week one

today officially marked week one in my marathon training. i was supposed to run 3 miles, and was originally planning on going to the lake, but instead i opted for a neighborhood run. like i said before, my running lately hasn't been so great, but today's run definitely helped me get back into the swing of things by realizing a number of things:

1) i have much better concentration/overall sense of pleasure when listening to slower music on my ipod. my past few runs have been set to my specially designed "running mix." today i ran, oddly enough, to my "sleep mix." with this mix, it is so much easier to get lost in my thoughts. therefore, i don't focus too much on how much distance is left. faster music is just too stressful for me.

2) i hate loops. running around the lake is beautiful, but again i find myself constantly glancing to see how much further i have left. my runs go by much quicker when i don't run a pre-determined course.

3) night runs are better than morning runs. this didn't use to be the case with me. i used to be good to go after waking up and downing a quick cup of coffee. doing that lately just leaves me feeling shaky. running later in the day, when it's cooler and after i've gotten a good amount of food in me is definitely the way to go.

4) i definitely need my pedometer. i forgot it at home and it will be very helpful in the future. like i said, my original goal for the day was three miles. i got home surprised to see that i had been gone for almost an hour. granted, i walked quite a bit for my cooldown, but i was gone about twenty minutes longer than anticipated. i mapquested (is that the proper verb?) my route and discovered i ran about 4.5 miles. not a huge distance, but i really don't want to get ahead of myself in the training.

5) i need new running shoes. i'm long overdue.

all in all, i'm feeling rather good about this whole thing.

i really have nothing else of importance to write about. i have the feeling this blog is soon going to become purely about running. exciting, i know, but aside from work, not much else is going on in my life. still waiting to hear about financial aid for hamline. maybe my life will become interesting when i start school. maybe.

funniest. day. ever.

i thought today would be another boring tuesday. not so! i walked into the mall this morning to open the store, and there was a very loud soundcheck. keep in mind tuesdays at the moa are usually toddler tuesdays, so the stage right outside of the store is used for kiddie entertainment. i heard a girl warming up and thought "hmm, she's got a nice voice. who the heck is she?"

i checked the calendar and saw that american idol season five's paris bennett was having her cd release party. i pretty much thought that was the funniest thing ever, but i haven't even gotten to the funny part yet. i proceeded to open the store, and then stood in the entrance, peering over to the stage to see if i could catch a glimpse of her. she was standing right at the roped off section, speaking with a few people. they left, and she was by herself. i took it upon myself to grab a jar each of white chocolate, dark chocolate, and banana peanut butter, threw them into a gift box, and ran over to her.

the following conversation ensued:

me: hi, i work at this store. i have some peanut butter for you in different flavors.
princess p: thank you!
me: i have to tell you, i was in korea last year and watched the show from there. i'm a big fan.
princess p: thanks! i love peanut butter!

and then i scurried away.

pure improv right there, ladies and gentlemen. i don't know why i thought it necessary to bring up the korea part, i guess i thought she would think it was cool that i was watching american idol halfway around the world. but i spewed that line out so quickly that i don't think she caught it. plus being a big fan was a slight exaggeration. i love the show, but she wasn't necessarily my favorite.

what do you think the odds are that she'll actually eat it? oh, the things i encounter at the mall of america.

let the sunshine in

or lack thereof. last week was beautiful. this week, not so much. i registered for the marathon last week. it's extremely hard to get motivated when the weather is so dreary. cinco de mayo didn't seem so festive with all. instead, al, salsa, chris, and i found ourselves getting breakfast at turtle bread, getting rained out of a garage sale, and loafing around the apartment with nothing to do before heading in to work.

i have this morning off, and got up to drink a pre-run cup of coffee. instead, i find myself craigslisting away for cape cod vacation rentals. not that i'm planning a trip to the cape. wishful thinking, i suppose. but i was really shocked to find some GREAT homes for rent, in good locations, for $1500-$2000/month. that's less than we spent for the week last year. it would be nice to have the dillas and the job that would allow me a month off to bask away in the sun.

this marathon is starting to scare me a bit. october seems far enough away, but i know the time will fly by. for some reason i seem to be struggling in my running. i get winded a lot quicker than i used to. must be the lingering side-effects of getting older.

in regards to my last post about lusting for a camera memory card, i finally got one, but realized i still don't have my cord to upload the pictures to my computer. d'oh! someday, i promise you faithful readers, you will be able to see my new hair, my bed-less bedroom, my rockin' kitchen, and the shabby-chic furniture we have picked up roadside along the way.