Not enough time!!!

I'm so upset about my running log.

Since my accident last week, I have only run once and that was on the treadmill for 3 miles. No big deal. I feel fine to run, but I just haven't had the chance.

I know that sounds like an excuse. However, between training and homework and practicing announcements...I simply fall down dead tired every night. I've lost 3 pounds since I've been here. I think I've lost muscle from a severe cut in mileage. My appetite seems to be increasing, but I'm NOT overeating.

I make sure to get a good breakfast (eggs & sausage) because that's when I seem to be able to perform the best in class. Lunch is light...usually a half a sandwich and tomato soup, if I have it.

For dinner, I like cereal. No dessert....except for the night when I had 4 cookies. That might have something to do with my passing out the next morning, but the silly doctor didn't get a sugar reading on my blood. That reminds me...my blood test only revealed that my iron level was pretty low. Here's a bit of trivia I heard on the radio one morning as I was getting ready...'Desserts' is 'Stressed' spelled backwards. Hmmm...

Tomorrow we don't start class until 3:30pm. I can actually sleep in!!! Yippee! I hope to get up and go for a run! Then I can finish my 8 pages of homework.

18th & 19th

I ran these two days.

On Tuesday the 18th, I ran 5 miles on the treadmill before dinner. Can you believe it...I multi-tasked! I ran, listened to music AND recited my announcements.

On Wednesday the 19th, I ran outside through a much prettier part of downtown Salt Lake to the high school track. I ran only 1 mile around the track, because the sun was going down. It was a 3 mile round trip. Easy, but I did do it fast. I ran back to the hotel and stayed up late doing my homework. I keep underestimating how long the work takes.

I was planning on running today (Friday) but if you read my main blog 'Wavelength' then you know why I didn't.

Time to go ice my head.

Ladies and Gentlemen, at this time...

I got in 3 miles on the treadmill.

To bad I didn't have more time. I was strong today. I even recited my announcements outloud while I was running. I guess that means I wasn't running at a very challenging pace...but it was set to 5.5. I just never got winded.

Nice.

Dang, I'm tired. Good-night.

3 posts in one

For the sake of time, I am going to condense my last 3 running days in one concise post.

Salt Lake City, Utah

Tuesday- 6.5 miles
I am staying at a nice hotel in the downtown area. The workout room is 3 steps from my door. But on Tuesday the sun was shining so I decided to go outside for an adventure. At first I thought I would run around the nice grassy park outside my window. Just as I was leaving the hotel, I asked the desk clerk if he thought that was a good idea. He shook his head NO. This city is pretty decent and clean, but there are homeless people everywhere!
I was advised to go down a mile or so to the high school track. I took his advice and did just that. I ran past some tall buildings (Delta Center?) and of course some Mormon churches
At the track I ran 3.5 miles and then back to the hotel. I saw some other interesting things...a big temple in the distance that is under construction...and a bunch of buses. When I got back to the hotel, I was still curious about the workout room so I stepped inside to check it out. In a word...small. I guess they don't have to many guests that want to work out. They have 2 treadmills, one bike and one stairmaster. No free weights at all. That's it.
I hoped on the BIG treadmill and ran for another mile...just for the heck of it.

Thursday- 5 miles
Again it was sunny. No point in running on a treadmill when the sun is shining outside. Now you have to keep in mind...I'm dead tired when I go out to run. I haven't been sleeping well (or at all) and most of my classmates are taking this time to sleep. Yet, I want to run. I like to run. It feels good and wakes me up.
BTW- ALL my classmates are AWESOME people. I am blessed to have such a great group of ladies to train with.
Okay- so I ran to the same place as before because I'm in a city I've never been before...don't want to get lost! However this time I saw a few things that I didn't before. I saw two big eyes painted on the road at both ends of each sidewalk. In front of left eye was the letter 'L'. After the right eye was the letter 'K'. It spelled the word 'LOOK'. It made me smile...I've never seen that in a crosswalk before, but it does make sense.
On the way back, I was stopped at a crosswalk waiting for the light to change when I saw a truck drive by with 2 big black and white dalmations hanging their heads out the passenger window. Not unusual....but then I saw a car turn the corner right in front of me that had a bird for a driver. On the steering wheel sat a big white parakeet bird which appeared to be attempting to steer the vehicle. It was very entertaining.
Once again I noticed the buses. One, two, three, four, five...all lined up. They come and go all the time. Maybe that explains the lack of traffic. The streets here are wide. It makes the city feel spacious and not really like a city.

