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Two Days in the Raritan Valley…

April 21st, 2009

So…what goes on during your typical day?

Wake up? Yes.

Commute? Yes.

Work?  Yes.

Lunch Break? Yes.

Work some more? Yes.

Go home? Yes.

Here at “Is There Any Cake Left,”  we do our best to improve the quality of our day with insightful conversation that may or may not solve the issues facing (wo)mankind.  It does turn a mundane day into something interesting.  Perhaps one day we’ll discuss global warming, the economic crisis,  war on terror, or other current events that are headlining newspapers.  This day…well…this day wasn’t that day.

Cast:

EJ – Endorphins Junkie.

Banks – Banks.

JCML – Just Call Me Lungs.

RC – Rice Cakes.

__________

Dialog -

EJ:  So ready to go back to sleep!!  Good news is, the week is half over.

RC:…how was dance dance revolution?

EJ:  It was pretty good… we are getting decent… hopefully we don’t embarass ourselves at the wedding.

JCML:  I spent some of the night hugging the toilet bowl and sleeping on the bathroom floor  :-(

RC:  I hope your nickname for (Enter JCML’s Significant Other’s Name Here) is not “toilet bowl.”

JCML:  unfortunately, no

RC:  remnants of costa rica making its debut in New Jersey?

JCML:  perhaps

EJ:  that sucks JMCL!  I hope you feel better…. laying on the bathroom floor is the best when you are sick, the tile always feels nice and cool on your face

RC:  Nothing pepto bismo couldn’t cure.

__________

Banks:  is tnt’s site still down? i have no idea how far i’m supposed to run this weekend…

RC:  I think its 10-12?

EJ: for Long branch? the next few weeks are 12 8 12 7 race  I think…or chop that 12 off if there’s one less week

Banks: whatever i’ll do 10 this week…high bridge anyone?

EJ:  i’m pretty sure i was supposed to do 12 last weekend, which i missed but am not too concerned about since a few weeks back i was supposed to do an 8 but did 12 anyway…

__________

RC:  its annoying to get telemarketing calls at work.  even more annoying when the telemarketer has the wrong number but still insists on talking to you.

JCML:  I keep getting “this is your second notice that the warranty on your car is set to expire…”

Banks:  i still get those notices and my warranty expired years ago.

JCML:  except it’s a work, and I never had a warranty

RC:  I hate my Toyota dealership for selling my information to scammers.

JCML:  They can get the info from DMV.

RC:  True dat…but…the DMV doesn’t know what dealership I go to.  The calls are very specific on my car mileage and dealership here in NJ.  I bought the car in Michigan.

Banks:  maybe Michigan and New Jersey dealships are friends then.

__________

Banks:  After reading EJ’s latest blog, i’m curious to find out who she knows that has ever gotten into someones pants using missleoe….it just seems too easy.

RC: Me.

Banks:  no, seriously.

RC:  Ok.  Not me.

EJ:  well.. its one of those things that some stupid guy would come up with, like maybe if i get to kiss this girl, she will be so into it that she’ll come home with me… one of those stupid things that guys think will get a girl… as in that was his intention in coming up with mistletoe… no one said it would be something that worked.

RC:  Sort of like “Sweetest Day”…which some stupid gal came up with, like maybe if I get another day of gifts it will make me feel better about myself.  One of those stupid things that gals will hold over the head of their man…as in that was her intention in coming up with Sweetest Day.

EJ:  sure…. its like when guys do things like stop short in the car so they can reach their arm across the seat to make sure you are ok… while accidently groping you…. like who came up with this and thought it was a good idea?  the same guy that came up with the mistletoe

RC:  Sure…. its like when gals bitch and moan during their monthly cycles and take it out on their man…. like who came up with this and thought it was a good idea?  Do we actually need a reason to bitch and moan at our man?  I guess having an excuse is better than no excuse at all, either way it won’t stop me from complaining…the same gal that came up with “Sweetest Day.”

EJ:  Although, I will tell you, PMS is real… for some it is worse than others.. the crankiness comes from not feeling well and being easily annoyed…. like when I feel like my uterus is being ripped out, its not in (Enter EJ’s Significant Other’s Name Here) best interest to do things that annoy me…. it brings forth a response like “for the love of god and your own life will you knock that off”

RC:  Oh…I’ve seen the wraith of PMS.  I was  just joking.

