My favorite poem by Dorothy Parker:

I like to have a martini,
Two at the very most.
After three I’m under the table,
After four I’m under my host.

I dedicate tonight’s martini to you, Dorothy.

We had a blast. Chef Nicole took over my kitchen and taught me some awesome things! The wine was fabulous, the food was fabulous and the company spectacular.

This weekend the Martini Twins did a mock tri. We’ve never done anything like this before and we had no clue what to expect. We survived and finished in 2:10 and that included our 30 minute swim. And that is when I decided that air is my best friend. Air is good. Air never fails me. And since there is no air under water, the concept of swimming is ridiculous. The exercise called sipping margaritas and floating aimlessly is the only appropriate water exercise.

Saturday we rode 20 miles and ran some and then on Sunday we swam 30 minutes, rode 13 miles and ran 3.2 miles and hung out with the neighborhood rooster for a while – it took us 2 hours and ten minutes. And if it wasn’t for the swimming, I might have some energy left today. Give me a half marathon any day, I say.

Anyhow, fun times, fun recovery and just plain fun hanging with friends!

Here’s some video and you’ll notice how far ahead we are of the pelopton, we’re fast like that. And training, recovery and party pictures for you to enjoy. I’ll post a protected update that does not include us dancing on the tables soon. Seriously, does not have any dancing pictures.

Anyhow, fun times, fun recovery and just plain fun hanging with friends! Pics and video to enjoy.

Tri Training from Runner Susan on Vimeo.

Friday night was date night and to feel extra special I decided to wear my Donald J. Pliner Retro 70s Date Night Shoes, my new favorite pair of wedges that work perfect with my long, dark jeans! You may not like them, but damn, they do look mighty fine on my feet. I used them in my April Masthead and I heart them like I heart date night, and they heart me back.

Anyhow, for date night, we ate at a local Bistro owned by a friend of ours . . . and that friend of ours made us the best Italian Margaritas. I’m not sure if they were the best because they were the first Italian Margaritas I’ve ever had or if they were the best because she made them extra big, strong and tasty just for us. Either way, they were delicious and they made for a fabulous meal, a fabulous date night, and fabulously groggy morning after.

And why am I telling you this? Because the next morning as I was groggily doing my normal Saturday morning pool-boy duties, I saw a brown blob of something laying about in the far end of the yard and I immediately started to panic because I remembered doing something I rarely do . . . I tossed my shoes on the floor in a passionate flurry as opposed to putting them neatly back in their proper position on the closet shelf as a normal person does in a passionate flurry.

The echo of my scream . . . “NOOOOOOO, THOSE WERE MADE. IN THE MOUNTAINS. OF ITALLYYYY” . . .  is still ringing in my neighborhood.

Apparently, Miss Cherry Couture is feeling better from her patella surgery. She’s a thief, that stinking evil genius, and she is way too smart for her own good. Since there doesn’t seem to be any damage, other than a few bite marks, she isn’t requiring any additional surgery to remove my foot from her ass. All of you with puppies are warned: NO SEX FOR YOU! Because it is totally not worth the potential damage.

I don’t know people, I’m just not feeling the love in this new template. How are those swirlys treating you? Do your eyes hurt? I’m all about the minimum and the white space, but I wanted to try something different. I’ll work this more later.

I also need to start working on getting my legs out the door and on the road. It’s either been cold and rainy or cold and foggy all week. I’ll do cold, but I don’t do foggy or rainy very well. I forget how much I have on my schedule for my long run tomorrow, but I’m sure it’s a lot. Tomorrow we’ll reach 52 degrees with a little sun. I like that forecast and it gives me no excuse to sit on my butt. Which is exactly what I’ve done all day today. Mostly because of the dinner party we went to last night, where they served five bottles of wine between six of us. FIVE. I’ve cut back on the adult beverages so much that I’m not good for any more than 2 glasses of wine these days. I’m a whimp.

Here’s a little love you can feel – pictures of Sister Runner Amy and I at the White Rock half.

I spent the day helping my sister tile her kitchen in Lafayette, IN. Joy, joy. Fun times for spring break.

