It’s 4am on a Saturday morning in Montreal, it’s some point in the 90s, and there’s nothing on air.

for the unusual asks thing - top 10 favorite songs (41) cause i'm looking for recommendations lol

Ok so I’m too tired to think of songs, but I’ll just list ten artists/bands and if song titles come to me I’ll share them.

Actually, ok that’s a lie because a couple songs came to me haha

Lauren Daigle (not 100% on that name) but “You Say”... powerful powerful song especially for the anxiety riddled year that we have had

“6’ 2”” by Marie Miller, one of my long time favorites

“Juice” and basically everything else by Lizzo. Seriously though, just get her whole Cuz I Love You album. You won’t regret it.

And now we get to the part where my brain is like, Becca just stop thinking so hard. 🤣 so here comes the bands

Hanson, yes, MMMBop Hanson. But seriously, thier Shout It Out album is my favorite by them. They also did a cool album in 2018 where they combined their songs with a symphony orchestra and it’s really good.

Basically anything by Queen. I mean that’s a given though.

Same with the Beatles.

That’s 6 (even though the last two were completely me cheating and it probably doesn’t help you at all).

When it comes to music, I use pandora and I have all of my stations shuffle. So I’ll get stuff from Macklemore, followed by old time country music, with some 90s hip hop that leads into like 90s pop. It’s a beautiful mess.

Ok so speaking of old time country, this is less about a music recommendation and more about a documentary recommendation. Ken Burns did an AMAZING documentary on country music for PBS and you need to watch it. Even if you don’t think you like country music. It’s just beautiful.

And now we reach the part of this post where I realize I’m rambling and I’ve completely lost my train of thought. And I just realized I’m still sitting at 6. 🤦‍♀️

Ok.. trying to refocus here.

I don’t know if you like pop music, but I loved one direction and I’ve been super impressed with Niall Horan’s single stuff. And Harry Styles as well.

Counting that as 2... so I need 2 more.

Um... “Coming Home (Oregon)” by Mat Kearney. He has a great voice has a lot of other stuff too. That’s just my favorite of his.

And the last one... seriously all that is coming to my mind right now is Maroon5. 🤦‍♀️ specifically their songs about Jane album. That’s probably my absolute favorite of theirs.

I really hope this post is useful to someone 🤷‍♀️ I feel like it’s a total, rambling mess 🤣

Note to self: don’t answer asks when you’re half asleep

8/7/21

Hi boyfriend~

Just took a weed gummie in honor of Bonnie’s birthday weekend. My present for my friend is that I’ll suck it up and be an active participant in their life for a change. I’ll be game for a whole weekend. I got up early today and tagged along to volunteer at a charity 5k. We grabbed some coffee and wandered to the halfway point of the course (thus walking an entire 5k in the process! Not too shabby ;D), and then camped out a water station that I’d say should be very grateful I actually showed up to work its sorry ass. Bonnie didn’t have to do any managing/delegating, they just got to post up and chatter at the runners-by. I’m pretty sure if I didn’t go, and I promise I am not tooting my own horn, that water stand would not have been the fun water stand that it was. They would have had 2 dunces making it go worse, and only 3 people managing 4 tables of water cups. Volunteers man, what are you gonna do? I’m sure that’s why they were looking for 8 people per water stand, just to statistically ensure that SOMEONE with half a brain would be around to help out.

Great morning though. JUST a little too hot, but that’s how you know you were doing solid work out there. The proof is in the pits, baby!

Ok, 40 minute bathroom break is over. Man, nothing like starting the blog to make me SO productive in the mornings! It’s such a cheat code. I did laundry, dishes, pooped; my whole day is bright and available now! But now I’m tired and I don’t want to write anymore. I had about a 6 minute where I wanted to do this today and I actually hit it for a second before I had to stop and do ANYTHING ELSE I guess. So, fuck. What do we write now?

I had to get up suuuuper early for this 5k thing, and I only got like 4 hours of sleep because I did not factor in the early wake up until like 6pm yesterday, and I had already slept like 14 hours that day :I That’s right, I woke up, immediately crushed the blog, went back to laying down, played League, and watched tv and shit until I felt tired enough to sleep and get ready for the 5k, which was 2am. So now I have a weed gummie digesting in me and I have a nap climbing up my priority list and this is why I don’t like weed. I feel like I have to plan my fucking shit around it, and I’m not good at that. Part of me thinks I can crash right now and wake up before the drugs make me sleep for 2 hours longer than I want, and give me weird, unpleasant dreams. I can’t possibly pull that off, I’m not sleepy, I’m just like sluggish. So basically what I have to do now is power through into the “trip” (maybe I’ll luck out and miss it and I can just pretend I’m high, which I won’t do, but hey we’re brainstorming here), and let that smoothly transition me into a nap. And THAT would mean that I have to entertain myself for the time being to get me into a good place to start being high...? And then I can like power up my activities WHILE high, and that would be fun. Playing video games, great. Playing video game high? That’s the whole point of it. I mean like, that’s the whole point of life, right? And then I can be like NAPTIME BITCH, and that would be fun also, in theory. And then I can go put a podcast on and go to the movies? Ugh, I don’t want to go the movies anymore. I’m to tired :( This sucks.

I’m trying to go see Green Knight. I’m sure that sentence won’t matter at all in even like 4 months from now, but I think it should be a fun time. So much more productive than anything I can do from the desk. And it’s not summertime like this forever. You gotta get that shit in so you don’t think you miss it when the weather turns. You want to be sitting inside on a cold autumn day thinking “good riddance, being outside is entirely overrated.” And I’m not there yet. Man I don’t know. Well how bout this? Let’s do a little more brainstorming while I’m trapped here writing to your dumb ass. If you ever read these again this part will be like a little prank on you lol. Ok: 1: Stay here, no movie. Let’s lock that in. that should make having to navigate being high so much easier. Let’s let the pipe dream of doing everyone’s favorite thing of being at a theater high wait just a little longer. Today can be a trial run. We’ll walk around today and think about what it would be like if I had biked 20 minutes to a movie theater and watched a 2 hour movie and biked home. And when we suss out that it would have been unenjoyable, we’ll feel like geniuses for making this call. So that’s out of the way. LOCK IT IN

