I may have gone a little crazy with the hooks, but something had to be done with the handbags. So hooks all over the world was the solution. If you have a better solution for the March 2010 Closet Reorg, I’ll be happy take suggestions. I’ve even made room for new spring shoes & bags, because I’m nice like that. I’ve also decided that I’m WAY under fashionable and I need to step it up a bit – but in a reasonable I’m not going to break the bank so the Chef won’t yell at me too much sort of way  . . .

Now, I have some packing to do 10 miles to run in my spanky new shoes. Official shoe of the NTRT! Don’t they look super-fast?!?

Coming up soon is the Runner Susan official Should I Stay or Should I Go Shoe, Bag and Clothing Fest!

A lovely ruby color, very seductive. An earthy cherry berry color – just like my cherry berry. Grapes 70% Tempranillo, 20% Garnacha, 10% Mazuelo and Graciano. A delicious wine with a smoked Gouda, suffering ovaries and a handsome Chef. $30.00

The long runs training for the Oklahoma City Marathon have been getting loooongerer, 19 miles this week, 21 miles next week, then 23, etc . . . you guys have been there, you know the drill.  So, last Saturday the Martini Twins© had 19-miles to run. And what a better way to run 19-miles than sandwich a half-marathon between two 3-mile runs. Saying it that way sounds like three much shorter runs – and anytime you sandwich something it just makes it funny, I’m a 13-year-old boy like that.

Months ago Michelle and I registered for the Fort Worth Cowtown Half Marathon and we worked it into our training schedule. Since we’ve started this marathon training we’ve ate, hydrated and rested like we are training for a marathon. With special emphasis on hydrated – my pee has been a lovely shade of clear for weeks.  We have been the picture perfect epitome of training.

Friday night we were in bed by 9 PM. We woke at 4:45 AM, drank some coffee, ate some our chia infested oatmeal, dressed and were on the road. We arrived at the interstate off ramp in downtown Fort Worth at 6:25 AM – over an hour early for the half. We stayed on that off ramp not moving for nearly three hours. And I have no clue why – we were so early. Runners were abandoning their cars on the off-ramp bridge and running to the start line. Really. My Candy Car was not getting left on a ramp, so we entertained ourselves the best we could; face-booked our ridiculous status, we car danced, took pictures and made videos for as long as two girls trapped in a car for 3 hours and hydrated to run 19-miles could. For your car-dancing pleasure:

Cowtown Traffic from Runner Susan on Vimeo.

By the time we actually parked the car and got to the start line, the half course was being taken down. Bye, bye sandwiched half marathon.

Car-fatigued, frustrated and hungry, since it was almost lunch time at this point, we decided to make the best of the situation – we needed to run, it was a gorgeous day and we were right next to the Trinity Trail – a beautiful place to run along the river. We knew we couldn’t do the distance with the water or fuel we had on hand, so our plan was to run as far as we could and enjoy the beautiful day. See, here we are enjoying the beautiful day in our hot pink and hot peach matchy, matchy outfits:

For about 4 miles there wasn’t a soul in sight and then our trail merged into another trail and we saw runners. Lots of runners. So many runners we thought we might be dreaming. Runners with bibs and chips. We got closer and noticed ULTRA on the bib. ULTRA? I didn’t know they were running an Ultra-marathon as an event for Cowtown. Oh well, we decided to follow the Ultra course for a bit and head back to the car, and at this point if we could get ten miles run, we’d be good.

We chug along, and then before we knew it these hippy-looking, water-vested and often barefooted ultra distance runners were giving our cute, neon-dressed selves a “great job, girls” and thumbs up all over the place. I look down and we still have our timing chips on. These insanely happy ultra runners think we are a part of the ultra-marathon. I turn to Michelle and say “let’s just finish the Ultra”. We had a brief discussion about whether these runners are insanely happy or just insane. We had no clue at that point how long it would be to the finish, but decided we didn’t care, we liked the happy runners and we kept going.

So it wasn’t really “our” mile 29, but we were having 29 miles of fun.

We weren’t expecting to get coronated with medals and t-shirts as we crossed the finish line, but then again, we never received our half shirts or medals. By the time we finished the entire day was just comical. We ended up running at least 14 miles and Gallowaying another 4-5 miles. A perfectly unexpected day of training.

