11 Pictures for 11 Things

Disclaimer:  there is a section in here about Anta-Say Aus-Clay being ot-nay eal-ray...if your children (or you) are not ready for that, please skip that part!

I was tagged by the lovely Megan at On the Road Again.  She had a baby practically yesterday and has already run a 5k since then.  I would say that running is in her blood.

Here is what must be done for this post.

Rule 1:  You must never talk about 11 Things...thank you, and good night!  Ok, no.  Rule 1 is that you must post the rules.  So, here are (the rest of) the rules.
Rule 2:  Answer the questions provided by the tagger, then create 11 new questions.
Rule 3:  Tag and link 11 new people (is there anyone left on the internet who has not done this??)
Rule 4:  Let the people you tagged know you tagged them.  Yeah.

1. Marry/Kiss/Kill (from 90s sitcoms):  
Marry:  Berg from Two Guys, a Girl and a Pizza Place (click on the name, you'll thank me for it).
Kiss: Joey from Friends, because:

Kill:  Sondra from the Cosby Show.  What was up with her??  She was soooo annoying.

2.  You have one day to eat whatever you want with no caloric or weight penalty.  What do you chomp on?  This is seriously the hardest question to answer.  I'll go with grilled cheese, homemade pasta, chocolate-covered pretzels, and ice cream...I'll stop there.

3.  What's one thing that makes you smile no matter how angry or sad you are?  Great music I can sing along to.

Or, you know, the occasional 90s female rap song.

4.  Name a guilty pleasure TV show.  I told you guys this one before,

(hello, Jersey Shore) but my other show is American Idol.  Up until last season I never missed an episode.  Maybe it's because I used to sing a little on stage, but mostly it's because I love all the crazy auditions, from the joy of the golden tickets to absolutely clueless disasters.

5.  A time traveling machine will take you back to any decade you want.  Which do you choose & why?  The 70s.  At my current age, not as the small child I was back then.  Awesome fashion and no wars...oh wait.  Still, the fashion rocked.  If only we hadn't ridiculed my mom into swapping her 70s gear for hip, cool 80s wear.

That pink flower is a little allusion to some upcoming news.

6.  What fitness activity do you absolutely loath?  I ABSolutely hate working abs.

It might have something to do with my technique; I'm not ruling that out.

7. Wen Hair Care by Chaz Dean:  Does it really work?  Alyssa Milano seems to think so (and she was Tony Micelli's daughter), and that damn infomercial is so convincing.  Isn't this Jessica Simpson's hairdresser? (Don't ask me how I know that, but thank you Megan for sending me into a 10 minute vortex of hair info on that site).  Also, it just seems like a lot of work.

8.  Pancakes or waffles?

Anyone notice a theme with me and delicious food?

9.  If you were to get stuck in a hot air balloon with someone for 17 hours, who would that person be, and how would you pass the time? Someone with a strong neck,

because those things are a wind gust away from a plunging death.  So, I would pass the time begging to find our way back to terra firma, while trying not to faint...which would of course lead to that plunging death I just mentioned.

10.  At what age did you find out that Santa was not real? 

 How did you react?

Actually, I'm not of the Christmas-celebrating persuasion, so I found out early.  And kept it a secret from my friends for a really long time.  Like, a really long time.

11.  What's you favourite thing about Fridays?  That I can sleep in the next day!!

Now to tag 11 people to answer the following 11 questions (it seems like an even 5 would be an easier number, but rules are rules).

Adrian at Happy Girls are the Prettiest Girls
Gillian at Craftzilla Conquers the World
Kristin at And She Ran
Ginga Ninja at Vapid Vixen
Ali at Running w/ Spatulas
Jennie at Well Shut the Front Door
The Sarcasm Goddess at For the Love of Writing
Pish Posh
Ricole Runs
Pickleope
Cranface

The 11 questions:
1.  What was the biggest surprise you ever received?

2.  What is your favourite thing about...you?

3.  What is your hidden talent?

4.  Beer, wine, or tea totaller?

5.  Do you have a tattoo?  What is it?  And where is it?

6.  How does Donald Trump make his hair stay that way?

7.  What is your favourite foreign accent?

8.  Can you drive stick?

9.  What's your stand on male facial hair?

10.  What is your favourite toy from your childhood?

11.  What would you do for a Klondike Bar?

Anyone else want to answer these questions?  Feel free to do the post, or I would love for you to leave your answers in a comment!

UPCOMING POSTS: SOME THANK YOUS AND SOME YOGA.

I'm linking up with the Not Mommy Blog Hop this weekend. If you have a blog that is not a mommy blog, head on over!

I Have Officially Run Fartleks!

And I officially do not like them.

Perhaps it has to do with the fact that in my head I was going to run 3 miles, but we ran 5.  Or perhaps it is because I had no idea what was going to happen.

It all started innocently enough, with an after-work run planned.  I would be joining Ann Marie, Nikki and Heidi on their "regular route".  I asked about the mileage on this route.

I was a little skeptical.

We decided we would just start out with 2 miles out and see how we felt, then go further if things were good.  About 5 minutes in, Ann Marie said:

Well, I did say I was going to do them this year, so...ok!

The plan was that we would each take a turn deciding the distance for our sprint.  Great.  Unfortunately for me, it turned out there was more to the plan.

I quickly did a little mental math.

I requested the smaller amount.

They took pity on me and agreed just two turns.  That was settled, and it was go time!

Y'all, I ran as fast as my little legs would take me.  And watched the three of them get smaller as they raced away.  This happened every. Single. Time. Finally, it was my turn to find a landmark.  We were heading into a curve, so I gave what I thought to be approximately the same distance as everyone else.

It was not.  I have horrible depth perception (it's my astigmatism).

As we ticked off each sprint, my recovery minutes became more interesting.

Once the sprints were done, we had gone 2.5 miles and it was time to turn around.  So much for 3 miles.  By that time I was feeling side-stitch-y and a little pukey.  When we finally finished our run, I hopped hobbled back to my car with sore Achilles and sore knees.   I started rethinking my judgment on running with 20-somethings (who are training for a race); 2 of whom were college runners, and one of whom is just crazy in shape.

Truth be told, I'll probably do fartleks again soon, but maybe start on a smaller scale.

A MOMENT TO SAY THANK YOU TO:
EDIT: (I had somehow linked to the person from whom Carrie got the award, so here is her site--acceptance fail!) Carrie Hanson from Tempo Life Coaching for the Versatile Blogger Award!  Carrie has been a great supporter for months and even bought my CALENDAR!  Thanks Carrie; you rock!


Everyone who has voted for me on the Fitness Magazine Fitterati contest!  I have no illusions of winning, but I appreciate you taking the time to head over there!  If you would still like to vote (or vote again), you can click on this box :)

By Best Inspirational Blog

Questions:

To runners:  What's your favourite technical workout? (tempo/hill repeats/fartleks...)

To everyone:  Ever feel like you're in over your head, but go for it anyway?

                       Every throw your back out while stretching it? (No? Just me?)

NEXT POST:  MORE EXCITING WORKOUT STORIES