a 10 K should be easy, uh, right?

So I dove in and registered for the Cap 10K today - I have some friends here at work that are running it too and I love hills!  I was reading my results from previous races on this cool site:

http://athlinks.com/racer/106648682

Click on "See all 37 races" and you can see what I once was able to run - it blows my mind that I always thought I was slow!! Running a 10K in 48:10 on a hilly course is NOT slow! Flat out impossible at this point, but I really am cool with that. I distinctly remember the Cap 10K I ran the same year - I was still under an hour despite having to veer off course and using a porta potty!!!

My running these days is much, much more fun and although I am getting faster through sheer repetition, I don't really have any time goals in mind. I'd really like to come in under an hour but with the huge hill on this course I really don't see it happening! So my #1 goal is to have fun and encourage the guys I am running with. We should have good weather, this race will be huge with the crowds! It's an annual Springtime rite of passage in Austin!

My Yelp review for the Austin Half Marathon!

Really proud of refrigerator magnets? You bet!

My review is for the 2012 Austin Half Marathon, which I absolutely loved! This was the final race (of 5, a 10K; 10 miler, and 3 half marathons - Decker, 3M and Austin) of the Austin Fit Magazine Distance Challenge. 
I'm so grateful that I trained with Austin Fit this year - the runs really prepared me for the hills on this course, which are going to approach legendary status in a few more years. I swear that mile 12 mother fucker gets steeper every time I tell the story! 
The organization that Livestrong has added as the new corporate sponsor for years to come cannot be underestimated. Sure, with 18,000 runners you're bound to have some issues that are almost inevitable, like port-o-janes with long lines, finish chute delays while dumb asses stop and gawk, etc. Read about the 2012 Vegas Rock and Roll marathon if you think we have issues. 
I can't say enough how much I loved the course - it was SO smart to move the start to the north side of the Capital and give us a much needed warm up before the trek up South Congress. The rolling hill that is South Congress gives several nice flats to catch your breath, and then comes that wonderful rolling drop down South First. I was blown away by the Livestrong Mile along Cesar Chavez, which was covered in yellow chalk messages on the road, and lined with the loudest, most wonderfully supportive volunteers anywhere on the course. They just rejuvenated me so much, and I high fived as many as I could! 
When we reached the Mopac crossover, man that seemed to suck the strength right out of me, but I knew the real killer lay ahead. I had purposely NOT driven that course so I would not know what it really looked like. There are a few hills before mile 12 that get your attention, but that bad boy really did impress. I vowed to run the entire hill, and I did. It was amazing how slow I was moving when I got to the top!! But I owned that bitch! For all the fear and complaining I heard about this hill, think about it folks. Would the course be BETTER without it? Hell NO! Easier, sure. But better? NOT! It gives you an unbelievable pride that you conquered it. Whether you run, walk or crawled it, when you got to the top and saw the angels - God love em! - you had to smile! Great crowd support here too!
I also loved that last mile to the finish...it challenged too and there is NO feeling like powering around that corner onto Congress and seeing the finish line!
The medals, so beautiful! One of the coolest ever:

 The event t-shirt I will wear proudly! It is a fantastic Nike tech T with the coolest graphics I have seen anywhere. 
Honestly, the bands and musicians playing were cool for the most part. and I know most runners appreciated them. Me, I had my iPod shuffle cranking out more energetic stuff to get me up those hills. I made a point to take the ear buds out now and then and interact with my Austin Fit running buds Amy and Eliza (thanks for pacing me girls!), and some other cool peeps on the course. To all the lovely ladies that wore pig-tails, extra kudos to you! Yeah, I find them sexy. Deal with it. :O)
Austin, be proud of these twin jewels, I ran the marathon in 2008 and I enjoyed that too, in a really sick way! But I am hooked on the Half, and I have Feb 17th, 2013 already saved to do this again!

Like I need an excuse to Pig out on Italian food...

Dinner tonight!

That's right, time to pig out!

Tonight is prime carb loading time for the Austin Half Marathon, and I need another new place to review for Yelp! My new addiction. Blogging about food. Some of the cool kids have unwittingly friended me on there, lol.

So Megs and I will go sacrifice our bodies to the carbs, and I only hope the place is as good as it once was. I went years ago several times, and I remember the Cannelloni being really most excellent.

I'm trying my best to rest for the Half Marathon Sunday, but it's not easy. I did an hour on the elliptical and an hour on the stationary bike last night at LifeTime. Craving some cardio! The legs feel so strong, like I could go all night. And even after another night of riding the cubicle hell chair, they feel great. I can't wait for this race, no real pre-race jitters yet, just a strong excitement knowing I will be running 100% healthy! After coming off an injury, running takes on a very special luster.

Tomorrow is packet pickup and the first day of the expo, I will be like a little kid in a candy store! My bib number is a Palindrome!! 10201!!!! Download the app (search Austin marathon in the app stores) and track me Sunday!!! It will have an interactive map that will track my bib via GPS!!! So cool!

Awesome new ear buds for just $18!

Damn these rock!

