a great day

so far, the pac-10 has been a bust in the bowls. here's hoping the beavers buck that trend. game time, 11am. we'll be at the skybox in sellwood. GO BEAVERS!!

ps - please don't make me regret posting this. please.

and dance by the light of the moon...

every year i fall in love with george bailey all over again.

this isn't just a simple holiday movie of romance and redemption. it is darker, deeper, more complicated that that. like george bailey. he's no sweet, simple, stammering do-gooder. he's masculine, virile, flawed, hot-tempered, gentle, clever, confident and confused, searching for beauty and meaning he thinks he'll find anywhere else but in bedford falls, and afraid to create and accept the beauty and meaning that is right in front of him - pushing it and everyone around him away at nearly the cost of his own life.

at one point, potter askes him "confound it man, are you afraid of success?!" potter's onto something. but it isn't the kind of success potter is talking about that george is afraid of. and to be honest, he's more afraid of failure than success - failing to follow his dreams out of bedford falls, failing his father's memory, failing as a man, a husband and father... ultimately failing himself.

my favorite scene. the scene where he and mary are sharing a phone to talk to sam wainwright is one of the sexiest scenes on film. when he takes her up violently in his arms and cries:

Now you listen to me. I don't want any plastics and I don't want any ground floors. And I don't want to get married ever to anyone! You understand that? I want to do what I want to do!

and then he smothers mary with his passion...

that's it for me.

happy, happy holidays

there is much to be joyful about this year. for the first time in a long time. so, dammit, i'm going to enjoy myself! i hope you do, too....

jump back in

it has been too long.

i took a long time off from running. AND a long time off from blogging. but i haven't been sitting still, no no no. but it is time to jump back into running before it passes me by.

house cleaning - big ups to my brother for just KILLIN' in the cascade runoff. i didn't participate because of the trail run the week before and the africa-hot temps (in other words, i whimped out), but that didn't stop kenya. not only did he take on the 15K, he ran it in 1:03 - that's 6:51 miles folks. um, WOW.

then the backpacking. great journey from needle peak to spruce tree campground along the st. joe river. we camped for two days in this little pocket of paradise. words fail to illustrate how gorgeous it was. we stayed for two days, then hiked out 10 miles in one day. because of better prep (and, for me, footwear) this year, we all remained relatively blister free and i think everyone came back with toenails intact. didn't feel like running up in idaho, my body was pretty achey from that long hike. so i gave myself a complete break. my main mode of transportation that week was floating down river in an inner tube. with a dog. and a beer. heaven...

so this morning i ran - a very short run. it was a quiet, cool morning - tho they say it will hit 90 by day's end. so i figured i run now, or i won't get one in during this small heat wave. no iboob - batteries down. so i listenened to the wind, and the occasional car. i stopped running at brazee and 15th, decided to walk the rest of the way. i was feeling so good. i was going over in my head - i love myself, i love my body, i love my family, i love my friends, i love...and then i saw the flattened carcass of a possum in the ivy to my left. mouth agape - bloody holes where eyes used to be. death is strange looking. shook me out of my little personal love-fest.

on to happier subject - HAPPY 40TH ANNIVERSARY KEN AND BETHANN HYLAND!! and i'm glad dad now knows of democratic whiskey options...!

clackamas river runoff

spurred on by the enthusiasm of good friends, i participated in the clackamas river runoff today. i think this was originally carl's idea, and in my post bloomsday euphoria, i thought "hell YES sign me up for the 15K DUUUUUDE!"

then, reality set in. and i ran maybe 1-2 times in the two weeks following bloomsday. hm. had to get training again. oh, and uh... that 8K is lookin' might-ee fine right 'bout now. sign me up.

reason being, this time i wasn't nearly as disciplined. i ran 2-3x a week. didn't really push myself until this week. that, combined with this being a trail run... and i've never done a trail run... i wasn't quite sure what to expect of myself. i knew i could do it, i just didn't know how i would feel AS i was doing it. i guess that is something, right? knowing that i can do these things... even if i haven't adequately trained?

the group involved was made up of prue, carl, sesa, roger and alex. and me. the race was at milo mciver state park, which is out near where julian lives - only you go toward carver/estacada. prue, carl and i got there earlier than we needed to, so we checked in, got our goodie bags (mmmm! vanilla hair gel!) race numbers and t-shirts (the t-shirt thing is getting annoying...). we killed time watching mt. bikers cruise the parking lot, scoping out the competition. everyone there looked pretty heavy duty - not like the diverse crowd of twinkie eaters to kenyans at bloomsday. these folks were hard core for the most part. most people were participating in the tri and duathlons and the 15K.

the weather was ideal - overcast and cool, no wind. i was praying the sun wouldn't come out before we started at 10:15, and it didn't. we started at the back of the pack - prue, sesa and i ran together for about the first mile, then sesa peeled off and ran ahead. bunny! we were passing a few people, but i set my cruise-control slow and steady pace as we entered the woods. the path was gorgeous - winding through dense, moss-draped old forest. towering firs and pines, giant grey stumps like ghosts - cut down who knows how long ago... for some reason i've always been drawn to these stumps, with the notches in them where the men stood on boards to saw the giant trees down by hand. i see them up in idaho and i imagine the men who felled them...their lives.

then the hills started. at first, each hill was followed by a descent - ah sweet relief. until this one hill. oh. my. good. god. make it STOP. it just went up. and up. and up and up and up. crap, i walked up that shit with a 60 pound pack on my back last year, but damn if i couldn't run up it. i had to walk. i was in good company, it turns out. after that hill, i thought i might need to walk more - my thighs had become pudding-like - bill cosby was following me with a spoon. but for the most part after that the hills were manageable. i had to keep a wary eye out for roots and rocks - the terrain slowed me down a couple times, but i kept a pretty even pace, and prue was right behind me.

we heard music, and the p.a. announcer. were we close? or was the sound carrying?? i thought we were close, but prue kept her hopes in check. then some light peaked through the trees... okay! we've done it! we reached the clearing... someone told us not to let the guy behind us catch us so we quickened our pace and crossed the finish line together. sesa, roger, carl and alex there to greet us with water in hand.

not sure yet what my time was, but if prue's watch was right it was under 50 minutes - maybe closer to 45? so either a really good pace (for me), or the course was shorter than 8K - hm... we'll see!

we had a post race brunch at the harmony house, where julian joined us and alex treated everyone to breakfast. good coffee, home made bread, biscuits and gravy, eggs, bacon, potatoes, omelets, hash...and one juicy sloppy reuben. the only thing i didn't get - if they go to the trouble to make this fantastic home made bread - explain to me the....uh....smuckers? really? is that the best you can do in the jam department way out there in the sticks? good lord you can't turn around out there w/o bumping into a berry-laden fruit stand. and they insult their heavenly bread by offering tiny plastic blisters of mass produced jam? people. where is the outrage??!!

if that is all i have to moan about, and apparently i have to moan about something, well then it was a pretty damn good day. smuckers. whatever.

skipping

wow did i need that. a hard 4.5 mile run - which translates into 7.2 kilometers. i ran up 33rd from hancock to prescott. that hill is a killer. i do it every time i know i have to kick my ass. today i needed to kick my ass something fierce. i've been lazy. i've been moody. i've been bitchy and reclusive (actually a good combination - at least i'm not subjecting anyone to the bitch). i've been self-defeating and insecure. i've just been feeling generally shitty for about a week.

