Running Rut

I began this school year in a running rut, much like last year. I thought I was really excited to get back into a running routine that included running three times a week, but it has been slow to materialize. Last Wednesday I had a great five-mile run, that came after a miserable 3-mile walk/run a few days earlier. I didn’t run many races this past summer and I think that’s what I need to motivate me right now. Well, during my great five-mile run I found myself focused on two races I am excited about running, one in the near future, one still a year away.

In a few weeks I will be running a 10K called the Chocoholic Frolic! I registered for this race over two hours away because I have never been so excited for a race before. Not only is there a chocolate fountain as part of the post race food, but the day before there is a running and chocolate expo! This one is going to be fun! Oh and they recently announced a mini chocolate cupcake will accompany one of the water stops along the race course.

Next October I have mentally committed myself to running the Hartford Half-Marathon; hopefully with my husband and two junior high friends who also would have never thought about running a mile for fun 25 years ago, let alone 13.1 of them.

So, for the next few weeks I will focus on Chocolate and Hartford as I run. 

My Head is All Blogged Up

I haven’t posted a blog in quite awhile, not from a lack of ideas though. My mind has a continual blog running through my mind. How it doesn’t all get typed up is beyond me.

I went to a Volunteer Appreciation breakfast this morning. I love volunteering and I love being appreciated, I also happen to love The Parenting Place (enough to bake for their silent auction two years running now), so I was excited to attend. They had a great inspirational and to me, motivating speaker, which is probably what is leading me to writing tonight. She calls herself a personal historian, you can hire her to interview you, and she’ll write your story, memoir, or family history for you. I love the idea of this, but I’d miss out on the writing portion of the project. It’s true I haven’t written in awhile, and I have missed it.

I think about the power of the written word, especially in its handwritten state and that is the one thing my blog is lacking, but when I began the blog I told myself that I would still try to journal and take notes on my kids’ great words using pen and paper.

Beside the dishes I use every day and the photographs hanging, my favorite inheritances from my mom are the thoughts and words she put to paper using a pen, most often a fountain pen, and later in life the fountain pen she bought during our trip to Australia.

The speaker this morning gave us questions to get “in the mood” for talking about our family history. I didn’t verbally share too much, but I sure enjoyed the thoughts that were triggered in my mind.

Think of a relative who has died who you would love to learn more about. Why do you want to know more from or about this person? What questions would you ask this person if you could and why? A sense of relief washed over me when I thought about the poems, diaries, and journals I have of my mother’s. What a relief that I can read her deepest thoughts and feelings. I guarantee you that before I go to bed tonight I will read some of them. She always liked to ask questions like, what have you learned from me? What do you remember from when you were younger? As I get older I find myself asking those very same questions.

Shortly after her diagnosis of lung cancer I took these questions to heart and collected many stories about her from friends, family and her colleagues and what I came up with was a wonderful book to give her for Hanukkah that year. I treasure this book, especially for the stories from people I have never met, the stories that I shake my head reading and think to myself, yep that was my mom. I am so thankful to not only have these stories for my children, but also to have been able to have given them to her. That book was right up there with in the top 5 best gifts I’ve ever given her; I’m pretty sure her two grandchildren would be numbers one and two.

We’re All Connected

There are people I see regularly throughout town, out my car window or in my neighborhood. They are people I have never talked to, but would notice if I didn’t see them for a while, some I even worry about if months have gone by without our paths crossing.

There is one such person on my mind tonight. She’s a woman I see walking frequently in my area of town (a little larger area than my neighborhood). She is always wearing a long skirt with sneakers and is a quick walker. I’ve often wondered her story, is she walking for leisure, transportation, where does she live, does she have family in the area? I see her so often; sometimes many times a month, sometimes not for weeks. Last year there was a woman hit and killed by a train nearby, no information was ever released in the newspaper other than that one line. I actually worried that it was this particular woman and that no one knew, the thought saddened me. I searched the paper and online for weeks in hopes of seeing a photo posted somewhere. I eventually saw her walking and was so relieved it was not her.

Tonight our paths crossed again, this time at a baseball game, she was sitting just two rows in front of a friend of mine and was carrying on a conversation with him. I finally met this woman I already felt connected to. We had a great conversation covering a variety of topics. She walks for both transportation and leisure. Not because she has to, but because she wants to, she doesn’t live far from me, was at the game with her son and I could have talked with her for many more innings. I now have a name to go with the face I would recognize anywhere.

My heart is happy in the same way as being the one to put the last piece in 1,000 piece puzzle.

Makes me wonder who would notice if they hadn’t seen me for a while, what about you?

There is one person I cross paths with often two or more times a week while I run and he walks. We shared a brief conversation last Thanksgiving after he saw my husband on the path and mentioned he hadn’t seen me for a while (I had been sick and unmotivated to run). He notices me and the fact that he noticed I hadn’t been running in weeks made me tie my laces and get out there so I could cross paths with him. I thanked him for noticing I hadn’t been out in awhile.  Hmmm, but I still don’t know his name. Maybe I’ll ask him next time, or maybe I’ll just smile and say, “Good morning” as usual.

Ironically, when a man was hit and killed by a car nearby I worried it was him. Once it was released the man was blind, I knew it wasn’t him, but it made me realize how connected our paths are.

Who would you notice was gone from your life, yet have never met them?

Running (Shoe) Retirement

My running story told in shoes and four of the toes that have worn them because I don't know how to crop the photo.

My blue pair of running shoes were retired in late October after getting plantar fascititis in my left foot. Only after a few people asked did I realize I had run about 700 miles in those great Asics. 300 miles later my pink Asics are being transferred from my “runners” box to my “old runners” box on my closet shelf. Did you catch that?! I’ve run 1,000 miles since December 2011!!

700 miles was much too late to retire shoes and I was worried that 300 was too soon, then I started having knee discomfort when I ran and saw that my soles were wearing unevenly. After looking into it, I discovered 300-500 miles is the right time for retirement. Mine are opting for early retirement.

So, what’s life like for my “old runners” you may wonder. Oh it’s a good life. They get to take off my Road ID and let the laces underneath breathe. They get worn for walking, living and playing, no longer just for running. Although they are too worn for running in, they feel like a great pair of new sneakers. Today, for example they get to experience what it’s like to play soccer.

I keep two pairs of old runners at a time, and then donate them so they can live on. This last time it was to the local Goodwill, next time I hope to donate them internationally. 

I already have my next pair of running shoes in my closet and I can’t wait for my next run in my new rainbow runners!

8/5/13

This Wisconsin Run was Brought to Me by Cows, of course!

Between a hamstring strain and the kids being off of school I’ve only run an average of once a week; typically on a Saturday. Last Saturday I ran with one of my usual running partners and was delighted (really can’t think of a better word) when we came upon a deer crossing a bluff road.

This morning it was unseasonably chilly, mid 50’s, it was breezy and although I was excited to be getting another 5 mile run in with the same friend two weeks in a row I was dragging my feet a bit. After putting my mind in check by remembering the frigid, snowy weather I ran through this winter I tossed my sweatshirt aside and met her at the door. I was getting bored with my usual route and with the wind out of the north I suggested we run south with the wind at our back to start and head for the ski hill 2 miles away. I warmed up quickly and as we approached the hill I heard a chorus of mooing coming from the farm just before Mt. La Crosse. It brought a smile to my face, thinking back to the time I ran this same route only to come upon a calf in the middle of the road. A true “running in Wisconsin” moment.

Feeling great we pushed ourselves into the parking lot of the ski hill (farther than I usually run up there) and was awestruck by the site before me. The cows were grazing on the ski hill! I heard about this agreement between the farmer and ski hill, but had never witnessed it firsthand. It was a beautiful sight and it was at the moment I smiled ear to ear that I thought about how happy I was that I ran this morning and how the best runs usually happen after I drag my feet to the door. Just when I thought it couldn’t get any better I saw a cow and calf halfway up the double black diamond known as “Damnation”.

I wished I had my digital camera with a great zoom rather than my iPhone and even considered driving back after my run was complete, but reconsidered after thinking about how magical it was to run upon it.

Free Day

Today is Friday Free Day. It’s only the second free day we’ve had all summer and the first was last Friday and I quickly filled it with a trip to a beach an hour and a half away. It’s 1:00 and the kids and I are still in pajamas, laundry is getting done and the kids have been playing well together. Most of the times my kids get me fed up is when they are giggling and goofing off together. A real first world problem, right?! I told them I would take them to the pool to beat the 90+ degree heat, but first I told them they had to write two letters to the people of their choice. Honestly I was looking for some peace and quiet. While they were writing I stared at the computer screen for 10 minutes thinking about what the last time I wrote a letter to someone. I, in turn, decided it was time to blog about something. Hmm, guess I accomplished that!

Where Were You 20 Years Ago?

There are not many dates on the calendar I can remember where I was 20 years ago, but today I can. 20 years ago today I was climbing into the driver’s seat of an Eagle Summit (memory is a bit foggy on that detail), but I do remember it had a sunroof! Heather and Carrie, my two dear friends, climbed into the car with me, we all had the biggest smiles on our faces as we reached out the sunroof and sang along with Billy Joel at the top of our lungs to “Only the Good Die Young”. We were on our way to our high school graduation, Class of 1993!

Take note of the bulldozer in the upper left.

Not smiling only because I'm talking (as usual). Do you see my Middle Eastern father behind me?

Thanks to Facebook I am being reminded that I remember very little of the actual ceremony. I remember it was hot, we had 400+ graduates and we had the “honor/bragging rights” of being the last graduating class in all of Connecticut, and I think the largest as well. I remember the dark cloud overhead while praying it didn’t rain, which it didn’t. I remember being able to see Carrie’s face on the other side of the stage on the football field. I do not remember the marbles and/or apples some people handed to the principals upon being handed their diplomas. Never even heard about it, I don’t think, until someone posted it on Facebook today, 20 years later. I don’t remember seeing my family at graduation. There were so many people and I have no photos with them. I have a few photos with friends though. It makes me both sad and nostalgic about not having photos or a memory of seeing them. Sad for the obvious reasons and nostalgic because it reminds me of who I was then, what my relationships were like (not all bad, I promise), but also how excited I was to be graduating with my friends. It was such a happy day and I remember how excited I was to be leaving for college at The University of Alabama in less than two months. The day I was leaving for college was marked in my brain with a Sharpie. Looking back I may have missed out on some opportunities because of my focus on the future, but I was so excited it was forefront in my mind.

The 1992-1993 school year was full of construction. The freshmen were being moved up to our school for the following year. This is the only year in my education career school started after my birthday, September 10. Christmas break was extended because asbestos was uncovered during the break. The April blizzard canceled school, heat waves resulted in us getting out of school early and cold weather kept us home. Construction! Construction! Construction! This I remember. What the speakers said that day? I do not remember.

In early November I plan to board a plane to attend my 20^th reunion with Carrie. I’ll be sure to have Billy Joel on my iPhone and I promise that I will not recognize or know the names of over half the people there, but I also know we will have huge smiles on our faces as we laughingly reminisce.