Author Archive for Sally

On a 10 point scale, my pain is about an 8.

Published
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Sally
on 17 October, 2008
in random stuff
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Therefore, I am not running the Big Woods tomorrow. I’m not that pissed, but I am definitely upset. My knee hurts at about a 7, my elbows are about a 9, and my lower back is an 8. How much more ice can I use?!?!?!?

I’m still running the Monster Dash 5k9 next weekend, no matter what (what “runner” can’t run 3.1 with their dog in a costume party???) and one of my She Runs gals, as well as one of my women’s running class women are both running this race. Hopefully more, once I push it.

I’ve been thinking a lot about Pito since Toots came and I’ve been thinking about my trips and my own father, and my life experience until now. I interviewed for a new job at REI today and it actually made me think about my life’s purpose more than I think other applicants will think about, and I had the realization, again, that I have done almost everything in my life that I intended to do. ALREADY. AT 37 YEARS OLD.  How f-ing cool is that?!? Yes, I still have goals, yes, I still have LOTS to do. The world has not changed yet and that is my ultimate goal, but I think that at this point in my life, I have done what I needed to do, and more, to be who I meant to be. I don’t know how to express what that feels like. It may seem that I did not know Pito long, but I think I knew Pito and the Toots, Banana, and I Guess Bibi family long ago. I have realized that Pito was with me in Canada, that Pita shows up in my life over and over as a moral compass in different women I meet, and the three girls are there presently, always, in a way that my own family have never been. Strange how a job interview can make you re-think the lessons of the last 5-10 years, isn’t it? I’ll be greatly disappointed if I don’t get the job…I do not want to stock clothing for the rest of my life…but at the same time, I have a GREAT FRIGGING LIFE. This summer has changed so much for me.

I have alluded to grieving Pito in Canada, but I don’t think I’ve expressed the gratitude that I feel that the last person that has died in my life lived a life worth celebrating. I’m grateful that I do not need to feel the darkness and turbulence that has come with the previous deaths in my family. I’m grateful that I have had an example of how to live AND die. With greatness. With clarity. With joy and humor. With gravitas. With a healthy, beautiful, functional family following me, not to mention the friends.

I realized when Pito died, that he left the most beautiful legacy behind. How can I regret that? How can that be bad? All of his daughters are now running in some capacity, and some have the capacity to break records. All of his daughters are successful. All of his daughters know who they are. THAT is a legacy.

So, thank you REI, yet again, for unwittingly providing me with reflection. I may not get the job, and frankly, I do not want to be hopeful, because I risk great, great disappointment, but hell, I would not have spent the afternoon and evening thinking about my life, Pito, my expectations, my lessons, and the rest of my extended family had I not done this interview.

The post- post thought: I had the great experience of speaking my truth in a job interview. How often do we get to do that? I got to be 100% honest about who I am in a job interview. That’s never happened before.

Sally is a klutz.

Published
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Sally
on 9 October, 2008
in random stuff
. 2 Comments

It’s been proven. It’s a fact, now. It’s humiliating. I spoke with Toots on the phone earlier, and neither one of us remembers me EVER falling before. I FELL TODAY!!! I FELL!! I FELL, AGAIN!!! Kind of embarassing. Kind of makes me hardcore. Kind of makes me just look like an ass. Yet again…at Jensen…at least this time it was on soft grass.

Here are my new trail runners. I blame them:

I just got them today. I feel like I really broke them in. G and I ran about 4.5  miles in them. Of course, when I fell, Guinness kissed me at least 5 times on the face, out of “concern” or something else. Gawd, I hate falling. I think I might actually ban myself from running at Jensen Lake from now on.

“When I’m not afraid to fail, I wont. When I’m not afraid to fall down, falling down won’t feel like failure. I have fallen down enough to get more comfortable with it, to know how productive it can be, how necessary it is to growth. Still, when I sense the ground beneath me giving way, I have to remind myself that it’s OK if I falter. I have to remind myself that it’s more than OK!”

