and decided to bring dinner home, and my mom called to see what I wanted. She said, "What's wrong? You sound like you're breathing hard." I answered, "*sniff* N-nothing...*snuffle*" It's the rare author that can get me so involved in a story and make me actually care about fictional characters. I feel kind of silly. But I now have a better understanding of people addicted to soap operas. I once heard a girl I worked with talking on the phone, and I thought she was talking about someone she knew. Turns out it was characters on "Young and the Restless." :-P Anyway, even though I have no intention of reading book #3 (Voyager) until May, the way book #2 ended, I *had* to read the first ten pages, just to appease my curiosity. I doubt I could have made it two more months ;)

For my next book, I went with Me Talk Pretty One Day by David Sedaris, which wasn't even one of my original options. It's supposed to be hysterically funny. I'll let you know; I haven't started it yet. I used this week to get caught up on magazines that have been laying around on my desk (two issues of Self, one issue of Runner's World, one issue of Bookmarks, and three issues of Journal of Court Reporting. Fun stuff there!)

On Sunday, my parents and I went to the celebration of all things redneck (no, not the Florida State Fair, but close), the Strawberry Festival in Plant City. It was pretty fun. Watched pig races, counted mullets, and saw lots of morbidly obese people hanging around the fried candy bar stand. So it was pretty much exactly like every state fair I have ever been to (Michigan, Texas, Indiana, and Florida so far.) The Strawberry Festival's big draw is strawberry shortcake, which was so tasty, it made my eyes roll back in my head. And anytime I go to a fair, I *must* get a corndog (mustard only, please) and a lemon shake-up. We got two flats of strawberries on the way out, and then realized that two people would never be able to eat all of them before they go green and fuzzy, so we gave a flat to our neighbors. And we've been making homemade strawberry shortcake and chocolate dipped strawberries for a week. Not to mention I've been popping plain strawberries like they're candy. Yummmm....Florida has the BEST strawberries I've ever tasted :)

I watched one of the two Netflix movies I've had for six weeks, Invincible. It was a really good movie. Being a Disney movie, I was prepared for a lot more schmaltz than I got :) I'm watching Nacho Libre tonight. I know it will be completely stupid, but that's why I got it.

I spent a load of money over the weekend. I ordered my Big Orange shoes (see previous post) from Road Runner Sports, and a bottle of my perfume. I was very excited that they FINALLY came out with an eau de parfum; the "fragrance spray" I've been using doesn't last very long on me. Not that anyone's been sniffing me lately...

I also got my airfare to Cincinnati for Flying Pig, and I sent in my check for the guaranteed entry to Marine Corps Marathon.

Worked at the Hellhole Saturday night and Monday night. It wasn't horrible. I got to work with my buddy Paige, which is always fun. How sad is it that my best "work friend" is a 17-year-old girl?? I think the fact that everyone I work with is so young (most of the people I work with are 18-24) is the reason I don't always realize that I'm as old as I am. I once told my friends Melanie and Amy (who are 32 and 36, respectively) that I would get messages on my Myspace page from 37 and 38-year-old guys, and I would think, "Why is this 'old' guy messaging me?" Oh, wait--I'm 32....And it's REALLY strange that I think that because I *like* older guys. My ex-husband is 48 now. I probably won't go THAT much older than me next time, but still...

All right, I'm rambling now. Sorry. This weekend has me running 15 miles in preparation for the ING Atlanta Marathon in two weeks, and working a nice, short, five-hour shift on Saturday, and giving the Great Dane a bath on Sunday. And practicing as much as I can stand it :) Which will *still* not be enough.

Have a great weekend!

Big Orange Shoes

These are the new shoes that are on their way to me from Road Runner Sports. Asics Gel Nimbus VIII. Ain't they purty? I dig the orange. My Nimbus VIIs are purple, which makes me happy, but the new purple ones are kind of ugly, and I was completely in love with the orange the second I saw them, anyway. So it took me about two and a half seconds to click 10.5 B Tangerine/White.




