Melancholy

It's snowing in Ohio.

I was not good about running last week. Only got about 7 miles in. And I did not do my long run.

Mostly because I've been feeling slight melancholy again. I wouldn't say full blown depression but a persistent sense of unease and an unwillingness to leave my bed. I wonder how this can happen when I'm on all the drugs that have been working thus far. Therapy has been rough for the last month or so. Maybe that's it.

But I'm going to class. I will not allow myself to stay in bed all day and miss the classes that I love. I will not do that to myself.

Even if it is snowing in Ohio.

Where Kate proves once again the vastness of her intellect

OK, so remember a few posts ago where I mentioned how stupid I am? The blisters from my brilliant Halloween costume kept me from running for an entire week. I've been hobbling around like....something that hobbles a lot, feeling stupider and stupider as this ridiculousness plays itself out. The blisters on my toes were so big that they encompassed my entire toe. And when I (being the genius we all know I am) popped them, a thick layer of skin rose all the way around my toe. So naturally, I pulled the skin off, leaving three of my toes exposing the second layer of skin and extremely sensitive to the slightest touch. Hence no running. Today has been the first day I've put the full weight of my body on them and haven't fallen back in pain so I'm going to try an eensy weensy tiny run tonight and see how it goes.

30 before 30

For a much more eloquent description of what this is, check out my sister-friend's post about stepping out of her comfort zone. A few years ago I had a similar conversation with her when she told me about 30 things she wanted to challenge herself to do before she turned 30. I decided to steal her idea and make up a list of my own. As you can see, I've had difficulty even FINISHING the list so obviously some of these won't get done. Like #4 for example. The italicised goals are works in progress and the red goals are already completed. I might have to tack on another 5 and change it to 35 Before 35 since, um, I only have 11 10 months left. Oops.

1. Run a marathon (i.e. FINNISH a marathon)
2. Lose 50 lbs
3. Read Anna Karenina and The Brother’s Karmanov.
4. Finish knitting the scarf (I've knitted several baby blankets, a sweater and about 7,000 handbags so even though I didn't technically finish the scarf, I'm checking it off. The point of that was to become a better knitter and I have.)
5. Kiss a boy (a reciprocal kiss!)
6. Find a new job
7. Visit a state I’ve never been to before
8. Get a tattoo
9. Cut off contact with The Ex permanently
10. Take a multi-vitamin every day.
11. Publish something I’ve written
12. Revisit Edinburgh
13. Establish a circle of Christian friends
14. Take a photography class
15. Visit a country I’ve never been to before
16. Volunteer
17. Sing karaoke in front of people
18. Find a bible study to attend
19. Try seafood
20. Learn how to make one meal really well (besides desert)
21. Fix the car
22. Wear a bikini outside my living room
23. officially join the church
24. finish the 30 before 30 list
25. learn how to ride a bike using no hands
26. consistently practice yoga
27. break 25:25 in the 5k
28. Apply to 10-12 MFA programs.
29. Take a self-defense class
30. Pee in the woods.

updated 9/14/09

The Week

This has been a great running week for me despite the fact that I'm putting off the long-run-that-isn't-really-long until later in the day or possibly tomorrow because of a certain holiday yesterday and a dum-dum who wore 2 inch heels that ripped her feet to shreds. I don't know what possessed me to wear these shoes and yes I realize they were only 2-inches so you can point and laugh at me all you want but I have 6 blisters the size of Kansas on each foot. Once again I prove how smart I really am.

Anywho. I'll get six miles in at some point which will put me right at 15 miles for the week. I'm pretty comfortable with that and will probably stay at that mileage for a few weeks before I start working my way up to 20 and eventually 25 before my training schedule starts for the 1/2 marathon at the beginning of May. I have little hope I can PR there after my 2:10 last year because of my layoff but I really like this race. That will make 3 years in a row! Luckily for me I am quite happy to keep running the same courses over and over and have little desire to travel more than a half hour to race. I just don't have the money or time for that sort of investment.

My friend Jackie is also continuing to run with me. This thrills me to the core. I get voicemails from her asking what time we're going to run, which route we'll take, where's the best place to get one of those watter bottle thingies with the hand strap. Not to discredit her but I never expected her to stick with it for as long as she has (about 3 weeks now) and to also enjoy it as much as she does. She's even setting small goals for herself and realizing how empowering it makes her feel. It almost brings tears to my eyes with joy.