Thursday, April 16, 2009

The Math

OMFG...so Marcy, (who's pretending that she's gonna retire from blogging on June 4, 2009), has recognized me with her Blogger of the Week (BOTW) designation.

Wow. I mean. Wow. Lil' ole me?

And in an even GREATER HONOR, I also got to share some of that web-space recognition with Jessica Alba's ass-tattoo*...

Now how often in my life will I get to say THAT?

Soooo...here's me

In my office...wearing my "Seriously?" look

Here's JA's ass (thanks Marcy, borrowed from your blog)

Leave your comments regarding the tat on Marcy's blog :-)

So it's finally Thursday afternoon, and that means I'm done teaching for the week, and that also means that like Carly, I have about a gazillion blogs to catch up on because this is the first time all week I've had a moment to sit down and read/write/think about my or anyone else's blog...(I just wrote "sit down" and looked up at JA's bow simultaneously...quite. disturbing. moment. really.)

So, when I read Marcy's blog about being BOTW, I had an initial moment of PANIC, because my last blog entry was posted all the way back on Saturday, and although it does include a picture of a dead whale, and a great insult, AND it references after-run mimosa drinking, to be honest, it's not one of my finer attempts at blogging...so the pressure for today is GI-FUCKING-NORMOUS

And, I was gonna post today anyway, and the post today is about MATH**.

In the heffer-sphere, the email conversation this week has been about the upcoming Race for Literacy. It's a little 8K run around Balboa Park on May 3. It's not chip timed, but you do get to run down the 163 freeway (downhill - toward downtown San Diego - the opposite of the uphill route of the Rock and Roll Marathon). In fact, it's mostly a downhill race. I had one of my fastest mid-distance pace times EVER when I ran last year. AND the proceeds go toward improving literacy improvement in the county, and we bloggers LOVE literacy, right?

I've run this race every year for the past four years with a group of teachers from the high school where I used to teach.

This year, some of the math teachers in our group (BBJ and Santiago for example) are balking at a running a race for literacy. BBJ said in an email that he was holding out for a race for numeracy.

WTF?

Betty's email response to BBJ about how we all do mental math while running got me to thinking about how much math I do when I run.
  • How many races should I run in a season?
  • How many miles have I run so far?
  • How many miles to the next water station?
  • How fast am I running right now?
  • How slow am I running right now?
  • How much longer until I'm done?
  • How many calories have I burned?
  • How many more calories do I have to burn in order to share pancakes with Betty at breakfast?
  • If I run my current pace, for x more miles, how many more mimosas can I consume that will be equal to the number of carbohydrates in a Gu? (I think that's an algebra problem)
So...since every run is a numeracy run, I think all the math teachers ought join in... Edith already is (I haven't written about Edith in awhile and she HATES it when I forget about her.), but Edith is a chick...maybe it's just the dude math teachers that are being lame...(yeah, I'm callin' you out boys...)

Finally, today's TiART at the Runner's Lounge is about runners who blog -- how and why. Today's post is a bit of a snapshot which really sorta captures my how and why. I started this blog a little over a year ago, mostly to ramble on about stupid shiz like this as my friends and I were training for our first marathon. Mostly I've recounted the random things I think about and see on long runs and races. I post silly pictures of us before, during and after running. I rant about rotten roads, dead creatures, how I hate running in the heat, how I started to enjoy running up hills, my aches and pains (plenty this year), OH, and I retell stories that my friends (who are all waaaaaaaaay funnier than I am) tell me after we run...oh yeah, and I write about the mimosas we drink afterward

Since then, I've written about a bunch of other shiz as well...sometimes I write about my kids, my husband (who is running the Race for Literacy with me...so not not a dude thing; just a math-dude thing) my family, teaching...but usually in light of how these things interact (or sometimes interfere) with my running.

I started this blog for a small group of friends and because of it, I've made lots more. The runner-blogger community is just THE BEST. I can't wait for Thursday and I'm done teaching, and I finally get to sit down with my computer friends...and find out how their weeks went, who's doing what race this coming weekend, who's kids are bugging them, and who is making a great comeback after being hurt. We cheer each other on and make each other laugh...that's important to me. Lots of others have said it already, but I run, blog, run, blog, race, blog, repeat...I can't imagine doing one without the other now.

Oh, and for those of you who came here from Marcy's blog looking for the dead whale...here it is again

I wonder who will find my blog today because they Googled "Jessica Alba," "ass" and "whale?"

*I'll assume that ya'all read Marcy's blog...since she's got about a gazillion readers, and is one of the most popular chicas in the internets, at least according to Facebook, she is.

** Nice freeking transition, don't ya think?

18 comments:

  1. I love your glasses! They definitely help with the "serious" look.

    And BTW, you're the only one who caught the Dickinson reference from my post's title yesterday. So, I shall award you with the "most apt to catch a literary reference" award. Sorry, it has no redeemable cash value, but you may have bragging rights.

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  2. Dead whale, Alba's ass and your glasses...mmm, glad I stopped by. This is the freakin second time today I had to look at her ass. That bitch! Spose if my arse looked like that, I'd have roses or bows or whatever jumping out of it too!

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  3. Are you going to wear a Dr. Seuss hat while you run?? I didn't realize the race for literacy was coming up so quickly!

    Congrats on being picked as BOTW! Jessica Alba ought to be honored to have her cute, little toosh featured in the same blog as you. The placement of the tattoo looks very painful!

    Keep up the funny blog writing! And the mimosa drinking. :)

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  4. LOL, your running math is hilarious! I thought I was the only one that said half those statements! hahaha. Lucky you to be chosen as blogger of the week :)

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  5. I also meant to tell you thanks for letting me know about the Surf City HM... that is now on my must do list!

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  6. I'm so happy I'm part of your "runner-blogger" world. ;)

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  7. I like those glasses chica! They're sexy. Your students might get the wrong idea if you wear those HAHA! Now wouldn't THAT be something to blog about.

    The dead whale freekin kills me. Seriously I can only imagine the smells *barf*

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  8. Hahaha great post. What? You LIKE to run hills? You are loca! I agree with Jess and Marcy, I love the glasses.

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  9. Considering timing chips, paces, and places, isn't every race a race for numeracy?

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  10. /beginrant
    Ha a picture of a dead whale, and a picture of J. Alba. Wait which one is which? Labels please. :)

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  11. HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!

    Your last sentence... I just totally lost it!

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  12. I mean, the sentence under the dead whale picture... LOL.

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  13. I got it! Both have a whale tail.

    Are we carpooling to O-side on Saturday morn'?

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  14. I am not at all surprised that Marcy picked you from the pack. You are as genuine and fun in the blogworld as you are in person. You always make me smile and laugh and since I check blogs at 5 in the morning, that is not an easy feat.

    I dressed in costume for the Race for Literacy a couple of years ago. It was an interesting experience since you can't hide your performance, and it's a hoot to have the homeless people giving you a special shoutout or to find out in the busline you were a bunch of Asian students' "rabbit" for the race.

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  15. OMFG, you ALWAYS crack me up!!

    Oh, I'm going going to google,"Jessica Alba," "ass" and "whale?"

    oh, look where I am!!

    LMAO!!

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  16. I think I love your friends BBJ and Santiago. They would have had a field day with the Pi Mile 5K. I couldn't do it. It is just so wrong!
    Still love the whale pic!

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  17. Can't believe I just happened to read your blog today and got to see that dead whale. Eww.

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