The Pick

egads...sorry to have let the blog slip a bit! i've been busily working on one thing or another and before you know it time flies by! where exactly all the time goes seems to be a bit of a mystery as when i think back i draw a bit of a blank...haha. then i try to think of what exactly i have accomplished and again it's like staring inot a black hole...ugh! okay, well, i have been working on one thing or another and so to bring it back to the point...sorry for neglecting my friendlies :)

anyways, so today i was both disgusted and appalled to be sitting at a stoplight, and turning to my right only to bear witness to one of the cardinal sins of driving: picking your schnoz! this old lady was really going after it (think at least second knuckle!) and it wasn't a quick pick either. she was swirling the digit around for quite some time, and the grossest thing was her geriatric hubby was sitting passenger side eating ice cream! well, i for one would have lost my appetite, but apparently he had lost no such zeal and kept licking away! i actually was staring at her with a disgusted look, hoping she would turn to me and then i could just gawk to let her know i bear witness to her little deed! but no luck, light turns green and life moves forward!

and so we all must forge onward and upward (hopefully not upward into your nasal passages, however!) and onto the next day! hope u are all enjoying ur weekend and toting ur faithful tissues shall the mood strike u for a pick! :)

The Bane of a Non-Marathon Runner

It seems that every time I meet someone who is not a fellow runner, and they found out that I am, I am inevitably faced with the same question eagerly spouted from them: "Do you run marathons?"

Although I generally anticipate the question (just as I've accepted there are still people out there who find it hilarious to shout out 'run, Forrest, run' despite the fact that line is so outdated and obnoxious) I still feel the hairs on the back of my neck prickle and a wave of annoyance comes over me as I reply, "No." Their faces instantly drop into a look of first disappointment and then something akin to pity. I can almost hear what they are thinking, "Oh, the poor dear thinks she's a runner." But what comes out of their mouths once they get over their initial disappointment is something more like, "Well, maybe one day." At that point, I do my best to politely edge away, as not only am I annoyed, and have stopped from even trying to explain that just because I haven't run a marathon doesn't instantly disqualify me as being a runner, as they never quite understand despite enthusiastically nodding their heads in agreement. No, no matter what I say at that point, they will never be convinced of my runner status.

As this happened yet again on my run the other day, as I'm doing my usual thing and passing an elderly couple walking the opposite direction, she shouts out in a thin old woman voice, "Are you training for a marathon?" I quickly replied no and kept on going, but I saw both her and her husbands do the usual drop and they looked at me almost with pity. It doesn't matter that I still run every day, or how many intervals I pound out a week, or whatever my weekly mileage total happens to be; to them, because I don't have my sights set on that magical 26.2 miles, I'm just some impostor.

I understand that the marathon is an a great event, and I do hope to do one one day, (but not in the imminent future) it seems because it has been picked out by the likes of Oprah, Katie Holmes, and a plethora of other celebs who cite themselves as having 'been there, done that' the event has taken on a more of a status symbol. The attitude that people who have done them, regardless of their finishing time, are vastly superior than any jolly jogger who hasn't. I heard a few coworkers one time congratulating one of the girls who had finished her marathon in about 4:10 (which was awesome for her, no discredit!) and subsequently relishing her with accolades, presents, and the like. Now, on the same day, a different woman who frequented the gym I was working at usually everyday, if not twice, had earned a bronze medal from the World Championships in the 10k. However, she was given not even the littlest congrats from any of the others, because it was after all, only 6 miles, not the 26.2 the other girl had done. In their minds, anything compared to finishing a marathon was second rate.

It seems that in the culture outside of the running community, if you're not a marathon runner, you're no runner at all, and that is a tad annoying. They have no concept of the speed vs. distance relation. The 5 hour marathon finished would rank above the sub 4 min. miler simply because a mile is so short and anyone can run four laps around a track? Well, I know it's petty, but I still find it ridiculous that I feel the need to have to explain myself to those people. I fight back the urge to rattle off the fact that, no I'm not training for Boston, but I'm hoping to run such and such for the 10k or 5k; I'm not running a marathon but I just finished such and such track workout, and I've hit X number of miles this week, okay!

Alas, they will never understand. Yet, thankfully among the 'true' runners, we don't look down our noses at those racing the 5's and 10's and appreciate the PR's that come there. We know that attaining competitive times in those events (and others) takes just as much work and dedication as the marathon, but in different ways. And even if you're not training for a certain event per se, but just running for the fun of it, who cares...you can still be a member! So, the next time I get that inevitable question, I'll let my irritation rise, but I'll keep it mute and simply hold my head high and proudly state, "NO!"

