A Little Behind
February 19th, 2010 § 15 Comments
You know how right before someone goes on stage to perform, it’s protocol – and good luck – to tell them to “Break A Leg”?
Maybe someone should have told me to kick some ass right before I went to yoga Wednesday. There I was, making the most of my day off, getting some cross-training in as part of my half-marathon plan. I was flowing through all the animals – downward facing dogs, pigeon, crow – and feeling pretty darn cleansed (literally seeing that I practice in 95 degree heat). I gathered up my mat and Namaste-d it out of there on my way to the next thing I had planned.
Now remember all that nasty weather we’ve been having – oh all over the East Coast? Well it makes for some slippery surfaces. I wish I had a much more ordinary story to tell, like that I fell outside on a sidewalk or something that would, you know, make sense given the current conditions. However, if you haven’t figured it out yet – Twenty-Fifth Year is no normal girl.
As I made my way down the indoor set of steps leading from studio to sidewalk, some patch of water (because it’s inside here, people) and my shoe decided they didn’t want to have the .01 seconds of contact normally allotted. Oh no. They just needed a little bit longer (the “Just One More” syndrome proven!) Then the steps decided they also wanted to spend some QT with my ass. And when I say “steps” I don’t just mean one or two. I mean eight. Thud, thud, thud, thud, thud, thud, thud, thud.
I, of course, was showered with a chorus of “Are You OK?” and “Are You Sure?” Which made me want to immediately high tail it out of there with what I thought was a broken tail bone.
Did I go to the ER? Did I get an X-ray? No. I went to the movies. I bought myself a box of Buncha Crunch and did what I had sought out to do on my dang day off.
The pain worsened. I still remained stubborn. I made friends with my heating pad and groaned like a granny. I started Googling walker models (after much debate I decided I wanted one that you can flip around and sit on the little built-in seat. Probably red.)
Today I went and got it checked out. The good news is I am fine and I can run, I just have to go easy on it for a bit. The bad news is that I had to pay $55 and wear my pants around my ankles (with shoes still on) to receive the verdict that my ass is, in fact, not broken.
Booyah!
The Salad Dressing Theory
February 17th, 2010 § 13 Comments
Well here we are, half-way through the week and homegirl has yet to make an official appearance on The Twenty-Fifth Year. Imagine me taking a huge *sigh* right now. I know, and I tend to beat myself up over the close/long-distance relationship I have with my blog. You see, I have worked quite a stretch without a day off due to weather and the like. Today is the first time I am not driving to work in 10 days. I am by no means complaining, I count my blessings every day I have a job I enjoy and that affords my lifestyle. However, as you can imagine, I am slightly exhausted.
I have a lot planned for today – the first of two days off in a row- including hot yoga at my favorite fab studio. I am using today as my “cross-train” day on my half marathon training plan that I have so graciously stolen from the lovely Morgan (who will be running the Pittsburgh half, too!)
I impressed myself with a 4.0 mile run on the treadmill last night after deciding two miles into it that I was going to quit. I kept looking at the clock and thinking, “No. You’re already here, you might as well do another mile.” Before I knew it, I was clocking in at four! I haven’t ran that far since November so I am very happy I am right on track with my training schedule. I feel like a real runner now! By the way, when I am feeling discouraged I totally channel other bloggers/blends and think, “What would they say if they were on the treadmill beside me and I wanted to stop?” It’s one of the many motivational tools (read: head games) I play with myself on my runs. What do you do to psych yourself out of quitting early?
In other news, I wanted to share with you a wonderful concept my pastor shared with us this Sunday in church. I am not here to preach on anyone, so take this however you’d like.
Oftentimes when we experience a hardship or a “shake up” in our lives, we are confused and frustrated as to why God/the universe/etc. is doing so. Whether it’s a struggle financially, in a relationship, in our family or at work – we want to move as quickly as possible from the struggle to the sunshine. We can feel like we are being punished or cursed for having to endure an unpleasantry.
My pastor explained these times in life by drawing a comparison to salad dressing. When you go to pull an oil-based salad dressing off the shelf to use, you can see the separation – the “good stuff” is on the bottom. Chances are you don’t simply tip the bottle over and pour it out, you shake it up. With the shaking comes the mixture and you get the good stuff.