Jan Denise

Today’s lesson:

Published
by
Sally
on 6 October, 2008
in quotes and training
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It’s okay to be beat by the heat. Even when it’s only 67°F. I put off my 12 mile run yesterday because I was under the mistaken impression that it was supposed to be 50°F and partly sunny. I ran anyway, and basically had to walk a lot and go a lot slower than planned. Yeah, that 1:29:59 meant nothing today. Complete scratch. The plan was to run 7, get Guinness, then finish the last 5, killing two birds with one stone, as it were. NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO.  I could not get my lungs to open up, I was exhausted, I felt bad, I walked, etc…All the things that make you feel like a “bad” runner. I didn’t feel bad this time. I finished and took the dog to the P-A-R-K. I met some very nice dog owners. I had a pleasant afternoon. I do not hate myself, in spite of my usual pattern. I gave up this run to heat and whatever crap is living in the air right now. The paper tells me that the air quality is just fine, but I DO NOT BELIEVE THEM!!! To sum up: 12 mile run, turned into a 7 mile run. Cleaning finished, pleasant dog park experience, new job applied for (barely hopeful for this), information gathering finished, She Runs meeting done. All in all it was a job done.

“Failure is instructive. The person who really thinks learns quite as much from his failures as from his successes.” - John Dewey

“There is nothing so useless as doing efficiently that which should not be done at all.” - Peter Drucker

I was chilly; chilly, I tell you!

Published
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Sally
on 3 October, 2008
in random stuff
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I came up with a short poem today during my short run:

Three with G

Seems to be

The perfect amount of running

For me.

I wish it were a haiku, but that’s all I had today. I was planning on meeting The Burke at The Dog Park today, but timing was off, so I thought I should run, seeing as how the weather was perfect. I was chilly for the first mile. It was lovely.

This is one of my favorite recent photos. Me doing push-ups with Guinness under me and Lily on my back. The things I go through for a workout…

I love the moderator.

Published
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Sally
on 2 October, 2008
in quotes, random stuff and training
. 0 Comments

That’s all I can say about the debates tonight. Palin makes me want to throw up. In fact, I may have just thrown up a little in my mouth. That’s really all I can say.

I have some posts about “The Plaid Pant Runner” to come. WHAT?!?! Only running EIGHT MILES to date before a major marathon?!?!?! WHAT?!?!?! Oh my f*%cking GAWD. There is a reckoning to be had. There are posts to follow. There is the RESPECT issue to deal with…

“Nothing in the world is more dangerous than a sincere ignorance and conscientious stupidity.” -MLK Jr.

“Yes, you need to respect the marathon. I have been on a bike long enough to know that it can drain you more than a 100-kilometer ride does. There’s no freewheeling in running, there’s no coasting in a marathon or even in a 10k. You don’t move your feet, you stop. There are no wheels that will move you forward on momentum. You just have to keep running, and all that pounding on pavement, all that punishment to your legs and feet -not to mention your quads- will surely take its toll in time.” http://caloybsecondwind.blogspot.com/

(We may need to link to this blog. This person is f*&cking hardcore.)

This is about the debates…

“What is objectionable, what is dangerous, about extremists is not that they are extreme, but that they are intolerant. The evil is not what they say about their cause, but what they say about their opponents.”

Robert Francis Kennedy quotes ( U.S. attorney general and adviser, 1925-1968)

Debate aside, quotes aside, cycling aside…

You will never know the misery, joy, pain, depth,  despair, agony, perseverance, fortitude, and greatness of the marathon if you have not put in the time and training. The true meaning of the marathon will forever elude you if you are not willing to give up a small amount of yourself to the greater meaning. To me, the marathon is a lot like water, especially after this last canoe trip. It can break you, or it can sustain you, and a million other things. So much to know. So much to understand. 8 miles will never give you the knowing or the understanding.

**Oh, and scrap the 12 with Toots…on to 18 with Toots!!!

I had a GREAT race!

