Thursday, August 26, 2010

Life, A.L. Thursday 13.

Dear Diary,

13.  Signs, part 1.  While in Leadville, Baboo and I noticed this sign:. 
So, I'm not sure why "Asian" was in quotation marks.  

Is it just pretend Asian food?
Is it figuratively, but not literally, Asian?
Is it, *wink wink* "Asian"?

and what's with the dot, dot, dot?




12.  Signs, part 2: Then there's this one: 


Um, can I have a side order of BITTER with that?  A second sign in this restaurant lists rules for mountain bikers and racers on what can and cannot be worn and how to behave.  Yet a third sign in this establishment informs you: "We are one of the few restaurants left in town, so be patient waiting for your order."

So, let's break this down:
We like your dollars, but we hate you, and we feel utterly self-entitled as "locals," to turn our noses up at the people who provide our tax base. We're also blaming our business problems on a president who has been in office for less than 2 years, rather than our uninspiring menu and our hostile, crappy attitude.   
 
Um, PASS.  I do not want my food prepared by bitter, angry people, regardless of their politics.  I was told by friends that even the hostess was rude.  There are actually several very good places in town to eat other than this one, which apparently is for sale.


11.  Annoying, part 1.   No matter how awesome you think your ringback tone is, I promise you somebody, somewhere, is grinding their teeth while waiting for you to answer your phone.  Ones I've heard lately: "Nasty Girl," and, "It's Five O'Clock Somewhere."
Seriously?
Are you really expecting someone to hire you after hearing that?  

10.  Annoying, part 2.  I have a daughter who refuses to email me, insists that I call her and is now attempting to emotionally blackmail me into calling her NOW.  No, NOW.  I want to talk NOW, because everyone knows that moms have no life. Ahem.  Well. Many, many others (students, for instance) have tried emotional blackmail, and they wore it out. I was a bit BUSY, this past weekend, m'kay?? Read and  write, chicka, if you want to be in touch.   


9.  Altitude.  Once I'd gotten past my 30 hours of headaches, nausea, and fatigue, I went for a nice, 6 mile run that was mostly on an old railroad bed. Some paved, some not.  Here's a picture. Very cool.  Since I was at 10,000 feet, it felt like fall. It's already fall in Leadville.  Beautiful.  I can't wait for fall!


8.  Attitude.  Lest you be put off by my comment on the local restaurant in #12, I loved just about all of Leadville. The country is beautiful, and 99% of the people there, like anywhere, were perfectly lovely.  The blonde-streaked-hair lady at the Proving Grounds Coffee shop was a bit bitchy, but maybe she was just having a bad day.  Or three bad days.  In a row.  

7. Brush with greatness, part 1: I was told Deseree Flicker was at the Leadville 100 race.
I told DreadPirate she should trip her "by accident" and then help her up, so that she should tell everyone that she got to touch and talk to Deseree Flicker (She ignored me). I confess, I had to search my brain for who she was.  I'm not one for remembering sports icons.  I'd barely remember Lance, if it weren't for his name being constantly repeated by my friends who are all involved in a cycling cult.

6. Brush with greatness, part 2: My friend Courtney is in the next (September) issue of Fitness magazine.  Pick up a copy.  She's on her bike, and it's a feature on how fitness has improved the lives of women.  She's wearing her New Mexico Outlaws uniform.  KEWL. 


5. Life, A.L.  (After Leadville).  I had this brilliant idea that I would look up people who finished close to me at various events.  I would find out what their times were at other events that I'd also done, as well.  Then see if they had done Javalena, to get an idea of what time I should be counting on.
But. So.  It turns out that,  Most people?  Who are as slow as I am?  And live out here?  Usually they've done 1-2 ultras, total.  Unless they are in their 70s.

