gabs a trucker

Elsie's fear and what did I get myself into this time

2012-01-30T10:53:00.000-08:00

Elsie waiting not so patiently to head out for a run, for the moment at least.

Sunday is our usual recovery, let the dogs run off leash, run. We talk, the dogs play and get rid of some of their excess energy and just all around have fun. Well, usually we do. Despite the presence of other people and dogs, Elsie still freaked out about the distant gunshots. First 1/2 mile she would start, then stop, then when we got too far ahead she'd run to catch up........right up until the 3rd or 4th time. Then she just sat there until I had to turn around and go back for her. All well and good but once I started back she took off back towards where we parked and wouldn't stop when commanded. Not a good thing. When I caught back up to her at the vehicles, I leashed her up and took her back out. Yes, there was reluctance and I had to pull her along at times but I need her to be trained to listen to me despite the fear. I'm hoping that it will be like it was with the rain and by being surrounded by other people and dogs, she'll learn that it's ok. Until I started taking her out in those conditions with the group, she wouldn't even go outside to pee if it even hinted that there was going to be precipitation present. Now so long as it isn't a thunderstorm she has pretty much become tolerant of it. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated on how to deal with this.

Very pretty but cold morning

Other news, I learned at a very late age not to bring something up at a meeting unless you want to be in charge of it, lol. Our running club had a meeting to discuss the upcoming Spring Fling 5k and after that was over during the general discussion I mentioned that we should really think about forming teams for the upcoming Hogeye Marathon so our club could garner team points for the state RRCA grand prix. Gonna be a hard sell on this one due to some of the rules, the distance of Fayetteville and the fact that no individual points are at stake but I will do my best.

LoseAThon update

2012-01-28T16:24:00.000-08:00

The LoseAThon thing is a friendly little competition started and administered (thankfully!) by @hellasound as a result of a bit of twitter joking around to encourage eating right, drinking lots of water, and exercising more--a bit of keeping each other accountable if you will. My first 2 weigh-ins after the initial one showed some great progress but take one day of sushi and 3 HobNobs cookies (I'm NOT calling them biscuits!) and the scale showed a gain of 3 pounds this morning, grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr.

So, my lesson learned? While sushi and sashimi is an EXCELLENT night before a long run fueling meal for me, it's not good for the scale the next morning. Oh, and British snacks are just evil.

BTW, buy some music while you're over at the hella sound site, it's a bit on the excellent side!

I shop, therefore I am......

2012-01-28T16:03:00.000-08:00

I rarely get out and go shopping at the malls much anymore, even less now that I'm not getting laid over in Laredo every weekend (of course, not driving has a lot to do that, lol) but yesterday was just feeling out of it and thought a trip out that didn't involve working out was needed. Lo and behold I ended up at Dillard's to peruse their winter clearance racks--does any shopping in Arkansas not end up there?

My tastes have been tending towards vintage lately, kind of a mix of pencil skirts with sweaters or things with a 70's vibe thanks to a marathon netflix viewing of "United States of Tara" and a first time viewing of "Last Tango in Paris". Loved the Shoshanna (spelling?) shrink alter of Tara, her outfits reminded me of what I remember my cousin Jill wearing when I was a kid. So what does Dillards have to do with this? One of the first things I saw when I walked in was this coat:

Source: jessicasimpsoncollection.com via Gabby on Pinterest

I tried it on, admired it, then put it back on the rack to go wander about to see if anything else caught my interest. Managed to find 3 dresses to try on, one was ok but even though ultra-cheap, it wasn't great so back it went. The 2nd was very tailored and had a bit of a Mad Men vintage vibe but didn't fit quite right around the chest area (bit loose, definitely made for someone a little bustier) and then there was the 3rd dress.........

Ignore the weird pose. Maggy London dress

Cute, cheap, will look great with boots of all colors for now AND sandals for summer. It drapes well, isn't going to require a slip, and doesn't show my arse if I lift my arms over my head. Yep, it was purchased.

Left the store to meander throughout the mall and couldn't quit thinking about the coat.........nothing else was catching my eye so meandered back to try it on again. This time while there I got started chatting with another shopper who was also trying on some of the other 70's vintagey jackets--it is kind of sad how this kind of interaction really doesn't occur that much anymore. Or maybe it's because I don't shop b&m that often and I don't notice it as much. Anyway it was a nice chat and also affirmed what I thought about the coat not looking half-bad on me. I'd tried on the ivory version this time rather than the vicuna color and while that color looked best on me, with my track record of spilling coffee on my clothes,it was definitely not going to remain pristine for long in my possession. The ivory also left bits of fluff ALL OVER my black sweater!!!!! Ick!!!! Really kind of funny though with me, the sales associate, and the customer behind me in line all trying to use various tape rollers and brushes trying to get it off to no avail.

Oh, and the boots I'm wearing in the dress pic are the black Heidi Klum Rosegold ones that I bought back in late November or early December when Amazon had them on sale for $54. Get tons of compliments on them, while in Austin I had a girl tell me they were "killer boots" and yesterday walking out of the mall another lady in the parking lot stopped to tell me how great they were. Most definitely a worthy purchase, my only regret is not buying the cigar colored pair when I could have gotten all three for less than what one pair costs normally.

Ok, so how many of y'all have I lost with this shopping post? Sometimes a girl just needs to natter on about things other than running and cycling though, lol.

running mojo peeking through

2012-01-28T15:06:00.000-08:00

I love it when my running mojo starts peeking out like it has this past week. Now if it will only quit this shy act and get back with things full force.....ok, enough on dwelling on the negative, I'm gonna be happy with 2 great ones consecutively and hope that there is more in my very near future.

Every other week, Brenda and company tries to get in a long trail run and this week we did Pinnacle. Yes, there were huge smilies when she texted back what the plan was, I've only ran this route once before but I love it. Beautiful views, friendly people (everyone always chats on the trail), and some major calorie and lung burns from the uphill climbs. It is a very technical trail (too damn rocky!) and has been made even more so with all the rains exposing more of the rocks and tree roots and washing away the dirt that so nicely pads things. That means you have to pay attention to your footing otherwise you're gonna be reminded that Mother Nature is boss right quick. The frequent and heavy rains also meant LOTS of muddy spots, even sections under water that normally aren't, we all had sopping wet shoes and socks before long and when I stripped mine off once home, even my toenails were ringed with mud that had soaked through, ewwwww. Still lots of fun though (huge grin).

I think I might be getting my nutrition dialed in at least a little for the trails. So far a liquid breakfast consisting of half a cup of coffee with cream and one scoop of Hammer Nutrition Perpetuem in a pint glass of water seems to be working the best. If I have any boiled eggs I will eat one of those but even that will occasionally set my tummy off. Today at our turnaround point I had a mini almond and apricot KIND bar and of course there's my bottle of Heed that I drink throughout. No issues at all today but we were keeping a fairly low-key pace and I did start feeling the need for more calories at around miles 11-12. Perhaps supplement it with a gel at this point?

View of Lake Maumelle at the turnaround point (paused to eat and 3 out of 4 of us had to find a place to pee, lol)

When we got back to our cars, our garmins were all showing different distances, none of 'em with the 15 miles that were planned so we added on with a flat loop on the paved walking trail around the parking lot and playground area. Even with that my garmin was still NOT at the 15 miles and while most of the time I'm perfectly ok with being just under for some reason I wanted the even mileage today so another loop through the parking lot was made.

Gorgeous, huge cypress trees

Our elevation, speed, and mileage chart from my garmin data

a twofer

2012-01-26T17:38:00.000-08:00

Time to hit the books

A shorn Elsie

Half-marathon of awesomeness

Little Rock Tweed Ride

Fun research :-)

Thursday

2012-01-26T13:49:00.000-08:00

I mentioned day before yesterday that we were in for some rainy days and oh has that forecast come through, ugh. It's been a gloomy, doomy mid-week and everything is saturated so both Elsie and I are kinda grumpy. With that being said, I've still managed to get outside in it a bit. Yesterday morning I drug the mutt out around the neighborhood loop for an extended first thing in the morning walk--from my door and back it's just over a mile then came back and spent some time on the trainer. Finally felt like I had built enough of a base that I did some intervals after a 20 minute warm-up spin: 1 minute at 20-21mph then 1 minute recovery spin for 10 minutes. Followed that up with a cooldown spin of almost 4 minutes, last minute was full out whatever I could get my legs to do. Yes, there was major sweatage occurring even with the ceiling fan blowing on high speed.

Last week I finally made a trip to Wal-Mart to buy a mini-trampoline based on Andrea's advice from a few weeks ago. Oh. My. First off, it's kinda fun just bouncing about playing on it, 2nd, it's HARD! Just a couple of minutes on it and I'm breathing hard, although that's probably a combination of being out of shape and laughing so hard. I try to make it a habit of jumping on it a couple of times a day whenever I pass by it--yes, it's another piece of workout equipment in the living room, lol. Hey, this way I know I'm gonna use it at least occasionally and while my veggies were heating up last night I took the time and did 2 minutes of jumping jacks on it. My calves were feeling it by the end!!!!

Today was Elsie's day to get groomed and again trying to use my time constructively (not quite a resolution but close) by combining errands with workouts, I leashed her up and we ran to the vet's since it's so close and it was only foggy & misty. That 2 miles didn't even come near to tiring her out though, she was still bouncing about when we walked (ran!) in the door. However when it came time for her to be led into the back, she was giving me the most pitiful, why are you abandoning me look.........yes, I feel guilty, going to be even more so when I pick her up because I'm having her legs and underbelly shaved this time to hopefully minimize our grass allergies.

Oh back to the run.......after I dropped her off I ran back to my place to throw my gloves and her leash on my doorstep and see if I could manage to get 5 miles in altogether. While running through the parking lot one of my neighbors hollered out "You're gonna catch the flu running in the rain like that!". Yeah by this time the conditions had changed from mist to a light rain but what blew my mind is someone actually believing that you can catch a virus from exercising in the cold/rain, lol. As a twitter friend commented, it's those nasty sky germs that get you every time, hahaha! And that run where I was risking my health? Ended up with 6.25 miles altogether :-). Gonna take a cardio rest day tomorrow, hopefully Brenda & company have a trail run planned for Saturday. Either way I need to give the legs a break.

While I'm on about exercise related stuff, this technical shirt I ordered from another twitter friend's CafePress store (Bailey's By Design) arrived in today's post. Cute, eh? Really loving it although I think they may run a bit small, I ordered a medium and it fits more like a Nike small in my opinion.

A taste of spring in January

2012-01-24T12:35:00.000-08:00

You know how people always say about the weather where they live "Wait 5 minutes and it will change"? Well, I can't quite say that's what it's like all the time in the midsouth of the US but we do have some fairly wicked extremes sometimes. For example, on Sunday it was supposed to be a high of 60F but we ended up running in chilly, foggy, misty conditions and on my way home from the race I was caught in some nasty weather involving sheeting rain and 60 plus mph winds (there were tornadoes spotted from this system later on in the night). This morning was 28F but the forecast was for bright, sunny skies and 61F. I'm glad to say the forecast proved right and I decided to load up Elsie and head to North Little Rock to run some trails with her to enjoy it.

My pickup is parked way down there!

Unfortunately I am still having some aftereffects from the Pepto Bismol I took Sunday for the upset stomach prior to the race so we ended up cutting it short (very sad face) but the mutt and I did get to enjoy the gorgeous day outdoors at least a little bit. Elsie's currently curled up on the couch napping and I think I'm going to join her just as soon as I hit publish on this post.

Big Dam Bridge in the distance

What's this? A race you say?

2012-01-22T18:12:00.000-08:00

Oh yes, the first race of the state RRCA Grand Prix was this afternoon. Despite having signed up for it last week I almost didn't go because of a headache that sidelined what was supposed to have been a 13-miler yesterday and a slight bit of intestinal distress I think was a side effect of said dastardly headache. Ugh......yes, TMI, I know but this blog does chronicle a lot of my running--good, bad, mediocre, and gross.

Soooooooooo, this race is the One Hour Track Run and while running around a 440 meter track for an hour trying to get as many laps down as you can sounds like something akin to waterboarding, it's actually quite fun. Well, it usually is. Today was just an ohmygosh make that clock countdown quicker-kinda race for me. Usual blather about starting too fast and not pacing myself, yadda, yadda, yadda. So, I went not so fast after the first 3 laps, and continually turned left and tried my utmost not to pass out on the track because it causes such a brouhaha.

However, getting to cheer on friends as you're running in such close proximity and being cheered on by those smart enough to not race every 2-2.5 minutes very much rocks. Also getting to hear a couple of 8-9 year old girls discuss their race strategy and how they felt while we were running: PRICELESS!!!!!!!!! One tidbit of the convo "Ok, I will try not to push you too hard then", freaking adorable. It's still making me smile.

While my race time wasn't quite up to par (understatement, lol), I did have so much fun chatting with friends and getting to see how great they were doing and looking that I am glad I made the trip to run. Even better was getting to see my sis and brother-in-law afterwards and introducing them to a handful of those friends.

Sometimes I wanna.....

2012-01-20T19:15:00.000-08:00

Listen to something mellow.

sometimes I don't

And always want to hear something new to me

something new

2012-01-20T17:52:00.000-08:00

I'm not sure how well the shopping/heel/boot posts go over so experimenting with Pinterest for those sort of things. It's quite interesting and I'm having a bit of fun experimenting with it. So far my page is kind of sparse but I'm sure that will change once I get the hang of things. I really do love exploring other people's pins and boards.

But while I am on the subject of shopping, I thought I would share a few of my favorite places to "window" shop and occasionally buy from :-). In the interest of full disclosure, yes, I will get signup points or credits if you do sign up for them but there's absolutely no obligation to do so.

Ruelala I do end up buying quite a bit from here, the $9.95 shipping can be a bit off-putting but they have a policy where if you buy something once, your shipping is free for the next 30 days on any other orders. Cool!

MYHABIT I will have to send an email invite since they don't have a dedicated url for the members, so just let me know if you want one. Love how it's laid out and there's free shipping on everything in the US, yay.

Haute Look I've been a member here almost since they started, excellent customer service and you can score some major bargains. I got my DV Dolce Vita Julian boots here last winter for under $100

Gilt More of a high-end, window-shopping site for me. Gorgeously laid out and I've certainly found some lust-worthy objects to ogle.