so i hauled my ass out of the house tonight, under the clouds. the people next door were playing their music REALLY LOUD and while it was early (8pm) i was annoyed. i wanted to get all old, crotchety lady on them and scream "TURN DOWN THAT INFERNAL NOISE, YOU RUFFIANS!!!!" they had the music on shuffle. and it was meandering from gretchen wilson to 50 cent to the goo goo dolls and it was just too much for me. and how dare they play music and have fun playing volleyball in the courtyard when there is a raving bat-shit crazy pissed off lunatic in apartment 2???

yeah, um, i figured it was i who needed the adjustment, not them. so i ran.

and i ran and ran and ran.

i kept saying to myself - if you need to walk up the hill, it's okay. i didn't. if you need to turn at fremont and head home, it's okay. i didn't. if you need to walk on prescott, it's okay. i didn't. if you need to walk after fremont, it's okay. i didn't. if you need to walk at knott... at brazee... at tillamook... i didn't. and suddenly i was standing at the stop sign across from my apartment, huffing and puffing. i walked down the street in front of my house, spent, winded, but happy. and this ball of emotion welled up in my stomach and lumped in my throat.

and i cried.

just emotion. not happy, not sad, just a release of pure emotion.

so i can do this run this weekend. no sweat. and everything else in my life that feels out of sorts right now - all of that will be okay, too. the clouds - they are temporary.

not that you are the most unbiased of audiences, but if i made little note cards out of my pictures of rocks from the cabin, and say if you saw them at a little gift shop in wallace or kellogg - would you buy them? like a packet of 10 with matching envelopes?

wet water

i have one week until my next run. for some reason, i'm not all that excited about it. my plan is to take a long run tomorrow, take monday off, run tuesday and thursday, both shorter runs. maybe a bike ride on wednesday - then friday off and then run on saturday. it's only 8K - i know i can do it. i'm just not feeling the anticipation...

i ran this morning. a short one, first one since i've been back from idaho. i ran 2x while in idaho - the first time waiting until too late in the day, going a little too far (up to lost creek and back) and it about killed me. the sun just beat on me all the way back. at such an angle that shade along the river road was minimal, and the rocks and pavement were like baking stones. i stopped to refresh myself in a sprinkler some kind soul had running by the road. didn't realize until after i'd been soaking in it for a couple minutes that the kind soul himself was relaxing in the shade of his porch, watching me with a bemused grin on his face. we chatted for a spell, and then i ran on back to the cabin. lessons learned from the first run - go early before the sun gets too high over the ridge, and keep a bottle of water at the bridge for that long dusty walk back to the cabin. the second run went a little better - wasn't quite as hot, i went down river instead of up so the sun wasn't in my face on the way back, and i left a water bottle at the bridge.

just took a short run this morning - it is already getting hot. cool shower afterward - the water about the temperature of the rain in baton rouge. warm but cool. what is it about that temperature of water that makes it feel wetter? like it doesn't just dampen your clothes or skin, but permeates through you - into your flesh and blood and bone and soaks your soul. it is sad and beautiful. like tears.

i took this picture the morning of july 4, 2006 while sitting on the little dock in the river...

balls, bats and beavers!

the oregon state university baseball team won the college world series tonight with a 3-2 win by the hair of their chinny-chin-chins over unc. the college world series. as in, they are NUMBER ONE BABY!! enjoy...

hot hot heat

WHEW.

so it got hot in portland. in spite of my namesake hearty shrub, i wither in hot hot heat. melt like lipstick on a hot black dashboard. so i thought run = early. get it in. early for me, this morning, meant 10 am. by the time i got home and ate a little snack, drank a little water, and dressed for my run, it was 10. ah well, already pushing 80.

my trees. remember my posse - the trees? how they playfully smack me with wet sloppy branches in the winter and spring? how i high-five them back like a crazy woman? well, they're even better in the summer. they give me shaaaaaaade. i live in an old neighborhood, and on some streets those trees provide a solid canopy of cool, dark shade. and with the light breeze that is a-blowing... i was staying plenty cool.

and then, there were the stretches of sun. the air was still fairly cool from the morning. but when you're running, and already hot, and your blood is pumping throughout your body, and your face is red and you hit one of those sunny stretches - your face feels like it starts to sizzle and pop like bacon. even if it is just for a moment, you can feel the sun focus in on your face like a heat seaking missle. i'd eyeball the nearest patch of shade and lengthen my stride - the extra effort rewarded the instant the shade covered my face...cooooool relief.

and i did something i never thought i'd do. i ran in shorts and a bra top. well, sort of a bra top. not a t-shirt, like a stretchy tank. but it didn't cover my belly - it kept riding up just over my belly-button. and i got tired of fighting it. so my inner-tube was exposed. and my auxillary ass - the one i keep right above my current ass, just in case of emergency. the one that in these days of low slung pants (and running shorts) oftentimes brazenly exposes itself to the world. ah well...

beachy

*looks around*

anyone still here?

i am. not as often, but i am. just got back from a biz trip to la la land, where i'd hoped to run along the beach of santa monica, redondo or hermosa. but the best i could muster given the time was a lovely bike ride from redondo to hermosa with stacey, where we plopped down for a spell in front of the ocean and watch the earth do it's sun, sand, water and tide thing.

i've been having good runs and not so good runs. the not-so-good ones usually involve side aches and heavy legs. sometimes i fartlek those and walk. i'm fine with that. i know there will always be another run, another opportunity for a good run. like last night. great run. late evening summer sun, cool air - the smell of family barbecues everywhere. the only drawback - bugs. clouds of them. i was inhaling them at an alarming rate. i felt like a baleen whale swimming through krill. poor things would just slam into the back of my throat and summarily be either violently coughed up or humanely swallowed. a few poor souls got stuck in the sticky no pest strip that was my lip balm. ah well, a hazard of the season.

hot weather coming up. 90+. heather doesn't run in hot weather. this should be interesting.

helloooo sailor!

today i ran down to the waterfront. i had intended on running down to catch sync or swim's second heat in the dragon boat races, but i didn't make it home in time. but i decided to run down there anyway, just to spend a little time immersed in the freakshow that is the rose festival.

if i'd been thinking clearly, i would have headed down holladay and gone over the steel bridge (my favorite bridge), but for some reason i had it in my head to go over the broadway bridge. it was beautiful, actually, and the breeze coming off the river was nice. i ran south on naito parkway and into waterfront park. it was packed - running the waterfront reminded me of bloomsday - dodging people left and right. only i was the only one running. everyone else was walking, and had their eyes on whatever was around them - huge grey navy ships, the deep fried onion flower in their greasy mits, rickety-ass looking rides loaded with screaming kids, the ass of the hot chick in front of them. it was difficult to keep up a decent pace, but i was enjoying bathing in humanity. i passed sailors in full dress, military police, sticky children, moms pushing strollers, carnies, hookers, skate punks, clutches of teenage girls... it was fantastic.

i reached the riverfront esplanade area where the dragon boating takes place and turned around to go back. i walked most of the way, wanting to take in all the stuff i missed running past the first time. i stopped to watch people pay $50 to be flung into the air on a giant sling shot and wished i was doing it. it would scare the poop outta me, but i love that feeling. the people fling 300 feet up in the air and spin around... it looks exhilarating.

i decided to catch max to speed my way back home because i had clothes i needed to put in the dryer. big mistake. i caught max at saturday market and it was packed to the gills. i ended up wedged between two very cushiony people. i felt bad for everyone around me because i could smell my sweaty armpit as i reached up to grab the bar. but i couldn't take it in there. i decided to get off at the rose quarter because i was just too claustrophobic. i ended up running back from there, and i'm glad i did. it added up to about 5 total miles ran, and i sorely needed that.

and a snake pooped on me today. that doesn't happen every day.

