Heard this from a Friend

Many of you probably know I worked in Hawaii for about 6 weeks, last year. I still have a friend working over there, and I occasionally speak with him. Sometimes I even enjoy the conversations... :)

Anyhow - he told me this story and I thought it was hilarious - and so typically "Hawaii".

Apparently, he went into Kinkos to get 25 copies of a 50 page document copied and stapled. The guy asked him when he needed it and he said Tomorrow. To which the guy replied, "This is pretty think. We might have to staple it by hand." To which HE replied, "That's fine. It doesn't matter if it costs more." And then the over-achieving Hawaiian Kinkos worker said, "Well, we're out of toner."

...Yes, Folks, the Kinkos was out of toner. That makes sense...

After being in Hawaii last year, I have an opinion about people and Hawaii. (I know, SHOCKING!) I think it's where the lazy people from the Mainland go because they can't hack it here. Now - this gives true Hawaiians a bad name - because they actually ARE laid back - yet intelligent and hard working - when they need to be. But, not paTHEtic. That's reserved for the Mainland Transplants...

About "The Race"

I ran the race. Saturday, August 1st, so this is a bit overdue. Sorry, but since hardly anyone ever comments on my posts anyhow, it doesn't seem like it matters... (yes, a nice healthy dose of self-pity)

So... the day was pretty good for August in Tulsa. Rained a little right before so the air was pretty heavy-feeling, but at least it wasn't 105 degrees, which we have run in plenty of times...

It started great. Our main coach, Kim, was pacing us - and there are four of us who always tend to run together. I felt great until about 2/3 of the way through - all of a sudden I couldn't breathe. I TOTALLY thought this was psychological, and as Mindy and Abby pulled away I started getting really ticked off - they are not faster than me - was all I could think.

But, I couldn't get a darn breath. Kim stayed with me, and at one point, I even had to walk - probably 30-45 seconds. This REALLY irritated me, because I kept thinking I was psyching myself out, and what a pathetic thing, to psyche yourself out when you've been running great for the past 12 weeks, etc.

So, finally I started running again.

My original fantasy goal was to fun it in under 30. On July 4th, when we had our first practice run and I ran a 5K in 37, my goal changed to under 35...

The week before the RACE, we ran another practice at 33:12, so then my goal was SURELY to run it in under 32.


Well, I came in at 32:11. A very irritated 32:11, I might add.

When I was still struggling to get a full breath Sunday NIGHT, I decided I would make an appointment to see the Doctor. Turns out I have a respiratory infection, and was put on a decongestant, antibiotics and an inhaler... with complete blood work and a chest X-ray... reminds me, I haven't heard back on the X-ray.

At least it turns out I am not a total psychological wuss...

These are some of my new running buddies from our group. We all "earned" our jackets - wahoo! ABby and Lili are missing. Abby was on her way to Honolulu at the time, and Lili had hustled herself off to work - she's a nurse.


Why do I look orange? I do NOT go to a tanning booth, and rarely even step out in the sun these days... seriously.