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Archive for the category “running”

5 Signs that Spring is Right Around the Corner

    

1. The doves have started using my back porch like it’s their own personal pick up bar.  I keep telling them to “get a room”, but apparently PDA’s don’t seem to bother them.

      2.  The yard services have come through our neighborhood and scalped the trees.  Supposedly this helps them bloom better in a month or so.  For the moment, they just look embarrassed. 

3.  Skunk mating season is waning.  Booyah.  While the thought of Mama skunks now gestating the future generation of stink leaves me less than ecstatic, I am pleased to report fewer critter carcasses on the road.  Or not.

 4.  Allergies.  Nothing says Spring like snot flying out of your nose on a morning run.

 5.  I have a hankering to “Tiptoe Through the Tulips” while brandishing a ukulele. 

Food Nazis

So I was at the grocery store the other day, fondling, I mean examining, I mean buying some chicken.  The roasters were on sale – woohoo – so I proceeded to grab two of the little buggers.  With a voice so shrill I about jumped out of my Asics, a women behind me screeched, “I can’t believe you’re going to eat THAT!  Do you know the poison they shoot into those things?  And how they TREAT them? SHAME!”  She was giving me and my chickens the hairy eyeball and shaking her finger.  “ I only eat grass-fed free range chicken.  Think about it,” she said, tapping the space where her brain (and good manners) should be.

So I AM thinking.  And what I’m thinking is this:  ”If you’re such a runny ass health nut, what in the hell are you doing at the Food Is Us rather than the WholeEarthOrganicMortgageMyHouseForKale down the street?  And I’m also thinking, (because my Southern manners prevent me from saying it out loud) “You could also stand to lose 40 pounds, so why don’t you go eat a piece of organic celery, you fat bitch, I mean, bless your heart.”

So here’s a big shout out to you food Nazis – Ya’ll need to lighten up.  Yep.  We say ya’ll alot around these here parts.  We’ve been known to do some  Hillbilly Handfishin’ and grill up a possum or 2 as well.  (Skunks are prolific, but a girl’s gotta draw the line somewhere).

Look, I’m into eating right as much as the next neurotic 21st century female, but since when is what I eat anyone else’s business but my own?  The food fanatics seem to be everywhere these days, preaching the gospel of hydroponic tomato.  Convinced that their religion is superior, they’re determined to convert all the unwashed masses.  It’s gotten to the point where I just want to say screw it and order me up some Dominos.

Better yet, gimme a mess o’ meat, baked tater and some pole beans and leave me the hell alone.  And I’ll still kick your ass in a 5k.

Skunk. It's What's for Dinner.

Run Eat Knit

Let me just say this right from the start – I wish the title said Eat Knit Run in that order.  But it doesn’t.  For good reason.  But let me back up for a minute.  Let’s talk about knitting.  What is it about yarn and 2 (or 5) sticks that brings so much happiness, such joie de vivre, such – je ne sias quoi?  And what’s up with all the French lingo?

Whatever your pleasure – socks, scarves, sweaters, dishcloths, geegaws - there isn’t anything better than a weekend filled with fiber and needles.   Except maybe football, fiber, and needles.  Except maybe FOOD, football, fiber, and needles.  However, nothing makes me fatter faster than sitting on my ass all day, snarfing Cheeze Whiz and Ritz, and wielding nothing heavier than a Size 1 DPN.

So – I run.  I’ve been a runner for over 25 years, which tells you I am no longer (and never was) in the Elite group.   And while my pace is not jackrabbit speed, I’m considered reasonably fast and don’t completely embarrass myself in a 5K.  I’ve been known to win a medal or 2 in my age group.   It’s not too hard if you know what you are doing.  It’s pretty easy to identify and take out all the other old chicks in the race.  An ”accidental” kick to the Achilles, or elbow to the kidneys should do it.   If she looks the least bit wrinkly, her saggy ass is mine.

Anyhoo, I run.  Alot.  I run because I love it.  But I also run to support my weekly Dunkin’ Donuts Vanilla Kreme Filled habit without blowing up like the Michelin Man. 

And best of all, I can plant my butt on the couch for some Monday Night Football, a beer, and my yarn o’ the month.   Run.  Eat.  Knit.

6 Signs that Fall is Right Around the Corner

As I write this, it’s early August.  Sweltering heat, little rain, and droning cicadas – that about sums up my least favorite month.  Typically I go into a humongous hot flash of a funk about this time of year.  The laundry is smelly enough to stand up on its own and seems to procreate like rabbits when I’m not looking.  My love affair with laundry is over, at least for the short term.  Plus, the kids are bored, stir-crazy, and eat every 53 minutes.  Week long camps (worth every penny!) are a distant memory and the house is littered with Legos and Nerf bullets.  To top it off, I can’t stand to run in the heat.  Hate it.  Hate.  It.  Did I mention I hate it?  Since running is Nature’s little anti-depressant, you can see why I’m ready to climb into the refrigerator with a bottle of Captain Morgan and shut the door.

But change is a-coming’!  Autumn, which officially arrives September 23rd, is closer than you think.  And here are my Top 6 Signs that the season that welcomes cooler temps, crunchy apples, the color change of leaves, and the arrival of the Great Pumpkin is imminent.

Top 6 Signs of Fall

1.  Coffee tastes better.

2 . Kids are back in school.  Already.  Booyah!  Some of you unfortunate souls have to wait until Labor Day, but I happily did my back-to-school shopping 2 weeks ago.

3.  NFL preseason starts this week.  Nothing says Fall like the sound of grown men beating the crap out of each other.

4.  A hankering to get out my crock pot.

5.  The desire to kick somebody’s ass in a 5k.

6.  An uncontrollable urge to knit socks.  Any color, any time, anywhere.

 What are your favorite signs of Fall?

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Just Say No to Running Barefoot

So, the new trend in running shoes appears to be, uh, no shoes.  As in running barefoot.  Hmm, can you say tetanus shot?

The barefoot running movement has been around awhile, thanks to the Kenyans and Ethiopians who have made running at 80 lbs soaking wet an art form.  Who needs shoes when you have 1% body fat and 0% stress on your knees and ankles?  Besides, who wants to make the financial decision between a pair of Reeboks and a bowl of rice?

Of course, Nike, Adidas, Asics, Saucony, et al couldn’t possibly jump on the no shoe bandwagon.  (I’m guessing their shareholders might object to the lack of a dividend.)  Enter Nike Free and Vibram Five Fingers.  These are basically shoes where they take out all the fancy, high-tech cushioning, and still charge you up the wazoo.  Free they ain’t.

Supposedly we’ve all been doing it wrong for decades and have hip, knee and ankle problems due to our pathetically overcushioned over indulged fat American feet. Except for one thing:  I do not have 1%, (or even 20%) body fat, and I can afford a buck or two for some pillow soft trainers.  And I’ve never had a running injury.  Not in 20+ years (unless you count the time I tripped and fell on my 6 month pregnant belly and skinned my nose).  Plus, I refuse to wear something that makes me look like Curious George.     So I’ll stick with my clumsy, clunky, divinely motion-controlled size 8 Asics, thank you.  Run on.

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