JazzFest

JazzFest is an annual free three day music festival put on by the Sioux Falls Jazz and Blues Society. Kyle and I usually go at least one of the nights. Friday night was out because I was getting up before the sun to run, so Saturday night it was!

We met up with Jenn and her husband, and we both lamented our stupid footwear choices (she ran her first 20 miler Saturday!).

We hung out up in the front for the first few songs of Joe Clark Jr. and then decided we'd rather sit. My feet tend to swell really easily when I stand a lot, and it's way worse when I'm had a tough or long run. Squishy feet... so hot.

We managed to track down my mom and cousin so we pulled up squares of grass next to them.

And then it was time to replenish 18 miles worth of running.

Wisconsin deep fried cheese curds? You had me at cheese.

Blurry pic, but pure happiness.

I had a hard time deciding between a rootbeer/strawberry/grape/orange float, but went with the orange dreamsicle. It was amazing, even if the ice cream to pop ratio was severely lacking.

Gym? Treadmill? What are those?

As I was getting ready to leave work on Tuesday, I checked the weather report. 85, 17 mph winds, 90% humidity. Thanks but no thanks. My runs are supposed to be easy peasy this week not sweat induced and hellacious.

I texted my running buddy, who's also conveniently the manager at my gym.

Me: You working today?

Running Buddy: Frickin' right I am!

Me: Sweet. I might use my membership. Whoa!

Running Buddy: No sh!t? You need directions to get here?

Funny funny guy. Apparently SOMEONE is monitoring my gym usage. To be honest, it's been pretty much nil the past few months. Who wants to run when it's amazing outdoors? And lifting? Eew. What's that? jk. I really need to start lifting. I think yoga is sufficing for now.

ANYWAY, I headed to the gym. I swear it wasn't much cooler than it was outside. After staring at the monitor for the first .4 miles I finally hopped off to grab some magazines to cover it up. Thought it might be a looooooong 4 miles otherwise. I even resorted to reading some of the RW that was blocking the monitor. GENIUS IDEA ALERT! They should make a treadmill-friendly issue for all gyms that subscribe. One that's as big as the ESPN mag is with ginormo font that you can read while running. Holy crap, I'm smart. End Rant. Otherwise running buddy provided some good distraction while we discussed our plan/neurosis about the race on Sunday, but then he had to go back to work--lame!

Talk about boring. Wow. After 2 1/2 miles of slogging along at a 9:22 pace, I finally had to bump up the speed. I was over this lame-o run (and was currently covering the treadmill, and possibly the two individuals on either side of me in run-off sweat). When I was done and stretching, I re-remembered why I only wear black shorts to the gym. "Hi everyone, no I didn't pee my pants. I just sweat that much. What? That's just as gross...erm...sorry."

I did 4 miles in 37:00 for a pace of 9:15. No idea what my splits were because a Runners World and Town & Country mags were covering up the monitor. :)

Tonight I did the most amazing yoga series from the Yoga Today podcast: Balancing and Backbends. Kicked my butt but in SUCH a good way.

Ok, on to the fun stuff. I'm currently creating the ever-important race playlist for Sunday, YES SUNDAY, Haven't you been paying attention!?!?!? jk. I would love, LOVE, l-o-v-e to hear what songs you're currently getting pumped up to. You know, that song that comes on that you immediately crank up and can't help but quicken your leg turnover. In turn I will share a few of my current jamz with you kids. See how that works. I call this a musical relationship. :)

Jay-Z--Run This Town (I've contemplated just listening to this on repeat for the whole race. Gotta love the running references)

The Veronicas--I Can't Stay Away (current love affair with the Veronicas)

Yellowcard--Fighting

Boys Like Girls--Punch Drunk Love

Black Eyed Peas--I Gotta Feeling

Ida Maria--I Like You So Much Better When You're Naked

Marz--Do What You Do

Pink--Ave Mary A

Kelly Clarkson--Long Shot

The All-American Rejects--I Wanna

Buckcherry--Everything

Jimmy Eat World--Feeling Lucky

The Veronicas--Untouched

Clearly I need some more sweet music. Think booty shaking, ridiculous pop, whatever is going to get me across the finish line the fastest. :)

New Year's Resolutions

Every year I make resolutions (like most people) and I actually do a fairly decent job of accomplishing them, or at the very least trying my darndest to accomplish them. I even like to revisit my previous year's resolutions to "evaluate" myself prior to writing my new set. Yeah, I'm cool like that. So here are my unofficial resolutions, keeping in mind that most of these I've been trying to make a solid effort at accomplishing for the past 3 to 6 months.

1. Start writing more (ie: anything. at all.) I've never been an amazing writer, but it's something that I actual enjoy doing. At the very least, it's just nice to get thoughts down on paper, and be able to revisit them in the future. That is the one downfall of the new j-o-b. No writing. At all. Except signing my name on paperwork. Hopefully having this blog will get some of my creativity a-flowing yet again. Maybe my mind will be able to generate new music again, because it's been a long while before I've written anything new. Which brings me to my next resolution...

2. Play music more. Luckily for me, my madre passed along the musical gene to me, and music has always been a pretty big part of my life. Unfortunately, once I entered college, most of my playing ceased. Now that I have my very own apartment, and no roommate to annoy/bother with my singing and guitar playing, I have no excuse not to get strummin'. Also, I bought myself a harmonica as my graduation gift almost 3 years ago, and still can't play the darn thing. Maybe by the start of 2010 I'll be a regular one (wo)man band.

3. Continue to read. Since graduating I've been on reading over-drive. There were 4 years worth of books that I hadn't read because I was busy reading (or not reading) textbooks, so of course many of these books have been pretty "fluffy." I try to read something of substance every 5th or 6th book, but oftentimes it ends up being every 10 or 15.

4. Practicing yoga. I've had an on again off again relationship with yoga, and am currently in the on again stage. I have found myself doing it very regularly for the past 3 or 4 months and love how it makes me feel. I think yoga is the anaerobic version of prozac. Plus I'm starting to get some intense guns. Look out!

5. Run Jeri Run. This is on my list every year, and it's the one I suck the most at. I usually give myself a yearly mileage goal, and then get annoyed when I'm no where near it. I think for this year, I'm going to concentrate on doing a lot more 5ks and 10ks. I was reminded after my half marathon this fall that I'm actually a fairly quick runner, so I think it would be good to actually train for one of the shorter races, rather then using them as training runs for my 1/2. Plus my pal Matty is going to be my running buddy, and I have to run a bit faster to keep up with him. PLUS one of these days I will convince Taylor to do a race with me, and I refuse to let him beat me. :)

6. Lead more of a vegetarian-esque lifestyle. Being the tree hugger that I am, I can't help but read all the reasons to ditch meat, dairy, eggs, etc. from your diet. Although I don't think I'd be able to eliminate everything, I do see the benefits for the environment, animals, and your body. Ironically the one item I would have the hardest time giving up to be a true vegan would be dairy. This is ironic because I'm lactose intolerant and usually get violently ill after I eat my favorite foods (ie: cheese, ice cream). Seriously. Why would you continue to eat something that makes you sick? I'm an idiot.

7. Cook more. Strangely cooking has become one of my new favorite hobbies. I love looking for a new recipe. I love shopping for the ingredients to make the recipe. I love making the item. And more importantly I love eating it. Of course this goes pretty hand in hand with #6 because it's hard to be conscious of what goes in your food unless you're the one making it.