Polar Plunge Survivors!

I have to say, jumping into the icy river wasn't as bad as I expected. The water was 41 degrees, and we had all taken a couple shots of schnapps before our plunge, so we were pretty well off! The coolest part was that we raised over $350 for the Special Olympics, and were plunging next to a group who had a family member who participates in the Special Olympics. It was a wacky event, but it was lots of fun! I'm the one in the green flannel and pink hot pants in that video. Keeping it classy, you know. Shawna has red flannel and a home-made ax--we were lumber jacks, and also had an Otter Pop mascot!

Afterward I participated in some beer drinking. Saturday I hiked a butte and did laundry. And today I enjoyed some more wonderful sunshine while I ran a little over an hour up the river trail, followed by a ridiculous adventure on my bicycle. You see, I reset my ipod in attempt to pacify it and make it work again--but I still need to calibrate it. I mapquested the nearest high school to find a track, and set off on my bicycle. Turns out that the nearest high school is atop a freaking MOUNTAIN. Holy burning thigh muscles. I made it there, eventually, only to discover that they lock away there track and don't allow public use. No calibration for me today--but I did discover a near running trail nearish to my house! It will be excellent if I want to run hill sprints, because did I mention it is on top of a mountain?

I really like not being sick anymore (and am glad that jumping into a river didn't make me more sick). I'm also really digging the sunshine. Please spring, stick around for awhile!

This one time, we put on old prom/bridesmaid dresses and had a photoshoot.

Veronica Mars is my hero.

Remember the photo from Sunday, of my sweet couch setup, complete with comfy blanket, pillow, kleenex, and water?

Still rocking it. I've been home sick from work for two days, and effectively miserable from a horrible cold. No working out, no sense of doing anything productive... Just me, the couch, and Veronica Mars. I've made it through the whole first season in attempt to rid myself of germs (especially since I have to jump into a river on Friday!) and have come to the following conclusion: Veronica Mars is awesome.

This show was canceled after only three seasons, and clearly, that was a mistake. I introduced both Shawna and my sister to its awesomeness, and feel that everyone who has not yet seen it should watch. Seriously. I'll lend you the first season. Do it.

Here are the top ten reasons I wish I were more like Veronica Mars:

1. She's hilarious. Sarcasm with a tiny dose of hilarity, please.
2. She's very physically fit. Ability to jump over the back of a convertible to outrun the crowd of secret society members chasing her? Check.
3. She carries a taser. Who doesn't need one of those?
4. She can solve crimes. Seems to be an efficient talent to have.
5. She has cute clothes, and great hair (only after the first season).
6. She is very assertive and speaks her mind. Holy woman power!
7. She can run background checks. I just know my mailman has been up to something in his past...
8. She can imitate a wide variety of accents. When is that not useful?

Okay, I only came up with 8. What can I say, I'm sick! Back to the couch... I plan to make a miraculous recovery by tomorrow.

Oh, weekend.

Turns out I'm ill with some sort of death virus. Fail. My weekend has so far consisted of a work party, followed by a Saturday bike ride and hike, followed by a quality Bananagrams match (which I won, don't listen to Shawna).

Today, however, I am lying on the couch with only Veronica Mars to amuse me as I drink orange juice and try to recover in time for the Polar Plunge on Friday. One simply cannot jump into a river if she is ill. I felt okay until yesterday evening, and it was all downhill from there (which interrupted my plans of a long run today--boo).

My pathetic existence today:



But here's an upside--we have a group of people in town who like to have mock sword fights every Sunday in the park. So I get to see this out my window:



Ah, Veronica Mars and men hitting each other with foam swords. It really doesn't get much better than this when you're sick.

Bicycles and springtime, oh my!

It does not look like February around here lately. I am most definitely okay with that. I arrived home today just as the sun was setting, so I quickly changed and went for a super quick (2 mile) run. Then I got back and still had light, so I went for a bicycle ride through the park. Ahhhh, sunlight.

It's amazing what sunshine does for my mood. I think that's why I enjoy living where I live (it's sunny a large portion of the year). During winter I definitely get the wintertime blahs, and don't run, and am not as active, and get a little heftier around the middle.