EJ:  I know some girls that do use it as an excuse though to just be mean, like even when they aren’t pmsing they are bitchy and then say, oh i am pmsing… the wrath of pms touches everyone

RC:  Ya…it was girls like that who came up with sweetest day.

__________

RC:  Spooooooooooooooooooooooooon!

EJ:  i need to sleep for days… what are your easter plans?  my first EVER 20 miler was on Easter in 2007 down to preview the NJM course…

RC:  I might hide some eggs, wait an hour, and then go look for them…And a 20 miler run too…

EJ:  I want to set up a “beerster” event… basically how this works is I go outside and hide coronitas around the yard… give each person who is a part of the hunt a bucket with some ice in it, and have them go searching…. at the end they get to drink whatever they find…

__________

Banks:  on the missletoe…i’ve seen girls try to kiss guys with it. i’ve also seen girls who otherwise would have no chance with a guy try to get him drunk for some action.  it’s not quite that gender specific.

RC:  I never meet these kind of girls.

Banks:  thats because you don’t drink. you’re better off….

RC:  interesting…thanks.

Banks:  i see it so clearly in my head… some drunk sloppy girl who can barely stand up trying to kiss you under the mistletoe, slurring sweet nothings into your ear.

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Posted in Humor, Life, Living in NJ, Running, Uncategorized, World View

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Coming Home…

April 7th, 2009

Recently I had the incredible opportunity of visiting Costa Rica on vacation.  It was awesome.  I went rappelling, zip lining, horseback riding, hiking, and swimming.  I visited a volcano, the rain forest, and the beach.  I saw iguanas, exotic birds, raccoon looking animals, and monkeys (los monos)!  It was a whirlwind vacation that was just absolutely amazing, and came at just the right time.

My first night home was a late one…so I just ate and crashed.  After a full day of work (of which I was almost an hour late due to oversleeping…oops!), I came home and worked on my pictures from my trip and did some laundry.  Repeat sleep.   Repeat work.  Second night home it happened…

I slipped off my work clothes and slipped on my running clothes.  Laced up my shoes.  Stepped out the door.  The cold air, so different from Costa Rica’s 86 degree temperatures, smacked me in the face, taunting me.  I turned my GPS on (gotta love the Garmin) and waited patiently as it located the satellites.  Looking around as I slowly walked down the sidewalk, I didn’t truly understand why  I was out here, freezing, while everyone else was in their warm homes or, the lucky ones, back in Costa Rica.

The Garmin found its satellites…it was time.  As I took one step, and then another, a wonderful feeling came over me.  Although I had been back in the US, back in New Jersey, back in my condo, back in my own bed, for two days…I hadn’t been home.  But as I took step after step, as my breathing rate increased and my blood started flowing, as the wind blew through my hair…it felt like coming home.

Home is where the heart is, and my heart belongs to running.  It’s the one place where I always feel right…whether it’s 70 and sunny, 25 and snowing…whether it’s flat and easy or hilly and hard…running will always be my safe haven.  It’s my escape, my sanctuary, my “happy” place.

While vacation was a blast, there’s nothing better than coming home.

 

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Posted in Life, Running

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Hi, My name is Banks…

April 1st, 2009

And im a Dunkin-Donuts-aholic.
*HI BANKS!*

I should specify…im not big on donuts, bagels, breakfast sandwiches or any beverages that begin with cappa/frappa or end in latte. I’m just straight up in love with their coffee. To call myself a coffeaholic would be inaccurate because I only really love Dunkin Donuts coffee.

Oh I’ve tried other stuff…there’s community coffee where I work. Usually it’s your standard grocery store brands though sometimes it’s something wild like blueberry flavored weirdness or a pound of grounds blazoned in advertisements claiming that it’s 100% indigenous to some region unfamiliar to me and therefore superior in some way. It doesn’t matter what it is really because if it’s not D&D it’s all schwag. I drink it and panic – the jitters set in the world is ending and suddenly I can’t cope with simplest of life’s circumstances. Caffeine sensitivity? Not likely…because D&D doesn’t do that.

Beyond that I feel loved there, it’s like they know me. Try walking into your hometown coffee shop – Unless you speak ‘Fratalian’ are big on emo tunes and carrying a ‘journal’ (see my last blog for more on that) you’re not welcome. I had a friend suggest that I go to Mikey D’s for coffee because it’s .99 for any size cup. How crazy is that? The Super-sized empire selling their stash for less than a buck at any size because even they know…

I tried MD’s. They asked me how many creams and sugars I wanted in it like I’m supposed to know that information. I walk into my local D&D tell ‘em ‘Cream and Sugar’ and it’s perfect every time. Beyond that, they hand me a cup…just a cup…with a brilliantly engineered self-containing spill-proof heat-containing lid. No fancy cardboard heat shield with a crummy plastic lid that I have to peel back or worry if it’s sitting in my car’s cupholder that a small bump will send scolding hot liquid all over me and my car’s what-nots.

