Hotter Than a Pepper Sprout

Just a few days ago I achieved another personal record and did a training run of (slightly more than) 21 miles. Yes, I'm a little stunned. I did a run that was long enough to be old enough to drink. (Okay, that may not make any sense but that joke is a classic so it's staying). A collection of Touchy-Feely running photos And I still don't think I've ever experienced the fabled "Runner's High." Mostly, during a run, especially a long run, I'm likely to just feel bored, or annoyed, or even a little panicky (as in, "Am I really going to survive this?") At some point it does start to feel surreal (around 2.5 hours) as I lose sense of time and think "My God, how long have I been doing this? What day did I start this? What day is it now?" So I don't think I've experienced euphoria while running, but post-run, I'm prone to feeling many of the feels. As I wrote in my July 14, 2015 post after my first Half Marathon rac...

Last Saturday, I ran 20 miles — 20.32 actually. This is a milestone (unintentional wordplay, honestly) that I never thought I'd achieve, or even want to. So I want to take a little time to savor and reflect on this achievement. And of course, the best way that I know how to do that is by blogging about it, so I can share on Facebook. I think I look super white because of the sunscreen. Yes, there were the "Day Of" posts on Facebook, both to my whole Facebook universe and just to my first time Marathon runners group. It was hard to decide what to post to what audience —a ll of Facebook got my sweaty selfie (see above), while the runners group was treated to a link to my running stats (Average pace: 10:20 min/mile). And yes, there was also contemplative, celebratory drinking. Surprisingly, the drinking didn't commence until several hours after my run. I knew that once the libations began flowing, my day would be pretty much done, so I took a nap instead. Wh...

It's week 9. I AM OFFICIALLY OVER HALF-WAY THROUGH MY TRAINING PLAN, PEOPLE. This makes me proud (I've run my longest distance ever, 16.5 miles), scared (this means the marathon is looming, plus I still have to run 20+miles training runs to do), confused and annoyed (how can I be gaining weight? yeah, I know I'm thin but still, GAINING?!) and obsessed and TIRED. Actually, I totally know what to do. Eat. Drink. Bitch. Repeat.  It's hard to imagine that I could be more excited that tomorrow is a "Rest Day" in my marathon training plan. That means NO running!!! (Also, for me, no exercise beyond walking). The plan I'm following allocates two rest days a week. It's also hard for me to imagine that when Chad and I started our 16-week training plan, we thought that I would resist taking rest days and that we would end up fighting about that. Well, we've certainly had our fights in the last 5 weeks, but not about me skipping rest days. Ah, i...

Once again, I've been suffering from a bit of Writer's Block (perhaps more accurately described as "Writer's Chip.") As a fallback, I was considering doing a list of things that make me happy. And then today I discovered (through doing research while trying to come up with trivia questions for my kids online book club) that August is Happiness Happens Month. So the Blogging Deities are clearly directing me to share with you, dear readers, the small pleasure of life that I am currently grateful for: Halo Top ice cream: Ironically, I tried this after listening to my friend Carissa detail how much she hated it. Perhaps since I’m not an ice cream connoisseur, I enjoy it. It may not hold up to “real” ice cream but it tastes real to me and it’s high in protein (which is potentially good for marathon training) and low in calorie which leaves more room for booze calories. (Only food/consumption item on the list, I promise, as this post could so easily be all about foo...

Today I happily stumbled across the knowledge (a perk of being a librarian) that it's National French Fries Day. To celebrate, I feel morally obligated to share this unflattering selfie of me rocking a sweatshirt that's completely preposterous for someone my age to be wearing. It's age-inappropriate because until I Googled it today, I didn't know what the saying "Fries Before Guys" really means. Thank you, Urban Dictionary! Luckily it just refers to the unwritten law that your fries (female friends) should always come before guys you are "romantically" interested in. In retrospect, it's an obvious play on the slogan "Bros before hoes." Having to choose friends over "dating" interests isn't something that comes up too frequently in my world, but it's a sentiment I can get behind...girl/lady power and all that. I obtained this awesome sweatshirt from a much-younger than me theater friend, Emily. She must have see...

I'm training for my first (and only?) marathon, and it's Week 5 of the 16 week plan that I'm following. So do I say I'm " in training Week 5" (sounds a little like being "in rehab") or " on Week 5"? Preposition confusion aside, the point is that my first marathon is on the horizon and I'm trying to prepare to successfully finish it. (Defining "success" could be a whole separate post, but for now let's go with "crossing the finish line under my own power and not in an emergency vehicle"). I feel Week 5 is significant and worthy of a blog post because a) I have a little free time to indulge in writing and reflecting and drinking at the same time and b) this is the first week of training that has really felt like " Training " (yes, in bold with a capital "T") and not my normal life. Up until now, my training plan has been all about building a basic ability to be able to run slowly for a mode...

This is the 100th post of my blog! If my blog was a television show, it could be syndicated. Actually, while "researching" (googling) that I discovered the syndication threshold has been lowered to 88. This shirt is so old it's survived a couple of blogs Either way, 100 posts is a milestone and I can start officially having reruns of my posts (which I've already been doing and just calling it "repurposing," a term I learned through work). And I won't hide behind humble bragging, I am honestly impressed by many of my posts and pleasantly surprised when I re-read them. I have no illusions about making a living as a writer, but I think many of posts are pretty well-written and entertaining. More importantly than a quest for quality, blogging helps me sort through what I'm thinking and feeling and capture moments that are otherwise all too ephemeral. Blogging helps calm me down a bit, at least temporarily, and helps me feel a little more grounded...