We decided we needed a break . . . And since it was St. Patty’s Day – we NEEDED green martinis. And wine. And we needed to call RBF Kim because there are so many RBFers in Lafayette, Indiana. Besides, Kim is so cool.

It went from wine to martini to worse.

Very Quickly.

Loving the Irish Manicure.

I’m quite certain I’ll regret this in the morning. But we had a blast, Kim is so awesome and a total inspiration! Are my eyes swollen from tiling too much, or is it my imagination?

First things first: my precious has died – an instant sudden death. It makes me so sad. I’m taking it to the apple hospital today to get a new hard drive. Let’s hope they can recover what is on the previous hard drive. That really stinks. All of my six children’s pictures are on that precious! I’ll be sharing a computer for a while. A PC – that’s even worse. Poor Susan.

I’ve been a bad blogger/commenter lately and not only because of the death of my precious. Mainly because the identity theft thing has kept me pretty busy. I’ve had to check my credit report several times a day to see if stupid criminals are opening credit in my name. I’m exhausted and had very little sleep worrying so much about this – worrying that it will happen again. Stealing is wrong and I can’t understand why people think it is okay. I’m so tired and I just want this to be over.

Michael took me to the symphony yesterday to take my mind off things. I was so tired I fell asleep about 15 minutes after I sat down. Michael let me sleep until he noticed I was drooling on myself – then he gave me a strong elbow in the side. The second half was much better and I managed to stay awake until the end. After the symphony we headed out to a wonderfully romantic dinner and I discovered that indeed a margarita is not a martini – but three margaritas are certainly a good substitute! I fell hard asleep in the car on the way home, and to Michael’s dismay no amount of elbowing or nudging was going to wake me up.

Wait – this is a running blog so let’s get to the running part! I did manage to get 35 miles in this week – but – 20 miles were done on Monday (a good 20 too), three on Thursday and 12 yesterday morning. I wasn’t happy with my twelve, but I did finish. The twenty on Monday wiped me out and by the time I hit mile 7 yesterday I was all kinds of complaining. My IT band was acting a little strange – not hurting just making some noise to let me know that it was there, my calves were cramping and my attitude could have used a little adjustment. I really have no idea what to expect in San Diego as far as running is concerned – I’m just really excited to meet all the other RBFers.

I’m officially unemployed. I officially celebrated too much last night.* I went out for a six mile run this morning – came back 4 miles later. 11:15 min/mile pace and I Gallowayed through it . . . oiyyyy.

Tomorrow night I am meeting up with fellow RBFers Leah and Jason for an 11 mile run out at White Rock Lake. I’m really looking forward to meeting them, it will be my first RBF meet-up so I’ll be sure and take my camera.

Tomorrow morning I will post my official running skirt report!

*True to my words, no martinis were harmed in this celebration.

Today long slow run was a little more difficult than I had anticipated. I spent the entire day yesterday doing things right; I hydrated, I ate well, and I stretched. But then – dinner along and I decided to have a martini in Rowdy’s honor. I undid all my hard work in one deliciously intoxicating swoop. Finally, I’ve learned my lesson. No more martinis. At least until after the marathon. (I’m also considering cutting back on coffee – but that decision is far from final!)

I ran a new course today and I liked it quite a bit despite the hills. Maybe it’s me – but this looks like hill training (green line for hills, red line for heartrate). I’m also considering joining a new running group – a fast, fast group of people but I think training with faster runners will help my training – or kill me.

Thirteen miles, average page 9:55 per mile, average heart rate 162.

Sent by my fellow martini-loving friend Kate, who can actually finish a martini.

I like to have a Martini,
two at the very most;
three, I’m under the table,
four I’m under my host!

by: Dorothy Parker

Yesterday was a really awful day of food consumption, a blissful day of shopping and a lazy day of running. I must control myself and not let this obstinate naughtiness continue. Today’s entry will be brief as I am following the 17th commandment Thou shall not blog with PMS.

I’ve started off the day right: a good butt camp and lf cottage cheese with coffee for breakfast. My weight is at 127 today. If I can behave myself, I know I can get into the 125 arena by the end of the end of next week, something I haven’t been able to accomplish in over 2 years. Lunch will consist of some kind of chicken salad. After work I have a five-mile run scheduled.

