Is it just me?

Running messes with my emotions.

Example:  Hood to Coast 2012.  My first leg was just over four miles on a gradual down hill.  Easy.  My second leg, however, was 7.25 miles on a mostly flat road with some low hills.  I gave myself complete permission to take walking breaks if needed.  But I ran it all, non-stop.  Each time I thought about walking, the slope would head downward, so I kept running.  Then up the next hill, repeating the thought process:  "I can walk now ... no, it's going downhill again."  Till about two miles from the end and it became a "I gotta do this!"  It was now dark and when I could see the lights of the exchange ahead I knew I was .... AMAZING.

Note:  You may be wondering:  7.25 miles?  Why is that a big deal? .... Let me explain.  Until I started my marathon training in December of 2010, I practically never walked during a run.  I ran my first 13.1 miles (half marathon) without walking, except for the potty-break which we're not counting.  But then I learned that many, many people run marathons with walking breaks -- that it was actually allowed in the World of Running ... and I instantly signed on to the mentality.

And I haven't been able to go back.

 It's harder to push myself on a routine run.  On a good day I can run three miles before taking a break.  So 7.25 was a big deal.

When I finally got to that exchange, it was fortunate that Husband was there because I sank into his shoulder, gulped air, and half-sobbed.   Weird.

My last leg was something around 5 miles and I ran all of it as well.  (Go easy on your critique of my posture in this photo, please.  This was at the end of almost 18 miles total.  I only had three hours of sleep and my iPod battery had died about four miles back.)

(Thanks Dave, for a great picture.)

Another example:  Favorite Daughter's marathon last spring.  I went to show support and to run with her during her last couple of miles.  As I trotted out to meet her, I could hardly contain my enthusiasm for all those MAGNIFICENT people finishing up their 26.2!  I KNEW what they had been through, not only for the last several hours, but for the last six months!  All complete strangers, yet I was so dang proud of every one of them!   I hope I reined in my giddiness enough to not look too idiotic.  At least I didn't try to high-five them all.

Another example:  I've mentioned this before, but almost every time I run a race with other people .... not just a fun run ..... but an organized race ... I nearly burst with:  1. Love for the world,  2. Kinship with all present,  3. Knee-buckling GRATITUDE that I can DO this, and ... 4. The false perception that I feel GOOD and can run for miles and miles!  Of course it all melts off after about five minutes and I begin to wonder why the heck I keep doing this whole stupid running thing.

Then there's my music playlist.  Each song was carefully chosen.  And they are now mine.  You see, when you run to a song enough times, you can somehow take credit for it.   And the song becomes better than other songs ..... until you become sick of it and dump it from your list.  So when it comes on the radio when you aren't running, you feel good.  Because it's one of YOUR songs ...... and you want to point it out to other people and brag, "I run to that song!" ...... which SHOULD make you all the more cool in their eyes ...... don't you think?  ...... oh never mind.

Last of all, I have scarcely any practicality in my brain, when thinking about a race far in the future .... like next summer.  Times like that I'm fueled on pure emotion.  Especially when fun people, whom I adore, are involved.  I'm trying to not leap into commitments like I typically do, and instead give those impulses time to work their way through my thought processes for at LEAST a few weeks, or more.   Because I KNOW that a few days before any event, I'll be seriously questioning my level of sanity when I signed up.

So that's it.  End of post.  No pithy finale.  Just this song.  Which is MINE.  'Cause I run to it.

"23 and 1/2 Hours"

You know when you discover a real gem online .... probably via a clever and alert facebook friend ..... and want to tuck it away where you won't lose it so that you can trot it out occasionally to impress, or inspire, or teach ......  or just because it's so darn good?  

Well THIS is one of those gems.  And what better place to tuck it, than in one's blog?

Enjoy, be inspired, and utilize this kick in the tush!  And if you've seen it before, WHY are you still sitting there??

By Dr. Mike Evans, founder of the Health Design Lab at the Li Ka Shing Knowledge Institute, an Associate Professor of Family Medicine and Public Health at the University of Toronto, and a staff physician at St. Michael's Hospital.

Past, present, and May

The frump on the left was me about 15 years ago and the fatty on the right was me again, six years ago.   Today I look at these photos incredulously.  Obviously my 40s were not my best decade.  I knew I weighed too much, but honestly didn't realize how bad it was.  Here's the amazing thing:  People said I was slim ....!  Whenever I mentioned I was dieting, they'd frequently ask, "What for?"  Either my friends all live in the Land of Make-Believe, or they were just being too kind.  Good gravy!  Those hips could block traffic!  (FYI:  This was the Pre-Running Me who tried to justify the extra poundage because of my entrance into middle age.)

Which brings me to now and the on-going battle to never return to THAT, even though my proud title of "Grandma" was established over 10 years ago.  For one thing, I'm back on the wagon, dealing with some unwanted summer-induced fat, via another fitness challenge.  Fun almost always involves eating and the scales show that I must have packed in a TON of fun this summer.  And knowing another fitness challenge (my "safety net") was starting soon, I really let my guard down the last few weeks and completed the ballooning process, arriving at about eight pounds over where I was last spring.

I have discovered that my weight is always lowest in May.  Not sure why, other than typically there are no big events during the several months that precede it ...... events like Christmas, or a vacation.  Vacations are brutal and I am claiming full victim status.  Even those vacations that involve exercise!  I can do a four-day-200+-mile-bike-trip and gain two pounds.  Even the Hood to Coast, when I ran almost 18 miles in two days, packed on a pound or two.  Here's some wisdom I finally learned: Weight loss is 85% about dieting, and 15% about exercise.  I put it in BOLD PINK to burn it into your brains!  All the exercise in the world, which tones and builds muscle, will NOT make you lighter if you use it to justify brownies.  So my HTC aftermath involved the donuts, the DQ blizzard, my favorite Eggs Benedict at the Pig n' Pancake, and the rest of the candy-filled blur .... more than it did the running.

The wedding of Favorite Second Son and Favorite Second DIL (the highlight of our summer by the way) ...... Let's pause and admire this lovely scene .....

 A great day!  (Here's a fun tidbit:  The young eagle scout in the first picture above,
and the groom in this picture, are one and the same.)

And I'm adding this photo just because I like it.
Favorite (MARRIED!) 2nd Son and me.  

.... anyway, it didn't help either.  One of my downfalls is Swiss cheese.  And there was a LOT of it (along with the rest of the menu) left over from the wedding luncheon we hosted.  Which (the cheese) I ate.  On crackers.  For days.  Yum.  (Fortunately none of the wedding cake made it to our house.)

The above "before" photos need an "after" shot, so here I am, about to run my last leg in the HTC, a few weeks ago.  I was within about five pounds of my ideal high-school-graduation weight and, after almost a week on our current fitness challenge, is about where I'm at right now.  (Another by-the-way:  Do you GET that I LOVE fitness challenges?  Absolute life-savers!)

  And you'll have to go here to see me last spring, after a previous highly successful fitness challenge and ..... AT my high-school-graduation weight.  It's where I plan to be in a few weeks ..... just before we embark on another food-fest (AKA a cruise) then roll on into those pesky fudge-packed holidays .... meaning I start all over again in January.

If only it could be May all year long.