Thursday, December 1, 2011

November

It turns out, November is over.    Freaking showoff month all speeding by...  Just like those little kids did during the Turkey Trot.  I had to keep myself from shouting discouraging words.  Run Forrest!  And that one old lady, but she was like, super fit looking and stuff, so she totally shouldn't count.

That's right, kids, once again, I ran when no one was chasing me.  For over THREE MILES.

And I paid for the privilege of getting tagged and monitored like a harp seal.  I paid money.  Happily.

No, really, I'm not crazy. It was kinda fun.

I could even breath (mostly)!  And I didn't fall down!

 No, really.

So, there are a few things I would like to point out on my little "results" picture here.  First, my chip time and my clock time are thirty seven seconds off.  We arrived early so we could have started off in the front, but Boyfriend pointed out that fewer people would pass us if we started in the back.  He's so smart.  So it took us thirty-seven seconds to cross the start line after the gun went off. 
I was in 719th place, and it turns out you do NOT get to stand on the podium for that.  Those jerks are so elitist.

I was one place off from being exactly in the middle as far as placing compared to all the girls in this race, and slightly better than half of the people in my age and gender group.  Win?

BUT.  The important thing here:  I was 719th place overall, and 323rd place among women... that makes me faster than like, 203 men.  Those guys totally got "chicked".  And no, I don't care if they were over 85 and under 10.  I BEAT YOU, SUCKERS!

So, that is an improvement of over six minutes compared to last year.  See?  I am not completely lazy.
And screw that photographer!  I showed up in ONE picture, and I was in the background of some other lady so I'm all blurry and cut in half.  Boyfriend wasn't even in ANY pictures.  Really?  Seriously?  No one standing at the finish to take pictures?  Nothing?  Just one lady sitting on the ground at about the halfway point so that she can be SURE to get the most awkward and unflattering picture possible? 

Great.  Thanks.  I'll spend my $4 elsewhere.  (PS I actually stole the picture from their site and cut out the little bit of me that's in the photo.  Well, I also cropped out my huge ass, but you get the idea.  Please don't turn me in to the copyright police.  I would have paid for it if they had a picture of my victorious finish.  Or a picture of me in focus.  Jerks).

This years race was a actually a pretty pleasant experience.  No.  Really, it was.  I'm serious.  Other than the lack of pictures, it was fun.  Will you stop trying to get me into that straight jacket?  I am not crazy.

There were a few things that contributed to the overall awesome:
  1. The weather was pretty nice:  Mid 30's and windless.  For 8:30AM in November, that's pretty spectacular.  Warm enough to not die of hypothermia and have your nose hairs stab you when you breathe, but cold enough that you don't really sweat the whole time.
  2. My knees no longer hurt.  I can jog pain free, even if I am jogging very, very slowly.
  3. I achieved (barely) my personal goal of jogging faster than eleven minute miles.  So basically, I won.
Some other things happened in November, too. 
  1. I finally got around to getting the tires on my car rotated after noticing that one of the tires was mostly flat when Boyfriend and Mom and I got back to the car after hiking.  You know, miles from anywhere (we didn't die, the car didn't explode, and the tire was not damaged badly, so it wasn't too bad).
  2. I rewatched the Lord of the Rings Trilogy for the first time in a really long time.  For some reason it didn't have the same emotional impact, and I kept saying things like "I wish I could quit you!" when Frodo and Sam were staring lovingly into one another's eyes.  I'm such a jerk.
  3. I got new running shoes.  They were discount bargain shoes and they are my favorite shoes EVAR.
  4. I wrote a novel.
 So yeah, overall, a pretty boring month.  Not much to report...

What?

Oh, that?

Yeah.  Ahem.  (Buffs nails on jacket lapel).  Why yes.  I am a novelist now. It's no big thing...


OMGWTF SO FUCKING AWESOME!

Final word count:  54,569 words written and a novel in the month of November.  Now I just have to mold it into something worth reading...

