Kim versus the 5K: Rocket's Run

Lauren, Melissa, and me!

Waiting for the race to start!

On your mark, get set, GO!

5K finishers!

Melissa, Clutch, and me!

I'm writing this blog in parts because I want you to experience it as I feel/felt it. It will post in one post, but it's much more complicated than that. Do you follow me, oh faithful readers of mine?


Part 1 is the day before my very first 5K. I have feelings of excitement, anxiety, nervousness, and perhaps a little bit of fear. I wonder if I will have a hard time sleeping tonight. My grand plan of 1/2 marathon training was to little by little build up my endurance. I figured I would run/walk one mile on the weekends in January, then run/walk two miles on the weekends in February, and so forth and so on until I was ready for January 2011 to do the Houston 1/2. Once I experienced the excitement of my sister, Linda, doing the Houston 1/2 this January, well...let's just say my friend Melissa didn't have to twist my arm too hard to get me to sign up for The Rockets Run. We recruited our friend, Lauren, and the three of us signed up for it! Today (Saturday) was packet pick-up day. The three of us ladies decided to meet at my house at 10:00am and I drove us to The Toyota Center. We paid for our parking (to avoid getting booted and towed - others were not so lucky), stood in line, got our packets, went to the ticket booth, redeemed our vouchers for next Saturday's game (or so we thought...turns out they gave us the wrong tickets and now Melissa is working on remedying the situation). Next, we went to Cafe Red Onion for a wonderful lunch and awesome conversation. I have all my stuff laid out all ready to go as if it were the first day of school and I were 5 years old. I have a runner's belt with a water bottle (necessary because it has a zipper pouch so I can put my car key in it). I have gum (necessary because it helps me keep my breathing steady). I have my ear phones - really cool Nike sport ones that I totally recommend and my iPod shuffle. I have cheap gloves that I can lose if I need to. It's gonna be a cold one tomorrow (starting in the 30s), so I am also running in a hoodie. It's challenging to carbo-load for a South Beacher, so I did so the best way I know how (and in sticking to my diet plan) for dinner...I had a BIG salad from Salata and then I made a pizza with my latest find Artisan Flat Bread (sold at H.E.B.). It only has 17 carbs, but 8 grams of fiber for a total of 9 net carbs, and 1 gram of sugar. Best yet, it's only 100 calories and it has flax seed so you get your omega 3! I used a wee bit of pizza sauce, turkey pepperoni, and 2% Italian cheese mix. Okay, this concludes Part 1 cuz now I'm just rambling...



Part 2 - the morning of the race is here y'all. I feel good. I'm all showered and dressed. I almost forgot to eat breakfast...but, no worries...I'm "carbo-loading" again with an Artisan Flat Bread egg sandwich using Canadian bacon, two eggs, and 2% provolone cheese. Melissa is coming here and we are going together to the race. Lauren and her husband, Rodney, are meeting us there. We are hoping to be able to exchange our Rockets tickets while we are there since the ticket people never called Melissa back yesterday. It's in the low 30s outside...super super cold. I have a goal of 48 minutes - this is 16 minutes per mile which may be a little lofty for my first race because I've never run/walked 3 miles without breaking in between mile markers. Usually I take a dog with me, switch one out, water break, do another mile, water break, get rid of the dog and handle the final mile all by myself. I didn't get as much sleep as I wanted last night...strangely not because of anxiety, but rather a work call at 11pm and a work text at 11:20pm. Nice. Rar. Okay, Melissa will be here any minute, so that concludes this portion...



