27 in 27

So, my birthday is this week and I've decided to make a list of 27 things that I want to do in my 27th year. "Aren't these like New Year's resolutions?" you might ask. Well, probably, but somehow this seems like a better idea... even though it's a few more items to follow through on.

I will post the list here and cross off items as I complete them. And who knows, maybe you'll even hear about the adventures along the way! Let's cut to the chase, shall we? Here they are:

1. donate blood
• 9/7/12 - American Red Cross (Oregon)
2. adopt a pet
• Meet Bear
• Meet Kitsune
3. earn a Master's degree
• Master of Education.  Administration & Supervision - Higher Education
4. visit one new state
• Kansas
• Oklahoma
• Ohio
• Georgia
5. complete a half marathon
• LIVESTRONG Austin Half Marathon 2012
• Angie's Half Crazy Half Marathon
• AthHalf
• 2013 Craziness Kickoff
6. pay off a significant debt
• Zoom Zoom!
7. crochet something awesome
• Practice patch. The dogs love it, therefore it is awesome.
8. go on a girls-only camping trip
9. create a daily photo journal for one month
10. float the river
11. try a new recipe once a month
• January - red potato soup
• February - quiche lorraine
• March - beef pasta bake
• April - cilantro lime quinoa and asparagus (to go with chicken a la Casey)
• May - roasted eggplant and butternut squash
• June - greek yogurt deliciousness (plain yogurt flavored with fruit and honey); green goddess dip.
• July - Tequila Jazz. Tip: mixing blue curacao and orange... anything results in a drink that should only be consumed on St. Patrick's day.
• August - Green tea mint mojito
• September - Cauliflower Rice plus chicken.
• October - Vietnamese vermicelli
• November - Cranberry apple stuffing
• December - the "Christine" salad (spinach, arugula, beets, corn, avocado, tuna and olive oil / balsalmic dressing)
12. visit a new state or national park in Texas
13. get cholesterol below 200
• 204  (on 8/30/12)  So close!
  Here's the deal: My "bad" cholesterol and triglycerides are in the good/normal range. My total score is over the goal of 200 because my "good" heart protector cholesterol is really high (which is also good). I say this is a win despite being 4 points off.
14. decorate the apartment
15. update my name on voter registration card
• Check! I'm even an official organ donor now too.
16. have a party for no particular reason
17. go geocaching
• This has been on more than one of my "to do" lists. I clearly don't actually want to go geocaching.
18. read 10 novels of my choice
• Born to Run: A Hidden Tribe, Superathletes, and the Greatest Race the World Has Never Seen 
• Heaven is for Real: A Little Boy's Astounding Story of His Trip to Heaven and Back
• Inside of a Dog: What Dogs See, Smell, and Know
• The Secret Life of Bees
• The Help
• Street of the Five Moons
• Anil's Ghost
• The Black Dahlia
• The Thief
• The Lacuna
19. plan a surprise date
• Texans game on Casey's birthday
20. do 25 consecutive push-ups
• I may not be able to do lots of push-ups, but I can run pretty far!
21. replace point & shoot camera
• Cannon PowerShot with lens malfunction - it will probably be has been returned.
• Sony Cybershot for the win!
22. go to the Texas state fair
23. write down my dreams for 30 days
• I started this one more than once, but didn't make it 30 days.
24. go to the museum of natural science in Houston
25. attend a pro sports game
• 4/1/12 - Rockets vs. Pacers  (NBA)
• 8/30/12 - Texans vs. Vikings  (NFL)
26. take a Pinot's Palette painting class
• The Groupon has been purchased.
27. try a new type of cuisine
• Turkish
• Pakistani 

Final assessment: I may not have gotten around to all 27 items in my 27th year, but I did complete most of them! It seems I may have even gone overboard on a few (see running a half marathon, visiting new states, and adopting a pet). I'm sure I will fill in the missing pieces in the future, and it was fun doing these. Maybe I will make a similar list again in the future. Thirty seems like a nice, round number (that hopefully has nothing to do with full marathons!)

