Chewy little bears full of booze.

Official marathon training starts on Monday, so I'm taking the weekend to just get shamefully intoxicated...starting last night! It's not my fault my mother and step-dad are enablers. Ten minutes after walking in the door last night my step-dad rang a cow bell and declared that it was time for a shot! My mom soaked gummy bears in vodka for over a week in preparation for my arrival. She even packed a "to-go" bag of vodka gummy shots for when my friends and I head to Minnesota this afternoon. You may like going home because your mom makes a great casserole or homemade chocolate chip cookies, I like going home because my mom makes stellar vodka gummies and my step-dad makes a hell of a bloody mary.

Looking at this picture I took of my mom last night, there should be no question as to why I am the way that I am.

I'm on my way to a wedding of some college friends in Minneapolis this weekend. We were going to go to Ames for the night to visit our Alma Mater and get hammered like college kids again, but the whole town is flooded! They have no safe water supply and the highway and interstate leading to Ames are both closed. As sad as I am that I'm missing out on a night of dollar drinks and streetside SuperDogs (a hotdog served outside the campus bars that comes loaded with 16 ingredients), I am more sad to see a place I love so much turned into a swamp. I hope all my Cyclones are staying safe, and that campus will turn out to be more beautiful than it was before.

I actually had plans of taking a run around Ames and taking pictures of all my favorite places for my first running post. Instead I just found a couple of pictures online. I saw pictures last night of Wal-Mart employees being evacuated with a skid-loader and a dump truck. That's kind of awesome.

That's my old dorm, Willow hall. My dog, Marley Willow Franklin was named after that building! I can't even begin to tell you all the shameful acts that were committed in that place.

This picture really makes me miss college, where ridiculousness wasn't only allowed, it was encouraged. That's a shot of the basketball arena, the inside of which is filled with 8-10 feet of water.

So let's talk about running. I actually went on one today. This two-week break I gave myself hasn't really been all that fun. I MISS exercise. When I'm not exercising I'm also not paying attention to the things I eat, because I'm not concerned about if the food I'm enjoying is good fuel for a workout or not. Getting back in the swing of things next week will be nice.

I was really hungover this morning (I don't blame the vodka gummies, I blame the 14 beers), but for whatever reason I decided that I should hop on my parents treadmill. Running with a fan blowing in your face, while watching "Up" on a 60-inch TV with surround sound isn't so bad, guys. The "dreadmill" really came through for me today.

Here's a funny little conversation I had with my step-dad:
Him: You know, running is terrible for you. My doctor says it's really bad for your bones and joints
Me: Well, it is hard on the joints but it's good for your bone density. I think the cardiovascular and immune benefits make up for it.
Him: You should ride a bike or something.
Me: I do.
Him: Well, running is terrible for you.
Me: Well I'm gonna keep running on this treadmill, you sit there on the couch and watch. Don't forget to take your blood pressure and cholesterol meds (<--zing)



Happy weekend, friends. Run safe, it's hot as balls out there.