Obama/Biden and the Monarch Waystation

Week of October 28, 2012:

Monday: Short evening run (20 minutes)

Tuesday: Off (cooked a fantastic dinner!)

Wednesday: Bike ride for groceries

Thursday: Morning run (22 minutes)

Friday: Bike ride to Target and grocery store

Saturday: Bike ride for more errands + 20-minute run around the park

Total minutes run this week: 102(!)

I had the most charming encounter yesterday!  I was riding my bike around town to do errands when I rode past a house with a wild-looking front yard and several official-looking signs.  The signs declared this spot a “Monarch Waystation” and an “Official Wildlife Center” (or something similar); the latter sign described how the space had all the necessary features for wildlife to nest, eat, and raise young.  There were no fewer than five butterflies and one bumblebee fluttering among wildflowers and hearty plants.  Part of the yard was lightly wooded, too.  The whole thing looked busy yet serene: nature run wild in the space of someone’s front yard.

I was absolutely enchanted with it.  I’ve never been a big fan of lawns, and in my adult years, I have found myself drawn to domestic spaces that have been (more or less) handed back to nature for safekeeping.  As a biologist, the interconnectedness of everything within an ecosystem has always fascinated me; I believe the more we see ourselves as separate from nature, the more damage we do to our surroundings and ourselves.  That’s also why I’ve been drawn to so-called “paleo”-influenced movements, such as the paleo diet and books about human evolution such as Sex at Dawn.  It’s not that I think modern lifestyles are the worst thing ever, but rather that we are animals and part of the larger world.  It’s with humility and awe that I see an Official Wildlife Center in someone’s yard and think, Wow, that’s amazing.

Interestingly, I’ve seen at least two front yards which have this wild vibe to them, and both yards have Obama/Biden signs out front.  If that doesn’t seem noteworthy, remember that I live in Republicanland, where Romeny/Ryan signs are plentiful but Obama/Biden signs are few.  Republicans are too hostile toward conservation and sustainability issues for me to feel comfortable voting for a Republican presidential candidate.  On that note, American readers, make sure you make it to the polls before the end of Tuesday!  Or do like that famous man up top did and vote early, if you can.  I’ll be voting on Tuesday—I always vote on Election Day—and I think you can guess who I’d rather see in the White House in 2013.

Happy Election Week!  I can’t wait for Tuesday night. 

Bouncing Back

Week of October 21, 2012:

Thursday: Off (off drinking wine again!)

Friday: Off (busy cooking a pasta dinner at Chez Moi)

Saturday: Bike ride to work and the grocery store

Total minutes run this week: 23.  [Insert sad face here!]

Week of October 28, 2012:

Sunday: “Long” run (40 minutes easy pace)

Well.  I totally did NOT meet my running goals last week, and here I must accept that I was beaten by biology.  Illness on top of grief meant that my body did not want to run.  Horrible coughing fits that interrupted my sleep made me say, “Enough is enough!  I have to get past this cough and get some good sleep before running becomes an option again.”

I took a few more days off from running and exercise in general, though I was still walking around and getting some pedometer points.  (I don’t actually own a pedometer but would love to see my daily step counts!)  Today I felt well enough and rested enough to tackle a run, and so off I went.  I was pretty intimidated about running after being away from it for too long.  (I think in three weeks, I ran just three times.)  To ease my fear, I told myself that I would run at an easy pace and I would listen to my body.  If my breathing felt too labored or if the run was a real struggle, then I would walk and/or cut my run short.  I set no time goal.  I just…ran.

And it felt great!  I was able to run at my easy pace for a total of 40 minutes, which surprised and delighted me.  There were a few stops in there for street-crossings, but otherwise, I kept an even pace.  It was so nice to be out there in the sunshine and the cool autumn air—I felt like a new person, finally able to enjoy my beloved running again.  I’m feeling much better about the prospect of running this week and hope to get at least one morning run done.  I miss that feeling of starting off the day on a positive note…not that oatmeal, coffee, and a hot shower aren’t positive notes too.  But when you get into a routine of morning runs, that sense of accomplishment makes the rest of the day easier.  Plus it makes my evenings feel more relaxed if I’m not trying to squeeze dinner and a run into that time.

“It’s hard to convey how important running is to me.”

On-line curation at its finest folks: here’s a favorite quote of mine about running.  It’s from the lovely S. of Simply Bike.

