I can see an angel laughing, Day Seventy

This week is my rest week before my superior training for the Disney Princess Half Marathon.

So relaxing week, what does that mean? 

It means taking off nail polish, sleeping in, lots of stretching and meditating, embroidering, sewing, crocheting, and an unfortunate attempting at canning.  

Unfortunate because I forgot our large pot has moved on to greener pastures.  Once obtaining a new one I will be a preserving machine! 

But you can't put a good dog down (All Dogs Go To Heaven) so that hiccup did not stop me from making applesauce.

I have an affinity for vintage housewares, which I believe coincides with my obsession of women's choice to leave or return to the home.  That obsession includes the time period in which the idea of even having a choice to leave, or a voice was nonexistent.

It may of may not entertain you that my pandora station this dreary applesauce stewing day is Patsy Cline, and I've replaced the water with Applejack Brandy, so the sauce is extra tasty.  Robbie loved it, and he is a tough critic.

Stitches are up to date.  Once I tackle the technological aspects required to hook my printer up to my fancy new computer I will have way better images of what is happening here on the fabric.  My photo booth does nothing for this piece, and the natural day light is gone, which would render my regular camera the same. 

Lady parts, that clear whats coming out here, or at least what is suggested, at over 500 marks in. In conjunction with the stitches I've been taking notes on my thoughts/feelings about them etc.  

It's no secrets I have medical issues with my left ovary. 

In Simone DeBeauvoir's "The Second Sex" she asks the question what is a woman? her response follows.

"Toto mulier in utero, says one, 'woman is a womb'.  But in speaking of certain women, connoisseurs declare that they are not women, although they are equipped with a uterus like the rest.  All agree in recognizing the fact that females exist in the human species; today as always they make up about one half of all humanity.  And yet we are told that femininity is in danger; we are exhorted to be women, remain women, become women.  It would appear, then, that every female human being is not necessarily a woman; to be so considered she must share in that mysterious and threatened reality known as femininity. Is this attribute something secreted by the ovaries?"

This is part of the first wave of feminism so the language and thought process is a bit much.  The questions this poses to myself if we are regarding the idea of a woman, being strictly defined by her  reproductive organs and capabilities, am I only half a woman? If I were living in the early 1900s, for sure.  I'm also sure the medical practices of the time may have left me either dead or without a uterus already, at the ripe age of 24.  Either way you look at that, I'd not be a woman.

So what does being a woman mean or require?

What does that mean for me living in the 2000s?

What did it mean for generations before me, how have the ideas of being a woman changed?

All of these things race through my head whilst piercing fabric with a needle. Which I do out of pleasure and expression, versus necessity.  Well, I do it out of necessity but my needs for embroidering are much different from when it was first developed.

Back to running.....

Wednesday I still felt tight and a tad crampy so I took myself outside and did a mile and a half of mainly sprints.  I figured this was the best to do to stretch everything out and beat myself up a little bit.  Which I swiftly followed with a stretching spree, while watching the Secret Garden.

The funny thing about my run on Wednesday is this..

The impressive feat being this little can of hairspray kept my victory roll in place all Tuesday night behind the bar, while I slept (I was too exhausted to take it out), and then throughout my time outdoors Wednesday morning.

Since the race I've noticed a few things. I have been walking and standing straighter, as well as finally being able to keep myself properly hydrated throughout the course of the day. Also I was the only one out of the ladies I knew running, who did not get a blister.  Thanks New Balance! Even though I am missing a chunk of sneaker that fell off at the gym!  You still make great kicks.

Days till Disney Princess Half Marathon: 132

Miles Today: 1.5(Wednesday)

Total Miles of Project: 50.63

Stitch Count: 506

1:11:31 Monday(from Tuesday), Day Sixty-Eight

I did it!
I FINISHED MY FIRST RACE!!!
WAAHOOO!


Not only did I do it, I beat the goal I had set for myself.  I wanted to do this under and hour and a half.  I figured I'd give myself that much time in my head, so I did not disappoint.

My official time as of this morning was 1:11:31!!!

When we were seeded for the race and impatiently awaiting the start, the temperature was announced to be 82 degrees.  Which means it felt like close to 100 during the race, with the afternoon sun beating down on you.  Having trained throughout the summer and the most during August, I should have been some-what ok with this.  The fact that I purposely ran early in the morning before the heat of the day, did not prepare me for this.  Thank goodness for the multiple water stations where I was able to douse off my overheating body. Also thanks to my daily starbs and yogurt with granola I in took before we got to the event grounds.

