Maresy Dotes: I was lost so I went for a run.

I was angry, so I went for a run. And things got better.
I was confused, so I went for a run. And things got better.
I was exhausted, so I went for a run. And things got better.
I was lost, unsure, empty, afraid. Certain that whatever was left of my sanity had snapped, had come untethered and floated away, to a place so high and remote that I would never see it again, and that even if I did, I wouldn't recognize it.
So I went for a run. And things got better.
I felt like things could not possibly get worse, so I went for a run. And things got better.
(Another time, I felt like things could not get much better. I went for a run. Things got much better.)
After enough miles, over enough runs and enough years, I realized: No matter what, no matter when, or where, or why, I can find my shoes and go for a run and things will get better. And that realization? Just knowing that? It made things better.

- Mark Remy

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I read this on facebook this morning and it exactly sums up my last few months. I believe that there are peaks, valleys and flatlands in life and I was in a flatland for quite a while that very quickly turned into a valley. But I am confident that if I keep moving I will come out on the other side because valleys can't go on forever and I can see the mountains in the horizon. And why just move when I can run? So I I am. A lot.

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To bring you up to speed on the mundane things of life (I don't know why the font is different down here but I like variety so let's roll with it):

-My back has been great for the last few months. There are some days that it's really painful but they are few and far between now and nothing that a few stretches and some ibuprophen can't fix and for that I am grateful. It really hates me running anything over than 10 miles but then again it always has so that's not new.

-My pets are healthy and happy and chubby. Trixie decided to whack Archie in the face a couple of weeks ago and as soon as it happened it was immediately clear that she was painful. I checked her eye and could see a visible scratch on her cornea. Cue my overactive vet tech imagination where I envisioned a puncture leading to a corneal ulcer leading to an enucleation and a one eyed rabbit (I've seen this exact scenario more than once so my fears weren't unfounded). After calling every veterinarian in the area that I could think of (Crying. Let's not leave out that I was crying because I can't handle my pets in pain) none of them could see her (it was a Saturday and it turns out finding a vet who sees exotics on a Saturday is more difficult than convincing me to wear pants between April and November) so I drove her over an hour away to a veterinarian that I had a working relationship with and who I knew specialized in cats and rabbits. In the end the injury was a fairly deep scratch but no puncture so we drove back home with pain medication and eye drops and within a few days (and a bag of yogurt drops as rewards for letting me shove things in her eye) she was as good as new. Moral of the story: my cat has anger issues and my rabbit is a money pit.

The only thing about having to take her to the vet is that she actually want to be held.

-Archie turned two right before her eye injury. I gave her a cardboard box with a hole cut in the side and she liked it even better than the $200 hutch she got for last year's birthday. Live and learn.

-I've been really dedicated to running lately because it's the one stable thing I have to hang on to right now. Since January I have done the Resolution Run (I think it was 4-5 miles, it's really informal and the route changes every year so I'm not sure), the Chilly Chili 5k (you might remember it from last year when it was my only DNF to date because my pants were falling down...and if you don't remember from reading it here then don't worry, my mom did and didn't let me forget it), the Tipp Hill Shamrock Run which is 4 miles and I PR'd, and the Syracuse Half Marathon (I'll write a longer post about that one, it was a great race). I finally found a group of people to run with which has been beneficial not just for the camaraderie but for learning how to push myself. I had fallen into a rut of running with people who were slower than me so I wasn't ever pushing myself. For example in January I ran the Chilly Chili at a 12 minute mile pace and by March I had gotten my 5k pace down to 10 minute miles. Yeah, this is still painfully slow but I stuck to my plan that 2012 was to get my distance back and 2013 was to get my times back down. I'm really close to getting back into 9-- minute miles now and I'm pretty proud of that even if a toddler on a scooter could pass me. I'm thankful for the awesome people I have met who have pushed me to push myself even if I did throw up in someone's yard when I was training for the Tipp Hill run (to be fair I was really sick and I was a snot faucet but I ran anyway).

-One of my most awesome friends sent me the Garmin Forerunner 10 for Christmas and it's the greatest thing that has ever happened to me. Have I ever mentioned how lucky I am in the friend department? Because I am. I have no idea why when all I do is talk about my rabbit and rocks and nailpolish and running but somehow they stick around. Blessed, I tell you.

Yes, I'm on the phone in this picture. I'm a multitasker.

-I finally joined a gym! Which was huge since I hate the idea of doing anything other than running and I was really excited about trying new things but...then I started spending an hour on the treadmill killing myself on intervals (and sweating like a mother), then spending 30 minutes on the stairmasters and then going home. This backfired on me big time because despite spending an hour and a half at the gym a day plus running 15+ miles outside a week after a month and a half I did not lose one pound, one inch or one bit of body fat (I was eating really well too). After rethinking and reevaluating and of course researching it all I am going to start strength training tomorrow. I might even start doing P90X finally the thought of which makes me want to hyperventilate but I need to start building muscle and stop being such an untoned cardio junkie.

-Oh! I finally put my Kitchenaid mixer to a real test!

First I bought Guinness for the first time.