Week 6... Or the "bad week"

At teacher training it's common knowledge that everyone has a "bad week". For some people it's the first week because they're getting used to everything. For some people it's week 4 or 5 because it's the half way point. For some it's the last week because they're at the end. For me, it was week 6. Now, before I explain why, let me just say: it wasn't that bad. I didn't have a mental breakdown. No throwing up, or freaking out, or major injury. I'm very thankful for that.
Honestly, I'm just tired. I caught a cold early in the week, which had me coughing and snotting like an elementary school student. We had several late nights which meant little sleep, leaving my body fatigued from fighting the cold. And to top it all off I have to do a make up class on my day off this weekend because I forgot to sign in to one of our lectures this week.

Don't you just want to play a very sad song for me on a very tiny violin?

With all that said, things are still going really well overall. I feel like coming to teacher training was SO the right decision and at SO the right time. I can think back to the past few years and point out little milestones that led me here. Amazing.


Hollywood. Eh, not very impressed. Mostly just gross big city. Could be a city anywhere:



Malibu is much more my style:


I love my roomie:


Pretty beach:


Yoga pics on the beach:





Love the beach here:


A little care package from Chloe:


My group for posture clinic (where we practice our dialogue and poses):



The make up list:


I ate this and it was delicious:

NC to OR day 3

States touched today: Missouri, Iowa, Nebraska, Wyoming.

Hours driven: 10.5


We are driving the real deal Oregon Trail, ya'll!

Still looking for buffalo to shoot

Today wasn't too eventful.  Most of it looked like this:

Plains and Plains and Plains

And a little of this:

Plains and Wind Spinner thing...it's all very Midwest

Taking it back to the old school jams for some of Nebraska.  We call it 90's Nebraska style (some good, some not so good):

Goo Goo Dolls
Third Eye Blind
Green Day
Nirvana
Counting Crows
Sublime
Tom Petty
Barenaked Ladies
Shania Twain
Trisha Yearwood
Dixie Chicks

Another last resort method of heat beating, time passing, and stop utilizing (yes, I ate that and yes I regret it now):

Sometimes you just need a reason to get out of the car

Other major life decisions made: we will never ever ever live in Nebraska.  Thank goodness we got out and made it to Wyoming. Wyoming is similarly desolate, but at least desolate with some rock formations and an air of badassness about it that conjures images of the wild west.  

Quick stop in "downtown" Cheyenne for some beers in mason jars and oversized sammies that appeared to be from no place other than Wyoming.  

Can you spot the Edie look alike Elk in the background?

Now, we bed down in Laramie, WY; a place I never wanted to visit because of the whole Matthew Shepard tragedy. But, for some reason every hotel in Rawlins (our original planned stop for today) was booked solid.  So, here we are.  No one seems to be particularly biggoty, so that's good.

Tomorrow, over the Rockies and on to Idaho!

Check out Jason's blog for more pics and his spin on things.

State of the (my) Union

Well, today is day 41 of this 60 day Bikram yoga challenge and I will be honest with you folks, I really want to quit at day 45 and here's why:

1) 15, 30, 45, 60, 90 days...who cares?  The idea is to do a lot of yoga, and I did that.
2) I am (literally) slowly but slowly desiccating. I fear for the future of my relationship with hydration. 
3) My nails have turned to wax paper.
4) My hair!  When it's not wet, it's extremely dry, and poofy.
5) My skin...it's dry and sallow.
6) I miss running and I'm ready to get back out there.
7) My thighs...once they were small ham hocks, and now they have morphed to giant watermelons (while I appreciate the extra muscle and strength, I am not thankful for the extra mass)
8) Laundry has become a daily occurrence.  I'd like to go a day without having to wash sweaty wet towels and Bikram clothes.


The demonstration is Sunday, which will be day 44.  I suppose I will go until Day 45, and see what happens.  If I am miraculously re-inspired, I will forge on.  But if I feel as though the demonstration is the perfect culmination to many days of hard work,  I'd like to think that there is no shame in stopping after 45 days.  45 days straight and a demonstration under my belt will be a huge accomplishment.  I won't be quitting yoga forever, I'll merely be changing my routine, re-incorporating running and giving my poor body a break from the heat and constant moisture.

 Maybe this is just a low point.  Mile 17 of the marathon: too far to quit, but too early to feel close to the finish.  Maybe my brain is merely rationalizing my desire to quit with excuses.

