Did you know legs will talk to you?

Last weekend I skipped my long run. Well, not really skipped I walked it. I was sure I was getting a cold last week and to try to fight it off I decided not to stress my body out with a long run. I did walk 8 miles so I thought that was a good trade off. So, today was officially my second long run.

As everyone knows who lives in Florida, we don’t have hills. Since the Boston Marathon course is very hilly (is that word?) I’ve been trying work hills in slowly. Today I did that. Ooo, let me say that my legs are not use to hills and were quite confused. I really thought at the 3 mile mark that I would have to stop. However, I did something smart today. I usually run in a circle around my house. Keeps me safeish (I know that’s not a word) and I know how long I’m running. Today, with the use of my new iPhone app IMapyMyRun I ran down to the hilly area and towards the mall behind my house. Even if I wanted to quit at 3 miles, I had to run my butt back home. I suppose I could have slept on the road to Disney but I don’t think that would have worked.

My legs were not happy when they realized we had no choice but to continue. They wanted a shower and some Aleeve. They also told me that sleeping on 535 was not a good idea.

It’s funny how much you realize you can do when you have no choice. So, I kept running. At the 7 mile mark my legs no longer cared. It was actually pretty amazing. I felt so good when I got home I started to do the loop around my house. After doing an additional mile I still felt that I could keep going. Then sanity took over and I decided that walking this week would be nice, and that I didn’t want to injure myself.

So, my second long run went well. I feel amazing and Boston doesn’t seem to be such an unobtainable obstacle!

I had no idea

Well, I am training for the Boston Marathon. I had a great first long run and today was my pseudo long run by walking. There seems to be an evil cold trying to take a hold of my body but I think I’ve been able to beat it off pretty well. That includes me not running for the past two days. I keep telling myself a 7 mile walk is fine and its still 7 miles. However, because I’m not running the crazy voice in my head is screaming at me. Something about dying during the Boston Marathon and not being able to finish, disappointing everyone I know. Ya know, the normal things one thinks about.

To be honest, I’m a bit further along in the training process then I’m supposed to be. My first long run should have been only 3 miles the second 4 miles. Since I’m doing more than that, I think I’m going to be kosher.  I just have to keep reminding myself getting a cold and not being able to do anything is worse than walking 7 miles.

The point of this blog was not to wax poetic about my cold though. No honestly it wasn’t. It was to talk about food.

I love food don’t you? Well, I’ve been losing weight and I’m kind of at a standstill. Even with all the running and weight training. I realize that this is more than likely due to the fact that I’m not eating enough. Yeah, it’s hard to imagine not eating enough right?

Well, in the craziness of the past year, I fired my primary care physician.  Something about him calling me a hysterical female and giving me a prescription for xanex kind of turned me off. My friend kept telling me about her own doctor and how great she was. As well as the fact that she’s a competitive body builder - an interesting combo for a doctor.

Finally, after a year of procrastinating, I make an appointment with her doctor and it was amazing. She is the best doctor I have ever spoken with. She was understanding, actually listened to me and really cared about what I was doing.

She also understood that while I’m training for this marathon that I need more food! I find that most doctors don’t understand what it means to be running almost every day of the week, cross training, and doing long runs that can go up to 26 miles! Because of her background, she got it right away!

Her husband, who is also competes as a body builder, trains and gives out nutritional advice. So, I met with him and now I have a higher calorie diet that he believes will be much better for my activity level. I just finished preparing all of my food and I will be starting this wonderful plan tomorrow!

I started eating 5 times a day a few years back. Yes, it’s time consuming to cook that much but you have to in order to keep your metabolism up, and to help fuel your body. However, I wasn’t even close to eating enough. I might even need to eat more but for now we’re sticking to this!

I’m excited to see what my runs will be like this week!

First Long Run Since my Official Start!

First of all, I want to thank all my friends for donating! It’s very hard to express how emotional and humbled by your donations I am in a blog. Just know that I appreciate every single one of you!!

