Okay, so it’s safe to say that sometime this summer between the GRE, getting into grad school, work, life, someone’s eye surgery, weddings, moving, dating, traveling, celebrating, changing jobs, studying, commuting, fretting, etc. – my perfectly calculated running schedule turned to mush, and so has my stomach. Time to get back on that horse. I’m restarting the run rants, starting today.
Also, I just got done with my first run of the fall – WHY DID I EVER STOP! I feel GREAT! And I have totally have sweatmarks all over my stomach and armpits (I know that’s probably disgusting, but true marks of a good run where you didn’t give up). Something about looking into roller derby has dramatically inspired me to push myself during today’s run…
I started off thinking “Wow! What a beautiful day! I am off to a new start, to a new life, and I am going to get back on that high horse!” (especially since Dr. Greenthumb told me that the treadmills at the rec over at TxState have those plug-ins for headphones that go to tv’s…) (Soooo looking forward to that…) (And I don’t even have to be at work until 9 most days – this is going soooo well!!)
Given that this is my first run of the fall, and, well, really since about mid-August, I’m a little out of shape. I’ve also been eating and drinking, boozing it up with all that life has given my friends and I to celebrate with; I haven’t been taking any vitamins or metabolites, OR drinking my daily amount of water… Yeah, I’m way out of shape. It’s hard to stay on track when you’re getting spoiled by guys/men, traveling across the country, and being in four different states in a month (California, Texas, New York, Georgia… Did I get them all?). So of course, this is how I felt during the second quarter in my run, up until the halfway point at 11 a.m., when mother nature decided she wanted to cook a pizza for lunch and started to preheat the oven:
And shortly after that, despite drinking a bunch of water yesterday and some this morning, the only thing I really wanted to do when I finally escaped the shade and was really out pounding it underneath the sun:
Shortly therafter, I started to feel a little better. Still fat, but I felt better. Almost like I wanted to stop my short jogs and start dancing in the park because of the recent addition to “Club Jamz” like Pitbull, Usher, Lil Wayne, etc. to my running mix (to inspire me to become familiar with the club jams when I DO return to the dance floor someday) Kinda like this chick:
By the way… I used to have pants like those with a pink stripe. Where the hell did they go?
And of course, because I’m the luckiest chick to walk the face of the earth, of course, the only time this week I start to get the cramps is during the third quarter of my run, which made me feel like this for awhile:
Anyway, by the end of my run, I kinda felt like this:
And I definitely looked like this:
Yes, that’s me with totally embarrassing sweatmarks all over my stomach and armpits. I’m looking at them as badges of honor today, because even though I shaved off 5 minutes from my original running time, I’m happy I finally went out for a run – I meant to do it yesterday. I’m TOTALLY looking forward to future runs because, Carissa doesn’t know it, but we’re going to go run on that beautiful street behind her house in Lockhart 🙂
So here’s some half marathons I’m looking at (yes, let’s try this again. I have not given up on the dream!) (and now I have proximity to great running paths in both Lockhart and San Marcos, a student rec in San Marcos, and I won’t be driving all over the place!)
Saturday, Dec 4th – Spicewood Vineyards Half Marathon
1. This run is through a winery
2. People dress up like elves and santas to run – and they do so to win
3. This marathon benefits Toys for Tots
4. Now that I don’t have a predetermined Employee Christmas Party to work for that weekend, I think it’s a sign I should just go for it
5. It’s pretty close to Austin
6. It’s a little cheaper than some other marathons…
Sunday, November 21 – Seawall 10K
1. Maybe I just work up to a 10K for November and shoot for a half marathon in the spring?
2. Scenic 6.2 mile run through the Festival of Lights display at Moody Gardens, and along the Seawall. I can’t think of a better way to get into the spirit.
3. (Don’t I have something going on that weekend already?)
Or maybe I should just stick to some 5K’s and 10K’s in the fall, and look for a half in Jan – March… Work my way up to it, you know? I already have so much going on…
