I haven't been chatty anyway, but as an FYI we're headed to the smokies tomorrow, coming back a week from Sunday. Parents are watching the house & kitties. If I'm not lazy as usual I might put some pictures up afterwards. This is our 5th anniversary trip, so we're aiming for lots of low-effort, high quality fun.

disappointing, because I signed up for the 5k race for the cure this Saturday. I didn't have to pick whether I was walking or running, so I'll now be walking, not running.

I was fine Friday. I ran 2.75 miles Friday. I had some shin soreness at the end, enough that I iced both legs, but not enough to be limpy/gimpy. Just kinda, ow that kinda hurts.

We went to the track again Sunday, and between it being about as humid as it gets without actual rain, and my body deciding to forcefully inform me that I wasn't actually done with the #2 I took earlier, I managed less than half that. J said I should be happy I made it as far as I did between the two, especially since I started out quite a bit faster than I've been going, for whatever reason. (Hrm, maybe I started out faster 'cause my body was telling me I should be on the john and not running on a track...)

We went up to the gym yesterday afternoon, instead of my going to my body toning class in the evening, 'cause I'm still a bit shy of running 3 full miles without stopping. Well... yeah. I had to quit after a mile and a half. My left shin was hurting enough that my body's compensating was making the outside of my ankle and the top of my foot hurt. I slowed to a walk but it just kept hurting worse, so I quit that pretty fast. My whole leg, some from sympathy granted, from mid-calf down was just one ball of pain.

J said if I hurt a lot today, especially if it hurts like a bitch when getting up from sitting a while, that I need to make a doctor's appointment. I kinda probably should, but I also know I'm fucked, and it's not like I'd need a cast or anything like that. I suppose I still should though.

Anyhow, when I had shin splints a month or two ago, I gave it nearly 2 weeks before starting again, and not till I had new shoes. That obviously wasn't enough. So, I know I'll need to give it a month (or more? not sure, maybe that's why I should visit the doc) to heal this time around, 'cause it didn't last time, and I can no longer blame the problem on bad shoes. Well, not my current shoes. I guess this is still, ultimately, the fault of the prior bad shoes.

I was so sure I could make it to 3 miles by this weekend. I know, logically, that I'm not the failure I feel like I am. It's just so disappointing, and even though I know it's only my fault in terms of running in shoes I shouldn't have been, and the fact my bones simply aren't used to all that pounding so fast after never having done it before in my life, I still feel like I've failed. It still sucks and makes me want to give up.

I am a stubborn bitch though. I'm gonna do other, much less impact cardio in the meantime, at least to maintain my current progress level in terms of muscle endurance and CV endurance. Elliptical machine, recumbent bike, etc. No cardio the rest of the week, just walk the 5k this weekend, then all no-impact for a full month, minimum.

So, my last day is over. I'll start tomorrow over here to grab stuff to move with me, and box up the rest, but I then I'm gone. I do have a few odds & ends to tie up that I couldn't do faster due to lack of specific access to stuff, but it shouldn't take long to complete.

So begins a new chapter in my work life. Should be fun.

Been quite a while since I updated, so I'd better get started. I'd promise not to make this too long, but well... we all know I'm quite verbose.

I have the rest of today, plus 3 more days, in my existing job. Then, it's off to the new one. I'm finding myself suddenly sort of panicked that I won't be able to adjust and will be a total failure, which I recognize is terribly silly and unfounded. Just jitters, I suppose.

Some of my gardening has been successful thus far, some not. I need to plant more cilantro, and then keep it inside, since it was healthy when I put it out but died in about a week outside. Not sure if it just got too much rain or if it really would do better inside, period, but whatever. The mountain bells have been fabulous so far. They haven't filled in and naturalized yet, but that's to be expected. I really didn't expect them to already start blooming, though, so that's nice. The begonias in the back hanging pots are really starting to take off, but the ones in front keep getting nibbled on, which is frustrating. However, they're doing better, and I just need to keep stinky stuff sprayed all over. The irises and blue allium around the tree in back are doing pretty well, too. The irises are already done blooming, but the allium are still going at it. The ajuga is doing fabulously in that little area by the back steps, more than I have any right to. The lily of the valley is kinda... meh, one or two died (I think they got eaten) but they're doin' ok. Not great, but not bad. Worried about the cyclamen. I think it's coming up, but it seems to be running a bit late. I still haven't gotten another hosta to pair wtih the one that came back.

I ran my first ever, in my entire life I think, continuous mile Friday before last. I wedged in an extra bridge week to the 5k program, which is 3/4 mile jog end caps with a mile in between, all separated by 1/4 mile walks. For the first session, I made the mile, but I couldn't make the last 3/4, coming up a quarter mile short. However, the Thursday after (yeah, slacked off that weekend and last Tuesday) I made the whole thing, and Friday I did it faster—and I moved 1/4 mile from the end and into the middle, so yay for 1 1/4 miles at once! I plowed on Sunday with the next stage in the schedule, which is to jog 2 1/2 miles straight out. We went to my old high school's outdoor track for a change, and I almost made it. I jogged a mile and a half before I had to break to walk. But, I only walked a half a lap before jogging again. I made it around one full more lap till I had to break altogether to finish my water, but then I did finish the last 2 laps at a jog. Heh, I shouldn't have, but about 3/4 of the way through the last lap I was just wanting to be done, so I ran rather a lot faster for the last bit. Damn near worked up to being nauseous, heh. Walked around in circles for a bit off to the side, just breathing hard and trying to cool off. My overall jogging rate was a hair over a 12 minute mile, but I'm OK with that. I'll keep that pace Tuesday, and see if I can actually make it through without pause or walking. It'll help that my water bottle is within easy reach on a treadmill vs. not with me on the track (it doesn't carry well, so I set it to the side). I'm also going to make a concerted effort to stay better hydrated overall.

WoW is going nicely. Our Karazhan group has gotten it down to a 5 hour clear, spread over 2 nights (except the animal boss, 'cause screw that useless crap). That's down from who knows how many hours spread over 4 nights, which was leading to serious burnout, especially for those also in the first Gruul's/Magtheridon's Lair group which is going 2 nights a week. We're spanking Kara now, which rocks, and we're having a lot of fun doing it. I think we really mesh now. Also, it leaves more desire, at least for me, to do stuff when not raiding. Like bombing skettis eggs... Still need to do the 5-man ogre quests so I can do lots more dailies, plus kill the 3 named skettis while shadow potioned, but I should be able to get that taken care of this week.

I can't update my site with this right now 'cause (a) the servers are down for hardware issues, and (b) when they've been up lately just hitting the MT cgi, not even logged in, was giving me a 500 error immediately, with no sign of anything in the error log. I badly need to upgrade to the latest version to take advantage of some serious efficiency gains, but haven't had the time, and now haven't the access. Oh well.

I'm sure there's more I'm forgetting, but I slept miserably last night (caught up on sleep a little too much this weekend) so my brain isn't firing on all cylinders.