Things I’m obsessing about right now:
1. My feet. Warning: this entry contains a completely disgusting image of my feet (but you are on a running blog, so what did you expect?). Please ignore this post if you are easily grossed out or are simply tired of looking at photos of my feet.
I am now 10 days post Western States Training Camp (17 days post Born to Run 100k), and my feet are still a mess.
Left Foot - Trench Foot
My left foot is still markedly swollen and painful. I’m starting to freak out a bit. Hubz’ joke about Trench Foot may have been right on the money. Whatever it is, I can’t run, and the race is less than 3 weeks away. Time for a doc, I guess. Frustrating.
2. US 24 Hour National Team. Presently, I occupy what they call the “Bump Spot” – the last spot on the 6 person team heading to Poland in September. The final two 24 Hour qualifier events, FANS 24 Hour and Black Mountain Monster 24 Hour, were held this past weekend. I can’t find any results, so I have no idea if anyone “bumped” me from the Team. Finger nails are bitten. Nerve-wracking.
3. The Next Food Network Star. I get so attached to the people in these reality competition shows (Top Chef, Project Runway, Next Food Network Star) that I hate to see anyone get kicked off, but I love the competition/passion aspect. There are so many of these shows that just bite, but this one has a lot of substance – great cooking AND a glimpse of what it takes to go from chef to TV chef. Fascinating.
4. Stephen King. I am listening to his memoir/writing book, On Writing, and I have fallen in love with this guy. Never a Stephen King fan (although I did love Shawshank Redemption and the Green Mile), I have a whole new respect for him. He is clever, funny, and a straight-shooter – a genuinely likable guy. And while some people have criticized his reading style in this audiobook, I think that has been one of the best parts. So many of his eccentricities come to life just through his own voice delivering a sentence. Brilliant.
5. Anne Morrow Lindbergh. Always a fan, I bought her new “memoir,” Against Wind and Tide – a compilation of her journal entries and letters from 1947-1986 – and I am loving it. If you’ve never read any of her other published works, you are missing out. She was a fascinating woman – a mother, writer, pilot, world traveler – who was very open and frank about her life and marriage to Charles Lindbergh. I’ve just started it, but I can hardly put it down. In fact, I had to tear myself away from it to finish this post, as I had picked it up to make sure I had the title correct, and just started reading. A good book is the best kind of obsession. Magic.
What are you obsessing about right now?
Happy Running!
Mom, ultrarunner, four-time US 24 Hour National Team member, adventure athlete, food writer. Graduate of the Pro Cooking Program at the New School of Cooking, Los Angeles. Will run for food.
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Your foot is a little gross but it didn’t make me lose any food. I hope the doc finds something that will reduce the swelling and get you back out running in double quick time.
As for what I’m obsessing about – a little incident that happened last night which ended up with my son in hospital. It’s been a long 24 hours.
First let me say that when we obsess about something it usually is a waste of mental energy cause it won’t do any good anyway, but since I do it constantly when I KNOW better, I feel for your situation right now. I’m currently obsessing about our vacation to Hawaii at the end of this month to celebrate our 35th anniversary and having met in Waikiki in 1975 (we haven’t been back since). It will be such a special occasion for us, but there are SO many things that could go wrong between now and then. On a side note to that I’m obsessing some about keeping up with my running and not losing any fitness, especially since we have a 10K to run 2 days after we get back.
An easier question is what am I NOT obsessing about. No one at FANS bumped you – and, weirdly, one of the updates I was getting had reported you were there running! I only made it through 1/2 of one page of a Stephen King novel and I read close to 100 novels a year.
Oh geez I hope your feet hang in there! SOrry I’ve missed so much being under water with ice shows and end of school–must catch up!
I love Foodnetwork Star!
Obsessing about this weekend’s Ragnar relay and praying I don’t let the team down by being too slow.
Tell Hubz that the uglier the feet, the prettier the girl.
I had been obsessing about BBQ. But after grilling up enough surf and turf so that our fridge now has enough leftovers to see us through June, I’m ready to move on to a new obsession. Picking one is half the fun.
Oh no, Char! I will go check out your blog. I hope everything is okay.
Oh, that is so cool that you are going back to Hawaii for your anniversary! It takes about 2 weeks to start losing fitness, so just do what you can, and ou will be great!
People often confuse Carolyn Smith and I because of the similarity in the names and venues we like to run. It used to be super confusing when Rebecca Johnson was also on the US Team – people could not figure out the difference between Carilyn Johnson, Carolyn Smith, and Rebecca Johnson when we were all racing the same 24 Hour event and finishing close together. I’ve never actually read a Stephen King book (I just like the 3 movies I mentioned), but this memoir is great!
That is so cool that you are doing Ragnar, Marcia! I hear it is a blast! Hope you have fun!
Oh, BBQ sounds like a great thing to obsess about, especially for this Texas gal! I agree that picking an obsession is part of the fun. I love to get into something new!
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