22 January 2011

OH LORD HERE WE GO

I used to be wicked good at running and am trying to get back into it consistently, which is difficult given my many lasting running injuries (apparently one of my legs is longer than the other and this makes me all unstable; I am annoyed by this because it hurts my parts but also secretly vindicated as it presents a plausible explanation for the many times a day I fall down). I am in the wake of a traumatic train crash of a breakup, one that forced me to move back home to the frigid Midwest into my mother’s basement while I look for a job. It is not awesome, for many reasons, including the fact that most of my belongings — including my shoes — are in storage. I miss my shoes.

When I got here in the fall I was running consistently, but now it is winter and -4,000 degrees all the time and there has been many a day I have decided to eat bagels instead of put my shoes on and get out the door. I would like this to change for many reasons, including the fact that I am signed up to do a half marathon in Little Rock in March. I am so in denial about this that I have to Google to find out the date of the race every time I decide to think about it. I will now post said date here, on the internet, which will disarm my denial because as the spurned girl in The Social Network pointed out, the internet is written in ink not pencil. That’ll teach me.

Ugh. THAT IS SO MUCH SOONER THAN I WAS THINKING IT WAS.

So my first blogging goal is to keep track of my training, which will hold me accountable to complete said training. In the interest of full disclosure, I will add that it’s 2:15 pm, I’m still in pajamas and I spent the morning eating my weight in Saltine crackers and peanut butter, watching OnDemand episodes of Teen Mom. What can I say, I go a little nuts when I have the house to myself. I might do laundry next. Shit’s off the hook here.

If you decide to read my blog here are some things you should know going forward. 1.) I swear sometimes. 2.) I have many pets (two cats, one bunny) who drive me crazy frequently and since I am a whiner they will probably pop up here and then. 3.) Since I have been running forever I know about running things, like fartleks and tempo runs and negative splits. But since I started running in 1995 I am completely oblivious about many other things. I don’t know what a Garmin is. Nike+ (if that’s what it’s even called) is a mystery to me. I don’t run with music unless I’m on the treadmill; I sometimes still drive my runs to figure out how far I’ve gone. I’m a low-tech runner, is what I am saying to you now. Also I frequently wear cotton T-shirts (or wifebeaters) when I’m running and they do not cause me any problems. I realize this is sacrilege to many runners.

I have run one half marathon before, in April 2009 in Charlottesville, Va., with my dad. I had to stop training in the middle thanks to a tumor in my right shin (it was later ruled benign), so I finished the very hilly course in 2 hours and 13 minutes which for me is pretty slow. I would like to run a full marathon before I turn 30, which is a little more than a year away, and also hello, I am old. But of course I need to take baby steps here which today means I need to get off the couch, turn off the OnDemand and think about going go running. It’s still -4,000 out so this means I will have to put clothes on and go to the gym. But first I have to digest those 11 pounds of crackers and peanut butter. Cheers to a big Saturday.

3 comments:

  1. hahaha- love it! And good luck with those -4,000* temps. And I thought MD was cold. :)

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  2. I used to live in Maryland! It is actually quite balmy there, and by balmy I mean in the 30s. Basically a heat wave 24/7. :)

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  3. I have a leg longer than the other , too! Following your blog, now!

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