Running In My Neighborhood

Saturday morning, after my Push Circuit workout, I went for a run. I'm calling it a run because I managed to keep an 11 minute/mile pace for over 3 miles, only pausing to grab water or wait for cars to pass. There is something wonderful about running in my neighborhood. When I first moved into the area of Houston that I live, I did so mostly because of the walkability and the community. I've forgotten that in the past couple of years.

I haven't been walking or biking as much. I've been staying inside. And that is something that I am working to change.

Because my run on Saturday renewed that feeling of community.

I took the side streets over to the top of the Heights Esplanade, where there's a running trail that winds down all the way to I-10. It was a beautiful morning, and the sun was out, the cool breeze was blowing, and there were PEOPLE!

People walking dogs

People planting trees for the community

Friends bringing their babies for walks

Playgrounds full of kids

It was exactly why I moved there. And I needed that reminder at a time that I've been waffling between what our best route forward should be. Do we stay & build? Do we move and have a larger home for a smaller mortgage? There are many questions that we'll be weighing over the next couple years. And until then, we'll stay. Because I love our neighborhood.

I also love running. It's a pain sometimes, but it's something that I've done for 2/3 of my life. I began running in track and cross country in middle school and continued competing through high school and on my intramural team in college. Since then, I've cycled through periods where I run more and I run less. I have had years where I went from work straight to the running trail around Rice University. I have had years where I only got out to run about once every week or two. I've had years where I ran every day at lunchtime. I've had years where I haven't run at all. But the skillset that I've ingrained in myself from the years of running competitively stay. I critique other runners' techniques noting what their stride or manner of gait will lead to what types of injuries and imbalances. I try to turn that off, and just critique my own running.

Running becomes a meditative state for me.
I rarely run with music or headphones, since I learned when I wasn't allowed to have them for competitions. 

I keep time with my heart and my breath and my footfalls.

Breathe in for two footfalls,

Breathe out for two footfalls,
step step breathe
step step breathe
Meditation

Lead with the hips
Relax the shoulders
Keep a relaxed curl in my hands
Push off with the back foot
Stride up, not out
Drive with the hips
Relax the arms

Breathe in for two footfalls,

Breathe out for two footfalls,
step step breathe
step step breathe

I owe myself a run tomorrow morning. This morning was too foggy to safely run where there were cars driving.

~Katie

P.S. I figure you guys might like an update on the Fitbit Force issues I've been having. I took advantage of the trade in/partial refund offer, and sent in my Force in exchange for the One (I think I got a lemon, though, but that's not the point). After less than a week of using the steroid cream my dermatologist gave me, I determined that the patch was sufficiently healed to discontinue the use and let the natural healing begin. Steroid cream will thin the skin, and I didn't want to have it thin too much as to impair the healing process. The skin has started growing back, and I put neosporin on it to keep it from drying out and to encourage the healing process. Seems like it's working!
The small patch on the right wrist stopped after I put the steroid cream on it for two days and is unnoticable, unless you're me and you know exactly what to look/feel for.

Also, I just wanted to clarify on one of my recent posts. I was not holding Kate Upton up as an image of what I think I should look like. I saw the image and immediately thought that that's me, that's my body type, that's what I feel like. And that I realize that it's her full-time job to look like that. She trains for hours a day and eats restrictively to achieve that shape. She's also 10 years younger than me. I do not think, nor am I aiming to have that body. I do not think that it is a failure on my part, nor am I holding it up as the epitome. I simply realized when I saw it and thought that it was how I feel that I have turned a huge corner in my mental health. After a year of hard work, I have gone from someone who constantly picked herself apart and apathetically thought I was not sexy or attractive at all to someone who feels like a sexpot supermodel on the inside. And that is a huge turnaround in body confidence that I wanted to share with y'all.