Desk jobs are not for the faint of heart

Reason #8745276 why desk jobs are the pits.

There is truth to my butt fatigue....

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Via: Medical Billing And Coding

Diamonds are a girl's best friend, and Emily's.

I'm pretty sure I have a finger this would look perfect on.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/3492919.stm

Cherry Blossom 10-Miler

I don't feel so good. I'm sitting here, at work (yes, I can blog from work.) (More like, shhhh. Don't tell.) clinging to my Kleenex with a kung fu grip.

You can have this box of tissues when you pry it from my cold, dead fingers. Ya filthy animal.

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God bless you, Billy.

Anywho, let's do a race recap, shall we?

The Cherry Blossom 10-miler, April 3, 2011.

Whoa, what an awesome race. I ventured into DC on Saturday for packet pick up at the National Building Museum. The line (at 11:30am) wrapped around the building... and this ain't no shack. It's the NATIONAL BUILDING museum.... of course it's going to be big. So, I waited. And waited. And made friends with the runners around me. And waited some more.

Finally, I got my number and t-shirt. I was seated in the "Red Wave," which was the second to launch, I think. Plus, I purchased this puppy. Win! (Bigger win if it had been a real puppy...)

Hi, my name is Kaylan and I'm a pinkaholic.

Sunday, I got to the Metro at 7, missed the train. Whoops. So, it being the weekend and all, I had to wait 15 minutes for the next train. Whoops. Got off at the Smithsonian and booked it to the starting line were I finagled through a gate to the Red Wave. I literally waited about 2 minutes before the gun went off. Me thinks I could've had better timing. Especially since I needed to use the little lady's room. Holding it for 10 miles made me run faster? I don't want to experiment with that again. Pass.

The race itself was crazy. The first 5 miles were crazy obnoxious-- so crowded I felt like I was running with my elbows up. Definitely running on the offense, zig zagging my way through narrow spaces (aka large, sweaty men in spandex... WOOF). My mantra during this? "Goonies never say die." Weird, I know. But it worked. It's the little things in life I find most amusing.

The last 5 were crazy MARVE. Around the tidal basin to Hains Point, down trails lined with blooming Cherry trees. Ugh, I felt so lucky to be running. It didn't hurt that my pace had quickened and the route had gotten significantly less crowded. I love when running makes me smile.

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Not a picture I took, but it illustrates what I saw well. I was pretty focused on balancing my pace and not barfing. But I managed to look around every once in a while.

I wasn't able to track my pace per mile, my first mile being 8:24 (aka, my angry face was on), but I did clock my last mile, 7:13 (aka, happy dance time!). I managed to do negative splits for a ten-miler? Whammy. My chip time was 1:15.54, with an average pace at 7:35.

At first I was completely devastated. I should've run harder, faster. I should've gotten there earlier and seated myself at the front of the wave, maybe it would've been less crowded. I should've knocked people down. Yeah, I'm looking at you, father of 2 pushing a twin stroller. Babies or no babies, I WANT MY TIME.

And then I saw my race photos. And I laughed. Loudly.

Remember the part where I said I was trying to balance my pace with not tossing my cookies? Yeah. It was true. There's the proof. Side note: Remind me next time I'm having my picture taken to brush the rat's nest on top of my head. Woof.

The more I think about it, the less disappointed I feel in my time. I showed up (1 point), I ran (1 point), and I finished (1 point). Bonus points go to:

1. NOT barfing

2. PR'ing-- but only because I've never raced that distance before.

3. Negative splits

Me thinks I'm more of a middle distance runner than anything. And I cannot wait to race again. I heart running. SMILES.

diagram of my heart.

Where my heart was...

is...

And still wishes it could be...

All maps a la here.

Desperately want these prints in my room. So. Bad. More to come on my nesting. It, much like myself, is a work in progress.

Cherry Blossoms

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The time has come (apparently) for the tourists to flock from far and wide to my beloved city. Traffic. Like, whoa.

Fanny packs. Whoa (read: woe. Fashion faux pas.)

Beauty? WHOA.

With the blossoming comes the running. After a near fatal.... ok, slight scare on the dreadmill last week, I took a few days off. That always scares me, but in the end my health is more important than my sanity. Wait, no? Meh, all's well that ends well?

