The Bitch is Back!

Hellllllllllllllllllloooooooooo! Holy cow, it's just been way too long right?

So, today was the second "real" run since going to PA for a month.

I DID NOT RUN ONE TIME while in Pennsylvania.

You all know me. You know what happens when crazy people like me don't get the standard amount of endorphins per day. That's right. I almost killed my nearing-70 year old parents and set their house on fire.

Anyhoo, today I slogged along and felt pretty good about just getting out there and knocking it out. On the last stretch, my fucking IT band (which has not been exercised in over a month and a half) decided to act out...on flat surfaces nonetheless. I hate that bitch. I really do.

So after the run I felt great, took a shower, had lunch with my peeps at a Middle Eastern restaraunt over here on the west side (Poll question: gauche to eat Middle Eastern food on 9/11? Talk amongst yourselves. Poll question #2: gauche to ask if it is gauche to eat Middle Eastern food on 9/11? If so, shut the hell up.) and then hit up the Portland Running Company. I wanted to see if my gait changed since having the second baby. Maybe that's why I've had runners' knee and IT band issues etc.

Where I found out that a) my gait has not changed. I am still running perfection with my neutral gait...did you know that only 10% of runners have a neutral stride? That's right. Jealous much? I thought so. I digress. b) My old shoes were toast and contributing to the leg problems.

So I bought these bad asses:


The Gel Nimbus 10 for $120! Good lord these suckers better post some good numbers for that kind of money. The sweetest, nicest lady on the planet helped me get my shoes. She has two girls 18 months apart and was kind enough to let me know that in two years, things will be a lot better. I can't say "She should suck it" because she was so nice and made me feel like I wasn't crazy for having nervous breakdown days even though I do employ a nanny.

So go to PRC and buy shoes.

And here are the top ten (abbreviated) stories from my PA/NJ shore trip:

1. Bringing the world's worst stomach virus from Portland to Lebanon, PA via an airplane. Got sick the day before (thanks to the Children's Museum!), had to have oxygen on the plane. Didn't eat for four days. Lost five pounds. Gave the virus to both my parents. My mother cried. We all almost died. Moral: quarantine children a week before heading on a plane.
2. Visiting the Lebanon Farm Show every morning for a week. Owen's favorite question: "Going to see cows and pigs?" Saw some enormous cows, pigs, coats, bunnies and sheep.
3. Eating shoo-fly pie. Do a web search. It's some good stuff.
   
4. Going to Hersheypark and killing a 10-year old at Whack a Mole. Owen and my dad appreciated the victory dance.
5. The joy that is Blue's Clues. The songs are still stuck in my head right now.
6. Hearing the word "yous" used in serious conversations. ALL THE TIME. I'm not kidding. For example: what are yous doing tonight? Are yous getting pizza?
   
7. Michael's face when we took him to the Wildwood Boardwalk. Shellshocked didn't begin to describe it. Until you've experienced the white trash goodness that is Wildwood, you haven't lived.
8. Bargaining with a Ukranian young lady in the Wildwood t-shirt shop over a Philadelphia Eagle's t-shirt that reads "BLEED GREEN." I got it for 12 bucks.
   
9. The pizza on the east coast. Fantastic. Papa Murphy's?? Whatever.
   
10. Ripping off the side mirror of my rental car thanks to the banister on the shore house deck. 200 dollars later? Good as new!

Whew. That's it for right now. More as I begin my looooong trek back to becoming a runner.

P.S. Would it be possible to have a better football weekend than last week? Penn State kills the Beavers on national TV, Eagles roll in a blow out (and we have McNabb in fantasy), plus something else that I won't mention because I guess it's not nice to say you're happy about an injury to another human being but you all know what I'm talking about. Good times.