Author Archives: Cait

About Cait

Freelance writer, artist, & graphic designer. Founder of Ezzere Running Shirts http://ezzere.com/ #runner #writer #blogger #artist #designer Run. Laugh. Be.

I’m Not Dead! :)

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So did I just drop off the face of the planet? Did a ravenous black hole come and gobble me up? No, and maybe…if one did I hop it would say that I tasted like Cinnamon Toast Crunch or Fruit Loops.

Actually, my big news that I was talking about earlier for me is that I’m moving to Cali! Scratch that, I’m already moved here….hence my disappearance from the cyber-world. You know how I was saying that one of the worst things I could imagine would to be go sans internet for days, well in a sick twist of fate I just brought it upon myself.

Between Comcast ending service in my old apartment and driving one really shaky U-Haul down (side note there is a really long and ridiculously ‘it could only happen to me’ story I’ll share later) on a trip that was supposed to be one day but turned into two, and then still getting situated here…RIGHT NOW are my very first moments back to the online world. Oh, how I’ve missed you internet and why do you make the real world oh so much better?

Also I ended up doing the whole drive thing a few days earlier than I had originally planned on so I’m sorry for not at least giving a heads up. I guess I sorta pulled the crawl out the bathroom window sorta thing should we have been on a date.

That said I’ve got a TON to catch up on and still the fun unpacking thang, but wanted to explain the whole MIA thing. No, I haven’t gone AWOL and making some sort of pilgrimage around the world in a floating bathtub…yet. Actually, that whole bathtub sea adventure has already been done and by a REALLY awesome guy, Tim. I’m proud to say that I’m friends with a friend of his…look at me trying to name drop like that.

So sorry also to have been really lame and not replying to comments or commenting on all my fav peeps blogs. Trust me I’ll be back, you can’t be rid of me that easily….mwahaha!!

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Bustin Out the ‘Would You Rathers’…

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So I kicked off the day with a nice run to the cacklings of Hooda and Kathie Lee. At one point I’m almost certain Kathie Lee called Hooda fat; it came when Hooda said she celebrated the 4th at a city she used to dance at and they flashed up a picture of her. It was a weird picture but looked like a promo flier, Hooda was doing some jump in the air and she explains, “Oh, that’s an old picture from my dancing days, not obviously from last night,”and I could have sworn Kathie Lee quips, “That’s what I thought or I was going to say MAN you really filled out!”

Seriously? If I were Hooda I would be having NONE of that. The fact that that hour of the Today show was even on is a testament that there really needs to be a better selection in the am hours TV wise…even E! had failed me as there was some old movie on. Alas, alas, well those 8 plus miles rolled by regardless.

Today I thought I’d play one of my favorite little games of ‘Would You Rather.’ So here we go, and I implore you to pick a few to answer yourself, or all of them if you’re really cool beans!

1) Would you rather be cursed with stubby,wide, short feet or extremely long and skinny ones?

I’d go with short; I know that it might suck to have them fat but if they are short I know they can make little feet prosthetics to fit into a regular shoe. I know, Kristi Yamaguchi has only semi-formed feet and had to have these prosthetics inserted into her skates to help fill them out. I’d go that route; if they were too long they’d no doubt slam into the front of the treadmill.

2) In workout purgatory left to forever do Burpees or instead Sumo wrestling this guy?

Ouch…Burpees? Better that than become a pancake I think.



3) Stuck without internet for a week or the use of your phone?

Take my phone.

4) (Now we’re going to kick it up in the grossness factor, so you’ve been warned) Dunked into a pool of urine (not your own) or locked out of the gym locker room naked for five minutes?

Naked, not that I’m that body confident just that I’m THAT skeezed out by other people’s bodily fluids.

5) Wrought with explosive diarrhea on the treadmill (no bush to find relief) or projectile vomit attack?

Probably poopy…at least that way people wouldn’t think I’m just out of shape and trying to prove something on the treadmill.

6) Hold a world record in the event of your choice but you look like someone of the opposite gender (don’t worry you’re steroid free) or win Miss Universe but be a total space cadet?

I think maybe the world record…but I’m torn because I’m sure dealing with the drug accusations would be tough even if you’re clean and plus looking like a man wouldn’t be cool. On the other hand I think most of the space cases aren’t aware that they are so lacking in brains and they do say ignorance is bliss.

7) Be able to fly or hold your breath underwater forever?

I’ve always been obsessed with mermaids.

8) Be able to eat anything forever and never gain an ounce or have a limitless supply of money and never have to work for it?

Food orgie baby! 🙂

9) Trapped as Lindsay Lohan’s care taker for a year, you have to follow her everywhere regardless of what she does for the year or Charlie Sheen’s for 6 months…same rules apply?

LiLo.

10) Forced to give up an appendage; loss of your arm or leg?