I have been wondering the past week if a marathon is to much for me. I've also been joking about how people can meet me at Mass. General after the marathon and we can all eat carb's while I get my IV fluid (Ok, only half-joking...maybe not joking at all).

So, needless to say this long run was going to set the stage for me for the next five months. How confident or apprehensive I would be would come down to this one long run. Not much pressure at all!

To my utter amazement on Saturday, I did a total of 9 miles and I feel great. A little sore, but since I took about two weeks off from running, that’s to be expected!

I’m still not as fast as I was – and that’s ok. I need to give myself some time after resting for two weeks, to catch back up. Well...after a forced rest. Something about my Neurologist, my friend who happens to be my former Physical Therapist and friends telling me, some in more polite terms than others, that I was an idiot and needed to rest.

I also realize that I do have five months before Boston, and I think that is probably enough time to recover from two weeks of non-running :-D.

As I’m sitting here writing this, I’m eating a bowl of whole wheat pasta with chicken breast. Why am I mentioning this? Because, I feel fine – no aches or pains from the miles logged yesterday! In the past, when I would push myself in a 5k, I would be sore the next day. I did almost the equivalent of 3 5k’s and nothing. Mr. Galloway, wherever you are, thank you!

Crazy Like a Runner

I’m a runner now (that’s weird to say)… well to be honest I suppose I’ve been a runner for awhile. I’ve done five 5k’s this year and I plan on a few more before the year is up. Huh, look at that I guess I really am a runner. I had planned on doing some longer races but foot issues and other random issues have stopped me.

Not a running related injury mind you. Somehow, I sliced my right foot open. I actually think it was a gnome that ran by my foot with a small knife because I have no other explanation! All I know is that I was ‘OK’ then I went to Universal to watch a movie and then BAM horrible bleeding/pain. Hm, maybe it’s some kind of Universal Studios trap. So, no 10k or 15k for me yet this year and I probably won’t until next year.

What’s the crazy part you ask? I run, isn’t that crazy enough? No? Oh, ok well then I guess there is something else. I somehow thought it would be a good idea to run a Marathon for the National Multiple Sclerosis Society (NMSS). Yes a marathon is long but I know I can do it. Heck if I can do 10 miles in the Florida heat I can do anything. Right? Yeah…

Oh, what marathon? Hm, well the Boston Marathon (Aha, there is the crazy!). Yes, that is what I said the Boston Marathon. Now, I can’t qualify for it, I’m not that fast yet, but you can put in an application with the Boston Chapter of the NMSS and if they approve your application you get a cool number and you get to run.

I haven’t been given a number (yet) but I am in the running for a number at the moment. If I get it, I will run the Boston Marathon in April! Either way I’m starting my Marathon training this weekend because I am running a Marathon next year! If it’s not Boston It will be another.
 
So, I suppose that I am crazy but after everything I’ve been through ankle surgery, chronic illness, and all kinds of other issues - I am going to run!

So here’s to being crazy like a runner and to starting the long process of marathon training! If anyone would like to join me in Boston and throw oranges at me as I run, or yell at me so I don’t stop, you’re more than welcome to join me.

Things that annoy me - Part 1 (and there are many parts trust me)

“What prompted this blog?” you may ask yourself. Believing that I should answer the obvious before going into the rant I have in mind I thought I would answer you my fine internet friends. Randomly, the wrong bounce fabric softener was bought at the store. I don’t think much of it and decide to use it and buy the kind I usually use next time.

Yesterday, as I’m cooking I smell this overwhelming rotten flower smell. I’m like what IS that? I realize that it’s my clothes. Do people like to smell like rotten flowers?

Why do we feel like everything has to smell like flowers and fairy farts for it to qualify as clean? Can’t it just smell ‘clean’? “Clothes Line Fresh” why don’t you just hang your clothes on a clothes line if you want that? I don’t like having to scour the isles for lotions that don’t make me want to puke in order to find some moisturizer for my hands.

