Tar Heel Born & Bred

As you all (should) know by now, my beloved Tar Heels devoured the Michigan State Spartans last night 89 to 72 to capture the NCAA Men's Basketball Championship. Although it wasn't much of a game (which, I'm not complaining about) it was still fun for me to watch. After the final buzzer sounded and we were named the Champs, I felt like tearing out of my apartment and running crazily into the streets.

Of course, then I realized that I wasn't in Chapel Hill anymore.

Last time we won the title was my sophomore year at UNC back in 2005. I did some digging this morning and although my then laptop is dead and gone, I found some pics from that memorable night.

For your viewing pleasure, I bring to you Franklin Street in downtown Chapel Hill, NC - Tarheel Country - after UNC won the national championship in 2005. The faces were different, but the story is always the same. My heart was there last night!

It's tradition! Burn whatever is available and JUMP OVER IT

"Hey Dukies - UNC #1" (If you can't read that)















Showing off for the local news















Taaaarrr................HEEEELS!















The crowd and makeshift trophies (check out the photo gallery below from this year to #16, , I found the SAME trophy!!)















The headline says it all!




















My poor white pants after a night out in all that! They never recovered.

And here is a scene from Chapel Hill last night, where no doubt, some of my best friends took part in the mayhem without me.

Photo credited to Shawn Rocco of the News and Observer

Check out more photos from last night on the Raleigh News and Observer's photo gallery. Especially look at #16. Does that trophy look familiar??

From the News and Observer: Ten people were taken to UNC Hospital and 16 others were injured during the street celebration of North Carolina's victory, Chapel Hill authorities said today.

About 30,000 joined in the party jamming Franklin and other downtown streets, authorities said.

Altogether, Orange County Emergency Medical Services treated 26 people for minor lacerations, alcohol emergencies, burns and respiratory difficulties. The conditions of those taken to the hospital were not provided.

Sounds like my kind of Tarheel celebration.

“That was sensational, a good start and a good ending,’’ said an excited Dean Smith, who watched the national championship game on television from his home in Chapel Hill.

HARK THE SOUND

by William Starr Myers, class of 1897

Hark the sound of Tar Heel voices
Ringing clear and True
Singing Carolina's praises
Shouting N.C.U.

Hail to the brightest Star of all
Clear its radiance shine
Carolina priceless gem,
Receive all praises thine.

I'm a Tar Heel born I'm a Tar Heel bred
And when I die I'm a Tar Heel dead.
So it's RAH, RAH, Car'lina 'lina
RAH, RAH, Car'lina 'lina
RAH, RAH, Car'lina
GO TO HELL DUKE!
(or in this case, Michigan State :)

Weekend Roundup: Slooowww 4 Miler and Lazy 8 Miler

We had a great time this weekend visiting some of my best girl friends up in NC. One was turning the big 3-0, and the other came down from Washington, DC to celebrate with us. It was the first time that all three of us had been together with our boyfriends in tow (both friends have relatively new boyfriends, and not everyone had met) and I think I enjoyed it more than anyone, because for once, my boyfriend of almost three years wasn't the only guy tagging along. :)

Saturday morning, my running buddy and I (the birthday girl) got up around 9 AM (a bit later than we had hoped...) to tread out on a quick run. I know I said I wanted to talk her into running 8, but neither of us could stand more than about 4 in our current conditions. We spent Friday night out at our old stomping ground, Chapel Hill, where we probably drank too much and ate too much late night veggie nachos at the institution that is Cosmic Cantina on the famed Franklin Street.

So we set out to do an out-and-back 5 and at about mile 2 I was checking the Garmin to say, "It's cool with me if we turn around now..." So that was the end of that, but at least we got a short run in during a busy weekend. (I won't mention how long it took us to run 4, we weren't in top form.) We then proceeded to make blueberry pancakes and bacon for everyone (and banana buckwheat pancakes and turkey bacon for us health nuts) which ended up leaving the house in a burnt-bacon smoky fog and us in a comatose state on the couch for the rest of the afternoon, which I cannot say I minded.

Our big night out was Saturday, which the birthday girl had us scheduled for an early dinner at a new Lebanese restauraunt in town, Sitti, and then a night out at the rooftop lounge of the new bar Solas in the Glenwood district of downtown Raleigh. We had a great time catching up and spending time with the friends who mean the most to us. It was good for me especially, because since moving to Charleston I miss having girls around who really know me inside and out.

Sunday morning we dragged ourselves out of bed (or off of our air mattresses in the living room floor that we were sharing with Birthday Girl's deaf white cat, Pharoah) and got ready to say our goodbyes. The DC folks were heading to the train station and we were looking forward to a greasy Sunday morning feast of Bojangle's before our almost five hour drive down south. Anyone who has ever tasted the greatness that is Bojangle's, knows that it is definitley the best hang over food imaginable, and we definitely feasted on it, and with great pleasure. It was for that reason (and possibly the Andnolini's we picked up when we rolled back into Chucktown...oops, blame that one on the bf) that I missed my weekend long run on Sunday (scheduled for 8 miles) and felt like such sluggish crap Monday morning.

So last night after work, although I was tired and cranky and came home to a severely dirty apartment, I persuaded myself to go out running, and I was hoping I could crank out an easy 8 miler so I wouldn't feel like I was already failing (a measly two weeks in) on my marathon training plan. I am one of those people who likes to do everything in order if I have a set plan, I don't like to switch things around, or miss a day here or there, because I feel like once I start to do that, everything else will just fall out of place (like they did last time I tried training for 26.2). I told myself that if I started out and I just felt off, that I would chop it to a 4.5 mile run, and run a bit more Tuesday night.

But it turns out that the 8 miles felt fine, and I finished in a relatively good time of 1:20:44, with my fastest mile being mile 8 which came in at a 9:44 pace. Not too bad for being a late in the day run after a weekend of gluttony and laziness. I think my only saving grace was that I drank almost a gallon of water yesterday. Woo hoo hydration!

Tonight's run is scheduled for 2 miles GP, 2 miles T, and 2 miles GP. I might either take tonight off to get some work done, or just go on a short 3 mile tempo run, depending on how much time I have. All in all, I feel like I am getting back into a good running rhythm, and I still feel like I have the motivation to get this done.

Yesterday my grandmother asked me, "Are you sure you want to do this?!" (in reference to said marathon) and I replied, "No! But I want to accomplish it." I hope I can prove myself right after a few more months of this...