Hurts-so-good soreness and my new running toy

I’ve been thinking about two blog posts for the last week. But I’ve been super busy and haven’t had the wherewithal to sit down and write them out. So now it’s two (or three?) topics in one

Last Wednesday afternoon a text showed up “want to go see Iron Man tonight” the answer was “of course” but I had planned to run with a co-worker. I checked movie times and there was one that we could go to at 7:30. This would give me enough time to run, change back into real clothes, and drive to the movies. It also meant no time to stretch after the run and rolling up to the movies a little smelly. I figured NBD, I wasn't doing a hard work out and I was meeting another runner who know's that sweat = smell. My timing was right and I got there with enough time to stop at the Whole Foods to grab dinner to sneak into the movies and then play a little Galaga in the lobby. (We went to see Iron Man 3. Are you surprised video games were also involved? No). The movie was really good but half way through nature called. As I stood up to sneak out of the theatre every muscle from my belly button down groaned. And it made me so happy. I was sorry that I didn’t stretch and that I was hurting my body, but that kind of soreness is just so gratifying. It’s the reminder that you worked hard. I stretched some before bed and that helped. My legs woke up happier Thursday morning.

Friday, my new Garmin 210 came in the mail! I’ve been saving for it for a while (throwing $1 in a jar for every mile run) and I got some birthday money so it was finally mine. I was at the office until 8 but had told myself I was going to run so when I got home I took my new toy out for a spin and it’s fantastic and I love it so much I just want to squeeze its cute little digital face. Setting out for the run, things were feeling good. And as I was running along I started to think I might run the whole workout. About halfway through I wanted to stop and walk So. Damn. Bad. But I knew if I stopped running, I’d never get back into the groove. By the time I was running up to my house my ribs were on fire but otherwise my body was feeling pretty good. 2.77 miles, no walking!!!! 

I was so glad I didn’t stop. I felt invincible for a little while after. Being at work late meant I was running in the dark , but running in the dark in May >>> running in the dark in January. I feel silly but I always wear my reflective vest and then because it was super dark, I wore my head lamp hat. I’m sure I looked crazy but I like feeling safe. Both from cars and if anyone tries to grab me I know I’ll make a lot of noise but I’ll also be highly visible. At home again I stretched and stretched and stretched, in the light of my hat, which only does so much. And meant that when I laid down on the grass to do some iron crosses and the dew had set in, I got soaked. It actually felt pretty good though and helped cool me off.

My friend Beth stole my gold star idea (well. Imitated? Steal is maybe too harsh). We might as well keep it going. For today’s post I’ve got a gold star for Friday’s run. And for working right through week 10 in my program and moving right into week 11!

Saturday was full of a hike, friends, and babies and it was the best.

Hearts and running progress!

A week of solid running

I've had an entire week of good runs.

Finally.

And by good I mean I didn't quit, I didn't feel sick, I didn't get crampy, And I stuck to my schedule. The runs themselves are still sometimes challenging. But that's the whole point of 0-13.1, right? I was at 0. I want to be at 13.1. I'm slowly slogging away.

Thursday, after not running for a week, I left technology at home and ran in the rain with just a watch to keep my intervals on time. I checked out a path that is at the end of the street that I've know about for a while and just didn't take the time to explore. Turns out, it's not just one path. It's a whole bunch. Through this really nice little marsh and fields and a honest to goodness pine grove. The last drops of rain stopped falling just as I reached the entrance so everything was soaked and quiet. I didn't have my phone so didn't take any pictures. I'll say this. It was so peaceful. And calm. And I never would have found it if I wasn't a runner! I love that. Also, I almost stepped on a frog. But I side stepped just in time. In lieu of actual pictures I doodled you this

I chose the Sesame Street News Kermit because he's the best. Also, I love when he says "Kermit THE frog here"

Friday I had a date cancel on me. So I invited myself over to Jennie's and we sat outside in the sun and drank wine. It was fantastic. Spring is here. Well, it was here. It was 39 when I woke up this morning. I'm trying to block it out.

