Snack time

Try this snack on for size:

Tortilla with one half sprinkled in Gorgonzola cheese, the other half spread with fig and sesame jam. I picked that up at the Asian market -- couldn't read the Arabic, but fortunately it had nice little pictures of figs and sesame seeds. Fold in half and toast each side. The cheese and fig jam melt into a delicious creamy filling.

So delicious.

Case of the Moondays

I had an eventful day today. I woke up late (5:35!) because I forgot to set an alarm. Argh. I straggled to get myself out for as long a run as I could. There I was, listening to NPR and bopping along York Street. Seeing the usual sights: the sun rising, friendly construction workers, an empty Cherry Creek, a blue iPhone lying on the sidewalk - wait, what? An iPhone? Yes! I found an iPhone. I almost just left it because I didn't want to be involved or spend the time, but then I decided I should pick it up in case a less-honest person were to find it and simply keep it. I kept running and tripped big time on Washington Street. That stupid sidewalk is the worst. That's the 3rd time I've flat-out fallen here in Denver while running on the sidewalk. Scrapped both knees, blood streaming down, etc. I admit, I pitied myself and was saying things like "I hate Denver" the whole way home. Made it home, took a quick shower and biked down to yoga class at 7:00 a.m. While trying to get in contact with the iPhone owner, I didn't get a chance to eat breakfast or put anything in my bag for later. I realized I forgot my wallet! Gah! No food from 5:35 - 1:15 p.m., after run-bike-yoga-class-bike? I would never make it! Fortunately, a friend lent me $3.00 and I made it through with coffee and a day-old scone. Phew.

The day got better from there. Class was fascinating, bike home was good, got the iPhone back to the grateful owner (who made me accept a $10 gift card to Starbucks), and had a nice afternoon at work. Then, hit up The Spot with some neighbor/friends for happy hour beer and apps. I'm wiped, ready for bed at 8:40 p.m.

So far in Denver I've fallen while running 3 times, been hit by a car while riding my bike 1 time, and fallen/slid on ice while riding my bike 3 times. Yeesh!

Running update

Sigh. I am not one of those people who gets in their best shape during the summer. I hate being hot, which means running in the summer isn't so much fun for me. In fact, it's pretty miserable.

All first semester and most of second semester I ran at 5 a.m. because it was my only time of the day when I could run. I kind of liked it, too, because I listened to the same NPR show that I used to listen to when I lived in Boston (shout-out to Renee Montaigne and Steve Insteep). It was my only time to listen to the news and connect to the world outside the law school bubble. And, it always feels GREAT to get your run and shower over with by 6:30 a.m. You know, just neatly tuck it out of the way for the day while the city is quiet and feels empty.

So, I'm trying to get myself back in the routine of getting up at 5 to run before it gets hot. It's generally probably a good idea since the afternoon is iffy with thunderstorms and tornadoes. I'm struggling! Why do things (or little Carrie bodies) at rest want to stay at rest? Why is my bed just so comfy?

(I've also been trying to work out this siatica/piriformis syndrome thing, which is extremely uncomfortable off and on.) I got to yoga 2x, bike a bunch and even made it to the community pool for a dip on Monday evening. So, here's last week, for what it's worth:

Sunday - 9 along highline. Too hot, not so much fun.
Monday - 7 at 5 a.m. before yoga/class/work
Tuesday - off
Wednesday - 7 at 5 a.m. before yoga/class/work
Thursday - Woo ! Got up and out early to go to my favorite trail, White Ranch Park, out in Golden, CO. I was so miserably tight after Wednesday I wanted a looong uphill to stretch out my hamstring. 13.
Friday - 5.5 at 6 a.m.
Saturday - lazy bum.

Total: 42

Keep on keepin' on.

"Lazy" days of summer

I am quickly settling into a routine with this summer class and internship business. Monday and Wednesday are the busiest. Tuesday and Thursday are the reading-est. For example, today I read about 400 pages for class tomorrow. Ouch. Monday and Wednesday look like this:

5:00 a.m - run
6:15 - smoothie for breakfast
6:30 - bike to school
7-8 - yoga.
9-12 - international political theory class
12-1 - bike home, shower, take the bus to internship downtown.
1-5 - internship
7 - dark - bike to park/pick up frisbee in the park
after dark - crash.

