Shall we brunch?

While I don't love my job every second of every day, I'm one of the lucky few who loves her job the great majority of the time. I work with a lot of awesome people. I do something that matters. Or, at the very least, I do things to help others do things that matter. So my work is fun, it's rewarding, and on the occasional Thursday afternoon I get to sneak out and get a massage.

One of the major reasons my job rocks is because I have an awesome boss. Seriously. He doesn't read this, so I have no need to suck up. But he is encouraging, supportive, and the nicest man in America. Or any other country.

And since he's celebrating his 25th year on the job, we threw him a little brunch soiree this morning, complete with returning staff and a fun video shot and edited by yours truly. It was more of a roast than a serious tribute, but it was fun, and I think everyone enjoyed it. So all of my basket arranging, pastry making, movie editing skills were on full display. And now I'm tired.

Thankfully tomorrow is Friday. And I'm headed out of town again.

There's another 5K on Saturday, which I will sprint at my lightening 10-minute mile pace. Not that Lon will believe me.

In case you're interested, pics of today are here.

Run:fail

Everybody loves a good Cinderella story. Movies like "The Blind Side" and "Hoosiers" were so popular because we all enjoy seeing athletes overcome the odds to achieve their dreams. They push through, defy the odds, and finish strong.

This is not one of those stories.

After two months of training for a 5K at the end of this month, I decided to participate in a fun run on campus this morning to gear up for the big race in two weeks. I've been running about 3.5 miles on the treadmill a few times a week at 6 mph. I've been running outside when possible to acclimate to pounding the pavement. I gave myself two days off from exercise so that I wouldn't be over-tired. I didn't drink my morning Diet Coke today, instead opting for lots of water to eliminate the lactic acid in my muscles.

In short, I was rested, relaxed, and ready.

I was a bit intimidated when I realized that I was the oldest racer by at least 15 years. But when the run began and I passed three girls who are too young to legally purchase alcohol, I began to feel more confident in my training and preparation.

I finished the first mile in a mere 9 minutes, passing on the water station and planning my Facebook status to celebrate my victory over a 30-minute 5K. I felt invincible. I felt confident.

Wait a minute... I feel sick.

As the course began winding through the woods, I found myself in solitude with just my breath and iPod for company. I'm used to the second mile being the most challenging, but usually I can push through and get past it. At 1.5 miles I began to get stomach cramps. At 1.75 miles I began to feel dizzy. Then I puked on the 2-mile marker.

Luckily no one was around to witness my running failure. Defeated, I removed my runner's bib and snuck back to my car without finishing the race.

Then I drove to the downtown coffee house to buy a double chocolate muffin. Because that's what fat girls do.

I'm not sure why I failed. Likely I started off too fast, got too cocky, and tried too hard to pretend I'm 20 years younger. After all, it takes a lot of energy to lift my massive thighs. Perhaps I should have eaten this morning, but if I had, I'd have thrown up more than just water.

What can I say? I have the soul of a runner and the thighs of a wrestler. But I shall not give up. This fat girl will finally finish a 5K. Someday.

Coming clean

I've got a serious case of apathy these days. I don't know why, but I'm not motivated to finish any project. And while that's bad at home, it's horrible at work.

Since my treadmill bit the dust, I got up early to do yoga and run outside. In the freezing drizzle. I think I have frostbite on my cheeks. Thankfully I had a massage this morning, so not only did I get warm, I got really relaxed. I did manage to stay awake through multiple meetings, but I feel like I accomplished nothing today.

Tonight I started cleaning out my home office. I got about halfway finished before I gave up and quit.

Some much to do. So little motivation.

Three more days of work before nine days of vacation. Hooray!

Oh, and I registered for the big Siloam Turkey Trot 5K at 8 am this Saturday. Yeah, I'm not ready, but I figure there won't be many people around to witness my humiliation. I have no idea what possessed me to do that. But I've got four of the seven pounds off I wanted to lose before next week.

I'm back!

Sorry for my brief hiatus from the blogging world. I've been couch surfing for a few days with limited Internet access. Coupled with the fact that my BlackBerry is not downloading my work e-mail, technology does not seem to be my friend these days. I feel cut off from the world and it's causing a nervous tick. I still check my phone about 20 times an hour. It's a serious addiction.

I'm in the Spa City for a conference and even though I'm on a self-imposed massage moratorium, I suppose it's been fine so far. The conference was short this afternoon, so I got some work done in my room (hello, Internet!), went out to dinner, and ran three miles. Okay, I actually only ran two or so, but I finished three miles. It helped a lot that there was a girl running next to me and I made myself run longer than she did. Maybe my competitive spirit will last through the 5K next weekend.

Hopefully I can get out of bed tomorrow. But at least I'm having a better night than Tom Izzo.

Where's the Ben Gay?

I am an old, old woman. Jen and I agreed to run a 5K together in Texas in April, so I've started training. I'm sure Jen has been running 20 miles a day while doing surgery and making a gourmet meal, but it's killing me. And I'm only doing about a mile a day. At less than 4 mph. At this rate, I should finish the 3 miles in about 12 hours.

The bad news is that, other than the joint pain, I can't stop eating. I ran out of Weight Watcher points about two hours ago, and I'm still munching on whatever I can find. Luckily my house is absent of anything really bad for me, and it hurts to get out of bed, so a trip to the kitchen is out of the question.

This weekend was pretty restful, although I did go to dinner with Amanda and Kelly and to see "Bride Wars" on Friday night. Great movie! Sunday was Mason's birthday, so I met the fam in Rogers on Saturday for pizza and gifts, then we went to the Razorback game. Obviously I'm bad luck. I haven't been to a game in over a decade and the first one I walk into they lose big time.

So I guess I'll just lie here in bed and ache.

5K=a long way

Well, I finished. I didn't win. I only ran about 100 yards. But I finished 3.2 miles in 44 minutes. Not too shabby.

Granted, there were old people, a guy pushing two kids in a stroller, a woman with a dog, an 8-year-old, and a lady with emphysema who finished ahead of me, but at least I didn't come in last.

There were ten whole people who finished behind me. Jen came in 18th. Pretty impressive.

We celebrated by going to Cracker Barrel where Lonnie said he wasn't very hungry, then promptly ordered three pancakes, grits, two eggs, turkey sausage, biscuits and gravy, and hashbrown casserole.

Just do it

If the journey of a thousand miles truly begins with a single step, then perhaps the journey of three miles begins with 3/4 of a mile. At least that's what I'm hoping, since that's how far I made it this morning before I thought my lung was going to collapse.

I've always wanted to run a 5K. Jen and I had plans to run one in Fayetteville in April, but since there was a lack of exercise coupled with the addition of poundage at that time, I didn't do it.

She's running one in Springdale this month, so I'm going to, too. Oh yeah, I have only 17 days to work up to three miles, but I am determined to finish, even if I have to walk the whole thing.

Keep in mind that a mere 8 days ago I consumed an entire bag of Oreos, 14 diet cokes, and the only exercise I got was waddling from my bed to the couch. I haven't had a carbonated beverage in over a week (can't say that about caffeine anymore, but small steps). I actually set my alarm and got up and spent 30 minutes on the treadmill this morning, including a 3/4 mile spurt of running. I've already had 80 ounces of water today. So even if I don't lose a pound, at least I'm on my way to being healthier. And maybe my jeans will fit.