The Art & Poetry of Mary Coleman

I wrote a little bit today. Nothing amazing. I just took an existing poem of mine that I didn’t like very much and added to it, fleshed it out a bit. The end result is okay. It’s a little bit about vanity in middle age.

Something I learned in high school? I learned how to write a proper essay in high school. Thesis, citations, footnotes and all. I did my research paper on Steinbeck’s Grapes of Wrath. I wrote the entire thing two nights before it was due per my usual habits in high school of doing everything right before it was due. I got a B, which was good considering how little effort I put into the thing.

I wish I had learned time management in high school, because it wasn’t until the end of my bachelor’s degree, in my second attempt at college, that I started really getting a handle on completing papers over a longer period of time and studying throughout the semester instead of crunching the night before. It really reduced the stress I was under from doing everything last minute. I have the learning center at The University of Auckland to thank for my current time management skills.

I ran 10 miles today. My weight really makes jogging harder. I’m not currently overweight, but I am heavy enough that I can feel it on my joints. It’s much easier to run at about 20 pounds lighter than I am (think of it as strapping a large bag of cat litter on your knees while you run). Currently my size really slows me down. Right now I’m on the heavier side of a healthy weight and I would like to be at the lower side of a healthy weight. Last week I got my eating under control, it’s just a matter of finishing up this week within an average of 1800 calories a day and carrying on with that indefinitely (with the understanding I’m not perfect and I might have bad weeks here and there). If all goes the way I plan, I should be down another pound by Monday. If I can keep up about a pound a week, I will be where I want to be by my third half marathon in October.

My size does matter when it comes to running. I should think less about looks though, as looks abandon you and have less importance as age sets in. Best to make your peace with getting older, instead of clinging to the past. It’s unfortunate that modern culture prizes the young over the old. There’s so much idiocy in youth, there’s nothing to be prized about that. One would think that a person should be valued more the wiser they have become (although not everyone gets wiser or smarter if the current US President is to be considered).