Walking Update!

Forrest Gump once said, "Those must be comfortable shoes.  I bet you could walk all day in shoes like that and not feel a thing."

Well, I don't think I could walk all day in any shoes and not feel a thing.  But I know I was not feeling comfortable in my Brooks size 10 sneakers.  Too often, I have been getting blisters and black toe nails.  I'm sure the sneakers were fine, but they didn't fit right for me.  So, based on a recommendation from a friend from work, I stepped into Marathon Sports in Norwell, MA this afternoon aiming to find a pair of new sneakers!

The guy who helped fit me did a great job.  I'm a strange bird when it comes to sizing for shoes because I've been gifted with a significant shoe size difference among my feet - size 10 for my left foot... size 8.5 for my right foot.  It makes life difficult finding the right pair of shoes.  There are some deals out there for "mixed pair" shoes, but the guy at Marathon Sports told me he could find me the right pair of shoes without that hassle.  After the fitting routine, I ended up with the Nike Air Zoom Structure Triax +11 shoes, in a size 10.5.  I think the slightly larger shoes will help cut down on the issue of black toenails and blisters.

I splurged at the store a bit.  Thanks to the rave review I've heard from my friend Erin, I decided to get the Nike + iPod Sport Kit.  It's like a fancy high-tech pedometer that hooks up to your iPod.  A sensor goes into a specially designed pit in the inside sole of my new Nike sneakers.  Then I connect a small "receiver" into my iPod nano that detects the sensor as I walk.  Now my iPod actually talks to me as I'm walking, telling me how I'm doing in terms of distance, time, and pace.  It's not the annoying GPS voice, but a pleasant motivating voice.  Then at the end of the walk, the results are analyzed and put into a cool chart on my computer.  Pretty awesome!  If you follow me on Facebook, you'll probably start seeing all the crazy data it spits out onto my profile.

Also, if you're a walker (or a runner), don't you hate all the stuff in your pockets bouncing around?  I know I hate it - especially my cell phone!  I purchased an Amphipod Micropack Satellite that clamps onto the waistband of my pants/shorts.  Plenty of space for the phone, keys, and ID.  And the last thing I got was a long-sleeve bright orange "wicking" shirt.  All the shirts I have for walking are short-sleeve.  The weather's getting cooler, so soon I'll need a good long-sleeve shirt designed for all that sweating! (eww)

I walked four miles this afternoon with everything above (except for the long sleeve shirt), tested it all out, and I loved it!  Can you believe I'm now just about three weeks away from my UnitedHealthCare half marathon in Newport, RI on October 17th?  Oh, I can't... so pumped for it!  Check out the course map. Training-wise, this Sunday is my weekly long-distance walk, and it's the longest one - 10.5 miles (hey, that matches my shoe size!).  From Sunday on, the tapering begins - shorter training distances.

Stay tuned.

North Carolina Vacation

Every year in September, my parents, my uncle, and I have a family vacation in the Outer Banks of North Carolina for a week.  I usually get stressed out each year because the vacation comes just a couple weeks after we open the residence halls where I work, but this year I let all that stress go.  It was a wonderful and restful week at the ocean in Duck, NC.  We did some sightseeing of places we haven't been to before, and I got in few pictures, of course!

Firstly, if you're not familiar with the Outer Banks, it has a lot of history.  It's a thin stretch of islands extending north and south over about 200 miles, on the eastern coast of North Carolina.  There were a lot of shipwrecks off the coast there due to the shallow ocean waters.  There are a few major tourist areas like Nags Head and Kill Devil Hills (where the Wright Brothers took the first flight in 1903), but compared to many other ocean communities on the east coast, the Outer Banks are overall a fairly quiet place. 
 