Think of that bottle as your character. Sometimes the good stuff settles to the bottom. God/the universe/karma/whatever you believe in simply doesn’t pick you up and flip you over. He/it takes you in its hand and shakes you up because there is something inside you – the good stuff – that needs a little movement to come back to the surface.
Think about that for a minute. I can guarantee that there is some facet of your life that is not exactly peaches and cream right now. You’re probably (heck, always) working through something that poses a challenge. You’re being shaken up. Take the negativity and frustration you associate with this and know that you are lucky! Yes, lucky. Something out there – whatever you believe in – sees the good in you and they only want you to shake you up and share you with the world’s salad!
The best thing about these shake-ups? It’s often where the next blessing lies. Having trouble making ends meet? Your blessing lies in a financial gain. Feeling blue post-holidays because you celebrated them solo? Your blessing lies in a companion on the horizon? Frustrated with your work load, your current position or your boss? Change is gonna come.
I love this theory and, of course, can apply it to so many situations I am facing right now. These words from my pastor – as they do every week – inspire me. I hope they inspire you, too. Kind of a fresh way to look at the not so pleasant times and parts of life, no?
Round-up!
January 8th, 2010 § 9 Comments
Back in my writer days, every once and awhile I’d have to do a “round-up” story on a series of events pertaining to one topic or event. They could be a pain in the ass, but they could also mean less groundwork as I (or someone else) had already been reporting on it. Today, I am taking that route and giving you a few pictures to round-up my past few days. On Wednesday, I took my first snow run.
If anything can be said for this, it’s that I enjoyed the bundling and feeling like a general hardass, but my lungs were seriously FROZEN rock hard solid by the time I finished, and it wasn’t even a full two miles. The Stadium Loop and I reunited and embraced one another’s company as old friends do. That is, until I ran past half a dozen restaurants doing what I can only imagine to be schlepping out last night’s leftover dinners and making way for new, fresh produce. Why is this a bad thing you ask? The smell. Goodness if I got a whiff of one more random smell (garlic! onions! meat! sewage!) I thought homegirl was going to keel over and proceed to dry heave. Nice visual, I know.
Post-run and post-hack my lungs out 2010, roomie and I ventured out to do some shopping at the outlets. Like any woman, I love a good deal and my oh my, did I get me some. I think I heard Chase screaming from the freezer: “I want to score major deals and make you happy wahhhhh!!” Sorry dude, all cash up in hurrrr.
“Hi my name is Caitlin and I love neutrals.”
My loot from left – sweater from Gap, three Artist T-shirts from J. Crew (I love these shirts, like I would marry them and make sweet cotton love to them) fancy button-up from J. Crew, black thermal from Aerie, planner pages from Kate Spade, cutest little Carrie Bradshaw tank from Gap (which was a whopping $3.69) This whole shopping spree cost what two of the shirts would have retailed at. Man I love a good deal.
Yesterday, I had lunch with two fabulous ex-coworkers at the Cafe at the Lofts. I met them at the job I returned to Pittsburgh for and they are the only good thing to come out of the six months I spent there. True, great friends whom I am so glad to have stayed in touch with. We just crack each other up – an hour is not enough time. Plus, who doesn’t love some office gossip, especially when you aren’t working there anymore!
They are readers and finally made their appearance on the blog!
I wish I could say that I stayed up and watched my favorite college team (if only by force) play last night, but I was nowhere near a TV when it was on. I still rocked out, though.
Alright kids, off to the grindstone I go. Happy Friday!!
Adding good to good
January 5th, 2010 § 7 Comments
Oh, hello friends – I have not forgotten you! I hope you enjoyed my last post and that the first five days of 2010 have been nothing short of wonderful for you. My craziest week of work wrapped up and I’ve been regrouping my thoughts and mind. Now I’m fully geared up for the year ahead! As promised, I am going to recap December to Remember and share New Year’s Resolutions.
First, to recap my goals:
1.) Drink at least 64 ounces of water every.single.day. Well y’all, I wish I could say I took this goal by the horns and bronco-ed it out of the bullpen, but sadly I did not. I got tons of great suggestions of ways to increase my intake, but I know I am still dehydrated. I am getting better at remembering and actually drinking as often as I can, it’s just a matter of me being absent-minded about it. This is still an on-going goal for the year (and, well, my life.)
