Training Run

Not surprisingly, I wasn't capable of running on Sunday, so I run my short training run on Monday evening instead (generally an off day). Satellite reception didn't work for me, so I ran for time instead - 35 minutes. At my pace, that should have been about 3 1/4 to 3 1/2 miles.

BAH3 Camping Trip

We arrive at noon and I immediately partake in the ice luge. Limoncella, yum!

As Spelunker and I have already put in considerable mileage today on our training runs, we pass on the likely 6-mile trail laid by Fossil, Grand Mattress, and AnyC*ck. Instead, we hang out by the kiddie pool and relax in the shade. 3 hours go by until the trail runners finally return.

Now at some point during the interlude by the kiddie pool, Bob LoBlaw states that Spelunker should have a beer mile handicap. His suggestion for a handicap? Edward 40-hands.

Spelunker enthusiastically accepts the challenge and I am a reluctant witness to the taping of hands. Fortunately, I am not witness to his puke after drinking the 1st 40. Spelunker claims it's because it was a warm Natty Bo. Regardless, he's been prepping his system for the keg wars at InterAm.

Bobbin leads a lengthy circle where I get violated numerous times for wearing a kilt, being TRASH, and wearing BAH3 stickers as pasties. And perhaps I should be disturbed (but I'm not!), following Film's departure from sitting on the ice block both 3 Holer and Spelunker dive bomb the ice block and lick the ice where she was sitting.

And I forgot to mention! Schmegg is in attendance too. He's his typical naked self. He spent the afternoon playing with power tools - drilling holes in watermelons (to pour liquor into), creating beer taps, you name it - he is the handyman to have around. After the performance by 3 Holer and Spelunker he straddles the ice block and does some kind of body slide activity. We're all a bit disturbed, but I'm even more disturbed when Spelunker decides to get in on the action. WTF???

Then dinner is served - chicken and waffles. I'm perplexed, but apparently, it is a southern tradition. Well, I've never tried maple syrup on chicken tenders before, but it isn't bad.

And the piece de resistance of the evening: beer mile

Beer mile wasn't originally supposed to start right after dinner, but that's how it ended up. Spelunker won (7:32), mass pukings abounded, and Pay Per View took cheating to a new level with her diagonal interpretation of the course.

To be expected, Spelunker was in no condition to enjoy the rest of the evening and I forgot to bring attire for the pimp theme, so I was merely an observer for the remaining festivities.

I did enjoy the aluminum foil schlong that Tour duh Whore strapped to his naked self. Pissonya had the best looking outfit (but more high class than most would probably attribute the profession). The blow-up dolls, sheep, and their orifices were just hysterical.

I popped back out after putting Spelunker to bed to discover that 3 Trick was encouraging all the ladies to drink shots out of her husband's (Pony Boy) belly button. Then Schmegg was called in to perform clean up. Not sure why this was such a popular activity.

Finally, the conclusion of the evening was punctuated by the naked run at 11:30pm (I guess they couldn't wait the extra 1/2 hour.

EWH3 Hash #546

2nd week in a row where the start location is changed at the last minute. I went to Trusty's for the Potomac Ave start, but am informed by other hashers that the start is at Stadium-Armory. Ah well, I still have time for a PBR and some white bean chicken chili. Yumm!

Hot and humid like usual, but I thought I was doing so well on the trail. I was with the pack the entire way through the DC streets and managed to keep up with the FRBs for the first 20 minutes of trail. Of course, I realized that 1/2 the pack was missing, but I still thought I was doing well. Then we hit the shot check (which I skipped) and the cemetery. All my motivation ended at this point.

At first, I was really disturbed by the fact that quite a few tombstones had been broken in the creation of a road surrounding the graves. Then I encountered this totem in the middle of the cemetery:
WTF??!! I've since found out the name of the cemetery is Congressional Cemetery. Would someone please explain why totem poles are here?

Then we ran by some mausoleums - talk about scary! This is a picture of what we ran by, except at 8:00 at night.
Then to make matters worse, I'm nearly run over by the 2 police vehicles screaming down the end of the RFK tunnel.

