BIG Changes

I would first like to apologize for my blogging hiatus. I wanted to tell you all why I had been so aloof, but due to employment reasons I couldn't post anything online about it until yesterday when I made a BIG change in my life. Are you ready for this? I swear it is going to come out of nowhere like a Chuck Norris round house:

I enlisted in the U.S. Navy. 

Told ya it was big. Instead of writing new posts and commenting on all of your wonderful blogs I have been re-learning math from 6 years ago that I never fully comprehended in the first place. Filling out mountains of paperwork and studying for the standardized test that determines which military jobs you qualify for took precedence over blogging - I know, how rude. I promise I will be back on track now. 

Are you thinking what everyone else has been asking me? "But, Sam...WHY? Why are you joining the Navy? You are a college graduate. You have a well-paying job. We are involved in major conflicts overseas. What are you thinking?" Well alright, here comes my "Why I Decided to Join the Navy" story:

I have always been a traveler at heart. Last year, instead of taking a relaxing summer vacation on a beach, I explored as much of Ethiopia as I could. I place an extremely high value on my vacation days so when I was flying back from Africa I literally went straight from the airport to my office with all my luggage in tow. That's just how I roll. My current job is based in DC and doesn't ever require me to travel. I want to explore a little more, but unfortunately flying half way around the world costs quite the pretty penny. An aircraft carrier will take me there for free :)

source

I have an opportunity to do something I love (and get paid for it). All of my life, photography has been a hobby. In college I had several friends who were majoring in graphic design. They often suggested political science might not be my ideal fit and that I should join them amongst the creative folks. Photography never crossed my mind as a potential career field because I am a person who depends on stability and certainty. I couldn't handle the risk of a ridiculously expensive education and such an unreliable job market. With any luck I'll soon be a Mass Communications Specialist in the Navy. My days will consist of journalism, photography, and public affairs events. I will be responsible for telling the Navy's story. I'm not saying I don't like the job I have now in the civilian world (because I really do), but I honestly don't think I could be more excited about this new opportunity. I promise to keep you posted on when I officially get the job.

My family is supportive of everything I do. I am blessed with wonderful parents. In fact, my dad is the one who encouraged me to look into military service. Since I have a college degree, he had originally suggested officer school for me, but the program I wanted (Public Affairs Officer) is extremely competitive and only takes 2 or 3 civilians every year who are experts in the field. Enlisting isn't the end of the world. I figure if I get in there and decide this is what I want to make my career, then I can always try for Officer later. I have time. Also, just a side note - my dad is extremely excited that he has another college football team to root for. He spent all of yesterday online shopping for Navy Midshipmen t-shirts and hats for the family. Gotta love him.

Fear the goat?? Ummm, not sure how I feel about that. ha.  source

I feel the need to serve my country. Of course, I had to save the best reason for last. I love the United States of America. We might be going through some tough times right now, and we might not all agree on politics, religion, or values, but there is a sense of camaraderie and patriotism in this nation that could never be diminished. America provides opportunity and freedom to people of all colors, sexes, and religions. I'm proud to be a part of something that defends those liberties.

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Well, there you have it. Now I'm back to focusing on running races until I ship out on May 1st, 2012 (tentative date). I have a half marathon next weekend that I am so not ready for.


Hooyah, 

Lazy Running

No, that's not an oxymoron. Don't roll your eyes - I know you know what I'm talking about. I haven't used my Nike tracking app in a month. I haven't even looked at my training plan in weeks. Lately I've been going on runs without a set distance or pace. I could blame my lack of running frequency and intensity on earthquakes or hurricanes, both of which happened in DC lately, but let's just be honest: I've been a lazy runner.

I've resolved to do twice-a-day workouts until I'm back to my normal training state of mind. I suppose a few general lazy days won't be devastating, but a few lazy running days can set you back pretty far. Ordering Chinese food instead of cooking dinner won't kill anyone. Watching a movie instead of doing the laundry isn't the end of the world. But, running 26.2 miles without serious training? Now that's something I'm sure you'll regret.

Eating at Waffle House instead of cooking dinner might actually kill someone. I wouldn't advise testing that theory.

I have way too many races coming up to be acting like this. I suppose some other life events came up and I just put serious running (and blogging) on the backburner. Shame on me. Don't I know that running is like the icing on your gingerbread house? It keeps the rest of life from sliding off the roof (I apologize for the cheeziness of that analogy - colder weather must have me in a Christmas mood).