Ideeli haven't purchased from here yet but there has been times I would have if my size hadn't sold out so quickly

Century 21 now if only they would get some department stores closer to my area

Beyond the Rack I've only ordered 2 items from here and had to return one (didn't fit) but easy to deal with and again some great deals to be found

Groupon You've gotta do groupon! They offer 1/2 price gift certificates to Old Navy quite often as well as all the awesome local deals.

livingsocial same as above, right now they're offering 1/2 off novica gc. Great local stuff too

Sole Society Bit different than the other sites in that if you do sign up, you need to review your selections before the 5th of the month and decline them otherwise you will get charged. It's very fun though--fill out the survey to see what they think your style will be. I like that occasionally you can get some real leather shoes (as opposed to faux) and it's reasonably priced

How I help pay for my online shopping

Ebates I have been a member of ebates since 2005 and quite simply, they rock. Easy-peasy to use and they will have discount codes listed quite often to go along with their rebates. They now offer a paypal option instead of the paper check.

Mypoints ugh. looks like I have to send a direct email invite for this one too. Legit program that I've been using since 1999, I've redeemed points for Gap, home depot, wal-mart gift cards and right now they're offering amazon gift certificates.

Hopefully I haven't ran too many readers off with this post, lol.

'tis Tuesday

2012-01-17T10:41:00.000-08:00

Apparently, I'm going from zero blog posts to flooding everyone with them.

Today's plan was to kick off the day with meeting friends at 5am to run but seeing as insomnia raised its ugly head past couple of nights and I was still awake at 3am that plan got scuppered. Instead I loaded up Elsie and drove out to a nearby wildlife management area to get a short easy run in just after sunrise. Problem was Elsie remembered all the gunshots from Sunday and was still freaked out, she wouldn't even run off leash. As long as I kept the leash on her she did ok but if I took her off she would just sit down and refuse to move. Go figure, leash as security blanket, who would have thought that? Since it was warmer than usual (64F with 91% humidity) our run/walk was even slower than usual......at least up until there were gunshots again when we were 2.7 miles in then Elsie tried to take off at a full-out run towards the pickup--when she did this Sunday off leash, I was sprinting after her and hit a 5.48 pace and still couldn't catch up. I ended up using the distance back as an obedience training session with trying to get her to heel, stopping every few feet and making her sit until I released her verbally that it was ok to move. This is something I definitely need to work with her more on because while 80% of the time she obeys commands, that other 20% she's effectively deaf to everything but what she wants.

Currently listening to the "Old Tyme Religion" album from Hugo. If you haven't heard his version of "99 Problems" do so, asap. My favorite song is "Bread and Butter" though.

Monday Mumbles

2012-01-16T13:36:00.000-08:00

Yes, the upcoming event widget list actually has something in it......shocking eh? The Sylamore 25k trail race I actually signed up for back in December when I got an urgent group text from my friend Brenda telling everyone if they were gonna sign up they better do it because registration was closing early. As in by midnight that night. I'm thinking they got slammed with last-minute sign-ups, lol.

While renewing my memberships in the running club and the state RRCA I also decided to go ahead and sign up for the first 2 races in the grand prix series. Now I am in no way race ready but figured since I was home I might as well participate and get out to see friends I haven't seen in what seems like forever. Yeah, yeah, mostly my fault but I've been sort of a recluse with all my family and job related stresses this past year. Granted the job related stress is gone seeing as I'm not working (by choice) at this time. I am looking into some of the A+ and microsoft training bootcamps so if anyone has any advice, ie "this place is good, it's totally worth the $$$$, or stay far away from such and such business", please send it my way (thanks!!!).

Elsie and I paid a visit to the veterinarian this afternoon where me and the nurse were going over what all I needed to finish up getting the pet passport done. After much scratching of our heads and trying to decipher the government mumbo-jumbo, I think we're done with everything except for what has to be done right before any travel actually takes place. What has helped the most has been the information that I got from the Pet Travel Store where I purchased the pet passport paperwork, highly recommend them. Anyways, from what we've determined the blood test is no longer required nor is the vet-applied flea and tick treatment right before travel (Elsie gets dabbed with advantix every month regardless) and the tapeworm dose is still "being discussed" (more government bs).

I managed a full hour on the trainer this morning, started out with 30 minutes of an easy spin, keeping the cadence over 80 and next thing I know I was at 35 minutes and still feeling good with only my left foot kinda aching. Bumped up the intensity slightly and got in 17 miles altogether, yay!

2011 Races & Events Completed

2012-01-15T14:39:00.000-08:00

Bit sparse this year

2/27/2011 Malta 1/2 Marathon, Malta

3/26/2011 Spring Fling 5k, Cabot, AR

4/02/2011 Capital City Classic 10k, Little Rock, AR

7/16/2011 Full mOOn Run-Midnight 25k, Lake Sylvia, AR

10/8/2011 FSM 5k, Cabot, AR

10/30/2011 Marine Corps Marathon, Washington DC

Tonight's earworm

2012-01-13T18:47:00.000-08:00

Kind of a nod to my boot fetish, lol

following the theme in my head

What a year it's been

2012-01-13T18:32:00.000-08:00

Something I need to do more of

Normally I would do a recap of the previous year's workout mileage but really it's a bit late for that considering January is almost half-way over with. And my numbers? Let's just say that they've been less than inspiring or impressive. Did manage to get a couple things from my bucket list done (Marine Corps Marathon! Travel off the continent!). 2011 has been a year of transitions, some interesting, some a little heart-breaking, and a lot of self-exploration in coming to terms with ME. I have now officially lived by myself for over a year, well almost by myself, there is the furball love of my life named Elsie :-).

Don't think the hedgehog is enjoying being mauled

There are quite a few things I want to blog about later on but they all deserve their own posts and I want to do them justice but right now I'm just not in much of a writing mood. However, I've had quite a few people note my silence, not just here on the blog but also on twitter and facebook and I have been struggling a bit with whether or not to mention this but it doesn't seem right to not say anything at all about it. My mother passed away on January 2nd. My sis and I had been estranged from her for a number of years, so much so that we weren't even mentioned in the obituary. While my mourning for her was actually done and over with quite a while back, it does feel weird to know that we no longer have parents with us here no matter what the circumstances were regarding our relationships.

On a somewhat related note (sorry, didn't intend for this to be a downer of a post), please, if you smoke, quit already and take better care of yourself. I don't really like to lecture (much) but considering that I've lost both my parents who were in their mid 60's in less than a year's time (both heavy smokers and sedentary) I kinda think I have somewhat of a right to do so. And with that I wish everyone peace, love, joy for 2012 :-). Get out and live your life!

Sunday Trails

2011-12-19T18:29:00.000-08:00

.A Sunday tradition that some of my friends have is to get together and run trails with the dogs. It's a more laid-back day, no major focus on time or distance, walk breaks are encouraged. The only mandatory thing is to try and keep the dogs from finding, eating, and/or rolling in gross stuff :-). I think this is my favorite run of the week because it's usually so incredibly stress-free.

Here are a few pics from yesterday that I managed to capture with my phone, mind you, these are on the easy sections where I didn't have to concentrate on footing or even breathing, lol.

Following the pack, 4 girls, 5 dogs

Running books

2011-12-07T10:36:00.000-08:00

Working on decluttering here and I have a few running books laying about so thought I would do a giveaway. These have all been read and thumbed through multiple times and I have a bad habit of dog-earing pages & reading while eating so they are by no means in new condition. But if anyone wants one or more of these leave me a comment here saying which one (gonna limit it to 2 per person, though) and email me an address & I will get it in the post next week. Email addy should be accessible via my profile but here it is if you're as lazy as I am :D gabsatrucker AT gmail dot com

~~"Run Fast" Hal Higdon~~
~~"Daniels' Running Formula" Jack Daniels, PhD~~
~~"Born to Run" Christopher McDougall~~
"I Run, Therefore I Am--Nuts" Bob Schwartz
"The Nonrunner's Marathon Guide for Women" Dawn Dais
~~"Run Right Now" Joe Henderson~~
"Ultramarathon Man" Dean Karnazes
~~"Masters Running" Hal Higdon~~
~~"Marathoning for Mortals" John Bingham and Coach Jenny Hadfield~~
"Fast Track" Suzy Favor Hamilton and Jose Antonio

First 2 books have been claimed :-). MacDaddy, I have them ready to send out.

2 more books are being sent out tomorrow, go check out Keath's blog, pretty cool stuff!!

Gone layabout and playing in the kitchen

2011-12-07T10:08:00.001-08:00

Yep, still being a layabout :-). Trying to recover mentally and physically, some disturbing long-term symptoms from the stress I've noticed has been a lack of energy which is probably mostly a lack of iron. My fingernails are also the softest they've ever been in my life, totally ragged from where I'm constantly bending and breaking them right now. The quickest solution is usually buy a course of vitamins and supplements or at the very least, a good multi-vitamin. And I did just that...........which very quickly reminded me of why I don't take them in the first place, to be polite about it, let's just say that I couldn't get very far from a bathroom for the majority of the day yesterday. UGH!!!!!!!!!!!!

So after determining that I really don't want to deal with intestinal distress for however long it takes me to adjust to the vitamins in pill form I used the ever useful google search to find what foods would be the best to boost up my iron and calcium levels..........which led me to KALE. Yep, the green that's used as garnish and backdrop in most restaurant buffets (anyone work at Shoney's and remember having to "shock" the kale at night after closing?). Most of y'all already know about it's super food reputation and I kinda was but after doing that search, oh wow, I didn't realize how much of a nutritional impact it has. My thing was not wanting to eat it in salads because it can be slightly bitter thus the smoothie concoctions have begun!!!!!!!

Certainly doesn't look appetizing, eh? But take a cup of torn up kale leaves, throw in most of a fresh orange, small handful of blueberries, bit of orange juice, and a drizzle of honey and it's very tasty. I can still taste the kale but in this form it's more of a green, kinda clean taste, if that makes any sense. I've also added milk instead of the oj, tossed in some tofu, used frozen pineapple, mango, and strawberries in lieu of the blueberries (for those times when I don't want a purple, frothy mustache, lol). I also want to try a cucumber/tomato/kale mixture at some point. Just started with the kale smoothies this week but hoping the 2x a day addition will start showing results soon.

Other foodie stuff I've done lately is whipping up batches of butternut squash-red pepper, cold avocado, and sweet potato-chorizo soups. The first and last I made in batches large enough to freeze for quick meals. Highly recommend Ken's Recipes blog from where I got the butternut squash soup recipe, the chocolate cake is simply the best I've ever tried. I also have done some experimenting with a couple of British-inspired recipes. Yes, it's safe to say the calorie-counting is on hiatus. I would have shared these with friends but my cooking mood hit while I was recovering from a cold and didn't want to take any chances with contaminating anyone :-/.

jalapeno scones with mozzarella cheese

steak and ale pie

Ciao Lola

2011-12-02T06:56:00.000-08:00

Don't you hate when you can't think of a blog post title? And has it really been almost a month since I last posted? Wow, time is flying by.

So a bit of catching up is due, quite a few are already aware of this but yes I quit my job last month. This trucker is on a bit of a hiatus, at least through the holidays. As of right now, I'm unsure of if I will return to it or not but things had built up to a point where if I didn't get out from behind the wheel I was going to end up wrecking due to the extreme stress levels and I wanted to leave before I ruined my clean driving record. The final straw for me was being switched from the Tennessee route to a Rochester, NY route without so much as a "Do you mind?" message or phone call and this was after being reassured the week prior that yes, even though there was some loads being shifted around I would remain on the Tennessee run. It's not that I mind going to Rochester, the plant up there is actually a quicker in & out than what I'd been on, it's the fact that there was no respect, courtesy, or communication in letting me know there was a change being made. Combine that with the paycut, a truck that's falling apart around me, the EOBR which meant even less time at home, and the constant layovers and my final straw was broken.

An example of the lack of communication within this company--I gave my notice via qualcomm message so there would be a record of it and that way there could be no recriminations and no "Well, she never said she was quitting" comments. I get a message back in return asking why, I list everything I've laid out in the blog over the past few months, and I get back "Is there anything I could have done differently?". Sigh............this is a brand-new guy, I'm not gonna tear into him for things he had nothing to do with except for the lack of communication bit. Which seems to have gone right over his head because the day after I cleaned out my truck, I receive a phone call at 8pm from night dispatch asking if I was ready to roll. Ummmm, say what? I replied no, I was NOT ready to roll because I'd given my notice the week before and had turned in my keys. I can hear keys being punched and finally an "Are you sure?" lol!!!!!!!!!!! Best moment ever was being able to say "yes, that would be an I'm not ready to roll" in reply, still makes me giggle thinking about it.

So there you go, I'm unemployed albeit voluntarily and I do have quite a bit to do around here that I've just been putting off all year. Throw that in with the task of editing some of TWBrit's writing (hey, he's an author now, about time!) and I'm staying fairly busy. He actually wrote a nice blogpost or 2 about me lately (I think the dental infections are getting to his brain) including this one when I made the decision to quit.

Ciao Lola

The long-promised Avebury Henge post

2011-11-09T03:30:00.000-08:00

A few posts back I mentioned skipping Stonehenge (except for taking pics outside the fence) and visiting the Avebury henges (check out the wiki) and then promised photos. I'm betting y'all are thinking I forgot, eh? Nope, just have to be in the mood for blogging pics because it is so time intensive.

A few miles outside Avebury you start noticing stones.......surrounded by cows!!!

Yes, I was totally geeking out when I started spying them, totally amazed me how extensive this is and can't imagine the scope of work it took to re-create after people and nature took their toll.

Since there's no entry fee, I highly recommend a stop at The Henge Shop for souvenirs, I ended up spending far more because I didn't feel extorted, lol. Oh, apparently there's a National Trust official shop there too.

There's my gate thing again

Doesn't look too terribly steep

Might wanna reconsider that previous thought

Stones, near and far

Is that not just gorgeous?

Sheep grazing=sheep piles, yep I stepped in one

Yes, there are people who come here to worship with whatever their particular beliefs may be

Didn't realize it at the time but there was another path that you could follow around this section of stones, I missed out on quite a few more

Again my photography "skills" in no way captured the scope and "feel" here but if you visit the UK I do urge you to make this one of your stops. I love the ability to get out and move amongst the stones, even being able to touch them without someone glaring at you and saying "No, that is not allowed!". Just be prepared to do some walking to fully experience it :-)

Plaster a smile on

2011-11-05T08:42:00.000-07:00

I seem to find myself in a position where I'm not only frustrated with my job, I absolutely detest it. And that's not a good place to be in if you drive a truck. All the issues that have been going on all year are not getting any better, they're worsening......there's going to be yet another dispatcher change next week and a slight swap in the loads I'm hauling, mostly the same places but parts for one of the other big 3 auto companies. Shouldn't be a big issue, right? Yet each change in dispatcher drives home the fact that they don't want the drivers to have a life outside of work and yes, even resent it if you seem to be doing something in that life that's more than what they bother to do with theirs.

