The Color Run!

A few months ago my sister made the fantastic suggestion that we should participate in the So Cal Color Run.

The basic idea is that it's an untimed 5k run where every 1k there is a color station where they throw color on all of the runners.

I was unable to participate this year, but at the last minute found a pinch runner and served as the official photographer instead (I didn't do a very good job and managed to grossly overexpose a good portion of my pictures):

See you next year crazy messy run and 12000 of my closest friends!

Another Re-runner

My girlfriend Sara was mentioning how hard it is to get out and be active.  It is hard.  Life happens. 

Cheryl and I had started a long distance running pal 'thing' a while back to try to commit us both to running on a more regular basis.  I mentioned it to Sara who was interested.  I named it rerun and the idea is that we run to the same music on the same day and then hold each other accountable for it. 

For lack of much planning time, yesterday we took the Katy Perry Pandora Station (which resulted in a bit of a random mix for my run including My life Sucks without you, All-Star and Teenage Dream.)  Sara didn't share you play list but she did successfully navigate 2.6 miles on her first day!

I have this new thing about running west from my house.  I always use to run east.  So now I don't plot my run, I just kinda go.  It's an awesome freedom to know I can do it and it seems to make the time past more quickly, so as of this moment I have no idea how far I ran, but I'm about to find out...

So thanks to the marvels of map my run I found out I ran exactly 1.5 miles (there were also two stair cases involved).  That explains why it went so quickly .:)  Still, it wasn't that long ago I couldn't run a mile without dying, so I count it a victory! 

So thanks to Sara for being another motivator for getting other there everyday!

Route Fatigue?

I have a new observation/riddle about my running.  I typically run the same route almost daily.  As I mentioned in my last post, I found that I improved much faster this time than when I started in the beginning.  Still, I'm no pro runner, and I get tired fast.  I'd only run my longer loop once since my reunion with running and it didn't go well.

Today, I decided to run a long loop again.  Not sure why.  I think it was half because I always think it's funny to run when I'm wearing makeup and the other half because I was listening to MCR.  Thanks emo teen music for that extra umph.  Still, I was expecting it to be a struggle.

What surprised me is that I didn't get tired at the same distance markers I do during my short run.  In fact, the run when great and I probably could have sped it up a bit.  Which leads me to my riddle.

I think it's possible that I've somehow trained myself about when I'm supposed to get tired during my run.  The lazy part of me doesn't want me to go further or faster, so it's tricking me into thinking I'm barely completing my short run.  (That lazy part of me is pretty small, but possibly pretty smart, too)  The only other possibility I've come up with is that it has to do with elevation changes in the run, the problem with that theory is that overall, the long run has more elevation change than the short run, although obviously in a different pattern. 

So the running update is that I'm still running and somehow psyching myself out about what I can do. 

Running, revisited

The last running I did was the 5k last year.  It went terribly and I was disappointed with myself and the event.  As it turns out, I had a fantastic reason for doing such a terrible job, but that's for another blog entirely.

I haven't run since.  I met a new friend whose health conscious life style inspired me (read: made me feel really really guilty).  So this week, I reintroduced myself to my running shoes and hit the trail.

I was surprised to find how much easier and more quickly I improved this time around.  I ran almost everyday this week.  I still hate it, but I hate it less and it's a relatively small time commitment for a seemingly large life benefit. 

Yesterday my sister visited and we contemplated a long distance running partnership.  I could certainly use the extra encouragement!  If we go through with it, I am going to name it Project Rerun.  I have to admit that after running with Cheryl yesterday, I'm happier to have her as a long distance running partner; she's too fast for me (and kinda relentless!). 

I'm not a cute runner.

Gavin and I ran the 5k on Thanksgiving.  Mission Accomplished?  Yes.  Fun?  No.  Besides dodging walkers up and down sidewalks the entire race, our lack of proper preparation was evident and the lack of parking was miserable  Not to mention 11,000 people is too many people to deal with for your first race.  Still, we finished, I had some small sense of accomplishment and a feeling of not having given up.   

Then I get the lovely email surprise that there are photos of said event.  Searchable by name.  Ick.

I look terrible when I run.  Really, I look terrible when I work out or get too hot in general.  My face turns red and blotchy.  I pull my face muscles into strange and unnatural shapes.  Generally, it's just not good.