Oh, and their corporate slogan – “America runs on Dunkin” …how did they know I was a marathon runner? They’re THAT good, that’s how.

About the only problem I have is that you HAVE, I repeat, HAVE to get it from them. You can buy a pound of their stuff and try to brew it yourself, it’s not the same, don’t even try it. I can’t tell you how many $’s I’ve spent trying to perfect the brewing methodologies to make it taste like they do. I’ve concluded it’s impossible. I’m not sure what they do to make it taste like that but I believe if anyone ever figured it out the process would become illegal.

So thank you Dunkin Donuts, I hope this economic recession does not affect you. I truly believe that if you were to stop waking up when it’s “Time to make the coffee” the backlash would be worse than if the government bailed out banks (the financial institutions, not me) only to have them take the money and pay bonuses to the executives that started the problem in the first place. (Thank goodness that never happened)

And they didn’t even pay me for this…
Banks

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Posted in Humor, Life, Running

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If you’ve never stared off into the distance…

March 18th, 2009

…. then your life is a shame.  No one says it better than the Counting Crows.  Life is all about enjoying the small pleasantries, staring off into the distance and enjoying everything around you.  This is part of why I enjoy running so much, particularly training for and running Marathons.  Now, for those of you who run on treadmills only, you are truly missing out.  I can’t run on a treadmill… I need the feel of the wind, the smell of fresh cut grass, the sun beating down on me, and something in the distance that I can stare off into…. looking at a clock that is rolling the time second by second and a T.V playing “Flavor of Love” while on a treadmill in between a girl who has a face full of makeup and the most stylish workout clothes on, and Vinny the guido from Staten Island at Gold’s Gym, is not going to cut it. 

Every run I have done, even the ones I hate, have led me to some great scenes that I wouldn’t give up for the world.  There is nothing better than running along the boardwalk at the Jersey Shore and looking out at the beach and ocean, or running through Phoenix and Tempe Arizona while seeing mountains in the distance as you run down the highway, or the Washington Monument and Pentagon as you run through Washington D.C.   During the three marathons I have run, these are the sites I had the pleasure of seeing, as I stared off into the distance with 100 different things going through my mind. … Look at how amazing this is… I am doing really well, check out that pace… My leg is starting to hurt… What do I want to eat when I finish… I wonder what my dog is doing right now…. Where are the people cheering me on… a debate in my head over what my favorite Michael Jackson song is…. Despite all of this tangential thinking though, everything just seems so very clear.

On top of the amazing vistas I have seen running my marathons, I have seen amazing things in New Jersey that I would not have even known existed without my training runs.  My favorite runs have been over the George Washington Bridge looking out onto the water and the view of the city, Columbia Trails in High Bridge where you run along a trail with a river flowing beneath and beautiful signs of nature all around, and the Towpath in Piscatway between the canal and Raritan River. 

For those of you who have not taken to the streets for your daily, weekly, monthly, or yearly work out, you are truly missing out on the most beautiful sights you will lay your eyes on.  I tend to think that things are more beautiful, mainly because I am able to pay more attention to them, when I am running.  Its so easy to get lost in a sunset, the view of the beach, or the sound of the river below.  Now I am not telling everyone that they need to go out and run a marathon (although it wouldn’t be a bad idea), but I am suggesting that you live life, get outside and enjoy the scenery.

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Posted in Living in NJ, Running

Running on empty…

March 2nd, 2009

I am one of those people who needs to get out there and run at least 3 times a week to feel good…. to feel like I have energy and am not running on empty the rest of the week.  Due to some weekend plans and todays weather, running has not been in the cards for me since Thursday evening.  I feel like I have all of this energy I need to release, but I feel so low on energy too… lethargic… lazy… blah.

I keep telling myself… Well I did run 10 miles last week before the slump… which is pretty good…. I have been running non-stop for the past 2 years and every once in a while, I deserve a week off to recover, right?  It takes a lot for me to justify not getting out there to get my run in… even when the justifications make sense.  I just feel like something is missing. 

Now… I am just praying for Spring…

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Posted in Life, Running