Unfortunately it was another low mileage week due my foot. I ended the week with 63 miles and no real long run.
Monday:
Ugh! My foot! If you have ever had plantar fasciitis, then you know how when you sit for too long or sleep, you can barely walk. I also spent the night convinced I had ruptured my Achilles. The pain had been in my heel, but all night I was awake with what can only be described as white-hot searing pain in my Achilles.
To not be a complete idiot, I decide to take the day off, but I clearly need to go to yoga. A couple weeks ago I had a bought 30 dollars for 30 days at a yoga studio. The thing about Chapel Hill is you have to pay to park when you are near the university, which I refuse to do. I am not the only one. There is plenty of moms circling the block while their kid runs into the restaurant to pick up the food order. It’s a beautiful day. It’s sunny and warm. I park in Carrboro because you can park for 2 hours for free in the municipal lots. The yoga studio is a mile and a half from my house, but about half a mile from one of the Carrboro lots. I was surprised to discover that my yoga mat gets really heavy when I walk half a mile. My left bicep is going to be huge!
I spend the afternoon finishing grading and limping around my house.
Tuesday:
My heel really isn’t better, but it is an amazing morning. It’s cloudy and 60 degrees out with a light drizzle. Before I could run, I needed to turn in final grades while having my coffee. I wanted to run for hours, but I am trying to be smart about my foot. I ran 6 miles, and my foot hurt pretty much the whole the time. I went to yoga, I came home and did weights and through all of that my foot hurt. I am really trying not to let this stress me out.
I spend the afternoon icing my foot on a frozen water bottle, which feels amazing. I also binge-watched The Politician.
Today is my favorite day on the Jewish Calendar. It’s Yud Tes Kislev. So for those of you who are wondering what that means, here is the basic story. This day is like the Rosh Hashana (new year) for Chassidism. Rabbi Zalman, after some cool shit went down, was released from a Russian prison. Yes, the Baal Shem Tov (big fan of this guy and thoughts on the mysticism of the Torah) and DovBer were already starting the movement of Chassidism, but Rabbi Zalman was a big deal because he founded what is Chabad. The point of all of this was to make the Torah part of everyday life for all the Jewish people. Typically, there is a big party at the Chabad, and the kids put on a show and sing songs. It’s just a really lovely day to spend with people you care about. That is one of the reasons it is my favorite day. Another reason is that Chabad has had a significant impact on my life. It has become important to me. And it influences not just me and my thoughts, but how I interact with the world.
There is another reason I love this day. I have all these good intentions on Rosh Hashanah that I typically mess up. Here is another new year day to get my act together.
I told Ava how sad I was to not be in Phoenix today and she said we could celebrate together. Too bad we both felt terrible and went to bed early. It’s nice here, but I miss having friends and a sense of community. I thought I would make friends at work. I had this picture of what it would be like to be part of a big department at a university. I hardly ever speak to anyone in my department. I have tried. I have made an effort to connect with people. But it hasn’t worked out. In my department, it feels very lonely. I don’t want to make it sound like people are unkind. Everyone is nice, just maybe not looking to add to their list of friends. I do have a friend that I made at new faculty meetings at the start of the semester. But she is a ceramics instructor, and we have pretty different schedules. It’s not just working. I miss having a religious community. Although I was having a bit of struggle there in Phoenix, trying to sort of the whole Chabad, Reform, Conservative thing, at least I knew I had a place I could go. One of the reasons I rented this house is because there is a temple at the end of my street. I haven’t been there one time.
Wednesday:
I knew it! I knew if I just went back to yoga, my foot would get better because the problem was tight calves. My foot felt totally fine this morning. It was so cold this morning. And if I sleep in, then I have to deal with the line of cars driving too fast down my very narrow street. I am pretty sure I complained about this before, but it makes me not even want to run, and it is literally 2 tenths of a mile. Yesterday a car going excessively fast and almost hit me. It was really scary, and if they had hit me, it would not have been pretty for me. Sadly, there is no break from it because it isn’t student traffic. I am pretty sure it is all hospital employees. So, UNC tell your hospital employees to stop terrorizing my street.
I went back to yoga in the morning and then went for a run after. I drove over to the Carolina Forest to run where I wouldn’t have to deal with cars.
Thursday:
I tried to wait for a little warm-up and the traffic to die down. While I was waiting, I applied for a job at Mesa Community College, Yavapai College and Casper College in Wyoming.
