Why stop at 9 when you can make it to 10? Because the world is full of zanies and fools...

(Sorry it's so long)

...In my own little corner in my own little chair
I can be whatever I want to be.
On the wings of my fancy I can fly anywhere
And the world will open its arms to me...

...The prince is giving a ball! The prince is giving a ball!
The prince is giving a ball!...

...Impossible for a plain yellow pumpkin to become a golden carriage.
Impossible for a plain country bumpkin and a prince to join in marriage.
And four white mice will never be four white hourses.
Such fol-de-rol and fiddle dee dee of courses. Impossible!
But the world is full of zanies and fools who don't believe in sensible rules
and won't believe what sensible people say..
and because these daft and dewey eyed dopes keep building up impossible
hopes impossible things are happening every day!
Impossible!...

...In the arms of my love, I'm flying over mountain and meadow and glen.
And I like it so well that for all I can tell I may never come down again.
I may never come down to earth again...

...oh why would a fellow want a girl like her, a girl who's merely lovely,
why can't a fellow ever once prefer a girl who's merely me
What's the matter with the man, what's the matter with the man,
what's the matter with the man?!!...

...Do I want you because you're wonderful,
or are you wonderful because I want you?
Are you the sweet invention of a lover's dream
or are you really as wonderful as you seem?...

...You say good-bye, away you fly
but on your lips you keep a kiss
All your life you'll dream of this
Lovely, lovely night...

For those who think I am absolutely crazy, those are bits and pieces of the lyrics to the songs in Roger and Hammerstein's Cinderella play. I went home this weekend to see the play, where my friend Joey played the Prince. The play was absolutely spectacular! I ended up going with my mom and my little brother, and the entire time my brother was saying that he was really glad I brought him. When I was little, my mom had the Cinderella movie with Ginger Rogers, Walter Pidgeon, Celest Holm, and Lesley Ann Warren on VHS. I used to watch it over and over again. I hadn't actually seen the movie or play in years, yet I found myself singing along with every song (in my head of course... otherwise the audience would have left, or thrown something at me). It was a wonderful, cheesy play. It made me wonder if someone said such romantic but cheesy lines to me whether I'd melt like butter or laugh at them. I'm honestly not sure. (o:

So Friday I was feeling much better. After the play my sisters, mom, and brother all came over to celebrate my birthday early, since I wasn't sure if I'd make it back home this month. My mom bought my favorite cake... angel food cake! And get this, you can buy it so it's both fat-free and sugar-free (mom has to watch her sugars)! It was soooooo good! I had a huge piece with cool whip and strawberries. It was like Heaven! Man, I love angel food cake!!!

Saturday morning I woke up feeling terrible again, but I was able to hang out with my family for a little bit before heading back home to get some work done in the lab. At which point I ran into my adviser and asked him about some of my results, to which he replied, "Jessica, you really are going to finish!" Does that mean he just realized this??? Or that he's trying to convince me?! I could use some motivation as far as the research is going, so it was nice to hear.

Unfortunately, by the time Saturday night came around, I felt like someone had punched me in the face. I took some extra medicine and tried to go to bed early. Since I was having troubles breathing through my nose, I couldn't sleep. Then a good friend called me at 3:30 in the morning. We hadn't talked in ages, so it was nice to hear from him, but we didn't get off the phone until 4:30-ish.

5 am came very quickly. I still couldn't breathe well, but I knew I wanted to get in my long run, so I got up. At a little after 6, I stuffed some tissue into my sports bra (for my nose people!), grabbed a small bottle of water, and my roommate and I headed out the door. Now I never carry water with me, but on the last couple of long runs, by the time I hit 6 miles my mouth was usually very dry. I figured I'd try carrying some just to keep my mouth wet. The water carrying actually wasn't bad, and it did help out a lot!

