The Berry Wars

I worked in a retail store at the end of a strip shopping center, similar to a small Wal-Mart or membership club store. It was large and dim with a lot of tall dusty shelves of merchandise that nobody wanted. At the other end of this strip shopping center was a rival retail store. Amidst a lot of rain, noise, and smoke outdoors, we were hurriedly preparing for war with the other store. Our strategy was to gather as many berries as we possibly could — blueberries, blackberries, raspberries, strawberries — and place them into small bowls with which we would later arm the catapults. However, as I was artfully arranging berries in a bowl near the front of the store, the automatic doors opened in a swirl of smoke and a black-clad figure from the other store tossed in a live grenade that landed next to me. And that’s when I realized, oh, it’s THAT kind of war. Later, in the middle of everyone running around throwing berries and grenades at each other in the parking lot, I was sent out to the Jack-in-the-Box on the other side of the highway to pick up drinks and milkshakes for everyone. I got there and someone handed me an ice cream cone while I waited in line. And when I got to the front I realized I didn’t have any money.

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and miles to go before i sleep

I know y’all totally don’t care, but I still have to post my marathon training progress. Yesterday I drove over to the gym* to do my 4.5 mile long run (the long runs occur on the weekends, and we’re upping them by 1/2 mile every weekend until the race). I didn’t realize that the gym opened at 11 on Sundays, and it was only 10 a.m. I didn’t want to wait around for an hour and I really didn’t have anything to do in the meantime, so … (yes, you guessed it)… I went running outside instead. In this motherfucking SNAKES ON A PLANE heat. Not having eaten breakfast. From my office to the start of the Katy Trail (not named after me, thanks for asking, but it is well marked and flat and wide (somewhat like me)) is 1.5 miles of partial shade, and from there I hopped on the trail and went an additional 3/4 mile before turning around and starting back. Up to that point I’d been feeling pretty good, but shortly after the turnaround I had to stop and walk for a little while. Then about 2/3 of the way back I had to stop and sit down in the shade for a bit, then I walked most of the rest of the way. I think that getting cold chills on a 90 degree day is a sign that you’ve overheated yourself. “I am gonna be SNAKES ON A PLANE if I don’t just walk from here,” I thought, and actually took my own advice. You’d think I would have learned my lesson after the last couple of times I decided I could handle running outdoors in Texas in the hottest part of summer. But noooooooo. Give me a few weeks to recover, and some part […]

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