Friday (today)- 3 miles
After a long day (which turned out good) I ate some cereal, did my homework and headed up to the third floor to study with my class. After that (and talking with MB) a few of us went to the workout room. Andrea, Savanna & I wanted a little exercise. Me and Andrea took the treadmills. Savanna took the bike. Savanna got bored after 5 minutes and left. I stopped after 3 miles...that hot tub outside was calling me. I could see it from my treadmill and knew it would only be available for another hour. I got off and went to my room to get my suit on. When I came back, Andrea was still going.
"Way to go!" I said. "You're past 4 miles!" She smiled. Andrea has the prettiest smile. She will be a wonderful flight attendant. I spent the next 30 minutes relaxing in the outdoor tub while the rain lightly fell on my already wet head. I practiced an announcement. Then Andrea came out and we talked, because that is just what girls do.

Chorizo make me sicko

A bazillion thoughts are going through my mind. I have a ton of things still left to do and that awful chorizo wants to come up.

Tomorrow I leave for Salt Lake City. Gonna be a flight attendant.

We went to Church and I nearly cried at the thought that next week is Easter and I won't be here. Me in the land of Mormans...on Easter Sunday! Uhhh

Not that I got anything against mormans...except that they're wrong. Poor souls. I know what you're thinking...but Kathy, What if YOU'RE wrong? That is a much longer post for another time. Time is precious. Let's get back to running.

After church I made chorizo and eggs wrapped in a tortilla. Yuck! I hated the chorizo. I'll never eat it again!

What is Chorizo?

Well. it's sausage meat mixed with all sorts of Spanish seasonings. Although, I think there was more than just sausage meat in that mix. It made my stomach queasy.

An hour later I went running. I ran to Hidden Gold. The first mile was horrible! My legs felt like lead weights and my stomach threatened to upchuck that sorry excuse for a meal.

Then I saw something that made me forget about my rock solid legs. It made my heart skip a few beats and nearly sent me jumping into oncoming traffic. It was a snake. A BIG snake! Lucky for me it was dead. I bet it was at least 2.5 feet long. I know, big fish (snake) story, but honestly- it scared the daylights out of me.

After I had a chance to mentally calm down, I thought to myself...At least I'm having a better day than he is.

He just came out of hibernation wanting a little sun to warm his cold blooded body and look what happens! Actually, I don't know what happened to him. He didn't look cut up or squished or anything. Perhaps a car hit him and tossed him to the side of the road. Who knows. I don't like snakes.

I got back from the 5 mile route and nearly threw up. Never, ever, ever again will I eat spicy food and then go running.

Water? Anyone got water? Gum? Ginger ale?

Shine on Me

Today the sun came out and danced gracefully between the clouds. Everyone seemed to have smile on their face.

I took advantage of the great weather and ran a few different routes. What a day of praise! Last night Katie put her new cd on my itunes. I took a few minutes this morning and added the album to my ipod. I am loving this music! It's a band that Katie saw last weekend at a youth group conference called 'Planet Wisdom.' The band is "By The Tree." I guess they've been around a while, but I had never heard of them.

I had actually planned on running the quarry trail in the canyon, but I could see that the canyon was filled with fog. I decided I'd rather run the road and stay in the sun. I need the vitamin D. Lately I've been feeling depressed. I know that is a symptom when you haven't gotten enough sunlight. I am one of those people whose environment great effects their mood.

Wind makes me mad.

Rain makes me sad.

Sun makes me happy. :-) which is why I'm a hot weather person!

Happiness is a choice you make daily. That choice is just easier on sunny days.

Many clouds filled the sky and once in a while the sun rays would be gone. I felt like I was chasing them. I would see them ahead of me, hitting the ground between the shadows of the clouds. I wanted to be in those sunny places, but it seemed like once I got there, it moved. More than anything, I wanted to be in the Light.
I was going to stop after 4 miles, but first I asked God if He would let the sun come out and shine on me...I'd keep going. From that moment on, the clouds moved and the sun touched my bare shoulders.
I continued on, just as I promised.

