Janae Says...

At this very moment, my man is out with his cousin seeing a movie I am very anxious to see. I was given the option to come, but I'm not feeling especially awesome this evening, and didn't want to impose upon their plans. So I thought today would be a good day to recap July 2019, and see if my summer is going as well as I'd like to think it is. On July 1, I busted out my sewing machine and hemmed a new jumpsuit I got, and also stitched up a couple of reusable bags I particularly like. It's always a moment of pride when I re-teach myself how to use my sewing machine. We went to the pool on July 2, but I have no photos to share. I just want to count how many times I've been to the pool so far. On July 3, I worked a half day and then did the long drive home to Glendora, CA for the weekend. The 4th at my dad's house was pretty uneventful. I did a morning workout, learned the introduction to Bohemian Rhapsody on the piano, and my dad and I watched most of...

My first half marathon was in 2013. That means I've been running for over six years at this point. I've had shin splints, sports bra chafing, bikini area chafing, sore muscles, sunburns, scabs from tripping, black toenails, and just about anything else you could imagine. Thankfully, I've never had any serious or lasting issues with my body. No sprains or breaks. Some minor illnesses. (I was sick for most of my marathon training, but I've already written about that.) But since training for my full marathon in October 2017, I had major foot pain right above the arch of my foot. It was mostly my right foot, but my left a little bit too. After hurting for over a year and a half, I finally had a brief chat with a foot doctor at FitCon this past April. His suggestion? Get some good arch supports. Expensive ones. If those don't help, come in and get an ultrasound. So, I went to Good Feet in Sandy and paid a pretty penny (like literally almost $500) for some lifetim...

Human nature is funny, and so terribly frustrating. Because of the way our brains works, we like to compartmentalize, simplify, and put boxes around things. This includes people, unfortunately. Stereotypes abound because it is easier to think of people as part of a group of some kind. And stereotypes exist for a reason, of course. Culture is real! You learn this when you visit a different family, church, or country, or even a different region of one country! While our brain function makes life easier to understand and comprehend, it also can be harmful for our relationships with others. You probably have people who entered and exited your life within a certain period. Think of teachers you had for nine months of school and never saw again, or friends you had in clubs or in certain years of school. You'll forever be a kid, teenager, or college student to them. If you see them years later, after considerable change and life experience, you're still likely to have a percepti...

It took me until the ripe old age of 32 to obtain my first black eye in a mountain bike crash at our company retreat. It took me only 1.5 weeks to get my second black eye on the other side. I was just getting home from a run on Friday, July 5 in my hometown. I was soaked with sweat, thanks to the 75% humidity, and was heading to the backyard to stretch and cool down. Rather than trail my dirty running shoes and drip sweat throughout the house, I went through the side gate that my grandpa built. It's been a few years since this gate has had any attention from my grandpa. And after being roughed around by my brother, it's not in great shape. It's also about a foot taller than me. To close it, you have to kind of lift and slam it shut. It probably would have been wise of me to set my phone down, or put it in my flip belt while trying to slam said gate. But, sometimes I do dumb things. So with my left hand on the gate, my right hand on a wood panel inside the gat...