I’m in DC for the Rock ‘n’ Roll USA, and I’m having the most amazing time ever. I cannot wait to tell you all about it!!! Stay tuned beautiful runners!
Y’all…
rock n roll
Quick poll. This is serious, take this seriously.
Calling all my social workers! A post on self-care.
Self-care is a big buzzword in social work land. (For those of you just kinda tuning in, I’m a runner, a Zumba instructor, a blogger, and a social worker, all usually within the same week). Anyhoo, like I was saying, self-care is a big word in social work land, mainly because burnout in social work is really prevalent. We work really really hard with very little pay, all because we love people, and we love to serve people. If HIPAA wasn’t a thing, I’d talk to you all day and all night about my clients, and how phenomenal they are, but I guess I have to respect their right to privacy, right?
But it’s hard. There were two weeks last month that I truly thought I wasn’t cut out for the work, after some clients were especially horrible to me, that after viewing the puffy stress eyes, that I was ready to quit the job, and blog full time. But here I am, and I’m starting to recognize that self-care is really important, and not just something that we should be joking about in the office.
Self-care means….
- Going for my runs. And I make sure I do it 5-6 times a week, but sometimes, I don’t bathe myself in the runs like I should. I shouldn’t be thinking about notes, about deadlines, about my to-do list. I need to do my runs, and be present for the runs.
- Not mindlessly scrolling through my phone. I’ve found myself, before bed, mindlessly scrolling through my phone before bed. I don’t need to do that. I need to actually sleep when I’m in bed.
- Throwing myself into the things I enjoy. I enjoy teaching, dancing, planning my wedding, reading, blogging, running, going to yoga, and I need to quit doing that thing where I divide my mind time. If I’m running, I need to be present. If I’m teaching, my mind is only there. If I’m planning, my mind is all on me and what my future husband are doing. Blogging? I’m all yours.
- Recognizing when I’m tired. There’s a difference between sleep and tired. And sometimes I have troubles recognizing when I’m exhausted, tired, and when I just need to slow things down. This weekend, when I opened my eyes on Sunday morning on Fripp, I was so happy, so in love with life, so in love with the beach, and I recognized that not only did I sleep like a rock, that I am tired.
- Booking a room for myself at the Westin in Georgetown to run the Rock ‘n’ Roll USA Half Marathon. I’m checking into a hotel in a beautiful part of DC, and I will be ghost, snuggling in a king-sized bed by myself, taking a bath, reading a book, and thinking about why my life is so beautiful!
What are you doing to care for yourself, beautiful readers?
Here’s What + Rock ‘n’ Roll USA
Don’t you guys worry. No matter how many times I post on my wedding, how many times I whine about how my throat hurts this week, or how often I blog about my dog, rest absolutely assured that I will never, never forget how and where this started. And that was a running blog. That said, if you’ve missed my last few “Here’s What: What Three Things am I Obsessed With” posts, here they are!
So this week was the week from absolute hell at my real job, and that’s all I will say. So Happy Friday, beautiful readers! Now Here’s What Three Things I’m Obsessed with This Week!
- Numero uno is powered by Rock ‘n’ Roll, and yes honey bunnies, I am running the Rock ‘n’ Roll USA 1/2 Marathon, and I couldn’t be more thrilled about it!
First off, DC is one of my favorite cities in the US, so that certainly doesn’t hurt a race weekend. Secondly, Rock ‘n’ Roll USA has made some pretty sweet changes this year, a few of which I’ll list for you, real convenient-like!
- The 5k. For folks who feel like they don’t have the time at this point to register for the 1/2 or the full marathon, or for those of you new to what Rock ‘n’ Roll is all about, the 5k will give you a little taste of what Rock ‘n’ Roll does. At 3.1 gorgeous miles, you’ll still have the cheerleaders and the music to push you along, without necessarily having to commit to a scary distance just yet.
- The race is run entirely in the district, which means that you get to run with some amazing monuments as a backdrop. Seriously, if you’ve never run a race in DC, running with the history of our nation passing you by is a really incredible feeling.
- The race is on a Saturday, meaning that it’s not gonna eat up your entire weekend. And that’s pretty darn cool!
So if you’re interested in signing up, click here. I will be there, and I will be talking about this race up til the big day, Saturday, March 15th.
- Speedwork. I’ve never really put much stock into speedwork before this marathon training (I’m running another Rock ‘n’ Roll in Raleigh in April,) but I’m finding that even though I have to drag myself, kicking and screaming to do it, that once I get started, I love the way I feel, and I totally love the way I feel afterward. Seriously, I think the endorphins go into overdrive cause I am really, really feeling myself when it’s time to be done with speedwork!
