When I was 16 I managed to break my big toe. How did I do this? Playing any of the 1,000 sports I played? Doing something cool? Nope. I invited a few people to my house, including my boyfriend at the time. We were hanging out in my room, and said boyfriend decided to look through my stuff. Not in a nosy “I don’t trust you” kind of way, more like a “let’s see if you have anything cool” kind of way. Somewhere during that process he came across my 4th grade school picture, which featured a pre-pubescent Caro, the one with horrendous glasses (clear, plastic/metal frames that apparently had gold and pink music notes in them) and braces. To say it was an awkward stage for me is really putting it nicely. He decided to keep this picture, which is clearly unacceptable, so I chased him as he ran out of my room.

On my way out I tripped over the carpet and broke my big toe. Despite never having broken a bone before I knew immediately it was broken. Apparently you need your big toe to walk. Who knew? It was a ridiculous injury that sidelined me for quite a while. Do you know how embarrassing it was to be on crutches and when people asked what happened I had to say, “No I didn’t break my foot. I tripped over the carpet and broke my toe.” FML.

Fast forward to yesterday at softball practice. We were taking turns batting so everyone could hit and practice their fielding position. The first batter hit a low fly/line drive short of me. I ran in to catch it, but the ball missed the pocket of my glove. Instead it hit the outside part, where my littler fingers are. Man did it sting!! I figured this was just a little thing that would go away and shook it off. I made it through my own turn batting (which really sucked for my finger) and then fielding again for the rest of the batters. By the end of practice I was alarmed my finger 1. hurt really bad 2. was swelling up and 3. was kind turning purple. I also couldn’t bend it.

Within 2 hours of getting home I knew it was definitely broken. Got some X-rays this morning….yep. I have a chip fracture in my knuckle. Basically a piece of bone has chipped off. Awesome. My softball season has so far consisted of 2 games and 1 practice, and I’m out for the next month.

So now in my life I’ve broken my big toe and my pinky finger. Can’t I just break my arm like a normal person?

It has recently come to my attention that 3 of my 6 bridesmaids are running half marathons this spring/summer. It seems they all train pretty regularly, all with the end goal of running, nonstop, for 2 consecutive hours. To me this sounds like HELL. But it’s pretty inspiring. I’m not able to run because of my foot/leg, but I can do something, right? Tonight? Yeah I’ll go to the gym. I won’t skip spin class tomorrow, and I’ll even go to my body sculpting class on Friday. Yep, this is the class with the weird ass lady that tells us to feel like we are birds. I’ll even do that too.

I’m also going to take the plunge next month and sign up for a swim class. I might not be physically able to run right now, but my lack of swim skills shouldn’t be a deterrent. I CAN swim. I’m just not good at it. So if three of my close friends are challenging themselves to run 13.1 miles, I’ll challenge myself to make it from one end of the pool and back again. Maybe even there and back a couples of times

Wish me luck!

Anymore = indefinitely.

I went to the foot doctor yesterday. Apparently my feet are “not anatomically designed for running”. What does that even mean? I have feet. They work (sort of). One in front of the other!

But apparently running is a problem. Something about everything in there being defective in some way, causing pressure in all the wrong places but especially on my nerve. So to avoid further nerve damage, I can’t run for the foreseeable future.

I like running though. And I certainly don’t like being told that I can’t do something. This might be a tough one for me. But I guess now is as good of a time as any to learn how to swim better. Or take my bike out. Pretty much anything that will give me exercise without another cortisone injection.

Anyone looking for a great starter program, this is for you.

Anyone looking to kick my ass into shape, monitor my progress and let me have it if I’m slacking!!

Over the past few months I was blessed to have a friend who felt the same way. Coincidentally, he lives a mile away from me. So a couple of times a week we go get pumped at the gym. It’s awesome. Sometimes you just need that little bit of motivation (a person coming over) to get you started. And I know once I’m started, it’s all good. Get me TO the gym and I will workout.

But then summer came. My gym buddy works for a school, so his lucky ass gets summers off. So he surfs all the time, and doesn’t have the time or desire to come to my janky apartment gym.

What have I been doing since summer vacay started? Well, lots of things. But sadly, not one of them has been “gym time”.

Then I saw some tweets from @itsKrust about C25K. What is that? So I google it, and it’s pretty awesome.

