An open letter to the person who stole my new tent:

Hi, person of no shame, it’s Annalisa, and I gotta say, you have some balls. I mean, to come up onto my porch in the middle of the day and swipe my package? Really? That’s low. How did you even know that the contents of the box were of any value to you? And if not, I really would have appreciated it if you had just left the opened box on the porch and went on your way.

You know, I was really hoping to have my new tent by the weekend to test it out, and so that I could seam-seal it before our trip, but thanks to you, not only may I have to wait to do that, but I also may have to go out and buy an inferior tent if this doesn’t get resolved with the seller, and fast.

I really think it’s awful that you walked up onto my porch and stole that box. Either I’m out the money, or the seller of the tent is, and either way that’s really rotten. I’ve managed to go 36 years of my life without stealing anything, and it really chaps my ass when things like this happen. Honestly, what the hell is the matter with you?

I hope you get eaten by a bear in that tent. And vaffanculo, dickweed.

Sincerely,
Annalisa

Daniel, who is one of the coolest guys I know, hosted a lunchtime meeting where he showed us his photos from Nepal and told us all about the trip. It was only an hour, but I could have listened to him all day. I had about 20 more questions to ask, but didn’t feel like bothering everyone else with my nerdy queries about pack weight and the like.

I’m just really impressed with how he went about training for the trip, sleeping in an oxygen tent, doing a ton of hiking in preparation, and for having that adventurous spirit that I so admire. But like I said, Daniel is very cool, and he’s also a very driven and independent guy.

When I saw his pictures of Mt. Everest, I started to tear up, imagining how it must have felt to have traveled so far and hiked for so long to get there, how excited he must have been, that feeling of achievement that he must have felt. And I was proud of him, you know? I know it’s completely sappy, but I honestly wanted to hug him and say congratulations, but he’s my coworker and that would be weird. :)

In some ways, though, it’s a lot like completing a marathon (or, in my case, a half).

Afterward, I told him about how I wanted to go to Africa and climb Kilimanjaro before I turn 40, and then I thought about how that is only 3.5 years away, and there was a sigh heard round the world.

But that begs the question, what is stopping me? Money, time off from work, fear, I guess. I love camping and backpacking, but it’s something I never do anymore. Every year I talk about going out into the woods for a weekend or two and it never seems to happen. It’s depressing and stupid, honestly.

That said, we are planning a camping trip to Maine in a few weeks. Our friends are really the driving factors here, and I’m hoping that Rob will enjoy it enough so that we can do more camping trips. Given that we’ve scrapped our plans to go to Glacier this year, postponing it to next summer, I feel like I need to get out of the city and hang out in the woods with Bo and Rob as often as possible.

I’m off to San Francisco for a few days (just a very, very short work trip), and we’ll see about doing some hiking with Bo next weekend, even if it’s just down to Stonybrook reservation or out to Medfield for some swimming and flatter trails.

I took last week off and went to see Dr. Green again. *sigh*  Another course of prednisone and a night splint were prescribed, along with PT, which I haven’t had time to even think about scheduling.

But my foot is finally feeling a bit better and I’ll try running tomorrow. The quandry is what to do about the schedule for Baystate. I am so, so far behind right now and kind of freaking out about it.

I’m going to run 8 with Elissa this weekend, so we’ll see how that goes and then figure out the rest.

This week has been a bit more tame in terms of my office life, but at home it’s been a whirlwind. I thought I was going to have to travel down south this week, so I packed in as many errands & chores as I could, and even took a personal day to get some stuff done.

The weekend has been no less busy. Yesterday, Rob and I went up to look at lot in New Hampshire. Our friends have a great house up there, and there just happens to be a lot for sale on the same road. It’s over 2 acres, and very affordable given the market. So we’ll see. That trip killed most of the day, leaving Sunday to pack in all of the cleaning, laundry, shopping, and cooking that I normally spread out over the weekend.

Then this morning, Rob got a call from his BIL and had to go watch their kids until noon. Not that either of us minds, but that makes the lions share of the chores fall to me.

As of 11:59 AM, I have accomplished the following:

Made coffee, took Bo on an hour long walk/hike in the conservation land, watered my garden, stripped and made the bed, vacuumed & dusted the entire house, mopped all of the floors downstairs, wiped down all of the windowsills that Bo manages to slime during the week, washed out Bo’s bowls & food stand thing, completed 2 loads of laundry, cooked split peas & brown rice for my salads this week, and made pizza dough for tonight’s dinner.

Not bad for 4.5 hours worth of work.

What’s left to do:

Return library books, grocery shopping, make brown rice salad recipe for lunches this week, walk Bo again, run 6 miles if my foot feels alright, cook dinner, wipe down the kitchen, and clean the bathrooms, which I am going to leave for Rob.

We have a running joke where one of us says, “that’s because I do everything around here,” and the other one rolls their eyes, or snorts with laughter.  If you’re asked, “what are you doing,” the correct response is, “doing everything around here, that’s what.”

It’s meant to be light hearted, but sometimes it does feel like one person IS doing everything around the house, and that kind of sucks. A few weeks ago, it was Rob, when my foot was so bad that I could barely walk. The other night it really felt like it had been my turn to do everything, and it upset me a lot.

But today feels different. Today it’s just part of helping each other out, and letting the other person enjoy the small amount of free time they have for the weekend. That’s all.

Still, it’s a freaking big list. I think he owes me big time. :)

I don’t know about other runners, but sometimes I am obtuse about when to get new shoes. I really try to keep my running shoes only for running, and log all my miles, but then either I forget to write stuff down, or I end up taking the dog for a walk before or after a run, or my feet hurt and I put my running shoes on because they are soft and comfortable. Before I know it, I’m well up over 350 miles (which is when my shoes tend to break down because I am not 130 lbs or less) and I need a new pair, but it usually takes a while for that fact to sink in.