This week has been extremely frustrating in that I was sent out to relay a load on Tuesday that involved having to spend the night on a company drop yard in Memphis that's a pain in the ass to get to and has absolutely no facilities.......why did I have to spend the night there? Because of our Big Brotheresque, intrusive EOBR's (electronic on-board recorder). If I drive somewhere to get food or shower it's no longer my personal time, it's considered work time. I also discovered last night that the eobr is not including on duty-not driving time in the countdown for how many hours you have available to work.......that's an incredibly fucked-up issue and I'm going to have at least 2 days where I've gone over my hours because I didn't realize that. Yes, it's partially (mostly) user error on my part for not catching it sooner but then again that's extremely flawed. So now within the next month I'm going to get my ass chewed on by our safety/log department and just have to plaster a smile on and take it. That load by the way never materialized and I had to bobtail to the Nashville area to find an empty and wait to reload the NEXT day, which then canceled also so had to drive another 1.5 hours south to load that afternoon.

Oh yeah, while I'm on roll with the bitching here, my climate control system in this truck is still screwing up. The bunk now only blows HOT air no matter what setting you have it on. The cab is still intermittent on what system is gonna work in what way but I've given up on trying to get this thing repaired properly.......speaking of repairs, last several trailers I've picked up in Tennessee have had major work required which means I can only make it to our Little Rock yard then be there until the next morning because the repairs are running past my 14 hours. Not a huge deal because I can spend the night at home but it does mean that I can't deliver in Laredo until 10-12 hours later than normal but it pisses the dispatchers off to no end. Sorry, but I'm pushing it with driving the trailer that far for repairs and we're not talking minor issues here.

I also seem to be suffering some major post-marathon endorphin drop blues.......quite a bit actually. Yesterday was so bad that I spent the good part of the day crying while bemoaning how much I despise what I'm doing at the moment. Yes, it's up to me to change things and yes, it's time to adopt the stiff upper lip attitude and get on with it but this is my little part of the web to vent and talk about what's going on with me so I'm taking full advantage of it. Ok, I think I'm done ranting, lol. Wait, one more thing, it looks like I'm stuck in Laredo for the weekend as of right now. Now I'm finished!

I did it, I really did finish the MCM!!!!!!!!!!!

2011-11-02T07:25:00.000-07:00

So, the Marine Corps Marathon. My second marathon and really the only one I've got on my list for that distance of must do races. Not only did I manage to make it to the start line--well after the gun sounded by the way due to the long porta-potty lines, lol--I even managed to finish. Very happy here considering that both were in quite some doubt. Now that I've done two I think I can safely say that I really DON'T like that distance. This will more than likely be the last marathon I ever do. Yeah, almost sacrilegious to admit amongst my group of friends both virtual and real-life, but there it is.

Thoughts on the race.......crowded, awe-inspiring, crowded, tough, crowded, gorgeous, crowded. A recurring theme, eh? And one that's repeated on nearly every blog and race report that I've read so far. It was crazy crowded and packed for nearly the entire distance for me. Constant side to side movement, trying to avoid throw-away gloves, sweats, and trash bags, not really being able to find a consistent pace for the first half of the race. A guy tripped on some debris left by other runners before we even got to the start line. Can you imagine having to finish 26.2 miles with bloodied knees before you even got to the start mat?

I loved viewing all the monuments and sites, viewing the spectator signs, and reading some of the t-shirt backs of other runners had me tearing up. For quite a few this was a very personal odyssey running in memory of friends and family. Quite simply, I can't come up with the words to express the upwelling of emotions from Sunday.

Ok, back to the "me" of this recap. My only goal was to finish and be able to walk afterwards...the walking was a bit questionable though, lol. First 11 miles went without any undue pain and an unexpected bump into one of my friends gave me and everyone else around us a much needed boost--that's Carol, she lights up everything and everyone around her!! Started tiring around the 12 and decided to take a pee break figuring the lines would give me a chance to rest up and stretch my legs. It did but almost took too long, don't recall any of the porta-potty lines throughout the course NOT having long lines.

A visit with a very good friend who came out to support and cheer me on around mile 17 or 19(???, can't really recall the exact mile) also gave me another boost but then came that endless bitch of a bridge........there was my wall, and everyone else's from what I was seeing around me. Take the horrible surface, the inescapable wind, the constant incline and it was just soul-sucking. Viewed the aftermath of another fall while on that bridge, not a pretty sight and I think the guy was kind of out of it. A couple of people next to me asked if he was ok and he snapped at them fairly hard.

Anyways, we finally get off that bridge and curve around to start meeting a sea of people coming back at you and it seems like the turnaround point is just some tease that's never ever going to happen. It's here around mile 22-23 that I think I'm not going to make it because things start going blurry and dark on me. Ooops. Walk break till things crisp up, run on auto-pilot until it starts happening again, then walk again. This went on until the finish line, very scary and I seriously thought I was gonna pass out more than once. Fortunately I hadn't gone so far that I wasn't catching the warning signs in time to start walking before I fell out. Damn blood sugar issues :-(. My main thing I wanted to accomplish (other than finishing) was to not walk up the final push up the hill to the monument but I had one of the blurry/darkening episodes 1/2 way up, sigh........

But I finished!!!!!!!!!!!!! In under 5 hours chip time even (4:54:40, gun time was 5:12:38). Which is amazing considering my lack of training and the last minute foot issue. There was only one really long run of just under 20 miles and while it can be done on that little, I don't recommend it at all.

If you managed to slog through reading all this, I'm impressed. There will be an update to the post later with pics but I'm writing on my netbook and the photos are on my other laptop.

Some excitement please? No mas, gracias

2011-11-02T06:12:00.000-07:00

oh. my. word. What a couple of crazy weeks it has been.......looking back over it today while sitting in Memphis waiting on a (late!) relay it almost seems surreal. I've already posted about my foot being hurt, as a result of a picture on facebook on Saturday, a recommendation from a friend to call another friend who just happens to be a foot surgeon (and an athlete) I was able to get it looked over first thing the next Monday morning. Diagnosis: Metatarsalgia, aka a bruised Tailor's bunion--much much MUCH better than the stress fracture that Dr. Bruce initially feared when he saw the swelling from the fb pic. So x-rayed, prodded, padded, and wrapped up I was sent out with a "listen to your body about running the marathon"--told ya he was an athlete :D. The foam pad and 2nd skin gels had my foot feeling better almost immediately, hard to believe I was in tears 2 days before and couldn't put any pressure on that foot at all.

Swelling on Friday night

All wrapped up Monday

Next little hiccup came on Wednesday while I was making parking and rental car reservations, a phone call from a 1-800 number I didn't recognize. Normally I ignore them but since I was in the midst of travel plans actually decided to answer it. OMG........it was my credit card company telling me that there had been a charge of $948 originating out of Barcelona for someone trying to purchase jeans. Major heart palpitation time!!!!!!!!!! Quick review of my purchases, an explanation of I REALLY needed my cc for the weekend trip, and how I wouldn't be home to pick up the expedited one and they agreed to send it to my hotel in DC. Whew. I'm incredibly impressed with how quickly they acted and the amazing customer support I received.

Now comes Thursday, started with a visit to my amazing, non-scissor happy stylist Stacey to get my hair colored, trimmed, and straightened. Looked fantastic by the way, just the right pick-me-up I needed to get through my nerves about that afternoon's mammogram and whether or not I was going to be able to run on Sunday. She was also able to give me an outside perspective on my upcoming plans, as in my only responsibility is Elsie, I'm not getting any younger and what the hell is preventing me from doing something crazy-fun adventurous. Yeah, she rocks :-).

Blurry pic complete with cheesy grin :D

Oh, yeah. The MAMMOGRAM. That word looms over most women in their 40s..........why does it strike fear in so many of us? Mine turned out to be a little more exciting than most though. Walked into the hospital (after a stop at the wrong building) only to be faced with a couple of calm but nervous looking people, who smile and say "Ma'am, we don't mean to alarm you but we're going to have to ask you to step into one of our offices back here for your own safety". Ummm, ok? On the way to the office, the woman gave me a quick explanation that there was a possible shooter in the hospital and they were escorting people to safe places until it was cleared up. Not sure exactly how long we were sequestered in the office but we all just sat and chatted and texted to those who needed to know that we might be a little late, lol. Very impressed with how the staff handled everything and the overall calmness although there was certainly some shakiness and nerves displayed after. The guy who went took my information explained that they had just had training on this very scenario the week prior so everyone knew exactly what to do. The mammogram? Turned out to be anti-climatic, no boob squishing required because a new digital machine had also been installed the previous week.

Frolicking in the ruins

2011-10-23T14:46:00.000-07:00

I decided to skip touring the behind the gates of most of the best known castles on this trip but wanted to go explore one because, well, you just HAVE to if you visit the UK. Using ye olde trusty google search, I quickly narrowed my choices down to two that were a short distance from where I stayed most of the time......Warwick Castle got knocked out of the running thanks to its way too kitschy website and that left me with Kenilworth Castle. It's actually a ruin but still breath-taking AND you actually get to explore it almost completely unfettered--perfect!!!

This reproduction garden is very recent and in my opinion took away from the experience

Loved seeing the kids playing in the castle :-)

Unfortunately along with the being able to explore without someone breathing down your neck also comes the bad side of human nature

I also had my first cream tea here :-)

In the south, we would call that scone a biscuit, lol

These photos are only a very minuscule fraction of what I took here (over 200) but I didn't want to overwhelm everybody's bandwidth and attention span more than I already have but I do hope they are providing some entertainment.

Where does the door lead

2011-10-23T05:20:00.000-07:00

Another recurring theme/fascination of mine for some reason are doorways, entrances, and gates. Not quite sure why, perhaps the thought of wondering what lies beyond, is it something I shouldn't know, what are the inhabitants doing, IS the grass greener. For whatever reason I do find myself snapping (mostly mediocre) photos of them fairly often.

Kenilworth Castle

Warwick Castle

Church in Warwick

Oxford (I think)

One of the very few "modern" pics I took

Entrance gate/path in Rugby

Derwents Dam

Salisbury

Readjusting plans

2011-10-22T08:57:00.000-07:00

So I'm sure you've read my bitchfest in the previous post........let's throw in that my favorite stress reliever and just all around fun thing to do is out of the mix right now. I managed to do something to my left foot on Tuesday (no idea what, grrrr) that started out with just a niggling irritation then escalated to a pain so bad on Thursday that I was near tears. The area affected is on the sole of my foot, just below the pinkie toe area and extends down about 2 inches and my foot is slightly swollen. Walking right now is a struggle so running is definitely out of the question. I'm taking the weekend easy, staying off my feet as much as possible, icing and ibuprofen'ing the hell out of it. If it's still this way Monday, I'm headed to the doctor but as of right now it looks like the Marine Corps Marathon next weekend is out.......Flight and hotel are already booked and while I can cancel the latter, the flight is non-refundable so I may be going to DC to cheer rather than run. Think positive thoughts please!!

So with all that, leaving you with a vid of my latest music love--Middle Class Rut with a slightly lower key version of "Busy Being Born"

riding the grumble wagon

2011-10-22T08:44:00.000-07:00

I've had a couple of cruddy weeks at work.......it actually feels like WORK, now. Yes, trucking has always been frustrating but it's always had its redeeming features, like not having a boss directly looking over your shoulder, enough challenges and changes of scenery to keep things lively for the most part--yes even on a dedicated route--and the ability to take an odd week or 2 off here and there without worrying about conflicting with anyone else's vacation.

All of that has changed this year, there's been more than enough written about the Lola trials and tribulations with repairs and breakdowns. Gone through a couple of "new" dispatchers who keep futzing the dedicated routes up, had the truck turned down to a speed that is not even up to what the speed limits are in the states I drive through, EOBR's (electronic on board recording system) have been installed AND a pay cut of .09 cents per mile (down from .43 cpm to .34cpm). So, yeah I am not a happy go lucky trucker at the moment. I'm so disgruntled at the moment with my job that I haven't even re-installed my cb radio from when I had to clean everything out of my truck for vacation.

While I'm on the grumble wagon, had a couple of interesting things occur at the Mt. Juliet customer this week. First off there was an owner/operator from a different company that stopped and asked me to help him slide his tandems while I was hooking up to my new trailer. No problem, there are always trailers where that is a two person job no matter how big, strong, or experienced a driver you are so I was happy to help. What I found odd was that there were 2 other of my fellow company drivers right across from me that were guys......not grumbling there, just found it odd he'd ask the only girl about to do the heavy work, lol. My guess is that he asked me because I'd been standing there chatting with one of the customer's drivers about what I was doing at that particular place instead of my usual and he (correctly, btw) deduced that out of the 3, I was the one who'd been driving the longest--not that it is a particularly long time (11.5 years). The grumble comes in with him not double-checking to make sure the pins had locked down after I gave him the thumbs up........I ALWAYS do that!!!!!!!!!!! Yes, I've offended a few people but it is my arse if they haven't locked down and the duals slide out from under the trailer, granted that's a long shot but it has been known to happen.

The other tidbit was one of those other company drivers asking if I wanted to run down to Laredo with him. First off, I don't like doing that because you always feel bad about making someone stop when you want to or worse yet, having to stop when they do. Second, I don't know this guy so not sure what kind of person he is. Don't care that we have the same employer, doesn't mean he's a good person--of course I'm not saying he's a bad guy either but I just don't know for sure. Third, remember the no cb from earlier? Well, how are we supposed to communicate, especially since he doesn't have one either? Yep, you got it.......he wanted my phone number and was very persistent about it. 3 times he asked, almost insisting towards the end. Not happening and I wouldn't even accept his number when he offered after I refused to give mine the second time. Call me a bitch or paranoid if you must but that's my personal phone and I am not sharing the number with someone unless it's absolutely necessary.

How many bloody colleges are there????

2011-10-22T06:13:00.000-07:00

Oxford. Entirely too much to see and I took way too many photos that have been taken by way too many other people over the decades so just quick impressions here.

Lots of colleges/universities (d'uh!!!), 38 was the number I was given.

Views of most of the universities from the street

Spires are everywhere, large and small, but mostly large

Lots of imposing architecture

Tired and hungry so I didn't exactly stand up straight and suck in the tummy (grrrr)

Bicycles are the preferred mode of transport (love!)

Random shots around Oxford that I loved

This is not a particularly good shot but I was intrigued by the shadow and light

Sorry that this post was extraordinarily photo heavy (oops, bandwidth) but I really didn't want to split it into two separate posts. However if anyone feels different just leave me a comment and I'll see about separating it out more.

Visiting a merry man

2011-10-22T04:57:00.000-07:00

Where I've been

One of the coolest things I think I got to see on this trip (and there were MANY) was the alleged grave site of Little John at St. Michael's Church in Hathersage.........yes, of Robin Hood. I say alleged because there are conflicting stories but honestly there was such an air of peace and rightness about the churchyard that I'm inclined to believe this one on a just because basis.

