I’m not sure if this is just because I live in Pennsylvania and have many Penn State fans/alum/football fans as facebook friends, but I think it’s safe to say that the recent Penn State/Paterno/Sandusky scandal might be one of the most controversial issues on facebook to date. I have very strong opinions on just about everything, however I don’t usually use the ‘book to express them. But with all this news feed activity and controversy about moral, legal, and ethical obligations I am finding unusually hard not to throw my two cents in on this issue. Luckily, I have been able to steer clear of this largely uniformed and temperamental brouhaha of a debate by practicing self government. I have guidelines for ways in which I will or will not conduct myself in social settings, and the inter web platform of networking is no exception.

I have a few rules about what I will not post or comment about. First, I do not facebook about sports. Anyone who knows me can attest to the fact that I do not know or wish to learn anything about professional sports. I am perfectly content being ignorant about them and focusing my attention on more important things in my life, like hair bows and designer purses. While the real issue here is not football it is still too close to the sports realm for me to compromise this rule. Second, I do not involve myself in serious social networking debates. It’s a rule I made after the great Chelsea Handler debate of 2010 with Teddy. Let’s be honest, people don’t really care about your opinion if it’s in opposition to theirs anyway.

I think it’s great that people are expressing themselves and everyone loves to read a heated ‘book debate, but damn ya’ll. This issue is just blowin’ up my news feed. Am I the only one who is ready to log in and find out what traffic is like on (fill in most annoying highway of the area in which you currently reside) or see who is feeling emo today based on a self loathing emotional song quote?

Cori Stories

Remember that time I created a blog about turning 25 and running a half marathon and then never wrote about turning 25 or running the half marathon? Yea, it’s been so long that I almost forgot, too.

Well, good news for those of you who have been hanging on the edge of your seats for the last six months. I finished my first half marathon and turned 25 without having a mental breakdown.

The marathon went much better than I expected it to go. Despite the fact that I hated every second of it and that it seemed to never end I finished in a time way faster than I anticipated. I immediately told my sister Lauren and friend Jackie that it was horrible and I never wanted to do something so ridiculous again. A few months later I forgot how terrible it was and running another one started to seem like a novel idea. So I signed up for the Baltimore half (details of which will come at a later time).

And much to my surprise, turning 25 came and went quite uneventfully. I celebrated by going to my place of summer employment and from what I remember it was a great time. From what I’m told it was better than that. It’s great to walk into work the day after and be informed of two falls (give me a break- I was wearing super hot platform stilettos in a place made up mostly of sand) and a hat that you acquired and left wearing (of which I found no evidence).

Since I am now 25, I was compelled to change the name of my blog from “Going on 25″ to something a little more relevant. When I couldn’t think of any relevant I resorted to something that rhymed because rhyming is easy and people like rhymes. I am not really sure what I will write about because I am currently living back in Reading, PA for the winter and, well, I don’t think I have to explain my lack of content any further. This is going to be a long winter.

It’s Tomorrow Already?

So tomorrow is the big race day. The culmination of 3 months of doing more physical activity than I have ever done in all my years combined. For the most part I feel pretty prepared and confident that I will make it out alive. However, there are a few things that might make this a little difficult:

1. I didn’t completely finish my training schedule. My schedule was set so that I would make it up to running 12 miles before the race. The problem is I only ever made it to 10. I seemed to find excuses (one day it was too rainy, one day it was too sunny, etc) that stopped me from going for 11 and 12. But I figure, if I can make it to 10, what’s another 3.1? It makes sense in my head anyway.

2. The race starts at 7 AM. I did not realize when I agreed to this that I would have to be up at such a hateful time of the day. I’m not sure it’s possible for me to do anything before 7 AM, let alone run 13.1 miles. Thank god for double shot espresso and energy gels.

3. I have sunburn in not so fun places. I wanted to go to a tanning bed to even out the farmer’s tan I have from running outside. Unfortunately, I did not take into account how white my ass was when I decided how long I wanted to tan for. I’m hoping some pre-race aloe will save my life on this one.

I would ask you all to cross your fingers for me while I’m running, but I wouldn’t ask that anyone be doing anything at such a ridiculous hour on a Saturday morning.

Way Off the Wagon

Bad news people. For significant period of time I fell off the wagon with my training and blogging.

I know why this happened, and I am actually quite surprised it didn’t happen sooner. You see, I suffer from a condition my friends and I like to call “FOMO.” FOMO is an acronym for Fear Of Missing Out. So when I get a call from my friends saying “Hey we are going for drinks!” I find it very hard to say “No, I really shouldn’t drink tonight, I have to get up early to run.” I was doing well with managing my love for socializing and Bacardi and diets, but after a day(drinking) trip to Baltimore last Sunday I lost my balance. I tried getting to the gym for my morning runs, but there is nothing fun about running 6 miles with a pounding headache while scoping out the nearest trashcan in case of a need to puke.

The good news is I am back on track this week and being smarter about my social life. AKA – I am only meeting friends for drinks on the nights I don’t have long runs the next morning. Don’t worry about my sanity people, it still leaves me with 3 nights a week to give in to my FOMO tendancies.

White People Like Marathons

DISCLAIMER: Please do not read this post unless you have a sense of humor and, more importantly, understand the term “satire.”

About a year and a half ago I stumbled upon Christian Lander’s blog “Stuff White People Like.”  The blog is a numbered list of things that Lander’s claims are collective “likes” in white culture. I immediately fell in love with it’s sarcasm and irony on selected observations about white culture.  I could identify with many of the alleged mainstream white likes, for example – 80′s night(Put “Thriller” on at your next party. Count how many people immediately mimic the zombie walk from the video), having gay friends(A girl’s best accessory – they make you look good and won’t try to sleep with you), hating people who wear Ed Hardy(I don’t think this needs an explanation).

While I was entertained at how much white stuff I liked, there were a few things on the list I had absolutely NO interest in – Asian girls, the idea of Soccer, and MARATHONS. However, what I have come to realize is that Lander’s theories on white culture are evolutionary to a white being. Younger white me had no interest in proving to myself or anyone else that I was physically capable of running a half-marathon. Older, more mature white me is now on a mission to complete one.

Here are a few quotes from Lander’s post on Marathons:

“To a white person, the absolute pinnacle of fitness is to run a marathon. Not to win, just to run. White people will train for months, telling everyone who will listen about how they get up early in the morning, how they run when it rains, how it makes them feel so great and gives them energy. If you find yourself in a situation where a white person is talking about a marathon, you must be impressed or you will lose favor with them immediately. Running for a certain length of time on a special day is a very important thing for a white person and should not be demeaned.”

If you view Lander’s ideals as comedic incites on white culture, then it will not surprise you that I was able to recruit two other white people to join my plight. It will also not surprise you that when I told my friend Dru about the three of us training for a marathon his response was “let’s set the over/under on the success of this at one week. I’ll take the way under.” If you are confused at Dru’s lack of enthusiasm about the marathon, let me now tell you that Dru is not white. It should make more sense.

(Note – while I am evolving to like some things on this list, I don’t think I will ever evolve into liking Soccer. Or Asian girls.)