Lows

There are highs and lows in every part of life - and I knew training wouldn't be any different. So far, I think I've remained pretty positive and encouraged that running a half-marathon would be a feasible (although difficult) goal. The past few days have been a lesson in experiencing lows - a reminder that, in life, sometimes you're a big, bad, ass-kicking machine and other times you just get your ass kicked. Now to cope.

A general frustration with life ramped up a few days ago due to a variety of little things including work, school, traffic, and an apartment that looks like it survived a series of tornadoes. When I feel overwhelmed in general, I don't do too well with clutter, it makes me feel physically and mentally claustrophobic; but that's another issue for another time (and maybe a health professional).

The moral of the story is: I hit a serious limit today. I have been increasing my mileage on the "long" weekend run, and today was supposed to be 8 miles. Attempt #1 ended in failure when I drove around the same area for 30 minutes and failed to find what is likely one of the largest parks in the city. Defeated, and really annoyed with myself for not bringing a map or having a smart phone or something, I turned around and went home. I fit some productivity in when I was now available to join Casey and help some friends move. I would run at another park that I would actually be able to find later in the day.

I understand that I had been physically active earlier in the day, so maybe carrying boxes up stairs shouldn't be followed by running 8 miles... but I only made it 3. At about a mile and a half, my IT band started hurting more than usual. Shortly thereafter, I rolled my ankle on a piece of branch shrapnel left from what is an apparent effort to deforest the entire park. What really concerned me is that I rolled my ankle, but the only pain I felt was pretty sharp and on the side of my knee. At this point I resolved to get myself to mile 3, where I would hop crawl into my car and take my punished body down to a running apparel shop to buy a strap, brace or anything else that would fix my knee problems. I do need running socks, so I might as well get both done.

After being asked a slew of questions and performing several tricks while standing on one leg, I heard the words that I never wanted to hear, but many runners end up having to face: "You're over-training."

Running guru told me that it seems my IT issues revolve around a weak knee, and unfortunately, I haven't allowed for enough time to get from my previous running status (or lack thereof) to a half-marathon distance. So, we chat for a little longer about stretches, exercises and products that will help build knee strength and manage pain and damage until then. I end up leaving this store and another with a variety of sporting goods that I hoped to never spend money on. How is running so expensive?! All this time, I thought you just needed feet and a developed sense of masochism.

On the way home, I realized that you can create a realistic training schedule and have the will to do it, but at a certain point, your body might set a limit that your brain can't accept. During the drive, I become totally frustrated with myself, thinking about the 2 weeks in December I spent not running or doing exercises that would keep my knees strong. I don't know what my training schedule will be like from here on out, or how many miles I'll accomplish on my birthday, which I took off to run 10 miles (I had my heart set on that one). But I will do my best and try not to hurt myself in the process.

I came home and did what any sweaty, exhausted & defeated person would do: took a shower and had a cry. Apparently I had time for the shower, but not the cry. As I was starting to contemplate getting out, my soothing hot water predictably turned cold (yet another story for another time), as if to tell me, "Hey! Pity party's over. Let's get to being productive." And I will do that - just as soon as my bottle of wine and box of Cheez-Its have been attended to.

I want to push myself, but I also recognize that I need to listen to my body since avoiding serious injury > running lots of miles. I will end (the longest blog ever... sorry about that) with this final thought from a hysterical book about marathon training that my cousin gave me for Christmas:

"I set out to train for a marathon because I knew there was no physical reason why I shouldn't be able to do it. Sure, it wasn't going to be easy to go from the recliner to running miles at a time. But lying on the grass, wondering if my heart was going to explode, I was able to muster a smile - I knew I had just pushed myself past my perceived limits, limits I had long ago accepted only because I wasn't motivated enough to try to do more. Although you'll be amazed at the limits you'll exceed, it's also important to distinguish between real limits and those that just seem real because your legs feel like they've turned to Jell-O. There's actually a very thin line between imaginary limits and real limits, and it's important not to cross over that line and into the intensive care unit."
    - The Non-Runner's Marathon Guide for Women by Dawn Dais

