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Fear Factor Recasting – Overcoming the Fears We Battle

Posted on August 11, 2011 by Cait — 2 Comments ↓

Cue Joe Rogan. So I am bringing you this post as a major alert: CHECK OUT DIS CHIC CHICKPEA…do it now!! Haha, now I usually try not to bust out the all caps in multi-word format that often because it is annoying, but Amy over there posted a poem she wrote that really is too amazing to ignore.

It’s about fear. It is ever-present but needs to be pushed out of our lives. She really puts it best, but it also got me thinking about fear and so now, as always, I can’t just shush-up and will ramble on with my two cents.

I think pushing fear from our lives in sort of like an ongoing battle, you shove one out the window and the door knocks with another. Sometimes I think it’s almost impossible to avoid opening the door, or I guess rather the door gets thrust open against your own will. So then, it’s up to you to rid yourself of the intruder.

There is also the little fear spectrum, or rather a speedometer. Worries and fears sort of blur together in my mind sometimes, and it’s a matter of placing a particular worry/fear on that odometer. Is it running at a 4 minute mile pace or is it walking at 20 min/mile pace? Sometimes it looks like a speed demon but when you stop and actually clock it, it’s going much slower than you thought. Sort of like that red sports car vs. the cops thing.

Amy’s poem also comes at really, a perfect time for me. I’ve got my own little knock-knocks on the fear door and actually, should I be completely truthful they’re already sitting in my lounge sipping coffee. I don’t like to really admit some things, I like to either be positive or make enough jokes out of it that I laugh it off, but then again I don’t like to lie or feel like I’m being a hypocrite either.

I would sort of feel like a hypocrite if I posted up this amazing poem about giving fear the finger and then not put the disclaimer that I’ve got my own fears and worries. I’m not sitting in an empty room, I’ve got Fear Nasties too. But, I also have other people in it besides fear and worry. Those people are there to help me oust Nasty Thing 1 and 2 out the window. In some cases those people are actually battling against the very same fear as you.

Our Fear Nasties Graveyard

The tough thing I’ve learned is that those ‘good’ people are sometimes hard to find, the Fear Nasties can really crowd the room and the ‘good’ folks can get buried in the back. Here are the sticky points: 1) Identifying there ARE actually other people in the room besides you and the fear dudes 2) actually believing that they are there (yes, this is another step) 3) reaching out to them and saying you need their help and 4) actually getting the fear thangs out the window.

The Fam

Getting back to the fear speedometer, if the things are more just worries, sometimes you can take a step back and realize that you’re making them ‘faster’ than they really are in your mind and if you start thinking more rationally or logical you can come up with some sort of solution. If there IS no solution than your solution is that whatever it is may be out of your control, so the best you can do is accept that it is out of your control, then distract yourself until the thing works itself out or you learn something new about the situation. Push it out of your mind as best you can.

Lots of my ‘fears’ are actually just my over-worrying. Fear in my mind is more gripping, heart-stopping, or it’s an enormous weight that is pressing down on my chest. Fear seems shorter, or like a climactic eruption. Worries to me are the slow build…I think they can lead to the gigantic fear eruption as the weight just builds to a point where it feels like it’s crushing you.

Worries are more my problem. I’ve briefly brushed on that fact that I’ve got OCD where I made fun of myself, and if I told you all of my worries I’d laugh right along with you as I said them out loud. But laughing them off inside is far harder, and it’s a matter of forcing myself to discredit these worries. Of course I’ve got actual ‘real world’ worries too, like we ALL do…and there are becoming more of those, so that adds to my lounge room of folks with Starbucks cups.

As I again catch myself in an epic ramble, I don’t want to make this too personal, my intention was to identify that this particular poem is something we should all read, digest, then read again. Because it’s a reality check: do you want to keep living with Starbucks sipping, uninvited, fear nasties with a speed rating taking up space?

