The Road That’s Always Traveled

The view of Fred Howard Park's causeway facing the Gulf of Mexico.

Yesterday, I walked inside Countryside Mall. I had too. I had skipped a day per my usual schedule, but I could tell my legs were going to get jumpy come nightfall.  I wondered into Dillards after the walk and ran into “Queen.” She is one of those personal shopper types who works there. I’m sure she works on a quota.  Anyway, she was a huge help and I walked out of there with a gorgeous brown dress. It is one of those floor length deals that is so lovely. I bought a cream-colored “shrug” too. I don’t think I would have given it a second look except for Queen bringing it to the dressing room for me to try on. I wanted to buy the same dress in purple, but it wasn’t on sale yet. I think I’ll go back in a week or two to see if it is on sale then.

Edit: I did go back, but the purple dress was gone. I still have the brown dress. I had to get it altered. Chinese washers are brutal on your clothes. BTW- I have yet to wear that dress in public. Chinese women wear short dress/skirts with high spiky heals. It’s like they try to dress as young and as slutty as possible. I really don’t understand Chinese fashion. It’s like a gang of pedophiles are dictating fashion. Now Koreans get fashion.

Today I waked 2.4 miles at FHP. I didn’t get there until 8AM which is too late. I had to put on sun screen. Fortunately, there was a gentle breeze and it wasn’t too hot. I stuck to just walking on the island. Each time around is .8 miles. I went around 4 times.

I listened to … I decided to nix mix 3 because I felt 20 minutes of continuous running would be too much. As  a result, I have discovered something. I need …intervals if I’m not all juiced up on caffeine. Taking my cues from the transition chords helps me get motivated to run until it is time to walk again. The great thing is that it has great intrinsic value for me because I’m more inclined to give it my all since I know that it is just for a short time.

During my cool down,  I listened to Chinesepod’s – Do you have…? It is modeled after a conversation that may have taken place in the 80′s, complete with authentic pop music. “mei2you3“

I Need More Discipline in My Life

A Chinese Santa

I need more discipline in my life. I have determined that I’m going to get up at 6AM and get my butt out the door on my run days. So far I haven’t been able to manage it.  I always go back to sleep and I’m kind of mad at myself for being so undisciplined.

I’ve decided to make a list of the pros and cons of getting up early to run.

Pros:

1. its cooler
2. pollen count is lower
3. don’t have to wear sunscreen
4. start the day early
5. feel energized throughout the day
6. no jumping legs at night
7. weight continues to come off
8. inches continue to come off
9. reduced appetite

Cons:

1. feel grumpy
2. feel lazy and unmotivated all day
3. irritated at my lack of enterprise
4. legs feel jumpy in the evenings
5. tend to overeat out of boredom

Hmmm…did I forget anything?

Today’s run wasn’t really a run per say. I did manage to walk on the FHP Causeway from sign to sign once. So that is about 1.7 miles if I include the walk to the car. I managed to run about 2 minutes out of that 1.7 mile walk. Surely nothing to crow about, but at least I got out there and did something. I started out listening to one of the … but since I wasn’t feeling too inspired to run, I kept switching around. I don’t recommend that you do that. Its kind of nerve-wracking. I wound up listening to Chinese Pod’s Newbie Christmas lesson. “Ni gui, bu gui?”