One Crazy Penguin

Insomnia Bites

2011-11-10T23:28:00.000-06:00

Who wants to tell me a bedtime story?

I've had crazy insomnia the past few weeks. I tend to get it every few months. It'll stay for a few weeks and then, as quickly as it comes, it leaves. Meanwhile though for those few weeks, life is just that much less fun. Only a few hours of super poor quality sleep every night? Sign me up! On the plus side though, this gives me more time to find nonsense like this.....

It's funny because it's true.

Truths For Mature Humans

1. I think part of a best friend’s job should be to immediately clear your computer history if you die.

2. Nothing sucks more than that moment during an argument when you realize you’re wrong.

3. I totally take back all those times I didn’t want to nap when I was younger.

4. There is great need for a sarcasm font.

5. How the hell are you supposed to fold a fitted sheet?

6. Was learning cursive really necessary?

7. Map Quest really needs to start their directions on # 5. I’m pretty sure I know how to get out of my neighborhood.

8. Obituaries would be a lot more interesting if they told you how the person died.

9. I can’t remember the last time I wasn’t at least kind of tired.

10. Bad decisions make good stories.

11. You never know when it will strike, but there comes a moment at work when you know that you just aren’t going to do anything productive for the rest of the day.

12. Can we all just agree to ignore whatever comes after Blue Ray? I don’t want to have to restart my collection…again.

13. I’m always slightly terrified when I exit out of Word and it asks me if I want to save any changes to my ten-page technical report that I swear I did not make any changes to.

14. “Do not machine wash or tumble dry” means I will never wash this – ever.

15. I hate when I just miss a call by the last ring (Hello? Hello? **** it!), but when I immediately call back, it rings nine times and goes to voice mail. What did you do after I didn’t answer? Drop the phone and run away?

16. I hate leaving my house confident and looking good and then not seeing anyone of importance the entire day. What a waste.

17. I keep some people’s phone numbers in my phone just so I know not to answer when they call.

18. I think the freezer deserves a light as well.

19. I disagree with Kay Jewelers. I would bet on any given Friday or Saturday night more kisses begin with Miller Lite than Kay.

20. I wish Google Maps had an “Avoid Ghetto” routing option.

21. Sometimes, I’ll watch a movie that I watched when I was younger and suddenly realize I had no idea what the heck was going on when I first saw it.

22. I would rather try to carry 10 over-loaded plastic bags in each hand than take 2 trips to bring my groceries in.

23. The only time I look forward to a red light is when I’m trying to finish a text.

24. I have a hard time deciphering the fine line between boredom and hunger.

25. How many times is it appropriate to say “What?” before you just nod and smile because you still didn’t hear or understand a word they said?

26. I love the sense of camaraderie when an entire line of cars team up to prevent a jerk from cutting in at the front. Stay strong, brothers and sisters!

27. Shirts get dirty. Underwear gets dirty. Pants? Pants never get dirty, and you can wear them forever.

28. Is it just me or do high school kids get dumber & dumber every year?

29. There’s no worse feeling than that millisecond you’re sure you are going to die after leaning your chair back a little too far.

30. As a driver I hate pedestrians, and as a pedestrian I hate drivers, but no matter what the mode of transportation, I always hate bicyclists.

31. Sometimes I’ll look down at my watch 3 consecutive times and still not know what time it is.

32. Even under ideal conditions people have trouble locating their car keys in a pocket, finding their cell phone, and Pinning the Tail on the Donkey – but I’d bet my *** everyone can find and push the snooze button from 3 feet away, in about 1.7 seconds, eyes closed, first time, every time!

Winter Blows...

2011-11-09T13:00:00.002-06:00

...literally. I nearly got blown away by near 30 mph winds during my run today. Not a good thing for this Spazzy McGee. At least I got to entertain anybody who caught a glimpse of me running into a brick wall of wind or having my feet swept out from under me.

Kind of like these guys, but a whole lot less adorable.

And for those of you who can't watch video....

I was kind of like this, but more colorful and less coordinated.

With a lack of races coming up, I was feeling pretty unmotivated. As it turns out, I kind of forgot a race that I have coming up at the end of January in Miami. Oops! While I don't have to start training quite yet, it definitely lit a bit of a fire under my butt. A race down in Miami in the middle of winter? Yes, please!!

Can I go home yet? Pretty please?

And now to continue with Thankful November.....

Travel

I have been blessed enough that in my still relatively small amount of time on this earth I have been able to travel fairly extensively. It allows me to not only see, but also experience magnificent and amazing things. I've have gone cliff diving in the Dominican Republic, sandboarding in Namibia, and glacier hiking in Alaska....and that's an extremely abbreviated list! Travel not only expands my horizons literally, but it also helps to expand my mental horizons and become a better person. In the end, travelling is helping me to become the person that I want to be. Ironically enough, I would be lost without it.

Learning how to carry water while I was living in Estonia.

Camping

At snow lakes in Washington with my friend Josh.

I wasn't much of a camper when I was a kid simply for the fact that we never went camping. Ever. But that changed very quickly once I moved out to the midwest. I have become addicted. It doesn't matter if it's backpacking, car camping, floating, or what have you. I love it. There is very little that can compete with sitting around a campfire with those you love...except maybe that first shower when you come home from a long camping trip.

Worth every step of hiking. Peaceful to the n-th degree.

Beaches

Good for running...

....good for goofing off....

Epic fail on pig back ride.

One of my favorite quotes is, "The cure for anything is salt water - sweat, tears, or the sea" (Isak Dinesen). For me, nothing could be more true. Being on the beach and in the ocean bring me a peace and clarity that I have yet to replicate. In all of my travels, nothing has come close to the tranquility and completion that I feel the moment my feet hit the sand. I think it's a condition of living my first 18 years less than half a mile from the beach. It becomes a character in your life and fulfills its own role. The vast majority of my memories with my friends involve the beach. Yes, it's where we goofed off, but it was a lot more than that. It was where we went to celebrate. It was where we went to mourn. It was where we became friends and it continues to be where we go now as adults to maintain our bonds. I miss it more than words can say and I can't wait for the day that I can return to a coast and my beloved ocean.

Thankful November

2011-11-02T18:37:00.001-05:00

I try to be gracious and thankful for the things around me, but I don't always succeed. I take things for granted far more than I should. Thus, like last year, I am taking time out in November to be more focused on being thankful. So, I'm going to focus on something new each day that I am thankful for.

And in going with the theme of this blog, the first thing that I am thankful for is.....

Running!

Even with being a bit burnt out on running and lacking motivation, I'm still super crazy thankful for running. Not only does running allow me to stay healthy ~~and eat lots of delish food~~, but it also helps me maintain my sanity....and the sanity of those around me. Could you imagine the chaos I would cause without an energy outlet like running?! Most importantly, running helps me to clear my mind unlike almost any other activity. If you run long enough and hard enough, you can outrun your mental demons. For a neurotic like me, that's huge.

On a related subject, running has also led me to my second thing that I'm thankful for...

Bloggy Buddies!

The awesome Kayla and Green Girl

The stupendous Jill and Johann

And those are only a few of the incredible people that running has introduced me to over the past year! I love being able to have people who understand not only my love of being active, but also the general culture of blogging. We're definitely an oddball group. Plus, you guys are all freaking amazing. You know that, right? I've truly had a blast getting to know many of you through your blogs, over email, and on twitter. Hopefully I get to meet even more of you over the next year!

What are you thankful for today?

Happy Halloween!

2011-10-31T22:26:00.000-05:00

Some people claim that Halloween as an adult isn't as fun. I disagree. My night was spent with Roomie, Fella, and a some homemade vanilla dark chocolate chip cookies. Take that trick or treating!

And now for some Halloween chuckles.....

This has to be one of the best Halloween pranks ever. Enough pumpkins for a bajillion pumpkin pies!

Effective parenting?

People are really passionate in their opinions on candy corn. I think it's the most delicious piece of plastic ever!

Because I care about your survival.

My twilight sentiments exactly. Ugh. Twilight.

Happy Halloween!

Three Things Thursday!

2011-10-27T14:45:00.001-05:00

It is Thursday, right Kayla? I seem to be having issues with mixing up my days this week.

1. If you didn't already know, Rock & Roll St. Louis was the race that was over before it began for me. Not only was I under trained, but I would have also been running it alone. Yes, it probably would have been fun regardless, but my heart really just wasn't in it so I had to let it pass. There is a small part of me that regrets it, but for the most part I'm really happy with my decision. I'm in the process of making a schedule to help start building my base miles again. I don't know what it is, but right now my heart just isn't in it. Maybe it's because I don't live near my favorite park anymore.....maybe it's because I lost my favorite running buddy who moved away. Any body else lacking in motivation? Any ideas on how to reignite my fire?

2. About a month ago I sent in my resume for my dream job. I didn't mention it because I barely met the base qualifications and didn't have any of the preferred qualifications, but I figured it couldn't hurt. I didn't really expect to hear from them, but, lo and behold, they called me on Monday and set up a preliminary interview for yesterday! The interview went amazing and they are sending me on to the next and final round of interviews! Only one or two other people besides myself are going on to the next round so I have at least a decent shot of getting the job. Any and all positive vibes, prayers, and ritual sacrifices would be appreciated!

3. It's two days away from my cousin's huge Halloween bash and I still don't have a costume idea. I don't want to spend a ton of money or look like a skank so, as a female, that limits me a ton. Anybody have a good homemade costume idea? I could be a runner, but that's not really what one would call creative. What are you being for Halloween?

Wordless...ish Wednesday....ish

2011-10-24T22:04:00.003-05:00

First note, I actually didn't realize that it wasn't Wednesday until I got this from the awesome Kayla

kaylaruns Kayla

@EstonianRunner haha. I see we've also skipped ahead 2 days of the week to wednesday! I like that idea :)

3 minutes ago Favorite Retweet Reply

You know it's going to be a long week when you're convinced that it's already Wednesday and it's only Monday. What a blonde moment! Doh!

I'm convinced. There is something in the air or the water or someone is passing out some cult koolaid because everyone and their mother is getting engaged and married over the past couple of months! I'm thrilled because a) awesome parties! and b) I love seeing my friends happy, but seriously I must have missed the memo or something. I can't lie, I'm feeling a little left behind.....but not too bad. Don't worry, nothing a bowl of ice cream and a second run can't fix! (....and maybe a glass of wine!)

Up next: Rock & Roll St. Louis.....the race that was over before it began.

The Return of Three Things Thursday!

2011-10-20T17:38:00.001-05:00

These went away for a little while, but it is now back with a vengeance!

1. I hate blogger. You guys were robbed of a post that I had set up to automatically post last Thursday. Apparently blogger had other ideas. Not only did it not post, but now I can't find it at all. I'm thinking that maybe a change is in order. For those of you who self host or use wordpress, opinions?

Evil blogger.

2. Fella and I went camping over the weekend with my family. Really, in this perfect weather, it's a travesty to not go camping. Yes, he finally met the family.....and shockingly, the world didn't end. Everyone liked him...which is good because I'm rather fond of him at this point and would like to keep him around.

Of course he's a goof ball and made a terrible face. It works though. His goof ball sense of humor matches my goof ball fashion sense.

