Not So Fabulous

So the marathon is over. Now what? My mom recently asked me what I would be doing after I finished training for the race. I honestly did not know. Should I take a break for a while, now that I don’t have a race immediately scheduled? Should I keep running to keep up my stamina so when I do schedule a race, I will not have to re-train entirely? I don’t want to lose what I have worked so hard for, but at the same time, it would be nice to NOT have to spend all my time thinking about when I will get a run in and where I will run and how I will get to where I am running. It would be nice to plan some outings with friends without having to think about the fact that it will be dark when I get back so I may not get a run in (so maybe I should not go). I have been thinking exclusively about running for a while. Am I ready for a break?

A recentarticle in Runner’s World said that you should take as many days off of running as the number of miles in your last race. For example, if you just ran a half marathon, you should take 13 days off from running. RW suggests that the holidays are an ideal time to do this, since most people are busy and have so many other things to do. They say that for the first couple weeks of your break, drop mileage to zero and do light cross training instead. For the next three to six weeks, add running back in slowly: For two weeks, run 25% of pre-break mileage; for two weeks run 50%; the last two weeks, run 75%.

Last week I ran 18 miles. This is roughly 41% of my pre-race mileage. I feel great. I “only” ran 3 days last week and my runs were 4, 6 and 8 miles, which seemed like nothing really. I feel like any less would be a cop out, but only because it is less that the number of miles I am used to. Without a weekend long run of 13, 15, 20 miles, it feels strange. But maybe it’s all in my head. Maybe I should tune it down a little for the next couple of weeks?

Don’t get me wrong; I am not done running by a long shot. Next year I have a few things planned. There is the 12 in 2012, where I will run 12 half marathons in 2012. There is The Relay, which is a 199 mile, 12 person relay race from Calistoga, CA to Santa Cruz, CA; it even goes over the Golden Gate Bridge at midnight! I will talk more about both of these as the plans come together. There is also the possibility of another marathon. NYC perhaps (if I can get in)? There are things happening. But they are not this week or next week. They are at least a month and probably more from now.

So I am trying to break the mental feeling that I HAVE TO run and that if I don’t run a certain number of miles that I am doing something wrong or that I am not achieving my goal. I am trying not to log miles just to get my numbers up. But it is strange to not have a goal and to increase that goal each week. I am a goal oriented person.

So my goal is: To run because it’s fun, to run to keep myself feeling healthy (and so I can eat more cookies) and to run when I can, as much as I can, but to not worry if I can’t. Also I will try to do one day of cross training per week (which will probably be hiking).

Think I can do it?

Don't forget to go and link up with Jill if you have a Fitness related post! 

How do you handle the days and weeks after a big race? What is your recovery strategy? Do you feel weird if you don’t log a certain amount of miles?

Waste Not, Want Not

Last year I ended up with a bunch of Christmas cards that I did not want to throw stuff away, so I decided that I was going to attempt to make something out of them. I saw something similar on my friend Tammy’s site, but hers were way cooler since she has the tag punch that makes cool shapes. All I had was a pair of pinking shears and a hole-punch. I am not very crafty, but it was fun anyway and they work, even if they are not beautiful.

In an effort to get rid of stuff and keep my suitcase storage unit life organized, I am trying to use things I already have to aid me in wrapping and boxing and ribboning. It is hard, because you don’t want to save too much stuff, thinking “I will use this later” (just like the similar, “I will fix this later” and “I will make this later” where stuff starts to easily pile up), but I hate to have to go out and buy something that I know I could have easily already had.

Even worse is when you do save something to use and then you can’t find it so you have to buy it again anyway. This happens to me when I am traveling. For example, I went to Missouri in June. It was HOT. As autumn started to arrive, I had to buy a couple of sweaters even though I already had plenty at home. Since I was not going home any time soon, it was the only solution, other than having some sent. However, I solved it by buying them at the thrift store for two dollars each.

