Yesterday I was floored to find out that I had been selected to be apart of the first round of DailyMile Ambassadors !

“The dailymile team is a collection of the most enthusiastic dailymile members. You don’t have to be the fastest guy or girl on the street, or the most experienced, but you do have to be passionate about what you do and have the desire to share it with both your local and virtual community. As a dailymile ambassador, you’ll represent dailymile and play an integral role in shaping its future.”

I have been a cheerleader for DailyMile since I first discovered it back in August of 08. I truly feel it’s been instrumental in all of the progress I have made in running, cycling and weight lifting. My day doesn’t seem to start until after I log on in the morning and post about then run I just went on or the miles I rackek up on my bike. The site’s biggest perk is the sense of community. As a very active person I often find it pretty hard to ‘bond’ with most people on a certain level so after a bad run or a poor weight lifting session I take a great deal of appreciation in knowing I can log onto DM and bond with a handful of people who not only understand what I experiencing but also, have experienced themselves many times over. It really is a tool to help keep you spirits high when that moment of self doubt crepts in through the back door.

I am very much looking forward to greeting and meeting new DM members as well as upkeeping the various DM friendships I have acquired! I am also looking forward to more DM meet-ups in Philly and all over the USA!

Hands down, the best thing about revamping my diet post-marathon training season and increasing my protein intake to 200-230grams per day to support my current heavy weight lifting  (muscle bulk!) regime is that I am no longer cold every other minute. My inability to NOT STAY WARM has been an issue for a long time. It was one of the few cons to losing weight. Supposedly, decreasing your body fat has this effect. For this reason, ever since losing a large chunk of weight (130lbs total), I had taken to layer after layer of clothing and was usually cold when no one else was..like in…the summer.

On many occasions, I have  fallen alseep with sweats and thick wool socks, despite the fact that I was also wrapped in two down comforters. But now, I no longer need 349059045 layers every day and barely require a sweater anymore. It’s pretty cool not feel like I am 29 going on 79 for the first time in years.

I sadly admit that I managed to fell asleep during The Imaginarium of Dr Parnassus. I will gladly blame it on the slight lack of sleep the night before and of course, the ‘Peanut butter pie” and glass of Merlot I had for dessert at lunch. This is the only downside to eating clean – when you do allow yourself to eat ’slop’, it winds up thwarting you in some way and on this day, this translated into me falling asleep during a 1 o’clock movie of a very exciting, imaginative movie.

 Pathetic? Yes, very.

The day before Thanksgiving, when most people are setting out on the road for their holiday travel extravaganza and breaking out their fat pants in anticipation of the start of the food overload season, I was getting my eyes examined. It all started when earlier that week I noticed that I had nearly depleted my last box of contacts for my left eye. In an attempt to order more online I found out that my last eye examine had taken place 13 months prior, which meant my yearly prescription was now null and void making it impossible for me to order more. Thus, this why I found myself scrambling to squeeze in a doctors appointment right as the busiest holiday of the year was heating up.

Conveniently, I was my doctor’s last appointment of the day. I knew upon booking that last slot that this man would hate me simply for this reason. So, to diffuse the situation, I showed up for said appointment nearly 30 minutes early. The front end office staff was delighted with this fact and rushed me back before I could even take my coat off. Within seconds  I was already sitting in front of that damn glaucoma machine having hot air puffed into my eyes. After eight puffy attempts, and endless rems of trigger blinking, the tech successful finished the test. Next,  I was whisked away to see the doctor, a 20 something super text-er with a cell phone glued to his hand. The first thing he said to me was that upon arriving to work that day and reviewing his schedule he thought he recognized my name but realized the minute I walked in the door that I was not who he thought I was. I apologized and he laughed.

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I’m still undecided on running the Philly 1/2 this Sunday.  I’m signed up, but the decision has been harder then you’d think. So, I’ve made a list of reasons why and why not to run it. Any and all input is encouraged

Reasons to run race:

• I ran this race injured last year ( FYI – Not a running related injury, I hurt my back helping an older gentleman at Ikea lift a heavy box) and my time was way off. So understandably, I’d love a ‘do over’.’
• No pressure what so ever to PR. This would be a fun run.
• Entry cost me $100 and the Philly marathon office does NOT offer reimbursement, partial reimbursement or deferment. Additionally, they do not offer entry swapping (tansferring my entry to another interested runner) which would allow me to sell it and make out even.
• My leg is better and I have no doubt it would carry me through.
• This would be my absolute last race until late March / early April as I WILL NOT train for another marathon in the dead of winter again. Never again!
• It’s in my backyard so there’s no lodging or travel costs for me.
• It was 19 degrees last year the morning of this race! It should be atleast 45 this year which is a HUGE difference and is most notably a PERFECT running temp.
• The course is fairly flat and a nice scenic journey in and around some of Philly’s best neighborhoods.
• I’d kind of like a photo finish in this race without my tongue hanging out

