charlatan psychic

Ok. Finally have some time to sit and do my Bataan post. J and I left Remy with a petsitter on Saturday night. He was super excited to find a tiny little Chihuahua named Bella would be staying with him. Sunday was a dark and early morning. Up before the sun. We got up at 3am to get out the door in time. Left about 3:30 and got to White Sands about 4:30. Once we were parked, we laid back the seats in the car and took a little nap. 5:30 am was up and out of the car. We headed over where they had the breakfast stuff. All prepackaged stuff like muffins and danishes, and some oranges and bananas. As usual, they had a bagpipe group starting things off. Then the opening ceremony stuff. They named the Bataan survivors that were there, and did a roll call of those that have died in the past year. (more behind the jump)

I picked up our packets today. Shirts, timing chips, certificates, special dog tags, everything we need for Sunday. Yes, Sunday is the Bataan. It's becoming real all of a sudden and I'm feeling a little nervous. Yesterday I had one of my funk days. Haven't had one this bad in a long time. I wonder if it's all the stress lately. I was just horribly depressed all day. It got much better once J got home. He's amazing at pulling me out of my funks. Today I took Remy to the dog park to meet some friends. He got to play with the neighbor dog for a few minutes, too. So he's tired. He's spending the night with a great girl I met through OCSA tomorrow night. She pet sits and will have him and a little chihuahua along with her two cats. Brave woman. If you need a pet sitter in El Paso, let me know and I will pass on her info! I've rather felt like I'm on the verge of a migraine all week. I somehow think it will stay like this, on the edge, until my stres...

Finally got my new shoes!!! http://www.merrell.com/US/en-US/Product.mvc.aspx/22877W/50398/Black/J35706?dimensions=0 I went to Dillards this morning. They had 2 pairs left. My size (8) and a 10. So glad I got there in time. And so glad they weren't in the horrible yellow color! I could have lived with the red or lavender, but come on, black is me. I have them on now, no socks, and they are very comfy. Tons of room in the toe box, but not too much. My toes don't rub anywhere, but they're not huge on me. The instep laces up nice and snug. The heel has some elastic, which I actually appreciate since I have narrow heels. I can kinda see where some people think this shoe has arch support, but trust me, there is no support there. The sole does curve with the arch, but when I walk, my feet are as flat as ever. I wanted to take the dog for a walk in these today, but I'm getting a headache. So instead I'm blogging and drinking a pepsi. I'm not a big soda drinker, ...

J ran with me this morning. 6 miles. Not a 10K (6.2 miles) but a 6 miler. I didn't run as fast as my last 10K. Finished in 1:06:some seconds. BUT, I did keep a pretty even pace for the whole run. Now I just need to run regularly and I can keep the pace under 11 minutes per mile. My shoes, however, are officially dead. I got blisters in places that I've never gotten blisters before (from running, anyway). Well, the Dillards over at Sunland Park Mall has the women's Merrells in. Not the men's, just the women's. So I'm gonna go get a pair this week. I'll check the men's department while I'm there and see if they have those in yet. It's time for new shoes. There's a 10K on April 8. That's a Friday, so it's during PT. Hopefully we'll get J's platoon out there with us. Then I sat at the Relay table for a while. J did some work at his office. He joined me at the PX and we saw Paul. OMG, hilarious movie. I love Simon Pegg! Fin...

This is just a general post to get some thoughts and ideas out of my head. I've spent pretty much all morning dinking around on Sparkpeople. I found a new website with interval/circuit workouts that look like it  might be worth a try. It's also stuff I can do at home, designed that way. It's called Bodyrock  and has a super buff foreign chick showing you how to do things. They do show modifications for just about everything as well. I am thinking of pushing myself next week. Run/walk Monday, Wednesday, Friday, and Bodyrock Tuesday and Thursday. Of course all that lead me to thinking of my eating. I'm tracking my food this week to make sure I'm getting enough protein in while we do the no-meat (except seafood) thing for Lent. I made a super tasty pasta last night by replacing the kielbasa it called for with beans. But I still would not have made my recommended protein level if I hadn't had a Naked protein juice. So I need to have some low calorie, high protei...

Yes, that is what we are currently finishing up. I can't go into detail now, but I think things are just going to get worse. I would be even more stressed than I am if Mom hadn't been here. She really helped me deal better. And then I get an email from the shoe store up in Ruidoso. They only got in the men's shoes today. Women's won't get in till April 1. So I give up. If J wants to go try them on, I will go with him, but I'm ordering mine online. I'm tired of waiting. And I think I will want to do quite a bit of running in the coming weeks. I'm drinking some kava tea and watching BBCA, waiting for J to get home. Mom is in the air on her way home. She has a layover in Denver and might call to see if I have an update for her. I think tonight is a drinking night. *UPDATE* Checked the Merrell site. Dillards is carrying the barefoot shoes! The site said the Sunland Park location would have them. I think we're going there this weekend. Yay! Wish ...

I found a new pair of shoes for the Bataan. But first, let me express my disgust at finding it. I really wanted to try a pair of Nike Free 3.0s. I swear I saw them on the Nike website, but can't find them now. Anywho, I went to the Nike store at the Outlet mall. They did have Nike Free 3.0s, but only in mens. I tried them on and while they were very comfy, there were a couple small issues that concerned me. No other stores carry them. I looked at other makes and models and found nothing. Finally I went to the local running store, Up and Running . They had the 2 New Balance shoes I wanted to try. First I tried the brand new Minimus Trail . It was super comfy. These are the newest contender in the "barefoot shoe" battle, but they do have a 4mm heel lift and a tiny bit of cushioning. New Balance has said they thought this was safer for people just making the transition and may consider doing a zero drop shoe later on (no height difference between the heel and ball area...