I know I don’t, and I know I’ve pushed plenty out of my room before with the help of the other ‘good’ people in the room. I think the digesting part for me has also been admitting that there will always be new fear/worries or whatever knocking on the door, some of them the very same worries I already pushed out before, and I need to really listen when they start knocking. When the knocking gets louder, barricade that d*** door and if the door bursts open anyways, rally the troops, open the windows, and get to chucking!

Mary Decker Slaney’s Birthday and Bringing ‘it’ to the Track

Posted on August 5, 2011 by Cait — 5 Comments ↓

So today I think I need to start with a little tribute to one of the most amazing female runners…it’s Mary Decker Slaney’s birthday today and I was reminded of this by a FB friend who posted this AMAZINGLY inspiring 3000 meter race from the 1983 World Championships.

Toonicized 1984 US Olympic Trials 1500m

Now, I’m a bit too young to have been lucky enough to really watch her races when she was the she-fire on the track, but growing up my mom made it clear that Mary was one of ‘those’ people. The people that to us distance runners, are true idols. Who, to the common mainstream public, may be their Kim K’s, Justin B’s, Harrison Fords…you get the picture. I’m also lame because I’m grappling for the ‘right’ kind of celeb to parallel to our distance running idols but am coming up short.

I’d like to think of Mary as more than a few notches above a Kardashian, so maybe a Jennifer Anniston or Reese Witherspoon, you know, more like an American Sweetheart type of thing.

I did this cartoon version of a picture that was taken by my photographer friend, Bill Leung, when he was there to witness the duel between Mary and Ruth Wysoki at the 1984 1500 meter US Olympic Trials. (A duel where Ruth actually made quite the upset for the win!) So in the real picture the photographer on the side wasn’t in it, that’s my little Bill tribute…hehe.

Anyways, Mary was one of those child phenoms that never burned out before hitting the pro circuit. She raced with guts, of course people are always quick to say ‘this and that’ about people, there are no shortage of negative commenters around, but there are no shortage of fans either. Regardless, I don’t think anyone, after watching races like these can argue with the fact that she is an inspiring and amazing athlete.

I did have the very fine pleasure of meeting and dining with Mary and her husband, and it’s so funny how runners have that duel persona. You can be gritty and fierce as heck on the track, but then cross the finish line and in ‘real life’ be the nicest person around. I’d say it’s more of a stark contrast with girls especially…though, don’t get me wrong because girls can be plenty catty if you catch the wrong set of ‘mean girls.’ Haha.

It's GO time...

My point was, even if it’s your best friend in a race, fire the gun and in competitive situations it’s every man for himself. Some people can argue with me there, “You shouldn’t try to beat your friends,” “Be nice,” and things like that. And if you are going into a race planning on just doing it for fun, then that’s fine, and in that instance it’s not necessarily a ‘race’ between you two.

But when you’re putting it all on the line, and in cases where you really are fighting for the win, the place, I don’t think it’s mean or rude to separate life on the track from that off the track. In fact I think you’re only doing a disservice to the sport and your competitors if you don’t give it you all. (There are always exceptions, if you’re there to pace a training partner to their PR or something like that, I’m not a total heartless jerk…lol.)

I’ve been perfectly happy warming up with my friend (it eases my nerves to have them there actually…I know some people are the opposite and don’t like to talk), knowing full well they too want the very same place as I do in the race, and really I’d have been really pi**ed if they played the ‘nice’ card and ‘gave’ me a win. It works both ways, if you beat someone you want to beat them at their best, not some charity case. So when the gun is fired, it’s ‘go’ time.

However, once the line is crossed, that is when the true signs of sportsmanship should be shown. That’s when the ‘nice’ runner emerges and you congratulate people if you did wind up the winner, and you put on a brave face if you weren’t. You hold it together if you had a horrible race and if you’re going to cry or throw a fit try to put a lid on the worst of it until you get somewhere by yourself. Because we all have those days, those disappointments, and in fact that’s where it can be a real blessing to have a friend/training partner that was in the race who you can cool-down with and talk to about it…because they’ll get it.