We topped off our weekend by doing out best to dehydrate ourselves with good wine and stuff ourselves silly with shopping and good food. One of the best girl weekends I’ve ever had. Who other than the Martini Twins could miss a half-marathon, crash an ultra-marathon and finish with a marathon medal?

I love it when I look forward to running ten miles because it’s my short run. My run on Sunday was the strangest run I’ve ever had, it was stupid windy, pouring down rain or sunny. The temperature also dropped from 65 degrees to 40 degrees – by the time I finished my hands were as red as my nail polish:

In other TERRIBLY exciting new, I can’t decide if I should keep the zebra shoes or not – one minute I love them like I birthed them, the next I want to return them. It’s not like me to be so indecisive about shoes. I’m keeping them on my sink and I stare at them while I brush my teeth in hopes of some miraculous decision. Whatcha think?

And so there in now peace in RS World – the salad making dress. When I lose ten pounds I’ll try it on for you:

That’s about it. Tomorrow I have to run 4 miles at an 8:45 pace. I’m not sure I can do it, but we shall sure try.

Kenza was in her first theatrical production last night – playing the role of Tree #2 in the Phoney Physician. She was fantastic. Sitting in the auditorium brought back so many memories of my days in school theater.

On Saturday my Chef and I loaded up the car and headed to Oklahoma. The plan: drive 3 hours, run 3 hours. And it happened just as so, and it was a spectacular 50-degree sunny day. If the weather turns out like this on race day, the Martini Twins are going to kick some serious marathon ass. We ran our 17 miles in 3 hours and 5 minutes – a perfect training pace for us. This is the most I’ve run in a long, long time and it made me really happy and really hungry.

After our spectacular run, our wonderful hosts, Michelle and Phillip, fixed us the most delicious meal, which I proceeded to inhale in approximately 2 seconds. Hey, I ran 17 miles, I was hungry. And I proceeded to be hungry for the next 3 days. I normally have tons of pictures from my Oklahoma trips, but this is the only one that wasn’t blurry from my shaky hands from running 17 miles. We took this on Sunday, the day after we ran 17 miles and then proceeded with 17 miles of retail therapy to recover from the 17 miles of running we did.

Did I mention that we ran 17 miles? I’m not normally a beer drinker, but I think that was the best beer I’ve ever had in my life. I needed those carbohydrates for all the shopping we were about to do. And, Internet People, you are going to be so proud: I bargained shopped. And, I got some fantastic deals – for some unknown reason my Chef keeps reminding me about some recession?!?

So, humor me while I’m in the mood to ramble.

Our first stop was at Tuesday Morning where I procured a Spiegelau wine decanter for $5.99 and another wine decanter for $16.99. Now I have a total of four wine decanters. Which is good, because they are so pretty and for some reason wine decanters don’t last very long in our house.  I also got a set of nested mixing bowls, which I need because since I’ve met Michelle, I’ve been inspired to cook stuff that tastes like real food. FYI – I’m still in training and have a long ways to go.

Our next stop was TJ Maxx where I got an adorable sofa throw and some salt scrub – I also had a really heated love-hate relationship with a gorgeous Steve Madden handbag that I reluctantly ended. I still haven’t recovered from that break-up. Then, we headed over to Ross where I found some really cute salad servers – and the most amazing thing happened as we were walking to the check out line – I found a salad serving dress. And for only $19.99. Is that not amazing? Because I totally did not own a salad serving dress of any way shape or form. Now I can toss salads with reckless abandon. I’m such a lucky girl.

(I feel a salad making picture going right here in the near future.)

I also ended up with a bread basket from Target, and a pepper grinder from a different Tuesday Morning. Do you see the trend in kitcheny stuff? I’m almost a full professional now – or, at least I look like one. I don’t think I spent much over $100, which makes the Chef me really happy. And all that after running 17 miles.

We headed back to Michelle’s house and had another better-than-gourmet meal, drank some good wine while we watched the Olympics with our husbands. Our husbands who bought us flowers for Valentine’s Day.  A lovely, lovely weekend.

You know how you can retweet? What’s the universal sign for reblog? This from Christopher McDougall’s blog – it made my morning.

