Don’t believe the little runner girl in my sidebar. She’s way off on how far I ran this morning, because I still haven’t calibrated my iPod sensor. So when I was crossing the 3 mile mark, my iPod thought I was at 3.8. It was a 10K race, which is 6.2 miles.

This was in central park in Winter Park, at the start/finish line. After the race, those booths have things like bananas, strawberries, smoothies, milk, water, sports drink, and other stuff.

This was the start line.

It was a pretty run through the mansion-lined streets of Winter Park. I think this is Lake Osceola.

Different lake, with a saxophone player playing for the runners. We ran around this lake…

…and this is the other side of the lake. I was so relieved to see there were plenty of runners on the other side of the lake. Yay! I’m not last!

I passed this quartet twice, as the course looped back past this intersection a second time.

After almost an hour and a half, I finished. This was a difficult run for me; my fault for never running regularly.

Official results are posted:

1,779 people finished this race
I placed 1,696
I was 915 of the 979 women who finished the race
Clock time: 1:29:25
Chip time: 1:28:06
Pace: 14:10.7/mile

Mile 1 took me 13:10.
Mile 2 was about the same pace.

I started strong and fizzled fast.

It’s another race number hanging proudly on my wall!

Around about mile 4.5, I was dying. And my mind went morbid, and I started wondering if my husband would enjoy the life insurance payout if I died on the course! I’ll be the first to admit that life insurance rates confuse me, as do the whens and whys of payouts, but surely running a race would be one of the ways to die that would pay out without question, right? Moot point, I lived. And will race again. My next planned race is on tax day. An evening race.

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On Wednesday, I stopped at Track Shack to pick up my race packet. There’s a 10K race tomorrow that I’ll be attempting to complete. I’m worried because I have not run since my February race, back on February 5th, I think it was, and that’s a long time to be stationary. Even though I know I can do six miles with relative ease in about an hour and fifteen minutes on a bad day, I’ve managed to psych myself out about this race tomorrow. The distance seems insurmountable.

Yes, I know, I’ve run much, much, much farther.

My race packet listed my age as 33. GAH! I’m 33! I literally gasped when I saw that on my race packet in the store.

I stopped today to take advantage of the 20% off sale Track Shack was having. I finally bought my fabulous new running shoes. My MIL gave me a gift card for my birthday, and with the sale, I ended up only spending $35 out of my own pocket. I’m elated to spend so little of my own money on my $100 shoes.

They’re Asics GEL-Cumulus 11 in White/Paradise Pink/Black. I choose not to link to them, but if you’re so inclined, that search term will bring up the pretty orange shoes that were too narrow for my fat feet. So, pink. Good thing I have recently come to embrace pink as my power color!

Several people have urged me not to break in my new shoes on a 10K, so I’ll be wearing my way worn out old running shoes in the morning, and then begin breaking in my pink shoes later. I may need to apply for disability insurance, since my shoes are so worn out. Then again, if I end up breaking in my new shoes, I could end up with massive blisters and unable to walk. So, I’ll take the guaranteed leg pain from the worn out shoes over the blisters of new shoes. At least I already know what to expect from the leg pain, whereas blisters on feet are annoying. Ask Boudicca!

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I never posted a picture of the ribbons I wore on race day back in January. I wore four ribbons; in memory of Jackie, and in honor of Bobbert, Frank, and Nick. Of course, I wore a black trash bag the entire race, so no one saw my ribbons anyway, but I did run for people who are/were fighting blood cancers. When my cousin saw me outside the Magic Kingdom, they kindly took this picture for me:

since I didn’t think to take a picture with the ribbons before the race. Or after.

I have since mailed the ribbons to the people I ran for, and am keeping the ribbon with Jackie’s name on it as my own keepsake.

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I have a friend who is a real estate appraiser. I actually have quite a bit of contact with him, and know rather a lot about what is going on in our local housing market. I spend some time using his access to handy dandy things like the multiple listing site. This is how I know my aunt’s house is under contract; fingers crossed that this time everything works out for her, that her buyer’s Home Loans application is approved, and the sale closes on time. My aunt really needs to be free of the burden of that mortgage payment so she can get on with her life there in Nashville. I know she dislikes me, but I harbor no ill will toward her and truly hope this sale happens so she can have one less stress in her life.

It has been heart rending to see how the housing market has crashed the last few years. Knowing what we paid for our house in 2005, and knowing how little it’s worth today, a mere five years later. I try not to think about it too much, because the housing market will recover, and my house will again be worth at least what I paid for it, and not $80K less than what we paid for it, as it is today.