The hardest part was overcoming the heat, I had to slow down my pace a ton.  I also walked briskly for about half a mile.  With that, stoping to pee, and helping a woman who collapsed right next to me- an hour and eleven minutes is fantastic!

The feeling of being part of this giant swarm of woman filling the streets was indescribable and addicting.
I am going to Disney.
And I will run in a tutu.

Parts of it were awful, and I questioned whether I could even finish the run, and cursed myself for signing up for it.  That was briefly after passing mile two, after turning on Memorial Drive, where the sun instead of beating on my back, covered my entire body and burned through my clothes to my already burning muscles.
At that point I thought of why I was running and found strength in all the reasons of my being there.
I'm safe and I'm here.
(For breathier explanations see here and here)
It also helped to know that when I finished my lovely Meghan, Robbie, Jannel, and Andy would all be at the end.  In fact Andy bounced around the course being Wendy, Jessie, and I's (we split up a bit after mile two- me low point) personal cheerleader.
What a guy!
On top of this, Hell on Heels by Pistol Annies on repeat for the last mile and a half really kept me charging!

Wanna see some sweaty pictures, OK!

Here are Wendy and I immediately after eating our bananas post finish! 

Meghan was very proud of me, later she told me she almost cried.   Which she rarely does, this is one of the few reasons I adore her.

It's like me and my proud parents

Then we went back to normal.  

Right after the race I had amass of energy so I was able to dance around with Meg to the pop girl power music playing without passing out.

The boys wanted some of their own shots, but they had to be candid.

Sir's striped shirt made him very easy to spot, Robbie always wheres white, black, or grey- colors make him nervous.

Wendy! 

Jannel, Wendy, and Megster

Jessie! 

Wendy with our post race martinis 

Yes, Wend and I brought a change of clothes and changed in the bathroom of Scholars and bathed ourselves with paper towels

friends again!

my first martini ever

And my a door bell roommates

As soon as we sat down at the restaurant (where Robbie works) I lost all of my energy and barely spoke ten words- which is a feat, really.  Thank goodness for on demand, futons, and delivery dessert that pulled me through to the early evening.

Boy was I pooped.

Days till Disney Princess Half Marathon: 135

Miles Today: 6.2(race day)

Total Miles of Project: 49.13

Stitch Count: 491 (100 to do)

The Eve Has Arrived, Day Sixty-Six

I am as ready as I can be.

The last few days have been filled with stretching, brisk walks, and yoga. Activities to keep my muscles loose, but not sore.  I've consumed more water than I think I ever have on a regular basis, eaten well, made sure to take all my vitamins for the last week- everyday, and have some how managed to give myself at least eight hours of sleep a night. The sleep and water are the parts that I think will help me the most.  Or, perhaps they will have a negative affect.  It is no surprise that my sleep schedule is completely unpredictable and my proportion of water to coffee/ wine is skewed.  So it will be interesting to see how this will affect my running, will it make it better or worse?

Anyway I stumbled upon a new goal while picking up these..

(yes I wrote in my name, they forgot it)

(new running shirt)

...at the end of February there is a Disney Princess' half marathon through the park.  If I am able to run thirteen miles by the end of December/early January, I am signing myself up for that and flying down to the Magical Kingdom! Exciting, yes.

In other exciting news, after tomorrow I will have exactly 100 stitches to catch myself up on.  I've been jotting down notes on the imagery, thoughts, and ideas this entire project has been springing so on either Tuesday or Wednesday get ready for some new visual information and analysis of my current body of work.

Next time you hear from me I will have crossed my first finish line ever! 

Days till Tufts 10k: 1 (Tomorrow Morning!)

Miles Today: 

Total Miles of Project: 42.93

Stitch Count: 429 (38 to do)

Visual Information

I have twenty-eight stithies to go- along with a slew of theories as to the imagery, or suggestive imagery that is being created but I will dive into that later.

Running Half of Days Fifty-Seven, Fifty-Eight, Fifty-Nine, Sixty, Sixty-One, Sixty-Two

Hello.

Forgive me for the lack of updates. Difficulties this weekend kept me from running or having the energy to fill out the blog.

But here I am.

In five days I will be completing the task I set out to do over sixty days ago.  I cross the start line at noon and hopefully cross the finish line by one.  An hour is my goal, which clocks me in at just under ten minute miles for 6.2 of them! 

This week I've been doing interval work thus far to work on my heart rate and on Friday I am going to go and finish at least five miles.

