Toad Suck Dazed and Confused

This weekend I went to a recruiting event for my University in Conway, Arkansas: a.k.a. Toad Suck. Yup. Toad Suck.

I am still recovering from my trip on many levels.

First, I was pleasantly surprised by a number of the students who auditioned. Of course there is talent everywhere, but I frankly wasn't expecting to call back quite so many students in a place known as Toad Suck. What would YOU have expected?

Secondly, I was impressed by Mike's Place, the restaurant where Dr. Bob and I ate dinner on Friday night. The trip down took us through some very poor, very rural areas and to be perfectly honest it was depressing me. I honestly wondered, even in a college town, if our choices were going to be Huddle House (remember THAT story faithful readers?) or Pizza Hut. However, Conway has gone through a little revitalization and the downtown area is becoming a new destination for the inhabitants of that little hamlet. Mike's Place is clearly THE SPOT because even in that town we waited for nearly an hour to eat. Fortunately, there were a couple spots at the bar so Dr. Bob and I enjoyed a libation and chatted. I enjoyed the ambiance and was also surprised by the number of what appeared to be 30 somethings there who had all their teeth also enjoying a drink or two. Dr. Bob and I were eventually seated and we both enjoyed a fine meal.

However, our accommodations were not quite as nice. Now, we stayed at a Best Western, so it was clean and all, but around 3 AM was when the red-necks in raised trucks decided to return from wherever THEY had been partaking and proceeded to yell at each other for a good 15 minutes right outside my door. I scared them away by opening my curtains (I'm sure I look damn scary at 3 AM) so I was relieved I didn't have to call the front desk. Not that they would have done anything, if their "service" the next morning was any indication.

Dr. Bob had spent some time down in Conway in his early career and so he went to visit a couple of friends early Saturday morning. I got up, and since there was no fitness room (I KNOW!), I just went to breakfast. We had been promised it was quite a spread the night before, but don't believe everything you hear. When I arrived, all I could rummage up was a bagel and an orange. I shouldn't complain, but I really wanted some protein, as I anticipated a long day ahead of me. There wasn't even any coffee!!! Well, when the front desk staff was approached, she seemed a little put out that she had to make more coffee . . . and when we asked if there were any more eggs, she said she'd check. About 15 minutes later the coffee appeared, but there was no answer on the eggs. She was asked AGAIN and about another 15 minutes later she said there would be no more eggs. Really? I waited 30 minutes for nothing? SIGH.

Now, I was incredibly disappointed by the lack of a fitness room because I was supposed to get in my 5 miles on Saturday. I accepted the fact that it would have to wait until Sunday . . . but I was pretty grumpy about it. Especially since Saturday was indeed a really long day and my bagel and orange had to sustain me for 8 hours or so.

I did get out Sunday morning with Stella and all was going well until we were just beyond the 4 mile mark. Then my drill sergeant grew weary and began to protest the extra mile. Seriously, she pretty much stopped and refused to run another step. It was all I could do to get her to walk the final bit back to the house. SIGH. So I didn't make my full mileage.

That also meant running this morning wouldn't happen so my whole schedule is screwed up. I'm going to try to run tomorrow morning, but it will mean a two workout day with my P90X class. I'll let you know how THAT goes. And my running schedule won't improve for a few weeks. I have on-campus auditions this weekend, next weekend I'm in KC for another recruitment even and then I'll be in Colorado for several days. I'm excited to ski, but I'm not sure how much running I'll get in (I'm bringing my shoes damn it).

So I'm a bit Dazed and Confused in regards to my running schedule. Still, I suppose being able to say I made it to Toad Suck is worth it.