After some calculations, I realized that I would need new shoes after Flying Pig. And, uh, I like to plan ahead. Way, WAY ahead...

They look like they'll be fast though, huh? :)

Mailed My Golden Ticket!!

I dropped my GUARANTEED ENTRY for Marine Corps Marathon in the mail this morning!! OORAH!!

Yes, I'm very very very excited about this. I'm also thinking of taking an extra day and wandering around DC, since I haven't been there since I was 13.

Same Ol', Same Ol'

Nothing much going on in life, really, but thought I'd check in just the same.

I've got about 75 pages left in the book I'm reading, Dragonfly in Amber by Diana Gabaldon. It's second in the Outlander series. This book weighs in at 743 pages, so it's no small feat to only have 75 pages left! I figure I will be done with it no later than Saturday afternoon. I have all six books in the series (so far...rumor has it the author will have one, and possibly two, more) but I want to spread them out a little because I'm enjoying them so much :) I have a To-Be-Read pile as high as my waist, so I have a decision to make about what to read next. My top three right now are Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen (amazingly, I've never gotten around to reading this), Widow of the South by Robert Hicks , and The City of Falling Angels by John Berendt.

School is going fine. I'm still working on my 120s. I think I'll be ready to start testing again after spring break, in three weeks. I've tested at 120 wpm twice so far, both times against my will. On the first test, I missed 216. On the second test, about two weeks later, I missed 111. So I *am* improving :) I just want there to be a chance in hell that I'm gonna pass before I waste a test (you need to miss less than 30 to pass a 120 wpm test). We had three women who opened their own reporting firm in Lakeland come in to speak with us yesterday, so I'm super-motivated to practice and get out of school and start working at a "real" job.

I still work two days a week at the Hellhole. I still hate it. I'm still doing work study with my instructor three days a week. I still enjoy it :)

Running is going well. I took last week off. My body was telling me it was exhausted after running a marathon and then a PR 15K six days later. My next race is Bay to Bay 12K on March 18, and then the ING Georgia Marathon on March 25 in Atlanta.

No big plans for the weekend. I have a couple of Netflix movies I need to watch, Nacho Libre and Invincible. I've had them both for over a month, so I'm not getting my money's worth doing that ;)

Well, that's it from here. I'll post again if anything exciting happens. If it doesn't, I'll talk to y'all next Friday :)

New 'do

Basically the same, minus four inches and too many layers that were starting to grow out funny :)

Gasparilla Distance Classic 15K

It was a lovely, sunny, chilly day in Tampa last Saturday. The Gasparilla races are always fun, and they bring out tons of people. There were about 3,500 in the 15K, and 7,000 in the 5K. We watched the 5K runners take off after we finished our race, and it was just a huge sea of humanity. It didn't look like it would ever end :)

Mom and I finshed the race in 1:48:37, which is a huge PR for me. Of course, I ran Mercedes Marathon in Birmingham six days before, so I didn't know what my legs would be capable of. I bet I could've gone sub-1:45 had I been on fresh legs!

Mom, Linae, and me at the start. Yes, I am wearing a pink tiara...

Bayshore Boulevard along Hillsborough Bay. I think that's Harbour Island in the background

Me and a seven-foot-tall cow :)

Birmingham photos

Me and Kay at the start--It was cooooooold!!

Downtown Birmingham

Prison Escapees, around mile 15


Lamb Chop likes to run, too! Just before mile 9

Scooby Doo, around mile 3

Mercedes Marathon Report

Hey! I finished a race report less than a week after the race! I'd need to check, but I'm sure that's some kind of record. Anyway, here is the Reader's Digest version:

Made it to Birmingham in one piece. Only got lost once, trying to find a parking spot near the expo. It was chilly, especially for us weather-impaired wimpy Florida chicks. Wore pants and long-sleeve shirt and throw-away gloves, which I threw away too early. A pretty, well-marked, well-supported course. The hills were diabolical. This is a great race if you like hills. REALLY REALLY like hills. Big ones. With steep descents. Great medals, heavy and shiny with a pretty ribbon. Nice cotton participant shirts, nice finisher tech shirts. I finished in 5:49:08, which is almost 7 slower than my PR last December at pancake-flat Kiawah Island, but it was a much tougher course, so I'm ecstatic with the time.