4. Insulation.  I'm not sure what to expect from this winter, given that I've lost most of mine.  

3. Training.  I've put in 175 miles for August so far. My knees and ankles, quads and hamstrings have all stopped aching. It is much longer into the run that I feel tired and ready to quit.  Saturdays, I have a long, long run, but Sundays, my medium-long runs are being changed to long power walks.  Power walking is very useful in ultras, but it uses a completely different set of muscles.  It's one of my strengths, and I frequently pass people at the end of these things, walking, because even people that run faster than I can often can't walk faster than I can. 

2.  Insulation, Part 2.  I walked into the first day of fall classes on Tuesday, and people who hadn't seen me since April did a double take (OMG I LOVE THAT!!!!!) and asked me how much weight I had lost over the summer.  Um, over the summer?  I guess about 10 pounds.  
  • How did you do it?

  • WeightWatchers.

  • Wow, WeightWatchers did that?

  • Oh, and also I run about 50 miles a week now. 

    >cricket<  >cricket<  

  • So, do you think WeightWatchers will work for me? 

Well, Virginia, probably.  But the truth is, I cheat.  I lot.  I always track it, mind you, but I get to store up a lot of those running points for my more-than-occasional fried food binges.  If running does nothing else, it does that: Allows me to indulge in my crappy eating habits a bit more than I should.


1.  Insulation, part 3.   My weight, as charted from February 1:


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8 comments:

  1. Oh, wow... I love reading your posts, as they 1) ALWAYS give me something to think about, and 2)OFTEN make me laugh. This post did both! I especially enjoyed (related to?) #10 and #3.

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  2. I am glad that overall you liked Leadville! Despite their attempts to scare you away. I, too, love the second glances from people I have not seen in awhile. That is very gratifying!

    Congrats on the weight loss!

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  3. You should check out this "blog" - it's "awesome".

    http://www.unnecessaryquotes.com/

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  4. Hi there,

    I have very recently started to follow your blog and don't know a whole lot about you (I have some catching up to do) but really enjoying your posts.

    Did you know that your blog is featured on the "50 Informative & Inspiring Blogs for Triathletes" ? (http://www.physicaltherapyassistantschools.org/50-informative-inspiring-blogs-for-triathletes/)

    I found out about that website through a blog
    I've been following for over a year now - Training Payne : http://trainingpayne.blogspot.com/

    So basically came upon your blog pretty much as a fluke and am enjoying myself. I think that what you are accomplishing is amazing!

    I've lost 70lbs, done a couple of half-marathons, some sprint tri's and one Olympic distance triathlon and am now toying with the idea of doing a half-ironman. Anyways... have put on 20 lbs back and need to lose them (again). Thinking of going back to WW and reading that you are doing it online and it's working for you makes me think of going back (I did lose my initial 70lbs with WW - the core plan).

    Anyways, babbling on here. :) Keep up the great work and the good reads!

    Zoey (from Ottawa, Ontario, Canada)

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  5. Love this post! I also love the double takes even though my journey is still in the beginning stages, it's still a difference. I also love the conversation... people ask me what I'm doing to lose weight and I say "I work my ass off at the gym... oh, I'm also training for a full marathon" and they are like soooo... what diet are you doing? Me: I don't diet. LOL. Keep up the good work! I see you're near your goal!

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  6. I do not get a double take, unless I talk about running then they usually say "You run?" in an incredulous tone that threatens their very f-ing existence. Whatever.

    You look beyond amazing. I know, it is not supposed to be about that. We modern women are supposed to be comfortable in our skin regardless as of size, it is about health and fitness, blah, blah, blah... Most days, I even believe that.

    That said, you are healthy, you are fit, AND you look amazing. So there.

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  7. I'd love to know the secret to fast walking. I'm one of the wimps you pass when I'm reduced to a walk. I'm trying some weight lifting and weighted hikes, but not sure whether it will help. Any advice?

    Good job with the weight loss. Bet you feel better in all sorts of ways.

    Cynthia

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  8. That sign also features incorrect usage: it should say "there ARE not enough workers," not "there's." I would love to attach a post-it note saying that to an obnoxious sign like that.

    Oh, and good job on the training and weight loss too. ;-)

    ReplyDelete

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