A few clarifications -- Smoothies are my newest obsession. There's just so much cheap fruit and it's a really fast way to get lots in my belly. The usual smoothie includes milk, yogurt, dollop of honey, vanilla protein powder and fruit (banana, bluebellies, strawbellies, etc.) Any suggestions for combos I must try?

Yoga! I am so happy my usual teacher Natasha is back. I definitely have a girl crush on her. No more psycho, slave-driver "I love making you guys do abs" teachers. Phew.

International Political theory class - this deserves a post (with a video impersonation) all to itself. But, yes, I'm taking grad classes this summer. Woo!

Internship - also deserves its own post. I'm working at one of the Colorado State government offices. Up on the 27th floor of the World Trade Center. Swank.

What goes up, must come down

Okay, here's the run-down on the running last week. (Did you see what I did there? Pretty clever, huh?) I had motivation issues this week. Sigh, I'm embarrassed to already be faltering! I'm sure it was a lot of things: tired from the week before, started classes this week, had a bad run which made me not want to go the next day, [insert excuse here]. Anyway, for what it's worth, this is last week's running. I'm feeling inspired by Saturday's run and hope this coming week will be great!

Sunday - Awesome run on Mags (Mags = Magnolia Road, up in the mountains past Boulder). I went with Katie and John on a nice, cool but sunny morning. Mags is at about 8,000 feet and is well-known for it's killer steep/long hills. We went out 5 and back at at 8 min pace (a decent pace considering the hills and altitude!). After, we went to breakfast, got Chai to-go and had an ice bath in the Boulder Creek for 20 minutes. GAH! I was a whiny wimp but have to admit my legs felt awesome after. Total: 10 miles/1:20 min.

Monday - Bike, yoga, class and internship. No run.

Tuesday - Track workout at too-hot time of day. 3 miles jog down to South. Miserable, horrible workout. I stopped when my 1K pace was slower than my 1/2 marathon pace. Useless. Major cramp and struggling ont he way home. Total: 8.5 miles

Wednesday - Bike, yoga, class, internship. No run

Thursday - No run

Friday - 7:00 a.m. with the gals. So nice to run with them and get myself back on track. We were chatting, and moving along at a good clip (little did I know what we would run on Saturday!). Total: 6 miles/46 min

4:00 p.m. Ran with a friend. Felt great to loosen up for a few miles in a sunny afternoon down Cherry Creek Path. Total: 3 miles/30 min

Saturday - Met the girls again and drove down to Waterton Canyon in Englewood. Man, I was struggling because they are so fast! It really makes me want to be serious so I can keep up with 'em. 6.5. miles out of steady gradual uphill (already at 6,500 ft!). Then hanging on all the way back. Felt awesome to be done! Total: 13.2 miles/1:39 min

Total Mileage for the Week: 41

P.S. Clearly, I had a problem running on days when I bike to yoga, have class, bike home, and then go to my internship. Attack plan for this week: Suck it up and run early in the morning before I am tired from the long day!

Moral Progress

I'm reading a book right now called "Democratic Individuality." It's the type of title that makes me want to skim over it quickly under the assumption that I don't know - no, no, that I couldn't know - what the elitist, academic lingo means. I make myself think about it and take a stab at what the title means. Maybe I'm wrong, but my guess is that it's about this: how can we be individuals if our entire democratic system is bent on making us all equal (i.e., the same)?

The question of individuality in democracy is tied to morality. Why? First, remember that morality has to do with proper behavior. Is my behavior proper, good, right? But, it's not simply a person's behavior in the abstract. Instead, proper behavior is only known by looking at it in the context of other people. The connection comes, then, because proper behavior, doing good, and being right, being moral is all in reference to other people. Determining morality means looking at the impact of an individual's actions on other people. So, we see that one person of many in a democratic system must be careful in trying to be an individual, because their actions may be immoral (improper, evil, bad, wrong) with respect to the other people in the system.

Still with me? Okay, good. Here's the real question: is there morality relativity or moral realism?

Moral relativity = morals are subjective, changing, and relative to particular cultures, eras, situations, etc.

Moral realism = morals are absolute, fixed and universal. There is one standard that holds for all people, across all time, and all situations.

I'm not saying whether I think there is relativism or realism (because I don't know!), but here's something to think about. Some say that because we can see changing morals, our morals must be relative. We used to think slavery was fine and dandy. Now we (the American people at-large) generally think slavery is a moral wrong. Our morality has changed = evidence that we have no fixed, absolute morality.

