She knows she can run a half marathon

You know the feeling of satisfaction you get when you cross an item off of a list? That was me on Sunday, x 100. A few years ago I set the goal to run a half marathon by the time I turned 30, and this past weekend, I accomplished that goal 4.5 years ahead of schedule.

Three months of training finally paid off. I’ll admit, I wasn’t strict to my training plan and missed a lot of runs. But I also completed a lot of them. I have been running since I was in track & field in junior high, but never to this extent. The training program encouraged me to run 3-5 times per week, varying in distance and pace. While I ignored the suggestions for pace, I ran as fast as I could each day which sometimes meant a 9-minute mile and other times meant closer to 12. I learned that I could run different distances, that I wasn’t a failure if I couldn’t go faster than 10 minutes per mile and that some days were good and some weren’t and that was okay.

As the weekend approached, I realized this was all becoming real. With a Saturday night carbed-out meal and an early bed time, I felt the jitters for the next day. Then Sunday came, and I felt oddly more calm. I started out toward the back of the pack and felt at ease as I crossed the start line, listening to The Naked and Famous. The first mile was the easiest mile ever, I couldn’t believe it passed so fast.

Then after mile 3, the faster-paced runners were looping around so I got to pass my boyfran Zebulon, and friends Leigh, David and Micah as I ran to the turnaround. Miles 3-6 really felt like nothing. I couldn’t believe this because a 10k used to seem unattainable to me and yet here I was, completing a 10k without feeling any boredom or pain. And then, there was a slight incline and the knowledge that I would soon be seeing my family and friends and the whole thing got a little harder. And then I heard the tambourine and the shouts of my name and I couldn’t have been happier. 

A mile later I saw my sister, her husband and my two nephews and that gave me the push I needed to get to the second turnaround. I had my name taped to my shirt both on the front and the back for the purpose of getting more encouragement from strangers. You would not believe how encouraging strangers and other runners are! I found a lot more bounce in my step once people were talking to me, cheering for me, urging me to continue.

Feeling great as I approached mile 12, I stumbled on my foot and rolled my ankle. OUCH. And then I hit “the wall.” I wanted so, SO bad to walk and just get this the H over with. And I slowed my pace and just as I was about to switch from a jog to a walk and let my body give in, my mind took over and said, “There is no way you are walking at this point. Not after you worked this hard. You get yourself in gear.” And so I did. And the last mile was probably the toughest. But then I saw my cheerleaders once again as I approached the end and that jolted me into a full-on sprint. I even heard spectators comment about how fast I was finishing, and that felt good. And then I drank some water. And then I wanted to puke and die. So that was how my half-marathon went.

To recap:

Training is good. Hal Higdon knows what’s up.

If you set a goal and you work towards it, by golly, you can do it!

Pace yourself. Don’t compare yourself to others. Do it for you.

Encouragement is highly encouraged.

If you hit a wall, let your brain take over and propel you forward. One foot in front of the other.

Drink water. Eat food. Don’t throw up.

Musings on the future:

Will I run a full marathon ever? No. I do not wish to.

Will I run a half-marathon again? Maybe. But not for a while.

Should you run a half-marathon? If you would like to.

Will I run a 10-mile, 8-mile, 10k, 8k or 5k? Yes.

Do I feel like a million bucks even though I’m sore as a mother effer? Yes.

Is it weird that I’m now picturing a million male deer? Yes.

Am I an oddity? You bet.

The annotated version:

 

Thanks for reading! I know this was a long one! TWSS.

Portlandia in real life

A little behind, but...

Observations of Portland:

1. It’s divided into four major quadrants and several little neighborhoods, each with their own character.

2. Some of it is sort of sketchy, other parts not so much.

3. There weren’t nearly as many bikes as I had anticipated. I see way more in Minneapolis. Although, they just took back the title of top bicycling city and are being kind of snotty about it.

4. A lot of young people don’t have jobs and hang out on the street, asking for things like “Can you spare your coffee drink? I really like coffee.” (For the record, I had just bought it and wasn’t going to give it to her.)

5. Food carts are everywhere and while they are convenient and inexpensive and very diverse, the quality wasn’t all that great. Think State Fair, every day.

6. It’s the “Brewery Capital of the World” so you’re sure to stumble across 1 or 500 breweries or brewpubs. We stayed to the brewpubs because let’s face it, brewery tours get boring and begin to look alike.

7. Walking from place to place is pretty easy, except when you’re trying to cross the Willamette River. Those bridges aren’t super pedestrian friendly, but you can still get by.

{Willamette}

{A thing}

{A homeless community}

{Very weird}

{The doughnut on the right was the size of my head}

{The flowers have made it to Portland!}

{In SE Portland}

{Lucky Labrador Brewing (very pet friendly!)}

{Caught you!}

{Stumptown <3}

{Picnic in the woods}

{I was singing in the amphitheater at the bottom of the steps}

{On a walk}

{Rogue. Bicycle. Green. Portland. I stole it. Don't tell.}

{Cascade Brewing / Lots of sour beer}

{Le beers}

{Mother's Bistro. YUM!}

Also:

Forgive me, Carrie, for I have not posted yet about your birthday. But heeeuhhh youuuu gooooo! Anything to extend the celebration out a few days, eh?

