A Smorgasbord of Topics

Topic One
So, the Tour de Pain didn't happen. Long story short, I didn't end up registering in time (hello! world's biggest procrastinator...). Bummer. But to make up for my awesome showing of procrastination skills, I decided to bump up my long run from next week and run it Saturday. Which brings me to....

Topic Two
My long run. Like I said, I wasn't scheduled to run this far until August 15th. But, oh well. I was feeling super sad about missing the TdP and figured there would be nothing better to make those blues go away than running. And I wanted to run far. And by "far", I mean I wanted to run my next scheduled long run -- an 11-miler.

So I did.

And those 11 miles were good. My legs were feeling a bit heavy for the first 3 miles, but I'm going to go ahead and blame that on my absolute lack of nutrition the night before. I'm not kidding about the lack of nutrition, either. The husband and I were invited by one of our couple friends to play Settlers of Catan and whilst playing said game I managed to scarf down a bazillion Chewy Chips Ahoy, a dozen Twizzlers, one chocolate covered pretzel, one bottle of Vitamin Water, and approximately 19 Whoppers (the malt balls, NOT the burger...yeesh, could you imagine? I really would've been hurting during my run). All of that between 10 p.m. and 1 a.m. That game is INTENSE, people! What's my initial reaction when feeling stressed/anxious/nervous/excited? To eat. Not only to eat, but to eat junk food (man, I love being woman *rolls eyes*).

Okay, wasn't I supposed to be talking about my 11-miler? See what I mean by intense? That game still has me sidetracked. Oh, yeah...first 3 miles, my legs felt heavy. Then miles 3 through 9 were smooth sailing. The last two miles really felt like a chore, but I had it in my mind that I was NOT going to quit early. I was going to finish those 11 miles if it killed me. I still managed to finish the 11 miles with an average pace of 10:04.

Topic Three
I'm currently 20 days out from the Top of Utah Half Marathon. I'm getting pretty excited about this. This will only be my second half marathon, and I'm almost positive I'll PR seeing as how my first half marathon time was abysmal. I'm still trying to decide what my goal for the race should be, but right now I'm leaning toward 2:15. I've run 13.1 faster than that during a training run, and usually on race day my adrenaline kicks in and I run faster than what I've been training at, but I don't want to get my hopes up too high. Here's a look at the course profile:

The downhill will definitely be to my advantage. And luckily, I know this course like the back of my hand. Well, at least I know the canyon portion of this run. This was one of my favorite places to go when I first starting running back in 2007. I ran my first 4-miler in Blacksmith Fork Canyon. I ran my first 5-miler there. I ran my first 6-miler there. It has a lot of good memories, and I think that nostalgia might also be an advantage to me during the run.

For now, I feel like these next 20 days can't go by fast enough.

Topic Four
This has absolutely nothing to do with running, but it is beginning to be a major part of my life now, and I feel like sharing the news. It's work related, but it's going to take a little back story.

I have a Bachelor's in English. While in college I decided to take the road less traveled and I placed my emphasis in Technical Writing/Editing. Since I graduated in 2006 I've been an editor at a newspaper in Utah, and a technical writer at a manufacturing plant in Idaho. Then my husband was accepted to grad school for physical therapy here in Florida. So at the end of December 2008, we packed our bags and headed east where it was presumed that he would spend 2 1/2 years studying/interning while I got a job as a technical writer at some random company in the Jacksonville area. History has it that technical writers are highly employable and can get jobs "basically anywhere".

News flash, everyone. The economy is in the toilet.

For almost three months I applied to job after job after job. Eventually I even stooped so low as to apply for jobs at retail shops, and receptionist positions. Nobody was hiring. And if I did get an interview the excuse was always, "We think you're great, highly qualified, and have no doubt that you'd be able to do the job, but there's a lot of competition out there right now. And there are people with a few more years' experience than you." And at the lowly jobs the excuse was, "You're overqualified, and we know you'll leave us as soon as you find something in your field. So, thanks, but no."

Discouraging, and frightening, to say the least. Eventually, I found a part-time gig at the local hospital where I do patient registration. It's not the most exciting job, and it's definitely not where I want to stay. But the one thing my unemployment and crappy part-time job has given me is the courage to take a step in the right direction toward the career I should've pursued in college.

I'm going to be an English teacher. Because I took the Tech Writing path in college, I never had to take classes for teaching certification. It's almost like it's two completely different degrees. Over the course of my editing and writing jobs I've learned that I hate the work. It's boring. I got no joy out of going to work. I missed interacting with people, I missed reading, I missed creative writing, I missed it all. What better way to do all of those things than to become a teacher? Lately, through volunteer and church-related experience, I've discovered that I truly enjoy working with youth. I feel teaching high school or middle school English is what I'm supposed to do.

So I'm currently in my certification process. I'm doing it all online, which is great, and my part-time job gives me the flexibility to study, catch up on books on the Recommended Reading List, and learn everything that I've forgotten (which is almost everything). It's a self-paced course, and the only stipulation is that I finish my tests by April 2010. I plan on being finished by December, though.

All this being said, I'm freaking out about failing my certification tests. I've fogotten A LOT. I consider myself an avid reader, but I haven't even heard of 50% of these recommended major literary works that "may or may not" be referenced in the tests. I've also realized that my vocabulary really sucks. Apparently I'm supposed to just know what words mean based on their Latin, Greek, Roman roots. HA! I guess I just feel overwhelmed. Excited, just overwhelmed. (Oh, and during my certification I'll be training for my first marathon. Double overwhelmed.)

So, occasionally on this blog I might mention how stressed I am about my certification, and how I'm trying to get through one of my recommended books, or about how much I hate studying. But, you know me, I'm just a complainer.

I'm truly happy that I have teaching to look forward to, even if it means my husband and I have to scale back our spending, eat Ramen Noodles, and save every penny for the next couple of years. Hopefully by this time next year I'll have an exciting new job to tell you all about, and my husband will be just a couple of months shy of his Doctorate degree. Here's to the future!

Topic Five
Again, not related to running, but sometimes (even though I hate Florida weather) I like to brag about living in a beach town. The husband and I spent a day at the beach with some friends this past weekend. Here's proof. It was fabulous and warm, and almost made me forget the mountains.

Me and Heather, one of my running buddies

(How's that for a long-winded post, eh?)