The hash started well at least.

Found $20 Cash

I jumped on the shuttle bus this morning and discovered $20 cash laying on the floor. I briefly considered handing it over to the driver, but instead chose to keep it. Was I wrong to do so?

Speed Workout

I took 2 days off from running on Sunday and Monday, but got up at 6am this morning to get a speed workout in. I didn't do anything special except run to the local track and run 4 laps around the track at my fastest possible speed with 90-second breathers in between. I didn't do bad though:

Lap 1: 1:54
Lap 2: 1:56
Lap 3: 2:04
Lap 4: 2:07

A short workout, but definitely got my engine started!

2009 Hash O'LimpD*cks

Regrettably, this event was not well attended with an overwhelming contingent of EWH3 hashers and not many other DC hash representatives.

The schedule of events and the actual events performed differed due to the stormy weather. The competitions offered were:

• FRB competition
• International down-down
• Flip cup tournament
• 40 relay challenge
  

The FRB competition and hash was run by approximately 7 people (all EWH3ers). So guess who won that event?

Spelunker did it again in winning the International Down Down competition for the 2nd year in a row with a time of 25 seconds (last year was 45 seconds). I'm sure he is looking forward to competing at InterAm if it is offered. Of course, he will be representing the East Coast during the keg wars, so we'll see what shape he is in.

Mr. Magoo performed the down-down in a respectable 36 seconds. I didn't know he had it in him!

Flip cup was unremarkable other than the fact that a female "Just" was so inebriated from the International down-down competition that she was unable to do anything other than smash her cup rather than flip it.

...and let's not even go into her make-out session with her intern or the texts he received providing her address...it did provide plenty of fodder for violations, though!

EWH3 Hash #545

Slurpee and I ran together on this disastrous trail. We didn't intend to zen the entire trail, but somehow we did. Our first mistake was to listen to WoWo when he told us we could shortcut through a building to get to the runner's trail on the other side. We never found a way out of the plaza he led us to, so we were way behind the pack by the time we came out.

Then once we passed the Crystal City Water Park (site of my engagement photos), we totally lost trail. We found true trail arrows, but they were intermittent and hard to follow. We picked up trail again by the Pentagon City mall, but then promptly lost it when we didn't go in the mall (yes, as if we hadn't learned our lesson yet about zenning!). Long and short, we picked up trail, missed the 1st beer check and shot check, but managed to make it to the beer check with the slip and slide. I was too miserable from the humidity to do anything except drink water.

My GPS ran out of juice, so I wasn't able to track my mileage for the 2nd half of trail. Spelunker was very unhappy that I told him that the hash wasn't that far, when he felt that Crystal City is very far indeed. Unfortunately, it took us 30 minutes waiting for the yellow line since metro was single-tracking through Crystal City. We didn't end up making it home until waaaaay past midnight (and we left around 9:45!). Uggghhh!

Belly Dancing

...so I've been taking a 6-week belly dancing class offered by the Montgomery County Parks and Recreation. Tonight is my final class.

Surprisingly, it's not as athletic as I thought it would be. I would like to take the class again, but that will probably have to wait until after marathon training is over as I won't have time this fall. The hardest concepts for me to pick up, though, are the coordination of the arms and the torso moves. I never thought there would come a day where jiggling my torso would be a problem, but apparently, I don't jiggle it enough.

WH4 Hash #1264

A to B trail - I didn't think that a start near the Medical Center metro could possibly be A - A. Simply because civilians are not allowed on the grounds of NIH and the starting trail on the grounds of the exclusive private academy Stoneridge would immediately be investigated. Our options are either downtown Bethesda (with dozens of bars to choose from) or the White Flint area, which is a bit of a hike.

Trail was surprisingly not dominated by shiggy despite proximity to Rock Creek Park.

Slurpee found a pussy cat on trail and R.O.B! decided to adopt it. In the meantime, I suggested that it be wrapped in a cat burrito to prevent it from accidentally clawing anyone and to make it easier to walk with on trail.

