“Oop... I almost forgot. I won't be able to make it fellas. Veronica and I are trying this new fad called uh, jogging. I believe it's jogging or yogging. It might be a soft j. I'm not sure but apparently you just run for an extended period of time. It's supposed to be wild.” – Ron Burgundy (Will Ferrell) Anchorman
I hate jogging.
This isn’t really a surprise. I have never been a fan of running for the sake of running, but I recognize the need for The Race. This does not make the process any more enjoyable. Our first attempts at jogging were foiled by my unbelievably low-quality Nike cross-trainers. The first of many expenses in trying to win a million dollars (gotta spend money to make money) was buying me proper running shoes. The Brooks I got are amazing and bouncy and I almost feel like a person who could wander around town in athletic gear and people would think, “Look at her workout pants and bouncy, breathable running shoes. I bet she jogs.”
Still, even having mastered the look of someone who people might think jogs, if they thought of it at all, I cannot actually jog. Oh, I can run. I can run from here all the way down to that rather close point over there. And I can run with all my might, and then collapse, and go home and watch tv. But extended periods of slow bouncing around a track/sculpture park/concrete campus around the Space Needle? Well that is just no fun.
We considered entering a fun run, to give ourselves a short term goal to meet, but at 30 dollars a person I don’t think it’s going to happen. We had to choose between paying for that and paying our membership dues for Team Works, and we chose Team Works. Team Works is a volunteer program run by Seattle Works, and a more socially conscientious choice, but I am a little disappointed that I can’t try the fun run. I have never been inclined to run in large groups, and I feel I should chase that inkling while it lingers.
Last night Nat set the pace, so I would stop running myself ragged in 3 minutes. Just me and Wilson Phillips’ “Hold On.” And it was going great until the song started to die down, and I realized I was exerting effort in the pursuit of nothing, and my legs hurt and my lungs hurt and under armor is really warm. You see, I just start whining. And once the whining starts and my lungs begin to burn, it’s hard to motivate me again. Nat’s plan? Letting me walk and then making me do the sprint to the mat. There’s no way we’re going to be the team on The Race that loses because we couldn’t get to the mat before another team. We don't want to be thisclose to not being eliminated and watch another team breeze past us, so we’re practicing the sprint. And I would be great at it, if it weren’t for all the jogging. Evil, evil jogging.
Friday, February 26, 2010
Wednesday, February 24, 2010
Episode 2: When the Cow Kicked Me in the Head
Location: Chile
Recap: Teams had to take a bus nearly 600 miles. The team that took an early lead, the cowboys, were smart enough to ask for a bus that made a connection through another city instead of taking a direct line, and were able to get way ahead of the curve. The fact that all the challenges involved livestock didn’t hurt any.
Once they reached the city by bus, they had to drive themselves into the countryside. Many people mentioned not being very good at driving a manual. I knew this was an issue I would have to face during this challenge. I have no idea how to drive a stick, I have only tried one time before quitting, and I am resistant towards being taught.
The first challenge on this leg was a detour (where the teams are given a choice of two challenges). The animal themed choices were to dress a llama in a traditional Chilean outfit, or dress like a giant condor and glide towards their clue in a freezing lake. Knowing how mean and difficult llamas can be, we decided we would choose the gliding. Since we’re not going to buy a giant bird costume to glide around in, I think we’re going to have to train in both swimming, and putting up with extreme cold. Both of those skills have been seen frequently on The Race.
The second challenge was a roadblock. A roadblock is a task that only one of the team members can complete. This task was to run about a farm collecting the ingredients for the traditional German—apparently they have quite the German immigrant population in Chile—pastry Kuchen. They had to collect a bakers dozen eggs (that’s 13), a plate of butter, a bowl of sugar, a bag of flour, and milk straight from a cow. This is not the first time I have seen a cow milking challenge on The Race, and I think we should try it. I don’t really need practice counting or carrying things, but I sure need to know how to milk a cow. I have dreamt of having my very own farm with crops and animals, including cows to milk, since I was a little, wishing I was a pioneer girl living on a homestead on the prairie. If you simply google “where can I milk a cow in Seattle,” you’re not likely to find what you are looking for. However, I did learn quite a bit about the raw milk movement.
Winner: The cowboys, Jet and Cord. This challenge was tailor-made for them. Still, I’m a fan of them, and their silly cowboy hat rain slickers.
Loser: The tri-athlete grandma and her tri-athlete granddaughter. I don’t recall their names. I feel like they really could have gone further, but it just didn’t work for them.
The weekly challenge:
There was a lot of talk in this episode about not being good runners or not wanting to carry the packs. We’re already preparing for this with our jogs. I think it’ll be a good two or so weeks before we’re ready to job with packs, but working on that endurance is key.
The trouble caused—not only this season, but every season—by stick shifts has reinforced my belief that it is time I learn. Nat and I have already set aside our Saturday to this aim. Hopefully I can actually learn, and from there I will drive us to tackle another of the challenges I have drawn from this week: the cold.
