To Be or not To Be

When I am happy, I am productive. I clean when I'm happy. I exercise when I'm happy. The cleaning and exercising both increase my happiness, until I'm just a fit and clean happy ball of sunshine.

Yeah...

But then something tough comes my way and if it hits me just right it'll send me to comfort food... and sweatpants... and sappy television.

The rational and sane part of my brain tells me, "But if you clean and exercise, that will make you more relaxed and help you deal with the tough stuff. So go exercise and clean!" However, I allow myself to fall into the trap, and I just don't do what I know I should do.

When I created this blog and named it Running Unencumbered, I meant it to be about running without shoes, without that extra weight or "burden". It wasn't until last night that I realized it means more than that.

It's not just being barefoot. It's running to BE UNENCUMBERED by everything that's weighing down on your life, no matter how hard.

Next year is going to be a stressful year (if I have any prediction skills whatsoever) and I know I'm going to NEED the running and the exercise in order to make it through. So I have to say NO to the trap, and remain constant, and hope the constancy will bear me through.

Motivational Stickers

We are nearing the end of the school year here in Sonoma, and everyone's lives are crazier than ever. Massive amounts of field trips, events, and other such amazingness happening all at once are turning the campus into a whirlwind of insanity activity.

I myself just led two concerts last week, plus I'm working overtime to help out with the group of 6th graders who didn't go to Outdoor Ed, so I'm part of the crazy whirlwind. (And getting paid for it. Yes!) Actually just getting an extra half-day off available. Whoops.

The great thing is that even though all of this is happening at school, I'm still making time to run and I'm still making time to escape into the things I want to escape into (yes I know, you can stop editing me in your brain now).

This past weekend I visited my friend Meredith in Sacramento. We went for a run in the park where she usually does her training, and it was really fun. There is a fine line between thinking someone is weird and judging them, but thankfully Meredith's thoughts on my barefoot running fall into the "That's weird. Whatever" category.

It may sound stupid but one of the things I look forward to the most (besides the run) is getting to put an awesome motivational sticker on the awesome motivational colorful calendar I made and put on my bedroom door. IT'S SO CHEESY, but I love it! It's also nice being able to see your progress in sticker form rather than electronic form (like dailymile) all the time.

Stickers. Gotta love 'em.

I have a fundraising page! What?

I joined Team In Training on Monday! I'm going to be fundraising and training for the Nike Women's Half Marathon in October, and I need to raise $2,400. (Holy freaking wow)

For those of you who don't know yet, my dad was recently diagnosed with Leukemia (again, holy freaking wow). He was discharged from the Stanford Hospital last Friday and is now at home recovering, but I decided that I still needed to do something to help him with his battle in whatever way I can. Team In Training seamed the perfect way to do that.

So, here's my fundraising page, and I hope that you go check it out and perhaps even make a donation! Every little (or large) bit is going to help me on my way.

For those of you who don't know what Team in Training is, I suggest you go check out their page at www.teamintraining.org. It's not too late to join if you're interested in doing this with me!

NWM update and a plan is born

A few weeks ago, I blogged about signing up for the Nike Women's (half) Marathon. I found out last week that my team did not make it in through the random drawing. I was bummed, but my mind refused to let go of the idea that I'm going to do this.

Sometimes it's beneficial to have stubbornness as your subconscious sidekick.

I decided that if I wasn't going to be able to do this the conventional way, that Team in Training is the next best thing (or, even better than plan A!).

I double-checked with my Dad to make sure that he was okay with me asking for money in his name before committing fully to Team in Training. He gave me the "comma duh" and I signed up for an informational meeting a block from my house next Monday. I already have the support of Murphy's Pub (my friend's dad is part-owner) and I might end up doing a fund raiser there.

Trying not to get ahead of myself here.

Barefooting is going well so far. I'm taking it one inch at a time. It would be very easy for me to do too much too fast, because I often think I've already done more than I actually have. For example, I was trying to plan out when to start running, when to up my distance or my time, and I had to look through my dailymile training logs to check how long I've actually been walking barefoot! Not long enough.

So, because I do best when I write things down, I took a bunch of markers and blank paper and made myself calendars and whatnot to post in my room, so I can put stupid motivational stickers on the days when I go out, to help me keep very visual accounts of my exercise.

I'm also marking out chunks of time to designate for certain activities or goals, like for the next two weeks I marked that I should focus on walking and building soles first. The following two weeks I have dedicated to adding only a few minutes of running to my already-established walking schedule. I'm going to let my skin be my guide throughout this, but I'm just trying to surround myself with visual reminders to slow down and take it easy, so that I don't go too far beyond my capabilities.

I think that sounds like a plan. DONE.