Saturday I went shopping. I hate shopping. But my friends were going and I could use a few new things. And I ended up doing the most shopping (I think. I at least kept up with the biggest shopper if it wasn't me). It involved hours of walking in flip flops. And not a lot of water drinking. Then I drank an entire bottle of wine by myself. And then I went to sleep incredibly late. You'd think I was still in college.

My family had evening Mother's Day plans (hearts to the Mother's in my life!). I only had to do a little prep so I had the whole day to run. I woke up and said "Oof, no thanks" but then I logged into my email and it had EXPLODED with facebook posts from my running group. And they had all completed their weekend runs.

It now happens every weekend. It's awesome. And of course if they were all out running all over the country and world (what up, Australia?), so I had to get out there too. The run was not great, thanks to a severe lack of water in my body. But I survived. And I've run much, much worse. And actually, my body felt amazing after. I'm still learning this lesson: I've decided to set this goal for myself. And for a little while I have to keep it in mind whenever I do anything. Really if I had just kept drinking water all day Saturday and for the better part of Sunday morning I would have been ok. I'm just so bad at water drinking on the weekend. Grr. On the other hand, a couple months ago I would have opted for the nap instead of a run. I'm really glad I didn't. 

Last night was Wednesday Monday Night Running Club, though we were down a runner due to injury. Sad. But instead of running she made us an amazing dinner (my hungry runner stomach thanks you!!!). My running program is broken into 4 week chunks. Each chunk is in it's own file folder. For a million weeks (pretty much since I started in November) I've been in the 5-8 week folder. This week I've moved into the 9-12 week folder!!!!!!!!!! I can't tell you how exciting it is. It means I've finally been working hard enough and consistently enough to keep moving through the program. It makes me feel like I'm getting my life back into balance. It's almost peaceful. Also. Terrifying. These workouts are getting longer and harder!

I was supposed to run 25 minutes, but was allowed to still have a walking intervals if I felt I needed it. Jumping from 5 minutes intervals to 25 minutes was a little daunting. Plus, I knew Jennie would just make me run 30 minutes (and by make, I mean she would say "You know you want to" and she would be right, but I think it's still a tad too soon). So to help myself out I said let's do intervals of 8 minutes running, 1 minute walking. Those are the longest intervals I've done in while. Possibly since last spring. My legs were tired and I didn't think I could keep up the whole thing. We stopped to stretch halfway through to try to make my legs feel a little better. Then I proposed we take an extra minute walking between intervals 2 and 3. After interval 3 (which felt better thanks to the stretching) I knew I'd need 2 minutes again. Jennie always encourages me to push a little harder (it's reason number 4,208 I like running with her) so to propose it, I knew I'd need to bargain. I traded an extra minute of walking for an extra 3 of running, bringing us to a 40 minute run. Because I knew I could. And I knew Jennie knew I could. At the corner of her street she said 10 seconds left. I said let's just run to your house. Then she upped it to running until the Garmin said 3 miles. So I followed her. And damn did it feel like a huge accomplishment! All told it was 35 minutes of running!!!!!!! 

And 5 minutes of walking. But we won't talk about that.

I've talked about this before, but I like to write encouraging messages on my mirror. For a while it's said "Goals are dreams with a deadline; 13.1 in 2013". After this week, I'm feeling more and more confident that it will happen. And I wouldn't trade that for anything.

Hearts and goals!!

Headcold and Non-Running Running commentary

Oof. I got slammed into by a nasty head cold this past weekend. Normally I think "Rub some dirt it in and get back in there" but this time my body said "no way, Jose". I stayed home and slept Friday and Saturday. Saturday night I went out for a few hours because I had committed to a dinner months ago and really wanted to help celebrate my friend's upcoming marriage. Sunday I was back to feeling icky again and Monday I woke up and sounded like I'd been smoking a pack a day for a thousand years and walking downstairs to make oatmeal was too much effort so I called my boss and we agreed I should work from home. Yesterday I was back in the office but it was exhausting and thanks to my cold and my body's insistence that I lay down for 4 days, my apartment was one more mostly empty soup bowl away from an episode of horders. Tonight I went to another Red Sox game (let's just not even talk about it yet. It was not a good night for the boys of Fenway). This is all to say I have not gone running since Thursday. I will be going tomorrow and I'm hoping to mostly pick up where I left off. Until then, here's a running commentary of the night because my stupid phone battery is awful and can't stay charged to save it's life and I couldn't #LiveTweetThatBitch

