Jul 18, 2011

"When I was a young warthooog!"

I can't even do a recap of workouts last week, because there were hardly any "real" ones.  Okay, so the roads here can be really, really bad.  The bumps can send you flying.  When we lived in Arusha there was a certain road we would always have to go down, and I'd always have huge bruises on my hips from where the seat buckle would bang against them.

When we were driving home from church last Sunday we hit a bump, and when we landed, my foot came down and got cut open on something in the floor. I'm not really sure what it was that I cut it on, but it was gouged pretty deep.

 Obviously I need to work on my blogging skills, because I only remembered to take a picture a couple days after it happened when I was cleaning it.  It would've look so much more impressive with the blood!  It just looks like a thin flap of skin here, but it's actually super thick.  I couldn't really put pressure on it for a few days, so I was hobbling around for a while.
  Oh, and I feel that I should point out that I have lotioned and taken care of my feet since this picture was taken.  Over and out.

So, last week meant no running for me! I did do a bunch of core work though, so that was good.

On to the more interesting news, the guys (minus Luke - he has to stay for school :( ) are leaving tomorrow to go hunting for a couple days.  They're super excited because it's been about a year and a half {pretty much a record} since they've gone.  Meat here is insanely expensive, so hunting helps alot.  They were going to go a bit earlier in the week so they could all go, but found out that there was already a big group in the area they were headed for - so they postponed it.  It wouldn't have been a problem, except that most others that go out have absolutely no problem with poaching and will shoot at almost anything that moves.  Poaching is a huge problem, and it's so sad and wrong.



 This is Luke holding part of an elephant jawbone they found last time they went.  We have one of the back teeth from that, and it's enormous. 


Jake and his wildebeest - aren't the beests cool lookin?


It's cool, because we've gotten to eat cape buffalo, wildebeest, gazelle, warthog, and eland.  A guy we know does taxidermy, and here it's super cheap, so we do have quite a few on our wall.  Including a cape buffalo in our living room.  Wouldn't that be fun to sleep under?!

Since JaketheRunningBuddy will be gone for the next few days, that means I won't get a couple of runs in this week, but we'll get right back on it! I'm itching to get out for one. :)
That leads me to something I've been thinking about quite a bit recently.  When I very first started running, I went out purely for the fun of it.  I didn't know or care how fast\slow I was going - I just went.  Then after a while it was still my fun, but I started worrying about my time, and how I "needed" to hit a certain mark.  If I missed a run, I'd get emotional and uptight.  I want to get faster, and better at it, but somewhere along the way I started to put so much pressure on myself, it wasn't quite as fun anymore.

I don't run for weight loss...it's my hobby.  It's my biggest hobby, but not an obsession.  I always have to have a buddy to be able to go out, so it can be unpredictable at times.  

The thing I had to realize was that if I have to skip a run or two (or four), the world isn't going to end

When I think of it that way, I still usually get all of them in, but if I have to miss one, it's easier - and it makes doing it alot more enjoyable!  Sometimes I just have to remind myself of that. I can improve without the stress.


What's one of the most interesting things you've ever eaten?
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Do you sometimes find that you put too much pressure on yourself, and make what you're doing not as fun? 

13 comments:

  1. I was the poster child last year for putting too much stress on myself. Seriously. I wanted to run for fun and train for my marathon for fun but it's really difficult to do that. It's hard to not think about time when people seem to be asking you about it constantly. This year I've quit thinking about it and have enjoyed my runs 10 x more!

    Hope you can find that happy place! Love those pictures!

    This is coy @ First in Philly

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  2. So sorry to hear about your injury, Lindsey! Hope it heals quickly!

    Interesting things I have eaten?,,,,hmmm...does alligator count? It's kinda fishy tasting... ;)

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  3. Great post! I definitely have a tendency to put to much pressure on myself at times and I run so much worse when I do this. When I just go out and run by feel I actually run better and enjoy the experience more.

    I am not a big meat eater so I haven't tried anything too wild. lamb? does that count.

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  4. I like your attitude toward running and I'm definitely keeping that in mind as I train for my first full.

    And I love your Pumbaa title!!

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  5. I had a chicken heart once and swordfish. But that's about as exotic as it gets for me!

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  6. wow!! that animal is huge!!! so crazy! i am the same with running...I went through a period of time where I just felt constant pressure...I let some of that go after I recovered from my injury and actually feel such a relief when I run again...its actually fun again! And relaxing and I look forward to it like I used to :) It can be easy to get caught up in the pressure though!

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  7. Ah, good to see someone else is awake on the other side of the world. I'm on nightshift and sometimes I feel like I'm the only person awake at this hour!

    Your foot injury looks super painful, I hope it heals up nice and quickly and stops hurting asap. Little things like that can make even the simplest things, like walking, feel uncomfortable.

    That would be so tough to not be able to run by yourself, I'm sure it's difficult to match your schedule with your buddies.

    When I started running in 2009, I never used a watch or anything. I would just go out when I felt like it. In 2010, I finally got a watch and started to pay attention to speed when I did my first 10K in May 2010. I bought a garmin in Jan 2011 and now I do pay more attention to speed-- but I never get discouraged if I can't make a certain speed or do a certain distance.

    I just use it to document the stuff that I'd still be doing otherwise.

    If I miss a run, I get a little bummed out because running is my passion. And as much as I don't like to admit, perhaps it's a borderline obsession. But I don't do it to lose weight, etc., I just do it because it genuinely makes me happy.

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  8. wow, thats cool! i'd love to try any of those. I've had buffalo, alligater, and frog legs. haha, all good to me!

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  9. Hakuna matata! I hope your foot heals quickly and you can enjoy your runs again. It's great to read a blog where daily postings aren't all about run times and distances, and healthy food. Getting back to the roots of running for fun is amazing and it's awesome you're in it for that reason.

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  10. Oh I hope your foot heals soon! I know what it is like to have boo-boos on your feet and it is no fun. Love your pictures. I can't believe how large that jaw bone and teeth are. It's crazy.

    Running fun comes and goes for me. Sometimes it is fun, and sometimes it just seems like work. I also get "tired" of running towards the end of a training plan and look forward to a break from the routine. But regardless I always come back to running because it is an outlet for me and it makes me a better person.

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  11. Ouch! I hear you with the pressure :)

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  12. Holy Smokes! Those are some impressive pics of your dudes out in the wild. I am very impressed =) Also, I hate all things injury related and I don't care if it looks like a flap of skin now I know how annoying stuff like that is. One little thing takes you out for a week! YUK.

    I do agree with you about letting yourself just enjoy running because it is fun! Sometimes it is easy to get into the timing and the preforming part but really, we all just love to run =)

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