Pie in the Sky

I struggle with goal setting. Here’s why – I tend to think that with enough hard work I can do anything. Yet, when it comes down to it, I’m too much of a realist to actually believe I can achieve that pie in the sky goal.

Let’s take my most recent marathon (of all 2 that I have done) as an example.

I set a goal way, way back when (ie sometime last fall) that I wanted to try and qualify for the Boston Marathon, which would be a 3:40 marathon. Last October, I ran a half in Central Park at pretty much the exact pace I would need to run a marathon in to qualify. Being the idiot I sometimes am while also aided by endorphins, I though “jeah, you totally got this!” (I stole “jeah” from Ryan Lochte whom I follow on twitter and l.o.v.e.)

So, I signed up for the NJ Marathon in hopes that 1) I would spot a NJ Housewife and 2) I would BQ (just joking on #1…kind of).

I trained pretty hard (at least I think so, I mean, as much as you can while also being a med student), but as it got closer to said very very very long run, I got less confident that I was actually going to be able to do it. I think its because I realized that when I tried to run my “goal pace” on some long runs, it was really hard. Or maybe I’m just a wimp because usually when it comes to races I have to talk myself into racing instead of “just jogging this one.” I’m not sure why that’s so hard for me.

Because I’m incredibly stubborn, I still started with the 3:40 group. I held on to them until….16? I’m not so sure...all those middle miles kind of blend together and all I was thinking about was getting to the next mile marker (and yelling at Bruce to get my water; I got to sound like Kris Jenner for a lot of the marathon going “Bruce!!!”).

I finished in 3:48:03. To pat myself on the back, it was a pretty good improvement from my first marathon (Feb 2010), which I finished in 4:09:59. Don’t worry, I celebrated accordingly (and used it to justify anything I wanted to do for the next week). But, it wasn’t my “goal” so I was kind of…disappointed.

In retrospect, I think 3:40 was (and still is) my goal, although maybe my expectation when it came to race day should’ve been different than my goal. So, maybe from here on out , I should keep my ridiculous goals, realizing that I may not get them on the first go round, and then set an expectation closer to the day of what I can realistically do.

It was suggested to me by an extremely good runner far, far wiser than I to set 3 goals: an A, B, and C. Kind of like a “holy shit I can’t believe I did that goal,” a “that was a good day goal,” and “that went alright” goal. I think that may be better than setting an expectation, as expectations seem, to me, to have a negative connation. Like, if you don’t meet them, you really didn’t do so hot.

Sometimes, I wish I didn’t like to set goals and could just float through life happy with whatever comes my way. But, then I guess life wouldn’t be as fun and I probably wouldn’t be where I am today.

Anyone good at the realistic goal setting thing? Is there such a thing as a realistic goal or should they all be kind of unrealistic so you work hard…

Or maybe I just think too much...

Erika Owes Me Some Shoes

This entire running thing is all thanks to (or could be blamed upon) Erika Olson (for those who don't know, Erika is my former teammate).

At my 23^rd birthday (2009), Erika talked about how she was training for a marathon. I thought she was insane and was somewhat afraid she might die, but I was also secretly jealous of how much she probably got to eat.

I had been trying to run myself some, but I never really “got” running. It wasn’t a game, no one won…I had no clue how so many people found this “fun.” I also could not wrap my head around how I could play a 3-hour tennis match easily, but couldn’t run for more than 30 min without wanting to shoot myself. And that made me really frustrated. I chalked it up to the fact that I just wasn’t “made” to run so I should probably stop trying (which is what I did for the first 23 years of my life).

About two weeks later, I texted Erika to ask her how she could possibly like running. She told me she made it social and suggested I come run with her on Friday after work. I agreed, figuring it would be, like, 2 miles since she told me she “couldn’t run too far because she had her long run the next day.” She then suggested we do this “little loop that John and I do, its about 5 miles.” I told her she was freaking nuts and I could not run 5 miles without needing an ambulance. Somehow she got me to go run with her…and I made it! I ran 5 miles WITHOUT STOPPING!

Needless to say, we ran super slow but I had run the farthest I ever had in my entire life WITHOUT STOPPING. I’m pretty sure I told everyone I knew (and didn’t really know) that day that I ran 5 miles.

Erika and I continued what I called the “Friday trots.” And, I was motivated to run on other days so I could make it through that 5 mile run with Erika each Friday (seriously). I can’t tell you how many runs Erika had to coach me through where I was SURE I was “going to die.” [cue Erika saying “just focus on Chelsea Piers, the golf nets, smooth to the finish” and cue me asking how much further we had to go and if we could stop for a hot sec]. To her credit, she was much faster and in much better shape than I, yet, she never once complained about me being super slow or whining or needing to “take a break for a sec.”

Erika also invited me to this “running club” started by a mutual friend, Stacy (another NYU-er). I was pretty reticent because anything that was a running “club” sounded like it was for “runners,” and I definitely did NOT put myself in that category. Plus, I didn’t want to finish last/have everyone wait on me. I finally went sometime in May. And I’m pretty sure I did finish last (and still do a lot). But no one cared and they actually all cheered for me when I finished. I couldn’t believe how supportive a group of people could be for someone they barely knew (and who clearly sucked really badly).

