And I kicked a kitten*

I'm a little ashamed of something I did on a run last week. I don't know why, but lately I've been feeling a lot of rage on my runs, and in addition to cursing out cars who glide through four way stops or make right handed turns just as I'm about to cross, I flipped off a group of kids. And not teen-ager kids, kid kids. 10 year olds.

To be fair, these kids give me trouble every time I run past their building, one has gone so far as to scream in Lula's face. Why did he do that? Why would you scream in a dog's face? For one, the adults that are 'supervising' the kids are leering and cat-calling every time I run by. For two, they live in a building that looks almost identical to mine, and my apartment is tiny, I can't imagine they have much space in theirs, so they're spilling out onto the street. For three, they don't know any better. No one told them it's dangerous to fuck with dogs you don't know, and even more dangerous to fuck with their owners.

So last week, I was running by, just warming up, so I was going at an easy pace, and one of the boys started yelling, "Andalé, andalé," which normally I would have found funny, but I had walked Lula by them a few minutes earlier and they had tried to hit me with their jump rope. I had had enough. So I raised my hand over my head in a one fingered salute and continued on my way.

Now I just avoid their building, crossing to the other side of the street before I get there and crossing back after I've passed. It's not convenient, but I seriously can't stand the little fuckers. Especially when there's another group of kids a few buildings closer to me that always, ALWAYS make way when I'm running down the side walk and always ask politely if they can pet Lula before they reach out to touch her. Ever since I've made the change, my runs have been super fun and pleasant again, and nary a finger was raised to flip.

3/24/08 - 3 mile walk, .64 mile jog

3/25/08 - 2.1 mile run
10 minute pilates buns and thighs

3/26/08 - 2.1 mile run

3/27/08 - 2.1 mile run

3/28/08 - 3 mile walk, .64 mile jog
10 minute pilates buns and thighs

3/29/08 - 2.1 mile run

3/31/08 - 2.1 mile run
7 sets lunges

*I would never kick a kitten.

Daylight Savings Time

DST plus a 15 minute early departure from work made it possible for me to run in the actual dusk, which meant everyone and their vicious dog was out for a stroll.

I'm getting a little bitter about dog owners and the dogs they can't seem to control. I'm frustrated because Lula when faced with a dog growling and snarling at the end of a poorly controlled too long leash obviously reacts. I don't know what to do other than run in my old neighborhood.

3/18/08 - 2.1 miles
7 sets lunges
3 sets leg raises

With a little help from the Skinny Mirror

This whole running/eating less/trying harder thing really seems to be working. While the scale continues to puzzle me because the me I'm seeing reflected in the mirror seems thinner, I am feeling pretty good about myself. I have to keep reminding myself that it's not the number on the scale it's the number of cat calls you get while running. I'm telling you, my neighborhood is seriously the best place to run if you're looking for a little positive reinforcement shouted to you from a passing car blaring mariachi music.

3/8/08 - 2.1 miles

3/10/08 - 2.1 miles
6 sets lunges

Friendly Push

I was feeling seriously unmotivated last night and while I was on the phone with Catherine I told her to tell me if I should run or if I should slack. She merely said, "You will feel better if you run." I knew she was right, so I did.

I've been a little in the gutter these past few days and it's a complicated mix of knowing that Louie is in New York hanging out with people I absolutely adore and that we are no longer together to go on trips like that coupled with the fact that I might have to cancel my Belize trip for lack of funds. I'm still trying to figure it out.

3/6/08 - 2.1 miles
6 sets lunges

The Usual

I ran by my new favorite bar tonight. I wanted to stop and have a drink. Instead I'm drinking Bailey's and coffee. This is going to seem like a bad idea when I can't get to sleep in two hours.

3/3/08 - 2.1 miles
6 sets lunges
sit-ups. several.

2 Runs, 2 miles, 2 Days

I don't talk about what I do for a living, mostly because while I enjoy it, and it has some definite perks, it's one of the many ways I get to keep a bit of privacy in my offline life. That said, there's a big awards show on Sunday that I'm working on, and it's stressful. So I need to run. Lula needs to run. Last night I almost convinced myself I was too sick to run, but the look on Lula's little face when I got home, and the partially shredded quilt on my bed, made me change my mind.

I think it was wamez who told me one isn't supposed to run while sick because it lowers the immune system, but I had to do it anyway. It felt great.

2/19/08 - 2.1

2/20/08 - 2.1
5 sets lunges.

Run, Lula, Run!

She really seems to have a great time on our runs. Me? Not so much. My right hip has really started to bother me and I think if it keeps up another week or so I need to get it checked out. I hate that I have just enough insurance to stay afloat, not enough to technically cover this kind of thing. Lame. Literally.

2/15/08 - 2 miles

5 sets lunges
1 set of my crazy trainer's sit-ups

Reward

Have I mentioned I've been working a lot? 10 to 12 hour days? Poor Lula has had to hold it for 12 hours so I felt like had to go for a run with her. Running for dogs is a reward not a punishment, funny that.

2 miles

5 sets lunges
40 sit-ups.

The things in your neighborhood, just your typical Saturday night

We had a major deadline this morning that kept me at work from 7:30AM to 10:30PM yesterday, so I didn't get a run in last night. It was disappointing, especially since I had the requisite stress meal of a Whopper with cheese, French fries and to cancel all that out, a Diet Coke.

So I worked this morning and came home, read my trashy book on Mary Kay Letourneau, and took a three hour nap interrupted by the happenings on my crazy ass street. At one point I think I heard my landlord chasing some people off our front steps. How they got in our gate to sleep on our steps, I have no idea.

I woke up and needed a run. I didn't expect to see people passed out on the steps of the building two doors down, much less a couple of people handcuffed and being patted down by police one block over and two blocks down. I ran down 3rd street for a block before I had to abandon that idea. I was the only person in a sea of humanity moving faster than a snails pace and at one point, I was surrounded by tiny Central American men, they were trying to move out of my way, I was merely trying to move, and Lula was trying to get tangled up with a meter, a telephone pole and clearly distressed by the amount of obstacles she was being met with. Not the least of which the constant temptation to eat the errant chicken bones in the street. Twice I had to shove my hand in her mouth and pull out a chicken bone. If that doesn't make for an exciting run, I don't know what would. It's all a matter of perception, those things didn't make me feel unsafe. They just make me feel like I'm living in Los Angeles. I was just happy the cops didn't appear to be shooting anyone or beating them with billy clubs.

2.3 miles

One set of my old trainers crazy sit-up routine
5 sets lunges.