21 miles and counting

I skated 21.3 miles at semi-marathon speed tonight. I ate a third of a Clif Bar before I skated and then on my 18th mile tired PowerBar gel. I wanted to test it out before the marathon so I knew it wouldn't make me spew.

Luckily it worked, I got a little shaky but then it was just renewed energy. I had the stamina but my quads were killing me so I stopped at my seventh time around the lakes.

Best part though was this speed skater (who had the biggest calves ever) I was keeping up with for a short time passed me, and he said "You are skating very strong. You're a little power house"

MY LIFE IS AWESOME TODAY

These were delivered to me at work. Can you hear me smiling from here?

20-something queries

I don't know why because I am bordering on being closer to 30 than 20 that everyone needs to ask the same questions over and over. It's like high school graduation but more painful and neverending. At least I had an answer to "where are you going to college and what are you majoring in?"

Is there anyone special in your life?
Of course there are a lot of "special" people in my life. I am just not waking up next to them. This question really means, "are you getting married soon like everyone else we know?" No, I am not. The prospect of me in a white dress and shoving cake into someone's mouth is less nauseating than it was a year ago but it still just makes me queasy. My favorite followup to this is "well, have you tried online dating?" Nothing wrong with some match.com but it's like saying "well you better do something soon before your eggs dry up."

Do you want to have kids someday?
I am only 24. 2.4. That's too young. I am still at the point of eating only toast and green beans for dinner because that's all I have and I am too lazy to go to the grocery store. Clearly, I am not ready to take care of another human being especially one that eats digusting things like strained peas.

Are you surviving winters up north?
Ok this isn't related to my age. But I haven't traveled anywhere without people commenting on what must be my great inner strength for not dying when it snows or is bitterly cold. The truth is we know how to do winter up here. My car does not but at least the streets are clear. No one's car does well when there are 10 inches of snow blocking your car door. And I still want to stay in bed rather than face the prospect of my face freezing off when I walk to my car. So I am surviving in a seasonal affective disorder kind of way.

Small towns

I'm home in Kansas. I went to the grocery store in a wrinkled Cheerios t-shirt, pajama shorts and flip flops. On top of that I had no makeup, my hair was still wet and I looked generally white trash.

In the 10 minutes it took me to walk from my car, buy everything on the list for my mom and walk back to my car, I saw three people I knew. A family friend of a friend, a guy from high school and a guy from college.

Oy.

Very real

I am used to (unfortunately) watching national tragedies play out on CNN. Usually I have been to the city, for a visit. Usually I am glued to the TV, online newspaper sites and blogs for at least a week. Reading the latest statistics, the causes for the tragedy, the investigations, the eye-witness reports.

But this time, I am watching it play out in the city where I live. On the bridge that I drive on at least four times a week. The route that takes me to Target, the grocery store, the airport, Twins games and home from work. I wasn't there when it happened, and it still seems like it's far away when I watch it on TV. But when I go home Sunday, it will all be very real.

By Sunday, everyone will be adjusting to the new traffic patterns after losing a main path through the city. Funerals will be scheduled. National news media will be starting to leave. But it will all be new to me. Seeing first hand that less than a mile from my apartment, just a few blocks from my work, a bridge just fell down. That's not supposed to happen.