You can have both my arms if you want but leave my legs intact!!!

11) Bonus Rando one, not really a ‘Would You Rather’. Turned into a food, what are you?

A big old hunk of cookie dough. Then again being Count Chocula would be a little fitting.

That’s all for today and I’m sorry if I wasn’t able to be more exciting with my questions. Feel free to toss up one of your own!! 🙂

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America’s Getting Old and Paris is a Complainy Pants

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Happy 4th of July everyone! And a Happy Birthday to America! 🙂

Maybe your day includes a nice BBQ spread, hopefully some fun with family and friends, and perhaps even some fireworks…

…I just hope that yours don’t have any pups on top! Don’t worry, no animals were harmed in the creation of this picture. Don’t send PETA after my @$. 😛

Anyways, this morning started off with a nice run and arm weights. You guys better watch out because I’m becoming one buffed out chick. Soon I will be pulling night shifts as a bouncer. I’ll also be freelancing as a security guard so drop me a line if you’re interested.



I admit I’m a sucker for reality shows, I’m overly curious about celebs going about their normal business. Though I try to draw the line at some point and even I get embarrassed fessing up to certain shows. This is going to be one of those times.

The well on my OnDemand shows is running thin, so I checked out what was on the Oxygen channel. That alone should be a red flag of my desperation…there was just nothing else on I promise! Well, so now Paris Hilton has her own show. She’s been slowly fading off the radar and a new breed of party girls are taking over…so I guess now she’s looking to Oxy to rocket her back to front and center.

At any rate, the episode I saw was one centered around her weight; she’s always looked super thin in my opinion and it seemed she never really worked out and ate whatever she wanted. In the Simple Life days we at least caught her wolfing down a cheeseburger and fries on a few accounts; though who knows if that was just like catching sight of Haley’s Comet. I’m going to say though that she was mostly likely the skinny fat sort of gal; she’s obviously thin but without muscle tone and such.

Well, now she’s older and rumors of the baby bump were circling. So she wants to try and lose some lb’s. They cut to her taking a stab a the whole working out ‘thing’. I know we have to take some of this with a grain of salt because it’s for entertainment shock value, but SHE is one of the reasons why I’d be a horrible personal trainer.

She’s wining walking on the treadmill at 1.2 mph. Her mom is canoodling her to keep going, push it, Paris. Really?! First of all a leisurely stroll does not a workout make if you want to get anything out of it. Cut to her boyfriend (ex now) trying to take her for a jog…I can’t bring myself to even use the term run, and jog is a stretch. He’s moving butt slow and she just takes to skipping.

Call me mean, but I just don’t have the patience for this kind of thing. It’s not only the lack of effort (at a certain point you just have to ignore them and let them just do diddly) it’s that they are the same ones complaining about being ‘fat’ or not getting any results. Well, duh?! So it’s the constant wishing, wanting, and not being happy…the bi***ing but they aren’t willing to do anything about it.

I really LOVE talking about all things sports and fitness, running ranks supreme, and if someone asks me for help, input, advice, whatever I jump at the chance. I’m not a total jerk, I genuinely enjoy helping people out if I can and I don’t expect something to be ‘in it’ for me. Plenty have done it for me in the past, so you gotta pass it on!

But some people just really don’t want it. They talk it up like they do, but it’s just talk. No one can make anyone do anything, Paris’s bf couldn’t stop her from skipping and stopping after two minutes. A trainer can’t DO the workouts for anyone, a coach can’t MAKE you go out and run…that takes personal dedication and motivation. Others can help, they can remind a person of their goals, but at a certain point you need to toss the ball to them…if they catch it and throw it back you can keep playing. But if they just let the ball drop and roll away…you have to go find someone else to play with. Or maybe pick the ball up and give them a nice little whack to the back first. 😉 Juuust kidding.

I don’t know where this is leading…just that I thought the whole Paris on the treadmill was at first ridiculous and funny but then it got very annoying very fast. We all have times of flagging motivation but we can motor through and get things done…if it’s important enough to us.. When I don’t feel all that jazzed, I make myself at least start…and from there let the endorphins take over.

Constant complainers are annoying…nuff said. Well, as for my little tangent I’m sorry there! And power to all those who are out there and getting it done; on the flip side I think one of the most REWARDING things is when you see someone who takes the advice or any kind of knowledge and input and it spurs them on to accomplish their own goals. I think THAT is why people who coach, personal trainers, and heck, even bloggy buds, keep on doing it, for the chances to see someone set a goal and STICK to it until they achieve it.



These are the people who always make my day, make me smile, and reading about them gives you that warm and fuzzy feeling. *Cheesy Hallmark moment* So a big shout out to all those folks, I know recently I’ve seen a few who ran their first this, did their first that, got a faster best time…so keep on rocking! Also, take a minute to brag on yourself please, or I may have to start calling people out. 😉 This kind of dedicated will overtake the Paris-slothy-complaining masses. 🙂

1) How do yo deal with complainers?

