I'm Losing My Shizz

Y'all, I've had a rough couple of weeks.  Last week I said f-you to my running shoes and swimsuit and sat on my couch eating myself into a tizzy.  I told my coach I hated "fucking" multisport.  I worked a gazillion hours, ripped out all of my landscaping, and slept more hours than I care to admit.  I was a mess.

And yesterday I flipped my lid in public.

I have gotten my haircut by the same girl for more than 6 years.  She works at one of those uppity salons where everyone has to wear black, has made up names so no one has the same name as someone else, serves champagne or whatever, and charges and arm and a leg for a stupid haircut.  She doesn't really fit the mold there though.  I've never seen her wear a skirt or dress.  She's never pushed me to buy any products (and has even told me she hates that part of her job) or get my hair dyed for the sake of making more money or tried to sell me on any other services.  I like her.  She does a good job.  She always changes the price for me so I'm paying for just my haircut and no other up-charges.  I almost wish she didn't work there.  I wish I knew her real name so I could seek her out outside of the salon.

Anyway, yesterday I made an appointment to just get the back of my hair trimmed.  I'm still growing out the stupid pixie cut and the mullet grows daggone fast.  This was going to be a 5 minute haircut that was going to cost me all of $13.  I made the appointment as late as I could, 3:15, hoping that my mom would be able to watch Anderson.  Unfortunately, my mom wasn't going to be able to (should have checked with her first) and I had to take Anderson.

Here's the rub...this salon has a no child policy.  Yep, you read that right.  If you're child is under 10 and does not have an appointment, he/she must be attended to at all times. 

I took Anderson with me.  He had a monster truck in his hand and I had my iPad in mine.  They have free wifi there and it was my intent to have him watch Mighty Machines on Netflix ON MY LAP while she cut the back of my hair.  Therefore, he would not be unattended and I would be following their stupid policies.  We walked in and I tried to check in.  The stupid greeter was not happy to see my three year old and reminded me of the policy.  I quoted, verbatim, to her the policy and told her he would not be unattended.  She told me I'd have to talk to a manager.  That's when I lost my shizz.

I told her, "YOU'RE POLICY IS BULLSHIT!"  I told her she could pay for my child care and my haircut, that she was bullshit, and that I was leaving.  We went out to the car and I cried.  Cried and cried and cried.  Who treats you like that in front of a child?!  And my child, in all his lovingness, says "why won't they let us in there?"  God, that hurt.  I was livid.  I was angry.  I was mad at them.  I was mad at me and my stupidity and my inability to control my shizz. 

Today I'm still angry but a little embarrassed.  The thing is, I still need a haircut.  And I don't know what to do now.  I don't really want to go back there with my tail between my legs and give them and their stupid policies my business.  But, I don't know anyone who will cut my hair or who has hair like mine that can give me a recommendation. 

I think it's about time to talk to my therapist again.  I'm, obviously, a mess.

Pinwheel 5K 2016

Where have I been?  On vacation.  And what's a vacation without a race?!  I have been to Florida more times than I can count and yet, I have not run a race there.  This year we finally figured it out.  We traveled Friday to Friday and were able to pick up a race nearby on Saturday. 

The Pinwheel 5K was a smallish race at a beautiful rowing facility in Sarasota.  The two things I love: rowing and running.  I was in heaven.  The weather was sunny and not so hot, which made for great racing. 

There's not much to say about a 5K.  I went out hard and held on for a dear life.  Actually, I felt pretty good for about 75% of this race.  At the turn around I was able to count and see that I was in 5th.  Dave was right behind me and my dad also let me know my position.  I quickly caught 4th place and then spent a mile-ish hunting down 3rd place.  I really felt like I was on the hunt the whole time and felt great.  Until I caught everyone I could and then it was everything I could do not to get caught.  Each time we had a turn I looked to see my position.  It was close but I was able to hold on to third.

This is the second time I have placed in the top three at a race and also the second time there were no awards for top three - only first place.  And I wish I could have caught that girl.  First place got a $100 gift card to a local running store.  That's a heck of a lot towards a new pair of shoes! 

Anyway, I did win my age group.  My final time was 22:09 which is a 7:0-something pace.

It was a good day for Dave and my dad.  They both took home 1st in their age groups too.

I'm starting to like the 5K.  Don't get me wrong.  It sucks.  It's hard and painful, but at least it's over quickly.  I hope to race some more soon.

