Wordless Wednesday – Recent Adventures

I’m incredibly fortunate to have ridiculous friends that drag me on outlandish outings. In the past month and a half I’ve taken part in some fantastic events. Here are a few picture highlights!

Showing our support by rockin’ out to 90s music

Riding a bull in the middle of Ragnar, disregard the ridiculous face…

Preparing to rock the Tough Mudder

First things first, hop into this pool of ice!

And of course the chaos that was our Red Dress Run

What are some of your recent adventures?

Friend Making Mondays – TV, Movies, and Me

After a fairly ridiculous weekend, I’m looking forward to getting back to being a productive member of society. Here are two photos to sum up how my weekend went. You’ll notice me overdoing it in pink for my Friday night festivities and being really proud (read: ashamed) on my red dress run on Saturday.

And since it is the beginning of the week, I decided to get involved with Friend Making Mondays! Make sure to check out all the other great responses over at All The Weigh.

TV, Movies and Me

1. If you could be a recurring star on a show that is currently on TV, which show would you choose?  I’d choose Psych.  The characters are absolutely hilarious and always find themselves doing ridiculously, fantastic things.  Plus, I love a good mystery.

2. Name the movie that you are most embarrassed to admit that you love. I’ve seen every dance movie ever created? Absolutely love Center Stage and all of those genre.

3. Name one show that you’ve never seen and would love to watch. I’ve heard great things about Girls and Breaking Bad, but I’m the type that needs to see every episode starting from the beginning. It would take far too long to catch up on either series.

4. Do you ever go to movies alone? No, just not something I’m interested in doing. I rarely go to the movies unless I’m with a large group.

5. If you could only watch one TV show for the next year, which show would you choose and why?  This one is really tough. It would have to be Dexter or Criminal Minds. I love a good crime drama and those both have plenty of seasons to keep me entertained.

6. If you could star in one reality show, which one would it be and why?  I’d be on the Biggest Loser so I could work out with Jillian and ogle Dolvett. (Is this a reality show or a game show, I can’t decide?!)

7. If someone rented a billboard for you, what would it say?  It would probably say something outrageous. Or just be a giant collage of puppies.

8. Who is the most famous person with whom you have been in the same room?  Michael Jackson was at Universal Studios when I was there a dozen years ago, but I didn’t spend much time with him. I’ve spent time with some “famous” Silicon Valley folks, but I don’t think they qualify.

9. If you were chosen to be a contestant on a TV game show, which show would you want to be on?  My best friend and I always wanted to go on Lingo (on the Game Show Network). If I had more random knowledge I’d want to go on Jeopardy.

10. If there was a movie being made about you, which actor would you choose to play you? One of my professors keeps mentioning that I look like Jennifer Lawrence… I don’t agree with her on the looks bit, but I love that girls personality.

So tell me, what is your favorite television show? What character do you relate with the most?

Pretty in Pink

This weekend I’ll be participating in my hash’s red dress run (yes, even the dudes and dogs wear dresses). I’m a proud harriette, a lady member of the Hash House Harriers. Do you enjoy running and beer? Then this is a great group for you! Plus, it is international so there is no reason you shouldn’t join a kennel for a weekly run. (If you have any questions, I’d be all too happy to answer them.) I’m sure there will be plenty of embarrassing photos to show off come Sunday. Prepare yourself!

Along with the red dress, we’ll be supporting the Breast Cancer Foundation this evening with a pink pub crawl. What does this mean? I get to don all the pink I can find in my apartment! Here is a quick preview of what is to come. I’ve got a dress, shoes, underoos, necklace, sunglasses (with triceratops on top), wings, and a tutu. If only I could find my pink earrings… What do you think? Is it enough?  :)

How do you doll yourself up for theme events?

Note: If you have any red dresses that you no longer need, I can find them a good home as I’ll be attending several red dress runs in the coming weeks. Drop me a line if you have any to donate. The more outrageous the better!

Color Running

Some alternate titles for this post include:
That time I ingested too much cornstarch
Like a Bandit!
Bootyshakin’ in the Streets
Colorful Day Drinking

This past Saturday I got roped into joining my (hash) friends run the San Francisco Color Run. This required me to rouse myself from bed early and dress in my finest white. After getting over the initial shock (it was early after a late night…), my friend and I jumped into his convertible, put down the top, and threw on the jams. Apparently people found it shocking when I started to scream good morning out of the car.

An hour later, after dealing with traffic, we found parking and our friends. Fortunately one was kind enough to prepare bibs for the rest of us (banditing at its finest). Sneaking into the front of the massive corral we opened up our first pouch of color and started attacking each other. To be honest, it looked like we all had a cheeto eating problem, not that flattering…

Then we were off! For the first mile it was just a cluster of individuals searching for a color station. My friends all run at different paces, but somehow we all kept up with one of the faster chicks. And then we found it, the first color station. Everyone on the course halted as we shuffled through the station. I was smartly donning large sunglasses to avoid getting the color in my eyes, but that didn’t help my mouth and shnoz. I learned quickly that you need to avoid breathing in those areas (because not breathing is totally possible for a few minutes at a time).

