What I feel like when I run, 7QT, Volume 52

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*1*

I am SO PROUD to announce that my brilliant beau is now a certified Professional Engineer! He is now known as Prince Charming, PE.

After a long, long, long two month stint of 200 pounds of engineering books, hours in a review classroom, and an eight-hour, butt-numbing test... not to mention the two month wait, he received his scores!

What a champion. I knew it!

*2*

His view from the stage

You know when you walk out of a great movie, hear a mind-blowing homily, or go to a comedy show and you can't remember ANYTHING said? I know how you feel.

But I have to assume Jerry Seinfeld was hilarious last week when I saw him in Richmond because I woke up with sore abs and a tight jaw. My dimples were aching.

He doesn't go to very many places when he tours for his comedy show, but he always seems to stop in Richmond at our Landmark Theatre (the Mosque, as we call it). Thank you, Jerry, for keeping it clean, for pointing out the nuances we all think about but can never articulate, and for entertaining me in my very own city!

*3*

About 5 minutes before their flirty snowball fight

My sister and I agreed, independently, that Beauty and the Beast is in great want of a five minute scene of Belle and the Beast falling in Love.

Brief synopsis covering about 15 minutes of the movie:

• Belle finds her father in a dungeon
• Beast takes Belle prisoner instead of father
• Belle escapes, Beast finds her and fends off wolves
• Belle and Beast are in love

Maybe I'm doing this wrong, but it doesn't work that way for me.

Speaking of Disney movies that don't portray Love accurately, I created a new pinboard and I think the ladies out there might enjoy it.

*4*

RunPee.com. Nuff said.

I just learned about this incredibly efficient use of the Internet and other people's time to save your bladder and prevent you from wasting your $46 on a movie ticket. Brilliant.

*5*

Speaking of running... Kayla of The Alluring World and Emily of A Day in the Life and I are on a team. We're virtual running buddies, motivating each other from afar to run and get into shape for our respective races.

I have a 10K run to look forward to on March 31, so if you could file away your prayers a little prematurely, me and my poor muscles would greatly appreciate it.

I ran this race last year, but I'm going to run it without stopping this year. I'm promising myself, and I never back down on a self-promise. The first line in my post from last year's race is:

"Oh man, y'all. I rediscovered something about myself: I am not a runner."

That will change, my friends. Care to join Kayla, Emily, and me?

*6*

After my accidental weeks-long break from blogging due to busyness, I think I made up for it this week with perhaps too many posts!

Our Deepest Fear - A short one that includes a quote that has been a necessary reminder for several years.

Chastity Carnal-val - I enjoy puns about chastity.

Carrying Baby Jesus into Christmas Mass - A call to action for all of us!

Lime spelled backwards - On the anniversary of my Emil Daddy's death

*7*

The Bright Maidens came back strong this week! I hope you didn't notice me skip out on the last one... if you didn't, I'm telling you now.

This week we "reviewed" TLC's new "reality" The Virgin Diaries. I enjoyed the responses, I hope you do too:

Mine, "Chastity Carnal-val"
Julie, "Kiss the Girl!"
Trista, "The Absolutely True Diary of a Virgin"

Katie, "Virgin 'Diaries'" - The woman behind the topic idea.
Alicia, "Virgin is the New Mermaid"
Beth Anne, "Virgin Diaries Review"
Sarah, "Unicorns in Our Midst: 21st Century Virgins"

What does the K stand for?

Oh man, y'all. I rediscovered something about myself: I'm not a runner. Yesterday was the annual Richmond Monument Avenue 10k, which turned out to be a huge deal.

There were costumes (two people running in a huge Picasso painting rendition with face cut outs, vikings, Barbie and Ken still in the boxes, etc.), people cheering, music bands, lots of pitter-pattering feet, and plenty of cowbells.

Please enjoy the mind photos I captured during the longest run I've done:

* VCWhoooo? If you haven't heard of VCU at this point, please lift upwards on the boulder covering your little cave. Push the rock to the side and come to the light. Unfortunately, the Cinderella story ended last night against Butler. However, there is more of the story to unfold. VCU basketball coach Shaka Smart will get offers from a number of elite basketball schools and every single tree along the 6.2 mile run bore a yellow sign printed with:  SaveShakaSmart.com. I would be so impressed with Coach Smart if he stayed with the team that brought him to the Final Four, but I understand if he takes the money and elite status. However, the morale boost that would follow Shaka deciding to stick with VCU would undoubtedly propel them back into the successful spotlight.

* The coolest VCU shirt I saw yesterday:

EIGHT

OH

Final

FOUR

* There are some UGLY calve tattoos in this world. For most of the run, I was within a few paces of one man with two circular tattoos centered in the back of his calves. Half of my drive to keep my pace came from my curiosity about those tattoos and what they were portraying. I saw another person with a calve tattoo that looked like Michael Jackson in a black dress holding a tennis racket above his head like he was about to SHAZAAM with a wicked backhand. I don't understand.

* An hour before I was supposed to start the race, my cousin, a friend and I saw the first heats speed by. Speed. These people were sprinting. This was a collection of pure muscle and determination running in a pack. I'm impressed, you genetic champions.

