Taco Bell Smelled Like a Milkshake

Seriously, I ran past Taco Bell and it smelled exactly like a vanilla milkshake. This may mean I should have a milkshake (but a chocolate one) in the near future. Also, some fat lady smoking a cigarette got mad at me and honked at me rather rudely for appropriately using the crosswalk. I may or may not have responded negatively...

Today I had a brief moment of insight about how even the most far-fetched things can relate to physical activity. Even a seemingly unrelated event has it's place in what I do and feel when I'm engaging in some activity. There's a story here, but it's not appropriate to tell in a public forum because it's a little gruesome, but nevertheless, this relates to something else I'm experiencing with my 16 Week plan.

I had recently told my baby brother (he's 21 and 6'5") that I could get fitter if I wanted to. At the time, I just did not have the drive within me to do it. I was focused on some other things and let's face it: sometimes, our ability to focus and engage fully in things is a finite resource. When I was in this state, physical activity was a chore and something that expended energy. Now that I have the drive to do what I'm doing, I perceive it as energy sustaining and something that I want to do. When I'm bored working on some Neurobiology of Learning reading or thinking about my research project, the only thing I want to do is get up and move. It's exhilarating. Perspective is everything - if you dread your workouts, they'll drain you. If you embrace the feeling of being alive, moving, and playing, the workout energizes you. This is a perspective I've recently developed and that I wish to sustain throughout the duration of my physically active life.

I have to make this a pretty quick post because I have to go help out with some research uptown tonight, but it's ironic that I said what I did above in light of my efforts today.

Week 3 Thursday

I ran today...it sucked at times and was amazing at others. When the wind blew, it was cold...it was as if it didn't want me out there today and that was fine, but it really killed the pace. However, I did get my six in, but for a good portion of the run, I was thinking of it as a love-hate relationship. I loved miles 1.5-2.5, I hated mile 4-5, etc. I don't think it's just me that has such a complicated relationship with running. In addition to this, I wanted to try the Barefoot class at the rec center. It was not what I expected - I was going for a little more alignment of my legs, a little less squatting. Following that, Emily and I met up for a kickboxing class. I have an awesome front kick (I said something nice about myself!).

Data collection time!