Educated Guesses

Tag: Fall

  • Cap and Gown to Half-Marathon

    Cap and Gown to Half-Marathon

    Throughout the fall, I have been training for my first half-marathon, which I ran this past weekend. I haven’t consistently run since being on my high school’s cross country team, but I felt that I should participate in this somewhat post-grad cliché. I’ve always been a runner and have run on and off throughout college, but I wanted to embrace my true passion for this sport by training for a race. 

    When I ran in high school, I loved the feeling of it. I loved the race courses and my New Balance spikes digging into the grass. I loved wearing Nike Pros and colorful sports bras to practice. I loved the friends who I ran with, who continuously pushed me to run faster in practice and meets. 

    But, I started getting injured a lot. I had a stress fracture that left me in a boot during my junior year. I had multiple ankle sprains from running and playing soccer during the same seasons. I dealt with inflammation in my knee from over working it. I felt trapped in this cycle of getting injured, healing, and starting my training over. I was heartbroken that I wasn’t able to run my best anymore, and felt that my body was fighting against me. 

    During senior year, I discovered the importance of physical therapy and weight training. Throughout my final soccer season, I was in PT once a week and wore a knee brace and ankle brace while playing –– I looked so stupid. But, I was finally able to make it through a season without getting hurt, and ended my sports career on the field rather than in the trainer’s office.

    Then I went to college, and exercising became a secondary thought. It was hard to figure out how to workout on my own, without the structure of organized sports. I started trying new things, and found my love for fitness classes –– where I felt a sense of community. I even ended up becoming an instructor my senior year. 

    But once I graduated, I knew I wanted to get back into running. I had all this free time and figured it would be nice to have a goal, and it would provide me with some structure. So, I signed up for the half-marathon and a 10-miler in October, and planned out my running schedule. 

    When I first started running again, I knew that I needed to prioritize weightlifting as well, to keep my muscles strong and for injury prevention. I planned one day a week to dedicate to lifting weights and doing the exercises that my physical therapist taught me years ago.

    So, I have been doing one day of weight lifting, two 30 minute runs and one long run per week –– increasing the mileage of my long run every week. This felt like a good schedule for me, and allowed me to rest my body during the three days I wasn’t working out. It was a schedule that was manageable for me.

    There have been so many stages in my life where I have tried to push myself to work out every day, but as I’ve gotten older, I have learned that that is not realistic for me. Some advice I would give to anyone who is trying to figure out a good workout schedule for themselves is to refrain from mimicking what others are doing. Take all training programs with a grain of salt, and figure out what feels best for your body. Everyone is different and everyone has different schedules. Don’t force yourself to wake up for a 5 a.m. workout class if it’s going to make you miserable. I’ve learned that lesson the hard way far too many times. 

    During these long runs, I’ve been able to reflect on so many things. Sometimes, when I’m feeling down about being unable to move out yet or getting rejected by jobs, my long runs are able to give me some peace. I feel that I am at least working toward something. I can tell myself that I am a hard worker and that I can do hard things, even in the face of rejection. 

    I’ve also reflected on my life at home and my hometown. Most of my routes are the same streets I have run on since I was little. I remember running to the bread store and grabbing a slice with my friend and our moms when I was in elementary school. I remember training for soccer and seeing the high school cross country team trot by. I remember being one of those girls on the cross country team in high school and doing tempo runs on the trails. It feels nice to be distracted on these runs by old memories of my childhood. 

    Throughout this training process, I have found my love for running once again. There’s something about moving back home from college that has allowed me to feel more in-tune with my body. I don’t run for time or pace anymore; I run based on how my body feels. I allow myself to slow down when I need a break or go faster when I’m feeling good. I think about the high school version of me who was so hard on herself for not running as fast as I thought I should have been, and I wish I could tell her to stop –– that none of those times matter six years later. 

    While I’m thrilled to take a break from all of the energy gels, I’m sad this training block has come to an end. But, I’m so thankful for the healing and resilience that this fall has taught me.

    Thinking about getting into running? Let me know by emailing me: gingerlyons23@gmail.com 🙂

  • A Sober Takeaway From Thanksgiving Eve

    A Sober Takeaway From Thanksgiving Eve

    *POV me overthinking every interaction on Thanksgiving Eve*

    Thanksgiving –– a holiday dedicated to family time, being thankful, and eating tons of food. But, perhaps the day before is the opposite. Thanksgiving Eve, or “Blackout Wednesday,” is dedicated to getting drunk with old classmates, having awkward small talk with someone you sat next to in history class, and trying your best to look like you’ve grown up since graduation. 

    For me, I felt nervous to be surrounded by people I haven’t seen in over four years. In the days before Thanksgiving Eve, worst-case-senarios began to creep in: What if I say “hi” to someone and they don’t recognize me? What if they blow me off? While these thoughts majorly sent a shiver down my spine, I still doused my blown-out hair in hairspray, armed myself with my favorite lipgloss, and made my way to the local bar. 

    This old bar is one I have known my whole life. My parents would take my siblings and me there for dinner back when I ordered dino nuggets and fries (which honestly isn’t that different from my current order). And now, I venture there for the occasional night out since moving home. I remember going there the summer after I turned 21 with my friend and ordering a bucket filled with an elixir of blue liquids –– causing a hangover that only a McDonald’s cheeseburger was able to fix. 

    Now, I’ve graduated from college. I’m an adult who is supposed to be starting my career. But, my time period for finding a job has continued to stretch. My plans have not exactly gone the way that I had hoped, and instead of having moved away by now, I am still chronically active on LinkedIn –– throwing my resume and cover letter at any job listed. But I can’t tell my former classmates that, can I? How can I be honest when they ask me “what I’ve been up to” without nervously laughing? 

    Regardless, I went with a group of friends to brave the awkward small talk and embarrassing eye contact. As I began to chat with people who I had known in high school, I began to realize that I wasn’t alone in this sticky post-grad web. I began to realize that everyone else was stuck in this web too, but in different ways. Some people explained that they were in grad school, but were facing challenges they hadn’t expected. Some people didn’t have a job yet either. Some people did have a job and explained that it was “fine,” but didn’t seem satisfied. I realized that while I was trying to hide my post-grad despair, everyone else was doing the same thing. Just because their Instagram story was stacked with photos of their new homes and jobs, many of them were unsatisfied, uncomfortable, and had expected more after college –– just like me.

    In between the small talk, one girl told me that she enjoys reading my articles. To hear that I had a reader other than my mom and close friends felt amazing. This made all of the rejection letters that are stacked in my inbox, and burned into my brain, fade away a little. I made one little impact –– and while enjoying a seltzer with some of my old friends, that felt like enough. 

    So, happy Thanksgiving Eve to all who celebrate! Congrats to all of you for braving the home town bar.

    How was your Thanksgiving Eve? Let me know by emailing me: gingerlyons23@gmail.com