juliedoesbeantown

You know the best thing about writing this blog? The whole time I’m running all I can think about is what I’m going to post to the blog when I get home. It’s great - makes the time fly by!

While I was running tonight, I decided that I was going to write about thinking about what to write in my blog. It was beautiful out, low 40s, clear, no wind, a little damp, and tons of men out running. Hellllo spandex. Ok, back on track. I ran 6.5 miles and I felt really great the whole time. From what I can recall, these were all of the items that made my so-called ‘consideration list’ as blog topics tonight (or, if you’re lucky, perhaps in the future):

1. men in spandex (oops, check!)

2. how much I absolutely love to run. I have said this before, but on a good night (or day), I often think to myself, ‘there’s absolutely nothing I’d rather be doing right now than this.’ And I swear to you, it’s true.

3. my most incredible experience with American Express Purchase Protection today. Actually, so amazing I can’t keep it in - did you know they cover your purchases for 90 days should they be lost, stolen, broken or damaged? I got a full refund for my recently purchased iPhone because I dropped it and cracked the screen just 4 weeks after buying it. Incredible. I sent out a mass email to my whole family last night in my state of disbelief and I think they all thought it was spam due to my ‘can’t believe it’s butter’-like tone. But seriously, amazing.

4. not drinking for 4 days and what an incredible affect it has on my body and how I feel when running. Brilliant.

5. all of the things I’m going to cook, bake, frost, and eat next week.

6. did you know Paula Dean cuts up chunks of butter and puts it in her hamburgers before she cooks them?

7. I’m pretty sure some people don’t consider butter to be a dairy product and, therefore, I can eat as much of it as I want. Oooh, riiight, that was Paula Dean who told me that…

8. some people have the strangest running ‘strides’- you have the lumberjack, the tippity-tap, the long jumper, the high jumper, the lobster, the crab, the sloth, the corncob-up-my-butt (not MY butt..), the thumper, the smooth rider, the straight-up/stick-straight, the hunched over, and then, of course, the ‘oh my, that looks painful’

9. geez, I wonder how someone would qualify my stride?

10. god, even scarier, I wonder what the heck I look like from behind…do you think they have a name for that?

11. shadows and how much they suck when you’re wearing spandex pants. To be continued…

I don’t eat cheese. Well, normally, I don’t eat cheese. Nor have I consumed any other kind of dairy for the past…I don’t know…3 years? I mean, I squeeze in an occassional slice of pizza (who wouldn’t?), and every once in a while, I’ll have an undefeatable urge to just slam a quart of heavy cream, but typically, I just don’t go there. For a lot of reasons. Many, actually most, of which are not appropriate for this blog, but will likely come out at some point because I rarely practice the art of filtering.

Last night, I ate a quesadilla. I don’t know what came over me, but I did it - with chicken, and guacamole. I think it may have had something to do with the fact that I traveled both to and from California on Thursday for a meeting, even finding a way to squeeze in a game of flip cup with our client before hopping back on the plane to come home. (What?) I needed a new word for tired. So let’s set the stage - It was freezing outside, I was exhausted/delirious (let’s go with delirious) and so broke I’ve recently been scouring  my apt for things to ebay. So I jumped across the street to the nearest, cheapest food possible and I ended up with a quesadilla. I ate it, and I passed out…

..and woke up at 10 o’clock this morning. Oh God where did the time go. Woah. Desperately needing to get a run in, I threw on my (new fabulous thermal) running gear and hit the road. Literally. I basically fell on my face. It was awful. Damn the quesadilla! I did 3.5 miles in just over 30 minutes and it hurt the whole way. Notably, it was 26 degrees outside and I could see my breath, but I’d be lying if I blamed my loser run on the weather.

On a complete side note, I saw Todd Oldham and Keri Russell running this morning. Not together, of course. Talk about an exciting first two (documented) runs! I saw a (now likely famous because of my top-rated blog) pirate on the first run, then two, skinnier than life, kind of obnoxious, how did they become..celebrities. Actually, Keri is pretty damn cute. I’ve seen her around town before, she lives in my neighborhood and has a super cute little boy. ok, fine. She’s cute. And she probably doesn’t eat quesadillas before bed.

You ask, “Why do we need an International Talk Like a Pirate Day?” Good question. Here’s what the International Talk Like a Pirate Day site says (an incredible read), and I quote:

“Make no mistake. We do. But it’s a little hard to articulate why, especially when you’ve made the mistake of referring to your wife as a scurvy bilge rat and tried to order her back into the galley.” HUH?!?

Don’t say I never did anything for you…

Top Ten Pickup lines for use on International Talk Like a Pirate Day

10 . Avast, me proud beauty! Wanna know why my Roger is so Jolly?

9. Have ya ever met a man with a real yardarm?

8. Come on up and see me urchins.

7. Yes, that is a hornpipe in my pocket and I am happy to see you.

6. I’d love to drop anchor in your lagoon.

5. Pardon me, but would ya mind if fired me cannon through your porthole?

4. How’d you like to scrape the barnacles off of me rudder?

3. Ya know, darlin’, I’m 97 percent chum free.

2. That’s some treasure chest you’ve got there.

And the number one pickup line for use on International Talk Like a Pirate Day is …

1. Prepare to be boarded.

GROSS!!! I know this is supposed to be my training blog, but I’m having way too much fun…entertaining myself…sorry

One can hardly complain about training in the Winter when it’s 54 degrees outside! What!? Today is Tuesday, December 9 and when I left for my run tonight around 9pm, it was 54 degrees outside. I am going to blatantly avoid discussing the underlying reality, that is, Global Warming (what? Sarah Palin does it all the time..), and choose to write about my particularly fascinating run this evening.

I typically run along the West Side Highway (I know, life is rough). It’s always gorgeous and frequented by hoards of runners, so I feel safe, even at 9pm. But tonight’s run was different, for a couple reasons:

#1 — There were tons of fisherman out tonight. I have seen a fisherman or two in my days on the piers, but tonight, there were at least 20. And they were catching stuff! One guy caught a freakin’ STING RAY! I kid you not, I saw it with my own eyes, hanging there from its line. It was crazy! Apparently there are river stingrays - I know because I Googled it so it must be true.

Another guy had a whole slew of little guys flopping around in the middle of the sidewalk. Oh, come on, really? Can’t you just put them in a bucket so we don’t have to run around them? Or smell them..or look at them..flopping around, dying in plain view. Oh well.

#2 — The city has been working on renovating Hudson River Park for at least the past 24 years and it is really starting to be beautiful! All along the walkway they’ve installed sets of large

binoculars for tourists to get up close views of…New Jersey…ummm, ok. Anyway, I’ve never seen anyone using these expensive goggles (shocker)..until TONIGHT. And would you believe who was using them? A PIRATE! I’m sure he was scouring the seas to ensure we were all protected from any dangerous intruders that may be hiding in the dark waters of the Hudson River. Actually, he was a grown man, dressed as a pirate…in Chelsea…on the famous pier..after 10pm. Case closed.

Great run tonight. 6.4 miles in 53 minutes - good start!! Coincidentally, the first entry in my training blog. My guess is it may have had something to do with the weather. ;)