And here wraps up another long tangent filled post…I started out by wanting to wish a Happy Birthday to one of my running idols. I’d take that meeting with Mary and her husband (Actually that guy is hilarious!! He’s a stellar field event athlete in his own right and can actually rip a phone book in half too…so funny to see them next to each other with Mary being so slight!) over any ‘normal people’ celeb any day.

1) Who is one of your running idols?

2) Who is one of your any kind of idol?

I admire and respect a few people but not necessarily famous ones.

3) Race day, I know people race for many different reasons and so depending on the reason I think the ‘rules’ or protocols are different. When you toe the line do you take your friendships with you, or is it understood that it’s every man/woman for themselves but once you cross the line you’ll happily cool-down with a competitor?

Bummin on no Froyo and Training Logs are A for Awesome

Posted on August 1, 2011 by Cait — 11 Comments ↓

Do you see it? It’s my curmudgeonly, scowly look of utter disappointment. Why? Well, for reasons that I can’t fully explain (one, because it’s a long backstory and telling it might wind me up with one of those cyber-faux pas where the thing you write about gets back to people you don’t want it to…second, because it’s sort of ridiculous to the amount you might not really believe me) I missed out on a chance for a real, live, in the flesh froyo date with Margs!!

Margs, you may recall has shot to worldwide celebdom for her role in TO YOGURTOPIA WE GO (how many times am I going to link that fairy tale, well for the time it took me I’m gonna milk it for all it’s worth…haha) and I was excited to learn that this SoCal living bunny was bopping around my neck of the woods for the weekend. But thanks to crazy events we weren’t able to make it to froyo bliss. 🙁

Don’t try to get all smart and figure you’ll pester Margs for my lame reason, partly because she’s got WAY cooler things to think/talk about than me, and second I pulled a Men in Black move and her memory is partially erased. I will say I was happy we at least did get to phone chat, and I hope my fast-talking chipmunk voice hasn’t left her deaf in addition to having a memory fugue.

Why so late a post? Sorry folks, internet still wonko on this side but I’m able to mooch a quickie blog post off of the internet at my parents’ house.

Next on the agenda, so I’ve spent quite a lot of time these past few days working on a project for my old high school’s cross-country and track teams. It’s a running log, something I think is not just really fun to have so you can look back on and track your progress, but it really is important to keep. Why you ask? I’ll tell you…

Even if you aren’t necessarily training for any big race, logging what your workouts are and what you’re doing can keep you on track and motivated to actually DO your workouts, you can reference it when you are feeling sore/sluggish/overly tired and look back at previous weeks’ workouts to figure out why. If you wind up injured you can look for signs of overtraining, then later should you come down with another injury you can look back to what you did then and do your best to cross-train and stay in shape.

People write all kinds of things in their logs, to varying degrees of detail, some people write how much sleep they get, when they feel sick, if they changed a workout their reasons, how they felt in their workout, replay a race, of course PR’s…the color of their poop…just kidding, just wondered if you were still with me. But all of this is useful and important info…oh, and making notes of when you switch out for a new pair of shoes so you remember to change them!

Anyways, anything I do I like to try and make it unique or at least a little better than the bare bones, so I have included lots of articles, quotes, and so forth. So I got to thinking, if I were back in high school, what would I have liked to read about, learn, or hear tips on? I put in things about stretching (when to do it/dynamic vs. static), mental ways to trick yourself into believing that it really doesn’t hurt as much as it does, things on goal setting, refueling right and such.

I think one of the best quotes I’ve ever gotten was from a coach whom I respect to no ends is this: “Stay the course.” Ya, there are tons of other quotes that I really like and are classics, you’ve got Pre’s quotes and other words from legends that are longer and more colorful, but I like this simple one because it is so true in running and in life.

In running, there are ups, downs, sideways, and stallouts. But what separates those from quit or lose their love of the sport from the people who are runners into geriatric years are the ones who just simply keep doing it. They know and accept there are going to be tough times that suck, but getting through those makes the sunny periods all the more special.

Sucks to be that dude.

