The Continuing Adventures of Toots and Sally: Two Women. One Marathon. A Dream.
…and we’re only now staring to cool down.
I feel a nice little 3-miler coming on…
Let’s just put it this way:
Well, we’ll bottom out around -12°F (before windchill) tomorrow morning. Seems to me like a perfect family run…Sally, DAWG, Lumpy…Yup. Pefect.
-12°F . ’nuff said.
Top 5 inspirational songs/songs that get you going/make you want to DO SOMETHING!!!
I’ll have a real post this weekend. I’m writing my annual letter to myself this weekend, and it seemed like a good time to start posting again.
Funny thing #1:
Posted January 11, 2008 on http://www.engrish.com/
Funny thing #2:
Father buying lightsaber: Just drop it! He wanted this one!
Mother: But it’s the dark side! You’re not supposed to join the dark side!
–Toys “R” Us
Posted January 17, 2008 on http://www.overheardinnewyork.com
Well, okay, it wasn’t absolute zero. But a nice -7°F (windchill) seems like a good time to start running again. They’re predicting a perfect running weather of sunny and -1°F (without windchill) for Saturday. Yup, seems like a really good time for me to start running, again.
My knee has been a bit wonkey ever since my little biking incident. No pain at this point, but it just feels off. So I may as well run.
Oh, and here’s a little gem on cold weather exercise. Think it is bad for you? Bollux!
Read on…
Too Cold to Exercise? Try Another Excuse
By GINA KOLATAJULIA HENSLEY, a 41-year-old artist, got a taste of bitter cold a decade ago when she spent a winter living on a glacier near Seward, Alaska. Typical winter temperatures were 10 to 15 degrees below.
“The first time it got really cold, I was scared of it,” Ms. Hensley said. “My instinct was to get a stack of books and curl up beside the wood stove.”
But a boyfriend persuaded her to go out anyway, to cross-country ski or snowshoe for hours in deep snow. He taught her, she said, that as long as she kept moving, she would be fine.
It was a conclusion - that extreme cold can be safe for exercisers - that runs contrary to conventional wisdom. But in fact, said John W. Castellani, an exercise physiologist at the Army Research Institute of Environmental Medicine, it turns out that even though cold can be frightening, more people are injured exercising in the heat than exercising in the cold. (emphasis Lumpy’s)
I’m supposed to be working on a reflective paper describing what I learned in my MPA program. I started writing it yesterday and now I’m just kind of stuck mostly because I’m so anxious. I will probably say this a million times between now and May–I’m in the last semester of graduate school! I’m so excited to be close to the end. I’m in the Capstone class (graduation/thesis) class and we’re reading a great book called The Tipping Point by….ummm…well the last name is Gladwell. It’s a book that talks about the kind of people and events that start epidemics (not necessarily the scary disease kind, but things like trends, fashion, ideas, etc). Sally, you should check it out cause it may help with getting the message out about She Runs.
Anyway, I did run my 6 mile route last Saturday. It was good, except my left knee kind of hurt toward the end. Maybe it’s time to invest in a good pair of running shoes.
By the way, I graduate on May 3rd…would be nice to have a Texas/Minnesota cheeering crew. 
Been busy (really) at work AND at home AND with the last minute organizing of Pito’s shindig. I feel as if I’ve taken too much “down” time from running yet I just can’t seem to get myself out there again. I’m freaking out a little about it.
Okay, it’s been a while since I’ve posted something, and many little accomplishments have occurred since about Thanksgiving time. I ran my first four miles with Toots while I was visiting the family over the Thanksgiving holiday. It was coooooold! I didn’t even sweat until we were almost home! Toots wrote a little blog about that. Then sometime around x-mas time, I ran 4.5 miles (approx). I had such a good run that day. For some reason I thought I ran 6 miles, because I had planned on running 6 miles. I was so excited that I texted Toots to tell her. Then I checked the map and realized that I only ran 4.5 miles. Ha! Anyway since I thought I had run 6 miles and felt good about it, I used it as my inspiration to actually run the 6 miles. I like to start each new year by doing things on new years day that I want to do the entire year as to make it a promise to myself that I’ll actually do those things. So after I madly cleaned my house and cooked a small meal, I set out for a 6 mile run while my baby napped. It was great! I ran through a part of my neighborhood that I’ve never been through and met some new dogs. I felt pretty good. It feels like the more miles I run, the easier it is. Isn’t that weird?
Well, I need to do some reading. I’m in LAST semester of my Masters program!! Woohoo!! 
So I did a 3 mile run yesterday…it was HOT! In the 80’s I think?!? Ugh.
It was a little cooler today (60’s), but instead of going out for a run I spent the whole evening taking down the Christmas tree & all the Christmas decorations…it took ALL evening!
Too tired. Good night.
The Marriage - Anna Wickham
What a great battle you and I have fought!
A fight of sticks and whips and swords,
A one-armed combat,
For each held the left hand pressed close the the heart.
To save the caskets from assault.
How tenderly we guarded them;
I would keep mine and still have yours,
And you held fast to yours and coveted mine.
Could we have dropt the caskets
We would have thrown down weapons
And been at each other like apes,
Scratching, biting, hugging
In exasperation.
What a fight!
Thank God that I was strong as you,
And you, though not my master, were my match.
How we panted; we grew dizzy with rage.
We forgot everything but the fight and the love of the caskets.
These we called by great names-
Personality, Liberty, Individuality.
Each fought for right to keep himself a slave
And to redeem his fellow.
How can this be done?
But the fight ended.
For both was victory
For both there was defeat.
Through blood we saw the caskets on the floor.
Our jewels were revealed;
An ugly toad in mine,
While yours was filled with most contemptible small snakes;
One held my vanity, the other held your sloth.
The fight is over, and our eyes are clear.
Good friend, shake hands.
You’ll always be the one who saw past the caskets and the ugly toad. Thanks for watching sad movies with me and wiping my eyes when I cry, and for laughing at furry shenanigans. I will never not be a challenge to/for you and I am glad you accept. No one has a better relationship than we do, other than The Old Hippies with whom we paddle.
I finally did it! Yesterday I ran my 1st run of the year. It was short (only 2.66 miles or twice around the park path) but it was a good quick run. My legs felt limber…thought they would feel tight and heavy. The weather was great, cool (40’s) and breezy. Punxsk8erdude followed along on his skateboard. I really need to decide on something to train for to keep from slacking too much. Any suggestions?
“The fresh start is always an illusion but a necessary one” - Eleanor Clark
“The world is round and the place which may seem like the end may also be only the beginning.” - Ivy Baker Priest
