new shoes, new challenge, new river

so, i'm on day 15 of my self-imposed "run every day for 30 days" challenge, and i have to say, week one was fine. in fact, it was great. i didn't log any super long distances, but i wanted to start small and build up. last sunday i did a 9 mile run, and let me tell you, there is nothing like a 9 mile run to let you know that you need a new damn pair of shoes. my ankle was bothering me anyway, but i'm entirely too stubborn to let something like my physical well being to come between me and my goals, so i bandaged it up and pressed on. somewhere around the middle of the 14th street bridge, my ankle had just about had it with me and i contemplated stopping and turning around to head back home. but, oddly enough, as soon as i did stop, it hurt even more than when i was running (which then prompted me to lose myself in the thought of how much of my life that applies to - the idea that i keep running because it hurts too much to stop - but that is an entirely different blog post), so after a little come to jesus talk with myself and about another half a mile, it was pretty much smooth sailing. or i guess running. whatever. but between my ankle acting up and the general shape of my poor feet, it's pretty obvious that it's new shoe time. my next paycheck cannot come fast enough.

some of my friends are a little worried that i'm not taking any rest days, and i'm sure it would behoove me to listen to them, but since i never really listen to anyone anyway, i probably won't. the only break i have on my horizon (before the end of the month, of course) is a weekend of rock climbing in west virginia, which i'll be doing this weekend. i've never been rock climbing before, and i'll admit i'm slightly terrified by the whole idea of it, but pretty excited to be trying something totally new. the most experience i have with rock climbing is the rock wall at the gym i worked at in high school that was about 6 feet tall and my job was to supervise kids on it, not climb it myself, so this will all be totally new to me. i'm also looking forward to spending the weekend in new river gorge national park - if it's as beautiful as it looks in pictures, i will be one happy lady. it's a 5 and a half hour drive from dc, but i adore road trips and i plan to make stops at the diner on 81 with a giant hot dog eating t-rex out front, and at stonewall jackson's grave sight in lexington, va. AND i also get to cross the new river gorge bridge, which was at one point the world's longest steel single-span arch bridge. now it is apparently in the #3 spot for that title, but that doesn't stop me from geeking out about it any less. climbing rocks and doing yoga (it's a weekend retreat type of thing - yoga in the mornings and evenings, climbing all day, sitting around a campfire at night) may not sound like much of a break from running every day, but i'm sure my knees and ankles will appreciate a 2 day break from being impacted over and over with the dc city sidewalks.

so...3 more runs until my 2 day "break." i thought this would get easier as the days went by, but my body keeps wanting to remind me that it is not 21 anymore and it begrudges me for asking it to do anything other than sleep and eat. just wait til i get it strapped into climbing equipment and ask it to dangle from the side of a 20 foot wall of solid rock. i should probably prepare another come to jesus talk for that...