Menstrual-controlled running shoes, new from Asics.
by Christopher on February 11, 2010

No, seriously. I only wish I were kidding. Just when you thought the shamelessness of running-shoe scams had reached bottom, whaddaya know — they find new depths to the cesspool. Asics is kindly offering to sell you a $190 running shoe that will magically adjust its midsole to your menstrual cycle. Read on, and marvel at how the Asics flack gets this stuff out with a straight face.

I wish Chris would open up his blog to stalkers commentators, it would make it so much easier for his fans to connect with him.

In other news, I’m loving my Nike Frees – it’s not barefoot, but I’m hoping it’s a step in the right direction. It’s the first time I’ve ever worn a shoe that didn’t set my feet on fire or give me serious blisters until I broke them in for a month or two. I’ve even run with them in the rain, and NO BLISTERS!

In other news, I’m positive my feet are going to love these and keep me blister free this summer:

Here I am five weeks after starting my master’s swim class. And I’m still alive; which is hard to believe since heavy rocks are more accomplished at swimming than yours truly. This video is the last 100 yards of our 2000 yard swim this morning – I still have a long, long ways to go, but believe me, it’s a major improvement. And by ‘major’ I mean nothing short of a miracle.

I’m open to suggestions on ways to improve my stroke/speed/irrational fear of death by water.

Five weeks after starting Masters Swim Classes. from Runner Susan on Vimeo.

But doing it anyway. What can I say? Jeanne and Nod are awesome! So awesome, in fact, I want to adopt them and force them to live with me forever and ever.

It would have been nice if we had a little bit of sunshine and the weather was warmer, but it didn’t interfere too much with our weekend plans: shop, shop, shop, eat, drink, shop, hot tub, eat, drink, drink, drink, sleep, shop. Repeat x 3.

Throw in an icy half-marathon, a makeover, teaching Ms. Not Born to Run how to wear a bra Texan Style, an obligatory Starbucks rescue or ten, and you’ll have our weekend. Full and Fun!

We totally look like twins:

Are we not in Texas anymore? They said the windchill around White Rock Lake was -2 degrees. Wind blowing sideways. Really. Sideways. The bridges were covered with ice. Ice, in Texas. Ice. Real, live icy stuff. Where is global warming when you need it? I don’t know if that is accurate or not, but it seriously felt like we were in Antarctica. I have never, ever, ever, ever been so cold. The last four miles of the race absolutely brutal – there wasn’t a place on my body that wasn’t numb. I’m still cold. Really. And I’m chaffed so bad I’m still oozing puss. Gross, I know.

My time: 2:14:05 – which, considering the wind was blowing sideways and it was either move or die of frostbite, I’m okay with. If it wasn’t for Jeanne and Nod I would have bailed. I’m so glad they are here!! And I can’t wait to share our shopping extravaganza reports with you.

Are we the cutest Popsicles on the planet or what? Jeanne did great, Nod did great, Donkey did great, I did great. When in Antarctica, survival is the only thing that matters.

More photos here. And funny thing is, this was the smallest part of our vacation. I almost forgot we ran a half marathon. Silly  me. More on that later. Fun. Fun. Fun. I love them both – I want to adopt them and force them to live with me.

In preparations for the upcoming visit of the infamous Ms. Not Born to Run and Nod, I decided I better actually run and have some fun. And who else better to practice those skills with than my funner, runner and wine sipper friend/Martini Twin, Michelle! Saturday, we ran 13 miles in the rain – and in the rain, I created my new # 2 motto: If you gonna run, run fun!*  It’s hard to argue with that kind of brilliance. (Well, unless you’re at mile 17 of a marathon and your quads are on fire, but I totally plan to change that this year.)

We petted zebras and kissed horses and finished in 2 hours and 17 minutes (we won’t mention anything about the auto pause feature on our Gamins during our petting zoo break) and beat our virtual partner by 2 minutes!

We finished soaking wet and with smiles on our faces.

I’m ready for you now, Jeanne! And so is Rowdy.

*# 1 motto: Fun lasts longer than fast.

This was our wine of the weekend. Full deep red and a sexy label. I’ll make it simple for you – if it says 2005, Napa and Cabernet, Buy It! Doesn’t matter if it costs $5.00 or $100.00 it’s gonna taste fabulous. Found this wine online at wine.com and on sale for $59.00.

