Ouch

Couple of things:

1) Glad it wasn't a blow out. It did look like it was heading that way.
2) We were basically playing with house money. We probably shouldn't have even been there.
3) Kurt Warner is still a fucking tool.

Tomorrow a bigger and better run report as all my focus now turns to running.

I am proud to report that I ran (a very slow) eight miles on Saturday after two very difficult runs on Thursday and Friday. More on all of that tomorrow.

Update on Band

From the Monkey:

"Oh, and um, America? Really, Sarah. No Sugar Tonight doesn't even sound like America. I'm sorry, but it's best you hear it from me. It's the Guess Who, and I guess this is always where those extra 10 years of classic rock listening I have on you comes into play. "

There you have it.

Don't Give Me No Hand-Me-Down Shoes

I just love that song by whoever that band is. I also like "No sugar tonight in my coffee." I think it's America. Anyhoo, I digress.

Let's get the obvious out of the way...the Eagles bandwagon is now FULL! Do not attempt to get on, you will be thrown to the street.

Tell me how nuts this scenario is:

1. Bucs (playing Raiders) and Bears (playing Houston) must lose. CHECK!
2. Eagles must beat the Cowboys to get a Wild Card spot! Double CHECK with an ass whooooooping as an extra bonus. Sorry Romo, you STILL SUCK!
   
3. First round Eagles must travel to Minnesota to face the leagues best rusher and a stout defense and win. CHECK! Sorry Brad Childress, you suck.You too, ALL DAY. Whatever.
   
4. Second round, Eagles must play the supposed "best team in the league" (take that you ESPN knobs! Eli SUCKS!) at the Meadowlands in 30 degree weather with a serious wind and win. CHECK!!

So, it's been a glorious ride, however, I am a bit nervous because everyone is picking us to win. And when I say us, I mean me too. I'm an integral part of this team. Anyhoo, fingers crossed.


Now onto the running portion of our show. Last week was Week One of marathon training for the Eugene marathon. Of course I threw myself into it because I hadn't run for three weeks thanks to Artic Blast 2008. Here's a recap:

Monday--"For Cheese??!!"
Started running and forced myself to run faster because I felt like running 10 minute miles was cheating. I thought I could go faster. So I killed myself for the first half of the run. On my way back, there is a slight hill. It shouldn't even be called a hill, but there is an incline. I had to walk it. And as I'm walking it, I start beating myself up--otherwise known as negative self talk.

Me: "Self, how do you feel right now? Pretty shitty, right? It didn't have to be this way. But no. You thought eating chocolate chips and cheese at night was a good idea. And now you feel like the biggest loser on the planet. For cheese?!! Are you effing kidding me? For cheese??!"

So that became my mantra on the way home.

Tuesday--Speedy Gonzalez (not really)
Tuesday, the plan called for 3 miles with 4X100 meter strides. I thought the "S" was for speed, not strides. Big mistake. So I did some running, got down to the track and my hat was blown off my head. Not a good omen. I did my 4X100 meter sprints and then came back home. Forty five minutes later I realized I probably had done some damage to my quad, as I couldn't descend the stairs.

Wednesday--Rest (cleaned the house)

Thursday--Amber Alert
I've been trying to get Amber to do this marathon with me, and if not the marathon, at least a good number of training runs and definitely my weekend long runs. She and I headed up to the zoo and did a nice 35 minute trail run in the rain. It was fantastic to run on the trail.

One thing I learned about Amber, when she crests a hill that has just kicked both our asses, she prefers to keep running. Me? Not so much. I prefer to lay down and catch my fucking breath and do a lot of swearing. Anyhoo, great run, great company!

Friday--Rest again

Saturday--Big Stumping
Amber agreed to a long run! I was supposed to go 8 miles, but Amber only wanted to do six and I was still nursing the leg issue. So, six it is!

We drove up to Wildwood Trail at Germantown road and began the run. We did a run from the very nice box of Forest Park hikes and runs (it makes a great gift) called The Big Stump.

Here's typical conversation (keep in mind I run in front. It's how I roll, people.)

Me: Whew, I'm tired. I should slow down.

Amber: Then slow down.

Me: OK (not slowing down AT ALL. So weird!)

We saw the Big Stump. Not as impressive as the old growth trees I've seen on another run, but pretty big nonetheless. However, definitely not as big as the freaking 1/2 mile hill we had to walk up to get back to the trail.

Then, on the seventh day I rested again. Ran 5.25 miles on Monday and 4.75 today. Feeling pretty good. Getting in the miles.

And so, we are all caught up. Remember, fly eagles fly!

HOW 'BOUT THEM COWBOYS???

My favorite post from my Eagles message board:

"It was like a two-hour orgasm."

Good times(TM). The Eagles had the lowest chances to make the playoffs at the beginning of today, and thanks to the Bucs (take that, Frank! That's for making fun of my shoes!) and the Bears, and the "hapless, error-prone, and just plain horrific" Cowboys, the Eagles live another day.

Woo hoo!!!!!!!

Best Run Ever

Totally was the best run ever...and only after an eight to ten day layoff (not even sure when I ran last...horrifying, I know!).

Thanks to the crazy snow, I've embraced my inner Betty Crocker and have been baking up a storm--challah (HOLLA!) bread, cookies, macaroni and cheese (with half and half--holla again!), so my belly is approaching 38 week status if you catch my drift.

"Those cookies done yet?"

Anyhoo, I've been feeling pretty sorry for myself because there is no possible way I can run when the streets are not plowed and there is ice under there and it's coooooooooold. But yesterday I broke down and decided to get a little physical exercise and walk to Zupans and probably go into debt from shopping there.

