Group ex classes

My two left feet

A couple of years ago I fell out of going to USC's Group Exercise classes.  I loved going to lunchtime yoga but schedules changed and I wasn't able to go any more.  And once schedules worked out again I just didn't start back up.  So this Maymester's Group Ex schedule came out and I decided that I was going to get back into it.  Monday night is Zumba, Tuesday and Thursday are yoga.  Well, last night was Monday and I had talked myself into going and to have fun embarrassing myself.  'Cause this girl don't dance... not without alcohol anyway.  (Though if I have enough tequila I will be on the bar Coyote Ugly style :)  Thank goodness Facebook wasn't around in college).  So back to the story, I got to class and the instructor comes in and it's a sub.  No Zumba last night but we did have a great cardio sculpt class and afterwards I got a quick run in on the treadmill.  Tonight was yoga.  I haven't done yoga in awhile and I was out of practice.  Also, I realized I needed a pedicure with so much looking at my bare feet.  Running and nail polish are not always BFFs (especially when you are wearing the cheap stuff).  The goal is to get into a good routine and cross train, something that was lacking before.  I got into the habit of jogging and that was it.

I have also recently discovered my new favorite fruit, the loquat.  There are trees outside the office that we have international students and their family's swarm this time of year.  While I had not seen any sick or dead students around I am not going to eat something that I don't know what it is.  Finally someone knew the name, I could Google it, and all was good.  And I found out the seeds contain cyanide (as do many other things- like almonds, but I am avoiding them to be safe).  Anywho they are awesome and I need a ladder or a spotter to climb the trees.  Especcially once a Kimberly suggested loquat margaritas. 
As I came in from lunch today I grabbed a couple and a coworker saw and asked if I was that hard up for cash that I was picking my own fruit.  Funnily enough, shopping for loquats and they can be up to $12 a pound  .So I will take the free ones please.  Maybe that can be my workout tomorrow, climbing the tree.  Also it would be good training for the Mud Run in October!

It was a WTF kinda day...

Or at least the late afternoon portion.  Also, sorry about the language implied in the title of this post.  Mike and I finished our tour of the state today with a trip to Lancaster.  The trip up there was nice (very pretty drive) and the meeting went well (very nice people).  The WTF moment happened when we were getting ready to leave and Mike went into the USC Lancaster bookstore to get a soda.  He was checking out and I looked over and saw some orange.  I made a beeline to that rack to see what it could be.  I turned the shirt around and it was Clemson merchandise!...?!!?!?...!?!?1?! (infinity)   I then asked the cashier what was going on and she said they used to carry a lot more and it is on the sale rack.  I am dumbfounded cause it shouldn't be there at all, ever, end of story.  Does anyone think Florida carries Seminoles merchandise or Georgia Tech carry Bulldog figurines?
So then on the drive home we see this guy (see picture).  What is that spray painted on his truck.  I guessed a fish.  Mike guessed a shark.  What do you think it is?
And lastly, I went for a run tonight.  Another blog I follow touched on this issue but why is it when you are grungy and look rough guys come out of the woodwork?  I was running around the State House tonight and I had four cars catcalling me tonight.  One I expect/understand.  There is always an idiot somewhere showing out.  But then to have three more.  What? I don't find red faces, sweat rings, etc huge turn ons.   I started checking myself out in windows to make sure my pants hadn't ripped or a t.p. trail.  I couldn't see anything so I don't know what was going on today.  It was just a WTF kinda day.

Food, flowers, and more.

Yum!

David and the new spoon.

David and I took an Indian cooking class last week (almost two weeks ago- what can I say?  I've been slack).  We made turnip greens and dal  with everyone else in the class making other dishes.  It was a tasty meal once we got it all done.  I am definitely going to try and make it again.  And a the risk of having my status as a southerner revoked, it is the first time I have ever liked greens.  The class was not without bumps.  The pan was so hot the original spoon David was using melted.  It was not heat safe... and since we prefer our food BPA free our group started over.  We were not the only mishap.  The father and son next to us burnt the rice.  And the chestnuts.  And the rice again.  No one told them that they needed to put a lid on the rice in the microwave.

The instructor took matters into her own hands

I have been running my usual route after work but since there has been more walking than I would like lately I have added in some stairs.  It has been quite toasty lately and I have not acclimated back to hot yet so I am back to the running a mile/walking a couple blocks/running a mile/walking a couple of blocks and depending on how much I walk translates into how many stairs I have to do.  Some days it's a lot.  See the picture to the left.  I am taking a well deserved break after 15 sets. :)

Starting line obviously :)

And we're off

Steel drums playing a little DMB

On Saturday was the tenth annual Heart and Sole five miler.  It was a BEAUTIFUL day.  Several of my coworkers signed up as a team and then we forgot to pick a place to meet.  Oops.  After about a block I saw Kimberly and we jogged the first couple of miles together.  All along this course were the best volunteers, entertainment, etc of any event I have participated in.  Everyone was very engaged.  It was so great.  Although I did laugh crossing the finish line they were handing out roses and I was like ok, that's nice, let me get to the dude handing out water :)  Then at the end of the race Kimberly and I stumbled upon Sue.  Sue had been done for awhile since she placed 2nd overall in her age group.  She did an awesome job!

