What Happened This Summer?

Welp, tomorrow is the beginning of September. Wait, what?! Goodness, when the heck did that happen?

For most of us, September means that summer is over. For K-12, school started around the beginning of September, so in my mind it's always been the end of summer. However, now it seems my school year starts at the end of September now that I'm in college. Which is weird. Another weird thought that comes to mind is that when I'm done with college, I will never have a summer break again. Unless I'm a teacher. That's just sad in my book. Where will I get all of that time to waste?

Despite still having a little less than a month left, I've been thinking about what I've actually accomplished this summer. Some big things were:

• Ran a 20 mile run, plus a lot of other runs
• Completed a full year of College Spanish

Only two big things, but they seemed pretty big. I did do a lot of other things this summer though. For instance, I did quite a bit of reading. At the beginning of summer, I said I would read all of the classic literature that everyone has to read in classes. That... did not happen, but I did get a lot of reading in. There was Chelsea Handler, Brave New World, random books from the library telling me helpful hints about life, just whatever looked interesting. Besides, isn't that what you should read anyway? Currently I'm reading a book called Hungry, and it's a memoir from this model who's a plus sized model now. I remember reading something about it in a magazine awhile ago, and it sounded interesting. She kind of goes off topic a lot though.

There were a lot of little things that happened this summer as well. Time with family and time with friends. Time spend outside in the wonderful sun.Time wasted. Time well spent. Time spent trying to cook, failing miserably.

Overall, it's been a pretty good summer. I'm not sure I'm ready to go back! On the other hand, I'm excited for what lies ahead this school year.

What big things happened in your life this summer?

Sorta Like A Horror Movie... Except Not Really Threatening

I'd like you to think about any horror movie with a shower scene. I'm not talking about some dirty scene, but where scary stuff happens. We all know the classic example with Psycho, and the chocolate syurp stab feast. (In case you didn't know, Hitchcock used chocolate syrup for blood in that movie because you couldn't tell what color it was. Fun fact. 90% sure I know what I'm talking about. Anywho.) Back to my point, horror movies love to point out horrific things happening in showers. In the Grudge, a freakin' hand starts crawling out of the back of Sarah Michelle Gellar's head for a split second. Other than that, I don't know a lot about horror movies, but I do know that showers are breeding grounds for nightmares.

For me, I've always been a little creeped out showers. If you get soap in your eyes, you are temporarily blind, and anything can get you. When I was younger I would make sure I got all of the shampoo off of me as soon as I could, just so I wouldn't have much of a chance of being caught blind.

Fortunately, none of that was on my mind for my shower today. I turned the water off, turned around, looked up...
And was greeted by this thing dangling above my head.

Thankfully, I didn't have to spend anymore time in the shower so I bolted out of there. It may not look so creepy, but image that hanging directly over your head. It's about as long as my nose. Eugh.

Oh, and it's still there. Not really sure what to do about it, but I need to deal with it before I shower again, eh?

What type of horror movie situation has always freaked you out in real life?

Sweets and Strength Training

You know those people who always talk about what food they should be eating, or what they should be doing. Every little thing that passes by their mouth needs to have a comment included. No one likes that person.

...but tonight, that's going to be me. Sort of.

For the most part, I eat a pretty good diet. I make sure to eat my fruits and veggies, I eat wheat instead off white. It's not like I'm eating those weird veggies that apparently are what keep Superman alive, but still it's decent. There is one part of my diet that is terrible, and that is sugar. As in, I eat way too much of it.

I just love sweets. Supposedly, sweets are making a comeback. I've been seeing a lot of magazines articles supporting the consumption of sweets. After the onslaught of sweets being the worst thing in the world, apparently it's okay to have a little. I have to say, I was in on this trend before sweets became a thing again. I'm losing track of what I'm talking about, so I'll just say that they do say a little bit of sweet is good, but in moderation.

