With the new day comes new strength and new thoughts.---Eleanor Roosevelt

    I ran a half marathon on Saturday.  I almost didn't go.  The predicted snow hadn't happened, though, but it was only 18 degrees with very high winds with gusts up to 45 mph.  And I forgot my watch at home so couldn't pace myself.  I had to go by "feel."  I'm evidently a fair weather runner.  But I made myself go and I finished. Small victories.  (Plus I ran in a fasted state as I wasn't feeling great....possibly not a good idea.)

Working hard.

“Sometimes we become so focused on the finish line, that we fail to find joy in the journey.” ― Dieter F. Uchtdorf

     I'm working on this always.

FYI, here is a great article on exercise to reduce heart damage from aging.  I'm saving this to read and consider later.
https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2018/01/180108090132.htm

"Once upon a time....there was the simple understanding that to sing at dawn and to sing at dusk was to heal the world through joy. The birds still remember what we have forgotten...that the world is meant to be celebrated." ~~Terry Tempest Williams~~

     Multiple shots were fired this morning at C470 and Ken Caryl Ave. in my neighborhood, and are still under investigation.  The school lock-downs have been lifted for all but the high school and middle school, which have not yet been cleared.  The elementary school on my street is open, so I am guessing it is safe to go out and run my streak-saver mile.
     What is going on with the US?  I am really angry....chronically angry....at the NRA, the GOP, and anyone who supports them. (And I'm not the only one!)

https://youtu.be/KMuG72oWiyg


    At the same time as the gunshots in my neighborhood, there were shots fired at a McDonalds causing school lockdowns at schools in the east part of Littleton, as well.

     Remember how I did the Amerithon Virtual Run/Walk across America last year?  It took me exactly 12 months to run and walk the 3521 miles.
     I continued to track my miles to see how long it would take me to run those 3521 miles.  I made it yesterday....595 days! So it took me 1 year plus 230 days to run cross-country.  I'm glad this was just a virtual event.

     I saw this today, loved it, and had to share.

     Here is the trailer to a new documentary that sounds really good.  It is by Santino Panico, who was a wide receiver at the University of Nebraska. I can't wait to see it.
     https://www.runnersworld.com/vegan/from-the-ground-up-vegan-documentary?utm_content=2018-02-22&utm_campaign=Warmup&utm_source=runnersworld.com&utm_medium=newsletter&smartcode=YN_0001108995_0001657138&sha1hashlower=58975c935939ac06c309f53d09e0fa0f1bed3247&md5hash=81b5cfc07456066289455a3ae6b4102c

     Here is a link to an interview with Santino Panico.  He is an impressive guy.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4okxNB_EsUg

I haven't been watching the Winter Olympics, but I found this article about the Olympic struggle to track times fascinating.

https://www.newyorker.com/tech/elements/the-olympics-never-ending-struggle-to-keep-track-of-time

(I did go back and watch the mass-start speed skating on YouTube.  It is more exciting).

(Outside temp has gone from -2 to zero.  Guess I should gear up to shovel snow).

“Habit is a cable; we weave a thread of it each day, and at last we cannot break it.” ― Horace Mann

  Don't think, just do. Each and every day. Expect problems and eat them for breakfast.  (I need to do a long training run today so really need some self-motivation!)
  Wishing you a happy Sunday.  Sunny with high wind warnings here.


     Well....that was frustrating with problems not anticipated.  I only got 2/3 of my long run in.  After slip-sliding away in the mud, falling a few times because I didn't wear trail shoes, plus spraining and leash-burning a finger thanks to a dog that after a solid mile just could no longer withstand the lure of chirping prairie dogs and had to go after them full force taking me along with her, I called it a day.  I at least hung on to the dog! I'd say there's always tomorrow, but it is supposed to be cold and snowy Monday and Tuesday.  There's always next week.  Now off to a long hot bath with epsom salts.

Monkeys

     Unfortunately, the current administration are our circus and monkeys!

True North

     What is yours?  America has lost its way, unless you count money as a direction.

“We love to buy books because we believe we're buying the time to read them. [Inside Out (VH1)]” ― Warren Zevon

     I watched the documentary of the making of Warren Zevon's last album, The Wind, which he wrote and recorded after being diagnosed with terminal lung cancer.  I like the album, and it was a moving documentary. In it, he made the above quote which he attributed to Schopenhauer (see below.)   I like Zevon's version better.

“Buying books would be a good thing if one could also buy the time to read them; but as a rule the purchase of books is mistaken for the appropriation of their contents.”― Arthur Schopenhauer, Counsels and Maxims (The Essays of Arthur Schopenhauer)

      Not Valentine's Day related, but so funny for dog owners!

     It's a cold, gray day.  Wouldn't this be nice?

Addendum, it is 19 degrees out, but I ran anyway.  WooHoo!

“I hope your rambles have been sweet, and your reveries spacious” ― Emily Dickinson

     What a gorgeous Sunday!  Snow has been scooped (cross-training?) and dog has been walked.  I hope you are enjoying your weekend, too.

Always remember

 Sidenote: 
It is 15 degrees out with freezing fog which will turn to snow by 8 a.m.  Do I want to go to run group?  NO!!!!  I'm sure most people will skip it.  But I have several things due at the library today so need to go out anyway.  Drat.  Modern day problems.

Addendum:  I went and was the only runner to show up so I got a free sample of Tailwind electrolyte drink.  It wasn't too bad out, but the prairie dogs were all still in their burrows and the geese looked like they were freezing.  By the time I finished errands, though, it was snowing hard and all the street lanes were obscured.  I'm glad to be home, warm and dry.  I hope you are all warm, safe, and dry, too!  Happy weekend.

"May your past be the sound of your feet upon the ground. Carry on."

                             https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lV8fBH6S_xw



  I heard this on my playlist yesterday.  Now it is an earworm!  But I still love it.  Carry on.

"The most difficult thing is the decision to act, the rest is merely tenacity. The fears are paper tigers. You can do anything you decide to do. You can act to change and control your life; and the procedure, the process is its own reward." — Amelia Earhart                                                  Hugs.

Rock on!

from "the sun and her flowers"---Rupi Kaur

     It's been close to 2 weeks since our snowstorm, so I wanted to try running on trails today hoping that the ice would be gone.  Oops.  Decided not to as it is evidently that time of year again and I forgot to pack pepper spray.  Somehow, looking big and being loud doesn't sound like enough protection, and Charleigh can't read the "stay calm" part.  So back to the neighborhood sidewalks we went.  Besides, the trails were muddy anyway, right?  (It's one thing to risk rattlesnakes in summer and coyotes with pups in the spring, but mountain lions, no!)

     I would like to see one someday, but not close up, and not with my crazy, prey-driven, not too bright dog.  Supposedly someone saw 3 of them gamboling about.

6 more weeks of winter

The Groundhog Day Song:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e79_7APRlz0