A potluck of thoughts...

I am achy like an old lady today. Yesterday I ran this run and was incredibly tired all day. When I start off on a long run I feel so motivated... Around the first mile my body is not in a rythm yet, and I keep thinking OMG I have another 8 miles to go!! Around mile 3 I hit a stride, and think yeah I am almost halfway! I can do this! At halfway the feelings are mixed, now I can think well I'm over halfway, but then again I am thinking I have to do all that again??? Then about 3/4 of the way I start to feel like well maybe this was a mistake! Abandoned shopping carts start call to me, like I could just coast the rest of the way and nobody would know! I start self doubting... until I catch a glimpse of the end of the run! Then my pace quickens and I run all out, my heart bursting, legs pumping, until I burst to my own finish line with a dizzying last step. Walking a quarter mile home as a cool down is the best feeling, the muscles in my legs and abs feel so tight, and I know I don't have to do that again for another week!

When I run I am always a bit paranoid. As a deaf runner I have to be extremely careful. I don't hear people calling out to me, or cars coming up behind me. I always try to run against traffic so if the sidewalk stops and I am forced to run in the street I can see exactly what is coming. I don't even understand why there are so many areas without sidewalk! What about people who are in wheelchairs? How are they supposed to get around? Whatever happened to accessibility for all?

Speaking of accessibility (yes this is a potluck post, I am bringing a little bit of everything!) why are all movies in the theatre not subtitled? I don't care if the subtitles would "bother" some hearing people, try not being able to understand the movies at all! The only option now is rear view captioning, which is a great advance, but incredibly difficult to work with. I always have a headache after trying to read the wobbly words on a tiny reflector while keeping up with the projection at the same time. I have to wait weeks for the movie I want to see to possibly play twice and at random times. As a progressive society a place as mainstream as the movie theatre should be held to a higher standard of accessibility. I am going to research this a bit and see what I can do to try to change it. I refuse to just complain without making my voice heard!

Now I am off to a playdate with the Fabulous Moms of RC, today I am off training and really looking forward to my ASL group tonight! Anyone in the Inland Empire is welcome to join us! We meet the 2nd Monday of every month at 6:30, in the courtyard between the foodcourt and Starbucks at the Victoria Gardens mall in Rancho Cucamonga! People of all signing levels are welcome, even those who just have an interest!