I have the problem where I just can't stop. When I get sweets, I have a hard time controlling how many I eat. That? That needs to change, because well... I'm heavier than when I started college. Sure, it's only a couple of pounds, but that could slowly creep up. Plus, I need to learn a little something about control. One dessert (or sweet thing) a day! It's not just for my current health, but it's for my health in the future.

Which brings me to point number two. Strength Training, or, the more open ended exercise other than running. After taking today off from running as well (guh), I came to the realization that other than running for exercise, in the words of Prince Naveen, "I don't really know how to do anything." Yeah, I watched The Princess and The Frog at my cousin's house again. Gosh that movie is cute. What was I saying? Oh yes.

Sure, I know how to do other exercises but in my mind it seems like it takes so much brain power to create a regiment. Yes I know how stupid that sounds. With running, it's easy to make up a schedule. Heck, I already have an idea for what my running schedule will be after the marathon! With anything else, it seems so complicated. The real reason for someone like a personal trainer isn't for the workout plans (mostly), it's for the motivation.

I know how much I'm sounding like one of those weight loss shows. You know, where the person is like "Boo hoo, I don't know how I got to this size, nothing I do is my fault!" Sometimes, I can't stand those people in those things but I guess I can say I'm seeing a glimpse on their side of the argument. Although hell if I have anything on their argument. For instance, today I was talking to my aunt about BMI and she said, "Huh, I thought you were under the normal range." I'm definitely not, but it made me realize a little about how we view ourselves. I'm not big, but I still have insecurities. Mostly, I've just been feeling marshmallowy from a lack of muscle, and that's a sucky feeling.

So, my plan is to start doing something in the strength training realm. I'm going to try and make a boot camp type thing up for myself, and I'll keep y'all updated. If no updates, you'll know I'm being a lazy ass.

Well that's what's been on my mind lately. I'll try to be more entertaining tomorrow.

What habits do you need to start working on?

Running Roadblocks

I promised myself that I wouldn't talk as much about running, but... here we are.

My run yesterday was a great run, but there was one little part that wasn't great. Between miles 2 and 3, I started getting a pain just above my heel on the back of my leg. It faded quickly, but after my run it felt like there was a bruise there.

I told my family of this. They said it could be my achilles. Yeah, that didn't make very happy. What made me less happy is what I'm going to have to do.

I'm going to take more than one day off of running. I haven't done that since December.

You see, many runners have a problem with taking days off. I know that I'm not the only runner who has a problem with this. Still, I know that if I don't take more than a day off, I could injury myself even more.

All I know is that I will complete that marathon in October, even if I have to crawl across that finish line.

And who knows? Maybe a little rest will be good. I talked to another person who has run a couple marathons today, and her longest run was 16 miles! How crazy is that?

Other than that, been hanging at my family's house. Yup.

Do you have trouble taking breaks from training despite risk of injury? Or do you stop at the first sign of anything wrong?

Commenting and the Internet

So I have a confession.

Sometimes, when I say that after I have a long run, I just move slowly. For a lot of the time, that's true. However, sometimes I just want time to chill before I go off and do other things. That's what's happening now. Then again, that could really be part of me just moving slowly after a long run as well.

Actually, I have another confession.

I am a lurker. Okay, that sounds creepy let's explain that shall we?
Online, there are many wonderful places, and things that people create. Blogs, for instance. And with many of these things online, there are places where others can comment. Comments are what can fuel some of the Internet community to do great things! Sometimes the fans of something can say things more witty than the creators of such things. That's where I have a problem. I'm terrible at commenting on things, and I know that commenting is awesome. There are times where I will go through the entire archive of something and never comment. I have about 20 blogs on my blog roll. I regularly comment on about 3 of those, and sometimes I'm iffy then. There are a few channels on YouTube that I really enjoy watching. Have I ever commented on these videos? No. Why is that?

