I caved

I did it: I finally bought a Garmin.

Welcome to running in the 21st century!

Needless to say, it was due time. For years upon years, I've been running with the trusty Timex Ironman watches. I've actually gone through so many, that I really don't think I meant it when I just called them trusty. They are made for triathlons and are supposed to be able to handle up to 50 meters of water. My most recent two have taken plunders due to water damage of about 50 centimeters, if that. I mean, I don't even swim--I just float around in my pool in my Sit 'n Float (one of my greatest $5 investments ever).

I've been debating lately on whether or not to get a Garmin, because they are rather expensive, and I honestly questioned just how reliable they are. The majority of my running pals have Garmins, and they all seem to swear by them. For some reason, though, I kept to my little Timex for as long as I could.

But sometimes change is a good thing.

I purchased the 405 yesterday and tested it out this morning on my run. So far, I think I made the right choice, though there are a few things to which I will have to adjust. I think it will be good for me to be able to keep track of my pace. Sometimes I get in a comfort zone and stay there, but I'm hoping this watch will help me to push myself beyond those limits.

One thing is for sure: this is the first watch I've had that's actually required me to read the manual!

Teachers who love to talk

I don't know if you've ever been in a room full of teachers, but can be a painful experience.

For the Summer II session of grad school, I decided to enroll in an education course, mainly because it met during the morning—I was really tired of night classes. Plus, the course was called Diverse Learners and is all about multicultural education, so I thought it sounded interesting and would help me be a better teacher. I'm not sure I realized just what was ahead of me.

I've been to trainings and professional development courses where it's become quite apparent to me that some teachers just really love to hear themselves talk. And they are—for the most part—very opinionated and often don't fancy looking at things through other people's perspectives. I found this rather ironic in a class in which we are supposed to be trying to understand other points of views.

For each class, we had to prepare "Critical Questions" on the previous night's reading assignment and e-mail them to our professor. He would choose some of them and request they be asked during class to spark discussion. It was very rare that one of these questions was actually answered. Instead, my classmates thought of this as an opportunity for an open forum where they could tell random personal anecdotes—and sometimes these situations had absolutely nothing to do with things that went on in the classroom. I can tell you useful information on a few of these ladies' husbands, because they mentioned it five or six times in each story.

I felt really bad for my professor, who had to suffer through the month of July in a classroom full of 30 women. Yes, the entire class was devoid of any testosterone (except for our fearless leader, who was too nice to say "SHUT UP!" to the gabbers—I could tell there were times he wanted to, though). One woman (who isn't actually a teacher) ended up crying during one of her stories about how she felt discrimination in a certain situation. I had to hold back from raising my hand and pointing out that she was a middle-class white woman. I'm still not sure what discrimination she faced, because I don't think she ever actually got to her point. There are kids who feel such discrimination and inequality at school, but we never actually got around to that in this particular discussion.

The sad thing is that this could have been a much better class if people had stuck to the original questions and points and related things back to the classrooms. Our jobs are about the students; this class was supposed to be about multicultural education for our students, not how you were upset because you speak Spanish and had a miscommunication issue with a waiter at a restaurant. While that is unfortunate, it really doesn't relate much to the intention of this class. I thought of suggesting to my professor that he hold a self-help session before each class so they could get it all out, but I wasn't sure how he would respond.

My professor—thankfully—always managed to wrap up the class with actual useful information and even told classroom stories about students of various cultural backgrounds. It was good to hear those, and the reading material was actually very beneficial, as well. Am I glad I took the class? Yes. Am I now BFFs with my classmates. Negative. (Although I did make some new friends in here—they aren't all ridiculous.)

The good news is that today is the last day of class. HOLLA!

I would like to give a special shout out to my good friends/running peeps who have decided to read my blog. Once this thing goes global, I think they will appreciate it.

So this is summer

Good gosh, it's been awhile.

Life has been one mass ball of chaos lately. Sure, school is out, so I'm off for the summer, but I am still taking grad school classes, so I've definitely stayed busy. Plus, there are so many random things going on, so I don't really feel like I've had a whole lot of time to recuperate.

I had a near-meltdown recently, and I'm not sure how to explain it—well, other than my indecisive impulsiveness. I've been living in this city on my own for about two years now, and for some reason I decided this isn't where I belong. At first I thought maybe I should live somewhere in between here and grad school, which would also put me closer to my running group. I also chalked it up to me being up in the city where I only have a few friends, and they are usually busy with their own lives, anyway.

I think I was just having a rough day.

But that rough day didn't do much good for me. I turned in my 60-day move-out notice to my apartment complex (my lease was set to expire at the end of July, anyway), and went apartment hunting elsewhere. I found that many places are much more expensive, and none of the places where I searched made me feel safe. I feel really safe where I am now. I was beginning to get an enormous headache.

After talking with my parents and then thinking things through fully, I came to the conclusion that I truly enjoy where I am now in terms of living place. So, the next day I called my apartment and asked the lady to rip up the move-out notice and that I would be staying.

Why do I always do things to make situations more complicated than they should be?

Maybe one of these days I will actually start acting like an adult. Or does anyone really know how to do that?

Papa knows best

Oh, where do I even begin?

I feel like so much has gone on lately, and I haven't had much time to do anything that I actually want to do. I guess the good news is that my grad classes are finished (until summer school starts on June 1), and the school year is almost over, and I will be off for the summer. God bless the fact that teachers get a summer break!