Longer, slightly more detailed version:Left my house around 4:45 AM to pick Kay up in Winter Garden and get on the road to Birmingham. We made fairly decent time, plus gained an hour crossing into the Central Time Zone. Drove around the block three or four times trying to find first the expo site, then, giving up on that, the hotel. Which we found once, but then lost. Don't ask. Eventually, we figured out where we were and got settled in.

It was already chilly out, so, being the idiot naturalized Floridian that I am, naturally I neglected to bring a jacket. I *did* have a sweater, which I threw on over my LS tee, and I was okay to walk to the expo, a few blocks away. We got our packets, shirts, chips, etc., and wandered around the expo a bit. There really wasn't much there, but I guess it was okay for a medium-sized marathon. If you wanted a free beer, that was the place to go :) We then went back to the hotel, hit the gift shop where Kay bought a book and I got a magnet that says "Birmingham" on it. I started collecting refrigerator magnets of every place I travel a couple of years ago. I don't know why. Anyway, then we watched TV, read a little, and fell asleep.

Woke up early the next morning, got dressed in our warm clothes (at least I was smart enough to pack both shorts AND pants) and headed to the start. I have never seen so much makeup and hairspray on women about to run a race in my life. I saw mostly eyeliner and mascara, but there were a few perfectly coiffed women in full makeup, and, granted, most of them were doing the half, but Kay was in front of a lady in the potty line with full makeup AND a full marathon bib. I sweat too much, become covered in salt, and wind up looking like hell anyway, so I figure, "What's the point?" But that's just me. Ya gotta love the South.

I was surprised that, being in the Deep South, there was neither the National Anthem nor a prayer before the race start. They just counted down and we were off. I saw a guy dressed like Scooby Doo (not running) and a lady with a Lambchop puppet (also not running), and three escapees from a prison, in white jumpsuits with "Prisoner" and their number. They were very nice. I was talking to one of them, a guy whose name I can't remember. He asked me where I was from. When I said, "Tampa," (which I feel is misrepresenting myself, but I digress...), he said, "Don't y'all have a marathon coming up next weekend? Are you going to run it?" I said, "No, one marathon a week is plenty for me, thanks." There was also a guy running in a tutu, but unfortunately, I never saw him. Just on the news.

I got a shout-out from a band playing near mile 8 ("Hey, Number 128--lookin' good!" He lies.) Kay and I hooked back up around mile 15-ish (I think) and started walking up the majority of the hills. We met a lady from the San Francisco area named Barbara who gave us some handy hill-running tips. Mile 22 was a mile-long incline. Mile 23 was the descent. An extraordinarily STEEP descent. With a hairpin turn thrown in for good measure. I really wished I had some roller skates at that point. Kay suggested that we lay down and roll down the hill, which was sounding pretty good. The police officer at that corner was laughing at us.

That brought us back into downtown Birmingham, where it was relatively flat. Hallelujah! We walked a bit, me with my iPod in one ear, giving Kay a concert. Sorry I'm not a better singer, Kay ;) We started running just past the 26-mile marker, all the way to the finish. Got our chips off, got our medals, a mylar blanket, our finisher shirts, some water and headed into the post-race party. Our goal was to simply beat the six-hour cutoff, which Kay and I were both worried about, and we had originally planned to draft off the Balloon Lady. Turns out we didn't even see her except at the beginning and at an out-and-back portion of the course around mile 21 (I think). She was about three miles behind us; that's when we knew we were all right. She finished about 15 minutes after us (we slowed down *just* a bit in that last five miles, LOL)

Went into the party--they were out of BBQ (not that my stomach could have handled BBQ right after a marathon anyway, but still...), but snagged a Coke and waddled up into the stadium seats to watch the awards presentation. Neither of us got a chance at the Mercedes, so we managed to make our way back down the steps and back to the hotel. Showered and took a much needed nap, then ate a steak AND dessert at the hotel restaurant :) Went to bed pretty early, then drove back to Florida the next day. It really really hurt getting out of the car.

