random friday

have you noticed the trend with my blog? i only blog on Fridays. i didn't plan that out, it just happens to be a coincidence, nothing more. anyway, today i realized that i have quite a few things i feel like blogging about and none of it is related or easy to tie in together so with randomness you get lots of bullet points to read thru today.

• I'm finally getting around to doing the DWYLLC (do what you least like challenge) that i cleverly dreamt up back in September. if you forgot about it, go HERE  to refresh your memory. since i least like swimming, i have to swim 5 days out of 7 within the same week and no less than 1 mile. so far i have 2 days in a row of 3000 meters each. the deadline to complete this personal challenge is midnight, DEC 31st. some of my over-achieving friends have already completed their challenge ...Jenn at Junk Miles and Beth at Discombobulated Running you rock! Jenn ran 5 out of the 7 days and nothing less than a 5k distance and Beth biked no less than 12 miles for 5 out of the 7 days. 

• remember the deal of the century i posted about back in march? no?  i posted about the "tent" sale that Shop Ironman.com was putting on and that i made out like a bandit. you can see all the stuff i got in March, by going HERE. anyway, they were back again last weekend for another tent sale, but this time, thanks to people like me who blogged about it (or should it be blabbed about it), everyone and their mother knew how awesome the deals were going to be, so this time it was a zoo. i stood in a line to pay for 3 hours! why? because there were people with boxes and boxes of merchandise they were purchasing ...maybe to sell on Ebay later? Smarties!  i didn't think the selection was as good as last time and they jacked up the prices. by jacked up i mean what i payed $5.00 for last time, was now $10.00.  i know that $10 for an $82 pair of tri shorts is still a bargain, so i'll stop my whining now.  here is what i got this time around (don't hate, LOL):

matching jersey and arm warmers at $10/each

IM jogbra $10

matching IM shorts that go with the jogbra above for $10

70.3 Florida visor $5

(front view) IM St. George Utah K-Swiss tri top $10

(back view) IM St. George Utah tri top ...i love the Kokopelli man!

• i am way behind on movies but i just saw the hangover and i laughed my butt off. now i need to get my hands on the hangover 2 dvd. that's a hint by the way since Christmas is right around the corner.

• Jill at Run with Jill is doing her 2nd annual blogger gift exchange again this year. i missed it last year cuz i was under that ugly, dark post IM black cloud but not this year, no sir, so i was all about getting in on the action this time. can i tell you how freakin' excited i was when she sent me who my exchangee is? oh yeah, this is gonna be good! secret Santa message to my exchangee ...i think you rock! can't wait to send you your gift from Santa!

• i signed up for 70.3 Florida! it isn't at Disney anymore thank the stars above! after so many years of running the marathon there and having to wake up at 2:30am to catch a bus by 3:30 to then sit in the Epcot parking lot until 5:30 ...nah! i don't think so. after 2004, i vowed to never go back again and still have no intentions of ever participating in anything Disney related. too high maintenance for this girl. i prefer a grass roots race, especially when it comes to a marathon. preferably with about 1000 runners at the most, very little fan fare, like the Jacksonville Marathon. that is one of my favorites by far. 

• ok, speaking of signing up for IM's. what is the deal with all the stupid questions you HAVE to answer in order to register? and they have a little red asterisk to let you know that you HAVE to answer it. if you hit submit but didn't answer all of the mandatory questions, it will take you back to the registration page and let you know it is not complete. why does WTC need to know my local newspaper and news channel? i assure you, i have no tear jerker, pull at your heart string stories to offer them. here are a few other stupid questions that are mandatory: 

~What other athletic accomplishments and athletic background do you have? 

~Please share significant information relating to your training or participation.

~Interesting facts about you?

~Why have registered for this event?

~Significant Personal Achievements?

~What is your favorite food and car? (just kidding on this one)

i ended up putting either a smart ass answer in the box or n/a so it would allow me to move on with the registration. anyone else find these questions annoying as all hell or am i just a crank yanker?

• but wait, there's more! then there is another section of "non-mandatory" questions such as household income, do you expect to hire a coach, how many bikes do you own, are you planning on purchasing a bike or some race wheels in the next 12 months, how many pairs of running shoes are you planning to buy this year, what about a new helmet? 

• i did a trail run this morning. not that this is huge news but usually when i run it's dark so i don't dare enter the dark trails with all the spooky animals but this morning, since i was off work, i swam first, then went out to run once the sun came up. i saw 3 deer and group of about 10 turkeys. the turkeys were busy eating and just for fun, i whistled at them and they all stopped and looked at me. it was kinda funny. 

• do you all have nick names for people at the gym? i do! lots of them. makes me wonder if they have nick names for me. anyway, lately i have had this guy swimming in the lane next to me that i have named, Hop-Along-Cassidy because he hops on one foot back and forth a few laps, then he does what i call the seahorse swim. he swims upright for a few laps, then swims the rest of the time with a pull buoy. i get the pool buoy swimming but what's the deal with the hopping and seahorsing? 

well, i think that's all i've got for you today kids! it's been nice, but i gotta go. i'll leave you with a picture of my beautiful Christmas tree. don't laugh! it really is my tree and it really does make me smile. it even has one Waterford ornament hanging from it but it's hard to see in this picture.

much love and peace out!