Basically it’s a running program designed for the person who is 100% completely out of shape and is literally starting at 0. Hence the name “Couch to 5K”

3 workouts per week for 9 weeks and you’ll be off your couch running about a 10min mile pace for 30 minutes. This is my cup of tea. I did the week 1 workout 1 yesterday and found it quite easy. So I mixed it up a bit. Added a 1.5 incline and sped up the walking portions. Also ran the last 5 min. Not too bad. I think I’ll skip ahead to week 2 next time.

The only potential setback I might have is that my current workout schedule is 2 days a week. This means I’m going to have to actually get off my couch on Saturday or Sunday to do the 3rd one each week. J said he would do it with me on Saturday. For him, this really is couch to 5K.

Wish us luck!!

I would like to thank you for tainting the 2010 World Cup. Because of your regulations, I have found myself yelling at my television set like a maniac. This is doing nothing for my stress level or my blood pressure. I know I’m not alone; your decisions have impacted teams from most continents.

What am I talking about? Goal-line technology. Or rather, a serious lack thereof. Any kind of replay would be useful really. But because you choose to remain in the stone age, we are left with referees having to rely on what they think they may have seen. And honestly, it’s just not working.

I’m not even writing as an angry American fan. Yes, you fucked over my team. Twice. TWO TIMES. Group play game 2: I’m still not sure what that penalty was. Offsides? A foul? You tell me. Then in game 3: Dempsey was perfectly even (or even a little back) with the last defender. That’s a goal.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ir8RPnLXmyU&feature=fvst[/youtube]

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OXXHXwzMRE8[/youtube]

But again, I’m not trying to be an angry American. Let’s look at some of the other muffed calls:

• Italy vs. New Zealand: Smeltz is clearly offsides. No goal. No tie. NZ shouldn’t have gotten that point. Sorry Kiwis!

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ADZn0GB-674[/youtube]

• England vs. Germany: I’m sorry, but that ball was at least a full foot over the line. There is NO question that was a goal. When your tying goal is disallowed that really changes the mentality you have in the game. It’s just not OK. You tell me – how did this not count?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S9brBl8Wzfc&hd=1

• Mexico vs. Argentina: Mexico got FUCKED. This was clearly offsides. From here they self-destructed. I would like to at least dream that the game would have been much closer were it not for this terrible call by the referee AND line judge.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sJ0nNsZ53aI&hd=1[/youtube]

So there you have it. 5 solid examples of game-changing, even tournament-changing calls that would have easily been correct if replay technology were allowed. As a true fan of soccer, I urge you to maintain the sanctity of the game by allowing such technology onto the pitch. The status-quo just isn’t cutting it anymore.

Sincerely,

Caro

WORLD CUP SOCCER

As if I don’t get up early enough (anything before noon is “early” as far as I’m concerned), I’ve been waking up for the 7am games almost every other day. Yes, I have a TiVo. But some games, like the US third round game for example, you just HAVE to watch live. And for the other games that I do record? Yeah I watch those starting around 7pm. After I’m done with 2 games, I promptly go to bed and repeat in the morning. Whew!

But this will all end soon. With the third game for each team underway, games are coming hard and fast (That’s what she said). Seriously, 2 games at once, twice a day. Yeah, I’m taking in 4 games daily – but I’m doing it in under 4 hours. SWEET!

And starting Saturday we’re moving into thrilling single-elimination matches. With no ties. Over time. Even maybe shoot outs. It’s going to be suspenseful and exciting, and I CAN’T WAIT!!

I had the distinct pleasure of watching the Mexico-France game LIVE online courtesy of espn.com. I didn’t think my computer could handle it, but I decided to give it a shot. While it wasn’t 52″ HD quality, it worked.

And Mexico WON!!

I’m really pretty happy about this. And France lost, which is an added bonus! It was also the first 2010 game I’ve been able to watch that involved a penalty kick. As a former goalie, these are particularly fascinating. Guessing which way to dive was NEVER a strong point of mine, and I love seeing how many times keepers are actually able to do it correctly.

Anyway, it was a lively game and a good one to watch, if you’re still interested. Either way, I highly recommend watching games live online. There’s an option to have it subtitled too!

Happy world cup-ing!

Then you look at the Mascots for the 2012 Olympics in London.

What in the world is going on here? It’s like Gumby had a threesome with Rainbow Brite and Leela from Futurama.