NEXT!

the next run.

there. i've officially put it out there. now i have to do it or i'll feel like a giant ass. anyone care to join...? hmm...anyone...?

it is a trail run along the clackamas river. there's an 8K and a 15K (along with a couple duatholons), and right now i'm leaning toward the 8K. mainly because i've been slacking hard. i'll see how i feel in the next two weeks and make a final decision mid june. but serious training must commence once again. tomorrow should be cross training (maybe a hike?) with a "long" run on sunday. last week my long run was 5 miles, and it hurt. so i think i'll ratchet down to 4 miles and work my way back up that hill. FARTLEK!!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY MOM! to my favorite gemini - the only woman i know who can be a hippy (leather peace symbol necklace anyone?) and a catholic school girl and have it make perfect sense.

photo by julian - quite obviously my hot bod steamed up the lens. sorry 'bout that - it's rough being this fine.

very special delivery

did you know that you can send poop through the mail? i didn't. not only can you, but you are encouraged to by your doctor. they even give you an envelope, which i've now dubbed a poopvelope.

what does this have to do with running? absolutely nothing. just overall health, went in for a complete physical and apparantly sending poop-o-grams to your doctor is now a part of this.

seems a bit rude.

there's an apple in my shoe

didja see this?

i wonder if the inspiration came from richard reid...

keep running

just thinking about what i want to do next.

i want to keep running. so there's that. i'd like to run the odd 10-15K here and there, to keep it interesting and to suppliment my cheesy t-shirt that i'll never wear collection. i have that.

do i want to keep blogging? i keep thinking about it, thinking of things i'd like to write. and then moving past them. and not writing them. this blog is about running. so if i keep that up, i could keep this up. and if i keep this up, i should keep that up. but how many times can someone write about running? (and how many times can one read about someone writing about running???) how rich is that vein? i mean, i've already written about butt-itch and blisters and toe-nail shedding. what else is there?

there is running....faster. i haven't really tried that. well, i guess i did in that running is faster than not running - and i was doing a lot of not running prior to starting this running thing. hm. then there is running with people - i haven't done much of that and have been getting requests. imagine that! people want to run with me. heh. next week my friend prue and i are going to run in forest park - we're training for a 8K or 15K trail in clackamas in mid-july. so i have that to keep me occupied. forest park is a new adventure, as is trail running. seems like a natural thing for me - i'm happiest surrounded by trees (so is prue :-) .

memorial day weekend already? wow, after being so bloomsday focused, the summer snuck right up behind me and slapped me in the ass. not hard to do, as i still only run 10 minute miles. and summer is fast.

mia - thanks for the inlanders!

battle scars

it happened after my backpacking trip this summer. my two big toenails, protesting the abuse, bruised, turned black, and slowly made their way off my toes. i understand. i didn't fully brief them as to what to expect in terms of miles and harsh conditions. but in my defense, i didn't know what to expect either. in any event, the toenails left. i've grown two others in their absence, and, frankly, i like them better anyway. so there.

then, after the 10K in corvallis, i developed a blister underneath another toenail. not sure quite how that happened, i think my toenail was a little long and it bumped against my shoe. i cared for the blister in hopes of not losing another toenail. toenails, you may have noticed, grow very slowly. and it's sandal weather. one thing i can say about the other toenails, at least they had the decency to leave during the part of the year when the horror could be hidden within stylish footwear.

yesterday at work, i moved to tuck my foot up underneath me, caught my toenail on my chair and POP off it came. no pain, no blood. but freakishly ugly nonetheless. i looked at my toe and found an empty bed where my toenail once lived. in a quick sweep of the area, i found the nail on my chair. i briefly examined it for any religious markings that might make it an ebay sensation, thereby making me rich and famous for my lady of guadalupe toenail. but it was just an ordinary nail. and disembodied toenails are creepy.

after that first run, i researched a little about what runners do to prevent blisters during longer runs. the strategies run from absolutely nothing, to wearing women's nylons underneath socks, to soaking their feet in a vat of warm nutella. okay, i made that last one up, but my point is the answers are as varied as the number of feet that run. for bloomsday, i took some of the advice, liberally applying rosebud salve (a fancy-pants vaseline-type substance) thickly to my feet and covering them with socks. in the shower the morning of the race, i washed my feet thoroughly and dried them, then applied more rosebud salve in between each toe to reduce the friction that causes blisters. i even convinced a slightly skeptical kenny to try this - and that involved him de-shoeing when he was all ready to run. but i gotta tell ya, longer run and nary a blister. brother is now a believer as well.

lubrication, my friend, it ain't just for...engines.

alas, that doesn't save my topless toe. so i gave myself a pedi last night, and painted the skin where the toenail should be. it looks, well, like painted skin where a toenail should be. but from 5'6" away, i can't really tell.

enjoy the closeup of my bulbous toes, pre-pedi.

the tale of 3 bloomies

bruce, age 62, traveled all the way from edmonton, alberta. he sported his yellow race number proudly, fresh off his blazing time in the "the REAL calgary stampede, eh" 10K run last month.

brian, age 44, lives locally and was making his first start in the green group this year, having worked his way up from the moms-n-strollers group 4 years ago.

heather, age 37, well she hates to run. she only started doing this to do something fun with her brother and family. she didn't care where she started or where she finished. fun was her mission, and dammit, she was gonna have fun if it killed her. judging by the expression on her face - it nearly did.

and how did they finish, these three runners? see for yourself...

bruce (yellow) - 1:45 / 14:12 minute miles
brian (green) - 1:34 / 12:37 minute miles
heather (orange) - 1:16 / 10:15 minute miles

moral of the story - manage your expectations, be realistic. and then you get to feel all cool-n-shit when you exceed them :-)

for a bigger version of the pic with all the "race photo" crap on it so you can't download it for free, click here

results!

and finally, what you've all been waiting for: THE RESULTS! you will all be very impressed to know that i finished second among people with my same last name. behind my brother. oh, and there were all of 3 hylands...

my results

kenny's results

and results for boofy, erin, ben, rob, barbara, hai and hope.

kenny was badass, his first mile around 8 minute, but finishing averaging a 7 minute mile. meaning, yep, he got faster. maybe we need to start calling him "kenyan"...

i finished with my usual 10 minute mile (10.15 to be exact). i felt great, ran the whole way (including up doomsday hill). i did have to stop once for to use the loo - wasn't able to make it into the honeybucket before my group got started. so i ran the first 2+ miles with a *very* full bladder.