2. I don’t know yet. Let’s just start simple. Food. What’s up? We have almost no groceries. We have no bread for a tuna salad sandwich, but let’s put that in the to-do list. We need more english muffins too. That was an A+ 10/10 move last month. Just muffins w/ strawberry jam, and egg McMuffins whenever the fuck I wanted, which was always. Frozen Veggies like Corn or Beans would be good. Bag Chop Salad kits. They weren’t on sale last week, and it’s goddamn highway robbery when they’re at full price. So this week would be the perfect time to check in on ‘em. And I’ll commit more to an equivalent substitute this time if I can’t find a good deal. Let’s see, what else? Oof my wpm and accuracy is starting to take a hit. The first and only symptom! Nice! Miku. Meat. Spaghetti and meat sauce? Gotta check out what ragu shit you have in the house before you do that. Consider this your reminder! I know you’ve never successfully pulled that off, but I have full confidence in you. Oh fuck, now I’m starting to worry a little bit the coherent quality of this is about to start dropping. Well, another fun little prank for ya bitch! Fruit leathers? I just have no fucking idea. Ok, so shopping can 100% wait for another day. This isn’t anywhere close to a cohesive trip. So we can eat out somewhere! Great, lock it bitch. I’m starting to swear more; it’s because I can’t find the right words anymore. Oh boy, the weed smelling burps are happening. This really is so gross and difficult. Beer is just a more bitter version of soda. It’s actively refreshing. Damn, if only I’d been a little more exposed to peer pressure at an earlier age. I’d have been past this awkward uncomfortable phase of weed, like how I (and basically everyone) was with alcohol. You slam Natty Lites with your nose closed until you start to realize life is little more pleasurable than the absolute Kelvin zero you had come to be familiar with. Uh, ok, I’m starting to let my mind wander. He’s daydreaming, chief! I suppose I could just transcribe the dialogue of the daydreams, but I can’t keep up. This is just break o’clock.

3. What do I fucking eat!? I had to make a whole nother numbered point, and I still don’t have the plan. Jesus H,. Ok here’s what AROUND. Chex Mix, unopened. 1 Grape Soda. Cookie Dough Ice Cream (w choc sauce). Raisins, PB, Ramen, meh. Reese Cups! I just looked behind and was like, “oh yeah! Nice”. If that’s not everything, that’s REALLY close. So what’s calling my name? Pizza? Chinese? Damn, I might just have to play this by ear. Nothing at all sounds interesting, and I’m not the slightest bit hungry (we got free Dim Sum after the 5k. It was called the Dim Sum and Then Some 5k). Ok, so other options to keep on the back burner for later would be: Kebab, Chicken Sandwich, go get Pizza Rolls and Chippies at the store. Ok that’s enough options, that fuckin really took it outta me, I can’t believe it. My hands are kinda feeling heavier now too. I better think of a #4 thing to write about quick or I may lose all my inertia.

4. UMmmmmmmmmmmmmm. Movie time? I watch arrival and turn off all the lights and pop popcorn and have my soda? Where sunglasses and pretend they’re 3-D glasses? Maybe. Ugh, I can tell right now my eyes are gonna get bloodshot, or dry out or whatever. They already kinda hurt :(. It’s fine. I feel more good than not. Like I’m wrapped up in a blanket, even though I’m not. Maybe OH- Maybe I lay out on the beach chair and read in the sun with an ice coffee? Oh fuck that might actually be perfect. Then I can go no shirt and just feel nature, and maybe bugs are less troublesome when you’re high. And then I can pop Doughboys on and shower! Shower high, seems like a guaranteed home-run. Ok, I like it a lot. I have to do SOMETHING away from Tweedle Dee and Tweedle Dum or I’ll go crazy this weekend, especially if I have to tag in on occasion and “participate” for Bonnie’s Birthday. Which, let’s be clear, is the least I can do. It’s a gimme. I owe Bonnie AT LEAST this much, even just as like backpay for holidays or yore. Like if I have the zhuzh to punch in for birthday shtuff, I better do it, right? I just looked it up, it might officially be zhoosh, not zhuzh, but zhuzh appears to me to be the best way to do it. And there’s like 5 accepted spellings of it. Stupid, not helpful. Just because it employs a sound that has no [conformed] applications in the english language? Poor excuse! Oh man, it’s so early I can’t believe it! That 5k feels like a day ago, wild. Well, hey! Point 4 is finished. Moving on!

5. What to do tonight? Who gives a fuck. Figure that part out when you get there, it does not matter at all. There, numbered list over.

Ok so, let’s just wrap this up I guess. I’m cracking an hour here, that’s plenty. Maybe tonight you do a little PRE-WRITING before bed, so this isn’t so “chore-y”. Let’s just remember you seriously considered letting yourself down completely and bailing on the blog earlier this morning. So we need to keep our expectations at appropriate levels still. It’s this NEXT week that should be very interesting. Just in terms of output. A little more practice, and little more muscle-memory. A little less crap to distract me (I have been burning through non-stop crap youtube/tv this last week since coming home, it’s fantastic. I was gonna say it was sucky, or disgusting or something, but that’s a lie I tell to myself to pretend I’m more diligent than I actually am. ACCEPT who you are and love yourself for it)

I accept you and love you Max. Ok, I have to go, I feel like I’m gonna puke... awesome 

bi

interview n last three day recap

i’m on the train back from my interview at berlitz in yokohama. it was really interesting! i will tell my day in chronological order tho so i don’t forget anything.

i didn’t sleep too well last night. kept having dreams that the company would email me and say “actually we don’t need you” or that i would get drenched in a rainstorm and get lost between zama and yokohama.

got up, took shower, had coffee (thx patty!) and pb toast (thx for buyin the bread n pb patty!). the forecast for today was freezing and stormy, but that was supposed to happen later in the day so i figured the earlier i left the better. the interview room opened at 10:30 and started at 11:00 and the train to yokohama takes 1 hour. so i left at 8! i wore street shoes and carried my interview shoes with me. my umbrella broke straight out of the gate! but it is a crappy daiso umbrella.

selfie of outfit. wide leg high waters are trendy i swear!

the train to yokohama was uneventful. took local to ebina then transferred to rapid express to yokohama. i guess this was my first japanese rush hour but i got it at the tail end. i had no seat on the trains, but i wasn’t terribly squished either.

i think i got to yokohama at like...8:50 or there abouts. i remember after walking around for a bit i checked my phone and it was 9. i decided to scout out the location of my interview and then i could relax and change shoes.

yokohama station is incredible! huge mall. nothing opened til 10am so after i found the right elevator to take i went to lawson’s (like 7-11) and looked at magazines for an hour lol. then i bought a candy bar and sat down to read. at like 10:15 a kid in a suit came and sat down next to me. i ignored him like kanto etiquette tells me to do. then he cleared his throat and asked if he was in the right building for the language school. i was like “ya are you interviewing?” and he said “ya i guess we are competitors” n i was like “nah man don’t you know they hire ppl all the time.” our relationship didn’t start off great. i found out he is 22 and from guam and lives with his family who moved back from guam to japan. they’re in the kanagawa area. he just graduated from an english speaking college and studied tourism. he was like “do you mind asking how old you are?” n i was like “29!” n he was like “lol you don’t want to know how old i am” then i learned he was 22 and i said “so basically the same age.”

