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Not runing in circles

This past Sunday was the Susan G. Komen Race for the Cure here in PDX. I ran in celebration of my Aunt Gail who recently beat breast cancer. The race was my favorite thus far for a few reasons. One being my PR! I beat my best time by more than two minutes. Now I've only run three races so far, so it's not that big of a deal - but it feels really good to make that kind of progress in a matter of four months. I've also been slacking a bit, so I can only imagine how much better I'd be doing if I was training better. So my time was great and I was proud of myself but really the best thing about this race is the power of the people. There are thousands of people there, walkers, runners, cheering sections. It's amazing. You can't not feel excited and elevated by the crowd. I also felt more pressure to preform. It's much easier to keep running (despite fatigue or sore muscles) as you see the names of survivors and those who have lost their battles pass you by. So it was a good day, a good race, a good cause. Just good all the way around. One giant warm fuzzy. Oh and the sun was shining down on us, despite a weather report for 90% chance of rain. That's someone up there watching out for us I think.

Other than that, not a lot going on.

I'm going to try to spend the next few weeks focusing on my fitness, my eating habits and some small creative projects. I am really feeling the need to take care of myself, physically and emotionally. Things aren't bad, but things aren't the best so I need to reflect on that. Make changes where I can and accept the things that I can't change. I need to learn to let some things go, even though I'm not ready. Things like, not all people are always going to like me or maybe we won't be parents. The longer I put it off, the worse I feel and that's sucky. I don't know exactly how I'm going to accomplish this yet, but I got mad reasoning skills so I think I can figure it out. It seems to be pretty deep stuff, no doubt, but it is what it is and I'm going to put my big girl panties on and see what we can do about it.

So that's the 411.

Oh and I might have told someone I'd run a half marathon with them in February. Yes I am insane. Certifiable. I have sixteen weeks to really get my as in gear. Pray for me, my legs, and the dear friends and family who will have to listen to me bitch and moan about the process....I guess that includes you if you're reading this.


Granny Erin

Hi. It's been a while. Oops! I guess life has been keeping me busy. Summer is like that. This summer especially. Trying to fit everything in before it's over. What happened to Summer? These overcast skies have got to go. According to the calendar I have three weeks of warn sunshine left. I want my sunshine!

In other news, I am back to the gym. I'd taken a little hiatus to do my running outside. Seems like one should take advantage of warm dry days and suck in (Yes I suck it in, moreso than breath. I'm running after all) the fresh air while traipsing around the city. Yesterday was so icky that the gym called and asked me to come get my ass back on the elliptical machine. Well technically it didn't call me, but it made me feel guilty when I drove past it. I give in to guilt. It knows how to work me. And boy did it ever!

I don't know what I was thinking. I walked in the with intention of spending 25 minutes on the elliptical and doing some light weights. For some reason I stepped onto the treadmill instead. And then I ran. I ran faster than I have run since I was a middle school track team member. Even then I only did sprints. So I ran two miles, without stopping to walk at all, at an 11 min/mile pace. That's fast for me. One minute faster than normal. I felt so good after (had to have been runners high) that I got on the elliptical for another twelve minutes. As a result of all this physical activity I feel like a ninety year old woman. I keep grabbing for my right hip when I stand up. It's pathetic. I feel like I could pull off the "shrunken little old lady" look today and actually yell out things like "Oy my sciatica!" I just need a little navy blue flower print dress with a doily collar. Yikes! No more gym hiatus. I should be able to pull off that workout and not feel as though a MAC truck ran me over, twice. I think running outside, while more fun and pretty, has really allowed me to slack off a bit.

So back to the gym tonight. With little less umph though.