I now present to you what it's like to go to a Sox game with my BFF

Pre PS: Don't hate me for using BiFFLe. It's late and I'm home alone and it's cracking me up to call her that. <3 to you KP.

We find our seats. We made it in the top of the 1st inning. A new best for me for the year. Turns out it was because an entire ice age came and went during the 1st inning. My favorite current player, big Shane Victorio steps to the plate and I try to woo. Because of my cold, I can't woo. This makes me sad. Also makes us think of the Woo girls episode of HIMYM and the sad fact that yes, we are woo girls. And by sad I mean awesome. Because when is wooing not awesome! Also, BiFFLe said it sounded like when the woo girls were sad woo girls and that was even more of a bummer.

2 outs, top of the 2nd. When we CHANGED PITCHERS. Webster went 1 and 2/3 innings and gave up a bazillion runs. Lame.
Me: "Um. It's 8:10 It's just now the 2nd inning. We're never leaving"
BiFFLe: "I think I'll have to just drive back to work after the game"
Me: "This was going to be a 2 beer night"
BiFFLe: "I think it might be a 3"
Me: "Yup"

Middle of the 2nd - 8:16ish
Me: "Ok. We'll go for a beer after the Sox bat, or 8:45, whichever is first"
BiFFLe::side-eye::
Me: "Ok. We'll go for a beer after the Sox bat, or 8:35, whichever is first"
BiFFLe: "Deal"

We I used the ladies, then we got dinner and went for the beer. After April's promotion of $5 beers the prices went back to normal. Domestic Draft (Bud Light):$8.50. Premium Draft (Blue Moon): $8.75. We were shocked. For a quarter WHO'S DRINKING BUD LIGHT. The pourer at the Blue Moon stand agreed. (I don't know. Is there a name for this person? Is there a beer sommelier?) (PS I spelled sommelier right on the first try ::drops mic::)

::catches mic:: a la John Krazinski on J-Fal this week (Google/Hulu it)

We were gone for all of 10 minutes and missed the whole third inning. At this point the innings started to blur together. The Twins kept hitting the ball (they did it 19 times) and the Sox kept whiffing. Or stranding runners. Or getting thrown out at first. This became my chant: "Stop letting them hit the ball"

I do know the 4th and 5th went by quick enough. But I think that was mostly because I was focused on not dropping pizza. Also, baby pictures on facebook. What? KP and I haven't seen each other in a month. We have a lot of catching up to do!

In the 6th, we're ready for our final beer. Ok. I was ready. KP wasn't. So I enabled her by telling her "I'm done, drink faster". We ran down and I ran to the bathroom (I'm trying to drink a ton of water to get the rest of this virus out) and I thought, Well. We're down by a lot. But it's the 7th. There's still time Yes, Jennie, "we". The Sox aren't the Sox without the fans. I came of the bathroom and there was already a beer waiting for me. Because my bestest friend is THE bestest. I think we were gone for 7 minutes max. That was the fastest that's ever happened.

We got back up and in the middle of the 7th I looked around and was wondering why we weren't signing Take me Out to the Ballgame. It's because it was the middle of the 6th inning. It's hard to keep track from the bleachers. Also when the Twins are kicking the Sox all over the field. I'm pretty sure it's as hard as being a gangsta.

Middle 8 we sang Sweet Caroline. By then so many people had left, we were surrounded by empty seats so I didn't have hundreds of voices bombarding me. I could actually hear the sound of the crowd bouncing off Fenway. It was odd.

Somewhere in all of this Ellsbury made a weird catch off the Green Monster that I'm hoping someone can explain to me tomorrow. Was it a fly out or a hit??? We don't know! This is when I continued to yell "Stop letting them hit the ball" and added clapping to punctuate.