3. This year is the inaugural Rock and Roll St. Louis Marathon and Half Marathon which is awesome. I could not be happier that we finally got a Rock & Roll. I have a bit of a dilemma now though. I picked up an entry for the half marathon right when the race was first announced for twenty bucks. Yup, you read that right. Twenty bucks. I couldn't pass that up. Unfortunately, I kind of got caught up in life and burned out on running so I called it a wrap on this year's racing season about a month ago......except that now that the race is almost upon us I kind of want to do it anyways just for the fun of it. What do you guys think? Run it just for the hell of it or call it a wash and stick with my done with racing for 2011 plan? I need opinions!

The End Is In Sight...

2011-10-12T12:03:00.001-05:00

...Final OCP fell off the face of the planet recap!

So where were we? Oh yes, September and October....

September started off with a bang. My boys and I headed down to the Lake for Labor Day weekend. As per the norm, ~~debauchery~~ fun was had by all.

Super Tom!

I'm already counting down until our next weekend of swimming, boating, ~~drinking~~ knitting, scrabble, uno, golf cart off roading, napping, reading, and overall awesomeness.

So many of you may remember that my poor baby Tiburon lost a battle with an F150 back in July....

So I finally adopted this new baby in September!

I'm madly in love with her <3

Also in September I finally had the opportunity to shadow my old orthopedic surgeon for a couple of days. I was slightly worried and anxious going in to the days. I was really banking on loving medicine. What would happen if I hated it? Or if I couldn't take the gore of surgery? Fortunately, all of my worry was for naught. I. loved it. Every. Freaking. Second. The first day in clinic was amazing. Every case was something new and different. The second day was in the OR and stole my heart. I never wanted to leave. It's a puzzle that you get to solve and piece back together. I'm madly in love and can't wait for the day (in the way off future) that I'll get to be called Dr. Crazy Penguin.

And since there hasn't been a whole lot going on in October, we're throwing it into the mix as well!

This past weekend was the wedding of my friend's Jen and Ken. Yes, I'm serious. That's their real names.

That is one happy bride!

It was a beautiful ceremony and an awesome reception....but anytime you put that awesome of a group of people in a room with good food, good music, and an open bar is a guaranteed good time!

The Fella and I had a great time.**

End recap posts! Thanks for sticking it out and again, scout's honor, I won't disappear again!

**Like how I threw that in there all nonchalant? I'm great at introductions.

Keeping My Word

2011-10-03T15:04:00.000-05:00

Look! Two posts in one week! See, I promised that I wouldn't disappear again.

So where did we leave off? Oh yes, July and Africa.

So not only did they lose my luggage (for two weeks and were extremely rude and unhelpful. Apparently American Airlines does not care about customer satisfaction), but I had my cousin's wedding 24 hours after being back in the States. Quick turn around? The wedding was absolutely beautiful and worth every drop of caffeine that I had to consume.

Me and the cousins.

Ian, Gordon, Me, Kristina, and Jen.

The beautiful bride and groom. Officially hitched!

And then it was August....

August was pretty nondescript save for my week long trip out to the west coast. I hadn't seen my friend Josh in ages so I decided to fly out there for a week for some general tourism and some backpacking up in the Enchantments. Seattle was definitely.....interesting. Lots of hipsters. Lots.

My caffeine addiction demanded that I visit the original Starbucks. It was magical.

We visited the famous wall of gum. Beautiful, but yuck!

Seattle is full of great sculptures and art everywhere. I fell in love with this little guy.

Ready to head out on my very first backpacking trip ever! Three days. Two night. Infinite fun.

View of the sunset from out campsite. It was truly enchanting.

Day hike up to the glacial lakes.

Sunflower from an organic garden that we stopped at on the way back to Seattle from the mountains. You don't get an end picture of us. We definitely looked like we had been backpacking for three days. And smelled it too.

Ended with over a mile of elevation gain and somewhere around 20 miles. Not too bad for my first backpacking trip.

Next up...September!

Call Me A Zombie.....

2011-09-27T22:24:00.000-05:00

...Because I'm back from the dead!!!

Here's a quick recap of the last....three months. (Holy crap!! I did not realize that I was gone for that long!)

July

I spent July tromping around Africa. Yeah, NBD.

We started in South Africa......

And then headed to Namibia.....

We saw some awesome animals there like an elephant who tried to run us over.....

We ran from the elephant straight to Botswana.....

...where we learned that life isn't always easy in Africa. This little guy was only a couple of years old.

Next up was Zimbabwe with Victoria Falls....

And our final sunset in Africa.....

But I couldn't leave Africa without meeting up with the super amazing Johann and his super adorable son!

A dads and kids pic!

Scout's honor, I won't go disappearing again. Not only were things crazy busy, but a lot of life was up in the air. In short, my life was a bit of a hot mess. It was difficult to blog and talk about life and running when I barely knew what was going on with either. Things are more so under control now and I'm here to stay. Promise!!

Next up....August and September!

Solemn

2011-09-06T23:20:00.001-05:00

Over the past month I have promised a number of you that the week following Labor Day would bring my blogging return. Unfortunately, this is not the return post that I had planned. I wanted to come back telling you about the incredible couple of months that I've had, but today I can't do that. Today I am heartbroken.

As many of you know, I attended Washington University in St. Louis for my undergraduate degree. What many of you do not know is that I did so through the generosity of two prominent scholarship programs, the Danforth Scholars and the John B. Ervin Scholars. I can sing the praises of both programs for hours, but I would like to take this time specifically to speak about my experience as an Ervin Scholar and, more specifically, about my experiences with James E. McLeod, the head of the program.

My Ervin brothers and sisters.

The Ervin Scholars are known as as family on campus. The Ervin Family. It sounds corny and hokey and like a nice story to tell perspective students, but it's true through and through. I could call up anyone in that class to this day and they would have my back. Some of my best friends still are from my scholarship class and I keep in touch with almost everyone from my over 40 person scholarship class. The Ervin Scholars are a family and Dean McLeod is....was our father.

Today...this afternoon, Dean James E. McLeod lost his battle to cancer and the world lost one of the greatest people that I have ever had the honor to meet.

Dean James E. McLeod

At times, the passing of someone will cause a surge of exaggerated good will or positive memories. I assure you, that is not possible with Dean McLeod. There are not enough words to explain his goodness and the impact he has had and will continue to have.

Dean McLeod was always on a self proclaimed mission to better himself as a person. Every day. Not only that, but he made all of those around him better by association. Truly great people make those around them great as well. Dean McLeod was truly a great man. There have been many times over the past six years that have had me asking myself what he would do in a situation. It's from him that I learned to make myself happy by making those around me happy. I am a better person as a direct result of knowing Dean McLeod.

I can't seem to wrap my mind around the fact that I'll never get to hug him again or hear him make a terrible joke or get to confide in him or hear his always spot on advice. It seems wrong to have a world without Jim McLeod.

I keep typing sentences, but nothing seems like enough. Dean McLeod was one of the first people who I met at WashU and was a large part of the reason that I decided to attend WashU. The most defining decision of my life thus far. From his yearly "Habits of Achievement" speech to his playful threats to take me down on the basketball court to his constant support and guidance throughout the past six years....his absence is and will continue to be deeply felt.

It's not much, but this is my salute to you, Dean McLeod. Don't embarrass the guys up in heaven on the court too bad, okay?

Guest Blogging while Tiina’s out of the…continent

2011-07-10T16:37:00.000-05:00

Hello Penguin fans,

My name is John and Tiina asked me to guest-blog her while she spends the month of July exploring Africa. A brief disclaimer first: I’m not a runner. In fact I don’t think I’ve traveled at more than a jog in the past six years. Not surprisingly, I was pretty worried when Tiina left me the task of filling in for her for an entire month. I’ve known Tiina for ~6 years (we went to school together) and have been following her running exploits online and off since she came up with the idea after her college basketball days. As you’ve probably figured out by now, Tiina kind of rocks so I’ll try not to mess up this whole blog thing.

Since I completely lack any knowledge of running (although I'll admit that the therma jock caught my attention this winter), I’ve decided to focus on the other side of her blog: the whole “crazy” part. For the next few weeks I’ll post a series of entries describing the parts of her life that she has yet to share with the blogosphere.

First, some back story on the two of us:

Tiina and John: the Beginnings

Tiina and me during college

Tiina and I first met the summer before our freshman year of college. We had both decided to audition for a new television show that was being pitched to MTV: The Jersey Shore. When we were eventually cast our mutual affinity for spray tans and voluminous hairstyles gave us an immediate connection and we've been inseparable ever since.

photo shoot for the first season of "The Jersey Shore"

Unfortunately, Tiina – who was renamed “T’Na” by the show’s producers – was forced to leave the show after inadvertently sending fellow castmember, “The Situation”, to the hospital in a prank-gone-wrong involving a mix of protein supplements with industrial grade laxatives. In protest of the way Tiina was treated by the Jersey Shore producers, I decided to also leave the show and we were subsequently removed from the first season during editing.

Inspired by time in New Jersey, Tiina decided to enroll in cosmetology school but dropped out soon after realizing that the cosmetology establishment was not ready to accept our avante garde style that relied on copious hair-gel and artificially enhanced hair poofs. Dejected and shamed, we resigned ourselves to our back-up careers and moved to St Louis to study cognitive neuroscience.

Still, our stint with MTV inspired a love of the arts that we continued to pursue between classes. Together we produced a series of 100 2-minnute-long experimental films with Tiina as the lead actress and me as the director. This series culminated with “Wynonna’s Surprise” which was nominated for a golden Globe in 2007.

Since then, Tiina has begun to distance herself from her past in show business, focusing instead on running, advocacy for penguins’ rights, and a career in medicine. We remain close friends and will never forget our brief moment in the spotlight.

Tiina and me at the 2007 Golden Globes

---

Well, I hope you enjoyed this peek into your faithful blogger’s life. Later this week I’ll post an update on Tiina’s progress through Africa. Stay tuned!

Another Edition Of.....

2011-07-02T09:36:00.000-05:00

My Life Since the 22nd....

We had our annual camping trip which I was on from Wednesday to Sunday. One word: EPIC. Things that occurred in no particular order:

- Between Wednesday and Sunday we gathered about 25 of the best people around

- Glow stick rave under the clearest night sky you could imagine. Top 10 memories of my life.

- $300 of fireworks

- The best food ever. We had a smoker with us. 'Nuff said.

- Laying in a lake, anchored, for hours at a time with the best people ever. Never stopping laughing.

- Singing around the campfire to some of the most ridiculous songs ever produced.

- Plotting how to hunt roosters. (Yes, they really do crow at 5:30 am. Every. Freaking. Day)

An ungodly amount of puppy chow. Every. Single. Bite. Was eaten.

Making "Hop, Skip, and Go Naked". Yes, that is the actual name of the drink. And yes, all three things generally occur. (Me, Ian, and Allen)

We may or may not have eaten our weight in pork steaks. If my heaven doesn't have this meal, I'm not going!

When you give boys $300 (and by give, I mean that they go buy) worth of fireworks, they will do idiotic things like use oars as the bat and fireworks as the ball. And you will laugh your butt off at all of their antics.

- I celebrated my 24th birthday. I wish I had some big story about it, but I don't. My big celebration with my friends was the weekend before and it wasn't a big deal out at the lake. I've never been one to really thrust myself into the spotlight (yes, this shocks you, I know). Not really my style to walk around and talk about how it's my birthday all day. Ah well, just a birthday. I did come back to civilization to many voice mails, emails, texts, facebook posts, and even a card from my parents so that means people love me, right?

Future career: check!

- I don't leave for Africa until the evening of the 5th, but I'm already packed! Yes, you heard that right. And, for those of you wondering, there are running clothes coming with me. Not only will I be continuing my marathon training, but one never knows when one will have to run from a hippo!

- Med school applications are not fun. Shocking.

- It has been hot as Hades here in St. Louis. Brutal. This is the part where I should talk about how I've been waking up early and beating the heat. Key word: should. I've been having late nights and, thus, early mornings have not been happening. I still run, but mostly I just melt, want to die, and curse myself for not waking up earlier. I think it may be time for some treadmonster action.

- One of my best friends from high school, Patricia, is in town for the weekend. Let the chaos commence.

Straight from the airport to zip lining in wine country? Yes, please!!

I swear, I'm not a giant. She's just really petite!

On the docket for the rest of the weekend: bridal shower, salsa dancing lessons, 4th of July bbq, bonfire, fireworks out on the river, and so much more!

Happy 4th of July!

Another Edition Of.....

2011-06-22T00:17:00.001-05:00

....My Life Since the 13th!

- First off, since I had so many requests, here is my newly blonded hair....

Thoughts?

- The Heritage Brew Festival with the boys was an absolute blast! So many different beers and so little time! We did our best to try as many as possible though.

The boys. Chris, John, and Jeff. What hunks!

And, as promised, a new pretzel picture. I swear, you can't take me anywhere.....Om nom nom nom.

- I survived the MCAT! It was touch and go for a little while, but I think I rocked it. Now all I have to do is wait for my scores. *twiddles thumbs*

I even wore my Run EMZ shirt. I. Freaking. Had. It.

- The day after the MCAT was a massage in the morning and a nap in the afternoon. Rough life, huh? The night was even more sheer perfection: potluck (with pork steaks!! It's a St. Louis thing), card games, friends, and drinks. Okay, maybe a few too many drinks....

- Since then, life has been busy, but not stressful. Thank goodness. I've been working on applications and getting all of my recommendations in order. Oh, and getting a dress for my cousin's wedding. I like busy. I can handle busy. I hate stress. Have I mentioned how happy I am that the MCAT is over??

- Tomorrow morning I leave for Logger's Lake, our epic family camping trip that occurs every summer. This trip is legen - wait for it - dary. Five days on a lake in the middle of nowhere surrounded by a large chunk of my favorite people.

Paradise.

See ya Sunday!

PS - Look for a super awesome birthday post on either Sunday or Monday. It may or may not be a certain penguin's birthday on Saturday. Shhh, it's a secret!

Almost D Day

2011-06-13T20:31:00.000-05:00

T minus 3 days until the MCAT. Thursday. 2 pm. For those of you who don't know, the MCAT is the the Medical College Admissions Test. It's a very large part of what gets you in or keeps you from getting in to med school. As such, I am a bundle of nerves and have been freaking out for the last couple of weeks. The sheer amount of knowledge that they expect from you is ridiculous. Ridiculous.

Since my mom is such a rock star, she sent me an email as a pick me up this afternoon. She didn't/doesn't know it, but she's today's guest blogger because her email is one of the few things that was able to put a smile on my face in the midst of all this stress. If you don't mind, I'd like to share it with all of you. So without further ado.....

To: One Crazy Penguin
From: Momma Penguin
Subject: Top 10 list

If David Letterman can have a Top 10 list- here is my version.

Top 10 reasons why Tiina can acheive anything she sets her mind to (from even before she was born)

1. She waited to be born until 2 days after her brother's birthday so she could have her own special day. (Patience)

2. At age 2 she conquered a 6 foot ladder to pick oranges (after a few minor tumbles). (Goal setting)

3. At age 3 she walked/crawled, alone, through a number of decks on a cruise looking for the party we were attending and found us! This was after she "escaped" from the babysitter in the cabin. (Determination!)

4. Age 4 - watching her older brother shoot baskets, she wanted to play. Told she was too small, she waited until he finished and went and picked up the ball. Barely able to throw it, she kept trying until she got a basket- then put the ball down with a satisfied smile on her face. (Perseverance!)

5 Told she wouldn't play basketball again (ACL) before the season ended in high school, she rehabbed better and quicker than one of the football players (who did his ACL at the same time) and was back on the court for the playoffs. (Toughness) & (don't tell me I can't do it)

6. Made the best ever validictorian speech (referencing.- all I need to know I learned in kindergarten) - so good that Wash U president used same theme in his speech at convocation to welcome freshmen on campus. (Karma!)

7. Was the first ever walk on to try out for WashU basketball team and make it. (Athletic!)

8. College- was the first ever dual Ervin/Danforth Scholar (brianiac)

9. Convinced her mom to run a 5K. Not an easy task! (Sweet-talker)

and last but not least-

10. Tiina can do it because she is Tiina (with two ii's) and there is no one else like her.

Best. Mom. Ever.

I'm going to be MIA between now and the MCAT probably (study, study, study!) so if you find yourself thinking of me on Thursday, send me a little positive vibe, m'kay? I'd appreciate it!

Good news, bad news.

2011-06-08T22:18:00.001-05:00

Good News!

I'm going to Africa in a less than a month!

Bad News!

I had to get seven shots yesterday so that I make it back alive. Ow.

Good News!

I've gone blonde for summer and it. looks. awesome! Both Caroline and Emz assured me that blondes do indeed have more fun. Looking forward to it!

Bad News!

I have the MCAT in a week. Dying my hair blonde doesn't cause brain cell loss, does it? (Sorry for all you blondes out there! I had to say it and I love you!!)

Good News!

My legs are loving me since coming back from my self imposed May vacation from running. I've decided to go with Hal Higdon's marathon training plan and am ready to rock my way to being a maniac!

Bad News!

It's like a bajillion degrees in St. Louis so very few of my runs have been outside. It's looking like this weeks long run is going to be at 5 am on Sunday.....and it's still going to be around 80.

Good News!

The MCAT is in a week and I can finally have a small chunk of my life back! As of now pretty much every day looks like this: wake up, breakfast, MCAT studying, lunch, MCAT studying, run, shower, dinner, MCAT studying, sleep. Repeat. Le sigh.

Bad News!

I'll be done with the MCAT, but I still have all of my apps to finish as well as to finish my personal statement. Oh and find a dress and shoes for my cousin's wedding the day after I get back from Africa. Oh and shop for necessary clothes for Africa. Oh, and did I mention that I'll be out of town for a week in there? And that one of my best friends is coming into town for a week? Sleep is overrated, right?

And since I can't leave you on a downer....

Good News!

This weekend is the St. Louis Heritage Brew Festival! You get a taster glass and then get to go to town on 75+ different kind of beers from all over the country. And not the crappy major breweries (other than St. Louis' own AB)....really good micro and home brews. I went last year with John and Jeff and it was awesome. This year it will be John, Jeff, Chris (Jeff's brother), and I. All I can say is that as long as I can get a pretzel like last year, I will be a happy camper!

Happy Wednesday!

Still Not Dead.

2011-06-01T14:03:00.000-05:00

You guys are going to start thinking I don't love you if I don't post more!

So, without further ado....

Things that have happened since May 23rd....

- Went to Boston to go see my big bro graduate from Harvard Business School. We now have a master in the family!

He's really a very tall six year old!

It was a lot of fun to spend some time with my family. We don't see each other as often as any of us would like. We're actually not in the same country pretty often. It amused many people that our parting involved the phrase, "See you in Africa!". Totally a normal family goodbye phrase, right?

- While I spent my days with the fam, I got to spend my nights with two of my best friends from high school. I still can't believe some days how lucky I am to still be amazing friends with the people who knew me ten years ago. The evolution of friendships is fascinating to me. The combo of long days and long nights did not leave a whole lot of sleep time though. Totally worth it.

- I headed back from Boston on Friday morning and headed straight from the airport to my friend Jay's lake house on Kentucky lake with my cubs. In short....Best. Weekend. Ever. I'm fairly certain that it is going to hold the title of best weekend in 2011. The same trip last year was in the top 3 best trips of 2010. John, Jeff, and I ~~drove like maniacs~~ adhered to the speed limit, but still arrived before Jay and Tom and couldn't get into the house. Thus, we unpacked the cooler, went out to the back patio, and began sipping on margaritas. Not sketch at all....ish. The rest of the weekend was full of great food, boozing (sweet tea vodka!), jet skiing, pooling, hot tubing, rough housing, laking, boating, birthday celebrating, reading, napping, and laughing. I even managed to walk away without any bruises from Jeff kicking my butt on the jet ski! Oh, and we took some of the best pictures ever. Unfortunately John has all of the best pictures so they won't be posted quite yet. Here as some of mine though.....

Clown Tom is not amused.

My boys all lounging after a delicious lunch at Moores (OMG, so good. You must eat here). Left to right: Jeff, John, Tom, and Jay.

Coming back to reality after such an awesome weekend was rough, but so is life. Back to the grind now. MCAT studying and med school apps. Yay?

- As some of you know, I took May "off" of running. I say it in quotations because I limited myself instead of completely not running. At the end of April, my body was starting to give me complaints that reminded me of ghosts of injuries past (stress fractures, tendinitis, etc). I made the decision to use May as a recovery month full of cross training. Now that it's June though....game on! My body feels ready to go and it's marathon training time! I've got two coming up in October and I need my legs to be ready to roll. I'm still shopping around for marathon training plans though. Any suggestions?

Happy National Running Day!!!

I swear I'm not dead

2011-05-23T20:58:00.000-05:00

I'm not dead.

Anybody else think of Monty Python after reading this? Just me? Okay then....

Promise.

Sorry for falling off of the face of the earth. If it makes you feel better, I've missed you and I'm back for good! I should have at least written a temporary goodbye post or given you a heads up, but it seemed like a better option to make a clean cut. I was overwhelmed to say the least. The combo of travel, school, personal life, and running was too much. Something had to give and that thing was blogging.

I'll be doing a few more in depth catch up posts since a ton of stuff has happened. Here is a cliff notes list though....

Things that have happened since April 17th.....

- More exams, papers, labs, and coffee than healthy for any normal person

- Finished classes. I am officially qualified for medical school now. Now I have to actually apply. Oh, and get in. Le sigh.

This is your brain. This is your brain on med school.

- Now on to kicking butt on the MCAT and filling out a bajillion med school applications. Yay?

- Job interview for my dream job. Still up in the air. Fingers crossed.

- My cousin found out she's pregnant! It's the first little one of the next generation. Wedding is now in July instead of October as originally planned though. This means that I get back from Africa on July 29th and have her wedding on the 30th. Quick turn around, huh?

Good to know.

- One of my best friends from high school found out that she has cancer. Cancer sucks.

- I ran the Nashville Rock and Roll Half Marathon. It. Was. Awesome. My boys came along for the fun as well and helped me "recover" from the race. Beer is a good recovery drink, right? Even better, I got to meet the super awesome Pam. I have never laughed so hard in my entire life. All I have to say about that is "Choo Choo Mother F..." Well, you get the idea. A complete weekend report will be up for this.

- I ran the MS Mud Run 10K and got my butt kicked. And it was the most fun that I have ever had during a race. Again, full report with winners of the donation giveaway to come. Oh yeah, and pictures.