We shall see...

A very bad race indeed

I've been avoiding writing this post for the past two days because I didn't want to have to put into words what a loser I feel like, but alas the time has come to face the music.  My yoga teacher in Thailand said once that nobody ever learned anything from being comfortable, and that is most definitely the theme of this marathon: discomfort...and hopefully some learning.

As you can see, I hobbled across the finish line at a staggeringly slow 5:30 time.  I looked around as a few pity filled cheers brought me in and noticed that the race volunteers were breaking down the finish line party.  Yes, as in packing it up for the day...I was that slow. 

Here's how it went:

-Wake up at 3:55 am to be at the start by 5:30 (why they wanted us there an hour and a half before start time is beyond me.  One of my least favorite things is the pre race wait around and this time it felt like an eternity)
- Start running at 7:00 and feel pretty good until about mile 13 which makes sense considering my training.  I was totally prepared for a half marathon and not a full marathon)
-I did manage to push myself gingerly along to mile 15, where I saw Chris Brophy who so kindly came out to support us.  We ran together for the next mile or so.  Feeling good again.
-Mile 17, I see Jason on his way back from the out and back.  He's walking.  "My IT band" he says dejectedly.  I persevere on.
-Mile 18...Must stop and stretch. Hard to start running again.  I walk as the 4:45 and 5:00 pace groups jog past me.  Damn it. I start running again.
-Mile 20, I eat a pickle at the aid station.  Feeling good again.
-Mile 20.5, Must stop again.  This time it is bad.  My legs are so tight.  I am really far behind now.  I walk until I see Chris Brophy again at Mile 22.  Pep talk ensues.
-Mile 22, I run again.  "Damn this trail"  I shout as I leave the Tobacco Trail and head down some boring Cary road heading toward the finish.
-Miles 23-25  This literally feels like an eternity.  Cary moms and Jersey transplants drive past me.  I curse them.  I'm slow.  Like really slow.  Like, am I walking or running or just shuffling?
- Mile 26  The next .2 will be hell and it is.
-I cross the finish line at a painful 5:30:58.  Shame.

Here's the learning part:  1) At least I finished.  I didn't drop out as I had fantasized about doing many times during the race. 2) I did more that day than most people do on an average Sunday. 3) This failure will make me more hungry for success the next time (yes, there will be a next time) 4) I learned that I need to train for real next time.  I will not just get by on my past running experience.

I think that can be applied to life as well.

In the Sand

What a difference just one day at the beach will make! Like a good little documenter, I had my camera out and documented all of our beach fun from Saturday at Carolina Beach. Jason and I drove down Friday night and after an almost perfect veggie burger at The Copper Penny, we spent the night at Jessica's place. Saturday morning we woke up and got an early start. Coffee, Brit's donuts, and plenty of Zyrtec later, we were on the beach.

Here we are pre-sun, pre-ocean, pre-sand, just getting started.

Me getting my half moon pose on...ocean view.

Balancing stick pose with cocktails

Jason tried to catch some waves

Waiting for "waves" to wave

You can't tell I'm imagining how horrible it might be to be stung by a jelly fish or eaten by a shark

See those two poles back there? Jason and Bryce tried to climb them and got scraped up by barnacles! Silly boys.

Little love birds...

Cocktails under the umbrella.

And me, totally passed out on the way home

Mondays

Why does everyone hate Monday so much? I guess I know the answer to that question: back to the grind, back to waking up early, and back to slaving away for the man. I hate this sentiment at work. Every Monday its the same: "Hey, how are you?", "Ugh. I'm alright. It's Muuuuuuuuunndayyyyyyy". I'm sure I'm just as guilty as the next person, but please, can't we be more positive? I feel like I'm living in a Cathy comic sometimes.

What if we lived in a world where Monday didn't mean that? What if Monday was a great day? Monday could be Friday. Or we could just start doing the fun stuff on Mondays, so that then we could associate Mondays with fun. Are you with me?

An extended metaphor

If I were a phone, I might be a smart phone. Maybe an iPhone, maybe a Blackberry or something like that. A smart phone can't run forever. It needs to be plugged in, left at home on the charger for a bit, or even over night.
If you don't charge it, it won't work. It can't play songs, take photos, check email, tell you what time it is, or pull up images of the latest visually stimulating thing.