Thursday, January 28, 2010

Two Times Disgusting

Well, it's been awhile blog. Since I clearly have nothing worthwhile to say, I'm just going to vent about my personal problems.

On Tuesday I went to the gym for kickboxing. In the morning I grabbed a workout towel from amongst my clothes air drying on our rack and threw it in my bag. When I picked it up and wiped my face off following kick boxing, it smelled rank. Absolutely disgusting. I was appalled that something could come out of the wash smelling that gross.

I got home and complained to Matt about how this clean towel smelled so rank, and he immediately made an "uh-oh" face, walked over to the drying rack, and informed me that it was his USED workout towel that he had simply placed on the drying rack to dry because it WAS SO WET FROM SWEAT...The drying rack full of my clean clothes.

I wiped my face with his rank sweat towel. That is gross. At least he seemed contrite about that.

Tonight we went to the gym together (me with an ACTUALLY CLEAN towel this time). When he went to get off the elliptical, I asked him if he would bring me back a paper towel with cleaner too. He looked at me confusedly. You know, the stuff you use to clean the equipment? Oh, I just wipe it off with my towel he said. YES, THE RANK TOWEL. This man owns two pairs of workout shorts and goes to the gym nearly every day. You can imagine how frequently these shorts and towels get washed... And then he proceeds to WIPE HIS RANK SWEAT all over the machine. I'm pretty sure the machine would have been better off without this wipe down.

Is he contrite about this? No. Does he say, yeah, I know it's gross but I am just too lazy to go get the cleaner? No, he tells me he sees nothing wrong with it and absolutely refuses to use cleaner even when I ask him to. He says he does more cleaning than most people anyway. (Because that makes it right...)

Please tell me, are all men this disgusting?

(And how hard would it be for him to just listen to my dad and do what I ask him to (clean off the machine) instead of putting up huge resistance to it? HELLO! If you're going to be disgusting, at least give me lip service and keep doing whatever the hell it is you're doing when I'm not around.)

I hope you have enjoyed my tale of GROSSNESS. Unfortunately it has not made me less angry.

Friday, January 8, 2010

Happy New (Blog) Year!

Well, we made it through another year!

Did you make any resolutions? I didn't. I am already resolved to run a half marathon in February and another one in May, and then who knows, maybe a whole marathon! Isn't that enough? Yes, clearly I am addicted AND crazy. I have posted a list of my upcoming races in my sidebar for those of you who have expressed interest in joining me for an event sometime. Send me your ideas too!

While we're on the subject, have I mentioned that I signed up for Team in Training again? Don't worry, I'm not fundraising this season - I'm volunteering as a mentor! If you made a resolution to get in shape this year, consider joining Team in Training yourself! You can train for a run, a walk, a hike, a bike, and probably some other things depending on where you live.

Here's the pros:
1. Somebody will be waiting for you at 7:30 am on Saturday so you won't hit your snooze button
2. Somebody will be at the track cheering you on every Thursday night
3. On those long runs, there will be water stops with goodies so you don't have to carry anything yourself
4. You will meet some fantastic people
5. You will raise money for an important cause
6. You will achieve your personal goals

Here's the cons:
1. You have to raise money. It's kind of a lot. But since you are my friend, I'm sure your friends are just as generous, and you will have no problem - I didn't. I surpassed my fundraising minimum by 38%!
2. Quality of coaching seems to vary by team.

During my "off-season" with TNT, I joined a local athletic club, Pac West, to stay training. I haven't gone to very many workouts, but I have found that the participants are less social while the coaches are better. However, I am very glad I trained for my first event with TNT. It is much more sociable, which I think makes it more likely that you will go back and keep training. It is much more beginner oriented. You will never feel lost or overwhelmed. And of course, it was a great cause that kept me motivated to come through for my donors and hold up my end of the bargain. Once I tried to train for a half marathon myself. I think I lasted one week. Or maybe two.

That's my requisite pitch!

And don't forget, it's not to late to pitch in a little for Girls on the Run! I pledged to raise just a couple hundred dollars for them this season, and it's another great cause. After you get hooked on training through TNT, you can go on to become a SoleMate, running buddy, or coach.

Cheers to the New Year (of training)!

P.S. Have I told you about endorphins?! They're pretty awesome!