We all know ‘that person’ in the group who is always moaning about something. I let them vent for a bit, because we all need to at some point and myself included, but if it’s constant I try to block it out because it can get a sister down…lol.

2) What’s one way you motivate yourself to get ‘er done when you aren’t really feeling it?

I remind myself how much better I fell after and make myself at least start and from there I usually get going and keep on rolling.

3) Any fun plans for the 4th?!!

4) Almost forgot, anyone who wants to, please share the last goal you set and achieved. 🙂

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What? Me, Awesome? If You Say So…

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So, imagine my surprise as I’m scrolling down one of my fav blogs and BAM!! What do I see, but this chick right here getting an Amazing Blogger Award?!?! Say what? So after doing my little happy dance…



…it was my turn to answer a few questions and reciprocate the gesture. But I have to back up here first because I have my thanks to dole out. Don’t be pulling a lame Oscar move on me, I’m gonna get my time at the podium so no cuing the music.



First I want to thank the AWESOME Christina aka The Athletarian for presenting me with this award. Her blog was one of the very first I got ‘hooked’ on and she welcomed me with open (albeit crazy vegan…haha…totally jk’ing on that one!) arms and has been so encouraging. Who woulda thunk anyone would want to read my ramblings? I don’t even know if my mom reads this…haha. But honestly, Christina lives up to her Athletarian name in every way possible; she is a workout queen, but looks way too gorgeous while sweating it out, she makes all the rest of us feel like scuz-buckets! Her blog is always a blast to read and supplemented by drool-worthy pix of her top eats, hilarious shenanigans her and her hottie bf are up to, and plenty more. So if you haven’t yet, go check her out!

Second I want to thank anyone else who’s reading this. For anyone who’s commented and those brave enough to return. It always makes my day. 🙂 So now on to some Q and A’s:

1) My favorite cartoon character has got to be Tinkerbell!!


(from a break-up card I made a LONG time ago)

My family is well aware of this and you know how you have that person in the family where everyone buys them anything with their ‘thing’ on it, Tink is my thing. Over the years I’ve amassed a scary amount of Tink paraphernalia. Hey, at least I don’t collect ceramic pigs.

2) My favorite thing to photograph…this one is kinda tricky because I hate taking pictures of myself and I’m also notoriously horrible at remembering to bring my camera anywhere. I always plan to but forget. So I’ll go with my top pick here as running or action shots. Also good ol’ family pix.

3) My favorite thing to cook…wow, I’m going to be sucking on a few accounts. As I’ve stated many times I am a micro queen and have boiled water once or twice. I’ll do an easy out and say I can never tire of toasting up some Pop-Tarts…I’ve got mad skills.

4) My favorite way to exercise? Do I have to even answer this one? RUNNING!

5) My favorite movie…while I love Tink my actual favorite move is The Little Mermaid. Splash was up there as a kid too, and The Neverending Story.

I know I need to grow up, so outside of those I’d say Momento, Fight Club, and anything with John Cusack.

6) Favorite article of clothing…gym wear and screened tees.

7) My favorite flowers are pansies. When I was little I went through a phase where I named EVERYTHING pansy, I got a cat during this phase. Pansy was a vicious mo-fo though. I loved the scene in Alice in Wonderland with the talking pansies…but they were mean too, maybe that’s why I like pansies??

8) My favorite breakfast food are chocolate chip pancakes! But I usually have oatmeal and eggs.



9) Favorite books that I’ve read lately; I’m a big Stephen King and Dean Koontz fan, I’ve read nearly all of their books. I’ve been lame and haven’t been able to read much lately…does US magazine count?

10) My favorite place to be is with the fam bam! Love me my sibs…but not gonna lie I get abnormally excited anytime Disneyland is mentioned.

11) Then I’m supposed to add a question of my own. I’ll go with a talent I wish I had. I really wish I could dance crazy good…the fact I really suck hardly stops me though.

Alright so I now get to pass this award on to 5 other fab bloggers! There are MANY I’d like to give a shout out to, and actually a few of them I see have already received the award themselves so I’m going to have to spread the love.

Margs @ The Faster Bunny

Melissa @ The Healthy Cupcake

Emma @ Sweet Tooth Runner

Qiting @ I Bake Who Eats

Cait @ Cait’s Plate (she gets a double award for the cool name status)

Yay for awesome bloggers!!!

1) Fun factoid about yourself, what’s a rando (didja see this Melissa, I have fully stolen your word!) talent that you possess?

I can cram a freeze like NONE other.

2) A talent you wish you had?

3) Do you have a person in your family who collects certain things? Double points if the thing they collect is ‘old ladyish.’

