Running Around

I've started running recently.  I have always wanted to be able to run a 10k.  It was a goal of mine that I thought I'd never accomplish because I am not a strong runner, and whenever I started a running program I would inevitable get bored or frustrated and quit.  Running a 10k was one of those things that I'd dream about and then brush off.  Peace Corps for me has been a time to push myself, and I decided that it was time for me to tackle my dream of running a 10k.  I've gotten bored of riding my bike over the same 2 different bike routes over and over training for my bike-a-thon, and running seemed like a good switch.  Something to help me keep up my fitness and a personal challenge.

I started running regularly in March and my goal was to run a 10k at the end of May.  The race I had signed up for, with my PCV friend Julia, was in San Jose.  Both of us live in Upala where it is HOT and flat and the race in San Jose was over hills and in cooler weather.  When race day came around we were both so nervous.  We were worried about the hills, the distance, not falling, and most importantly-not stoping!  It was my goal to RUN the whole time.  Let me tell you.  We did it.  All 10k, running.  We have a few running mantras that we would yell out to each other as soon as the route got hilly. "See the tortoise, be the tortoise" is our favorite.  We are both slow but steady- tortoise like- but the tortoise finishes the race at the end of the fable!  I finally accomplished my goal of running a 10k!  It was such a good feeling.  I was extremely tortoise like as I finished the race in 1 hour 16 minutes, but, like the tortoise, I finished! 

This is me and Julia post-race

This is us going up a hill!

You will be proud to know that since the 10k in May I've been keeping up with my running routine.  I go out 4x a week.  I go 5k 2 days a week, one 7k, and one 10k.  My 10k time is getting better and better, and I feel like I'm slowly being converted into a legitimate runner.  Well, maybe a jogger.  I enjoy my runs and they keep me entertained.  Honestly, going out on my runs is often the most entertaining part of my day.

Last week for instance:  I went out on a 7k, and my dog came with me.  She likes to go running with me now, she used to stay at home, but for the past two weeks she's gone out with me everytime.  Last week my run took me by a cow field.  My dog, Baby, gets nervous around cows.  They are really big and she is really small.  The cows in this cow field were not too close to the road, maybe 100m away.   Baby would look at the cows, make these pathetic whimpering noises, and then look at me with these sad puppy eyes.  She did not like that we were so close to us.  The cows noticed us, too.  Cows are herd animals and they usually follow the pack.  I guess Baby and I looked like part of the cow pack, and as we were running one of the cows started running with us at our pace.  Then two, three, four, and pretty soon the entire herd of cows was running with us (fenced in) for almost a kilometer.  It was so entertaining, especially because it made Baby so concerned!

I really like this new hobby of mine, and I'm glad that my Peace Corps journey has given me the opportunity to achieve my dream of running a 10k!  My new dream is to run a half marathon.  I'm still a ways away from that, but I know if I trained for it, that I could do it.  There is one in December in Atlanta right after I would return from Peace Corps, and I'm really tempted to sign up...

Puppy!

Yes, this is really happening.  You are in fact reading a new blog post.  Sorry for the past few silent months.  I went home to for a few weeks in March, had an amazing time, and came back to find my computer on her death bed.  It’s hard to say goodbye, and I haven’t quite given up on her yet.  But about half of the keys on the keyboard don’t work, the touch pad and left click don’t work, the arrow keys don’t work, etc. etc.  Well, I’ll focus on the positive and tell you that I can still get movies and tv shows to play off of my external hard drive.  I can still get itunes to open.  I’ve been going to the internet café to use internet, but haven’t had the patience to sit long enough to write a decent blog entry.  You see there is no AC in the internet café and it gets really hot.  But, for you, my dear reader, I write.

Biggest news: a dog adopted me!  And many more are trying to adopt me, but I’m trying really hard to only get suckered in once.  My neighbor’s dog had puppies in November when I first moved into my house.  The momma dog and the puppies would come hang out on my porch, and I may or may not have tossed the mom the occasional doggy treat.  I never wanted to get too attached to them, and just called the mom ‘momma’ and the sole remaining puppy ‘baby.’  Eventually ‘momma’ disappeared, and only ‘baby’ remained.  Soon after momma’s disappearance, my neighbor moved and left ‘baby’ behind to fend for herself.  Baby just parked her cute little self on my porch and I’ve been looking after her ever since.  She is a little dog, about 9 months old and barley 20 lbs.  She’s mostly black with a little white on her paws, chest, and the tip of her tail.  She is such a sweet little dog.  She follows me around everywhere.  She isn’t allowed inside my house, but will sit in front of my door and stare at me until I go out and play with her.  She walks with me to the grocery store and sits right in the middle of the door and waits for me to come out.  She also likes to go to school with me and watch me teach from the doorway.  I love having her as my pet, and I feel badly that I never gave her a proper name.  ‘Baby’ just stuck, once I started calling her that I couldn’t stop.  Bonus is its easy to say for Spanish speakers.  I’m training her in Spanish, in case I have to leave her behind…that’s a sad thought.  But I’ll know that I’ve given her a good life while I’ve been here.

Baby and the chickens waiting out the rain

Baby hanging with me on the back porch

Well, I've tried but I can't seem to get these pictures to orient themselves in the right way and failed.  But that's my little puppy dog Baby.  She's a cutie pie!