Then I go to the store today and I am almost blown back in the grocery isle picking out peppers because the woman next to me has dumped a whole bottle of perfume on her head. This made me ponder other annoying things that people do while I was searching for peppers that weren’t smashed.

So, here’s another list.

1. I don’t want to be able to smell you from across the parking lot. Stop bathing in your perfume/cologne/body spray or whatever it is you’re soaking in. 
2. If you walk past an area in the store and I can still smell you five minutes after - see the second part of #1.
3. DON’T let your little juvenile delinquents smash the produce in the grocery store. SOME of us want to buy green peppers that haven’t been massacred. It also does things like make the poor produce man apologize and go in the back and pull out a box of new peppers for me.
4. Control your little felons in the making. I also wanted to buy tomato sauce without having to watch a cart with kids vs. tomato sauce accident. It also makes me feel like I have to do something to help the injured children.
5. Don’t sneak up behind me while I’m backing out of a parking space and put your cart there little grocery store cart man. I have a SUV and I can’t see the little carts that you’ve put on my bumper. As well, apologizing by saying “Don’t worry there is no damage” is not an appropriate answer.
6. Don’t walk out in front of me then stop and stare at me. I am not going to run you over. If you were worried about me running you over, why did you walk out in front of me in the first place?
7. If you are a cop and you are participating in a speed trap. Walking out in front of someone who is speeding with your hand out is probably a bad idea. Also, don’t look shocked when that person has to slam on their breaks. You’re a cop but you’re not superman. If the car is speeding already why do you think he/she will see you in time to stop?
8. Yes, girls play computer games. Yes, girls who don’t look like dorks play computer games. No, I don’t want to discuss computer games with you for 20 minutes. This is why I say I’m buying the games for my boyfriend. You weird guys make me lie…
9. I haven’t talked to you in a year. Please stop texting me.
10. Don’t randomly show up at my house at 11pm and bang on my door like the cops unless you think I’m dead. Saying I didn’t answer my phone at 10:30 isn’t a reason to think I’m dead. Especially if I spoke to you that morning.

Glee

So, I loved the show Glee. Just absolutely loved it when I started watching it last season! It took me awhile to actually watch it. Until, one day I saw a commercial that literally had me laughing out loud. I decided to give the show a chance and I was surprised and happy!

Then the mid season break happened and the second part of season one started to air. I was so disappointed! It was just horrible. It went from quirky and fun to let’s show how well these people can sing and add ballet dancing somehow. The ‘theme’ shows were pretty bad and the finale was just silly. You’re going to regionals and you’re only going to sing Journey songs? Really?

The new season premiered this week and I have to say if the rest of the season is going to be like the first episode I think the show may have redeemed itself for me. It was quirky and funny and just a ‘good’ show. Keep it up Glee!

Funny things my mom says part 2

The new fall season has started! They have some interesting new shows out there. As much as I hate it I think “The Event” has caught my attention. But I digress. So, my mother and I are sitting and talking and I say “Oh, did you know they re-did Hawaii 50?” My mother was a big fan of the original series and I thought she’d like to watch it.

“Yeah, I watched it tonight.”

“Oh ok! Did you know that guy on there is Korean?”

“Yeah I knew.”

“Really? How did you know?”

“I saw him and his eyes are small.” (Motioning with her fingers around her eyes in a pinching manner)

Then she starts laughing.

I'm sorry you can't be bothered to file paperwork. Not my problem.

I read Runner’s World magazine. Yeah its a little pleasure I have. I read like a fiend. I'm reading this month's issue and it has an article about a track team.

Now I read Runner’s World for tips and stories and silly things shoe reviews etc. This article is about two coaches at an Arizona high school. One of the coaches has been in the states 20 years illegally. He was pulled over, had no license because of a DUI in 2002, and they figured out he was illegal. Now, the team is protesting his arrest and people are very upset about the whole issue of his arrest. The article talks about the ice cold holding room and the hundreds of other men he had to share the cell with.

