Daily Kick in the Butt

Running is my addiction. It's always present. I'm constantly thinking about my next run. ~Jeff Corwin

Pay yourself to run...

If I had a dollar every time.. Ever say that phrase? Well here is a fun concept pay yourself to run. This is way better than keep the change. This is keep the change 2.0, hard core. I not only get to keep the change, but I get to burn the calories. Think about it, if you paid yourself $1 for each mile you run while training for a half marathon, you could treat yourself to something really nice after the race or even at the expo prior to the race. I mean what girl does not love a shopporunity? I don't know about you, but I think that something like this could catch on. Today I ran 7 miles and I honestly can't tell you the difference between running 3 miles versus 7 miles besides the extra time. I actually enjoyed the time that I spent outside and felt accomplished at the end of my run. The next time I go to the bank I am definitely going to be asking for a lot of one dollar bills. The teller at the bank might be wondering where I am going with a stack of dollar bills. Should I clarify or let her keep on guessing?

Monday Run

Another day, another run under my belt, though I don't wear belts not even a running belt with water. I felt accomplished after today's run and feel that I will be ready for the October 9 Long Beach International City Bank Half Marathon. Prior to deciding upon running in this race I was vacillating between this race and the Camarillo Half Marathon. Call me crazy, but after reading a disclaimer on the race page stating the following, 'It is the athletes responsibility to know the entire course prior to stepping onto the starting line.' I don't know about you, but this kind of made me nervous. I could see it now people with flash lights looking for a lost runner named Melissa. I just want to be able to go to a race and not have to worry about thinking such thoughts as do I turn right or left? Besides this major deterrence I happen to think that a medal a with a palm tree and a light house will go nicely with my 2006 Rock and Roll Phoenix Half Marathon Medal of a cactus. Maybe I should start running in races where the medals have different trees and plants. Crazy? Well its just a thought!

The New Deal

Change of plans. As it turns out I will sadly not be running in this years Walt Disney World's Wine and Dine Half Marathon. Due to this change I decided to hatch out a plan and chart out the first half of my insane challenge, 13 Going on Crazy. To alleviate possible alterations to my plan I have decided that it is best to stay local or as close to local as possible meaning any race is all systems a go assuming that I can drive to the race.

Drum roll please...Here is the breakdown:

The Challenge Races 2-6

1. October 9, 2011 Long Beach International City Bank Half Marathon
2. November 6, 2011 Santa Clarita Half Marathon
3. December 11, 2011 Santa to The Sea Half Marathon
4. January 29, 2012 Disneyland Inaugural Tinkerbell Half Marathon (I am SO excited for this race)
5. February is quite the toss up...In an ideal world, keeping fingers and toes crossed I will be running in Walt Disney World Princess Half Marathon on February 26, 2012. If the stars do not align I will either be running in the Run Surf City Half Marathon on February 5, 2012 or the Inaugural Rock and Roll Pasadena Half Marathon on February 19, 2012. Time will tell.

Check back soon for part duex of 13 Going on Crazy... Did I just purchase a ticket on the Titanic?

Dairy Friend or Foe...

I have lived in my body for over 28 years that should make me the landlord of my body. What was I thinking to indulge in Menchies? It was as though I had two mini Melissa's sitting on my shoulders. The one on the left dressed in white wearing a halo and the one on the right dressed in a red robe with a smirk on her face holding a pitch fork in one hand and a cup Menchies in the other. Obviously the fast talking smirking girl in red took over and I did not just walk I ran to Menchies like a mental patient who escaped from Bellevue or Shutter Island. Low and behold my body revolted kicking, screaming, and yelling damn fool! Since I was fresh out of excuses I had no choice, but to put on my shoes on and hit the pavement. My lapse in judgement may have slowed me down and impeded upon my run, but I decided to honor my commitment in myself and simply run.

New Week...

I checked my frustrations, anger, and disappointments that I am currently harboring at the door slipped on my running shoes and headed outside. I decided to leave my iPod at home as well and realized that though it helps the miles go by, sometimes running sans iPod is a refreshing change. I was simply left with the pavement, my thoughts, and the surroundings. I learned that running my favorite loop garantees that I will run at least 3 miles. Besides running what did I do while running? Well easy tuned in, tuned out, and tried as Peter Pan suggests to the Darling Children to think happy thoughts. Yes his advice was to assist them in learning how to fly, my advice to myself is were the journey of self discovery begins and projecting what I want and need out of my future. Hoping that Peter Pan's advice will help me down this road of healing.

Fall has fallen... Or so I Think...