I would have run farther because I was feeling good, but my tights were rubbing in a lot of places I did not want them to be rubbing me. The most important thing is that my heel felt totally fine!
I was hoping that my new yoga mat would come before I went to yoga, but no luck. I really wanted to go to hot yoga and get a hard work out in. Too bad I picked the wrong class for that. Also, why are teachers here obsessed with blocks? I have never had so many teachers feel like they needed to force blocks on me.
The new yoga mat did come later in the afternoon. I love it! I can’t wait to try it out in class.
I took Ava to get her hair cut. Strike 2 for hair salons in Chapel Hill. Now we need to fly home to get our hair done and go to yoga.
Friday:
I used to be the kind of person who would rarely drive someplace to run unless I was meeting someone or running at Mt. Ord. I have embraced driving someplace to run to avoid cars. I got spoiled living on the mountain in Phoenix. I could be on the trail in a matter of steps and not have to worry about cars. I love Umstead. Last week I saw 2 red-crested woodpeckers up close!
I decided to take a new path at Umstead. I went out onto the greenway and loved it. I got to run past the UNC equine facility. We had horses when I was a kid, and I loved riding. I know it’s not for everyone, but I love the smell of horses. Then I took a detour into Schenck Memorial Forest. It was amazing. I end up slowing down on the single track because with all the leaves it is hard to see the roots and rocks on the trail, but also because I am so busy looking around at the beauty of the forest.
I get 15 miles done and head back home. The plan was to grocery shop and then went to yoga, but grocery shopping takes too long. The store is crowded, I am buying ingredients that I don’t usually buy so I have to find them, and I don’t always shop at this store, so I don’t know where everything is located. Why does it need to be white pepper? I don't know but I bought it.
When I was young, I bought fresh flowers for my house all the time. I decided to take up that practice again because I love having them in the house. Unfortunately, I don’t have a lot of vases, so I had to use leftover glass jars and plastic containers. But I have reached this point where I have no idea where I will be working and living next year, and I don’t want to buy much more because I don’t want to have to move all of it.
I didn’t make it to yoga, but I Iced my foot and did some stretching at home. I am not sure I am going to make it through a long run tomorrow.
Since I never take pictures when I run, enjoy these pictures of flowers I bought for my house.
Monday:
Ugh! My foot! If you have ever had plantar fasciitis, then you know how when you sit for too long or sleep, you can barely walk. I also spent the night convinced I had ruptured my Achilles. The pain had been in my heel, but all night I was awake with what can only be described as white-hot searing pain in my Achilles.
To not be a complete idiot, I decide to take the day off, but I clearly need to go to yoga. A couple weeks ago I had a bought 30 dollars for 30 days at a yoga studio. The thing about Chapel Hill is you have to pay to park when you are near the university, which I refuse to do. I am not the only one. There is plenty of moms circling the block while their kid runs into the restaurant to pick up the food order. It’s a beautiful day. It’s sunny and warm. I park in Carrboro because you can park for 2 hours for free in the municipal lots. The yoga studio is a mile and a half from my house, but about half a mile from one of the Carrboro lots. I was surprised to discover that my yoga mat gets really heavy when I walk half a mile. My left bicep is going to be huge!
I spend the afternoon finishing grading and limping around my house.
Tuesday:
My heel really isn’t better, but it is an amazing morning. It’s cloudy and 60 degrees out with a light drizzle. Before I could run, I needed to turn in final grades while having my coffee. I wanted to run for hours, but I am trying to be smart about my foot. I ran 6 miles, and my foot hurt pretty much the whole the time. I went to yoga, I came home and did weights and through all of that my foot hurt. I am really trying not to let this stress me out.
I spend the afternoon icing my foot on a frozen water bottle, which feels amazing. I also binge-watched The Politician.
Today is my favorite day on the Jewish Calendar. It’s Yud Tes Kislev. So for those of you who are wondering what that means, here is the basic story. This day is like the Rosh Hashana (new year) for Chassidism. Rabbi Zalman, after some cool shit went down, was released from a Russian prison. Yes, the Baal Shem Tov (big fan of this guy and thoughts on the mysticism of the Torah) and DovBer were already starting the movement of Chassidism, but Rabbi Zalman was a big deal because he founded what is Chabad. The point of all of this was to make the Torah part of everyday life for all the Jewish people. Typically, there is a big party at the Chabad, and the kids put on a show and sing songs. It’s just a really lovely day to spend with people you care about. That is one of the reasons it is my favorite day. Another reason is that Chabad has had a significant impact on my life. It has become important to me. And it influences not just me and my thoughts, but how I interact with the world.
