5 Observations as of Late

Observation #1
Going No. 1 & No. 2 when you eat beets is "different." This is something I forgot to mention in my last post (thx for the reminder GoBigGreen.) I'm already familiar with this phenomenon, if it can be considered that haha, so no surprises to me, but just fyi if you don't know: Basically the deep-red color of beets has a lasting effect, down to your bowls and urination. Yes, my friends, No. 1 & No. 2 take on a reddish hue. So if you take on the beet-eating lifestyle, then expect to see some new colors coming out of you. Don't be afraid and freak out, nothing is wrong. Sorry, not going to picture document this one ;)

Observation #2
I watched the movie "How Do You Know" recently... just another mindless and fairly stupid chick flick. The movie pretty much sucked, but there was one aspect that got me thinking. Reese Witherspoon plays a softball player who gets cut from the U.S. National Team. Her character is clearly passionate about the game, but that sub-story isn't even developed that much.

Here's my observation... Seeing Reese as an athlete got me thinking: We NEVER see fictional female characters in regular ol' movies who are athletes, let alone as athletes who play at a high level of sport. Most movies that have female athletes are based on some sort of true story, or it's a biographical or documentary-style film that glorifies their legacy (Million Dollar Baby). You never see movies where the "sexy leading lady" kicks ass at a sport... instead, women are usually shopping-obsessed, man-crazy girly girls (Sex and the City). Yes, there are movies that do have women who kick ass, like Uma Thurman in the Kill Bills or that chick in Terminator 2, but that's not what I mean. I'm talking a regular movie where the woman plays a sport and plays it well and it's not under the category of "sports films" or some unrelaistic fantasy/sci-fi/hardcore stuff.

I don't know. Maybe I'm wrong or I'm missing something -- I do suck at watching movies and I suck even more at finding good movies to watch. Not a high priority in my life, to say the least. I've had people gasp at some movies I've never seen... like some of Star Wars series or Harry Potter or "insert classic flick here."

But despite the fact that I'm not a movie-obsessed person, I know movies and Hollywood impact people all over the world a lot, so that's why I even bring it up in the first place. I'm not a feminist in any way, it's just an observation.

What do you guys think?

Observation #3
One more thing on the movie with Reese: Her softball teammates in the movie looked NOTHING like real softball players. The girls cast looked like supermodels, NOT cut athletic women. Such BS. And we wonder why women have self-esteem/body-image issues.


Observation #4
Taper sucks and is awkward. Yea I'm feeling refreshed and more rested, but also sluggish and BLAH. After two days off, the last two days I can say with confidence that I've felt weird and to the point that I didn't even want to start my training, which is very odd for me. But I got going with it anyways (duh), and once into it I felt like a friggin rockstar. What a little rest can do! I felt sooo good that I could have kept going for way longer than what was on the schedule, but I was smart and cut myself off. There's no fitness to gain in two weeks before a big race, but you can dig yourself into a bad rut of fatigue and have a shitty race as a result. No thanks.

Bottom line: Taper is such a mental game, which is why I think people struggle with it so much. It's hard to rest, and it's even harder to cut yourself off from overdoing it when the workout sesh feels oh so good!

Observation #5
This is kind of silly, but had to mention. At the pool today I saw the epitome of "OC Housewife-ness." A license plate on a big ol' SUV that read "platmum." Not only that, but it was in some cheesy diamond-encrusted plate frame. Ugh! I hate the materialism I see sometimes. At least she apparently had her kid in swim lessons. And, btw, I would have taken a pic but she was by her car so I couldn't be rude ;)