enough of our witty banter. we went upstairs to the berlitz office and there were 3 other candidates already there. two guys and one girl. one guy was from germany, the other was japanese but grew up outside of vancouver, and the woman was from the côte d’ivoire! eventually the last candidate showed up, a woman from hong kong. so i was the only american! i was surprised.

we had like 10 minutes to speak amongst ourselves before the interview started. we talked about spam. guam guy doesn’t like it and other people had never had it.

then the presenters (moody from toronto and sam from hawaii) came in. moody is the yokohama area school manager and sam is the yokohama branch manager. both nice guys! basically we introduced ourselves and then had a presentation about the company. then we had 1:1 interviews.

i think things went pretty well. if i get the job i will wither start in early or late april, spending on how long my visa takes to process. they said it will probably take about a week which surprised me, cuz other companies i applied for take 2+ months. who knows, will stay tuned.

after the interview it was too gross to walk around outside so i chilled in the station mall. went to some AMAZING grocery stores. i kept telling myself “if i get a job at the yokohama branch i will buy this and this and this”. my favorite store was a baking supply store with shelves of different flours and yeast and sprinkles.

then i wandered back to the train and headed back to zama. now watching mre reviews in the warmth.

previously this week...just went to different grocery stores and finished my interview outfit. i found gyomu super which is a “discount international store” which is not super international but they do sell ground beef (mixed with ground pork) and cheap pasta!! very difficult things to find.

phew i am wiped now!! ttyl.

update: just got an email with job offer at the yokohama office! now just gotta consider.

Race recap time!

I woke up at 5am on race morning feeling pretty awake, I surprisingly had slept quite well! I had a quick breakfast (bagel with PB, banana, and honey plus 2 energy nuun tablets) and even pooped twice before I left for the bus, so things were off to a really great start 😏  and then I got to the green line and realized the train hadn’t started running yet, so me and about 40 other runners had to wait 20 minutes for the first train to arrive -_- the good news is that I ran into a girl that I ran XC with as an undergrad and we chatted to pass the time. I was a little frazzled by the time I got to Grant Park, because it was about 15 minutes later than I had intended to arrive. I still had time to hop in the port-a-potty line (pooped again lol), check my gear (I cried a bit because they turned on Buckingham Fountain right as I got there to check my gear!), then wait in the port-o-potty line again. Made it into my starting corral at 7:15, then shuffled around nervously until 7:30 when the race began. I cried again when the announcer said “The 40th running of the Chicago Marathon is now underway!”, and then had plenty of time to stop crying before crossing the starting line around 7:45 am.

I was feeling really really great when the race finally started, except that I kind of had to pee again already. Like a typical rookie, I started off way too fast. I was planning to run even 9:00 splits for the whole race, but instead hit the mile 1 marker in 8:18. I tried to slow down, but my garmin wasn’t working very well (because of all the tall buildings, plus we were underground for a bit) so I apparently didn’t actually slow down at all. Hit the 5K mark at 25:57 (8:21 pace). I made a quick stop at the next aid station to use the bathroom and then continued on at a still too fast pace. Hit the 10K mark at 53:04, meaning that 5K was at a more modest 8:44 pace, but of course that is with a ~1 min bathroom stop averaged in. Still way too fast. At this point I decided to stop worrying about my pace, because obviously all my stressing about slowing down was not doing any good. I had so much fun in the first 12 or so miles, reading all the different race signs people had and giving high fives to everyone who wanted one! I also saw dad and Manny near mile 4 and again near mile 11, which made for some good photo ops haha. My 15K split was 1:19:39, then 1:46:26 for the 20K. Made it to the half in 1:52:18, which is actually my third fastest half marathon time! I still was feeling good all the way through mile 17, and maintained an 8:20-8:40 pace the whole way. I noticed my legs were starting to feel pretty tired at that point, and my hamstrings started cramping up pretty badly. I stopped briefly to try massaging them, but that only made things worse so I just kept going instead. I also realized then that I had a giant blister on the ball of my right foot (not quite sure when it developed), and I could feel the fluid inside it squishing around with every step. Finished mile 18 in 8:45, then decided I would have to start taking a few walking breaks if I wanted to be able to finish the race. I don’t really remember much from that point on. For miles 18 through 25, I walked through all the water portions of the aid stations (5 in all, I believe) and then ran the rest of the time. Mile splits were in the 9:05-10:00 range for 19-22. I saw Manny and dad again right before the mile 23 marker, stopped for a bit, and apparently told them I wanted to die so that then I could at least stop running lol. Between this stop and walking through another aid station, mile 23 was my slowest of all, 10:39. I don’t remember anything from miles 24 and 25, even the part where we ran through my school’s campus, and the splits were 9:44 and 10:01. I do vaguely remember telling myself out loud “you have to start running again” after the aid station in mile 25, then crying because I really didn’t want to (but I did anyways). The mile 25 marker was one of the most beautiful things I had ever seen, because I knew that meant I was almost done! I woke up mentally and checked my watch, then realized if I didn’t take any more walk breaks I would finish under 3:55 (which was my super stretch goal!). I dug deep and somehow found another gear for the last little bit. Finished mile 26 in 8:42, which included the giant hill at Roosevelt 400m from the finish line. Finally we turned the corner and I could actually see the finish line! I sprinted (ish) the last 200m just to be sure that I would finish under 3:55, and also because I was so ready to be done running. I even briefly saw a 7:XX pace on my watch before crossing the finish line! I felt so relieved to be done, and so proud of myself for all that I had accomplished, that I immediately started sobbing! Except I was so dehydrated that only two actual tears came out, though I had an ugly cry face on for at least 5 minutes haha.

The worst part of the entire race was that we had to walk for almost a whole mile before there was a spot we were allowed to sit down! The race volunteers were telling us to keep moving, but after a few minutes I just could not walk another step  and sat down. They came over right away and told me I had to keep walking or they would have to take me to the medical tent, so got back up and walked another 300 feet and then sat down again. So they came back over and said the same thing and I got back up. This happened four times in all before I finally got to a grassy area where I could sit down! At this point my foot (where I had the blister) was absolutely throbbing and all the muscles in my legs were cramping up. I sat in the grass for about 20 minutes before I was finally able to get up, pick up my gear, and meet up with Manny and dad. Of course as soon as I met up with them, I told them I couldn’t wait to run again next year! It was a painful last few miles, but absolutely worth every step ❤️

Official finish time was 3:54:35, which was well under my goal of 4:00, and even faster than my most ambitious goal of 3:55! I can’t wait to run another marathon, now that I know what to expect, and do even better!

