28/30 & 29/30: Jogging

29/30 
So I am probably going to die.  There is no way I should be feeling this good.

"How good do you feel?" You might ask.
"Hella good!" I would tell you.

Hella good!

I feel like dancing my butt off. In fact I was just recently dancing.  You know that move where you jump high up in the air, throwing your arms up and kicking your feet to the side? Looks a lot like this.  I was doing that jump too.

"Ronja! Why do you think you are going to die?" You might ask next.

Well there is no way I should feel this good.  No way in the world.  I spent the day walking 4 miles through the city and got blisters.  Then when it was time for my run I thought I would be hurting.  Nope.  In fact I felt so great that I never dropped to a walk or even slowed down much.  I did 6 miles in 60 min and 20 sec.

That's 10min and 3.3 seconds per mile.    Woohoo! Oh yeah. I'm practically a robot.

So yeah, I'm going to die because I liked it. And still feel like dancing and this was all after a long day and blisters and Lucky Charms for dinner.  I was only going to do two miles...

28/30
On Sunday I felt rather crappy.  I woke up crazy sore and way too early.  My lovely boyfriend and I went with our friends on a road trip! After a Safeway stop for supplies, we took a lovely and meandering road through beautiful redwood forests, lovely rolling hills, and stunning ocean views. (I got to eat pumpkin bread while enjoying this as well!)

I always get carsick, so I made sure to take a motion sickness pill long before I even looked at a car.  It was my second to last one and I was saving the other one for the way home.  Of course this is also the one time that everyone else decided that they were going to be motion sick for the first time ever.  *rolls her eyes*  I think they enjoy being contrary and making fun of me.

When we got to the oyster bay place everyone was glad to pile out of the car.  We set up at a trestle table while the boys went to get our oysters.  Unfortunately we were being plagued by yellow jackets.  I decided the only way for them to take me seriously as a foe was to hunt them down.  So I set a trap.  I used my soda to lure them, one by one, to me.  Then I grabbed them with a napkin and squished them.  I vanquished two of my foes thusly! A third one downed in leftover ginger ale.  I can't take credit for that.

The men folk got back from their mission to get oysters with 2 dozen of the biggest things I  have ever seen and two nasty ass wet shucking gloves. >_< These oysters were huge!

Huge!!

You can see I wasn't kidding.  My friend won't eat oysters, but enjoyed giggling like a 12 year old while I made faces and slurped them down lasciviously.  To make her and my boyfriend a bit more satisfied we also had cheese, fresh baked bread and a grill onto which we puts steaks and several of the oysters.

Oh life is full of good food!

There was a steak, with melty cheese on toasted bread for everyone. (Yum!) The grilled oysters had a dash of hot sauce, sprinkle of bread crumbs on butter on them.  Then they were grilled till the oyster started pulling away from the shell.  My boyfriend, who had decided that raw oysters aren't as awesome as all that, quite liked them prepared this way.  I felt they rather good and easy to consume.  In the end we all felt that it was a great experiment to have a grill available and decided we must put together a picnic basket for next time. 

Grilled and Good!

The ride home took forever!! We got to stop at a nice yarn store, but I didn't buy anything since I had finally decided to use a yarn I've been saving for six months.  I wish I could have stopped at some of the trails we passed in the redwood forest.  I like it so much and it makes me happy and I have not even once gotten to go for a walk in a forest since I've been here.  Paved everything all the time.

I procrastinated going for my run till it was dark and when I finally went, it was rather awful.  My ankles hurt and my thighs were burning from the hills and the heavy six miles I had done on Saturday.  I wanted to like it, but that two miles was irritating and making me wish that I hadn't committed to this.

Now between last night and how badly Saturday went I was actually not looking forward to todays run, but that's how it is sometimes. 

Life is good!

7/30: Jogging

It was my last day waking up in Florida.  I really wanted one last beach run.  After my mother dropped me off at my sisters condo I got into my bikini bottoms and sports bra.  I was only planning on going for 1.75 miles, but pushed an extra quarter mile and had a great time. 

I have decided that jogging on the beach is one of my favorite things in the world.  Especially the clear and beautiful beaches in Destin.

I spent some great time floating in the water and just relaxing.  Then I had to go on a dumb airplane and get all stressed and frustrated again.  If I hadn't gotten my jog in this morning I don't think it would have happened today because the rest of the day was just too busy with flying across the USA.  Tomorrow I get to deal with the start of moving things.  Maybe I can get a whole 3 miles of jogging in! Or maybe I'll just sleep forever.

