9:00 AM - Today was a really great day! I was pretty tired and kind of stressed with all of the end of the year projects and papers due. But I wanted to get my walk-shuffle in early. So after talking to my cutie and saying good morning, hopped on the treadmill. Mixed reactions today - walk and shuffle went fine, actually FANTASTIC, as I logged the longest jog yet since February 3 miles non-stop in 32:10 @ 10:43 pace! Started with 15:00 walk of one mile and finished with cooldown walk of a mile in 15:00 as well. During the time though I was reading a really important book that I hope more Americans will read: Affluenza, by John DeGraaf : book version of a PBS documentary that aired a while ago that talks about how Americans today are overworked, overstressed, underslept, and so tied into wasteful consumerism that we are effectively shooting the world to hell in a handbasket. It made me sick to read some of the staggering statistics out there i.e. that 93% of teenage girls list shopping as their favorite activity, Parents today spend 7 times more time shopping then they do playing with their kids, America makes up only 4 percent of the world's population but is responsible for 25 percent of global warming.. There currently are more people filing for bankruptcy each year than graduate from college, and further more, more people are in an endless stream of debt now then during the Great Depression! Reading the statistics I guess I count myself fortunate that 1. I'm a runner and understand and appreciate the sacredness and natural wonderment of the world around me, and 2. that I have not been drawn into the credit card fiasco that fuels consumerism today. They said the average American has over 7 credit cards and more than 8,000 dollars of debt. It's times like these that I feel like either moving to Canada or voting the Communist ticket. I'm sick and tired of the rich getting the tax breaks, the middle class being underinsured with health care, and everyone buying into capitalist propoganda. Everyone says the hippies are radicals and that the eco-friendly people are just weirdos; Well if I have it my way, a nice house out in the country, with my own land, no smog or pollution, no hustle and bustle and stress of work and urbanity, that sounds pretty sweet to me. What is money worth if the stress and time that it takes to get it takes you away from your family and shortens years off your life? We only live once, so we should try to make the best of it! Okay I'll hop off my soap box now :)
Total Time: 62:10 Total Distance: 5 miles Average Pace: 12:26/ mile | 