Race knitting
No, don't worry, I didn't knit while running the race! The race was really hard and I'm slightly ashamed of how close to last place we finished (I ran with my friend Elissa who's a beginning runner like me) . . . but I'm really REALLY proud of myself for FINISHING! I'd never run that far before and I'm happy to say that I was able to keep my usual 5K pace throughout the 10K. That's pretty awesome! Of course that means that my regular runs still include some walking, but I'm getting better and better every week. My friend Lauren also ran with us but when I say "with us" I just mean in the same 5,000-plus-person race. Since she's a real runner, she finished in 2/3rds the time it took me and Elissa.
I'm finding that now that running has become a regular part of my life, that when I don't keep it up I feel significantly worse physically. You always hear that running is "so zen" and that people got addicted to it but I never believed it. I've always regarded runners like a type of masochistic cult and I used to always say to people "if you see me running it's because someone's chasing me!" But now that I'm an entry-level cult member I have to admit that I get it. Not only is running really good for me physically, it's incredibly helpful mentally. Knitting brings me that sort of zen peace as well, but after running I feel much more energized than I do sitting on the couch knitting. And I've been sleeping better since I started, too! Bonus!
Oh and I have no pictures of the race to share with you because I had no one there cheering me on. =( Next time I'll round up a cheering squad so that I can at least get some documentation.
Elissa and I are considering running another 10K in a month just to prove to ourselves that we can do better than we did on Saturday . . . so basically, I've lost my mind. I guess I'm officially part of the cult.
Now onto the "race knitting":
After the race ended and I had brunch with everyone, I headed over to Knitty City to find a set of size 4 DPNs. You'd think it would be impossible for there to be a size needle I don't own, but after half an hour of searching I couldn't find any size 4's and I need them for the thumb of a mitten I'm designing, so I made a mental note to pick up a set next time I hit a LYS. Of course I couldn't walk out of there without a little somethin'-somethin' in addition to plain old boring needles, so I bought myself a little "congratulations for finishing the race" present.
Just one skein of Sweet Georgia's worsted in the color River. Incidentally, when I got home I realized I own this color in her sock yarn. I'm nothing if not consistent in my color choices! I also found 5 sets of size 4 DPN's when I got home. That, unfortunately, is also consistent for me. Which explains why I already had 5 sets and now own SEVEN. Oy.
After I got home and showered I started knitting the yarn up into little fingerless mittens, inspired by motorcycle gloves. I'm probably going to offer this as a free pattern. How do you like them?