highlights: the mass of humanity at the start (45,000 participants). the elvis impersonator playing carpenter tunes on an accordion. the hippy-dippy couple in colorful caftans, wigs and clown noses dancing in their front yard. the moment where i found myself sandwiched by a line of nuns in habits to my right, and a band of mop-topped teen-age punks playing ramones covers to my left (HEY! HO! LET'S GO!). high fiving little kids through the neighborhoods after doomsday hill. passing people on my way up doomsday (this was a very cool feeling). and elderly man running barefoot. running up to my cheering family at the courthouse. seeing kenny and shanna's smiles as i rounded the corner to the finish line. sprinting to the finish.

now THAT was a mission accomplished.

off to bed, i'm pooped... hey mia - post a comment would ya??? :-)

T minus 19 hours and counting...

okay kids - here we go. we're in the 'kane, all conversation centers around running and bloomsday. oh, and epidurals and other birth related medical procedures that begin with an e but shall remain nameless. this ain't no birthing blog fer chrissakes.

we just drove the bloomsday route, scouting out potential photo locations. looks like shanna will be covering the start and the finish, but shooting doomsday hill appears to be a logistical nightmare. kenny, the stud, is starting in the yellow group. you know, the one with the real runners. not quite with the kenyans, but close enough. i believe boof is starting in the green group, which is directly after the yellow. me? i'm starting in the orange group with rob, barb, erin and ben. and the rest of the walkers. and the moms pushing strollers...

weather looks bleak - supposed to be cold, rainy and windy. don't so much mind the rain and the cold, but the wind, man, wind is a huge bummer. wind makes me grumpy. and whiny. OH DEAR GOD i just found out i can't wear my ipod??!! what is that??? i want my music, i want my running soundtrack...mike doughty, nick drake, and more recently lucinda williams...craptastic.

oh well...spaghetti dinner tonight at chez (rob and barb) higgins. sauce courtesy of geno's, of course... SEE YOU THERE!

model - ken hyland; photographer - heather hyland

...and i ran...

TA DA!

stats:
10K/6.2 miles; finished in 1 hour 4 minutes. slightly over 10 minute miles. kenny, hai and i ran together for 4 miles, then kenny and hai took off to finish before me. kenny - i forgot to ask you what your finish time was! post it in a comment.

course and participants:
not an overly populous one, good for my first time out i think. and i think most people did the 5K. bloomsday will be another story altogether. it was a beautiful morning - blue sky, crisp spring air. the course started out through the bucolic bits of oregon state...barns, fields, sheep, horses, covered bridges, cows with holes in their sides held open by rubber gaskets...and then wound through campus. it was pretty, but kind of an annoying course at times. i thought the place where you had to turn around at the end of the trail was awkward, and felt that toward the end they kept swinging us toward and away from the stadium just to tack on the miles....like they didn't really consider the route and were just concerned with the distance. also, there should have been porta-potties along the way (right kenny?!?) as well as maybe one more water station.

performance:
pre-race - fair to midlin...i forgot my running shorts - who the hell forgets their running shorts? and then i forgot my phone in the rush to get on the road in the morning. so i was feeling more than the usual scattered heatherness.

during - good. not fantastic as i felt earlier in the week, but good. i found that the discomfort that i feel at the beginning of a run, the one that, once i push through it, gives way to a good pace and rhythm...that discomfort comes back after a while. usually as i'm starting to feel bored. running for an hour is a long time. A LONG TIME. and i get a little bored. and when i get a little bored...the discomfort sneaks back in. the key for me is not to think about what is next or even where i'm going...just to think about the very step i'm taking. my breath, my legs, my body, my mind right that very moment, the piece of pavement right under my feet. not the end of the block or the next mile. i just collect myself, go back inside myself and block out everything else.

injury report:
one minor blister on the "ring toe" of my right foot. popped on its own. one really weird blister underneath the toenail on the "index toe" which i drained this evening. very odd sensation, squeezing pink water from underneath my toenail. it still feels weird - the toe nail and the skin it is attached to still feel "detached" from my toe. ew. also, some slight ankle pain in my right ankle. very slight. tonight i soaked my feet in epsom salts, slathered them with smith's rosebud salve, threw on some socks and tucked them into bed.

outlook:
positive. i know i can run the thing. bloomsday. i'm still nervous about doomsday hill. i'm going to let my feet rest and repair through tomorrow, and hopefully run on tuesday and thursday. short ones...nothing too taxing.

thanks to julian for being the official fun run photographer.

wish(es)

i have a few wishes for this weekend...

~that i'm happy and comfortable as i run - no annoying itches, impending and urgent bodily functions, blisters, side and/or aches of any other sort to sully my stride.

~that i run the whole way.

~that i run a good even pace. at least 10 minute miles. at least.

~that kenny and i have fun. it is a fun run, is it not?! i'm thinking the fun part is as important (if not more) than the run part. it does come first, no?

~that i don't look like too much of a knob running into the football stadium.

~that julian takes me to a yummy breakfast afterward that includes beer. yes oh yes beer for breakfast.

~that i don't step in dog poop.

very simple, humble wishes really. from a simple, humble girl.

my run last night (a short one to loosen my legs which were tight from the longer run the night before) was another great one. perfect temperature outside. dusk to almost dark. friendly (or slutty, you decide) orange cat who flopped over and presented me with his belly, insisting i stop for a second to rub it. i high fived a few tree branches along the way, including this willow that usually catches me off guard and flicks me in the eye. i'm sure i look retarded (ooops, am i going to lose my endorsement for saying that??) slapping tree branches as i run. but i've gotten to know these trees over the past couple months. they are my support, my fans, cheering me on...out there every night i am. long run or short, there they are... the chestnut, the oak, the willow, the birch, the cedar, the fir... i have to tell you, trees give good support. unwavering, actually.

okay, i've officially stepped way to far into hippy-dippy land. i'm gonna go blow on my wish and spin in circles...see you in corn valley...

mom i hope you're feeling better today...

peepshow

first of all - BIG CONGRATULATIONS to sydney, chris and maggie higgins for welcoming (finally!) gabriel raymond higgins to their (and our) family. lil' gabe, if pictures are any indication, appears to have the large and loud higgins' mouth and is sure to fit right in.

the picture is for those anxiously awaiting my peep creations...

best run ever tonight!!! i could feel it coming, i was jonseing for it all day long. i ran a nice 5.35 mile loop, over to 33rd, up to prescott, back down to 15th, then down to fremont, over to 7th, down to hancock and back home. 33rd has a pretty killer hill up to fremont. i felt strong and confident. got up the hill no problem and just kept running. i'm thinking about bloomsday. i know the hill is at the end of the race. me? i like to get the hard part out of the way first. pisser.

i think i'll do a short run tomorrow, and then relax on friday in preparation for the 10K on saturday. i'm not about time, i'm just about completion. tonight's run - what turns out to be an 8.6K run, took a little less than an hour. i'm still hovering at 10 to 11 minute miles. but i'm not bothered. as i was running i felt intensely proud that i can now run. whenever and wherever i want.

readers' poll - an ouchy blister has developed on the inside of my second toe in from my big toe on my right foot (would this be the index toe??). it rubs against my big toe when i run, and this blister forms - this is the second one in the same spot. i have 3 days before this race. let it be and hope it goes down? gently pop and drain it and schmear it with antibiotic cream and wear a bandage? what say you, hoi polloi?

so, body mods...yeah, um...more on that later ;-)

a weekend of trillium

last sunday i was gonna write about running in a hail storm.

