and i won't disappear, in this city.

so i'm in the depths of my very first New England Winter. while i know cold from growing up in Northern Virginia... this is a very different cold that the bones and skin of CW have ever experienced. i have realized living in Boston when it comes to walking to my car, walking from loser lot to the office, (the lot for those who arrive to work a few mins shy of 8:30 when the early-bird lot is full), or even walking down my street to get a latte... fashion literally flies out the window. i can almost see her flying away, miss fashion herself, waving goodbye with sunglasses on, a bottle of sunscreen in one hand, and a huge smile... clearly off to somewhere warmer.

while i've justified plenty of new purchases due to my new climate, i've decided i am permanently freezing, (unless seeing stars in a bikram yoga class), and i'm the girl that ends up with a gigantic scarf halfway in my mouth while also managing to accost my ponytail in an extremely unattractive way. i then spend the first 3 minutes of my drive picking red or purple threads off of my tongue. i do recognize the fact that i believe everybody is freezing, but having admittedly gone soft living in seattle the past few years, i think i'm transitioning a little slower into this cold weather.

which takes me to.... running. so yes, i need to get out there, move the legs. while i've become somewhat of a bikram addict, i'm still running. after braving the cold a few days last week totally layered up, i nearly ate the sidewalk running up my street. i was a few inches from tasting concrete, and i am not exaggerating. my strangely limber spine and a TV-like save had my heart pounding and thus began an internal monologue lecturing myself on not being an idiot. if you know me you know i'm having some shoulder socket problems. it even sounds ridiculous to type. but i'll be blunt here. i was all-state in field hockey in high school, i used to dive with my arms outstretched, yet i've taken two spills in the last few years and have managed to dislocate both shoulders, most recently in early December. this has me totally afraid to fall on the ice, and hence, why i've had to acquaint myself with mr. treadmill.

i hate the treadmill. i've only been on one a handful of times in my life. why do i hate it? for one i get visions of a slight misstep in my footing and flying off the back, dislocating both shoulders and losing two front teeth and making a huge scene. my mind immediately goes to the dental chair with lights in my face and the taste of sterile rubber gloves, hearing mumbling between the dentist and the hygentist on how they'll fix this tragedy of all of my broken teeth. would my mom fly up? who would i call in boston when this happened? do i even know anyone's phone numbers in boston by heart? how would i even make sure my cell phone gets out of the locker and with me to the ER following this horrible treadmill fall? ohmygosh, don't lose your footing on the t-mill claire. (some might say i have a paranoid imagination).

while, (knock on wood), being very careful on the treadmill. i've managed to get in some decent runs on the it. i like to find one near the window, so i can check my reflection and make sure i have enough room behind me on the tread. people probably think i'm looking at myself. i mean i am, but not in a vein sort of way, i'm just exceptionally cool at looking calm on the exterior whilst having internal anxiety. anyhow. i have learned 50% of the TVs are broken that are attached to these treadmills, and sometimes i'd rather find one with a broken TV instead of one accompanied with the lurking stench of axe body spray mixed with miller lite that was sweated out.

this past Friday, after a horrendously long day of work, i was able to get in an hour run and watch Bear Grillz on Man vs. Wild eat a live trout. As the trouts guts busted out of the spine of the fish, i was the girl gasping with a disgusted look on my face. i had the volume up pretty high, so chances are, my gasps were of an inapporpriate volume. my bad. the following day i had to hop on a treadmill with a broken TV, and thus began the movie of cw.

that's right. the movie. it is so cheesy, but sometimes when i blast music and walk around, or run, i feel like i'm in a movie.. i listened to my ipod for 45 minutes, and played a total of 5 songs. this is where my annoying habbit of being able to listen to songs over and over again comes in handy. i am not sure if i should be embarassed that i was BLASTING  "in this city" by Iglu and Hartly, but it completely and utterly pumped me up. i looked at my ponytail in the reflection of the broken TV screen, glanced over at the chick next to me, and felt a little hard core that my pace was exceptionally faster than hers. ( i know, i know, but we all need to get our kicks somewhere). anyway. i won't lie. i wasn't doing some intense, up tempo run, but this song made me feel like a total bad ass.

take a listen to it... is it just me? :)


safe footing to all out there...
*cw