My second favorite marathon to date :) Pictures to come next week.

Bring on Atlanta! And more freakin' hills...

Heading Up to Alabama

I'm going up to Birmingham tomorrow to run the Mercedes Marathon on Sunday. My friend Kay from Winter Garden is going up with me. Please send us some good vibes--we're gonna need them! We're both juuuuuust a bit undertrained for this one. There's a six-hour cutoff, and you have to finish ahead of the Balloon Lady, the last official finisher. Our race strategy is to draft off the Balloon Lady for 26 miles and then blast past her in the last quarter mile :)

I'll have a report and some pictures next week!

Beer in Mexico

I changed my e-mail signature line to a quote from a Kenny Chesney song:

"I'll sit right here and have another beer in Mexico
Do my best to waste another day."

Oh, how I wish I was sitting on a beach in Mexico drinking a beer.

I wish I liked beer.

Maybe a margarita instead.

Maybe the stress wouldn't be quite so much if I drank more. I dunno. I'd certainly be more fun!

Gotta go to bed. Since I'm not drinking Coronas in Acapulco, I have to get up at 4:45 to get ready to drive to Tampa tomorrow morning :(

Night, y'all...

Props to the Colts

I gotta give props to the Indianapolis Colts, who won Super Bowl XLI tonight. They beat the Chicago Bears 29-17. They were pretty awesome from the second quarter on. I wasn't all that interested in the outcome since my team wasn't there, but I would have liked to have seen da Bearsss pull it out, just because no one gave them a shot in hell. Turns out they were right. Bad Rex Grossman showed up for Chicago, and it was pretty much over from the first offensive possession.

I was fairly unimpressed with most of the commercials. There were a few funny ones: A Doritos one with a cheesy guy and a clumsy chick; A Blockbuster ad with a bunny, a hamster and a mouse; and a commercial with a squirrel throwing acorns at a guy. I can't remember what that one was for; I only caught the last half of it. I hope to see it again though! It was cute.

Entertainment: My boy Billy Joel sang the national anthem. He was pretty good. Of course, I *heart* him, so I may be biased. Prince was the halftime show. He was okay, but I wish he had sung some different songs. Where was "Kiss?" "1999?" "Little Red Corvette?" Yawn.

So, that's my Super Bowl XLI report. And next year, Super Bowl XLII?

YEAH, BABY!!!

Suncoast Classic 10K Report

**Disclaimer: This will probably be a boring race report because it was a drama-free race. Just a nice, relaxing jog through St. Pete with friends :) **

Had a fun time at the Suncoast Classic 10K yesterday. Got up early and drove 50 miles into St. Pete. Parked in the parking garage, picked up my packet, got my chip, went back to the car to dump the goody bag in my trunk and got a call from Linae. Met her and her friends, stood around and chatted, then lined up to run. Two of her friends were walking the 5K, one of whom was doing her first, if I'm not mistaken. The 5K and 10K start together, so we got to see them on an out-and-back part. They did great, beating their goal time by 3 minutes.

It was a nice course and a very well-run event, probably my favorite St. Pete event so far. The weather was fabulous, cool and slightly overcast, and it sprinkled on us a little. Linae, and I paced her friend Molly to a 10K PR, which was fun. Molly was a hoot, and I love Linae to death, so it was a really fun run. AND, we ran the entire 6.2 miles with only two quick walk breaks (and those only long enough to drink a bit of water), which I have never done before. So WOOO HOOO!! We finished in 1:14-ish, according to my watch. I'm pleased with that :)

After the race, I went to Linae's. She made me a fabulous strawberry-banana smoothie, and I made friends with her lovebirds, Keiko and Bubba, and met her hubby Joe. Then I drove allllll the way back up to Hudson, showered, took a quick nap, and went to work at the Hellhole. So it was a *mostly* fun day ;)