The couples who chose to glide to their clues dressed as condors got to experience what looked like painfully cold water. The cold has been part of challenges in previous seasons from jogging in underpants through the snow during winter in Russia, to standing in sub zero temperatures wearing practically nothing. (Reminds me that standing around in underwear happens a lot too, so I may want to focus on some ab workouts). This weekend we will meet the challenge of the cold. We’re from the Northwest and we’re ready to test our ability to stand in the Pacific Ocean in February in preparation for any sort of cold The Race might throw our way.
There was only a small amount of swimming in this episode, but we’ve seen it in many past seasons. One season even included swimming multiple lengths of an Olympic swimming pool. For me, this wouldn’t be much of an issue even super out of shape. Nat, however, is not a super strong swimmer. I learned this two summers ago when I swan him too far from shore and had to help pull him back. So we’re going to add swimming to the challenge.
I will find somewhere for us to milk a cow!
Rules for the race
Each week I will list the rules for running the race that we have put together while watching the week’s episode.
- Pay attention and read the clues
- Don’t just follow the herd
- Planes and buses are always the equalizer, so don’t panic!
Recap: Teams had to take a bus nearly 600 miles. The team that took an early lead, the cowboys, were smart enough to ask for a bus that made a connection through another city instead of taking a direct line, and were able to get way ahead of the curve. The fact that all the challenges involved livestock didn’t hurt any.
Once they reached the city by bus, they had to drive themselves into the countryside. Many people mentioned not being very good at driving a manual. I knew this was an issue I would have to face during this challenge. I have no idea how to drive a stick, I have only tried one time before quitting, and I am resistant towards being taught.
The first challenge on this leg was a detour (where the teams are given a choice of two challenges). The animal themed choices were to dress a llama in a traditional Chilean outfit, or dress like a giant condor and glide towards their clue in a freezing lake. Knowing how mean and difficult llamas can be, we decided we would choose the gliding. Since we’re not going to buy a giant bird costume to glide around in, I think we’re going to have to train in both swimming, and putting up with extreme cold. Both of those skills have been seen frequently on The Race.
The second challenge was a roadblock. A roadblock is a task that only one of the team members can complete. This task was to run about a farm collecting the ingredients for the traditional German—apparently they have quite the German immigrant population in Chile—pastry Kuchen. They had to collect a bakers dozen eggs (that’s 13), a plate of butter, a bowl of sugar, a bag of flour, and milk straight from a cow. This is not the first time I have seen a cow milking challenge on The Race, and I think we should try it. I don’t really need practice counting or carrying things, but I sure need to know how to milk a cow. I have dreamt of having my very own farm with crops and animals, including cows to milk, since I was a little, wishing I was a pioneer girl living on a homestead on the prairie. If you simply google “where can I milk a cow in Seattle,” you’re not likely to find what you are looking for. However, I did learn quite a bit about the raw milk movement.
Winner: The cowboys, Jet and Cord. This challenge was tailor-made for them. Still, I’m a fan of them, and their silly cowboy hat rain slickers.
Loser: The tri-athlete grandma and her tri-athlete granddaughter. I don’t recall their names. I feel like they really could have gone further, but it just didn’t work for them.
The weekly challenge:
There was a lot of talk in this episode about not being good runners or not wanting to carry the packs. We’re already preparing for this with our jogs. I think it’ll be a good two or so weeks before we’re ready to job with packs, but working on that endurance is key.
The trouble caused—not only this season, but every season—by stick shifts has reinforced my belief that it is time I learn. Nat and I have already set aside our Saturday to this aim. Hopefully I can actually learn, and from there I will drive us to tackle another of the challenges I have drawn from this week: the cold.
The couples who chose to glide to their clues dressed as condors got to experience what looked like painfully cold water. The cold has been part of challenges in previous seasons from jogging in underpants through the snow during winter in Russia, to standing in sub zero temperatures wearing practically nothing. (Reminds me that standing around in underwear happens a lot too, so I may want to focus on some ab workouts). This weekend we will meet the challenge of the cold. We’re from the Northwest and we’re ready to test our ability to stand in the Pacific Ocean in February in preparation for any sort of cold The Race might throw our way.
There was only a small amount of swimming in this episode, but we’ve seen it in many past seasons. One season even included swimming multiple lengths of an Olympic swimming pool. For me, this wouldn’t be much of an issue even super out of shape. Nat, however, is not a super strong swimmer. I learned this two summers ago when I swan him too far from shore and had to help pull him back. So we’re going to add swimming to the challenge.
I will find somewhere for us to milk a cow!
Rules for the race
Each week I will list the rules for running the race that we have put together while watching the week’s episode.
- Pay attention and read the clues
- Don’t just follow the herd
- Planes and buses are always the equalizer, so don’t panic!
Tuesday, February 23, 2010
But not a real green dress, that's cruel
So, kicking off this blog yesterday turned out to be a bad idea as we are already behind on our most basic goal: watch the damn show. Between a late dinner Sunday which had us coming home around midnight, and Nat not coming home from work until after midnight last night, we haven’t had the chance to watch this week’s episode. The excuses begin! I am positive we will get that chance tonight and can begin our workout plan.