- I helped organize a race for nearly 6000 people for Girls on the Run. Sheer madness.

- I took two weeks off of running to let my body heal from the abuse I had been putting it through. I was feeling awesome....and then I shredded my ankle at kickball on Saturday. I'm crazy graceful.

- I head out to Boston in the morning for my brother's graduation from Harvard Business School. I'll be there till Friday to celebrate/go to graduation. And see lots of other friends. If you're in Boston, let me know!

- I get back from Boston on Friday and am in town for about....an hour. I basically get to come home, grab a different bag that I have to pack tonight, and head out again. I'm spending Memorial Day weekend at a house on Kentucky lake with my four best guy friends (who have dubbed themselves my cubs....I'm their den mother). I couldn't be more excited.

My cubs. I have one brother that God gave me and four that I got to choose.

Life Since Tuesday.

2011-04-17T13:24:00.000-05:00

Five days without blogging!?! What was I thinking? Answer: I wasn't. My grandest apologies. I still love you, don't worry!

Life since Tuesday...

- I had exams Wednesday and Thursday which burned me out. Thus, I spent the weekend socializing with my boys and am now feeling ready to get back down to business!

- Awesome 5 mile goal pace run on Friday afternoon. It felt like a walk in the park and helped me feel a little more confident for my upcoming half. I've been working on a new mental outlook after reading Born to Run. I'm working on a post for it, so keep an eye out.

It may not look terrible, but word of mouth says differently....

- Have gone out for four nights in a row. It has been an astronomical amount of time since the last time this happened. Mostly I spend my nights with organic chemistry and biology. Sexy, I know. Keep in mind though that "going out" is used very loosely here....as in Thursday night I went over to LJ's house for dinner and porch sitting. A wild party animal I am not.

- Friday night involved sitting on a couch with LJ and Gimpy while watching Inception (for the bazillionth time). I may or may not be mildly obsessed with that movie.

- Last night we went out for my friend's brother's joint bachelor/bachelorette party. Even with all of the people I know who are getting engaged and married, I had never been to a bachelorette party before**. One word. Ridiculous. Waaaaay more penis paraphernalia than should be allowed in one space.

The bride to be, the groom to be, Running Man, Gimpy, LJ, and Smarty.

Ain't my boys handsome?

- Today's to do list starts with me getting my lazy butt outside for an 11 mile run. And yes, lazy butt is exactly how I should be described. I woke up, ate breakfast, did an hour of work, and then took a nap. A nap before 10am? Yes, please! I was supposed to do the run yesterday, but it was cold and hailing. Wasn't going to happen. I promise to leave right after I hit publish though. Then it's off to my Uncle's house for passover dinner. It's going to be a great day!

- I finally have all my sponsors lined up for my MS Mud Run Giveaway. As of right now, NO ONE has entered. That means that as of right now no one is going to win my four awesome prizes. C'mon guys! Five dollars get you an entry! Prizes will be revealed tomorrow!

- Congrats to everyone racing today and good luck for those running Boston tomorrow! A special congrats to BDD who ran his first half marathon today!

Happy Sunday!

**Also, all these people getting engaged, married, and pregnant....is there something in the water!?! In the last month there have been three engagements and two pregnancies. New rule: for every two friends that get engaged, they have to find me one decent man.

The Girl at Mile 25.5 with Crazy Sunglasses.

2011-04-12T15:10:00.002-05:00

As previously mentioned, this is my year of giving back, so since I wasn't running I decided to volunteer for the Go! St. Louis Marathon and Half Marathon through Big River Running Company. I got stationed at mile 25.5 as "crowd control" and I had an absolute blast. I loved watching both the half marathoner and full marathoners head for the finish line. Unfortunately there were less full finishers than originally expected since they had to shut down the course early at mile 12 because of the heat. While sad, it made me respect the full finishers even more! Speaking of full finishers, go wish Kelsey from Unprofessional Runner a HUGE congratulations for kicking marathon butt. She's one of the few of us St. Louis bloggers and she's hilarious and awesome. She finished with a smile on her face in spite of the unrelenting sun!

After about an hour I decided to start keeping a running commentary about my experience on twitter. So here ya go, from earliest to latest:

Volunteering for a Marathon: in 140 characters or less

1. Glad I signed up for the marathons before I volunteered. Some of these faces would make me reconsider!

2. Just saw a man in a speedo running the marathon. I can't unsee that.

3. Now a lady running in khaki shorts and muttering to herself. I love runners. We're weird.

4. The chafe walk makes me laugh...mainly bc I've totally been there.

5. Nearing the 5 hour mark. Cursing by participants is at an all time high.

6. OK, now I've seen everything. Woman in a bud light bottle costume. Really!?! In this heat!?!

7. Five and a half hours. More and more people look like they've lost the will to live. We still have some lively ones though!

8. Getting down to the last trickles. I have now fallen in love with running all over again.

9. Story of the day: girl in tears and walking to finish on fractured ankle. It's courageous and dumb...aka a runner. And she's got my respect. (After note: She was using a stick as a cane and had her entire right ankle and shin taped up. She was in excruciating pain, but not even the world ending was going to stop her. I can't remember the last time that I heard that kind of determination in someone's voice. Not something that I will soon forget. I don't know if she finished, but I like to think that she did.)

Another thing, it touched me each and every time someone said thank you. It never got old. The first time it happened I got goosebumps and warm fuzzies. No sarcasm. No joke. I loved being there and cheering for the runners and it meant something that they noticed me. For future races I plan on being better about thanking the volunteers.

I wasn't really sure what to expect with volunteering. Would I get bored? Would it scare me away from my marathons? Would I actually make a difference to anyone? I didn't know what to expect, but what I didn't expect is what actually happened.

Volunteering made me fall in love with running all over again.

Yes, there were many people who had sheer misery on their face, but that wasn't the message that I walked away with. I saw people overcoming. I saw people supporting each other. I saw compassion and courage and determination. I saw people exercising their strength of spirit. And really, when it comes down to it, that's what running is all about.

Happy Tuesday!

Rock 'em, Sock 'em

2011-04-10T23:12:00.000-05:00

It was an awesome weekend. It was a rock 'em, sock 'em weekend.

It's a sea of deliciousness!

Things that occurred...in some kind of random order.

- Kept Tori from Journey to A New Me company while she rocked an almost 5 minute PR in her 5K Saturday morning. 5 freaking minutes!! How amazing is that? She's awesome. Please, go tell her that.

- Rocked my 10 mile run after the 5K. For some reason my brain was shot so I decided to do some heart rate training which I keep hearing about. I know absolutely nothing about it, so obviously I decided to try it. I set my Garmin to beep at me if I went under 140 or over 167 (and by *I* set what I mean is that my Garmin predetermined and I simply pressed a button and agreed). For the most part this kept me out of my own head and clipping along effortlessly at just over 11:00/mile. I was thrilled! New training method perhaps? Anybody have any good info on heart rate training?

- I took the most amazing ice bath ever known to man. Roomie laughed at me since she's never lived with an athlete and had never heard of an ice bath. "So you put ice in the tub, fill it with water, and then sit in it!?!" I love non-runner reactions to crazy things that we do!

Water bottle: check...Cell phone/music: check...Born to Run: check. And I'm ready to ice bath!

- Met my awesome cousin Amy at Jilly's Cafe for lunch and cupcakes. I, of course, got a breakfast burrito (Duh!) and then we split a cupcake. It was seriously the best cupcake I have ever eaten. I'm not even kidding.

Before we sat down we talked about taking a picture showing that the cupcake is the size of my head. In all of our excitement, we forgot. We remembered a few bites in...

- Finally finished my wall of running that I've been modelling in my head for about a month now. It turned out even better than I had hoped!

Three of my favorite running pictures from old Runner's World calendars, my race medals on an Allied Running Medal Hanger, and all of my favorite running bibs. Don't the bibs look awesome in my on sale $15 frame!?! The entire remodeling process though started with my awesome "One Crazy Penguin" medal display. My old holder from Allied Medal was getting a bit crowded, as you can see. I loved it to death, but with all of my awesome races coming up, I needed to expand.

And expand I did!

Not only does the new one display my medals much nicer, but it's also personalized! Once this one fills up, I plan on going back to Allied for my next one! Not only are they crazy easy to customize, but also the customer support is amazing. They helped me design this and, in no time at all, it was at my front door. Now every time I walk in my room I get bombarded with running stuff. It makes me want to lace up and hit the road even more!

- Stay tuned for my next post for my recap of my first experience with volunteering at a race. It's going to be just as rock 'em, sock 'em.....even if it doesn't have cupcakes.

Happy Monday!

*Allied Running Medal Hangers gave me this display free of charge. I bought the first with my own money though. All of the opinions expressed above are mine. You know the drill.

*Don't forget to support me in my journey to help find a cure for MS! Click the button in the top right hand corner to donate!

A Muddy Maniac

2011-04-09T21:47:00.000-05:00

I'm going to be a muddy maniac....although not at the same time. First off, the maniac part....

I may or may not have accidentally, kind of, sort of, maybe signed up for another marathon in October. For those of you keeping score at home, that will be two marathons in one month. I will be running the Chicago Marathon on October 9th and the Inaugural Rock and Roll St. Louis Marathon on October 23rd. This will officially make me a Marathon Maniac (although I didn't realize that until afterwards). I couldn't help myself, I swear! I couldn't miss the first Rock and Roll in St. Louis, could I? Stupid running addiction....

And now for the muddy part....

I will be running the MS Mud Run 10K on May 7th. The 10K is riddled with obstacles, mud pits, trap doors, killer lions, and possible a gnu. The gnu may just be a rumor.

At the beginning of this new year I made a decision to start giving back through my running. So far I have done this through joining Girls on the Run and by volunteering at races (my first time is tomorrow morning!). Still, I wanted to do more. That's when I found out about the MS Mud Run. I've seen two of my good friends diagnosed with MS in the last couple of years. Plain and simple, it sucks. I love that this run gives me the opportunity to help raise funds for finding a cure. I also love that one hundred percent of the proceeds go to the National MS Society. I spoke to two of my old roommates and they decided to join me in my endeavor. Thus, Team Muddy Buddies was born.

Take a good look now. We will look nowhere near this clean on race day!

I've made it my personal goal to raise $500 by May 7th. I realize that many people either do not want to donate or are not in a position to donate. I understand and that's okay! If, on the other hand, you have a desire to and are in a position to donate, I would greatly appreciate it. Even if it is only $5, every dollar counts! Not only will you have my undying love and gratitude when you donate (priceless things), you'll also be entered to win one of three awesome secret prizes. I'll be revealing the prizes over the next week, but, needless to say, you are going to want in on this giveaway. Here's how to enter for one of the three awesome prizes:

Mandatory!

- Donate to Team Muddy Buddies!

- $5 = 1 entry, $20 = 5 entries

- Special bonus! Anyone who gives a minimum of $50 will be able to decide one piece of the costume that we will wear on race day. (Note to all the men out there: ADD, not take off. Get your mind out of the gutter!). With my love of crazy outfits, you could really have fun with this one!

