2 sad things

We all got our stories but ple-e-e-ease tell me what there is to complain about. Be happy like a fool, let it take you over.
- one republic, good life

So this is a pic of my lake, which appears shockingly decimated this summer. All that land in the middle is usually water! In the background is a wildfire burning. But I still feel lucky jogging and sometimes walking around the lake. I was only able to pull off two miles on the dreadmill yesterday, for a total of 8 for the week. Got 3 in today. This months total is going to be dismal.

Tomorrow is just a song away

This is why I love running. I've run on the literal gulf coast near Dubai, the Irish countryside, Mexican beaches and many other wonderful places. It's how I see the world. So the treadmill in Orlando isn't so much fun, but I got another three miles this morning. Feeling good.

June is a Beatch

Every week but five this year I have met or exceeded the 11.5 mi/wk goal necessary to hit 600 miles this year. Three of those five short weeks have been the last three weeks. June just sucks. It's when the heat really comes and there are no options but the treadmill. I am in Orlando this week and I did 3.5 today which was a damn miracle given I just got off the plane. I did 3.5 specifically so I have 11.5 this week. 3 Sunday, 3 Tuesday, 2 Weds and today. Damn treadmill will kill me. It's all I can do to force myself to go. No joy.

Hundreds of Ways

Don't contradict me
Don't make me cross the line
If you feel threatened
It's only 'cause I might

                       - Conor Oberst, "hundreds of ways"

I spent a week on a boat. Literally at sea level. The week prior to this rather dreamy vacation was spent mostly anticipating dreamy vacation and not doing much in the way of exercise.

Thus. Here I am.

I tried to run on the third day after I came back, and felt like I was going to die. I managed 2.5 miles and to scare myself away from running for a bit. I downshifted to the elliptical which is where I spent the following week.

Yesterday I finally had what I would consider to be a normal running workout, four miles on the treadmill. It wasn't as easy as it should have been, but the last mile was spent telling myself "it's one more mile, you can do it" rather than "MY GOD MAKE IT STOP." So, you know... progress.

For anyone who has never gone through this sort of altitude adjustment, it feels like there is concrete in the bottom fourth of my lungs, I just can't get a good deep breath. And this, Sandy Sista, THIS is why I typically exercise even throughout my vacations (this was quite literally impossible when spending a week on a boat, and I mean literally a boat, a catamaran, I think it was called... but it's a boat, not a cruise ship), because I don't just have to come back, I have to come back to THIS altitude and it is just fucking murder, it is SO hard.

At any rate, I didn't want anyone thinking I had disappeared. Any time I go away, it doesn't mean I've quit, it just means I'm kicking and fighting my way to the surface. Never think otherwise.

Lucky

Is it too much to ask for every Sunday?
- JT

Days like today I feel like the luckiest girl in the world, sitting on the patio at my gym overlooking the pool and mountains and eating a healthy lunch whilst reading my book. I managed 3 miles on the treadmill this morning, which was quite a feat. Yesterday it was only 2. What keeps me motivated is the promise of a poolside read and relaxation. I have college orientation tomorrow and tues so may do some running up in flag. Apparently parents have to be oriented too these days, which is funny because my parents dropped me off at my dorm, the first time I'd ever been in campus, and I managed to figure it out. But looking forward to a mini-getaway with my sweet pea.

A simple plan

Sometimes the best laid plans go awry. And when there's no plan at all, sometimes anarchy ensues. So I'm in northern CA this week for work and it is gorgeous and cool outside, so after work I went for a run in this preserve park. It was hilly and soon felt remote on a path winding through the trees and down a ravine and across a river. I started thinking about the time I went running in rock creek park in DC the year after Chandra Levy's decomposed body was found, only then I was with a group. I started to feel very alone and it occurred to me that if anything happened, nobody would miss me until 10am tomorrow. They'd have to check with hotel staff to see if anyone had seen me, and maybe someone would remember me asking about a running path. I turned my music way down so I could hear anyone sneaking up on me, and I turned around. I took a different route back and the path eventually disappeared, but I pushed forward thinking I knew where the road was. And then I stumbled upon these bones. And further down the path this decomposing jacket. Officially creeped out, I jumped across the creek and ran up the slope on the other side, through some unfortunate underbrush that quickly felt like hundreds of needles piercing my skin. I did find the road and hustled back to my hotel with visions of poison ivy and urgent care and missed meetings. Alas, I showered and went to bed. It still burns and I have these welts like blisters on my legs but I think I will live. Perhaps I will skip the run tomorrow. Perhaps not.

