Glow the Distance - the 2012 Firefly Run

I will always have soft spot in my heart for the Firefly Run. Taking place last June, it was the first running event I ever voluntarily participated in and might have been the first time I ever felt good about running. I had trained for it (sort of), prepared for it (by making light up tutus with my friends), and beat a couple personal records (like running for 6 minutes without whimpering). I had a genuinely (Jenny-uinely?) good time running with some of my closest friends and left feeling good about myself and what I could accomplish. It gave me the confidence to keep running (albeit sparsely) and the encouragement I needed to sign up for even more races! Since then, I've participated in the Hot Chocolate Run, the Color Run, the Warrior Dash, and, of course, the 3rd Annual Firefly Run!

Why did they use a phoenix for the logo?

I'll be honest, despite the soft spot in my heart, when March 31 (race day) came around, I was less than excited. I had probably done less training and prep for this race than any other running event I've been in (with the exception of the Warrior Dash, but more on that later). I had only been running once since the Color Run, which took place over a month before the Firefly Run. Rather than try to get a full night of sleep, I had stayed out until 4 in the morning the previous night and got up four hours later to attend an Easter egg hunt with my sister and nephew (it was super cute watching the little one-year-old try to figure out how to pick up eggs and put them in a basket). Instead of eating nutritious meals that would be a good source of energy during the race, I ate half a pizza, passed out on my couch, and woke up only when Hannah called to say that she was running late but was on her way to my place so we could ride to the event together. Once we got to the starting area, however, I was pumped and raring to go (I think the plethora of glow sticks we brought with us had something to do with that). Once we waved to the helicopter flying overhead (slow news day, apparently) and finished the countdown, we were off!

Hannah and I ran the first 1.25 miles (roughly - I'm bad at judging distances) before we started walking. We then started running again at the start of the third mile. After about 6 minutes, we broke into a walk again (because that first mile really took it out of me). As we approached the finish line (or so we thought), we started running again. Unfortunately, we had been bamboozled into thinking the race was almost over. Had we studied the course map (does anyone actually do that?), we would have known that the course was going to take us near the finish, only to curve and loop around (like a conniving jerk). Regardless, we kept running until the end to collect our participant bracelets and complimentary bottles of water.

This year, we decided to skip most of the after-party and just head back to my place. This proved to be a good idea because it took us forever to find my car (we might have accidentally re-walked a good portion of the course trying to find the parking garage - it's confusing when the start and finish areas for a race are in different locations).

I forgot my camera, so here is a picture of a bunch of
strangers that I stole from the Firefly Run website.

Even though I trained very little for this race, I think it went very well. In fact, I found it rather promising and encouraging. Up until then, it had always been my lungs that forced me to slow down and stop running. At the Firefly Run, however, it was my legs that were having problems keeping up. Rather than worry that my legs are getting weaker, I'm just going to
assume that my lungs are finally getting stronger, which is awesome.

Results: Time spent running: 24:03 (last year - 12:00ish)
Total race time: 43:14 (last year - 51:00ish)
Placement: 3431 (Hannah) and 3433 (Me) out of 4945 - top 70% (last year - barely top 90%)


Do you ever study course maps before a race so that curves don't come as so much of a surprise? Isn't it upsetting that we saw people who were running the 10k course passing us by the end? Wouldn't "glow the distance" have been a way better motto than "chase the night and win"?

"When you jump, try to keep your feet on the ground." What?

After spending years trying desperately to emulate ballet in my dancing (first in ballet, then in drill team, and even a little bit in swing dance (ah, the beauty of proper spotting)), it is very difficult for me to hear "you dance like a ballerina" and not take it as a compliment. But it's not... at least not in tap class anyway.

In tap class, "dancing like a ballerina" means that I'm too rigid, too structured, and working too hard for too little payoff. It means that I'm putting all the strain of every move on my weakest muscles, and making things much more difficult on myself. Basically, it means that I keep trying to point my toes.

