Same song second verse

Sunday, January 15, 2017

A little bit louder, a little bit worse...

OK, now I've got that old kids' song rattling around in your head, I'll 'splain. It was NOT louder or worse, but it was embarrassing.

Training run, target 8 miles, yesterday morning. Dry trails, we were working on getting it done before the ice storm that's started landing now.

We waited for 10 a.m. to take advantage of sun coming out and temperatures moderating. We were going along just fine, and chatting about how my confidence is coming back.

Chatter, run/walk/run... and then, 4.86 miles in... "oh, crap... I'm falling". Not as bad as seven weeks ago... but I did bang up my chin, and bit my lip pretty badly. Here's the "boxer" look the morning after (this morning), showing the band-aided chin, the swollen nose and fat lip:

What a contrast from Thursday's "Youth" blog photo!

The recovery is happening fast. I went back to the Runza restaurant near where I fell, after a hot shower, and heading over to check on my sister's cats (also to get it done before the ice comes)... and bought a sandwich, going "off program" to do so, just to leave a huge tip. They had let me use their restroom to clean up and even brought me band-aids for the chin. My coach had his wife fetch the first aid kit from their home (we were 3 miles out from the cars, on our way back), and I'm sure I could have walked it, but by the time we made that assessment she was on her way, so I accepted a ride back to the Y, where we had started.

I've been up on the treadmill today, 3 sessions so far (splitting it up with laundry and kind of mimicking my "recess" times).

Today's adventure is the long-predicted Ice Storm. I'm in an Ice Storm warning area, that will not expire until 3 a.m. TUESDAY, here. It started about on schedule, noonish... and it's looking pretty slick out there now.

I figure if it's too slick to go to work on Tuesday, I'll just have one more day for the swelling to go down.

For today:

• Eat to the plan, even though there is no bag.
• Taking those recess times on the treadmill.
• Remembering to breathe, prioritize, and delegate... well, not much delegating here at home, but definitely breathing to deal with the storm qualms, and prioritizing tasks within the house.

Feeling grateful and living the best Sunday January 15, 2017 I can, within the parameters of where I'm at... hope you are, too... 'cause it's the only one we'll ever get!

Youth

 Friday, January 13, 2017

I was just looking at this selfie I took last night of MJREIMERS and (obviously) me:

The first thing that popped out at me was how vibrant and happy we both look. The second thing is how YOUNG! The sparkling eyes, the anticipation of the running season ahead of us. The occasion was the BRIN Blackout party, where those of us who finished all three 10K's after signing up for them last year (Leprechaun Chase, Cornfield Cornfield, and Harvest Moon Hustle) collected our commemorative medals. I'm wearing mine. Mako (MJREIMERS) has signed up to do the three races in 2017, as have I. I dubbed this photo "Once and Future BRIN runners".

Youth is not wasted on the young. They need it to survive growing up! But, the quality of being open, of always learning, of living in the moment, of being, as my little Webster's tells me, "esp. of being vigorous and lively"... can be preserved or prolonged, if we take care of our body's needs. All the things that Spark teaches us (or our mothers and grandmothers told us): get your sleep, "eat real foods, not too much, mostly plants", and move your bodies... feed a vibrant, vigorous life, no matter what the calendar calculates our age to be.

Don't get me wrong: I dub myself a "little old lady in training", because I do venerate the strength and wisdom of my years, and hope to rack up many more of them. But I want to do so with the vigor of good health that we often associate with youth.

Is Spark the fountain of youth?

For today:

• The bag is packed, but I have to remember to go to the dentist first, instead of automatic pilot mode to work.
• Remember to go to recess in this chopped up day!
• Remember to breathe, prioritize, and delegate.

Let's all get out there and live the very best Friday the 13th of January 2017 we can (whatever our superstitions about Friday the 13th may be), because, after all, it's the only one we'll ever get!

Last

Sunday, January 01, 2017

How appropriate to hit the "L" in my "accidental alphabet" series the morning after the "Last Run" of 2016...

Of course, being me, I'm going to use that word in another sense than the "final".

From my Webster's:  "vi 1 to remain in existence or operation; continue; go on; endure 2 to remain in good condition; wear well."

Yep, that's a decent quality to have... enduring fits right in with the triathlete in me. And the distance runner... but more importantly, with LIVING... enduring whatever storms life throws our way, and LASTING or rather outlasting them!

So, here's to lasting, vibrantly. Because taking care of our health through those things we CAN control is

the best way of making that ability to last "easier". I noticed that at some aha moment a few years ago... that LIFE became easier when I took care of myself. Life could still pack a wallop, but enduring it was easier.

So, for today:

• No bag... but remember you're making choices that will make staying with the program easier or harder!
• Enjoy, savor that RECESS of the First Run 5K!
• Keep on breathing, prioritizing, and delegating.

But most important, let's live the very best New Year's Day 2017 we can. Because it's the only one we'll ever get!