St. Michael's Church

Most "tourist" points of interest were marked this discreetly

Outside the churchyard

And just in case you are a more literary sort, this church/graveyard also is the final resting place for the Eyre family, which I didn't know until after the visit. Of course I don't think I've actually "read" Jane Eyre myself which is odd since I used to be a fairly prolific reader. However, I digress ;-), this will forever rank as one of my "ahhhhhhhhh" visits.

Gargoyles and Grotesques

2011-10-22T03:58:00.000-07:00

I tend to have a fascination with gargoyles and grotesques, not quite sure why but there is just something that is so bizarrely comforting about looking up at a building and spotting one (or many) of these sometimes whimsical but often tortured looking creatures looking back at you--and yes to me, they always seems to be making eye contact with whoever happens to glance up at them. The amount of skill to infuse these with that much "life" is truly awe-inspiring to me. Historically they serve a purpose as water spouts to protect the architecture but are also said to protect the inhabitants from evil spirits. Anyway, here are a few that I managed to take pics of (wish I'd looked for more).

These first 5 photos are from Windsor Castle

My favorite :-)

I swear I think I could've taken pics of the Windsor Castle gargoyles and grotesques all day but alas, there was more to see that day.

Oxford gargoyles

Old but not rusty

2011-10-18T03:42:00.000-07:00

Other than the castles, the Union Jack, and red telephone boxes (note, this is excluding all the London landmarks), Stonehenge is probably what most tourists put on their list of iconic UK images and places to visit so of course I had to go.......bit of a letdown actually, overcrowded and you couldn't exactly get close not without a park warden getting all cranky about it.

*I fought the law*

This lady however, blatantly flaunted the rules, stepped over the cable, and got up close and personal with the stones all the while wearing a grin that said "I traveled here, paid my money, and by gosh I'm gonna get my picture taken next to Stonehenge". I'm kinda impressed with her ballsiness.

Me, I obeyed the rules and followed the crowds. Since there were a couple of other sites to see that day I bypassed the audio tour headphones (ickiness factor might have contributed to that) and did a quick walkaround snapping pics.

Follow the leader, lemming style

Shoulda saved my money and took pics from out there

While I am glad I took the time to visit Stonehenge, I was slightly disappointed and I really can't put my finger on why except that it was so *touristy*. Perhaps if I would've done the audio tour bit I might've felt a little less letdown? A stop later in the day to the Avebury henges more than made up for my ennui about Stonehenge but that's gonna be a separate post due to me being on my wireless card in a slow-arsed edge network while writing this. I have a ton of photos from there and want to post most of them and this connection is soooo not conducive to that.

See, I really was there!

Churchill, the end and beginning

2011-10-17T05:13:00.000-07:00

Talking about history, this little village of Bladon was among one of several that I saw on my first day in England. It's just a little famous for being the burial place of Sir Winston Churchill. Most definitely one of the "ahhhhh" catch your breath and pause moments.

Approaching St.Martin's Church

Really frustrated that I didn't get this pic straight

Darn wheelie bins

Later in my trip there was a stop to take pics of Blenheim Palace near Woodstock from outside the gates (at the end of another long day so didn't tour the site--it's on my list for next time) which is of course the birthplace of Sir Winston Churchill

Blenheim Palace from afar

zoomed in but blurry

Wish I'd researched races better before my trip, would've liked to have done this one

zooming past the gates

Seeing history

2011-10-17T04:06:00.000-07:00

Wow, it's been almost a month since my last post..........I have been home nearly 2 full weeks including one week back to work (blech) and quite frankly I'm not ready to be back. It was an amazing adventure where I was able to get away and hit some of the less touristy spots thanks to a friend who patiently drove me about and even took me to more than a few places that were way off the beaten path for some amazing photos and a running dialog about the history of nearly everything--most of which I promptly forgot. But still it was incredibly cool to be driving or walking through cities and villages and getting a slice of knowledge that most don't get or have.

What's also amazing is hearing a tidbit of news and being able to say to myself, "oh, I have been there!". Perfect example is Wootton Bassett, that just received the Royal prefix http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-15328396. I highly encourage people to search for just why they received the honor but do be prepared to shed some tears when you watch some of the youtube vids.

Wish I had more and better pics but it was at the end of a very long day and I was more interested in the story and the surroundings by this point.

I will try and do some pictorial posts of what I saw/did over the next few weeks but they may be sporadic and slow in coming (sorry!). Just a few random oddball thoughts though--there are trailer parks and rednecks (not necessarily together though) in England, not sure what they're called there but they do exist. Blackberries and strawberries were ripening in September and October. Papertowel dispensers in public bathrooms do not exist (Dyson dryers rock though!!). It's rare to find free parking anywhere. A Wal-Mart is still a Wal-Mart even if it's in another country and called ASDA. Expect much slower service in restaurants than what we are used to here in the states. Get used to saying "I'm from America and my credit card has to be swiped because I don't have the chip and pin". Oh, and they don't check your credit card against photo id like here, instead the signatures on card and slip are scrutinized. Lemonade in the UK is not our lemonade, it's a soda kinda like 7UP. Full-size pickups are rare, I only saw 2 that I recall (told you this was random crap, lol). On the subject of trucks, I really wouldn't want to drive one there. Think of the tightest spots to get into on the east coast with the traffic and not enough room to maneuver and that's pretty much EVERY delivery for the truckdrivers. Yep, think I'll pass on that experience, lol.

peaceful, easy morning

2011-09-29T02:43:00.000-07:00

I started this morning sitting outside with a cup of coffee, musing on the fact I only 5 days left in the UK while watching people drive to work (wrong side of the road), walking their dogs, and kids making their way to school (there is something so neat and tidy about the uniforms even when disheveled).

*Not the cup of coffee from this morning

I so could get used to this, it's amazing to me how everyone treats walking and cycling as something you just do rather than a means of exercise. Most everyone walks--young, old, heavy, slim, smokers, all income levels, urban, suburban, rural in all types of weather conditions.

And another thing is how well behaved all the dogs are, I've only see one that had some socialization issues, but again, we're back to the walking bit, owners actually take their pets out for proper exercise. I'm more committed to getting Elsie out for longer walks in addition to running with her after seeing this.

Ok, I have some castle ruins to go view today and a trip back to London to plan so just posting a smidge of the thousand plus pics I've taken so far

Salisbury

These Barclays Cycle Hire bikes in London actually get a fair bit of use, saw a lot of guys in business suits riding them

a swan pic just because :-)

Some "mistakes" just turn out so cool

Don't remember the location but very pretty

Bound for Blighty

2011-09-20T10:39:00.000-07:00

Am I allowed to call it that since I'm not a resident? Oh well, I like the alliteration so not changing it, complain in the comments if you have an issue with it :D.

So yes, I am all checked in waiting on my first flight with a huge thanks to one of my friends that offered to pick me up & drop me off thus saving a small fortune in parking or taxis. Elsie is being spoiled by my sister and her family while I'm all kinds of sniffly about leaving my pupbaby behind--the only thing I'm not liking about this trip...oh the long arse trip across the Atlantic makes it 2 things I'm not liking.....wait a minute, let's add in the allergy-induced earache. Darn, I'm sounding crotchety, lol.

No, in reality I would be sitting here bouncing in excitement if 1)I wasn't drugged up on zyrtec 2) airport security would probably haul me away....this is gonna be such an adventure, I have a few things/people/places I want to see but there is no organized gotta be here and have such amount of time to do it plans. This is a laid back, explore and relax kinda trip.

And I got my day kicked off to a great start by running 6 miles with some of my friends where I completely wrecked my straightened hair :-/. Totally worth it though, love you guys.

Trailing it

2011-09-18T05:31:00.000-07:00

Yesterday was my first ever visit to Pinnacle Mt.........can you believe I've lived in this area for so long and never been here? What a gorgeous place!!! And I can't think of a better first visit than to go with 3 of my friends for a trail run there. No, we didn't go to the top--that's a hike rather than a run but we did get in 15 miles including some rather technical areas.

After last week's fubar long run I was kind of dreading and fearing this one........so thankful I was able to head out with the same great, extremely supportive group of friends......and I'm happy to say that while this one wasn't trouble-free it certainly was a redemption of sorts and a reminder that yes, occasionally I AM a runner, lol.

Thoughts on the day...........still need to find a nutrition source that's gonna work for me while running, I needed more than a gel at the halfway point, my stomach growled for 4 miles after that wanting food. The core workouts are paying off, no back soreness (knees, feet, left achilles are all a different story). You have to pay attention!!!!!! The trails will bite you hard if you start daydreaming. It's ok to walk. Laughter and fantastic convo even if it's bitching about how far we have left totally rocks and makes the miles fly by.

What are these berries?

These are all iphone pics so not the greatest quality

And then you get to eat!!!!!!!!!

Sigh of relief

2011-09-18T04:49:00.000-07:00

As of Friday afternoon after cleaning my truck out completely (company policy if you take more than 2 weeks off) I am on VACATION!!!!!!!!!!!! You cannot imagine how light and free I felt after turning in my work shop write up and got in the car heading back to my apartment......I knew the job had been weighing my mood and entire outlook on everything down but just didn't realize how far into the depths of ennui I'd fallen until then. I felt physically lighter even (I'm not, actually at my heaviest that I've been for the past 3 years but that's another post).

Speaking of the job, it's not a good sign when one of your regular customers tells you that you might want to find a different route for a while. Apparently the car maker that these parts are for have gotten a burr up their ass about some of the oxidization on the unpolished aluminum parts and while the supplier is getting their butts chewed on they are going to start refusing to load trailers with any damage, repaired or not.........the not is perfectly understandable but they would not even allow me to patch some pinholes with the metal tape I keep in the truck for that purpose--the same metal tape that the shops use by the way. What is not acceptable is that they refused my trailer because of a welded and riveted patch on the roof, one that showed absolutely no signs of water leakage whatsoever. As they said, it's not my fault, the damage on these trailers are from the inside, I pick them up preloaded and sealed so no way for me to inspect until I'm empty at the dock. Auto plant forklift & yard drivers are notoriously blase about causing damage to outside companies trailers so any trailer that's been on these routes for more than 6 months are going to have some damages.......Ended up not getting loaded until 4 hours after I already should have been rolling AND the shop where I went for repairs was shoddy with the caulk ($94 for that!!!!) so I had to use the metal tape anyways.

Side rail damage on inside of trailer

Other work-related news.....the new dispatcher has been replaced finally. As I've mentioned before, she's extremely nice but just isn't cut out to be a dispatcher especially on these dedicated routes. I've only spoken to the NEW new dispatcher once on the phone but from what I've seen via the qualcomm communications he seems to be much more switched on..

Back to the trailers........since I was going to be t-calling whatever I pulled out of Laredo at my home terminal, I was set up with an OTR load. Always an interesting prospect because most of the trailers that aren't on the dedicated routes don't go through shops near as often. This trailer was no exception, a glance at the inspection sticker showed it to be a year since it had last went through a company shop and let's just leave it at the condition was less than optimal.......once I got back to the NLR terminal it was verified that the last time was 13 months ago, yikes.

Ok, enough of the work grumbles other than when I was turning in my writeup slips at the shop a driver was in the office who told me it just wasn't fair that I was taking 2 weeks off for vacation and a proper one at that. Not teasing, he was serious. Ummm, yeah. I more than deserve this time off and really it's not my problem that he isn't/doesn't/can't take his own vacations so a huge raspberry to him, lol.

Always prepared!!

The glad hand seal stash!! If you constantly drop/hook to different trailers then this is a must

Music recommendation

2011-09-12T02:29:00.000-07:00

Just had to share this music recommendation from MacDaddy's comment on my "New to me tunes" blog post. Loving it!

Typhoon "CPR/Claws Pt. 2

Love all the cycling in this vid from them

Tennessee layover

2011-09-12T02:17:00.000-07:00

Yep, last week I got to sit in middle Tennessee an extra 24 hours..........seems to have been a lot of laying over this month but hey, just one more week and I'm off on that much needed vacation. Thanks to the layovers and Lola breaking down so much this summer I won't have near the funds I had planned on but I will deal, I very much need this time away from trucking.

The packing in process, kind of a monochromatic palette

The layover wasn't all bad, thanks to the tropical storm moving through, temps dropped a lot--as in a 40-50F drop from what we have been experiencing and I got to go run aka play in the rain for 5 miles. Happy girl! Not only was it a refreshingly cool run, I managed an 8:59 per mile average with negative splits. Very, very, very happy girl!!!

Other tidbits from the week:

While I was standing in line to pay for my shower (only had Love's shower credits, no Pilot ones) a driver very kindly gave me one of his credits. That hasn't happened for a while, although I've been known to do that for someone else when I have one available that I'm not gonna use.

There was actually a very polite group of drivers at the customer on Wednesday despite the delays for everyone. Even had one stop to make sure I didn't need help with sliding my tandems, that rarely happens because it's usually rush, rush, rush, get outta my way there. Guess the cooler temps had everyone in a better mood.

Shop kept my trailer hostage past my 14 hours after I left it there Wednesday evening so I ended up spending the night at home. Had a very nice walk with a friend who happens to be a neighbor with our pups, enjoying those cooler temps still.

A bout of insomnia had me up and awake well before my alarm so instead of meeting the Thursday morning group, I got up and ran a timed run--50 minutes solo, then 17 minutes with Elsie. Timed because I hadn't planned on being home and my garmin was in the truck. I was up so early that I had my workout done, showered, and was pulling off the yard by 0700.

Yes, please!

I actually had a trailer preplanned so was in and out of Laredo in well under an hour Friday morning.

Dry and dusty Texas

Way too long trying to fuel at the Pilot/Flying J in Waco--damned fuel optimization software, that most of the large companies use had the place backed up, it's a bitch trying to get in and out of there traffic-wise, and of course you have some idiot drivers that insist on using ink pens or knives to punch in their info on the fuel pump keypads which resulted in me having to stand in line inside to get my fuel authorized.

Seriously, there is no call for this

Decided to try drinking unsweetened cranberry juice for the health benefits this week. Only way to get through it is drink it fast. Very, very, very, very fast. Or maybe add vodka?

Pucker up!!!

It'll have to do

2011-09-12T01:33:00.000-07:00

Sigh..............marathon training is not my forte. As a matter of fact I hate the actual training bit where I HAVE to run a set amount of miles on a set (more or less) day. It sucks all the joy out of running for me, much prefer listening to my body or agreeing to a crazy-stupid long run on the spur of the moment with my friends. I hate this so much that the Marine Corps Marathon this year will prolly be my second AND last marathon that I plan to do. If I ever get to the place where I go out and run 18-20 milers just for the hell of it I won't rule out doing one off the cuff............as in not deciding to run one until the week before but nope, not signing up for another one months in advance ever again.

