running for heartbreak.

So, I'm not supposed to be running, but, I broke down and I ran. Bad Molly. And oh, I paid for it. But I desperately needed to try out the new spandex my boyfriend got me for Christmas. What else can I do though? Running has slowly become my anecdote for everything - stress, anxiety, happiness, sadness, overeating. The runs in Manchester have also been a really welcome change from the dry air that permeates every waking minute in Albuquerque. I guess I will take the pain with the pleasure, since I have to go home tomorrow and say goodbye to my boyfriend again. What other relief is there for heartbreak at leaving someone you love, even for a short time?

accesorizing sneakers.

As I've mentioned, I have patellar tendonitis so I cannot run for around six weeks. It has also severely limited my footwear to sneakers. Now I wish I was really hip and had a whole plethora of sneakers that I matched with really trendy outfits, but that is hardly the case.

The always cool Dunks, in my office, which I share with two cardboard cutouts of men and three other students. 

My wonderful, trusty running shoes, which have seen no action lately. 

What does one wear with these? Well, for me, this means spandex and workout shirts because that's really the only thing I want to wear in the winter. Voraciously accessorizing those outfits with tons of jewelry might work with boots to make you look really cool and artsy, but with sneakers all the jewelry makes you look like one of the crazy ladies at the gym who wears more bling than a Cartier shop. However, that is not really appropriate for museum work. So, more than a blog discussing my fashion-sense, this is a cry for help. Somebody, please tell me what to wear for the next 5.5 weeks of my life so I don't look like a really colorful gym rat. 

pilates is good for you? ummm, ok.

I've been very dedicated to yoga for almost four years now and I can hardly go two days without spending some time in downward dog and various other awkward positions. I am obsessed with a certain studio and certain teachers at that studio, and I do not care much to change my routine. That is, until, one of the teachers suggested I try a Pilates class because she said, "I think it will be good for you. You can't spend your whole life doing yoga and running!" While I disagree with the last part, I took the first sentence of these sage words of wisdom to heart and went to a Pilates class this weekend. I showed up at 10 am on a Saturday morning, yoga mat in hand, ready to conquer a new activity. Conquer it, I did not.

I have several problems that prevent me from doing Pilates properly. I am not in touch enough with my "arm bones" to move them properly and I have an excessively tight rib cage. How to fix either of those things, I am not sure, but I was dealing with bigger problems than those. In Pilates, you often curve your back for certain moves. This is very confusing to me because god forbid you not have a straight back in yoga, and my mother had been yelling at me for years to stand up straight. I wasn't really sure what I was doing during "back curving" exercises, so I'm pretty sure I just looked like a turtle stuck upside-down in its shell. I also gained several new injuries for myself during this class. I now have a bruised shoulder, a broken toe, a pulled hip flexor, and a highly damaged ego, all from this class. While I did learn several things, I'm uncertain if this is something I should try again. Do I just have to learn the moves and lingo, like I did with yoga, or am I destined to be a committed yogi for life?