Are we really that cute?

Christmas is over so it's back to work. Ugh! I wish I was one of the lucky people like most of you who have this week off, but since most of the place is deserted this isn't TOO bad of a place to be. My boss is off for the next two weeks and I really couldn't ask for more than that!!

With all of the holiday activities my running plan has gotten totally off since last Friday's long run. I know I haven't mentioned much about it, but there's really not a lot to mention. I ran over at our local Smyrna Greenway, which really has the best trails of Nashville. When I started out (around 9 am) there was only one other car in the parking lot, which stunk because I really need to see people to stay motivated. The temp was 38, which isn't bad at all. I did 5 one-mile laps around the main park and ditched my running gloves at the car as I passed and headed out on the Greenway. I'm trying to stay slightly warmer than comfortable on these training runs aince I know Miami will be warmer than here. That's really the best way I've thought of to even remotely mimic race conditions, if anyone has any tips I'd love to hear them! From the Greenway I headed out past the Rehab Center and immediately noticed my new fave porta potty from the week before was gone. Total Blasphemy!! So far everything was feeling pretty good, with some slight twinges in my left foot that had appeared earlier in the week. (I've been trying to wear comfy shoes as much as possible, but it seems that even moderate chunky heel boots are aggravating the foot - making dressing for work pretty difficult. I've been wearing some worn out loafer type shoes that are easy to slip off under my desk to help the foot issue. I could care less about all the stupid smelly feet comments I've been getting. A) That joke is SO worn out and B)Hey assholes, how about you get off your a$$ and train for a marathon? Got anything else to say? I didn't think so). More than anything I was suffering for run boredom. When the trails are empty and I'm by myself escaping boredom is pretty tough. I like having people to 'chase' and things to attempt to catch up to. An empty trail is my enemy. I guess I'm part of the Generation that needs constant entertainment, huh? I'm perfectly content listening to my thoughts for an hour or so, but when I know it's just my brain for four hours, I start to get a bit antsy.

(Side note: If my cubicle neighbor does NOT stop humming country music I'm going to toss my stapler over the wall. I swear I'll do it.)

So, I was pretty excited when I got to the place where you either cross a fairly busy road for an additional Greenway or turn around to head back to the park and saw new trail! Yeah! The weekend before it was still loose gravel but now it was paved! Not totally paved - just that first coat that looks like it might still be wet, but good enough for me. So, I ignored the plethora of "Greenway Closed for Construction" signs and kept trucking. No Habla Ingleis??? The new Greenway goes all the way down to another park that's really just a boat dock for the lake. I followed the path around the lake which abruptly ends before you even get to the lake. Then I went around the other way that also abruptly ends at the boat ramps. It was nice to run on a new path, and it added several miles (including some hills, ugh!!) to my normal route. When I turned around to head back I was right around Mile 11. The path back was hilly, and the stupid wind was blowing right at me, socking me in the gut. Mile 11 was so incredibly tough. I hate hills and more than hills I hate wind working against me on hills. Around Mile 15 I was back at the car and Brent pulled in right as I was changing out my empty bottles for new ones! Yeah!! He was super happy and upbeat and ready to run the rest of the way with me. We did a couple of 1-mile laps around the main park and I stopped to use the park potties at Mile 16. (The porta potty last week was much cleaner!!)

My body was so tired - doing a 20+ mile run 6 days after a 23 mile run during the holidays is torture. I was so tired that I thought about just staying on the park potty for a long, long time. But, I was ready to get the run over with and move on with my day!! So, back out we headed and back towards the new path. We turned around where the new path began because I was pretty certain I was going to stop around 20 miles. Right when we turned around it was the stupid wind and the stupid hill again. This was right at 21 miles so I decided I was DONE. I wasn't having a bit of fun at that point and what I really wanted to do was slow down, do some walking and hold hands with my hubby. So that's what we did for a couple of miles. (I ended up at 23 miles for the day.) The temps had climbed to 58 by now and I was totally overdressed (there was no way I could take off my tights!!) Here's a newsflash: I am NOT going to win the Miami Marathon, come close to qualifying for Boston, or set any course records. So, training should be fun, right? I take this stuff way too seriously, and this run was a reminder to have fun with it and not try to kill myself or mess with any injuries by pushing the mileage more than it should be. I know I'm going to finish, and it may not be pretty, but I want to enjoy the experience. If that means I walk the last few miles then so be it. There's nothing in the world wrong with that. I've only got a couple of long runs left (yeah!!) so I'm going to try to take them a little more lightly and just enjoy the experience.

Yesterday we did some shopping at the mall/Target. It was unbearably crowded. We had lunch at the mall and split up. I wanted Si Senor Burrito and Brent wanted Chinese. The guy in line in front of me was asking a lot of questions about the tortillas (actually, he really only had one question but had to phrase it about 15 different ways since the burrito maker spoke little/no English.) Then he mentioned to me he couldn't have wheat/gluten products. THAT would be a tough problem to have! We had a long time to talk since the line was uber slow. It turns out he had moved here 2 days ago from Chicago. I told him Nashville was OK, but not nearly as much fun as Chicago. He said he liked the nice, quiet environment and our "cute" accents. I laughed and said the sad thing was I really didn't think I had one. He laughed out loud and raised his eyebrows at me and said "Are you serious?" So I had to clarify my statement and say that I know I have a mega Southern accent but to me (in my head) I sound like anyone else. Maybe in 2006 I should work on toning down the accent and trying to acquire a Northern accent.

Why does it always smell like a movie theater in here? I don't work in a theater, restaurant or place that has a theater or restaurant in it yet it CONSTANTLY smells like food. Also in 2006 I am going to count how many bags of popcorn my obese, lazy, trollish coworkers pop each day. It will shock you. Maybe I'll add a running counter on the side or something. I should also count how many fights my coworker gets into with her stripper husband. (Seriously, he is a stripper.) Don't ya just love the South? It doesn't get much cuter than this.....