Spunkychick*

New Blog For My Poor @** :)

hello again! well, let's see wat's going down in this sida town :P okay, well, i'm going to go out on a limb here and maybe peg myself as a complete DORK...but those of u who know me, prolly have already figured that out! haha. So, i light of these dark economic times, i've been dabbling in random stuff online and actually found a couple of cool little sites that will pay u (not a TON of money by any means, but it adds up..haha) for doing certain little things. like u can fill out quizzes, or just view ads and click thru them. so, i actually set up a little blog devoted just to what i'm doing on there. now, i only started the blog yesterday, so it's not all 'nice and purdy' yet, but feel free to check it out, maybe u can find some spare change dropped in ur paypal acct. too :) the stuff actually does pay out, and so, if ur bored online, something to do...but here's my blog there:

Girl Needs Cash

as for the life of this chick, did a track workout today, and these stupid gnats kept flying in my eyes, mouth, nose, etc. and it was annoying...haha. well, not as annoying as the burning in my legs, so maybe it was a nice distraction!! :)

okay, and for some GOOD news, lord knows i need some of that, got 2 replies from people i emailed from CL postings for writers they were seeking for random stuff. now, this is nothing to pump the fists about yet, cuz i get the replies before but they end up picking someone else of bail out. but, i need a pick-me-up today, so i'm gonna be a little happy...okay?!?! hehe.

okay, well i'm off to work on some stuff...take care friends!!

Spunkychick*

On to New Ventures

Hello my friends...hopefully you're still out there :) well, this week has been sort of crazy...I've decided to leave that dead-beat old job and boss to boot and more on to (hopefully, fingers crossed!) greener pastures. But, one never knows I guess, especially these days! So it's back to trolling for online writing gigs, and again, keeping my fingers crossed there. I'm really sad how things turned out with the Track gig, as I do love running and could talk about it FOREVER!! Actually, on that note, I hope everyone is aware by now that one Mr. Dathan Ritzenhein has set a new American Record for the 5k!! He broke Bob Kennedy's mark that stood for 13 loooong years, and with his 12:56, placed third out of an entirely African field. Bekele won the race, but Dathan proves that Americans shouldn't count themselves out of distance races and can be competitive with the Kenyans and Ethiopians! Actually it also just further proves how freaking AMAZING Alberto Salazar is as a coach. He just started coaching Dathan about 6 weeks ago, and already had huge success not only in this race, but in the World Champs 10k. Especially considering that Dathan had assumed his success would come in the way of the Marathon.

Anywho, lets see, not much else crazy or earth shattering I suppose. Been doing a lil' doodling, but nothing crazy good. Keep your good thoughts for me in mind as I desperately seek employment!! Crikey!! :)

Spunkychick*

A little venting...a little running :)

Oh me oh my...well, I feel like i'm at a turning point, or sort of stuck in a goopy glob of mud! i'm stuck between a go-nowhere sort of position in regards to this job and don't see that it will ever really pan out. i think the guy who was starting the business had no idea what it truly was going to take, had insufficient planning, networking, etc. and is in no position to actually start up. his website looks like crap, and as it is the main platform of his business, it doesn't look too promising in the way of success. it is really frustrating, as i put so much time and effort into my sector of the business, yet it all looks as if it's going down the tubes. i had written a lot of not only marketing stuff (fliers, brochures, etc.) reached out to lots of people, and started a blog and writing track and field related articles there, but without this boss holding up his end of the deal, there will be no business. so here i am out another couple months without seeing anything in the way of compensation, and back into the wide world of job market seeking...cripes. well, i would really like to somehow parlay all the articles or information i had amassed for this last venture into something profitable, perhaps starting to write for a track website, but i'm not sure if there is an opening, and crossing my fingers that something might work out there. but as i'm not sure, it kinda scares me because if nothing is there, i'm not sure what i should be doing...i feel lazy not getting out there and making money! i'm hoping i will hear back from a few people tomorrow, but i soooo fell sorta stuck in limbo. gosh, it sure is tough trying to do freelance writing stuff, you send out all these responses and/or queries to people and hardly hear back! well, that could be because maybe i'm just not so good, and that's my problem i guess! ugh.

oh well, as far as that goes, i'm gonna stick a fork in it and just try to push it outta my mind. had a good long run today, went to a new place (of course got lost getting there...thanks a lot Google maps...NOT!) but met up with a new group and they were all really nice and hopefully i'll be able to meet up with them again. of course the guys are way faster and since they were doing a sorta tempo workout, they left me in the dust after a few miles in, but it was fun to have company and i was able to push to keep them in sight, and that made it a good workout for me...haha...aaah, the joy of falling off the pack and being pooped out the end! but it's a good goal to try to get faster so as to stick with them longer before being dropped!