I have an aunt who has a pig fetish. Kinda ironic because she used to be really Spartan about doing any and all fad diets. She had a pig magnet posted front and center telling her not to be piggy.

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Evil To-do Lists That Pick Boogers and Racing Garb

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Wowza…how are all of your Saturfarts shaping up so far? Hopefully not too stinky. 😉 Lame, I am, I have admitted that before so I have no shame in letting my full freak flag fly.

Today’s been a pretty productive morning if I do say so myself. Nothing to actually show for it, more like in the errands sense. The ones you put off that you really don’t want to do, that to-do list starts to grow, glaring evilly at you from the corner. Like that kid who picks his nose in class but still doesn’t understand why you aren’t nicer to him…ummm, because you’re gross? But I was able to kick that bugger picking list in the butt, or at least make some decent headway.

The morning started off quite nice, got in a nice 8.5 and a wee more miles on the treadmill. Felt pretty good, just went easy but it felt better than it’s been in the past. Did some arm weights, couple sets of lunges and squats, and then it was time to hit that evil list.

So I’ll have to do the cop-out and talk about other people…’tis the weekend and I know that means some races have to be on the agenda for some folks! If you ran, do feel free to brag on your fine self. 🙂 Or are you waiting until Monday to rep the US of A?! Well, as it seems I can no longer find friends here in the States and have turned to outsourcing, my growing number of Canadian besties probably don’t give too Oy’s about the 4th. Well, unless a stray sparkler or firecracker crosses onto their side.

There was a really fun 4th of July 5 miler race that I used to run when I was in high school. The best part about it? It was FREE!! Ya, that is unheard of now adays for any kind of race, it seems like road races are going the route of the movie theaters. The costs seem to leave my wallet violated in the worst possible way. But races are fun so sometimes you just have to bite the bullet. Well, at least there is the possibility of a really cool shirt…

(I made this in fun up for my good friend, she always wanted to sponsor her own race, so at least now when she gets it up and running she’ll have a t-shirt design…lol)

a bag of schwag usually consisting of a kiddie sized bar, maybe some drink powder. If you’re really lucky maybe some BodyGlide…praise the chaffing gods!!

That 5 miler was also fun because people would dress up and every year there were a few guys who always wore the same get-up. No, they weren’t really crazy cool or inventive ones…one guys wore a pair of ratty racing shorts that were red, white, and blue ala the flag. Each year we prayed that the threadbare fibers wouldn’t finally give out midway through the race.

The other guy was even weirder as he’d wear a pair of just regular boxer shorts with Odie on it. You know, the yellow dog with a really long tongue hanging out. I don’t think I have to tell you where the tongue was placed. Gross.

One year my younger sis and I dressed in matching get-ups. My mom special ordered these tops and if I may say so I thought they were the bomb dot come. Oh yes, I said that. Full freak flag remember? The racing tops had flames on them, but not gonna lie I think the thing that made it awesome was that my little sis was about five at the time and ran in the little kiddie 1/2 mile. SHE was the one that looked crazy cute in the garb, so I was cool by association.

Here’s a pic of my top in full flaming glory…I’m bummed I don’t have a pic of my little sis in the top on me.


(Had to blow off the dust on this one…must be 2002ish??)

Well, I’m off to get some grubbage. I’m super boring and pretty much eat lots of the same things, but I figure I like what I like and my tummy agrees! So on the menu for lunch will be chicken and black bean tacos (I actually like burritos more but right now I need to use up those smaller tortillas…this I know you really care about) with a side of carrots and an apple. 🙂

1) Have you dressed up for a race before?

I know my flame top really isn’t all that dressy, but that’s the most I’ve done.

2) If you hosted your own race, what would it be called?

I actually would REALLY love to set one up, but make it a charity event, it’s on the to-do list but I have yet to come up with a really kickbutt name…

3) The best thing you’ve ever scored in a race give-away bag?

4) Best thing you’ve eaten today yet OR that you plan on devouring here at some point?

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Kiss My June-bug Good-bye and Drawing in the Morn

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Dang, I can’t believe we’ve already wrapped ourselves around to another Friday! I have some crazy sleep issues, so I was up super early and cranked out a few miles on the good old tready. A bit over 8.5 to be more precise and while I was captain sluggy sweat I did my core and abs.

I always feel better working out in the morning. I’m the girl who likes to roll out of bed, into the shoes, and get things moving. Well, that is after I dally around for about 20 mins on the computer to give my nice little intestines some time to work things through if you know what I mean. Gotta have a little time before, nothing worst than pinching those buns for dear life while on your run.

Okay, nice TMI to start your morning. So after that I was in a sort of drawing mood; I usually like to have some kind of image or inspiration in mind when I set out to sketch, but I was thinking and Google imaging around and nothing really leaped out at me. Still, I was heck-bent on doing something. I had looked at random pictures for too long hoping to come up with an idea to then not come up with something; sort of like going past the point of no return. Or sitting through a movie and even though it’s bad you make yourself sit through it because you’ve already wasted over an hour and you might as well just finish it off.