6/30: Jogging & Crazy Busy

On Thursday night I found out that my friend from New Orleans, a lovely lawyer and great woman, just so happened to be in Destin while I was there for my step sisters wedding.  I wrote her on Facebook and when I hadn't heard from her after an hour I decided to text her. I'm persistent like that! Turns out it was a good thing I did because she told me she had decided not to check Facebook for three days while she was in Florida.  2 years I haven't seen her and we just so happen to have the same morning available to hang out in a random vacation spot!

So I got to go on a dolphin boat tour! ^_^ WooHoo! I had a blast.  We got to see them jump, we got a history tour of Destin, and I got to spend time with my mother and my friend. The only downfall was that I got nice and nauseous from all the rocking. Afterwards Mom and I walked through the Destin Seafood Festival.  We tried some delightful Gator Ribs and I much prefer it to fried gator.

Wedding!

That evening the wedding activities started with a nice BBQ on the beach last night. Got to meet lots of interesting people.  We talked about our dogs a lot.  Everyone seemed to have a dog and I can't even tell you how many pictures I saw and showed.

This morning I joined the girls at the hair salon and got to watch everyone get their hair and makeup done.  My sisters are so pretty! One was a bride and one was a bridesmaid.  I did not want to spend the $100 to get my hair and makeup done so after I spent some time bonding I hitched a ride to the hotel where most people were staying.  As soon as I got to the beach I went for my run since it was getting late and I knew once the wedding started I wasn't gonna get it in and I'm not quitting on day 6.

I managed to get 1.5 miles in one stretch and I am starting to feel a bit better about the actual jogging part.  I'm also not going ridiculously far while I still have this stupid cold.  I walked back to my starting point and took a quick swim.  Afterwards I had to shower, but with everyone getting ready for the wedding I didn't really want to shove in.  I did ask, but after one "it's busy right now!" I decided just to grab the beach shower.  Outdoor showers are awesome!  Letting my hair dry naturally in the Florida sun and doing my makeup under natural sunlight is just wonderful.  My hair and makeup looked as nice as what the girls had, was free and was done in a nicer environment. Only thing I'm jealous of is that the other girls got lashes.  I love stuff like that.  Even with the outdoor beach shower I still managed to look presentable.

The wedding was beautiful! The bridesmaids were lovely and the bride was glowing.  I got to read a lovely poem during the ceremony (with my gravely sick voice.)  I cried. After the wedding, and tons of photos, we had a great meal and I got to spend some time with my step fathers parents.  They're the closest thing I have to grandparents and I almost never get to see them.  I only got a few minutes with them at the last wedding so it was great getting to sit next to them at dinner.  We didn't do much dancing because everyone was pretty wiped out.  I'm gonna wrap this up because I want to get one last beach run in tomorrow and we need to get up early to pack up and leave the condo.

3/30: Jogging

I went to bed thinking that I was going to get a great night of sleep and wake up refreshed and ready to go.  Of course it took two hours to fall asleep and it felt like I had barely drifted off when the alarm went off.

The trip to the airport was long and filled with break lights, but with two people we were fortunate to be able to use the carpool lane.  My delightful boyfriend dropped me off at San Fran Airport and I have to say I think it might be the nicest airport I've ever been in.  There was an artisan local food store, a kids play place, and so many computer docking stations (with desks and chairs!) that I knew I couldn't be far from Silicon Valley.  As well as lots of art and some funky comfy orange chairs.

As for the flights themselves, thank goodness for dramamine. I got plenty of space on the first flight due to the open seat between me and the only other woman in my row, and I got lots of knitting done while listening to Stephan Fry.

After landing in Florida my mother couldn't wait to take me to a beach. Before I even got to settle into my room she took me to a beach! She simply can't get enough. And I have got to admit, the white sands and setting sun and the clean smell coming out from the Gulf were lovely.

When we finally got to the condo I realized that if I didn't go jogging now I wasn't going to get it in, so I strapped on my ipod and changed into my workout gear.  Since it was dark and dinner was pretty much on the table I was only going to run a mile.  So I ran in circles for a while and after my mile I felt pretty good so I thought I would go a little further.  I managed 2 1/4 miles at a steady jog and I felt great! I was going a lot slower than I do on a treadmill, so that might have had something to do with it.

Of course then I promptly got lost.  So I went in circles for a while, jogging and walking, walking and jogging.  Asked for directions twice and still ended up just winging it to get back.  So no beach running, but that just means I can save it for tomorrow!