Miss Rachel

The race I did on Sunday was OK: I finished, and I didn’t come in last. I came in 457th out of 480. I walked the first two miles and ran the last (the miles were marked along the course). It was a flat course, and the scenery was beautiful, featuring one of my favorite things: old houses because it was in Old Wethersfield, a historic district in Wethersfield, Connecticut.

It was kind of a solitary race for me. I ran by myself, but I did manage to exchange hellos with a few spectators and a cop near the end who told me I was almost there. At the finish line, they announced my name – wow, way to make me feel special – so I put my arms up in the air. Then I collected a bottle of water, found some shade and managed to lower myself onto the grass and wait for Sweetie to finish the 10K. Even walking as much as I did I was pretty beat: I acted kind of like my dog Blue when I was trying to sit down on the grass afterward. He has 3 “regular” legs and 1 deformed leg so he always kind of flops when he lies down: thunk. I kind of “thunked” down too, and I don’t have a deformed leg. I was pretty hurtin’ there for a while, but I walked today, and I’m feeling much better.

I did manage to make dinner for us Sunday night: curried cauliflower and peas served over “jubilee blend” brown rice. Remember rice? I love quinoa and pasta so much I sometimes forget about rice, but it’s nice now and then.

We had a nice dose of cooler weather last week, but the summer heat has returned full force this week with potentially record-breaking high 90s. Fortunately, I don’t start school until the weekend after Labor Day weekend. Much as I look forward to returning to the beautiful campus, the current weather is not putting me in very back-to-school frame of mind.

In other news, I re-reading The Secret Garden, a book from my childhood and it’s even better than I remembered.

And I’ve bought a “season pass” on iTunes to Mad Men (now in it’s fourth season), and I’m loving it as much as ever.

So I’ve been struggling with depression lately and felt really shitty earlier this week. Like, I was getting a little scared about how bad I felt, but I persevered and seem to be holding it together pretty well. I did feel like crying once at work today, but then I realized the work stuff I was getting agitated about was really no big deal. As I said, I’m holding it together.

Somehow in spite of the depression I have managed to keep working out. This morning workout regimen I decided to try out a few weeks ago has really caught on. All the good things I’ve heard about working out in the morning – it gives you energy, you get it over with, it kick starts your metabolism – were things I always believed, but the idea of waking up and working out right away just sounded awful to me. In fact, that still sounds awful to me, but waking up and doing my normal morning routine (coffee, blog reading, packing my lunch), and then going to work out is great.

Wednesday is the day I go running with a coworker friend. I was feeling rotten au gratin on Tuesday afternoon, but I IM-d her, and asked are we running tomorrow, and she said yes. Wednesday morning we met and I said I don’t want to do this, and she said, but we’re going to do this. And we did. And by the end of the run I was smiling. Wednesday is running day. Even Anthony Martignetti runs on Wednesday.

Last Sunday was the O’Hartford Race.  I did not run it, but I did go to support Sweetie (who finished in under 30 minutes – w00t!).  I usually think St. Patrick’s Day is kind of silly, but I have to admit that despite the chilly, gray weather, the atmosphere was fun and the good time was contagious. Lots of funny costumes and a mini race featuring people running with glasses of beer on trays, trying not to spill. I decided that I want run this race next year (the 5K part, not beer on trays part).

I sent Sweetie off to the start and then I watched an Irish string trio and got a Hooker Ale before heading off to the arch to cheer people on. I managed to see Sweetie and get his attention too.  Then I walked to the finish line to meet him and passed by this cool sign with arrows pointing to various attractions in Hartford.

We saw people heading to an Irish pub, but we headed home after the race and I made up some yummy guacamole which we enjoyed while watching a Dr. Katz Professional Therapist video.

After the guacamole and video, we took a nap together.  It was a good day.