Spelunker was violated for his beer mile win. We were violated for auto-hashing, although Spelunker didn't even recognize his car.

the hares gave us an on-after that closed at 10pm. No Hard Times chili for us tonight. Instead, we drove R.O.B! home to Dupont, so I appeased Spelunker by doing a drive-by Jumbo Slice in Adams Morgan. Does Spelunker love Jumbo Slice!

Seven Springs Wine Festival

Slurpee and Toothfairy invited a group of hashers to their chalet at Seven Springs for the Wine Festival weekend. The wine festival promotes PA-based wineries, which from past experience tend to be very sweet wines overall. Spelunker as a newbie wine drinker likes all the sweet wines, while I am transitioning to the drier wines (I do not claim to have an experienced palate).

The fact that we didn't have to drive after attending the wine festival must have loosened the purse strings because we managed to walk away from this one with 11 bottles of wine, 1 bottle of non-alcoholic sparkling cider, 1 long-sleeved t-shirt, and a jar of fiery salsa. So what did we learn?

1. Don't expect to be conditioned for InterAm by running up and down a PA mountain. The altitude is only 2,500 feet versus the expected 10,000 foot average on the InterAm trails.
   
2. Drip Dry is an early riser when wine is on the line. She woke the group up at 7:15am, so that she could walk down the mountain at 10am to wait in line until the festival opened at 11am.
3. Scenario: 4 dogs in a locked house, a locked car with the garage door opener, no keys, a cell phone. What would you do?
   
4. A tree-shaded nap/wine break during the hottest part of the day is restorative. The shade is breezy, keeps your wine cool, and allows you to recover your missing hour of sleep.
5. Apparently, there is an inverse correlation between ski balance on a Wii Fit and skiing ability. Shouldn't the player with the worst score win the free lesson?
6. Sundresses may be pretty during the day but are ineffective during chilly nights.
   
7. Re-tasting wines at the end of the day may prevent you from purchasing bad wines, but may encourage you to buy an additional 7 bottles of wine, bottle of non-alcoholic cider (huh?), and a jar of salsa.
8. The best vantage point for observing fireworks is from the top of a mountain. The acoustics are incredible and the vantage point will make you re-think your next crowded trip to the National Mall for 4th of July celebrations.
9. @sshole president-for-life has a nice ring to it, doesn't it?
   
10. I'm not familiar with the ski resorts in CO, but shouldn't ILYB have known that ski resorts are generally not quiet places? He seemed a bit put out that his slumber in his SUV (his choice!) was interrupted by the sounds of partying in the neighboring ski condos.
    

Spelunker Sets DC Beer Mile Record!

Spelunker finished the DC Beer Mile (6 beers/4 laps) in 6:11 and is the new record holder for the DC area. And to my amazement, never puked. I guess all that WMD (Weapon of Mass Drunkeness) training paid off.

He is looking forward to competing in the Baltimore-Annapolis beer mile during their camp out. Which I encourage DC hashers to support - BAH3 managed to find a campground within the DC metro area!

Life Updates

Yes, I haven't updated in a while, so let me recap:

1. I sold my condo last September and walked away with lots of money
   
2. I promptly used the profits from the condo sale to purchase a $525K house between Silver Spring and Takoma Park (1 mile from the DC line) last October
3. @ss Spelunker qualified for Boston at the 2008 Marine Corps Marathon with a qualifying time of 3:07:24
4. @ss Spelunker and I got engaged before Thanksgiving last year
5. By March 2009, I had lost a total of 61 lbs via Weight Watchers - I have since gained a couple of pounds, but am still down for a total of 59 lbs (and yes, my boobs are smaller)
6. @ss Spelunker ran the Boston marathon in 3:33 principally due to the fact that he partied hard all weekend
7. We joined the local American Legion, a CSA (community supported agriculture), and our neighborhood association for some community involvement
8. I have resigned from my post as the EWH3 On Sec, but will organize the 2010 Ski Trip; Leggs Over Easy will replace me
9. I have registered for the Walt Disney World Marathon and Spelunker has signed up for the Goofy and 1/2 challenge; the event takes place the weekend before our cruise
   
10. Our wedding is scheduled for Babe's Hash Cruise which will depart on 1/16/2010; we will get married at The Ruins at the Falls restaurant in Ocho Rios, Jamaica on 1/18/2010
    

Shamrock 1/2 Marathon 2009

My first race of 2009 is the Shamrock ½ marathon in Virginia Beach. I can’t say I took my training very seriously as I only ran one day a week for the past 6 weeks. As a result, I didn’t have a stellar finish time.