Dinner? Sigh. Dinner will be tricky since tonight is date night. If I maintain a moderate alcohol consumption, I should have the ability to choose a healthy meal. (Translation: more salad – less wine – no fun). Tonight I will also attempt to follow the 16th commandment Thou shall not blog drunk.

Here’s to a successful day!

Kenza was invited to an impromptu sleepover last night. This means Susan and Michael get impromptu date night. A glass of wine leads to one martini, two martinis, and three – while a really smooth gin can turn good sex into great sex – its magical power has an unfortunate adverse effect on running.

Between 4AM and 5AM Susan tried a new cleanse: the martini cleanse. AKA the involuntary cleanse. Half a gallon of water, 2 cups of coffee and a handful of ibuprofen later; Hangover Susan and Introspective Susan have a conversation and decide that an unscheduled, impromptu run might just redeem Runner Susan. 5.168 miles later Susan returns home. Pace 9:56 per mile. Acceptable, yes – redeeming, not so much.

It’s my anniversary!!! and I ran a marathon!! and I got a Nano. Na na na na Nano. So Shopper Susan decided to celebrate anniversary/marathon completion with Runner Susan by taking not-so-shopper husband to the mall. Fashion Whore Susan got a little upset with Runner Susan because she’s spent to much time with I-must-stuff-my-face Susan and created Giant Amorphis Butt Susan and couln’t fit into these really cool black gaucho pants that Fashion Whore Susan has been eyeing for quite some time now. So I-must-stuff-my-face Susan took not-so-shopper husband to the Cheesecake factory to eat, um cheesecake and drink ummm, many martinis to console Fashion Whore Shopper Susan. Apparently, Runner Susan seems to have lost some alcohol tolerence during training season. Tomorrow, Runner Susan is going to be really ticked off at Intoxicated Shopper Susan when it is 4 am and time to run.

Well, the secretly OCD wanna-be-computer geek Susan decided to check her philosophical friend Kate’s blog to see if she has posted about the promised Barbies with no Vagina yet. But, wanna-be-computer geek Susan is getting really ticked off because not-so-shopper husband is in the bedroom yelling such thing as “it’s late . . . blogging too much . . . light in that room is bothering me.” uh-huh. Could it be that light-bothered husband is not really bothered by the office light at all . . . but, has figured out that Intoxicated Fashion Whore Shopper Susan is a little more fun than I’m-really-tired-I’m-training-for-a-marathon Runner Susan?

Ok, so I have a headache . . . but I gots a Nano too . . . she’s so shiny and pretty. Not sure what to name her. I’ll be patient, it must be a worthy name.

Ok, so I’ve got to get a grip on this calorie thing. I can’t continue to consume calories like I’m a human garbage disposal. Oh, the disparities. Woe is me. I’m going to list every single thing that lands in my mouth from here until the Austin Marathon on Feb 19. If I’m eating poorly – smack me around a little.

Oh oh, headache.

Ok, so I weigh 129 today . . . Anyone want to guess why?

Let me bore you for a moment. These are the bottom of my feet.

For about a year now, I’ve been having trouble with the 3rd metatarsal on my right foot. A combination of things – very high arches and a lot of mileage mostly. Last night I went to the store Foot Solutions. I figured they would be the knowledgeable about feet kind of people. This polite lady knew right away what I needed and the machine that can do this, confirmed it . . . I’m sure all of you are SO interested in this, so just humor me. See the right foot and the two red spots along the ball . . . Apparently that is bad – I’m putting too much pressure there . . . I left the store spending $65 on new orthodix and a recommendation for new running shoes – so promptly went over to RunOn and bought a new pair of Brooks Adrenaline for $89.99. Hopefully, my foot problems will be history . . . I’m a big sucker if they aren’t. I’ve got 72 days to break these shoes in – shouldn’t be a problem.

Forced down breakfast: 1/4 c egg beaters, salsa and avocado, water, aspirin and strong coffee. Lunch: 1/2 turkey, onion, artichoke sandwich & chicken noodle soup. Snack: 4 hershey kisses, water, coffee.