2.) Donate to charity. Aside from the usual contributions made through every day purchases, this too was an epic fail. However, I have some super exciting charity news to share in the upcoming weeks as soon as details are ironed out that totally makes up for my lack of it in December.
3.) Take time for me. Now, call me selfish, but this is the one I have had the most success with. Don’t get me wrong, homegirl still kept it social, only it wasn’t so run-run-run try to please everyone. I made decisions as a compromise between pleasing myself and others. Y’all it felt good. I think I put too much pressure on myself to be everything to everyone. Slap me with some starred panties and call me Lynda Carter – sometimes I think I can do it all. Class, this is also known as “Superwoman Syndrome.”
4.) Continue and adopt more smart spending habits. Here is another one I had success with and I can thank my Kenmore refrigerator for a large part of that. Yes, Chase is still iced out in the freezer. I’ve continued to think and re-think purchases and spend more wisely. I’ve been scouting sales and specials and cutting coupons. I’ve been without the skinny jeans and high boots I so admire every other woman I see. And ya know what? I’m still alive.
5.) Shake up my workouts. Sadly, yoga and I have not reunited – yet. The instructor I adore only teaches a few times a week and with the busiest time of my year just passed, I let this go to the back burner. Fear not, January will shake things up….
..Which leads me to…resolutions!
I may have mentioned before I am not someone who’s exactly big on resolutions. While I think it’s great to have goals and things to strive toward, having all of them culminate on one day is a bit daunting. For me, it’s also a sure-fire backfire. Every monumental change I’ve made in my life in 2009 just happened. Let me rephrase: it happened because I wanted it to. I quit smoking. I started running. I took control of my spending and finances. Were these things I wanted for myself last December? Absolutely. But it doesn’t take the turn of a calendar page to entice me to change. It just takes waking up on some idle Tuesday morning, feeling it in my heart and thinking, “OK let’s do it.”
In recent weeks, I have slowly started to get myself into some habits I’d like to make a part of 2010. You call them resolutions, I call them life improvements. Tomato, to-mah-toe.
* Cook. As in, real meals, from scratch, from this ancient device called a recipe book. Considering I got three great ones for Christmas and I have several others collecting dust in my pantry, I have decided this is the year I will actually purchase things at the grocery store that can be combined together to make a meal. Amazing concept, no? I have already been successful with this and had the most delightful time making a categorized list of items to tackle my supermarket Sunday. Speaking of, a bit of trivia for you. Did you know all of the “essential” items for daily consumption are found around the perimeter of an average grocery store? Think about it: produce, dairy, meat, bread. (And if you go to mine, also magazines, which I consider to be essential.) It’s when you venture down those aisles that you can get in trouble.
*Run a Half Marathon. I’ve mentioned this a few times and quite frankly, even typing it scares me. I know it’s going to take a lot of work but I really enjoy the thrill and challenge of training. Doing 13.1 miles is really stepping up my game so I plan to incorporate lots of cross-training. I’m looking into swimming, spinning and hot yoga while it’s still sub-zero out. Once I can properly breathe without having to thaw my lungs out post-run, I’ll be hittin’ the streets of the City with my trusty Garmin Forerunner. After all, you’ve got to have a dream to make a dream come true.
*Plan and take a big vacation. The destination is unknown, but the last time I took a big trip – as in more than a long weekend with girlfriends or visiting family for the holidays – was before I graduated college, and even then it wasn’t lavish. I’m talking six of us slept on two beds pushed together at a Red Roof Inn and drank on the beach all day. I’d say I’m long overdue.
*Continue writing and give my blog more love. This may, and will, mean many things in the upcoming months. While I would love to find a way to make a living writing, I know the harsh reality after working in the business. Anyone who’s flipped on CNN in the past, um decade, knows the state of the economy and the writing/journalism world is taking the blunt end of it. I’m looking into a domain name, adding more to the site and posting more often. I also need to join the rest of the century and subscribe to blogs with Google Reader and master my Gmail to organize my life. As much as I lurve the Internet, I can be a bit slow hesitant to pick up on the ways it can make my life easier. I’d also really love to attend a blogger conference this year -BlogHer 2010 NYC anyone?
So folks, there you have it. I’m sure things will be modified along the way. I’m sure I’ll be adding more goals for myself in the next 12 months. I’m sure I’ll struggle. I’m sure I’ll succeed. Thanks for joining me on the ride.