Yesterday totally sucked ass for me. Had a 14-miler on the schedule and made plans to run with my great friends which usually pulls me through even when I feel less than ideal but a hard couple of days of driving combined with eating practically nothing the previous 48 hours totally and completely caused me to fall apart less than 1/2 way through. Such a shame too because we were running the Emerald trail with the dogs and Elsie was thoroughly enjoying herself. Starting back up for the 2nd loop, I started getting light-headed--well actually it started when I was on the first loop with a bit of shakiness and like an idiot I didn't take my gel until it was waaaaaay too late. Stupid, stupid, stupid. I certainly know better than this.

So I start back down, make it back to my car and just sit drinking some Heed, waiting for the gel to work its magic--a Chocolate #9. Totally awesome by the way, not sickly sweet like a lot of the other chocolate flavored gels from other brands and if I take it at the right time, I'm betting it's going to work very well for me. Once I got past some of the "ohmygosh I think I'm gonna pass out" stage I took back off for another 2 plus miles and didn't experience any queasy stomach issues like I have had in the past with some other types, RESULT!!!

Managed to squeeze out 9 miles and got in some nice chat time with friends--I'm reluctant to discuss them too much on the blog because of privacy issues, so I apologize if these recaps seem too self-focused on these group run recaps but I've yet to find a balance in talking about our great times and revealing too much about their lives. Just know that I would find it VERY difficult to get through a lot of these miles and times without them.

Oh yeah, back to the "long" run, since I didn't get my 14 in yesterday morning I planned on going home, resting up, EATING (!!!!!!) and trying to get the last 5 in last night before bed. Honestly didn't hold out much hope that I would get out there and get all of it done but I'm--pleased? satisfied? those don't actually fit--well, it got done and while less than ideal, it'll have to suffice.

Elsie and I recovering

What's on the agenda

2011-09-05T13:10:00.000-07:00

One interesting thing I'm planning on doing while on vacation is attend the Cycle Show 2011 on one of the event days. I don't think they'll turn me away at the door since I've only been on my bike twice this year, do you? Maybe I should dust Buffy off, air up the tires, squeeze into the spandex and take her for a spin at least around the block before going so that I can say I really do cycle occasionally.

My Jamis, reduced to art this year (ignore the crooked map, I certainly do)

bits and pieces

2011-09-04T11:28:00.000-07:00

Just a few items that don't really fit in any of the other posts I've written lately.

First off, you may notice that there's an actual url for my blog now :-). Thanks to some nagging and a lot of work from the cranky person known as The Wondering Brit it got done finally. It's both a very good thing and a curse being friends with a techy-geeky type person, not sure I recommend it. Also I'm changing up the twitter accounts, I will be closing my old one and have started another with my @gabsatrucker name that's now unlocked. I'm a bit stream of consciousness, no-holds barred, lotsa bad language, grumbly sort so prolly not safe for anyone who's easily offended.

Somehow I've evolved from a person who always had to have music on her solo runs to finding it distracting in the wrong way, almost kind of irritating. Yes, I have gotten to where I like being able to hear my footfalls and breathing (when it's not atrociously humid that is).

The car has to go back in the shop because it's still cutting out a little and the check engine light came back on with my first drive after getting it out. Have I mentioned that every time I drive it at least 2 people will pull out directly in front of me. As James said (yes, we still talk quite a bit), with my track record probably not the car I should be driving (4 instances of being hit around stops signs or lights).

Totally obsessed with Etsy. Such an amazing array of handmade and vintage items, can spend hours on that site browsing.

Zico chocolate coconut water is to die for delicious........

as are the Ayala's Herbal waters.

And to cap this off, a huge, belated congratulations to Dr. Sue Black for being the 10th recipient of the PepsiCo WIN award for 2011!!!!!!!!!!!! Be sure to read her post she wrote after receiving the award "If I can do it, so can you", you will see why she deserves this. Sue is such an amazing lady and certainly an inspiration for me--still in a bit of awe that I got to meet her earlier this year. She's also on twitter, definitely one of the must-follows :-)))).

on schedule

2011-09-04T10:20:00.000-07:00

Second week of the new, get me through it, "just wanna survive this marathon" training plan is done. And surprisingly despite my record this year, still on course. All distances have been met although the speed training has not occurred. Yeah, yeah, laugh and scoff if you must but I just haven't seemed to have been able to keep things together workout wise for the past several months. It's been a catch it when I can, try not to obsess over missing runs/workouts/etc kinda year.

Today was our Sunday morning run with the pups but 4 miles longer than usual, a couple of the girls are preparing for a west coast run so this week they're doing 3 ten-milers in a row (whew, tired just typing that). That worked for me because I had 12 miles on my schedule and that would just leave me having to slog out 2 solo. My only quandary was Elsie. Up to now she's only ran 6-7 miles on Sundays with me and I wasn't sure she was up to 10 miles but hated not taking her because she does enjoy getting to run and romp off leash with us.

Please, can we run now?

My other concern once I woke up to get ready this morning was that it was sprinkling. Normally if any kind of precipitation is going on, the mutt is hiding in the closet or under the couch and true to form that's where she was after her morning constitutional............right up to the point I put my running shoes on then she was at the door begging to go. Still leery but I loaded her up to go anyways..............shouldn't have worried, once we got there she was zoom, zoom, zoom saying hi to everyone. Me on the other hand........not so much.

Ready to run!! No, not really

Today was actually great weather, it was warm but we had a nice cool breeze every so often, overcast skies, and occasional sprinkles to kinda keep things from being overheated. Unfortunately various hunting seasons are starting--dove season right now--so the days of running there may be limited......the anglers tolerate us but hunters kinda (and rightly so) don't like the game being disturbed by us gallivanting around. There was the cutest little girl (she had a pink rifle!!) hunting with her dad who wanted to pet the dogs so Elsie got some attention.

Oh back to the actual running.....I struggled some, had a bit of achilles and foot pain on my left leg which I think is a holdover from the week's back trouble, but my breathing seems to be getting more in line with what it should be instead of the constant huffing like a freight train that I've done all summer (blasted humidity). Elsie did great right up to around 8.5 miles then started slowing but she did quite well, I was very pleased. My friends offered to keep her and wait on me while I finished up my 12 miles, oh those last 2 (well 1.64) were miserable with no one to talk to. When I got back to our vehicles, Bren asked had I got my full mileage in and I said I was close enough, lol. Still, that last .36 was nagging at me so after catching my breath I did laps in the parking lot to get 12 even. Obsessed much?

Dirty shoes

Dirtier tub--aftermath of Elsie's bath, one of the downsides of trail running

New to me tunes

2011-09-03T20:37:00.000-07:00

You know I can't go without posting some new music that I've been loving lately. The first The Naked and Famous are actually starting to blow up so you may have already heard some of their stuff on the mainstream stations but I'm loving "The Sun", such gorgeous blending of their voices

Next up is a group I just heard this morning, The Joy Formidable. Love, love, love these vids from SXSW that were filmed at Mellow Johnny's Bike Shop. Only posting the one because I'm exhausted and have a 12 mile run tomorrow but I highly encourage y'all to check out the others. They actually look like they're enjoying themselves on stage, such a rare thing.

La Femme de Velo Tour

2011-09-02T15:27:00.000-07:00

A friend of mine (that I haven't spoken to in quite a while) and my favorite not so local anymore bike shop is sponsoring Arkansas' first only female cycling tour this fall! Very, very, very cool! Unfortunately, I will be on vacation in the UK on the day of, so no chance of me getting to participate in the La Femme de Velo Tour.

La Femme de Velo Tour

First Annual-No Men Allowed!

Need a laugh?

2011-09-02T13:51:00.000-07:00

I am so going to get grumbled at for posting this, but really, it's hilarious and I can't seem to stop viewing it. What's even funnier is that my aunt posted it briefly on a social media site I kinda despise so not naming it. Even funnier? Right after viewing it, I had a comment from a friend in the UK about how civilized they were (meant in jest, btw!). Talk about timing, eh? Oh, it may not be appropriate for work, so take that into mind before watching.

Her grumpiness

2011-09-02T13:39:00.000-07:00

Has it really been almost a month since I last blogged? Wow, bad blogger. Bad, bad blogger. There probably is some appropriate punishment for the lazy bloggers--a bit of time in the stockade being flogged maybe? Hmmm, just a case of declining interest by people more likely, certainly a case of oh my gosh she's still around, we'd forgotten all about her, lol.

So what's gone on since Lola was turned into a human crock pot.......I tentatively think the truck is finally fixed, only a few minor issues with the air conditioning for the past 2 weeks. However I did stop to fuel in south Arkansas night before last and was confronted with this image when I stepped back into the truck and started to buckle up as I always do

Yep, that is my seat belt, snapped in half. Scary, eh? Fortunately I was near a wal-mart so was able to buy a star driver hex head set to swap out seatbelts from the passenger seat to the driver's seat. Those seatbelts aren't meant to come loose though........there was some grumbling, grunting, pushing and pulling with the socket wrench to get them undone.........Oh and liberal use of WD-40!!! Afterwards, while putting away my tools and the oh so handy can of aforementioned WD-40, what did I find but a star driver set hidden away in a nook just like the one I had purchased only an hour prior........there went $23.97 plus tax, grrrrr.

Other work news....the new dispatcher is a very nice lady but she has our dedicated lanes so futzed up it's ridiculous. Instead of keeping trailers down at Laredo for those of us who are dedicateds, she sees there's a trailer sitting there and thinks it must be dispatched out immediately and is doing so on OTR drivers. This in turn causes us to have to wait for trailers here, last weekend I was sitting from Thursday night until Sunday afternoon and having to check in with the office every 2-3 hours to see if one had crossed. Not fun. Today, I was at least assigned a trailer although I'm having to wait on it to cross.

Training, hey I've got a new plan now after it all went to hell last month. There will be no personal records at the Marine Corps Marathon but I will do my level best to get across that finish line. Last Sunday's long run was a 10-miler was 8 miles on the side of Loop 20 in Laredo, then 2 miles in a nearby neighborhood with Elsie. Too much concrete, my legs and body were suffering from the no-give surface. Tuesday, ran 6 miles with friends at home, then did a 5.55 mile run here in Laredo again. This time I explored a neighborhood where there was a lot of new home construction so porta-potty score!!!!!!!! Oh, probably only runners will get the importance of that, lol.

There's been lots more going on but this is turning into too long of a post already

It's a bit toasty

2011-08-08T15:56:00.000-07:00

I seem to keep disappearing from the blogosphere........but I'm not racing, barely training, hating my job and I really don't think y'all want to hear my repeated complaints......I also kinda have been avoiding facebook for the same reason. So what has made me re-surface momentarily? 72.5 hours in a truck with a non-functioning air-conditioner down to Laredo and back, sigh. Yeah, call me broiled, lol. Kinda resembled those onion rings above, all shiny and wrinkly from the excess of sweat.

Sorry for the blurry pic, it actually hit just over 120F a few moments later

There are several posts I should write though.........I have new shoes (well not so new by now)--heels, trainers for the trails, and boots that I need to write reviews for.

Chinese Laundry heels (have 2 pairs of these in luggage and black)

Yay for Brooks Running shoes!!

Yes, I have omitted pics of my new boots, they're too good to not be featured in a post all on their own. There's also a new phone to brag on but that's gonna have to wait until I replace the screen on it--apparently sharp gravel and smartphone screens don't play well together, grrrr.

Oh yeah, back to my job............nah, really don't feel like going there again. As it stands, I am prolly gonna take an extended vacation once my seniority date rolls around to decompress a bit and see about seeing some new (and not so new) sights.

Shrouded in a fog of ennui

2011-07-20T21:07:00.000-07:00

That was the first half of a tweet from earlier tonight......I won't post the rest of it here because I (mostly) try to keep the blog somewhat clean and while the remainder of the message still holds true it's not quite fit for polite(r) company. A skype discussion then later a twitter convo really hit home that I seem to have lost what little creativity and zoom-zoom that I had, it literally feels like my brain and emotions are somewhat shrouded right now. A big part of it is the job......between the speed being governed down--unless I use the cruise control--and the ensuing constant, neverending cursing from other truckdrivers about the lack of said speed. Toss in the constant barrage of qualcomm messages about CSA 2010 and logbook dos and don'ts, trucking has lost its "fun and interesting" factor. Oh don't get me wrong, I still consider driving safely and somewhat well a point of pride but the company and the endless litany of regulations is making me dread leaving for work each time. Throw in an aging truck and the constant trailer breakdowns and...........well, let's just say I need an extended holiday, preferably one in a different country chasing new adventures.

Sigh, enough of a whinge for you? Yeah, me too.

In other news, proper training for the Marine Corps Marathon is about to start and I need to book a hotel for that weekend asap........would prefer something quirky and a bit out of the norm but we are talking about our nation's capitol and like most everything else, it's gonna cost ya. Having sticker shock from the rates and most of 'em don't include breakfast or parking if I decide to splurge on a rental car. Still searching for abode that's got that something different so suggestions are very much welcomed and appreciated, only have to have (other than safe and no bedbugs) is close access to the Metro.

I also seem to have recovered from the Full Moon 25k quite well......a couple of days rest and extended time with Sven Foamroller helped immensely. Now if I could only start sleeping halfway decent and waking up at the before the buttcrack of dawn to get my training in before the heat of the day intensifies I'd be set. Ran 4 miles with Elsie this morning and while the humidity made me feel like I was running underwater, my legs were decent.

full mOOn 25k

2011-07-17T19:15:00.000-07:00

It may not seem like it but I actually still am running.......just not any great distances right now. I'm ranging in the 23-29 miles per week but the longest I've done lately since the middle of May (the 14th to be precise, approx 12 miles) has just been under 7 miles. So what does one do when their truck has to go into the shop (again) for a prolonged period and a friend asks if you want to do a 25k despite being woefully undertrained for the the distance? Well, after asking what the cost is (free, donation only) and if I can catch a ride (yes), why then there is only one possible answer--of course!!!!!!!!!!!!

Being silly pre-race. Belted up, light on cap and funny bump under shirt was my 2nd light clipped to my jogbra

The problems with that answer? Besides the undertrained bit, haha.......we're going through a hotter than usual summer and I'm trying to adjust to a birth control pill that is tri-phase and the first 1.5 weeks of the cycle makes me horribly nauseated, to the point where I'm actually throwing up once or twice and guess what phase I'm in right now........yes, I'm contacting the NP to see about going off these.

Our not so motley crew :-)

So back to the full mOOn 25k, a fair number of our running club was there and I got to catch up with other friends whom I haven't gotten to see in far too long. I do miss racing and getting to hang out but it's just not in my budget right now for the race fees and cost of gas to get to them. A lot of giggling, catching up, hugging and asking each other how crazy/stupid were we for showing up at an event where the starting temp was well over 90f and we were going to be running in the dark on forest service roads where there are entirely too many snakes and the occasional mountain lion sighting (5 people reported seeing one last night by the way).