The calm before the storm.

* A half an hour before my start time I caught a glimpse of my kindergarten crush. I had it bad for this kid in my five-year-old heart and it turns out I had good taste because he was in one of the first heats and finished the 6.2 miles within thirty minutes.

* During the first mile, I passed a man holding one of the signs channeling Westboro Baptist Church condemning "idolators" and others. I saw that first condemnation and decided to stop reading his hateful sign. If he wants to claim to be a Christian but act in an unloving way, I hope he realizes how un-Christian he really is.

* I ran most of the race with my cousin and friend and her good nature prevented her from telling me how much I was holding her back. At the fourth mile, I finally convinced her to leave me and she kicked butt on those last two miles!

Old school Shuffle

* Mile five was the longest mile on record. I started praying the rosary to give me strength, but I couldn't even concentrate enough to complete three Hail Marys. Longest mile ever.

* How do people run without iPods? I don't know, but I am grateful for my 18th birthday present, my iPod Shuffle. This old school gem started my race with Carbon Leaf and ended it with Darius Rucker. Not a bad transition.

* After the race, I went into the cathedral and spent some time in front of the Blessed Sacrament. That made the whole thing worth it and I actually had a few tears in my eyes when I left the cathedral.







In conclusion, in my humble opinion, I don't think a runner's high exists. Some people are so talented at running, they claim this exists. Whatever you say.

All I know is that it took me ten minutes to get up the stairs today. Give me a swimming pool any day of the week.

Foggy goggles

"Become what you are." 

This quote from the Venerable John Paul II packs a punch. It's as simple as it sounds, but then: WAP-O, right in the self-expectation gut.

The new year brings new resolutions: weight loss, a more organized house, patience, loving more, visiting grandparents (highly recommended), or calling parents more often. These great goals contribute to bettering ourselves and to becoming who we are.

I want to dig into "becoming who I am," but I'm letting something get in my way.

A little over-rotation at the age of 7.

Since I was 13, I have defined myself as a swimmer. I still do, though I look nothing like one anymore (queue the female body image pity violin).

Each day I smelled like chlorine and loved it. I used every muscle in my body for an average of 3 to 5 hours per day. My swimming peers and I competed with each other, got into a rhythm together, shared hotel rooms, motivated each other, and empathized with the balance that only athletes in individual sports can understand.

The first time I drove by myself with my valid license was to a 4:50 AM swim practice.

You're a swimmer if you walk around the pool deck half naked as if you're fully clothed. You're a swimmer if you feel more comfortable blowing bubbles face down into water for hours on end than breathing normally in the stands at a football game.

You're a swimmer if you can hold your breath for a minute and a half without panicking. You're also a swimmer if your number one fear is that of drowning because you know just how painful not breathing can be.

I'm in the middle. I miss that feeling.

You're a swimmer if you train 25+ hours per week for 3 months just to spent a few minutes, or seconds, in your own lane to the muffled sound of cheering friends.


The reason I stopped swimming is both uninteresting and irrelevant, but the affect that the void has had is striking. I find I identify myself as a swimmer, though I am too scared to go to Masters practice regularly (Masters swimming is a structured league for adults).

I allowed "swimmer" to define me for too long. I cannot let go of the title entirely because most of my competitive nature and drive are derived from my time in the water and I would still rather smell like chlorine than anything else, but it's time to embrace my real identity in 2011.

I am a daughter in Christ and of our Lord. That's all I need to process.

This year I will be brave and go to more Masters practices. I'll use them as time for meditative prayer. How many decades can I go through in a 600m warm-up?

In my short time on Earth, I've come to too many conclusions about how to live that don't include reflection as a member of God's Church. It's time to strap on my goggles and re-focus.

Out of the wind

Today I accomplished one of the longest-standing goals on my to-do list: I completed a triathlon. I doubt I would have done it if I didn’t love to swim, but I’m glad I did it. Believe it or not--I had fun! The whole thing was outside, which was a wonderful change to the gym-going habit I have formed.

I’m ashamed to say I completed the entirety of my training in a florescent-lit room next to other sweaty, but air conditioned and tunnel-visioned gym members. The first time my parents brought me outside when I was a little bundle of wrinkly baby, I giggled, smiled, laughed and looked in my element. Later I learned my most natural state is in the water, but if the pool/ocean/lake/bathtub is outside, it’s a double whammy of joy.

No iPod, no running partner, lots of biked hills and passing cars (and ladies 20-30 years older than me -- way to go ladies!) throughout the events. All of these “burdens” and I was in one of the happiest states throughout the whole race. I was outside, riding in the wind, through to trees, jogging on sand, around a lake, next to birds and under a cool, overcast sky. The colors popped out behind other colors in everything I passed.

A week ago, I read that a very fit, 27-year-old man dropped dead after a race. Running around outside today became one long prayer of Thanksgiving. There will be iPod buds in my ears next time I run, but I loved connecting with the outdoors and just existing (and sweating) for a while this morning. Finishing and coming home to write this was another prayer of gratitude, as each day should be.