Mockingjay

Taking a break from blogging about running, to give my thoughts on Mockingjay....which i finsihed last night.

GOES WITHOUT SAYING, SPOILERS AHEAD!!!

Ok, hopefully anyone who hasn't finished the book isn't reading right now. :) Not sure how many of you have read the Hunger Games series, but they are favorites of mine. I'm pretty sure I finished each book within a matter of days - definite page turners!

So, my thoughts:

• First off, I didn't cry until the end. It took me a few pages to remember what went down in the last book - and then i remembered what a crappy situation Katniss was in. Could you imagine having to be the face of a revolution at 17 years old? After every crazy thing you've been through? I felt really sorry for her in the beginning.
• I never was Team Peeta or Team Gale...you knew Peeta loved Katniss, but i felt like she was never sure if she loved him back. And I always felt she just had a "crush" on Gale - and that Gale was just jealous of Peeta.
• That being said, i loved the "twist" with Peeta - how he was brainwashed to believe Katniss was evil. It was really touching once he finally came around & they played the "Real or not real?" game. I think i kinda jumped on the Team Peeta bandwagon then.
• I was so sad Finnick died. :( Freaking A, he & Annie just got back together! And then you have to go and kill him off!
• And then the craziness when they get to the Capitol.....i can't believe Prim died. I think that's what upset me the most. Pretty much every thing Katniss did was to protect her little sister who she loved so much. To have her killed off in the last book seemed really cruel.
• And dear Lord, i completely lost it when the cat came back to District 12 to find Prim...and Katniss breaking down in sobs and the cat sobbing along with her....ugh, my heart!!!
• If i wasn't on the Team Peeta bandwagon before, i definitely was once he came back to District 12 and planted primroses for Katniss. Sigh.
• I was really confused when it came to voting on another Hunger Games & Katniss being for it. I couldn't believe after everything she went through, that she thought another Hunger Games was the answer....!
• BUT it all made sense when she killed Coin. Katniss never wanted another Hunger Games, it was all part of her grand plan.....and I liked it.
• And a big "boo" to Katniss and Prim's mom....it felt like she completely abandoned Katniss after Prim died. Same with Gale, although I can understand his reasoning a little bit more.

Ok, sorry for that long rambling....all in all, I loved every book of the series. I'm sad it's over.

If you've finished the book, leave me your thoughts in the comments!

Attack of the Caterpillars!

Well, first week of training done! So far, so good. I still have a lot to improve on, but I've been overall pretty satisfied with my runs.

It will be weird training by myself (well, and Tom) this year. I already miss meeting the Big Brothers/Big Sisters gang at Granada Park every morning...

Last night Tom & i went on our 3 mile (techinically 3.4 miles) run. As we are jogging along, i notice a bright yellow & green caterpillar. Can't even tell you the last time i saw a caterpillar, so it was a cool sight.

As we get further along we see more...and more....and more! They were freaking everywhere!!! I'm not even kidding, we had to have passed more than hundreds of caterpillars on our run. (On the plus side, it did take my mind off the miles as i was concentrating more on not smooshing any!)

If the amount of caterpillars is any indication, we should have tons of butterflies in Phoenix soon. ;)

Win!

"...then you go and totally redeem yourself!" - Dumb & Dumber

Ha, i had that running through my head last night after my run. After the previous night's craptastic run, i wanted to get back out there and try again. Alone. Tom had a soccer game, so it worked out perfectly.

Strapped on the ipod & headed out the door - for a great 2 mile run!

Still pretty hot, but i mixed up my route & i think that helped. I wasn't psyching myself out by thinking "Ok, this is where you stopped last time - you're getting weak, you need to stop!" No siree, i ran those miles & didn't let myself give up. :)

Can you see the happy puppies??

First Official Training Run

.....kinda sucked. It looked like it might storm, so Tom & I headed out earlier than i usually do. And it was HOT. Again.

Training called for 2 miles & we ran the route i usually do. But for some reason, it was much harder last night. Might have been the heat, or the fact that i was running with Tom. I tend to run by myself because i psyche myself out anytime i run with somebody.

I find myself speeding up to match their speed or worrying about how slow i am or how i might have to stop and walk, etc etc.

Do you prefer solo runs, or running with others?

Did it!

Just signed up for the 10 mile Aflac Iron Girl race.

Eeek!

Thanks to Betty, Looking Up Again, and Java Joggers for their encouragement. :)

To run or not to run

Did a 2.25 mile run in the hot, hot weather last night. It was pretty brutal....ready for Phoenix to cool off just a bit!! Unfortunately, that won't happen until October - ha.

So I am going to sign up for the Aflac Iron Girl race here in Tempe (race is in November).

There is an option for a 5K or a 10 mile run. I'd really like to do the 10 mile run, but for some reason I am really scared of it....which is funny considering I'm planning on doing a half marathon in January.

I'm not sure why this distance intimidates me so much - i guess just because I am a pretty slow runner and doubt myself a lot.

What do you think - should i do the 5k or 10 miles??

Wordless Wednesday - featuring my pops

Another hot one.

Tonight's temperature?

Sheesh.

And I know some of you are wondering: Phoenix has zero to very little humidity. That makes running a little bit easier. (However, you feel like you have a hair dryer following you around.)

Tonight's run was better than Tuesday night. Just slightly longer and i only had to take two little walk breaks. I know my time is pretty slow, but that's ok - trying to build up to it. :)

One thing i want to do differently this year while training is try to eat better. Last year I didn't eat very healthy. I'm also going to TRY and cut back on my diet drinks. I won't even tell you how many i drink a day - it's a lot. (They just taste so damn good!)

Let's see how training goes the second time around...

Hot Hot HOT

So, i went for a nice & easy 2-mile run last night. Let me share with you the temp. i was running in...

Yeah, 103 degrees. Ugh. The first mile was pretty good, i felt nice & strong. But by mile 2 the heat had set in & i was breathing way harder than i wanted to be. Instead of fainting, i decided to walk a little bit. Reallllllly ready for it to cool down a bit in Phoenix. :)

Anyone else planning on running the R&R in Phoenix this January??

I'm baaaaaaack

Hello!

Well, i'm happy to announce this blog is going to get updated more frequently now. :) I am starting up my training again and i just know you all want to hear about how my lazy ass is going to attempt to run another 1/2 marathon!

The plan for now is to definitely run the Rock & Roll half here in Phoenix in January. I would really love to run the Rock & Roll half in Vegas in December...but it's going to take some planning. (ie, convincing Tom & friends to go with me.)

I went for a two mile run on Tuesday evening. Wasn't too bad - but it was 104 degrees and I definitely felt the heat towards the end of the run. I had planned to run again tonight, but seeing how today's high is 112......UGH.

It's super hard to train in Phoenix during the summer time. :(