Crocheted Hangers and Four Wheeler Rides

If the title didn't clue you in, this will kind of be all over the place.

First and foremost, happy birthday to Maddox! One of my good friends, Stephanie, gave birth (after a looong wait) today and I cannot wait to see her and the baby tomorrow! I've known Stephanie since middle school and I'm so happy that she became a mom today.

I didn't head out for my run until sorta late this evening. When I'm out here in the country, I really prefer running in the evening. It's cool, the frogs and crickets are coming out, the sun is setting...it just makes for a lovely run.

The only problem is that dark comes shortly after evening (you'd think I'd catch onto that) and I end up at my grandma's house after only 1 mile with no visible path home. (I was glad I came when I did though because my 83-year-old grandma was teetering on a step stool trying to disarm the low-battery-beeping of the smoke detector with a butter knife. My grandma is in better shape and a better engineer than at least 80 percent of the people I know, but that was a tricky battery to remove, even for me.)

Besides the satisfaction of taking out the batteries fixing the smoke detector and visiting with my grandma, there was even another reward: my newest set of Aunt Mabel crocheted hangers!

Hate away, but I love these things. I've previously received these from my Great Aunt Mabel at graduations and my bridal shower (while watching my jealous friends snicker in the background) and they are actually really useful for tank tops and dresses and whatnot.

The really cherry on the top of all this excitement, however, was getting to hitch a ride back home with my dad. I haven't ridden on my spot on the back of the four wheeler (backwards, legs hanging off the back, warm from the exhaust) in a long time. It's funny how something like that can instantly make you feel 7 years old again.

All in all, obviously, I had a very productive run. Let's hope all this goofing around doesn't bite me when I go for 11 miles on Sunday.

Running Blahs

With the exception of two really fantastic runs, I've kind of had the workout blahs for a couple of weeks. My strength training as been sporadic (sorry, Jillian Michaels) and some of my runs have just been plain pathetic. I ended up walking a good part of the second half of my run yesterday. Not because I was really winded or in pain or anything...just hot, lazy, tired.

I think know I need to lose some weight. I purposefully have shifted my thinking over the years and do not equate running with losing weight. When I'm just worried about calories, running becomes such a chore and I hate it. I did think, however, that, just by the wayside, I would drop a few pounds when I got serious about running again (as I always have in the past). That would be a no. A definite no. Which is just a teensy bit discouraging.

However, like I just said, running is not about weight loss for me. Ironically though, I'm pretty sure I'm going to have to lose some weight to continue meeting my running goals. Being 20 pounds overweight means there are 20 extra pounds I have to carry every single mile I run. (Anybody see any light shed on knee issues?) It's like carrying a small toddler with me on an 8 mile run...it just doesn't make sense. How much faster could I be if I put down that darn toddler?

So, as I start building my distance, I'm going to see if I can't help myself out by dropping some weight along the way. Anything to make a long run easier, right? : )

Yesterday, on my run, I saw...

• Josie choosing to run with me instead of Leslie because I'm much slower her favorite.
• (and smelled) a deer in the ditch that had been decomposing for at least 3 days.
• Josie almost attack a pack of cats.
• my elementary school best friend's mom.
• a pack of dogs almost attack Josie. (Karma?)
• a long, creepy, brown snake skin right in time to prevent me stepping on it.
• my little sister a good half-mile (or more) ahead of me at the turnaround.
• a dead snake in the road.
• the sun go down.
• my uncle in his driveway and darted behind some corn so I wouldn't get the no-running-in-the-dark lecture.
• a beautiful display of heat lightning in the distance.
• my little sister (finished with her run) driving back out to see if I was okay.
• the end of the driveway, barely visible in the dark, signifying I was finished!

and I felt...great! I tried this same 8 mile run on Sunday and came back home after 2 miles: hot, tired, and defeated. It's amazing what a difference a day can make.

Send your prayers, thoughts, love to Stellan.