Extra Entries

- Spread the word on your blog (+1)

- Tweet like a bird (+1)

- Email your friends (+1)

- If you refer a friend and they donate, have them tell me that you sent them (+3)

You can either comment here about how many entries you have total or, if you'd rather, you can email me at onecrazypenguin@gmail. I'll be compiling a list between the list here and my email and announcing the winners on May 8th.

Closing note: spread the word! This is a great cause that I really believe in and I hope that you will help me reach my goal!

Happy Friday!

Today I'm Sleepy Because...

2011-04-08T08:00:00.001-05:00

Today's dwarf...

Sleepy!

Today I'm Sleepy because...

1. The past week has been long days and late nights. This coupled with the fact that I upped my training by quite a bit equals a very tired and sleepy penguin.

2. I've written seven posts on seven dwarfs. That's bound to make anyone sleepy!

3. I'm an animal person. Really, I am. I'm more of a dog person than a cat person, but I love all animals. Here's my baby back home in Florida...

As you can tell, he's really excited about Christmas.

A lab and sharpei mix. Cutest. Dog. Ever.

Bailey comes in a really close second. Sorry, I'm biased.

Enter last night. If you follow me on twitter (and you should!!), you already know that my warm fuzzies towards animals were tested. My roommates cat was very close to becoming the victim of feline homicide.

EstonianRunner Tiina Luning

My roommates cat will not effing shut up and I desperately want to go to bed. What's the penalty for #CatHomicide?

Normally, Pepper is very cute and cuddly. Surprisingly, I've actually quite enjoyed having a cat in the house...until last night. The stupid thing would not stop howling after Roomie left to go stay at her boyfriend's apartment. She finally quited down, but I was seriously close to "accidentally" leaving the door ajar and "losing" her into the big bad world.....

And with that we've come to an end of my dwarf journey. It's been a lot of fun for me to come up with creative ways to work them into my life so I hope you've enjoyed reading. If you've missed any, please go back and catch up!

Happy, Grumpy, Doc, Dopey, Sneezy, and Bashful

In other news, I am completely my mother's daughter. I received an email from her this morning in regards to our trip to Boston at the end of May for my brother's graduation from Harvard Business School with his MBA. Yes, I'm bragging. He's super awesome and super smart. I'm crazy proud of him.

One Crazy Mom to Me

Subject: Workout in Boston

If we are so inclined, we can have a superb workout(s) in Boston.

(Link for hotel we are staying at and it's awesome workout facilities)

I am going to see if I can find out about the classes and if we can do those if they fit into our schedule somehow.

And I am definitely bringing my bathing suit.

We can work up a sweat on the Freedom Trail and then hop into the pool.

luv

A woman after my own heart <3

Be ready for a super awesome post tomorrow. I've got some big announcements and an awesome giveaway coming up!

Happy Friday!

Today I'm Bashful Because...

2011-04-06T18:57:00.001-05:00

Today's dwarf...

Bashful!

Bashful: shy, coy, demure, embarrassed, overmodest, humble, restrained, sheepish, timid, unassertive

Antonyms: confident, defiant, bold, unself-conscious

This is the part where I normally tell you about why I'm bashful in general or why I've been bashful for the past few days. Except that I can't. I am not a bashful person. The only time that I ever really find myself being bashful is around new people, large groups of people, or (the worst) large groups of new people. For the most part I am pretty open and shameless. I mean, heave you seen my "skills" of coordination? If I'm not bashful about that, what hope does anything else have!? So we're flipping this. I'm going to tell you about things that should make me bashful, but that I don't have the good sense to be bashful about.

1. My cooking. I'm not a good cook. Now, don't get me wrong, I'm not a bad cook either. As long as I have a recipe I can make anything under the sun, but I'm not someone who has cooking come naturally to her. So, I get wildly excited when I make something without a recipe and it comes out awesome. Like Monday night's dinner...

Chicken with peppers and pineapple. Whole wheat couscous with garlic and pecans.

I'm never eating a meal without pineapple ever again. That's how good this was.

And I was going to add something about how the awesome dinner was accompanied by an awesome men's NCAA championship game which is why I took the picture this way....except the game was absolutely terrible. Ugh. Dull City.

Baking is an entirely different story though. I'm an awesome baker. Come visit me in St. Louis and I'll bake you lots of delicious things!

2. Am I the only one who stores wine in their running bag?

I was heading over to LJ and Gimpy's house yesterday for dinner after my run. My job was to bring wine. It seemed only natural to store the bottles in my running bag....

3. Along the same lines, I'm also of the opinion that wine is a great way to rehydrate after a run.

Zen of Zin = my new favorite zin.

4. I got to spend my day here and call it "studying". I shouldn't brag, but I am.

Missouri Botanical Gardens.

One of the top in the country.

Some days I love my classes.

5. My legs were sore from the last couple of days of hard workouts. So I decided to do some secret recovery and wear my Zensah compression sleeves under my jeans.

If it was warmer, I would have worn them with shorts. I have no shame.

Also, ignore the awesome ACL scars on both knees. I tell myself that they only make my knees sexier.

I am volunteering for the Go! St. Louis Marathon this weekend though with two different running stores in the St. Louis area. I will be meeting large groups of new people. I will be very bashful and promise to come share stories about how I got very quiet and tried really hard to match my clothing.

Moral of today's story:

Don't be bashful. Live your life BOLD!

In case you missed it, go check out Happy, Grumpy, Doc, Dopey, and Sneezy!

Happy Wednesday!

Today I'm Sneezy Because...

2011-04-03T21:26:00.000-05:00

Today's dwarf...

Sneezy!

Today I'm Sneezy because...

1. We had family yard work day over at my grandfather's house today. It involved oodles of clipping, raking, trimming, pulling, and hoeing (not to be confused with ho-ing). Along with yard work comes dust, pollen, and lots of little irritants. While bagging leaves, I kept getting leaf dust in my face. I sneezed an astounding seven times in a row. I'm pretty sure that it's a new record for me....by a lot. I think my previous record was two, maybe three. Part of me is thankful though. I wasn't really sure how I was going to fit Sneezy in as a post. Crisis averted!

2. I actually did research for this next one....Are you one of the people who sneezes on a bright day when you walk outside? I am...and now I know why. ACHOO (Autosomal Dominant Compelling Helioophthalmic Outburst) Syndrome is a disorder which results in uncontrollable sneezing in response to various external stimuli (like bright light). The condition affects 18 - 35% of the population. The most common form is photic sneezing or sneezing in response to bright light. It's theorized that it is wavelength specific to 430 nm which occurs with a clear blue sky.

Didn't think you'd learn anything education here today, did you?

3. This has nothing to do with Sneezy. Sorry, I can only find so much to do with sneezing. So, Lauren over at Failed Muffins is awesome, but you already knew that. Not only is she a runner, but she knows how to coordinate!! She does these great posts where she shows her incredibly coordinated and accessorized outfit of the day. I love this idea so I am going to steal it....and reverse it. As you know, I love to be as mismatched as humanly possible on my runs. For some reason it makes me super happy. Don't judge me. Thus, whenever I feel like I have an outfit that goes above and beyond, I'm going to share it with you guys. Like this morning's outfit....

It started with the glasses....and of course
the gansta attitude.
These glasses = best $4 ever spent

Attempt number one at showcasing the outfit.
My pose is almost as ridiculous as the
outfit.

Look at me go! I run so fast....in my living room.

Final outfit:

- Hot pink and neon blue sunglasses

- Purple shirt

- Hot pink Under Armour sports bra (not pictured)

- Orange Nike running shorts

- Blue Nike running capris

- Black ankle Road ID

- Neon green socks (not pictured)

On the plus side, this means that I am indeed running again. Yay! The knee is still a bit cranky which means that I'm going to be babying this week. Still, baby it and running is better than not running.

Also, is it bad that there have been at least one or two moments every day which make me think I should do a second (or third or fourth....) Dopey post?

In case you missed it, go check out Happy, Grumpy, Doc, and Dopey!

Happy Sunday!

Today I'm Dopey Because...

2011-03-31T22:17:00.001-05:00

Today's dwarf...

Dopey!

Today I'm Dopey because....

1. I'm me. Have you met me? Do you know me at all? I think if I had to pick a single dwarf that I am most like, it's Dopey. He's always happy and he means well, but sometimes he is just so darn gullible....and clumsy.

But it's okay, my friends are Dopey too!

In case you forgot, I have an inability to take a normal picture.

2. Remember that huge Physics exam I mentioned? It started at 7:45 am. I woke up at 7:19 am. I had set my alarm for 5:45 am so I could study a bit more, eat breakfast, make coffee, and have a general leisurely morning. Apparently I had set it, but had forgotten to turn it on. Doh! Insert major panic mode. I walked into class as he was handing the exam out. Crisis averted....barely.

3. Smarty is a physics genius. Okay, so maybe he's just a genius in general, but he's especially awesome at physics. Out of the goodness of his heart, he helped me study for my Wednesday exam. The exam was on electromagnetics and other stuff that really doesn't matter to you at all. The point of the story is that a lot of it involved the right hand rule:

It's like gymnastics for your hand!

So it involved a lot of us drawing on our hands and ~~making shadow puppets~~ looking like dopes:

I also love that when I told Smarty that I needed to take a picture for the blog, he completely understood and was excited. My friends get me <3

4. This one doesn't actually have anything to do with me being Dopey (other than the fact that I am in fact always pretty Dopey). As you remember, I'm Gimpy McGee right now. I went rock climbing yesterday to test out both the shoulder and the knee. The shoulder was pretty stiff and sore to start, but loosened up quickly. I can tell that I'm still lacking some strength in it, but it's healing nicely. The knee was pretty tender, but performed solidly enough. It ended up being an MCL sprain which was the lesser of two evils. I've been RICE-ing all week and it's feeling tons better. Although I love being like my idol BDD and being a triathlete with all my swimming and biking, I miss running. (I've really enjoyed the Xtraining though. I'm thinking I may have to dip into the world of triathlons this summer. Thoughts?) I'm going for a test run tomorrow afternoon to see how the knee feels. If it holds steady I'm hoping to get in a solid 6 miler. Fingers crossed!

In case you missed it, go check out Happy, Grumpy, and Doc!

Happy Thursday!

Today I'm Doc Because...

2011-03-28T19:01:00.000-05:00

Today's dwarf....

Doc!

Today I'm Doc because....

1. I wore my glasses all day. They make me look smart. Also, they help me see.

2. I am on top of my work. Remember all the work that I had to get done over the weekend? Check plus! I have a huge physics exam on Wednesday and I am going to rock it.

How to impress me if I am ever your teacher.

3. I have a huge biology presentation on Wednesday as well....which means that much of today has involved me reading articles containing these words: Tetracycline, Kanamycin, Novobiocin, Cephamycin, Escherichia coli, Pathogenicity, Terramycin, Aureomycin, Chloromycetin, Terramycin, and Poly-myxin B. Yes, I did just go through my presentation and pick out some of my favorite technical sounding words. After all this research, I'm feeling pretty smart. Wonder how long that's going to last....

Hero. I want to be this man one day.

4. I finally set a date for my MCAT: June 16th. This test has a fairly large role in determining my entire future. So....no pressure. If you happen to have any extra positive vibes on that day I would appreciate you sending them my way. M'kay? Thanks.

Be afraid. Be very afraid.