The early starters getting the pre-race chat

Although the plan was for our group to stick together I knew in the first mile that I wasn't going to be able to hang on to them. Shoot, I knew it was gonna be something for me to even make it to the 25k turnaround point, lol. Heat, humidity, nausea, and the nothing but uphill (which lasted over 4 miles) killed me and I bid Andrea, Brenda and Robert adieu just before the 2 mile point along with telling them I hoped they didn't have to wait too long for me at the finish. Thus began the run/walk and constant leapfrogging of other people doing the same for the next 13 miles. Maria, one of our newer running club members caught me and stayed with me for a while but I even had to shoo her on forward. She was having too good of a race to be waiting around on me, lol. However she did wait around on me at the 7.5 mile turnaround at the water and food stop and a HUGE thanks to her again for filling my water bottle with ice while I was waiting in line.

The great thing about trail races is that nearly everyone talks so in between the long solitary hikes some good convos were had. Don't ask me about what though because it's all a haze now. I do remember being told that I was a very fast walker, all I could think was I NEEDED a walker at that point, lol. Chatted to a couple of 50k entrants that decided to fall back to the 25k distance, found out later that quite a few decided to opt for the shorter distance due to the heat. I know that I was sorely tempted to have my first ever DNF more than once last night :-/. Screaming quads, a very cranky right foot, and the freaking never-ending nausea was near to doing me in. Too stubborn and stupid by far though to give in, just kept moving forward walking, running when my stomach would allow.

Elevation map of the 25k

A finish line was eventually found along with the 2 best ever cups of ice cold gatorade I've ever had in my life followed by a quick dip in Lake Sylvia to wash the salt off--quick of course is very questionable....and now the boring, nitty-gritty stats per my garmin

Distance: 15.02 miles

Moving Time: 3:10:11

Elapsed Time: 3:16:34

Average Pace: 12:52 min/mile

Fastest pace: 7:47 min/mile (where the heck did that come from?)

Total Elevation Gain: 1,609 feet

Other interesting things of note, lots of snakes were seen (by others) and there was a mountain lion sighting by 5 of the runners. I was still down almost 4 pounds this morning despite having taken in more fluid than I ever have during an event (excepting cycling centuries) and so much water I'm wearing a constant path in the floor to the downstairs bathroom (stairs hurt for some reason today, lol).

Sandwiched by one (of several!!!) of my favorite couples

A June walk

2011-07-13T10:15:00.000-07:00

These were from an impromptu walk before starting a day of trucking in mid-June

Someone thought we were going to run

Barn (yes, I'm Ms. Obvious)

Windy road, I usually run this but coming from the opposite direction

Not sure why this was called Hamburger Hill, all I noticed was a house atop the hill

Just because it looked cool

Storm is about to let loose, not sure what these flowering vines are

So peaceful

Fragrant wild rose

Notice how the trees are rowed out as a "natural" dividing line

I spy blackberries

In the process of gathering seed ticks as well as breakfast

Yum

what's rocking my world right now

2011-07-12T10:56:00.000-07:00

Yep, it's that time again.......a glimpse into what's on repeat right now

Arcade Fire "We Used to Wait". I've really tried to avoid jumping on all the love for this group but this song totally won me over.

A couple from my current punk crush Le Butcherettes

Honey Honey

Take my Dress Off

and then there was good stuff

2011-07-12T10:16:00.000-07:00

Since the previous post was all about the bad it's only fair to post a few happy pics lest y'all think I'm only all about the horrible. Found quite a few great shots in my photos but I need to set up different posts for them.

Should I kiss it to see if a prince turns up?

So nice when a truckstop shower looks like this

The little white spots are fireflies......I was very surprised to learn they don't have them in the UK

Getting ready to run in my favorite Brooks running shoes, the Green Silence model

Hot air balloons in Sulphur Springs, TX. Gonna ride in one first chance I get

One of the loves of my life, my niece :-)))))

My latest cake disaster, sooo need to take lessons on the presentation part

This is very true for me

good times......or not

2011-07-12T09:35:00.000-07:00

For most of you it comes as no surprise that the latter part of May and most of June was just a total bitch of a time for me. Personal stuff and truck issues it just seemed like karma decided I needed a kick in the arse. Trailer repairs, shipper delays, broken welds, ran out of fuel due to a faulty sensor, tire blowouts, one very long weekend of a stop engine warning light, air conditioner going out in 90-100F temps, a jerk of a co-worker that I ended up calling in on. Not going to go into a long-winded whinge (well, no more so than I already have, lol). but I am going to post a few pics of the adventures

Broken welds on part of brake system from a trailer I picked up Memorial Day weekend

Repair truck service guy that drove past me despite all sides of my truck logo being visible...and he somehow missed me trying to wave him down, lol

Elsie brought me her duck to cheer me up

Way too much of this

ummm, oops?

There's a road somewhere, windshield wipers couldn't keep up

Don't think you can see it but there are quarter to golf ball sized hailstones on this flatbed. Aftermath from the previous pic

Front tire on driver's side

Rear tire......my theory is that when the front recap blew it hit the back one with such force that it caused it to peel also

Sigh.........but I got new drive tires out of it at least

Overdue......

2011-07-12T08:53:00.000-07:00

Ok, I'm here, still trucking and running along although the trucking part is kind of wearing on me more and more. The imminent open border with Mexico is probably going to cause my dedicated route to disappear and then I will either have to scramble along with all our other Laredo drivers to look for other routes or (most likely) go over the road. I really have no desire to be an OTR driver again, I've seen as much of the U.S. from the interstates as I care to from the seat of a big truck. Now as far as traveling and exploring things at my leisure, well now that's an entirely different matter but unless I win the lottery that's not gonna happen right away. Not to mention companies are slashing pay and benefits left and right, increasing regulation worries about our hours of service, etc, etc.....Actually there was an editorial piece in the Manteca Bulletin that explains all this much better than I can, I highly encourage everyone to go read this because it's one of the rare articles that is not ANTI-trucking from outside the industry.

While I'm sorta on the subject of trucking industry publications, I have a bit of a rant about one of the freebie mags that you can pick up at the entrance to any truckstop. This one focuses on driver's health..........That is an absolutely fantastic thing but upon checking it out online I discovered that one of the contributors is a somewhat well-known blogger who also happens to be obese and has very openly discussed their disdain about getting sweaty and working out on said blog. Ummm, yeah. Can we agree that maybe choosing a writer based on their "name" and web numbers might be just a little lazy? There are many drivers out here that ARE making healthy choices and do write about their experiences--NO, I am not volunteering, either--I just feel it might have been a great opportunity to have a driver that does take their health and fitness seriously write for them, not just someone who is doing it for the money. Right, rant over but I highly encourage any of the drivers who read my blog that are into healthy choices to contact said publication to see if they can do some articles for them.

In memory of

2011-06-07T16:47:00.000-07:00

Last week my sister and I lost our father unexpectedly.......We'd only started to get to know him the past few years and to be honest, my sis was much closer to him than I was so while this is difficult for me it is going to be much more so for her, my brother-in-law and my niece and nephew.

Mike was a flawed man (and aren't we all flawed?) but he had gone above and beyond to repair and mend the relationships that had been broken so long ago. I truly regret that I didn't try to spend more time with him but I thought since he was only in his mid 60s that we'd have much longer. Unfortunately that was not the case.

One of his wonderful sisters wrote this poem about him a few years ago and I hope that my aunt doesn't mind me posting it here but it so captured the essence of our father that I can't not put it up.

Michael

The shell of Michael, the man

lay at the great gates of Heaven.

God looked inside to judge his soul,

and found it battered and tattered, not whole.

He called his angels for a "Bee".

They seamed and patched without a fee.

In this crazy quilt of life,

They found a multitude of strife.

But 'neath the folds, hidden from view,

they also found his love for you.

Michael followed God's rule, LOVE ONE ANOTHER, so well,

that he often came close to the edge of hell.

For his was a fragile soul, not strong,

and when hurt, sought solace where wrong.

But he always came back from that pit of black rain,

battered, tattered, willing to try again.

For this, God chose him to live in the Light,

Michael, God's Angel full of might!

written by Jan B.

Michael "Mike" H.

April 1945 - May 2011

Hello! my new earworm

2011-06-07T13:30:00.000-07:00

For some reason I've missed out on this song by Martin Solveig & Dragonette "Hello". Totally catchy, played it nonstop for almost an hour (ocd much?). So imagine my delight when I searched for it on youtube and found a very amusing short film along with it.....Posting both versions of it because even if you hate the song, the story might catch your fancy, at least I hope it will.

Short version

Extended version

When the shoe fits........

2011-05-16T13:45:00.000-07:00

I thought I'd had most of my summer sandals sorted out, was just searching for a great pair of black heels for the season but one pair of the neutral colored shoes that I purchased has turned out to be a bit of a disappointment. Totally a shame because I absolutely love the color and styling of these Max Studio heels but the quality just isn't there especially for the price........

Quick specs--4 1/4" heel, 3/4" platform. Nappa leather upper and leather sole. Comes in black or the taupe that I purchased. MSRP $149 but can be found on sale for much less than that if you shop around. I personally paid $75 for mine.

The good--great heel height, platform that blends well with the shoe, buttery soft leather, and that great olive-brown-gray color that goes with so much. They also run completely true to size which is a definite plus when it comes to ordering online.

Loved the strappiness of these (ignore the closet mess please)

The bad--these killed the ball of my foot within an hour of having them on and I rarely have that problem, Also the "woodgrain" of the stacked heel and near the toe area started fading and showing uneven color wear on the first ever wearing. That's not very visible on the photos but definitely is there when viewing them in person.

The next problem was with the strap itself, the leather around the holes on the ankle strap fastening started to tear almost immediately and that is not with wearing the straps tight, there also didn't seem to be excessive pulling on the strap when walking about. It's probably because of the softness of the leather but I'm thinking there should have been some reinforcement if that's the case.

Also the small metal ball that is part of the fastening fell off one of the shoes already, thankfully it came apart while the shoe was in the box and is a simple screw on but for sure that's a quality control issue. The leather sole is also beginning to come up from the footbed where it was glued rather than sewn on.

I run......really I do

2011-05-16T12:40:00.000-07:00

Ok after a post earlier this spring bemoaning my lack of mileage I'm finally starting to get my numbers back into a somewhat more respectable range. I've actually had 3 weeks of 20 plus miles thanks in large part to Brenda and Cindy (thanks ladies!!!). Don't laugh, lol--I'm trying to build back up without injury and burnout.

2 out of 4 ain't bad, right? I used to ride my bicycle......

2 weeks ago I was able to find a parking spot at the Sulphur Springs, TX Pilot and run a route I hadn't in a while. Started out very humid and muggy but I could see a storm brewing just to the northwest of me, I've never wished it would hurry up and rain so much as that day. Last 1.5 miles I got my wish of rain, the last .5 was a deluge......maybe I should watch what I wish for eh?

This guy (or girl?) was in the middle of the road, I stopped to help it across after I took pics of course

Part of the Sulphur Springs route I ran, this was taken where I helped the turtle out

Our weather has been so crazy......it's bouncing between hot as hades or downright cold, I'm good with shorts down to freezing temps usually but like to have gloves and long sleeves for anything below 50F. However I'm pretty sure that most days from here on out are going to be HAWT & HUMID.......ugh.

My DIY sleeves made from a pair of Target socks, I think they're cute and certainly cheaper than buying readymade sleeves

Weekend before this last one I got in my first double digit run since the half marathon in Malta at the end of February. Can't believe it has been that long already. Ran around the lake nearby with Brenda, Cindy and their pups. Think it was just under 11 miles, felt great afterwards but I did need a nap because I'd just come off the 9 days straight working I'd mentioned in last post. So needed that run and to spend time with friends to decompress.

Treating myself to an apple fritter and coffee from Shipley's Donuts after a long run

Last Tuesday I ran one of my absolute most favorite routes at Hurricane Mills, TN....Barren Hollow Road, there's 1.2 miles of smooth asphalt then it turns into a hilly dirt road. Love it because once you get back on the asphalt you feel like you're flying!!! It was "interesting" that day because I got chased by an obnoxious little dog (twice), had to cop a squat in the woods and saw a dead rattlesnake.....Yeah, the rattler sighting was after the side trip into the woods, yikes. It was a memorable morning, made for good tweets and facebook posts, lol.

So I talked about it being cold and then hot, then back again.........the worst humid run so far at home this year was this past week (I had one at Laredo that was hotter but not near as muggy). I had to leave my truck overnight at the shop for them to work on the air conditioning again so thought I would take advantage of running where I could clean up in my own shower. Oh. My. Gosh. Before dawn and it was like breathing water....I think it was 87% humidity and low 70F temps, ugh......

Literally dripping with sweat......note the Brooks Green Silence shoes ;-)

This weekend I was able to run with Brenda and Cindy again--actually on both Saturday and Sunday, yay!! Saturday I met them at Burns Park where they were getting in some serious trail training. A word of advice, be sure and ask about the route and distance BEFORE the run, haha!! I didn't ask until we were about a mile in and then at about 3 miles in after climbing this never-ending hill I told them it was a good job that I loved them, lol. It was tough, a lot of climbing and lateral movements, plus the trail was a bit washed out due to the flooding so a lot more exposed rocks than usual. My knees and feet are a bit achy still :-(. Ended up with almost 12 very hard miles but loved every moment of it. Oh, I also swallowed a bug, whole and alive, ewwwww. Didn't love that moment so much.

These Injinji socks got me through my marathon in 2009

Dirty shoes after the Sunday pup run around the lake yesterday :)

Oh my, time flies

2011-05-16T11:34:00.000-07:00

Has it really been 3 weeks since I last posted? Wow.......not that I live a terribly exciting life or anything but I do try to at least check in every so often. I haven't even replied to some blog comments and for that I do apologize. I received the email notifications but was busy and stressed and didn't move them to an appropriate folder where I'd remember to reply. Not a very good excuse or action on my part.

So what's been up? Storms, flooding, running, working. Nine days straight at one point on the latter, granted they weren't all full days of driving but they were all away from home and in the truck and that's way more than what I like. Speaking of trucks, Lola's starter problem has finally been resolved and now it's been an air conditioning issue for the past couple of weeks......however that was repaired this last weekend so good to go now. As far as the storms go I've been extremely fortunate in no damage has been sustained by me but friends in Tuscaloosa, AL had family that was affected. Scary, sad situation with all that. The flooding has caused major detours on I40 through Arkansas and that always equals delays. Quite eerie last week going east on I40 and not seeing any oncoming traffic from where the westbound side was shutdown.