Next up for me: Mercedes Marathon in Birmingham, Alabama with Penguin Kay. I'm a bit undertrained for this race, seeing as how I lost over a week of training when I was down with the Crud at New Year's. But I got a long run of 17 miles in, and a few hill workouts, so I'm hoping that's enough. No PRs for me at this one, but I'm cool with that. My race strategy is to draft off the Balloon Lady (last official finisher of the race every year--you have to finish ahead of her to get an official time) for 26 miles then blast past her at the finish ;)

Half-Right

Well, my football picks were half-right. Super Bowl XLI will be the Colts vs. DA Bearsss. Chicago rocked most of the regular season, finishing #1 and with home field advantage throughout the playoffs. They are most likely going to be the underdogs in the Super Bowl, so I'm going to pull for them. Gotta love them underdogs :) Now, if they play like they did today, it should be a good game, and possibly a close one. (Grossman, keep your shit together, mmmmmkay?)

Jeez, what am I gonna do all day on Sundays until next fall?? I won't know how to act not riding the sofa for six or eight hours ;) I'm not really *that* bad--I'm like that commercial: "I only watch football on Saturday and Sunday. And Monday. Aaaand sometimes Thursday."

GOOOOOO, BEARSSS!!!

Football!!

Tomorrow is a Big Football Day. The remaining four teams are playing for a spot in Super Bowl XLI in Miami on February 4. It's down to the New Orleans Saints vs. the Chicago Bears (DA Bearsss) for the NFC Championship and the New England Patriots vs. the Indianapolis Colts for the AFC title.

My prediction for the Super Bowl: Chicago vs. New England. I'm not sure who would win this game. I'm tempted to pick Chicago, but it's totally dependent on if their quarterback, Rex Grossman, shows up to play. He does either really well or he treats the fans to a giant suckfest; no middle ground. However, New England is scary-good in post-season. It's hard to bet against them.

Anyway, unless it's a super-exciting, nail-biting game, which I doubt (it seldom is), I'm fairly ambivalent about the Super Bowl this year. None of the teams are my favorite, I don't detest any of them (I'm not a big fan of the Colts, but I couldn't care less if they win the Super Bowl), so I have no big stake in this game. I'm just watching it because it'll be the last chance to watch an NFL game until next September (sniff).

Then again, what the hell do I know?? Two months ago, I picked San Diego to go all the way, just to have the Pats spank them in the second half of the game last Sunday. That, and the fact that I am a diehard Cowboys fan, pretty much sinks my credibility.

GOOOO BEARSSS!! (Um, and Pats)

Nail in the coffin...

Registered for marathon #10:



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

Registration: Cincinnati Flying Pig Marathon
Purchase Date: 01/17/07
Category: Marathon
Event Date: 05/05/07 - 05/06/07
Name: Shawn Newton



I also registered for the Gasparilla Distance Classic 15K, which is next month.

My name is Shawn, and I am a raceaholic

101 Others

HowManyOfMe.com

There are: 101 people with my name in the U.S.A. How many have your name?

Okay, after stealing this from Ellie, who stole it from someone who stole it from someone who probably stole it from someone else, I ran a check of my first and last names. There are 101 people in the U.S. with my first and last name combo. And, according to this site, 89.3% of people named Shawn in the U.S. are male. I wonder how many Shawn Newtons are female? And I bet there aren't ANY other Shawn Christine Newtons. Maybe I'll check my original last name, Gross, and see how many of those there are.

I used to hate my name when I was a kid, especially in junior high. I even went by my middle name for a school year, in fifth grade (actually, I had everyone call me Christy. I am sooooo not a Christy...) But I grew to like it as I got older. It's fairly uncommon for a girl, and I think it suits me. When I was in high school, there were five Jennifers and four Amys in my biology class alone, and I knew at LEAST six Heathers. Thanks for not being afraid to buck the trend, Mom!

Interesting stuff. Thanks, Ellie :)

How 'Bout Them Gators??

