Operation: Frankencamera

One of my goals for 2011 was to complete Project 52.  Thursday being the 6th of the month, I had roughly 24 hours remaining to snap a pic for week 1.  Awesome start Jerbear.  Upon driving home, I see the most gorgeous sunset, so I hustle home (obeying all speed limits and traffic signs, natch) to capture it.  I park in my parking lot and flip on my camera to see a weird white and black image.  "That's strange," I think to myself.  "what the heck did I take a picture of?"  It was when I hit the camera button I realized that my bruised hip/thigh/super deep muscle arm pain wasn't the only casualty of Sunday night's fall:  RIP camera.

I must admit, I tend to be a little "hard" on cameras.  I got my first digital camera before going to Florida for spring break my freshman year of college.  That camera lasted a solid 2 1/2 years before it just couldn't handle anymore oj + pineapple rum filled nalgene bottles comingling with it haphazardessly within my purse, and would no longer work.  Correction:  it would work... sometimes.  Occasionally the picture would come out pink.  Other times the screen would be blurry until it was given a friendly little slam "pat."  Once this super scientific trouble shooting no longer did the trick, I was at a loss.

Luckily I was dating a guy who had a digital camera who never used it, but looooooooooved having photos of himself (I would call him narcissistic here, but I'm equally as obsessed with photos of me, so whatevs...probably why it didn't work out.... yeah... that's it :p) so he "lended" it to me.  Now I say lended loosely, because somehow once we broke up, I was still in possession of the camera.  You break my heart... I take your camera.  Seems like a fair trade to me, no?  ;)

The day before my old roomie's wedding, the camera finally went to the great big camera heaven in the sky (aka my junk drawer).  I couldn't possibly not document the day's events, so I woke up at the bum crack of the morning to get a new camera before getting my hair and make up did.  Success!  No more than 3 hours in to the wedding and I had lost my camera (not only am I hard on cameras, but I also tend to lose them....oops!  The odds of me losing cameras increases exponentially with the increase of booze consumption and elimination of meat from my diet.  I was a veghead during this time and I think there was a bagel and a carrot the whole day I could eat..... #vegheadfail).  Anyway, said camera was recovered, only to be destroyed by dropping on the floor of a bar (yes, I'm seeing a trend here, eff off) with the lens extended, three short months later.

At least this time around, I had the good sense to be the exact same camera.  Plus! It was on sale!  Win WIN win!  I figured I would at least have a back up battery, battery charger, and USB cord.  Man, I'm a genius.  This camera is the current camera, and it has been in my life for the last twelve (12!) months.  Until Thursday.  Sniffles.

I called KK and begged him to find me a teeny tiny screwdriver set, and then resigned to scouring the web for Nikon coolpix 3.0.  And found it!  In red!  For $30 less than I had paid the first time, and $20 less than the second!  And then I found my NC2.0 on my kitchen table (which tells you the last time it was cleaned).  Once KK arrived it was time for Operation:  Frankencamera.

To my surprise (and disappointment) I was only allowed to take on the assistant role.  Sadly, camera deconstruction and possible resurrection does not fall on the "list of things boys are for" (via Susan//Nurse on the Run) and I actually wanted to see if I could fix the thing myself, not hold the small jam jar holding lose screws.  *sigh* 

Don't worry, I'm wearing this shirt today to compensate for it.....

Somewhere along the way I got distracted, no worries, it was because of FOOD and I was HUNGRY. 

Based on the feedback I was getting from the Mad Scientist the outlook was bleak. 

Until the great moment.........

It's aliiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiive!

The words, "you're my hero" may have been uttered, but I will neither confirm nor deny that fact.  Again, see the sweet feminist shirt above.....

And with that, I was thrilled to have saved 80 bones and it was time to watch the Jersey Shore premier.  (Hey, come on, we watched Jeopardy during Operation: Frankencamera.... I'm sure it balances itself out....)

**Check out Denise's ALO clothing giveaway!**

Brrrrrrr.....

Seriously....no blogging since the Sunday run?!?! I can't possibly be that busy can I? No. Just lazy. Hmm. Well turns out I remember why I always fall off the running bandwagon post fall half marathon: I HATE THE COLD. Seriously. There is nothing more uninspiring than running in the cold/grey/wet/snowy weather. Soggy leaves? Eew. Soggy socks, fml.

The good news is, even with the blog slacking, I haven't been running slacking. Three cheers--hip hip hooray!! I am, however, completely over running on the treadmill. So hopefully the temp stays in the 40's for the rest of the winter. That should be doable, right SoDak? Awesome,blossom.

This week marked my first week of half marathon training for the Dallas White Rock HM. WHOO!! I heart races (I think I've mentioned that before). :) Monday I had 5 easy miles scheduled at a 9:51 pace. Since it's now Thursday, I don't even remember how that run went. Hmm...let's consult my Runners World log for some clues, shall we? Oh hey! Turns out I was too big of a wussy to run outside and went to the gym. I imagine all 5 miles were REALLY BORING as they tend to be when running indoors. Oh ya, that knee pain that was bothering me on Sunday? It was back the last 1/2 mile of the run. Uff, it was not fun. I also learned I have somewhat of a gym stalker this past weekend, so just being at the gym in general was not so super fun.

