5K Run or Bust!

For the past few years, I have participated in the Susan G. Komen Race/Walk for a Cure in Central Park, NYC and this year will be no different.  Well, there is a slight difference this year as I have been challenged by my friend, Sheryl to actually RUN this event and not walk like we usually do.  Seriously??  Running??  Unless someone is chasing me with a knife, I've never understood the appeal of running.  Last fall, I attempted to become a runner on the advice of another friend and I tried... HONEST!  I tried!  And had it not been for a week long trip to the hospital and the awful winter we had, I might have stuck with it, but instead I spent the winter laying on the couch watching the snow fall instead of exercising. 

Soooooo, I now have almost 12 weeks to train for this race.  Okay, to be honest, I actually started training 2 weeks ago, but I didn't want to mention it until I fully committed to this endeavor.  Now it looks like I'm on a mission to at least attempt to run on Sunday, September 18 for 5 kilometers... that's 3.1 miles for those of us who never really grabbed onto the metric system.  I'm training for this run with a very smart application on my iTouch called "Couch to 5K."  What it does is gradual increase your running time in increments.  For instance, the first week, I started with 5 minute warm up walk, then I ran for 60 seconds, walked for 90 seconds, ran for 60 seconds, walked for 90 seconds, etc.  Then each week the running increases while the walking decreases and (according to the application) I should be running a 5k in 9 weeks time by training a mere 3 days a week.  Hmmmm.  Sounds easy enough. 

Of course, my first time out (when I reached the end of the 20 minute work out), I thought I might throw up and pass out and found myself cursing Sheryl with the vehemence of a drunken sailor, but today I started week 3 and it is getting easier, surprisingly - although the urge to vomit is still there.  While I still don't love running (and probably never will), I am determined that I will succeed in September by actually running this important event.  I suspect that grandmothers with walkers will probably beat my time.  I will post occasional updates and keep you apprised of my progress.  I hope everyone will support me in the Fall and help make this run a complete success.  Sheryl, I love you but your killing me with this challenge.  :-)

The Susan G. Komen Foundation is a wonderful charity.  They were there for me when I went through my breast cancer treatment and I like paying it forward and making sure that this foundation continues their good works for future breast cancer patients.  Let's hope a cure is found soon!

US Postal Service Rantings!

I swore that I would try to keep my blog posts positive but something seriously needs to be done about the US Postal Service in NY.  Here's the story:

In early May, I put in a change of address effective June 1 from NYC to Newburyport.  Easy enough.  I gave them 3 weeks notice.  After about 3-4 days, I noticed that I wasn't getting any mail.  I called my local post office and spoke with Maria, my mail carrier in NYC who indicated that yes, my mail was being held already in preparation for my change of address.  <sigh>  She said that she would fix it in the computer and left a note the next day on my mail stating that she changed it so that effective June 1 my mail would be forwarded.  Sounds perfect, right??  

Jump ahead to today.  I realized that I have been in Massachusetts now 3 weeks and noticed that I have not received one piece of forwarded mail.  Now I know I'm good at giving my change of address out but still it seems unlikely that I would have remembered to let everyone know about my change of address.  So I called my old carrier today.  She remembered everything that occurred in early May -- except she thought that I was still living in the apartment!  WTF?!?!  So she has been delivering my mail for the past 3 weeks... TO MY OLD APARTMENT!!!!   ARGH!!!  Once again I am so glad not to be living in NYC where incompetency runs amok and people get rewarded for stupidity.  And while I know that incompetency and stupidity are a world-wide phenomenon, it seems that NYC has a higher rate of these traits than anywhere else.  Or maybe it's just that I hate NYC so much.  Either way, I'm glad I'm gone.   

<Okay, Sandi...breathe in, breathe out...deep cleansing breaths>  I feel better now. 

I Hear Church Bells Ringing...

Honestly!  It's not an aural hallucination.  The weather has been so gorgeous that I keep all my windows open to let the beautifully clean fresh Massachusetts air circulate through my apartment.  While sitting on my couch watching reruns of NCIS, reading a novel or surfing the web in search of jobs (sometimes all three at the same time), I will occasionally hear the ringing of church bells from a nearby steeple and find myself smiling at the musicality of the moment.  

 

Now as most of those who know me, I am an avowed atheist and have absolutely no use for or respect of organized religion, so the ringing of the church bells does not instill in me a sense of worship or lure me to the church like a siren singing her song.  Hearing these chimes though does bring to mind visions of horse drawn carriages, elegant ladies dressed in long gowns and elbow length gloves, dapper gentlemen in top hats and tails and country dances.  

Okay, okay, I know.  I'm a hopeless romantic who has spent way too much time reading Jane Austen.  And although I have given up any hope of finding a Fitzwilliam Darcy to share witticisms with my Elizabeth Bennet persona, I enjoy having these images in my brain on a daily basis.  Living in a town as old as Newburyport (settled in 1635 and officially became a city in 1851), it is easy to imagine oneself living at a simpler time.  Don't get me wrong - I love modern conveniences.  I cannot envision living without indoor plumbing, electricity and my iPod Touch, but some days I like to visualize those times of old.  I'm convinced that in one of my former lives, I lived in the time of Jane Austen, although I was probably a scullery maid and not the refined daughter of an English gentleman, but I can dream can't I?

For those of you who haven't understood any of the Austen references, run (don't walk) to your nearest bookstore or library and pick up a copy of Pride and Prejudice.  If you're not a reader, then I recommend the Colin Firth/Jennifer Ehle version of P&P -- do NOT watch the Keira Knightley version...even the wonderful Matthew MacFadyen cannot save that bastardized version. 

You Can Take the Girl Out of New York...

...But taking New York out of the girl is going to take some time.

I (along with my friend, Christy and Christy's mom) journeyed to the local community theatre (The Firehouse Center for the Performing Arts) this past Friday night to see Forbidden Newburyport, Newburyport's own version of Forbidden Broadway.  It was a really cute show and about half the cast were surprisingly good performers bbbbbuuuuuut...  that being said...  As a 35+ year stage veteran, I couldn't stop myself from being overly critical of the other half of the cast.  It's a terrible habit that I got into while living in New York and one that I'm going to have to try to break myself from doing.  I spent half the time laughing at the material and the other half picking apart their subpar performances.  Clearly, these performers were on stage for the sheer joy of performing and not to advance their career (which is a refreshing change from NYC non-Broadway theatre).  Although I think many of the performers were very good donors to the theatre.  Oops, there I go again.  

For the most part, I had a really enjoyable night and found the show to be an entertaining way to learn about my new town, which apparently has dog poo issues (really, dog owners pick up your dog's deposits)!  There were two moments that really stuck with me: the first was a ballad about the reeking local landfill (sung to the tune "Maria" from West Side Story) (hilarious!) and the four octogenarians performing a tap dance routine which really inspired me to want to return to dance class.  And perhaps very soon, visitors to and residents of the Port may see my return to the stage - after a mere 6 year hiatus. 

Fingers crossed.