Oh! I forgot to tell you guys! I bought a shirt from Kylee over at Daily Vitamin F. Pretty rad, huh?

Cancer totally sucks.

1. What do you guys do when you're in a running rut?
2. I don't usually wear graphic tee's but Kylee's is awesome. What does your favorite graphic tee say on it? 

Some Women

On their birthdays, some women like to spend lots of money at spas getting facials and mud wraps. Other women prefer to run over obstacles through the woods for 3 miles and then belly flop into a mud pit. You can probably guess which one I am. 

When people pass you in a race it can be kind of sucky. It's less sucky if they are yelling "Happy Birthday!" Which is why I made this:

Gettin Dirty on my Birthday!

 And after the Merrill Down and Dirty Richmond 5k:

awww, yeah - pretty hard core start to year 23.

Your "medal" is a dog tag :)

Then I had to shower off and head from Richmond down to Myrtle Beach to meet my family at my aunt's beach house. I'm pretty sure the race packet said they would have showers available. By "showers" they meant "hoses":

Shoot. Shoot. I was banking on a real shower. Gonna be a long car ride.


Every time you moved an inch you would find a gallon more mud. It was never ending. I even gave up hope of saving the old sneaks. Bye-Bye first marathon shoes. I hope you find a good home. (they had a donation pile). The socks and t-shirt went straight to the trash. 

Adios Mizunos

Cheeseburger and chocolate milk at 9:30 am? Don't mind if I do.

Well, my uncle just made me a vodka tonic so I'm off to celebrate the rest of my birthday. Hope everyone had a wonderful weekend!

1. Have you ever done a mud race? If so, what was the hardest obstacle? Definitely the soapy wall for me - I have no upper body strength!
2. How did you celebrate your latest birthday?

You know you have a problem when...

you seriously consider spending 50 cents on a Nutrigrain bar just so you can get to the Reece's Pieces behind it in the vending machine at work. 

You can't hide from me Reece's

On the other hand, somehow (probably by the grace of God), I found these at the grocery store and managed to not walk out with them:

Haha! I like how they try to make these sound healthy. Ummm, you aint foolin' nobody with that gooey-cheesy goodness.

In addition to poor nutrition, I've also been a terribly lazy blogger. I'll have to just quickly re-cap the past week. It's okay, you guys really love my schmorgisborg of topics in blog posts, don't you? (Are you impressed that I just guessed how to spell schmorgisborg and Urban Dictionary confirmed that I have excellent phonetic skills? I am.) Oh geez, quit your cryin' - it's mostly pictures ;)

 I was supposed to do a 17 miler on Sunday, but I was too tired from singing along with this hunk: (by tired I mean hungover)

You get your nasty cigarette out of my picture and away from Tim McGraw's armpit!!

Don't worry, your armpits are safe now, Tim.

 Instead of running I went to visit my great-grandma:

Isn't she adorable?! Love her to pieces.

 ...and help my aunt pack:

 I tried to do my long run on Monday after work because I don't want to fall behind on marathon training at all.

I spent a significant amount of time mapping out this stupid run.

There were several things wrong with this plan. #1 being that I cannot mentally prepare myself for 17 miles after a full day of work. #2 being that I obviously went right after I got home from work and didn't eat dinner - my stomach doesn't know what it's like to not have food every 2 hours and revolted against me. #3 being that this put a little wrinkle in my plan: 

Dayumm, Feds are gettin' stingy. Who closes a park at 5? People work til 5, ya know?! I had 4.5 miles planned behind these gates :(

Anyways the jist of the story is that it was a sucky run. Walked a lot, almost puked from hunger, and only completed 14 of the 17 miles. Oh well, back on track next Sunday. Wait, that's my birthday. No promises.

In other randomness, I would like to profess my love for craigslist. My best friend and I are backpacking through Ireland in Oct/Nov and I wanted one of those legit, monstrous hiking backpacks. A woman on craigslist was selling the one she had fitted to her height of 5'8", which happens to be my height too! I got a $350 backpack for $70. Now that's what I'm talkin' about. I'll take on any of those crazy coupon people on TLC any day. Just kidding, their savings are no joke! :)

And because I love learning about y'all:
1. Have you ever tried to do a long run other than on a weekend morning? Even though I'll probably never do it again, do you have any tips?
2. Does marathon training ever get in the way of your social life?
3. What's the best deal you ever got on craigslist?