Once my roommate and I headed out, we realized that for the past two weeks the farthest distance we had run was 4 miles. Today I was supposed to run 9... er... actually last night I decided I wanted to run 10! Yes, that's right, 10. Why stop a 9 when I could finally make it to double digits? I was going to make it to 10!!! But we had only run 4... oh that didn't matter!

We definitely started out slower than usual, and my legs felt pretty heavy. The first half of our run was along our usual route, so I was kind of in auto-pilot mode. We both welcomed the distraction of the handsome, shirtless, glistening guy in the blue shorts with his white ipod that passed by us... twice. And the rear view of the guys on the bicycles were a nice distraction as well.

The second half of the run was good because we changed our route, there was a lot of shade, and I could breathe through my nose! By mile 6 we were both feeling pain. My hip was starting to hurt, and I knew I still had 4 miles to go. The roommate wanted to stop, but then agreed that she'd run with me to 7, because I didn't want to run 4 by myself (I was afraid I might not make it on my own). She was awesome and stuck it out to 7, then she slowed down and took the path that led straight back to our apartment. I went on ahead.

By this point my hip is telling me that I should probably take a break, but I really wanted those 10 miles! I wanted them bad. "Less than 3 miles..." that's what I kept telling myself. "Three miles is nothing. You run three miles on recovery days." Finally I hit 9... the nine mile mark is right next to my apartment. The thought of a big glass of lemonade was sounding pretty good, but I kept going. "Nine... wow, this is my farthest run so far... 10... I can make it to 10! I told my friend I was going to run 10, so I have to make it! I just need to distract myself for this last mile!"

I started planning out what I would say in blog, bragging about my 10... I thought about the play, about the guy in the blue shorts, about the conversation with my adviser, about the movie I watched last night (Fracture, which I do recommend), I imagined that the hole in the clouds led to some enchanted place with people that would serve me angel food cake until I burst, and I even told myself that if I could just make it to 10 that by December I might be able to run a half marathon. Finally, I saw the corner where my run would end. I tried sprinting, and well I definitely picked up my pace, but i was not running very fast. Final time: 1:53:35 (RunStoppable says it's 10.07 miles, but who really knows). Not the best time, but I can improve next time!

10 miles! I made it! I just had to walk around the block to get back home. That's when I realized that my butt has never hurt so bad!!! Seriously! My butt was killing me! I was suddenly very aware of how huge and painful it was. LOL. After some stretching and filling up the tub, I soaked in an ice bath while eating my pumpkin oatmeal. Then I went to bed. I definitely needed sleep! Too bad I'm all stuffed up again. At least running was a temporary cure. (o:

*~*~*~*~*~*

In response to some comments that I've received on previous posts... as far as my run last Saturday, I know that the route looks crazy on the map. And I was asked how I didn't get lost or could remember it... Well the thing about that hash run is that you don't know what the route is. lol. There is a trail and marks that are left to confuse you so that the person designated as the "hare" can get ahead without getting caught. So in those places on the map (particularly before we ran onto the interstate) where it seemed like we were running in circles, it's because we were... we were searching the clue to where the trail picked back up. Man, that was so much fun! I can't wait to do it again!

Also, Reluctant Runner asked about my pumpkin pancakes. I buy the Aunt Jemima Whole Wheat Blend Pancake mix and follow the recipe on the box for "No Cholesterol Pancakes" (using 2 egg whites for each egg and skim milk instead of whole). I also use unsweetened apple sauce instead of oil. Then I add canned pumpkin, pumpkin pie spice, and vanilla extract. Just make sure that you keep an eye on the pancakes so they don't burn. Then I add a little bit of syrup, but they do taste good without the syrup too (but come one... pancakes should have syrup!).

Well I hope that everyone has a great week! Remember to smile!

"To dream anything that you want to dream,
that is the beauty of the human mind. To do
anything that you want to do, that is the strength
of the human will. To trust yourself, to test your
limits; That is the courage to succeed..."
---Bernard Edmonds