I ran Otter Trail, Second Gate and Westville...a total of about 6 miles or so.

I can feel myself healing. I am mending by the touch of your beauty.
How Glorious How Beautiful You are!

Beautiful One I love
Beautiful One I adore
Beautiful One my soul must sing
Because Nothing on Earth is as Beautiful as YOU.

Powerful, Your Glory fills the sky!

Yesterday...Walk and Talk, then run.

The rain doesn't stop. It mixes with the dirt below my feet, following my steps to the workout room.

Two minutes after I walked through the old dingy door, an older man came in behind me. I recognized him immediately.

"You're the Apple Man." I said with a smile.

"What?"

"The Apple Man...the guy who gets all the newest Apples." I replied.

He looked confused.

It took a few seconds, but then I saw it. I saw that familiar look everyone gets on their face when it finally clicks.

"Oh, computers!"

I remembered talking with this man a couple months ago about Apple Computers. His daughter works for Apple and sends him all the latest technology. Lucky guy...I think I've written about him before.

Anyway- he hopped on the treadmill next to me and the conversation never missed a beat. I could see that he was happy to have someone to talk to (the gym is painfully boring and generally depressing given all the rain we've had). So, I let my earphones dangle against my shirt and walked at 4mph so we could continue our visit.

I told him about my new job and he told me about how women and men used to need a good medical reason for not wanting anymore children. Yep, you had to have a medical review board approve the procedure of getting your tubes tied or a vasectomy.

Confused?
Yes, I know those two subjects don't really go together...and I'm sure you're wondering how we could have gotten onto that subject...but I've noticed with older people, any subject is possible.

After a while he was done with his dose of exercise (which I praised his efforts for doing) and he left. I had walked 2.5 miles. I put in my headphones and upped the speed.

I ran 4 more miles.

Running when the sand runs out.

Realizing that this might be the last Saturday of freedom for a while, I got up and ate my cereal.

I fretted over which running clothes to wear because it's raining outside...again. Normally I would just go to gym, but not today. I'm so sick of that place and when I go to training, I will be lucky to see the inside of a gym (meaning if I can get my tired butt into one).

This job is one more thing in my life that I'm starting. I know. I'm moderately concerned that I am taking on too much. However, I know myself. I am determined to accomplish all that I have dreamed of. It just might take me a while. How much time do I have?

The rest of my life.

How long is that?

Could be 50 years, 5 years or 1 day. Who knows.

Taking this joyous opportunity, I ran to third gate and back. It doesn't matter that I have been sick the last 2 days. It doesn't matter that I haven't been reaching my weekly mileage goals and it doesn't matter that it's raining...I want to run.

The rain felt good. Lucky for me, it didn't rain very hard. I was glad to have my water bottle with me cause my throat hurt several times and being able to take a sip calmed the fire within it.

Many times I wanted to stop. Does it ever get easy?

Just as I was running by my friend, Jen's house, I passed another runner. We waved and smiled at each other, both of us understanding the other's pain. He was reaching the top of his hill and I was just about to go down it.

After I made the turn at third gate and was about 3.5 miles from home, I passed the same runner again. He had a big smile on his face. I got the feeling he was also running for endurance today. Again we knoded and said "hey". He had just finished running down the biggest hill on this route and I was just about to go up it.

I understood why he was smiling. I smile too when I reach that part of the route. The view coming down from that hill is amazing. At that point you're ready to take on the world. In that moment, nothing can stop you.

Even if I die tomorrow...running is worth it. The title of this post is one of my favorite songs by my boys, Rascal Flatts. Check it out. However I'm not sure if that's the actual name of the song...but that's not the point.

The point is...you never know when the end is coming. You will have work left undone. But at least you overcame your fear to start it. Perhaps God will give me eternity to finish it.

Slacker

Yes, I'm slacking off a little bit...GET UP ON YOUR FEET NOW!

I forgot to post my little 3 miles on the treadmill for Wednesday March 29th.
For some reason, blogger won't let me change the dates on these post anymore. Darn.

So there...I did it, now let's get onto todays run.

Rain, rain, go away!