Okay, now that that is out of the way, let me tell you about all the exciting things that have been going on since we last met.
A week ago today, March 1st, I PRed in the Wacky 5K Race in Chicago in 29 minutes and 49 seconds; that figures out to be about a 9:37 minute per mile pace. I finished 421 out of 879 official finishers and was 19th in my age group (out of 44). While I'm ecstatic about my PR, I'm still a little disappointed in myself (the curse of a runner). I know I could have run faster and I refuse to give the excuse that the lake-effect snow and 20 mph winds were the reasons why I didn't. Perhaps my subconscious was just trying to keep me from injuring myself, who knows. All I know is that when I crossed the finish line, I didn't feel exhausted--I should have if I had given it everything. Four days later, I went out for a training run and ran a little over 5K in under 29 minutes. Too bad I wasn't running in a race that day! Ah, such is life...
Enough with the self loathing, on to more exciting things...
On Monday, March 2nd, I became an aunt for the 5th time! Little Zavier Kael was born early Monday morning. He's still in the hospital as I write this. He was diagnosed with pneumonia shortly after he was born, was put on an oxygen mask, never cried, didn't move much and, all in all, was cause for concern. He was sent via helicopter to a children's hospital for further treatment and evaluation. By the time he arrived he seemed to be doing much better; his mother guessed the higher altitude of the helicopter ride helped him to breathe better. His condition has been up and down since he was admitted to the children's hospital, but he is supposed to be released tomorrow. You can see pictures of him on my Facebook page in the photo album labeled Zavier Kael. He's such a precious little creature... I often tell people I love being an aunt because I get to experience and love these amazing, beautiful, hilarious children but I don't have to experience the sleepless nights or the stretch marks!
My half marathon training is going well. I'm in week 5 out of 14 and feeling seriously like I have ants in my pants because I can't wait to ramp up the mileage. I'm following Hal Higdon's Novice Half Marathon Training plan. It's a great plan and for someone like me who is fairly new to distance running; it is a plan built for moderation and therefore is built for a reduced chance of injury. (But, that doesn't mean that I don't want to go out and run until I drop just to see how far I can make it!) Patience is not a virtue with which I have been blessed; so, as a sort of "cross training" this plan is forcing me to police myself, pace myself and develop an appreciation for my body rather than taking it for granted. We humans, especially runners, take our bodies for granted to often. Everyday, we lace up our running shoes and hit the roads. We think about form, pace, breathing and dodging the never ending line of vehicles that would love to run us down. During our runs, we treat our body with respect, we listen to it and allow it to act naturally. But what about the rest of our day? We sit slumped over a keyboard, ignore the grumbling of our tummies just so that we can get a little bit more work done (or maybe we just eat all day, ignoring the stop signals), and then we stay up until the wee hours of the morning watching mind-numbing television. We're such good animals while we're running, why can't we seem to translate that into the rest of our day? (That's not rhetorical, I'm really asking you. Do you know why we do that?)
Speaking of food, culinary school has been taking up much of my time. Not only am I in class most of the day on Mondays and Wednesdays but most of my free time is spent reading, studying, completing homework and otherwise experimenting in the kitchen (I guess I don't mind that last one too much). I'm not complaining, I freakin' love culinary school, it's just way harder than I thought it would be. Seriously, think about it...cooking? Playing with food all day? If you're not already a chef, cook, or some kind of kitchen employee, you cannot truthfully tell me that you think culinary school would be hard. Maybe "hard" is the wrong word. During class, I don't feel like I'm struggling to understand or catch up, but as soon as I take off that silly little paper toque, my brain seems to become the consistency of a rather lumpy roux (below is a picture of me wearing my toque in class). So much information, so many concepts and life lessons are thrown at you throughout your time in the kitchen that by the time class is over, your mind is in overdrive.
But even with the stress and the constant studying that comes along with culinary school, it's still one of the most magical experiences I've had thus far in life. Just yesterday, a new pet sitting client referred to my chef instructor (who is an accomplished executive chef at a local AAA 4-Diamond restaurant) as a "genius" and said that "each f***ing dish he puts out is better than the last." How awesome is that? This guy is my teacher...this "genius" is sharing his knowledge with me (and 19 other students) so that someday I might get a real taste of what it's like to be a good cook. (Yes, pun intended...you ought to know that by now. Try to keep up, people.)
What is it about food that consumes me so? I love food, I lust for it...it creates a passion in me that is so fiery, it's frightening. I'm frightened of the thought that the flame could fizzle out at any time if I don't continue to add fuel to it. This tells me that, for the rest of my life, I'm going to constantly be working toward a goal I'll never achieve. What the hell is wrong with me?
Well...I guess I am a runner and we are all insane. Perhaps being a cook is the proper profession as all cooks are a little nutty, too.
I'm working on the next post and I promise it will have something of substance. Perhaps a recipe or two and some tips on staying healthy. Happy Daylight Savings Time! Only 12 days until Spring! Oh, to run in shorts and feel the sun on my skin again.
Find your passion and let it smolder,
Sarah
But even with the stress and the constant studying that comes along with culinary school, it's still one of the most magical experiences I've had thus far in life. Just yesterday, a new pet sitting client referred to my chef instructor (who is an accomplished executive chef at a local AAA 4-Diamond restaurant) as a "genius" and said that "each f***ing dish he puts out is better than the last." How awesome is that? This guy is my teacher...this "genius" is sharing his knowledge with me (and 19 other students) so that someday I might get a real taste of what it's like to be a good cook. (Yes, pun intended...you ought to know that by now. Try to keep up, people.)What is it about food that consumes me so? I love food, I lust for it...it creates a passion in me that is so fiery, it's frightening. I'm frightened of the thought that the flame could fizzle out at any time if I don't continue to add fuel to it. This tells me that, for the rest of my life, I'm going to constantly be working toward a goal I'll never achieve. What the hell is wrong with me?
Well...I guess I am a runner and we are all insane. Perhaps being a cook is the proper profession as all cooks are a little nutty, too.
I'm working on the next post and I promise it will have something of substance. Perhaps a recipe or two and some tips on staying healthy. Happy Daylight Savings Time! Only 12 days until Spring! Oh, to run in shorts and feel the sun on my skin again.
Find your passion and let it smolder,
Sarah