In life, it’s the same thing, and we all get dealt some shiznit, but you just gotta stay the course. I’ve said this to myself tons of times, and not going to even try to lie, usually when I’ve said it I’m: 1) on the verge of a mega-girly-style breakdown and about to cry…one time that comes to mind was when I was on this horrid stair gauntlet climber cross-training and had been injured forever 2) fuming at the mouth because I’m SOOO irate at whatever 3) feeling so hopeless I have nothing else to do but just hope that things will in fact get better. So for me it’s not even about necessarily always believing at first that staying the course is the right thing, but knowing it’s the ONLY thing to do.

Wowza, so didn’t mean to turn this post into a preachy thing, really I tend to just sit down and type and see what spews out. Winding back to the training log I’ll ask you guys some questions:

1) Do you keep one?

I do, and now it’s a habit, I mean I tend to do really the same sorts of things (I know I need to mix-it up, really I do!) but I guess you can’t fight a habit.

2) What is a piece of advice you would have liked to hear about running/working out when you were younger?

3) What’s one of the best pieces of advice you’ve ever gotten?

4) Can’t end sappy, what is one the funniest random quotes you’ve heard? And do feel free to take it completely out of context!

This one leaps to mind because it just happened, and I’m blanking at the moment. I didn’t want to post it because I don’t want to seem like I’m a perv, but this was said dead-pan and in total seriousness by my mom: “I don’t know what a cat penis looks like, I’d have to Google it.” Later common sense took over and the realization set in that *duh* if you Googled that you’d definitely regret it!

To Yogurtopia We Go — Part III where all things get tied up in a nice little, sugary licorice bow

Posted on July 30, 2011 by Cait — 9 Comments ↓

*****Here is the ending to our fine fairy tale, but in case you need to be caught up, check out Part I and Part II, there are also some pictures of our lovely ladies that even if you’ve seen already are still worth a second glance at…unless of course you’re some pervy old man. 😉
******

Cait was about to go on and list the rest of the array of flavors when suddenly from the top of the peanut butter flavored yogurt serving vat sprang up a person!

“What is the…?!” Vanessa couldn’t even finish her thought on that one.

“Hey there, Julie!” Cait nonchalantly greeted the woman licking peanut butter fro-yo off her…well, everywhere. Apparently this was just business as usual at Yogurtopia.

“Thanks for letting me take a dip, I think I’ve just about satisfied my craving,” Peanut Butter Fingers Julie replied, a big smile on her face. Amazingly her hair had somehow managed to avoid getting fro-yo-fied and fell in loose waves around her shoulders; the runners also noticed that PB Julie certainly had some wicked fashion sense.

“I’ve gotta check out what kind of shoes that girl’s wearing,” Katy muttered under her breath, for only a split second distracted from the Biebs, but just as fast turned her attention right back to him.

“I have the peanut butter chips and chocolate chips on hand if you’d like me to toss a few in?” Cait continued addressing Julie.

“I think I’m good, for now,” Julie had emerged and worked her way to the counter and group of runners. “Hi, I’m Julie, nice to meet you all!”

“Hey,” SkinnyRunner was the first to speak, “I like your dress.”

“Thanks a bunch,” Julie replied and then from out of the chocolate fro-yo vat a dog suddenly popped up, leaped out of the vat and in a second was at Julie’s side licking the sweet treat from the tip of it’s nose. “And this is Sadie! I promised her a walk, so I’ve got to get going, but it’s been great meeting you all!” Julie smiled and with that the pair walked out of Yougurtopia.

“She’s a regular,” Cait turned back to the runners. “Don’t worry, we take care of our vats so that you can always take a hop into them if your bowls just aren’t quite big enough. Feel free to let me know if any of you would like jump in.”

“Ya I would, but I wouldn’t be so hip on all those freaking calories,” SkinnyRunner said what all of them were thinking.

“Oh, don’t even worry about any of that, all the calories in everything here have been sucked out. Actually, this stuff is all Leanne Rimes has been eating lately,” Cait answered back.

“Where do all the calories go?” Julia asked the obvious.