Memories

Don't waste your time on me
You're already a voice inside my head
- Blink 182
This place is full of memories that haunt my run. There's Randy's Auto, owned by my dads BFF (do dads have BFFs?) when we lived here. Here's Picos plant world where I spent a long slow summer moving from planted tree to tree with a hose and my headphones. Here's Deadmans curve, remarkably softened from when I drove it perilously in my youth. Here is the tiny cabin where my grade school crush lived - I squeezed an anonymous love note into his locker in 8th grade, only realizing later that I had spelled his name wrong. I spelled it like the dog who mercilessly killed my own dog in front of my helpless eyes one cruel summer day. Looking back I'm not sure what my 13 year old self expected to accomplish in either scenario - to this day I'm not good at love or saving the objects of my affection. And here is the lake where I sought refuge after being fired from Arby's, and the building that used to be Arby's, now a Mexican restaurant. Curse you to this day! And here is Debbie's old house where we had slumber parties and were scared to the core by Children of the Corn. And here's the old Strauss' market where we used to ride our bikes to buy 25 cent candy with our allowance. And here's the creek where we used to ride to fish for crawdads, which my mom would cook screeching and red if we brought home a big enough haul. And the humane society where I went on a field trip with my Girl Scout troop to find my own cat in one of the cages, much to the chagrin of my mother when bringing the cat back home at my insistence. And the side road leading to my friends house where there was many a party with the parents out of town, and many a hungover morning picking up beer cans from the lawn. And here is the lake where my little sister got lost riding her bike. And the road where my dad would run and wait for me at the end, a hairy bear-like figure in the distance waiting for 11-year-old me to catch up and then run home (only as an adult runner do I understand the true gift this was). And here's the yard where we used to butt heads with the goats wearing yellow hard helmets and where the old man lived who kept his candy bowl full and liked to play adult games with little girls. And our house where we raised colored chicks who were eaten by neighborhood dogs, and raised and then ate the cow, Trouble, which appears to be gone now (the house and cow both). And the barbed wire fence we ducked under in a furious race to the other block when we missed the school bus in the morning. And the Bell gas station where Andy would buy us our bottles of Bacardi and vodka for a wink and a smile, which after the party we then added to our stash buried under a tree in the woods. Oddly, here is a grave marker for my HS boyfriends dad that I stumbled upon on the lake running path several years ago, only then learning that he had passed. And here is where I rest recollecting all of that beauty after my 3 mile lake run this morning, with fat dog curled at my feet and my babies off on an adventure with a new inflatable boat, bellies full with elk tacos. And as the sun sets over the trees and the stars rise, I count my blessings.

Hello there

The angel from my nightmare
The shadow in the background of the morgue
The unsuspecting victim of darkness in the valley
- Blink 182

I am experiencing life in a northern town with three teenagers this week, which has led to conversations on such enlightening topics as why nightcrawlers splooge white goop to the genius of Blink 182 and the spontaneous group singing of their greatest hits in a pizza restaurant, much to the simultaneous appreciation and chagrin of our waiter. Such a great time - I love these kids and we have such fun times together. So I did about 2.5 miles around a lake today while the kids fished, and 3 yesterday. Fat dog and I walked about 4 on Sunday but I'm not counting that as it was intended to be a quick jaunt around the neighborhood and I was wearing my uggs.

Hello there

The angel from my nightmare
The shadow in the background of the morgue
The unsuspecting victim of darkness in the valley
- Blink 182

I am experiencing life in a northern town with three teenagers this week, which has led to conversations on such enlightening topics as why nightcrawlers splooge white goop to the genius of Blink 182 and the spontaneous group singing of their greatest hits in a pizza restaurant, much to the simultaneous appreciation and chagrin of our waiter. Such a great time - I love these kids and we have such fun times together. So I did about 2.5 miles around a lake today while the kids fished, and 3 yesterday. Fat dog and I walked about 4 on Sunday but I'm not counting that as it was intended to be a quick jaunt around the neighborhood and I was wearing my uggs.

We all run for something

We all run for something.
Oh for God, for fate,
For love, for hate,
For gold, and rust,
For diamonds, and dust.
- One Republic, Til the Love Runs Out

This is an awesome song that I believe my blista sista posted a couple weeks ago. It's great to run to, and you can dance to it. I hit the gym this afternoon and promised myself I only had to get through 2 miles before I went to the pool to read my book. I had an unexpectedly good run though, and actually did 3.5 which is almost unheard of for me on the dreadmill. I finished 3 in about 35 min with the inclines. Usually I prefer to set the treadmill on "loiter". And there's the time I did 13 miles on the treadmill while training for the marathon - now that was a special form of torture. Now I am taking advantage of the more awesome benefits of my gym - a beautiful view of the mountains while I read poolside. If I can't run in those mountains I can at least gaze upon them.