Oops, I got sidetracked. What I was trying to say is that this year I not only saved the cards from last year, but I made something out of them AND found them so I could use them again this year (that last part is key). Score, score and triple score. I even talked my Dad into using some of them! He’s weird though. He doesn’t care if they match the wrapping paper or not. Doesn't he know they are supposed to match? (yes, I know, I am the weird one)

What you’ll need:

Pinking Shears

Hole-Punch (or you can buy one of those punches at Michaels that make your card into a certain shape. They are really fun. There are round, flower shaped and many more.)

Colored Pens

Last Year’s Christmas Cards

Cut the cards into different sized squares (or whatever shape you want really.)

Punch holes into them. I couldn’t decide whether to do it in the middle of the top or the corner of the top. I ended up choosing the middle, but after using a few, I may use the corner for some of them next time. 

If you want, you can write “to” and “from” on them now. I did some for now and then wrote on others once I wrapped the gift. It’s up to you. 

Now you have fun Christmas tags! 

Attach the tags to presents using ribbon. Voila! (matchy, matchy)

Do you re-use anything from last year’s Christmas? Do you make anything crafty out of your old Christmas items?  What do you do with your old Christmas cards?

Way Back When-sday (1)

Going for the Rod Stewart Hairdo. Christmas 1979.

Feel free to make your own caption for this photo.

Inspired by Allison.

Were you the first one up on Christmas day when you were a kid?

Less is More

The other day, this girl wrote a post about being a minimalist. She spoke of people who had packed up their entire life into one car and drove off into the sunset. She said that sometimes she wishes she could be like that, but on the other hand wanted to know if we thought it was wrong to want stuff.  She asked us if we were “minimalists”.  It really got me thinking.  Am I? And is it wrong to want stuff? This question is especially prevalent during the holidays.

I have mentioned before that I live in a hotel most of the time. Let me explain. Roughly 7 years ago, I gave up my (much loved) apartment in San Francisco, put all my stuff into storage (Yes it all fits. I gave my furniture all to my brother) and headed to Europe for an adventure extraordinaire! Six months later, my savings had run out and I came back home, wondering…now what? 

But yes…now what? The great part was that I had no ties. I could go anywhere I wanted. I thought about joining the Peace Corps (I still think about that from time to time). Of course I had friends in the Bay Area, but they had lived without me for six months, so they could stand a few more. So I was all of a sudden at this wonderful and horrible place, where the world was my oyster. I could do what I wanted.

I just had to figure out what that was.

It is very freeing to not have a lot of stuff. You have nothing holding you back. You don’t have to make sure the dog is in the kennel or the kids have a babysitter. You don’t have to worry about moving boxes and boxes of books, a couch and a bedroom set down 3 flights of stairs. All of these things sway your decision making process. They make it a lot easier to remain right where you are. However, having no excuses NOT to do something is hard too. We are used to letting our responsibilities, our friends, our THINGS, make our decisions for us. Making a decision without these factors is strange (and difficult!). 

People always say,” Man, If only I didn’t have (to) _________ I would go with you to Europe”. But would they? It’s not like I twisted your arm and MADE you buy that new ____ which is now making it so you can’t afford the trip. It’s not like I signed you up for a 6 week ______ class so now you don’t have the time. You chose that. You chose that over the trip to Europe.

They also say, “I would totally love to have your lifestyle” (living out of a hotel, having all their stuff in storage, traveling).  But they really wouldn’t. Could you live out of a suitcase 9/10 of the year? Could you wear one pair of shoes and 2 pairs of pants for the next year? Could you avoid buying things so you don’t have to lug them around? 

I sometimes want to putter but I have no place to do so. I want to have a mindless activity such as re-organizing my already organized closet/bookshelf/pantry.  But then I sit and actually think about it, and I don’t really need that. I like having no clutter, nothing holding me back. If that means I can’t re-read my favorite book or wear that great red suede jacket I bought on sale at Nordstrom, so be it. I can do what I want, when I want. I can go wherever I want or need to at basically a moment’s notice. 

At the point in my life when I came back from Europe, I could do whatever I set my mind to. But. I was out of money. So in this case I could do anything I wanted, but I would have to somehow get money. Why would I need to get money? I needed to live. I needed food. For that I would need an apartment, and then I would need a fridge. Then I would have to buy food. So to get money I would need a job. To get a job, I might need something other than the one pair of shoes and the holey pants I had been wearing for the last several months. 

