You Win Some, You Lose some

Hey there. So marathon training was chugging along just fine. I found a training schedule that looked manageable and got to it. Last week my long run was nine miles.

            

Pat on my back, and I kept the general pace I'm gunning for in February. Also, I didn't feel like I was going to die afterwards. My feet were a little sore the next day, but I mean, it's nine miles. So this week the long run was ten miles. I easily could have added an extra mile onto last week's run, so this should be a piece of cake. Let me just add, that I also had a piece of cake before this run (I wish I was lying) which proved to be not the best approach at fueling up said run. So, what was supposed to be ten miles turned into seven miles and then me sitting on the sidewalk and playing with some grass until I felt like I could trust my legs to carry me to my car. So, you know, well on my way to busting out 26.2 miles. 

An important thing about running that I've learned is, if you're not 'feeling it', it's not going to happen. I don't mean before running either. Maybe I'm just speaking for myself but I never wake up or get off work and think in my head 'I sure can't wait to go running!' Doesn't happen. I usually wake up and lay as still as possible doing a mental scan of every muscle and joint in my body, hoping one of them hurts bad enough to warrant not abandoning my post, snuggling with my dog. On my drive home from work, sometimes I cross my fingers that I4 will be its typical I4 self and traffic will turn my twenty five minute drive home into a two hour drive and I won't have time for a run before going to bed. These rarely pan out. So, clearly, before I actually start running I'm never 'feeling it'. I'm referring more to during the run. I can usually tell pretty quickly into a run if it's going to be a good one or not. The first mile is usually so-so, because I start out a little full of myself at too fast of a pace. The second mile is usually spent regretting my mistake of starting out so quickly and trying to catch my breath. The third mile is spent nailing down my pace, and by the fourth mile I usually start to gain some confidence and feel pretty good. That's when I can tell if my run that day will be a good one or not. Needless to say, yesterday's run did not turn out the way I wanted it to. I have chosen to blame it on the water bottle I decided to carry that day. I am apparently not somebody who can carry something and run at the same time. Which fits right in with my 'can't walk and chew gum at the same time' personality. 

Side note:  I do at least feel pretty proud that I've went from just being happy if I made it two miles to being disappointed, for lack of a better word, in a seven mile run.

So what have I learned? Sometimes (very rarely) you shouldn't say yes to cake and my hands demand a certain amount of freedom while running.

So freedom they shall get. But you won't see me running like that today. Today is rollerblading day, so you will most likely see me in a bush or in the lake. I still haven't quite figured out how to brake in those suckers. 

Until next week kids, when I come here to tell you how cake once again foiled my training. 

Is This Thing On?

Don't worry, I haven't forgotten about you, blog. I've just been too busy, or too boring to write about anything, or dancing to Taylor Swift's new songs, or any combination of those things. You choose. Whatever, we all know what I've really been doing:  Charity work. 

She's been hanging out with me, guys. That's it. Nothing else.

Not true! I've been marathon training too. Are you finished laughing? Good, because it's true. Just 101 short days until I do what will hopefully be the hardest thing I ever do in my life because my feet already hurt. Don't worry, this won't turn into a 'running blog', mostly because I typically just complain about running and I'm not knowledgeable enough about it to start doling out advice. I've never really felt like a 'runner' even though I spend more time running more than I do anything else, besides working. I guess I've been waiting for that 'a-ha' moment to happen that makes me feel like one. Hopefully it comes after this marathon, because I've already put a ton of money into it and again, my feet hurt. 

And for anybody who doesn't buy the story that I've basically just been running for the last few months, I'll give you other options: 

1. I've been hiding behind my couch because I've finally watched that one episode of a true crime show that made me crack and I'm now convinced that every last one of you is trying to kill me.

2. I ate so much candy and drank so much coffee that my hands were too shaky to type up any blog posts. 

3. I've finally moved into the dog park and there is nowhere to plug in my laptop, and the wifi isn't so strong there. 

4. And the most believable of them all, Netflix binging. 

And I also picked up lying the last few months, this mayyyybe might kind of turn into a little bit of a running blog on some days, but mostly for accountability. For myself, of course, unless any of you other guys like to drink too much wine and sign up for things you have no business signing up for, then join in on the fun! Kill me.

Again, don't worry though, because the real star of this show will make her regularly scheduled appearances on here.

Although I'm sure some of you guys have gotten your regular doses of my blog's namesake on Instagram, check back here to put stories to that precious face and to make sure I haven't smartened up and thrown in the towel on 26.2 miles of hell.