At the same time, I’m lamenting not having just a little bit of money to buy an investment property. You can pick up a condo in Orlando for as little as $9K right now. Granted, that condo isn’t in the best neighborhood, but it is in the next neighborhood over from where my MIL currently resides, so it’s also not the worst neighborhood. Oh how I’d love to pick up a condo for her for $10K and have her live there so she’s not throwing her money away on her crappy apartment in her crappy neighborhood. (Truly, I’m afraid of her neighborhood in the dark, and shame on her other son for encouraging her to move there, since we were excluded from the decision-making process.)

It would also be nice to just pick up a condo and rent it out.

Oh, and for just $20K, you can snatch up a condo in a nice neighborhood. I wish we had the extra cash right now. It would be so nice to have expendible income for real estate. Maybe someday.

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I will give you no details, but please think happy thoughts / pray for my friend AM who had surgery on Wednesday and was just crying with me over details and what ifs and pain.

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A picture from last night’s dinner with extended family.

I so wish I felt comfortable blogging about it. There was so much blog fodder.

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Last night, after a truly, um, eye-opening dinner with extended family in the tourist district, I came home full of unbloggable blog fodder. Because I feel it is unbloggable, and because I was filled to the brim with things that must be recorded because they are so, um, eye-opening, I did something I had not done in about four years: I found my favorite fountain pen (refilled it with my favorite ink color) and my journal, sat down, and put pen to paper. I ignored the usual distractions, including the ps3, the dirty dishes, the ::gasp:: internet, and (mostly) the television, and I wrote. I say mostly about the tv, because I did turn on a show I rather enjoy but rarely see because Wednesday night is usually poker night, and so I never see that show.

But the point is, I wrote. And remembered just how much I enjoy putting an expensive fountain pen onto expensive paper. The pleasant skritch of the medium point nib sliding across the paper. The ink staining my fingers because I never let it dry sufficiently before touching it. The suede-like texture on my journal.

Remember when I used to consider myself a writer? I must do this again… tonight.

And… my two gorgeous, expensive fountain pens found their way into my purse this morning. Such instruments should not be neglected as I have done for the past several years. And so, I’m using one of them all day today. I do love a fabulously expensive writing utensil!

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Because my local WESH news casters are in my house every day, preaching at me from my television, I feel like I know them. And, I’ve met some of them — Jim Payne during a race, Michelle Meredith at Tea Parties, Raul Martinez when I gave blood (and, of course, Wendi Chioji, who is no longer a WESH person, at my very first 5k) — and, let’s face it, I’m not exactly shy when I have something to say. A few months back, Jim Payne made some sarcastic joke during the news, and I immediately went online to email him about what a groaner it was. Verily, I was amused when he replied to my email with sarcasm. The point is, I interact with my local news people because I can. It’s not a frequent thing, but it is something I do.

Rewind to last Friday, when I sent this email to chief meteorologist, Tony Mainolfi:

Tony, Please please please move off screen when you show the 7 day forecast. You always block tomorrow, and rarely let me see what tomorrow’s forecast is. I ride a scooter to work, and prefer knowing what tomorrow’s weather is. But because you always block tomorrow as you ramble on about 6 days from now, I end up going to bed at 1120p not knowing what to expect on my morning commute. You are the worst offender of the WESH weather team. Please, move off screen or over to the other end of the 7 day so I can see tomorrow’s weather.

When I opened my email a few minutes ago, I had this reply:

I am very Sorry for the map blocking. I promise to go from the WORST offender to the BEST. Thanks for your imput and stay on me and keep me posted on my progress. Thanks for watching and have a wonderful evening.
Sincerely,
Tony Mainolfi

As luck had it, just as I was checking my email, Tony came onto my tv to do the weather, and… the seven day came up, and he booked off the screen! My husband and I erupted into applause, and I sent Tony a thank you email!

It’s interactive tv!

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Can you believe we’ve been friends for almost 17 years? That means I’m old. But he had a cashier ask him “you’re over 40, right?” when he bought wine today! LMAO!

He had to change his flight, so he’s flying home tonight instead of tomorrow night. And so, he came for dinner before his flight. I admired his princess bling, and coveted it. He gave me his princess shirt, as he’s not feeling very princessy for some reason!

If not before then, I’ll see him in California in September.

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I asked for helmet pig tails, I saw the charge in the bank account, and finally received them from RTY today!

I’m so cool!

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