I did 5 miles in 48:19 for a pace of 9:40. One fun thing to pass the time at the gym is to stage endurance races against all the other treadmillers. I'll have you know that I was supreme-o victorious on Monday. I lasted longer than all of them. Jeri: 1, Other Treadmillers: 0.

When I got home, I decided to buff up my arms since I have to show them off in my strapless bridesmaid dress this weekend. I did an intense upper body yoga series **and totally rocked crow pose longer than I ever have before, YES!!**. Followed by 2 sets of 20 push ups. I'm swull, I'll post pics of my guns after this weekend.

Tuesday I was already over my training schedule, and already all about rearranging it. Man, I'm a loser. I think I may have been getting a bit of a cold or something because I zonked out at 9pm and slept until 7:30am. Take that germs.

Last night I decided that I would brave the elements and test out some layering options for an easy 5 miler. Since I was a bit chilled on my long run on Sunday, I tried to find another layer for the legs. I found a pair of leggings (you know, those leggings that were v. popular to wear under skirts?) that I bought a couple of years ago. Btw, Jeri a couple years ago, was about 20 lbs heavier than current Jeri. Haha, oh my goodness FAIL. Obviously they're not meant to be run in, so I'm an idiot straight up, but I had to pull them up every quarter of a mile. Finally I just pulled them up to my boobs and they seemed to stay for a while. To be honest though, when they first started shifting downward, I couldn't tell which layer (running undies, leggings, running pants) was falling down and totally thought my booty was hanging out for all to see. Phew, glad that wasn't the case.

Other than that, the run wasn't horrible, but the elements were. It was freezing cold and pouring rain. The first mile was straight into the wind, and I almost turned around and went home, but after I rounded the corner it wasn't nearly as bad, so I kept going. Glad the weather kept most folks home and off the trails, because I'm sure I was a sight to see with yanking up what looked like my falling bloomers, probably, along the run. :)

I did 5 miles in 47:38 for a pace of 9:32.

I would like to note that my shoes are STILL SOAKED from this G.D. run. Grr.

This morning I had an easy 5 miles to do. Somehow I was sooo slow moving that I only had time to do 4 and still get ready for work. Oh well, I've probably reached my limit for consecutive 5 mile easy runs for my life. :) Silly me prepared for the biting cold/rain/snow of the last few runs and managed to overdress. We're talking sweaty city. I don't get it, it was only 41 yet I'm sweating bullets? I'm guessing the no wind must've made all the difference compared to the 10 and 17 mph from previous. It was bad though, I actually had to take off my gloves and carry them for the last half of the run because my hands were soooo warm. I actually busted out my real running tights, and think they'll be a great addition to my winter running collection.

Speaking of, I need some SERIOUS advice on cold weather must haves. I started looking at Nike.com today and the nice warm jackets that have wind proof material (obviously a must) are $90-250!!!! I haven't even started looking at pants. :( I'm hoping to buy one nice jacket, and one nice pair of pants, for hopefully under $200. Then just rotate the under layers through. All suggestions are welcome. What can you NOT LIVE WITHOUT? Midwesterners, I'm looking to you here..... You bitches that are still complaining about 90 degree tropical weather, need not comment. :p

To finish, I'll leave you with a super sweet convo that I had with my running co-worker the other day. The funny thing is, I joked about adding it to my blog (he knows I have a running blog) and then quickly jotted down the convo so I wouldn't forget it, because I really WAS going to add it. then the next day he asked to see if the convo had made the cut or not. Ha.

Jeri: Toooooooooooooom! Come in here a sec! (Our offices are next door so we frequently just talk through the wall to each other.)

Tom:  What?

Jeri:  I WANT TO START LOOKING AT MARATHON TRAINING PROGRAMS!!  

Tom:  Uh, ya, because you have to start training in like 4 months?

Jeri:  Try threeeeeeee.  PLUS, it's the next race I start training for.  Meaning it's on DECK.  A MARATHON.  Which means I have to figure out what program I'm going to do NEXT.

Tom:  Ya right, you'll do at least 10 races between now and the marathon.

Jeri:  Nuh uh.

Tom:  [mocking me]  OOOHH, Tom!  I can take 2 weeks of from marathon training to run a 5k right?!?  I just don't want to lose my speeeeeeeed.  I can just swap out a tempo run for a race right?!?!?!  It's only $20, it'll be fine, right?!?!?!?!

Jeri:  Ok, that sounds about right.  But I'm still looking for a training program.

Clearly we've been working together way too much.  Or I've just been talking about running way too much at work.  Hehe, sorry co-workers.  :)

In other sad news, I think I broke my camera.  It won't take any pictures saying the memory card is full, except that there's no pics on the memory card.  Last time I uploaded pics I accidentally deleted them from my computer instead of deleting them from my camera, so I think it doesn't recognize they're gone.  Any ideas?