Woooo Hoooo!! Florida 41, Ohio State 14. Yeah, baby!!

Oh, how I hate
O-hi-o State...

Shawn, who bleeds Michigan Maize and Blue
And I have friends who went to Florida, so I'm kind of a Gator by association :)

Starting to feel better

I've been sick with a freakin' cold for the past three days, and I haven't gotten to run AT ALL since the new year began. Ordinarily, I wouldn't worry about it, but I have another marathon coming up in mid-February, and I missed a whole week of running. Plus, it's Mercedes in Birmingham, Alabama, which has a 6-hour time limit. Guess I'll just do what I can and try to stay ahead of the Balloon Lady (last official finisher of the race.)

I'm actually starting to feel better. I'm back to just a sore throat and nasal congestion, which is where I was on Wednedsay. Occasionally I have this awful cough that sounds like I'm trying to hack up a lung, but not nearly as often as in the past two days. And I've got a headache, but I think it's a hangover from the NyQuil shots :P

Oh well. Ever onward.

2007 Goals

Another year, another list of goals. Or, more accurately, pretty much the SAME list of goals, just reworded a bit for 2007 :) Here we go:

1. Lose 30 lbs. This should be my LAST 30. After that, I will have to see how I feel and look, and how well I maintain, and possibly reassess from there. But I really think 30 should suffice. I will never be a size 2, nor do I want to be. I am not built that way. I want to be healthy and fit, not a stick woman.

2. Train for and run the three winter/spring marathons I have planned (Mercedes, ING Georgia, Flying Pig) and finish each within the course time limits. I will probably also run a fall marathon. Which one is yet to be determined, but I'm hoping Marines are involved :)

3. The ever-popular start a weight training and yoga/stretching routine. Unlike in previous years, I actually have a plan and a schedule.

4. Get at least six hours of sleep each night. This is going to be a bit easier because I told my boss at the Hellhole to cut me back to one weeknight shift and my Saturday night shift.

5. Get to 180 words per minute speed in school. I am currently at 120 wpm, which means I need to pass 120, 140, and 160. In twelve months. God help me. Seriously, I can do this by utilizing my time in class more wisely (unlike right now, as I'm sending an e-mail about my 2007 goals ;) ) and practicing at least an extra hour at home each day, probably reinforcing my theory.

6. Pay down my 'big' credit card balance by at least half by December 31, 2007. It's not a huge amount, but since I cut down on hours, I'm getting a bit less cash. And I don't want to dip into the money I've been saving for the past year and a half specifically for the races I knew I wanted to run. Perhaps that's irresponsible, but I figure, you need to get SOME pleasure out of life, right? :)

7. Read at least 12 books for pleasure. I love to read. Putting this on my goal list just gives me an excuse to not feel guilty about spending time with my nose in a book :)

Happy New Year to all, and I wish you all only the best for 2007!

Love ya!

2006 Recap

Okay, these goal recaps are usually a list of all my failures of the past year, and I'm left wondering why I put myself through the humiliation of posting to a large group of people all the things I've screwed up or was too lazy to do over the past year. Let's review, shall we?

1. Lose 30 lbs. I've had this on my list of goals for probably the last four years. I have failed every year. If you want to be a stickler, I have failed again. HOWEVER--I have lost 23 lbs this past year, and it's stayed off, which has never happened before. Since I lost 23 of the 30 lbs I wanted to lose in 2006, I am considering this 77% successful.

2. Run the Baltimore or NYC marathon. Pass. Ran Bawlmer on October 14, hon.

3. Incorporate weight training and yoga into my workout program. Another goal that's been on my list for who-knows-how- long. Another fail for 2006.

4. Get more, better-quality sleep. I still only sleep about five hours a night. I need at LEAST six to make it through the week. Fail.

5. Floss daily. Okay, admittedly, this is a "gimme" goal, seeing as how I am the Dental Floss Princess. I have been flossing daily for the past 10 years. It's a pass, but it will no longer show up on my yearly goal list because it's pretty much been a done deal for a decade.

