Meet someone new

Today's challenge was to go out of my way to meet someone new. I do not consider it a success. I did meet someone new, a teacher at my school, but I didn't really have to go out of my way to meet her. We chatted a bit about her position at the school and the kids she worked with, but that's about it. Nothing about her or her non-school life. I had considered stopping in a random business on my run home and striking up a conversation with whoever I meet, but I feel that that would have been too much business and not enough "get to know ya" (which is what it was with the teacher).

I had a neutral feeling about this challenge all day. If you think about it, this is the most anti-me challenge of the month tonight. I usually go out of my way to avoid meeting/running into someone. I hate being inconvenienced. I strive for comfort. Going "off trail" was never my thing unless I was actually going off trail. Meeting new people is also not what I look for in a good day. Just an all around meh experience.

I told all my kids about Newvember and the different things I've done so far. They thought it was pretty cool. It ended up just turning into a conversation about sign language. I got to show off what I know so far which felt pretty good.

On a running note, I ran home from work for the third time day. It was good. It's still a bit of a struggle to run with whatever is going on with my lungs/chest, but it is still better than biking. When I got home I ran through a practice "sink shower" to see how it would work at school. I'll definitely need to tweek it to figure out how to freshen up without making a mess. I'm optimistic!


Tomorrow I have to write a review of an artistic work. I was originally going to critique TV On The Radio's first album, but I may change my mind since I'm not too impressed with the album.

Finally, a well deserved meal!

Don't worry friends and family, I am eating well. Today, for the first time in over 2 weeks I went for a run. Why the hiatus you ask? I had diagnosed myself with some shin pain a while back and I wanted to make sure I was up to par before I start my marathon training. And now 342 words on running.

Running is the absolute best. Exercise in general is great, and whatever gets you moving is wonderful...but running trumps all other forms of exercise hands down. "But J, what about traditional sports like soccer or basketball?" Well, those are great, but they're not the best. Besides, the best part about those sports is the running (certainly not the tattoos...yes basketball, I'm talking to you). Running is in our blood, it's in our genes. It can be done every day by everyone everywhere. Traditional sports usually need some sort of apparatus and other people -- both of which can be in short supply on a moments notice. Basketball needs a basket and a ball. Soccer needs a goal, a ball, and some Europeans to enjoy watching it. These things are not always easy to come by (has anyone ever even seen a European?) and can be limiting. Running, once accepted and cherished, can lead to so many benefits. (I was going to pepper this entry with a bunch of links confirming everything I'm saying, but the evidence is so ubiquitous, why bother [ok, I couldn't resist. Here are some I have discussed with my kids; The benefit of group runs. Exercise in moderation. Exercise to increase brain power. {I understand that on the surface some of these articles are about exercise in general, but at their roots are running.}]).

Ok, I'm actually getting off topic. I wanted to talk about my running. Running is one of my favoritest things. When I don't run I'm not as happy as when I do, its a simple as that. I was avoiding running because of my injury. Even though I had a legit reason to abstain, I was not happy. When I don't run I feel lazy and fat. When I do run I feel energetic and slim. When I don't run I don't enjoy my food and I tend to eat poorly. When I do run I love every bite and I eat well.

If you need additional evidence of how much I love running, this picture should speak for itself.

I hope you can find a desirable activity that makes you happy and keeps you healthy. If you haven't, found one yet, spend some time asking around and trying different things. If you have, tell me about it...I would love to tell you why you should drop it and start running!


yay, i finally blogged about one of the things in my blog name! keep up the good work J!