Candeecakes's Blog

Yo! Membah this?!

candeecakes — Sun, 15 May 2011 00:32:09 +0000

If you followed me since June, you may remember the crazy things I posted on here. A few of you may remember my ***** on the rocks blog, which was even crazier. Well it will be back soon. It’s not for you though, it’s for me.

I’m so Ice-y!!

candeecakes — Sat, 11 Sep 2010 02:12:23 +0000

Today I had my first ice bath. Why? Because apparently this is what athletes do. I’ve been told by numerous runners that I should try this – but I never listen to other runner’s advice, because frankly, I think hardcore runners are a little crazy. Ok. so I’m a runner too. At least I classify myself as one. But I never listened to this whole ice bath nonsense until someone I really respect started coaching me on running. He’s a baseball player who seems to know most of the solutions to the problems I encounter as a runner. I told him I have been getting really lazy on my runs lately. His solution: take a cold shower every morning before I run and take an ice bath at least once a week.

I am right in the middle of the this years Road Race Series that is offered through my track club, Memphis Runners Track Club. This consists of 10 different races at 2 of each type. So there are 2 5ks, 2 5-milers, 2 10ks, 2 10-milers, and finally 2 half marathons. The Series started in July and lasts until November, and with it being September and each race is 2 weeks apart, that means that I have a 10k this Sunday. Have I confused you yet?

So I am trying to make it through this series and at least set a few personal records. I haven’t yet. I have done terrible. No really and here’s why: I am lacking in motivation, Memphis is hot and humid and it’s really hard to run during the summer here, and I have also sprained my left ankle TWICE this summer. But this week the weather has changed to where it’s not so terribly humid and it’s actually been pretty nice to run lately. My ankle has finally healed. I’m finding new ways to motivate myself (more on that later in a separate post.)

So anyways back to the ice bath. Why should you take an ice bath? It’s supposed to help with your recovery! This is what I did and how I feel afterwards:

1. After I went into pure beast mode and ran a collective 5 miles today at a pretty decent pace, I went to the store and bought a bag of ice. When I got home I dumped that sucker in the bathtub and turned on the cold water. Which then the ice immediately melted. Oh… ok… So I dumped all of the ice in our ice tray and the seemed like a sufficient amount.

2. I put on a sweater and my Chicago Fire hat to keep the upper half of my body warm-ish. I also set up my laptop so I could distract myself from what’s to come. (Thank you PistolShrimps youtube videos for keeping me entertained.)

3. I had a little snack because I didn’t know what to expect, and this just seemed like a good idea – I don’t really want to pass out in super cold ass water.

4. I stepped in, immediately screamed, and then made myself sit down. It really wasn’t so bad. The only thing that really bothered me was how bad my feet were hurting but it didn’t bother me so much after 2 minutes.

5. I only stayed in for about 12 minutes. This seemed like a good number.

Now I’m all warm and toasty. My legs feel great. I think you are supposed to eat a warm post-run meal after taking an ice bath but my dinner has yet to arrive. Which could explain why I’m not feeling so great – I’m really light-headed. I also sneezed a lot after I dried off so maybe next time I will drink some hot tea while I’m grumbling obscenities in my ice bath. I feel a little loopy to be completely honest, I’m kind of wondering – why did I number my post… not making any sense… Is this post coherent? Jeez I hope so….

Redbirds

candeecakes — Wed, 01 Sep 2010 13:56:47 +0000

So lately I’ve really been getting into baseball! So much in fact that I almost went to 3 home games this weekend. (It happened to be the Redbird’s last home stand.) The Sunday game was when I went on that blind date. I even let Boy A explain the finer aspects of the sport to me and for once it didn’t bother me.

The next day (Monday) I went to the game with my best friend Kait and here she is:

Kaitlyn at a Redbird's game

And she proceeded to take a truly horrible fat face picture of me that I am going to post anyways:

: Myself, at a Redbirds game.

We really had a great time. I completely understand why people get completely smashed at these games. Baseball is awesome when you are drinking beer! Even though we didn’t always know what was going on, we decided this is going to be our new thing: live sports and beer. Because I’ve always played sports and then had beer afterwards, but enjoying the fan atmosphere at any sporting event happens to be really, well, enjoyable. Even the ridiculous games in between innings and all of the crazy sound bites were awesome. I also picked a player to attach myself too. (And by attach I mean get all fangirl and gush over how cute he is and be really excited when he hits that homerun that I know he will.) His name is Mark Hamilton. : ) He is the first baseman.

If you don’t know who the Redbird’s are then let me tell you. They are the trip A (AAA) affiliate of the St. Louis Cardinals, which is the major league team I may actually become a fan of. They play in Autozone Park , which is gorgeous btw, right in the heart of Memphis.