Sue racked up  Win and a door prize!

Kimberly and I waiting in line for a bagel

Also, I realized (remembered- it had slipped several times) that it was the last day for the Governor's Cup early bird special at around 11:30.  So I quickly signed up.  Which means I will be having an active, busy Summer and Fall.  I signed up to take rock climbing again.  I have training for the Mud Run, take two, with the whole team (yay whole team! Dad, Mitchell, Brooke, and myself) starting around June hopefully.  Just waiting to hear back from Kim from LLS-TNT.  And, start training for the Governor's Half.  Last time I trained distance wise, but did not work out a good snack plan, which meant by the time I rounded Lake Kathrine I had very little energy left.  I need to work on that this time.  I finished last go round but the course won.  I want to go in and show it that it didn't scare me off.  Hopefully I didn't bite off more than I can chew!

It is way too early...

For me to be making a 'sweat angel' if I lay down after a jog.  It's not even May!  Gross, TMI, and all that but I needed to vent :)
***Edited to add this is from my back.  There seems to have been a little confusion...

Spring time creeping into summer

Pretty, right?

Top of the stairs!

It was an absolutely beautiful day today.  Starting to get hot.  It hit 90- maybe higher, that's the temp it was when I checked after the run. My run had a nice long break today where I wondered around the SC State House.  It was hot and I wanted to cool down after weeks of 75 degree runs, 90 was a little shocking to the system.  I will say that in my opinion SC has one of the most beautiful and accessible state house buildings and grounds.  You may not like the people in the building or the statues on the grounds but they are quite lovely.  I did make myself walk the steps five times to make up for the pizza I was about to eat since I took a stroll in the middle of the run.

Blurry pic, fabulous peeps.

The pizza was left over from dinner last night.  Some of the girls went out and just had a nice dinner and chat.  Definitely need to do that more often!  And tomorrow night my friend David and I will be taking a class on how to cook Indian food.  Hopefully that will go well!

Close up of a bronze star

Stars marking cannon damage

The lion is not part of the State House grounds, but part of a pair at the State Library.  I love the condescending look on their faces as you pass between them.  It's like "why are you here?... I know you read trashy romance...."

Stupid Weather

Ready to go Sat. morning

So this weekend did not go as planned.  AT ALL.  I was supposed to do the Mud Run this weekend. But as you can probably tell from that sentence it didn't happen.  I got a message early on Saturday morning saying that two of the team members backed out due to weather concerns.  This really disappointed me (especially after the fact since the bad weather didn't really come near us), but having seen the news and reports from that same storm system I can't really blame them for backing out.  I was nervous Friday night.  But like I said, the weather mostly bypassed us.  Kim, from TNT did offer to transfer my father and I to the Fall Mud Run, to which I said YES!  So put October 15th on the calendar.  (Also, I am taking applications for the other two spots on my team.  The rules are that you want to finish and that you aren't competitive... because I am not going to be fast :) )  The only good thing is that we (you all and I) have raised almost $600 for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society.  I am going to keep the widget up and see how much we can raise by October.  Let's shoot for $1000!
On that note I spent Saturday baking rather than washing mud out of my hair.  Below are the pictures of the first batch of rocky road bars that will be making their way to my donors shortly.  Second batch will be made once I figure out everyone's schedules so I can get them to you fresh!  I was trying to find fun ways to incorporate 'dirt' and mini mud pies would have been way too much work :)  Hope you enjoy!  (For those of you who live further out I have something special coming your way).  Thank you all for playing along with me in this endeavor and I am looking forward to October 15th! 

Ready to go!

Getting the ingredients together.

Rocky Road bars are done!

Sometimes you just have to stop and smell the flowers

Getting a little dark.

So this was a busy week.  Yesterday I had work, Phi Mu stuff, and then since this weekend is the mud run I had to get one last run in.  'Cause I had lots of stuff to do tonight and knew it wasn't going to happen.  And I needed it because I needed a little serenity (though I had calmed down a lot thanks to Dad).  Earlier this week I got an email from Kim, my Team in Training contact, and I noticed that a teammate wasn't listed so I was wondering what was going on, did I need to forward the email, etc.  Well two of the team dropped out.  They had their reason but still a heads up would have been nice.  So I start to freak out... since the event is SATURDAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!  Kim called me and let me know that I would still have a team even if she had to do it.  So she has/had feelers out and I was told to show up on Saturday and I would have a team.  Well yesterday my dad called and offered to join the team.  So Dad and mystery persons (I had not met the fourth person before all of this anyway) will be playing in the mud this weekend.  So the news about Dad joining the team and a nice mellow run after the meeting I filled in on and I felt good.  What makes me feel even better is that we have raised 90% (counting offline donations) and are at $450 for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society.  You can click on the widget on the right to learn more if you would like.  We will be having a muddy good time for a great cause.  And it will be extra muddy since the forecast is calling for rain.

Also, a love the picture to the right.  As I left class tonight the plants flowering around Moore were just so beautiful and were so completely perfuming the air.  It was so nice.