I didn't even realize I was doing that at first! I had no idea that I was treating every shuffle and flap like a high kick (without the kicking high part)! Even had I known, I wouldn't have had the slightest inkling that that could be detrimental to my dancing. When Keira started teaching our class, though, she noticed right away the egregious error I'd been making, and tried to instill in me the proper technique. "In tap dance," she said, "you want to keep your ankles and toes as relaxed as possible. All of your movement should be coming from the top of your leg."

Even after being called out in class about it, I didn't think that pointing my toes or relaxing my ankles would make all that much of a difference, so while I tried to tap properly when I thought about it, I didn't work too hard on re-wiring my brain. That was all well and good when it came to shuffles and flaps. Worst case scenario, I would get tired out faster or maybe miss a couple sounds... not too bad. Then, we started learning pull-backs.

I don't just love this routine because
of the plaid suits, I promise!

Pull-backs are a tap dance step that involves jumping up into the air, tapping the ground with the balls of your feet whilst in the air, then landing on the balls of your feet. When done correctly, it will make two sounds. It's the gateway step to dynamic tap dancing; without it, there is little to no hope of dancing like Gene Kelly and Donald O'Conner as they performed "Fit as a Fiddle" in Singing in the Rain (which may or may not be a personal dream of mine). Though we started learning this step months ago, I never was able to do it correctly until last week. Why? Because my feet were always pointed when I'd jump.

I thought I'd tried everything to get them. I tried lifting my toes before I jumped so that they'd just brush back (which apparently is TERRIBLE technique, even though that's how our first instructor taught us to do it... w (for whatevs)). I tried jumping higher, then when that didn't work, jumping lower. I even tried following my classmate's advice, which was "when you jump, try to keep your feet on the ground." But what did I never try? Paying attention to whether my feet were pointed or not.

Pull-back instructions courtesy of the United Taps Tap Dance Forum

So finally, after a lot of frustrating hours and embarrassing attempts, I made a conscious effort to relax my ankles. Immediately, I was able to do pull-backs across the floor as if they were the easiest thing in the world.


Tl;dr: Always listen to your teachers, especially if you're a stubborn jerk like me.



Did you ever learn the hard way that dancing like a ballerina is not always a compliment? If it was when you tried incorporating arabesques and pirouettes into your krumping, will you please tell me all about it?! Does anyone else feel like a frog when doing pull-backs across a floor?



And for your enjoyment, here is a clip from Robin Hood: Men in Tights that I stole off the internet. I think it's the only routine I've seen that has been able to successfully mix hip hop and ballet.

Color Me Happy and Month Old Recaps

If you knew anything about me, you would know that I'm typically very good at finding opportunities to look like an idiot in public. Usually, this is involuntary and cannot be helped. Occasionally, however, I put myself in these situations willingly and with enthusiasm. Such was the case last month when I participated in the Color Run.

Maddy, Hannah, and me before the race

The Color Run, benefiting the American Heart Association, is a 5k that focuses much less on running and much more on being silly (so right up my alley). At each kilometer, runners go through color zones where volunteers throw fistfuls of color powder at passersby. In addition, everyone receives a packet of color with their registration (with the opportunity to purchase more) for use in the Finish Line Color Explosions (I was originally given a red packet, which I successfully traded with a friend for a pink one, because as we all know, pink is way better).

It worked well for me that the Color Run put very little emphasis on actually running, because between running the Hot Chocolate Run eight days before and helping Maddy pack up for her move into Hannah's duplex, I was pretty exhausted. It didn't bother me that everyone started cutting corners (at one point, everyone disregarded the confusingly spaced cones altogether and bypassed part of the route), and I didn't mind that it wasn't event a timed event [I did try timing it myself - according to my watch, we finished the race in 48:12 (that's making the unlikely assumption that I managed to start and stop the timer accurately)]. In fact, I think that everyone was a little relieved that it was a very informal event. Otherwise, keeping seven of us together for a 3.1 mile run would have been a little difficult.

Team: Color Me Happy
From left to right: Liz, Maddy, Hannah, Brian,
Jenny (me), Jeff, and Lauren

  

After making it through the treacherous course (of even pavement), we rewarded ourselves with a delicious and colorful brunch at Ozona's!

I want this picture of Maddy's hand to become next year's ad.