I really like this team and expect me to become a hardcore Redbird’s fan in the following summer. The only thing I DIDN’T enjoy at the game was being frightened by the mascot, Rocky the Redbird, when he screamed “Hey!” at me. Kaitlyn thought it was hilaaarious though.

So Embarrassed…

candeecakes — Mon, 30 Aug 2010 03:43:49 +0000

So I had a blind date today. I had a really good time. Such a great time in fact that I texted our mutual friend “Wow Dabney he’s really cute! I actually really like him…” After I pressed “send” I realized I had sent it to HIM instead of Dabney.

I’m an idiot. And that was really embarrassing. But I figured Shayna, Mary, and Brit would get a kick out of knowing this.

On another note, even though we lost Saturday, I still love you.

I even threw in the duckface and deuces on there for you just because I love my team so much. Can we try to start winning now?

Single Life…

candeecakes — Thu, 26 Aug 2010 21:52:15 +0000

A month ago, maybe two, I don’t really remember- I went to my Aunt’s house and walked into the computer room only to discover her and another one of my family members looking up dating sites to put me on. If you knew my family, you would know that this is 100% true. Not only are they that crazy, but they are also THAT ready to marry me off.

Let me explain their mindset: I am a 24 yr old single undergrad who is threatening to move 9 + hours away next year. I kind of feel like this is a final effort to find me someone I will fall madly in love with so I will want to stay here.

December ’08 marked the end of a 4 1/2 year relationship. It was a pretty embarrassing breakup that my family still loves to talk about. I’m thinking that because I haven’t dated anyone seriously in the past year and a half, they are still in the “awww poor Candace, she must be so lonely” mode. Or they could just be tired of me dating multiple people at once without any of those relationships paning out into something solid. Either way, I am constantly bombarded with talks of blind dates and other people’s sons. It’s a weekly battle really. Just last week, my mother even posted on my cousin’s Facebook page “Oh , I forgot your cousin Candace needs a man in her life. Hook her up with one of those great Military Gents. Wealthy one please.LOL Just kiddin.Love ya Aunt Chestine” The thing is though, my mom really isn’t kidding!

My friends aren’t any help either. I am fairly happy being single but there are only 2 of us left in my wide range of friends. My 3 best friends that I hang out with every week are always ready to hook me up with someone. Naturally, I listen to what they say for a bit and then find something to pick out so I can politely say “Sorry I’m not interested.” Even my friend James started in on me last friday. Britt was trying once again to convince me to let her set me up and he chimes in “And what about your relationship Candace? You must be unhappy because you are still single.” Whooooooooa. Ouch. Why is it so taboo to be in the south and be single at my age? I am moving next year, why would I want to date someone I am just going to leave anyways? It’s really getting to the point to where I don’t even want to be around friends and family anymore because all they talk about is how depressingly single I am.

So back to the dating site. After being hounded for abt 30 minutes or more, I finally let my Aunt set me up on one, but I picked Fitness-Singles.com. Maybe I would meet someone with the same interests? I guess I am not really trying hard enough but to be completely honest, it’s not working. I’m embarrassed to be on a dating site. I’m even more embarrassed that my family feels like this is necessary.

Anyone out there want to pretend to be a long distance boyfriend? This may be the only way to end my torture…

A Golf Ball and Vasoline.

candeecakes — Fri, 20 Aug 2010 13:20:59 +0000

Ok so I haven’t been able to update, my Lappy is still messed up. Will be fixed this weekend.

This morning I did a test run. I am sooooo glad I went out and hit the pavement despite my ankle still bothering me. It was necessary! I have a mandatory race on Sunday (that’s right, if I don’t complete this 5 miler, I’ll be ejected from the series!) and this run let me know one major problem I am going to face: quite obviously, my ankle.

Right before I hit that mile mark, I noticed I was running funny. Like a little gangsta with his pants around his knees type of funny. I stopped running and noticed my ankle wrap was killing me! So I knew I had to stop and walked back to the car and as soon a I sit down, my ankle starts to feel like it’s on fire. The very bottom of my foot was where the worst pain was located. But I found a solution: A golf ball and vasoline. I slathered my foot in vaseline and set the golf ball on the floor so I could roll the bottom of my foot around on it. Turns out this is great for loosening up those muscles in the bottom of your foot.

My ankle feels a little better. I am about to prop it up right now and ice it down. Let’s hope on Sunday I can complete the entire 5 miles and not just the first one.

Just a little thing called an “Update.”

candeecakes — Sat, 31 Jul 2010 18:30:47 +0000

Ahhhh what’s been happenin’? Time for a Candeecakes Update!