The Morning After
November 27th, 2009 § 5 Comments
Hi friends! How was your Turkey Day? Or just your Thursday in general if you are not a citizen of the good ‘ol U.S.A.? Mine was pretty darn good – started with a race and ended with a big old dinner – who could ask for more?
I woke up bright and early in Austin to this:
I ate my pre-race breakfast (peanut butter bagel and banana) packed up my gear and we headed to downtown Austin. We got there pretty early so I could pick up my bib and my chip. It was pretty chilly out – in the 40s – and people actually ran the race with North Face jackets and long pants. Oh, you Southerners – this is nothing! Come up to my neck of the woods in about two months!!
Then we just hung out for about an hour. There were several different events going on – a Kids 1K, the 5-mile Turkey Trot and a 1-mile walk. All three benefitted Caritas, an Austin charity. About 30 minutes before race start, the 5-milers started to line up. I said goodbye to my family and joined the pack. I stretched, tried to zone myself out, ya know. I don’t really have too many pre-race traditions except to say a prayer and just kind of slap my legs (it sounds weird but I did it for my first so I did it again) it’s as if to say c’mon let’s DO THIS! Then I took off!
As I said in an earlier post, my goal in this race was to just finish. I had not researched the course, and I hadn’t really run a good five miles before the race. Guys, I was not prepared. In my first race, I had so much adrenaline, I felt like I floated through the first mile. This time, my legs felt heavy then tight. I didn’t want to be running. I just felt unprepared. I decided to listen to my body rather than focus on other people – and people passing me. It’s so easy to psych yourself out in a race. There were lots of people walking the whole thing, or walking dogs or pushing strollers so I did slow down and walk more than a few times. The course had several hills, which I had never trained on – the stadium loop is flat. I cursed every one.
Did I mention that one of the soft pieces on my ear buds was missing? Yeah. The right side of my headphones simply did not stay put. I cannot run without music, so I just kind of winged it with one and a half.
I honestly didn’t pay attention to the scenery, either. I know it’s a beautiful city that I’ll get to explore more of this weekend. I was just focused on completing the course. I beat myself up a little bit and got discouraged a few times. At one of those points, a man ran by with one of my mantras on his back, “I can do all things through Christ. He strengthens me.” Guys, this is something I chant when I want to give up. It was like a sign – I just pushed on through. Near the end of the course, at another point of discouragement, I turned to see only another hill! I told myself, “Screw this, I am done with the hills.” I sprinted right up that sucker and low and behold – the finish line was in sight!
The crowds cheering helped motivate me – I sprinted through that finish line, threw my arm in the air, pointing my finger up to the sky and screamed, “Yes!” (I’m sure the professional picture will be great.) I finished in just over an hour, which I am satisfied with as it is pretty close to the pace of my first race.
The good thing is I am taking away a lot from this race and I plan to amp up my training. I will be doing a lot more core training, lifting and tackling different terrains. I really want to do a big race this year, but I have a lot of work to do.
After a few minutes, I found my family. It was completely awesome to have them there supporting me. I plan to make this race a tradition and my family wants to participate, too, which. is. awesome. y’all.
My apology to UT fans/alumni – didn’t quite get the Hook ‘Em Horns – I just ran a race people!
Surprisingly, I didn’t feel the urge to sleep the day away. Nor did I have a ravenous appetite. I also was not sore (until today). But, since it was Thanksgiving and all, I did eat some great food. Sorry guys, I only managed to snap a before shot.
P.S. Totally love my parents’ new house.
The little one in the foreground is my brother and sister-in-law’s dog, Norah. She’s a Brussels Griffin/Shih Tzu Mix (Shiffon) and completely CRAZY. She is our lab Loo’s shadow and hyper as can be. Also very tough to get a picture of or with. Here’s my best attempt.
Loo watches her like a hawk and has a slight “sibling rivalry.”
Then we watched the UT vs. Texas A&M game – my s-i-l went there and she and my brother are HUGE fans so lots of cheering and yelling ensued.
I’m not sure what the next two days hold for us. We’ll be shopping, eating out and hitting the town one of these nights. I’ll be posting again soon – have a fantastic Friday!
What are your plans for the weekend? Are you off or did you go Black Friday shopping today? After working retail for years and interviewing shoppers at 4 a.m. I will probably never participate!