“It’s hard to convey how important running is to me.  I came to running late in life and it has filled a void that I didn’t know was there. It sounds dramatic, I know.  Running has had that effect on me.  It makes me want to make grand statements and set impossible goals and it provides me with the meditative time in the day to think those goals through and to allow myself to dream big.  It also makes me push my body beyond what I think possible and that may be just what I love about it most.

It constantly forces me to grow.”

Indeed.  Is there anything running can’t do?

Good Luck, Theresa!

My sweet little sister, Theresa, is running her first 5K tomorrow morning.  I could not be more excited for her!  (That’s Theresa, on the left up there, and me on the right.  Our older brother Charlie was behind the lens that day, a gorgeous September afternoon back in 2010.)

Theresa is a Certified Public Accountant and works loads of hours, wrangling numbers and corralling clients.  She started running a while ago, as a way to find fitness and burn off some stress.  Theresa travels quite frequently for work, too, which can make running a real challenge.  So she started on the treadmill, logging a few miles several times a week.  Treadmills are nice that way: most hotels have a little gym, and no matter what things look like outside, you can get your run on if you’ve got access to a treadmill.

Knowing how much Theresa was loving her treadmill runs, I asked her if she’d thought about taking her running outside.  As you all probably know, I love being outside and consider it a daily requirement.  Theresa and I talked about the challenges of running outside: traffic and mapping a route were her top concerns.  Without any input from me, she went for it and started running outside.  Michigan has pretty good outdoor running weather in three out of the four seasons—it helps if you are adventurous, of course, and the scenery outside makes it worth your effort to get outside.  I miss Michigan’s beauty quite a bit now that I live in Texas.  Running outside in Michigan is a real treat for me.

Anyway, Theresa conquered her fears of outdoor running.  She lives in a lovely neighborhood and has mapped out different running routes.  She uses a Nike app to track her pace and mileage.  Social butterfly that she is, she shares her work-outs on Facebook.  This is how I know she’s sticking with the running: I can spy on her via Facebook!  Muahahaha!  (That’s my evil science laugh, in case you couldn’t tell.)

Tomorrow she’ll be running the Wicked Halloween Run 5K in Plymouth, her first race EVER.  How fun is that?  I wish I could be there to cheer for her in person, or to run it with her, but since I’m down here and she’s up there, I’ll have to settle for this:

Good luck, Theresa!  Have a great run! 

I can’t wait to hear her race report.  If we’re lucky, she might even contribute a little something to this blog.  We’ll see.  A blogger can hope, right?

Happy running, everyone!

Gearing Up for Cold-Weather Cycling

* WARNING: STYLE DISCUSSION AHEAD!

Actually, a prelude first.  I started writing this post over a month ago when we were experiencing a cool snap.  I felt totally inspired to start thinking about the joys of cold weather, but then the heat returned and it felt weird to even think about cooler weather.  (I think cool weather is easily spooked away from Texas—it’s very skittish that way.)  But today, we have been blessed with another cold snap, and this one is predicted to last through the weekend.  I’m seizing the day and finishing this post! 

* * *

I’ve been cleaning out my wardrobe lately, saying good-bye to clothing that I never wear, that doesn’t flatter me, that doesn’t fit with the grown-up style I’m trying to cultivate.  Having been in school for most of my life, including most of my adult life, it’s exciting and a little scary to bid farewell to my student wardrobe.  As a student, I had little time or money to spend obsessing over my clothing.  Now, as a postdoc, I don’t have much time, but I do have a little more money.  And I have a different set of circumstances now: I live in a hot place, I bike to get around town, and I’m trying to cultivate a look that says, “I’m not very old, but I am a professional.  I am not a student!”

One trend that I’ve been resisting is the skinny jean.  The two reasons behind my resistance: 1) I haven’t felt the need to buy any jeans, period and 2) skinny jeans/pants tend to bunch around the knees, which drives me slightly bonkers.  And yet, skinnies can create such a nice silhouette that my resistance has been faltering…

Another point in favor of skinnies: tight pants are fantastic for biking.  They don’t get caught in your bike chain, and I always feel sleek and fast when I bike in dressy tights or running tights.  From the Feels Like Flying archives, here are two photos of decent winter biking outfits:

(Wow, my hair is so long in that first photo!  Also, if you are wondering why I’m not wearing a hat up there, January in Texas can easily be 40+ degrees F.  A person can overheat quite easily, especially in the evenings when the heat of the day is still in the air.)