16 comments:

Anonymous said...

WANNA READ IT WANNA READ IT WANNA READ IT! Okay, so when do we get to read it?

Keith said...

Last night on CBC we were listening to someone doing that November novel writing thing. She was just squeaking in under the wire, and I was going to ask how yours went. Congratulations!
Aliens?
Zombies?
Kittens?
Conspiracy Theory?

Leauxra said...

Hoodyhoo: Depends, do you want to be one of my editors? If you are and I ever get published, I'll put "Special thanks to HoodyHoo" in the acknowledgements. Otherwise, it may be a little while. Currently, NO one gets to read it. In fact, I still haven't read it. I'll keep you posted.

Keith: I finished a few days ago, actually, as far as the word count. There is a little left to wrap up the story, but I am pretty much done. It was actually a really good experience for me... I'll be dedicating a post with the details soon.

Also: No aliens... but everything else.

KK and UK said...

Super awesome! Sounds like a productive month and super cool that you finished that novel. Too neat.

Stephanie said...

You won running AND nanowrimo! That pretty much makes you the biggest winner I know. And also, I laughed out loud at "I wish I could quit you". My favourite bit was the pillow fight at the end.

Leauxra said...

KK and UK: Welcome to the wonderful world of blogging, I love your stuff. And also, I DID have a superawesome month. Now I just have to figure out December...

Stephanie: Pillow fight at the end! It IS a little embarrassing to watch. I mean, guys. There are ELVES watching...

Anonymous said...

I will TOTALLY edit for you as long as you realize I'm the Grammar Nazi and promise not to be pissy. I really should have been a fifth grade teacher...

Leauxra said...

Hoody: No, that's exactly what I need. I have 50,000 dangling participles and sentences ending in prepositions. It ain't pretty.

Paula said...

Congrats!!! That is an awesome time to have ran a 5k in!

Anonymous said...

Back The Truck UP!!! I am so proud that you actually finished that thing! I will nominate myself as well for editor. You should really have more than one, right? (Ok, so I just wanna read it, too). I'll try to be nice. :)

All these people out there running these Turkey Trots. Very cool. And I think you look great in that picture, all cut off and blurry as it is. Next time? Hire your own photographer and you can pick from a slew of really great pics of you. See, easy solution.

So, after all that, what could you possibly do for December to top it?

Leauxra said...

Paula: Thank you! I keep reading all these fitness running blogs and they're all, "Oh, I only ran nine minute miles during my marathon, I'm so slow!" and I feel like a failure. I really need to keep in mind that I'm improving pretty dramatically since I couldn't run a mile in a row a year ago without massive pain.

mistylaws: You're hired. I will pay you in compliments. Between you, Hoody, and Gremlingirl, I believe I have a team of editors worth bragging about. I should have my own edits done by the beginning of February (I am giving myself 2 months to rewrite it).

And you don't have to be nice. It isn't a child that will get hurt feelings, it's a pulpy zombie novel. :)

Jen said...

Way to go, Fly Girl! I never pay for those race pictures either. I'm all, "Bitch, please! If you can jack them off of the site who would freakin' pay for them?"

Leauxra said...

Jen: I know, I ran like the wind! Or rather, a mild breeze, but still!

And I don't mind paying if they're $1 each, I just mind paying for crap.

Susan DeBruin said...

Aaaah SO COOL!! I have a couple of friends who tried nanowrimo but none of them succeeded. I would love to read your book - I always think I want to be a writer and then I try to write... and realize I just like being a reader :)

Leauxra said...

Susan: Welcome aboard my bloggy thingy here. I realized about day 2 that the only way to "win" the NaNoWriMo was to just, you know, write. Now I just need to figure out how to get myself to do that with running/exercise... I am thinking about making a "words and steps" with monthly goals to try to motivate myself.

Love said...

I will be a proof-reader/editor/slave-helper.... ;-)