I don’t feel sorry for him. He’s been here 20 years and had all that time to file his paperwork and receive a resident alien status at minimum. Actually the kicker is he’s been married to a US citizen for 5 years and never initiated the paperwork for citizenship.

Why should I feel sorry for him? He has had 20 years to file his paperwork and get his ducks in a row.

Now, I’m not mean and I think that we need to offer more H1B visas and more options for people who may be here illegally. 20 years though? I don’t feel sorry for him.

I beat you evil sun!!

Just thought I'd share a little.

It's been very hot in Florida the past few days. During the day over 105 with the eat index!! (I feel for everyone in the NE right now who is going through that heat wave!)

I usually run at sundown, 8ish usually around here. While it was hot it was usually bearable and usually a bit of a breeze coming off of the manmade lake. Well, the past week it's been in the 90's at 10pm at night. Heat and I don't get along that well and when I ran last week in the heat I almost puked.

For those who don’t know heat sensitivity is a very common side effect of MS. It’s different for everyone but for me when I get overheated my old symptoms come to the forefront. My right side gets funky I get nauseated, dizzy and vertigo can set in. If I don’t watch myself I can get overheated pretty easily (like on a hike to a waterfall) so I try to listen to my body and rest if I need it.

I’m usually ok on my runs because I can immediately come inside and jump in a cold shower and as long as I’m dressed in running clothes I don’t get to hot. However, with the crazy heat and humidity this hasn’t been the case.

I decided that I needed to do something and usually that something means moving it inside. I go to the gym to do weight training and toning but I really hate running on a treadmill. My legs are a little funky and the treadmill forces your stride (how you run) so it always hurts my shins. Trying to avoid shin splints I did the elliptical. Not only did it hurt my shins but my right knee was protesting and it gave a little while exercising.

Needles to say I was getting a bit annoyed. lol

So today I get up early. 5am to be exact and figure I will run before the sun comes up. Now, I don't do this! Not normally but I think maybe this exercise is becoming an addiction for me.

But… I ran and it was great! Yes, it was still 90% humidity and 80 but it wasn't bad with no sun!! I think now I am going to have to run at the crack of dawn with my mace and hope for the best! lol

Living the dream!

Florida has some cool things. We have Disney, Universal, and Sea World which are all great for families. We have some interesting wildlife like Florida Panthers and Florida crocodiles (not gators those are common). We also have flying cockroaches. Yes, I know they’re “palmetto bugs”. Just because you call it that does not mean that changes what they are. They look like roaches, they act like roaches, and they live in your house like roaches. They are cockroaches that are huge and can fly.

Guess what new and cool thing you can get in Florida now? Dengue fever! For those who don’t know dengue fever is a disease — ranging from mild to severe — caused by four related viruses spread by a particular species of mosquito. Mild dengue fever causes high fever, rash, and muscle and joint pain. More-severe forms of the disease — dengue hemorrhagic fever and dengue shock syndrome — can additionally cause severe bleeding, a sudden drop in blood pressure (shock) and death.

The mosquitoes that carry this special present will bite you at anytime, even during the day. Unlike the traditional Florida mosquitoes who are most active at dusk and dawn.

People always ask me what it’s like living in paradise. I’m living the dream everyone. Living... the... dream!

Being a hermit looks better every day.

I’m a little concerned about the quality of worker we have extending the road outside of my home. The main roadway that leads into my subdivision is being widened. Two weeks ago they accidentally hit one of the water lines and the whole area was without water for a few hours. Today I leave my complex and realize that the whole road is shut down. I find out why - seems this time the workers cut the gas line. Now, call me crazy but you would think they have diagrams where all of the utilities are. Gas lines, power lines, water lines, cable…What did you say? OH they DO?!

I can’t even dig a hole in my back yard to put in a fence unless I have them come out to mark the lines around my house. How is it that these geniuses not only cut the water line but have now also cut a gas line that could blow us all to bits?

