Do I smell BBQ??

Hey guys! It's been a great couple of days (well, the parts that aren't during the work day anyway =) ). Sunday night after our big run we chilled around the house and got caught up on some TiVoing. We were a few episodes behind in the Martha Stewart Apprentice. Man, Martha can be a Bi$$h!! On one episode where a person contemplated quitting she fired out that she had never quit at anything in her life and another person mentioned she was so frustrated she could cry and Martha informed her that women in business don't cry. Huh?? Are we not supposed to have emotion ever??? I can understand her point, but I don't think being a robot is the way to go either. On another episode this really arrogant person said she was 'faking it until she makes it' when asked why she was so confident. Martha went off on HER and said she has never faked it in business. Both the 'quitter' and the 'faker' got fired for their comments. I think Martha is the type of woman who will actually be harder on other women because of all her struggles to get where she is. Anyway, it's a pretty good show so I do recommend it if you're into the reality genre.

We were surprisingly not sore after our 15-miler. Earlier this year I was sore every morning after my new long run, so I expected that on Monday. I'm sure as I get closer to the 20-milers and the 23 miler I have planned there will certainly be some soreness but I'll be happy with what I've got now! My left hip is a little tender but I think that's more from the tumble I took over Pippin Friday night. He's a momma's boy and I swear he's under my feet at all times! Right now he's asleep at my feet, literally! He stopped right in front of me Fri night and to not step on him I tried to step back and ended up falling flat on the ground. I was very close to hitting my head on the bar in our kitchen but managed not to. Between my bruised left knees plus this fall my left side is not having the best week ever.

Last night we headed to the gym and played racquetball. Even though Brent totally spanked me I've come a long way and am getting MUCH better! I have a hard time once I serve moving toward the middle to return. After our game we practiced this for a while. I'm learning how to hit to opposite sides, and hit short and long to send HIM running all over the court so that piece of my game has come a long way.

Tonight we headed out for our Tues night 5.3 mile run. The temps are still cool but warmer than over the weekend. We haven't had a sighting of the sun since last Wed, but tonight the moon and stars were out so hopefully tomorrow will lighten up a bit. We headed out at a good even pace, 10 mins for the first warm-up mile, then we ran the next two at slightly above 9 and then I let the pace loose. A group of rednecks were hogging the sidewalk and that really pissed me off, then Smooth Criminal (by Alien Ant Farm, not Wacko J) came on the nano and I was ready to fly. Mile 5 was at a 7:42 pace and our overall run came in at 45:27. Very good! That's a full minute off my fastest time on the run. We passed the rednecks on the way back in during Mile 5 as they huffed and puffed away on their cigarettes. Nice. I'd like to work on not running the first couple at the 9 pace and try to push it to an even 8:30 overall. Our next race is a 5 miler on the 29th of this month, so I may play around with that over the next few weeks.

My blog title refers to the overwhelming smell of BBQ in the neighborhood tonight. They're building a new, very nice looking, BBQ restaurant about 1.2 miles from our house, so maybe they've fired up the kitchen. There are several other restaurants even closer, but none that serve BBQ. Yummm!

I was also pretty motivated by some absolute lunacy at work today. On Brent's blog he has mentioned T, who we work with, who is fighting cancer again. She's a single mom with 2 small kids, so it's one of those situations where life just isn't fair. She's a really great, positive person that anyone would love to know. Anyway, someone sent out an email saying she ws going to take up donations for T & her family and to let her know if you would like to contribute. Very nice. Twenty minutes later L, someone I don't know well, sent out a rude and inappropriate email that said "I didn't see an email saying what we were going to do for B". B is someone else on medical leave right now for surgery or something (not major), not a severe life threatening case of cancer. So inappropriate. I was so pissed. Everyone was. I couldn't take it. On the outside I can seem pretty sweet, but I've learned in the business world that just like Martha sometimes you have to play the bitch card. Unlike a lot of people I've learned that it's best to pick your battles and this was NOT one I was going to pass on. I fired off a 'reply all' that thanked O for organizing the fundraiser and then directed a line at L that said "I'm sure if you volunteered to organize something for B plenty of people would be willing to participate." I got a ton of IMs and emails from people thanking me for saying something, that they just couldn't think of anything they could say 'nicely'. So I felt like I did a good deed today. A few minutes later L sent an email (to me only) and said 'she is not much of an organizer but it's about time someone should organize something for B'. WTF? I CAN NOT STAND people who point a finger but aren't willing to pitch in. Way to be a leader. Don't poop on the party if you weren't even willing to bring some pretzels. I can't stand people like that, they really do disgust me. Enough about work, that's my rant for the day.

I'm loving all the marathon reports! Also, check out David's post about all the weird amenities at the Disney race he did last weekend. Very strange, but it seems like they REALLY know how to throw a race!

Rachel

Exercise:
Mon - 1 mile am walk with Pip, 15 minutes elliptical, 40 minutes racquetball, 20 minutes yoga/toning (focus:abs)
Tues - 1 mile am walk with Pip, 5.3 mile run, 20 minutes toning/stretching (focus:abs)