*sheepish*

So, I took all that energy I had from September's Indian Run and...misplaced it? Honestly, the day after the race, I hiked around The Ridges looking for new running trails. But life snuck up on me very, very quickly. And I started making less than ideal choices:

1. I got sporadic with my meds (Oh, I'll take them today. Tomorrow, maybe not so much.)

2. I let myself get manic, then depressed, then...both?

3. School + Observation Hours + Job = Working from, eating on, and sleeping on my couch

Things got pretty out of hand. Thankfully, I made it through finals week and home safely. I'm not completely balanced out emotionally, but being home with Jay and our families (especially my mom) gives me a lot more stability than living alone. So, I'm making more progress on my two-steps-forward-one-step-back system. If I could just start sleeping at normal hours, things would be great.

But then there is my weight. Since I wasn't running and had started stress eating, it's no surprise that I've jumped up to the highest number I've ever seen on the scale (I know I have weighed more than I do right now, but I've been a champion scale-avoider). Even with that new, scary number in my mind, I couldn't seem to find motivation to get back into the groove.

Until I was surfing Facebook and spotted some waifish friends of friends out clubbing in lingerie. Granted, not the healthiest source of motivation, but it's enough of a kick in the pants to get me reevaluating my plan and setting some more reasonable expectations. So here they are, the new goals:

1. Lose 10% of my body weight. That's 15 pounds. That's enough to put me back in the healthy BMI bracket.

2. Restart and finish the C25K Program. This time with 100% more inhalers.

The "finish line" for my goal is my final wedding dress fitting. Which isn't yet scheduled but will probably be late June-mid July. So, that gives me...hold on, math...about 30 weeks to make this happen. If I can maintain the -1lb/week goal that the WebMd calculator made me use, I can get there in about half the time. But, I'm going to be realistic here and shoot for 30 weeks.

Thank you WebMd for this handy summary:

Indian Run: Great Success

Well there they are--the results of my first 5K! 52:27, 79th place for women, 180th overall. Dead last in my age bracket.

And I don't really care. I never thought that I could run any race, but here I am with a 5K under my belt.

Like I said, I knew going into the race that I wouldn't be able to run the full 5K. Overall, I'd say that I ran between a third and a half of the distance. The race started out pretty well--I kept a decent pace for the first half mile (incidentally, the longest interval I ran during my abbreviated training). I tried to keep my pace brisk, but toward the end my asthma hit hard and I had to slow down a lot.

I did fall once, though I didn't really notice how scraped up my leg was until I was driving home:

I ran the final portion, which was most important in my mind. For some reason, I figured that if I started and ending by running, no matter how long I walked in the middle, it was still a success.

As I made my way toward the water/snack tent, I remembered a post I had seen on Off Beat Mama (or a similar blog, I can't remember): one midwife gives spoonfuls of honey to mothers immediately following birth. The sugar gives them an energy boost while they recover. I told Jay that for my next race, I want him at the finish line, camera in one hand, honey in the other.

Bottom line? I have a time to beat and a renewed desire to train.

Prepping for the Indian Run

So, in approximately 12 hours, I will be running my first 5K. If I'm going to be honest with myself, though, I will be briskly walking my first 5K.

I got really overwhelmed by my move to Athens and thus, fell epically behind on my training. I'm trying not to beat myself up over it too much. It's no big secret that I have an intense fear of failure (and strangely, of too much success), so I'm trying to look at this race as a safe way to fail. Even though I won't be able to run the whole time I'm still excited to run/hike the Hocking Hills. I love the area, so if nothing else, the Indian Run gives me a chance to enjoy one of my favorite places. Also: FREE SHIRT!

I just finished my "Keep Your Energy UP!" playlist for tomorrow:

1. (Do You Want to Date My) Avatar Felicia Day

2. Tonight I'm Gonna Rock You, Tonight Spinal Tap

3. Zero Punctuation Theme Ian Dorsch

4. All the Single Ladies Beyonce

5. Vampire People in Planes

6. Too Drunk to Fuck The Dead Kennedys

7. Just a Girl No Doubt

8. Crazy in Love Beyonce ft. Jay-Z

9. My Name is Jonas Weezer

10. Young Lust Pink Floyd

11. She Makes it So Warp 11

12. Transylvanian Concubine Rasputina

13. The Impression that I Get The Mighty Mighty Bosstones

14. Nowhere Near Summercamp

15. I'll Tell Me Ma Shamrock

16. Death to Los Compesinos Los Compesinos!

17. Cheating on You Franz Ferdinand

18. The Happiest Days of Our Lives Pink Floyd

19. Another Brick in the Wall, Part 2 Pink Floyd

20. Angel Main Theme Darling Violetta

21. We are Beautiful, We are Doomed Los Compesinos!

And so, to bed.