6. Pay off one credit card. Pass. I paid it off, but then ran it back up. Fail. But I only ran it back up a quarter of the way, and it'll be paid off again by the end of January. Draw.

7. Read at least 12 books for pleasure. Pass. Just made it by finishing #12 Friday night. Normally I can plow through books like no one's business, but I picked a lot of wordy tomes (Outlander, at 627 wonderful, amazing pages) this year. And confusing novels with convoluted plots (One Hundred Years of Solitude) where I had to re-read a lot of stuff ("Wait a minute--I thought that guy was dead? Oh, okay, it's his illegitimate son who has almost the EXACT SAME NAME...Where' s the Tylenol?")

8. Get to 180 words per minute on the steno machine. Okay, in hindsight, this was a really really dumb goal. Especially considering I had just passed 60 wpm when I made it. Apparently I thought I was hot stuff on that keyboard and would just whiz right through. Not so much. However, I did pass 80 wpm and 100 wpm, which means I am at 120 wpm. So, while technically a failure, I am considering it a 60% success because I doubled my speed from a year ago.

9. Get divorced. Pass. The Marion County (IN) Superior Court officially dissolved the Great Debacle of 1998 (or, the Worst Idea EVER) in early April 2006. Yes, that was me doing back flips down the street.

So, really only two 'fails' (and one 'draw') out of nine. I guess 2006 was a pretty good year, the first good year I've had in a looooong time.

Like (Cat) Mother, Like (Cat) Daughter

Too bad she wouldn't let me put the glasses on her...

Books!!

Sad bookcase :-(

Happy bookcase :-D

Umm, SMALLER bookcase (notice the marathon medals in the shadowbox...the first five, baby!)

I finished reading Outlander by Diana Gabaldon on the recommendation of two bookworm-y friends. I was up until 3:00 this morning reading because I couldn't put it down. Thank you thank you thank you to Mary M. in Indiana and Karen for turning me on to this series. As I was out doing my last-second Christmas shopping this afternoon (wow, Christmas really snuck up on us this year, didn't it??) in the Ninth Circle of Hell (aka, the mall), I popped into Waldenbooks and bought the second book in the six-book series, Dragonfly in Amber. Sure, they're basically romance novels, but they're so much more. But they're intelligent and well-written, unlike most of the romance novels I read when I was a teenager.

Is it possible to be in love with a book? 'Cause I think I wanna marry this one...

Next on my To-Be-Read pile: The Gods of Newport by my main man, John Jakes.

Happy reading to all who indulge!

Weird picture, but Christmas-y

Yes, this is my hair. I bought these hair clips to wear to work on Saturday afternoon in an effort to be less Bah Humbuggy. And, since all my red clothes are in sweater form, and it's supposed to be, like, 80 degrees, I bought a cute red and white layered t-shirt to wear. I'll look festive, anyway, since I never wear red. Perhaps I'll even have someone take a photo of me. Ho ho ho! (Who you callin' a ho?)

New specs!

So, do I look smart?? :)

Kiawah Island Marathon Report (to go along with the preceding photos)

Short version--A PR and my longed-for sub-6:00. Ran 5:42:27. Now I have to do it again to prove it wasn't some kind of weird fluke :) It was very very very cold. Never was my status as a Floridian, even an adopted one, more certain. All that is left of my Midwestern-ness is my weird speech pattern (so I've been told), as my cold-hardiness has left me, apparently ashamed of my desire for warmth and sun in December.

Okay, a bit melodramatic, but it WAS freakin' COLD.

Picked up Kay in Winter Garden around 8:30-ish on Friday morning and drove in. We only almost got killed once, by some woman driving a big pickup truck with a long flatbed trailer, who seemed unconcerned that we were already in the lane she wanted to be in, with nowhere to go. I honked, but I don't know if she didn't hear me or was just laughing at my Hyundai's "happy horn." (I swear, I'm gonna get a semi horn put on that thing.) Anyway, we made it there in one piece and tried to drive onto Kiawah Island. Where I got turned around for the first time. Made a big circle and actually managed to get onto the island, found packet pick-up and Giddy, Kay (the smart Floridian) bought some tights at the expo, and we went to find the little subdivision where our villa was. Where I got turned around for the second time. Once we found the correct street, we tried to find the actual villa. Where I got turned around for the third time. Moral of the story: don't drive anywhere with me if you like to find things quickly, efficiently, and on the first try.