Since I was a wimp in 09 I’m gonna make up for it in 2010. Here’s what I got so far and if you’ve done any of these races and want to chime in anything about the course, I’m all ears:

• 1.30.10: The Texas Half Marathon
• 2.27.10: Cowtown Half Marathon
• 3.14.10: RNR Half Marathon Dallas
• 3.28.10: A2A Full Marathon
• 4.25.10: OKC Memorial Full Marathon
• 5.23.10: Texas Man Olympic Tri
• 5.2.10: Cross Timbers 100k Bike
• 6.5.10: Tulsa Tough 50k Bike
• 6.6.10: Tulsa Tough 50k Bike
• 7.18.10: Vineman Half Ironman
• 8.15.10: The Hottest Half
• 9.25.10: Redman Half Ironman
• 10.24.10: Lafayette Inaugural Half
• 10.25.10: Muddy Buddy
• 11.7.10: Fort Worth Half Marathon

None of these are set is stone yet (Re: Jiggle Butt DNS due to 12 degree temperature). I think I need to sprinkle in a 5k or two and I might need something for August and December. And to appease the Sister Runner Amy Gods, I also need to schedule in an Indiana Race or two somewhere along the lines. Look at me go, I am a racing fool.

I discovered Elyse when about the same time I discovered Grenache and fell in love with both. After my visit with the Elyse winery I also discovered the brotherly side of Elyse: Jacob Franklin  – our shipment of Petite Sirah just arrived, and it is very good. $65.00 online.

Hello Internet People, I promised more blog and so I must provide; even if it is boring, I am a woman of my word. (How’s that for fancy? Two commas and a semicolon. Although I have no clue if they are correct.)

This past weekend my friends Marta and Milka came to town for a visit, which is always fun – but it’s especially fun when Marta inspires you to get off your ass and run – and so we ran a whole 7 miles – in the really, really, really cold weather. But not as really, really cold as it has been. I have a half marathon in less than two weeks and I’m only up to seven miles. (Don’t tell Jeanne!)

On that first 7 mile run in I count how many days, I was also able to try out my new kicks, a pair of Nike Free’s I ordered off eBay. They felt very strange on the first run – but I bet I need more than one run to get a final verdict – so, I guess I should get to it and start moving.  But so far, way better than the Newtons.

Onto swimming. It is improving – with emphasis on the ING. I’m still the slowest in the C (read: last and slowest) group, but my form is getting better – or so the instructor says. I can now successfully swim 10 lengths of the pool without stopping or drowning. It’s the small miracles we are thankful for, IPs. The small ones.

Today, I must get a run in. I must. I missed swim yesterday because of my sinus infection, but I’m feeling a little better today and the temperature is in the 50s, so I need to get out before the rain sets in for a steady 3-day downpour.

Not much else going on, but this is more than 140 characters, so I think I’m meeting the quota.

2009: I refer to it as the year micro-blogging took over the world. I have a love-hate relationship with Facebook and Twitter, I love the instant gratification and yet it’s the fast food of blogging. And in 2009, I ate the fast food and didn’t give very good blog. I also had a love-hate and an I’m-sick-of-being-injured affair with running – I only ran 297.77 miles for the entire year. I can’t remember a year when I ran so few – I only raced one half-marathon and only a handful of 5ks.

2009 wasn’t totally bad, let’s recap the Runner Susany goodness:

• I meet my friend, Michelle, and we’ve been inseparable ever since – and so was born the Martini Twins. She came into my life at the perfect time, and I’m grateful for her friendship and the fun she brings into my life.
• I learned how to ride my bike. I learned how to ride my bike on the ROLLERS. I learned how to ride my bike on the rollers and in the closet. I still impress myself with this feat. Who doesn’t miss the roller videos or the paper plates?
• I participated in my first bike rally and triathlon and I discovered the transition to the dark side isn’t as dark as I thought it would be – well, except for the swimming part – it still continues to be a dark abyss.
• The Chef and I had the most fabulous and romantic vacation in Napa where the Chef and I also got to meet and ride with two of my favorite people, Pamela and Juls. I look forward to seeing them again this year.
• I was also fortunate enough to have my SECOND meet up with the Toasts. How many of you can say that? Just consider me special.
• Sister Runner Amy, my brother and I surprised my mother with the Birthday party of the year. It’s not easy to surprise her, she’s wise to all we do. Mothers are like that.
• I got to dress up as a German Beer Girl for a day.
• Somewhere in 2009 my baby turned into a gorgeous teenager. She continually amazes me, I’m so proud to be her mother – and yet, terrified to have a gorgeous teenage daughter. Where’s my big stick?
• I had a last minute meet up with my high school friend, Rachel, and her family before Christmas, it was a wonderful surprise to see them.
• Celebrated the new year a little early with my Chef in New Orleans! Anything goes there, Internet People. Anything.
• I was still in my 30s. I turn 40 in 2010 and if I recall, when I was Kenza’s age I thought turning forty meant that dropping dead at any moment was an appropriate thing to do. Is it too late for me to change my mind? But wow, 40.