I suppose one interesting thing to note is a lesson I learned—the hard way, of course. (In fact, if anyone finds a way to absorb life lessons in some easy fashion, please share your secrets with the world.) Anyway, for six-and-a-half years, I have run injury-free in Mizuno Inspires. They are seriously the greatest shoes. Ever. So, it made sense that about a month ago I decided to try running in Newtons, right?

Big time wrong.

At first, I loved the Newtons. They made me feel so fast, and I ended up getting my PRs in both the 5K and the half marathon. But the day after that half marathon, I started having this terrible pain the bottom of my foot. I thought it might be plantar faciitis, but I was hoping it was nothing. So, I went on an easy run that day. The rest of the day brought ensuing pain with each step I took. The next day? I thought it would be wise to run again. I mean, if you don't acknowledge an injury, it can't exist, right?

I seem to be establishing a pattern of being an idiot here.

It turned out I had a strained ligament in my foot, thanks to the Newtons. While they work for some people, they are clearly just not for me. As my dad keeps saying, "If it ain't broke, don't fix it." (I promise we are really not a redneck family.)

I had to bike for a little while, but I am back to running now, and I even bought a new pair of Inspires. It's like running on a cloud from heaven. I just hope I haven't been set back a lot by my stupid foot. I guess we will see when I race next weekend.

I definitely learned my lesson—too bad it had to come with a bit of pain and the agony of not being able to run for a few days (yes, I should have stayed off of it longer, but I think we have established my level of wisdom in this area). Just make sure no one ever lets me write an advice column to runners.

After all, while I was watching a basketball game last night, my favorite quote came from Jeff Van Gundy when he said, "So what if you're bleeding?! Blood cleanses the soul! Play on!"

The fatigue settles

I haven't taken a nap under my desk since last year.

Until yesterday.

Grad school isn't necessarily the most challenging thing for me; it's just really tiring. Classes don't get out until 9:20, so by the time I get home it's around 10, and I often have things to do and can't go to sleep right then. This makes Mondays and Tuesdays really long, and leads to exhaustion by the time Wednesday rolls around.

Hence the sleeping when I really shouldn't be.

It was during a break time for me, and it really did revitalize me some and give me some more energy for the day. And this is an important week for me, because I have a half marathon on Sunday, and I really want to PR. (For the non-runners out there, that means I want to run my best time yet.)

I'm still pretty tired today, though it was nice to have a relatively early bedtime last night. But I won't be going to bed super early this evening, because the Mavs are playing in a crucial Game 6 against the hated Spurs. If we don't win, the season is over, and I will be left with yet another offseason full of disappointment. Yes, I will find restoration in the Rangers and predict a trip to the World Series, but it still hurts whenever my beloved Mavs cause me more distress. For obvious reasons, I still cringe anytime someone mentions the year 2006.

At least it's Thursday. I need a vacation.

A non-rainy outlook

It might be an ugly day, but I would say I have a pretty outlook on things right now.

For starters, it's Friday. That's almost always a good thing.

Secondly, the Cowboys moved up to the 24th pick in the NFL Draft last night to notch Oklahoma State receiver Dez Bryant. Good choice, Jerry. I definitely agree with my man Cowlishaw on this one.

Another thing that makes me happy is that I really don't have any obligations this weekend. This hasn't happened in...well, I can't even remember the last time this occurred. I am usually dreading a jam-packed two days with absolutely no time for rest or relaxation. That's not the case today, and I'm not going to let the ugly rain and humidity sour my mood. Although it did sour my hair somewhat.

I might try to find some time to clean my apartment this weekend, though. It's a ridiculous mess. It's almost like that episode of FRIENDS when Ross dates that girl with the really messy apartment, and at the end Monica goes and tries to clean it for her, but she shuts the door in Monica's face. Well, if Monica showed up at my door with her cleaning gear, I would gladly welcome her in to do what I can't do so well.

But I'm definitely going to take a nap. Maybe two.

What was I thinking?

I woke up at 2:30 this morning.

Seriously?

Mike and Mike were in town for a live broadcast on ESPN Radio, so of course I had to be there. I figured I should start my run at 3, because the show starts at 5, and the doors opened at 4 something.

Am I insane? Perhaps.

I have a race tomorrow, so it was an easy run (Fridays usually are), and then I got ready and hauled over to the show. Apparently I wasn't the only one. The place was more packed than any of the other shows I've ever attended. And this one was definitely less pleasant. I love the Mikes, but I sure don't love all of their fans. Rude.

I didn't even stay for much of the show, because I was getting so claustrophobic, and I started thinking about how silly it was to stand all morning (again, I have a race tomorrow) and wait in a huge crowd to try to get a book signed or a pic with them. I already have both. Multiples, actually. I even have a signed football.

This morning made me realize that life can't always be what we think it will. Sure, I already knew that, but it's always good to be slapped in the face again with it. Will I go to the live broadcast next time they come in town? Probably. Maybe I will even go earlier. But I am not heartbroken that things didn't go my way this morning. At least I wasn't as selfish and rude to others as some of the fans there were, all so they could get a glimpse of two other human beings.

It's going to be a long weekend (full of work, not play), so hopefully I will have the energy to divulge the latest happenings in the NatMer saga. As for right now, I'm going to go be part of the Teacher Appreciation night at the baseball game (a student asked me to wear his jersey and be honored at some little pre-game thing), then I need some food and sleep.

Since when did I start working on a Friday night until 6:49? Is it summer yet?