Have you ever participated in any of these color events? Do you also suffer from looking ridiculous in public? Do you also think it strange that they hosted a color-themed event on a Sunday? I mean, it wouldn't be a problem except that there was no way I would have been able to get all the residual color out of my skin/hair before work the next morning.

Egg Muffins and My Ability to Always Stay on Track with Diets Always

Remember when I was all "Oh, I'm totally going on South Beach Diet, and it's going to be super awesome and successful and I'll totally not give up after the first day!"

Well good news! I didn't give up after the first day! However, I may have given up after three days. What? I couldn't help it! The best part of Lent (food-wise) is enjoying grilled cheese sandwiches on Fridays!

However, before I quit the diet, I did manage to try out a new grab-and-go breakfast recipe: egg muffins.

Egg Muffins
Recipe courtesy of Kalyn's Kitchen

Makes 12 muffins

Ingredients:

15 eggs
1-2 tsp. Spike Seasoning
1-2 cups grated low fat cheese (I like sharp cheddar)
3 green onions diced small (optional)
Other chopped vegetables (optional)
Diced canadian bacon or lean ham (optional)

Directions:

1) Preheat the oven to 375 degrees fahrenheit.
2) Spray muffin pan with nonstick spray.
3) In the bottom of the muffin cups, layer diced meat, veggies, cheese, and onions, as applicable, until muffin cups are about 2/3 full.
4) Break eggs into large bowl, add Spike Seasoning, and beat well.
5) Pour egg into each muffin cup until it is 3/4 full and stir lightly with a fork.
6) Bake 25-35 minutes or until muffins have risen and are slightly browned and set.

Voila!

Even though I made some modifications to the recipe (I didn't include any vegetables or Spike Seasoning, partially because I have no idea what Spike Seasoning is), I like to think that they turned out pretty well! While the two I made with just egg and cheese were pretty bland, the ones with ham were delicious!

You can make these ahead of time and store them in the refrigerator. Just 2 minutes in the microwave and you're good to go!

What's your favorite grab-and-go breakfast recipe? Has anyone had much success staying on the South Beach Diet? Are you angry and confused as to why I haven't been here in over a month?

As we always say, " 7 free pizzas isn't enough."

"Remember before when we you were talking about hitting low points in your life?" "Yeah. Why do you ask?" "No reason..." Teddy Westside replied just before I dove back into the trashcan inside my apartment's mail room.**

Earlier that week, when looking through my mail, I had noticed a free pizza coupon stuffed inside the regular Wednesday coupon pack. With the exception of the occassional Tom Thumb coupon for lunch meat or whatever, I don't usually find anything interesting. This time, however, I realized that I had hit metaphoric gold when I saw a coupon for the Pie Five establishment that was about to open about a mile away from me. To bring in new business and introduce themselves to the community, they had sent out coupons for a free personal pizza with as many toppings as you'd like and no strings attached. There were no "with purchase of..." or even "only one per customer" stipulations. It was just a free pizza.

Obviously, Teddy Westside and I had no choice but to try to find more. Because I knew that other residents wouldn't be so diligent in scanning through the coupons as I am (thanks to my couponing guru of a sister), we knew the first place to look would be the recycle bins around the complex. That's when I was taught the hard lesson that not everyone respects the rules of recycle bins. We had been looking through the bin for coupons (successfully) when we came upon our first show stopper of a McDonalds bag. While I have nothing against McDonalds, I do have something against touching someone else's mystery food trash. We stopped there and moved to the next bin.

After a little more success, we hit another road block of an overturned soda. (Seriously people, it's the recycle bin! I don't care if you don't recycle, but don't ruin the recyclables that everyone else contributes to!) At that point, we had gathered a total of 7 free pizza coupons, when we coined our new motto "7 free pizzas isn't enough," and kept digging (making the gold analogy from before all the more apt).

By the end of the day (or after probably 20 minutes), we had gathered a whopping total of twelve pizza coupons. All of which we used in the span of a week. Granted, Teddy Westside and I were not the only two using the coupons. We also shared them with Teddy's lovely lady friend, as well as Maddy and Hannah. Regardless, that is still a lot of pizza for me to eat in a week (and what a delicious week it was). Not only did we get delicious pizzas, but Pie Five also sells Pie Holes, which are basically donut holes covered in cinnamon sugar with frosting dipping sauce (that's right, all of your dreams have come true).

