Monthly Archives: July 2011

7 links

Posted on July 25, 2011 by Lee | 16 Comments

I’m sure you’ve seen this 7 links post that’s been going around the blogosphere, but if you’ve been hiding under a rock for a while, here’s the deal:

THE GOAL

To unite bloggers (from all sectors) in a joint endeavor to share lessons learned and create a bank of long but not forgotten blog posts that deserve to see the light of day again.

THE RULES

1) Blogger is nominated to take part

2) Blogger publishes his/her 7 links on his/her blog – 1 link for each category.

3) Blogger nominates up to 5 more bloggers to take part.

4) These bloggers publish their 7 links and nominate another 5 more bloggers

5) And so it goes on!

6) We’ll be sharing the best posts from participating bloggers on our blog and everyday on Facebook and Twitter at #My7Links

I was nominated to share my links by Katie from Legally Fit and Liz from Liz Runs DC.

Most Beautiful – Once Upon a Time I Ran A Marathon. This was hard for me to write. I ran a marathon once (obviously from the title) and it wasn’t the best experience. I didn’t do very well time-wise and I got sick after and it took me a long time to come to terms with how I felt about the experience and be proud of myself for doing it.

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Most Popular – This is just in terms of google searches, but I get the most searches for diet coke addiction and for sweet potato tots. (I really need to come up with a sweet potato tot recipe because people really, really want one. It comes up in my search terms almost every single day.)

Most Controversial – I don’t really have many controversial posts. I tend to just blog about my life and, well, it’s not very controversial, I suppose. There are also certain things that I just don’t really talk about on the blog. The one post that comes to mind, however, was when I decided to weigh myself. I wouldn’t say that was a controversial thing in itself, but people have some strong opinions for and against the scale.

Most Helpful – I like to think that I introduced a lot of people to the awesomeness that is Scoutmob.

Surprise Success – Apparently, a lot of people search for Eric Northman. I think that they’re probably disappointed when they come across my post that just shows a picture of him and is me mostly whining about having a cold, but it’s gotten a lot of page views.

Not Enough Attention – I honestly am shocked that people even read my blog, so I can’t come up with something that didn’t get enough attention.

Most Proud – I was really proud of myself for climbing over the Great Warrior Wall and not dying during the Warrior Dash. I was really, really scared of that wall and froze on it for a while, but I did it.

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And now I get to tag five people.

Kristy from Kristy Runs
Jen from Taste Life
Carrie from Moves and Munchies
Sarah from Sarah’s Scrumptious Samplings
Kelly from Foodie Fresh

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Posted in Blogging

Happy 90th

Posted on July 25, 2011 by Lee | 11 Comments

I just got home from a very short trip to Boca Raton, Florida to celebrate my Great Uncle’s (or is it Grand Uncle? He’s my father’s uncle. Maybe that’s just my cousin?) 90th birthday. My dad and I both arrived around the same time on Saturday morning and met up at the airport to drive to the hotel.

The party was held at the Boca Raton Resort and Beach Club which was a huge hotel right on the water.

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Jason had to work (shocker) and the rest of my immediate family did not come, so my dad and I just stayed in a room together.

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Our room had this weird little closet/room thing. I don’t know what it was for. A vampire? (I’ve been watching too much True Blood, evidently.) It’s not an actual closet. I have no idea what it was.

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We had some lunch by the pool and went to meet a bunch of other family members who were at the beach. Dumbass here forgot a bathing suit, so I ended up just chilling on a lounge chair in my shorts and t-shirt talking to people until it got a little too hot out and we all went to change for dinner.

Everyone met up for a cocktail hour first. It was really nice to see my family, especially since we’re all scattered around the country and only seem to come together for weddings and stuff. My dad, Aunt, Uncle and cousins live in Maryland, another cousin and I are in Atlanta, and there are others from Pittsburgh, Cincinnati, somewhere in Arizona and New York.

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The girl on the left and the guy in the middle are my first cousins.

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Do you read my cousin Emily’s blog? You should! After a drink, it was time for dinner.

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Here’s the birthday boy. He looks great for 90.

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We started out with a crabcake and then a salad.

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The entree was beef and salmon, so I requested a vegetarian meal. Even though I do eat fish, sometimes it just seems easier to get the vegetarian meal (if there is one) instead because I know that I will be able to eat it. People like to put chicken broth and bacon in a lot of seafood dishes. My vegetarian entree was some sort of tofu stack.

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Some people gave some speeches and we headed to the bar afterward to celebrate my cousin Mike’s 31st birthday. I could barely keep my eyes open though and had to retire to my room around 11:30. I might as well be 90!

It was a really short trip but I’m really glad that I went. I really like this side of my family and it was nice to have everyone together.

Do you see your extended family often?

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Posted in Family

Oops, I Did It Again

Posted on July 23, 2011 by Lee | 20 Comments

For the past couple of years now, I’ve been running two half-marathons a year: one in the spring and one in the fall. But without fail, every single year between my spring race

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and my fall (or vice versa),

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running somehow takes a backseat. A backseat to what, I don’t know. Without the rigidity of a training plan, my runs inevitably get shorter and fewer and farther in between. Part of it is the weather, I guess. Living in Georgia, the winters aren’t too terrible, but the summers, you basically have to wake up at 5am if you want to run outside.

Every time I run a half, I tell myself that I’m not going to slack on running when it’s over. I’m going to keep it up and the next half will be easier and I will be faster. And each time, I don’t.

My last half-marathon was in March. Since then, I think I’ve run a few 5-milers but most of my runs have been 3 miles or less. I did it again! I don’t know why I always do this to myself. I know that I’m going to be running a half in the fall (race TBD) and yet I let myself lose all the endurance that I’d built up in the spring. D’oh.

I hadn’t run for a week. I actually did intend to but my cold kind of prevented that. I went to the gym tonight and started making excuses. My chest felt a little bit tight and I convinced myself that running would just be awful and I should do the arc trainer instead. I did that for 15 minutes before I realized that if I don’t want to start from square one again when I start training for the race, I should probably, you know, run.

So I did. As much as I’m kicking myself for losing my endurance, I figure I’m not going to get it back unless I work for it.

Do you find yourself running less after a big race?