Category Archives: Disc golf

Exit Facebook. Fat Festivities. Little Bit of Runnin’.

I made a bold move last night and deactivated my Facebook account. I decided to delete myself because I have spent too much time on the computer lately, choosing to talk to people through a keyboard and a screen instead of simply calling them or going to do something with them. I could have spent the weekend playing disc golf with Ed, but instead I stayed inside on the computer. I didn’t get any of my grading finished, nor did I get my dissertation proposal finished like I should have. I haven’t been writing here as frequently as I should, and I haven’t written anything creative either. All of this happened because I was compulsively checking Facebook. So, I decided to be more intentional and more mindful about my friendships. The only thing I regret is the fact that I won’t have contact with my cousins, but I figure that I can get their phone numbers or email addresses from my brother.

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My friends, Sarah and Elizabeth, and I are going to submit a proposal to another fat studies conference. Sarah is possibly going to talk about pedagogy, Elizabeth is going to discuss pieces of a graphic novel about 18th century fat-guys, and I am going to talk about my high school students’ perceptions of fat and the ways we work to overcome their stereotypes/misunderstandings of fat. I am excited because if we get into the conference, it means that we get to spend several days with each other after just seeing each other for a week during the summer. And, I am looking forward to possibly meeting a friend of hers from Nebraska.

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This morning I ran five miles, which seemed like an eternity. I kept thinking that a marathon is five times as long as what I ran this morning. I got a little discouraged, but then I thought about the fact that I am running 13.1 miles in a few weeks, which is 13.1 times as far as I could run a year ago. Surely, in six months I can double that distance. Right?

I ran past the two cutest older women. They moved over as I ran past, and I said, “That isn’t necessary. I am really slow. I promise I won’t run over you!” The one lady smiled and said, “It’s her first time out here walking, so I’m trying to teach her the rules.” I loved it, and I wanted to ask her if she could please explain the rules to other people who use the trail. It would be so nice if people in Muncie knew the rules of trail usage.

Small things like saying. “Bike on your left!” from far enough away for people to move their three cantankerous dogs offย  to the right side of the trail would be amazing. Runners who don’t have their headphones turned up so high that they can’t hear bikers who actually yell, “Bike on the left!” would be an amazing addition to the Greenway as well. I mean there are common courtesies (rules) that users of trails should follow. I suppose it’s too much to ask for people who move under their own power to follow rules when people who drive lethal weapons everyday can’t follow the rules. Ugh.

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I am thankful for freedom.

Food: banana, juice, almonds, fruit snacks, chai latte, two pieces of pizza, rock ‘n’ rye, salad with garbonzo beans, cheese quesadilla

Exercise: ran five miles, walked from Burris to Irving Gym, walked the dogs 1.5 miles, one hour of racquetball

I Am Buried in Grading…

but I don’t want to do it, so I keep finding means of procrastination. I have all of the papers sorted, and I already know what their grades are for the most part. I simply have to write out grade sheets explaining their grades, what they did well, and what they could improve on for next time.

The problem that I am running into is that one of my classes is so fantastic that I think all of them deserve As or Bs. How do you explain to a faculty who is used to seeing multiple students fail this class that your particular mix of students is talented? There are at least ten students in my five o’clock class who could step into a classroom tomorrow with little or no difficulty. They’d, of course, have the usual getting used to teaching blips, but for the most part, if I had a child in school, I would want any one of them to be my kid’s teacher! My other class is just as smart, and just as talented, but in more subtle ways. However, I am still fairly certain that there will be mostly As and Bs in that class, too. Essentially, these two groups of students have done everything I have asked with excellence, and in most cases they have done more. Well, if anyone doubts their awesomeness, I can just show them their genre presentations or text-sets, and I have a feeling that their text-sets may be the deciding factor for several of their grades.

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Last Saturday, Bec and I completed the last training run for the Indy-Mini. The race was 9.3 miles long or 15K, and we both finished right at 2 hours. She walked and I ran. It must be nice to have such long legs that you can walk as fast as a short, fat kid can run! I don’t begrudge her the fantastic time. She was moving! And, I am so proud of her.

I am proud of myself, too. I learned that I can run a 10:30 for a mile. In fact, I can run that speed for two miles. What it ends up getting me, though, is a very slow last couple of miles, as in 13:30 slow. My goal for the 13.1 mile race is to keep my mile splits for the first half right at 12:30, then I can work a little harder for the last six miles, trying to get negative splits for them. We’ll see if it will work. I may end up walking! ๐Ÿ™‚ Slowly. Not as fast as Rebecca.

I am still trying to decide about this marathon thing. I feel good running, but I was pretty sore after the run on Saturday. Can I do 26.2 miles, almost three times what I did Saturday? Both Sarah and Kathy have said they are considering running at the same time as I am. Kathy may run the half-marathon, and Sarah, I hope, is resigned for the whole shoot and match. I am still trying to decide between these two races: The Indianapolis Marathon, The Indianapolis Monumental Marathon. The first one falls at a better time as far as long training runs go because of school, but the second one looks like a more fun course and would allow me an extra month of training. I am so torn between the two. Can anyone offer any words of wisdom or advice?

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Next weekend, I get to play disc golf with Ed. He ordered us some discs off of Ebay. We won a set of ten for something like $50. It’s a good thing they are on the way, because my dog decided to chew my purple disc yesterday afternoon. She shredded one edge of it, but it took her a bit longer than she shreds a regular Frisbee. I consider that a bonus. She now has a new toy, and I am getting new discs. It’s a win, win situation.

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I am thankful for outlets.