Goals

As with every year, it can be a challenge for a runner to keep running in the winter.  Not only are there fewer hours of sunlight, but in many places, like Boston, the weather just does not cooperate.  It’s cold, snowy, icy, and damp. It’s dark and dangerous, even with reflective gear. For months. So you stop running outside.  The longer Saturday and Sunday runs become “just get back out there in the daylight for a few miles” runs. You make it to the gym if you can, but by the end of the winter, sometimes you can develop some pretty bad habits.  Bad habits that usually involve not running.

Last year after the winter, as maybe you could surmise,  I fell off the running boat.  Matt had, for Christmas, gifted me with a membership to a rowing club in the area, and I was really excited to get back to rowing.  It was awesome while it lasted, but ultimately too expensive to continue. (I may have found a solution, but that’s for another post.) My hopes to run the Reach-The-Beach in NH got dashed when my team didn’t re-form, and we didn’t have enough people to run.

And, what I really got into last year, honestly, was spinning.  I would (and still do) skip out on a lot of after-work things to go spin. It was ok that I missed a morning run, because I could go to spin class after work. I would not set my running alarm, because, “it’s ok, I’ll go to spin later.”

And so the running faded.  I’m sure a million runners have said this before, but when I don’t have a plan to participate in some kind of race, it can be really hard to get back into the swing of things.  

So my goal, for 2013?  Triathlon.  A sprint one, because I’m pretty sure I’m not at all a strong swimmer, and I’m pretty sure real bikes on real roads are a little more complicated than the stationary ones in that nice room with AC.

BUT.

I miss running, and I love spin. I want to try it.  Maybe after that, I’ll go back to thinking about a full marathon.  But one thing at a time.

(It’s nice to be back!!)

… here I am …

Both my roommate and my boyfriend will off-hand, independently of each other, at times mention how I never blog anymore.  And how maybe I should get back into it.

It’s not that I don’t enjoy it, because I do.  Mostly it’s just been a time-management issue. Which is one of my new-years resolutions – to be better with my time.  It means less dicking around on my iPhone, and more quality time with the people I love.  It means less TV, and more reading.  It means less time-wasting internet, and more productivity.

So check back, because I’m back.

Cat-intines’ Day (just a month late)

I know it’s long overdue, but i just have to share this story with you.

On Valentines Day, Matt and I did as we did last year (on our first real date!) and went to this weird delicious Chinese place in China Town and had weird delicious Chinese food.  How weird, you ask? Shark fin dumplings and fried octopus weird.  It was fabulous.

After dinner we went out to a movie, and then spent the night at his place.  In the morning, I got these texts from Jessie (whose boyfriend is in grad school and wasn’t able to celebrate the day until 9pm, leaving Jessie home alone on the couch with the cats and the DVR):

"someone didnt get what they wanted for v day"

"still pissy but accepting me as a backup date"

"Aaaaaaand the drugs kicked in"

I was really worried about Willow when Jessie moved in, because when Rebekah first moved in, Willow went nuts. Not only is the daily Melatonin working wonders on her anxiety, I think it’s also making her more friendly in general.

Except to Matt.  She hates Matt.  Sorry Matt.

Fashion Book, Runner’s Edition

My friend Jill has this really great blog that’s the perfect mix of fashion and literature.  One of my favorite segments is something she calls “Fashion Book,” where she reads a book and then uses today’s styles to create a look for a certain character. It’s really creative, and you can tell that she has a really good eye for both fiction AND fashion.

While I have very little fashion sense, I do have a lot of opinions about running gear and I’m excited to say that I have a little “fashion book” of my own.

“Born to Run” by Christopher McDougall is about ultra-running (50 miles+ at a time), and cultures that run for transportation (and the handful of crazy Americans who have adopted it as a lifestyle). It’s nonfiction (McDougall is a journalist and amateur runner), and it’s the best book I’ve ever read about running, ever. I usually find most nonfiction kind of dry and boring, but not this.  Even when it gets deep into an anatomical discussion about why we stand on two legs instead of four, it captivated me.

And even more than that, it motivated me.  It made me want to drop everything and run for as long as I possibly could.

But that’s not what this post is about.

One of the American runners in the book, a man warmly referred to as “Barefoot Ted,” runs only barefoot (thus the nickname).  It’s a discussion of his methods that leads the author into detailing a lot of University studies about human anatomy regarding runners, and why cushioned Nike soles are the ones responsible for most of our injuries. Some studies even claimed that running in no shoes (or minimalist-soled shoes) have been known to ease symptoms for those with Plantar Fasciitis (instead of supporting the arch, you need to treat it like a muscle and strengthen it). Since I’ve been diagnosed with said ailment, I immediately did some thinking.  If these kinds of shoes really did help, I’d be the happiest kid in town.  If they didn’t, how much worse off would I be? I need new shoes every year anyway. So I asked for some minimalist shoes for Christmas.

