Run: Why I carry pepper spray

No, I didn't get attacked by a pervert. That would've been a better story. BUT I did get attacked.... sort of.

You see, I live in what Phoenix likes to call "Central Phoenix," which is a big word that describes downtown, uptown and midtown, all of which, are far from mimicking a real city feel. But Central Phoenix is the closest thing we've got to a real city. I live midtown. It's fun, I love it. There's lots of cute restaurants, thrift stores, coffee shops, antique shops, and random specialized shops. Ya know typical city stuff. There's also a lot of homeless people and crack heads. And I run at 5:30 AM, when it's still dark. So I carry pepper spray, just in case. (It's really a safe neighborhood but you've got to be safe, right?)

I dread the day I have to use, said, pepper spray.


So I'm on my way back from a 3.5 mile run. The sun is barely rising creating a beautiful "midnight blue" landscape... if you will. The birds are starting to chirp. The air is cool and refreshing. I'm listening to my ipod in runner's bliss; basking in the wonderfulness of not having knee pain.

And then I hear a faint noise through my music. It sounds like someone screaming. It sounds like someone screaming, "watch out." And as I peacefully glance behind me I am shocked at the site of a 20-pound, screeching, angry little mut running towards me with his fierce, little fangs shining out at me. Who would've thought such a small dog could look so evil.

And then I hear the most inhuman sound. It's a deep, loud but breathless sound, likened to the voice of Chubaka. Oh God, that voice is mine. I'm screaming "No." And then I wrip my head phones off and clear my throat and let out a few stern "NO's" while aiming my pepper spray into his eyes. But I do not pull the trigger. No, I just aim it at him with a steady hand, ho[ping he'll back off. Finally, the dog freezes; alarmed at my ability to discipline. His owner calls, and he meanders back into her arms.

"Is he aggressive?" I ask.

"Yes!" she replies, "sorry."

Hey, no problem [jerk].

Rest: Pinetop, cars and basset hounds

I love going to Mr. Wonderful's cabin because it gets us away from the internet. Seriously, our combined addiction is that bad that we have to be secluded in the forest, in a log cabin, without any cable or internet, in order to detox from social media. It's a flat out weekend of rehab.

But anyways, it was fabulous. We read. We wrote. I ran. We watched movies. We cooked. We rode bikes. We walked Calypso and she ran up and down the stairs like a demon child and didn't really quit all weekend. We went to the local car show/fair. We went to Springerville in search of a hike and we drove the BEAUTIFUL 191!!!

That picture does it no justice. Seriously. Not even close to the epic, breathtaking, wondrous rolling hills and flowing rivers and lakes. I didn't even know that kind of scenery existed in Arizona. AMAZING!

We also, obviously, went to the ORIGINAL Los Dos Molinos. Why?! Because we just love Los Dos Molinos. Best New Mexican food you'll ever have. If you come to Arizona for any reason, PLEASE eat at Los Dos Molinos. We met the original owner's daughter who informed us that the only rule when opening a Los Dos location is that you can't tell anyone how they cook their food, and a family member must unlock the door each day. How cool is that!?

Then I drove back to Tucson. And slept.

And when I woke up, I drove home. For some odd reason, my 50 pound basset hound decided it was a good day to become a lap dog. I kid you not, for the first time ever, Calypso tried to sit on my lap while I was driving. WHAT?! My aloof, lazy, selfish and yet still oh-so-adorable and cuddly dog wanted to sit on my lap while I was driving a moving vehicle? Bizarre. This is a reenactment:

True, not a very good reenactment. I don't have a digital camera. It's sad. I use my Apple Photobooth instead. Here's another bad photo of Calypso:

Wow that's bad. Somebody buy me a camera.

Anyways, Calypso thinks she is a lap dog.

It was a good weekend. I had a swell time.

And then Monday happened and I learned why working for a start-up can be, well, depressing. I'm on the job hunt again, let me know if you'll have any tips or need a copywriter/social media specialist. I'll tell ya'll more later. Toodles!

Rest: Keep finding the silver lining

Well to be honest, it's been a rough week. But who really cares? I'm a very emotional, very expressive person (maybe that's why I blog?). So, if I didn't learn to get over the bad stuff quickly, I'd spend 75% of my life in my underwear, wrapped in covers in my bed, watching romantic European firms and eating frozen yogurt and potato chips. It wouldn't be pretty. So, instead of telling you about how I'm stressed about jobs, moving, running, writing, traveling, money and all my hopes and dreams, I give you...