Actually, I’ve never gotten up and left a movie theater…probably more because I’m way cheap and if I’m paying that much I’m going to see the whole dang thing. But I know some people who walk out regularly, I guess their time is worth more than the ticket price. Do you do that, leave a movie if it sucks? How sucky does it have to get for you to pull out?

The same goes for workouts I guess too. Days when you’re really not feeling it or maybe don’t even want to start…we all get ’em. Usually to get my butt moving I tell myself I’ll just start and if 5 minutes rolls by and I want to stop, okay. I know it’s a lie going in but eh, it gets the ball rolling and once 5 minutes passes I either feel fine or tell myself just to do 5 minutes more, etc. until I end up doing what I had intended. All about those lies…baby!

Well, nice little tangents I’m going on today. Well, since I don’t walk out of movies and I wanted to draw something I did. Not sold on how much I like any of it, but we all have those quasi-star movies and thus quasi-star showings of ourselves.

I’m a bit of a perfectionist and sometimes that can bite me in the butt. If I don’t like how something is turning out I can spend way too much time on details, certain details that is a good thing but on other really minor things, sometimes I just have to tell myself to stop. If I don’t I’ll never finish anything.

But distinguishing which details are minor enough to foggeddabout can be tough. Also, I don’t like showing things that are sucky, but I’ll go out on a limb and try to let that go too. We all have a spectrum of stuff we do…the things we really love and are proud of, the ones we hate, and then tons of stuff that in the middle. So be it. Live and let be.

So I’ll show what I came up with, also out of laziness on my part because I’m out of things to write. Bwahaha. Be warned because I HATE doing faces and really suck at them. I’m working on that, but it’s a weakness I’m trying to get better at. The eyes always look kinda freaky-weaky.

Here’s the sketches I was doodling away on. I sometimes like the loose sketch lines better than the finished ones because sometimes the harsh lines look too neat/clean/naked to me.


Trying to go for a little ‘Game Face’ thing on the side. Oh, you like my classy binder paper?


Supposed to be a runner tired after a race/interval but it turned out that like kid in The Ring.

Here’s the end result of one of the sketches. Hate her face, but watevs.

The other finished one of the running silhouette.



And that’s all for me today!! If you haven’t read up the latest Fairy Tale that is sure to be turned into the next Disney feature film, do take a gander…it’s got running, fro-yo and dare I say a pretty kick@$$ cast! 🙂

1) We kicked June to the curb, what’s on tap for your July?

Actually something pretty big for me but I’m gonna wait and share later. Sorry, I’m lame like that.

2) Bad movies, bad meals, bad dates? Do you walk out, not finish, climb out the bathroom window or do you force it through to the end? Also, if you have a really awesome bad date (or anything I guess) anecdote do share!

2) Do you have trouble distinguishing which details are too minor to sweat from the ones that really matter?

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To Yogurtopia We Go

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It was one of those perfect mornings. The kind like in those cheesy cartoons where the birds are singing and that little ‘da-da-da-da-da’ interlude is playing in the background. We got butterflies flittering around, squirrels a’skittering around, the full shiznit. Oops, please disregard the cat that just attacked one of those squirrels.

Back on track; we cut to a slumbering princess. Princess Athletarian rises, greets the morning, gets out of bed and heads downstairs to find her hot Prince Dream…I mean Dean. He of course is in their palatial gym busting out pull-ups like a monster, she can’t help but smile at the enormity of his biceps, I mean, seriously?! Though she is equally as gorgeous, the two of them really should be a fitness model duo or something.



She hops on the treadmill as per usual and cranks out a few miles…er, I mean kilometers, dang that whole Canadian metric thing always throws me. That and they are always spelling favorite and color wrong. 😉

But she’s not feeling it, the whole treadmill things, the day is too perfect to be sweating it out inside. She takes it to the streets, waves at passersbys, but something is still off, something’s missing. She can’t quite place it but there is something that just won’t stop niggling at her.



AHA!! At last her stomach gives her the answer…it needs, it craves, it has an insatiable urge for fro-yo! Unfortunately, while her kingdom is amazing, the closest fro-yo stop is quite a trek. That’s okay, she has shoes, those darn shin splints aren’t acting up, and so she’s off to Yogurtopia!

It isn’t too long before she passes the front of Heels Delight, and who comes running out, well it’s Katy! How she manages to sprint in strappy cuties shoes is beyond me but she pulls it off, be careful not to be blinded by the awesome view she presents from behind. “Princess Athletarian, where are you going?”

“To Yogurtopia of course, are you in?”