BUT, what if morality is like science. Scientific work establishes universal truths. Gravity. F=MA. The quadratic formula. But, science also continuously overturns "universal truths" when new discoveries are made. We don't say there are no scientific universal truths, or that other scientific universal truths are now wrong, just because we realize that one past "truth" was actually a mistake. What if morality is the same way? What if we make discoveries about what is moral. If that's true, our changing morals wouldn't show unfixed, subjective morality. Our changing morals would show that we are making progress in the field of morality. And, just as in science, a new universal truth does not undermine all truths of science, a new moral (e.g. that men and women are equal, that we shouldn't have slavery, that homosexuality is a-okay) does not undermine all truths of morality.

Think about it. Tell me what you think.

Week's running

Phew - decided to step it up this week and I really felt it!

Saturday - Ran at 7:00 a.m. with Bridget and Judy. They are so fit it was really inspiring! I also learned a new route along the Highline Canal, but with a hilly road interlude. Great stuff, but I was ready to be done by the end. 1:50, probably 14.5 miles.

Sunday - Felt inspired, had the time, and wanted the challenge. There was serious hail mid-afternoon, but it cleared out. I ran up to REI on Cherry Creek Path and then down the Platte path to Santa Fe, and back up Logan. I tried a new little sucker that I bought at the farmers' market instead of a goo package. The sucker was actually Vermont-made pure, hard maple syrup. I saw it and immediately thought, "Huh! That would be a good thing to have for energy on a run, like an all-natural goo-type." Small, easy to carry, didn't melt and tasted delicious. I was really struggling by the end of the run so the little sugar rush helped big time. 1:37, probably 12.5 miles.

Monday - Easy recovery East on Cherry Creek then up through York/back streets. The hill from 6th up to 11th really stretched out my Piriformis and I picked up the pace for the last 15 min home. 1:02, probably 8 miles.

Tuesday - UGH, return of the dreaded track workout. I set myself out to do the first track workout in over a year. Wow, ouch. More on this in another post but here is the quick and dirty. Run through Wash Park to South High dirt track, 3 x mile @ 6:40, with slow 400 jog/active rest in between each, straggle home through Wash Park. Miles ended up being 6:40, 6:41 and 6:50. probably 9 miles total.

Wednesday - Easy shake-out after work through the city. Legs were obviously dead and I was SLOW. 43 min. 5 miles.

Thursday - Went to Matthew Winter's park for a trail run with friends. Woo-wee. I didn't know what to expect because I'm usually just along for the ride to run whatever distance, at whatever altitude, and whatever speed. I think my legs were still in shock from the whole week of running so this was incredibly tough for me. Also, my running friends kick my butt! Endless energy, friendly boyfriend-girlfriend rivalry ("Oh, he's coming! Let's sprint the last mile back to beat him" - Gah!), great adaptation to altitude, and strong up the mountain. These trails always start high (over 5000) and start with a huge uphill. And by "uphill" I mean "up mountain." Great views of Denver, Red Rocks and beyond. 1:35. 8.5 miles.

Friday - 7:30 a.m. Ran to Wash Park, 2 loops, Back to friend's house. We had baby-stroller and all, but we got excited and a little carried away. Usually it takes my friend 55-58. We did it in 51. Maybe 7?

3:50 p.m. A friend and I rallied big time after a divine lunch at WaterCourse Foods by deciding to go running instead of falling victims to the food-coma nap. 20 min. 2 miles.

Total Weekly Mileage: 66.5

How much is that baby cello in the window?

I went to Denver's First Friday last week at the Santa Fe art district. The galleries are open late with free wine and nibbles. Pretty decent people watching and as close to "culture" as I've found in Denver so far. I saw this cool cello mosaic in one of the galleries. Wow! It was so pretty, but I couldn't help feeling a little badly for the cello (it being all mosaic-ified, stuck with tiles and everything). I mean, the poor baby cello's career is over at just a half-size.

Naturally, I e-mailed my Diana-the-cellist to tell her all about it and she asked for a picture. So, the next day I biked back there and took a photo. The photo is a bit surreal and unintentionally "creative" because the sunny day made the background behind me reflect in the window almost as strongly as the actual schtuff in front of me.

Oh, and Diana said not to feel badly for baby cello because it probably likes getting all dressed up. And, sure, that makes sense because who doesn't like getting all snazzied up?



P.S. Price tag? $2,500 smacks. Sigh.