This week I have been rocking it. The weather has been dreary,except Tuesday when I had a smokin' hot date (swoon) to see the Tidal Basin. So, I've been boppin' on the tready-- mile intervals up to 8 miles (1 at 8:30 pace, the next at 7:30 pace...repeat for a ridiculous amount of time.) Nothing gets me going more than Beiber followed by some Avril. It helps take my mind off the fact that I do indeed sweat. No glistening here. Super hot, I know.

Gross.

My rambling leads to this: The Cherry Blossom 10 miler is Sunday. And I'm so excited.

Happy Dance.

A-Z

Here I am... in all my glory.

A. Age: 25
B. Bed size: Queen. And I bought it allllll by myself. Mommy, wow, I'm a big girl now?
C. Chore you dislike: Taking the trash out. Woof.
D. Dogs: Wedekind's Third Deacon, master of disaster. Collie. Beautiful and smart as a whip. Full sentences are hard.
E. Essential start to your day: Coffee. Nummy.
F. Favorite color: RED
G. Gold or silver: Both
H. Height: 5'4 and 1/2" but I round up to 5'5"... and yes, I think it's fair.
I. Instruments you play(ed): I dabbled with a little acoustic guitar in high school, because it was cool. And I want to be cool. Still.
J. Job title: Does "Office Bitch" count?
K. Kids: Eventually?
L. Live: Arlington, VA (Metro DC)
M. Mom’s name: Momma
N. Nicknames: KayKay, DayDay and a million others.
O. Overnight hospital stays: None, knock on wood.
P. Pet peeves: Smacking. Poor table manners. Chewing with your mouth open. MAKE ME WANT TO DIE.
Q. Quote from a movie: Just one? Inconceivable. (See what I did there? HA.)
R. Righty or lefty: Righty tighty.
S. Siblings: 4 lucky brothers (and 1 cool sister in law)
T. Time you wake up: 6:38. I like waking up to even numbers.
U. Underwear: I hope so. Mornings are hard. (Kidding, Ma!)
V. Vegetables you don’t like: NONE. Ew, except fennel. Icky.
W.What makes you run late: Sitting down?
X. X-rays you’ve had: Ankle, teeth, chest, shoulders
Y. Yummy food you make: Oh snap, I can make anything yummy. I'm an awesome chef.
Z. Zoo animal favorites: Flamingos

Mush.

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It's ok to be jealous.

It's been too long.

Well, hey there. Yes, I am alive. Contrary to what may follow, I am alive... and well. Almost.

A couple of interesting things have happened over the past few weeks, but I'll just include the highlights. Oh, like surviving my first snow storm. 'Surviving' should be used loosely as I did one of these:

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Don't worry-- it was extremely graceful. Like a one legged ballerina. B-E-A-utiful.

Day One:

(That white stuff is Neosporin.) Oh and that black stuff under my eye-- mascara. What? I like to keep it classy and get the rest of my eye make up off in the shower and rub it all around my face. Why? Because it's cool. (Do I even have to mention how good it looks? Puh-lease, the picture says it all.)

Day Two:
Or, the day I decided hanging out with Mel Gibson was a bad idea. Yes, it took me two days. Yes, I am a slow learner.

No, for reals though-- DO YOU SEE THAT SCHNOZE? People kept asking me if I got in a bar fight. At church. I wish. Oh, how I wish. That would be much more interesting than, "Aw no, I just ate it on some ice. BAD."

I went like that to church and my first night as a volunteer Youth Worker and met all the Junior ladies who I'd be working with. Lucky for me they are awesome and beautiful and extremely sweet when they told me my swelling gave my face "character." At least I think that's sweet. What can you really say to a 25 year old who still has trouble walking? "Better luck next time?" Yeah, no.

So, I took a week off from my running. It was nice, but also stressful. Running is my outlet. And I lurv it. I'm back on the wagon again. Reunited, and it feels so good.

So, I woke up this morning after having 3 crazy intense weeks and busy weekends (Emily came to visit YAY! and now Mom and Dad are here for the weekend YAY!) and I wasn't feeling awesome. I signed up to do the Love the Run You're With 5k in Pentagon City because I like to challenge myself and one of my goals for 2011 is to get that 5k time under 21 minutes. Even though I was tired and my throat hurt, I got in my car and drove down there. Convinced myself to run it. Ran it as hard as I could. And PR'd. All this, I would later find out... with a fever. Official time: 22:03. 17 seconds faster than my last 5k and PR. Boom.

So, now I'm in bed. Tired, feverish and typing. All's well that ends well?