Phitness report

Did a quick 4-miler after work today. I really dig running after work... it means I get to sleep in the morning - something I happen to be a fan of. My legs are finally back to normal and I don't have to hold onto the toilet and brace myself when I sit down anymore. I'm still not sure if I'm ready for this marathon, though. I think about it everyday and wonder if I can really do it. My training really has been subpar and I just don't know. But, alas, the plane tickets and hotel are booked so there's no turning back now.

I feel like posting random pictures:


This one was taken in a hotel room in Paris.

And here's the actual, tiny hotel room in all its glory (don't mind the strange man...) The room was sooooo small. The bathroom door touched the bed when completely open and never really closed all the way. Whenever one of us had to, ummm, er, 'go poo-poo', the other one was ordered out onto the 9-inch-deep balcony (which I'm standing out on in order to take this picture).

Greetings from the crater.

Here are more pictures from S. Korea. The top three are from a crater on an island. The last one is from the trail going up Mt. Hallasan-the hardest climb I've ever done.

I'm lovin' it.

So, Maggie Wang's got a fancy, schmancy site up now for all you chickadees in the fitness racket. I'm signed up and gearing up for the Lean, Mean, Halloween Challenge. I've set up my goals and am very much looking forward to the added motivation.

Phitness-wise, today was pretty uneventful. My legs are still ridiculously sore---causing me to walk like I've been sliding down firehouse poles all afternoon. I did a halfhearted upper body workout after work with the mister, but we were both kinda pooped and hungry.

Watched The Biggest Loser.... we all knew Nick was gonna be sent packing.

Hmmm, that's all for tonight. I'm getting up tomorrow morning to try and get a run in, anything, even if it means just walking for an hour---only 40 more days!

Korea pics trickle in...

I'm slowly digging through some of the pictures from my recent visit to South Korea. I'll have to dig through my journal and blog some of the 'special' experiences. I think it must be like childbirth..... you have to forget the pain before you're ready to relive it.

Here I am with ice cream all over my shirt. It was about 95-100 degrees when we went to visit this palace, so we stopped off for some ice cream. Things to remember: chocolate ice cream, me, and a white shirt do not mix well.
Here's Mr. Phitlee working his way up some crazy-ass steps near the top of Mt. Seorak 2 (not really it's name... just the name I gave it---it's near Mt. Seorak):

Here's the HaHaHoHoSHOW in Itaewon. Mr. Phitlee actually thought it was a comedy club....hahahoho...

And here are tiny puppies for sale in Dongdaemun. It took every ouce of self-control to refrain from grabbing them all and rescuing them from the subway vendor.

And yours-truly again at the base of the cave we we toured. Can't remember the name to save my life, but I remember the climb being quite difficult, to put it lightly.

Everybody hurts.

If you’ve ever wondered what it feels like to have two broken legs, go run 15 miles when your lazy ass ain’t ready and call me in the morning.

I woke up this morning needing to head down into the basement for something and it probably took me about 4 minutes to take 15 steps---and I could only do it sideways, one step at a time. I’m hurtin’, people.
However, I deserve it. I should’ve known better. Lesson learned

In other news, I hate my new job with a passion. I work for the weirdest bunch of pre-menopausal woman you could imagine. It’s run by two chicks who seem to hate each other. Working there is like having your mom and dad fighting constantly, all with you in the middle trying to figure out what to do to make it stop. It’s the most bizarre experience; one boss will come in and explain a task to you very quickly and leave. The other one will breeze in moments later asking why you did that prior task the way you did since it was clearly wrong and you should have known better. I’m repeatedly addressed as if I’m five years old and just fell off the turnip truck. It’s silly, really, yet oh-so-frustrating.

One more thing: I wish they would open up a goddamn dictionary once in a while and see that the correct terminology is ‘orient’, not ‘orientate’. I have been listening to these people say ‘orientate’ daily for almost two months and it’s driving me up a wall!

Now, there have been some highlights to my career as a recruiter for a staffing agency. For example:

I interviewed someone who’s last job title was ‘artificial inseminator for a poultry farm’ (although not quite spelled that way on his application). When we started discussing his job duties there, I couldn’t contain myself. I acted like I had something caught in my throat and excused myself for the ladies room. I was dying…. I just kept imagining this poor kid with his pants around his ankles chasing turkeys.