So I have to be honest this has been an incredibly difficult week. personally, mentally, physically. I managed to get in 3 crappy runs, yes I put on my running shoes and went out there, but I don't know how great they actually were. Today I spoke with someone regarding a medical bill and apparently I made too much money in 2010 and was denied my request for services rendered in 2011. Common sense here all money earned in 2010 would mostly likely have been spent in 2010 if you lost your job in 2010. Do they think that I am just sitting here with that money? I mean they could come over here and search me and yes they will come up empty handed. Obviously if I making such a request it is based on need not on oh I just don't want to pay this bill.

The noose around my neck is getting pretty tight and I am hangin on by the skin of my teeth. Hopeing that next week will be better personally and outside running.

Fitting in your Run...

Let me start with this was a very long day. It started out with me getting in my run really early in the morning. I knew that I had no choice, but to run if I wanted to go with my friend to the USC Trojans football game. Now that I am home I can really feel it that my legs they are really tired! I am trying really hard to stick to a consistent running schedule and make sure that I don’t skip any more runs. I feel that as of lately I am very good at coming up with excuses or reasons not to get complete my run for the day. It’s too hot out is a great excuse of mine especially since I live in Santa Monica approximately 9 blocks from the ocean I mean seriously how hot does it actually get? Another great excuse is that I am too tired or my watch & iPod are not fully charged. I guess that it is a lot easier to come up with excuses to simply not run. From here on out I have decided that I am changing my mindset, there will be no more excuses on why not to run, but why I should run and all of the benefits it sends my way.

I am not sure what was more fun exploring the library at USC where Felicity was filmed or the actual football game? It is quite the toss up especially if you are a Felicity fan. My friend showed me the library that is shown in during Season 1 episode 9, Finally. We explored the stacks, the room with Dewey Decimal System, which I have vague memories of ever using, and the main library where they sat and tried to study though Noel became a maniac from the ‘Smart Powder’ from Meghan. Yes I know that I am getting off track about my day, but I thought that it was pretty cool. Anyway the actual football was great and there was even a beautiful Andalusian gelding horse, Traveler VII, who has even been on the cover of Vogue magazine. Though I understood most of the game and who had possession of the ball, I can’t provide much information on the actual game except that they won! Go Trojans! I did a lot of walking and my legs are definitely tired, but I had a great day and am grateful that my friend had invited me to go to the game.

Disneyland Half Marathon 2011

With sweat on my brow and achievement in my heart I can proudly say that I ran the Disneyland Half Marathon 2011. To top it off, thanks to Flick, more about him later, after my pre-race dinner I saw Ryan Gosling going into California Adventure and onto Soaring!

This race marked the beginning of my 13.1 Going on Crazy challenge, run 13 half marathons in 13 months, kind of crazy I know! As many of you may or may not know I am a Disney Geek. I love everything about Disney, I even took my first steps in Walt Disney World, so it is no wonder that I love RunDisney. Disney has yet again figured out how to make running 13.1 miles magical. Though I had a few hiccups prior to and during my race...

• Pre-Race dinner at Storytellers was an quite experience. I started out like every meal that I have had there, I ordered the kids salmon, perfect portion and it is delicious! I ate most of my dinner and went to eat the last piece of broccoli on my plate and saw a green bug still moving and nestled into that last piece. YUCK!!! My family and I fondly named the bug Flick and will probably laugh about it for years to comes. Though I plan on returning to that restaurant as they handled the situation with the utmost respect and compensation, what a disgusting last meal prior to the race.
• The next biggest OMG situation was my $400 Garmin 610, which promptly froze at the just as I was crossing the start line and I had a run gadgetless. This was very annoying as I am meticulous and love to analyze each and every run. Unfortunately I will not be able to do so with this race.
• Major GI issues during the last few miles which slowed me down, but did not stop me from crossing that finish line.

Regardless of the bumps that I may have experienced I had a great weekend with my friends and family. This was truly a wonderful weekend and I can honestly say that I think my family and I went on all most every ride in both parks during the course of our three day weekend. As I reflect on Labor Day 2011 I think of how lucky I am to have my family not only get up with me on race day at 5 am, but to know that while I was running 13.1 miles they were there to cheer me on and see me cross the finish line. Perhaps the little bumps prove even more that when life knocks you down you need to get right back up and keep on running.

Old Skool

Last run before The Disneyland Half Marathon 2011, the first of lucky 13... I knew that I needed to get my run in regardless of where and when. Unexpectedly I drove up to San Jose 4 days prior to race so I grabbed all of my running gear or so thought... Kickin' it old skool in Palo Alto. I personally love the Lululemon Compression Knee High Socks, doesn't that look great with the Lululemon Running Skirt? Great Run! Now if I could only have found Steve Jobs parents garage while on my run.