nov: week two

13: 5/6 pto day~ it was pretty gloomy outside so i felt a bit gloomy on the inside. kevin went to work and i woke up before he left. i ate another cinnamon raisin english muffin for bfast and then i hopped on my computer to update my tumblr. until i get my new gratitude journal, i am going to continue writing about my day, but i might change it up so that it’s bullet points again. we’ll see. i was pretty productive today. i finally decided on a gratitude journal to try it out and ordered it on amazon. then i chilled and watched some youtube videos and caught up on anime while eating lunch. after lunch, i digested a bit and then hit the gym. i thought i was going to spend it all in the yoga studio but i ended up needing to go to the fitness center so after glute activation exercises, i went across and did sumo squats and deadlifts. my legs felt so weak today. it could have been my form as well because my mind was scattered from going back and forth to the fitness center and yoga studio @_@; i managed to get through all the weighted exercises and then went back to the studio to do a burn out and hip dip exercises. i might have scared off someone in the studio, but i was in the zone so... ahha...

i came back, cooled off and stretched, and then showered and made myself a smoothie. i started prepping dinner and then kevin told me he left the office late so i just made dinner tonight. i made our spicy kale coconut fried rice and it came out pretty good (: i’m so happy with the outcome haha. kevin was also real happy to come home to a hot meal. it was nice. before cooking, i spent some time looking for my chocolate molds. they disappeared somewhere. i don’t know where they are :( i looked in all the small places as well as the storage room and no dice. kevin even looked with me after we ate :( sigh. i’m sad but i hope it will turn up somewhere. we asked the front to check our old apartment to see if we forgot it. i mean, it is transparent right? kevin went for a run after helping me look and i just continued looking until it was time to sleep. i was really bummed so i slept early. lol. 

14: i got up at 7:45 am and then did my 30 minutes of stretching. it was nice and quiet in the morning and i felt like doing something but not cardio or anything of the sort. then i changed and made my smoothie for breakfast, said goodbye to kevin, and left for work. only john and haowei were in the office today. cole was waiting for a furniture delivery so he wasn’t in. mmm the moment i got on the train, i felt really sleepy. when i got into the office, i felt pretty kjsfnbkjsdf. i don’t know if it’s the heating, lack of people, etc. but i wanted to go home asap. there wasn’t much for me to do in the morning so i did some testing. then at around 11:50 pm, i ate my lunch and then packed up and headed to a chinatown market to get a carrot for our slaw tonight. i waited 10+ minutes to buy one carrot for 46 cents because the people in front of me chose to buy soy sauce that wasn’t entered into the system yet -____<” i mean it’s not their fault but the two other lines started moving faster after i was boxed into this line...

i got out and then rushed over to south station to get on my train. i waited 7 minutes for my train because it probably had left before i got to the station :( luckily, i got back at 1 pm and phil didn’t ping me about our meeting until i asked him if he was ready at 1:06 pm. we talked about next steps and upcoming sessions and then he went into a meeting and i continued to work while watching an episode of ‘jane the virgin.’ i got my blender bottle in the mail today! i washed the dishes as soon as i could so i could use it after my workout today. i also got kevin a ‘pre xmas’ gift! i saw that there was a christmas caroling and hot chocolate boat cruise so i got tickets for us because last year, he went on a team outing instead of the jazz cruise i booked for us (i took hillary instead because it made sense and we had funn!). so i thought it would be nice if he actually went this time~ hehe. kevin went climbing so after work, i cut up the carrot and cabbage and let it wilt with salt for about an hour while working out. i felt like doing a few cardio hip hop routines, standing abs, abs on a mat, and then ending everything with hip dip / bodyweight butt exercises. it was a good and fun workout. i finished seasoning the slaw after my workout and used my blender bottle to mix my protein with cashew milk. lol, the lid wasn’t locked in properly so i spilled a bit of my expensive af protein on the rice cooker and counter T___T on the bright side, everything was blended perfectly! tomorrow, i’ll try putting in some honey to see if it will mix well or not.

as i finished up with the slaw, kevin came back. we showered and then toasted burger buns, heated up the leftover pulled chicken, and ate small burgers for dinner. we were still hungry and i got an idea to make “curry buns.” i flattened out one burger bun, put leftover curry inside, sandwiched the curry inside and sealed the bread by pinching the outsides, and then pan fried it in butter. well, i did the stuffing and kevin did the pan frying. if we heated up the curry before pan frying it, i think it would have tasted better but it was fun cooking on the spot with kevin :3 <3 we split one and then i had a bite of kevin’s guava strudel while we watched the latest foodwishes video. we want to make his new soup video as well as his hasselback turkey breast video when we come back from thanksgiving. we cleaned up a little and then beat battleblock theater! omg the last few levels are so hard lmao. the ending was trololol but i think there will be a sequel. it was challenging and fun playing with kevin. :) we half-planned what to get our families for christmas (gift baskets for each of us visiting our families from harry and david). 

then he gamed and i got ready for bed. this night, i was on my phone later than usual because i was chatting with daniel about working out with him when i get back, michelle about daylight savings dahkness, and chewy about us missing each other and i want to see her and i want to visit her so badly but ticket prices are so expensive from coast to coast T__T and then i did the thing where i stayed up on my phone doing nothing productive. if i got a new phone, i think i would spend more time on it, which is bad. lol. my oneplus one is my longest tech relationship with a screen (lol): 3 years and still going strong (well, my phone’s body is chipping).

15: i’ve been working out when i actually feel like it so i didn’t work out this morning and slept in :) i’m getting back to 7 hours of sleep now (more than once or twice a week)! kevin headed out for work and then i made my breakfast smoothie and started work. i’ve been craving warmer foods because it is colder now but my protein won’t taste as good if i put it in oatmeal or something. hmm, maybe i could just blend milk and protein and then eat an english muffin with pb and bananas on it. it’s a bigger breakfast but if it’s hot, i don’t think i would mind at all :) work has been chill this week because it is nearing thanksgiving and things are winding down for now. this day is a bit of a blur for me. i’m not sure what i did. i stayed at my computer for the most part until kevin got back home. i did talk to phil for a bit and then signed off and hurried to get the chicken thighs into the slow cooker. i didn’t realize it would take 4 hours for the slow cooker recipe. so i chopped up onions and garlic, put in the sauces and spices, and turned on the slow cooker. kevin got back early-ish but it he was in a heated argument with jon about sentencing. -___- this debate went on even after i went to sleep...

i snacked on edamame while kevin angrily typed away at his keyboard and waited for him to go to the gym with me. i knew it would take him more time to stop so i just left and did arms and back. i lifted mostly with 8s and 10s and took it slower this session. my arms are pretty flimsy and i still think my form is a bit off. i’m gonna check with daniel when i come back to chicago. after my workout, kevin was still debating. so i forced him to stop and go run and then i showered and added cornstarch to the thighs before it was done cooking 30 minutes later. i was pretty hungry by the time we ate. while kevin showered and cooked celery, i watched the beginning of season 5 of ‘mind of chef’ featuring ludo. lol kevin could see how excited i was and i kept gushing. i have 2-3 favorite chefs: david chang, ludo lefebvre, and christina tosi. i go nuts when i watch documentaries about them. lol. i now want to go to LA just to try all of ludo’s restaurants. instead of opening a big fancy restaurant, he went for a bit grungier strip malls in LA, which is fascinating. lol ok i’ll stop fangirling. we managed to get in a few games of helldivers before i rq’d and went to sleep because kevin would not stop debating with jon. i slept pretty late at 1 am (my phone dammit). i wrote in my gratitude journal that i just got as well. i want to think more positively. i think after this week, i’m going to stop updating my tumblr for a bit and just write in my gratitude journal.