Dating: Still single! (WOOHOO) Not long ago though I posted on Facebook that I was in a relationship so I could get a stalker (and my family) off of my back. Can I just say IT WORKED! Kinda… FB stalkers aren’t anything to play with. Commenting on every other photo of me, every single status update I post, and sending me 2-3 messages a day just ain’t cool man. So I made up a boyfriend. Which made the stalker less creepy. The comments slowed and I only received one message every other day. People asked me why I just didn’t delete him. Well, the answer to that question is: crazy stuff may happen and you may find my body in a ditch somewhere. Seriously. I considered this numerous times. And I finally deleted him last weekend. Of course he friend requested me, which is still sitting there, and sent me a few messages about “Are you mad at me? Did I do something to offend you?” I actually felt bad and considered responding but I fought that urge. Then I wake up this morning and guess what is in my inbox? A message saying : “Are you running this morning? If so good luck!” Ok. Creepy. Do you really think about me that much?

My cousin snitched on me and let my family know that I actually don’t have a boyfriend which started them in on me briefly

”What’s wrong with that guy in Chicago? ” (He’s not interested Mom.)

“Why don’t you join a dating site?” (I’m only 23 here…)

“I know this really hot guy, he’s 40 but he’s very attractive.” (Uhhhh really? No thank you.)

And my friends of course:

”Hey I know a guy that speaks German and likes soccer.”

“I’m good. No thanks.”

”His mom can make spaetzle.”

“What did you say his name was again?”

So still single and still reminded of it constantly. That’s quite ok with me though. Babies and marriage give me hives.

Soccer: Wow Man U and the All Stars played on Wednesday. It was a joke. Seriously ridiculous. I watched it , of course, and was mortified when Macheda scored in under 30 thirty seconds. The final score was 5-2, with ManU making our Allstars look like middleschoolers. Is an All-Star game even necessary at this point? We are in the middle of our season and it’s the beginning of CONCACAF so teams can’t really afford to let their players go play some silly little All-Star game.

Weight Loss: Somehow I gained 3lbs over night. I don’t understand how this happened. Muscle mass? I think not.

Training: Kickball season ended Saturday and we came in 2nd during out playoffs. I had a blast except I slide/fell into first base twice and skinned my right knee up to hell and rolled my ankle so hard that I thought I wasn’t going to get to run the next morning in the second race of Road Race Series. I ended up running anyways, even though it was seriously painful, and I finished in 40 mins, which I am ok with. Kickboxing kicked my butt yesterday and I my abs are killing me. That’s really all I have done this week and shame on me for not doing more.

Top Ten Reasons to watch soccer in America

candeecakes — Sun, 25 Jul 2010 14:43:13 +0000

Ok. I am seriously tired of going into watching a game or reading about some new DP coming to MLS and not having anyone to talk about it with. Sometimes I try and then I remember “oh yeah, I must be the only person in the ENTIRE CITY OF MEMPHIS that actually watches/ reads about MLS.” So here are the top ten reasons you should start watching or paying attention to soccer in America (Not in any specific order, bc no reason is more equal-er than another reason right?)

10. The kits (unifroms/jerseys) are waaaay cooler than they are in any other sport. I’m going to get all girly here and just say it. Guys look really really ridiculously good looking in soccer uniforms. Am I the only one who thinks this? I doubt it.

Last week my five-year-old little sister asked me why I watched soccer so much. It was kind of a random question, but if there is a MLS game on the tele, I’m going to watch it. I told her it’s because I thought the game was absolutly beautiful. And then I commented that the guys are hot too. Her response “oooh sissy you just want a soccer boyfriend!” Hell yeah kid, you’re damn right I want a soccer boyfriend! Which brings me to number nine…

9. Seriously hot players. I would LOVE to say players like Bocanegra and Feilhaber should be one reason, but seeing as they don’t play for MLS anymore I had to dig deep and find some less known players. So here are 5 not-so-well-known American soccer players.

Chris Tierney – Defender for New England Revolution.
Brad Evans – Midfielder for Seattle Sounders FC.
Logan Pause – #7 Midfielder of Chicago Fire. Of course I had to put one of my Fire boys on here.
Colin Clark – Left Winger for Colorado Rapids. Mmmmm….
Bill (Abdul) Hamid – Goal keeper for DC United. From what I have seen/read/heard, he could be the “next” Tim Howard. Pssh… as the self proclaimed worst soccer fan in the world… I really have no clue.

A couple more names worth mentioning: Andy Najar (he’s only 17 though, so I don’t feel right drooling over him.) and Stu Holden (no longer plays for MLS,but I still dream about him every night.)

8. What other sport is going to require a man to endure 90 minutes of non stop action? Can your man go the full 90? Seriously, these guys run around a field for 90 full minutes (sometimes) chasing a ball. It’s great. Have you EVER seen a soccer player with his shirt off. WOW. Amazing. These aren’t guys that are roided out or freaks of nature like Basketball, Baseball, and Football players. They are usually average height and have some amazingly yummy looking abs.

