Running Chick

Last Christmas, my folks & Josh got me a Cannon Rebel XS DSLR camera. I lusted after it for months (seriously), but it was fairly expensive and I just couldn't pull the trigger on buying it. I came really close a couple of times when it went on sale in December, but then Josh kept on telling me that it would probably go on sale even more after Christmas, so I held off. I didn't really think anybody would buy it for me because it was outside of the "normal" Christmas spending range, so imagine my surprise when I opened up my gift and there it was. Then I realized how crazy I must have been making Josh with my "Hey! My camera came down $20, should I buy it? I'm buying it!" and I'm pretty sure he was afraid to leave me alone with my computer and credit card. See, I am not known for my patience when it comes to acquiring things. I want it, I buy it. No, I'm not waiting to see if Santa will bring it for me. No, I'm not waiting for my birthday. End of story.

I've taken hundreds, maybe thousands of pictures since last December and I've become painfully aware that I have no idea what I'm doing. This is not your typical point-and-shoot. There is a mode that essentially makes it a point-and-shoot, but what's the point of having all that camera if you're not going to use it? So, now I have to learn about things like aperture, ISO, shutter speed (aka the exposure triangle!), exposure and depth of field. And whether I need to shoot in aperture priority mode, shutter priority mode, or full manual mode to restrict noise, blurr or blown out photos. Huh? Yeah. Overwhelming.

And just when I think I'm making progress in understanding all this stuff, I learn that aperture measurements actually mean exactly the opposite of what common sense would tell you they mean. And my brain, well, it just turns to mush at this point because it seems so darn illogical.

But, I really love my camera. Even though I find that most of my pictures are underwhelming, which I'm okay with, once in a while I take one (i.e. get lucky) that makes me stop and think I may actually be doing something right.

Take this one, for instance. Josh's sister got married in July and his family asked me if I would take some candid photos. I wanted to get the "fly on the wall" aspect, so I picked up a telephoto lens (EF-S 55-250mm f/4.0-5.6 IS) and got this shot of Carrie's veil. I love everything about this picture – the white of the flowers, dress & veil against the darkness of the background, the details on the veil, the entire composition makes me go “ooh”.

Then there this one. There’s nothing particularly fascinating about this picture, but it’s a hot boy (in a tux!) in a hot car (Mercedes!) and I thought I’d throw it in here for the lady readers. Easy girls, he’s taken.

This one’s of my dad welding a trailer axle bracket in his shop. When I look at it in a larger size, the spot where the welding is happening makes my eyes hurt a little bit because it’s so bright. This picture was a complete accident and it’s just damn cool.

Finally, I like this one because it’s a little bit industrial, and a little bit dirty and gritty. I had to keep on messing around with the shutter speed in order to get those spark trails, but I finally got it right and I think they’re pretty sweet.

Today, I bought another lens to add to my collection. It’s a Canon 55mm f/1.8 fixed for portraits and close-ups (although it’s not a macro lens). I’m pretty excited about it because it’s inexpensive and it gets great reviews. Hopefully I’ll have some interesting photos to post in the weeks to come*. * don't count on it.

The freighter Herbert C. Jackson is spending a few days anchored out in Portage Lake until the big old November storm that’s hitting the Great Lakes passes. Josh and I took a drive out to Chassell and took a few photos after work today.

It was cold, rainy and really windy (check out the white caps on the waves) but I managed to get a few good shots which are over in the gallery.

Yay, telephoto lens!

The weather was looking awesome for Friday, so I took the afternoon off (yay, 35 days of vacation in the bank) to get my 9 miler in.

I actually thought about my nutrition and hydration needs a bit longer than 10 minutes before heading out the door, so I felt confident with one bottle of water, one bottle of water/Gatorade mix and a Gu.

I felt great until around mile 5, then things started to go downhill.  My legs didn’t feel like going anymore, and my brain didn’t feel like convincing them to go. I struggled through the last three miles, doing more walking than running, and when I was running, it was mostly shuffling. I was able to finish running, but I’m pretty sure it was only because my body knew it was all going to be over soon.

This same thing happened on my 8 miler the other week, so I’m pretty sure that’s my body telling me that I’m doing too much too soon. I tend to ignore my body most of the time, but in the spirit of trying new things, this time I decided to cut back a little.

Oh, and not to take credit for this idea all on my own, I was inspired by a few comments from my Facebook friends who, when I mentioned that I ran 8 miles, said (paraphrasing):

“Wow, eight miles already? That’s pretty quick!” and

“Eight miles! What are you training for?”

It occurred to me that I’m NOT TRAINING FOR ANYTHING HELLO and there’s not really any sane reason that I should be pushing myself so soon. It’s not like I’ve been injured for the past 16 months or anything. Duh.

Of course, my crazy insane multiple-times-over Ironman friend said “Good job, keep it up!”.  Yeah, I’m chosing to ignore her.

I’m going to take all of this week off and focus on yoga/pilates/strength training and then pick back up next week, but I’m going  to keep things short and sweet. I’ll keep it at 3-ish during the week and peak at maybe 5-6 on the weekends.

My miles for last week were 13 @ 10:35.