Finally found the villa, got settled in a bit until Kirsten and Linda showed up, and read the information booklet the resort supplied. This included advice such as "Don't feed or taunt the alligators." You can imagine how foolish I felt, having brought my gator-pokin' stick all the way from Florida. Kirsten and Linda called and told me they couldn't find the villa. We gave them some half-assed directions, and, miraculously, they managed to find us. We picked rooms (Kirsten and I roomed together--Yay!) and headed out to the pasta dinner.

Found Chris (my Pop Fairy!) from Commerce, and went in to find enough seats for all of us. We chowed down, had a lot of fun, caught up on some Penguin and Connector gossip, KB got some pictures, listened to the band, and talked talked talked. Went back to the villa, I took a quick shower, and we went to bed. Except Kirsten and I kept chatting, so we probably got to sleep around midnight. Like a mini-slumber party. But we hadn't seen each other in two years, so there was a lot to talk about :)

Woke up around six on race morning. The Weather Channel said it was 20* in Charleston. Yikes! Too cold for me! But did I put my long sleeve tech shirt on? Nope. I wore a short sleeve, compression shorts, and a long sleeve cotton throw-away shirt (which did NOT get thrown away. It barely got taken off...) Started out fine. Saw Chris fairly early on. Never did see Kelly or George :(

I was WAY ahead of my pace for the entire race, but I think my body was in a state of shock from the cold, it just wanted to keep running. There were a few times I actually felt kind of disconnected from my body. Something weird was going on with me. I took my cotton shirt off at 10 miles. I put it back on at 15.5 miles. I left it on until 26 miles, when I only took it off because a TNT guy told me there was a photographer at the finish. I walked between 19 and about 20.5. I tried to catch Kay. I got lost once and wound up running in the street along the path I should have been on. I got dizzy and light-headed and vomited near a tree somewhere around mile 22 (I think...) First time for me. Then I ran like hell just to be done.

The course is extremely lonely after the half-marathoners turn off. I was out there completely alone a lot of the time. Even the aid stations were abandoned. I constantly worried that I was going the wrong way until I found a big red arrow, or an (empty) aid station, or the random guy on the corner telling me which way to go. I wasn't prepared for complete desolation. I've run smaller, rural marathons before (Bayshore in Traverse City was that way, but at least the aid station volunteers stayed until the last runners came through). Even though I PR'd and smashed the hell out of my sub-6:00 goal, this was my worst marathon. Or, at least the one I enjoyed the least. It was beautiful, but I would definitely say stick to the half. I hope I don't sound like I'm whining, but the second half was mentally brutal, and by no means am I one of those runners that needs crowds cheering me on. So, I'm happy I finished and I have my seventh state in the books. And I'm thrilled to death with my PR! This training stuff really works ;)

After we finished, Kay and I waited for Giddy to come in, then we waited for Kirsten, who was walking her first marathon after a four-year bout with an ornery ankle. We hobbled back to the villa, took showers, and went to a nice restaurant, where I got my standard red meat, still mooing (sorry--gross, I know...), came back, chatted some more, and went to bed. We all left on Sunday, around 11:30 AM, and I was back home in Hudson by about 8 PM. So it was a good weekend with good friends, but a not-so-hot (in many respects) race.

Now it's on to Mercedes in Birmingham! Woooo!!

A few pics from Kiawah

At the start: Kay, Kirsten, me, Giddy

Self-portrait--boredom setting in :)

Kay after the half turnaround

Me, same place as Kay

Life is Good the day after! (You may not be able to see, but we're all wearing Life is Good tees.) Kay, me, Kirsten