“Well, it varies,” Cait explained, “we have a calorie shunt that sucks them out, but they do have to go somewhere so we pick a ‘worthy’ person to donate them too. Right now we’ve managed to wrangle up Bentley…”

“THE Bentley from The Bachelorette?!” Margs shouted in most apparent glee. Actually, all of the women smiled at that and even Riley barked in approval.

“The one and only,” Cait smiled back. “We have our guests nominate people they feel are worthy calorie recipients and then everyone votes on them. Over there behind the bus we have the ballots, so be sure to cast your votes for the next candidate on your way out.”

“So can I board the mix-in bus now?” Hungry Runner Girl asked, unable to wait a moment longer…mix-in’s were of course her favorite.

“You got it! Load those bowls up and let me know if there is anything else I can do for you. The bus really has anything in the world you can imagine, so pop over to the spigots, fill up on the fro-yo and get to scooping!” Cait could barely finish before all runners were off in fro-yo fueled mayhem.

By the time they were done the yogurt spigots had been through a beating, the mix-in bus abused, and everything inside Yogurtopia was bathed in excitement. “I can tell you that’s the best bus I’ve even been on, and that’s saying a lot, I’ve accompanied students on plenty of field trips,” Hungry Runner Girl professed as they all collected around one of the tables.

“So you finally decided to join us?” Christina asked as Katy took a seat to her right.

“Well, he said something about Selena not being all too thrilled having to finish up her fro-yo with me sitting on her boyfriend’s lap,” Katy replied with more than a hint of disappointment in her voice. “They also had to go because he’s got a concert to get ready for…but look who scored tickets…this girl!!”

“Do you guys mind if I take a seat?” from behind the runners a sweet voice rang. “My name is Emma, I hope it’s okay, but since I take it you guys are big running fans, I’d love to meet you.”

“But of course!” Vanessa warmly greeted, some of that Southern Georgia charm obviously rubbing off on her.

“Thanks,” Emma smiled and took a seat. “Is this your guys’ first time to Yogurtopia? It’s mine, I live in another kingdom but I’m seriously considering on moving! This place is like heaven!”

“Ya it is,” Margs agreed between bites.

“I’m glad it’s all you could imagine,” Christina replied with a shy grin on her face, “it’s what I dreamed up, and I’m happy you like The Athletarian Kingdom so much.”

“Wait, are you the princess?” Emma exclaimed.

“Ya she is!” Katy touted.

“I also hear you’ve got an obsession with oats, is that true?” Emma’s excited raised up another couple of notches if that was possible.

“Oh, Oatmania, I went there yesterday for breakfast!” Christina returned and then continued, “and lunch…and maybe a snack too.” She finished with a laugh.

“I’m obsessed with my oats too!” Emma shouted before raising a shovel-sized-spoon to her lips. After a lick she went on, “There’s no better way to refuel after putting Betty through a beating…”

“Betty through a beating?” SkinnyRunner asked a little alarmed.

“Oh, Betty,” Emma laughed, “that’s the name of my treadmill, sorry, I should have clarified that one!”

“Gotcha,” SkinnyRunner said before getting up to visit the mix-in bus again.

“The only day I don’t eat oats for breakfast is on Sundays when I have pancakes. But even then I usually work a serving or two, or three in during the rest of the day,” explained Emma.

And so, our band of runners had made it to Yogurtopia and we leave them to polish off whatever they can fit into their bellies. And after SkinnyRunner’s report of 16.83 miles that certainly calls for plenty of fro-yo and mix-ins! We’ll leave them to their treats, but as we do we will catch one last glimpse of each fabulous character in our story.

Margs laughing just a wee bit maliciously as she stands in front of the now morbidly, overly-obese Bentley tied to a pole. As she spoons more fro-yo into her mouth she watches his ever-expanding waistline get bigger and bigger.

SkinnyRunner, upon her trip to the mix-in bus, met up with Leanne where she told her that if there was ever someone who should be sporting a SkinnyRunner shirt it would be her waifish self. Leanne agreed, forked over the dough, and joined the masses of other runners donning said shirts.