- Sleep. I am slightly sick this week, with a little sore throat and some congestion, and all I can think about is sleep.
Early this week at work, I had to go into the utility closet for something, and I fantasized about going all the way to the back of it and napping for a while before my senses took back over. Sleep, I just wanna hold you. Mama loves you so much!
Your turn! What three things are you obsessed with?
[Full disclosure lady bugs! I was planning to run Rock ‘n’ Roll USA in prep for April’s marathon, and as a member of the media, I was comped an entry by Rock ‘n’ Roll. But have no fear because every last opinion is my own, and I will be giving my honest, heartfelt opinion!]
Hiding behind a computer screen.
I was like a junior in college when this awful, terrible invention called “Juicy Campus” made its rounds around the internet. 10 points for anyone who remembers it.
Juicy Campus, one of the most evil concepts to hit college campuses, was an online forum, organized by college campus, which allowed folks anonymously, without logging in, to post threads on each campus’ forum, which would in turn, generate a lot of responses. I attended Elon University, a small liberal arts school of about 4,500 students at the time, which meant that everyone was logged on, and everyone knew who was talking about whom.
As you can imagine, this modern-day burn book took off like wildfire, and no one was spared. There was one poor kid, who was rumored to have had social problems akin to a disorder represented on the Autism spectrum, who constantly was the source of these posts. In another, an anonymous poster criticized a friend of mine, suggesting that she get a nose job. And when I was juiced, it started off as a thread that stated that I was one of the hottest black girls on campus (out of all .5 of us, whoopdie-freakin-doo), and someone commented underneath that not only was I not hot, that I was annoying and asked for extensions on papers.
Cool.
Juicy Campus is long gone, I think the rumor was some folks had committed suicide due to nasty posts. I’m not sure if that was true, but it certainly hurt a lot of folks.
Fast-forward to now, when folks are still trying to hide behind computer screens to be nasty and bully others.
In a much more innocuous, but still snarky post on a local forum, someone posted that a duo that appeared on a local news segment was “annoying.” A completely snarky, and unconstructive critical comment. And for what? I pointed out on the forum that local news folks could just as easily log into the forum as we could, and that such comments could hurt their feelings.
Here’s where I come in. I blog. I can be funny. I have no qualms with making it very clear that I hate local morning radio for good reason, or that I’m a huge supporter of Rock n’ Roll coming to Raleigh in April. But I can assure you that I will be transparent, that I will never hide behind the screen and bully or beat up on others of no reason. I’ve poked fun at Lamar Odom, Olivia Newton-John, and every single Housewife of Wherever, but I do it with this in mind. If this person were to read it (yeah right!) would they be in tears? And if the answer is no, I feel okay.
So I challenge you folks, when you’re commenting on Facebook or Buzzfeed posts, when you comment on local blogs, or when you comment on Perez, that you keep in mind that celebrities, huge and small, are actual people. If you might not like to feel like crap when you read something about yourself the way that I did, you might not like it either. Okay?
Let’s hug it out.
New reads! #runchat
I swore, after my last marathon, during which I sobbed and vomited miles 18-26.2, that I would not run another marathon until after we got married. One, because of the sheer volume of time I had to dedicate to training (most Sundays were dedicated to running), and two, because of the misery that vomiting during a race could potentially bring. I really wanted to focus on wedding stuff and wedding planning (which is a total blast, ps, and I’ll fill you guys in as I do more stuff).
So anyways, fast forward to December, where everyone is talking about their spring races. And I literally have this disease called FOMO (fear of missing out), and I almost can’t stand not running a race during spring race season when everyone else is running around having their fun.
Also, I think I’m addicted to the feeling when you finally cross the finish line. I’ve only crossed a marathon finish line twice, and I’m not sure I’m ready to hang the shoes up until after I become a Mrs.
Basically, I’m seriously toying with the idea of doing Rock n’ Roll in Raleigh.
If I do this, and that’s a big friggin’ IF, I need to do this right. Like I absolutely refuse to get sick and cry though another race. Not gonna happen.
Insert new reads here. A friend PR’d at Chicago using this method. I’m not sure that I’m going with this method – there are a TON of miles a week as opposed to regular marathon training, and it is definitely something I need to fully commit to. But I’m very interested in the book in general, and super excited to tell you guys what I learn.
What do you guys think? I’m getting married in August, should leave plenty of time to profusely apologize to my spouse for neglecting him between January and April. What do you think – can this marathon be done?
Overactive Blogger 