keep on keepin on

so, my plane ticket back to colorado has just been purchased. if i haven't mentioned it here, i've registered to run the bolder boulder 10k on may 26th. some friends of mine are doing it, which got me psyched and wanting to do it... and now this ticket purchase just seals the deal. i've been running about three days a week. it's rough sometimes... running is not something that has ever come easy to me, not like surfing or cycling or rollerblading. (man i really miss surfing right now.) i can get 2.5 mile runs on the weekdays done pretty well, and a larger 3.86 mile run on the weekends is hard but manageable... on average 11-13 minute/miles. working up to 6.2 is going to be a huge huge feat. the hardest part is my breathing - a lot of the time i'm still dealing with the side stitch and no matter what advice there is out there on google, the only thing that works is to slow down and control my breathing better. which is very frustrating - i feel like my legs can hold up, even my lungs can hold up... but when my side is ripping in half with pain there isn't much i can do to stop it.

i've also still been riding my bike to work everyday, and a lot of the time i'm just plain exhausted. i'm getting eight hours of sleep and i'm TIRED. i look around for running tips, i talk to my roommate and her boyfriend about it, and i have a guide that i'm sort of following. so we'll see! i'm set for crossing the finish line at 80 minutes. ha! we'll also see about that... i think i would just be content to finish without stopping... but if i have to stop then so be it. this is my first race, and i'm not competitive at all. i'm mostly competing with the lazy version of myself, the one that wants to eat an entire bag of chips and salsa while vegging out on the couch watching crap movies on our newly purchased cable. she's slowly going away, not welcome anymore - but there are some resilient bits lingering around. the binge eater, the salt/sweet/salt/sweet cravings. not taking the time to cook the healthy food i purchase - resorting instead to pasta with sauce every night of the week. oh, and don't get me started about the evils my office being half a block in one direction to taco bell and dunkin donuts being half a block in the other.

anyway. i'm pretty content with the physical aspects of myself as of late. it's not something i really paid that much attention to, as i'm usually more of the sort to care what someone thinks than their physical accomplishments. beauty on the inside and all that. yet these past few years i'm coming to the realization that it feels good to be healthy, to achieve a deep sleep, to romp around on endorphines. it's not really something i have to share with others, it's more these intimate personal goals i'm slowly moving towards. a size 8. medium, not large. 140 pounds. 6.2 miles. wearing a swimsuit in public. kicking ass and being happy.