Part 3 - I did it! Not only did I do it, but I did it way faster than I had ever imagined! I finished the race in 44 minutes and 15 seconds! This is 3 minutes and 45 seconds faster than my goal time!!! Okay, so here is how it went down. Melissa, Lauren, and I walked to the start line and then we started running. It was COLD! The cold air burned my lungs and all the sudden I wondered what I had gotten myself into. I wasn't able to run as far as I had hoped for that initial burst of energy, but I used the light posts to help me get some kind of rhythm going (which is what I do at home in my subdivision). The first mile marker dude announced 15 minutes and some odd seconds as I passed him, but I knew we were a minute behind the initial starters, so that perked my spirits because I was totally on target. My right side started hurting...I've never had this happen before, but I found out after the race that the same thing happened to Melissa and Lauren. Mile 2 started off slow, but then I found some turbo burst of power at some point and jogged a good portion of it. I kept searching for the Mile 2 dude, but never saw him. Do you have any idea how defeating that is? As the time got later and later and I never saw a sign or a person announcing Mile 2, I started feeling like a failure. How could I have felt like I was doing so well and then the cold harsh reality be that I was so behind where I had hoped to be? Next thing you know, I saw the Toyota Center. All my irrational mind could think then was that somehow I ended up taking the 2K path instead of the 5K path and I was finishing with them instead. Oh great! Now I'm a total loser for not even knowing I wasn't on the right path! I tried to maintain my energy level despite the circumstances. Unfortunately, seeing the Toyota Center didn't mean the race was almost over as you had no idea at what point you were entering it. It was really hard at that point to determine what kind of run/walk combination to do when in the back of my mind I kept thinking "finish strong!" I finally relented to walk for a brief time until I saw a police officer who told me I was almost there and to give the race a kick in the rear! It made me laugh and I shouted to him it was my first 5K and I was going to do just that! Since he didn't correct me with a "you are on the 2K route, dum-dum", I thought that maybe, just maybe I somehow missed the 2 mile marker and I really was on the right path. So, I kicked it into gear, committed to myself to jog the rest of the way no matter how far that may be or how my body felt. I jogged and jogged and then jogged some more and then I finally entered into the Toyota Center. There were volunteers lined up all inside and they were shouting encouraging words. At this point I got a little emotional and tears welled up in my eyes. I couldn't believe what I was doing...what I was about to finish. For some people this may not be a big deal, but for me...this is a huge leap! This part of the race was downhill which would normally make me very nervous since I'm quite clumsy, but I welcomed the ease of it since I was determined to keep going. I was like the Energizer Bunny! Then the ground evened out and it was hard to make the transition, but not as hard as the next transition to the uphill to actually enter onto the Rocket's basketball court...and then....I ran to the center court across the finish line and there was Clutch and I high-fived him and looked for Melissa, Lauren, and Rodney! We got some water, then Melissa and I went to exchange our game tickets (yay!), we then got a picture with Clutch, saw our posted times, and headed back home.

Official Race Stats:
Time: 44:15.5
Pace: 14:16


Completing The Rockets Run was one of my proudest moments...it was when all the hard work I've put into diet and exercise was self-recognized and rewarded in an internal way that words can't even begin to describe. I'm on a total runner's high right now. Next stop - Rodeo Run on February 27th!

Dear Eharmony...

Dear Eharmony,

I just want you to know that I'm so on to you. I have figured out your evil ploys, oh yes I have. Every time I feel like ending our "relationship", magically a guy or two will decide to initiate contact with me in an attempt to give me a false sense of hope. I know they are "plants", employed by you and that as soon as you have me hook, line, and sinker for another 3 months, they abandon our contact entirely or end it siting "they have too much going on in their lives right now."

I do have a question for you. I would like to inquire as to what your definition of "White, Non-Hispanic" means? Of the handful of guys that have randomly (on your dime) decided to contact me, 1/3 of them have been labeled as such and yet have looked distinctly Middle Eastern. This confuses me. I wonder if your employees do not know their ethnicity and/or if they are sincerely thinking they are pulling one over on the ladies they are paid to woo. On this note, I would like to propose that you include additional reasons for closing someone out:

This person misrepresented their ethnicity, age, height, etc...

This person appears to be an Eharmony employee.

Maybe you could even offer a prize (a free month?) to the customers who correctly identify who the real matches are versus the "plants". I could even help you launch this...I was a marketing major, you know!