but i didn't.

and then i was going to write about pilates on monday, and stretching in general.

but i didn't.

and then i was going to write about my annoying spring cold that was hindering my running on tuesday and wednesday.

but i didn't.

so we'll skip all that. i have my first official "run" next saturday. i know i haven't put in the mileage i need, but i still think i can do it. this weekend julian and i got in one last snow-shoe outing at trillium lake that served as my cross training. the sky was cloudless and periwinkle blue. we saw three igloo-building lesbians. to be fair, so we can't confirm they were lesbians, but applying the logic of that militia dude up in murray, idaho, who hypothesized that ALL women from oregon were lesbians, i think we can safely assume they were. we left them to their igloo-building activities and moseyed on our way. we ended up circling the lake, stopping for a look across the ice, an apple and a bit of chocolate. as we rounded the lake near the dam, we spied a very plump otter out on the ice. he kept an alert eye on ringo, and at the first safe opportunity, in an instant he disappeared under the ice. we slushed out way back up to the car... quite a hike actually, and the slushy snow would give way under our feet every now and again as if we were walking in deep sand...

this morning we went for a walk in the sunshine, before we started the day - i snapped the pic of the purple trillium along the way. amazing how spring is in full bloom down here and up at the mountain it is still winter...

i did run today. not sure how far i went. i thought it would be fun to try forest park. but i'm not familiar with the trails. i'm interested in trail running, there is a 15K trail run in clackamas in july. i like the idea of being out in the woods. but man i was running up for a looooong time. the hills killed me, but i kept plugging away. shuffleshuffleshuffle. some wiry teenage boy loped past me chewing up the hill like a whitetail deer on a game trail. wippersnapper. whatever.

at the end of this, after bloomsday, i'm thinking of some sort of body modification. not sure what, not sure where (tho i have ideas). more on this later...

map it!

cool little website i found for mapping a running route and determining the mileage... i'll link it on my sidebar as well...

map my run

5

okay! i'm back.

today i ran 5 miles. it wasn't the best run i've had, i had a hard time getting started. i felt crappy, my ankle hurt a bit. as i was running up 7th i stopped and walked for 2 blocks. thought about what i was doing. thinking about the FIVE MILES. so i broke it down into pieces. run to knott. okay that wasn't bad, now run to irving park. i'm there, so keep going to fremont. done. a bunch of tiny, achievable goals. listened to my nano, mike doughty haughty melodic. btw - who needs an armband or a lanyard? MY nano fits inside my sportsbra, perfectly flat against my sternum between my nonexistent boobs! you know, where my cleavage would be... if i had any. just one more reason to love my little bitties!! maybe i should start calling them iBoobs.

the sun beamed a few times, in fact, i wished i'd had my sunglasses. i got hot. hotter than i've been. i don't like feeling overheated, and while i didn't get there today, i will at some point if i continue running into the summer. and spokane in may could be warm as well...as i topped the hill at 33rd and fremont, the sun was as its peak and my face felt HOT. am thinking next time of reversing the route and running up 33rd to fremont - the hill looks a little longer... a little more of a challenge...

i did notice something about running five miles. i'm slow. so it takes a long time. and to be honest, i get a little bored and impatient. i want to be DONE! i'm sure i won't have this problem during the race, because i'll be jacked up about doing it. but something to keep in mind for neighborhood runs in the future.

time to get a little more serious about this i think. be a little more "kenny" about my regimen from now until the day of the race. i feel like i've plateaued a little bit, and i need to push myself up and over...

hoping my brother's workload is lightening up and allowing him some sanity through sweat...

running the silos

these silos are at the end of julian's street. they are two of the last intact pieces of the broken carcass of a dairy farm that is being picked apart by "progess". a hospital will be going up in a few years, and the silos will probably go the way of the rest of the farm...scrap. memory.

as i've mentioned, we run up and down his street. sunday and monday. it is .5 mile from end to end, and includes two nice hills. low tech interval training. i like it. very rocky-esqe. cement stairs at the philadelphia museum of art or poorly paved hilly rural roads in clackamas. make more than do with what you have, what is right in front of you. i've been running around my 'hood for 5 weeks. nary a sore muscle (but much aerobic progress being made). a few times up and down these hills - owie mommy my glutes are barkin'.

i rode my friend stacey's cruiser bike after work today. down to the east side esplanade. it was nice, save for the sun-warmed stank rising off the willamette and the numerous "warning: raw sewage" signs i rode past. (did the dude fishing off the 'nade *not* see the signs??). perhaps because i'm not an experienced cyclist, i felt more vulnerable than i do when i run around my neighborhood. there were quite a few groups of men hanging out, making comments at me. a few young bmx-type biker-bois who enjoyed pretending to nearly run into me and skid to a stop just in time. ha ha ha - that never gets old! i enjoyed my ride, went all the way down to the hawthorne bridge and back, but i probably won't do it again by myself. not after work. maybe during the day on a weekend...

bloomsday t-shirts are in the works! kenny was able to get permission to use the official bloomsday logo. i'm going to rope someone at work into typesetting it for us. no doubt they'll be the smokin' hot, must-have shirt come race day...

itches are bitches

who am i? where have i been? why have i not been posting to my blog?

let me 'splain.

no, there is too much. let me sum up.

while i have been slacking on this blog, i haven't been slacking on training. since last i posted, i ran tuesday, thursday, friday, saturday and sunday. no big long runs, most in the 3-3.5 mile range. i seem to have gotten that down. in the run up (pun very much intended) to the 10K in april and bloomsday, i think i'm going to have to turn up the training. work in more hills, and next weekend run 5 miles.

today, julian and i ran up and down his street a couple times - ends up being about 2 miles, but he has a nice .25 mile of hill. it's hard, running up hill. i feel like i can run for miles on a relatively flat outdoor course - slight grades are fine. but hills are another thing altogether. when i'm running up hill, i feel like the ground is like the belt on a treadmill and i'm not making any forward progress. as long as i keep my eyes about 3' in front of me, and my feet moving, i just keep plugging away. eventually i'll get to the top. doesn't matter to me how long it takes.

things i've been thinking about while running this week...

butt itch while running sucks. all-consuming and distracting. once you feel it, that's it. it is all you can think about ITCH-ITCH-ITCH-ITCH. it is nigh onto impossible to give your butt a good and thorough scratching while running. you know when you properly scratch an itch... how you kind of go into that euphoric zen paralysis - when you *really* scratch that itch?? take my cat - when i scratch mookie's butt his eyes narrow, he cocks his head to one side and he starts frantically licking the air - i totally get this. itches anywhere on your body while you're running are annoying. but the butt itch is particularly annoying. and then there is the small issues of who wants to be going at their ass like a baboon while kindly folks are driving by - hey everyone, check it - my rear-end itches sumpin' fierce!!!

i feel small when i run. small and alone. not in a vulnerable way - in fact i don't feel very vulnerable at all. just small, tiny, within myself. it's just perspective. i'm this little dot moving about the earth... slowly... persistently...purposefully... there are people all around me, but i'm only aware of what is going on inside of me. i'm not verbalizing this well at all. it is a good feeling.

hope to be better about blogging this week...

pushing up hill

after a short (2.5mi) run friday after work that felt fantastic (no lingering fever related fatigue), the busy weekend conspired against me. too many obligations to other's, not enough obligation to myself and my training.