This is normally nearly bumper to bumper with trucks and cars

Local media heading out to film the flooding

Approaching the White River on I40, you can see the westbound lanes are underwater

Closeup of the flooding, note the watermarks on the eastbound lanes and the cones marking the shoulder, EB had only been opened up 3 hours prior to me coming through

Another closeup

Looks like a lake

Amazing, and I was approximately a mile from the small river

The obligatory Mississippi River flooding pic, this is approaching the westbound Arkansas weigh station, there's a road under that water between the trees and freeway

Hwy 67 westbound approaching Earle, this is down quite a bit from what it was earlier in the week

Hold on tight

2011-04-25T22:33:00.000-07:00

Spring in the midsouth area is always tumultuous but this year is a bit more so than usual. Mother Nature seems to be flexing her muscles a quite a lot this year. I knew from watching the local weather tweets that my area was going to get hit again but still listening to the constant interruptions of an actually interesting to me NPR segment (Amy Stewart talking about her new book Wicked Bugs) by the National Weather Service warnings was quite unnerving. I know Elsie was having a hard time dealing with them. Every time she'd decide it was safe to venture outside her crate, another one would pierce the airwaves and back she'd go, tail tucked and ears down.

Now the smart thing to do would have been to have found a place to park and wait the storm bands out but I kinda thought from listening to the live coverage broadcast by The Point 94.1 that I could slip in between the two storm cells hammering the central Arkansas area. Well I did, sorta...........The first hard gusts of wind hit me while I was going over the river on I440. All I could do was hold onto the wheel and slow waaaaay down while looking over at the very insubstantial concrete wall separating me from the water. Yeah, there was a lot of "please don't let me get blown over the edge" going thru my head.

Get over that safely and continue on my merry (slow) way to the I30 and just before 65th Street and it gets even slower....all the way down to 5-10 mph while getting hit near head on with straight line winds..........quite an interesting experience to be pressing on the accelerator and feeling the truck actually try to go backwards while you, the engine and the transmission are trying to force it to go forward, lol.

Apparently this is what the radar looked like when I made my decision to keep going

Thankfully I made it through ok as did most of the other traffic around me. I did come upon an accident on I30 where it looked like a tree did its level best to smash a car and a big truck, hopefully everyone was all right.

Ending on a lighter note, hope y'all enjoy this :-)

Shaken, not stirred

2011-04-25T08:16:00.000-07:00

Whew, this is gonna be a bit of a tough post to write but I figure if Terri can be so honest and forthcoming about her experiences then surely I can talk about my issues occasionally. Every now and then, I will experience a mild panic attack.......usually induced by very large, noisy crowds (hence my avoidance of concerts despite my deep love of music, especially live performances) or claustrophobia (parking garages kill me) but for the past year I've rarely experienced those problems and thought perhaps they were behind me.

Tuesday night proved that thought wrong.......I was in a very crowded Target having a phone convo and something just tripped it. Quickly told the person I had to go without explaining why--huge mistake on my part because they could have helped me through it. But it is called a panic attack for good reason :-(. I literally felt like the store was shrinking around me, the walls appeared to be warping towards me. Everywhere I turned I was blocked in and couldn't get out of the area I was in. Roaring just kept getting louder and louder, voices (most of which were speaking Spanish) just seemed like they were slamming into my senses. Yeah, very disorienting to say the least.

I finally managed to work my way out of the clothing section (absolutely worst place for that to happen, it's maze-like at the best of times) and keep enough of my decorum to get in line and pay for my items. I'm sure the cashier and other customers thought I was losing it though because of the quickness of how I was breathing and I'm sure I looked scared. Got myself out of there though before the tears started thankfully....The tears by the way weren't part of the panic attack, they were more a reaction of being so ashamed and angry that I had the attack after so long and I've got to admit it was the worst one I'd ever experienced. Fortunately, I'm not totally debilitated by the ones I have and can continue to function enough to get myself into what I consider a safe place to calm down and start figuring out what went wrong.

Huge thank you to my twitter friends, there was a major outpouring of support and concern after I tweeted about the panic attack. While I was still too shaken and frustrated with myself to reply individually that night, please know that everything was greatly appreciated. Thank you, xxxxxxxxxx

Social running

2011-04-23T18:13:00.000-07:00

This past week I was reminded of a blog post I was going to write (and may actually have written and posted, lol) last fall that was inspired by a twitter conversation about running and the social aspects of it during a group fun run with my awesome running club.........Last year a very opinionated person online made what I considered to be a snide comment about a local 5k in their area that was having a dinner the night before, a breakfast prior, then food afterward about how running a measly 3.1 miles was not going to burn off even a tiny fraction of the calories that would be consumed by people participating in the race and who may or may not be partaking of the sponsored food festivities. When I called them on sounding somewhat elitist, it continued to get worse in my opinion. The comment was made about nobody else was going to run those miles, that running was a solo activity........

Well, for some it is solely a thing they do for the solitude but for many it is a chance to get out and socialize while doing something they love with like-minded people. Anything that gets others out and running and continuing to run is a great thing. So what if there are activities planned around an organized race. So what if it's "only" a 5k. So what if there are food festivities planned around a race. Just because it's not your "thing" doesn't mean that it's not something that motivates others to get out and run and keeps them enthusiastic. Running with others makes you run slower, faster, longer, shorter than what you otherwise would.....and those changes may just be what was needed on that particular day, week, month and so on. It keeps things fresh, mind, body, soul. It gets those feet pounding the pavement just that much more.

Anyway, that's just my opinion. Maybe it's because I HAVE to run so many of my miles solo that I think differently on this matter. I do however welcome the chance to race or run with a group like I did this morning (33 of us by the way!!). Sometimes it's nice to talk to someone other than myself or Elsie during a workout--she doesn't talk back by the way although I have caught myself replying to myself, lol.

Opinions, thoughts, diatribes more than welcome :-).

Fancy a pic or 2?

2011-04-23T17:34:00.000-07:00

I occasionally (well, ok a LOT) take pictures of things when I'm out walking Elsie aka waiting on her to do her business. Thought I'd share a few of them. I apologize for the quality, these were all taken with my iphone.

Blurry pic of ladybugs.......evidently it's mating season

And feeding season.......mother nature at work

I don't really want to know what's down that hole, betting it isn't a white, fluffy rabbit

Love the juxtaposition of red clover amidst the bluebonnets

Is this not a cool moth???

Yeah, it was kind of windy

Misty day

At least she quit trying to eat flowers, now just sniffs at them

Sometimes the mind is just a blank canvas

2011-04-23T17:06:00.000-07:00

And today is one of those days, lol. After a series of whirlwind blog posts and even a few ideas kicking around in the vast cavern of a brain (empty y'know) I seem to have just hit a blank when it comes to writing. So perhaps one of my weird stream of consciousness posts? who knows, we'll just have to see how this goes, lol.

Ok, Lola seems to have been finally repaired!! Much thanks to the dayshift guys at our shop for continuing to plug away at the starter issues although there were a couple of snide comments from a couple of mechanics (not the main guys). It helped that there were a few times that the truck wouldn't start when they went out to bring her into the shop.

Strong winds in the Midsouth and Texas have made driving a high profile vehicle interesting this month. No more edge of tornado instances as of yet though.

Finally had an over 20 mile per week running total--20.82, but dammit that still counts--first one since the end of January.

I have a resume thanks to the help of a friend, sent it in to my current employer who didn't seem to even bother looking at it seeing as they didn't realize I was already employed here, lol.

Hate missing out on so many races, training opportunities, rides, etc due to my crazy work schedule.

It seems to shift from summer to winter here.......no in between but the summer seems to be winning. One last hurrah for my boots though on Thursday

Had my first 100F plus day this past week.

I finally bought a chair and put up curtains in my bedroom.......still need to go bed shopping though. Gotta love the clearance section at Target!!

Yes, I occasionally wear girlie shoes when driving the big truck

My usual breakfast when in Texas is Whataburger

Optimized fuel routing sucks.......especially when all the big companies use the same program/service

See that big hill on the right of the next picture.......yeah, I ran up that :)

Sweaty garmin.......something I had a lot of this past week

Breakfast..? Hills please !!

2011-04-14T14:12:00.000-07:00

Ok, I admit it. I love running hills. Yes I'm one of *those* people that spout the "hills are speedwork in disguise" quote as well as my tried and true favorite "let's make that hill our bitch".

Don't get me wrong, a flattish race rocks for getting personal bests but for training I love me some hills. And when I say hills, I mean the real thing, not those soul-sucking, mojo-stealing, what the heck is wrong with me, why am I going so slow, goes on forever false flats.

No, I want the real thing. Something that goes up and you're staring at it wondering who's gonna win, you or that hill. And there's such a charge as you near the apex....lungs burning, breath hitching, legs aching. Nearer and nearer and you're wondering am I gonna make it? Is this hill my bitch? Or is it gonna make me slow and falter until I finally concede that it's the master as I walk the remaining distance?

Today I won the battle of wills, didn't let my mind tell me I couldn't, convinced those legs to keep churning, made those lungs hurt just that wee bit more. And what a gorgeous place to do so, only traffic I encountered was crossing over Hwy 50. Cows, birds, squirrels, trees, and the sun were my companions. Absolutely fantastic.

I did stop to take a photo of a cemetery...y'know the whole life vs death contemplation business. Highly overrated if you ask me (the contemplation part that is). Plus I was wondering if I'd survive the hills back, lol. Note that I said hills, not mountains...that's a whole other ballgame that I've yet to tackle.

Sooo.............. what WAS your breakfast of choice this morning?

Giving Back

2011-04-07T21:06:00.000-07:00

I occasionally try to do either a cycling or running event that has a fundraising emphasis. Unfortunately this year with my work schedule I don't think I'm going to be able to do so. However, more than just a few of my friends are getting out there and raising money for some worthwhile causes and I thought I would put up links to a handful of them. If you are able to do so and one of these charities/organizations happen to strike a chord with you, I'd love it if you could help them meet their fundraising goals. No amount is too small and it all adds up quickly. Thank you xoxoxo

Natalie is doing (and has done) the MoonWalk in London to raise money for breast cancer research/care etc. This is a very unique event in that it is a marathon that is walked in the middle of the night. How cool is that??? Natalie's fundraising page and info about the Walk the Walk organization

Matt of the excellent Run Digger Run podcast is running the Marine Corps Marathon this year for TWO very worthy causes the Semper Fi Fund and the Captain Jennifer J. Harris, USMC Memorial Scholarship. The direct link to his blogpost about how and why can be found here. Oh and subscribe to his podcast! It's excellent.

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Jules is riding the RONA MS Bike Tour in June to raise money MS. Absolutely great lady whose tweets I always look forward to. Her fundraising page where you can also read about her friend Simon and why she's riding.

Penny is an avid animal lover who backs up what she is so passionate about with TONS of running for fundraising (and just for fun). Completely in awe of what she accomplishes and I've yet to meet a more generous lady. Pick one (or more) of the charities she has listed on her blog.

There are so many more that I could list here but honestly I need to get in bed and sleep. Even if you can't give monetarily, I can assure you that comments and thank yous are just as welcome so please stop by their pages and say "way to go" if you have the time.

Shhh, I'm wabbit hunting

2011-04-06T07:26:00.000-07:00

Yesterday was a somewhat full day of driving, made it to Laredo before the sun went down. No other trucks in line at our terminal nor Penske so that all went quickly. Experienced a bit of on the job sexual harassment from one of the guards there at Penske--hate using that term but not sure what else you'd call being asked about your personal life in detail (which I didn't answer) and then being told that if I ever got a few days off in Laredo to call him and we'd go party. I'm trying to do my job, he's on duty, so yeah to me that's harassment. By the way this is a married man with kids, grrrr.

Other than that all went well.........at least until I found where my northbound trailer was dropped. Right in front of where the trucks queue up for inspection, lol. Had to wait for one truck to move and try to beat the other guy that was waiting to pull forward in order to back under my trailer, even so had to do it at an angle.........got that done and the floodgates opened!!!!!! It seemed like everyone came in for their inspections all at once. I couldn't turn left because there were signs and posts at the front of the inspection area that I would've taken out with the midsection of my trailer even if I got everyone to hold up for me. Couldn't turn right because of all the trucks lined up and the queue extended around the corner of the dropped trailer line. Had to sit there and wait for it to clear out. Once it did I walked up to the next driver and asked him to hold up so I could swing out and the guy wouldn't unroll his window to talk to me!!!!!!!!!!!! LOL, I'm in the terminal, I got out of the driver's seat of a company truck and he thinks I'm gonna hit him up for money or something worse I guess, lmao. Anyways finally got that sorted, got my truck out of there and spun back around for MY exit inspection.

Ok grumble over. Really it was quite a funny night except for the creepy guard :D.

This morning once I finally drug my lazy arse out of bed I went for a little 3 miler about Pearsall, going along minding my own business when I came upon these cute little guys in the middle of the street. Unfortunately couldn't get my phone out in time for THAT sight but they stood still long enough for some other pics.

Now down here I'm used to dogs, cats, chickens, wild rabbits, armadillos, rattlesnakes, an occasional dead wild hog, and even almost tripped over a squashed alligator once. But cute domestic bunnies running loose in the town streets? That's a new one for me.

Airborne Bovines

2011-04-04T23:40:00.000-07:00

Fortunately there were no flying cow sightings but I did catch the back edge of a storm that produced a tornado warning in the Nashville area. Sorry if I got everyone's hopes up with the blog post title :D.

First truck I followed this morning

Not looking good

Don't really want to see these signs

A bit of the storm damage along I40

Pink skies and hellacious winds

Can't. Stop. Sweating.

2011-04-04T08:12:00.000-07:00

Oh yeah, the humidity the south is infamous for is rearing it's ugly head. Woke up this morning and it was 68f/20c, very windy, and a slight sprinkle every so often. Just enough to be a tease and not cool you down at all....even after 30 minutes and cleaning up I'm still all sweaty & yucky.

Couple that with a raging case of DOMS (delayed onset muscle soreness) and what do I decide to do? Go run up some freaking hills!!! Oh my....the uphills weren't so bad but those downhill sections nearly had me in tears a few times, OUCH :-(. And what's up with this being pushed back up the hill by the wind?

Despite all my grumbling it was a decent run. I didn't have to take a walk break and I managed to shake the morning grogginess. Now if I could just quit sweating, I'd be a happy woman, lol. Bring on the day! But mother nature, could you please calm down a little before I have to start driving? I kinda prefer keeping the truck and trailer in the same lanes as each other.

My reward? A traditional southern style breakfast with BACON!!

this rocked my world

2011-04-03T23:17:00.000-07:00

Sister Machine Gun is (was, I suppose since they're no longer recording) one of my go-to bands when I'm in the mood for some industrial and this video I found today (technically yesterday now) completely rocked my world.