I’m really considering buying land in the Pacific NW and just becoming a hermit. Seems safer.

I don't need to know your story - I need you not to hurt me!

I hate arrogant know it all's who do not listen when you tell them something. Don't you? Today I had to have some blood drawn for some routine tests. I’ve become an expert of where you can and cannot take blood from me. I’ve had some horrible experiences with blood draws (flashback time):

Picture this, a cute curly haired Korean/White girl with reddish hair (yes it was reddish) sitting happily in the blood draw chair kicking her legs. Then the person who is going to draw her blood comes in with a person who is learning how to draw blood (insert tense music here - end of flashback).

I don’t remember how many times she did stick me, but blood was running down both of my arms. I also couldn’t bend them for two days because they hurt. As I got older I turned my fear around and decided that I will know where people can stick me to get blood. Which brings us to today…

She takes my left arm and decides she wants to go for the vein that runs down the outside of my arm closer to the elbow then the middle. I tell her “That one is really hard to get. The one in the middle is much easier.”

“Don’t worry hon I’ll get it.”

“I’m telling you I’ve had to do this a lot. It’s hard to get.”

She ignores me wipes it with alcohol and sticks me. Ok…so of course she doesn’t hit the vein. She just digs the needle around digging for the vein. “Oh, it moved on me.” Yeah yeah. She continues to move the needle around.

“Are you ok?” she asks. Because I think she can see the annoyed maybe pissed look on my face.

“Yep, I’m fine” she digs for another minute or so.

She takes the needle out and decides to try the other arm. I say “The one on this side that you can see blows very easy.” Which means the vein breaks.

“Oh, we’ll try it anyways.”

Me: (sigh)

“You must have deep veins.” which is code for I messed up so I’m going to make up excuses.

“No, I don’t actually.” and she ignores me.

She sticks the weak vein and gets enough blood out of it before…it blows. Now I’m going to have this cute bruise on my right arm. Yay!

If they would just listen to me we could avoid ME being harmed.

But at least I found out that today was her birthday, (she’s 51) that her son is back on R&R from Afghanistan (he’s in my prayers), that her older son is in Afghanistan as well, and is going to make the Army his career. The youngest one has killed 5 people and really hates the military, will be in on tour until January, and then has 3 months left before he’s done. OH, and don’t forget that on the Fourth of July her son helped her move because he decided he should help her while he’s here.

I know crazy people like me but is there a way to request a not crazy phlebotomist next time?

My mother makes me laugh.

I was talking to my mother this morning and on the TV cartoons were on. Now for some random reason my mother always has her TV on something she doesn’t watch. Like cartoons (but I know she watches Family Guy even if she won’t admit it) or one of the Spanish language stations, which I know she's not watching, unless she has learned Spanish and hasn't told me.

As I've said in my about me section my mother is Korean. She's been in America since the 1960's and is pretty Americanized. Oh don't get me wrong, she's still 100% Korean she's just pretty ingrained in American culture. A few things she's not but...we'll talk about that later. She also may be one of the funniest people I know.

As I was saying cartoons were on. This cartoon was Ni Hao, Kai-lan. For those of you who don't know Ni Hao, Kai-lan is a cartoon like Dora the Explorer except this is a little Chinese girl.



My mother looks at the TV and asks. "What is that?" I tell her what I've told you here. She pauses and looks at the TV for a moment.

"She's Chinese?"
"Yeah."
"She can't be Chinese. Asian people's eyes aren't that big!"

Then she looks at me and starts laughing.

I love my mom.

Five tips for better living

I was flipping through TV stations and came across a show called “I didn’t know I was pregnant.” Now…I know I can be a bit slow on the uptake but last I checked growing a baby isn’t a subtle thing. So, in order to help others, I’ve decided to make of list of things you should do if certain OTHER things happen.

First - Your stomach grows to 3 times its normal size and you vomit every morning. You should go to the doctor. Either you’re pregnant or something else is going horribly wrong.

