Running and hockey. That is all I really needed to understand about the Nashville Predator's FANGtastic 5k Run/Walk when Samantha proposed we enter the event late last month. As the participation gift consists of home game tickets and a t-shirt (who doesn't need one of those, right?), I saw it as a perfect opportunity to ensure that I met my self-imposed quota of at least one game per month. At least for February.
Oh yeah. Running. Do I do that?
I am not an athletic person, and I really never have been. I have, however, been blessed with an exceptional metabolism that allows me to eat twice the recommended food portions and manage to lose or at least maintain my weight. I am not naive enough to think that will last forever, so perhaps a more active lifestyle will be good for us. We (meaning Samantha) set up a schedule of Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday "training" sessions. Five kilometers (roughly two miles) is a good distance to gauge how well your body can handle strenuous activity, or so I have heard. While I feel pretty good after tonight's 20 minute session, my shins ache something fierce.
In two weeks I will have been at my job for three months, tying the tenure at my last post-graduation stint. The time seems to have flown by a great deal faster, even with the cold winter setting up for an extended stay. I saw the year's first snow flakes last Friday, albeit there was barely enough on the roads to whip around the semi truck tires. These are the kinds of things you notice on a commute.
Our Christmas tree sits in the corner of the living room of our apartment. While most see the festive faux evergreen as merely a symbol of the holidays, I cannot help but think of our trip to the Lewisburg Wal-Mart to pick it up the day after Christmas last year. We were very proud of ourselves for paying half price for what many overpaid for this year. I am sure there is some metaphor in that, but it escapes me at this hour.
Shins. Ouch.