Tuesday, July 01, 2003
"Fortunately, Unfortunately" comes from a writing assignment back in ninth grade where we had to write a poem in the following format:
Fortunately, my best friend Tessa was in my class.
Unfortunately, we were frequently told to stop talking.
Fortunately, we had already devised our own sign language to keep "talking."
Unfortunately, our vocabulary was limited and we were constrained to simple sentences such as "Walking down the street smoking endoplasmic reticulum."
Over the years the fortunately/unfortunately theme has come up in a lot of emails because life's like that- you can hope for more F's than U's, but there are always some of both. I'd like the F/U theme to unite my otherwise disjointed posts, and hopefully it doesn't get too abnoxious. With that, on to the content.
I miss running. I've been going to the gym almost every day after work this summer, and while it's adequate, it's just not the same as running outside. F, today I skipped the gym and instead went for a 4 mile run right after sunset. U, at about 3.8 miles my knee started hurting. I guess I can just stick to 3.5 miles and be okay, but I really don't feel like I've accomplished anything unless I go 5 or 6. Last summer, when I was in marathon training I did four "short" runs a week of 6 or 7 miles, then one long run that increased throughout the summer (longest was 14 miles before I had to stop because of the knee). And then on one of my days off I had Ultimate league. Point is, 3 miles seems like a warm-up.
Tonight (at least up to mile 3.8) was great, though. I found a new path out behind the Maplewood Apartments. The biggest advantage of running outdoors as opposed to working out at the gym is that you actually go somewhere. I love the uncertainty of what's around the corner and the breeze that comes from cutting through the air. Tonight on my way back it was pretty much dark and off to the side of the trail was a meadow full of fireflies- it was like the universe was winking at me. Things like that just make it feel great to be alive.
Heh- can you tell that I'm in a good mood?
Fortunately, my best friend Tessa was in my class.
Unfortunately, we were frequently told to stop talking.
Fortunately, we had already devised our own sign language to keep "talking."
Unfortunately, our vocabulary was limited and we were constrained to simple sentences such as "Walking down the street smoking endoplasmic reticulum."
Over the years the fortunately/unfortunately theme has come up in a lot of emails because life's like that- you can hope for more F's than U's, but there are always some of both. I'd like the F/U theme to unite my otherwise disjointed posts, and hopefully it doesn't get too abnoxious. With that, on to the content.
I miss running. I've been going to the gym almost every day after work this summer, and while it's adequate, it's just not the same as running outside. F, today I skipped the gym and instead went for a 4 mile run right after sunset. U, at about 3.8 miles my knee started hurting. I guess I can just stick to 3.5 miles and be okay, but I really don't feel like I've accomplished anything unless I go 5 or 6. Last summer, when I was in marathon training I did four "short" runs a week of 6 or 7 miles, then one long run that increased throughout the summer (longest was 14 miles before I had to stop because of the knee). And then on one of my days off I had Ultimate league. Point is, 3 miles seems like a warm-up.
Tonight (at least up to mile 3.8) was great, though. I found a new path out behind the Maplewood Apartments. The biggest advantage of running outdoors as opposed to working out at the gym is that you actually go somewhere. I love the uncertainty of what's around the corner and the breeze that comes from cutting through the air. Tonight on my way back it was pretty much dark and off to the side of the trail was a meadow full of fireflies- it was like the universe was winking at me. Things like that just make it feel great to be alive.
Heh- can you tell that I'm in a good mood?