16: i got up to go to work but after eating breakfast and changing my outfit twice, i really didn’t feel like going. so i changed back into my sleep clothes and worked from home. when it rains and looks gloomy and i’m not sure if my team is in the office, it makes me want to stay home. kevin got out of bed a bit later than usual so he went to work straight away. then i did a bit of work and phil pinged me with a new thing to do so i hopped on that. i worked on that until lunch time. then i ate lunch while watching youtube videos and downloading videos and movies to watch on my flight tuesday morning to chicagooo. after lunch, i anxiously waited for the eggie season ii drop. when it happened, i got a password screen and then all the items slowly came loading in. tbh, i wasn’t impressed :( mindy and i looked at the same time and she said she kind wanted the blur tee and i kind of wanted the oo dang long sleeve but $7 shipping is not worth for two shirts that are a bit pricey. we decided to wait for the next drop and bundle the shirts later. yeah, i had really high expectations. the season is inspired by the 2000s fashion, which i’m not a huge fan of, so maybe that’s why?

after that anti-climatic moment, daniel talked me into trying to bypass the $20 guest pass fee for his gym by live chatting someone for a free pass on his gym’s website. what he didn’t tell me is that they would call me and ask more and try to sell me their membership... man, i can’t lie. i feel so bad about it. :( i’m not gonna pick up sigh. i feel guilty for lying. anyway, i hopped on stand up and finished with the assignment phil gave me. the stand up took longer than i expected but after, i took a break to do some internet errands and stretches while watching more mind of the chef ft. ludo <3 after work, i made rice and chicken thighs for dinner. kevin came home and he made some chinese broccoli. hm i think today, i was feeling pretty moody. i watched some anime probably and some youtube videos while walking around the apartment. kevin went ahead and gamed with the guys. i think it was a pretty typical evening for us. we watched more ludo <3 while eating dinner and i continued watching after. hehe. i love this season.

17: today, i had a stressful day because of work. i didn’t work out in the morning but i ate my breakfast and then asked phil some questions and at the end of the conversation, i felt overwhelmed with the amount of videos i had to remake because of our monthly releases... so right after our talk, i hit the yoga studio. i started out with kickboxing with weights and then into hiit and a bit of legs. i ended up working out for over an hour. then i went back, drank a protein smoothie, showered, and ate lunch. i tried starting on my massive pile of work by figuring out how to streamline this process so that this won’t happen again. i like doing video tutorials but not when i am told i have to redo all the ones i’ve done because of small navigational changes... so i googled, researched, thought, brainstormed, etc about ways i can make this process easier for me and maybe for someone else in the future. i did this for a while alone until i decided to ask winston, kevin, and vivian for their ideas. winston actually video chatted with me for a while and it was nice catching up with him even though no solid solution came up. vivian gave me her best answer, which was plausible but not in the long run. kevin came back home and gave me two interesting ideas, but in the end, i had it in my mind that i had to remake all of them. oh well. it was the end of a week, so i set my mind to rest.

kevin brought me back sliders from his friday happy hour and we ate that while playing pokemon ultra sun and moon! i could have not worked a bit more and started playing but i wanted to start with kevin. we played a bit and then kevin went out for a run and then for dinner, reheated some broth to make korean rice cake soup. we watched ‘mind of a chef’ until i realized, that ludo’s season was only half of the season’s episodes... i forgot that this is how it was laid out after david chang in season 1. so we started watching the ‘best of’ episodes while eating. we ate the rest of our pomelo for dessert. we gamed for the rest of the night happily. we obviously, stayed up and gamed lol.

18: oh yes, we woke up late and we played pokemon in bed until we got hungry. then we decided to be responsible and went to do a quick grocery run. we just got edamame and bananas from bj’s because that’s what i eat on a daily basis lol. we got some ingredients to make caldo verde with the leftover kale in our fridge as well. kevin got me a slice of chocolate cake and some dark chocolate because i’ve been craving it like crazy. i know it’s going to be my time of month when i have a craving for rich dense chocolate cake lol. we also picked up chocolate covered wavy lays chips -- it’s a no. i ate it all but i would not buy again. lol. i would suggest getting ferrero roche instead. well, we got back and kevin felt like going climbing. i think we put everything away and then played more pokemon for a bit and then kevin went out. i tidied up a bit and got myself in the mood for working out. i wasn’t sure what i was going to do but i went to the yoga studio anyway. there was a girl facetiming someone in there... i felt awkward but i just did my thang in the corner while she did that. i don’t think she meant to go into the yoga studio for just that purpose because i heard her saying that he was interrupting her workout session. she left like 10 minutes after i started working out lmao.

i did full body strength today because i won’t have access to weights for most of next week. it was a good workout! i got back, made myself a smoothie, cut the potatoes and onion, and then washed some dishes. kevin got back, we showered, and he got to cooking caldo verde. i was pretty munchy at this point so i kept picking off the sausages lol. the soup turned out delicious! i think we ended up playing pokemon for the rest of the night. well, at least i did. i think kevin stopped and played hots before going to sleep. zzz.