Later, gators.

Birthday!

Guys. I'm OLD. Like old enough where I had to arrange my birthday shenanigans around baby showers and a friend's son's fourth birthday party. Old enough to refer to myself as 'almost thirty' in conversations. Old enough to need a full eight hours of sleep a day. The only thing making me feel better about this is harassing my dad about being old enough to have a twenty eight year old daughter. No wonder I'm his favorite. Anyways, instead of reflecting on this past year, which has been wonderful, I wanted to think more about the future. So, here are twenty eight things I want to accomplish this year.

1. Pay off all my credit cards. And somebody needs to put some type of law in place that forbids credit card companies from giving those suckers out to anybody under twenty five.

2. Run a marathon. (Already signed up for one of those suckers.)

3. Read more. I did attempt to do that last year, but spent six months on one book because Game of Thrones is hard.

4. Travel more. There are eight year olds out there who have logged more miles than me. What can I say, I love The Sunshine State. 

5. Visit my family more. They drive me a special kind of crazy, but there is a level of happiness that I can only achieve when I'm with them.

6. More girl time. No matter how much any girl describes herself as 'one of the guys', there's just nothing like emerging yourself in weekends dedicated to all things nail polish and wine and gossip.

7. Learn how to knit. Mostly because I have a strong obsession with scarves and hats and would prefer to point at the poorly scarf around my neck and proudly proclaim "I made this!"

8. Go outside more.

9. Complain less. Very few things in my life warrant a complaint out of me and I need to remember that.

10. Drive less. I live about 1/2 of a mile from everything. Time to lessen my carbon footprint and hop on the bike....it's somewhere around here.

11. Smile more. I am the proud owner of a resting bitch face, not smiling tends to scare strangers.

12. Kick this Target addiction.

13. Stop lying about kicking my Target addiction.

14. Quit smoking. This back and forth of not smoking for two months and giving myself permission to have a few cigarettes when I go out needs to go away for good.

15. Eat more veggies. I eat a million different fruits a day, but most veggies make me want a donut.

16. Get a passport. Just in case...

17. Worry less. Apparently turning  twenty eight brings about the wrinkles, so I've seen on my face heard.

18. Make more friends. Making friends as an adult is tricky but you can meet some wonderful people as you get older.

19. Be nicer. I consider myself a pretty  nice person, but I have my moments that I'd love to get rid of.

20. Reconnect. My high school reunion was last month and it put me back in touch with some great people that I don't want to lose touch with again.

21. See snow. I did see it once when I was three. I think Lake City got a solid 1/2 an inch of snow that we enjoyed for roughly an hour. I'm not a fan of the cold, but I could really get on board with sitting in a cabin and looking at some snow covered mountains out of a window.

22. Volunteer more. Every week I tell myself I'm going to volunteer at the ASPCA on Saturdays, but you know, sleep. 

23. Go pick up both my diplomas from UCF that have been sitting there since 2009, because I just can't bring myself to deal with the parking ever ever again.

24. Save, save, save. I'm not sure for what yet, but I do know that currently my savings account will possibly only buy me the front door to a new house. And maybe a welcome mat. 

25. More me time. My down time has seriously suffered the past few months and I can feel it everywhere.

26. Say adios to caffeine. The idea of surviving without it makes me twitch a little bit, which is a problem.

27. Convince the boyfriend that we NEED another dog. Anybody want to help me with a PowerPoint presentation?

28. Relax. My life is easy and happy and full of love and it wouldn't hurt to sit back and take that all in once in a while.

Here's hoping #27 happened and I'm playing with the new puppy I got for my birthday. Or the rollerblades I asked for. Either way, somebody's probably peeing on the floor or I'm wishing I had a helmet on.

PAR-TAY.

I Love You Like XO

Hello there!  Welcome to Monday, guys.  This Monday, I like. See, on this Monday, four years ago, my world got just a little better when I asked the boy I couldn't stop thinking about to be my boyfriend. Actually, I kind of just told him he was my boyfriend, but whatever.  He didn't object. I've never been much of a patient person so I definitely wasn't waiting around for him to ask me out.

            

The concept of long term commitment always seemed so foreign to me.  Whether it be because of my inability to hold interest in something for more than two seconds, or being a child of divorce, I truly believed I would never be interested in something long term with somebody. How are people with each other for decades? People change every minute of every day.  I just never saw it working for me.  It sounds cliché, but it took the right person.  The right person who I never saw coming. 