Oh and of the "real" matches you send me...it would be really great if they were active members of Eharmony. I know that some of them took advantage of free weekends and never officially joined and some others still get matches delivered to them, but don't pay for their membership any longer (meaning they can't look at the pictures of their matches, but can read their profiles). These are not real matches. These are designed to keep the numbers up so that people feel like they have SOOOO many opportunities to find true love when in all actuality it's a shot in the dark. I would also like to add how clever you were to change your matching variables to the whole flexible matching thing. Smart Eharmony, very smart! Now everyone can be matched with everyone with the click of a button!

In conclusion, I don't want to sound like a bitter shrew. I do know several couples who met and married off of your site. I feel like they are, of course, the exception more so than the rule. I just request a little bit more honesty on your behalf, Eharmony. Wouldn't you agree that would make for a better relationship?

Yours truly,

kIMPOSSIBLE to match

Kim's Buffalo Chicken

Final product!
Work in progress!

I don't like to follow recipes. This should come as no big shock to those of you who know me. At least I'm consistent, right?! I mean...it isn't like I'm good at following directions or following the leader. Well maybe I'm just not good at it because I just don't do it. haha. Regardless, this is probably why I'm better at cooking than baking. Cooking is much more forgiving of experimentation.



Last weekend, an idea popped in my head for a new recipe...a South Beach friendly recipe, no less.



My friend Meliska makes a wonderful buffalo chicken dip whenever we have a gathering for some holiday or party occasion. Since I've been on SB, I come prepared to such events with colored pepper strips and celery sticks so that I, too, can enjoy the dip!



My mom and sisters make a recipe off The Biggest Loser Cookbook called Dari's Picante Chicken. It's absolutely delicious and even better yet...healthy!



So, taking the two concepts, I decided to create Kim's Buffalo Chicken. Here's the recipe:



1 tub of light or fat free cream cheese
1 packet of dry ranch mix
3 or 4 chicken breasts
1 cup of Frank's Hot Sauce
sliced celery (6 to 8 stalks)



Preheat the oven to 350*.

Use a meat mallet to pound the chicken to even thickness.

Mix the dry ranch packet into the cream cheese

Separate a portion of the cream cheese mixture so as to not contaminate the entire tubful depending on how much you want to use (or double the recipe for twice the fun).

Spread a layer of the cream cheese ranch mixture over the chicken breasts

Put 1/3 cup of hot sauce in the bottom of a 13x9 baking pan, spreading evenly

Add chicken, then celery, then remaining hot sauce


Bake for 45 minutes, serve immediately.


I recommend serving it on top of brown rice and with veggies or a side salad. Enjoy!

A Lesson Learned

Many years ago, I was shopping at Target minding my own business, gliding from aisle to aisle conquering my "list". List is in quotes because it would apparently ruin my life to actually make one and/or if I did make one, the world might come to an end if I actually managed to bring it with me. Needless to say, the "list" was inside my head. On one particular aisle, there was a lady who was "parked" on an angle with her kid sitting in it. Now granted, I could have said "excuse me" and hoped she would be kind enough to move her cart to an easier-to-pass location OR I could have just waited her out. Of course, I didn't do either of these things. Instead, I simply gingerly tried to maneuver my cart past her cart. In the process, I apparently nicked her cart. I mumbled an apology and continued down the aisle. The next thing I knew, she rushed up along side me and rammed her cart into mine. Did you get the part above where I typed that her kid was seated inside the cart? Yeah. My first thought was to say, "This is not Walmart, lady." Instead, I just stood there with my mouth agape because honestly...who acts like that? What's worse...she is teaching her kid to act like that!

Okay, but enough about that...I only mentioned that story because it was fresh on my mind and had to do with a retail establishment similar to the setting of my next story. So, here goes...

On Thursday, during lunch, I went to Walmart to grab some groceries and a few supplies. This is pretty much routine for me. It isn't that I particularly enjoy going to Walmart, BUT it is VERY close to work and they really do have much better prices on a lot of things, though their selection isn't always the greatest. I often joke (though I'm not so certain it's really joking) that Walmart gives me two reactions....either A. it makes me want to commit suicide or B. it makes me feel better about myself. It usually can go either way depending on the day/experience. Today was a suicidal day and it had nothing to do with Walmart, ironically...OR DID IT?

