[a few things]

This is a rando post because nothing is meaty enough to fuel an entire blog post. Sometimes I like these better, though. It’s kind of like when you get used to eating only the “fun sized” Milky Way and then you buy a full-sized bar and your stomach is all like, “Woah, man, WTF did you just put in me? This needs to leave. NOW.” Not that I would know from experience or anything. Also, that previous sentence didn’t really make any sense. Sorry. I’ll shut up now…and start talking again.

1. I’m planning on signing up for another half marathon. I know. I know. After the last one, I was all, “I AM NEVER DOING ANOTHER HALF MARATHON AGAIN.”  But then I found out about Celebration, FL’s inagural marathon and half marathon weekend scheduled to take place next year. For those who have never heard of Celebration, it’s a Disney-inspired town. It’s clean, there’s virtually no crime, and it’s very Stepford-y and cute. I’ve been wanting to explore it for quite sometime, and this would allow me the perfect opportunity, as you run through the whole neighborhood. Or most of it, anyway. So basically, I’m going to participate in this race so I can be a creeper. I run races for arbitrary reasons.

Also, I learned from the mistakes I made while training for the Disney Princess Half. Even though I had friends who gave me great tips, I still made rookie mistakes. It happens. So here is what I’m going to do different so that next year, I won’t take any selfies that look like this:

• I’m going to run more 5Ks and 10Ks and build up my mileage slowly. When I decided to do the Disney Princess Half, the only race I had run was a 5K, and when I started training, I was barely able to do that. And I didn’t participate in any more races until the Half, so it was a case of trying to run before I could really walk. Er, run. Whatever. Since the Celebration race isn’t until Jan. 2014, I have almost a whole year to get more miles under my belt and build my endurance naturally, and hopefully avoid those damn shin splints.

• I’m going to start training when my app says to start training. Since the Disney Half was Feb. 24th, my training app began the program December 8th. However, I wanted to give myself plenty of time to finish it, so I started October 15th. I feel like the burnout I felt the last month and a half before the race was attributed to starting so early, so this time, I am going to start training on the date my app says to start training.

• I’m going to make training more of a priority. Because guess what? I still didn’t finish the training program, even with the extra two months. There were days I skipped strength training, days where I skipped short runs–you get the gist. I learned that if I even want to run all 13.1 miles–never minding trying to get a PR or anything like that–I need to make training my #1 priority. Which means having to pass out on a fun night at the bar to get a run in if need be. That will be the hardest for me, because I likes my alcoholic beverages, but hopefully the payoff will be worth it. I’ll just give my friends the heads-up when I start training that I’ll be a lame-o for a couple of months. 

Kristina and Kathy said they were both up for another road trip.

2. I signed up for proper salsa dance lessons. At an actual studio and everything! As fun as it was learning how to dance through a tequila-soaked haze (still one of the most fun nights of my life), it will be nice to learn things like proper technique and how to spin so that I don’t end up feeling like Lucille #2. Oh, snap, it’s about to get all Dirty Dancing: Havana Nights up in hurr!

3. I saw the Footloose remake the other night and LOVED IT. I am an 80s movie purist, so when I first saw the preview for the remake, I actually said, “Hell no they are not remaking Footloose!” Out loud. In a movie theater. Probably to the mortification of my friend who was with me. I resisted seeing it, but then I got curious and watched it earlier this week, and you know what? IT WAS AWESOME. It was well-cast, and updated where it needed to be, but still kept the story and the spirit of the original in tact. What I especially loved was Ella Mae Bowen’s reinterpretation of Bonnie Tyler’s “Holding Out For a Hero.” I think I actually Bowen’s version better. It’s all brooding and moody and I think best reflects women’s feelings when it comes to finding a good, quality man. I told my friend Kathy this song should be our anthem.

I am currently playing this song into the damn ground. Because I don’t get obsessed with whole albums; I get obsessed with songs and will play them, like, 20 times in a row all day, every day for two weeks. Or a month. However long until I find another song to obsess over.  My college roommates still remember the Thriller obsession from 2004.

Alright, I’m outy. Going dance shoe shopping. Remember: Dirty Dancing: Havana Nights. That is my goal.