Thursday, December 9, 2010

Sweet!! I'm Almost Like One of the Cool Kids!!

Laurie was rad and tagged me in a "Getting To Know You" type post. Woohoo!! Her answers are always so eloquent, to the point, well thought out. I will just warn you right now that I lack that skill. My mind kind of tends to ... um, ... wander? And now I forgot what I was going to say. SO, anyhoo... on with the show. Let's see what questions she has for me to answer. I haven't even peeked ahead, so this will be a fresh round of questions for all of us - 'cause I know you are all sooooooo intrigued about my life - or lack thereof!


1.  What is your favorite time of day to run?  Why?
I really want to be a morning runner. The mornings that I do run I feel so energized throughout the day. But I am having a hard time getting into the routine of waking up early. Just today I hit snooze on my phone for an hour straight!  So 99% of the time I run in the evening. The other 1% would be Sunday when I get around to running in the late morning/afternoon.  I think I am a night runner because of my "fat girl" issues. When I started running last year I only went at night so people wouldn't be able to see me. I didn't want people in my neighborhood to laugh at the fat girl trying to run - and then see me sweat - or see me have to stop to walk. Especially since I started with the C25K program and there was a lot of walking at first, I just thought hiding in the darkness would spare me humiliation that I put on myself. OMG - was that a downer or what?? NOW I run on more public roads and I'm not hiding from anybody!

2.  If you could have any job in the world what would it be?
An astronaut. Without a doubt. It had been my dream, since the 6th grade, to be the first female to walk on the moon. I entered an essay contest where the winner would go to OMSI in Portland and meet Harrison Schmitt - one of the last men on the moon, and part of the Apollo 17 crew. I wrote about Eli Whitney and the Cotton Gin, although I'm pretty sure my mom helped me out A LOT. And I won! The whole experience of meeting him and hearing his stories had me hooked. So I admit it, I'm a space geek! I've been to the Kennedy Space Center three times since 2007 and have yet to get bored with it!

3.  Do you have a guilty food pleasure?  (i.e what is your favorite empty calorie food)
Okay, let's say it all together, because we all know the answer .... French fries! Love 'em. Can't get enough of' em. I swear if I could go to rehab and get off the fries I'd be as skinny as all those women I see at races. But until then I will embrace my curves. And I've since learned that some people ;) like the curves, so dang it, hello hips!  OMG, some time I'll have to post the story of the day I learned I have hips. I may have already written about it actually. It was traumatizing!

4.  How and/or why did you start running?
I started noticing a couple of friends on facebook (Hi Holly! Hi Kevin!) talking about running. Holly was working toward a 5K and Kevin and just completed the Disney World Marathon (he and I worked there together, too!). They both seemed to love it so I thought maybe I'd like to challenge myself and see if I could. So I bought some Nike shoes at the outlet in Bend, downloaded a C25K thing to my iPod, and off I went. For motivation, and to keep  myself on track, I immediately registered for a 5K in Corvallis, Oregon (at my former college) and the Royal Family 5K in Disney World. If I had to pay money for plane tickets and a hotel, then I knew I had to keep up with training!  Basically, at the Royal Family 5K, which was the only distance I ever hoped to master, I was basically shamed by my pathetic goody bag. I was embarrassed to just have the cotton t-shirt and clear, plastic bag. I wanted the backpack. I wanted the tech shirt. It was at that Expo that I declared I would be a half marathon runner next year!

5.  Do you have any special Christmas time traditions?
My traditions are pretty low key and simple. I do have multiple Christmases to attend, although I am probably going to miss the first one so I can race instead. First it is the step-family Christmas (the one I'm skipping), then my family gets together a week early. Christmas Eve my mom and I make dinner for the grandparents. And Christmas morning I go to my mom's house so we can watch the Disney Christmas parade together. Then we spend the rest of the day, in pajamas, watching new movies that we got for Christmas. I enjoy a lazy Christmas day with my pets and my mommy!

6.  What race/event are you most looking forward to in 2011? 
Well this won't be a surprise ... my first half marathon! I pretty much eat, sleep, breathe this upcoming race. If you are super brand new to this blog as of today, I'm training for the Disney Princess 1/2 Marathon! YAY! ºoº  But I'm also going to do 3 other 1/2s next year, if not more???  I'm registered for the Eugene Half Marathon, and will soon register for the Disneyland 1/2, and eventually the Las Vegas Rock 'n' Roll half. I am VERY excited about all that 2011 has in store for me. I think it will be full of challenges, but also great rewards!



Oh my, and now the hard part. Who to tag and what to ask??
In honor of what I'm training for, I'm going to tag some fellow Princesses!

365 Days of Awesome
Pennies From Heaven (you ARE doing the Princess 1/2, right? Or did I make that up?)
Racing It Off
Run Chunky Run 
What the Hell Was I Thinking! 
50 Half Marathons in 50 States 

And now this is the hard part. I'm not a hard hitting journalist that knows any kind of questions to ask. I might cheat. I do have a book of questions sitting here. This will take me longer than the rest of the post did!

1.  Who inspires you with regard to running?
2.  Running with music? Running without music?
3.  Do you have any fantasy race/event that you are longing to participate in someday?
4.  Think back to grade school ... who was your celebrity crush?
5.  You finally meet your grade school celebrity crush .... what do you do? What do you say?
6.  We don't hear about these guys enough .... Pets! Do you have any? Names? Type? Do they sleep in your bed? Are they in the family Christmas card??

8 comments:

  1. Great post from another in the OBC. You got on it right away...
    And I didn't realize we had to make up different questions. Yikes, I need more time!

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  2. I like reading those and learning more about people! And now I have links to others doing the Disney Princess Half, thanks!

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  3. 2. No way... I knew I liked you. Me too. I can't even tell you how much astronaut stuff I have... my entire dorm in college was plastered in astronaut posters... AND I even went to Marine Corps OCS hoping to become a pilot so I could eventually become an astronaut... but destroyed my knees (obviously not a problem now) and decided to build planes instead of fly them... anyhow... ;-)

    And as for 1, you look GREAT in running clothes... dump the fat girl syndrome... you are NO fat girl... you are slender and cute! Just ask sushi guy!!!!

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  4. Wow, that was fast, thanks for playing! Great answers. Your lazy Christmas day sounds awesome! Good luck this weekend. I hope you get your PR!

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  5. I used to run in the dark as well! OMG - I can totally relate. Actually....I still run in the dark, but that's only because it gets dark by 5pm now. You are going to rock your half marathon. Great post!!!

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  6. That half marathon will be here before you know it! Then you can eat all the French fries you want!

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  7. I love french fries, too!!
    Would you really want to be an astronaut? That is SO cool. It's always seemed like a scary job to me!!

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  8. I totally forgot to comment when I first read this post. Did I ever tell you I would do anything to be an astronaut??!! I was addicted with the space program as a kid, even went to Space Camp two times. Went back down to Huntsville, AL for an alumni reunion a few years ago and was able to meet a few astronauts...the total highlight of my year! Was also lucky enough to go with my dad to the shuttle launch of STS-129 last year and OMG it was such an amazing mind blowing experience. Trying to get back down there for one of the final launches next year too.

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Thanks for reading my little blog, your comments rock my compression socks!! ºoº