Kindergartners don't understand make up apparently...

OK so just confirmation that my Kindergartners get really confused when I wear make up. Today I had to go to court because I had a stupid speeding ticket from like March and I went to court once, in April, but then they told me that in order to get court supervision I had to take online driving school and then come back to court and show them my certificate of completion the driving school would send me. So I did that today, but because I was going to go somewhere else other than the Y, I chose to wear make up and dress semi-nicely. So I pretty much went straight from court to work, and still had my make up on, though I managed to change into shorts and my camp t-shirt, and the very first thing any of them said to me was...

"Ms. Aubree...you have blue stuff on your eyes...I think you need to wash it off"

See, they don't even understand the concept of make up when it shows up on my face. They think it's weird blue stuff. I don't want to even know what they'd think if they saw me on the weekends. They usually only see me in two circumstances, in my work clothes, and in my work out clothes. Haha

Random stuff

So I have 20 whole minutes before I need to leave for work and I'm kind of bored. This entry will probably have nothing to do with anything, but I'm completely ok with that.

I don't wear make up when I go to work...if I do, the kids freak out. "Ms. Aubree! You're wearing eye shadow!"
"Yes I am..."
"It's...weird...wow..."

Sometimes even my co workers freak out

"Aubree! You're wearing make up...so who's your big date??"
"No one. I just felt like wearing make up today..."

It's kind of funny. I just don't really see the point in wearing make up when my job is to chase around 30 to 40 Kindergartners for 6 to 8 hours a day. I usually end up sweating the majority of it off from our totally amazing and intense games of kick ball. :)

I feel weird when I'm wearing clothes other than my camp t-shirt for work and shorts, or running clothes because I usually wake up, put on running clothes, go running, come home, shower, put on work clothes, come home, sometimes run again depending on my schedule (therefore wearing running clothes...), but most of the time I have nothing planned for the evening, and I just stay in my work clothes until I feel motivated to put on my pajamas. So weekends are very strange occurances for me seeing as I'm just really not used to wearing clothes that I've specifically chosen for myself.

And now I'm done...because I have to make some phone calls before work...that I've been putting off. Go me.

Today I ran my first 10 miles since my half training...

And it was completely amazing. I have to say that I'm definitely twice the runner I was when I was training for the half. These legs are FINALLY starting to catch up with my head. :)

Ok, but for some really odd and strange reason, the thing that motivated me through my run was knowing I was going to take an ice bath when I got back. Ummm...I guess I thought it was going to feel...good? Refreshing? Wow. Yeah. Let's just say not so much. I kept my shorts on and put on a long sleeved t-shirt, held my breath, and pretty much jumped in. It knocked the wind out of me. First my heart rate jumped, then my legs started to involuntarily and randomly twitch...yeah...wow...it was cold. I spent all of like 6 minutes in there before I started thinking about how long it might take for me to catch hypothermia or lose all movement in my lower body and how much that would really really suck, and then I called it quits and jumped out. My legs felt awesome and fresh for about 20 minutes. They definitely don't feel like I just ran 10 miles, but they also don't feel like I haven't run any at all. It's not like I haven't ever done an ice bath before either...I guess I'm just delusional

So a while ago I blogged about how I love that when you run, you encounter what's like this little secret society of runners. As I'm getting to know more runners in the area, and running regularly the same routes, I'm starting to recognize some faces. Last weekend I bought some spikes for CC in the fall from Dick Ponds, a running shoe store in the area, and I guess you could say two guys kind of sold me my shoes. First this one guy got me a bunch of sizes, and then this other guy took over for him because this lady came in the store and had apparently ordered shoes earlier that week from him. I saw the first guy who sold me shoes while running today. We gave each other the nod and smiled and waved and went on our merry ways. I love knowing that the people who sold me running shoes actually run in their free time. Sometimes this is not the case. I also saw this girl who I always want to tell to pace herself because she does this thing where she'll go flying past me (even when I run at like an 8 minute pace on my 6 milers...even my tempo runs which are like 7:45ers during my tempo miles) at like a 6 minute pace I'd guess, and then about 10 minutes later, I'll pass her as she's walking or at a complete stand still. We play this game off and on sometimes if I run in the evenings (which I don't necessarily like to do). It's kind of funny. I've gotten to the point where it doesn't bug me that much when people pass me on my long runs. It definitely bugs me during races and tempos, but during long runs, I'm in my little happy place. I've come to realize that I think long runs are my favorite type, because I get to have an hour to two hours of time just being by myself, in nature, doing what I love.

SO YES...I'm adding two miles to each long run. Next week is my twelver. I'm excited. Next week, if I stick completely to my plan, I'll hit my first 40 mile week, possibly a 47 mile week. We will see though. I'm not completely sure. I'm thinking I may take three miles off my Friday run to be ready for Saturday's long run, and finish at 44, which is still amazing. That's like more than double the mileage I was averaging a month ago. I'm crazy. :)

yayayayayayayayayayayay

Ok so I have a few things I'd like to say.

1. At Borders Books in Wheaton, there's a book in the erotica section called Tickle My Pickle. Don't ask how I found that it. And no, I don't know what it's about. All know is that it's called Tickle My Pickle and that's hilarious.

