Brrr, It's Cold Out There...

Today was a double-first. My first run measured in miles, not minutes. And my first run in the snow! Both accomplishments to be proud of. At least, in theory.

Since the start of finals, running has been pushed to the back burner. And by back burner, I mean toaster oven. Or maybe even microwave. In fact, let's just say I put running back in the fridge for a little while. Basically the whole month of December, minus a couple of OMGIHAVETOSTOPSTUDYING runs. And then I was home, and realized I forgot my ipod in St Louis. Whoops. Luckily, I got a new ipod nano for Christmas! Along with some excellent gift certificates, which allowed me to stock up on winter running gear. So, today was my first day out! I ran (slash walked) two miles. TWO. WHOLE. MILES.

It doesn't sound like a lot. This is true. Technically speaking, it's NOT a whole lot of miles. Just a couple. Two little miles. But for me they felt like Two Miles. Capitalized. For effect.

Two miles is the farthest I have ever ran (slash walked). In my entire life. I'm pretty sure. No joke. Ever. See, I have always (read: alwayssss) been a terrible, unenthusiastic runner. Even when I was a tiny child, a raging ball of pure energy, running was pretty much my least favorite activity in the entire world. I did every sport/activity known to girl: ballet! tap! jazz! t-ball! gymnastics! horseback riding! soccer! tennis! cheerleading! lots and lots of cheerleading! rowing! I hit my running peak right around t-ball time, when I was too little to hit the ball off the tee. So either someone would get in (really, really) close and underhand it to me, or my friend D would hit, and I would run. (He was a good hitter and slow. I was a tiny hitter, and fast.) Even in my soccer days I loathed running. When I discovered sports that did not involve running, I was ecstatic.

The point is, I have probably never run (slash walked) two full miles before. I have never even remotely thought about maybe WANTING to run two miles. So the fact that I couldn't wait to put on my new gear and hit the snowy road and struggle and walk and stretch and get inspired and run and dodge cars and call myself crazy for thinking I was going to run 13.1 miles when two little miles was so freaking hard...is amazing to me.

And tomorrow I'm going to do it again. And it will be, I think, a little easier than today because I will already have done it. And I'll run a little more, and walk a little less. And so on and so forth.

I'm going to be heading down to Long Island (or Lawn Guyland) tomorrow for a birthday party/new years celebration/college reunion for five-ish days. My friend K will be there, so I'm not worried about losing motivation to run. Wooo! Time for a hot shower.

Oh Yeah, Still Here!

Ok so when I said law school = time sink, i didn't even know how right I was. It's finals time now...first one tomorrow, then Monday, then Thursday is the last and then DONE!! Wooo!! Followed by some hopefully epic parties, a fabulous road trip home with my original DAB, an equally fabulous christmas (!!!) with the fam, new years with the gypsy clan, nyc day with friends from everywhere, and road trip back to stl with my favorite person. There aren't enough exclamation points to express how I feel about these next few weeks.

Unfortunately, I've been slacking in my running ALMOST as much as I've been slacking in my blogging. The past three-ish weeks I've only been getting in one or two runs per week - lame sauce. BUT I have been upping my minutes, so that's something! I went on a run this morning and it felt great to be moving, pushing myself, and not thinking about the elements of adverse possession (property), mutuality of obligation (contracts) or superseding causes (torts). Oh my.

A couple days ago I took a study break and went to the mall to buy some outdoor running gear because it is officially winter. (Side note - apparently I like snow. And apparently, Albany is rare in that it snows for 5 months of the year. St Louis...not so much. Wah.) Anyway, I got a snazzy black racerback top and an equally snazzy pink long sleeved mock turtleneck with monkey holes (for thumbs). Along with blue microfleece gloves and headband. Needless to say, I felt real profesh. UNTIL I got home and found that the store clerk forgot to take off the security tags. UGHHHH. In a fit of rage, I pried one off of the black shirt, but I'm afraid to do the same with the pink one. And I honestly just do.not.have.the.time. to go back to the mall and have them take it off. Le sigh. Any ideas??

On the bright side, I was warm on my run this morning! Although I do think I should invest in a jacket, since my boathouse rowing jacket was ok, but not as good as it could have been. I smell a Christmas present for myself...ESPECIALLY now that I'm incapable of running on a treadmill. I don't know how I'm going to survive running in NY! But I will. And I'm excited about it. The only thing I'm worried about is that when I run outside, I think I'm wayyyyyy slower than on the treadmill. Maybe I should mix it up a bit. We shall see. For now, just know that a) I'm alive! b) I'm still dedicated to the half-marathon! and c) law school is really effing hard. This is actually the hardest I have ever worked/prepared/studied...but I'm not freaking out (too much). Because what's the point? I'm gonna do what I do. And we'll see what needs to change next semester. Sounds great on paper, just have to keep it in my head. And now, off to the library!