My official race time was 2:31:22. It’s definitely not as good as my race time 2 years ago on the same course (2:08:35), and wasn’t even as good as my Rock n’ Roll ½ marathon time (2:29:34) last September.










It just goes to show how much more speed training affects your final time than weight.

For Sale! 2 BR/ 2 BA Condominium - $235K

Wow! I can’t believe it’s been a solid 2 weeks since I’ve last blogged. Time flies when you’re out living life…

In any case, my condominium is now officially on the market. I’ll post pictures soon. The work that Spelunker and I have put into fixing up the place has really paid off even though we have missed our morning strength training sessions for the past week.

The biggest challenge from here on out is to make it look like we aren’t really living in my condo. What does that mean? No dirty dishes, laundry, and everything must be kept in its place like shoes and hats and the electronic equipment that we just finished using.

Then there are the cats. I’m not sure how they’re taking all of this. First, we locked them in the bedroom for 3 days while we painted the living room. When we finally let them out, we had re-arranged all the furniture and the room still smelled like paint. They were understandably a little upset by the changes we had made and decided that staying in my bedroom was a better option. However, after dealing with the smell of cat litter in my bedroom, I wanted it outside. So, now the cats are required to trek outside to the balcony to potty, drink water, and eat. I have to leave the balcony door open all the time, but that is a small sacrifice. Then I locked them on the balcony when the carpets were steam cleaned. At that point, the cats were angry with me since my thumb got chewed up in the process too. Now, I’m boarding them and all their shenanigans for this weekend and next, so that the unsuspecting buyers have no clue that I have cats (well, except if they are allergic – uh, oh!) during the open house sessions.

Apparently, this market downturn hasn’t affected the condo market in my neighborhood excessively since 12 condos have sold in my community since the beginning of the year. Now the prices might not be as high as they were a year ago ($260 - $270), but they’re still selling. I’m probably going to have to provide seller closing cost help and perhaps a home warranty or a credit towards carpeting, but otherwise, I’m still cashing out on my equity stake at way more than double what I paid for the place.

I don’t expect to sell the place this weekend – in fact, I would prefer not to. However, I would expect to see at least one contract in the first month. I can only hope…

Fixing up my Condo

As if I don’t have enough on my plate with marathon training and weight watching, I have determined that after 8 years in my comfy abode that it is now time to upgrade to roomier quarters (could it be that Spelunker is cramping my style?). Of course, I started off wrong – I started looking at all the neighborhoods that I would like to live in first, instead of preparing my condo for sale. And although, at first, I believed that I didn’t have much to get the condo ready, my error has now been corrected.

First, I bought 2 new appliances: a dishwasher and a dryer. I only bought those because I didn’t want to go through the hassle of replacing the stove, I wanted my dishwasher to match the remaining kitchen appliances, and wanted my dryer to match my washer that I purchased 2 years ago. Then, I rented a 5’x5’ storage unit and packed up all my clutter to deal with later in a bigger home.

Next, my realtor, Alan, looked at my place and recommended that I install granite counters to increase the re-sale value. At the moment, I’m willing to part with $3K of my hard cash to get a re-sale value that is $10K more than it would likely go for. I’m also replacing the stove that I initially didn’t want to deal with.

Spelunker and I painted the living room last weekend, which was a monumental task, but the payoff is fantastic! I chose a neutral cashew color and painted the trim a hi-gloss white, and immediately discovered that my vertical blinds for the balcony match the paint exactly!

The granite counters get installed tomorrow, and Spelunker and I plan to paint the kitchen and my master bathroom this weekend with a semi-gloss gray. If we have time, we will also paint the office with the same cashew color as the living room. Since I bought 5 gallons of the stuff, I plan to hold onto whatever is left over and paint the next place I move into since I like the color so much.