We have been keeping up on jogs, so that’s at least something. A something I find very difficult. Nat has always been a runner, but I have not, and I find it challenging. I really have to put in my own extra training if I’m going to be ready for us to add weighted packs to our runs in the coming weeks.
In order to motivate myself to keep up with the blog, and in turn our Race Challenge, I am going to try to add variety to the topics I cover. Of course I’ll include episode recaps and our exercise follow up. But I also intend to address the application, talk about why we want to do this (the money? the experience? The money and the experience) and hopefully reflect on any progress we’ve made.
I am aware that the odds of us making the show are slim, but I think we really can do it. Maybe they would like us better in the state we’re in now—they always seem to pick a particularly out of shape couple to flounder in the first round—but if we’re going to do this, we’re going to do it with the goal of winning that million dollars and getting to try every challenge and visit every location.
I wish I could say that our goals for the money were exciting, and I think they will get more exciting, but I think the number one goal is to get debt free. College was an awesome time—I made the most amazing friends, and it’s where I met Nat. I wouldn’t want to have lived it any differently, but it is so hard to still believe that when my student loan statements come. And those are just the loans in my name. My parents’ plus loan is absolutely included in my list of debts to pay off. Luckily, with the exception of my student loans, our debts are pretty small, and paying them back wouldn’t make much of dent in our 1 million (or after taxes, what, 470,000? I hope that’s me being pessimistic).
I am determined that tonight we truly begin the challenge, because a blog full of posts about how I really am going to do something is really just my diary made public.
We have been keeping up on jogs, so that’s at least something. A something I find very difficult. Nat has always been a runner, but I have not, and I find it challenging. I really have to put in my own extra training if I’m going to be ready for us to add weighted packs to our runs in the coming weeks.
In order to motivate myself to keep up with the blog, and in turn our Race Challenge, I am going to try to add variety to the topics I cover. Of course I’ll include episode recaps and our exercise follow up. But I also intend to address the application, talk about why we want to do this (the money? the experience? The money and the experience) and hopefully reflect on any progress we’ve made.
I am aware that the odds of us making the show are slim, but I think we really can do it. Maybe they would like us better in the state we’re in now—they always seem to pick a particularly out of shape couple to flounder in the first round—but if we’re going to do this, we’re going to do it with the goal of winning that million dollars and getting to try every challenge and visit every location.
I wish I could say that our goals for the money were exciting, and I think they will get more exciting, but I think the number one goal is to get debt free. College was an awesome time—I made the most amazing friends, and it’s where I met Nat. I wouldn’t want to have lived it any differently, but it is so hard to still believe that when my student loan statements come. And those are just the loans in my name. My parents’ plus loan is absolutely included in my list of debts to pay off. Luckily, with the exception of my student loans, our debts are pretty small, and paying them back wouldn’t make much of dent in our 1 million (or after taxes, what, 470,000? I hope that’s me being pessimistic).
I am determined that tonight we truly begin the challenge, because a blog full of posts about how I really am going to do something is really just my diary made public.
Monday, February 22, 2010
The plan
My husband and I want to be on The Amazing Race. Good, now we have a statement of intent. But how are we going to make it happen? We’re both young, but a tad on the chubby side. Not exactly ready for running across the French Countryside with 40 pound packs, or really anything particularly athletic. However, we didn’t used to be this way. We were both athletes at one time (I was big into soccer, basketball, and water polo; he participated in cross-country as well as basketball). But desk jobs, and—let’s just be honest—too much beer have lead to our collective widening.
We’ve wanted to be on The Race together since we started dating in 2007. We watch each season of the show discussing who would take on certain roadblocks and which detour task we would choose. As we started watching the most recent season we determined we would actually try to get on the race, but not before we were certain we wouldn’t be the chubby team trailing behind and losing in the first leg because while other teams were fighting for first, we were fighting for breath. While watching the first episode, I decided we should create a weekly training plan based on what we saw in that week’s episode. Then, with the combination of nightly jogs, we would use the show itself as an example of what to practice. Immediately we recognized the need for me to learn to drive stick, and for him to hone his observation skills.
I am keeping this blog as a means of motivation and to keep my friends up to date on our progress. This way they can pretend they are following along, and I won’t be constantly harassing them with emails.
Our challenge starts with Episode 2 of Season 16.
We’ve wanted to be on The Race together since we started dating in 2007. We watch each season of the show discussing who would take on certain roadblocks and which detour task we would choose. As we started watching the most recent season we determined we would actually try to get on the race, but not before we were certain we wouldn’t be the chubby team trailing behind and losing in the first leg because while other teams were fighting for first, we were fighting for breath. While watching the first episode, I decided we should create a weekly training plan based on what we saw in that week’s episode. Then, with the combination of nightly jogs, we would use the show itself as an example of what to practice. Immediately we recognized the need for me to learn to drive stick, and for him to hone his observation skills.
I am keeping this blog as a means of motivation and to keep my friends up to date on our progress. This way they can pretend they are following along, and I won’t be constantly harassing them with emails.
Our challenge starts with Episode 2 of Season 16.
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