What I’ve realized from thinking about these two cycling outfits is that I’d love the best of both worlds: tight pants that are dressy enough for work or hanging out.  When you wear dressy tights, you have to worry about your skirt riding up (which it inevitably does—see above).  When you wear running tights, you’re wearing obvious work-out gear.  What I want is surreptitious work-out gear, stylish stuff that I can easily wear for riding.

These leggings, cleverly disguised as real pants, are my top choices for a wardrobe update.  Both pairs are from hue.com.  The first is a denim legging (jeggings!) and the second is a corduroy legging.

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I always feel a bit uncomfortable about the blatant materialism in style posts.  I’m trying to tell myself that materialism itself is not the evil that my overly critical brain tells me it is.  After all, we have to wear something, and if I am diligent about using what I buy and being fiscally responsible, isn’t that something to be celebrated?  Does anyone else struggle with their love for pretty things because they feel shallow for caring?  I feel like I can’t win: I’ll be judged for my appearance, and I’ll be judged for caring about my appearance.  And you know who the first judge is?  ME!

Anyway, I’m excited about getting some tight pants and/or leggings for biking around town and for wearing with boots.  In addition to these cute pants from hue.com, I also saw some jeggings at Charming Charlie’s that I might pick up this weekend.  They are about half the price of the hue pieces here, and they’re made of a soft fabric, not denim, but the color is a denim blue.  And they have back pockets!  I love pockets.

I’m curious: do you buy and/or wear clothing with biking in mind?  How do you feel about skinny pants?

(PS  Happy Friday!)

Double Whammy?

Week of October 21, 2012:

Monday: Bike ride to buy my new French press! (I’m still so in love.)

Tuesday: Short run (23 minutes total, with some walking thrown in there)

Wednesday: Off (though I did get off the bus early to sneak in three more blocks of walking…)

I had an epiphany this morning: I have contracted two overlapping colds.

I credit my sister-in-law for this wisdom.  Her kids are both sick, and she mentioned that there were at least three colds present at my brother’s memorial service.  You can imagine how easily germs are transmitted at a service where there is lots of hugging and crying and close contact between you and two dozen other people.  I think I took the College Station Plague with me to Michigan, and then, while in the Mitten, picked up a bonus cold to take back to Texas with me.  Not my idea of a great souvenir, but it explains why I’ve been sick for over two weeks and I can’t seem to shake this hacking cough of mine.

The cough is driving me crazy!  It’s tearing up my throat and interrupting my sleep.  I snuck in a mini-nap on the couch this morning; I was just desperate for a few more minutes of sleep, and my couch has magical, sleep-enhancing properties.  Everyone loves sleeping on that couch.  Fortunately, my energy levels are pretty good—I feel more-or-less the same as I do on any given Thursday.  But I’m afraid that if I can’t shake this cough, I’m going to lose a lung with all the hacking.

In theory, tonight I am supposed to meet up with friends for wine and dinner at the Benjamin Knox Wine Depot/Art Gallery.  I might play it by ear and see how I feel tonight.  If sleep sounds better than wine, then to bed I shall go.

I hope you are healthier than I am on this fine October Thursday!

Three Out of Four, Check!

Newly hemmed red skirt…

New French press (ooh la la!)…

…and an unpictured letter now en route to my six-year-old niece.

I have fun news: it’s only Wednesday and I’ve accomplished three out of my four goals for this week!  Easy carrots, people.  What better way to feel great about yourself than to focus on fun, small goals, like hemming an adorable skirt or buying a French press?  You might argue that a more ambitious person would be focusing on career or running goals, but I’d say that life has made it awfully difficult for me to go after my larger goals, between my stupid cold and campus-wide bomb threats.  I am ALWAYS working toward my larger goals, to the extent that work and fitness are near-daily pursuits for me.  This week, it was great to set goals that fell outside of those realms.

I did go for a run last night, a short one.  23 minutes total running, with a few walk breaks for street-crossing and catching my breath.  Truthfully, this run was one of those mixed experiences, where my legs felt great but my lungs did not.  My legs could have run for miles and miles, but my lungs struggled to keep up with my pace.  I knew the first run back, after this unexpected break, would be hard, so I’m glad it’s over.  I’m still hopeful that I can get two quality 30-minute runs into my week—maybe on Friday and Saturday?  I’m still coughing a lot and somewhat clogged with congestion, and I’m feeling unsure about how to transition back into a normal running routine.  Any suggestions are welcome, dear readers!