I still, and will always remember the first night we officially met and hung out.  A stranger approached us while we were talking and complimented us on what an adorable couple we were.  We laughed and thanked her but told her we were just friends.  I remember where we were, what he was wearing, what I was wearing, and the way he looked at me when she said that, and I knew this, whatever it ended up being, was going to be good.  And it was been.  So so good.  All of the ups, the very few downs, and everything in between has been more than I could have ever hoped for out of a relationship. 

           

It's funny how every little thing I've done and every little choice I've made up until this day four years ago put him in front of me.  Some of those choices were mistakes, but I thank God I every day I made them. If I never took a certain job or let a certain person break my heart or decided to go out a certain night, things might not be where there are now.  And if guess I wouldn't have known what I was missing if I never had met him, but I think somewhere, deep down, I would have felt different.  I would have known that something wasn't quite right in my life. 

Building a life with him has just come so natural to me.  I never thought twice about moving in with him, owning pets with him, buying furniture, all kinds of mundane, adult things that tie me to him long term, because I've been in this 100% from day one.  

I love you, dude.  These four years with you have simultaneously flown by too fast and felt like forever.  You make me happy all the time and I look forward to everything with you. Especially if you'll please let me have more pets.

              

(Sorry for making anybody throw up on a Monday.  Carry on.)

Long Lost Sister

Guys, the most serious thing in all of history happened to me yesterday.

Actually, two serious things happened:

First off, Joey FINALLY caught a frisbee for the first time ever.  She typically just lets it smack her in the head or she tries to catch it with her paws like she's a person or something.  But yesterday, she straight up caught it in her mouth, out of the air, and I almost cried like a proud mom should.

I just caught this.

So after Joey was finished catching frisbees and being awesome I posted a picture of her on Instagram being pretty, because it's what the people want to see, which caused the second awesome thing to happen.

I also happened to check in at the dog park with this picture, so when a random stranger happened to be flipping through the pictures taken at Fleet Peoples, he stumbled upon that picture up there and thought it was his dog.  The following conversation ensued:

Guys, I FOUND JOEY'S SISTER.  I didn't want to be all rude and just blast his name all over my blog, because, I mean, millions of readers, but if you go to my Instagram page you can figure it out, which makes crossing out the name pointless, but whatever.  Internet etiquette or something.  IRREGARDLESS.  I'm 75,000 times more excited about this than any person should ever be about something not related to winning the lottery.  I told Joey about it and she licked my nose, which I took as "Mom, you're not crazy, I'm just as excited as you are about this." 

I will most likely film a reunion and it will be the most important story Oprah ever tells.  Obviously.  I'm now on a mission to hunt down the entire litter for the best puppy play date of all time.  So, if you see anybody with a dog who looks like Joey walking around Orlando, don't warn them that a crazy girl is looking for them.

Annnd, in other pet news, my oldest babe turns 3 today!

Happy Birthday, Penny!  Thank you for showing me that something with four legs can actually be sane.  I love you more than the craziest of cat ladies loves her cats.

Enjoy your Thursday, dudes.  I have t-shirts to make for the canine family reunion.  This is how people end up with restraining orders, isn't it?

Flashback Friday

This post brought to you by the fact that I am a million years old. 

#notahighschooler

It's true.  Somehow, I woke up one day as a girl in her late twenties. Girl in her late twenties sounds ridiculous, doesn't it? I should feel comfortable saying woman or lady, but I don't. I've been trying to figure out how to refinance my car for the past three months, there's no way I'm either one of those adult words. But, I sit here, on the eve of my ten year high school reunion, trying to wrap my brain around the fact that I'm not panicking over calculus homework or stressing over winning softball games any longer.  I own things (like debt), my insurance cards have my name and my name only on them, and I have an IRA, that I know absolutely nothing about, but I have one.  Am I a full fledged adult now?  

It's funny to think back to when I graduated high school (seriously, ten years ago!) where I thought I would be now compared to where I actually am now.  Twenty eight years old is up there, surely I thought I would be married with three or four kids.  The thought of that now is laughable, although the laughter gets quieter and quieter every year.  It's more of a snicker now, letting me know that I in fact, am old enough to do that kind of stuff, and should maybe get on it. (All puns intended.)  So, although silly high school Tina fully expected to be married and finished procreating by this age, like my mom was, I'm totally cool with not achieving that goal just yet. That would have required me marrying somebody I dated in my early twenties and, throw me off a bridge.  I'm glad I waited for this dude.

