These are things that never get old, that are just as exciting at 38 as they were at 8. Things that can make me giggle or mist up or just know that at that one moment, everything is right.
- Making the first tracks in fresh snow.
- Watching Guinness snowplow her head through the snow. Also, watching her eat snow while running. Most dogs just leave paw prints. G leaves a tongue runner down the middle.
- The total silence when you find a place where you cannot hear city sounds and snow is falling.
- The way snow looks on pine trees.
- Hearing kids sledding in the distance.
- Seeing how Guinness stands out even more against a stark white background. (She got a compliment from a woman standing in her back door today. The woman started shouting compliments at Guinness as if I were not even there, then summoned her husband to “come look at this beautiful dog!”
- Seeing people cross country ski where the sidewalk used to be.
- Knowing that if we ever get snowed in, we’ll still be able to get out since we have snowshoes, boots, and winter gear. Ditto if the power ever goes out. We can camp in our home!
- Having a fireplace in the middle of winter.
Needless to say, I did not run! (I did rent some xc skis…)
I squeezed in my run today between getting home from work. Running my three miler. Then going to a board meeting for the non-profit girls running program we are trying to get off the ground.
I made a last minute decision to run the neighborhood–I needed time to write up a quick agenda for the board meeting–so I had to take into account potential puddles.
There were a lot of puddles. Fortunately I wore my Gore-Tex trail runners. Nice…and thus I thought about a whole lot else besides my running. Oh, I was fixated on my pace on the GPS…but I was processing all sorts of other stuff.
See, that’s what I get about it sometimes. You just have to get into your own head: maybe you’ll think about running; maybe you won’t. Because what I find is that if you are inside your head…as opposed to being on the outside looking at yourself…well, your run goes better.
’nuff said.
I skipped a few runs last week, even my 13 miler this weekend. But I still feel great. I ran 6 today and stuck with my theme of asking myself if I thought I still had more in me, so I came in right at 54:50-ish/9:09 per mile. I was drenched with hard-earned sweat at the end, grinning foolishly to myself. Oh, and what a gorgeous day I had; sunny in the mid 30s. Ahhhhhhhh.
My runs of late remind me of one of or maybe the first post of Lumpy’s in which he wrote of boldness.
To add to that: “The mind, ever the willing servant, will respond to boldness, for boldness, in effect, is a command to deliver mental resources”
-Norman Vincent Peale
I’ve had pretty good runs all week – unlike Lumpy, I ran them all. Today’s 9 miler was the best. I was so “in the zone”. It almost seemed - dare I say it? Effortless. Never gasping for air, temperature cool enough that the sweat part was bearable, legs strong…maybe it was those Mauna Loa Macademia Nuts…. I can’t stop eating them! They’re so good! Maybe my body’s just craving whatever nutrients they have?
I skipped a couple of my short runs this week. Just didn’t feel much like doing them. Oh, and I had a headache.
I was trying to psyche myself up for my 9 miler, which I ended up running today. The body was willing but the mind was not.
I made myself go do it. DAWG was with and in good form today. Fewer antics than usual of late.
It was a fine run, until nearing the end. Mile 6.66 is where it all went down hill. I kid you not. I was crossing the street when some woman in a car decided that the crosswalk was where she should stop for the red light. Had we be running though that crosswalk, one or both of us would likely have made close friends with that car. Idiot.
Lumpy and I were discussing the Russia trip this year. Me…”I’ll be too alone and depressed. I don’t think I want to go. I won’t feel safe in Moscow, even though I think I’ve figured a lot of it out…”:
Lumpy: “I don’t want to hold you back. If you think you should go, you should go. You should email Joel and tell him you’re interested if there are other countries you could teach in…No, you should do it now!”
Sigh. I love my life. Be envious. You should.
Today is Lumpy’s birthday. I’m in love.
I was going to run hills in Hyland, but I left my car lights on. No juice. I ran in my neighborhood (on an ice-free hill!) and as the title says, turned it up high. (You know, like I was on a gym machine…) The hill was not long and not very steep, so I attempted to sprint up and down, G flying along beside me. We looked ridiculous, as usual.
“Hills: You entered a marathon with hills? You idiot.” – Dong Kardong’s marathon advice.
….rest. Yeah, today was a rest day. I’m thankfull for that, but, well, it seems like a lot of rest days. Hmmm….I’ll throw in more biking days once the weather is a little bit more convenient for that.
That said, my rest day was a complete success. Woo Hoo!!!
“Laziness is nothing more than the habit of resting before you get tired.”
- Jules Renard
BTW: I came across this site: http://www.twentysix-two.com/
Lumpy, out.
It’s a Keith Urban song and was the last one I heard before running, so it was stuck in my head the whole time. Here are the lyrics. I thought they were appropriate.
Had Dim Sum with coworkers and other today for the first time. Yum. I mean, YUM.
I’m simply at peace with my running right now, so I do not have much to write about. Dawg ran 8 with me and I enjoyed each tiny inch.
“I knew I had disciplined myself, that running was my own doing. I knew that no one had pushed me to do it. I knew that I was able to accomplish what I had because I had worked on it.” -Nina Kuscik
“I have two doctors: my left leg and my right.” -George M. Trevelyan
Sports bra.
“Well, now,” you say.
Here’s the fantastical result of taking the time to go home and re-dress in proper running attire:
Yep.