Then there was the ‘fire-watcher’. His job was to stand in a corner and watch for fires on the job site. I completely lost it on that one.

Friday, I had the ‘potato specialist’. He was an agricultural scientist from Pakistan who studied the different strains of diseases in potatoes. He was so excited to talk about his prior work…. I just wanted to know if he still eats ‘em.

Then there was the interesting fellow who kept touching his dirty parts while I was interviewing him. I don’t know if the cat had jock-itch or what, but I was a little creeped out…

My roses really smell like boo-boo.

Oh the horrors of a long run.

The day started out pretty uneventful: woke up around 6:00-ish, listened to the alarm clock for an ungodly amount of time (snooze, sleep, alarm, snooze, sleep, alarm...), finally got out of bed at 8:00-ish, had some coffee and Smart Start cereal because I hear that's what they'll be serving for brekky at the 'thon---I'll have to double-check that, then at 9:45a went on my merry, little way after a satisfying bathroom pit-stop.

I decided to hit the road today as opposed to the trail because I haven't done a good asphalt long run in quite some time. All was well for the first 9-ish miles. Mr. Phitlee had told me about his longest run that led him to a car dealership. He talked about that long run the way an old man reminisces about a great event in their life. His eyes sparkle a little bit and there’s a smidge of pain written on his face. Imagine my surprise when I saw that dealership at the halfway mark which is about 7.5 miles out. (???-he told me that it was a 20 miler….hmmph). Anyway, I was on cloud nine---practically skipping as I turned around. I felt good, a little tired, but still energetic. I had only been running about 80 minutes or so, so I still felt like I had some gas in the tank. I honestly thought that if this is what it felt like, then the marathon is going to be a piece of cake.
My shit did not stank at that very moment.

Then….

Around 9-point-something miles, things got a bit ugly. I felt a rock under the tongue of my shoe and it was starting to rub funny. I knew I would have to pick it out, but whenever I stop on a run, my lower back starts to ache really bad and I have a tough time gearing up for the rest of the run-nevermind the fact that I was running on a pretty hilly stretch of road. After I worked out the little bugger, my hips and legs turned to stone and running was becoming a real pain in the neck. I tried to keep the pace up as hard as I could, but the hills were proving to be a bit much so I had to…...sigh......walk for a while. I looked like an idiot with my water-bottle pack, gels, painful expression on my face and a gait that would make you wince.

I tried the walk, jog, walk-funny, walk, jog, walk-funny for quite a while and when I was about 2 miles from home, I just gave up on the ‘jog’ part. It was getting pointless because after the jog, I was feeling so shitty and recovery time was taking way too long. At this point, it was about 12:50p and I remembered the note that I left on the door for Mr. Phit stating the approximate time I should be back (I put the road that I was running down and the guesstimate of time---should anything go awry, he would be able to scoop me up). I was wondering if I’d see his car racing up and battling with myself as to whether I’d accept a ride or ask for another bottle of water instead. It was huuuuuumid and balmy in a terrible way and the bottle of H20 that I brought along was being rationed in a way that did not match my sweating.

When I finally got to our driveway, his garage door was slowly coming up and I saw him with a fresh bottle of icy water-keys in hand. Apparently, he was getting ready to send out the one-man search party since I’d been gone pretty long. I actually anticipated being out for about 3 hours (90 minutes out, 90 minutes back) and it turned out to be 3 hours, 20 minutes for 15.39 miles (25.6k for you Canadians out there).

When I got settled inside, my stomach was doing some interesting things. I decided to take a quick shower and that turned out to be a HUGE mistake. I was still too overheated and nauseous and thought I was going to puke right then and there so I had to jump out and sit for a second, sopping wet, just to get my bearings. I left the soap in my hair, bundled up into my robe and towel and went straight to the bedroom to lie down. I felt like poo for about 2-3 hrs and then, magically, all was well-again and I was starving.

Lessons learned? I’m not sure. Here are my guideposts for a better 15-miler:

1. At least 3 runs during the week that are in the 4-6 mile range.
2. Keep nutrition at the BFL standards-extra carbs for free-day longs.
3. Run as early as possible to avoid the wicked, satanic, horrendous, mid-day heat.
4. Stash another bottle of iced water in a bush somewhere along my route.
5. Be mindful to take it slow in the beginning so I don’t conk out in the end.
6. Skip the caffeine-laced energy gels because they obviously make me delusional.