2. I almost got skunked on one of my runs the other day. It would've sucked. Fortunately, the skunk ran away.

3. I tried to convince my Kindergartners today that I was married to Mario. I was like "His brother's name is Luigi...he's a plumber...he fights Bowser." They weren't buying it.

4. I also drew a little Italian man on my hand today and was chasing them around with it screaming "WAIT!!! WAIT!!! I MAKE-A YOU SOME MEAT-A-BALLS!!!" in an Italian accent. I have a lot of fun at my job...occasionally at the children's expense.

5. I openly admitted today that I used to eat play-dough...like a lot...when I was really old...like 14.

6. I like my job because I get to act like a moron and yell a lot.

I officially slept for 11 hours last night

My poor little body needed it. I've been upping my mileage a lot. In fact, my limited supply of running clothes are in the drier as we speak because I'm going to go do some speed work at the Wheaton College track, which is supposed to equal around 6 miles. I'm excited. I like speedwork. So yeah, I'm thinking about changing up my diet a little bit, adding more protein and cutting out more fat, and of course, every runners diet, adding in more carbs. In translation, that means lots of chicken, lots of protein shakes, and lots pastaaaaa. Yay. That also means...no red meat. Boo. We'll see how this works. I'll probably fail, but that's ok, there's room for lots of failure in my life since I'm also trying this thing called being forgiving of myself.

IN RECENT NEWWSSSS ok there is no recent news. The biggest news in my life is that I got full time for the last two weeks and I got to go play at an amazing indoor water park with the kiddies yesterday. OH YEAH and the fact that there is no where in the world where I can find womens Brooks Adrenaline GTS 8's in a size 8. Seriously. NOWHERE. At Sports Authority, they had them in a 7.5 but only in the YELLOW. Arggghh. And plus, the last time I accepted a 7.5 instead of the 8's a got a black toenail, and while it was pretty cool at the time, I'm recognizing how annoying it is when it takes like months to freaking grow back to a semi normal color. Right now, it's subdued itself to a slightish brown tint, so it's ALMOST healed. Excciittinngg. OH OH YES...I'm almost done with a couple of new songs which I'm really excited about, and I think I'm going to get this guy I know to record a few them. Which could potentially be super exciting because it could potentially mean having a demo to pass out places and getting some more shooowwsss. Currently, the only demo I have is a really crappy version of only ONE song, and I'd kinda like something a little better. So yeah, that's pretty exciting.

Other than that, I don't think there's any other news. This is pretty funny, the only things I ever blog about are music and running. Ha. That's because I'm pretty much obsessed in both avenues. ;-)

Aubree

The Journey to the Starting Line

As strange as the beginning of this blog post may seem, I feel that my training to for the Half Marathon I ran on June 7th was exactly this. It has been almost a month since I left my home at 4:00AM, loaded into the back of my parent's car with jello legs and an unsteady mind. Almost a month since I sat on the grass of the Chicago South Cultural Center, stretching, wondering if the race was ever going to start. A month since I stood at the starting line.
Upon standing in my race corral, at the starting line, I realized something big and great and life-changing. Before I started training, I was strictly a casual runner. I'd run for about a month, then get bored with it and not run for a couple of weeks, then start to feel the "pain" of the scale, then run for another month...running though, running wasn't something I truly loved. It was something I did. So, when the crazy part of my brain decided to attempt the half...which now I realize is extremely attemptable...I don't think I even knew what I was about to get myself into. I trained for a total of 8 weeks. I worked my little butt off, in a sense. I ran more miles, and more often than I ever had before. I stepped up each rung of the intensity latter, not with ease, but none the less, I definitely did. I specifically remember, one night probably two weeks before the half, I started crying. I was tired of running every day, I wanted running to be something that I did again, not something that I was endlessly dedicated to. I was tired and extremely nervous, and doubting the fact that I could do it. I guess a big part of me thought that after the half, my running routine would gradually decrease to a casual running schedule like it had been before. I thought that since I would've already run the half, already accomplished my goal, that I would just be done. What I didn't realize was that there was a sneaky little tiny part of me that knew otherwise. That was the part that truly believes I can conquer anything I go at, the part that makes my mind think I can knock over mountains. It's the strong part of me, the part that's partially insane, the part that has caused me to bungee jump, try strange foods, fly across the entire world to go to a country that isn't necessarily the safest place to be at that specific moment in time...that little part of me that makes me an extremist...yeah, that part had other plans. Standing at the starting line of the Chicago 13.1 Marathon, that little part of me took over, and I realized something...something great and big and wonderful...and life changing...I realized that somewhere in the 8 weeks, my journey to the finish line, I became a runner. Not a casual one, a real one...one that would definitely not stop running after the half...one that had already set new goals for herself. I had become a person who loves the sport she does, loves everything about it. Crossing that finish line was monumental, but standing at the starting line? That changed my life. So, it's 7AM, I'm sitting here with my coffee, waking up a little before my morning run. I have another run scheduled for this evening also. I wake up at the crack of dawn and go to bed as the sun is setting...this is my life, but I love it. I love being a runner...it's definitely hard, but it's definitely amazing...you should try it.

I'll leave you with a quote.

"Running is a question that stands at the beginning of every day...it asks you, are you going to be a wimp today, or are you going to be strong?"