Back in the Game

This is how enjoyable the holiday meals were during our Christmas break in Oregon. Seriously. Everything from home-cooked chicken and dumplings to the Burgerville cheeseburgers. For those of you in the South who don't know what Burgerville is - I'm sorry. The only example I can give is those Californians you know that won't shut up about In-N-Out Burger; Pacific Northwesterners love Burgerville that much.

I digress. Long story short, too much delicious food + cold weather = not enough running. I did actually run when we were back home... twice. I took on 40 degree weather and 30 degree weather, but the 20's were just too much for me to take. After running only two times over a period of two weeks (probably a little longer), it is needless to say that I got a little behind on the training.

I can say that I've definitely noticed the difference in what my lungs and my knees are able to handle, but I am building back up slowly but surely. Sunday was the second time I have run 6 miles, which is the longest distance thus far. Coach Tiffany came along on this run and if she has anything to do with it, the progress will happen more surely and less slowly. Although it's not fun (or pretty), it's much appreciated.

With the way the weather has been behaving down here, I will likely need these bad boys to finish my training. Now, it's down to business. I hope to run 8 miles this weekend and tackle 10 by my birthday. Between catching up and making it to the half marathon, I will definitely be running 3-4 days per week, rain or shine. If anyone sees these awesome kicks around Houston, it's probably me. But in all seriousness, I actually wear Brooks. They are awesome... almost as good as Burgerville. If I could get a pair of Brooks that would take me all the way to Burgerville, it would be a perfect world. Counterproductive, but perfect.

There are 40 days until the half marathon and exactly 1 month to finish raising $500 so Livestrong will let me run an obscene distance. If you want to help, it would be much appreciated! You can donate to the cause by going to my personal fundraising page. All funds go to the Livestrong foundation, an organization that inspires and empowers individuals affected by cancer.

On a side note, protein shakes and pop tarts don't make a good post-run meal. Although it sounds like a ridiculously irresponsible great idea - don't do it. I think it's time to take some tums and a nap.

New Year's Resolutions

I typically don't do New Year's resolutions - they always seem destined to fail. I'm not sure that I've ever set a New Year's resolution and come up short, it's just never been my preferred time to make an ambitious commitment. I would rather take on something crazy at an unassuming time like Lent. I'm not Catholic and I don't really follow the proper rules, but it provides an excuse to do something unreasonable (yet good for you) like give up chocolate. That was a hard one. When there's goodies in the kitchen or office no one can give you a hard time if you've given it up for Lent.

New Year's on the other hand, has always seemed to me like the time to set a lofty goal that will never be realized. You know what I'm talking about - you hear friends' resolutions and say something to the effect of, "Wow, that's great. Good for you!" but are secretly taking bets as to when the momentum will come to a screeching halt. I typically go with mid-February. I will say that I've seen a few resolutions recently that have been fulfilled and are actually tempting - like a friend that ran or cycled one organized race in every month of 2011. If I do break and set a resolution, it will likely be something like this.

Instead of a resolution, I offer this - a poem by Tara Sophia Mohr that seemed particularly relevant right now. It was given to me in a book of poems as part of a half-marathon care package from someone that I have known for the majority of my life. I don't think either one of us has has yet realized the full impact or influence she has had on me, but I can say with certainty that running encouragement is among them.


Awakening


Buff off routine. Polish away habit. 
Sharpen your crystal mind with silent time.
Wake yourself by praying to the gods.


Surrender all of image. Let go of your outside eyes.
Be a foolish animal, gaping at the forest.
Be clumsy and too much wide-eyed.


Kill the thing that pulls back the reins,
and run.