In June, I was convinced to sign up for a 10K. Note to others: you should know how far a race is before signing up for it. When I found out a 10K was 6.2 miles, I immediately freaked because, obviously, I had never run farther than the 5 mile Friday trots. Luckily for me, two sweet people (Claudina, Alanna) from that “running club” were just there to run it for fun and ran the whole thing with me. After I finished that race, I was pretty hooked .

That was 2009.

I also can’t forget to mention my two med school running buddies, Jess and Courtney, who also put up with way more whining than they should have (old habits die hard).

Its now 2011 and I’m happy to say Erika and I still Friday trot (not every Friday, but still a good bit) and now Katie (another teammate) joins us (she was injured in '09). [Basically NYU tennis has turned into a post-collegiate NYC running mob.] And, I definitely still go to that running club.

Katie, Me, Erika, Stacy

All Proud Products of NYU Athletics Golden Era

So, thanks, Erika. I’m a little sad that my story didn’t get turned into an essay for some applications you had recently, but at least it made it into the blog world, right?

[And if you're wondering why Erika owes me some shoes, its because if I hadn't started running, I wouldn't have needed all these shoes. Er I wear size 8, Lunarglides. ;) ]

There's No Place Like Home...

After being in Italy for six weeks, I'm glad to be back home! Its pretty quiet around here as my brother is at a tennis tournament and my sister took him to it. I'm plenty busy, though, as I still have to unpack a lot of my stuff from school (didn't have time before I left) and seriously need to get rid of some stuff in my closet as I fear my closet rod is going to break. I think I still have some stuff from high school in there...

Speaking of holding onto clothes, I found a picture of my dad and I when I was eight:

My dad still has this shirt. For the sake of my parents bank account, at least we have one cheapskate in the family.  My mom will probably yell at me for putting up this picture.

My new favorite show is "Keeping Up With the Kardashians." Khloe is seriously genius - the episode where she was convinced she was adopted and Kris wasn't her real mother (she made Kris take a DNA test) was hysterical. As was the episodes where Kris got a chicken so they could have fresh eggs (Bruce Jenner, her husband, was like, ummm I won the olympics eating store bought eggs!) and where the girls got Kris a monkey, Suzy, were epic.

On another note, I brought home some cheese and olive oil from Italy. And I must have had some serious dairy lackage the past few days as last night all I wanted was cheese and then, of course, ice cream. Six weeks in Italy eating their gelato still did not get rid of the addiction. Is there ice cream addicts anonymous?

Courmayeur

Focaccia con Mela (apple)

Garden (basil, lettuce here)

Courmayeur

Town of Verrand near Courmayeur

[they had an awesome playground for the kids]

Monte Bianco is hiding behind the clouds.....but you get the picture

I seriously wore a North Face fleece for an entire week (in July!) because it was pretty chilly there, especially in the mornings!

For some reason, the mountains made me crave chocolate (maybe because we were near Switzerland) and I had, ummm, like my bodyweight in chocolate (dark is my favorite, but we mostly had milk and hazelnut)....each night. Ooops!

There were red clay courts there I was dying to play on, but never got to. Guess I'll just have to get good enough to qualify for the French, ha!

Cenacolo + Medico

So, I am still half deaf. Basically, I swam so much in Sardinia (and haven't done that in a looong time) that my left ear got all inflamed and that created ear wax and then there was more inflammation and, yeah, basically, I have ear wax stuck somewhere in my ear. So, I'm still deaf. I went to the "medico" on Wednesday (mercoledi?) to check and make sure I didn't have an infection, which I didn't. I need to find an ENT here as they can unclog my ear. Wonderful. I know it sounds so gross. Sorry!

But, anyways, going to the doctor here was kind of cool I thought. It was definitely NOT like America. The town of Dairago is small (5000 people) so the doctors are much more involved in the community, especially those that are generalists. Anyways, the waiting room is very small, no receptionist or check in list or whatever. His office is also his examining room and he has his desk, all his pictures (including lots of pictures from kids - he doesn't treat children, but they all draw him pictures for some reason), etc. He also, seriously, had a black doctors bag - I don't think I've ever seen those except on some episode of Little House on the Prairie or something. And, my visit would be great for the PPS interpreter module as the doctor couldn't speak English. ha.

Yesterday, we went to see "The Last Supper" (Cenacolo) in Milan. You have to book tickets way in advance and, when you go, you are given a certain time. They only allow about 15 people at one time. The room where the fresco is is sealed off and the doors are opened only briefly. Only one set of doors is also open at a time. Even in the rooms directly adjacent to it (like the holding room you mus twait in before you go in) only open one set of doors at a time. So, a lot goes in to preserving the Cenacolo! The painting isn't in the church. It's actually in the the cafeteria where the friar's would eat. So, I guess having that painting there made them feel like they were eating with Jesus? haha. It was much bigger than I thought it was going to be and the level of detail is incredible. Its really worth seeing if you go to Milan. Be sure to plan ahead! There's the other painting on the wall directly across from "The Last Supper" but no one seems to care about it. I feel sorry for whoever painted that! (PS: the pictures above are from the church)

Dairago

Mural at Elementary School

Church in Dairago

[sorry, not the whole thing, but I'm not photographer]

La Cinta - San Teodoro - Sardinia

Porto Ottiolu - Sardinia

Me in San Teodoro

Bridge Built By Leonardo da Vinci