Yoga Pants Life

In keeping with my long-standing long run avoidance streak, I’m procrastinating going out for today’s run and writing a random post instead.  I didn’t exactly time things well today and ended up arriving at my long run spot at the hottest, sunniest point of the day.  I’ve played that game before and lost, so I’m going to wait another hour or so before my run. I’m a bit worried about how this will affect fueling and hydration, since I had my pre-run snack an hour ago, but it is what it is.

I’m on the cusp of completing week 3 of training for the Chicago Marathon (tomorrow is a rest day, so really, it all hinges on today’s long run) and I’m pretty happy with how things have gone. I mean, it hasn’t been perfect – I’ve had to make some adjustments, but it’s still early and if ever there’s a time to figure this stuff out, it’s now. I’ve got 15 weeks (assuming I don’t get injured or defer my entry)  to keep it together (notice how I said ‘keep’ instead of ‘get?’ It has to be a sign of good things to come!) I’m going to wait until tomorrow or Monday to post my full Week 3 recap, so for now, please enjoy a bullet-point edition of my random thoughts and musings.

I love Lucy:  Lucy is my Prius and she’s fantastic! I drive about 2000-2500 a month and I’ve never spent more than $29.92 to fill my gas tank (even on empty) and have slashed my gas costs in half. Granted, I now have a car payment and a higher insurance payment, but Lucy will be paid off in a few years and so far she’s been worth it. I actually don’t mind driving anymore and dare I say, I almost enjoy my 2 hour daily commute. It gives me a chance to catch up on my favorite podcasts and contemplate life. There are a few minor things I wish I could change, but the benefits of this car far outweigh any drawbacks. I can’t wait to take her to Utah, Washington and Oregon (sometime in 2018) and possibly on a trip through the southwest as well. She feels so fancy with all her buttons and gadgets – I can’t wait to learn more and really take advantage of owing a Prius.

I bought a pair of Birkenstock sandals: Believe me – nobody is more surprised at this than me. My teenager self is dying right now. DYING. But it was the grown-up and sensible thing to do. I contemplated buying a pair last summer because I noticed that my cheap Target sandals and Tom’s were no longer comfortable anymore. I’m not sure if it’s because of all the running I was doing or if it was because I’m just getting old, but I knew better, more supportive shoes were in order, so when I spotted a pair at a reasonable price, I knew I needed to go for it.  To be fair, I got the ones that look similar to flip-flops and not the standard Birkenstocks (though, be on the lookout for those next year, I’m sure.) I’m still breaking them in, but they are more comfortable every day and it’s true – they really are supportive and comfortable AF.

These aren’t so bad, right?

I’m excited, but nervous to progress in my marathon training: It feels awesome to train for a marathon again and I’m so excited to go back to Chicago. However, I keep having flashbacks of all my failures from last year and I know I can’t take another marathon like that. I also know that my training sucked last year and I really didn’t ‘respect the distance’ enough. I think I’ve made a lot of progress both mentally and physically in the last year (I can comfortably wear pants I couldn’t button last year) and I think I have a more positive outlook on most things (I don’t get so down on myself all the time like I did last year,)  but I just can’t seem to fully shake the feeling of suckage. Like, I have no business attempting anything over 5 miles. I guess all I can do right now is keep going and do everything in my power to get in shape and take care of myself.

Finances: My savings account keeps shrinking and it sucks. I’m back to only having 2 months of expenses set aside. Then I start thinking thoughts like, ‘should I really travel this year?’ I’ve also been putting away quite a bit for retirement. I was feeling really good about it until I read that I should have three times my annual income put away by 40 and I’m just not sure I will hit that. I’m somewhere between having a full year of net and full  year of gross (does that even make sense?) saved, but apparently that’s not enough for my age.  I know this is all first world stuff and most Americans can’t come up with $400 in an emergency, but I’m not where I’d like to be and I’m really far off the mark if I want to be financially independent by my mid-40s (and by financially independent, I mean, not working for a paycheck and making enough off my investments to survive.)

Singledom: I’ve been single for a really, REALLY long time now. Most of the time I’m totally fine with it (it’s not like I’m doing anything about it) but lately I’ve found myself wishing that I had a partner to go through life with. Someone to travel and take road trips with. Someone who is with me through the ups and downs of life. Someone who just wants to stay home on a Saturday night and watch Netflix with me. You get the idea (obviously, there’s a lot that I’m not going to list out here.) Sometimes being single is awesome because you can be selfish and not have to always worry about someone else’s wants and needs…and I know from experience that nothing is lonelier than being in a relationship and still feeling alone (yeah, won’t put myself through that again – I’ll happily stay single to avoid this.) But, I’m getting to a point where I feel ready to let someone else in.  Maybe. I dunno.

I had a lot more bullet points to add, but I think it’s time to run. I need to do a few more things to get ready, but I’m looking forward to getting this done. I can do this, right?

YAAASSSSSS!!!!!!!