19: today will be the last post before my gratitude journal break. we were bums again :P we played pokemon in the morning and then i was getting cramps and feeling out of it. i think we kept gaming for a while... ryan asked us if we wanted to game with him and terence and we ended up playing gauntlet together. after that, i started cleaning to be productive. at some point, i think kevin went for a run and then i worked out as well. we showered and then kevin made us fried rice with leftovers for dinner. after dinner, we digested a bit and then... hmm, maybe we ate then digested and then worked out, showered, and then cleaned the kitchen. lol. i am updating this on the 21st (when i stayed up to catch my flight to chicago) so i’m a bit out of it and 3 days ago is a lot @_@; anyway, it ended up being a really productive night. we cleaned everything and i got to rest a bit with my cramping and stuff. i tried going to sleep a bit earlier than we’ve been going to sleep because i needed to check in for southwest and get up to see the gymshark sales as well as take a call from kristen. yup. it didn’t feel like tomorrow was going to be a start to a new week aka work. i loved the way we spent this weekend just chilling and enjoying each other’s company. :)

20/21: okay, so that’ll be it for a bit. yesterday and today has been crazy. we spent monday working. i actually came up with a great game plan for the videos currently and worked a bit longer than i expected to -- i was on a grind though! we gamed together after eating dinner and when we left, we thought we had everything down, but when i got to chicago, i realized we didn’t take out the garbage... so i hope i don’t see a million fruit flies when i come back T__T i’m a bit worried but we’ll see! anyway, i stayed up yesterday because kevin’s flight to china left at 1 am and i wanted to go to the airport with him even though my flight left at 5 am. so after he went through security, i headed back to my terminal, brushed my teeth, and found a place to charge my phone. i started watching ‘psycho pass’ and i did stay up for the entire aiport process. i ko’d when i got on the plane. now it’s 10 pm and i am getting a bit sleepy. not sure if i want to do 10-15 minutes of abs anymore and/or play pokemon. i’m kind of ready to sleep. well, talk to you later, tumblr! thanks for being there for me and helping me document my life from sophomore year of high school until a year / two years after college graduation. it’s been real. i’ll be back in some way! <3

Changeling: the Lost - Seasons Pass #24

On this chapter of Seasons Pass, that went a lot easier than expected. The last post is here, and the full story so far is here.

All usernames have been replaced with their character’s name or “Storyteller” / “ST.” All text is unaltered aside from aforementioned name changing, italicizing quotes, and adding periods where otherwise multiple chat posts together would look like a run-on sentence; there will also be edits involved in how roll20′s /me commands are presented. All details given are publicly available to the entire group.

When we left off beside a desert road, Nathan had his tranq rifle pointed at the trunk of Logan's car, which contained his irate fetch with a gun who had been shooting it into. As Logan prepares to pop the trunk, Lorelai aims her pistol at the trunk and Tyler stands nearby ready to disarm him or push someone out of the way of his shot as necessary.

Storyteller: You open the trunk and Fathan waves his pistol around. He seems to be momentarily blinded. [Fathan] "You fuckers!" Nathan Bitwise: The moment I have sight, I fire a tranq. Storyteller: Okay. Uh... I'm going to give you a +2 bonus. One because he's lying on the ground, another because it's a PBS Nathan: Usually prone takes away from ranged, but I won't complain. Storyteller: It would if you were at a distance. But, not sure how much it would help if the guy was right in front of you Nathan: 3 + 2 + 2 - 3 (aiming for the neck again) + 3 (my last Willpower) Storyteller: Ok. So 7 Nathan: *gets 2 successes* Storyteller: Okay, he's sedated again. His arm flops to the side pretty quickly and the gun falls out of his hand. Lorelai: Lorelai grabs the dropped weapon Nathan: Nathan pants as the adrenaline drops. "Well that was a bit of a scare...!" Storyteller: Wow. Well, most of you miss it but Lorelai notices that there are some bullets in the trunk. It looks like Fathan may have been trying to reload. Tyler Morrison: All things considered it went pretty well. Nathan: Yeah, I don't know why, but I almost expected a boss fight. Logan Lake: Logan helps Tyler haul the fetch from the trunk, still seemingly oblivious to her freely flowing wound.

It's time to do it to 'em. After they have the fetch lying on the ground, Logan checks to make sure there's no cameras or nearby gas stations, of which there are none.

Natahn asks to borrow Lorelai's pistol.

Nathan: Nathan takes it, idly judging the weight as he walks around to near Fathan's head. Storyteller: Fathan lies there Logan: Logan looks over the state of her car and all the blood inside and the bullet holes and sighs, "well that's ruined." Storyteller: Insensible Nathan: "I don't know what your deal was, but it doesn't matter. You may have my sprite, but you're not me." He aims it right at the fetch's forehead. "Farewell, you upstart NPC." He pulls the trigger. Storyteller: Nathan receives x1 Fathan corpse. It just kinda... lies there Nathan: I think that leads to a degeneration roll? Storyteller: Right. 4 dice Nathan: Normal success threshold? *gets 1 success* Storyteller: Success! Nathan: Nathan breathes a little hard as he returns the gun to Lorelai. "Thanks. Thank you, everyone." Tyler: No problem, hope it brought some closure. Lorelai: Lorelai takes the gun back, giving him a shaky smile in return. Storyteller: The rest of you... 3 dice as well! Actually should have been 3 dice, Not 4 Logan: Logan shrugs and toes the body a bit. "We should probably get out of here before he wakes up." Lorelai: *gets 1 success* Storyteller: But Nathan still passed. 3 dice I said. But Lorelai passed anyway Logan: *gets 2 successes* Lorelai: Fairest, remember? I take a penalty to degeneration Storyteller: Oh, that's right. Same with Logan... who makes it anyway. Tyler! D! Tyler: *gets 2 successes* Storyteller: Okay. You're all fine Logan: Well... I mean. Storyteller: The corpse just... lies there Logan: Our behaviour would certainly suggest otherwise lol

They then come to the matter of disposing of the body. As there are no convenient sand dunes around, this being California and all, Nathan decides to try and hide it behind some large brush. (Also, Nathan finally drops the disguise he's been wearing for the last few sessions and returns to his mask looking like himself.)

Logan: Logan seems a bit impatient and eyes the fetch anxiously, "I mean, really, he'll probably be pretty pissed off and I don't want to stick around." Storyteller: You can see some brush. You could probably drag him over there Nathan: Nathan starts dragging. "Lorelai, he's dead. IT'S dead. He's not going to get back up." Logan: Logan looks at Nathan like he's crazy, "what?" Storyteller: brb Nathan: "You know what death is, right?" Lorelai: I know he's dead. Logan's the one talking about him coming back to life. Nathan: My bad. Lorelai: Lorelai helps drag the corpse. Tyler: Tyler helps Lorelai. Logan: Logan nods, "yeah, of course. I do it all the time. It sucks but it doesn't last forever. So we should get going." Nathan: Once the fetch is securely hidden (which will probably required a check, but whatev), Nathan walks up to Logan. Storyteller: Make a... I guess Subterfuge + Intelligence check Nathan: *fails* "As someone that's lived a thousand lives and died a thousand deaths, I've had to tell myself every day: death is permanent. Nothing respawns and comes back. This world isn't a world where that happens." Logan: Logan isn't quite grasping the concept of permanence but shrugs and walks over to try and help hide the body anyway. "Well, even so we probably shouldn't stand around here long. Someone might come along and wonder what we're doing." Nathan: "Of course, but I think I might need a little help with hiding it from the road. I don't care if anyone finds it, so long as we're like five miles away when they do."