The biggest cheer other than the brief glimmer of hope in the bottom of the 1st was finding out the Bruins won. (Go B's!)

At some point Johnny Gomes was up and KP wanted him to hit a homer to us, right into our beer. Like that Mariners fan. Didn't happen. Sad.

I do know in the 9th, I yelled "Don't swing at bad pitches. That's how you play baseball" And decided I could be a coach with that kind of wisdom tonight. And then I begged the Sox for one more run. It wouldn't been a win, but at least it would be worth it to be still sitting there in the bottom of the 9th in the start of a rain storm after a crappy game. No dice. At least we got a nice night of weather at Fenway. And beers with a bestie are never a bad way to spend a night. We walked to Kenmore and went our separate ways on the Green line.

At this point my phone was dead, so all I could do was wait. And wait. And wait. Anyone who lives anywhere on the green line knows that the train you want never comes. I looked at the clock: 11:10. It was so late. I just wanted to go home. And so I waited. And waited. And I couldn't believe I was still waiting. I figured it was at least 15 minutes. I checked the clock 11:17. Seven minutes had passed. Seven. All sense of time is distorted with no iPhone to distract. Finally the B line showed up and I pumped my fist with joy. The woman next to me said "Exactly"

Once on the B line many things ran through my head, I wish I could have written them down. But I was getting tired and there was some commotion and I can't remember any except when I rested my head on my hand: My hand smells like beer

Finally in the car and driving home I saw a flash of lightening and yelled "Lighteniiiiiing" Though thunder and lightening can happen in a snow storm it's rare. So to me lightening means spring is here and summer's coming. And that means the beach! And hopefully those boys of summer working over at Fenway can get their bullpen in order and start playing like April again. If not, it's going to be a looooooong baseball season.

Hearts and sleepytime!

Turns out, I like running with people

Thanks to my IRL "coach", Jennie, who lives all of 1,000 feet from my new job, I’ve been running a lot more regularly. And in doing that I’m gaining confidence in my running again. Which means I’m starting to plan. Plan my runs, plan my meals, plan my races(!!!), plan everything to be a half marathoner in 2013. Possibly twice! And in that planning I’ve started to find higher energy levels again. And also, I get the itch to go for a run again. I can’t tell you how good that feels.

I was always worried to run with other people. Maybe not worried. But apprehensive? I’m slow and I’m still running with walking intervals mixed in. I was afraid I would hold other back. And for some runners that would be true. But Jennie runs/walks the intervals with me. She pushes the pace. And when we get to minute 29 and it’s time to walk for the last minute she convinces me to run that last minute. And though I love her for it, I usually swear at her while I do it. It’s cool. It’s all in good fun. She’s been running more faithfully for longer and so she can usually put on the speed a little or start cheering or singing. And little by little w We’ve started running with Christine too. And I’ve discovered something. I like running way way way more when it’s with other people. It’s someone to chat/grunt with, someone else who sees the same silly dog, someone that also says thank you to the side walk graffiti that says “hello beautiful”. It’s fun. I was starting to think maybe I could find some more friends who want to run with me. But again, I hesitated. Maybe they wouldn’t all be as cool as the Wednesday Night Running Club (girls, we really need a better name. Also, this week was on Tuesday and totally threw off the rest of my week and I keep thinking it’s Friday). I was starting to think about reaching out, especially now that I’m up to 5 minutes running and will be (hopefully) done with walking intervals in the next couple of weeks. My half marathon training group has added some new members lately, and now includes a college Alpha Gam sister and another new Boston based friend, plus all my current running friends. I was thinking about this very thing on my run last night as I was dying and a teeny bit board on the last stretch with no cute crew boys or pretty river scenes to stare at. I finished and pulled over onto some grass for a photo shoot in the pretty sun and trees and then some cool down stretching. Walking over to my car I was caught red-handed by a co-worker. I still had headphones in mellowing out with Alabama Shakes and usually I’d wave and then go hide in mortification at the mascara likely running down my face but she stopped me. And it went down like this