Wait, I'm in law school?

1L year is over. That's first year law school, in nerd-talk legalese. I still can't quite believe I'm even in law school. I've been thinking a lot about it and trying to understand how I fit in (or don't, for that matter). Law school grades are 1 exam, all or nothing, at the end of the semester. I've always struggled with exams, standardized tests, and the traditional evaluation methods in our education system. My struggles and frustrations have only gotten worse as I get older; and, the law school system does not seem to agree with me. As I've wondered before, it makes me ask this question over and over: is something wrong with my brain? This is an analogy my understanding of how my brain processes information in law school. Maybe it's why I struggle to prove I have learned, maybe not. Comments welcome!

For a Cognitive Science class, I once wrote a research paper on pidgin languages, studying an overlapping area of linguistics, psychology, and philosophy. I was interested in seeing if and what part of language is innate human instinct. The traditional view was that 2 languages mashed together to form a third language. ("Mashed" may or may not be the technical term.) But, this isn't true. What happens is that the native population and the immigrant population (e.g. native Haitians and French) simplify their languages so much that essentially they communicate non-verbally and with a shared vocabulary of maybe as little as 400 words. This isn't a "language," but, really, it's getting by with a totality of expressions. The first generation of children born AFTER the immigrants arrive are the ones who "sui generis" create a new language, apart from either the natives' or immigrants' languages. The parents don't teach it to the children, because they don't speak it. The older generation doesn't understand it, because it's communication between the children. So, I learned that the innate part of language are the things that make the children understand each other (syntax, grammatical structures, etc.) The "nature" part of language that is learned or experiential are the sounds and the semantics. Haitian creole sounds a bit like French not because they take words from French, but because the children heard those sounds and plugged them into/used them in the language structure they innately had in their brains. Now, what's really interesting, I think, is that if you look at the grammatical/verbal mistakes that children who speak modern languages that have been socially-evolved over hundreds of years, e.g. English, French, etc., then those mistakes match the grammatical structure of the pidgin languages that children create. What is "wrong" today in language is what is innately "right." So, to me, that means that the hardwired, innate language has changed so much from its natural original state, that now we shun the intuitive and "true" or "universal" part of language.
....
How does this connect to how I feel about law school? Well, what is "wrong" today in law/social functioning is innately "right" in my brain. Where most people just accept the current laws and socially-evolved functioning, I do not. I cannot help but see the world as the originally intuitive way. I don't make assumptions and I can't easily accept or understand the socially-evolved rules by which society lives. So, everything I learn at school is a shock to me. The laws we learn are not intuitive to me. I have to struggle to see what is obvious to other people.

That was admittedly long, and probably confusing, but that's the best I can do to make sense of how I feel right now about law school, grades and that thing inside me I like to call my mushy brain.

Committing to it in Writing

I won't bore you with the details of the last few weeks. I fell off the band-wagon, but I'm getting back on again. This blog might turn into a bit of a running nerd blog. Sorry! After a great long run Saturday with two FIT runners, one of my new resolutions is to suck it up and do the dreaded track workouts. I have done one track workout in the last year. It was a miserable 2 mile time trial that I like to remember as The Death March. After my half-marathon a few weeks ago, I couldn't believe just how sore my hamstring were. Why so sore? No track workouts! All said and done, I was pretty happy with my 1:35. I had done no track workouts in over a year. I hadn't raced in well over a year. I did only one run specifically to train for it, a long trail run six days before. I had just finished first year of lovely grad school (how do those semi-professionals go to school AND train!? Mucho respeto!). So, it's a good starting point...

... because I've decided to run Philly in November. When I decide to run a marathon, I don't do half way. I want to feel prepared and as strong as possible. I'm going for a PR. I want that feeling again of being super fit. I want to be starving every 2 hours on the dot. I want to feel fast. I want to feel as healthy as I've ever felt. Colorado summer and mountains, altitude training, trail runs to slow me down on long runs, farmers market veggie salads, no East coast humidity, and inspiring new training partners -- I'm ready to commit to what it takes:

going to sleep early on Friday nights to get up for Saturday morning long runs
track workouts once a week
tempo runs
paying for essentials (new shoes every 6-8 weeks, massage, post-run recovery shake powder)
finally getting The Stick and a foam roller
eating right
consistency, consistency, consistency
a just do it and "it's-like-brushing-your-teeth" attitude

I can do this! Right?