What was most frustrating is my posture in the photos isn't particularly good.  Oh well.  I did it.

The photos don't really motivate or unmotivate me, they just are.

In the meantime, I'm back to my goal of running just my little loop, 2-4 times a week with no planned races or goals, other than to keep going.  I fully expect this to by my last 'running' post for quite a while.

Run Run Away

I'm still not a runner. I run, I make running schedules, I wave at other runners I pass, I even shop at runners stores! But I'm still no runner.

All summer, I ran three time a week, more or less, and normally even looked forward to it after work (when it wasn't too late and I wasn't too tired, those days I dreaded it!). I wasn't running far, and for the most part I ran the exact same trail every day (don't tell the serial killer, I know they look for these patterns!) I felt like I was making progress and everyday I went a little bit faster and it was a little bit easier.

Little did I know, my running path was about to make a sharp turn (this is where a Dateline would cut to commercial, fyi)

I had decided that to help me sleep the night before the wedding, I would go for my run. Despite our best plans, we were running a bit behind schedule that day, but I was out the door and running by 7:15. I headed to the trail with the dog, leaving Gavin and his parents at home. I was running along the trail when suddenly I crashed, hard. I didn't know it until almost a week later, but some animal had burrowed under the trail, so while there wasn't a visible hole, when I stepped on the weak spot it caved under my foot sending me sprawling. I crawled up and stumbled home sobbing. Luckily, Gavin's dad was still there and took a look at my ankle which was fortunately was only rolled and not broken or sprained. I had road rash up my leg and on my hands. Besides becoming a memorable part of our wedding story, ( I was able to walk/dance fine and only had minor discomfort from the road rash) the fall had a tremendous impact on my running.

Band-Aids, the new garter.

Suddenly, I could no longer run confidently and found myself staring at the ground directly in front of me all the time. I ran a few times on our honeymoon, but even then, along the beautiful Jamaican beach, found it quite challenging to convince myself to go.

When I started running, I didn't buy shoes. I decided that if I kept it up though the summer, then I could buy shoes as a reward. I had solidly earned the shoes and  eventually buying them was probably one of the things that convinced me to not give up.

Currently, I'm still running. My goal is 6 miles a week, but I'm struggling to make it with the bumps life is throwing me.  I've decided to take a much more patient approach with myself and be proud of what I can do, and where I improve instead of negative and harsh.

Regardless, I'm still signed up for my first 5k on Thanksgiving and I'm going to do my best.  Given the last few weeks, there is at least some possibility that the mental picture I have of being the last person across the finish line (complete with 90 year old women with walkers passing me at the last moment) will come true, but I will do my best and I will be proud of myself.  And I will hopefully not fall.

Pursuing Selfish Delights

I frequently have to remind myself that occasionally being selfish is okay, or in fact, even good for me. This weekend, I spent most of my time being gleefully selfish!

Among other things, I played around with some new painting techniques.


I don't think I mastered them, but I'm actually quite happy with the way these paintings came out. I may hang them, although if I had known I was going to do that, I would have more carefully considered the colors of my composition in relation to my house, instead of just in relation to each other...

I only left the house Saturday to go for my run. I ran further than I typically do today and was rewarded with horrible wheezing for a while afterward. Baby steps! It seems that my new found interest has negatively impact my yoga practice. I attempted a yoga routine that I have done probably over a hundred times yesterday and couldn't get through it. Given this isn't the first time I've experienced a valley with yoga, but it's always disappointing. Luckily, even a bad yoga routine still has Savasana!

I've also been cooking up a storm! I prefer to cook things that involve tomatos, but this week I've only really used them in my Cheeseburger pie. Yesterday, I made a pretty delicious eggplant dish from the William Sonoma cookbook. I'm still not entirely comfortable cooking with eggplant. I find it difficult to cut completely evenly, and therefore it often cooks irregularly. Someday I'll stop fighting with the Mandolin Slicer, which will probably help. For now, I still find eggplant to be very tasty in almost all of the recipes I've tried it in. It's strange to me that I could have gone my entire life without ever having tried what turns out to be such a basic vegetable. I was also quite proud of my turkey rolls on Saturday. To be honest, I was quite proud of having three courses in one meal:


The only odd part is that for some reason, I bought and included the bacon recommended for inclusion with the spinach. This is odd because I very much dislike bacon and I was the only one eating this meal or it's various leftovers.