Those boat houses and park benches around the reservoir tend to help as points of reference between sprints

This is what I have been looking like arriving home after these little sprint stints

perhaps I have been having too much fun with my pyrex beaker full of water.

My aching quads have given way to sore calves and hamstrings.  Stretching has never felt so blissful.  Which makes the pain easier to take and worth it knowing that two months ago a mile was hard, and now I can do 4!

HOORAY!

Days till Tufts 10k: 5

Miles Today: 3.83 (over the last few days)

Total Miles of Project: 42.93

Stitch Count: 429

Round Up, Days Fifty-Four, Fifty-Five, and Fifty-Six

Don't you adore catch up days, I do! 

I also love listening to passion pit before noon, although I am sure it does nothing good for my resting heart rate, and I'm pretty sure my roommates don't share the same affinity.

Ok, so back to filling in the missing pieces.

Tuesday

You know the routine, bar double- no running.  My workout on Tuesdays involves being on my feet for 15 or so hours, and heavy lifting.  Although sometimes I do get a special visitor on my little break who accompanies me to Lineage to get some tasty oysters.  Who would complain about that?

What I did leave out however, is that after I left work Monday night I met up with Andy and went to hot yoga! Initially, I was over come with excitement.  On the way to class however that emotion gave way to  weariness and doubt; which isn't really that surprising because I tend to become nervous pretty easily.

IT WAS THE BEST  EVER! 

I didn't even know the tops of my feet could sweat like that.  Sweat poured into my eyes and mouth as we moved through poses. New muscles ached, and felt real great at the same time.  My fears of not being able to keep up, etceteras,  literally melted away as I felt empowered! The seventy-five minutes flew past then class was over.  I left pumped full of energy and starving.  Thankfully there is a panera up the street from the studio.

complete side note: Andy and I watched the first episode of The New Girl, after class. 

Who has been spying on me!? I would like a royalty check of some sort to compensate all of my weird ticks they stole for this show LOVES IT! 

Wednesday

Before and After Day! 

I cleaned my face and my house! All in all a productive pre-work day I'd have to say.  More happened aside from cleaning but it escapes me now.

Thursday

Interval work! Well, kind of.  I ran a mile as fast as I could traveling over as many uphills as I could.  In the middle of it I became overcome with a feeling of strength, it could have been the pain in the left side of my right calf.   But I swear this is what strength feels like. Adele was my support system today, and her billowing voice was exaclty what was needed to keep me powering through.

Remeber a bit ago when I spoke, well wrote, of blisters....get a look at this heel! 

It's all swollen and fantastic and physical proof of all the crazy things I've been doing!

The stitches are coming along, I pierced through 56 today and will upload photos and updates/ thoughts about those tomorrow on the bus ride.  What bus ride you ask, well Andrew and I are going apple picking! 

Hooray! 

Days till Tufts 10k: 11

Miles Today: 1

Total Miles of Project: 39.1

Stitch Count: 391

Say What You Will I Done Made The Devil A Deal, Day 53

(un-posted from Monday)

Two weeks left! 

And guess what, I may have done ten-eleven minutes miles and had to walk a bit but, today I went out and I did four whole miles! 

FOUR MILES FOUR MILES FOUR MILE FOUR MILE FOUR FOUR FOUR FOUR HEY HEY HEY!!!

To date it is the furthest I have done.  It hurt like hell, but all in all was not that bad.  My route went something like this, downhill, flat, down, uphill down, flat, down, and then uphill for the last mile and a half or so.

If I keep this up for the next two weeks I should have no problem come race time! Amazing the feats you can accomplish. True it has been fifty and change days, and I suppose if I had a more normal schedule I'd be able to do more.  Still I am more that pleased with this bitty accomplishment.

I listened to Pistol Annies for the majority of my run. Aunt Kim turned me on to this wondrous lady group while we drove around Ohio having girl time on Friday. However when it came time for the up hills I changed it to some songs a bit more upbeat, I did "Dog Days Are Over" and "Kiss with a Fist", both by Florence and the Machine.

My next trek out, which will be on Thursday I'm going to do interval work to try and decrease my resting heart rate. That's my new goal, which if all goes well will give me the stamina to complete the six miles.

Oh, my friend Wendy is going to run with me! She does it every year, and said she would not mind running slowly next to me for the event! It's probably some of the most exciting news I've received lately.

Days till Tufts 10k: 14

Miles Today: 4.01 

Total Miles of Project: 38.1

Stitch Count: 381