Julia made her way to the chocolate spigot where Riley had been furiously licking since they’d gotten there. She pet the little guy on the head and sat down next to him to eat the rest of her fro-yo. She pulled out her phone and between bites decided this place was just too good of a place for her sister, Jenn, to miss out on. Never fear, Jenn would come running right away and be there shortly.

Katy caught up on eating the amount of fro-yo that she missed out on thanks to her Bieber distraction, doing so only while staring fixidly at the tickets in front of her. A bit of fro-yo happened to land unnoticed on her shirt but it hardly broke her gaze; still, she looked as fashionably glamorous as always. Later, when she did realize the drop she thought to herself that maybe it would then give her the perfect excuse to just ask Justin for his shirt.

Vanessa’s stove woes had long ago drifted from her mind. She relished every spoonful of fro-yo and decided that her house hadn’t yet been perfect, but she knew exactly how to take care of that. She’d merely ask Cait for an extra fro-yo spigot and some mix-in bins…she had a spare room that had yet to be furnished, and who really needed another guest bedroom?

Hungry Runner Girl had been able to put away the most mix-in’s, even making up a new ideal ratio of mix-in’s to fro-yo in her head. This would be posted later on her blog as well as the new record number of Swedish Fish consumed. Her husband Billy would be proud, the doctors just as proud that she was able to someone manage to avoid a sugar induced coma. No doubt it was due to years of building up a tolerance.

Christina of course welcomed the newest member to her Kingdom. She thought back fondly of Dream…err, Dean at the palace and decided that perhaps after she got back they would go to the park. No one was ever too old to enjoy a swing on the swings! Maybe she’d challenge him to a push-up contest, she’d been getting crazy strong these days and been busting them out like a champ.

Emma was just as excited to join The Athletarain Kingdom and was already making plans to have Betty shipped out ASAP. She made Christina promise to take her to Oatsmania first thing in the morning, of course she also made her promise the two would go on a run together. Come Sunday Emma would cook everyone chocolate chip pancakes…don’t worry, they’d be vegan. 🙂

Peanut Butter Fingers Julie had taken Sadie on that nice, long walk. They actually made their way to the lake and noticed the oven halfway in and out of the water. Julie smiled as it seemed that some baby swans had decided to make a jungle gym out of the evil appliance. Julie also grinned because the sight of the oven suddenly inspired her with the perfect dinner recipe she’d fix that night. Said dinner would of course be written up, photographed, and documented so all could enjoy. Sadie barked.

Cait, well, Cait was just happy she could spend yet another day in Yogurtpia. She always loved seeing who would stop by. Today was especially nice though, and she hoped all of these fine ladies would stop by again soon.

Thank you for getting your fill at the one and only Yogurtopia.

Sandy Pants, Racing for Your Cookies, and Techie Apps

Posted on July 26, 2011 by Cait — 8 Comments ↓

And we’ve worked our way back to a Monday! Well, sorry for being a bit lame with the posts the past two days and I’ll catch you up to speed. Nothing too crazy exciting to report for Saturday, so I’ll use this as a chance to follow up on my mom’s bird story and share a picture of my lovely sis having fun at the lake up in Twain Harte.

Sis and BF at the lake

First off cute pic…oooh, and awww time. PS-she’s with her boyfriend.

The sun...oh how it burns my eyes out

Actually, right about now I’ll use this as a chance to throw up another beach picture (wow, I wish I were at the beach right now!) but this one is from Hawaii back in 2007 I think. That little guy in the front is my youngest bro and he’s doing that ‘hang loose’ sign with his hands not trying to flash some rando gang sign. I’m the one on the far, top right looking like the sun is about ready to burn out my retinas…that’s because it was and my mom was on about take 50 of this photo.