So, we’ve come back full circle. In order to live, we DO need a certain amount of stuff. In order to exist in society, we need stuff. So, we buy things. We buy what we want. We DO what we want. And then sometimes we use those things to be our beard for why we don’t do or can’t do other things (that maybe we don’t want to do?) We say we “have too much stuff” when in reality what we have is the stuff we chose to have. 

So, stop hiding behind your stuff. Stop making excuses. Do what YOU want. If it’s buying 100 new t-shirts a year, or every new gadget that Best Buy has to offer, or a Pottery Barn candle holder in every different color, do it. If it’s signing up for pole dancing classes or the gym, if it’s buying a new house or car, or if it’s traveling, or going to a new restaurant, or going to a play, do it. If it makes you happy, do it! And then be happy with the decision that you have made. 

I don’t think it’s a matter of how much stuff we have, but whether or not that stuff we have makes us happy. We can have fewer sweaters if we want to save our money for travel, or we can have more sweaters but not be able to afford that vacation. You can buy things in order to check them off your "I should have this" list, or you can buy them becuase they make you happy. You choose. 

It’s a matter of quality, not quantity. 

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Today I am being featured over at The Many Thoughts of a Reader. Go and check it out HERE!

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Are you a minimalist? Do you think that it is better to be a minimalist?

A-List Monday II: Books

This year, I joined AudrieAnne at Who’s Your Editor for a Bookmark Break Challenge. She challenged everyone to get out those old books and read them, to free the bookmarks! The challenge was that if you read more books than she did this year, you would win a trip to Aruba. Just kidding. No Aruba, but bragging rights and a spot on her page. So, thanks to her, I read a lot of books this year. So far, as of today, I have read 63 books in 2011.

I admit, not all of them have been very good. I was on the road for about half of this year, and sometimes the selection in English was nil. Thank goodness for the Kindle Reader that I downloaded on my iPhone! Yes, I read many a book on that tiny screen. But many were good. Luckily later this year, I actually put on my big girl pants and got a library card of my very own. And then there was no stopping me! Below is a list of a few of them that I really liked.

The Help - Kathryn Stockett: I know it’s a book that everyone liked, so it’s not news to anyone, but there is a reason it was popular. It was easy to read and speaks of a time and place that were controversial and fascinating. I can’t imagine what it would have been like to be a black person in the south in the 60s. Or ever really. This book tells a very difficult but heartwarming story.

My Korean Deli - Ben Ryder Howe: A white man and his Korean wife, who are currently living with her family in New York, decide to all pool their money together to buy and run a deli in Brooklyn. It is a fun story about the trials and tribulations of dealing with his mother in law (and other in-laws), dealing with his wife, living with her family and attempting to run a convenience store in New York. (review HERE)

Shantaram - Gregory David Roberts: Although I actually thought the author was a bit of a blowhard, I liked this book. It tells of an Australian escaped convict who goes to India and lives in the slums of Bombay and becomes a drug dealer, mafia member and eventually a Mujaheddin guerrilla. Some of it seems a little far-fetched and you are always wondering what is real, but it’s full of adventure and an inside look into India that I sure as heck didn’t see when I was there! It gets points on interestingness.

The Guernsey Literary Potato Peel Pie Society - Mary Ann Shaffer and Annie Barrows: Try saying that one five times fast! Set in World War II, this book talks about life on Guernsey Island, which is one of the Channel Islands between England and France. It tells of a small village who survives Nazi occupation by starting a book club, named the Guernsey Literary Potato Peel Pie Society (interesting fact: they did not have flour so they had to make pie crusts from potato peels).

The Postmistress - Sarah Blake: Also set in WWII, this book is told from the view point of several people. One is a radio broadcaster who is living in England during the war and broadcasting from the front. She sees a lot of things that most people would not be able to handle and then tells the story over the radio (with Edward Murrow). One of the other players is a postmistress in Cape Cod who decides to withhold someone’s mail from them for their own safety and peace of mind. It is an interesting story and you really get a good feel of what it was like, especially from the radio broadcaster’s story.