Second - A person with a gun walks out in front of your car - Duck down, gun the gas, and hit the person with your 3000 lb car. Then drive to a police station to tell them about the car-jacker/rapist/serial killer/insert whatever other horrible title you can think of, you just killed with your car. The little weirdo probably can’t shoot through an engine block. He also probably isn’t a marksman and couldn’t hit a moving target to save his life. Now if he has a scoped M15 eeeh maybe your time is up. Other than that scenario, just run that person over.

Third - If someone grabs you and tries to force you into a car or take you away from where you are, fight. Fight scream kick scratch bite rip claw. I would rather die right then and there then die three days later after the serial killer had me in his white serial killer van for three days.

Fourth - If a friend ever tells you “If I die, my husband did it.” or “I think my husband is going to kill me.” you should call the police. Have you watched TV? Do you know this is how all the shows start? “There were no signs. Oh, except for the past three years she was telling her sister that she though Bob might kill her.”

Fifth - Don’t pick up hitchhikers

Those are my five tips for better living. Please use them wisely.

This is why I run!

COLUMBUS, Ohio – Highly fit multiple sclerosis patients perform significantly better on tests of cognitive function than similar less-fit patients, a new study shows.

In addition, MRI scans of the patients showed that the fitter MS patients showed less damage in parts of the brain that show deterioration as a result of MS, as well as a greater volume of vital gray matter.
Ruchika Shaurya Prakash

“We found that aerobic fitness has a protective effect on parts of the brain that are most affected by multiple sclerosis,” said Ruchika Shaurya Prakash, lead author of the study and assistant professor of psychology at Ohio State University.

“As a result, these fitter patients actually show better performance on tasks that measure processing speed.”

The study, done with colleagues Robert Motl and Arthur Kramer of the University of Illinois and Erin Snook of the University of Massachusetts, Amherst, appears online in the journal Brain Research and will be published in a future print edition.

The study involved 21 women diagnosed with relapsing-remitting MS. They were compared with 15 age- and education-matched healthy female controls. The study assessed fitness, cognitive function, and structural changes in all participants.

In order to measure fitness levels, the participants underwent a VO2 max test, in which they rode a stationary bicycle until they felt exhausted. During the test, they breathed into a mask which measured their oxygen consumption.

All the women also took a variety of tests designed to evaluate cognitive functions, such as processing speed and selective attention. In one test, for example, participants had to write down in one minute as many words as they could think of that began with the letter “F.” MS patients generally perform poorly on these tests compared to healthy people.

The third analysis involved MRIs of the participants, revealing any damage to their brains.

As expected, the MS patients did much worse than the healthy controls on the tests of brain functioning, and showed more deterioration in their brains as revealed through the MRIs.

“Physically fit MS patients had fewer lesions compared to those who weren’t as fit and the lesions they did have tended to be smaller,” Prakash said. “This is significant and can help explain why the higher-fit patients did better on tests of brain functioning.”

But what was interesting, Prakash said, was the significant differences between the more aerobically fit MS patients and those who were less fit.

Take, for instance, lesions, which are the characteristic feature of MS. Lesions are areas of inflammation in the central nervous system in which neurons have been stripped of myelin, an insulating protein.

“Physically fit MS patients had fewer lesions compared to those who weren’t as fit and the lesions they did have tended to be smaller,” Prakash said. “This is significant and can help explain why the higher-fit patients did better on tests of brain functioning.”

Aerobic fitness was also associated with less-damaged brain tissue in MS patients, both the gray matter and white matter.

Gray matter is the cell bodies in the brain tissue, while white matter is the fibers that connect the various gray matter areas.

The study found that fitness in MS patients was associated with larger volume of gray matter, accounting for about 20 percent of the volume in gray matter. That’s important, Prakash said, because gray matter is linked to brain processing skills.

“Even in gray matter that appeared relatively healthy, we found a deterioration in the volume in MS patients,” she said. “But for some of the highest fit MS patients, we found that their gray matter volume was nearly equivalent to that of healthy controls.”

