I haven’t run in nearly two months. I think the last time I really ran was the 5k I did at the beginning of September… you know, the one at which I finally broke 30 minutes. (I’m still proud of that one!)

Tomorrow, I’m getting back on that horse. I have a run date scheduled with my old running buddy, J-Roc. I’m a little nervous about it since it’s been so long. I feel like I’m completely out of shape these days and I’m afraid I’ve lost all of my endurance and I’ll have to walk every two minutes. If that happens, J-Roc, you have my apologies.

There’s another reason I’m a little nervous about this particular run. I realize this is probably silly, but it is what it is.

We’re running in the same park I was in a few months ago when someone called me a “fat bitch” out the window of their car. Again, I know this is probably a silly thing to still be thinking about since that happened in June, but prior to that girl, I hadn’t dealt with that sort of ridicule in about 50 pounds. And now that I’m a bit out of shape, I’m feeling a little self conscious and I’m afraid I’ll be bullied again.

Ha – I feel silly just typing that!

Silly or not, if I’m the victim of another drive-by defamation, I will chase down the vehicle in question and give the offender a well-deserved beat down.

We’ll call it speed training.

I’m not convinced there’s anyone out there who is still reading this, but on the off-chance some of you are, I’m pleased to say that I’m back.

The last two months have been a bit of a whirlwind, filled with all sorts of activities: a vacation in the Bahamas (Tip: Don’t go to the Bahamas around hurricane season); tons of Kung Fu including a big demonstration for and workshop with our Great Grandmaster; Fall Softball, during which our team – Jerry’s Kids – came in second place; a family wedding in Punxsutawney; a happenin’ Halloween party at which my husband and I were cheesy 50′s robots; at least one trip up to Buffalo to visit the fam; my birthday; my 5-year anniversary with my husband; and two of the most busy work months I’ve had since starting my own business 5 years ago.

All in all, 2 good months, but damn, a girl could use a break!

I guess what all this amounts to is that I haven’t had a lot of spare time, and when I do have a moment, I haven’t felt up for blogging.

Of course, full disclosure, part of the reason I haven’t felt the urge to blog is that I haven’t exactly been the picture of health lately. I’m embarrassed to admit that I haven’t run in weeks (weeks!), nor have I been going to the gym or doing other sorts of physical activity (except Kung Fu and softball, but we’ve already established that neither of those have enough cardio to really count.) To top it off, since I’ve been so busy – and tired – I’ve really gotten lax with my eating habits too. Not much cooking and a lot of restaurant going.

Too much food and not enough exercise? Terrible combination. Not exactly the kind of thing you want to gloat about.

That being said, I also don’t want to hide from it. It is what it is. I can’t go backwards and change the last two months. I can only go forward and do better from here out.

And I’m going to.

Who’s with me?

I spent a few days this week visiting my family and Friend #1 in Buffalo. I had a great time – it was jam-packed with activity, which was the idea, but man was it exhausting!

One afternoon, my brother Stephen and I went hiking at a place not too far away called Zoar Valley. He has been trying to get me to go there for years. It’s not that I didn’t want to go, because I definitely did. It’s just that my trips to Buffalo are always so short, usually centered around some sort of event, so time is incredibly limited and we were never able to coordinate it. This was the perfect trip for it, though.

Zoar Valley is literally a valley with high cliffs (and in many places, waterfalls) on either side. In the center is a creek, which can become more river-like with rain. There had been some rain in the days before our hike, so – according to my brother – there was more water than usual, but it wasn’t at the ‘too dangerous to continue’ level. So it was full-steam ahead!

Truthfully, I had no idea what to expect. Steve told me to wear sneakers that I didn’t mind getting wet, because that was definitely going to happen. But he didn’t tell me that the rest of me was going to be completely saturated as well. If I had known that, I would have worn a bathing suit under my clothes, but hey: You’ve gotta roll with the punches when you’re with Steve, so whatever.

There were a few very difficult places to pass. At one point, in water up to our necks, we had to get around an outcropping of the cliff. Steve had no difficulty with this whatsoever. When it was my turn, though, it was a completely different story. The first time I attempted it, I thought I’d be able to walk, but the water was deeper than I expected. Then I tried a second time, doing this weird doggy paddle thing, which wasn’t enough to counteract the current of the water. And of course, I was laughing really hard (mostly at my foolishness and the fact that my brother was recording my foolishness…) which didn’t help. Third time was a charm though, and I made it across!

Zoar Valley is home to a number of waterfalls, and once I got past that outcropping of rock, there was a natural ‘shower’ that was fun to stand it. I was already wet, so what the heck, right?

There were a few more places that were pretty difficult to maneuver. Walking along a cliff with only a few inches of rock sticking out to step on – thinking back on it, it was pretty scary, actually. One wrong step and you’d be tumbling into the water below! We saved that for later though…

That’s right: I jumped off a cliff, down a waterfall, into the rushing water below.

Holy shit.

I had no idea that’s what we were doing until we were halfway to the waterfall at the end of the 2-mile hike. Steve nonchalantly tells me this like it was common knowledge. It was not.

After passing multiple waterfalls, we finally make it to the one we were going to jump off. When I saw it I immediately thought “No way in hell.” Steve quickly set down his bag away from the falls, and had me follow him over, which I did, like a lamb. He showed me how to cross the raging waters at the top, which again I did.

Let me tell you, once we were on top of the waterfall, I seriously doubted doing this. I don’t have a fear of heights or water, but standing up there and looking down – oh boy. Let’s just say it was high – about 25 or 30 feet I’d guess. And the water was fast. And it was a cliff, for pete’s sake.

Steve explained how to jump in – away from the edge (duh), plugging your nose with one hand and with your body straight like a pencil. He asked if I wanted him to go first, and obviously I did, so then he jumped in.

Just like that.

He was fine, of course. I yelled to him that I had no intention of jumping in twice, which he wanted me to do so he could take a picture of me as I jumped (he left his camera in that bag away from the falls), so he ran to get his camera. When he came back, I was standing at the top of the 25-30ft waterfall, shaking the nerves out of my hands, trying to talk myself into jumping.

And then I did.

I jumped out from the wall, plugged my nose, made myself as straight as possible and kissed my hat goodbye. There was an unexpected hang time before my feet hit the water – very odd sensation. It was actually a rather smooth entrance… I’d give it a 7.5. My hat even ended up directly beneath me so I was able to snag that. Score!

These are our victory shots in front of the waterfall. There was a huge rock in the water in front of it that I’m standing on in the second one and Steve’s sitting on it in the third, so it’s a little misleading. We should have gotten a shot of one of us standing on top of it, but it was complicated since it was a phone and not a waterproof camera :) There’s a video of me jumping off somewhere too. If I ever get my hands on it I’ll share it with you all.

I’m so glad I went for it! It was really cool. I can’t believe I almost missed out on that experience for no good reason. Well, slight risk of death or dismemberment, but other than that, no good reason.