Good news and Ugh news
Mile 1: 10:38Mile 2: 10:01
Mile 3: 9:55
Mile 4: 10:07
Mile 4.5: 5.00
4 min break to stretch out, down 2nd GU pack and drink water
Mile 5.5: 10:25
Mile 6.5 and 7: 14:46
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Total Mileage: 7 miles
Average Pace: 10:07 (minus the break)
I had a good workout this morning. As stated in the last entry, I was crazy for admitting that I actually missed treaddie running. So I ran my whole 7 miles on the treadmill so I could keep an eye on my pace. I was trying to average a 10:20 pace and so I'm happy with running under that pace at 10:07.
I have noticed that my legs are not quite as strong as they used to be. I can't describe how I can tell but I can tell. I'll have to get really serious about joining up a gym in Gallup and having a personal trainer to show me the ropes about developing some strength with weights.
It doesn't take a genius to say that running at high elevation has made my running down here in the Valley considerably more easier. I did not feel short of breath or tired on the entire 7 miles. Usually, when I get to my last couple of miles, I'll slow down quite a bit by at least 30 seconds.
Didn't happen this time!
I whooped ass. I wanted to take this time to give a shout out to Denise, aka Firefly. Her blog has really inspired me. When I first read her blog during the summer she was running 12 min/miles or so and now she is running sub 10 min/miles! That improvement has made me more dedicated to my running and I know that eventually I'll get down to sub 10 min/miles as well. Awesome job, Firefly.
This coming week I am running two 5ks back to back. There is one on Thursday in Twin Lakes, NM that is being sponsored by the Navajo Nation Special Diabetes Project and it's FREE! The next day, I will be running another 5k at the Western Agency Navajo Nation fair in Tuba City, AZ. That will be quite a busy day because my program is setting up a booth for Elders Day that day.
Our Navajo Nation is broken down into 5 agencies: Eastern (where my fiance' is from), Western, Central, Northern, and Fort Defiance. My hometown of Kayenta is in the Western Agency so going to the Tuba City Fair, which is a little over an hour away from Kayenta, has been a tradition for me since I was a kid. I ALWAYS go every year. I love to indulge in steamed corn mutton stew and frybread, buy jewelery from vendors, watch the parade, and hang out at the carnival to ride some rides.
I also have my first presentation on recycling at a conference in Kayenta on Wednesday. I'm a bit nervous but will try to kick butt.
But I'll tell ya, I'm still stoked that I ran 7 miles today! It's been almost 2 months since I last ran that distance!
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In other news, I finally got to watch the Oprah segment where she and her bf went on a road trip and visited the Navajo Nation. It was horrible and I was angered by how the segment was edited. It had overtones of "Woe is me," all over and it pissed me off. They just made life on the rez seem really deplorable and it's not that bad at all.
I love where I come from. I know that we deal with poverty, alcoholism, domestic violence, etc everyday in different Navajo households but we still have a rich culture and have what I think is the highest percentage of fluent speakers among different American Indian tribes. I forgot who it was (oprah or gayle) that wondered why we just couldn't move away and get away from the situation.
What was neglected to mention was that our Holy People, our deities, had placed us on a specific portion of land that are protected by 4 sacred mountains. These mountains designate our boundaries so that we'll always know where we are at. Therefore, this land is sacred to us and so many important events have happened here that we could never dream of leaving it.
Our stories and our Navajo religion connects us to the land, our Mother Earth. As a people, this earth is who defines us.
In my presentation, I try to stress this to my audience and especially the younger generation in hopes that it will inspire them to protect and care for our environment and practice recycling.
I could go on and on about what I didn't like about the Oprah segment. I can't believe that such an influential woman, especially being a part of the minority, would portray our people using stereotypes. The pow-wow and the hoop dancers are not apart of our culture though some people have adopted the activities and engage in them for fun, competition, or because of a spiritual reason. Yet, I've heard that Oprah producers insisted that it be performed for them. Ugh. It's really discouraging.
And the truth is that most elders would rather live without the conveniences of running water, technology, and electricity because they say that they don't need it. I think it makes them feel like it detracts from having a closer relationship with the environment.
/end un-related running rant.
etched in stone by carmen @ 1:16 PM
8 Comments:
Nice run - I admire you I couldn't do that many miles on the treadmill. Way to stick it out.
Good job on the treadmill. Sometimes I miss it too, but the ones at the gym give me the wrong pace information.
Would you feel comfortable organizing some sort of letter-writing campaign to Oprah? I'm really sensitive to misrepresentation like that and it pisses me off to no end when people won't recognize the full breadth of communities and civilizations.
There's this really fine line between information and exploitation that's so readily (and often purposefully crossed) and it's wrong. As someone who studies mesoamerican civilizations, every time I see a mainstream article on something, I just fly into my angry place.
Obviously, it's not as personal for me as it is for you and I often feel sort of like I don't have the right to it, but the more of us who get angry, the less of this bullshit we'll see.
Thanks for bringing this to my attention, Carmen!
Sweet...keep logging the mileage! Great Job!
Carmen .. congrats on the 7 mile run. That's your longest run in a long while. Great job.
I've never been a fan of Winfrey so I'm not suprised she chose to trash your entire culture by reinforcing negative stereo types. The message sells well to the masses.
Keep up the good work.
Thanks for loving in the blog. I would not have gone this far without the love of the people who read my blog. I hear you guys when I run.
I am sadden that Oprah treated your community with little respect. It's just as bad as if someone did that to her community. Someone needs to tell her that it's wrong.
Great job on that 7 miler...since my 30 min last friday I'm haven't gone again..Seriously my time is swallowed..the next time I really have time is thrusday. But still trying ;)(dorky grin)
Oprah?..I'm not surprised. From reading the paper i hear she was only in the area for about 30-an hour. THat to me didn't seem like much of an interest. It's so easy to say all the steretypes..doesn't take much to figure that out. but i remind myself native americans aren't the only ones with alchie problems... and yeh the pow-wow stuff was kinda stupid..She just didnt interest me at all with the story...If your going to write about the Native Americans..Get your facts together..you'd think she'd know..
Have a great week :)
Great job on the run!!
I think you should write a letter to the Oprah show. I totally agree. "Why don't you move and get away from the situation"? That pisses me off. Like any of us were here first - as we celebrate Columbus Day - we should be reminded that we are the ones that came over and messed everything up (no offence, but I'm kind of glad we did - I like the US!). But that attitude is messed up. She would be really upset if someone only spent about 30 minutes - an hour (as Trish says) and summarized the black culture or the way of life for those in that area... as I would be mad if someone did it to my traditions/culture/way of life. Everyone is just as messed up as the next, just may have different parts that are more obvious. But why focus on the negative - we all have amazing qualities/values, etc. I absolutely love Northern Arizona and the reservations. I've been to Window Rock and loved it.
I hope you write a letter - I didn't see that show, and now I'm not going to watch it or it will just make me mad.
good job on the getting your runs consistently. i did not see the oprah episode nor expect to. I'm not surprised at the ignorance or misrepresentation, although i would have expected better. I briefly read in one of the newspapers that her crew insisted on a powwow although there were objections from the Dineh as it is not a part of our culture traditionally.
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