Another MRI analysis involved the integrity of the white matter in the brain. In MS patients, the white matter deteriorates as the myelin is stripped from neurons. Again, higher-fit MS patients showed less deterioration of white matter compared to those who were less fit.

Overall, the three MRI tests in this study showed that parts of the brain involved in processing speed are all negatively affected by MS – but less so in patients who are aerobically fit.

Prakash noted that other researchers have found that exercise promotes the production of nerve growth factors, proteins which are important for the growth and maintenance of neurons in the brain.

“Our hypothesis is that aerobic exercise enhances these nerve growth factors in MS patients, which increases the volume of the gray matter and increases the integrity of the white matter,” she said.

“As a result there is an improvement in cognitive function.”

Prakash and her colleagues plan to extend this research by studying whether exercise interventions with MS patients can actually improve their cognition and have positive physical effects on the brain.

“For a long time, MS patients were told not to exercise because there was a fear it could exacerbate their symptoms,” she said.

“But we’re finding that if MS patients exercise in a controlled setting, it can actually help them with their cognitive function.”

The research was supported by a grant from the National Institute on Aging.

Contact: Ruchika Shaurya Prakash, (614) 292-8462; Prakash.30@osu.edu

Written by Jeff Grabmeier, (614) 292-8457; Grabmeier.1@osu.edu

A plan is born!

I went on my five mile walk tonight with a good girlfriend of mine. It's a good break from running and strength training. Random things always happen when we're together and it's become a running joke with us. A few examples:

We found a Louis Vuiton Wallet
A random Korean kid had to give us his food recommendations at Bento's
A man beat a wall at a movie theater
A small child stole my pop corn
We scare fire fighters
Men try to pick us up after walking four miles looking a mess
Strangers go on long diatribes about the show LOST with my friend and ask me to leave because I haven't see it yet
etc etc etc

Tonight another random thing happened. We walk down a major road to a mall for these excursions. We get exercise and we get tea at Barnes and Noble after. Works out well. This is a developed area with a lot of traffic. As we're walking we hear a car slam on the brakes directly behind us. I spin around to see what had happened. What do I see? Not a fender bender or an car accident nearly avoided. I see a pig scrambling to get to it's feet because a car scared it so bad it fell. Yes, I said a pig. With two of it's little piggy friends running like hell to get away. It scrambled to get to it's feet, got up, and ran the opposite direction of it's friends. I look at my friend she looks at me, we look back at the pigs, we look at each other again, back at the pigs.

"Is that a...?"
"Yeah it's a pig."
"I was going to say because I thought I'd clear that up in case I was hallucinating"
"No, you're not."

Did I say pig? I meant wild boar. These things were not little cute pink escaped piggies. They were black wild boar. Where...WHERE next to a mall a huge golf course and many homes do wild pigs live? Why are there wild pigs in Florida?

My friend and I have now come up with a way to make money. When I move to Seattle her and I are going to hike together a lot. We're going to bring my High Def movie camera and when bigfoot shows up, because if we're together it will show up, we're going to video tape him and sell that tape!!!

Put some clothes on!

I wonder when running clothes cross the line from OK to really not OK. Florida is hot very hot and humid and I had to buy new workout clothes because it's summer. Now, I'm a pretty conservative girl and while I understand the need to stay cool - what is it about working out that makes people think it's OK for me to be able to see everything God gave you? Do you dress like this when you're not working out? I wear shorts and a sleeveless workout top. I consider it a smedium (Where you can see your midriff almost) If you're going to wear less then that why not just go in your sports bra and some underwear? Are you trying to pick someone up in the neighborhood? I mean that would explain why the neighbor down the street is following me around. Maybe he thinks all girls that run around this neighborhood are looking for a quick hook up.

Also, are you actually running? Because I think I lapped you four times and I'm slow. I don't think you lapped me because, unless you're going faster then the speed of light and I can't see you, you didn't move.