Crunching numbers

2011-04-02T17:00:00.000-07:00

Numbers: Trying not to focus on them is hard when you're a runner that also likes to track, plot, and analyze them to death. One glaring number for me lately is 45.66. That's the number of miles I ran last month. Yep, not in a week, the entire month of March. For the majority of my friends who also run, that's a normal LOW weekly mileage. Can't help but prey on your mind especially once you finally get an opportunity to toe the line on a race. Oh yeah, that's something else that's nagging at me--3 races this year, 2 of which were these last 2 weekends.

I'm sure some are wondering why it does bother me, after all, I'm just a middle of the pack runner, rarely do I crack into the top 10 females at a finish line, much less the top 5. But I do take this seriously. I want to do the best I possibly can in a given situation and let's face it, I'm a bit competitive with my other middle of the pack running mates. Not in the rude, in your face, you're going down manner but I do want to know that I gave it my best shot wherever and whenever I happen to race. And of course there's the always elusive PR (personal record) or PB (personal best as those across the pond say). In a way I'm always racing against MYSELF more than any other person. That being said, hearing your name called for an age group award ROCKS! Ok race report time :-).

(spent too much time here before and after the race, yuck)

Today was the Capital City Classic 10k, my absolute favorite 10k course, it's flat and when I bother to look around, has some absolutely gorgeous scenery. I really should have skipped it this year though, yesterday I was plagued with the most hellacious pollen induced headache for most of the day and just felt completely out of it. Top that off with gastrointestinal issues today and it doesn't make for a very promising race. Didn't even bother doing any warmup, my goal was to just finish and gather up the grand prix points for crossing the finish line. Thankfully several of the people I try to run with whenever possible that are around the same pace as me were there (YAY!!).

(some of my gurls!!)

First mile I woulda sworn that I wasn't going to make it to mile 3 much less finish......felt extremely lethargic and just couldn't seem to get my legs to move. Funny that it was at an 8:02 pace, sure didn't feel that fast. We also had a VERY heavy breather fall in behind us, I don't want to knock anyone getting out there but oh man does it throw off my breathing rhythm :-(. Mile 2 finally settled into a good steady, sustainable pace and grabbed a water from the first stop........huge mistake! My gi issues decided to flare up then, yikes! Right, steady pace, steady breathing, work through it--8:30. Mile 3 I felt like hey, I can make it so long as I don't have to make a sudden pitstop in the woods, lol--8:28.

Mile 4 starting to catch up and pass people(and a few were passing me, grrrr), joked around with a few runners around me which helped me pick up the pace, stomach issues were easing (thank goodness!)--8:12. Mile 5, can see Carol's ponytail in the distance so made that my goal to catch her, she's fantastic to run with, always a great cheerleader--8:12. How odd are those mile splits? Bang on though. Mile 6 was cheered on by Carol and that helped me picked up the pace--8:02. And then comes the longest .26 miles evah!!!! Could see the finish chute but didn't think it was getting any closer no matter how fast I ran--1:54 which works out to a 7:18 minute pace per mile.

All told, my garmin time was 51:18 (didn't shut off right away), official time was 51:16, not a chip timed race with over 500 participants so that's not bad at all......especially for a race I intended to use as a training run. Ended up being a course pb, last year was 53:22, 2009 was 51:50. I think this is my 4th best 10k time overall but would have to do a more thorough check before saying so for sure. Good enough for 3rd in my age group today and with my training numbers lately, I will own today proudly. Finished it up with 3.28 miles with friends to bring my total for the day over 9.5 miles.

Today's age group award, really funky looking re-usable plastic cups. Much heavier than they look.

A bit of fun stuff

2011-04-01T21:11:00.000-07:00

Most of my family knows that I have a thing for shoes........It was always a standing joke growing up about my passion for wanting to have cute shoes and there might have been one temper tantrum about being forced to wear an ugly pair before I was old enough to babysit and earn money to purchase my own footwear.....needless to say that shoe passion might have developed into an obsession, lol. With that I thought that I might actually start reviewing some of my favorites I've accumulated.

I'm not saying that I have a closet overflowing with shoes, I have developed some level of pickiness, some might even call it persnickety but I do have quite a collection started. Right now, though I'm kind of disappointed with the majority of what's on the market. I HATE the zipper in the back of the heel, patent is getting way overdone, and what's up with everything being an extreme platform? Platforms are great, some styles look best with one but does EVERY BLASTED PAIR have to be a platform??? I've been on a search for single sole 5" heels and it's nigh impossible right now. Oh, that brings up another grumble, people who calculate the heel height by including the platform height......yes, I did mention persnickety earlier :D. The patent to me just looks plastic for the most part, about the only designer who gets it right is Ruthie Davis and her shoes are just over the top fantastic (and mostly out of my price range sadly).

Ok, rant over :-), now onto what I have liked. This past season I've ADORED the variety and quality of boots that were available......yes, I am unabashedly a boot gurl and have taken as much advantage of the plethora of styles available as my finances would allow. One pair that I scored this year were the Julians by Dolce Vita. Absolutely gorgeous boot, buttery soft black leather. The heel is covered in the same gorgeous leather and the boot has the tough lug sole that I love so much and makes it easier to wear in more inclement weather. One of my complaints is that the calf is a bit too wide and while I have skinny(ish) legs, I do have very muscular calves. The other is that these had one spot on the big toe area of both boots that rubbed a blister, I now just wear them with thin socks. Specs: 4" heel with 3/4" platform so in reality a 3.25" heel, 14" boot opening, 15.5" height. The 8 1/2 ran true to size. Very, very versatile, I wear them with both jeans tucked in and skirts. If they weren't so gorgeous, I'd even wear them while driving because of the lug sole (shhh, I actually have when I knew I wasn't going to have to get out and muck about fueling and stuff, lol).

Where in the World and a Shoe Crisis

2011-04-01T16:49:00.000-07:00

I love where I live, I really do and I love my friends in this area even more, but I kinda think I have the traveling bug. The problem is a lack of nearby international airports. The recent round trip to Malta required no less than 10 flights!! And while I love flying, I can certainly do without that headache every time I want to go somewhere and do something. So this is a BIG problem!!

London blew my mind! And I really want to go back and see the place properly and see friends this time. But with the schedule I was running there was simply no time to do anything other than whip my ass hard to get around to see what landmarks I could and I certainly didn't manage to get a proper run in which is something I always try to do if I'm in a different area.

The other thing is not actually a “shoe crisis” as such but a whole appearance crisis lol.

Here in the southern states we tend to be very laid back and casual in our dress, but driving a truck all week long makes me want to dress like a girl on my time off, skirts, heels, boots. But here I stand out a little too much. It wasn’t so bad when I wasn't single, but now I kinda feel that I am looked at differently.

In London and Malta most people were wearing the kind of things I enjoy wearing, and I’m not even talking about my crazy love of heels and tall boots, although there were plenty of those about too. Also, I’m starting to find the discomfort of being hit on more… this probably sounds silly after what I just wrote but it’s partly work related and while here and on twitter I can laugh and joke with the best as it makes day fly by with a smile, it’s a very different thing when it’s close to home and more discomforting when it’s in the work place where I don't dress in anything but sensible work gear. I have always had to cope with a certain amount anyway because of my tattoos and being in a very male dominated industry etc, but this is slowly becoming intolerable, I probably have enough phone numbers to fill a small phone book with and I don't necessarily want any of them!! Especially now that it seems that these are beginning to fetter my web presence too. It's gotten to the point where I feel that my trucking days are starting to draw to a close, especially if I end up having to move to over the road driving rather than regional. So, as this year progresses, I will probably be looking to change my online presence quite a bit especially with the recent twitter hiccup. It is something I have been contemplating for a while anyways and I'm considering possibly reorganizing this blog into something a little less haphazard.

So a move to a place with more of an acceptance of dress and appearance plus an international airport to have access to running in Europe, the Med and Asia may be in the plans soon – I’m open to ideas, but where I live now is fantastic for running and cycling and above all -my friends! It certainly would be a tough call to move away from here.

Silent is my tweet

2011-03-29T22:16:00.000-07:00

Sigh...........still having issues with my twitter account at the moment, I am currently unable to follow or approve anyone to follow me as of yet. A quick perusal of the help section revealed that I'm not the only one with this issue, just waiting on the engineers to find a workaround. While I'm frustrated and going through withdrawals I do have to give Twitter a huge thumbs up for the quick reactivation of my account.

In other news after 5 successful restarts of Lola, she decided to misbehave again.....yep, twice under the hood to get her restarted last night and at lunchtime this morning. Ok, that's about all I have to say other than this is giving me serious motivation to pursue other means of earning filthy lucre. Lol, I'm sure buying the Texas Lotto ticket is NOT a very viable option but it would be nice.

Workout stuff.......ran 4.14 miles in 36:27 on my favorite dirt road this morning and even stopped to take a picture of the cows who ran with me because they thought I was bringing food

Music stuff....Seether has a new song out that I'm loving, here's a live version vid. Enjoy!!

twitter issues and various pics

2011-03-27T13:09:00.000-07:00

I'm having twitter account issues at the moment but hopefully the very kind folks there will have my account back and going sometime this week......I'm having withdrawals, lol. If not then I will set up a new account and see about finding and refollowing all 900 plus of my friends (yikes!).

My $10 jacket I scored from Dillard's

My new 5" heels, still a bit shocked I can walk in them :)

Can-Am Spyder sitting in front of my favorite Whataburger in Laredo

Had some stranger take a pic of me in London (see I really was there!!! LOL!)

Giant moth in Texas

New stickers on our trailers :-/

Carrot cake made from Dr. Sue Black's recipe recommendation, go check out some (trust me, she does a LOT more!!!) of what she's involved in here with Bletchley Park

My summer shoes :)

A proper race finally

2011-03-27T12:35:00.000-07:00

The benefit of having Igor the Horrible truck meant that I got the weekend off and finally got to run a state RRCA Grand Prix race, yay!!!!!!! All the extra driving I've been doing means I haven't seen some of my friends since last November. And this happened to be a race put on by my running club which meant no long drive to get to it--added bonus :D.

The Spring Fling 5k is notorious for always having bad weather and this year was no exception....woke up at 5 am to a wicked bad thunderstorm that eventually gave way to a mild drizzle by race start. Combine that with cool temps and that's my ideal racing weather.......However, since I've done practically no training since the Malta 1/2 Marathon last month I was not expecting this to be a fast-ish 5k for me. One might ask just how bad my training has been......well, nothing the first week of March, 14.63 the 2nd week, and 10.61 miles the third.......yeah, not an ideal month of training although I did manage to get in a 27 mile cycle ride last Sunday on an absolutely gorgeous day.

Oh, yeah back to the race...........hugs galore, my warm-up consisted of running up and down the hill from where I parked up to the field house, none of which I managed to record on my garmin, lol. No expectations except to run as hard as I was capable of and to finish the race. Last year's time was 24:04 and I didn't expect to even come close to that.

First mile felt easy--don't they always?--but I ended up running it in 7:20. 2nd mile started feeling a little difficult but we do have an uphill towards the end of the course....mile 3 was just over 8 minutes, grrr. Definitely not a negative split on this one but I don't think I've ever managed a 5k that was...during this time I'm not bothering to look at my garmin because I didn't want to put any more pressure than what I already was feeling.

The course had a different entry this year to the track due to the construction and it made me a bit nervous since it was so damp. We had a downhill section on a narrow sidewalk area followed by a left turn at the bottom. Thankfully it wasn't slick like I feared but I'd already had slowed myself down by the time I found that out. The next two photos are of that area of concern.

Much to my surprise, my finishing time was not far off of last year's at all. My garmin time showed 24:12 but chip time ended being 24:06. A whopping 2 seconds slower than last year's chip time!!!!! I'm very pleased with that!!!!!!!!! I'm sure y'all are laughing about me being happy at the slower time but I really didn't think I would do so well with the way my training has been progressing (lack of training more like), not to mention the lingering back spasms that Igor the Horrible had left me with, grrrr. My time was good enough for 16th place female and 1st in the 40-44 age group.

So, back in the game? Perhaps not but it does give me some hope that I can bust my 23:25 5k pr sometime this year and I am motivated to get back to proper training. Managed to eke out 6.38 miles this morning, 3 of which I was able to do with 11 of my club members and most importantly friends :-). Here's hoping that I can also run the 10k next weekend.

Introducing Igor

2011-03-27T11:30:00.000-07:00

My loaner truck for the duration is a 9400 International.........oh thrill. These are totally driver unfriendly trucks and then some, especially if you're small like me. To top it off, the driver who had it before left out of it in a hurry and left it in a complete and utter mess. I'm not even going to post any pics because it simply doesn't reflect well on any of us drivers :-(. I will say that he's lucky that it was me who cleaned the thing out because I sent a message to dispatch letting them know that I'd boxed up his stuff and was leaving it in the shop for him to pick up when he came back through. That is if he's still employed here......Among the items I found was a birth certificate, med card, debit card, and credit card. These of course were handed over to the appropriate people to be sent to his last known address.

But I digress.......back to Igor the Horrible the behemoth beast.......Mechanically it's a sound truck--should be since it just came out of the shop with a new drive shaft and various other items repaired.....but trying to reach anything is nigh impossible for me. The steering wheel is also this giant monstrosity that takes forever to spin around and due to the limited tilt/telescoping capabilities, I literally found myself looking through the thing while going down the road.

This same steering wheel took several times of scrubbing with glass cleaner and 8 clorox wipes before my hands kept coming away grimy black, yuck!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Next issue......to buckle the seat belt I have to scoot the seat all the way back, latch the belt, pulling lots of slack then sliding the seat all the way forward.......very poor design and it's malfunctioning with the inability to pull any slack in the belt while in my needed driving position. Also if there's an emergency exit required, it is not gonna happen. Can't unbuckle the seat belt unless seat is in the furthest back position.....

The stereo, cruise, light controls are all on the dash to the right of the steering wheel and requires me to lean forward and stretch my arm waaaaay out to access any of them. Yeah, there's a bit of swerving involved. Sorry fellow motorists, I'm not texting just trying to reach stuff :(.

Absolutely the worst part of this truck though is the pedals.......the gas and brake are same size and approximately an inch apart so it's hard to differentiate.......also the gas pedal is extremely stiff and I just can't rest my foot on the floor and lightly press on it to get on down the road. Nope, my foot is positioned at the top of the thing with my heel lifted up off the floor and most of the time my left foot is wedged under my right foot to give it some support. This means I either use the cruise control way more than I feel comfortable with or I'm twisted around in the seat........Can we say back spasms? I ended up sending a message saying I could only do one round in this truck because I didn't think my back could hold up to several days in a row. That by the way was met with absolutely no complaints, at least where I could hear them because it's a workplace injury waiting to happen.

However just in case you think I have nothing good to say about Igor, he does have a proper air horn!!! The line for it is just in an unfortunate spot for when I have to stretch as those parked around me found out one morning. OOPS!!!!!!