the weekend ended with a HUGE dinner at the home of some family friends. my over indulgence didn't bother me from a caloric sense, but it seriously paralyzed me. i was in a food (and wine) coma by the time i got home, so any idea of running sunday night was buried under salmon ball, lasagne and cheesecake. yes, oh yes, cheesecake. when plain ol' cake isn't rich enough, why not add cheese! i was in pain. running was out of the question unless i desired to present the contents of my stomach to unsuspecting (and undeserving) passers by.

the topics of conversation sunday evening included the usuals - sex and religion. prior being exposed to a little more information than i needed about my parents' sex life (thankyouverymuch...please pass the brain bleach), we talked running/training over appetizers. kenny and i are a study in contrasts in working toward our common goal of bloomsday. he is as methodical as i am fly-by-the-seat-of-my-pants. but we're each going about this in the way that works for us. structure v. freeform. i don't do well with regimented structure. i'll set the goal, give myself a rough outline (in this case, hal's 10K for novices training schedule), but i need room to flex and improvise. this, however, does not mean i won't push myself, so when brother recommended that i work some hills into my running, i took this under advisement.

tonight, i ran 3.5 miles in 35 minutes. that's 10 minute miles. i'm slowly knocking seconds of time off my miles. but what i was most excited about was that i switched my route to include a hill. i ran up 15th to fremont, and then east on fremont to 33rd. there is a small hill (not a grade or an incline but a bonafide hill) as fremont reaches 33rd. about 4-5 blocks worth of hill. i felt it for sure, but i kept running (bonus points for running uphill into a headwind!!!). as i reached the top, i started to feel that familiar nausea from over exertion. but i recovered quickly as i started running down 33rd toward knott.

i'm beginning to think i can do this. no shit.

NNNOOOOOoooooooooooo!!!!

a moment of silence, please.








thank you.

edited to add: rough basketball weekend for the entire state of washington... condolences.

the voodoo that yoodooo

so i was talking to mom tonight, and she was asking me about the running, and was i taking care of myself...

"you used to get side aches. have you gotten any side aches?" she asked.

"nope, not a one!" i replied, a little to confidently as it turns out.

tonight i was supposed to run 3 miles. and i did. but about one mile in i got a stitch in my side. not high up under my ribs where i remember getting them, but just to the right of my left hipbone. a very focused pain. like a perma-noogie, just digging in deeper and deeper. i wasn't sure what to do... are you supposed to run through a stitch? are all stitches created equal? because of the location of this pain (not to mention the time of the month, sorry, but if i can run with it you can read about it) i thought it might be a gas bubble.

i made sure i was breathing fully, hoping that would help. one thing i've noticed when i can't get my breath, it is because i'm not exhaling every last drop of air. i'm rushing to inhale. so i'm trying to be patient with my breathing and it is helping. but not with this pain. it was there for the last two miles. didn't stop until i did.

and when i stopped running, instead of feeling light and energized, i felt heavy, my legs like wet sacks of sand. my body ached. i was chilled, even tho i was properly dressed. i'm thinking this has to do with my period, rather than coming down with anything. but i'm drinking an emergen-c just in case!!

much love to all my family... i'm thinking about all of you... i'm not me without you...

four.

i ran four miles today. in shorts. it's the last day of winter, and the sun was high in the sky impatiently waiting for spring. done with moody winter, the sun brushes it off like an unwanted suitor. spring, the striking new guy in town, is catching the sun's eye. yo girlfriend, i hear spring is a player...don't get your warm heart set on any long term commitment...

i wanted to know what it felt like to run 4 miles. it feels just like three, only longer. i know that sounds silly, but there is a threshold or level of physical discomfort that i've found, for lack of a better word, comfortable. that my body can accept. and once i hit that, it doesn't get any worse no matter how long i run. that's when my mind wanders, or empties, and i'll run a few blocks and not even realize i've covered the distance.

i need to get a proper timer, because i've not been very good about timing my runs. right now i'm more concerned about covering the distance. but i would like to know how fast i'm running. i think today i ran about 10+ ish minute miles.

apple tart with currants and apricot sauce. yep, i made that. it was YUMMY!

kneedeep

julian found a new fun thing to do! the new fun thing is to whap snow-laden branches with his ski pole just as i'm walking underneath them. and then snicker maniacally. easy target, i am, so absorbed by what is around me, i'm not paying attention to the ass behind me every time i happen pass under a cedar branch.

we snow-shoed for over 3 hours. it was great to be out in the snow, breathing to the bottom of our lungs. how often do you do that? breath all the way to the bottom of your lungs. do it. i've been doing it a lot lately. i've been reminding myself, even when i'm not working out, to breath deeply. just take a few deep, slow breaths. feel them move in, down, up and out of my lungs. like watching one single snow flake make its way from the clouds in the sky through the trees and down to the earth, i visualize and follow my breath all the way through my body.

ringo had an excellent time on the trail, falling into his trail scout role he assumed when we backpacked in idaho. he'd run ahead, and then sprint back to check on us, full-bore, and then skid out in a cloud of kicked-up snow as he slid to a stop at our feet. he ended up with snow/ice balls dangling from his ankles like some kind of doggy-leg ornaments.

tomorrow, a four mile run. my first. i'm a little nervous. a good night's sleep should help. so that's what i have planned for this evening.

day off!

finally got my run in lat night between boisterous rainstorms, so i didn't have to spend an hour on the dreadmill. today we're going snowshoeing, tomorrow will be my off day, and then sunday [insert menacing music here] a FOUR mile run.

the shamrocks are in my room, always peeking out my window. i've had them since grandpa died, which has to be a record long relationship for me and one plant. but they are a straight forward plant, they communicate with me clearly - droopy and brown = water me. so i oblige...and they live on. it's those vague, evasive plants that don't let you know what they need that i have problems with. don't expect me to read your mind, plant. orchids are the worst, they look fantastic one day and the next they've dropped every leaf and petal and are just a stick in a pot. nice.

happy st. patrick's day! go zags!

last resort

got up this morning to run and it was raining SO hard. i'm packing my bag and going to try the treadmill at the gym tonight. don't like the gym, but i'm left with no choice. if the weather looks okay later on i'll come home and run my neighborhood route, but it doesn't look promising...

the treadmill. rodent wheel for people. don't like 'em. boooooring. but i have my nano, and of course my never ending internal monologue to entertain me. and then there's the people watching... there's that, i have that...

self-inflicted torture

the thing with torture is, the human body responds to it. it tries to protect you. you submit it to torture, and it hurts. you keep up that same level of torture, and the body adjusts to accept it. the threshold for pain moves higher. protecting you from discomfort.

so explain to me why my measly 2.5 mile run this morning was such torture, and my 3 mile run on saturday was the proverbial cakewalk?

one thing i think is my body doesn't like to go from bed to run. i think i need to get up, move around, have some tea before i go. remember that strength i was talking about? it has a friend. discipline. i need to have an affair with discipline. bedtime is important. sleep is important. and when my alarm goes off, get the hell out of bed!!

strength

i bet y'all thought i was giving up last week... didn't ya? it's okay, i get it. but get use to being wrong, SUCKAAHHSSSSS!!!!

