Welcome 2014

I hope this year gets better as the months roll on. Because so far in less than 30 days I've been clobbered with the breakup of a year-long technically nonexistent relationship (still quite painful for all its ambiguous character) and a mistake due to trusting a business and the postal service that at this point appears to be costing me one thousand dollars. Well! Let's not do things by halves, shall we? Still on the list of problems that won't be fixed in the foreseeable future: A fridge that freezes the refrigeration section, property tax raise coming to an additional $50 a month, a long string of money before my bathroom can be used for anything other than brushing teeth, a crumbling asphalt driveway, and a lovable mutt racking up $200 monthly not including shots, lab work, and annual exams. WAIT! There is one more ongoing issue - my son is smoking, failing high school, and apparently thinks school is spelled skool.

Am I being punished? What I did - was it in this life or a past life, I wonder?

Looking Back

What did I accomplish in 2013?

Rode a motorcycle by myself, for the first time. Which turned out to be the only time. LOL!
Broke my leg, got a cast, walked with crutches for a while, all also firsts.
Got addicted to World of Warcraft and leveled a warlock to 90.
Sadly said goodbye to the coolest cat ever, Hector.
Except when laid up with injury or illness, kept working out regularly throughout the year, even got jogging up to over a mile without a walking break and pushed my time down.
I got to play some fun games that won't be discussed on a G-rated blog ;).
Drank too much wine.
Finally stopped smoking, although sometimes I still want one. Briefly. Then a few minutes later it goes away. Eight years it took to say this with confidence.
Hiked lots of mountains and went to lots of Tennessee places I've never been to, or even heard about.
Didn't have enough to put up, but did enjoy some homegrown, organic fruits and veggies.
Learned a lot about egg bound chickens and dog allergies.
Watched my son become more grown up and teach himself how to script (code).
Failed to pass my organic chemistry class, but certainly learned a lot about organic chemistry.
Learned a great many low carb recipes.
Entered a 5K but didn't run in it. Sick!
Almost paid off my credit card then ran it way back up again. Sigh.

Made some new friends....but also lost a few, as well.

Realized and accepted the fact that our species will not stop drilling for oil, burning coal, and trashing our habitat. We seem to be much like the pest infections that eat all the available food and then die in vast numbers. Inevitable? Because I do believe that by now, the global effects of these actions are irrevocable. Consequences.....will most likely be rather dire. I wonder if I will live to see the worst, or if my son will have to face that alone, with his peers.

Introspective

I must think on this further:

"I'm glad you choose to see me the way you do."  ~ Walter Bishop, from Fringe

Oh dear

Allergies? A cold? Weakened immune system? Whichever, it's kept me from braving the cold, crisp air. And the thought of jogging in endless repetition around the hot, 1/7th mile track at the gym has kept me exercise-less, urgh. It's on my immediate to-do list...right after working on some chemistry homework, which I also haven't done. It's hard to think about electron pairs when your head hurts constantly :(

whoops!

So yesterday I did a quickie little jog around the development across the street - about 12 minutes and up some hills! then I rounded out the workout with some elliptical time to about 1/2 hour altogether. I had a headache (although not while working out, hmmm) and tons to do. More to do today, also....maybe I can ride my exercise bike while I study genetics! Surely I won't break a leg doing THAT! Just a little ex-rider humor there LOL

the Park

Today I was finally one of those people who spend more time on the greenway jogging than walking. Yayyy!  Of course I was going pretty slowly, but that will change over time. At least I'm not heaving with every single solitary breath! I've noticed I tend to get (short) second wind recovery at ~12 minutes, and again at ~25 minutes (there were a few 2-minute walking breaks in there), and ~32. There may have been more but those I noticed particularly.

Distance:  ~4.25 miles
Total time:    1 hour, or just under
Total time jogging:  45 minutes

Better, stronger, faster....

Ok, maybe not six million dollars but definitely a steady consistent increase in endurance and also, I believe, in pace.

Total time:   1 hour (added a little to the route)
Total time jogging:  45 minutes. Yeehaw!

Got the 5k to run on Nov 28 so it would be nice to get this time down, and if possible also do at least 3.1 miles a few times without any walking breaks. I think bumping up the route to 4.5 would be beneficial...gotta get the car out for that LOL!