Oh right, I have a blog.

Oops. Hi there! I actually got up this morning earlier than I needed to. I don't think you understand the monumental status of such an event. THIS NEVER HAPPENS. And I had a good reason for it. I haven't jogged since last Friday.

Yes, I jogged a few times after my last blog post, but I figured that if I posted EVERY TIME I JOGGED you would get sick of me and I would run out of things to say. (Did you catch the pun there? Run out? I'm so clever.) Then Week 4 of school happened and I have been buried in mounds of deadlines since then, especially since my campus job recently started. I finally got a light homework evening last night, and naturally all I wanted to do was cook, bake and watch TV. All of those were very good ideas. (I made acorn squash stuffed with quinoa, hominy and bell pepper, topped with nutritional yeast--AMAZING--and then blondies--you know, brownies without chocolate?--with dried cranberries and flax seeds. My taste buds were writing me love letters.)

So this morning I don't have class until 11:30, but I woke up at 9:30 to go for a run. I can definitely tell that I haven't run in a week, which is why I insisted on going today. I felt like if I waited any longer I'd be back at square one. I only ran for about 15 minutes before I had to stop, but then after walking for 5 minutes or so I pushed it and jogged two blocks uphill before walking home. Morning air definitely has a terrible feeling in my lungs--oh yes, it's the cheese grater effect back for more. Blaaah. I tried to breathe in through my nose, as some had suggested, but I think that will work better when I get back to the condition I was in last week. This week I was so winded that nose breathing just was not delivering the oxygen fast enough.

Anyway, I still need to squeeze in a shower before class, but I just wanted to say hi and, you know, I haven't forgotten about you.

My triumphant return!

...Okay, there's not much to triumph about. Basically, I haven't jogged in several days because I got a four-day promotional job that consisted of me circling Bellingham about 5739 times on foot, sketchy tricycle, and (first time for me!) Razor scooter, spreading the word about a giveaway for college students. But you know, cheap tricycles and Razor scooters are not really Bellingham-friendly modes of transportation. Both of them are just terrible on hills and in rain, both of which I encountered more than once during my employment. All of it was absolutely exhausting; I generally couldn't walk at the end of the day. I let myself stop jogging for the duration of the job because my legs retained (or gained?) plenty of muscle from all the work, not to mention all the calories burning from never stopping or sitting down! I have to give some credit to the Razor scooter, which I vehemently rejected in its popularity when I was a kid. MAN did I feel the burn in my quads from balancing on one foot while pushing myself furiously up sidewalks with the other!

So today, a few days after the job ended and I regained the ability to walk without cringing (thanks in large part to the second pedicure of my life--soooo relaxing), I finally ran again! I was worried that my jogging endurance might have gone down a little, but I did that 1.4 mile section of the trail near my house with no problems! It was even a surprisingly warm and sunny day, which we haven't seen many of up here recently, and which makes it a little bit harder to keep up the pace. I got a huge full-body blood rush when we stopped running. I almost needed something to lean on! It went away quickly though. Was it runner's high? Maybe I should look up exactly what this runner's high thing is supposed to be, anyway, before I keep going around claiming I've experienced it.

I was all set to jog back, too, but Mike wanted coffee (which is available for purchase in the park!) and we ended up walking the whole way back. I'm still glad we got out at all, though. Mike's breathing also seems to have improved a lot since we first started! It's much easier for him to jog the trail now. We're both doing this without walking or stopping: a straight 1.4 mile jog. Granted, it's a casual pace, but it's definitely jogging.

On Mike's aunt's recommendation, I entered a sweepstakes a few weeks back to try and win a pair of Vasque Mindbender trail running shoes! Eagerly awaiting the results of the contest now... I'm sure they're only giving away one pair, and hundreds if not thousands of people entered, but my chance is as good as anyone's, right?

Not much else to report other than that. School started up; senior year! We're going to try waking up early to run in the mornings before class. We'll see how that goes...  I am definitely not a morning person. Happy autumn, everyone!