but first, i just had a lovely meal of caesar salad, steamed cauliflower with butter and lemon, and a small tenderloin steak that was TO DIE FOR. just melted in my mouth. simply prepared - a little s&p rubbed in, then sizzled two sides in a hot skillet. perfect. now if i only had some wine... oh well. a little dark chocolate with hazelnuts, more rooibos tea for me, and then off to bed. with some music to guide me into slumber on this full moon night...maybe lucinda williams...

today was stretch and strengthen, so i did an hour of pilates. i was pleasantly surprised at my ability to successfully perform nearly all of the exercises, even the ones that make my body shake and tremble. just keep breathing and connecting the breathing to your core. my back didn't twinge, and i only had to stop once when one of my toes did that weird thing where it kind of pulls out of joint and you can't move it? you know what i'm talking about? like a charlie horse in your toe?? GOD i hate those. i get them in yoga as well and they just drop me to the ground. stupid dumb toe.

strength. this training is strengthening my body and my mind. i'm more determined (about a lot of things) than i've felt in a while. and i think a huge part of strength is recovery. how you recover from a setback. not just how quickly, but how true. last week i had a setback. it really bogged me down, made me a self-defeating sourpuss (just ask julian...bless him). this week? i'm over it. and moving forward.

strength.

oxymoron of the day :: fun run

my brother asked me if i want to run a 10k with him a week before bloomsday. i'm thinking about it... might be a great way to cap off my training, and then ease off the week before the run.

thinking...

damn you kenny and your infernal contagious enthusiasm! DAMN YOU!!

reason no. 17 to run :: escape

i'm finally on the other side. friday night i was at work until 1, and then in bed spinning until 3:30 or so. i couldn't turn off my mind. work stress had unleashed random insecurities that took the wheel and wouldn't let go. i woke up saturday with one thought.

run.

escape. escape the week. escape work. escape the thoughts that kept me up at night.

so i did. i escaped for a good 3 miles in 35 minutes in the bright sunshine and the cold crisp air. a new route, up 15th, left on 7th, down to knott, up to 21st, right and back down 21st to hancock and home. it was (relatively) easy. it felt great. i thought about what i was running from, and what i was running toward.

i've realized something about running. it is meditation in motion. if you do it right, your mind empties, and all you hear is your breathing, your feet hitting the earth, your heart pumping blood throughout your body (and in my case, mike doughty's rising sign). you're aware of how your body feels, positive and negative. you're open to the instant feedback. as your mind clears, the troubling whitecaps smooth into a reflective clarity, like the columbia on a rare windless day. you see things in ways you've not seen them before. secrets are revealed. answers come.

that's all. this will be a better week.

what day is it??

is my mother reading this? because i'm about to use some colorful language...

*deep breath*

seems if it isn't working until after 10pm, it is a few inches of snow in my way. tomorrow, i'm packing a gym bag and going to the gym. i hate it, but desperate times call for desperate measures.

what did i want to do today? i wanted to get up, go for a run, go to work, have a productive day, leave work at a reasonable hour, trip to trader joe's, do a little house cleaning, pet mookie, see my boyfriend (maybe get snowed in together), watch a movie, drink some tea, snuggle, sleep and dream. what did i do? wake up late to no alarm other than mookie walking across my chest to drink from the glass of water at my bedside, scramble to shower/get ready, drive to work in the snow exacerbated traffic, work until 10pm, drive home in blobby snow, chat w/julian on the phone, go to bed.

and now my project is threatening to shit all over my weekend as well. i'm just not going to allow that to happen. that's all there is to it.

i'm very frustrated.

painting by laura walker scott

day 10 :: falling down

i let work invade my space today, and the thing that dropped was my workout. last in, first out. i didn't get home until after 10, and it was all i could do to make tea and crawl into bed. i've set the alarm for an early morning run, but it is going to be bitch-ass cold out there. warm bed...cold, wet street... tough choice, that.

the good thing about the weather is that it is dumping snow on mt. hood, and i'm hoping to snow shoe this weekend with julian. maybe we'll make anatomically correct snow peoples. the picture is one i took while skiing with friends. snow always makes me think of my grandma, who used to be so grumpy if it didn't snow enough... she would take poloriod pictures of her backyard blanketed in snow and send them to me with a note like "eat your heart out, babe!" equal parts sharing the joy and rubbing my face in it!

day 9 :: the only way to finish...

...is to start.

and then, of course, you have to keep going. not much time to write, i'll be late for work. i didn't want to run this morning, so i put it off until i got pissed at myself and forced myself out the door. mind over matter. as i'm finding out, i always feel fantastic when it is over.

tears stream down my face as i run. why is that? the weather? my body's involuntary reaction to the sustained physical torture that is running? i don't know, but it happens every time.

i'm eating an orange my dad brought back from california. it's like sunshine on my tongue.

happy birthday!

happiest of birthdays (belatedly) to my auntie donna and my cousin bleefy...er... boofy...my apologies for my lameness on sending out greetings in a timely fashion.

which brings me to some family business. so far, by my count, those in on the run are:

_kenny
_heather
_boofy
_erin
_ben
_heidi

any other cousins out there down for the torture and have an amenable schedule? bonus: it is a great prelim for a summer backpacking excursion...!

days 6/7 :: learning to spit

saturday was to be a cross training day. i started my training with a lovely scramble of garlic, olives, spinach, smoked salmon, sundried tomato pesto, feta and jack cheese, and eggs. then i helped julian drag large amounts of wood (2x4's, boards, siding, flooring etc.) out of his shed so he could inventory it. it was a bit of exercise, but not enough. i went home and took my friend's bike out for a little leisurely spin before dark. i don't know how far i went, but i was gone for about an hour, tooling around the side streets of irvington/alameda/alberta. steering clear of the main roads because i'm a bit nervous to ride in traffic. not much experience in urban cycling. i came home and intended on taking a nap (up too late the night before) and then meeting some friends out around 10pm. i lay down at 7, and the next thing i know it is 12:30! whoops - there went saturday night. and i was WIDE awake at 12:30. stayed that way until about 3 - tooling around the net, listening to music...

i fell back to sleep between 3 and 4... not waking up again until 8. i snuggled in bed with mookie (the fat cat) for a couple hours, procrastinating my 3 mile run. i made tea, had a small breakfast, got back in bed... soon it was 11 and i was irritating myself with my procrastination. so i threw on my shoes and hit the pavement. ipod dialed to mike doughty - so far he's my favorite running companion. his music is uptempo w/o being manic. a nice backdrop to my journey. (i just downloaded some harvey danger and can't wait to take it running...i think it will be perfect...)

my route was much the same, with a small addendum to push it into the 3 mile mark. that little addendum included a hill. ugh. it hurt me. it brought back all the feelings i hate about running... i couldn't catch my breath, my stomach was cueing up in my throat wanting to spew forth, my heart was beating like a meth addled drummer in a speed metal band right between my ears. so i walked for 3 blocks. once i recovered myself, i started running again. felt much better... felt human... felt like i'd found my pace again. i was proud that i didn't give up. i was proud that i didn't feel defeated. at the end of the run, i felt really good.

so, week one down. i stayed on schedule with little impact to my daily schedule, which is really nice. today after swallowing too much air, decided i need to learn how to spit - i've never been good at it and to do it while running w/o getting it over myself is my next milestone. not so keen on the snot-rockets tho, i'll wipe my runny nose on my sleeve until it is crusty before i'll blow snot out of my nose onto the pavement.