I'm running in a little while, but everytime I get onto blogger, I'm drawn back to My Charming Kids. I've been following this mom and family for a few months and have gotten kind of attached (like literally thousands of others across the world). Stellan, the baby of the family, is very, very sick right now and needs prayers and thoughts. I'll update my running tomorrow, but right now I just feel like this little guy needs as much love as he can get.

I'm back!

My last 5K was in April, right before I started this whole daily running thing. My time was pretty horrific and I am still too embarrassed to even list it here. Over the years, I'll go in and out of running shape, but I'm rarely THAT out of shape.

Today was a fresh start. We ran the Salisbury Greenway 5K and I was determined to make a better showing. I started out stronger than I had planned and was shocked and delighted to hear 7:55 at my first split. The turnaround was shortly after that.

I've always liked out and back races because you get to see almost everybody else running: the really fast ahead of you on their way back, and those behind you when you're on your second leg. (It's especially fun when get to see your speedster little sister among the top 3 women and feel ridiculously proud.)

My mom was ahead of me when we started the race, but I was pretty sure I had passed her in the first mile. After the turnaround, I kept looking for her among the approaching runners. She had killed me at that last 5K so I really hoped to see her behind me. When I spotted her, and she saw me, ahead, she called out to me, "You're back!"

And, indeed, I feel like I'm back, running wise. My knee did not bother me at all, I came through mile 2 at 16:25, and finished in 25:25! That might be a post-high school PR for me... I need to comb through my mom's racing journal to find all my old times.

So, I'm happy! Let's hope for as much success with my long run tomorrow!

Running Company

So, I've arrived in my homeland. Although I miss my husband already, I'm just over-the-top excited about all the splendors of home, which include, but are not limited to: time with my family and friends, open countryside, the YMCA, running partners, easy access to shopping, a diet coke supply that someone else purchased, and just feeling like a kid, basically.

Ironically, my first available running partner has not been either of my sisters or mom. This runner is both a speed and endurance champion, but is easily distracted by cows and passing cars. She would (and has) put herself in danger to protect me from wild animals and mean pets (and in full disclosure, loves to destroy adorable woodland creatures as well). She doesn't mind long runs, short runs, night runs, early runs, forest runs through creeks, pasture runs through manure, or even up-and-down-the-driveway runs. Who is this dexterous runner?

Josie, of course.

I can't believe I'm going to wear this.

I know I said I'd get back to my training plan today, but....I've been all over the place today getting ready for my trip home and haven't got out the door to run yet. Instead of getting in a run now and having to shower/make-up/dry-hair again before leaving, I'm just going to resign myself to a late night treadmill run. I'm going to a bachelorette party and probably won't get home until late, but my parents' treadmill is in the basement, so it'll be alright.

Speaking of this bachelorette party...I'm very excited to see Kelsey, the bride, and a few of my other friends from college. I recieved the invitation about a month ago in the mail and was so glad that I would be able to attend. What cracks me up though is the follow up email about the party that I recieved last week:

"I forgot to include one vital piece of info in the bachelorette invitation... The party is going to have a Golf Pros and Tennis Hoes theme."

I have no idea whatever happened to my high school tennis outfits and I'm not sure they quite qualify as "tennis hoe" appareal anyways, so I dug through my closet for an outfit. The best thing I could come up with is my running skort, some random top, and heels. This makes me laugh just thinking about the combination. It's pretty ridiculous and I'm definitely packing it and putting it on when I get there (as opposed to driving halfway across the state in that get-up).

plusequals.....?

I'll let you know.

This is why I love blogging.

Something happened today that makes me smile. One of my friends from college, who I haven't seen since graduation, facebooked to tell me she was starting her own running blog after seeing mine! In the blogosphere, this feels like the ultimate compliment. : )

I've been running and blogging together now for about 3 months and it has been such a blessing to me. This little blog (well, really, you lovely people who stop by to read) motivates me daily. I'm planning and running more thoughtfully and staying (mostly) on track with my training goals.

Most of all, I love the interaction I've had with other bloggers. I feel like we're all neighbors out here in this virtual world; I enjoy dropping by to see what y'all are up to and sharing a little bit of my life, too. I'm so glad that I could invite Chelsea to our neighborhood, too!

P.S. I appreciate the advice about my knee very much! I took it easy one more day and I *think* it's going to be okay. I definitely need to work more on injury prevention and I'm doing more research and incorporating your suggestions.

Being a Little Cautious

My knee was bothering me just a little during my long run on Saturday.

My knee's been bothering me just enough to scare me into short runs (read: 1 mile) the past few days.

My knee doesn't really hurt, but it's just bothering me enough to worry that it WILL hurt later.

I had to stop marathon training in 2006 because of a knee injury and I really don't want that to happen again.

I'm going to do some more research on possible causes and solutions, while remaining cautiously optimistic that maybe this will just stop.

Anybody else have this problem?

Online Bake Sale!!!!!!

I almost forgot! Please check out Lil Runner's blog today! She is hosting an online bake sale to raise money for cancer research. Natalie is running and baking in an attempt to raise $5000 and is over halfway to her goal, but still has a ways to go.

Visit her online auction today and make a bid on healthy snacks/running gear OR ridiculously rich desserts. Either choice is fully approved by me. : )

I've donated chocolate chip banana bread and white chocolate chip fudgy brownies so if either of those are appealing to you, go make a bid! It's for a very good cause!

My Next 7 Runs

On Thursday, I'm leaving to go to my parents' for a little over a week. I'm tremendously excited about all the family/friends/events/activities that I'll be squeezing in during that time. (I really hope that Stephanie has her baby while I'm home!)

Athletically, home is a dream come true! I'll be with my running mom and sisters, run a 5K with my cousins, have access to pools and the YMCA (I never in my life thought I would ache so longingly for a YMCA...we need one here desperately.), and generally just be in an environment where exercise/health is embraced instead of skeptically, slightly disapprovingly viewed as something a little wacky. (That might a little bit of a hyperbole, but not much.)

Here's the plan:

Monday
1 mile, evening
(Remarkably, I haven't been sore at all from my 10 miler on Saturday, but I'm a little concerned because I had some slight knee aches during the run. So I'm taking it a little easy.)

Tuesday
3 miles, morning

Wednesday
5-6 miles, evening

Thursday
1 mile, first thing

Friday
2 miles, at home!

Saturday
5K for the Greenway

Sunday
8 miles

Thanks for peeking in on me and holding me accountable! This is by far the best I've ever stuck to a training plan.

Count 'Em

1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10!

That's how many miles I just ran. Can you tell I'm proud?

10 Miles Today

We decided not to go to Wilmington for the 10 mile race today because we just there for supper the other night and my husband has to go back twice next week. I am going to go ahead and do my long run today instead of Sunday though. Because I'm nervous and want to get it over with. I haven't run this far in a long time.

There's another race happening tonight that I'm going to be thinking about while I run though. Two of my cousins and my aunt are running their first 5K this evening! I'm so excited for them and it makes me remember when I started races. Those 5K were intimidating! I was so nervous and fretted about what to wear and water and everything else. Now, they're "just a 5K."

Maybe if I run a few more half marathons, maybe some day it will be "just a half marathon." And then, someday, "just a marathon." I doubt it, but we'll see.

Back to School...Well, Not Quite Yet

About November, when I'm buried under papers to grade, desperately trying to get everything done each week, and dealing with all the daily drama of fourth grade, remind me of summertime. It's wonderful.

It took about a week after the last teacher workday, but all of the sudden, I relaxed. I stopped having dreams about teaching fractions, didn't wake up panicking about what I needed to get done before school started, didn't worry about fitting it ALL in in one day. During the school year, I have a hard time relaxing, even on the weekends; lesson plans and student issues are always churning in the back of my mind.

In about a month, I'll start my third year of teaching and my main goal for myself as a person, and not just a teacher, is to stay a little more sane. I'm starting now with a some preliminary planning and organizing for my classroom. I think a little more structure and planning will help me separate my work from the rest of my life (and thus, let me sleep a little less fitfully).

My running has the potential to make a big impact in this plan. I'm thinking about taking my running gear to school, so I can run right after the students leave (or after-school meetings). That might get me re-energized for working on grades and planning for another few hours. Another possibility is running right when I get home. The run could be my official transition from work to home.

We'll see. I have a month left to figure it out. Anybody have any ideas?

Running Bandits!

A few years ago, my mom and I registered online for the Owl's Roost Rumble in Greensboro. This was in the sad, confusing time before GPS came to our family, so we printed directions off of Mapquest and hit the road early that Saturday morning. Mapquest mislead us. Severely.

We finally found the park and pulled into the parking lot just as they were rounding up the last runners at the starting line. It was too late to pick up our race bibs with our numbers, but we jumped into the crowd just in time for the starting gun.

It was a lovely little trail run and I was pretty happy with my pace as I neared the chute. There was a race volunteer at the finish line, cheerfully calling out numbers of runners and their times as they crossed. When she saw me coming, her smile vanished. As I gave my last little sprint across the finish line, she yelled, "BANDIT!" Immediately, other people turned and shook their heads disapprovingly at me.

Even though I had never heard that word in the running world, I suddenly realized what 'bandit' meant. "Oh! I paid! I did! I just didn't have time to pick up my race number!" I immediately started apologizing and pleading to still get my official race time. (Which they did give to me. They were very understanding when they realized they did, in fact, receive their $20 from me.)

After that, I did some research on 'race bandits.' It turns out that there are these meanie-cheater runners who just crash races with paying and they are almost universally hated in the running world. (Which makes sense because they are stealing OUR water and Powerade!)

All this rambling is to explain why I was so sad to see that the Summer of Love 10-miler (which a friend JUST discovered for me today) closed registration yesterday. If I was a true bandit (instead of just being mistaken for one once), I could jump in, but that is clearly not an option.

Luckily, with a little more web-digging, I found that there IS race day registration! Now I just have to convince someone to go to Wilmington with me! Anybody want to run Saturday evening?

(Possible) Upcoming Runs

I love running races. In high school, it was more of kind of a love/hate thing because although I like competition, I was always worried about not being good/fast enough for my team. Now that I'm a grown-up though, I just pay my fee, get my t-shirt, and race for me. I can be anywhere I want on the spectrum from uber-competitive to leisurely jog and no one cares. And because most people in my peer group are at home sleeping on Saturday mornings, I can usually get an age-group award, too!

This is my favorite race "trophy." You have to go all the way to an isolated valley in Burke's Garden, West Virginia to run the Varmint 1/2 Marathon, but it is worth it. It's a beautiful race.

Of course, if you're my little sister, you don't mess around with the tiny age-group sheep. She won the women's 5K in 2007 (pictured above) and 2009.

Unfortunately, I live in a fairly isolated part of the state, so I'm not really on the race circuit. I have to plan a little more carefully for races, instead of just going into town for a Saturday morning 5K. Here's what I'm looking at for the rest of 2009.

July 25
Salisbury Greenway 5K with my sisters

August 22
Spruce Pine Springmaid Splash Trail 10K
*This one's a maybe-I've wanted to do this extreme race for years. You go through woods and creeks and pastures and all. It's right before school starts back though, so I don't know if it's logistically going to work out.*

September 5
Lake Waccamaw: Take the Lake, 15 miles with my mom
*I might do the lake swim again on Labor Day...we'll see.*

October 18
Des Moines Marathon!

December 12
Charlotte Thunder Road Half Marathon
*This is another maybe. One of my good friends from high school is running the marathon and I'm thinking about possibly doing the half if I can be in that region.*

If we're at my parents' for New Years, I would LOVE to start 2010 with the Running of the Lights 5K at Tanglewood at the stroke of midnight! My husband cannot think of ANYTHING more idiotic than this race, but I'm in love with the idea. : )

What fun races are y'all planning on? Are there any more in North Carolina (or upper South Carolina) that I shouldn't be missing out on?

Embracing the Whole Blog-Culture

Since I started lurking around on other people's blogs earlier this year, I've been fasinated by this whole blog culture and how it seems that so many blogs and writers seem to be connected to each other. Obviously, I'm totally jealous. So I'm participating today in what seems to be a blogging classic: Blog Hop through MckLinky. The theme for this week is "3 Things You Didn't Know About Me."

One

I once swam across a lake. A 4 mile lake. It actually took me 5 miles to swim it. (The boat accompanying me, as well as all the boats that were part of this experience, got lost in the fog, so we ended up swimming an extra mile or so.)

There I am at the bottom of the steps at the end of the swim. I was dragging through the water at the end. That was the hardest athletic feat of my life.

Two
I've been a bridesmaid four times and played the piano at three weddings. (I've never done both at the same time, thankfully.) I LOVE weddings and helping with them.

Three
I grew up a dairy farm, drinking raw milk and playing around the barn. I have just now got to the point where I can stand pasteurized milk on my cereal, but I still can't drink a glass of it.

Week 3 of Marathon Training

It's now less than 13 weeks until the Des Moines Marathon! Here's the plan for this week:

Monday
1 easy mile, evening
Jillian Michaels Workout 1

Tuesday
3 miles, morning
Jillian Michaels Workout 2

Wednesday
3-4 miles, evening

Thursday
1 mile, evening
JM Workout 4

Friday
4-5 miles, first thing in the morning
JM Workout 5

Saturday
1 easy mile

Sunday
10 miles, first thing! This will be my first double digit run since....maybe the end of 2007. It's been a while.

One Reason I Love My Mom

Obviously, I love my mom for a variety of reasons, chiefly because she gave birth to me and raised me and all, but there are certain moments that just highlight my appreciation for her.

She, her friend, and my sister arrived in town late Friday evening. We had a extended supper, sat around visiting, and didn't end up at my in-laws' lake house until a few minutes before midnight. Trying not to draw attention and waiting for a scolding, I got out my running shoes and mumbled something about, "Since it's dark, I'll just jog around the yard for 10 minutes or so..."

My mom looked at me like I was crazy and I paused for a talk about time management and safety. Then she said, "Around the yard? That doesn't make any sense. Why don't you run up the road?"

So, as I ran, at midnight, pausing only once to hide behind a bush when a car passed (in case the driver was scary or might call the highway patrol about some crazy lady out in the night), I was thankful for my mom. And thankful for her appreciation/tolerance of my eccentricities. I'm pretty grateful for the seven miles she ran with me this morning, too.

Hope y'all had a good weekend too!

So yeah...

So, I wrote this huge long post this morning, but I'm just scraping it.

This is what it boils down to:

• I didn't run yesterday, for a variety of reasons.
• After a lot of reflection I have decided it's really, really difficult for me to complete this in a semi-practical way.
• The last time I tried this I was living alone. I could be as unpractical as I wanted. I ran at least one mile daily for 275 days in a row. Sometimes ridiculously early, sometimes ridiculously late, sometimes in ridiculous situations. It added up to 500.5 miles over the course of almost 9 months. I just forgot to run on the 276th day until after midnight and the rule was before midnight. So, I quit.
• I really don't want to quit this time just because I missed one day.
• I really don't want to start over and lose two months of running just because I missed one day.

