And the 'What was I thinking?' sets in

Oh Gu, how I love you...
Especially on the long run you
keep me going!

This week started mud run training.  And reinforced my "what was I thinking" month that will be really felt in October.  But for now lets focus on the middle of the month and the USMC mud run.  Monday and Wednesday were spent at Riverfront doing some jogging and strength training.  So tonight we ran hills, pushups, squats, burpees, karaokes, triceps dips, and more.  Tomorrow will be an off night for me (yay!), Friday I will be cheering the girls on with recruitment, then Saturday will be a 10 mile day.  Then lather, rinse, and repeat adding in the two other team runs for the half training next week.  And then maybe a class if the professor ever responds to me.  I am still trying to pick which class I would like to take this fall and since no one has put syllabi out yet I am still undecided.

Blind Wine Tasting Party and A Long Run...

 But not as long as it should have been.  :)  This was a really busy weekend for me.  Friday night we had a blind wine tasting party to raise some dollars for LLS.  It was held at Kimberly's where we were having a chocolate and wine smorgasbord.  With Kimberly, Deborah, Christina, and myself working we got everything set up and ready to go.  I was surprised with early birthday balloons and an adorable market tote and wine stopper.  David brought a cake for the August babies (Mike and myself), a sinful chocolate creation from Chocolate Nirvana.  And when all the guests were there we got to work on trying all the wines.    Kimberly was our amazing wine goddess and was pouring like crazy.  We tasted from A-T, which is 20 bottles for those of you keeping count.  I had to laugh that when the tallies were in I had brought both the best (Pomula Wine Spritz) and the worst wine (a late harvest Chardonnay).  After taking myself out of the competition since I had made the prizes, we had some more winners :)  When all was said and done I think everyone had a great time and we raised just under $300 for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society!

Saturday was a very funny day with the work schedule and so the long run was moved to Sunday morning.  Which was still a hectic so I only got in seven, I wanted to get in nine.  I have to make sure I get that in next weekend since the half is getting very close. 

Greystone Sunday Morning

Hot times in an old neighborhood

I downloaded an app on my phone that plays with the settings on the camera.  It was really funny to me when I got back from the jog looking at them because the photos totally matched the outing.  It was hot an miserable as expected in July in the south.  It started out well enough, but towards the end the pictures are in a total trip all wavy and warped. 
And for all I like to whine about the weather I really do love running outdoors and through this neighborhood. 

Wine tasting and weekend recap

Me and MC

 The wine tasting was really fun.  There were great people there, good food, fabulous wine, and to the point of the night we raised $546 toward my goal for The Leukemia and Lymphoma Society Team in Training.  Once that clears I have $1000+ down, around $2000 to go (deep breath here).  This is the largest fundraising goal I have ever attempted and let me tell you I am nervous. 
However, I am blessed with incredible friends and family who have been willing to chip in and help me with my fundraising events and efforts.  Robert, the owner of WineStyles Columbia picked out five great wines for us to try (and was an awesome host) and they were perfect for the 115 degree day we were having (it was a heat wave even for South Carolina).  We tried Swanson Pinot Grigio, Hall Sauvignon Blanc, Sofia Riesling, Summerland Pinot Noir, and Boarding Pass Shiraz.  Then Robert opened a chocolate wine, and I didn't catch the name, that woud make a great adult milkshake.  These were all wonderful summer wines and I found a couple new favorites.  Like the Boarding Pass and I have never been a Shiraz fan.  Cupcake, a local cupcake store if you couldn't guess, was very generous and donated cupcakes to the event, Jimmy John's provided subs, and fruit tray and hummus and pita chips were there as well.  I had a great time once there and I let all the stress go, because there wasn't anything else for me to do at that point, and I hope everyone else did as well.

Auction winners announcement time.

Not my best ever, but it makes me laugh

On Friday I went out with David, Kerry, Kimberly and Audrey for a much needed relaxing dinner.  We went to Cellar on Greene and had some amazing food and great wine- including the aforementioned Boarding Pass and  Anne Amie Pinot Noir. 
Then David and I went to meet the rest of the guys and my family to see Harry Potter.  Which I loved.  Of course there were a few things that I was nit-picky about but that holds true of any book to movie adaptation.  I am almost thirty and I proudly say I love HP.  In fact I first picked the books up when I was working at a daycare and would see the kids sitting still and reading these massive (for a third grader) books.  I was soon hooked and am sad to see the end of the era.  Once the seventh book came out the movies still in production were something to look forward to.  I guess I can look forward to Breaking Dawn*...

*I will say I liked the books, but man the movies can sometimes be painful (for people who can act in other movies they are awful together). Hopefully the twihards won't ever read this :)    If I disappear you know what happened.

Photos from the Wine Tasting

 I will write up a post soon, but here are some photos from the event. Please excuse the quality as I was trying to balance other stuff in my hands (like my wine glass) and take pictures. And once again a HUGE thank you to everyone who attended the wine tasting!

 

A little contest...

So one of my Leukemia and Lymphoma Society Team in Training teammates had a fabulous idea that I am appropriating.  For the next three weeks, on July 16th, 23rd, and 30th, I will be putting those who have donated the previous week (online or by mail) into a hat and drawing for a 'half marathon' gift card from stores like Starbucks, Amazon, or Bath and Body Works- basically places that no matter where you live you can use it.  Let me know what you think of this or when you donate let me know your favorite stores and you may have a little something in your mailbox soon ;).

There has to be an easier way to lose weight...

The only good thing to come out of last week was that I am down eight pounds.  It has been a rough week and a half of feeling miserable (really two, but one and a half since I did anything) but I did get out tonight with the Team in Training folks and got three miles in.  We were at Riverfront Park, ahead of a nice thunderstorm.  Which means the humidity level was set to sauna.  From being sick recently I had already decided to do my run in half mile increments (half a mile out and back) for as long as I felt able to.  I would have liked to go four but like I said it was like a sauna, so I figured I should probably take it easy.  As we were heading out with a storm in the distance, and safety is always important, we discussed what to do if you are caught in a lightening storm/if lightening is a little too close.  If you start feeling charged and/or your hair starts to stand on end you should drop into a squat with your arms over your head and only your running shoes (rubber) touching the ground.  Then you just pray that since you are now (mostly) neutral, with negative ions in the ground/positive in the clouds, that it strikes something else.  Seriously, unless it's a popup storm or one that was way quicker than you thought, don't chance it.  That was your service announcement for the day.