Anyway, the whole point of this story is that after that delicious week, I realized that my healthy eating was totally out of whack. Between Valentine's Day and Mardi Gras, it didn't get any better either. As a result, I'm going back on South Beach, sort of. More info to come later.

While dumpster diving for pizza coupons might have been one of the low points in my life, what are some of the hilarious lows you've hit? Have you tried my favorite specialty pizza, the Pie Five High Five? Are you concerned that South Beach is one of those fad crash diets? Because don't worry, it's actually very healthy when done properly, and is really good for people with inherent blood sugar issues like myself.

**Note: my poor memory means that these are not direct quotes from the conversation between Teddy Westside and myself, but rather what I can best recall from the incident. Though the wording may have changed, the gist and the spirit of the conversation are still intact.

Will Run for Chocolate: the Hot Chocolate Race and Guilt-Free Fondue

Saturday morning, I woke up at 6am, surprisingly excited. Despite the sudden drop in temperature (it had gone from 70 degrees to 25 degrees in the matter of a couple days), I was raring to go! I got up, ate a breakfast of delicious applesauce (applesauce is always so good when it's chilled), and got dressed in pants, two pairs of knee socks, a tank top, a long sleeve shirt, two jackets, a fuzzy ear piece and gloves (yet, I still felt like I needed more layers). After checking the map and the weather one more time with Maddy (I had stayed on her couch the night before, because I live way too far away for such an early morning commute), we got into her car and headed to Fair Park, where we would be running in the Hot Chocolate 5k.

In spite of terrible logistics regarding traffic conduction and parking, we made it into our corral and waited our turn to start the race. The music selection at the start line was pretty great and the crowd was enthusiastic. Everything was perfect (notwithstanding the fact that I could barely feel parts of my legs and face due to the low temperatures). After a few unsuccessful attempts at starting line pictures and a brief countdown from the announcer, we were off!

Maddy and I attempted navigating through the crowds without getting separated from one another, which had the lovely side effect of forcing us to pace ourselves (even if the pace was a little slower than usual), and everything was going along swimmingly. Almost a mile in, we even ran into (haha! ran!) a few of our friends from kickball! More accurately, they ran up to us (and tickled us, like the athletic jerks they are). Unfortunately, it was just enough distraction that I totally didn't notice the gaping chasm right in front of me (or tiny pothole, whatever) and fell (good thing my cat like reflexes kept me from toppling over completely and enabled me to recover in what I can only assume was an extremely graceful way).

We got through the first mile before slowing to a walk. Seeing as running a mile straight was my goal for the race, I was pretty stoked (albeit tired and somehow overheated and super cold at the same time). We walked the rest of the second mile and took the opportunity to catch our breath, stow away some of our extraneous layers, and re-tie our shoes.

When thanking Maddy for her support,
she simply said "You got me to the race,
so I got you through the race."
Hooray for prepositions!

We started running again at the 2 mile mark and attempted to finish the race without breaking! As we approached the 3 mile mark, however, I had decided that I'd had enough. Gasping for air and complaining of stomach pains, I slowed to a saunter and told Maddy to go on without me. She would have none of that though, and kept shouting encouragement at me until I rejoined her a moment later. We crossed the 3 mile mark then the finish line (at 3.1 miles), and it felt so good (except that I was still gasping for air and wanted nothing more than to sit down... which we then did).

After recovering for a bit, we made our way into the after party where we were handed the most beautiful tray I've ever seen. Well, the tray itself was plastic and boring, but ON the tray were fruit slices, marshmallows, a Rice Krispies treat and a cup of chocolate fondue. It might possibly have been the most delicious chocolate fondue I've ever tasted. However, since chocolate doesn't usually hit the spot at 9am, we left and made our way to a celebratory breakfast. It was the best day.


How did we do? Great!
We ran for 23:40 total and completed the race in 40:55. That's almost 10 minutes faster than last year's Firefly Run! Also, we came in 2985 and 2986 out of 4214, putting us in the top 71%.