Co-worker who I had assumed could run circles around me: Do you run after work a lot

Me still gasping for some air: Usually twice a week

C-WWIHACRCAM: What do you do for a run

MSGFSA: Well, I’m training for a half marathon and my plan starts at 0 so right now I’m running 5:1 intervals

C-WWIHACRCAM: Cool. I’m out of shape, but I could probably do 5:1s. Would you mind if I joined you sometime

MSGFSA: That would be fantastic. I said this with pretty decent composure but in reality I was thinking. “I’d assumed you’d kick my butt at running and wouldn’t want to run with a slow poke like me. Then I added I recently discovered I like running with friends.

C-WWIHACRCAM: Yeah. I’ve found having a running buddy is much better

MSGFSA: I always avoided it because I’m super slow

C-WWIHACRCAM: Me too

MSGFSA: Sounds like a plan

C-WWIHACRCAM: Yes. Mid week sometime we’ll go.

And just like that I have a new running friend. I hope we can keep it up semi-regularly. And maybe even rope in more co-workers. Maybe we’ll even get a little friendly 5k going or maybe the better part of a relay team? See. I’m getting way ahead of myself. I just can’t stop planning. I just have all the running love right now. And sore legs that were going to go swimming tonight and instead are going to the Sox game. 

Hearts and endorphins!

Nothing better than a boring Monday.

It's been just about a week since my last post. And what a week it's been. I'll admit. I debated all night Monday on whether or not I would post that last entry. In the end I'm glad I did. I share everything else with the internet. And the response was overwhelmingly positive. I read a lot of other bloggers' accounts of the day and they were all pretty uniform. A lot of confusion, time spent finding out if friends and family were ok, outrage, sadness, and resilience. The world wide outpouring of love for the city that I hold so near and dear to my heart has been so awesome, too.

Best of all it's Monday and when I woke up this morning the only thought I had was "which of my new clothes am I going to wear today". This thought was followed pretty quickly by "I hope more patients are released today and others are downgraded from critical condition". After this was realizing I was running late and would have to bust my butt to try to get to work remotely on time. And that's normal. Normal. What a nice feeling. Thanks to all those who worked tirelessly to shut down the threat last week. Flags are still at half staff. And people are still fighting for their lives or learning to adapt to a new way of life. Last night driving home the signs on the highway said "We are one Boston. Thank you to all". The MBTA buses I drove by flashing their route numbers. And then flashing "Boston Strong". I don't think we'll ever be able to say this is "over". But the threat is gone. And Boston is bigger, brighter, and better.

Even with the mess that was last week I got in a couple of runs and some cross training. Tuesday I wore BAA blue and yellow, but on a Red Sox cap, blasted my Boston songs, and ran along the Charles. Wednesday was the "Wednesday Night Run Club" (It's so hard to come up with creative names!). I've started running with a couple friends (we're trying to make it once a week) so this was us going out. Thursday was an hour of hard swimming. Hard because I wanted to push myself a little. Last week, a 9 year old girl was repeatedly beating me across the pool. Not cool. Friday was "rest". Saturday was should have been a run but I had a better window on Sunday so I switched to cross training. And if drinking beer and singing "Sweet Caroline" at the top of my lungs at Fenway counts I totally go it done...

Yesterday was my birthday. I had a bridal shower in the middle of the day and dinner with my family. But there was this nice window in between that was perfect for a run. In the past I might have said "It's my birthday, I'm taking an extra day off." and gone to buy coffee and a donut. Instead I changed in a fast food restaurant bathroom (didn't buy anything. I'm a bad person. Whatever. That food is just so bad) and I hit up the Haverhill Stadium. In reality I ran Riverside Park, but the whole of the city refers to that entire area as the Stadium. My parents and grandparents took my brother and I there approximately 1000 times in my childhood, I sat at a couple hundred of my brother's little league games there, we used to ride our bikes, or Grammy and Grampy would bring a picnic lunch and watch the boats go up and down the river. Not surprisingly, the place was pretty much the same. It looked a little smaller. And they have a new jungle gym. But there were still tiny baseball players and kids with training wheels. After the chaos of last week worrying about friends and being barred from coming to work it was nice to be out among families in the shining sun. The run was less than stellar thanks to birthday pancakes and bridal shower cake. But it got done. Then there was homemade spaghetti and meatballs (a team effort between my mom and my aunt and uncle).