While home for the holidays, mom and I took a drive out to Fleet Feet, and I talked with a saleswoman who had me try on and test out a bunch of different options, and we came home with these:

They even came with instructions!

I was really hesitant to try them out, and as you can tell they’re not very insulated (Boston isn’t the balmiest of places in January).  So I waited for a warm-enough day and went for a jog.  I followed the directions: run slow, with short staccato steps, don’t run more than 3 miles at first, don’t run more than 20% of your weekly running in them for the first few weeks.

They feel … weird.  Without the cushion to trick me into thinking I was fine, I noticed how strongly I slamed on my heel when I got tired. I still got some very sharp, cramping pain in my arch. The next day my calves ached like I’d been walking in 4-inch heels for 3 days.  The day after, my hips were painfully stiff and sore.

I’ve since bumped it up to every other run in the new shoes, the pain in my hips is easing but still there.  I haven’t been able to run as far as I used to, because I’m still nervous about going past 3 miles.  The shooting arch pains have stopped, but the dull ache has not.

But I’ll tell you one thing.  I’m about a minute faster in the new shoes.

Rebekah was kind enough to take a photo of me before I headed out on my maiden run.

What do you mean, that’s not my new bed?

One of my favorite weekend-morning past-times is sitting down to do the crossword puzzle.  I like puzzles in general, so word puzzles that come to my doorstep for free are the best.

Willow, on the other hand, doesn’t think I should waste my time.

First she just walks over and makes sure I can't get at the puzzle anymore

The she goes ahead and gets comfortable

I mean, really, really comfortable

This is not an uncommon event.

Workout Playlists are a Funny Thing

If you were to ask me “Megan, what kind of music do you like to listen to?” I’d hem and haw and fluster, and say something like, “well, I like almost anything, as long as they’re singing and not yelling.” And then maybe I’d list off a couple of favorite bands and artists to try and be more specific: The Beatles, The Black Keys, Nickel Creek, Grace Potter, Justin Timberlake, Lady Gaga, Nicki Minaj, Michael Jackson and anything ever made in the 90s.  We’d then conclude that it’s a mix of Rock/Pop/Hip Hop, and maybe some Bluegrass, and be on to some other conversation topic.

BUT, if you were to word it just a little differently, if you were to instead say (like Matt will often do), “Megan, what are the top 25 most played songs on your ipod?” Then we’re in for a very different discussion.

Because the thing I do most often with my ipod is run. If I listen to my ipod all the way to work, and all the way home, one album or song will not even closely match up to the times I listen to the playlist called “RUNNING.”  Not even a little. The most listened to song on my ipod is Jay-Z and Alicia Keys, “Empire State of Mind,” which clocks in at an astounding 399.  If it had been warmer than 17 this morning (it was not), that would be at an even 400.  I start every single run to that song, which means I’ve listened to that playlist 399 times.  Since I acquired that song, anyway.

After Jay-Z comes a long string of pop-y hip-hop that motivates me: Kanye, Eminem, Katy Perry, Rihanna, Lil’ Wayne, Lincoln Park, B.o.B. … the list can go on and on. Songs get added (mostly ones I hear from Matt or in spin class), and every so often I’ll cut a song, but the theme stays the same. Loud, catchy, and upbeat, and usually some pretty terrible lyrics.

One of my favorite new additions is a song by Fort Minor, called “Remember the Name.” The lyrics start:

This is 10% luck

20% skill

15% concentrated power of will

5% pleasure

50% pain

Then it goes into this useless tirade about how rap is those percentages, and a Mr. Mike Shinoda is this god of rap or whatever. And sorry, the video is really bad.

I’m almost positive that rap isn’t any of those things (especially not that 50% pain part), but I really like to think that running is just about like that. A weird mix of luck and skill and will and pleasure and pain.  A weird mix that no one except other runners seem to understand (mainly that 50% pain part).  I love it when this song comes on as I start to run up a hill. It really gets me going.

FYI (I know you care), if I sort by most plays, the first song NOT on the RUNNING playlist comes in at #24, John Mayer’s “Dreaming with a Broken Heart” with 87 plays. That song and I (and album Continuum, I suppose) had a very special relationship about 3 years ago.  If I take Continuum out of the equation, it’s not until 45 plays that you get to my favorite Beatles song – a song I might call my favorite song ever, “Blackbird.”

ps, if you want my playlist I’m totally willing to share.

The Internet is Cats

For Christmas this year I bought a bottle of Matt’s favorite scotch and infused it with a recipe I found online.  I don’t like scotch much, but he promised that it was really tasty.

But that’s not what this story is about.

Back when I was starting the infusing process, I took the liquor bottle out of the bag, left the bag on my bed, and went into the kitchen to get to work.  When I came back to my room, Willow was on my bed, trying to get herself into the paper bag.  A paper bag the size of a 750ml bottle of Dewars.

I thought it was adorable and funny, so I plopped on the bed and pulled out my video camera, just as Joyce decided to join the party.

This is what happened: