My Running Mini-goals:  In a month, I’ll have worked up to 10 miles.  That’s not unrealistic, considering I’m already between 4 and 5 miles.  If I increase at 1.5 – 2 mile increments every week, I’ll be set.  At 6 weeks, I’ll be at 12 miles, and that last mile should be a piece of cake.  

I have not wrapped my brain around doing an all-out marathon yet.  That takes a level of commitment I’m not quite ready for.

I tried putting on a certain pair of pants today.  I wore these pants not too long ago.  I managed to put both legs through, but when it came time to button and zip?  Made me mad.  It was early morning, so I quietly folded the pants and put them back in the drawer.  Those are going to fit again.  Properly.  It’s not like I obsess about my weight, but it’s hard not to notice when my body is going through changes, because, originally, there was not a lot of it.  And, to the untrained eye, there’s not a whole lot more now.  I can tell, though.    

What’s funny is I can run quasi-far distances and still feel pretty good.  A 6-7% weight gain (you do the math) and it’s not so bad.  Sure, I can feel I’m heavier, and I manipulate the silver lining by saying at least my legs will be stronger having more of a load to push.  But, I also remember what 89 pounds feels like and know that it’s not a dangerously low weight for my height.  It’s lean.  Lately, I’ve run less frequently and increased the calories, especially bad calories.  The math makes sense.

The other day I wore some trouser socks.  They come up to the knee.  They’re skin tight, with elastic at the hem.  I fell asleep in them, and the elastic seemed either to cut off circulation and/or cut into my skin.  My legs weren’t numb when I woke up, but the socks felt tighter around my legs.  I rolled them down to my ankles, which felt much better.  Now, I have a red-welty line on the backs of both knees.  Note to self:  take off trouser socks before bed.

Something else I wanted to jot down.  Bah, too late.  I already forgot.

Right now, I’m looking out my window.  The streets are wet.  That layer of moisture reflects the backlights of the cars, creating the illusion of twice as much red light. It’s pretty cool.

Running in this neighborhood is always interesting; the streets are almost never empty.  This time of year, it’s chaos.  I admit I get sucked into admiring the decorated windows of Lord & Taylor and Cartier and the shops at Rockefeller Center, and the Apple Store.  It’s not like I have the money to spend at those places, but I’m grateful I’m running past these places when I see them.

My mind leapt back to high school yesterday.  It was a strange sensation, and it occurred only after I noticed I did something that I learned on the football field during marching band.  The foot traffic on the subway platforms is seldom organized.  Sometimes there’s a steady flow toward the trains and you can catch the current, but often, I find myself weaving through the crowds.  People cut right in front of me, and I either have to stop or change direction quickly.  If I stop, I risk people behind me running me over, so I prefer to change direction: a sudden swerve then back on track or take the path I shifted to.  Yesterday, I caught myself doing a skip-step.  Or maybe it’s called  a stutter-step.  It’s what you do if you’re marching and out of step with the music and rest of the band, which is often on the wrong foot of the beat.  Instead of putting the opposite foot forward, you settle back on the rear foot and hop, so you end up stepping with your forward foot twice.  It puts the correct foot on the proper beat.  For me in the subway station, it delayed or hastened my step by a beat so people could pass in front of or behind me without any collisions.  Not that anyone else cared, but I was on the field in my mind’s eye, and I resisted the temptation to glide-step the rest of the way to the A train.  I wasn’t playing my clarinet, after all.  But I was smugly smiling, and a time that would have normally been high-stress and filled my mind with unfriendly thoughts turned into a nice trip down memory lane.  Yay, commute!

I happened upon this site today.  I want to nominate one (some?) of you for any of the categories.  

My abs are sore.  Woo-hoo! 

Here’s a pretty funny video about the strike.  Oh, and if you’re not already getting updates on negotiations (or lack thereof) between the WGA and the AMPTP, check them out here and here.  Check the entire site.  Lots of great stuff: videos, resources, picketing information.

I was gonna go to Institute, but I think I’ll stay home instead.