Mega-Thon

This song helped me push through the halfway point in my 7.75 mile run this afternoon.

I needed motivation to get back into a groove, considering I have been slacking since beginning my job as Editor in Chief of The Ithacan, which has kept me far too busy all semester long and my health has taken a backseat.

But my goal is to complete the annual Skunk Cabbage Classic in Ithaca this spring, and finally run that half marathon I've wanted to! I'm only about 5 miles shy of pushing myself to complete the 13.1 distance.

It's not that I haven't been running. I just haven't been sleeping — and therefore haven't had any time for posting. It has been weeks since I last updated my blog, which I feel is a reflection of the overwhelmed craziness I'm living right now.

I just moved into my friend's apartment. I have two weeks left in San Francisco. My summer fellowship program and project are coming to an end. The fellowship retreat and training I've been planning are just about to begin this week. I'm about to go full-force into planning for The Ithacan this upcoming year... Shall I go on?

I'm also losing motivation to run because either 1) I'm too tired, 2) it's too late by the time I get home, or 3) I'm not in a proper state of mind to be exercising.

I'm also feeling incredibly guilty and lame after hearing from three different people about their amazing personal exercise accomplishments. A friend just hiked the Colorado Trail, running 20 miles/day with his friend for 20 days. Another friend just completed a half-marathon while a friend of a friend is currently training for her second one.

I can do this!

In two weeks I've managed to settle into my new apartment in San Francisco, reconnect with many good friends in the city, meet an amazing group of people in my fellowship program and bond with them over a week-long intensive training, dog sit, eat lots of free food and drink a decent amount.

Clearly, I've been slacking on this plan to train for a half-marathon by the end of the summer.

But I still can do it! I just need to get my body back into shape (shedding that tiny beer pouch that started growing) and gearing it up for longer runs.

Luckily, I live right next to Golden Gate Park and took a beautiful 4-mile run through parts of it. There's a breath-taking Rose Garden only one block from my house. I ran through it last and felt very refreshed and energized upon finishing my route.

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I forgot how much I love using this tool when I'm in the mood for finding a new route — especially a long one to break outside my 3.5 to 4 mile routine.

Today, I just created the "beach-Buttonball" 6.5 mile route on my account, and ran it in 53 minutes. The website calculates your average pace and calories burned each time you log a workout.

Assuming I would have no time to exercise amid the six days of Senior Week madness, I started on the right foot — a four-mile trail run before it all began.

Monday's morning trail run proceeded an 11 a.m. meeting time followed by a day's worth of preparation for the Kick-Off event. I got home at 3:30 this morning, then hopped up to load seniors onto buses for their wine tours.

With little sleep and too much energy, I hit campus and worked up and down the hills for a good 20 minutes.

So far, not bad. I'm waiting for the energy crash this afternoon.

But only in time to fuel up for an evening of Drinks on the Lake, trivia and dancing!

Because it has been one hot month of May, so far!

The Color Splash Run definitely motivated me to get my booty back in gear for the summer. April was by far the fastest-paced, most sleep-deprived, unhealthy month I've had all year. I had to buy four new pairs of pants... no thanks to all the pizza I was eating.

My friend just ran the Bridge Run half-marathon in Binghamton, N.Y., and finished under 1.5 hours — and she's not even a runner. It's definitely time to put the game face on and keep going.

I ran the IthacaColorRun5K race this morning at Stewart Park — and won first place for female runners and fourth overall. Not too shabby for not having run competitively since high school.

After taking a major training break this month—and eating way too much junk food and pizza—it was nice to say farewell to a lazy and stressful April and "splash" into May with COLOR! The corn starch colored yellows, blues, pinks and greens motivated everyone to keep blazing the trail in what was Ithaca's hottest day of the year so far!

It was also an amazing feeling knowing my time hasn't slowed too poorly since I ran cross country in high school. My 5K time was 21:10, which is only about a minute slower than my average from three years ago. Though the trail was quite flat and doesn't factor in my lethargic uphill pace.

Today was the beginning of what will be the last week of my junior year of college. It's also the kick in the butt I needed to get me back on track to train for the half-marathon I so eagerly want to run this summer.

As someone aspiring to complete a half-marathon this summer, I've also had dreams of eventually making it to the "big runs" in Boston or New York City. But Monday's bombings at the Boston Marathon—an annual event that brings together the running community—have really shaken me up.

I've waited to comment on how I feel about the bombings. As a journalist, I'm disappointed in the media's initial coverage—jumping to conclusions, racial profiling, sensationalizing the alleged 'terror,' reporting of false facts. It took until today before mainstream outlets like CBS, which has been live streaming the police search for the suspects, to give fair, balanced and not reactionary coverage.

As a runner, I'm wary. What does this event imply for the future of mass sporting events? How will this change security at the marathons and community runs that happen daily across the nation?

Running is an outlet, a passion, and an escape. My feet become my wings, temporarily carrying me far away from the chaos, noise and distractions of my day-to-day routine. It's how I speak with nature, as my feet bend with the earth's roots. It's how I clear my mind, letting my thoughts wander among the winding paths and soar above sky-high trees as I gate through the trails.

My gut tells me that the hype around this event will dwindle in weeks to come—sadly, as is the case with most reports of mass destruction and violence these. But the fear built up may linger among the running community, and change the ways in which our 'fitness' culture may come together.

My multitasking sometimes scares me.

Last night, I hopped on the elliptical and managed to watch a documentary on a boy who was socialized to be a girl after a genital "accident" (as doctors' alleged), then read a chapter about gassing tomatoes with chemicals to turn them red from "mature green."

Not so much a power workout, but an interesting one nonetheless.

I've been really bad about staying on my training track since spring break. The weather is finally getting nicer, at least sunnier, so there may be some hope for trail runs soon. Perhaps once life slows down, I get more sleep and can complete the work I need to by the end of the semester...