“He** ya I’m in!” Katy exclaims. She ditches the swanky heels, changes into her running shoes and the two are off in a dash. Well, she does bust out into a New Kids on the Block song as they go, but we’ll let that one slide…she switches to a Bieber tune later.

A few kilometer-miles later they come to the front of Cafe Rio and who do they find face-first in a mountain of produce/salad ginormous deliciousness? Well Hungry Runner Girl of course! “Hey guys, where are you off too?” she asks wiping the guac from the tip of her nose. Astonishingly she’s still able to make anything look cute…don’t hate, appreciate! 🙂

“Off to Yogurtopia,” the two harriers answer back not missing a step.

“Hold on…I’m in!” HRG quickly replies. Splickity split she licks her fingers clean and in a second falls right in stride. Thankfully in this kingdom everyone is blessed with titanium femurs so HRG can run for eternity and never have to worry about any stupid bone troubles.

A while later they spy a fleet footed friend approaching running in the opposite direction. As they get closer they see she’s with a too cute little pup and know it must be Julia and Riley! (How Riley’s tiny little legs are able to move so fast is again beyond me, sort of like one of those hummingbird wing things I guess.) “Hey guys, where are you off to?” Julia the biped of the duo questions.

“Off to Yogurtopia of course, are you in?” the trio answer in unison. There obviously is no need for an answer and soon the trio becomes a quad, or whatever that would be. Actually I guess it more correctly becomes a quartet with little Riley.



Talk naturally comes to that of reality TV and The Bachelorette. “Thankfully that a-hole Bentley finally got the f-you he deserved!” states Julia.

Suddenly at that, from out of nowhere comes another voice, “Holy crap you don’t even know! I was SOO pumped when Ashely let him have it!” Why it’s Margs…apparently talk of The Bachelorette was something akin to her sailor’s siren song. (Just messing, Margs, you know I love obsessing over that stuff with you just as much! hehe.)

Well, Margs was on her training run for some kind of relay or whatever that’s getting all this hoopla. 😉 She finds out that that Yogurtopia is the quartet’s destination and naturally finds it necessary that a course change is in order. And so these six awesome runners are off.

This kingdom is quite expansive and it’s also one hot destination for anyone and everyone. It’s not too long until they turn onto the block that’s one of the biggest celeb draws around; by night it’s got the spread of all the best bars, clubs and restaurants. By day you can shop until you’re more broke than a childhood star has-been on the Surreal Life and of course lounge by the pool and soak up some rays.

It’s here they find one particular fit fashionista on a lounge chair, frap in hand and laptop on, well, her lap. As the runners get closer they can clearly see what is displayed on the screen that has her so enraptured. “SkinnyRunner! What’s up?!” Margs shouts.

“Wow, Elle MacPherson and her pencil perfect legs just isn’t right. But don’t get me started on Audrina over there at the other end of the pool,” SR greets the runners nodding to the abstatic Aud indeed at the opposite end. Ironically, the celeb is engaged in one of fete or another and cutting a massive cake…one she probably won’t eat as it surely can’t be on her 1,100 calorie diet plan.

“Off to Yogurtopia,” Princess Athletarian says and adds, “You have to come with!”

“Well, I already ran 20 miles this morning but it’s no big thang. Ya, I’m in! But just so long as it’s not like that lame knock-off Yogurt Bar.” With that, SR joins the growing group and off they go. If it’s any consultation, they are able to run much faster than Aud ever could, as her newly enhanced breastestes bouncing around would never allow for such a pace.



So, what are we up to six now, six fab chicas and a pooch? You figure out what that would be, I’m pretty sure it’s a sextet but that just sounds too dirty to keep using. Don’t worry, because I’m sure there are more characters to bee added to this little fairy tale…and thus I must say…TO BE CONTINUED…

**Photo credits due to the fine ladies at their respective blogs. Also, this thing was getting to be epic, I have other peeps soon to be included, so don’t worry there are other targets out there. You’ve been warned and don’t think there’s any love lost to my other fav’s. 🙂

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The Everest Mile and Track/Cross-Training Intervals II

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I remember the day when I first ran an entire mile. An. Entire. Mile. I thought I was the shiznit, the boomdiggity. I mapped out a plan for myself, I thought that if I ran a mile every single day I could be one of the fastest people in the world. I remembered learning in grammar school math 101 that one mile was 5,280 feet, so what did i do? I busted out a ruler and set to measuring a circuit I could run inside my house. (I guess I couldn’t just find a tape measurer?) I figured out that if I ran around the dining room table and then looped around the perimeter of the living room it would only take me something like a billions laps to a mile. I told myself I should just do that every single night and soon I’d be setting world records.

Clearly I was idiotic, living inside a little fantasy world bubble, and going to be really dizzy. This little confession is made all the worse because it’s not like I hadn’t grown up seeing my parents run. How did it not dawn on me that every day my mom was gone for an hour plus, did I think she was running only one mile and then shooting the sh** the rest of the time?