The Book Thief - Marcus Zusak: I guess I am on a WWII kick, because this one is also set in WWII in Germany. It is told about a little girl who goes to live with a family during the war. She loves to read and she uses books to get through a very terrible time. At first I didn’t like the storyteller; it is told from the voice of Death, but I warmed up to it a little ways into the book. It’s a sad book; it may make you cry, but it’s a very good story.

Surviving the Extremes – Dr. Kenneth Kamler: This book was very informative. Dr. Kamler talks about what happens to your body when you go into extreme conditions, such as high altitude, underwater diving, and extreme cold and extreme heat. I found it very interesting. Not only does he tell a little story, but he puts things in layman’s terms so everyone can understand them. It made me really appreciate my body and everything working together to help keep me alive. I also have a better understanding of why I always have to pee so much when I get into high altitudes!

The Paris Wife - Paula McClain: I am not a fan of Hemingway, but this story, told from the viewpoint of his first wife, was interesting and illuminating. I am still not really a fan of him; he seems like a self-absorbed drunk to me, but I am probably going to read A Moveable Feast now, just so I can see what the same time period in his life was like.

Here are a “few” more that I think are worth recommending:

Blink - Malcolm Gladwell

Anne of Green Gables, Anne of Avonlea, Anne of the Islands - LM Montgomery (classic)

With No One as a Witness - Elizabeth George (mystery)

The Girl Who Played with Fire, The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet’s Nest - Steig Larsson

Sea of Glory - Nathaniel Philbrick (historical, but not boring)

Forrest Gump - Winston Groom (Different than the movie! Still good though!)

A Christmas Carol - Charles Dickens (a classic!)

The Hunger Games, Catching Fire, Mockingjay - Suzanne Collins (fun, quick read!)

Room - Emma Donoghue (about a boy stuck in a room with his mother all his life)

The Art of Racing in the Rain - Garth Stein (told from the POV of a dog)

So, what’s the plan for 2012!? I think that I will try to read at least a book a week, which would be a goal of 52 books. I also have a lot of books on my shelf that I need to read before buying any new ones. So, it’s a two-fold goal à a book a week and at least one a month has to be one from my dusty shelf (the others will most likely be from the library). So it’s a 52 and 12 in 2012, to go along with my 12 in 2012 Fitness Goal (get ready, there will be more 12 themed goals later!)

What was your favorite book that you read this year? Even though my shelf is full, I am always looking for recommendations! Do you have any goals for 2012? Are you going to join in on any 12 in 2012 goal lists?

What Adults Do

I had a good week mostly filled with running and recovering from running. Last week, I had a great time in Sacramento. I ran a Marathon and met up with Kim, who is the inspiration of the Grab a Beer meme. Unfortunately, we are bad people and we didn't take any photos. I was running around, trying to find the coffee shop, get ready to run and make cake pops (this seems to be a theme every time I visit my friend's house). So here are a few random photos of last week and this week.

Last week, I stayed with my friend, who is an adult. Do you know how I can tell? She has a coffee station. In her house. I mean, is this not the coolest thing you have ever seen? She also has so many fun gadgets that I don't even know what they are! What'll it be? Espresso? Latte? Half caf with a shot of vanilla?

I went out for margaritas, which culminated in my getting my fingernails painted black. By a boy. With a not so steady hand. Have I ever mentioned how much I hate having my fingernails painted? 

I finally got around to reading this book. 

A day of this = a Good Day indeed. 

I sent out my last straggler Christmas cards. 

I spent a lot of time with this girl. Is she not the cutest thing ever. She loves Craisins! 

And there was this. You probably already heard enough about that here. 

The good thing about running a lot = Carb loading! Lunch at Ernestos. 

Occupy San Francisco. What a mess. 

Running at Lake Merritt. Can it get any better? It's 60 degrees here. I HEART winter in the Bay Area!

How was your week? Have you seen the "Occupy" in your city? Have you finished (pr started) your Christmas cards?