On to the bird story…now, I warn you animal lovers that this one is not a happy ending type thing so you might just want to skip this paragraph. Anyways, the drive between Gramp’s house and my family’s house is about 2 hours and it’s through the woodsy, curvy NorCal district. Well, my mom and bro drove back from their trip later at night and when they got home they just ate and went to bed. The next day my mom went out to run some errands and there was a note pasted to her window shield that read, “You got a dead bird stuck in your car grill :)” (see picture below) Yes, somehow a poor birdie was hit by the car and wound up stuck on the car for probably about 12 hours…how did no one smell that? My dad had to tackle clean up duties for that one. I want to say that I’m NOT saying the actual event is funny, in fact sad for the birdier, but what I found comical was the fact that my mom totally didn’t notice it and had to have some stranger alert her to this nasty display going on on the front of her car…with a smiley at the end no less. I also laugh because it’s something that would totally happen to me. I’ll spare you any visual of said bird.

Bird note

Sunday night was SUPER fun because I paid a visit to one of my all favorite families…I’ll tell you they wind in a very close second. 😉 I actually have begged my way into being a floater adoptee child, thankfully they didn’t turn me away at the door. Mamma Nappy is actually the one for who I made up the little Cookie Race design for the day when she hosts her own race.

Today I got in my tready run, just over 9 miles, hit the core and abs and got nice and sweaty. Now, I have something that I’d like some of your thoughts on. I got to thinking about how the whole social media and digital world has effected fitness, running, and training. There are a plethora of downloadable apps, online training coaches and trackers, iPod workouts, and even Facebook running apps. Not to mention the little sidebar widgets I see on many blogs announcing the latest workouts completed and all that fun stuff.

Now these apps run the gambit, those that can act as GPS trackers for pace, speed, distance, calories burned, the works, but there are also those that tout the ability to actually coach you to a faster PR. So what I’m curious about it just how reliable and for lack of a better term, good, are these things? As with everything you have to consider the source, and certainly some apps are better than others, but I was hoping to hear from anyone who’s used some of these things to share your experiences. I think that some of the apps for Facebook/blogs/etc where you can post your most recent workouts can offer a person up some positive feedback, encouragement, and maybe even a little bragging rights. That’s cool if it keeps them motivated to stick to their training and get er done. I’ve never downloaded one of those iPod workouts, with music and encouragement while you’re on the treadmill or elliptical, I wonder if hearing Jillian Michaels shout at me would be a kick in the tush to work harder or be just plain annoying.

Let’s hear the good, the bad, the ugly, and the cool things you’ve found in all things apps/widget/downloadable! I want to sort of revisit this whole online coaching thing later in another post, so stay tuned as I’ll be wanting to hear from any of you who have done/taken advantage of any sort of online coaching. 🙂 PS-these are all things that I’m writing an article about, so I could really use and would REALLY love any and all kinds of feedback!

Well, that’s that for now. I hope your week is off to a great start!

1) How do you handle sand getting everywhere at the beach?

Not gonna lie, I really don’t like feeling nitty gritty for days after I go to the beach, but I really don’t think there is any way to avoid it. That and a nice butt full of sandypants.

2) Have you ever hit anything (that was living) while driving? If so how did you react?

I’m SO thankful I’ve never (to my knowledge) hit anything, but if I did I think the guilt would just about eat me alive. My aunt once hit an armadillo while in Texas and she swore she had nightmares of its little beady eyes staring back at her.

3) Have you used any of these apps or techie things, if so, which ones? What are you experiences with some of them?

Faux Accents and Spreadin Some Ugandan Love

Posted on June 1, 2011 by Cait — Leave a reply

That’s flippin crazy, Mates! You know how I said I was going to be visiting with my friend from Australia, well, does it also happen to you that when you’re around someone with a certain kind of accent you find yourself start to adopt their way of speaking? This happens to me, and not with all kinds of accents, I don’t usually start slipping into a southern drawl anytime I’m around a Southern Belle (not that that happens much) but certain accents I just adore. Aussies, not that it is so much of an accent, but rather I love the words they use.