I’m thinking of putting in a tile backsplash behind the granite, but want to see the counters first before I make up my mind. The only other chores that remain are calling a steam cleaner for the carpets, getting my dad to install new linoleum in my bathrooms on Aug 9^th, and optionally, re-painting my bedroom.

At this rate, maybe my condo will be on the market before Labor day….

Marathon Training Report (16 Weeks Out)

I never thought back in February when Hoover first asked me to train for a marathon that it would take me this long to get back into running form. Here it is, the beginning of July, and I can finally say that I am fully prepared to embark upon my 16-week training schedule.

But I’d like to take a moment to reflect on what I’ve done to get to this point:

Feb – March: Struggled to run 1-2 miles 3xweek

April: Returned to my gym for 30min workouts 3xweek

April 13: Joined WW at 220.2 lbs

May: Continued struggle to run 3xweek; upped mileage to 2-3 miles

June: Started speed workouts of 4 ¼-mi repeats; upped mileage to 3-4 miles

June 17: Weighed in at under 200 lbs (psychological milestone!)

July: Fully developed 16-week marathon training schedule; began running 5xweek

July 12: Completed 1^st long run of 7 miles in 1:21 – average 11-12 min pace

I’ve lost 30 lbs to date, which I am immensely proud of. I’ve set myself a goal weight of 150 lbs for the marathon.

Weight Watchers has been a great system to live by and I have to admit that I enjoy my meals much more now than I did previously. Who knew that eating fresh fruits and vegetables 5xday would taste so good and keep you satisfied?

The only negative side-effect of the WW lifestyle is that my hash weekend drinking is severely curtailed. I still manage to fix some mixed drinks and drink a couple of beers throughout the day, but the majority of my fluid intake is in the form of water. Does it make me less of a hasher? I hope not. My greater level of sobriety provides me ample brain cognizance to remember everyone else’s crazy antics.

I'm Really Losing the Pounds Now!

Well, I am steam-rolling through this weight loss now - 30 lbs to date! In the last 4 weeks alone, I've lost 13 pounds, when it took me 8 weeks to lose the first 17. I think my early morning strength training 3 days a week is finally starting to pay off now that I have built that solid muscle tone. Of course, the T.I.T.S. weight loss camp may have assisted in my weight loss (just kidding! There may not have been enough food for others, but I was always satisfied.

Mysterious Rash

For the last week, I have been suffering from some mysterious rash that is itchier than PI (since PI doesn't really make me itch much) and hurts to high heaven after I itch it. My primary care doctor and the ER could not identify what caused my rash or the subsequent swelling that forced me to take my class ring off to prevent it from cutting off circulation to my finger.

I look like a diseased leper, especially on the left side of my body. I have no idea if it is contagious, but since it looks like hives have spread all over my legs and arms, I'm hoping it is simply an allergic reaction.

The hospital put me on antibiotics and steroids since they couldn't tell if I had a bacterial infection or an allergic reaction. Today is day 6 of my ordeal and although the medication has resolved the swelling, my rash is spreading to the right side of my body, while inexplicably (and thankfully!) skipping my torso.

Hopefully, tomorrow, I can get an appointment from a dermatologist to figure out what is causing this rampage across my skin.

Week 3: Speed Session

Despite not feeling well 2 days ago, I performed much better today than my speed session last week.

Lap #1: 2:04
Lap #2: 2:08
Lap #3: 2:10
Lap #4: 2:19

....well, except for the last lap. That one is disappointing.

Not Feeling Well

I haven't run since Saturday because I came down with something flu-like on Sunday. Even though I went to work both yesterday and today, I haven't eaten anything substantial in the past 3 days. Yesterday I was so weak that my entire body had uncontrollable shivers until I took 600mg of ibuprofen.

I feel better today, but my appetite has not yet returned full strength. As a result, I'm taking today as one last day of recovery just to ensure that I don't have a relapse. Besides, tomorrow is my speed session. Hopefully, I've improved from last week, although I don't know how I could've managed it.