The mystery of the dead honeybee and other things

I've been living in this apartment since July 2011, and periodically I will find a single dead (or occasionally living) honeybee near the window. It continues to baffle me how they get in. I've been sitting on the couch reading and suddenly become aware of buzzing against the window...it's like they appear out of mid-air, one at a time. Is it possible that a bee would make the long, dark journey down my chimney only to become trapped and then ripped apart by the tornado-force winds of my Dyson? Tragic...

Half-marathon training is going well, although it's definitely cutting into my free time (mostly because I'm so slow). I ran with a woman from my gym last weekend, which was great because she's faster than  me and we talked as we ran. So I went ahead and considered that my speedwork for the week...because I still don't know what that means. 9 miles total last week, shooting for 10 this week.

Concurrently with race training, I'm participating in a Paleo leaning challenge at the gym, with the opportunity to win a significant amount of money. Everyone pays $30 to enter the challenge, then they take a 'before' picture (guys in shorts, gals in shorts + a sports bra) from the front, side, and back. We email in a food log each week for seven weeks and try to stick to the Paleo diet. Then at the end they take an 'after' picture and the trainers vote on who leaned out/lost the most fat. I'm very much appreciating how having to account for everything I eat helps me not to cheat or eat for the wrong reason, and how motivating $1000 winnings can be. The first week was hard but good, and I enjoyed the glowing skin and feeling like a rockstar at the gym that go along with cutting out sugar. The second week I was feeling pretty wiped out at work each day, with a perpetual mental fog, and one night kept waking up every 90 minutes. So (after talking to my mom who voiced some concern) I added up what I was eating each day, and realized I needed to take in about 500 more calories. Oops, thanks Mom.

I recently got my renewed passport in the mail, and I suddenly feel like the world is waiting for me :)  It's deliciously exciting.

Speaking of delicious, I ordered some of these Tanka bars from Amazon. Anyone looking for a tasty, meaty, low-carb, grass-fed buffalo treat, look no further. Seriously.