And cake. Birthdays always have cake.

Here's hoping the dot of spaghetti sauce I just got on my new sweater will be the toughest crisis this week.

Hearts and normalcy!

There are so many words. And yet, there are no words.

Patriot's Day is the number one best day to be from Massachusetts. And wasn't it just the bees knees that one of my very good friends decided to run it. And in the process introduce me to a whole bunch more runners. When I'd heard she'd be running, I knew I'd be out on the course, cowbell and signs in hand to cheer her on. If you've spent any time on this blog, my facebook page, or twitter you'll know I post a lot. And I usually post pretty ridiculously silly things. Today started just like that. I was orange head to toe in support of the Liver Foundation, the charity my friends are running for, and I went about capturing the day just like I'd capture any other. That's something a lot of people don't know. To run Boston you can qualify by running another designated race in less than 3:05 (3:35 for women). Or you can join a charity team and raise money. The amount needed to be raised is usually between $3,000 and $6,000. People work the whole year to raise this money to run in the name of these great causes.
All winter we think "Why don't we live someplace warmer" Driving into the city all I could thing was "this is why I live in Boston. Marathon Day is the best." Who knew that I'd be proud to be from Boston for a whole different reason by the end of the day. I hate that this happened. But the response from runner's finishing the race and running to donate blood, first responders running towards the danger seconds after the explosion, people setting up a google document to offer their couches and spare rooms, restaurants feeding stranded runners, all the way down to my friends giving me refuge when the closed T stranded me on the opposite side of the city from my car.
This is just so wrong. On my phone sit a handful of odd photos, a small glimpse into what was supposed to be an epic day. In my head are the jokes and puns I wrote, driving into the city, riding the T over to my spectating spot at mile 22, or relentlessly checking the BAA app for updates on my friends. I don't know what to do with them now.
I was in place by 11 and watched the wheelchair division race by. Soon enough the elite women flew by, followed shortly by the elite men. And then the rest. If you've never experienced the Boston Marathon it's really quite something. Runners just keep coming and coming and coming for hours. We were more than 4 hours into cow-belling and catcalls of "Yeah marathoners" and "Go Liver".
Around 3 I received a strange text message. "Are you ok?" from a friend. I replied "???" thinking she had sent it to the wrong person. And then she filled me in. Quickly after that, texts and emails started pouring in asking the same question "are you ok?" My phone was dying, we didn't know anything, and my friends were still running. So we kept cheering and I answered any texts that came in. Along with sending a text to my mom "I'm ok." It was then that the first of my friends since the explosion was running by. We cheered for her and then I told her there were explosions. We still didn't know it was a bomb. To be honest, I didn't know if I should tell her or not. But I couldn't bear the thought of her running into chaos, after running 23+ miles and not knowing anything. Shortly after that our next friend came by. We started to say hi and tell her what happened. She said she already knew, told us her mom was at the finish and then ran off yelling over her shoulder "I have to find my mom" clearly worried and focused on that singular task. Find her loved ones. It was then that it was really sinking in. Maybe it was time to stop cow-belling. And maybe put the signs away. The last of my friends came through shortly after. She was pretty sure her family was safe but wanted to go find the other friends that had just gone by. I gave her a huge hug and sent her on her way. And then the other two spectators that I was with and I didn't know what to do. What do you do in that situation? Your beloved city is under attack. Close friends are frantically searching for family members. This glorious event has been marred. And we're 3 miles from the finish watching police and ambulances go flying by. The race was stopping and they were holding runners so we thought we'd go catch up to our friends and see if we could help. But word finally came through that runners were being held all the way at Boston Common and we didn't think it would be smart to add 3 more people to an already chaotic spot. By then we had more news from twitter and news websites and realized the T was probably closing, a fact I confirmed with the next police officer we passed. My fellow spectators offered to give me a ride to my car, but the marathon route was still closed and we couldn't cross the city. I have friends that could take me in and eventually one of them was able to have dinner and drive me across the Marathon route to my car. All the while they're making announcements not to congregate in large groups. As I was driving out of the city it was hard not to be a little nervous. And I just don't understand how this can be real life. How this is the society that we live in.