Thankfully, everyone else manages to pass the Intelligence + Occult check to remember that after at most an hour, a fetch's corpse disintegrates into its component parts instead of looking like a corpse. Given that, they decide not to put further effort into hiding the body. Logan considers taking a piece to use for herself, but it would require dismembering it, which she's in not much of a position to do at the moment.

And so the motley return to their vehicles and head homewards.

Logan: Logan drives back to the city, obviously aware that what the did was not 'normal' but clearly unaware of how much so and not making much of an effort to avoid encountering other vehicles on the route. Storyteller: Well, you are bloodied. Might want to avoid them anyway Logan: Yeah but that's just cos the killed somebody. What's the big deal is her thinking. Someone might want to correct her. Nathan: "Logan, we're in a car full of bullet wounds and several of us are bleeding. We should probably avoid being seen too much." Logan: Logan nods, agreeing this is rather odd, "yeah, but where do you want me to go? Is there a place we can clean up the car or fix it?" Storyteller: Red could probably fix the car. Well, mend the holes at least Nathan: "I know a smithy. She could probably fix the holes." Logan: (So can she lean on her mantel and try to contact the court for some help in getting back to town incognito? Can she make a deal with the car to get us back safely?) Storyteller: I suppose. Er... With the car? Logan: Well I mean Changelings made deals with the seasons. How is a car so different? Storyteller: The car's working fine. It's just... people are going to ask about the bullet holes Nathan: The things changelings got going with seasons that made the Courts is vastly different. Storyteller: Also that. Something like the car wouldn't have a spirit big enough or conscious enough to chat with for you Logan: Logan grumbles that the car could be doing more to look less conspicuous but otherwise just tries to get over to Red's garage without much fuss, taking directions from Nate. Storyteller: You'd have to have someone who specializes in spirits or machines Lorelai: I mean... Red's a smith, not a mechanic. Storyteller: Crafts is crafts Logan: True but we've not got better ideas atm. Storyteller: Annoyingly Nathan: Well it's not like the hole's in the engine. Logan: Once we're there we can think of something better. Storyteller: So, this is a little outside of Red's area of expertise. You have two options: she'll go out of her way to get it done for a favor or you can bring her the parts and she'll do it as part of being part of the Spring Court. Nathan: I vote the second. Some of us have to look like they weren't just in the OK Corral. Logan: Logan tries to barter off Nate's favor for option one. Storyteller: What now? Logan: Nate owes me a favor, I want to use it instead of owing Red a favor. I'll just transfer it to her and she can make the car like new while we go to the Spring party.

After a brief detour where Nathan confirms it's late afternoon, Red agrees to Logan's proposition, and Nathan now owes a favor to Red Tasha. Logan leaves the car with Red and catches a ride home with Lorelai. Tyler gets a spare goblin fruit from Red, and Nathan returns the tranq rifle and remaining darts.

And now that the adventure of killing Nathan's fetch is over, the members of the motley individually turn to their previous distraction: the upcoming Spring Revel.

Logan: I mean, Logan is doing her thing getting ready for the big party. Answering e-mails and voice mails for her business, doing her day to day thing. Storyteller: Ok Lorelai: Lorelai is also getting ready, mainly putting together a playlist for the party. Storyteller: Shall we skip ahead to the party, then? Tyler: (Sure) Nathan: Nathan is mostly laying low and tending to his wounds, hoping he's presentable enough in time. Yeah, might as well if nothing else happens. Storyteller: Alright, so, a few days later, Nathan is being called to act as a attendant for Mist when Mist goes to the party. Nathan: "It begins..." That's what I'm doing then. Storyteller: Alright, so, who is attending the party? Tyler: (Tyler will attend) Logan: Logan will be. She'll bring a +1 if she can find anyone to go with her. Maybe Lars or Craige. Lorelai: Lorelai is going with Logan as well. She'd rather have someone to back her up here. Nathan: Well seeing as how I'm at Mist's disposal for the next six months, I definitely am. Storyteller: Alright, so, everyone is there.

However, the chapter ends here; Logan's player apparently caught enough cues that the Storyteller would like a bit more time planning the Revel, and everyone's OK with calling it there.

Any party held by the Court of Desire is sure to be a hoot. See you next time!

Survey 14.

1) How old do you look? Mid-twenties, maybe?  I’m 32 2) Where do you live? FL, USA

3) Are you waiting for something? The right time to move back to the other side of the state ><. 

4) What's one pet peeve of yours that is not common? When people leave water all over the sink (or maybe not cleaning up after themselves but thats probably common)

5) Last myspace message you received, what'd it say? I haven’t used MySpace in years but my last FB message was my cousin asking for my address so she could send her wedding invitation

6) Can you handle the truth? It depends but I’d rather hear the truth than a lie.

7) Did you cry today? Nope

8) Do you hate the last person you had a conversation with? No

9) Do you have kids? Not yet :/ but hopefully at some point soon

10) Have you ever thought about converting your religion? Ah, one foot is in Christianity and the other is Agnostic.  Other than that, I would not convert to anything.

11) Last shocking news you heard? I’m actually not sure

12) What was the last thing you drank? I’m drinking coffee and water right now

13) Last person you hugged? My husband

14) Who do you most look like in your family? I definitely look like my mom 15) Did you dream last night? I don’t think so.  I usually do though

16) How many piercings do you have? 7 but I used to have 15 (mostly up my ear lobes x4 but I let them pretty much close)

17) If you could have something right now, anything, what would it be? A house so we can start a family.

18) Does anyone call you babe? My husband

19) Where does most of your family live? In the mid-west.  We’re the only ones in FL.  Although my In-Laws are snowbirds on the other side of the state for half the year

20) Where did you grow up? Midwest and I will always be a midwesterner at heart

21) Where do you want to go on vacation? I would LOVE to visit England/Wales/Scotland, German and Czech Republic again, and Japan.

22) Have you broken a bone? Just my pinkie finger from falling off my friends bike that was too big for me lol (this is when I was like 11 or something)

23) What did you receive for Valentine's Day? Um, I don’t think I got anything.  We don’t really celebrate Valentine’s Day because our anniversary is like 2 weeks after so we just celebrate both at once.

24) Have you ever had a panic attack? Not really

25) Can you sleep in jeans? Not comfortably 26) What can't you wait for? Being able to start a family. But something sooner is moving back to the other side of the state..it will be happening soon but I just gotta get up the courage to tell my boss I’m quitting ><

27) When's the last time you told someone you loved them and meant it? Last night to my husband

28) Have your parents ever smoked pot? I’m pretty sure both of my parents did as teenagers, I know my Dad did for sure

29) Want someone back in your life? No one in particular

30) Do you live near your most recent ex? No, but apparently he did live in FL for a while before moving to Virginia (he’s in the Navy and was stationed here but then they moved him).  I don’t know if he’s still there though.

