Category Archives: personal

Red Flannel Run… My First Race!

Posted on February 16, 2012 | 10 Comments

Last weekend I felt amazing. I ran in my first race (or fun run, depending on how you want to look at it) in eight degree weather. I ran three miles and it was glorious. It was an amazing reward for all the hard work I’ve put into running.

Results
Time: 29 minutes and 27 seconds
Place Overall: 402/970
Place Overall Women: 182/571
Place Age Group: 19/62

All of that explains the big smile on my face.

Basically I was in the top third, but I didn’t know that until later in the day. After the run I went home and out for lunch with my parents and Jason, and I was thrilled to have just finished. It was freezing cold outside and several people didn’t come to the race.

Before the race there was a lot of standing around inside the YMCA thinking about the race. My stomach was doing its own little workout, flipping around like a dolphin. Jason helped take my mind off things a bit, talking to me every once in a while. Five minutes before race time everyone left the warm lobby to stand at the starting line. I jumped up and down, ran in place, and then crossed the starting line. It was a rush at the beginning. I passed several people, but tried to run at a comfortable pace and not focus too much on speed. Jason popped up along the course every once in a while to take a picture of me on his iPod, and seeing him along the way gave me extra motivation. After all, I didn’t want him to take a picture of me walking and out of breath.

Not a super flattering picture of me, but the only one where my face is visible.

It all went by so fast, and when I could see the finish line I couldn’t help but think about all the runs I went on before this point. How I started out just running for thirty seconds and here I was, running for thirty minutes. I thought about all the weight I’ve lost along the way (more on that later). I thought about all those times I dreaded running the mile in school, and how amazed my gym teaches would be to see me out there running with a smile on my face. And even though it’s kind of embarrassing and I realize three miles is no big deal for a lot of people, I kind of felt like I might cry. I picked up my pace a bit and run across the finish line. I took off my chip, turned around, and walked towards the YMCA.

I’m already signed up for two more runs, one in March and one in June, and I’m starting Bridge to 10K. I think this one will always be special to me, and I was so glad it was in Downtown Des Moines. I think that just added to the rush for me. Here I was running by these places, these landmarks of my life. I ran by the State Historical Society (where I used to work) and the Capitol (a pretty noticeable landmark), and all of these other places I drove by all the time. It was pretty incredible.

If you’re a runner, do you remember your first race? Are any of you training for an upcoming event?

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Posted in 5K, personal, running

I Quit Shampoo and Still Have Friends

Posted on January 31, 2012 | 9 Comments

So, there is something that happened on my India trip I didn’t talk about.

I gave up shampoo.

This was my second attempt at “no poo,” as it’s so lovingly referred to. I tried at the same time last year when Jason and I went backpacking in Europe. I’m not really sure why I tried to do it on a trip both times, I think it had something to do with already looking grungy on vacation. But this time, mostly because I had no access to other hair cleaning methods, I actually quit shampoo.

I’ve read several posts from green bloggers about ditching shampoo, so I won’t link to them all here. I’ll just say that if your interested after my post there is a TOn of information about no poo online, so go exploring.

The first couple of weeks were pretty bad. My hair was already greasy before I gave up shampoo and I had to shampoo every single day. This was part of the reason I quit shampoo. My hair was so dependent on shampoo (which is basically detergent for your hair, it completely strips all the natural oils out of it) that if I washed in the morning it would be greasy by the evening. It was just awful. I hated it. So you can imagine that when I quit shampoo the grease build up was pretty gross. I hate wearing my hair up, but that’s what I did every day for two weeks.

This is me, greasing it up about a week and a half into this.

And let’s keep in mine that was in a foreign country with a bunch of people I’d never met before. But somehow I still made friends, and no one caught on to my greasy hair. I was washing with baking soda and water, about one tablespoon of baking soda per one cup of water. I squirted it straight on my scalp and then scratched it in with fingers. Then rinsed. 

But I found that while my hair felt clean from the baking soda, it wasn’t soft or shiny like it would be after washing with shampoo. It was really tangly and just did not look clean at all. That’s when I did a bit more digging on the Internet.  I have a lot of hair, but it’s pretty fine, and it seems that the baking soda and water technique just isn’t enough for us fine haired folks. That’s when I bought some apple cider vinegar to use as a conditioner. I took capfuls of vinegar and applied to my hair, first at the scalp, and then throughout my ends. It depends on the cap size, but I find about five to six capfuls is plenty. 

And once I started using the vinegar my hair was looking a lot better. Like, a lot better, even better than it did when I was using shampoo. It was incredibly soft, very wavy, and over time it seems like my hair is growing even faster than it was before.

This is my hair after just a few days of apple cider vinegar.

Now I’ve been off shampoo for about six weeks and I can’t imagine going back. My hair feels healthier and stronger, and as I said earlier it’s growing faster, but the best part is that I can go about three days without washing. Sure, I shower, but I just rub the water into my hair and that’s it. Even after working out this works. This means I’m washing my hair about twice a week, as opposed to the every day washes I was doing before. This means I’m spending less time in the shower, therefore wasting less water. I’m also using far less packaging every year by using baking soda and apple cider vinegar to wash my hair. 

This is my hair today, although not the greatest photo since it was taken inside.

 

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Posted in environment, household products, personal

Book Review: Born to Run & A Running Update

Posted on January 27, 2012 | 3 Comments

While in India I read Born to Run: A Hidden Tribe, Superathletes, and the Greatest Race the World Has Ever Seen. The book has gotten a lot of attention for starting the barefoot running craze, and while I heard about it over a year ago I wasn’t very interested. Of course, when I finished Couch to 5K I had a lot more interest in running. And it was a great time to read the book, because I didn’t feel any sense of “Why can’t I run like that?” The answer was obvious, I can’t run like that because I’ve only been running for two months.