So, here's my proposal: Yesterday was a grace day. I'm just going to keep running. I'm going to run twice tomorrow to make up for missing yesterday. Hopefully July 8th will be the only grace day I need. Maybe I've learned my lesson about planning (and following through) because I just cannot be running at midnight when I'm living with other people who have to put up with it. If I make it around to May 13th, 2010 and I'm still running and it's driving me crazy that I didn't have that one day, I can keep running on through to July 9. At least it's a plan. We'll see!

That's a Pile of Pants.

Remember when I when explained why I hate the treadmill? How part of it is the chore of moving all my husband's pants (carefully, so not to crease them) from the treadmill, to the bed, and back?

Well, today, I decided to put those pants in their rightful place. In the closet. When I actually unpiled them and, one by one, folded them onto hangers, I was kinda shocked at how many pairs of pants were actually residing there. You wanna see what I've been wrestling with since April? It's impressive.



Maybe they'll stay where they belong now.

Man in the Mirror

Okay, let me premise by saying I'm appalled my the amount of coverage that legit news channels (cough, cough, CNN) give to celebrity deaths. I was pretty much ready to throw any TV within arms reach out the window in the weeks following Anna Nicole Smith's death. It's sad, we should remember them kindly, pray for their families, etc. and just MOVE ON.

However, Michael Jackson's "Man in the Mirror" came up on my running playlist today and I feel compelled to share just one tiny memory triggered by that song. In my life, I've done plenty of things that are strange, unpractical, and sometimes a little stupid, but there are a few events I'd label as just plain irresponsible and dangerous. This is one of them.

When I was student teaching in Costa Rica, we used our weekends for little side excursions and adventures to the surrounding towns and beaches. On our last weekend, my friend, Erika, and I decided to travel to tiny little beach town, Montezuma on the very southern tip of the peninsula. To get from Nicoya (the town where we were living and teaching) to Montezuma required 3 different bus trips and 2 ferry trips. The Spanish communication skills between the two of us were pretty much only at survival level. It was quite the logistic challenge.

By the end of our second ferry ride, we were exhausted and absolutely not looking forward to figuring out the next round of bus tickets and schedules. We walked through the cars parked on the bottom level of the boat and envied those who could just hit the road to their destination. A couple in a rented SUV must has sensed this because the man in the driver's side motioned us over and asked, in heavily accented English, if we wanted a ride to Montezuma.

Erika and I exchanged looks that said, "Stranger Danger versus Bus Drama...which is potentially worse?" and with just slight hesitation, climbed into the back seat. The driver was a kind of dark, handsome, older man and his companion was a skinny, much younger, wide-eyed woman who seemed to not understand a word of anything said. Even when I tried to talk to her in Spanish, she didn't really respond. (My Spanish speaking skills leave a lot of people kind of unresponsive, so I didn't really think much of it.) The man asked where we were from and after we had told him our rosy little student-teachers-from-the-US stories, we asked about him. (By this time, we had driven through the little port town and are much more rapidly rolling through the Costa Rican countryside.) It went a little like this:

Stranger: I'm from Baghdad, here in this country for business.

Erika and I: Oh, how interesting! What type of business?

Stranger: Oh, business, you know.

Awkward silence while Erika and I contemplate what kind of secret businesses Iraqi men conduct in Costa Rica.

Erika and I: Is she (referring to the spaced out woman sitting up front with him who has not responded to our greetings in English or Spanish) from Iraq too?

Stranger: No.

Awkward silence while Erika and I observe him feeling up woman's thigh while she flinches and remember that we were warned us to stay clear of the prostitutes who worked in the coastal cities for rich tourists.

While my friend and I are soaking all of this in, the green landscape around is blurring because we are tearing faster and faster through the winding dirt roads. We thought that was making us nervous, until the driver started making motions for his companion to open the bag at her feet. She pulls out...wait for it...a packet of burnt CDs and a fifth of vodka. (Or should I say 1/3 of a fifth of vodka, because most of it was already consumed).

At this point, Erika and I are starting to question our decision. Maybe, just a little.