Reasons NOT to run race:

• Honestly?  This would be my sixth race of the year (my 3rd 1/2) and I’m feeling, well, lazy.
• They’re predicting rainy/windy weather.
• My leg is not 100%. (It doesn’t hurt, but it is very close to “back to normal.”)
• I really have not been runing much lately (especially long distance) so I am sure I am going to be winded in one form or another.
• I keep flipping between wanting to run this and being scared of running it…allllll day long and it’s making me schizophrenic

This weekend, I finally got to see ‘Precious’,  a movie I stalked diligently & mercilessly after reading  post Cannes International Film Festival 09 articles. By now, I am sure the vast majority of people have heard something about this movie. After all, once Oprah puts her meaty stranglehold on something, it’s just a matter of time until the entire human race knows about it. I could write another review of the movie, but at this point there’s a plethora to gut through. What I will say is this:

This was hands down, the best movie I have seen this year. I purposely saw this movie alone because having read the book many years ago, I knew exactly what kind of emotional exhaustion I was going to be subjecting myself to. As advertised, this is movie that deals with physical, mental, sexual  & verbal abuse, there is no real way to not be drained by this movie. By and large, the verbally abusive scenes were the hardest for me and they made me cry (more then once. ) With out a doubt, Mo’Nique’s portrayal of Precious’s mother is the most impressive role in this film. Anyone who can actually half convince you that you too could make some of the same mistakes, even if JUST for a millisecond until you return to your senses, is beyond talented. Hopefully her role won’t be distracted by an over-emphasis  on Mariah Carey and her “fake” mustache’s role. She did ok, but she doesn’t hold a candle to Mo’Nique. 

If you have a chance to see this movie, do it. Better yet, read the book and then see this movie. You’ll appreciate it more.

*****I saw at least 2 adults drag their kids (under 8!) into this movie and I don’t recommend it at all. What these people were thinking, I can’t possibly fathom.

Like everyone else, I love the occasional ego-boosting compliment. Give me a great big-ol-crappy day with a twist of stress, add a compliment and suddenly, watch my shit grin turn into a a big ol sloppy love fest of appreciation and glee. This is, useless the compliment falls into the uncharted category. And, when I say uncharted I am referring to a trait, skill or SOMETHING most people are NOT often complimented on. We all know what it’s like for someone to tell us that we have nice  eyes or that our new sweater compliments them because these are examples of common targets of compliments. But if you’re like me, every once in a blue moon you receive a compliment that is so perplexing and awkward it actually seems well, scary.

Exhibit A:

About a month ago I was at a wedding. As a member of the wedding party, I lined up with the rest of the group to greet the wedding attendees outside of the church post ceremony. The crowd was a mix of people I knew (my side of the family) and the rest were people I did not know. Out of the unknown portion emerged a lady who grabbed my hand looked into me eyes and said the following:

“I just HAD to tell you that, you have the most beautiful wonderful neck I have EVER seen.”

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Last Friday, 5 days after the NYC marathon, I went to a local hospital to have an MRI of my right knee to hopefully shed light on the injury I incurred during the last two weeks of my marathon training. The injury started off feeling like a minor strained calf muscle but eventually developed into a weird sharp pain that ran from my knee to my ankle and it was debilitating enough to make running painful. Obviously I ran the NYC marathon with this injury fully intact (which caused me to wave good-bye to my projected pace and overall time by at least 20 minutes) and even though I am now months away from my next race, with the way the injury felt I could tell it was still gaining power and not going to go away anytime soon. In the end, I dragged my stubborn ass to my sports medicine doctor, running ego in the shambles, and surrendered myself to a series of X-rays. While the X-Rays showed no breaks, my doctor decided to order an MRI to rule out any tears.

When I first heard my doctor wanted me to have an MRI, I was a bit intimidated. Though I pride myself on being pretty damn TOUGH and the owner and operator of a huge threshold for pain, it was the overwhelming amount of negative stories I had heard about MRI’s high audible sounds that caused my worry wart gene (THANKS MOM) to stand at attention. I’m not one to listen to critics, but in this instance I couldn’t help myself. Why? Because one area of major concern for me is always ……sound. Specifically, LOUD sounds. Over the years I have become fairly convinced that I am slightly autistic, with a twist of torrettes with sound. Don’t think so? Accompany me to a theme park (HELLO, endless stream of loud ambient sound) or sit next to me and chew crunchy cereal or sit near me and pop your gum every 30 seconds or put the tv and radio on at the same time, in the same room – Do any of these things and just GLANCE at the look of COMBAT on my face – Now matter who you are, I’m ready to fight you in these situations; with my bare fists nonetheless. Honestly, whatever tolerance I have gets lost in a sea of uncomfortability, lost patience and ID when loud sounds are present. I’m not sure when this started to happen, but it’s apparent it did and it’s not going anywhere fast.

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