7. The foot work. These guys are phenomenal with their feet. I wonder what they can do with their hands? It’s like a little dance out there. It’s just… beautiful. There is really no other way to describe it. It’s like the riverdance of sports?

6. The fans. They are just great. So supportive. Guy soccer fans tend to play soccer too, which means you are less likely to encounter a fat redneck at a game hitting on you. If you get hit on, more than likely it’s gonna some from a spry lean guy, or maybe a mexican. But hey, he’s probably gonna be hot either way. Unfortunatly I always feel like I have to dumb myself down for guy soccer fans. “What? Who is Charlie Davies?” Stanky leg? What?! ”Offsides? What’s that?” I noticed guys are a little threatened by real soccer knowledge coming from a girl… and watch out for the EPL fans… Oh sorry. I meant the Premier League. (I’m an American and therefore I have a love of abbreviations.)

5. Because if you are going to watch soccer and you are an American, why not just watch MLS too? Ok yeah I follow Bundesliga and I try to pay attention to what Americans are doing in other countries, but watching games here just seems more patriotic. Sure Sure, have your favorite Footy Club in the UK, but can’t you at least pick an MLS FC as well to follow? I promise you these American soccer players aren’t as bad as people act like they are…

4. The game is beautiful. It’s not like any other sport where it really doesn’t matter until the final quarter. The whole game matters here because that one point may be the ONLY goal of the entire freaking game. And it’s so much more satisfying to watch a soccer game where the score is 1-0 or 2-1 because the buildup is intense.

3. It’s only 90 minutes. It’s not going to take 5 hours like some other lame sport like…. baseball for instance. Ever watch a soccer game? You have to seriously stayed glued to the game because you may miss something important if you don’t. My advice to you: if you go to a live game, try not to use the restroom until AFTER one of the teams score. When I went to my first Chicago Fire game, I waited and waited and then finally ran up the stairs to go potty, and guess what I hear when I am washing my hands? “GOAAAAAAAAAL!” Crap… I missed ChiFire’s first goal at my first ever MLS game! After that I drank myself into oblivion…

2. It’s an INTERNATIONAL SPORT. As in most of the world plays it. So you can take your fandom anywhere in the world (almost) and people are going to understand where you are coming from because more than likely, they are just as crazy about this sport as you are. Please don’t mention Becks to me though, he kind of irritates me.

1. I’ll buy you a beer. If you watch a game with me, I’ll buy you a beer. Maybe two. Who doesn’t want free beer?

Finally!

candeecakes — Wed, 21 Jul 2010 14:02:24 +0000

Ok so I have ran a few times over the week, but each time I have struggled the ENTIRE time during the first mile, and every time I have stopped before the first mile mark! But I finally just didnt struggle today – it was great. I actually made it the whole 1.5 miles before stopping.

Only 1.5 miles you say? Weeeell, my ankle is still messed up from that drunken trip in Chicago (a daily reminder as to why I have stopped drinking) and I also have to work a double today. I need to be on my A-game at work so I can make lots of moolah for that move to Chicago right?! RIGHT!

Final thoughts… on the World Cup Final

candeecakes — Sun, 11 Jul 2010 18:44:20 +0000

This has been an amazing month. I have completely immersed myself in soccer and I have loved every moment. All of the good (LD’s goal on Algeria), and the bad (Mueller getting yellowcarded in the Argentina game and missing the semi-final, which in turn I feel lost Germany their world cup.) I have become obsessed with soccer again – something I haven’t done since I was 15. And now that the WC is coming to a close (I’m watching it right now, it’s the 7th minute of the game) I actually feel like crying. Because in 4 years I’ll be in a different city and I’ll be 27 years of age. Which is fine but oddly enough that thought makes me want to push back having kids another year because I feel like they may get in the way of my WC month of soccer!

Is it strange that I have started to love this sport so much that I kind of noticed I plan everything around it. The WC will be in Brazil in 2014 and I’m already saving money so I can see games in different countries (you know, the games in which the countries have to qualify.) I also would LOOOOVE to be in Brazil to actually watch a game, in fact that’s going to be on my bucket list. And it looks like I’m going to be eating ramen for the next for years in order to make that happen.

Soccer: I absolutely love it. The ball. The uniform. The vuvuzuelas! And most of all the atmosphere. I even have a soccer scarf obsession now. Seriously. I love soccer so much that I don’t even want to date a guy if he can’t share my passion of this sport. People are always trying to set me up and now my first question happens to be :”Does he watch and/or play soccer?” and if the answer is no, then my answer is “no, thank you.”