Published
by
Sally
on 28 September, 2008
in events and quotes
. 1 Comment

I did 10 miles in 1:29:59. Ha! They have me listed as 207, but I’m actually 205, because my time was faster than the two gals listed as 205 and 206. Not sure I get it, but that’s okay. I’m glad I’ve been running trail…there were lots of slow, steady hill climbs (which I LOVE LOVE LOVE), and the weather was perfect…50s and drizzle. She Runs may have also recruited a crap ton of volunteers and possibly some more girls! I don’t want to write much…I’m pretty tired.

On to 12 with Toots!

“Plunge boldly into the thick of life, and seize it where you will, it is always interesting.” Johann Wolfgang Von Goethe

“Only those who will risk going too far can possibly find out how far one can go.”  T. S. Eliot

3 cups of coffee + inhaler = FAST

Published
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Sally
on 27 September, 2008
in quotes and training
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Guinness and I did one of our faster 3 milers. It reassured me that I’m not totally falling apart yet, and may have some motor left for the next couple of races. I don’t have much to post about running, but I have some quotes today. I’m running in a 10 mile race tomorrow and sitting at a table for She Runs. We’re giving away information and ponytail holders. I’m hoping we actually recruit GIRLS and not just all coaches and board members!

Most men take the straight and narrow. A few take the road less traveled. I chose to cut through the woods. -Unknown

The footing was really atrocious. I loved it. I really like Cross Country; you’re one with the mud. -Lynn Jennings

It is a rough road that leads to the heights of greatness. -Seneca

Nicknames and nonsense

Published
by
Sally
on 25 September, 2008
in random stuff
. 3 Comments

Okay, so I was thinking about this off and on all day and thought perhaps we could have some fun with it. On various and sundry trips, meet and greet thingies, ex ed classes, etc., I have had to come up with some silly names for myself. I will now honor you, the viewer, with them. You must also reply in comments with your equivalent names. Please.

1. General nickname - Sally.

2. Pro wrestling name - The Nasty Fuzzhead.

3. Roller derby name - Ann R. Key

4. Band name - I have a lot of these, so here’s just a few…Flying Debris, Gaylord Descending (or Rising), Smashed Buttcheeks, The Mary Stacys.

5. The title of the book of your life - ( have a few again)…Life in the Key of G, Joseph D and the Amazing Technicolor Dream Life, Have You Seen the Heeland Coos?

6. Alter ego - Brooke Fiona Callahan. Believe me, I have a back story to it. It’s a long drive from Schaumburg to Chicago.

7. Superhero and power - Juke Box Hero. I can stop crime with the single downstroke of a power chord.

5:00 a.m.

Published
by
Sally
on 25 September, 2008
in gear and training
. 0 Comments

Apparently this is the new 4:00 p.m. I’ve gotten up the last two days and run with Guinness in the dark, oh so dark, and have enjoyed myself immensely. It’s also just nice to know when I get home in the afternoon that I can do a short walk with her and rest. Resting is gooooooooood. I’m pretty sure I’m running a 10 mile race this weekend, as well as sitting at an info table, selling She Runs. I don’t plan on doing well, I just want the mileage.

I have no idea how the other runners in the dark can see. I am the only person who is ever wearing a headlamp. I’ve posted before about how dark it is around certain legs of Lake Harriet. I think if I didn’t wear the headlamp, there’d be a great chance that I would trip and fall. It’s crazy. I don’t get it. People are dumb. Here’s my headlamp…the Petzl Tikka Plus. I love how lightweight it is and the fact that it has a strobe setting.

Lily, Lily, is so…

Published
by
Sally
on 22 September, 2008
in training
. 0 Comments

NOT A CAT!! I borrowed another dog today. One of She Runs girls has a German short haired pointer, and I had mentioned I would love to run with her through the summer. It turns out I wasn’t home all summer, so after many fits, starts, phone tag, etc., today I finally took her out. Trainer G came along (she’s the Daddy to my Cesar Millan), and we worked on Lily. Since she’s such a smart breed, she was mostly trained within 15 minutes. We have some kinks to work out (like training her not to run right in front of me across my path), and a few other things, but this promises to be much, much fun. Photos to come, once I take some!