There is another reason I love this day. I have all these good intentions on Rosh Hashanah that I typically mess up. Here is another new year day to get my act together.
I told Ava how sad I was to not be in Phoenix today and she said we could celebrate together. Too bad we both felt terrible and went to bed early. It’s nice here, but I miss having friends and a sense of community. I thought I would make friends at work. I had this picture of what it would be like to be part of a big department at a university. I hardly ever speak to anyone in my department. I have tried. I have made an effort to connect with people. But it hasn’t worked out. In my department, it feels very lonely. I don’t want to make it sound like people are unkind. Everyone is nice, just maybe not looking to add to their list of friends. I do have a friend that I made at new faculty meetings at the start of the semester. But she is a ceramics instructor, and we have pretty different schedules. It’s not just working. I miss having a religious community. Although I was having a bit of struggle there in Phoenix, trying to sort of the whole Chabad, Reform, Conservative thing, at least I knew I had a place I could go. One of the reasons I rented this house is because there is a temple at the end of my street. I haven’t been there one time.
Wednesday:
I knew it! I knew if I just went back to yoga, my foot would get better because the problem was tight calves. My foot felt totally fine this morning. It was so cold this morning. And if I sleep in, then I have to deal with the line of cars driving too fast down my very narrow street. I am pretty sure I complained about this before, but it makes me not even want to run, and it is literally 2 tenths of a mile. Yesterday a car going excessively fast and almost hit me. It was really scary, and if they had hit me, it would not have been pretty for me. Sadly, there is no break from it because it isn’t student traffic. I am pretty sure it is all hospital employees. So, UNC tell your hospital employees to stop terrorizing my street.
I went back to yoga in the morning and then went for a run after. I drove over to the Carolina Forest to run where I wouldn’t have to deal with cars.
Thursday:
I tried to wait for a little warm-up and the traffic to die down. While I was waiting, I applied for a job at Mesa Community College, Yavapai College and Casper College in Wyoming.
I would have run farther because I was feeling good, but my tights were rubbing in a lot of places I did not want them to be rubbing me. The most important thing is that my heel felt totally fine!
I was hoping that my new yoga mat would come before I went to yoga, but no luck. I really wanted to go to hot yoga and get a hard work out in. Too bad I picked the wrong class for that. Also, why are teachers here obsessed with blocks? I have never had so many teachers feel like they needed to force blocks on me.
The new yoga mat did come later in the afternoon. I love it! I can’t wait to try it out in class.
I took Ava to get her hair cut. Strike 2 for hair salons in Chapel Hill. Now we need to fly home to get our hair done and go to yoga.
Friday:
I used to be the kind of person who would rarely drive someplace to run unless I was meeting someone or running at Mt. Ord. I have embraced driving someplace to run to avoid cars. I got spoiled living on the mountain in Phoenix. I could be on the trail in a matter of steps and not have to worry about cars. I love Umstead. Last week I saw 2 red-crested woodpeckers up close!
I decided to take a new path at Umstead. I went out onto the greenway and loved it. I got to run past the UNC equine facility. We had horses when I was a kid, and I loved riding. I know it’s not for everyone, but I love the smell of horses. Then I took a detour into Schenck Memorial Forest. It was amazing. I end up slowing down on the single track because with all the leaves it is hard to see the roots and rocks on the trail, but also because I am so busy looking around at the beauty of the forest.
I get 15 miles done and head back home. The plan was to grocery shop and then went to yoga, but grocery shopping takes too long. The store is crowded, I am buying ingredients that I don’t usually buy so I have to find them, and I don’t always shop at this store, so I don’t know where everything is located. Why does it need to be white pepper? I don't know but I bought it.
When I was young, I bought fresh flowers for my house all the time. I decided to take up that practice again because I love having them in the house. Unfortunately, I don’t have a lot of vases, so I had to use leftover glass jars and plastic containers. But I have reached this point where I have no idea where I will be working and living next year, and I don’t want to buy much more because I don’t want to have to move all of it.
I didn’t make it to yoga, but I Iced my foot and did some stretching at home. I am not sure I am going to make it through a long run tomorrow.
Since I never take pictures when I run, enjoy these pictures of flowers I bought for my house.
