Oh Housewives...

I have made no secret in the past for my love of most reality TV. I have no shame. If it's on Bravo, VH1, or MTV, I will most likely give it a try. Whether or not I stick with a show is debatable, but I will at least give it a shot. Usually a one or two episode trial. One show that I have stuck with year after year, season after season, and location after location, is the Real Housewives of _________ on Bravo. Thanks a lot Andy Cohen. He really hit a gold mine with this series and I have seen them all. Yes, ALL. From the OG's of the OC to the one-season DC women and everything else in between. (And of course a majority of the spin-offs as well!)

Bravo's Housewives franchise is far from real. These women are catty, immature, superficial, and often times delusional. Those traits I'm sure are very real, but sometimes the situations they are in are not totally authentic. And many of them want more screen time so take up their terrible traits a few notches to get more screen time. Very few of them are what I would consider "normal." But who am I to judge, right? (I mean, I do tune in week after week, don't I? So what does that make me?) Some of these women aren't even real housewives in the true definition of the word. Some aren't married and most don't actually participate in actual housewife duties. But guess what, almost all of them are laughing all the way to the bank and I am slaving away at work day after day and making peanuts.

I'm an Introvert?!?!

What do you hear when you someone uses the word introvert to describe someone? Do you think shy? Anti-social? Because that's what I think. Or what I use to think. But you know what? After reading the article "What's Is It Really Like to Be an Introvert" in the Huffington Post today, I realized I was totally wrong. And even though I consider to myself to be outgoing, I can often times be quite the little introvert.

I think if you polled those close to me to describe me in three adjectives, or even a hundred, introverted would never come up on that list. Athletic...Loud....Competitive....Driven. Independent... all come up (I can keep going if you want...), but never introverted. However, I do believe I can be considered to be a very introverted person. Now don't get me wrong, I can party and socialize with the best of them when I need and want to, and am often described as suuuuper outgoing, but more often than not, I just like to relax at home. Alone.

NYC 26.2: A Recap

Yesterday was my 4th New York City marathon, and my 7th marathon overall. And let me tell you, they do NOT get any easier. In fact, they seem to be taking more of a toll on my body (and my mind) each year. More my mind than my body I even hate to admit. However,  I just can't seem to stop doing them. As stressed and anxious as I was the weeks leading up to the big race, the feeling of crossing that finish line makes it all worthwhile. Each year, I sob pretty hard after doing that. And let's not even talk about the many tears shed the two to three weeks before the race, and then the ones during the actual race on numerous occasions. I have issues, okay? The amount of pressure I continually put on myself to better my best comes at a severe emotional price. I am trying to deal with it because it's not so healthy for me to stress and to cry at the drop of a hat when discussing how hard this is, the fact that I actually did it, and now, the fact that it's over. As someone who is super competitive, I don't know if I will ever ultimately be satisfied with any time, but trying to beat my current one is something I am keen on doing, even if it drives me temporarily insane for some parts of the year.

Last year, Hurricane Sandy cancelled the marathon and it was supposed to be my year. I ran Harrisburg and was four minutes off my PR and was happy with that. After the year I had had with my numerous UC flares and hospitilization, I was just happy to finish. Because NYC 2012 didn't happen, that made this year "my year." But it wasn't. Sad face. I didn't race the race that I wanted yesterday. I missed a PR by 3 minutes and 3 seconds and although that was upsetting, I still felt a huge sense of accomplishment. With headwinds the first 20 miles of the race and some quad cramping the last three miles, it wasn't ideal, but I fought through it all as I knew I could. This race was fun though. Running down 4th Avenue in Brooklyn and 1st Avenue in Manhattan is just the best. Like you can't describe that feeling to others that haven't experienced it.  Strangers are genuinely excited to cheer for you. Someone they have never met. As corny as it is, the human spirit is alive and well on this day. It's incredible and something truly special. The whole day is amazing and that's why its one of the best days of the year in NYC.  It's the reason they call the NYC Marathon "A race like no other." There is no comparison. The city is filled with such positive energy and unification. It really makes me appreciate the city even more than I do on a regular basis.

I am not one to really recap my race like many runners do on their runner's blogs because this is not a running blog. Even though many of my posts have been about running lately, I will start discussing other stuff again. Dating. Men. Poop. Reality TV. Don't you worry. But since I did run this race and it was such an enormous part of my life, why not write a brief recap? Okay? Super!