5. Just call me Injuries McGee. It has a nice ring to it, no? As many of you know, I have an awesome affinity for getting injured in soccer. And yesterday, I struck again! I went up against this large muscular guy (side note: maybe I just need to find a league without tall muscular men....Yeah, that's not happening. That takes half the fun out of it!). We hit the ball at the same time, but he had the momentum behind him. The torque from my ankle traveled up to my knee. Magically though when I looked down, I had the ball and he was laying off to the side on the turf. I couldn't really stand, but I still passed the ball off. Now that's dedication! And possibly stupidity, but who's counting. Now I have a sharp pain on the inside of my knee pretty much anytime I move it. I'm thinking MCL sprain or minor meniscus tear. Le sigh. Back to the pool and hope for the best? Straight to the doctor?

With my luck, I actually will stub my toe too. Just add it to the list: torn rotator cuff, bum knee....

Happy Monday!

Go check out Happy and Grumpy!

Today I'm Happy Because...

2011-03-26T13:37:00.001-05:00

I had so much fun with yesterday's post that I've decided to challenge myself with a theme for the next few posts: each of the seven dwarfs.

Today's dwarf....

Happy!

Today I'm happy because...

1. I won! I woke up to an email from the awesome Jeff at Detroit Runner saying that I won his Sony MP3 giveaway! Happy penguin!

Thanks again, Jeff! Not only do I love reading your blog, but you give me free things! Woohoo!

2. It's the last day for the Cupcake Marathon! This means that I'm treating myself to one of these...

...Red Velvet cupcake from The Cup! Best. Virtual. Race. Ever.

3. I'm volunteering for the Go! St. Louis Marathon in April. I really want to run it, but with the Country Music Half (aiming for a new PR) at the end of April, it's probably not a good idea. In an effort to branch out and make new friends, instead of just volunteering alone, I'm volunteering with one of the local running stores, Big River Running. Today is the meeting to assign locations and pick up tee shirts so I get to spend my afternoon getting to know lots of new runners!

4. Although much of my afternoon will involve this....

Physics!

...It's okay because my afternoon will also include watching a lot of this...

...while kicking the butt of this little foe of mine....

Running and basketball!?!?! Be still my heart!

I don't have a particular mileage goal. The goal is to get as much done during the games as possible. Maybe I can hit double digits on the hamster wheel for the first time!?

*Update - Further proof that nothing can bring me down today: it's snowing....and it's okay! I'm going to be happy anyways!

Happy Saturday!

Today I'm Grumpy Because...

2011-03-25T16:09:00.003-05:00

Hi, I'm grumpy. And you are?

Today I'm grumpy because....

1. I woke up to this "gorgeous" weather...

Who doesn't love grey skies, sleet, snow, and rain? You know who!? Me!

I was in shorts and sandals two days ago. Really mother nature!?!?!

I guess it's back to the treadmill....le sigh.

2. My very long book that I'm reading sucks.

I'm on page 300 and I have yet to figure out the plot. I'm not actually convinced that there is one. I normally love Ayn Rand books so this is a huge disappointment. I'm considering just rereading Atlas Shrugged instead (which I loved).

3. Boys are stupid. Let's just leave it at that.

(Okay, not all of you....maybe not even most of you, but at least one that is being a pain in my behind)

4. My shoulder is healing more slowly than I was hoping. I normally climb on Fridays and it bums me out that I can't climb today. Stupid rotator cuff.

5. It's Friday which is normally a good thing, but I still have a lot to get done from the week....Which means that my weekend is going to involve a lot more of this....

...and a lot less of this....

Happy elephant!

But, I swear I'm not just a downer. I also found these two gems which make me a very happy penguin. So, for your viewing pleasure....

Happy Friday!

I left my heart in Denver.

2011-03-23T13:07:00.000-05:00

We're going to make this easy and break it down day by day....

Wednesday

I headed straight from the airport up to Copper Mt with these amazing girls.

Cyclist, CO Runner, me, and Monkey

I found an elkguin! For those not in the know, that is an elk and a penguin put together. Didn't think you'd learn something new today, did you?

And we found the best sign ever on the way home....winning!

Other happenings:

- The best pizza ever. Beaujo's...Four girls. One huge salad bar. Three pounds of pizza. One pitcher of beer. Not a drop of beer or food left. Winning!

- Curling up on the couch and watching Despicable Me.

- Passing out super early because I was going off of an hour of sleep.

Thursday

Unless you live under a rock, you know that this was St. Patrick's Day!

- Started the day with a breakfast burrito the size of the universe. If you're in Denver/Broomfield, go to Three Chicks Kitchen. Seriously. You won't regret it.

- One of my best recovery runs in recent history....even with the massive winds. Maybe I just need inspirational mountains surrounding me in order to rock?

- Picking up Irish from the airport...and not getting lost! This was huge for me.

- Meeting up with blogger extraordinaire Jill at Pinkberry in downtown Denver.

- I love meeting bloggers. It's the only time where you can meet someone for the first time, sit around talking for hours, never run out of things to say, and feel like the time went by in the blink of an eye. Hope to be able to bike with you sometime this summer, Jill!

- Next up was dinner with an old WashU basketball teammate, the Poet. This girl is seriously going to save the world. Truly, one of those people who makes me believe that the future will be a better world. We went to Stuben's and had American style tapas. Delish. Again, highly recommended.

- Finally, it was time to celebrate St. Patrick's Day! Monkey, Denver, and I headed to a local bar by Monkey's house decked out in our green best. Yes, my flashing green glasses made an appearance. Was there ever a question?

- Since we're ~~devilish~~ innocent angels, we each had a ~~bajillion and a half~~ single beer each and ~~stayed up half the night causing mayhem~~ then went home early to bed.

Friday

Tamest day of the trip. I spent most of the day on the couch watching March Madness since I had no mode of transportation and Monkey had to actually work. It did give me a chance to catch up on blogging, MCAT studying, and get in a great mid-length run. I may have been on vacation, but I still had the Cupcake Marathon to run!

Saturday, Sunday, Monday

Denver, Monkey, and I headed up to Copper for a weekend of snow fun "early" Saturday morning. Irish and Kansas (Monkey's Hubby) joined us on Sunday.

Me, Irish, and Kansas.

This was the first day that the boys finally thought I was good enough to hang with them!

Things that occurred:

- Lots of sangria, mimosas, and microbrews.

- Oodles of bumps and bruises from wipeouts

- Snowboarding finally clicked for me! For the first time I felt like a real boarder, which meant.....

...I got to graduate to black runs!!!

- On the downside, I wiped out on a steep black and tweeked my shoulder. This means that the next couple of weeks involve me wearing a super sexy shoulder brace. I. Look. Fierce. Maybe this is why I'm single? Are gimps not sexy?

- Monkey worked on her snowboarding a bit more. Not only does she rock at skiing, she now rocks at boarding too! Rock star!

- We found the creepiest guy ever to take a picture with....

...Oops, that's Denver....here's the real one....

- He was handsy and grunted at us as we left. Eww. One creepy chili pepper.

- And I found the real best sign ever....

...new life motto.

Checking in.

2011-03-18T14:55:00.000-05:00

A quick check in.

Denver may be the death of me. So sore.

My best pictures are on my camera, not my phone. A full recap will come eventually, but for now, here's a mini rundown.....

We spent Wednesday ~~falling down a mountain~~ snowboarding and skiing. The weather could not have been more perfect. Funniest happening of the day was when Monkey took CO runner and I down moguls. Bad. Idea.

We decided that a beer break was merited before our last run.

Heaven.

The next morning involved a breakfast burrito the size of the universe.

Best. Breakfast. Ever.

My legs were a bit sore from boarding so I took a recovery run the next day.

Can all my runs be on gorgeous plains with mountain backdrops?

I found a new running partner. I named him Zanzibar.

Monkey, me, and Denver enjoying an innocent night sans any and all debauchery. (How many of you actually believe that? If you do, you must be new here. Hi!)

Things not pictured:

- Meeting blogger extraordinaire Jill. More on that once I can download the pictures from my camera.

- Dinner with one of my old WashU teammates

- Oodles of NCAA basketball watching. So many upsets!

- More breakfast burritos and green chili than should be allowed in two days.

- The best pizza ever. Beaujo's...Four girls. One huge salad bar. Three pounds of pizza. One pitcher of beer. Not a drop of beer or food left. Winning!

- Watching Despicable Me. Such a good movie. It made me cry.

We head up to the mountain early tomorrow morning and will be there till Monday night. Pretty sure my legs are going to be crying for mercy after three days straight of boarding. Best. Xtraining. Ever.

Happy Friday!

Moji Knee Review

2011-03-16T11:35:00.003-05:00

Due to popular demand from this post, here's my review on this product:

The Moji Knee

From the Moji website

Why Moji Knee?

Targeted Pain Relief: Each Moji Cold Cell is soft and pliable right out of the freezer and remains cold for the recommended 20-minute icing protocol. The Moji Cold Cell was designed with Dri-Lex Fabric to wick away moisture making it comfortable to wear directly on the skin.
Mobility: Designed to articulate perfectly around the knee, giving you the freedom to move naturally while you ice.
Comfort: Moji Knee’s Compression Wrap features Polartec performance stretch fabric that allows adjustable compression.
Convenience: The Compression Wrap holds the Cold Cell in place for more effective icing as you move

As many of you know, I have had ACL reconstruction on both of my knees from basketball injuries. As a result I tend to have fairly achy knees. My old ice packs did not like any kind of movement and forced me to sit on the couch for twenty minutes solid. Since I also tend to not like to sit around like a bump on a log, icing doesn't happen for my knees near as often as it should. Additionally, the Walgreens wrap ice packs that I was using before Moji would give me terrible ice burn unless I was careful. Not cool Walgreens. Apparently I have sensitive skin. I had resigned myself to being a bad icer....until I found Moji.

I stumbled upon Moji as I was wandering the Hot Chocolate 15K race expo in November. I was skeptical, but they wrangled me into their booth and strapped me up with a knee pack. As I sat there and chatted with them for a few minutes, I became a believer. Not only did it form comfortably to my knee, but it also cooled in a soothing (and non ice burning) way. Minus the amazing relief that I felt, I forgot that I had it on! Although it was on the pricey side, I decided to invest in a Moji knee.

Since then I have used my knee pack a countless number of times for knee pain. In addition, I've actually used it for shin pain a few times as well. The pack in general has proven to be very versatile. It has significantly aided in my recovery time and has been a miracle worker for my knee pain. The unique wrap design allows me to move about comfortably without any hindrance.

Since Moji is so awesome and loves you, they sent me a code so that you can get 15% off! Enter coupon code MOJI15 at checkout and then do a happy dance for saving 15%!

*Moji did not compensate me in any way for this review. I purchased this product on my own and am simply writing a review because I love it and think it is the best thing since sliced bread. If Moji wants to send me free things though, I definitely would not be opposed.

Mountains > Everything

2011-03-15T20:00:00.001-05:00

And the good keeps on coming! Still riding my high from yesterday's treadmill victory, I get to get excited all over again!

So tomorrow I head back here...

Denver, Colorado

To do some of this...

Oops, I mean this...

Now that's more like it!

With these people...

Monkey, me, and Denver

My flight leaves at the ungodly hour of 6 am...meaning I have to leave my house at 4...meaning I have to be awake at 3-ish. According to that it may be bedtime already! Unfortunately there is still tons to get done before then. And it doesn't help that I lost a large chunk of my afternoon upset and in tears from an altercation with a family member. Le sigh.