I hope we can do as well this Sunday at the Color Run!


What motivates you when you want to give up? Is it strange that the coldest day of the season thus far was the morning of our race, and less than a week later I'm back to wearing short sleeves out? Why do they insist on handing out the grossest flavor of Gatorade at the hydration stations when there are so many delicious options out there?

When taking this picture, all I could think of was that Halloween
episode of the Big Bang Theory, when they all happened to show up
as the Flash. It was suggested that rather than change, they all walk
in a line all night to make it look like it was one Flash going really fast.
I think Maddy, that 2 dimensional stick figure, and I acheive the same effect.



Out with the old...

We'd had some good times together. We used stroll through the park and run in the rain. We toured Nashville and went walkin' in Memphis. We even climbed up and down the Eiffel Tower together. We were happy then, but I knew it couldn't last. I tried to ignore the signs, but after a year and a half, the fibers were wearing thin. Literally. Like, the fabric tore and left a gaping hole in the inner heel of my running shoes...

When I started running (for the first time) during the summer of 2010, I wore some old sneakers that I'd had for years. Since I didn't have a particularly active lifestyle (unless you count swing dancing, which I don't, because it's completely irrelevant to running-shoe-related anecdotes), I didn't think it would be a problem. How much could my shoes have worn down if I never used to run? Turns out a lot. My first clue that my shoes weren't quite up to snuff was that my feet hurt whenever I'd run. My second clue was that one of the soles fell off.

After running on sole-less shoes for far too long, I finally went to Academy and picked out the prettiest pair of sneakers I could find. A couple days later, I went back to Academy to return those horrible yet beautiful shoes and exchange them for ones that actually fit and didn't hurt me. I landed on New Balance something-or-others. They were the best sneakers I'd ever owned. They helped me run faster and jump higher. Most importantly, they were pink.

Fast forward 18 months.

Not long after Maddy and I restarted our running program a couple months ago, I noticed that my legs were tiring out pretty easily. I assumed that it was just because I'm bad at running, and hadn't built up any endurance yet. Then, I noticed that I had worn a hole into the inside heel of my right shoe. Experiencing slight discomfort and worried about blisters, I decided to do some light Googling, through which I learned that you're apparently supposed to replace your running shoes every six months or so. While I maintain that my mostly sedentary lifestyle makes it perfectly acceptable for me to wait a few more months before replacing shoes, I'll admit that waiting thrice the recommended amount of time is probably pushing it too far.

So, on Sunday, I went shopping at Sports Authority and went through the following steps to procure new tennis shoes:



Step 1: Find the women's running shoes section (you'd think this would be obvious, making it unnecessary to note, but leave it to me to accidentally spend 10 minutes in the men's department without realizing it).
Step 2: Hone in on the selections that fall within your price range (because otherwise you'll fall in love with the $250 shoes that promise to make you fast enough to chase down a gazelle).
Step 3: Pick out the 2 or 3 pairs that are prettiest and/or most fun (because what better way is there to narrow down a lot of extremely similar choices?).
Step 4: Try on each selection from step 3 to determine which has the best comfort and support.
Step 5: Purchase shoes of choice.

After following the very sound advice above, I settled on NIKE Women's Dual Fusion ST 2 Running Shoes!

I've taken them running once, and can already feel a significant difference. They are bouncier than my old shoes and fit like a glove (but for your feet). Also, because my new shoes were helping my feet and legs stay aligned properly, I could feel my ankle muscles (that I didn't even know existed) getting quite a workout. Most importantly, they are pink (I actually thought about getting the bright purple or teal varieties, but these look much better with my favorite running socks).

I think these new shoes were a big part of what enabled me to run my first consecutive mile with Maddy yesterday (and a 10:23 mile at that)!

Is it strange that I just bought size 7 shoes, when I can swear that I used to wear size 9? Do you like to romanticize memories of your dealings with inanimate objects? Do you like that I just slipped in the part about Maddy and me running a 10:23 mile like it's no big deal, even though I don't think I've ever run a full mile in my life and am super excited about it?