A flicker relights my Chariot of Fire

Well, I'll be damned! 2 days ago I was lamenting on this blog about my callback audition for a running photo shoot for "Adidas" to be used in a year-long campaign in all advertising formats. (For models to shoot for a world-re known brand is GREAT for your career as it impresses future clients that you are worth them shelling out the money to hire you.)

Well, older (34 compared to the 22-28 year-olds they wanted), injury-prone, lean - - but no 6 pack abs - I got the call today from my agent that they, indeed, could see that I have a runner's build and have run my whole life and I got the job!!!

I will be pumped up on ibuprofen for the shoot will be painful tomorrow (running off and on for several hours), the money is greatly appreciated, and I just am simply proud of myself!!!

Just goes to show it ain't over till the Fat Lady sings!

This 'Chariot of Fire' is burnt out!

I have been a runner my whole life. My whole family, except for 1 sister and my mom, runs. My dad still runs at the track and is in his late 60s! When I was a kid I saw my oldest sister be the MVP for her high school track team. I ran around my big back yard so much pretending I was a horse that I actually wore a track in the grass that took years to regrow once I had stopped.

In short: I love to run. But now I am an old lady with a broken down hip and knee injury that doesn't let me do it much anymore. And that really stinks. When I was 30 I made the goal to run my first half-marathon in Long Beach, CA with my 2 brothers, 1 brother-in-law and 2 friends. And I did it! Then I made the goal to train for a full marathon - the Rock "n" Roll marathon in San Diego. It was then that I pulled up as lame as an old horse on his way to the glue factory. That was a good 4 years ago now and I have not been the same gal since. Now luckily I like enough other modes of fitness to keep me interested in exercising but I really miss running. I miss being out in nature every day. I miss the alone time to reflect while running. I miss the fun of running with someone else too (granted they weren't faster than me). Last night Patrick did another Hash Run (see previous blog) and I couldn't join him because last time my leg gave out at the end. It really stinks! I'll never forget how when I passed under the finish line at the half-marathon the sense of pride I felt manifest in a lump of my throat. I am a very hard person on myself and it's not often I feel proud of myself. The fact that they were playing a Duran Duran song over the loudspeaker made it even more 'radical' to this 80s girl!

So why the lament on running? I just got back from a call back for a great model print job for Adidas catalog. I was the oldest girl they called back (they wanted 28 and under) but the fact that I look younger than my age and that I can pass for a few different ethnicities probably helped. They liked me. You could tell I was a runner - unlike some other younger, much more toned and tanned girls - I had on real running shoes, that were actually worn and dirty and I RAN like a runner. Not all bouncy and cutesy. But I sure wasn't as bouncy and cutesy and toned as those young-uns were - shoot! I'm old and broken down and that big paycheck would really come in handy so I can buy my ol' Irishman the flat screen TV he wants - (lol!!)

Oh well, I can still always get the thrill watching the Summer Olympics and my siblings race

Hash Run a Go-Go

Patrick has a friend, Sarah, who had been invited him for a year to try out her running group that does "Hashes". He and I didn't even know what a Hash was. Well, he went first and had a great time - calling me up at the bar downtown that they all ended up at at the end of the run. Yes - you heard that correctly. They end up at a bar! Basically there is an international hashing society but I have run my entire life and have never heard of the phenomenom. I ended up going the next time with Patrick and I must admit the whole idea of it is very interesting. Basically, a trail is laid out by some 'hares' and then later the rest of the group has to follow the clues laid out in order to get to their destination.

Now the interesting part lies in the clues (they could just be spots of flour thrown on the ground or signs left up). Also, the clues can lead to fake, incorrect trails (the little beggars)that make you get lost and you have to retrack your steps. Another thing to keep in mind is that the trails aren't easy. We had to run in mud, climb fences, go through dark, bat-infested tunnels, wade through hip-deep (yes: HIP DEEP) murky water in a tunnel that we prayed didn't give us some infectious disease and finally we ended up at a bar - where they promptly hazed us as 'virgins'. Now, I admit the bar and drinking beer part at the end of it I could care less for since I don't drink beer, but it certainly was a different take on my normal running routine and plenty of fun - that little bit about the water and bat-infested tunnel usually does NOT happen - we just happened to randomly run on the hardest Hash trail of the year. (Just my luck). For more information check out http://www.sdh3.com/