Pet Peeves and Music Contest
November 24th, 2009 § 12 Comments
Good morning friends! I see a lot of new readers to the site – welcome! Please don’t be shy to comment or email me! I’m sure today is like a Thursday or Friday to you with the holiday or maybe you’re already off – Happy Day! Today is like Thursday to me with just a few hours of work standing between me and my airplane!
Last night I went to see ‘Precious.’ Have you seen the trailer for it? I’m sure you have. I was expecting to spend most of the movie sobbing (I am highly emotional) but I only cried a few times. It is powerful. It is violent – not for those sensitive to abuse and cursing – but so raw and real. The acting was phenomenal. I know a lot of people refuse to have anything to do with Mariah Carey, but she completely encompassed her character. She was probably only in about 10 minutes of the film. The real stars were Gabourney Sidibe, who plays the title role, and Mo’Nique, who plays her severely abusive mother.
I don’t want to give anything away – but it was very shocking and moving. The whole theater litterally gasped in unison several times. Just go see it.
Edit to add: I just looked at the cast and Lenny Kravtiz is in this, too. Honestly didn’t even notice because I was so wrapped up in the story.
The movie was pretty packed and a bit noisy during the previews. I figured what with all of the “Please Silence Your Cell Phones” PSAs and reminders to be quiet, soon the theater would be just that.
Throughout the entire movie a trio of teenage girls behind us completely ticked me off. Their cell phones were vibrating, they were opening them up causing a glare, they were bickering with each other, rummaging through stuff. And it seemed to be at its peak during some of the most pivotal dialogue exchanges. Buzzzzzzzz Buzzzzzzz Buzzzzzzzz I wanted to turn around and say, “Can’t you put that on SILENT?” I may have said some other choice things under my breath, but that’s irrelevant. I know I am not the only one who gets annoyed with this. But I also know that there are many, many people who contribute to this pet peeve of mine. I love technology just as much as the other guy – probably more – but can we just escape cell phones for 120 minutes??? It baffles me people pay money for an experience only to take away from it to answer text messages. My ex-boyfriend once answered his cell phone during a movie. Trust me, you don’t want to be the recipient of the look I gave him.
Not quite like this, but I think this picture is hilarious. Photo Credit
OK, stepping off the soap box now!
Now, as well as one more day of work standing between me and my trip, a bigger task awaits – packing! I am being forced told that I must take two carry-on bags rather than check one by my father aka the travel master. This presents a space issue, which I am going to have to tackle tonight. I have gotten better with packing, but it still presents a challenge for a somewhat high maintenance girl.
One thing that will get extra special attention is my fuel and gear for my race! I can’t believe it’s only two days away. Strangely I’m not nervous like I was for the first. I’m pretty much prepped for that – although I debated on what to wear and made two trips to Dick’s looking through every. single. rack. Hopefully the temperature change doesn’t affect me too much.
Something I do need help on is some new tunes to add to my play list! This is where you come in! I am holding a contest – for today only – to add three to five great new songs to my running playlist. Leave a comment with the ones that get you going and the best entry will win an iTunes gift card and a little mail from yours truly! Contest ends at 9 p.m. EST tonight! Right now, I have a lot of rap, r&b, some country and two gospel songs – they are my power ballads!! I am up for anything that has a great beat and gets you moving. Old, new, whatever!!
I’ll announce the winners in my post tomorrow!
Help me, help myself
October 29th, 2009 § 5 Comments
So let’s just get something out on the table: I have somewhat of an addictive personality. I can get slightly obsessed overly quick. Over the past few years, it’s ranged from many things – most of them not exactly what you’d call the best habits. There was a time I smoked. Not like a chimney, mind you, but I still did. I turned to it when I drank. I turned to it when I was stressed. Bored. When I wanted to fit in. Stand out. Trust me, I always found a reason. I am proud to say that is a part of my past for once and all now. It’s a hard habit to kick, and it’s hard to admit publicly to some people who I know will be disappointed. But, it’s over and the moral of telling that is to prove the point of my addictive personality.
When I stopped smoking prior to “once and for all,” I picked up shopping. Having lived by the mecca of shopping malls in King of Prussia, this was bad. I got myself and my best friend Chase Visa in a lot of trouble there. When I moved back to Pittsburgh, the shopping eased up a little, but my old habit came back. Once I kicked it again (“once and for all”), I found the best new addiction: running. Now, when stress hits me, I want to run, not smoke.
