Wanted: Thoughts and Opinions

I’m not clever by any means, but I thought that with all my time spent at work, I’d “blog” on paper on my break and then just retype it when I got home so I could save some time and be able to do other things in the evening… genius right?!

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One of the radio stations I usually listen to is playing Christmas music.  Not only on weekends, but 24/7!  Don’t get me wrong… Christmas is my most favorite holiday, but I do not listen to Christmas music until Thanksgiving OR the first snow.  (Whichever comes first)  With 72 degree, sunny weather, it’s hard to even think about snow!  BUT… all the Christmas music and holiday store decor has got me thinkin’.

In the knitting community (yes, I knit AND crochet… lay off the old lady jokes) we do these things called swaps.  They usually have a theme and a price limit and then everyone gets partnered up and they send each other goodies.  Seriously… this is a HUGE deal on Ravelry!!** 

So I figured, why not try out a little swap-like action in the running community?!  My idea is to “swap” Christmas cards…  Depending on how many participants we had, I would break it up into groups and everyone in that group would send everyone else in their group a Christmas card.  That’s why I want your thoughts… I would love to hear if you all would be interested in doing something like this or if you think it’s kind of stupid…  If I get atleast 5 people that say they’re interested I’ll go ahead and get the details put together and make it official.

So… What do you think?

 

**Ravelry is an online knitting and crochet community

Three Things Thursday

1. I wanted to share a coupon with everyone… If you are thinking about buying a Road ID use this Road ID coupon code for $1 off!  

ThanksZaneta861385

It expires December 9th so use it for all those Road ID Christmas Gifts you’re going to buy ;)

2.  I joined the 2010 Holiday Bootie Buster Challenge over at Run to the Finish…  it’s a really fun way to stay determined over the holidays and reach some goals too :)  PLUS, there are some fun prizes so go check it out!  Click on the button to go to the challenge page.

3.  I have a race this Saturday… The United Way 5k… It’s chip timed so I’m kind of excited… AND it’s in my hometown! :)  I’m going to try to push myself as hard as I can to try to get my sub 25… but If I fail, I know that I have 1 (maybe 2) more 5ks after this to meet my goal before the end of the year!! :D

Happy Veterans Day!! Thank you to those of you who have served for our country!!  Also, to those of you who have the day off… enjoy!  I am heading to work!  Have a great day!

Make Believe… I’m a Pro!

This past weekend was a bust!  I was sick all weekend starting Thursday, and Friday was supposed to be a great day off… I spent it mostly in bed! I’m still feeling some of the effects but I’ve mostly recovered.  So, due to a couple set backs and thinking things through, I’ve decided not to run the Ashland Half Marathon and I’m ok with that because I have a plan forming in my brain! MUAH HAHAHA!! lol… I’m pretty excited for 2011! :D

Today started out great though because the very first thing, I got a call telling me that I wasn’t needed at work… Ok, so I guess that can be both good and bad, but the weather was gorgeous!! Sunny and about 65 degrees!  I definitely had to get outside and go running!!  Due to being sick, I hadn’t gone running since last Tuesday!

My brother decided that he would ride his bike along with me while I ran and he took some pictures of me before we headed out.  Photo Op!! haha… I felt like a pro! ;)  Take a look at some of my favorite pictures (and then go visit my brother’s photography page on facebook HERE):

 

You can click the pictures to make them larger

Why yes, I did custom make some arm sleeves out of a pair of socks… thanks for noticing!  haha, it was kind of chilly when we set off but i didn’t feel like wearing a long sleeve shirt… they worked pretty well and I ended up taking them off about a mile into my run.  My brother put them in one of his kit pockets for me.

We ended up going 4.28 miles, well I ran that and my brother probably rode about double that because he would coast down hills and then come back to where I was and so on and so forth.  When we got back I made myself stretch because being sick made my muscles tight and then I made one of my favoritest (yes, that word is in my vocabulary) protein shakes and hopped in the shower. 

Since then, I’ve been blogging (and working on the layout of mine), relaxing, crocheting, and spending time with my family…  Today is what my Friday was supposed to be like!  God knew that I needed today so badly!  It was a fabulous break from the busyness and stress of my normal weeks!

Do you ever make believe to be something you’re not, just for fun? (seriously… adults can have fun too!)

Bare with me…

I’m trying out some new things with my blog so it may look a little crazy, ugly, chaotic and weird over the next couple of days! :D

Grace Race 5k Recap

First of all, can I just say that this was the worst race experience I have ever had!  BUT it was all my fault!  I was up til 1am the night before doing laundry and eating buddy bars and then had to get up early to get ready for work.  I was hoping to be done working by 9 so I could head to the race that started at 10am.  Well, I didn’t get off work til 9:23am so I booked it to the race which was about 25 minutes away… I was stressing out!!  Then, I went past the road I was supposed to take so I had to turn around.  I called my parents who were meeting me there and had them pick up my packet and as soon as I got there I had enough time to tie my shoes, put my bib on and get to the start… I was so stressed out!  No warming up, no potty break, no nothing lol…  We prayed and then we were off!

I was just not feelin’ it this race… Since I was late I had to start in the back and it’s not chip timed.  It was a hilly course and I passed a few people on the first couple of downhills then came the monster hill… I tried to run up the entire hill but had to walk the last 10-15 feet or so and then I started running again on the downhill and passed a couple of people that had passed me while I was walking… I was so disappointed in myself for giving up and walking part of the hill… it is only 3.1 miles afterall…surely I could’ve pushed through it!

After the hill it was pretty uneventful and there wasn’t any crowd support but then with about 400 meters to go I saw my parents and they said “Come on Zaneta!! Pick it up girl! You’re almost there!”  Well, I shook my head at them like I was done… I just didn’t care anymore, but I’ve always had a finishing kick… even in high school, so I picked it up and pushed it home.  There were a few of the fast guys that came in around 18 minutes that were clapping and cheering, I barely noticed… I was just disappointed in myself for my bad choices the night before, running late, and walking up the hill.  BLEH! Here I am at the finish…

Can you find me?  NO?  Here… let me help you…

  

lol, can you tell by that face that I’m disappointed?  Well, I walked up to my parents and we hugged and then they proceeded to tell me that when they were walking to where they were going to stand to wait for me, they saw a pancake breakfast across the street for donation! HAHA! So they ate breakfast while they were waiting for me to come back around!  How silly are they?  I wish I would’ve joined them!  We stood around talking to a few of the other runners and then headed inside because it was cold!! Then, they had the kids race and then awards.

I knew I probably placed and I could remember only 1 other person at the out and back that was ahead of me that could possibly be in my age group… she wasn’t! lol… I ended up getting 1st in my age group (20-24) with a time of 25:47.  haha, it was a small race with only 79 runners! lol… The time wasn’t as bad as I thought I had done, but it’s not my best time either!  haha, but I told my boyfriend when he called that even though I was disappointed in myself, I GOT FIRST PLACE BABY!! haha…glass is full right?! ;)

I really like the shirt we got in the goody bag!  I love that they put the verse on the back of the shirt too! :)  Here’s a picture of it (you can click to view a bigger pic):

I’ve got 2, maybe 3 more 5ks this year depending on if I want to run Thanksgiving morning or not so ATLEAST 2 more chances to meet my goal of sub 25 before the end of the year!  Any tips from all you speedsters?  I do know that next week I will have to work less hours than I have been so I will definitely be running a couple more days and focusing on hills and speed. 

Good luck to everyone racing this weekend!  I can’t wait to read all your race recaps!!