I think part of the reason for my lack of commenting comes from the good ol' comparison problem. You see, some people have incredible fans. That's intimidating. It shouldn't be, but for me, I try and compare to the most amazing fan they have. What if my comment seems dumb in comparison? Then again, there are the boatload of other comments on the Internet that involve "BOOBS DICK", but I don't compare myself to them. Why is that? Hm.
I suppose another thing is I'll think of a comment, think about writing it, then forget. I'm kind of lazy sometimes, remember?

Another thing that I realize is that commenting on blogs can help get others to take a look at my blog. And make others more likely to comment on my blog as well. Because currently, I think five people, including my sister and mother read my blog. Yeah.

I like commenting, I just never know if my comment is going to come across stupid. Still, I really ought to try and comment more. I think I just want my first comment on any blog/vlog/whatever to be a witty one. Like anyone will remember? No. Who cares? It's a comment, they feel nice. Just another example of me, over thinking a situation.

Speaking of which, my sister was talking to me the other day and she asked, "Who's this Kat that said something about urban U of O or whatever?"
To which I replied, "Oh, it's another blogger, I read her blog too."
"Wait. You've never actually met this person?"
"Nope."

Oh, the power of the Internet. (And I'm still thinking about doing a U of O life thing, but if I do it won't be until I actually get down there. So we'll see.)

Other than that, been bitten by a lot of bugs lately! What's the deal with that?

What's your online status? I.E. are you a lurker or an avid commenter?

Hiking Adventures

As I said yesterday, I went hiking today!

I'm usually not the hiking type. I don't do camping, and hiking is similar to that. However, when a friend asks you to go hiking, you say why not? It was lovely.
I wasn't sure if the weather was going to be very good for hiking because last night there were some crazy thunderstorms. Fortunately, it cleared up and we were on our way.

We explored. We ventured. I fell on my ass in the river during the first 10 minutes, causing my lower half to be partially soaked for the rest of the hike. It didn't matter though, it was still a good hike.

The lack of pictures is due to the fact that after my fall, my bag was soaked and so my electronics (phone and camera) went into my friend's water backpack. Yeah, he's extreme. Actually, I can't find my camera at the moment, so no pictures at all. Boo.

This is the guy who started running this year, and basically became an extreme running dude. He's already run the distance of a marathon, but he's never actually run a race marathon. Today, he signed up for the Portland Marathon! Hurrah!

Speaking of which, I'm not ready to run tomorrow. Buh, I was so tired last time. I hope that tomorrow's run will be alright.

Have you gone on any outdoor adventures lately?

What's My Age Again?

All of my life, I've been looking to the future. What's next after this step? What should I do now to make sure my future works out all right? I constantly try to live in the moment, but the rest of my mind gets caught up in what could be next. With the constant worrying about the future, I think about things like career and how I'm going to take care of myself one day.

My futuristic look isn't only through my life, I tend to connect with those "living in the future" for a lack of a better way to say it. It feels like I've always been drawn to groups older than me. The people I hung out with during this year at school were mostly juniors. I've found more similarities with my sister's friends than people from my grade. That tends to be kind of the case online as well.

It seems that much of the blogging world consists of females who are in the last years of college or older. In many of the blogs that I read, people are getting married, buying their first homes, getting real jobs, all that jazz. When reading about that type of stuff, I start to think about how far behind I must be. Then I realize: Hell, I'm only 19! I've got a lot of time to do stuff like that. It just feels like I should be getting it done now, you know?

That's just the thing. I'm still a kid. I still refer to my parent's house as my house. I still have a messy room. I'm still fairly young despite how crotchety I may act sometimes.

And sure, it's great to think about the future, but I know I gotta loosen up a little! Take the plunge on random experiences. It's all about once again living a happy medium.

Well that's my recent epiphany. Just had to get that out of my head. Other than that, I'm going hiking tomorrow morning. I don't really hike. We'll see how that turns out!

Do you ever had trouble acting your age?