A Kiwi Shaped Hole

The kitty I grew up with died of kidney failure when I was in 5th grade.  I thought my heart would break.  And then to fill the hole in our house, we adopted two kittens from the local humane society: Kiwi and Cricket.  We were able to take Cricket home first- Kiwi had to gain weight before she could get spayed and go to a family.  This was ironic, because once Kiwi started gaining weight, she never really stopped.  In her extremely fat prime, she had too many stomach rolls cascading down to even clean her own hiney.  

Kiwi was a cat who always smiled and never stopped purring.  She was a dedicated snuggler.  She probably wasn't very bright- we theorized that she was deprived of oxygen as a kitten since her litter was found nesting in plastic bags.  She was a great hunter although she was never quite sure what to do with the mice she caught.  She loved ice cream and would hound my brother all through the house trying to reach his bowl.  She always looked vaguely startled since her big blue eyes were crossed.

And I loved her very much.

Always smiling, our little Kiwi

Sitting like a drunk in an alley.  Graceful and dignified Kiwi!

Rolling in the sun on the porch.

Kiwi and Sputnik

Hug me?

Kiwi Bomgaars
1995-2011

One run does not a runner make

But it does sort of make you hurt.

Especially when the socks you had thought were adequate decide to fall down repeatedly during your run so your Achilles tendons end up being rubbed raw.  And your left knee hurts inexplicably as it hasn't hurt since high school- even though this is not your first run since high school, just the first in a while and hopefully the first to establish a pattern of healthy, regular running.

I almost weenied out- I really did.  I put on my sports bra and managed to find my running pants.  Zipped up my hoodie and took Luna out to play some chuck-it and hopefully make her poop prior to the run so I wouldn't have to run holding a baggie of poo.  In spite of the balmy temperatures, the wind was....staggering.  It made me go upstairs and get my WSU beanie and some fingerless gloves.  Luna still wouldn't poop in spite of much chuck-it-ing (normally a pretty good method of getting things moving) making me think she had probably gone before breakfast without me seeing it.  Then a huge blast of wind somehow managed to blow me out of the yard and all the way back up the stairs and into the house saying "What am I thinking?!  This wind is crazy!  Do I really want to start my scheme TODAY?"

Then I looked at Luna.  She was looking at me with the saddest puppy eyes in the world.  Eyes that said, "I have not yet been satisfactorily worn out by my chuck-iting!  I was promised a run!"

And so we went.  1 minute of running, 2 minutes of walking...repeated 10 times.  I discovered the trail is quite muddy right now.  I discovered that it is difficult to keep headphones in while wearing a beanie.  I discovered that the stop watch app I downloaded to keep track of minutes liked to turn off the screen only during the minute runs- never during the 2 minute walks.  But Luna enjoyed herself thoroughly.  And I survived it.

Endomondo Running Workout: "was out running 1.78 miles in 32m:18s using Endomondo."


P.S. Endomondo is really awesome.

Running?

I have never been a runner.  I mean, I ran track in Jr. High- sprinting because distance running was decidedly beyond my capabilities and the capabilities of my sport's bra.  But I have looked with envy at those who run and who derive a sense of fulfillment from running.  So even though I get shin splints and side aches and whenever I try to run my lungs feel like they may collapse, I still want to give it a fair chance.

But how to begin?  I realized this fall that I enjoy trail running much more than street running and even bought myself some trail running shoes to further that purpose.  Luna loves to go for a run and I know she would appreciate it if I ran regularly and took her with me.  However, it is the middle of winter in Pullman and although we are having some sort of tropical heat wave (50 degrees??  WHAT DOES THIS MEAN?!) it is still crappy out.  Today, for example it is alternating pouring sheets of rain and huge blasts of wind that make all my windows rattle.  Luna ran outside to go potty this morning, started happily trotting to the yard and stopped short when she got a huge gust of wind in her face that made her ears stand up and her lips flop around.  She turned around and found a more sheltered place to piddle and was still quite damp from the driving rain when she came inside.

So running right now is decidedly unappealing.  But I need to start at some point.  I read numerous cooking blogs and many of these healthy home cooks also have healthy hobbies such as running and yoga.  I followed a link to Runners World and have since clicked my way around (steering away from half marathons when I started reading things like "start by running 6 miles at 60% of your normal pace.") and found the Beginners section.  There are a lot of great articles in there about shoes and nutrition and motivation as well as common pitfalls and inspirational stories.  This is the gem that I think I found though:

The Runner's World 8-Week Beginning Runner's Training Program.

I think it looks very doable.  I like the idea of having a manageable goal- in this case, work my way up to running for 2 miles at a slow pace (30 minutes of running).  Will I win a marathon at that pace?  No.  Do I need to?  No.  I just want to be more physically fit and maybe have a better chance of surviving the Zombie Apocalypse.  Maybe once I get into the habit of running, I can work towards some bigger goals.  For instance, I would REALLY like to do a triathalon someday.  Maybe even a half marathon.  

For the moment, I will settle for feeling good about myself and making my dog very very happy.  

Also: outrunning zombies.