“Workout”: 15-minute upper body set
1. Three pairs of sneakers. Three pairs of sneakers all out of miles and all with holes in the toe boxes. The shoes were scattered around the house, one in the bathroom closet and another under the armoire. One pair was by the door, having been worn to take out Denali. With my most recent purchase of a pair of Mizuno Wave Nexus, those three pairs were destined for the trash can.
But I couldn’t quite put them there.
The shoes – a pair of Nike Air Pegasus, a pair of Mizuno Wave Riders and a pair of Nike Triax – aren’t just shoes. They are memories. The Pegasus took me across the finish line of my first half-marathon, the Wave Riders at the first time I attempted the distance solo. The Triax … oh, the Triax took me to a half-marathon PR and a personal distance record at the W.O.O.F. How could I throw them away?
I tried to get creative, thinking of ways to save part of the shoes and frame the scraps or put them in a scrapbook. After a while, the efforts just seemed silly. Who saves stinky, worn out shoes? I mean besides me. So I tossed them this morning. A bit sad but I was so tired I hardly noticed. I also threw away a pair of black ballet flats that suffered from stinkyitis.
2. Two weeks ago … three weeks ago … I promised to up the strength training, to get my body ready to care for a baby. Yeah, about that. Not so much. I did no strength training last week and today was the first time this week. Not good. I need to start budgeting my time better in the morning – less GMA and more exercise.
3. And speaking of budgeting time in the morning, I spent a good chunk watching last night’s “Top Chef: All Stars.” Anyone watch it? I was struck by the challenge: The chefs had to cook a last meal for some famous chefs. Wolfgang Puck wanted goulash, spaetzle and strudel. Morimoto wanted Japanese food his mom made. The other lady wanted fried chicken and biscuits and gravy. As I watched, I couldn’t help but wonder what I would want my last meal to be. Most of the dinners from my childhood were quick and cheap (think Hamburger Helper), and the dinner table memories aren’t all that pleasant. The only time we were happy at the table was on Saturday morning at breakfast, probably because we were all too tired to fight. My mom would make eggs, sausage links, biscuits and gravy. To this day, I compare all biscuits and gravy to hers. So I’d want that. And, another food from my childhood, goetta – in the form of a goetta and cheese omelet. Goetta is a Cincinnati-specific food that was popular among German immigrants. It’s awesome. To me.
What would your last meal be?
My mom's tomato Gravy with My greatgrandmother's buttermilk biscuits.
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My Mom's drunken chicken, mashed potatoes, and broccoli with cheese and lemon juice. It's the simple things in life.
It's hard to stop staring at GMA - never know when Chris Brown will FLIP OUT!
ReplyDeleteLast meal - hmmm, good question. Will think on it.
I'm proud of you for tossing your shoes. You had discussed this issue awhile back when you discussed your husband's school's students were running bare foot because they didn't have shoes. You called your shoes memories and I thought of that a lot since that post. I didn't have the "exposed toe" issue, so I took my shoes to 3RRCo and tossed them in their box, but I did have to tell my mom who was with me - these were the ones I wore for my first race ever (a 10K), these were the ones that did my 1st and 2nd half marathons, these were the ones that I hate and need to get out of my life but that went on lots of the miles with me. It was bitter sweet to part with them, but then I thought about the glory new shoes bring - all the possibilities . . . and that's a pretty good feeling.