One of the first things we did was drive down to Cape Hatteras.  It's about 1.5 to 2 hours south of Duck, and we had never been that far south before on the Outer Banks.  I was really excited to see and climb the Cape Hatteras Lighthouse.  It was originally built in 1803 but was later destroyed due to erosion and the Civil War.  They built another one, which stands there today, in 1870.  It's the tallest lighthouse in North America - 12 stories tall.  The park ranger at the entrance informed us that when the light was run on kerosene, the lighthouse keeper had to carry a couple of 5 gallon containers of kerosene up to the top three to four times a day.  Whew - that sounds like tough work!  I climbed the stairs to the top and felt a bit woozy, so I can only imagine carrying around 100 pounds of weight several times daily to the top.  The view after that climb was gorgeous, especially due to the beautiful sunny 85 degree weather.  The national seashore was visible as far as the eye could see.

Cape Hatteras Lighthouse

Close-up of Cape Hatteras Lighthouse



Cape Hatteras National Seashore



Woozy me at the top of the lighthouse!



On the same day we had lunch in Wanchese, a small alcohol-free (dry) town due to its religious roots, according to my uncle.  There's a great little restaurant there called Fisherman's Wharf, and I thought the painted mural on the side of the restaurant was cool - "Come and Dine," reads a little banner held up in the air by a couple birds.  You can definitely see the religious impressions in the painting.

Fisherman's Wharf Restaurant

"Come and Dine" mural at Fisherman's Wharf

Late in the week on a Friday, we drove up to Carova Beach, which is the northern most point of the North Carolina coastline.  If you've never heard of it, it has some unique qualities that distinquish it from just about any other town in the whole United States.  Carova Beach doesn't have a single paved road.  It's all sand.  And you won't find any roads that lead to it (Carova Beach, therefore, has no connection to Rome... haha).  You can't get there from Virginia's coastline - there's a "roadblock."  Nope - the only way you can travel to Carova Beach is via twelve miles of ocean beach.  My father has a truck with four wheel drive, so that's how we did it.  It's not the easiest task - you pretty much need to time your drive so that it's as close as possible to low tide - in order to go over the sand when it's wet and flat.  We timed it well driving to Carova Beach, but leaving it was much more difficult as it was closer to high tide.  According to a local real estate agent we met there (Twiddy Real Estate), there are perhaps about 120 year-round residents at Carova.  You won't find any businesses or stores in "town" other than the real estate office.  They have a fire department - that's it in terms of immediate local services.

On the beach near Carova

Ocean View from the truck on the beach

The best part of the trip to Carova Beach in my opinion was the wild horses.  The wild horses, supposedly about 60-80 of them, travel in small groups near Carova Beach and Currituck.  We were lucky to see a few of them hanging out near a couple different houses, but even better when we caught a great glimpse of them on the beach.  There, they seemed to be surrounded by people and vehicles.  A local official seemed to be trying to move people away from the horses to give them some space.  It's illegal for anyone to feed the horses or approach them within 50 feet or so.  We happened to be driving back to Duck along the beach at the time, but I managed to get a few quick photographs of them.  Beautiful creatures!



Wild Horses at Carova Beach



Most of the time while in the Outer Banks, I was reading.  Since my staff chose to go with a Harry Potter theme to the decorations of the Student Apartments where I work, I felt I should read the Harry Potter books.  When I saw one of the RAs' decorations - a key with wings - I was clueless as to its meaning.  Back when all the books were originally coming out, I practically boycotted them due to their popularity and young adult focus.  But now I can certainly see why people love the books.  I'm addicted to them.  I read books 3 (Prisoner of Azkaban) and 4 (Goblet of Fire) in that week-long vacation.  The book series start off so innocent and child-like, but they get darker and more complex as the series progresses.  I'm presently on book 5 now (The Order of the Phoenix).

I also got a few walks in during vacation - two four-mile walks and an eight-mile walk.  Still training for the half marathon!  (more on that in another blog later this week)  On the first four-mile walk, a deer had darted across my path only about ten feet ahead of me (amazing sight, I must say).  On the second four-mile walk, a sneaky little snake had slithered in front of me on the sidewalk.  I think it was a garden snake but I didn't get a close look at it since they frighten the heck out of me.  The eight-mile walk was exceptionally exhausting.  I was glad to do them all though, and the Outer Banks scenery made them all the more enjoyable.

Alright, I'm signing off for the night.  I'll be walking first thing tomorrow morning!