So far, 2010 is predicting to be my best year for running yet. Next weekend my friend, Marta, and I are going to run the Jiggle Butt 5k with my friends Cindy and Deana and at the end of this month my blog buddy, Jeanne of Not Born To Run fame, is coming to Dallas and we’ll run our first half-marathon of the year together. I’m so excited to meet her!  So January 2010 already beats 2009. Go me!

And since we are speaking of Ms. Not Born to Run (who really can and does run), you’ll never believe this – guess who called me a few weeks ago? Called me on the phone – the. real. live. phone.

Play with me for a moment.

“Ring, ring – hello.”

“Hi Susan, my name is cchrzzz mczzzdozzzl from buzzzss to runz” (Static)

“Huh, I’m sorry did you say not born to run, is this Jeanne? are you calling about your trip? I think our connection is bad” (Jeanne sounds awfully manly?)

“Let me call yozzzzz baczzz from my offfizzz.”

“Ring, ring – hello.”

“Hi Susan, This is Chris McDougall, You might have heard of my book Born to Run. I’m looking for someone to design a web site for me.”

“Uhhhh, holy crap, YES I KNOW YOUR BOOK. You are the most famous runner dude in the entire world and I’m talking to you on my cell phone!!!!! I will make you the best web site EVER!”

Okay, so maybe that last part didn’t really happen like that, but you get the idea: Mr. Born to Run, Christopher McDougall, called me on the phone and SRA and I are making him a web site. The world’s greatest web site, too.

I know what you’re thinking “Wow, Runner Susan, you’re famous if Chris McDougall is reading your blog!” I wish, but sadly no, he was a referral from another really cool site we did, and if I were Fisher Susan, I’d be all excited too. But we can all pretend I’m famous by association – because I’m making Christopher McDougall a spanktacular new web site. Did I mention that already? ChrisMcDougall.com – it’s still a work in progress, but what do you think? Now go and buy his book.

His book is changing the way I think about running, and working with him on his site is a huge inspiration.  And don’t for a second think RS hasn’t taken full advantage of the situation by probing Mr. Born to Run with every question possible about running – and he’s been super nice to answer them all. I have every intention to make 2010 my best year for running yet! And you know what? I’m born to run. How about that? Living proof:

Running more isn’t my only goal in 2010:

• I’d like to complete a 1/2 Ironman
• PR in a marathon or two
• PR in a half marathon
• Run 1000 miles over the year
• Swim like I am not going to die the moment I touch water
• Be happy with my body weight
• Have more fun
• Be a more forgiving person
• Meet new friends
• Be the best wife I can be
• Be the best friend I can be
• Be the best mother I can be
• Cook food that tastes like food
• Blog like I mean it,
• and if I could own a pair of Christian Louboutin shoes, my life would be complete (just don’t tell Christopher).

There you have it, Internet People – it’s been one crazy year and I look forward to another with you in 2010. Here are a few pictures from 2009, which you’ve probably already seen, but here for your viewing entertainment in case you have 3 minutes and 46 seconds to waste.

2009 from Runner Susan on Vimeo.

I’ve been on a Merlot kick this holiday season and Rutherford has certainly helped me put on my happy fat suit. This wine is the perfect example of why Rutherford Hill is truly the King of the Merlots! Smooth and full. This wine goes with more than my sassy red boots. And cheaper too, at $18.59 a bottle you can stock up big time or use the extra to stock up on glassware! I’ve recently delved into the world or Reidel and Spiegaleu and I’m a much better person for it! Is that lint or are those spots on my glass? I can’t tell and I don’t remember. At least I don’t think that interferes with the taste.