I do catch myself pretending I’m British sometimes when I’m around someone with a British accent, I’ve secretly always wanted a ‘real’ British accent. So after spending longer periods of time with these people I start to unconsciously start imitating them. I swear it’s completely unintentional and when I catch myself I’m always afraid they’ll think I’m making fun of them or trying to be funny. That’s not the case at all, so then I start talking really fast in an attempt to fool them into thinking that they didn’t just hear what they think they did. Ya, I’m smooth like that. 😉

Anyways, I wanted to post the pictures that I thought were taken of me and Eloise, but when I got home I found out that the person who supposedly took the pictures didn’t in fact push the button hard enough! ACK!! To her credit, it was Grace (the sweetest girl in the world) so I forgive her and I’ll just get some pictures taken later. (So these pictures aren’t obviously from yesterday.)

See, Eloise is in town for the big Prefontaine meet coming up and she’s staying with Julius and his wife Grace, both of whom are originally from Uganda. I love it how anytime I go over to Julius and Grace’s apartment I’m immediately overcome by the most amazing smells…it seems Grace is ALWAYS cooking something. She’s also got am awesome voice and usually sings while she cooks, she’s such a cutie. It’s funny because she knows just how much I CAN’T cook and told me that I’ll never find a husband. I laughed but then realized she was dead serious, definitely a culture gap there. Or at least here’s to hoping I don’t wind up a crazy old cat lady! 🙂

Grace is famous for her Ugali bread, it’s an Ugandan flat bread and I’m not really sure on all that goes into it but maybe I’ll try and find out, and she used to make it for all the runners that stopped by. But I felt bad because as fast as she was putting them out there they were wolfed down even faster, so I’m not even really sure she was actually able to eat any.

Julius is hilarious and should write a book full of just his sayings. Some really off the wall stuff that just doesn’t always make sense but you laugh regardless. Though, one that does make sense that he uses whenever we are chanced with sunny weather is, “The sun is smiling on us today.” That’s a good one that I like. Anyways he’s also got a love affair with honey that is like none other. I’ve seen him go through the entire head portion of those little honeybear bottles in a single sitting…no joke.

I feel really lucky to have gotten a peek into a few different cultures during my time here in Oregon, not only with Julius but also some other African and European athletes that have stayed for various training/racing stints. I’ve learned a lot, but some of it is really sad and you feel for these athletes, the things they’ve been through, their loved ones back home. The J-man (Julius) and Eloise have set up the Love Mercy Foundation and a charity for several orphans he is supporting back in Uganda that you should check out.

Wow, I have so much more I wanted to say, but this post is getting quite long! Back to Eloise, she’s raced in those compression socks and had a pair that I decided to try on. I’ve never tried a pair on, so I wanted to see what these things were all about. I also wanted to try it on because I thought they might help with my muscle hernia (aka the Kankle) leftover from my accident. Eloise likes them and they help promote blood flood, but she really relies on them the mose during long plane rides to avoid blood clots. Flying anywhere from Australia takes almost a day…not fun!

Okay, so she’s in the 5k at the Pre meet this Friday, which is going to be a pretty stacked race. Hopefully some good conditions will come about because everyone loves some smoking times. 🙂 So wish her luck! And I also just heard Kara will be in the race too so we have two awesome people to send our collective positive vibes to! DO IT! 🙂 Though, I guess technically they’ll be racing in the pre-Pre meet, because traditionally the Prefontaine Classic his mostly shorter stuff so all us long distance lovers get it on the night before.

Alright, mates, last thing. I’ll add my personal touch…though it’s far more boring (and slow) than what my friends are up to. Today on the treadmill I did my 3 mile warm-up, then 5 miles hard, and cool-down. Felt better than Sunday and thankfully so did my stomach. Then did my arm weights. Hope you all are having a great Tuesday! 🙂

1) Do you find yourself accidentally pretending you have an accent around others who really do?

2) What other countries have you traveled to?

I’m pretty lame, I’ve only been to Italy once and Canada…though I barely drove past the border so, ya…haha.

3) Do you find that you can tell how your workout/race is going to be off of your warm-up?

Sometimes. But then again I’ve had races/workouts that ended up being my best but in the warm-up I felt like total shiznit. I’ve also had the opposite happen.