THIS WEEKEND'S SILVER LINING

1. My dog is quite possibly the most lovable, and hilarious creature on earth. I know I'm a bit partial, but if you've ever had a basset hound, you know that they have more personality than I do. She really cheers me up when I'm in a bad mood, so I thought I'd be a creepy dog lady (I'm not a hoarder, I swear), and give her a little shout out. Here is a picture of her when she was a puppy (she's three now). Adorable, right?

2. After two weeks off, I started running again! My knees are still bugging me a little, but I am stretching and icing constantly and trying not too push myself too hard. I actually had one of my best runs yet on Friday. It was crazy hot (about 105-- and don't tell me it's just a dry heat until you've experienced 116 for three weeks in a row. It's like living in a freaking oven), but I ran about five miles (which is awesome considering the knee problem), did a few fartlek miles at a pretty fast pace and ended the run in a sprint. AND, I saw a HUGE lizard. It was super cool... and scary.  I consider this one of my better runs because I did so much speed work, put myself in the pain locker and caught myself smiling in the middle of it all. Sadly, my GPS chose to stop working so I'm not sure how fast I was actually running. But it doesn't really matter. I'm stoked to be back on the road (I hope this will last). Here's the view from the top of South Mountain (I run the canals at the bottom). I believe this picture is fairly old, but I like the eerie, desolate look of it.

3. I watched a ton of movies this weekend (of course it has nothing to do with the fact that I was feeling emotional). Woody Allen's Vicky Cristina Barcelona is quite possibly one of my favorite movies. I could watch it over and over and over, and I can't say that about a lot of films. I'm a sucker for European beauty and passion combined with the whims of overly educated characters struck by trite romance. If you haven't seen it, go watch it. 

I also saw Inception. I see very few blockbusters in the theater, but this one was well worth the money and time. Although it had a bit of that cloying Hollywood cheese, most of it was absolutely amazing. It also gave me a lot of personal satisfaction for being able to figure out what was going on most of the time. It's pretty amazing, so go see it (But watch the aforementioned Woody Allan film first). 

So those are the weekend highlights. Who else has some silver lining to talk about (or just good weekend stuff)?

Rest: Relaxing Pine Top style

Mr. Wonderful and I headed North this weekend and stayed at his parents’ cabin. It was so refreshing to get away from the heat. It was also refreshing to get away from technology.

You see, boyfriend and I are pretty much internet addicts (I won’t tell you who’s the farthest gone), and the rest of technology’s dealers are close behind: Cell phones, DVDs, Websites, blogging, social media, chatting, even GPS systems. We love it all. We do also read a ton of books.... but we're even saving up for a pair of Kindles.

I never had realized just how much time I spend on the Internet until my first trip to the cabin. We don’t have a Wi-Fi connection there and our phones barely have service. It usually takes me a couple days to adjust — I do a lot of pacing back and snacking. I typically start drinking around three just because I don’t know what else to do. But this restlessness eventually passes and then all my anxiety melts away. We read, write, discuss art, love and life and listen to old country records. We play with my dog and do puzzles. It really makes me wonder if people really are happier without the distractions of modern society. Is that too hippy for ya?

Well anyway, here I am back on the magical Internet. I can't help it, I just LOVE the internet.  Here are a few pictures from the weekend:

We did a puzzle. It was circular, 750 pieces and I'd say 65% green, so it was very difficult.

We played with Calypso.

Calypso peed. 

We played in the woods.

Stay tuned for my Pine Top running adventure! 

Toodles! 

Rate: Barefoot Running

I'm pretty skeptical of this fad. I had no intentions of trying it. But then, something happened.

One of my good friends decided the best way to spend her 40th birthday is to fly to France for two weeks, alone, for an introspective and wild adventure. I am so jealous... however I've still got a ways until 40 :) This friend and I have spent many an afternoon walking our two pups through the moderately charming streets of Tempe. Her dog is a rescue, used to be a wild pack dog, and therefore is extremely skittish. However, I've known the dog for a while and she likes me and my pup. It was only natural then, when my friend politely asked if I would watch her dog, Sarah, while she is away, that I agreed. It also didn't hurt that she offered me $20 a day, and money is something I desperately need. So all is well, right?