Still to do: laundry, packing, running, emails, errands, bank....sleep?

On a positive note, I finally got the bumper stickers out in the mail today! Yes, I'm a slacker, but better late than never, no? If you haven't signed up to get one yet, I still have a few left so shoot me an email with your address to onecrazypenguin@gmail!

And don't worry that you'll go into withdrawl while I'm gone. I've set up a few scheduled posts and I'll try to do at least one post from Denver. You know I can't live without you guys for a whole six days! That's just crazy talk!

And in this corner....

2011-03-15T00:11:00.001-05:00

...We have our challenger....

The Evil, Woman-Eating Treadmill!

*Dun Dun Dun*

Don't judge my art skills!

And in this corner, we have our champion....

I'm a classy broad.

After an amazing weekend of gorgeous spring weather, St. Louis decided to dump snow and sleet on me all day today. Eff. Thanks a lot Mother Nature. Really. Just when I thought that my running was back on track. I decided to fight back though. I've been complaining about the treadmill for weeks on end and it's time that I stopped. I can't change the weather, but I can change my attitude. So, today's goal was simple: Beat the treadmill mentally. My treadmill runs generally tend to be shorter and slower than what I have planned and not because of my legs. It is all mental for me. That stopped today.

Victory!

Screw you, treadmill. I had a half mile warm up and half mile cool down both at a 12:00/mile pace. That leaves me with 3 miles at 31:00. And it felt effortless which hasn't happened in quite a while. Oh, and did I mention that the last three quarters of a mile was sub 9:00? Rock. On. I need to remember more often about the speed that I have in my legs. It may not always be as comfortable to run faster, but it makes me better. I need to force myself not to settle and to strive to be the best runner I can be. And that best runner is faster than what I am accepting right now.

Tiina: 1, Treadmill: 0. Winning, duh! (Okay, let's be honest. The treadmill has a lot more points than I do in the long run, but I'm going to take every victory that I can get!)

After my victory run, I went to my normal corner to stretch. What new thing did I find that made me so excited that I may have squealed, jumped up and down, and scared the other gym patrons? Foam rollers!!!

Foam rollers = love of my life.

It hurts so good!

And thus ends the harrowing and suspenseful adventure of our heroine.

Until tomorrow.

Happy Monday!

Best. Day. Ever.

2011-03-13T10:44:00.000-05:00

On the docket for today, in some kind of order:

- Omelette the size of my head for breakfast - Check! And oh so delicious! (I'm productive when I'm motivated)
- Rock climbing with Muppet
- Lunch with cousins and g-pa
- Half of my planned 9 miles
- Playoff game for soccer
- Other half of my planned 9 miles
- Movie on the couch with a salad the size of the universe

Again....Best. Day. Ever.

In even more exciting news, I'm a guest blogger today! Go over to Run, Courtney, Run and check out my top ten reasons why I love running! After you read my reasons, add your own!

Happy Sunday from One Happy Penguin!

You know you're a runner when....

2011-03-11T21:25:00.000-06:00

...you spend your Friday night on the couch doing this:

Instead of out with your friends doing this:

...or this...

The grey skies finally cleared and the sun shinned down on St. Louis today. Along with the sun came both my will to live and my motivation to run. As soon as I got out of lab, I high tailed it home, threw on my running gear, and headed over to Forest Park aka the happiest place on earth....after Disney. After napping/reading in the sun for a bit, I hit the road. I did 4 quick miles by myself before meeting Joy for the last 3.5 miles. 7.5 miles done. I think that's more than my entire total for last week. Pathetic. It also explains why my night involves more knee icing than drinking. Fortunately the weather is supposed to stick around so look for more actual running going on! *Happy dance*

I have missed this weather! Colors other than grey!

And just because this makes me smile:

Happy Friday!

Winner and Winter

2011-03-10T13:10:00.000-06:00

First off, some house cleaning. I had 46 entries for the $35 gift certificate from CSN stores. And the lucky winner is.....

Drum Roll, please!

Lucky number 5!

The Running Green Girl!

I had the pleasure of meeting the Green Girl at the Princess Half and she ROCKS. Go check out her blog for great writing and even better pictures! Congrats, girl! Shoot me an email at onecrazypenguin@gmail and I'll let you know how to claim your prize!

In other news, the weather here has been grey. Everyday. Every. Freaking. Day.

Motivation is at an all time low.

Couch > Running

Is it spring yet?

Disney Princess Half Marathon!

2011-03-09T13:18:00.000-06:00

And now for what you've all been waiting for....the grand finale....

The Disney Princess Half Marathon!

In short....Best. Race. Ever. I'm not actually sure if I ran this race or if I bounced it since I was so freaking excited and hyper (both shocking considering my meager amount of sleep).

Remembering the mess associated with the buses from the Disney Marathon, I set my alarm the night before at 2:30 am, laid out my things, and hit the sack. I figured I could be on a bus by ten past. Imagine my surprise when I wake up, look at the clock, and see the numbers shouting 3:05 am at me! In lightening speed I dressed, coffeed, ate, hydrated, and zipped out the door by 3:15. I am that good.

Once at the start line, I was on a mission. My mission? To find bloggers! And find bloggers I did!

Ros from Life's a Wheeze

The Rad Runner and
Mary from the Running Green Girl

Kayla from Running: My Anti Drug

Know the best part about meeting bloggy friends in real life? They are even cooler and more awesome than online! All of these girls were amazing and I can't wait to see all of them again at some point in the future. As a favor to me, go read their race reports. M'kay? There are some pretty great stories getting told. The Green Girl and I were even able to overcome our feud over jogglers....at least for the moment.

After my epic quest for bloggers came to a triumphant close, I headed out to meet with my girls....

The Chicago Princesses!

(Plus the honorary representative from the St. Louis branch! That's me!)

Once we had everyone, we headed to the start line and wham bam thank you ma'am, we were off! For me, the miles truly flew by. Although the race was a personal worst time wise, I felt like I was out on the course for about 5 minutes total.

This is the point where I normally give you a mile by mile breakdown with splits. I can't do that. I can give you a mile by mile photo break down though! I was nominated as official course photographer since I was faster than those with whom I was running. What this actually meant is that I was zipping and zooming all around the course at any given moment to talk to people or get a picture and then sprinting to find my princesses again. Most. Fun. Ever. Interval workout half marathon?

Mile 1....it was early, I missed the marker. Sue me.

Mile 2!

It was still really effing dark.

On the way to Mile 3 and to the Magic Kingdom!!

I give up on looking normal in pictures. I just do.

Mile 3!

Ignore the time on the clock....actually, do that for the rest of the race.

Hot NASCAR men? Yes, please!

The sun finally decided to make an appearance.

And it made its presence known. It got hot.

Mile 4!

Nearing Mile 5, there is a hill. Disney puts hot men on a trampoline at the top of this hill. Strategy?

Mile 5!!

Entering Main Street. At this point I was actually bouncing up and down and skipping instead of running because.....

CASTLE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

It never gets old.

To get to the castle, we had to run through Tomorrowland.

And before we knew it....

....And....

We even got to see some real princesses.....

And then, all of a sudden, it was....

It may be difficult to tell from this picture, but this is where things started to go bad. Two people in our foursome (three pictured plus our running photographer) started to bonk and bonk hard (anyone else think that sounds dirty?!). Our splits started to suffer and just getting the girls to the next mile was a struggle.

Fortunately these "sex panthers" were on the horizon (at the gas station) and renewed our energies.

Just a guess, but I'm thinking NOT Disney sanctioned.

Mile 9!

The girls were not a fan of mile 9 either...Ignore all the birds...

Also, I love that I look happier than ever while flipping the bird. I need to work on my intimidating look.

Short story.

There were about 20 of these signs with random facts about calories, sleep, fitness, and princesses.

Wahoo and I took a picture with every. single. one. Sprint...picture....sprint....picture. The crowd began cheering us. One of my favorite race moments ever.

I won't make you look at all of them. I'm not mean like that. They're here if you want to see them.

Mile 10!

I'm still amazed that I am still so hyper and happy at this point!

Side note, pretty sure Chi Runner was ready to kill me and my optimism. Good thing she couldn't catch me.

Mile 11!

This is our last picture as a threesome. All of a sudden I look up and I see the Green Girl jetting passed me. Of course I had to catch up and say hi and thus, I ran mile 11 with the stupendous Running Green Girl!

...And...

The Green Girl and I separated at Mile 12 when the Wahoo caught up to me! She had caught her second wind and was ready to rock!

Almost to the finish!

At this point we had a little under a half mile left to go and no idea where we were time-wise. We put the question to the runners around us. A girl** who had begun in our corral told us that we were at about 3:25. Wahoo and I looked at each other and, without a word, began booking it. It was arbitrary, but we wanted that sub 3:30!

But not without our last picture...

And then we gunned it!

Final time: 3:29:25

Oh. Yeah.

First half marathon for Wahoo? Check!

The whole gang together again....

...With our new bling!!!

And what better way to celebrate a half marathon than.....

...Brunch at the Grand Floridian with never ending mimosas.

And with that, I headed back to the hotel, showered, packed, and hopped on a plane back to the frozen wilderness that is St. Louis.

And thus ends the tale of our dashing ~~damsel~~ heroine.

Thanks for hanging with me through Part 4.

I know, longest race weekend recap ever.

Thanks for sticking through it with me. It's why I love you <3

And just in case you missed it....Don't forget to check out

Part 1: Race Goals

Part 2: Beauty and the Beast 5K

Part 3: Expo and other Nonsense

PS - These are only some of the pictures (shocking, no?). So, if you want to check out the rest, check out One Crazy Penguin on Facebook!

**This girl had her right knee wrapped and was basically limping/straight legging through the entire race. My. Hero. That is the definition of badass. One of the girls in our group commented about how she felt bad for (ie pitied) the limping girl. I had to correct her. I felt no pity for her, just respect. That girl is the embodiment of a runner's spirit. The definition of why I run and push my limits. Truly amazing and simply inspiring.

Expo and Other Nonsense

2011-03-03T21:45:00.000-06:00

When we last saw our heroine, she had just completed the most difficult 5K of her life....Wow, it's hard to even type that with a straight face!

After the 5K, One Crazy Mom and I headed back to the hotel to grab some quick showers and make our way over the the expo. You would think that with me being Pictures McGee that I would have a ton from the expo. False. I tend to hate Disney expos...actually, I tend to hate all expos. I love all the booths and the stuff, but I don't deal well with large groups of people in a small amount of space. I get claustrophobic and have to fight panic attacks. Regardless, I braved the booths long enough to pick up a couple of new pink running skirts along with my bib and race bag. The expo took about half an hour in its entirety. In and out. Short and sweet.

After barely making it out of the expo with my life, I met up with Chi Runner and the rest of the Chi Town Princesses for lunch at the Wide World of Sports. We sat and ~~judged~~ admired all the cheerleaders wandering around who were there for Nationals. My opinion? No girl under the age of 18 should be allowed to wear that much makeup....Furthermore, no girl over the age of 18 should be allowed to wear that much makeup either!

After lunch, it was back to the hotel for a little of this....

Remind me why I left Florida again?

And a whole lot of this...One Crazy Mom and I goofing off....