Saturday:
The cold weather hadn’t been bothering me, but lately between the cold and the aggressive traffic at 8am, I have been having a hard time making myself get out the door in the mornings. But running later in the day is not my favorite thing. I did go to yoga in the morning and I love my new mat!
I drag myself to the American Tobacco Trail and even once I am there, I am finding it difficult to get going. It’s not even that cold, but it feels cold and dreary. I decided to leave my warm-up pants on and run a couple miles to shake off the cold. I took a little detour on a neighborhood greenway. Something a little different always seems to make the miles go by a little faster. And like the day before, my foot started to hurt around mile 10. I am trying not to freak out, but it’s hard to know I have a race coming up, that I have invested about $500 in and a lot of hard work, and now it might all fall apart. Story of my life. And despite that, I am still looking at races and thinking about signing up for more races this Spring.
Sunday:
I had decided that I would get up a run in the morning. I slept in a bit and got out later than I like. With winter here, all the beautiful leaves have fallen off the trees. This means that all the great places I could hide to go pee are no longer available to me. I thought I was in a pretty private area on the trail in the city and decided to go pee. Too bad some guy popped out of nowhere with two dogs right when I was standing up. I usually just pull my shorts to the side, so there is nothing to see, but I had pants on today because it was 29 degrees when I left the house. I said sorry, but he didn’t say anything He just turned and went the other direction. Oops!
In the afternoon I watched Under the Arctic Sky. It’s about the guys surfing in the winter in Iceland. It was pretty cool. You should definitely watch it. I love watching athletes from other sports do crazy shit. This is the kind of thing that motivates me. I don’t really pay attention to things that have to do with running. All that does is make me doubt everything I am doing or make me feel bummed that I am not a better runner. But I love watching documentaries about things I would never do. Alpine, big wall climbing, and I guess now cold-water surfing.
I should have gone to yoga, but I didn’t. I just rolled and stretched my foot at home. It’s meant to rain all day tomorrow and be cold, so I am planning a rest day tomorrow. I can go to yoga tomorrow.
We light the Chanukah candles and enjoy latkes with leftover soup from a few nights ago. We have more extravagant meals planned, but we need to eat this leftover soup first. I am still adjusting to cooking for 2 people and not 7 or more.
The cold weather hadn’t been bothering me, but lately between the cold and the aggressive traffic at 8am, I have been having a hard time making myself get out the door in the mornings. But running later in the day is not my favorite thing. I did go to yoga in the morning and I love my new mat!
I drag myself to the American Tobacco Trail and even once I am there, I am finding it difficult to get going. It’s not even that cold, but it feels cold and dreary. I decided to leave my warm-up pants on and run a couple miles to shake off the cold. I took a little detour on a neighborhood greenway. Something a little different always seems to make the miles go by a little faster. And like the day before, my foot started to hurt around mile 10. I am trying not to freak out, but it’s hard to know I have a race coming up, that I have invested about $500 in and a lot of hard work, and now it might all fall apart. Story of my life. And despite that, I am still looking at races and thinking about signing up for more races this Spring.
Sunday:
I had decided that I would get up a run in the morning. I slept in a bit and got out later than I like. With winter here, all the beautiful leaves have fallen off the trees. This means that all the great places I could hide to go pee are no longer available to me. I thought I was in a pretty private area on the trail in the city and decided to go pee. Too bad some guy popped out of nowhere with two dogs right when I was standing up. I usually just pull my shorts to the side, so there is nothing to see, but I had pants on today because it was 29 degrees when I left the house. I said sorry, but he didn’t say anything He just turned and went the other direction. Oops!
In the afternoon I watched Under the Arctic Sky. It’s about the guys surfing in the winter in Iceland. It was pretty cool. You should definitely watch it. I love watching athletes from other sports do crazy shit. This is the kind of thing that motivates me. I don’t really pay attention to things that have to do with running. All that does is make me doubt everything I am doing or make me feel bummed that I am not a better runner. But I love watching documentaries about things I would never do. Alpine, big wall climbing, and I guess now cold-water surfing.
I should have gone to yoga, but I didn’t. I just rolled and stretched my foot at home. It’s meant to rain all day tomorrow and be cold, so I am planning a rest day tomorrow. I can go to yoga tomorrow.
We light the Chanukah candles and enjoy latkes with leftover soup from a few nights ago. We have more extravagant meals planned, but we need to eat this leftover soup first. I am still adjusting to cooking for 2 people and not 7 or more.
Happy Chanukah!