Happy birthday to Ms. Carrie!

I met Carrie when I was negative years old. We grew up next door to each other and while I might not have enjoyed her company when I was little (I had issues, okay?), I certainly do now. Carrie is extremely creative, crafty, and talented – definitely a lady of the arts. From her days sewing children’s toys and clothes to her impending days as a pastry chef, she has many crafting abilities under her belt. She invites me to crazy theater productions I probably would never have heard of and is always supporting artists in all forms. Things I like doing with Carrie: going to concerts, playing games, eating baked goods, discussing books, pretending to be in 30 Rock, reminiscing about LOST, and irking her with my puns. It’s birthday, birthday, gotta get crunk on birthday. Hope you enjoyed it! Happy birthday Missus!

Letter to my 30-year-old self

I've always loved the idea of writing letters to my future self to see how things were and if they've changed. Chances are, they have.

With three 30th birthday celebrations this month, I thought "What will I be like when I'm 30?" Who will be in my life and where will I be professionally, socially, life-ally, etc.?

So here, 30-year old self, a letter:

Dearest Jennifer,

I hope you're reading this on your blog "She Knows This Much is True" that you started in 2011. If you're not, you're a super-genius because this is the only place you're putting this. So you should keep blogging because otherwise the Google Gods will probably take your site away and then you'll never read this.

Anyways, I hope you're married by now, to that boy Zebulon and that you've started a band called Jenulon or Zebbifer. Just kidding on the second part. I hope you're thinking about having kids if you don't have any already. And I hope you dress them up real cute like those J.Crew ads you always admire a little too much. Seriously, stop ripping out pictures of that little Asian girl in Crewcuts and giving them to your sisters as inspiration.

I hope everyone you love is still around. This means your family, your friends, your puppies. Maybe some of the wuppies will be gone, but if they aren't, you are one lucky bizzo! I hope you're still saying bizzo. And I hope you're still stealthily taking photos of bizzos in public who shouldn't wear see-through clothes to a baseball game.

I hope you've changed positions in work and are working hard with your sisters to make your dad's company even better than it already is. I hope you feel happy in what you do daily and that you don't have carpal tunnel from all of those crazy data entry stints. Maybe you've got JB Data Collection down to an art form. I hope so! Right now it's still just a dream. I hope ISO audits are the breeziest and you don't tear your hair out over them. 

Are you still blogging over at T & L? I hope so. I hope you've met friends there and are happy with it and inspired by it. Remember, you wanted to start it to express yourself, but also to meet people who shared your interests. Have you met any of them? Or do you just tweet with them? Are you still being run by a computer? 

Did you ever run that 1/2 Marathon? Did you run more of them? Anything crazier? Do you feel healthy and look healthy and feel good about how you look? I sure hope you do. You always struggled with that. I think you're becoming a better you already though.

I have a feeling you are still the same way when it comes to packing your schedule with every possible thing you can. Do you still do nerdy things like craft and send letters? I hope so. If not, get on that, girrrl.

Have you had a reunion with your HK buddies yet? Have you gone back to Asia? You should go back to Asia, yo roots. Did you make it to Ireland or England? Also do that. Have you worked on your fake English accent anymore? Hope so, it needs a little work.

And last, Jennifer, I hope this leaves you feeling happy and accomplished and super schmawesome. I also think it's time you write to your 35 or 40-year old self. KTHXBYE. (Do you still say that? KTHXBYE?) Yahahhaa. (Or how about that?)

xx
Yo self

Return to Blog Land & Seattle

Annnnd a month later, I have returned to this little blog. This is the longest it has been between posts on SKTMIT since I started it, and I’m sorry for neglecting you. I have found this to be true of my personality: I discover something, fall in love with it, work at it, feed it, breathe it, then somehow it drops off my radar. (This is not true for people or animals, luckily. Just fads, music, foods, habits, and the like.) Anyway, most of my Internetting energy has been over at Treble and Lace, so if you’re interested in those parts of my life, then head on over. Otherwise, here’s an update on this side. What have I been doing for the past month???

Friends from Michigan came into town and I spent a weekend going out with them, the next weekend I saw Florence + The Machine and celebrated my boyfriend’s graduation. After that, it was my boyfriend’s Grandma’s 80^th birthday – it was a surprise party and part of me thinks you shouldn’t surprise older people, but she reacted pretty mildly. “Oh, everyone from my life is here. How nice!” My grandma’s 70^th birthday was the following day but I sadly had to miss her celebration. (Side note – my other grandma’s 90^th birthday is coming up in July. A 70^th, 80^th and 90^th birthday in the same year, KEWL!)

Then it was off to beautiful West Coast, where the boyfran and I spent a week going to bed early, waking up early, running, walking, eating, drinking, and hanging out. I’d much rather post photos here or on T & L than on Facebook, so here you go. Although, I might start actively using Google+, but as you know, it will only be for a burst of time.