The only point of my little moronic previous past story is that everything is relative. Then I though a whole mile was a great feat of strength (bust out the Festivus pole!) and now flash-forward and there are days I feel lazy for only putting in an hour and doing 8 miles. Funny how that works.

But it’s really easy to get sucked in. Running, and other things too, has a kind of snowball effect. One day you’re one cloud nine for finished a 5k the next you’d count that as a warm-up. One day you’re watching Two and a Half Men, the next you’re running around half naked dodging Sheen sh**. The snowball effect.

Personally, Im one speed Chock and like me the longer stuff. That slow build of pain is much better than the full on bodyslam of lactic acid straight from the get-go in my book. Well, that and probably in my entire body I’ve got about one fast twitch muscle fiber total.

Still, it’s always good to get back to your roots and not lose touch with those shorter distances. Even if you’re a marathon runner it’s good to toss yourself into a shorter 5k or *gasp* even a mile every now and again. The same goes with training, and I’m as guilty as anyone for avoiding short speed stuff like it’s the devil. But often times it’s what we hate the most that is the best for us, right?! hehe.



Anyways, this workout has the best of both worlds if you please. Awhile ago I did a post on how boring cross-training can get and talked about a pyramid interval workout. Here’s another one and I’ll map it out both to be done as a running workout on on the elliptical/bike/swim/your choice of cross-training here.

Running Style- 800/300’s

*Start with a warm-up

*800 meters hard (This is a half-mile for anyone who has yet to figure out that whole metric thing; two lappers for the track school flunkies.)

*400 meter recovery (take a slow lap to regroup)

*300 meter sprint (3/4 of the track people. I’m sure you know this but just to be extra sure…lol) *400 meter recovery jog

*Repeat. Do a total of 4-7 sets. 4 if you’re on the shorter race end of the spectrum and 7 if you’re planning on going longer. The 800’s should be at or a little faster than your 5k race pace but you want those 300’s to be as fast as you can get them. Working on your base speed will make those 800’s feel comparatively much ‘easier’ or ‘slower.’

*Finish with a good cool-down and stretching.

NOTE: if you don’t have access to a track, you can do them on a treadmill (Though those 300’s might put that baby thorough a decent pounding! A 300 would be 0.18 miles if you go that route. But you can also take it to the streets and if you know about your pace just go for time.)

Cross-training version- 3 minutes/1 minute

*Warm-up 10-15 minutes easy

*3 minutes hard interval- try and ramp-up the resistance a notch or two as well and work on getting that heart rate up; you want it to be hard but controlled, feeling like an 800 meter effort *2 minutes easy pedaling- lower the resistance a couple notches and keep moving but allow yourself to recover

*1 minute power interval- ramp the resistance back up and really motor that minute; should feel like a sprint

*2 minutes easy pedaling

*Repeat 4-7 times. Finish with a cool-down.

That’s all she wrote for today folks! But think back to when you thought one whole mile was the equivalent to climbing Mount Everest and look to where you are today. It’s usually pretty funny. I remember the day I came home from my mile effort (at that point I’d taken my mile outside and did a loop around the block, I meant laps in the house, what was I thinking?!) and was talking to my mom. She asked me how far I went, I told her and then I asked her how far she had run that morning. Her answer was a nice slap or reality. That and later on that summer the Oly Trials were in Sacto, CA and being that I lived there I was able to beg my way to a seat for one of the days. It was inspiring and helped put that whole mile=a marathon thing in perspective….hehe. Hey, at least I wasn’t as bad as the dude sitting next to me, he turned and asked, “So one lap around this track thing, that’s like a mile right?”



1) Do you remember the first time you were able to run a full mile and thought you were the boomdiggity?

2) How long until the snowball effect took you over and what do you think a ‘shorter’ run is for you today?

3) Favorite running, workout, or pump-up song?

Has been and will forever be The Distance by Cake.

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Some Food For Thought…But Mostly Humor

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So toady I thought I’d throw up a few graphic designs I made as marketing suggestions for a local grocery store. They are only in the Northwest, US so chances are you don’t have one close to you. New Seasons is an awesome place, you can get sucked in for hours if you are a foodie, and they make it a point to support local farmers and businesses. They also have lots of organics and are green minded. This isn’t a sales pitch at all, I have no paid deal with the store, I’m only giving you some background so that you ‘get’ some of the jokes. They’re like a Trader Joe’s or Whole Foods.

Who said healthy isn’t sexy? 🙂

This one wasn’t for New Seasons…but who can get enough shrimp and poop jokes? jk.