31) Are you good at giving directions? NO, I am the worst navigator lol do not listen to me, I will get us lost!

32) What do you order at the bar? Typically a beer - this depends on what they have on Tap.

33) When was the last time you cried really, really hard? Oh man, um..its been a while.  Maybe a couple of weeks ago but only because I was really emotional because of my damn period

34) Who was your last text from? My brother

35) Ever licked someone's cheek? Lol yeah

36) what is your favorite thing to eat with peanut butter? I have a PB&J sandwich every day for lunch but my favorite thing to eat with it is chocolate

37) Where were you on July 4th, 2007? Ok, I guarantee I was at some party where these guys I used to hang out with were having a concert (in their parents’ garage) like it was a lineup of maybe 3 or 4 bands (all involving the same members maybe 2-3 other members in the same friend group..if that makes sense) I was 19 at the time and it was a lot of fun. There was maybe about 50 people there, too so it wasn’t just a few people.

38) What body part(s) do you wash first in the shower? My face

39) Have you ever kissed anyone who's name started with a D? Um, I don’t think so

40) Do you prefer warm or cold weather? Warmer for sure.  I don’t know if I could handle the cold anymore.  It gets to 40′s sometimes in the Winter and thats enough for me!

41) What do you currently hear right now? Ok, I thought I was over kpop but I guess not.  I’m just going through some of EXO’s music videos before work >< (I have a side kpop blog called @simplekpopblog if you’re also into it and want to follow me there :) ) I am seriously obsessed with Do Kyungsoo’s, Park Chanyeol’s (both from EXO) and Jo Jinho’s (from Pentagon) voices.

42) Does someone like you right now? I mean, he better since we’re married!

43) Could you go out in public looking like you do now? Ahh..I’d have to change my shirt.  I”m wearing an oversized white shirt. 44) What are your nicknames? I don’t really have nicknames.  Although my brother sometimes calls me KPac (only because I got my nose pierced on the same side as Tupac I guess??? but yeah)

45) On the opposite sex where do you like them to have piercings? I don’t mind like gauged ears (but not ridiculous ones), or like an eyebrow piercing. It really depends on what it is and how it looks, but I’m not opposed to them

46) If you could go any place in the world right now where would you go? I actually wish I could stay home for once.  I’m so jealous of everyone that gets to work from home.  I’ve had to go into the office the entire time!

47) Have you ever made someone so mad that they broke something? I don’t think so

48) Have you ever kissed someone and hated it? Not hated (he was actually a pretty good kisser) but I definitely wasn’t expecting Evan to kiss me that one time. 49) What is your favorite color? Gray, purple, green 50) If you could go back in time, how far back would you go? Maybe last year and decline this job.  I like it a lot but we gave up living in a place we really liked.  OR going back to when I was in HS and picking a career I actually like and want to dedicate my life to. I don’t hate my career but I definitely don’t belong in it.

Big Turtle Virtual 50 Miler

All of the races continue to be getting cancelled but that isn’t stopping me from getting the miles in! This past weekend was my virtual 50 mile run of my favorite race that was cancelled. In my 4 years of ultra running this was hands down my most memorable experience of any race that I have done. I ended up with a massive almost 2 hour PR for the 50 mile distance finishing in 9:57:22 and I was lucky to do it on my home trails surrounded by my 2 favorite communities all day long: Runners and yogis.

The Race

7 people showed up to support me throughout the day. My cousin and a bunch of yogis from the studio I do yoga at offered to pitch in and share some miles so I wouldn’t have to do it alone. The first group of 3 people started me off running the first 6 miles with me at around a 10 minute pace to start. Next up my cousin joined me and she did the next 5 miles with me at around 9:10-9:30 pace. Feeling pretty good at this point my next pacer joined and she was a bit injured but still wanted to help me out so we did an active recovery portion where we run/walked 2 minutes on 2 off for her 5 miles which averaged out to be 13 minutes per mile. Heading into mile 17 picking up my next person who was going to run 32 miles with me going for her 2nd ultra (I helped her complete her 1st ultra earlier this year in my first blog post) I felt like I was just starting out with fresh legs thanks to the active recovery miles i just took. I felt confident having her by my side the rest of the way since her first ultra was done on probably the worst trail conditions I’ve ever seen, and she kicked ass out there. She is about my pace and we both run pretty well together despite only running together 2 times total lol. We ran pretty steady all day only hitting a couple low points towards the end because it was 70 degrees and sunny outside. I was used to running in 20 degrees at 5/6am before work and that 70 felt like 100 out there. We pushed through the low points and got through it encouraging each other throughout the way. We hit mile 25 in 4:34 and finished overall in 9:57:22 which was a 2 hour PR for me. It was a complete honor having everyone out there supporting me all day long either sharing miles or through texts. I usually enter races by myself with no support, pacers, or family/friends there to cheer me on. Usually I rely on other runners and volunteers around me to keep me going. Today they made it easy and time flew by. Not only that I threw down one of my best running performances ever in a race! There’s no doubt with this quarantine it improved my running tremendously and also improved my mind during the race. Heading into this race I was at 45 miles for the week already and I ended up with 101 miles my highest in a week ever! During this quarantine I am averaging 80 miles a week and my run streak is currently at 52 days of at least 5 + miles. I even ran 6.5 the day after the 50 miler and was barely even sore! After everyone finished their section we decided to do yoga poses since most of the people were yoga instructors/yogis like myself. It was definitely a moment I will never forget.

Fueling

Prior to the race I have my usual 1.5 scoops of fully charged about an hour before the start. 3 hours prior I have a PB and banana sandwich. At the start I had a hammer gel then every 45 minutes I consumed 1 hammer gel. Calorie wise I ate about 150 calories an hour of real food on top of the gels. After the 4 hour mark I had 1-2 perpetuem solids per hour. For fluid I knew it was going to be tricky with the first 70 degree running day. I stuck to my plan of 24 oz per hour mixed of fizz and regular water for about 6 hours then I had to bump it up to 32-36 oz per hour as I was sweating severely and the sun was out with no cloud cover. At mile 40 the last stop at the aid station I had about 12 oz of Diet Coke as well which really helped and was a good break from the water and fizz. Miles 41-45 were the slowest as I felt a little fatigued from the heat and sun but I was able to shake it by mile 46. Post race 2 scoops of chocolate recoverite mixed with ice in a blender. I felt pretty good the whole way through energy wise but the heat got me towards the end which there was nothing I could really do since it’s been 20/30 degrees when I normally run.

Next

Not sure what lies ahead yet with the races if there are some local ultras allowed to go in June/July I will most likely enter them since I don’t have a race until the Leadville 100 in August that is still on for now. Regardless I will continue to be out there hammering out the miles!