Thursday, March 11, 2010

Running Mojo, Where Art Thou?

Monday night I headed home from work with a pocketful of motivation.  Don't ask me where this motivation came from, but I'll run with it.  Mission:  spring cleaning!  As you may have noticed from my hoarder nostalgic shoe post, I tend to hold on to things because they have a special meaning to me.  Guys, I must confess, almost everything has sentimental value to me.  It's ridiculous.  I'm a pack rat to the nth degree.  I've been reading The Happiness Project (which I *highly* recommend btw) and one of the portions was about how the author did a major overhaul on her stuff to toss/donate/etc.  I decided I would take on my apartment with this same approach.

I managed to make it through almost my entire bedroom (closet included!) before dwindling into a pile of exhaustion.  Some gems of my purging process are the following:  Life to Do List (generated in Stats class 10.22.05), Qualities (a list of 42 qualities that I would like a mate to have)*, as well as future children's names, meanings and origins (wtf Jerbear?).


Guess what Life List Goal is going to be knocked off the list May 16th?!?!?  You betcha. :)

After filling up two garbage bags of things to take to the Goodwill (and filling up my trash with things to toss) it was off to the gym for my easy 7 miler.  I grabbed a couple of magazines and read along while I plodded the miles away.  A chica next to me was running the same pace (roughly) so I just zoned in on our legs hitting the belt at the same time and our pony tails bouncing back and forth in unison (via the window's reflection).  The run was really nothing to write home about, which is a bummer because it seems like all of my runs lately have been awesome! fantastic! 5 gold stars! worthy.

I did the 7 miles in 1:06:28 for a pace of 9:30.

Tuesday I just could not bring myself to run.  I was tired and my body was all sorts of creaky/achy/painy.  I did up some yoga to loosen up the muscles and calm down the mind.  Small highlight:  I was able to hold crow's pose longer than I have ever been able to before!  Yay me.  But I was kind of freaking out:  Where the heck is my running mojo???

When I woke up Wednesday morning I clearly had the answer:  blech.  I'm sick.  No wonder my body is achy.  No wonder it's taking longer to recover from my runs than normal.  No wonder I don't feel like running.  My body is trying to use every extra ounce to get healthy.

*Yes, when compared to the infamous "list" N stacks up quite well.  His failing points:  #2 Lefthanded.  #5 plays guitar. #13 NOT a Vikings fan. #14 Preferably a Packers fan.  38 for 42 isn't *too* bad I guess. ;)

How do YOU stack up to "the list"?  That is...if you can read my crazy handwriting... :p

16 comments:

Alyssa said...

"Domesticate a Squirrel" & "Teaching a cat to use the toliet" bahahah.. Hilarious.
feel better!

Anonymous said...

first of all congrats on getting so much cleaning out done!!! it is seriously exhausting. i've been slowly working on this... forever. lol.

hope you feel better soon!!!

and i LOOOOVE finding throw backs like your lists. i keep those things :) i keep them in "memory boxes" so i call it "okay" cuz it's controlled chaos... hehe.

Dana said...

I still have all my journals from middle/high school and information sheets, etc I got when I first moved into my dorm as a freshy. I don't like to throw things away either! I think I got it from my grandmother bc I loved seeing things from her youth and I wanted to be able to do the same for my grandchildren.

Annnndddd #36 and #42 are my faves. :)

Susan said...

#21 Think I'm funny.

Very important!!

After I graduated college, I finally got rid of all my notes and stuff from HIGH SCHOOL. Really, what was I going to do with all that calc stuff that doesn't mean anything to me now? Nothing...but it was still painful to get rid of.

Anonymous said...

ha, wow, someone who saves things longer than I do!! I totally just purged all my CRAP last night, too. ah, the joys of moving and realizing the amount of things you NEVER USE. ooof. ;)

get healthy over there!!

baker said...

jeri! Domesticate a squirrel!!!! hilarious.

John said...

Awesome find, Jeri! Especially love the dramatic way you wrote "Qualities". As for the list itself, I think I'm a huge fail - only 5'8", built for speed/not strength, right-handed, and can't play guitar.
Game over.

Oh, well, I guess we can still be friends?

:)

Glenn Jones said...

Let's see. I'm good on #40 and #42. Hmm.....

Pining for Pinterest said...

Love the list! I made one of the qualities that I wanted in a spouse before I met my husband. It was amazing how he met all the criteria :-) Have a great weekend!

Dwayne said...

+1 on the cat and squirrel comments. Hilarious.

Regarding the qualities....yikes, all I have is the weird sense of humor. Come to think of it, I'm not sure why my wife likes me.... : )

Generation X (Slomohusky) said...

I like your to do list. The squirel thing will never happen unfortunately but I have pondered it many times. Especially at the University of Washington Campus while in college. The place is a world of students and squirrels (and you can see this one coming) - hard to tell who is who or what?

You have inspired me for a new posting on my blog while dithering around with foot pain that could light up Las Vegas.

MR said...

Hmmm...I'd qualify under #s: 1, 5-9, 12-13, 19-21, 24-28 (assuming some of those say what I think they do), 32, 35-36, and 40-41, but that's just me being modest. You might want to add "single," on to the list though.

Heather said...

I love the NOT a Vikings fan requirement. So funny. Great job getting organized. Feel better soon!

Hannah said...

I absolutely LOVED "The Happiness Project". What an incredible book!

Hope you feel better very soon. Get that running Mojo back! :)

J said...

Oh I am hoarder too! I keep so much stuff but i really make myself throw stuff out every spring and winter and i have gotten rid of a lot of stuff!

Mica said...

At first, I thought your goal was "learn to use a toilet." I am relieved.

Your mojo will come back soon, I know it! Just keep your head up and treat your body right. Maybe get a pedicure? (Though they try to take off all your training callouses...)