I Want to Run like Daniel Craig

That man can fly over ice. Also, he has badass music follow him around. 

Challenge this week: Listen to James Bond soundtrack while running. Movie music makes the little victories in life so much more dramatic.

Go on a silent run.

Outdoor miles last week: 11.5

Indoor miles, elliptical: 15

Here's to a new week and a new start. 

Update:
The Agent 007 inside me was awakened.
I ran 9.6 miles today. This is the longest distance and longest time (It took exactly 2 hours, so I ran an average of 12 minutes each mile) I've ever done. Even though I'm very slow I was pretty happy with my run because I was comfortable the whole way through except for the first half hour and for fifteen minutes during my second lap. I ran a 3.2 mile loop three times which was a mental challenge to say the least. The second lap I pretended it was my first, and the third lap I pretended it was my first also. I also made sure I felt like I was walking very fast and I could sing or talk at the speed I was at. When I was bored I engaged my core, whatever that means. I never looked at my watch.
Things I've learned:
-Channeling the Agent works, no one on the road really knows you and if they see you, who cares, you're not bothering anyone. If anything, you will make their day a little more unique.
-A good warmup for me was a private dance party in my room for 5 minutes, gangnam style, and doing 30 pushups.
-I shouldn't change my ipod selection, no matter what, even if it slows down and the sounds of Beginner Hindi come on, it interrupts the flow
-I should come up with some new playlists
-Walk for 5 minutes after, drink water, stretching hamstrings and calves, touch your toes, do the duck walk.
-Don't be competitive with the other runners. The moms and dads pushing their babies in strollers will always beat me. So will the eighty-year olds. Power to them! Accept it.
-Pretend to enjoy the first twenty minutes of running and vary speeds slightly. Eventually I started to actually enjoy the run, especially on the third lap. When it was near the end of the run, I felt more powerful and stronger than ever. It was great.
-It's easier to run the path already taken. I've run this path around 30 times already.  I like knowing where I am going and where I am at, but the terrain is predictable. I need to take the plunge and mix it up.
-Make time for running, make time for people. Stop procrastinating.

Miles run this week: 9.6

It's Snow Cold

                              OMG. IT'S A CUTIE NEXT TO BRUNO THE BEAR. OMG.

Now that I've lured you into reading this post, with a picture of an adorable munchkin, I will finally reveal the grueling details of my training. Today I ran 6 miles braving the winter winds and slashing rain outside the window of the brand new gym. And okay, I used the elliptical, but it's good on my knees! Training the past two weeks has been tough! I've started to get bored with the once beautiful  3 mile path right next to my apartment. I've also been getting a cold. Apparently, the rule of thumb is to continue exercising if your symptoms are above the neck (ie. head cold) but work at a lower intensity.
Miles run since training: around 80
Miles run so far this week: elliptical: 10
real life: 7

Today it snowed for the first time this half of the year! The first snow of the schoolyear always provides a brilliant change of scenery, with fresh new icing upon an increasingly bare landscape with golden leaves collecting in gutters. Of course I ran outside with my camera and look what I found!

A Tree!!!

These are footprints in the snow. I think they may be mine.  Okay so I got a bit camera happy, but it reminded me of this beautiful poem by Mary Stevenson that I have adapted:
One night I dreamed I was walking in the snow with the Lord. 
Many scenes from my life flashed across the sky. 
In each scene I noticed footprints in the snow
Sometimes there were two sets of footprints, 
other times there was one only. 
This bothered me because I noticed that during the low periods of my life, 
when I was suffering from anguish, 
sorrow or defeat, 
I could see only one set of footprints, 
so I said to the Lord, 
“ You promised me Lord, 
that if I followed you, 
you would walk with me always. 
But I have noticed that during the most trying periods of my life 
there has only been one set of footprints in the snow. 
Why, when I needed you most, have you not been there for me?”
The Lord replied, 
“The years when you have seen only one set of footprints, 
my child, is when I carried you"

For a fresh start and treading on new ground, here's some goals to look forward to in the next year. I'll title this "Twenty-five Before I'm Twenty-Five. "

So the deadline here is three years, but because I'm a procrastinator (it's been a month and this is my first post here), I'm willing to give myself until 28.  I'm still shocked I'm in my 20s. 

1. Run a half-marathon

2. Run a marathon

3. Become a doctor

4. Finish War and Peace

5. Find a cause and passion

6. Pursue said cause and passion

7.  Maintain a blog

8. Maintain a journal

9. Play a team sport

10. Improve Spanish and Hindi

11. Learn basic French, Chinese, Marathi

12.  Organize a gathering (ie. throw a rager! jk.), learn how to dance

13. Perform with a musical ensemble

14. Learn guitar 

15. Write a song

16. Write a novel

17. Write a teen romance and publish some online fan fiction

18. Take care of my puppy for a month

19. Explore a new international city or town

20. American road trip

21. Learn to drive better

22. Write an academic paper or text

23. Learn to cook Indian, Italian, and French Food

24. Read the Bible, explore philosophical texts

25. Pay off my loans

The door: Obstacle or Entryway? I obviously have way too much fun taking pictures of snow.

A Break in the Storm

Today marked the end of a stretch of crappy runs and crappy events.