Of course, reading it in India was also an absolutely horrible idea because it made me want to run all the time. I would read and just feel my legs pulsing, wanting to run so much. The roads in India, at least where I was, were just not safe for running. It wasn’t even an option. So I lived through Christopher McDougall’s story and thought every day about how excited I was to run when I got back to Iowa.

So, back to the book for a bit. It’s the story of McDougall’s search for the Tarahumara Indians in Mexico’s Copper Canyons. This tribe is known for running hundreds of miles, barefoot, and never growing tired or getting injured. They are the ultimate superathletes. McDougall weaves this story into stories of ultramarathon runners in North America, whose stories are equally fascinating. What I loved about this book was that it separated running from a sport or chore we do to lose weight and running for joy. Running because that is what we are meant to do. We are drawn to do it.

There is also a lot of science behind running and McDougall writes about the anatomy of our feet in a way anyone can understand. And he really makes the case for barefoot running, mostly because as a runner he had a slew of foot problems and looked to barefoot as the solution.

I’m talking a lot about running, but there is more to this book. I think what I loved most about it was the writing style. It’s a nonfiction book, but the story and style almost reminded me of Jack Kerouac. I don’t think you have to like Jack Kerouac to like this book, and I doubt most people would even connect the two, but if you like stories about wild trips, crazy parties, and soul then you will love Born to Run. I think you’ll love it whether you’re a runner or not, and maybe by the end you’ll decide to run.

“You don’t stop running because you get old, you get old because you stop running.” 

So, I’ve been back from India for about a week and a half now and I’ve had three runs. The first one was tough, really tough, because I hadn’t run in about a month. I was afraid I’d have to start all over again, but I was happy to find that running is a lot like biking. You don’t really forget how to do it. That first run I could only go 23 minutes and a couple of miles. Part of the problem was when I first went out to run I was so excited to run. I probably ran faster than I should have and this contributed to me tiring out.

Two days later I went for a run and my goal was simply to run longer than I did the first time. I went for 27 minutes and felt pretty good. I wasn’t focusing on speed, just on getting the time in and overall it was pretty successful. Just last night I went for my third run and it was amazing.

Probably the best run I’ve ever been on.

No, it wasn’t fast. I averaged a little less than 11 minutes per mile. But it was consistent, and after about ten minutes of running my legs were just set in motion. It was almost like I couldn’t stop running. I ran for 33 minutes and for the first time ever, in my life, ran three miles. I felt amazing and when Jason asked me how I was I just grinned.

The thing about running is that it’s not something I was ever good at and it’s not something I ever thought I would do. So when I do it and I do well it’s the best feeling in the world. It makes me feel fearless–if I can do something I never thought I would do and have success at it, then what else could I do if I got over the mental hurdle of I can’t do this?

And that’s what’s really stuck with me from Born to Run. Running is all about mental hurdles. The truth is that all of us are able to run and the human body is capable of amazing things if you just allow yourself to believe. So when I’m running and I feel tired, I just go back to Born to Run and think about everything that book taught me about the human body and our minds. Instead of focusing on how tired I feel or I can’t do this, I think about that book and things seem within reach. There aren’t many books that can give you that feeling, which is why I think this is worth reading.

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Posted in book review, couch to 5k, exercise, nonfiction, personal, running

One Semester Left…

Posted on December 16, 2011 | 5 Comments

Pretty much every semester I do a little, this semester is over post. But today it hit me that there aren’t too many more of those. Only one semester left after this one and while I can’t wait, I also can’t believe it’s here.

I was officially done on Tuesday. I took three exams in a row, and felt pretty good about all of them. Now that the grades are finally rolling in I feel done. And last night I started packing for India. Where I’m going is pictured below…

Source: visthar.org via Ash on Pinterest

Since school is over I’ve hit wedding planning pretty hard. This weekend we meet with an officiant, take a look at some photobooths, and send out the last batch of Save the Dates. I also just ordered 190 postcards…but I won’t tell you what those are for just yet.

This semester wasn’t very English majory. In fact, I finished very few books and took no English classes. Next semester is my last English class and I honestly cannot wait. It’s Modernist Women Writers, which is totally up my alley and I hear the professor is great.

I’m also starting to realize I don’t have too many more months in Iowa City. Jason and I are putting up an ad to sublease our apartment in June, which means there are just over five months left here. I complain about Iowa City a lot, or least I have lately, my realizing how short of time I have left here forces me to stop, look around, and realize all the great things about Iowa City.

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Posted in english major, personal

Post-Semester Craft Weekend

Posted on December 11, 2011 | 9 Comments

It’s not really post-semester yet, as I have three exams on Tuesday, but I don’t have much studying so as far as I’m concerned it’s post-semester. For weeks now I’ve collected recipes and crafts I want to do but haven’t had any time to do them (especially last week, which was the craziest week of all time). This weekend I committed to making some of those things I waited on.

Like dying part of my hair (I think it looks pretty awesome).

Making sweet melted crayon art.

Eating delicious pizza balls.

I also made cookies and addressed save-the-dates. I’m so much more productive when homework isn’t involved. I’ll post larger posts about these projects later this week, I just wanted to write an update about where I’ve been this past crazy week.

Oh, and we have our Christmas tree up. How about you? Not a whole lot of presents under the tree yet–maybe that will change when I’m done crafting…

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Posted in cooking, crafts, personal, Uncategorized