Shirt: I'm Grumpy because your Dopey.
Exactly what happens with my mom (Dopey) and I (Grumpy) when it's:
A) Early
B) We haven't had coffee
C) We're hungry

Isn't this the normal thing to do in a gift shop?

It all started with just the apron...then the hat....then the tray....then the pie lifter....

And it even matches the EMZ shirt!

EMZ shirt = Disney approved!

Before I knew it, it was time to meet up with everyone for dinner. My parents and I got to Pleasure Island early and decided to walk around a bit to kill time...and take more pictures. Enjoy....

Best Santa hat ever. It has Goofy ears that light up when you press a button. I really regret not buying it. I also really regret not having hair that is differentiable from goofy ears.

Mad Hatter and Captain Jack....Should this much strangeness be allowed in one family?

CHOCOLATE!!!!!

A whole Ghirardelli store!!!!

Finally Chi Runner showed up and we explored.

We found dinosaurs.

I love that I kind of actually look like the dino and Chi Runner looks more like a bunny.

Story. Of. My. Life.

We went to this great Italian restaurant in Pleasure Island called Portobello and it was delicious! I think we may have scared the waiter though with the amount of bread and water we downed. We also may or may not have gone through a few bottles of wine. A good idea? Maybe not. Do I regret it? Not for a moment!

You're supposed to hydrate before a race, right?

Go check out Chi Town Wahoo's race report!

That is a mouthful to say so from now on, the crazy awesome girl above will be simply known as Wahoo.

Dinner lasted about three hours and I think ninety percent of that time was spent laughing. I forget sometimes how enjoyable it is to be surrounded by runners.

The whole gang: Chicago Princesses and Race Crew

We clean up nice!

After one last photo, we all headed back to our respective hotels. I curled under the covers as soon as we got back, but it was still way too late for my 2:30 am wake up call.

Thanks for hanging with me through Part 3.

Don't forget to check out

Part 1: Race Goals

Part 2: Beauty and the Beast 5K

And stay tuned for Part 4: The Princess Half Marathon!

PS - These are only some of the pictures (shocking, no?). So, if you want to check out the rest, check out One Crazy Penguin on Facebook!

Estonian Princesses Frolic Around Epcot

2011-03-02T19:06:00.001-06:00

...aka Beauty and the Beast 5K

Tada! It's a really big ball!

(That's what she said!)

This was the first 5K for both my mom (aka One Crazy Mom) and Chi Runner's mom. They could not have picked a better race as their inaugural race. Not only was it laid back, but it was also beautiful....Not to mention that they both got to run with their amazing, stupendous, perfect daughters! (Mom, stop rolling your eyes).

I apologize in advance for the length of this post. Probably one of my least wordy...unless you count a picture as a thousand words....

So now, without further ado, may I present to you.....

The Beauty and the Beast 5K: In Pictures!

One Crazy Mom at her very first start line! You're going to have to deal with me bragging about her a little.

Also, Disney races are known for starting really effing early. Thus, when we got there it was dark....and it stayed dark for quite a while.

It was a sea of people and it wasn't even close to as packed as it was for the Half on Sunday.

And without much ado, we were off!

Run Momma, Run!

Note: my mom wore pigtails so she could match me. Is that motherly dedication or what!?!

Best shirt I saw: This isn't sweat....It's liquid AWESOME!

Not the best costume by a long shot though. I mean, he's not even in a tutu!

First thing on the to do list....Run through Japan!

Check!

Next stop? Bier in Germany!

WHAT!?!? It's too early? The Bier House isn't open!?! I'm outta here!

...and...

One Crazy Penguin + One Crazy Mom = Estonian princesses!

Final costumes: Pink knee high socks, hot pink and black tutus, Estonian Princess tees with customized backs, and...the icing on the cake...tiaras and matching costume gem necklaces and clip on earrings!

We got a ton of comments on our outfits, in particular our shirt, which was awesome! I'm convinced that this costume makes up for all of the tomboy-ness that my mom had to put up with in my childhood.

Then the hard part of the race came....the dreaded bridge!

...OCP and OCM....

I can't believe how huge that bridge is! Do you think we'll make it!?!?

...OCP and OCM...

We made it! We're on top of the world!

Hills are for heroes!

Best story, I was making my mom take the goofy bridge pictures of me. When we were ready to run to the next photo opp, she goes, "Wait, I want to run on the bridge too!" At least I know my oddness is genetic!

I know we're goofy, but I also take some normal pictures too....

Epcot ball framed in the background

Monorail, gardens, and Epcot ball reflection.

It's a big ball, but it never really gets old.

Glorious sunrise

You didn't think that any people would be in my normal pictures, did you!?!

I told the whole gang to look like they were running at around mile 1.5

This is what I got...."running"...

Yeah, Chi Runner is a terrible actress

Of course Chi Runner and I had to get stuck in the phone booth. That's a normal thing to do, right?

Taking a break in Canada. This running thing is hard, eh?

Almost to the end!

Official 5K finishers!!!!

So proud of both of them!

None of us had any clue of the time, but we're calling it a PR in fun!

Thanks for hanging with me through Part 2.

Don't forget to check out Part 1: Race Goals!

And stay tuned for Part 3: The Expo and other Nonsense

and Part 4: The Princess Half Marathon!

PS - Shockingly, these are only a fraction of the pictures. For the rest, check out One Crazy Penguin on Facebook!

Half Marathon Number 7: Check!

2011-02-28T12:30:00.002-06:00

In one word, the Disney Princess Half Marathon was….

EPIC

Here’s where it gets a little complicated, kiddies. Since so much happened this is going to have to be broken up into bits and pieces (otherwise you would be reading a novel). Here’s the breakdown:

Part I: Race Goals

Part II: Beauty and the Beast 5K

Part 3: Expo and Other Nonsense

Part 4: Princess Half Marathon

So, today’s post…..

Race Goals!

Race goals….like you’ve never seen them before!

1. Wear as much pink and sparkles as possible as is legal in the great state of Florida.

This goal makes me laugh the hardest. I was definitely the tomboy-iest of tomboys as a kid. Kid me is disowning adult me right now.

2. Pace Chi Runner to a new PR.

Her old PR is 3:12. She really wants to go sub 3, but she isn’t sure that she can do it (If you can’t tell, I don’t agree with her). She is also scared for her life because she knows that if she has it in her, I will get a sub 3 hour half out of her. *Insert evil laughter – Muhahaha* We’ve already discussed though that if it comes down to fun vs time, fun wins.

3. Run my mom’s first 5k race with her.

Plus, our shirts look pretty dumb individually.

4. Take an ungodly/obscene amount of utterly ridiculous photos.

This is really the main goal. If this one doesn't happen, then the rest don't matter.

5. Shock BDD.

This one should be easy.

6. Look awesome in the professional race photos for once.

On second thought, this may be a lost cause. Do you know me at all? I’m a complete spaz!

7. Run without an ipod.

I haven’t done this in a race in quite a while. With everything that is going on and all of the very loud personalities participating in this race, I want to be present for all of it and not miss a moment.

8. Meet lots and lots of bloggers!

I may be most excited about this one! I love getting to know people through their blogs and getting to meet them makes me uber excited!!!

9. Have mimosas and Mickey shaped pancakes for brunch.

Don’t give me that look. It’s Disney. Dreams come true here.

PS – I know I’ve been teasing you endlessly about my zany outfits, but pictures won’t be on the blog till later posts. But, since I like you so much, I’ve put them up on facebook. Go take a gander. Let me know what you think. I think they may be my favorite photos that I have ever taken in my entire life. Word.

Pretty Little Princess

2011-02-25T15:36:00.000-06:00

In three hours I will be on a plane heading here.....

In order to run this.....

In this outfit......

Just kidding!

Didn't think I'd show you the EPIC outfits early, did you?

I'll be running the 5k on Saturday morning with my mom (her racing debut!) and then the half marathon on Sunday with Chi Runner and Company. My own version of a mini Goofy Challenge. Maybe I can call it the Pluto Challenge? Thoughts?

I'll have a race goals post going up either late tonight or early tomorrow. They are unlike any that I have ever had before, so prepare yourself for something awesome.

You know you want one!

2011-02-23T20:38:00.000-06:00

This week could not go by any slower. I was actually watching the clock today and I'm pretty sure that I saw the minutes hand move backwards.

This isn't related, but it makes me laugh. Mainly because it's true.

Part of it may be that winter is in full swing again in the lovely Lou. I woke up this morning to a sheen of ice over everything. I love waking up and falling down the stairs to my car. Eff. T minus two days until I'm out of this freezing weather and in a pair of shorts, frolicking in Florida (Please, don't hate me). The Dinsey Princess cannot come soon enough!

Speaking of the Dinsey Princess, my mom got our tutus in the mail yesterday. She sent me a couple of pictures and let me tell you, our outfits are going to be EPIC. Yes, I said it. EPIC. BDD, get ready for some truly jaw dropping pictures. These will not dissappoint.

On a completely unrelated note, I want to give you guys more stuff! Yay you!

So, quite a while back, Megan from Build A Sign contacted me about making some bumper stickers. Build A Sign is a site that allows you to make anything from banners to signs to window clings to magnets! Pretty much anything that you can imagine, they can create. The hard part will be limiting yourself!

Thus, I created these beauties:

I know. Love at first sight.

I have a ton of these to give away, so all you need to do is shoot me an email at onecrazypenguin@gmail and I will send you your very own One Crazy Penguin bumper sticker! The more of you that request bumper stickers, the more loved I'll feel....so please email me! Yeah, I'm needy. Deal with it.

Also, I know that a bunch of people have bumper stickers right now. If you have one and would like to share, I would love to have it to add to my running notebook!

Don't forget to enter my super awesome giveaway! You only have until Friday! It's your chance to win an awesome CSN gift card *and* ask me any question you want! I'll answer all of them in an upcoming post. Scouts honor!

Also, if anyone is running the Disney Princess Half this weekend, let me know asap! Shoot me and email at onecrazypenguin@gmail. A few bloggies are meeting up at the expo on Saturday and then grabbing lunch. It's going to be epic!

Things I've learned since Wednesday....

2011-02-21T21:16:00.000-06:00

1. Organic chemistry doesn't ever get more fun.

I kind of want to be Calvin.

2. St. Louis weather is bipolar.

Okay, so maybe I relearned this one, but I'm still counting it.

3. Stew is one of the easiest and most delicious home made meals....ever.

I love rediscovering the amazingness of my crock pot. (Note: After all this time, you'd think that my spell check would recognize "amazingness")

4. Again, a relearn: my family is awesome. Saturday night was five hours of non stop laughter at my cousin Amy's birthday bonanza.

From our annual summer camping trip. Ignore out extra crispiness.

5. Breakfast is always better at 3 am....after a night of ~~imbibing and debauchery~~ milk and cookies.

Best 24 hour diner in St. Louis. Bar none.

6. The only time I like running on a treadmill is at 2am after studying organic chemistry for a bajillion hours...because in comparison to organic chemistry, everything is more fun.

32 miles hamster wheel miles for the week. A new record.

40 miles total for the week. Not too shabby for an exam week.

7. Getting pulled over by a cop is more stressful when you're completely innocent.

Dear cop, Thanks for letting me know that I have a headlight out....and scaring the ever loving bejeezus out of me. Love, Tiina.

8. Swedish fish make a great study snack and pre-run food.