Since we’re all a bunch of “serious” runners, we started to pass people and pull some runner antics. Yes, we did Indian Sprints (is there a more PC term for this?). This involved more sprinting than I would have imagined, but it was well worth it. Before we knew it, we  were covered in yellow, orange, blue, and pink. And my mouth was chalky as ever (I don’t know how to hold my breath). As we came sprinting toward the finish line, all trying to outdo the next, we were stopped by a huge crowd. Walking across a finish line? That was new.

And then it was done! We chugged some water, at which point I seriously ingested the cornstarch, and then convened by the sound stage where I proceeded to get down. There is nothing quite as mesmerizing as my awkward white girl dancing. At least that is what I like to think. Twas quite an amusing event overall.

The only logical conclusion after the race was to don our colorful new attire and grab a celebratory brunch. A dozen of us descended upon a local watering hole where we ate and drank ourselves merry. Being logical, I went home and bathed, took a nap, and did some work. This wasn’t the case for all of my friends, later that evening I joined a few at another bar where I found out that they’d been entertaining themselves at bars all day. What a bunch of crazies I’m friends with. :)

Honestly, I don’t think I would have done this race if I wasn’t there with a large group of my friends. It wasn’t my favorite due to the overload of people and inefficient running. And dear goodness I was ill after consuming all that colorful powder. But I won’t deny that I had a great day with these folks, perhaps it really is all about the company you keep?

Have you ever done a color run? What did you think?

Chasing Tail!

This past weekend I was fortunate enough to run the Ragnar Relay with 11 lovely Dinosaurs. 202 miles of pure ridiculousness in 35 hours. This past December a friend of mine reached out to me to fill a spot in her team, and I’m so glad I nabbed it. I only knew one member of the team, but I didn’t let that stop me from joining in on the fun.

It all began Thursday when I flew into the airport to be greeted by the brontosaurus. We rushed around to get provisions for the vans before getting to the hotel at 11pm. Van 1 finally got to sleep a bit after midnight. And then we woke up at 2:30am to make it to the start line. Yeah, nothing like starting a race on less than three hours of sleep!

It was frigid out and we were all jumping around for energy at the start line. Our terrordactyl was out on leg one by 5am and we were off to cheer her on. The course was filled with runners and we did our best to scream encouragement to them all. After she came in, we sent off a few more gals to enjoy the dark running environment. By the time my first leg started the sun had finally come up, thank goodness, and I was able to run without any issues.

I must admit that I was incredibly nervous about the pace I’d be able to hold for the entire race. I initially put myself in for a goal pace, but when race day came I didn’t think I could sustain. Well, I went out for my 6.7 miler and tried to remain steady. After getting passed by an older woman in the first half mile, I decided to latch on to her and maintain her pace. By the last half mile I was able to pass her and saw that my pace was 30 seconds faster per mile than I had expected. Absolutely best feeling in the world.

When we all completed our first legs we decided it was best to have some lunch. And what better place than Cracker Barrel? Dear goodness we stuffed ourselves. Heading back to the exchange point, we took a quick van nap before waiting for our last runner to get in. By the time she arrived we were back in the dark for our second legs. Sadly our first runner never had the chance to run in the sun, fortunately she was an east coaster who was used to the weather.

We were all a bit drained by the time we headed out again, but we didn’t let that stop us. We were consistently cheering every runner on (unlike many of the other teams who just cheered on their own people). For a while I was running ahead of people telling them to “chase some tail” because I’m creative like that.  :)

And then it was my turn. By 1opm, when I went off for my second leg, I was exhausted from the running, lack of sleep, and obnoxious cheering. The leg was tougher, but again I found someone going my perfect pace and was able to use them for support. For the second time of the race I surpassed my pace goal and surprised myself (but who can complain about that?!).

By midnight we were huddling in a community center, hoping for a few more hours of shut-eye. I can’t say that I was able to sleep, but it was nice to be still for a while. Yet, before any of us had expected, we were roused and had to get on the road again. Around 5am our third legs began and we were on our way to the finish line. Bleary eyed and delirious, we each set out on our final leg.

Although my third leg was the shortest, it was also the hilliest that I’d have to endure. At times I wanted to slow down (read: walk), but I knew that my team would be cheering for me on the crest of the hill so I pushed harder. For the third time I surpassed my expectations and maintained a quicker pace. It was an amazing feeling when I passed off the slap bracelet to the next runner. I was finished and I was ecstatic. After the first van finished, we grabbed some real food before heading to the finish line for some more cheering and celebration. Check out our crazy crew of dinos

Ragnar reminded me how much I absolutely love running and it taught me a lot about myself. I now realize that I can push even harder than I had expected. If I can maintain a quicker pace when I’ve gotten barely any sleep and have to conquer hills, then there is no reason I can’t push myself day to day. I also realized that being cheered on by five random individuals can do amazing things for your self esteem. I’ve fallen in love with all of my teammates and hope to run with them again in the near future. Ragnar, you’ve got a new fan!

And if completing Ragnar wasn’t enough, we decided to do Tough Mudder the following day. Woke up this morning with a fun new set of bruises all over my body. Twas amazing, yet I don’t know if I’ll be doing that again… But that is a story for another time.

What is the most insane race you’ve done? Have you ever tried a relay race?