{Morning run}

{Ampersand on a stick!!}

{Obviously}

{Wish I had a kitchen in Seattle}

{My favorite}

{Fresh lunch}

{Trying to eat the field}

{Ichiro}

{My camera has awesome zoom}

{Another installment of our MLB stadium tour}

{Saving some Safeco dirt}

{I like when things are not the size they should be and I'm trying to avoid a TWSS moment}

{Brunch}

{Freeway Park}

{Gum, anyone?}

{Last night in Seattle, out of sequence}

{His alligator shoes had red tips on them}

{My first train ride in the US!}

I Was Dreaming of a White Christmas

Blink. The holidays are gone and as a result, I am Jennifer McMopester. This year was much different than before, as I spent the holiday up North with my boyfran’s family instead of my own. There were a few issues with this: not being with my family on a holiday I’ve never spent away from them, not being there for the baby nephew’s first Christmas, and not being in my own house for the holiday. But the family was divided this year and the boyfran’s family had big plans for up North and so kindly invited me, so I took the leap and agreed. It was one of the most magical Christmases ever because it felt oh-so-Minnesotan and I got to do so many fun things!

{The hunchback of Rush City}

Last Thursday, most of the group was already up North but I had a nice dinner with my family before the boyfran and I went to a little Ugly Christmas Sweater shindig at Bulldog St. Paul. It was pretty fun and afterwards I headed home to stay up until 3am packing. Three hours later, the boyfran and I were out the door and on the road to watch the beautiful sunset. We only made one stop in Rush City, to see the largest walleye in the world, of course. Paul Bunyan was the brave fisherman on this one. (So dorky!)

We were warmly welcomed at our beachfront property in Lutsen, MN on Friday morning. I had never seen waves crashing into a shoreline blanketed in snow before. Soon after, I got a massage at the WatersMeet Spa, took a trip to boyfran’s brother’s cozy cabin in Grand Marais, then headed out to the community center for ice skating and hockey. 

The boys raced and played tag, while I honed my stopping and backwards skating skills. I may have ran my head straight into a hockey net at one point, but all was cured with a Peppermint Patty at a local bar with an awesome bartender, Whiskey Dick. Seriously, his name was Dick Winzer, kind of like Windsor. Like Whiskey. Get it? We ended the night with dinner and Cribbage and all was well in the world.

On Saturday, we trucked out to Caribou Lake and hauled our stuff on the boyfran’s three-wheeler. We played catch, I learned to punt, and we drank ice cold beer to keep us warm. Hmm? Yeah. I even got enough courage to hang onto the back of the three-wheeler while being towed on a snowboard. I tumbled down three times, but those falls were worth the fun. The scenery on the lake was intensely beautiful. Woodsy cabins dotted the shoreline and tall pines and bare birches skirted the entire perimeter. It was the most beautiful football field I have ever played on! Every once in a while, I’d stop, take a breath, and stare at the shoreline in disbelief of its beauty. 

Afterwards was the same drill: Cribbage, drinks, laughter. Only this time, we got to open presents! In my family I had never opened presents before Christmas morning so this was a treeeeeeeeeeat. Boyfriend Zeb and I got each other snow shoes – I can’t wait to bust those out! (Snow, darn it!)

On Christmas morning, we had a yummy breakfast prepared by boyfran’s mama. We had a small photo sesh for the other blog, then geared up to go sledding. When we arrived at Lutsen Resort to pick up some sleds, boyfran’s brother Luke decided to take us on a mini hike. The hike was breathtaking and a little bit scary, as we scaled steep inclines covered in slippery snow. Again, the green conifers against the snow were so strikingly beautiful I was practically gaping at every new view. We saw otter tracks along the water too! So cuuuute! 

After our hike, we drove over to the golf course and found a hill to slide down. The hill itself wasn’t all that intimidating, but a river disguised by a bed of snow awaited us at the bottom. Once we got to the bottom of the hill, we quickly had to roll off before plunging into the depths of the river. We had a Christmas dinner at the lodge and slothily made our way home for more Cribbage, Sequence, and Reggae music.

On Monday, we found our water pressure had officially died and instead of enjoying a slow morning with yummy breakfast, we bolted out of the place like something that bolts out of a place fast. 

We made our way slowly back to the cities, stopping at Beaver Bay for the giant Adirondack chairs, Split Rock Lighthouse for a view of the lake, and Duluth for a meal at Fitger’s Brewhouse and some shopping. I have a new quest to go see all of the odd statues and such in Minnesota, and everywhere.

I know this post is ridiculously long, but it’s basically a journal, so deal with it! Trips in confined quarters inevitably make you closer to the people you share them with. I feel closer to the boyfran’s family, if that was even possible, and I am happier for it. Sure, they are a quirky, sometimes gross (three boys, c’mon) bunch, but they’re pretty awesome and extremely welcoming. They got it from their mama!

So now I have all these amazing memories, items checked off of my winter to-do list, and a slew of photos I can’t even begin to sift through. It’s great to recognize the beauty in life, but when you take photos of each of those moments, well, you have hundreds of photos. Oh well, better than none! Okay, now back to our regularly-scheduled programming.