Post-Migraine Updates

I've been away from the blogosphere for a while because I've had chronic migraines. Yes, weeks of migraines. On top of that, I broke my laptop's keyboard. I was trying to clean the keys and succeeded in making things much, much worse.

So, to ease back into the blogging, I'm stealing an idea from Nicky: Here's what I'm loving today...

1. My mad computer fixing skillz (yes, with a z):

I installed a new keyboard on my laptop, FTW. It's actually kind of strange being able to type 6, 7, y, u, h, j, n, and m again. I forget that I can.

2. My new doctor:

I went to Holzer clinic for a check up and I love my new GP. She made sure everything was in working order, then discussed my chronic headaches. She gave me great advice to start controlling these damn headaches and wrote a new prescription for my inhalers.

3. Fantastic World Foods:

It's so freaking hot in my house, so I'm making their hummus for dinner. Probably going to have fresh strawberries and cool whip for dessert. Nom nom nom nom...

4. This post:

Jimmy and Kristy (our wedding photographers) wrote this about our engagement session a few weeks ago. So, so much fun!

5. My new shoes:

Technically, these came in the mail on Friday, but I'm still loving them. I bought them for the wedding, and I am so pumped to rock them down the aisle.

So, with my migraines (hopefully) under control and my inhalers on the way, I can get back into running. I'm coming to terms with the fact that I'm not really ready for the Indian Run. I mean, even if I have a sucky first 5k, there's no reason to give up.

Recovering into Week 4

Because last Sunday was the last day of the Great Lakes Medieval Faire, Jay and I decided to brave the heat and enjoy Avaloch. I packed three bottles of water and fresh fruit to snack on. If I learned anything from last year, it was the importance of Faire hydration.

Maybe it was my meds, maybe it was the humidity, maybe it was my (lack of) stamina, but I ended up getting heat exhaustion. At one point, my eyes "got all unfocusy." Luckily, Jay forced me into the 1st aid tent where some jerks in kilts supplemented my water with Gatorade (they were drinking Hawaiian punch mimosas).

Two days later, I'm feeling much better, but I'm still supposed to take it easy. I didn't run last week (crazy work schedule), so even though I wasn't feeling 100%, I started Week 4 of C25K. I didn't run the last half mile, but kept up a brisk walk to finish the thirty minutes/two miles.

The Hocking Hills Indian Run is fast approaching, so I really need to pick up and keep up the (metaphorical) pace. Despite not taking it easy, I'm feeling pretty damn good post-run, so it seems that as long as I keep running a priority, I can be confident about finishing my first 5K.

Solving Old (Unimportant) Mysteries

One of the greatest blessings/curses I was born with is my weirdo memory. I can't really control what I remember, but the things that stick never seem to leave. I remember the day my brother was born (I was two), but I'm not really sure what I had for dinner on Wednesday.

When my memory (intentionally, I believe) leaves out key bits of information, these incomplete thoughts stick even more thoroughly. So, I am more excited than I really should be about two mysterious memories I just figured out.

The first probably occured in 1997 or 1998. I had a friend sleeping over, and she wanted to watch MTV (which was forbidden in my house). Because my parents were asleep, I let her, but when video of a girl singing and taking off her clothes came on, I tried to change the channel. As fate would have it, my mom came downstairs, and that was the end of the tv for that sleepover.

I always wondered what the song was. A few weeks ago, I was feeling lousy and started searching for Fiona Apple videos on YouTube. Quite by accident, I found the mystery song:

"Criminal"

Go me!

Last night, I couldn't sleep and suddenly remembered a book I'd read in one day while visiting my cousins' cousins in Temagami. Because no one really wanted to play/hang out with me, I raided their bookshelf and found...a book. I read it in a few hours and loved it. But as soon as I left, I forgot the title.

With about forty-five minutes of Googling and Amazon-ing, I found it again:

Woo-hoo!

And yes, I totally did just order it from Amazon.

Double Fail Run

For the first time since I started C25K, my asthma kicked in. Needless to say, that ended things pretty quickly. I had thought that building up my endurance had prevented my asthma from coming on in attack formation (I always have a little tightness when I exercise, but nothing major in a while). Wrong, wrong, wrong.

Still, I was glad to have real excuse to end early because Abby was just not up for a run today. She did really well on Wednesday--staying close, not jumping on me. This morning though, if she was going to run attentively, we needed to be on a trail with no cars, no people, no animals, and (most important) no goose poop. Obviously that wasn't going to happen.

She's also obsessed with biting her leash. Every time I walk her, I'm reminded of one of my favorite books from high school:

"I used to drag him around on a lead, but as I explained to Mrs. Next Door, he ate it."