Janae Says...

“That makes me uncomfortable.” This is a phrase that my aunt’s sister-in-law gave me to say when a man makes an unwelcome comment or sound regarding my appearance. It’s a phrase I could’ve used a long time ago. Let me tell you a story. It’s pretty personal—quite personal, actually. And it will put you, the reader, in a position to judge me harshly. I’m asking you to set aside your judgment for a few minutes and just try to understand me. Understand that my life experiences have been different from yours, my nature is different from yours, and my strengths and weaknesses are different from yours. Things that may be easy for you are not so easy for me. Many years ago, I dated a guy I met on a dating website. I thought he was cute and funny. Conversation flowed easily, and we clicked. This has always been a really rare find for me in dating. One day, he was at my apartment, and we started kissing. Things got a little bit hot, which I was uncomfortable with, especially wi...

On Saturday, I had several lessons in patience. At this age, I’ve noticed these days happen to me occasionally, and I’ve learned to recognize them as they’re happening. Then I give it a smile and a nod and welcome the next challenge so I can overcome it, take the lesson, and move forward with my day rather than be frustrated. I had a great run and workout in the morning. I was off to a strong start with my day and had good momentum. I made my shake and headed to the grocery store, where I wasn’t very efficient. I did a lot of walking back and forth as I remembered other things I needed. Being the impatient person that I am (note: Questioners hate waiting in line; it’s just not efficient), I looked around for shorter lines or faster options. Since I didn't have too much, I thought the self-checkout would be faster than the line I was in. Oh, Janae. Not only was it slower, the machine had a freakout. It wouldn’t let the employee help me with my coupons. So the time I lo...

When I make a list of everything I did or took pictures of in a month, I've noticed that it's mostly focused on food. I mean if you think about it, food is woven into everything we do. It's the focus of holidays; we connect with people at the dinner table; we bring people food when they're ill or struggling. So I don't feel that weird that food is such a big part of my life, especially because I like to think I keep my food choices balanced. Anyway, let's look at both the food and the fun (and the challenges) that took place in September. September 3 was a strange day in the world of Janae. I had blood in my bathroom trips. It was a little scary. I didn't feel sick or feverish or even nauseated. I called the nurse at my doctor's office. She said to stay hydrated, and if I don't feel other symptoms to just wait it out. She followed up with me a day or two later, which I really appreciated. It turned out to be nothing, but it was super weird and a ...

I've never run Ragnar before. I've never had any intentions of running Ragnar. For those of you who don't know , Ragnar is a relay race typically run overnight. I happen to really like sleeping. And I also happen to be very grumpy when I don't sleep, or when I get woken up. So I never planned to run a Ragnar. But months ago, my friend Kristen invited me to run a Ragnar Sunset race, which is during the day with the goal to beat the sunset. I was irresponsible and didn't train adequately. I should've been running hills a few times a week, but all I did was run 3 miles two weeks before, 5 miles one week before, and two miles on Tuesday and Thursday. Not a great training plan. Coming from Park City after my work's overnight retreat, I went straight there and arrived at about 11:30. We shared a tent with another team from Kristen's Orange Theory gym. They brought enough camp chairs for everyone to sit on; it was really nice. I'm not sure wh...