Okay, you may or may not find Pop-Tarts there. I know they aren’t organic or local, but in posting up food things I couldn’t resist showering the toaster tarts with love! 🙂

At any rate, yay for funny foods! Hope you enjoyed and because I don’t have my name on each and every one of them, yes, they are mine and if you swipe my original work I will hunt you down and pummel you. 😉

Don’t sweat, there may be a little lacking of running related material today BUT being as every other post is dripping sweaty with such things I implore you to get your endorphin fix there for today. However, yes running is the best and we should all be getting our sweat on. 🙂

1) Favorite fruit or veggie?

Wow, I love I think them all. But especially apples, kiwis, broccoli, and carrots.

2) Favorite protein?

SHRIMP!!!

3) Do you agree that food is costing WAY too much these days?

Yes, it’s scary. I have thought about opening up a shrimp farm in my bathtub.

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Tackling Mt. Stank and Blister Woes

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I may have broken by back carrying down that GINORMOUS load of laundry to be washed. Am I the only person who waits until there is an Everest of sweaty running clothes, stanky socks, and other clothing to do a load? I was almost going to take a picture because my leaning tower of filth was comical, how I had been strategically placing shorts and tanks just so to avoid an avalanche. But I didn’t because it is kinda gross and I didn’t want an undie or something to peek out.

When I was growing up I was spoiled and my mom would do all the laundry…I miss you Mommy-O. If I had my own washer/dryer in my apartment I would be much better, it’s just really that I’m lazy and don’t like to go down all the flights of stairs (all two of them…lol), plus I never seem to have an abundance of quarters.

So guys, when you DO get that clean laundry all nice and done do you 1) go straight for your favorite shorts and shirts right off the bat (you know, the running shorts that DON’T ride at all, the top that makes your arms look oh so good) or 2) save them until the end of your laundry cycle, sort of like saving dessert for the last bit of your meal? I tend to go the saving it until the end route. When I know I’m in my fav staples I know it’s almost time to break my back carrying down dirty clothes mountain.

Enough of this because it’s boring. Being that I’ve also got a nice blister taking over the greater part of my right big toe, no better time to bring this up. Blisters, we all get ’em, some more than others. I’m pretty lucky and don’t get heinous ones all too often, and a part of that is because I make sure to always wear a GOOD pair of socks when I’m running and working out. Also, I don’t usually wear the kind of shoes in regular day life that cause blisters (read: I’m not a ‘shoe girl’…probably more because I’m fashionably defunked and thus never look cute enough in a pair of shoes to merit a blister).

But for people that DO get tons of blisters, those suckers can at times be H-E-Double hockey stick. Couple tips there:



*Avoidance: Like most things preventative measures are best here…you want a pair of running or workout specific socks. Chugging out some miles in a pair of K-Mart 6-pack count on discount isn’t a smart move. Plunk down the change for the real deal; I’m a little biased, but really like the Nike line, the Nike Cushion Noshows or Dri-Fit Noshows. I’ve also had good experiences with the Balga Line, and I know Asics and plenty other shoe lines have their counterparts out there. Double layer socks are one suggestions if you are really prone to getting blisters easily, the two layers rub against each other so that friction isn’t between your feet and the socks. Try a few, test them out, find a pair that works best for you.

*Shoe Savvy. Some shoes are going to give you blisters more than others; flip-flops, strappy sandals, basically the better it looks the more apt it is to give your feet trouble. There are products that you can buy to strategically pad the areas on your feet where the shoe will rub. Moleskin may sound old school but it works, and there are TONS of other new ‘techier’ materials out there. There are also blister blocking gels and glides.

*Pop goes the weasel. Some people are vehemently against popping a blister, they say it’ll lead to infection…yada yada yada. They can let it fester if that’s their thang but to me it’s not worth suffering with a big@$$ blister. Pop the sucker right off the bat and drain it. It will usually fill right up again, keep on popping and draining. You can put a band-aid or something on it to apply pressure to help keep it from filling up again, but usually you have to re-pop a few times. Be smart and don’t pop it with a rusty nail…obviously.

*Callous time. If you listen to those no-pop people what can sometimes happen is a callous can form OVER you blister. Then you’re really in for the hurt. If you have a callous over your blister it makes it harder to pop and drain, plus at that point that sucker is getting pretty big. My advice is to take a needle and dig down to the blister and drain the fluid.

Blisters suck. There are also plenty of blister aide products, band-aids, soothing gels, etc. to apply once you’ve got them. So, hope some of this jabber has helped…as for me, I’m off to put the Everest pile in the dryer and I’ve got some more popping and draining to do. 🙂



1) Do you do laundry pretty often or when you’re down to your last pair of skivvies? Are you a ‘use the fav clothing right away’ or ‘saving it for later’ type of person?

2) Are you blister prone?

3) Blisters or a mad case of chaffing…you have to go with one or the other?

Hmmmm…probably the chaffing, but that first shower is a b****!!

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