Wrong. The dog has been terrified and shaking from the second she was dropped off. She won't sit down and continues to pace my house for hours at a time. I tried treats, walks, pets-- everything. But she wouldn't even let me near her. And then something terrifying happened: I opened my front door slightly to get something out of my car, and Sarah pushed the door wide open with her nose, and bolted-- at a full sprint. I grabbed a leash and immediately sprinted after her. There was no time to put on shoes. 

Well to sum it up quickly, although there were a few breaks when Sarah slowed down to consider the treats I was waving at her, I ended up sprinting through my neighborhood sidewalks, barefoot, in my jeans, screaming for all the neighbors to see all while dodging piles of glass. Sarah, luckily, just ran home. I finally caught her as she was waiting at her owner's backyard fence, about a mile from my home. Brilliant. Once I had her captive I started bawling. Why? because I was stressed, exhausted, feeling emotional and so completely relieved that I didn't lose my friend's dog.
 

The point of all this, is that I did barefoot sprints... even though I wasn't intending too. 

When I woke up the next day, I was in an incredibly sore state. I could barely walk. My ankles-- ankles of all things!-- were throbbing. My calves were so excruciatingly tight. And now I get it. Minimalism running builds muscle. It builds muscles that I do not usually use when I am wearing shoes. And apparently, those muscles are going to take forever to loosen up again.
 

Even with that said, I don't intend on incorporating barefoot running into my training any time soon. If for no other reason, because it may give me horrifying flashbacks.

Rest: Rainy Sunday

Today is my first scheduled long run. The goal is to run for forty minutes today. But Kelsey, today is Sunday. Sunday is for resting and drinking and screeching "Sunday Funday!" at the most inappropriate, rude or obnoxious moments. Unfortunately my work schedule is off this week and I have to work tonight. There is no sense in taking a rest day when I have to spend five hours lifting chairs, carrying drinks and speed walking in drill-like motions. Serving tables is quite tiring, so I cannot take my rest day today. But do not fret because after today my week will look exactly as posted.

The day began similar to a rest day: I laid in bed two hours after officially waking, hoping that if I kept my eyes closed long enough I would wake up in a good mood. Surprisingly, this plan kind of worked. By the time 9:30 came around I actually wanted to get out of bed, and shockingly felt quite motivated to "seize the day," as I like to call the act of getting things done productively. However it's been raining again today, which has oddly been happening at least once a week for the last two months. This is the desert. We desert peoples do not like having to plan our days around the weather, unless the weather is 120 degrees Fahrenheit in which we then avoid all plans all together. So, since the time I crawled out of bed I've been wasting time on the internet, setting up a LinkedIn account and scoping for journalism jobs on every job posting imaginable.

"Oh shit moment:" I have to go buy some allergy medicine before I run today. I can't run without my allergy medicine or I turn into a puffy eyed, running nosed, sneezy mess that is not only annoying but I'd imagine incredibly gross to look at. I've been out of my prescription medicine for a week and it hasn't arrived yet. So as I wander out the door, into the rain and towards my car, LO AND BEHOLD: Clarinex in the mailbox!  As I fist pump with glee, I stroll into the house while opening that precious bag, open up the bottle, pop a pill and sit down to put on my running shoes. DOG COMES SPRINTING, leaps into my lap, knocking over the container of 100 tiny pills all over my linoleum floor.

Sunday Funday.

Emotions/Aches/conditions before run:

Skipped a birth control pill yesterday so my endometriosis is causing some major cramping. And after two cups of coffee and two puffs on my inhaler, I'm feeling abnormally shaky.  I do, however, feel very well-rested.

Post Run:

Well the endometriosis was a real problem today. I haven't had endo pain in a while, so I was not accustomed to dealing with it while I ran. I just kept telling myself it would go away and eventually it did. I've already written enough in the post to bore any potential reader so I'll just sum it up with this:

I ran for 42 minutes, which was about 3.65 miles. I felt like I could have ran for much longer, which means that maybe I should push myself a little harder on my next run. Speed, however, is the real enemy. I'm not sure when a person is in shape enough to be working on speed, but I don't feel like I'm there yet. But a 12 minute miles is pretty slow and if I want to run a 5k any time soon, I've got to bring my time down to at least a ten minute mile. Well, that's something to think about anyway.