Feel Good Post!

Namaste, fools.

I wanted to share some good Internet happiness today!

First up - this amazing video, where strangers meet in a dark room and talk... then the lights come on. "Labels are for cans, not for people."

This hilarious BuzzFeed post about why running is horrible, awful, no good, stay away. Enjoy the virtual giggle.

The fact that my high school cross country teammate Ryan Hill is going to the World Outdoor Championships! (Okay, so this happened a while ago, and I'm just now sharing it, but yay Ryan!) Does this make me famous by association?

A reminder that Ryan's fast is not my fast, my fast is not your fast, and your fast is not my fast. Yeah.
theBERRY

And then this is me as a pumpkin from 2007 during cross country season. Relevant.

And while this isn't an Internet find, another half marathon training cycle started for me yesterday (!) ... with a rest day. Killing it.

Happy Monday!

Two for the Price of One

I had two topics in mind that I wanted to discuss this week, and both have enough weight to them that they could be their own blog posts... but I got antsy, so here's a BOGO deal from me. You're welcome.

First up - vacations and exercise.

Like many of you, I'm traveling for the 4th of July holiday. I'll be hanging out with my family (parents, grandma, cousins, aunts, etc.) for about a week, starting tonight. While I'm basically already on an extended vacation until graduate school begins in August, I'm still excited for a week of tanning, relaxing, drinking, swimming, and being with family in a new location.

However...

You can feel the "but..." creeping up behind you...

This means no accessible gym. No machines. No weights. And all around more difficultly in fitting in exercise.

There was once a time in my life where this would be a SERIOUS problem. While it still causes me discomfort and a little anxiety, I'm much better about going with the lack-of-routine flow. I know I can fit in makeshift circuits when I don't have equipment (like the one here), but sometimes I'm left feeling like I sort of half-assed my workout.

It's so much more important to spend time with your loved ones than obsessing about your fitness. Trust me, I've returned from vacations in a cloud of regret, wishing I had spent thirty minutes laughing and playing cards with my aunts rather than huffing and puffing about "feeling lazy." 

Maybe this is extreme, but think about it - when you die, do you want your tombstone to read "Great Daughter" or "Great Legs?"

Next up - relationship with God.

As I've briefly mentioned, I have a Bible that's sectioned to take you through it in two years. I just finished.

Throughout the whole thing, my daily reading reminded me about His love for us. It reminded me to pray, to always think about Him, to thank Him, and to consider what really matters. I had this thought that as soon as I finished, I'd be struck with such knowledge, such Biblical wisdom, that I would do what was right more often than not, pray hourly, and show my love to others on a much greater scale.

Yeah, not quite.

Actually, the opposite has happened. As soon as I closed Revelation, it's like I closed my relationship with God. My daily reading was my meditation, my habit-former, and in its absence, I've forgotten all that I've learned. Horrible, but honest.

Don't worry, guys - I plan on starting a new devotion program in order to keep up this relationship. I could tell that I was so much happier when I was talking with Him constantly and when I was loving others the way He loves me. I hate that I've forgotten, but I'm grateful that He's reminded me.

How do you deal with traveling and exercising?
For those of you who are religious, do you ever push God aside?

He's going the distance, among other events...

This was a whirlwind weekend full of all kinds of emotions.

LET'S REWIND TO THURSDAY.

Mother and I went to our town's minor league baseball game, and she caught a foul ball! She's the one with the hand-eye coordination in the family; that's why I run.

Though there wasn't much competition - look at those filled seats...

Our team ended up winning in the last inning, which was exciting, but the game was a far cry from my days in DC watching the Nationals.

Friday. Yikes. I ran 5 miles outside (longest distance in six months, whoop whoop!), but unfortunately, I decided to foam roll the completely wrong part of my body. Dear friends, when you have possible nerve damage in your hip/groin area, please do not irritate it by repetitively smashing your body against a cylinder for twenty minutes. Needless to say, I was quite upset and teetered on another "all is wrong with life" moment. Luckily, I realized this wasn't the run's fault (although there was mild pain during it), this was my stupidity, so I didn't dwell for too long thinking I had regressed in recovery.

Then it was early to bed, early to rise, becauseeeeee...

JOE FLEW IN FROM CALIFORNIA. Pardon his squinty eyes. And my ridiculous cowlick.

He traveled the cross country distance to spend one day with me to accompany me to my high school friends' wedding! Most gorgeous. wedding. ever. Because I don't want to be obnoxious and try to get their permission to post pictures or details online while they're on their honeymoon, I'm going to refrain from showing you just how gorgeous - you'll just need to take my word for it. I saw SO MANY good friends from high school that I haven't seen in years. I laughed, I cried, I randomly decided it was a good idea to drink Baileys, I ate too much cheesecake...