tons of people out on the bike trail today, lots of people walking dogs, which is usually fine, but it bugs me when they let their dog lunge at you and don't do anything about it...aarg. the other annoying thing that people do, which i feel kinda bad bitching about because they are doing trying to be nice, but when they make stupid comments like, "wow, you're going at a good pace" or "great stride!", it's so cheesy. the funniest thing was when i was literally jogging my warm-up on the track and when i pass these two walkers, they literally start clapping their hands and cheering for me because i ran a whole lap around the track. i feel mean saying it, but it's like, okay, it's one lap and please don't clap, cuz i've got like tons of laps to do way faster than i'm going now, and for gosh-sakes don't applaud a warm-up! oh well, i guess they think their are being inspirational or what not, but it's like, come on people! oh well, at least they are nice enough to stay outta lane one!!

okay folks, gotta go!
Spunkychick

Bosses Suck!

hello my friends, and sorry to have neglected you for so long :/ This chick has been tied up with one never ending set of problems or another! But aren't we all, right?!? Arrrggg, i'm currently about to strangle this new boss of mine (don't fret, i'm not actually homicidal, only a fantasy!..haha), who keeps coming up with one excuse of another as to why he isn't doing his part to get things done...yada yada yada. he's one of those people who literally talks in loops and loops, basically repeating his same sorry excuses but desperately seeking new ways to phrase them. i finally was at my breaking point and thinking that he will never really come through with up keeping his end of the promises of helping build this new position (it's a new company and starting up, and i've been having a big hand in creating the track and field area of the business, and he oversees all the sports in general) and i've been working my @$$ off to get content, interviews, info. up on my part of the business, making brochures, fliers, etc., putting the word out there and generating a 'buzz' so to speak to let people, coaches, and athletes, know about what's going on, and he hasn't come through with ANYTHING he promised. so when i finally voiced the fact that he isn't being honest or keeping me updated (he took the liberty of deleting my entire email inbox without warning me, then asks, "i hope you didn't have anything in there that you won't be able to get back..rite?) i was obviously upset. then he has the gall to be like, "whoa whoa whoa, baby you have it all wrong!" (excuse me, did he just call me baby?!?! wtf?!?) needless to say, i'm not having much faith in said idiot, and have been working everything on my end, but seeing no results as he is supposed to be keeping his end up, creating a website, etc. where i am sending these kids, but when they go there there isn't anything to look at! (when he promises me that he's put up wat i asked him to and fixed certain things, of course it's never done) so i end up looking like an idiot and then lose credibility...ugh! i'm sticking it out, but it's hard to have faith in something when all you come up with are empty promises...sigh. okay, enough of my little ranting...arggg.

i gotta go work on some more stuff, hopefully with a hope and a prayer said boss will pull thru ?? yea, and the moon is made of cheese!! (hopefully cheddar! :O)

Spunkychick!

Go Away Mr. Sun...

Well my friends, i hope you haven't abandoned me completely! haha...jk. well, i'm back and here for another quick update. well, let's see what this chick has been up to. for one, i've been DYING in this disgusting heat wave that has hit...the last week we have been above 90 degrees, making some new record there, but the worst were 3 days in a row at like 107!! yikes! okay, and so since lots of people have to AC, it's been brutal to say the least! these little baby fans just aren't doing it, i tell you! then, on the news they say that there has been sooo much demand for fans and AC units, that every store is sold out, and the shipments that come in the mornings are being cleared out in the style of the late 'Tickle-me Elmo' craze! i can just see brawls and fights breaking out between sweaty irate customers over the last swivel fan...haha. well, thank goodness that it seems (or so they say, but really, what do the weathermen really know, huh?!?!) that the worst has passed, and by next week, back to the blessed 80's, which in perspective is so much cooler, but still what used to feel hot. it's a sad day when i'm thankful to be 'only' in the upper 90's :( well, it just didn't make it too fun running-wise to say the least. good news though, is i did have a good tempo run yesterday and was happy to have gone the fastest yet...we'll see how this little experiment goes...lol.

i've been doing something kinda fun too, there's this new site that's going to be offering a ton of quizzes to take and get scored, and they want everything from personality tests to random trivia, and i've been writing a lot for them. it's been fun to come up with random stuff, and they pay you ten bucks for every quiz they accept, yea, not a gold-mine, but it feels like a little 'found cash' and maybe i could buy some little treat or such...haha.

well, i'm off to do some errands, hope you're all doing well, and not punching out a neighbor for their desk fan! they have found that extreme heat causes people to be more apt to being in nasty moods...so watch out!

Spunkcyhick out!