After doing my shopping, I walked my cart to my car, rearranged some things, and piled my groceries in. I put the cart in the cart rack, got into my car, went to put the key in the ignition and HOLY RUSTED METAL, BATMAN - THE KEY IS MISSING! Um...we know I had it when I got there since I clearly drove to Walmart. So...what could have happened? All I can guess is that the black plastic on the key must have broken. I searched the car. I searched my purse. I searched the area around my car. I searched the path to the cart. I searched the parking lot. I went to the customer service booth. All of this searching, but to no avail. I called the Chevy dealership and they told me all that I needed to bring to them as proof of ownership (everything just short of my soul) and they could make me a key. You are probably wondering where my own personal spare key is, right? Yeah...um...that's been M.I.A. since the first year I bought the car. I've searched high and low in mi casa for that puppy and gave up on it a long long time ago. So, then I called my dad and explained to him how I managed to pull a "Kim" yet again. He sent over one of our drivers, James, to come get me and take me to the dealership to get the key made.

I had decided on the way over to Chevy that if it wasn't too expensive, I should get two keys made. Once I got there, I found out it's $50 to get the code from GM and then $16.50 for each key. Sold for 2 keys, please! So, I had to wait about 15 to 20 minutes and then voila! James took me back to my Tahoe and then he headed back to the warehouse. I got in the car, put the key in and...NOTHING. I tried the other key and the same thing happened...neither key would turn. Oye! I called James back to come get me. I called the Parts Department back and told them the problem and the dude told me he would make me another set for free (ya think?!). He said he would have them ready for me when I got there. Great! So we headed back over there. Once we got there, guess what?! The keys were not ready. Apparently the manager wanted to make the keys himself this time and he wanted to have the keys that were already made so he could see if there was a difference before they sent me all the way back again. Okay, well that I appreciate. Thankfully, he saw the problem...one of the grooves was not cut deep enough. Phew! So then James took me back to the Tahoe and this time he waited for me to make sure the car would start and....IT DID! This whole process took almost 2 hours! Ugh!

The funny thing is that later that day I was telling Linda (younger sister) the story and she started laughing because a couple of years ago the same thing happened to her at...WALMART! Can you believe it? What are the chances? She just had to call my parents to get her spare from them though, since it wasn't a lost little lamb like my spare.

The lesson here: Shop at Target because clearly your key would never ever fall off the chain at Target. Your only concern there is people ramming your cart with their kid inside....

RAR!

I'm cursed, guys! Well...I mean...I know I'm not really cursed, but I've had a rough few days with regards to anything electric or battery operated or gas, too, for that matter. In fact, I'm not so certain I'm safe to be around. I should probably come with a robot, only not to warn me of impending doom, but rather to warn others (and electronics) who are near me. I'm that kind of thoughtful.

It all started on Thursday night when I got home from work and noticed my house was way colder than it was supposed to be. It could only mean two things...either ghosts had taken over my sanctuary OR my heater was broken. Since I haven't heard or seen anything go bUmP in the night, we are gonna go with the latter. I truly am thankful if it had to happen that it happened this past week instead of the week before. Houston is just not supposed to be that cold!

Friday and Saturday came and went without hitches (I think), though it is possible I just haven't uncovered where they went wrong yet. Hmmmm....

On Sunday, while caught up in the excitement of the marathon, I dropped my beloved Nikon Coolpix camera and I'm sad to say it's dead and gone. The side is busted open and the battery holder is no longer performing its function.

Let's move onto this morning, shall we?! I went to turn on my Chi to remove the few frizzies from my mop top and guess what? Yup...the Chi rests in peace, as well.

Okay. No problem. It, too, can be replaced.