I’ll admit, in the middle of my training for the 5K, I took a drag of a friend’s cigarette (I don’t know what I was thinking) and I coughed like a 15-year-old trying it for the first time. Do you know what that means? VICTORY!
So, what other addictions has The Twenty-Fifth Year faced? Well, in the years leading up to this pivotal one, a big one was coffee. Starbucks coffee to be exact.
Now, I know this java isn’t the mecca of all that is good in coffee land. It’s a bit bitter. Burnt, some say. But it’s EVERYWHERE. It’s convenient. And it’s expensive. I know what you’re thinking, “Duh! It’s like 4 bucks!” Yeah, I know. Because I spent that every day for months on end in Philly. It became a part of my morning routine. Get off the train, grab a latte from the super cute barista who always remembered me and was so, so happy at 8 a.m. (probably an evil ploy to get 20-something female return customers like myself) and get on with my day. THEN one day I figured out I was giving 100 big ones to Starbucks a month! And that’s when I decided the addiction had to end. I invested in some store-bought creamer and called it a day.
My garbage can at work in Philly? Maybe..
When I started my current job, I started to get sucked back into the Starbucks Black Hole. I mean there’s one in the building I work in AND outside. Cmon, two within a few hundred yards Starbucks people? Did I mention I work in the BOONIES? We were always making SB runs, and then I looked at my checkbook and saw too many java deductions. Back to the home-brewed I go.
Now, I save Starbucks as a special occasion and usually get it once a week. Maybe when I am running late, or need a little perk, or when I look at my checkbook and feel I deserve a reward 
And now, with the holiday season around the corner, I know I will tempted by SB’s Peppermint Mocha – aka the stuff I live for the other 10 months of the year.
But never fear bank account – I have refuge!
It’s like the people at Coffee Mate heard my desperate cries of a need for intervention! When I saw this at my grocery store, I freaked. Like I-just-won-$5,000-a-week-for-life-on-this-scratch-off-lottery-ticket-at-the-dirty 7-Eleven-after-the-worst-day-of-my-life-freak-out. I immediately bought seventeen two. This is literally liquid crack. I checked it out and these suckers expire in March 2010 (gross?) so I plan to stock up in December. If $3 a bottle can save me $300 then I am all in.
What are your addictions? How did you stage an intervention with yourself? Do you love Starbucks too??
Pittsburgh conditions and loving your body
October 15th, 2009 § 3 Comments
Rain Shower
Feels Like
35°F
So yes, we turn the Point State Park fountain pink for awareness. Pretty cool, huh?
Old City, New Run
October 11th, 2009 § Leave a Comment
Hello All! I’ve had a pair of really great weekends that have totally jump started my mood. As I mentioned in my last post, I was back in Philly last weekend. As many of you know, I lived in the City of Brotherly Love for about a year and a half after I graduated from college. I moved there to take my first job as a writer.
I learned so much doing that job and I grew and gained so many great experiences and insight and just an overall sense of self. I also sacrificed a lot and wore my body to the core working as much as I did. Why I am here and not there anymore is irrelevant – what matters is the place this City has in my heart.
I’ve returned twice since I moved away almost exactly a year ago. Each time was spent predominantly outside the City in the King of Prussia area where I lived. My most recent return was spent entirely in Philly and just as I predicted, I was flooded with nostalgia and I was so happy to be back.
Despite a late arrival and bed time Friday, I was up around 8:00 a.m. Saturday practically bouncing out of bed with excitement. The trip was pretty much a spur of the moment decision for me but once I knew I was going, I told myself no matter what, I would go running through the City one, if not both, mornings. I geared up and ran about 20 blocks from our hotel on Front Street to City Hall. The streets were packed with tourists – but of course I didn’t mind. I was so pumped to be running a new “course” just taking in all the sights and sounds I once took for granted.
I was pretty happy to start my day off right. The rest of the afternoon we wandered around South Street before returning to the hotel to go to the Pink concert, which was the whole point of the trip!
There is much debate about where to get the “best” Philly cheesesteak – in my opinion it’s Jim’s on Fourth and South. No matter what, if it’s your first time, you have to get the cheese wiz! It’s just not authentic otherwise.