Pictures from vacation coming soon!

Bad Boys, Bad Boys

Saturday we got pulled over by the cops.  We were not even two miles from our house.  A police woman had pulled out behind us.  Dave was super careful to go the speed limit so we thought it was a little odd when she put her lights on and pulled us over just down the road.

"Did you know you're tags are expired?  Is your birthday in December?"

Dave has not had to get a new license since we moved so the state believes he still lives at our old address.  Therefore, we never received our update about our license plate tags, and therefore, Dave did not update them in December on his birthday.  He thought he had updated them for two years.

"Can I have your license and insurance card?"

I got out the insurance card and it was expired.  Awesome.  Our new ones were obviously sitting at home.  Luckily, she was able to look this up because it is the same insurance.

In the end we got off with a warning but had to drive around for another two days before the BMV was open and we could get new tags.  She told us we may get a ticket in that time.  And funny enough we were both followed by cops in those two days. 

As of Monday, we're no longer fugitives from the law.

Best Swim Test EVER!!!

I did a swim test yesterday.  It was a CSS test, which stands for Critical Swim Speed.  After 1200 yards of warmup I had 400 yards all out.  I had a goal in my head, and I went for it.  I pressed hard, needing to breathe every stroke in the last several laps.  My legs were going numb; I wasn't seeing straight.  I was swimming as hard as I ever had.  When I hit that wall I was all...

5:54!!!!  That's a 1:28 per 100 yards!!!  I have never been able to average under 1:30s!!!

Then I did another 400 yards easy and then it was time for another test.  This time it was 200 yards all out.  Again I went for it breathing hard, kicking and reaching, and swimming for all it was worth.  Eight laps later and this...

2:53!!!  Eff yeah!!!! 

Of course, now I have a threshold pace that scares the crap out of me and I have no idea how you even do threshold repeats with your head underwater.  For now, I totally won the gold medal.

Being a Parent is Hard

I came home from work yesterday and Dave was giving me the look that I give him nearly every day when he returns from work -- Take the kid. I need a break!

We easily broke Anderson of the pacifier last week but we've struggled with naps ever since.  And by struggled I mean, he hasn't taken one in a week.  It's not really a big deal except that he's not sleeping longer at night and therefore, he's pretty grouchy and cranky by the end of the day.

Last night he threw a fit about something.  I don't know what it was, but it really upset him.  So much so, that he cried so hard that he vomited on himself.  I stripped him naked, threw the clothes in the wash, cleaned up the floor, and put him in the shower with me.  By the time we finished it was after 7:00pm so I wanted to put him in his pajamas and settle down for bed.  The boy did not like that idea one bit and fought me.  Finally we settled on just a diaper and he went out to the couch to watch some TV.

Dave had locked himself in a room by himself (not kidding, and I've done it myself when I need a break).  I laid in bed to just settle down.  A few minutes later Anderson comes running into my room, no diaper on, and yells, "I pooped!"  What?  Where?  And that's when I saw the poop on his leg.  Oh my god.  "On the carpet," he said.  "Come with me."  I went out into the living room and there I saw it.  A big chunk of poop on the floor along with pee sprayed all over a pillow.  I picked him up, gave him to Dave, told him to clean him off, and then I cleaned up the mess in the living room.  After that we put him straight into bed.

This morning I cleaned up another mess of apple juice and water both spilled on the floor within a few minutes of each other.  And then I had to deal with a total meltdown over three, freakin', M&Ms that he wanted to bring into the Y with him.  Oh my god!  I could have pulled my hair out. 

I texted Dave and told him that if he didn't get a vasectomy this year that I might leave him.

Tossing My Cookies

This morning I hit the track while the little one was at preschool.  I didn't have a terribly long or difficult track workout: warmup, plyometrics, a few short sprints, and cool down.  The main set was 7 x 200 with decreasing recovery intervals, starting at 90 seconds and going down to 15 seconds.  I got my head out of the way and tackled this workout.  I stopped for nothing.  Rock in my shoe?  Keep going.  Snot on the face?  Keep going.  Super thirsty?  Keep going.  I was super consistent with my sprints, knocking out all of them at just under a 6:00 pace.  The last interval was super tough.  Fifteen seconds rest?  I barely stopped and then I was sprinting again.  I pushed and pushed and when I finished that booger, I tossed my cookies right there on the track.  Coach was so proud.  What a great workout.