Anyway, I can’t remember who suggested it to me, but one of my running friends said, “hey, now that you have new orthotics, have you ever considered downgrading to a stability shoe? You might have fewer problems with your feet with a less rigid shoe.” I thought, sure. Maybe. And if I don’t like them for running, I can just wear them around.

On Friday I happened to be returning something at DSW and decided to see what kind of running shoes they had (turns out, a lot). After doing a quick lookup online (thank you, iPhone), I decided to try out the Asics 2130s. My feet had been hurting with the PF and all, so I was wearing my old shoes with my orthotics in them, so let me tell you, when I put a new shoe on my left foot, comparing it with my Evolution 3 on my right, it was like night and day. Or rather, a cloud and a brick.

Soon I was home with my new shoes. I tried them on again, then back to the old ones. Holy crap. The cushioning in my old shoes was so broken down it was unreal, and I’d had no idea. To illustrate, here is a revealing photo:

In my mind, my old shoes were just a little dirty, but otherwise fine. I’d done my half marathon training in them, and probably an additional 50 miles of running before that, and about 20 miles of dog walking. Yeah. I am stupid.

Saturday was my first run in the new shoes. I can honestly say that I enjoyed that run completely, even though it was humid and had some steep hills. My orthotics, for the first time, didn’t give me any hot spots over my arches. My feet didn’t hurt (until hours afterward, but no more than usual), and I felt really good. No knee or shin issues with the new shoes. No ITB strain or back aches. Yay!

Today I’ll be running again, and we’ll see how they hold up. I think I’ve found a winner.

Yesterday I ran 5 miles, and it was alright, as 5 mile runs go in West Roxbury, which has always been kind of… meh. I know it sounds nutty, because I have a great 3, 4, and even 4.5 mile route, but 5 has always been a bit of a nuisance. 6, 7 and even 8 are all good. 9 is a problem, as is 10, so for those I end up driving to Cambridge. See? Nutty. Like I said.

The thing about a 5 mile loop in my neighborhood is that there are certain pleasant roads to take, and then there are roads which are either annoyingly hilly, offer no shade, have too much traffic, or force one to run on concrete sidewalks.

My 4 mile route is probably the most satisfying of the under 6 routes. From my house I head west on a relatively flat, well traveled but wide road. I then cut over to Grayfield – a lovely street with almost zero traffic – that ascends gradually until it terminates at Mt Vernon. Mt Vernon is even lovelier. It was named one of the best streets in Boston last year, and the homes are large, old, and nice to look at. Mt Vernon also offers a nice descent into the mile 1 mark, which is usually just when I start to feel good.

I pass the public library, hit the light and cross, and head up aptly named Bellevue Street. Bellevue is another one of those streets with a lot of large homes on big lots; old houses, with leaded glass windows and immaculate yards. It’s not as nice as some of its neighboring streets, but it offers another nice hill to climb before levelling out, then ascending again. Before the big ascent up to Bellevue Hill Park, I bail and loop around to the parkway, turning left. The parkway is a large divided expanse of road. Fine homes line either side, with large, sloping lawns, and even more grass to makeup the parkway itself. I hit mile 2 just before the parkway, run a couple of up and downs before crossing Centre St and heading back in the direction of my house, only several blocks over.

From Centre, I continue up the parkway, past the Holy Name Cathedral & school, up another steep but short hill, hit mile 3, and then descend down to the second parkway on my route. This parkway is darker, with huge old trees lining both sides, and the interior section, of the road. It is dark & cool here, and if it were not for the noise of the traffic, it would be a perfect place to run. I have to watch my step as the roots have buckled the sidewalk (and this is the only part of my run where I take to the sidewalk for more than 25 yards), but if it is light outside, it’s fine, even for someone as uncoordinated as myself.

The parkway here is pretty flat and I coast along until I have to head back uphill towards my house. It is here that I always, no matter how good a run I am having, begin to feel tired. There is no shade once I leave the parkway. I’m running uphill on a street with cars flanking both sides. The homes aren’t as nice to look at. I really just want the hill to be over.

And soon it is, and I’m rounding the corner (up another stupid little hill, g*d*mmit) to my house. I slow to a walk and count down the houses, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1.

Bo hears me coming through the gate, begins to whine, and tries to contain himself at the back door. When I open the screen he dashes out and does his funny little hops, wanting to jump on me but knowing that he’s not allowed. I grab his leash from inside the door and take him for a walk, my face beet red, sweating, and start to cool down. Good or bad, my miles are in.

Well, I’m not totally better, but I’ve been massaging my foot (hard) and using The Stick to roll my calves, and I ran today without pain. Not only that, I got out of bed without pain! And then I cried. After that, I ran 3 miles. Woot!

I was thinking about RunnerSusan, and her post about having to get back into her training and not having more than a couple of good days. I felt for her, because I am feeling the exact same way, lately.

Maybe it’s work, or life, or the heat. I don’t know. After the half I felt like I was floating, with lots of aches & pains and no real purpose to my training (apart from the Corporate Challenge, which I wasn’t able to participate in because of work travel). But now I feel like maybe, just maybe, I have started again in earnest, with a schedule that works for all of us – Rob, Bo and me – and I am smiling after a run, and not cussing as much at hills and humidity, and there is no “oh my god, please make this end” feeling when I’m finishing up at 7am and it’s already hot.

So I’ve got that going for me, which is nice.

Now I just need to run tomorrow, and Thursday, and Saturday, and I’ll be good to go for my training. New Haven is questionable right now, but Baystate feels doable for sure.