I wish I could say I ran Sunday morning as well, but I had a little too much fun at the concert
This week I’ll continue training for the Thanksgiving Race! I am going to run outside for as long as my lungs and my body can tolerate it – another stadium loop tomorrow!
A new challenge
October 5th, 2009 § 2 Comments
Well something else I have learned since turning 25? I am still a pretty big procrastinator. While I would love to write every day, I find myself not jumping into the habit right off the bat. That being said, please bear with my spontaneity as we go!
So I left off with the event that sparred all of this. Let me continue!
Over the last few years, I have drifted in and out of having an interest in fitness. When I was living outside Philadelphia working as a writer/server I didn’t exactly have ample time to hit the gym. But there was one golden month or so that I did, religiously, following a work out plan my cousin constructed for me. Paired with a diet change to clean food and mostly natural and organic, I shed 10 pounds. I was ecstatic. Then I went on a little vacation to Nashville and when I came back I lost most of that motivation. I can’t point my finger at a good reason why, I just stopped caring so much (and um, socializing more).
Fast forward about a year, and I got into it again. I wasn’t super serious, though. I switched jobs and my mind was everywhere with adjustments. I tried the old plan that was successful before and it just didn’t pan out the way I wanted to. At that point, I was doing 20 minutes of the Galloway method on the treadmill, barely able to run for more than a minute at a time.
I can’t exactly pinpoint when or why, but all of a sudden something changed. I decided to run and make it mean something. I got serious again. For the next 7 weeks I trained hard. I ran four or more days a week, I hit the outdoor trails, I pushed myself.
Then I made a profound statement.
“I really need to go to the dentist soon. Yeah, I need to get on that.”
Enter excruciating tooth pain. On Labor Day weekend. When my parents were packing up my childhood home and moving 1,000 miles south to Texas.
To make a long, long story short, I ended up spending my last day in my hometown in the Emergency Room for three hours. I was completely drugged up when I said my goodbyes (had a DD!) and ended up back in the ER two nights later with swelling up my whole face that belongs in some medical journal. What I was suffering from was an abscessed tooth that infected me up to my sinuses and took nearly everything out of me and shaved 10 days off my training.
When I got back to it, I was hesitant about running. While I was upset I had missed out on precious time, I was scared I was going to do something to hurt myself even more. It took a couple of easy paced work outs, but when I started running again, I did the unthinkable – I ran a whole mile without stopping. I had never, not once in my life, done that. I just kept setting a goal with time, then once I surpassed it, I thought, “well, why stop there? Now I’ll shoot for this..” By the time I knew it, 1.0 miles was behind me and I had done something I never could have imagined.
For about three days prior to the race while I rested my legs and body, my nerves kicked in. It rained. I worried. When Sunday rolled around, I rushed to get ready and we headed down to the start. The rain continued and we stretched and waited, stretched and waited.
Finally, we lined up and the gun went off. We weaved our way from the back of the pack and ran the first mile strong downhill through University of Pittsburgh and Carlow College’s campuses. We stopped once between each mile and pulled each other through when the other was struggling. As soon as we turned the corner to Point State Park, I hit my wall. I felt like throwing up. I didn’t care that there were people everywhere. I ripped off my headphones – the music was making me sick. Carrie looked back, grabbed my arm and said, “No!” Thank goodness for that pull. We neared the finish line, passing her family and as we crossed, she grabbed my hand and we finished with our arms up high. It was quite a moment.
I was pretty bummed when I saw the clock as we finished at 41 minutes. I totally forgot that our chip time would be different coming from the back of the pack. When we got the heads up the times were posted and that we came in under 40 minutes, I was back on cloud nine – a runner’s high second wind if you will. The rest of the day consisted of sleeping and eating.
Since then, I have given myself a bit of a break and only run twice – just this Saturday I ran through Center City Philadelphia – what a great morning – and found myself easily tired and winded.
The solution to my sluggishness lies in me signing up for another race, which I plan to do this week. The 5 mile Turkey Trot in Austin, TX is on Thanksgiving morning around the University of Texas campus. This is definitely a step up for me, and I am once again nervous, but the nerves are a good thing! I’m starting to get serious…..tomorrow morning! For real, there will be no procrastinating when it comes to this!