this isn't going to be easy, the training or the run. but i'm already feeling that it is going to be tremendously worthwhile.

day 5 :: REST!!!

today... nothing. i'm actually afraid of the rest day, because i'm afraid i'll lose momentum, energy, drive. but all training schedules i've read include one day of rest. so who am i to argue with such wisdom?! off to a nice breakfast with friends. enjoy the day!

day 4 :: daffodils

spring was heavy in the air as i ran my loop early this morning. daffodils did their best imitations of the sun, sweet daphne perfumed the way. i swear daphne smells the way sweet-tarts taste.

i covered the same distance but in about 30 minutes. i didn't get an exact time because my cool down walk included a trip to peet's coffee where i snagged myself some banana maple coffee cake. which would be delicious were in not vegan!!! please vegans of the world, do not foist your dense and rubbery baked "goods" on the unsuspecting public. okay, admittedly i didn't read the teensy sign close enough, and missed that the bakery's phone number ended with "v-e-g-a-n". i was distracted by the anticipated mingling of banana and maple flavors. not exactly the "treat" i was hoping to give myself. next time, i'll walk the extra few blocks to grand central and grab a hand pie or one of their soft-ball sized cinnamon rolls... next thing you know some raw food outfit will start distributing blobs of shredded raw carrot, raisins (wait, are raisins raw??), honey, molasses, oats, flax seed and sprouted wheat under the guise of "carrot cake". gah.

i have no beef (heh) with vegans. really. but where you lose me is honey. honey is the nectar of the gods, transmitted to us through the humble, bumble bee. i dream one day of keeping bees and harvesting my own honey. i guess i just don't get how something so magical as honey, so pure and healing, so of this earth, used by culture after culture as medicine and nourishment, could be offensive. i found this page explaining why honey isn't vegan and discussing the enslavement of bees. and while i'll admit that like any commodity there are ways of producing and harvesting it that are mindful of the bees and of the earth, and ways that aren't. but COME ON PEOPLE??!! so i'm dreaming of becoming a slave owner. and my hives will be my plantation. yeah, right.

so to continue my workout schedule, i need some strength training today. that will have to wait until after work...

beautiful daffodil painting is by laura walker scott and i picked it because it reminded me of shelby...

day 3 :: p-p-p-pilates

continuing the training program, i am to cross train for 30 minutes today. i didn't feel like going to the gym and running on the hamster wheels with the rest of the rodents, so i decided to do pilates at home. i have these tapes, winsor pilates, that i picked up at an estate sale. (as opposed to windsor pilates because who wants to see the queen mum with her knees up around her ears!!) while i probably should have done something aerobic, i also need to work on my core strength, and that is what pilates is all about.

my lower back has been hurting... sometimes more, sometimes less... since the weekend of my birthday. i'm sure it was due to the herky-jerky trying to maintain my balance reflex movement while xc skiing coupled with less than rock hard abs. i was a little nervous to do the pilates - your back will tell you loud and clear if it isn't up for the session. but mine held up, as i concentrated on my breathing and keeping my core pulled in strong as my limbs stretched out. if you've never tried it, you must. it looks simple and graceful, and you might not feel like it is a workout, but if you do it right, you'll feel it the next day.

overall my body feels good. i have a slight tickle in my throat, pushing up a cough every now and again. feeling a little tired, but i've been up late the past couple nights. so tonight, in short order, it's rooibos tea and bed for me.

tomorrow a 2 mile run plus some strength training. i'll probably do the same run i did last night...if i'm getting up early to do it i don't want to have to bother with figuring out a new route. i'll be lucky to drag my ass out of bed, to be honest. but if i do, i'll reward myself with a yummy pastry from peet's or somesuch. because why the hell not!

day 2: gotta be the shoes

time for some real running shoes. i hightailed it to the store tonight armed with some suggestions for a good running shoe with a decent amount of stability. i ended up buying the air zoom percept after trying on about 6 different pairs. they're a little blingy for my tastes (green sparkle? lotsa silver detailing??) but they felt great on my feet from the minute i put them on. not to soft, not too stiff, not too heavy, not too light. just.... right!

okay! run #1 down. vital stats:

total distance - 2.9 miles
time - 35 minutes

for those of you calculating at home, yep, that is a 12 minute mile. yeehaw, i'm burnin' up the pavement! truthfully, dutiful to my training guides, i did a 5 minute warm up walk and a 7 minute cool down walk, for a total of 12 minutes in which i covered about .9 miles. that brings my actual running time down to 23 minutes, and an 11.5 minute mile. still, that's gotta be some kind of record for the slowest actual *run* ever recorded. because i swear to you, i ran. it wasn't walking. i know walking, this was different. a little faster, slightly bouncier. i'm positive i was running.

but it felt great! i didn't ever feel like i was drowning or gasping for breath. i kept checking with myself and i didn't feel the need to walk (save for the warm up and cool down). it was a crisp night. i found a comfortable, albeit snail-like, pace that i could maintain. i kept my body movements to a minimum, didn't want to waste energy swinging my arms about, twisting my body or high stepping it. i kept within myself.

it had rained, but it wasn't raining while i was out. beautiful fresh air filled my lungs. the car exhaust was annoying, but to be expected as i wanted to keep on well-lighted (aka semi busy) roads. the comforting smell of wood smoke from multiple cozy fireplaces scented my path... and i swear just about a block from here i smelled a little ganja... i'll have to run by again just to make sure...

i ran past a house that still had a lit tree in the window, but i'll give them a pass because they also had a neon pink flamingo on the adjacent wall. this massive old oak tree on the corner of fremont on 17th must've fell victim to the recent winds, as what remained of it lay in large chunks of trunk and tidy piles of branches.

as i walked past the crown royal apartments on my cool down, i wondered if you have to be an alcholic to live there.

and i was proud of myself tonight.

day 1 of run monkey run

to be honest, i could count saturday as day one... my first "cross training" day. i went cross country skiing with julian. that's the kind of exercise i enjoy. out in nature, easy on the knees (until you fall), never gasping for breath but feeling your body come alive. i'm a firm believer that exercise doesn't have to hurt to work. i'm not against pushing your limits and trying new things. i'd never xc skied until this year. i (sort of) took up snow boarding a few years ago. but running? boring. yawn. tedious. painful. gasping for air... i'm sure i'm doing it all wrong.

so now, armed with a specific goal in mind, i'll begin my training. i'm looking forward to it actually. i'm looking forward to a concrete goal, set and waiting to be met. i'm looking forward to sharing this experience with my brother, and my cousins.

i've received advice from many sources...co-workers, my boyfriend, strangers on the internet. i'll post my successes, and my not -so-successful successes here (i'm refusing the idea of failure here, any step i take toward this goal is a success). i hope my brother and cousins will participate in this blog... if anything because typing into the virtual abyss can feel a bit lonely... but also to help keep me motivated. and i hope, in turn, to help motivate them.

i'm roughly following Hal Higdon's 10-K training for novices. and i'm going to supplement that with a book a co-worker lent to me called "Running: Getting Started" by Jeff Galloway

love the monkey running from the cupcakes. truth be told, this monkey would be running straight for them, arms open wide, mouth open even wider. oh the bliss of landing face first in sponge cake...