20,000+ people have been working for months or years to train to be here. More than 20,000 volunteers were on the course at the very crack of dawn. Millions of dollars have been raised for truly noble causes. Fundraiser upon fundraiser has been organized, executed, and attended. I personally bid on a date to the Aquarium with a good looking guy (I don't like the Aquarium, but he was cute. And it was in the name of liver research. Unfortunately he ended up getting a little too out of my price range, when the bidding dust settled). And now marathon hopes and dreams have been shattered, lives and limbs destroyed. And all in the name of what?

People are already asking why. And truthfully, I don't think any reason could ever be given that would be enough to make me feel better about it. I don't know who did this. And when he, she, or they are caught, I don't ever care to know names. I don't care to know faces. I just want them to face justice and see the full letter of the law brought down on them, feel the full weight of a city that may forgive, but will never forget.

I just want to hug the whole city. And punch something. And sit and cry. And I was 3 miles away. Though watching terrified runners go by will be something that sticks with me for a while. I can't imagine what it was like at the finish line. You just can't believe it's real. I still don't. It's like it's ripped from TV. Someone bombed the Marathon finish line? No. That's not a real thing. But it is. And it's more tragic than I think will ever fully be understood. My thoughts and prayers will be with the victims and victims' families. Boston and the Marathon will rebuild. I hope those whose lives were forever altered will find some peace. I still don't know what I'll do with the pictures on my phone. But I will share one. This day ended so tragically. And so differently than it should have. And though it did, Boston still stands. As I was driving home, I looked over and saw this. I'm sorry it's blurry, I was driving. Here it is. A city that stands stronger and brighter despite this horrible event.

Crying doesn't count if it's under water, right?

Pro tip. When swimming sing songs that sometimes elicit an emotional response. It’s super fun to tear up under water.

Some swims I count laps. Some swim I just swim for a set time. Last night I was going to just swim for 60 minutes. I love music. I listen to it all day. It helps block out random noise at work to help me concentrate. In the car it passes the time. At home it’s noise so my apartment isn’t so creepy. (side note: living in an apartment by yourself in the winter is the worst. It’s dark all the time and the cold air makes sounds so much louder and creepier. Reason #1427 why I’m glad spring is here…mostly. @#$% 37 degrees this morning). When I’m running I sometimes go out without headphones. I still end up singing to myself. In the pool obviously I have no music. But for whatever reason I have a ridiculous amount of trouble trying to remember how my favorite songs start. I’ve listened to “I’m going to miss her” by Brad Paisley at least 1000 times in my life. Get myself going in a workout and I can’t remember the first line for anything. To combat this I listened to all my favorites on the drive home from work. I got in the pool and still had trouble. Finally I got going on “The Good Stuff” by Kenny Chesney. I listened to it at least 3 times yesterday with no response. I start singing it to myself in the pool and WHAM. Teared up. WTH brain?!?! I'm just trying to get my swim on and enjoy singing one of my favorite songs to pass the time. We're just trying to have a mind clearing workout. Not cool, brain, not cool. ::side eye hormones::

I really like swimming for cross training. The low impact things is nice and I feel like my muscles get to sort of stretch out. And I’m finally swimming enough that my core isn’t screaming in pain for two days after. Now we just have to get my shoulders on board with that too!

Rest day tonight. Which is code for I’m doing laundry, dishes, and sitting on my couch watching a How I Met Your Mother marathon. By choice, Mom ;) Gotta get caught up before we find out who the mother is!

EDIT
Hearts and emotional responses to songs

@#$% copy paste fail