Even with his wearing cowboy boots, I was taller.

Sunday made its way to impolitely end my weekend, and something in the back of my mind said, "Run." I tried to shove it off - I ran Friday, and it didn't end well. I was scared. 

But I did it anyway...

Joe has always been my good luck running charm. He has been with me through a ton of races and injuries, and he's sat patiently entertaining himself while I've been off on my long runs.

Sunday I demanded asked him to sit with me as I ran on the treadmill.

3.5 miles and zero pain. None. Nada. It was incredible. I cannot express (ha, you all know) how much I've been wanting and how long I've been waiting for this run - this painless, freeing, emotional, light-at-the-end-of-the-tunnel run.

After prancing and screaming and jumping and singing and hugging, we went to brunch with my parents, and then I sadly drove him back to the airport. 36 hours wasn't enough.

I didn't have too much time to mourn because as soon as I got back home, my parents and I went to a downtown symphony concert!

And the weekend ended with a visibly disgusting, yet oddly pleasing salad with cottage cheese and salsa.

Boom.

How was your weekend? 

BODY IMAGE

Oy. Okay. This is a touchy subject, I know, and this has been sitting in my drafts for a while (a while? I've had this blog for like a week), but here goes the "publish."

Body image is big in media these days. Magazines, online articles, and commercials are ripping the issue to shreds.

We read all about THIS WORKOUT THAT WILL GIVE YOU THE MAX CALORIE BURN. And why do we care about calorie burn? To lose weight. Why do we want to lose weight? To look "better."

We also read all about LOVE YOURSELF FOR WHO YOU ARE, CELLULITE AND ALL. Because who wants to constantly look at themselves in the mirror and hate what they see?

And then we see things like REAL WOMEN POSED FOR THIS AD, COME LOOK! So if you're not a string bean, you're real? So if you are a string bean, you're not real?

I have a question - a question that may get backlash, but I'm putting it out there - why do we read about anything at all? Why do we bother talking about women's bodies (or men's bodies... I'm looking at you, Dad Bod fad) at all? Why does it have to be a topic?

This blade of grass is greener. And that one is slightly bent. The one over there is more oval than rectangular. But does it matter? All the blades together make up a beautiful meadow, right? If they were all the same, wouldn't it be like walking over a toothbrush? Ew. (Also, this conversation is making me think of my first post).

I'm saying let's all just shut up. Yes, I know that by writing this post in the first place, I'm doing the opposite, but really, can we just stop? If we talk about beauty standards, then there will be beauty standards.

Let good looks be like Oprah's car giveaway.

"YOU'RE BEAUTIFUL! AND YOU'RE BEAUTIFUL! AND YOU'RE BEAUTIFUL!"

Can I get an "Amen?"

Distance, but Not the Running Kind

Even though I was am (let's not get pessimistic, MK) a long distance runner, the title of my blog has another meaning.

I've been in a long distance relationship for the majority of 2 years and 4 months.

And by "majority," I don't mean 51%. I mean I've been in a long distance relationship for 2 years of those 2 years and 4 months.

Us, right before those 2 years started. Now his beard is almost down to the same length as my hair in this picture. Can you say, "Duck Dynasty?"  

It started off as just a few hours apart. I moved to DC, he was in Virginia. Not bad, eh? Like basically the same thing. You ask people from Arlington where they're from, and they'll say DC. But he wasn't in Arlington... Okay, I digress.

Then he moved to Louisiana for a job. Longish flight, one hour time difference, we made it work... though not all the time.

Our hours are different. I wake up before the sun and sometimes even go to sleep before the sun. He was in New Orleans, so can you guess his hours?

Courtesy of DN Journal, here's a pic of Bourbon Street. Balconies close around 3am. Parties do not.

I despise talking on the phone (what a great trait to have while in an LDR!), so text/g-chat/email/Facebook are our prime modes of conversation.

Do you know how often texts can get misinterpreted? If I had a nickle for every time we got in I started a fight because I thought he was being sarcastic, I wouldn't have to pay for graduate school.

It was AWESOME to visit. I even ran a few races in LA! Unfortunately, we only saw each other about every other month, and it was killer.

Well, guess what!? He has moved again!

...to California. So like, actually across the country.

Crack open an end to a job, pour in a switch to graduate school, sprinkle your boyfriend moving even farther away into the mix, stir, and bake for an hour at 350 degrees. Serving size: one distraught MK.

I know that we'll still fight, and I know that we'll see each other less often. But then again, I'll be in school with holiday breaks and whatnot. It'll be interesting and hard, but we both know that it'll be worth it in the end.

Any LDR-ers?
Any advice?