I am hoping that this spring-like weather sticks with us, and it decides to just be spring already. That would definitely be a-okay with me (and the size of my ass). Keep your fingers crossed that it stays okay weather, cause if so, I have plans to hike up a butte this weekend!

Day 2/30?

Hello. I'm alive. Sometimes I forget to blog.

So, I had this idea to do the 30 Day Shred (again) and try to make it to Day 30 this time. I seem to remember taking a day off here or there before, so I thought it seemed intriguing. I'm on day 2. Also, I'm reading Jillian Michaels' new book, "Master Your Metabolism" and it's making me afraid of chemicals.

I feel like I'm really into Jillian Michaels, I hope its not in a weird way. She's just kind of awesome. Jason reminded me today that I told him if I ever met Jillian Michaels I would eat strawberries off of her stomach. I don't remember saying this, but have no doubt that I did, and responded, "So would you! That's a good stomach!" He tolerates me, I think.

Yesterday I accidentally ran for an hour because I went for a run with a friend, we got to talking/running, and forgot that we should turn around before it got dark and we were stuck all alone on a river trail. Ha. Oops! It was super fun though, and nice and relaxing cause we weren't worried about time.

Highlights of my recent days:
1. Visited my heterosexual life partner, played Bingo, drank gin. Not in that order.
2. Watched Lost. Said, "WTF?" a lot.
3. Attempted to go for a bike ride with Shawna, which ended before it started because she had a flat tire. High-fived our bike-riding awesomeness.

The 15K run that wasn't...

I got up this morning with every intention of running a 15k. I made The Boyfriend, who shall now be known as Jason, and I some pumpkin waffles for breakfast, got dressed, and we were on our way to the starting line.

That's when we drove up the side of an f-ing mountain.

The road up to the starting line happened to be the course for the race. Straight downhill, and straight uphill on the way back. Did I mention I had horrendous menstrual cramps? Like, bad. As we were searching for somewhere to park, observing the mayhem that was this poorly-organized race, I realized that it was not worth $7 (cheap entry fee) to me to run this.

So I didn't.

Instead we came home and I ran 10 miles. More than a 15k, nice and relaxing, and a lovely way to enjoy the sunshine. I'm okay with this decision. Did I mention that we also saw a car on its side in the ditch on the way up? That's how awesome the parking was. The road literally caved in beneath someone who parked on the side near a bridge.

So, yeah, I fail at 15ks today. But I'm awesome at solo 10 mile runs! Here I am, enjoying my decision:



Now it is Superbowl/pizza/beer/sweatpants time.

Ha.

The Boyfriend pointed out something hilarious to me today: if you go to pinkspandex.com (minus the hyphen of awesome that our blog features) it will take you to a page featuring ways in which one might do exercise to enlarge their penis and other topics of sexual health.

Why, I ask you, do you think they decided upon pinkspandex.com as their web address? Really?

Double fortune day...

Recent Chinese fortunes, all in one cookie:

"Big changes are in store for you."

"Pay more attention to your exercise return."

Did my fortune cookie totally just call me fat?

February? Already?

Did anyone else miss most of January? That month flew by.

So, here we are--February. I have adopted very unhealthy habits lately, many of them involving beer and sweatpants, and as a result I have several goals in mind for February. Here they are:

1. Exercise at least 30 minutes/day for the entire month. I did this once before, but have recently let this habit fall by the wayside. So there we go--30 minutes a day. Even during my impending vacation to Idaho (hear that Chelse? We're going for a walk for 30 minutes, okay? Or doing yoga in your living room. Does bingo count as exercise?)

2. Drink at least 64 ounces of water per day.

3. Cut back on spending in order to save for impending vacations.

4. Eat at least 5 servings of fruit/veggies each day.

5. Run a 15k and participate in the gloriously awesome Polar Plunge.

All of these (except for #5) are things that I used to do regularly, but I'm finding myself adopting old(er) habits more frequently lately. Healthy = good, happy, satisfied, energized. Unhealthy = sweatpants, beer, tired, blah.

Good plan. I shall report back on the status of these goals in a month. In between now and then I shall report back on the hilarious undertaking that is my life.