Speed Walking

This weekend Shannon, Dan and I did a 10k called the Nike Plus Human Race. It is a race that was hosted all over the world with people running in Italy, Paris, South Africa, Mexico, New York etc. Since Nike headquarters are in Portland, of course they hosted a race here! All the cities ran on the same day and then our times were uploaded to a Nike website to view how you placed in the world. 521,970 people ran and I placed 106,605 - sweet. Anyway, it was an awesome race. Nike puts on a fabulous show! From the goody bags and race day t-shirts to free socks, inspiring videos, post race concerts, even Greg Oden was there. It was a good course and a lot of fun. This definitly makes the list of my top 5 favorite races!




Point of this post - Speed Walkers. While I was standing on the side of the finish line watching people cross I noticed quite a bit of speed walkers.
Speed walking - walking very fast without breaking into a jog or run. Arms swing in pace with the stride, and one foot is on the ground at all times.

HOW DO THEY DO IT?! I watched these people speed walk even down to the last 100 meters. How do they not break into a dead sprint, arms flailing shouting 'I'm free to have both feet off the ground if I'd like!' I know I would and I would probably do a cart wheel over the finish line. And have you ever tried to speed walk? It's hard! Some speed walkers walk faster than people run and it's an Olympic event. I know it has great benefits for your body - and probably not as hard on your joints as running - but I still don't get it. I guess I don't have enough self control to keep one foot on the ground at all times or enough patients to learn. Such an interesting sport. Walk on... haha, like rock on, but walk on...
get it?

Quick update on my hair:
Her name was Jodi, she was really nice and exceptionally cute. She patiently listened to me go on for 15 minutes about how I wanted it cut and colored. The darker color in my hair turned out perfect, I think the lighter color is a little too light. Definitly lighter than what I am used to. The cut is a little bit longer than I would have liked, but the shape is good and I am sure she was nervous about what I would do if it was TOO short. I can't decide if I should go back and have her tone the lighter peices darker or embrace the lighter look. She did tell me to call her if it was too light. She was very knowledgeable and she really did do a good job. So, she's a keeper as my Oregon stylist.

Nervous to get my hair done...

Friday is the big day. After the gray incident it was obvious that I had waited TOO long to get my hair done. I have been slacking in the upkeep of the 'do' because I am not willing to go to a new stylist without seeing the fruits of their labor. I have only had 2 real stylists my entire life and at this point might be willing to give them my first child if either of them would fly out here and do my hair. Since I can't possibly be serious about that, one of the first missions that I took on when I moved out here was to locate a girl with SUPER-cute hair and ask her who does it. This was an overwhelming task, but alas I think I have accomplished it. I was sitting in church the other day and who walks in, only the cutest bob I have ever seen! Immediately following the services I walked up to her and asked who does that amazing hair. She was so nice and even knew her stylists phone number off the top of her head! So I made the appointment - and I have 1 1/2 days more to wait for it to happen - the nerves are setting in. This is a big deal.

GRAY HAIR?!?

This is the WORST 10 days before my 25th birthday present ever! Let me set the stage. Here I am pulling up to my new dentist for the dreaded teeth cleaning. I am about to get out of the car and stop to do the last check in the rear view mirror, you know to check for weird things that someone else might notice before you do (you all do it). As I am scanning my hair I see IT... the dreaded gray hair! ARE you serious?! I am not even 25 years old and I have a gray hair?! And it is sticking straight up! Needless to say I immediatley took a picture, changed the part in my hair, and did not pull it out terrified that the old saying 'three more will grow in its place' might actually be true. Unbelievable.

I did it!

I talked about it and talked about it and last week I finally did it! I cut 7 inches off my hair and I love it!! It's off my neck so I am cool and it's fast and easy! Why did it take me a year to do it?!?! Here are some before and after pictures...

Before:



After: