I AM ALIVE!

    I watched the documentary "Free to Run" this week.  It covers well the history of running in the world.  Women weren't allowed to run for a long, long time.  There is still bias against women runners in the community despite the fact that women runners outnumber men in many race distances.  (Not in the Ultra distance yet, but maybe that will change).
     One comment that impressed me was on why people run.....they are saying, "I am here! I am alive."  I think this is true.


     "I run because if I didn't I'd be sluggish and glum and spend too much time on the couch.  I run to breathe the fresh air.  I run to explore.  I run to escape the ordinary.  I run...to savor the trip along the way.  Life becomes a little more vibrant, a little more intense.  I like that."
                         Dean Karnazes



     I am still pondering just why I run in addition to the above.  It is meditation, it clears my mind, it is therapy and keeps me from killing people, I want to age in a healthful manner, it gets me outside and into the sun, it exercises my dog, I meet people and experience nature.  I'm sure I will come up with more. 

There are just some days when.....

Life is soup and I'm a fork.

Best advice seen on internet today....

A person is not old until her regrets take the place of her dreams.  Keep dreaming.

I call my horse "Mayo" and sometimes Mayo neighs!!!!

93 percent stardust

     We have calcium in our bones, iron in our veins, carbon in our souls, and nitrogen in our brains.  93 percent stardust, with souls made of flames, we are all just stars that have people names.
                                 Nikita Gill

Have a great new week.

New school year.....

Please post this on your mirror and read every single morning:

Permission to be excited and goofy and to have fun!

Poverty exists not because we cannot feed the poor, but because we cannot satisfy the rich.

Want to paint

     I love this painting someone did and shared on Facebook.  I want to do this someday.

        She decided to free herself, dance into the wind, create a new language.  And birds fluttered around her, writing "yes" in the sky.
                  Monique Duval

Contemplating the meaning of this.......so many possibilities.

Many a trip continues long after movement in time and space have ceased.
                                    John Steinbeck

     Functional cardio for the day:  heaving an unhappy 80 lb. dog into the bathtub with full resistance......and keeping her there while scrubbing and rinsing.   
     Only recommended on rare occasions.

DO YOU!

     Being someone else isn't interesting.




   

Be the girl

Proud

Must see this youtube video to believe it.....

                         

When someone says you can't do something....do it twice....and take pictures!

Running a marathon is easy---it's just like going for a walk.  Only your shoes are on fire, and the ground is on fire, and everything's on fire because you're in hell.

Long run Sunday

     It just hit home that my marathon is only 7 weeks away and that I'd better start at least doing the long runs on my training plan even if I play the rest by ear.  So the dog and I headed out at first light trying to beat the heat and the horseflies, which drive her insane.  I was cognizant of the mountain lion in the valley just 2 days ago so knew to stay away from trails at dawn.  We stayed on the main sidewalk following the street which loops our development.  Lo and behold down at the entrance to our development, we picked up a yearling coyote, who stuck to us like glue.  I'd change directions and it'd follow right along. If you know my dog, you know that hundreds of thousands of years of evolution have bred in her a hatred of coyotes causing 80 pounds of dog to pull towards the coyote while I pulled the other way.  I stopped and yelled at the coyote and clapped my hands.  It just sat on its butt 20 yards away and taunted us.   
      I know it was the bait coyote for the pack and that if Charleigh got away from me she'd soon become breakfast buffet.  3 mountain-bikers stopped to see if I needed help.  That darned little coyote just sat there and looked at all of us.
      So the bikers went on their way and I walked while dragging 80 pounds of dog in the other direction all the way home where I ditched her.  I ate breakfast, grabbed a handfull of gels, 2 liters of water, my music, and headed back out.   I finished it!!!! 19 miles total which ended up being in the heat after all. I survived.

Never run with bagpipes.....

You could put an aye out

or worse yet, get kilt!!!!

?

     Interesting experience this morning.....the park rangers were using a pickup to drag a dead deer away from the trail, a quarter of a mile away to a under a shrub. It was a fresh mountain lion kill.  My dog and I ran by the puddle of fresh blood on the trail where it happened.
     Now, I'm glad it is no longer on the trail, but doesn't that mean the mountain lion will be only a quarter of a mile away watching and waiting to finally get its dinner? 

Most people have no idea of just how good their body is supposed to feel.

"Everything was beautiful and nothing hurt."  (Moby album title), my current goal for enjoying the journey.

Note to self: You are not too old and it is not too late!!!!

If you never heal from what hurt you, you'll bleed on people who didn't cut you.

I love reading John Pavlovitz' essays.  He always nails it. Here, he discusses "the miserable people."
https://johnpavlovitz.com/2018/08/01/the-miserable-people/

I ran 6.7 miles this morning in honor of my birthday!