Staying Positive

I was thinking today about how we are constantly in crisis with ourselves between positivity and negativity.  Our emotions and attitudes are always in flux.  I can have days where a terrible mood sets in that creates a barrier around me, pushing others away.  I don't like those days.  Yet they happen, and they pass.  On other days, I feel like I'm taking the high road, intrinsicably hopeful and nonjudgmental.  I think both are absolutely natural.  Ultimately, you are your own best friend and your own worst enemy.  And almost without fail, you have the choice and the ability to decide which you'd rather be.  I hope I lean toward the former.  I'd rather feel empowered to choose, and to choose the right path for myself.  Doing so also makes the rest of the world a brighter place.

And so with that, I refer to a poem that I wrote perhaps around 2002.  It is a message of optimism and empowerment.  The biological references in the poem might make a few snicker or even feel a bit uncomfortable.  But whenever I read this poem over again, I feel secure and certain that I am where I presently should be.  I hope it might help you, too. 

A Chosen One

Who are you to belittle your existence?
Who are you to waste your life away?
Why should you destroy your future?
How can you sit there so depressed?

When the scene was set years ago
Where one of a million eggs lay
Where one of a million sperm prey
And the combination of those two
Where chance beats everything
Where anyone could be created
Where the odds, so unimaginably unthinkable
Were against you
At that moment, you were given a chance
A chance to show what you've got

So don't say life is unfair
Don't complain about the petty things
Don't ignore the beautiful things in life

For the odds were in your favor all along
You were meant to be
Don't question your existence
Be happy you are the one of millions
You are a chosen one.

Been Gone Fishing

It has been far too long since my last blog.  Life has been exceptionally busy since mid-August as I've been smack in the middle of training with our Resident Assistants and then opening of the residence halls.  A crazy 16 straight days of organized chaos with some fantastic people!  However, being the introvert that I am, I'm majorly glad to finally have a bit of a break of alone time for the next couple of days.

Earlier in August, I moved to the Student Apartments on campus.  I'm now in a small but very homey apartment.  Unfortunately, there are no windows - only skylights.  I felt bad for my cat Evey who has been accustomed to full views of the outside world.  So I decided to get a 20 gallon aquarium along with three molly fish so that Evey has something to watch while I'm away all day.  I've never had a fish before in my life except perhaps when I was much younger.  I never knew how complicated it was to set up and maintain an aquarium, taking into consideration: the size of the aquarium, the filter, heater, decorations, water quality (and delicate biological cycle in the beginning), and type of fish.  At the moment, I have a dalmation (like it sounds) molly, a black molly, and a silver lyretail molly.  The naming process was an undertaking in itself.  The dalmation's name is Sergeant Pepper; the black molly is Champ - he is a trooper because as I was pouring the fish from their bag into a net, Champ missed the net and crashed into the bucket below, but he has survived wonderfully; the silver lyretail is Wiseguy since he has no fear of Evey when she presses her little nose up to the tank, plus Wiseguy just has the goofiest personality of the three, I think. 

It didn't take long for me to realize that Sergeant Pepper was pregnant.  She just had babies (or "fry" as they are technically called) on September 1.  Two days later, she is still having more babies.  It's bizarre that molly fish, especially females (including the mother), are like cannibals, eating the young.  I didn't really want to get a breeder net (separates the babies from the adults) because I don't really need that many additional fish in the tank.  I bought some floating plants instead for all the little guys to hide in; this gives them a fighting (or fleeing?) chance to survive the scary monsters.  I've had to crush up the fish flake food into powder so the babies can eat it.  I also had to prevent the fry from getting sucked into the filter, so I invested in some panty hose (an awkward shopping experience) to cover the filter with - it still can do its job somewhat.  I'm a little disturbed by how the filter looks now (see below), but hey... what can you do? :) 

This is definitely a fun and rewarding experience.  I'm really hoping that some of the fish fry survive - considering there are probably around 15-20 babies still after three days, I think some will make it and mature into adults.  Perhaps toward the end of September, once it becomes more apparent how many new fish I'll have, I'll likely go out to the pet store and purchase some different colorful fish!  I think I'm much more interested in the fish than Evey is now.  I can certainly see why people love having an aquarium.