In the past two weeks, my mom had surgery (and had post-op complications), Hurricane Sandy hit (and I watched it destroy a place that's very meaningful to me), I was rejected from yet another bunch of jobs, and I realized a way to get a second chance at shaping my education and career path--only to learn it's financially impossible for me.

My runs have been fewer in frequency, and generally just haven't been good. I have two cracked bones in my foot ("cracked, like a brick!," is how the podiatrist described it), and I've been having trouble with nausea and neck pain during my runs. I've cut some runs short, and I've just completely failed to attempt others.

Today, a Nor'easter is setting in and there's a nasty mix of snow, wind, and rain outside. I'm a baby when it comes to the cold and I'm not the biggest fan of snow, so I was really dreading today's run.  

But, I did it.

Not only did I do it, I ran farther and more comfortably than I've ever run before.

Every time the MapMyRun narrator announced that I'd completed another half mile, I felt like I'd accomplished something, and I pushed myself to accomplish more.

For once, I wasn't thinking about ending the run the whole time I was out--I was enjoying the run and the moment itself.

Granted, there were snags. I stepped in a puddle and had to run with cold, soaked feet. The Learn Spanish podcast I was listening to skipped from Lesson 3 to Lesson 33, which was jarring to say the least.

Still, I'm proud of what I accomplished today. I haven't been feeling very good about myself lately, but at least I have this. At least I have a good run in the books. At least I have confidence that I can run again, and I can keep running farther, and I can keep running better. 

Miles run today: 5.5

Miles run since the start of training: 33.2

Days until the race: 184

30 before 30

I turned 22 a little over a week ago, and I'm at a kind of strange place in my life.

I just graduated from college and I'm in the process of choosing a career. In a way, I feel like this is the end. I've been filled with regret about fields I didn't study and opportunities I didn't take during college. I'm a little terrified of choosing a career because I'm afraid of pigeonholing myself into a job, a place, and a routine--forever.

Logically, I know this isn't the end. I know I can still learn, and I know that careers change. In fact, I don't even need a career right now. I need a job (or a few jobs), an internship, some volunteer experiences, some traveling. I need to know what's out there before I settle into a career, and I'm lucky enough to be able to float around (kind of).

Still, for those moments when I'm feeling stuck, or when I'm stupidly afraid of my life being at its end, I decided a needed a list. I work well with goals. I like lists, I like planning, and I like achieving. So I've made a list of 30 things I plan to do before I turn 30.

Within the next eight years I plan to (in no particular order): 

1. Go abroad. 
2. Run a marathon. 
3. Take a cooking course. 
4. Become fluent in Spanish. 
5. Take a computer programming course. 
6. Move to the West Coast (at least temporarily). 
7. Take my cousins apple picking and/or to Plimoth Plantation. 
8. Learn to play soccer. 
9. Join a flag football team. 
10. Take a voice lesson. 
11. Learn to play piano. 
12. Do karaoke. (With Nicole.) (At Spats.) 
13. Volunteer at a hospital. 
14. Volunteer at a group home. 
15. Become a mentor to a first-generation college student. 
16. Start a network of first-generation mentors. 
17. Adopt a dog. 
18. Participate in local politics. 
19. Begin work toward a new degree. 
20. Buy a car. 
21. Pay off my loans. 
22. Get an article published. 
23. Get a short story published. 
24. Make the Best Chocolate Chip Cookies...Ever. (With Allison.) (Plus an ombre cake.)
25. Host an elaborate Halloween party. 
26. Hike to the top of a mountain. 
27. Go on a cross-country road trip. 
28. Start my Christmas village. 
29. Go on a ghost tour. 
30. Write a novel. 

Some of these goals might be impossible (i.e., paying off my loans), and others might change over the course of eight years, but for the most part these are things that are within my reach. Framing them as goals that I will achieve within a certain timeframe (as opposed to things I would like to do someday) gives me hope for the future, and makes me excited about the adventures I have ahead of me.

Miles run today: 0 (Rest day! Also, I have cracked bones in my foot.)

Miles run since the start of training: 25.2

Days until the race: 187

Early Observations

We officially registered this blog a week ago, so I’m going to refer to that as the official “start” of my training, even though I’ve been flirting with the idea of regular running for a while now.

So far, I’m not too talented at the running thing. My biggest challenge? I get bored. I’ll be running, my body will feel fine, I won’t be too winded or too tired, but I’ll be bored. I can get my body to work, but my brain is another story.

Here are some early successes from Week 1 of training:

• I completed a 6 mile session (and only thought about giving up 300 times during the run).
• I can run 4 consecutive miles at a 10-minute-mile pace! (Too bad elite runners can do 26 consecutive miles at much faster pace...)
• I did a silent run (one with no music or podcasts) and realized my brain isn’t too scary of a place to be.

But, there are failures for every success. Most notably:

• I ruined my running shoes because I went out in the rain.
• I ruined my foot because I started running in non-supportive, hand-me-down Coach sneakers instead.
• I already have a black toenail. One week of training, and I already have a black toenail! I didn’t expect that to happen so soon. If my nipples start bleeding next week, you might have to count me out of this whole running thing.

Miles run today: 0 (let’s hope this rest day makes my injury go away!)
Miles run since the start of training: 16.12
Days until the race: 194