SBL2.0: The Running of the Balls

Or, that time I took a picture with a giant testicle.

 Dear readers, if you ever want to feel terrible about yourself, I recommend reading running blogs. These are not things that I usually read, but in the course of my googling to learn more about the course of the Staten Island Half, I found some blogs that wrote about the course. And while I got a little more info about how many hills to expect, the main thing I found myself feeling was bad about myself. Because there's nothing like someone writing about how they didn't get to train because their Crohn's Disease was acting up, so they only had a seven minute mile pace instead of a six minute mile case. Seriously, just kill me now.

ALL OF THE SWEAT

 Well, dear readers, this will never that type of blog! Because here at Curly Hair With Glasses, we want everyone to feel good about themselves, no matter how slowly they run, or if they choose not to run at all!

These pictures are from a 10K I ran on Fathers Day, known (because it raises money for testicular cancer research) as the Running of the Balls. And yes, there was a mascot dressed as a testical. And yes, I took a picture with him. (Obviously.) And yes, it turns out that one of my former students knows him. It's a small world, folks.

The day was sunny but very hot, and we were at Roosevelt Island, which is flat but shadeless. As you can see in the picture above, I was extremely sweaty. I also ran my first 5k too fast (in a little under 29 minutes) and then tired out and took longer on the second 5k. But I finished in 59:57, which I felt really great about. Runners blogs be damned. We are all winners here!

My training is progressing slowly. I'm supposed to do one long run a week, so yesterday I did seven miles. It was one of those days where I felt like I was going to die with every step. But I didn't! Let's hear it for not passing out in Riverside Park! The idea of running almost double that is feeling pretty intimidating right now, but I still have time. And please leave encouragement! I can use all of the cheering I can get.

Me! I finished! Yay!

 One note about my t-shirt. You might notice that it says "Property of Ravenclaw Quidditch", and you might be thinking, What Rachel??? Not Gryffindor? To which I saw, I would clearly be in Ravenclaw, so I'm just being true to who I am, and also does anyone else feel like the Gryffindor people maybe got themselves into a little more trouble than was strictly necessary? RAVENCLAW FOREVER!!!

Time until the half marathon: two months and four days

What I'm wearing: Look Human Ravenclaw t-shirt, Kirkland yoga pants, Adidas sneakers (similar here)

What My Body Does! Plus Stitch Fix Update

Hi friends! I hope you all are having a glorious weekend.

To state the obvious, this is a fashion blog, which means I spend most (although not all) of my time here thinking and writing about what I look like. However, I want to take a brief detour for today, and take a few minutes to talk about what it means to appreciate what my body can do. So if you came to look at my outfit, my apologies, and come back tomorrow! Otherwise, read on, friends.

Have you ever thought about how amazing the things your body can do are? It's something we often take for granted, until our bodies stop working properly. (In fact, in Judaism, we have a blessing called Asher Yatzar that we say every time we go to the bathroom that thanks God for making sure all of the parts of our bodies work and allow us to function.) In the meantime, we tend to focus on how we look, and (unfortunately) on where we perceive flaws.

I'm as guilty of this as anyone. I try to have good body image and appreciate what my body can do, instead of focusing on the tiny little perceived flaws that nobody else even sees. But it's hard too much of the time. So today, I am going to write a mini ode to my body.

My new running shoes! I did not pick the color.
But at least nobody can say they didn't see me coming?

It all started around Passover, when my sister Rebecca was telling us about how she was using the Couch to 5K app to get back into shape after having a baby in December. We decided it would be fun to do a race, and set a goal of doing a 10K at the end of the summer. I am a very regular gym goer, as it keeps my anxiety in check, but I've always been afraid of outside running, which is much harder for me than running on the treadmill. However, obviously the 10K will be outside, so I decided to bite the bullet and start training now, before it got too too hot. (Just goes to show that man plans and God laughs, because when I went out at 8:00 morning, it was already in the 70s with 90% humidity. Oh well.) So far I've done four outside runs and I'm doing so much better than I thought!

Because you know what? Despite the insane amount of sweating and the fact that it was so humid that my glasses got all fogged up, I ran 6 miles in an hour! I'm sure I will feel it tomorrow, but for today, I am so proud of myself and my body. So even though there will inevitably be the days when I look in the mirror and feel unhappy with what I see, for now, I am feeling grateful for what my body can do. So consider this a reminder that even when we wear the world's cutest outfits, we should feel even better about what's happening underneath.

Okay, cheese over. In other news, here's an update on my Stitch Fix. Somebody bought the white shirt I didn't like from my last fix from me, so I ended up keeping all five items. I'm hoping to be able to sell the black shirt, which I think is too big, because I decided I would be sad to send the green and pink one back. Since it would have cost more to send only the black shirt back, it didn't make sense to give up the 25% discount. So there we have it. A win for Alison. Thanks to everyone who weighed in! (And if you're interested in buying the Daniel Rainn shirt, feel free to email me here.) Want to try out these super cute looks? Sign up for your own fix here!

What have you done lately that's made you feel proud of, and grateful for, your body?