St. Patrick's Day

St. Patrick's Day was very social for me, which was pretty epic. (Epic is my new favorite word.) I normally spend that day at home. But this year I did a race--in a storm straight into a head wind. That night I went to dinner with friends who were in town for a triathlon, which incidentally, was cancelled due to the weather. I then went out with a couple I know and we ate corned beef and cabbage at an Irish pub. The next day I was supposed to also have another race, which was also canceled due to weather. I tried talking to the man about the weather, but clearly he didn't listen.

Another typical man.

#41

I spent the weekend visiting my parents in Phoenix and also completed my 41st half marathon. Naturally, my time was awful, but it was the easiest half marathon course I've done in Arizona. I'll do it again next year and hopefully be in much more stellar shape to pull off a PR.

Oscar, Oscar

Serendipitously, I had a family reunion of sorts this weekend. I drove up north a couple of hours to visit my uncle and my grandfather and brother were also in town. I felt like a soccer mom this weekend shuffling people about, but I didn't mind. I appreciated the company. We ate out and ate in and I watched the Oscars and pretended I was on the arm of George Clooney (he is dating a tall, 30-something...) or Tom Hardy, my new obsession. I pretended I walked the red carpet in a blue Marchesa gown complete with Harry Winston jewels.


I've been interviewed for a few stories lately. Here's a smattering:

http://www.shape.com/healthy-eating/meal-ideas/10-breakfasts-champions

http://www.girlsgonesporty.com/articles/real-sporty-women/real-sporty-women-jennifer-purdie

http://www.usatoday.com/money/industries/travel/story/2012-02-20/Airports-get-into-the-fitness-craze-for-stressed-travelers/53177398/1

http://shine.yahoo.com/love-sex/5-biggest-turn-offs-214000186.html

#40

I spent the weekend up north visiting an uncle who was in the hospital. I also picked up my grandfather who flew in to help. In between hospital visits, I squeezed in my 40th half marathon on a beautiful course with rolling hills. I am still running very slowly and my finish time was a nightmare.

But I did get to run with Joey McIntyre of New Kids on the Block fame. He was standing right next to me in the starting chute and I heard all these cameras go off and the announcer say that Joey McIntyre is here to run a half marathon. Being the perpetual junior higher, I kept yelling "Joey McIntyre, I love you" and chasing him down for the first mile. This only made him run faster, as in faster away from me.

I like to think I personally got Joey McIntyre his best half marathon time. You're welcome Joey! I think you owe me a thank you letter complete with an autograph.

On a side note, I am in love with someone else. His name is Tom Hardy and there is a nice youtube clip of him here. I've really liked him since I first saw him in Inception, but now I saw him in This Means War, which is my new favorite movie--all because of him. I am a huge sucker for accents.

Where are these beautiful men??? Not hanging around me, that's for sure--actually they are even running away from me.

#39

I finished my 39th half marathon this weekend on a hilly course. I am still not running well. My dad thinks it is all mental. I think he is 50% right. I think half is mental and half is I've lost my ability to run. I'm just not in shape. It took me over 40 minutes off of a PR to finish. Granted it was a tough course, but I'd give myself 20 minutes tops off my PR pace at worst.

Onto sadder news, my favorite singer of all time passed away. Whitney Houston has been and will always remain my favorite singer. The first record-yes, record-I owned was Whitney Houston's I Want to Dance with Somebody. I uploaded an image. My favorite song of all time is the Greatest Love of All.

Very few people are blessed with such talent and I'm glad that Whitney Houston shared hers with the world. Her music is timeless.

RIP.

#37 and #38

I ran half marathon #37 and #38 less than 24 hours apart. #37 was on a cold, wet morning in Temecula, CA through vineyards and started at a winery. Too bad we had to run through mud and trails in a rainstorm. #38 was in Pasadena, CA and was almost a complete trail run up a very high hill that I had to climb. It was more of a hiking/running half marathon. I am still running horribly and got my worst times. I struggle to run at all. My dad thinks it's all mental. It think he's right. It's hard to watch my racing times fall to over 35 minutes of what I am used to finishing. It's depressing.

I did go to LA and did touristy things after my races.

Project Jennifer 2012

I decided 2012 would be known as Project Jennifer. I would be more social, get back into running shape, take my vitamins and have happy things happen to me. Because I've had enough of bad things.

On New Year’s Eve, I went to California Disney Adventure Park, Disneyland’s other park. Because it was so crowded at Disneyland, Disney offered a free day pass to use at Disneyland anytime in the month of January if you bought a one-day pass to Adventure Park. I was already planning to go to the Adventure Park, so that was a nice surprise. It wasn’t even 2012 and already good things were happening.

Then I got sick and had to go to the first aid center for medication. Then despite being sick, I ate a hot dog and went on a roller coaster—and got more sick. And on the roller coaster I lost my hair band.

Then I drove home at midnight down to San Diego in the deepest fog I’ve ever seen. My visibility was two feet. I’ve driven in blizzards with better visibility. I ended up accidentally driving off the freeway and onto an exit because I couldn’t see the road. I got back onto the freeway and drove 2 miles/hour until I found another car driving with its hazard lights on. So I followed him for 10 miles, but then he took off on another freeway. I was totally stuck. It was like driving through a cloud. I found my way down to a city and got off the exit, but couldn’t see anything. I drove right up to a brick wall because I didn’t even see it. I finally found a sign for a motel, which was super seedy.

But it said “Vacancy” and all I wanted was to wait out the fog.

I asked for a room, got to the room, only to discover it was occupied by squatters. So I went back to the front desk and said there were people in the room. The guy called the room and someone picked up. Obviously they aren’t intelligent squatters. He then called the police and I was just standing there wanting a room. I finally got a room only to find a prostitute in front of my room. So I had to go around her. Turns out she was in the room next to mine and had plenty of work to do…all night long. So I slept with the TV on. I was afraid to use the bathroom because I was afraid of getting an STD. It was gross.

The next morning I got back on the freeway and felt super sick. There was carnage and dead animals all over the freeway, obviously hit from people who couldn’t see them in the fog.

Welcome to 2012.

Then I got a phone call from NYC producers asking if I’d be interested in taking my case from small claims court, in which I am suing a guy over spilling liquid and breaking my laptop, to reality court TV. That is my dating life. Entertainment for the masses.
And I’ve been sick for 6 days straight.

I need to rename Project Jennifer. Any ideas?