Don't they have pick up gym's for this type of stuff? I'm sure there is a Bally's or a good meat market LA Fitness around.

White people are crazy

I guess that's a little racist to say huh? Well, in my defense, I do say other ethnic groups are crazy too. However, white people hold a special place in my heart (I'm also half white so I can say these things).

I'm awake way to late tonight watching TV and as I flip through the channels I see a show called "Expedition Great White". Now, I like to learn about animals and great white sharks are interesting.

This show is just a bunch of crazy white guys in a boat CATCHING great white's. Not just tagging them but physically catching them and dragging them onto their boat. Then they DRILL into the shark and take DNA. While this is going on, the the shark is thrashing and throwing the crazy white guys around the deck like rag dolls.

Then, the crazy white guys start talking about the sharks sperm and showing each other where the sperm comes from...

I don't see any Korean, Ugandan, Dominican, Spanish, or any other race on this boat. What is wrong with people?

Oh no...(it's still on) they have named this shark Flipkin...OK, I'm done. There really is nothing more to say at this point.

For the run of it all

Because today is my rest day from exercising (Yes, I’m resting Simon!) I’m thinking about running. I started running seriously again in January after not running for six months after my MS diagnosis. I was scared! My friend even talked to me on the phone the first time I went walking after I got sick! He knows who he is and he knows I thank him for that!

Well I decided I’m going to do the Boston Marathon in April 2011 for charity (who needs to actually qualify when you have charity mwhahahahaah). So, in January I started really running and it’s become a bit of an obsession.

For instance right now I want to run. I want to put on my sneakers and go. I also realize I need a rest day and that is today. It has to be today because I’m doing five miles on both Saturday and Sunday. TODAY HAS TO BE A REST DAY! However, my body does want to listen and I find myself walking up to my sneakers and looking at them. I then think to myself

“Self, why are we standing in the hallway looking at our sneakers?”
“Because we’re going for a run.” (Yes, I hear voices go with it).
“No, today is a rest day.”
“I don’t want to rest.”
“But we have to rest or we’ll end up sick.”
“We have to run.”
“No.”

And I then walk away from the shoes to major protests from my inner voice. I think this might qualify me as suffering from some sort of addiction. I suppose a running addiction isn’t that bad in the grand scheme of things.

So, I will fight with my inner voice and keep myself from tying my sneakers and going for a run. If I want to be healthy for April I need to take my training slowly and not hurt myself. This makes sense intellectually but that little runner inside me, who finds this so addictive, is not happy.

BP is going to ruin our Florida beaches! Haven't we been doing that?

Yes, BP oil is the devil and it's going to kill all of the shellfish, fish, sea life, manatees, sea turtles, plants, economy, and ruin peoples lively hoods. It's a horrible tragedy which was no ones fault (because it was an accident right?) but that little "acoustic switch" (it's a boring explanation about what it is) that is a required safety feature in the North Sea, could have prevented all of this. Why would we require something like that in an area of the United States which provides 40% of the seafood for the lower 48 states? Thank you politicians for making that safety feature an optional device in order to promote industry! Capitalism at it's best people! Right?

I do like how everyone is so worked up in Florida about our beaches. I've lived here most of my life and people leave their trash, cars, tires, and booze bottles on the beach. If people are so concerned about our beaches and our environment, why do they feel it's OK to trash our natural resources unless it's a multimillion dollar disaster?

For example Daytona beach, one of the most popular beaches here in Florida, (The Daytona 500, bike week, etc) allows people to drive and park on the beach itself. The oil, gas, and other chemicals leaching out of the cars into the sand happens 365 days a week. Are we supposed to believe that those chemicals do not hurt the environment and the natural wildlife in the area?

Call me crazy, but maybe if we held people accountable, didn't let politicians and corporations run wild on our "American way of Capitalism" line people like to throw around, and cared about our world during the good times as much as we do in a time of disaster. Just maybe, we could limit these types of disasters, respond to them better, and help our fellow man.

Just a thought...