High school Tina definitely had different ideas for a career as well. There was the super naive side of me that was 100% sure I would somehow make a career out of softball. I was OBSESSED as soon as I picked up my first bat at eight years old. 

You're welcome for this.

Don't get me wrong, I was good. I was really good, but not 'play in the Olympics good' like where I thought I was headed. Needless to say, that didn't happen. I spend my nights working at a sleep lab at a job I never even knew existed.  Even when I started college as a psych major, I never ever thought I would be doing anything medical related, but here I am, three years deep working at a hospital and throwing in the occasional co-ed softball game or two to keep the dream alive.

When I was in high school, I knew I wanted to move away for college, but I was definitely coming back to my hometown when I finished.  I loved growing up in a small town.  But now, Orlando feels like home and the idea of ever leaving here is crazy to me. How did I deal with having to drive 40 minutes to nearest decent mall, two lane roads, and last call being at 1:00, for the love of God?  

I was even wrong about my preference of pets in high school. Your girl was TERRIFIED of dogs.  Like, refuse to get out my car and go in your house if you had one, terrified. I was destined to a life full of cats, and was absolutely fine with that.  Now?  I'm the proud co-parent of a two year old lab mix that I can't and will never get enough of.

I still have some cats running around, so I wasn't completely wrong.

My life is nothing like I thought it would be, but that's ok.  Anybody who graduated high school with me and tells you they are exactly where thought they would be ten years after graduation is either lying to you or actually got their letter from Hogwarts. 

When I bring up the topic of high school around most people my age, they usually cringe.  I loved high school.  There weren't a lot of us there and most of us knew each other since preschool.  I had a genuinely, pleasant high school experience, minus the few hateful idiots who didn't appreciate the extra 40 pounds I carried around through most of high school.  Thanks to Facebook, I see that most of you were nice enough to match my weight loss with a weight gain.  If I were still in high school, this would be where I would tell you to suck it, but I'm an adult now and can use curse words, so, eat shit.

Moral of the story? High schoolers are dumb.

Too cool for school.

Going Back to the Dark Side

Happy Monday! Bear with me today, this post is probably going to come off as much more dramatic than it should be.  I'm a female, shoot me.  Anyways, I had to make a kind of difficult decision this weekend after making a really dumb one last week. 

If you remember correctly, I busted out a half marathon a few months back. 

And I know you remember, because I still like to brag about it.  Also, I'm one of those obnoxious people with a 13.1 sticker on the back of their car.  Get over it.  Anyways, after a few months of mulling it over, I decided on Friday to put myself through that again....times two.

That's right.  I've tricked myself into thinking I can run 26.2 miles.  Even worse, I paid for it.  I have eight months to train, so no panicking quite yet, but I'll get there. 

Back to the point of this post.  I've spent the past five years being a vegetarian/pescatarian.  A year of that I spent avoiding all things animal related as a vegan.  I gave up being a vegan after I got pretty heavy into running and was getting easily injured.  I just couldn't find the right balance of food that gave me everything I needed with my level of activity.  I'm well aware that plenty of people are able to find this balance, but I just couldn't make it work for me.  I didn't have the time or money to put into my diet that was necessary.  Switching to being a vegetarian did the trick, and I was running with zero problems.  A few years later, I found myself in the same situation, so I added fish every once and a while, and again, problem solved.  So, we are again.  I find myself needing to change my diet.  I don't like to eat fish enough to get what I need in my diet.  Being a vegetarian and being a picky eater don't usually go hand and hand. It wasn't a big deal until now.  Now, I am going to put my body through hell.  I will do the hardest thing I will probably ever physically do.  So, it's time to throw in my vegetarian hat.  I feel ashamed.  (Like I said, dramatic.)  Don't get me wrong, I'm not gnawing on steaks over here.  Pork and beef will still be off limits.  Finding free range chicken is much easier than finding a place that gets their bacon from a place that doesn't torture its animals.

I feel like I've given up.  Like I'm losing at something.  But, running a marathon is important to me, and being healthy is important to doing that.  Again, I'm aware that lots of people lay off animal products and are extremely athletic, but I've done my research, and I don't think it's doable for me. 

My intention is to go back to being a vegetarian after/if I get through this, but we'll see. 

On the plus side, I'm going to be much less of a pain in the ass on Thanksgiving this year.

Birds, forgive me.