Thank you sir, I'll have another! Tonight I trekked to the local Wally World and was all set to buy another pair of my favorite $40 (+tax!) Sony ear buds. The ones I buy always crap out on one ear and last about 3-4 months at best. I use them a lot, both at the gym and while running. They had great bass and never fell out, two absolute must-have traits for ear buds, in my book. They also came with a nice short extension cable, so I could use them and set my iPhone or iPad on the elliptical/treadmill and not have any reach issues. And of course they were sold out of them. I "settled" for the above iFrogz Luxe ear-buds with built in mic, and all I can say after my test run with them was WOW!!! I did an hour on the elliptical, an hour on the spin bike at my LifeTime Fitness, and not a single issue. They never slipped out at ALL, had SUPER bass and great all around sound - just as good as the more expensive Sony's. And at $18 tax included (Walmart), I think it was a great investment - just in time for Sunday's Half Marathon!! I'll update with longevity issues if there are any, but I think these are really solid, cables seem strong, they are super comfortable, in short a great buy. I love the mic control too, a simple way to pause music finally on my iPod shuffle or iPhone! Oh, and they come in quite a few different colors, but I went with the simple black ones to match my iPhone. Of course.

One of my favorite movies..."The Nines"

I love this movie - it's quirky, mind-bending, suspenseful, you name it. The original posters headline Ryan Reynolds and Hope Davis, and both do excellent jobs with their roles...but it's Melissa McCarthy that steals every scene she is in. I think she's simply beautiful:

She's well known for her funnier roles, she kills it in "Life As We Know It"; but here she shows her true range. Watch the scene (it streams on Netflix currently) where she tells Reynolds what she really thinks of him. It's a shame that Hollywood hasn't done more with her. 

On the running front, I ran a really fantastic 7 mile loop yesterday at Town Lake - from Austin High to the I35 frontage and back via Riverside Drive and the trail. It was such a beautiful day to run, one of those warm days we get right before a cold front hits - and hit it has! I've learned to watch for these days, because once the cold front hits, so long to warm outdoor running! Me, I love running in the cold but a warm sunny day can't really be beat.

My favorite commercial from the Super Bowl!

Google Search identified her as "some Italian super model". Yep, and the Pope is just "some old catholic priest" too....fyi it's Catrinel Menghia and she's Romanian.

It was a close call between this one and that really good doggie that was burying the cat and bribing his owner with Doritos to stay quiet. In the end, sex sells, and I did not mind selling out. Note the really hot tattoo on her neck that matches the emblem on the Fiat Abarth 500? No? Well, if it's any consolation, I missed it on the first shot too!

What WAS she saying to the lucky guy?

"What are you looking at?! Are you undressing me with your eyes? Poor guy, you cannot help it? Is your heart beating; is your head spinning...Do you feel lost thinking I could be yours forever?

Let the Google searches begin!

Movie night with Megs...

My fear of heights got a workout on this one!

One of the things Megan and I share a passion for is movies. It's something we have always done, from Barney VCR (remember those?) videos and Beauty and the Beast to "R" rated movies we both sometimes squirm watching with each other but love nonetheless. We've always enjoyed the experience, and these days we even do it in a more healthy manner! We've found that eating BEFORE we go saves us from going overboard on movie junk food. Cheaper too!

We headed to Lakeline Mall last night so I could get a new (black) case for my iPod and a screen cover. I knew my girl needed some new jeans so we stopped in American Eagle and she found some great ones. We found her a couple of cute tops too. Yep, shopping with her has to be way up on the list of fun things to do. She will even let me help pick things out sometimes! Whenever I work overtime, it's often so I can help give her the extra things that support does not cover. She is the most grateful child - er, almost woman I know. She has never been a want, want girl - I have had to work hard to spoil her. She's worth it all, it's only $ after all. The real value is the time we spend together, it's all good. Even when it's not, lol.

We saw "Man on a Ledge" last night...surprisingly good, very edge of the seat stuff. And hey, Genesis Rodriguez ain't bad either:

Would not kick out of bed for eating crackers.

Rest day for me, so no workout. Tonight I will get a good 5 miles minimum. The next two runs with Austin Fit on Saturday mornings are 5.5 and then 7.5 miles...and the following Sunday is the Austin Half Marathon. I'm so excited about this one! The days to train are flying by, and I'm doing some super cardio cross-training workouts at LifeTime. I have all my new music on my iPhone and can't wait to run with it tonight!!!

Life is fragile...

Today I read a story about a man that reminded me once again how fragile life can be. This poor soul backed over his two year old son and the boy died. I cannot even imagine his pain and the depth of the despair he must be feeling. I do know stories like this touch me profoundly. No parent should ever outlive his or her child, but to be involved personally in an accident like this has to torment someone the rest of their life.

It's one of the oldest - and therefore probably one of the most true cliches - that life is fleeting. None of us are guaranteed another moment. I don't have a lot of "Geez, I wish I had done such-and-such thing" thoughts at my age, because I tend to live very much in the moment. Some of the things I've done turned out quite badly, some very well, but I don't have many regrets. I think every experience I have had helps me to be the person I am today. I'm not jaded about love, even though people with better "track records" than mine are. I would rather err on the foolish side of Love than on the careful side. In one of my favorite movies, "Meet Joe Black" Bill Parish tells his daughter (Anthony Hopkins to Claire Forlani)

"Love is passion, obsession, someone you can't live without. I say, fall head over heels. Find someone you can love like crazy and who will love you the same way back. How do you find him? Well, you forget your head, and you listen to your heart. And I'm not hearing any heart. Cause the truth is, honey, there's no sense living your life without this. To make the journey and not fall deeply in love, well, you haven't lived a life at all. But you have to try, cause if you haven't tried, you haven't lived."

I could not agree more. If there is something you have never done, and you've always wanted to do it, my suggestion is do it now. You may not have a tomorrow to do it in....