Friday Free for All

Since completing the Peru recap my head has literally been swimming with blog ideas. Every thought I have becomes "That would make a great blog!" As you can see, they have yet to actually materialize. So here is a bullet list of those thoughts in hopes that at least some of them may go somewhere but at the very least, they'll GET OUT OF MY HEAD!

• My current priority list consists of having a place to live and being able to afford it. What does that mean? Moving and work. I doubt I've mentioned it but I am currently moving out of my apartment into a significantly larger house in the prestigious South Louisville neighborhood. Google it and you'll be really jealous. What that means though is that every spare moment when I'm not at work (to afford the place to live) I am packing or moving things to the new place. It's fun-ish and I'm glad to have the house and the time we have to move everything but the split household is starting to get a little dicey.

• Training is in full swing and more than halfway through which seems entirely crazy to me. I'm starting to feel those marathoner aches and pains a little more strongly now and am requiring a bit more sleep than normal. I'm absolutely loving it though. I like the routine and every weekend I'm surprised, impressed and proud of my long run distance. Tomorrow is 14 miles and that will be a real test since the last time I went that far was during the last marathon. I'm also hungry. A lot. Not ravenous as long as I'm following my normal food rules and patterns but sometimes that every two hour feeding schedule even feels too stretched out. Once I'm settled into the house I'll be able to get back on point. This morning I wanted a smoothie and stood in my apartment kitchen remembering my blender was at the house. Oy vey.

• Speaking of food. I think I originally intended for this blog to be a food blog and that hasn't happened at all. Would anyone like to know why? I'm about to make a serious confession. I hate food. I also love food. Maybe I hate that I love food. A couple of years ago I met with an ayurveda practitioner who said it was important to remember that food and eating is a necessity but just that. It shouldn't be used to determine your mood or really any aspect of your life aside from your general health and well being. Food is medicine and should be planned but it shouldn't be a focal point in your life. I agree with her but I also don't. When it comes to being an athlete (did I just call myself that?) food is ridiculously important and really does need to be a focus. In my non-training life, she's correct. I shouldn't base my mood on whether or not I ate that extra serving or how "good" I was at skipping dessert. But in my training life I need to make sure I'm getting the right snacks at the right times and sometimes eating an extra serving of black beans (yes, please!) because I actually run the risk of too big of a calorie deficit and in that case my training suffers. Now many people would say "You have to eat more?! That's a good problem to have!" And to them I would probably say an expletive. Mainly because I hate the phrase "a good problem to have." If this situation really meant, "Rennay, you're not taking in enough calories so I'll need you to eat a couple of pizzas and you know what, probably throw some french fries on top." then we'd be in business. However, see that whole I don't want my training to suffer thing? Fry-pizza is kind of a recipe for disaster. Anyway, I'm going to try to get back to my food blogging roots and though it won't be the sole focus of things around here, it'll at least be a prominent theme. After all, it may help answer the question What DO you eat? which I get asked very often.

• I think I'm old. I know numbers wise I'm not actually old but my whole persona has been changing into this weird adult attitude and it's bizarre, alarming and strangely awesome. I've never been terribly immature (ahem) but I'm at the age where I find myself doing all kinds of crazy adult things and having crazy adult thoughts. First example, I drive a lot slower than I used to. I used to hit 80 on the reg whenever I was in for a trip on the highway without regard for my car, myself or my wallet and now I hit 65 or 70 and think "eh, this is fine. I'll get there when I get there." That sense of urgency which should be running rampant since I'm getting closer to death (I kid, I kid) has just sort of flown the coop. Second example, I'm starting to shop for things, namely furniture, that will last instead of just what I can afford. That whole paying for quality so you don't have to buy it again concept is suddenly crystal clear which is a totally new feeling. Third example, I care about things a whole lot less. All of a sudden how I look when I'm running doesn't matter to me as much as the act of actually running. I don't care if people don't like my new haircut or what they'll say if they hear me playing the Les Miserables soundtrack in my car. Is it possible I'm starting to just suck it up and accept me for me? ....Naaaah.

•  Last but certainly not least, IT'S IRON WEEKEND! I am obsessed with the Ironman because it is totally my Super Bowl/Kentucky Derby/Game 7/National Championship and it is held right here in Louisville! Now I think if you ask a typical Louisville resident on the street how they felt about the race you'd get a split review. There are those who actually loathe the race. They're the ones who hate that it reroutes traffic for practically two days. But honestly that's actually the only complaint I've ever heard. Ironman spectators and supporters don't flip or vandalize cars or burn couches depending on who wins and they also don't park on people's front lawns. Gas prices don't rise because Ironman is in town and unfortunately businesses don't close to celebrate. But the traffic is a pain. Then you'll get the residents who support the race and among us is another split. You have the economists who are thrilled about the added revenue the race brings to the area and love seeing downtown thrive. Then you have the enthusiasts (i.e. ME) who goes to the expo, volunteers all day for 2 days in a row leaving their fiance and his friends to move all of the furniture from an apartment to a new house, and basically dances around in a state of euphoria for a week as if they were a stereotypical man seeing supermodels roaming the streets. I can't quite explain what's so great about the Ironman or really what my favorite part is but it is like the Olympics being hosted in Louisville and I love it.

So that's that. Some of the crazy that needed an escape. I'm feeling better already :)

What are your plans for the weekend?