I opened the door and there is a fucking RUNNER right outside of my house. So, I walked right up to her (she was shuffling, obviously) and asked her how do you run in this shit? She proceeded to tell me about her great GoreTex Nike Pegasus shoes and how she just runs slowly. She and I agreed about the absolute need to run due to the whole craziness, mental illness issue. (tangent--as I'm telling Michael this story, he says "You talked to her? You hate talking to people.")

She looked down at my hiking boots and said, "You can run in those, I did it yesterday." So after we hugged and kissed goodbye (JK!!) I decided I was going to run to Zupans in my hiking boots, long underwear, jeans, cotton shirt, wool sweater, vest, jacket and ear muffs.

I have to say, it felt pretty good but good Lord was I hot when I got there! I also ran all the way home with a 1/2 gallon of milk, two pounds of butter (more cookies!), two huge blocks of cheese (mac and cheeeeeeese, woo hoo), a container of cream cheese and a box of pasta shells. The sound of a person running with a box of pasta in their backpack is enough to drive anyone crazy, but I was too excited to care.

So, today I decided to run. In gear and for longer than 15 minutes. I got out there and one of the first things that happened is that a person driving a pick-up made a point of clapping for me as he drove past. Now that's the way to start a run--a nice round of applause. I continued to run my route and found it wasn't difficult after all! Just focused on the road, just like a trail run, and avoid the ice. It rocked! The only difficult part was seeing all white for so long. I felt kind of blind.

And, I returned the favor when a mother of two asked me how it was to run and I told her it wasn't bad at all! Paying it forward yadda yadda yadda (what the fuck does that mean anyway? I kind of hate that phrase.)

So, the new UnderArmour Running shoes are coming out in January. My running hook up got me three pairs for 50 bucks a piece. Now that is a deal! These shoes are awesome. So much so I've been posting on message boards to try and start a viral obsession for these shoes so more stores will carry them. I'm nuts. I know it.


Anyhoo, that's it from West Side Central where the streets are not plowed but the cookies are fresh, yo.

It's TIME

So, not much running here in P-town thanks to the ice and the snow and the 19 degrees all day. Plus there are cookies to be eaten. I will probably pick back up Thursday or Friday after all the other storms pass through.

But this is for the Elf.

Elf at 38 weeks:

Sarah at 38 weeks



Totally.

Jeffy's response to being called out on The Run Report via text message: "Good blog! I was a drunk in Eugene. Looks like I'm in training too...for a drunkathon." Nice.

So, Jeffy, I'm talking to YOU...


Running is essential. The end.

So let's move on to one of my best days as a Mommy ever...stick with me, it ends with my run this afternoon.

I took the boys to the Children's Museum. Oliver was content to stay in the dirt pile made of small rubber pellets the whole time. Owen wanted to explore everything else. That made it very difficult for me to keep tabs on both. Every time I took Oliver out of the pit and tried to distract him with another area, we had a crying fit.

The store with fake food wouldn't even fly with him. Speaking of, the fake food they have there is so realistic it's scary. Guess what EVERY SINGLE CHILD in the place did when they saw this super realistic food. That's right. In the mouth. And I wonder where we got the super Stomach Flu strain this summer. Ew.

Anyhoo, after getting Oliver out of the pit one last time, he finally had enough. We're talking ear-splitting screams. I made the executive decision to cut and run. Owen was not on board with my decision. HE starts screaming and does the whole limp body maneuver (who teaches kids this stuff?).

"I have no idea what she's talking about. I'm always smiling."

Visualize please: I'm holding the 30-pound 18-month old who's screaming and wriggling to get down. I'm dragging the crying 3-year old without bones along the floor to the exit. Now, if you happened to be in the Children's Museum, what would you have done? STARE. That's right. I glazed my eyes, looked straight ahead and powered through. I was scared to make eye contact with anyone, because I doubt I could have controlled myself from saying:

• Oh, you got the model that doesn't cry? Fuck you.
  
• I hope this happens to you one time. In church. During the homily.
• I am not breaking his arm. He prefers to travel this way.
• Get the fuck out of my way before I fucking kill you.

I managed to get to the car and found the special remedy for two screaming children: I cried. Immediately Owen stopped and started saying "Don't cry Mommy, it's OK. You don't need to cry." I'm sure Oliver was thinking "Oh shit. This afternoon is gonna suck."

So, after taking them to the zoo (and another crying jag), we came home and I decided to try a new recipe for the crockpot. The ingredients: chicken, brown sugar, vinegar, soy sauce, garlic, pepper and 7-up. Guess what I learned today? If the ingredients sound weird to you, and you don't think some of them go together, the chicken won't miraculously taste like something completely different. It will actually taste like chicken that's been soaking in brown sugar, vinegar and soy sauce. We got pizza.

So, THE RUN! Finally. I was so miserable when Michael got home, I think he would have tried to put my sports bra, running shoes and socks and all my other gear on me himself. Then he would have kicked me in the ass.

I started out faster than usual and was surprised to find that I wasn't dying. I kept the pace up (we're not talking really fast here, people. Maybe a 9:30) until I got to the track and that's when I encountered the 2500 knot winds right in the kisser. God, I hate that. It slowed my overall time, but I think I've found a great formula. Do a small run after a long run, then a day off, then a tempo run. I felt awesome. I actually felt like my Under Armours were eating the pavement. I had a weird crocodile image there. (these are the best shoes ever...so much that my nice shoe connection lady is getting me another pair for 60 bucks and tells me the UA people were thrilled I love them so much. They come out January.)

So, the running is good. The kids are kids and I still can't cook. GOOD TIMES(TM) for sure.