A little bit later, I picked up my broken spirit and put it on the scale for my Monday morning weigh in. It told me I had gained 4 lbs. This is impossible - I ate according to my plan and I worked out 5 mornings. I did a double take, got off the scale, and got back on. Now I had dropped 22.4 lbs. This is impossible, too, as I'm not the incredible shrinking Kim. Hmmm....I thought to give it another try. This time it showed I had gained 6 lbs. NO, TRY AGAIN. Now it showed I lost 2.4 lbs. This is more like it, but I don't like the inconsistency, so TRY AGAIN. Next it showed I had lost 12.8, THEN 0.4, THEN 9.6 lbs. WHATEVER - can I just get the same weight twice?! Apparently that was too much to ask for because then I got 17.2 lbs lost. UGH! I'M DONE!

I hate not knowing my weekly weight loss. I went to work and told Jay, my brother in law. He suggested that my scale must need new batteries. I bought new batteries during lunch, but when I got home from work...discovered they were the wrong kind. So, I went out to Target with the old ones in hand to make sure I got the right ones and replaced them. Guess what? The scale is doing the same thing. It's got the ghost in it that stole the electricity from my Chi and the heat from my heater, clearly! Now I need to buy another scale TONIGHT so that I have my results tomorrow morning so that I can have a peaceful day.

Oh...and when I got to work this morning, my work email was not working and even though I have filters set-up to send certain emails to certain folders....yeah, they all the sudden stopped working once my email decided to start functioning again.

I'd say it's just another manic Monday, but it really all started on Thursday....

***UPDATE***

Just got back from Target with my new scale. I quickly unwrapped it from it's packaging as if it were a freakin' Christmas present. I inserted the 3 AAA batteries, looked over the instructions, put the scale on the ground, stepped on it, and.....NOTHING! It didn't work. I picked it up, removed the batteries to make sure I had them in right, re-read the instructions to make sure I hadn't missed a step, put it back on the ground, stepped on, and...NOTHING! Is it possible it just needed fresh batteries? Yes, of course. Do I have AAA battieres? Maybe. I don't know. I'm too frustrated, mad, upset to even bother looking at this point. The scale is getting returned tomorrow. Most likely I will shop on Amazon.com for a nice scale and I will have it on Thursday and this week's weigh-in will be a bust. I'll have to find my satisfaction from something other than the number on the scale. =(

A Proud Sister

I woke up this morning at 5am to get ready to go downtown to see Linda, my younger sister, run her very first 1/2 marathon.

Jay, my brother in law, and Cathy, my older sister, came to pick me up around 6:30 and we made our way to the George R. Brown Convention Center. Even though we had a map of Houston and even though we had a map of the 1/2 marathon route, it was still quite challenging to maneuver around the streets due to road closures and traffic. We *finally* managed to pick-up our brother-in-law, Craig (Linda's husband) at some point and then we decided to head to mile marker 4 to find Linda. Unfortunately, it wasn't quite that easy because once again there was that whole maneuvering thing and then there was a CVS which allowed us a bathroom opportunity (and we all know you never pass those up). So once we got back into the car, we figured mile 4 was probably not the best choice and headed to mile 6.

You could just feel the excitement in the air. It radiated off the people - the participants, the spectators alike. I felt so many emotions going on inside me that I wanted to laugh, cry, shout, sing (though nobody wants to hear the latter, trust me)! It never occurred to me that people would wear funny hats, neon wigs, wings, or costumes. I saw a girl wearing a tutu, even. Some people wore practically nothing, while others were clothed from head to toe. One guy was even swaddled in a plastic bag. I saw a "Barbie doll" in full on heavy make-up, too.

We eagerly awaited Linda, and thankfully due to Craig's 6'5ish frame, we were able to spot her. I had cold water ready and Craig had G2 - whichever she preferred, we were prepared. She didn't seem in the best of spirits and initially told us she wanted both, but grabbed the G2 and she ran past us. We told her we would see her up the road and we headed to mile #8.