Our driver (yes, our driver) throws back his first shot straight from the bottle and motions for the hired girlfriend to flip through the CDs. He, very kindly, asks about our musical preference, but we just shook our heads politely and said, "We like anything." (By which we meant, "As long as we get out of this car alive, listen to whatever you want!")

Suddenly, a CD has caught his eye. I see "Greatest Hits of..." as he's sliding the CD in and he turns around (yes, while driving) to emphasize the point as he says, "Michael Jackson is the greatest performer of all time. He is a legend." We nod emphatically as he turns his attention again to the bumpy road (and his second and third shots).

I am gripping onto the seat and frantically looking back and forth between Erika and the blurred view outside the window as this strange, fanciful song I'd never heard filled the SUV. I listened carefully to the lyrics to distract me and suddenly I was completely caught up in this beautiful song. I had no idea Michael Jackson had so much heart and compassion until that moment I heard him sing about the man in the mirror. (My tongue is slightly in cheek, if you don't know me well enough to know.) I was so moved that I loosened my grip and maybe even smiled at Erika across the backseat. If we were going to die, at least we would perish in a beautiful, serendipitous adventure.

Just as I was beginning to make peace with our driver's swerving pace, we turned the corner into Montezuma and he braked into the middle of the village. We awkwardly thanked him and offered a few bills (which he pushed away in a fatherly, caring way) as we quickly exited the vehicle.

Watching the couple drive off, Erika and I finally exhaled, but I will never forget our special moment with a Michael Jackson soundtrack. Thanks, MJ.

P.S. After completing Day 1 at least 8 times, I finally did Jillian Michael "Making the Cut" Day 2!

This Week I Will....

Planning ahead last week was a big success for me. Even though I'm finally getting enough in shape well enough to love most of my runs, it is still a struggle to just get out the door some days. It's HOT and there are so many other things I SHOULD be doing. Having a plan (and knowing that it's already out there in cyberspace) makes it less stressful and more automatic.

I should note that although I stuck to my running plan (besides switching around a couple days), I have not been as good about my strength training. That's my focus for this week.

Monday
1 easy mile in the evening
Day 2 of JM

Tuesday
4 miles, morning

Wednesday
3-4 miles, morning
Day 4 of JM

Thursday
1 mile, evening
Day 5 of JM

Friday
5 easy miles, first thing

Saturday
2-3 miles with Mom and Becca (I'm very excited about my family coming down this weekend!)

Sunday
7 miles with Mom

The mileage is going up!

Small Town Running

I have loved the different terrians I have run over the years. I've ran through the pastures of the farm where I grew up, around college towns, up mountain trails, in and out of the streets of Spain and France, on beaches of three different coasts. It's a wonderful way to explore.

I've grown to love small town running now, too. It's nice to stop by Grandma's in the middle of a run to check on her and hear an old story I've never heard before. I enjoy being honked at by people I know instead of strangers who like my running skirt. I even like interrupting my run to walk with someone I know from church and her dog.

Maybe my runs would be more intense somewhere else. : )

1 Mile with Flashlight and Gators

Remember how I was planning ahead? Well, I'm doing great so far except the mile I was going to run this evening got pushed back a little. I was going to run while my husband was at a meeting (is it bad that sometimes I feel like I have to run behind his back?), but he arrived home earlier than I anticipated. Then we visited Grandma and plans changed and we packed up and headed to the lake. And suddenly it was dark. And I was separated from my treadmill.

So armed with a flashlight (per my mother-in-law's clever suggestion, otherwise I would have been wandering the dark) and a warning from my father-in-law about "gators crossing at night," I hit the road.

Although I've seen many alligators in the swamp and creek along this route during daylight, I did not see any tonight. I almost squished a hoppy-toad, but that was about it.

I'll be the first to admit that daily running is not always practical, but how else would I end up bouncing through nature with only my flashlight and the frogs? I treasure my mini-adventures. : )