I've also been pouring over some wedding details, which invariable means spening quite a bit of time with this:

Like any project, I had to start with a binder. The only problem was that for the wedding, my notebook turned evil on me! It took the loving patience of my friend Jen to kick it back into shape. Now the notebook is back to being in good order, even if the wedding to do list is still a bit daunting.

Runner's High

I am not a real runner, so therefore I doubt I've ever, or will ever, experience the real runner's high. I'm not even sure what it is. But today I experienced something that was close enough for me.

Because today was a bad day I had intended to go for a slightly longer jog today (since my last blog entry I've run everyday except Sunday) and work on some of my wedding to-do's. Instead, after my disheartening afternoon I decided to seek the company of a sushi chef instead. After eating, I didn't really want to go home to my jog or my to do list, but I decided I needed to go home to my puppy. And I wasn't going to go on my jog, I decided, I was just going to cuddle up and so nothing instead.

Once I got home, I decided to go for the jog, Penny needs her exercise after sleeping all day after all. I didn't want to go and it was more than my normal 'running is hard I don't want to do it' not wanting to . Then the runner's high happened. Something about leaving everything except my dog at home and taking off on my own, something about knowing that even though I'm no good at running, I knew my familiar course and I knew I could make it (something I wasn't so sure of two weeks ago), something about time, even a short time, that was completely quiet and free for my mind with nothing but the sound of my breathing in my ears. I don't know what real runner's high is, but for today I'll take this. And I'll try to remember this feeling next time I'm feeling down and like I don't want to go.

Next week I'm taking a short sabbatical from work for some full time domestic-ing/part time vacationing. I expect during this time I'll have at least something blog worthy to write about.

Your taste buds change every seven years.

This 'folk fact' as I suppose it can best be described, is a bit of running joke between Gavin and I, spurred from his family. However, I've figured out that apparently my interested change at least every seven years as well.

It's true that, as this blog has detailed, I've taken up many new interests lately. Biking, gardening, ceramics, painting: while I've never spent much energy on them in the past, I've never disliked any of these activities.

This week I tried and, to my shock, enjoyed two new interests: Running and History.

I've always disliked running. I think my dislike of running is a big part of my dislike of many sports I've tried playing. I hated Fridays in middle school because we had to run a mile every week. About six months ago I tried to pick up running because one of my girlfriends loves to run and we were going to be vacationing together (if you can call PCA a vacation). I planned and failed exactly three runs and gave up on the well intentioned, if fatally flawed, idea. Last week I decided to take a short run because I wanted to exercise but didn't have much time. I hated it, but I finished and felt accomplished. It was a long run, or a fast run, but I set a goal and made it. The next day I felt good, the way I generally feel after a particularly good yoga routine. So I tried again. I told myself I couldn't add running to my blog tracked activities until I'd done it five times. Mini-mission accomplished. I doubt I'll ever be a 'real' runner, but I'm excited to try something new for a awhile.


And History. I've been trying to come up with a good reason for why I disliked history so much, but cant really seem to. Regardless, a history book came up as a recommendation by my audiobook library: That's Not in My American History Book. by Thomas Ayres. It is even more surprising to me that I would download an American History book. Ancient history, history of civil engineering, and even religious history all sound more (.0001% is greater than 0%) interesting to me. I suspect I downloaded it for the same reason I downloaded the Art of War, to pacify my guiltily pleasure of crime novels.

I didn't intend to listen to it. I was finishing up Stiff by Mary Roach on my overnight drive from Vegas to Los Angeles. The middle of the night alone on a nearly empty highway is not the best time to listen to a book about what you suspect to be one of the more boring possible groups in the Dewey Decimal system. When Stiff ended, I realized that my iPod had slipped onto the ground in the passenger seat foot well. Penny had just fallen asleep and I wasn't really interested in being eaten by the Hills Have Eyes monsters while pulled over to retrieve it anyway. History book ti was. The book was actually pretty good. I was a bit embarrassed that many of the 'common known' historical people and facts he was debunking or expanding on were completely unknown to me, but at least I learned something new. I'm nearly done with it now and would recommend it to anyone with even a vague interest in American History.

Moral of the blog? Don't be afriad to try something again!