It was cool to see the same runners two miles later - I felt like I knew them in a weird sort of way, when really they were just helpful in letting me know Linda was soon to follow. Once again, Craig held out a G2 and I had a water and she grabbed the water and seemed much better than 2 miles earlier. We found out later over lunch that she had been dehydrated as the drink stations had been a "disaster" as they were understaffed and at one of them she only got a cup 1/3 full. At that point, my parents called to find out where we were and we tried to meet up with them at mile #9 since there was a double opportunity to see her as that was where the 1/2 marathoners and the full marathoners split - and the split caused for the 1/2 marathoners to turn and come back up the other side of Montrose. Though we weren't able to meet up with our parents - they were having the same issue we had initially in getting acclimated to the whole maneuvering thing, we excitedly cheered Linda on twice as she passed us by.

We decided to meet up with my parents at an area in between mile #11 and #12. This was pretty pivotal because the longest Linda had run in her training was 10 miles, so I worried how she was doing. All 6 of us proudly awaited her arrival and this time Craig offered her up energy beans to get her through the remaining stretch. We then dashed off to meet up with her at the finish line.

We found a free place to park, and walked briskly along the sidewalk following the runners to try to beat Linda to the finish line. I happened to look to my right, for no apparent reason, and found myself looking at her! I shouted her name and shouted back at Cathy and I started running along side Linda. Cathy joined me and we ran for a few seconds out of sheer excitement - she just had a few more blocks to go!

We went into the George R. Brown Convention Center to meet up with Linda in the place she and Craig and discussed. We had to wait around for her for what seemed like an eternity. Pride beamed in our hearts for our Linda. She accomplished something huge - amongst all the on-going stress she has had this year - and she did it in her typical style - nonchalantly.

Having been there to experience the spectator perspective of a marathon makes me even more eager to participate in one as a runner. What an accomplishment for my sister! She is my inspiration!

After Linda arrived at the meeting place, freshly medaled, we all went to the Grand Lux Cafe for a family lunch in honor of her triumph!

It has been a most wonderful day and I am a very proud sister! =)

uRbAn DeCaY

Urban Decay, how do I love thee? Let me count the ways...

#1 - YOU HAVE SPARKLY EYESHADOW
In March, as I disembarked from my cruise and went through Customs, my little happy Customs fella let me scoot right on past him saying, "Girl, look at you with your sparkles." I replied, "Sir, I will wear sparkes until the day I die." It didn't matter that I was sicker than a dog that entire week or that I was (and still am) 32 years old, I still proudly donned my sparkles, dammit! My favorite color, FYI, is Midnight Cowboy Rides Again because it can be worn all by itself OR you can use it in conjunction with another color AND it's a neutral!

#2 - YOU HAVE TRENDY LITTLE NAMES FOR YOUR PRODUCTS
What's not to love about blush called Fetish and Exhale or eye shadows with names such as Polyester Bride, Maui Wowie, Minx, and Stalker? Let's not forget lip glosses entitled Kinky, Carney, and Lust.

#3 - YOU HAVE AWESOME SHADOW BOX SETS
Unlike most eye shadow box sets sold by your competitors, you have a really cool combo of some really cool shades. I can honestly say I have used every single eye shadow in the one shadow box I have purchased. I would be honored to have another shadow box set and it just so happens I see you have a new one - The Alice in Wonderland Book of Shadows and now I want it!

#4 - YOU OFFER FREE SHIPPING FOR ORDERS OVER $50 ON YOUR WEBSITE
It's not difficult to rack of $50 when purchasing make-up. It's nice to be able to do so on a VERY user-friendly website that shows product pictures, gives color descriptions, and offers the convenience of not having to leave your home.

#5 - YOUR PRODUCTS LAST A REALLY LONG TIME
I don't know how long exactly because I've never really taken the time out to run an experiment because I'm not a dork, BUT trust me on this one!

Okay, well I guess 5 ways of love might not seem like so many, but it's Big Love, y'all. We are talking huge! So, if you haven't tried it yet, I totally recommend checking it out. It's only my *favorite* brand of make-up EVER!