Highlights to my day-

          There is NOTHING more exciting to my morning than having my own home-made tea. This one has mint leaves, blueberry leaves from my garden and slices of ginger. I let it sit for about 10 minutes and then drink the entire thing, which is about 2 cups worth.  

My first crop! 3 tomatoes, not ready yet though....can't wait to have them. I also have chives, beans, kale, lettuce, strawberries, blueberries, mint, cilantro, peppers and mint growing in my garden. 

Someone in my neighborhood got rid of some crib sides and guess who got them? I created a triangle with them over my strawberries, which keep being eaten by wildlife. I need to cover them now with some thin material so that bugs and birds don't get to them. I also used some recycled some wood Nora had me buy last year for a woodworking project she was going to work on but never did to hold up my many bean plants. I am not crazy about beans but with the shady gardens I have been dealt I am willing to grow what wants to grow, and it seems like beans want to grow here. 

Far Distant Future Goals

               We all get old, then older, then we slow down.....having my 94 year-old mother-in-law staying with us for almost two weeks has made me think a lot about my running goals for the far distant distant future. My mind keeps going back to Harriette Thompson, the 91 year-old (above video) who just won the world record this year for being the oldest woman (age 90 and over) to run a marathon. THIS is what I want to do, I want to continue to be active and never give up.....my mind also thinks of Joy Johnson daily.....she is the elderly woman who, after running her 25th NYC marathon, died in her sleep the day after....I have no plans to slow down...in fact, once my kids get older I fully plan on doing more adventure-style races, races in which I can actually travel to.....can't wait. 

Want to Hear More Narratives from Back-of-The-Pack Runners

              I am tired of running's obsessions with speed. For once, I'd like to tune into my favorite running podcasts or open my running magazines and not have to hear/read an interview with some super speedy 18-something year old. Instead, how about interviewing a person like me, someone who got into running a bit later, but that is committed, curious and yes, slower. I know for a fact that an interview with a person much more like me would make me more inspired, and more interested to tune-in in the future. 

               It's not like I don't understand this fascination with speed. On days I go faster than my typical slow pace I am ecstatic and the feeling of strength and invincibility I feel are unmistakably addictive. But, I also have this need to internally celebrate the fact that I even get out there at all. Perhaps my disinterest in this top 1% running speed-freak 'anomalies' closely parallels my general disinterest in famous people, celebrities and pop stars. I guess you can safely say I am not the 'star struck' kind of girl. I strongly suspect and am starting to believe that the narratives of those in the back of the race as just as interesting, if not more interesting. 

Best running movie EVER!!!

    Just saw the BEST running movie ever on Netflix. It's a South Korean movie. The description reads: Based on the true story of Bae Hyeong-jin of South Korea, this film follows austistic Cho-Won, who dreams of running a marathon. With support from his mother and coach, his dream becomes a reality. Trailer below:

Interview with a life-long runner, Alice Mansfield (age 72)

            Just heard an amazing interview with Alice Mansfield. She began running in her 40s and still runs now ins her 70s. Go here to hear the interview.

 

The one and only Scott Jurek

I love how simple and humble this man is.

Yasso 800s

Bart Yasso

                   I just heard an interview with Bart Yasso on The Marathon Show podcast where he explains the Yasso 800. Here is a link to the official explanation. I will see if I can use the track at Wilson High School to do these at least once a week once I am done with the two races. Anyone out there know how these would apply to half-marathons? For this summer I am thinking of doing the Runner's World First Time Marathon 16 Week Training Plan  for $30, especially if I plan to run a marathon in the fall. There is so much to do now that I am starting to imagine myself as possibly doing this.......such as pick the fall marathon that will best fit my schedule and budget and figure out when the official training will begin....anyone else out there running their first marathon soon? would love to hear about your journey and any tips you may have for me. 

Stories of other runners inspire us to reach for our highest goals

                 One thing that keeps me hooked on running is the inspiration I am gaining from reading and hearing about all these amazing people that have beat the odds and come back triumphant in one form or another. I have heard about runners who have beat obesity, cancer, near-death illnesses, depression to come back winning. Every new running blog I run across tells of this same journey of triumph over adversity, pain and what seemed like insurmountable odds. The more you hear about these amazing human beings, the more you realize that you too could be one of them. That is the lure of running for me, the promise of reaching invincibility, painlessness and surpassing my most desired and distant goals.....yeap, little ol' me....

             For the past few months I have been doing little else in my free time but reading and hearing all about these amazing people in running. Their stories have filled me with hope, love for humanity, love for the human body and it's potential. Juxtaposed to that, on television, we are being constantly fed with stories of murderers, killers and even on what they label 'kids' shows' the characters are often petty, picky, annoying, sarcastic and contemptuous at best; these are not very good qualities to  immerse ourselves in, less our children. 

              I invite you to seek out your own heroes and how in learning about them you are transformed by their journey. Who inspired you to start running, who or what inspired you to keep running?

52 Year-Old Heart Transplant Recipient Goes on to Become Marathon Runner

                    Every morning I get up at 5ish and get breakfast ready for the kids, get my coffee going, put together my own lunch and juice about 48 ounces of vegetable/fruit juice in the juicer for the day. The whole time I go through this, and I can do all of it in about 40 minutes, I listen to one of my running-related podcasts for I am usually the only one up that early. Recently I have been listening to The Marathon Show with Joe Tericani, who I find to be a delightful man, a great interviewer and all-around fun to listen to at home, in the car, even while running. Today, I listened to him interview Donald Arthur, a heart transplant recipient at age 52, who then goes on to run over 31 marathons (on his way to 50) and is trying to run one in every state. It was a very emotional interview to listen to and I felt so lucky to be alive afterwards. If you have not had a chance to hear about this man, it's the Aug 20, 2010 podcast from The Marathon Show on iTunes. Totally worth listening to, especially if you need a spirit pick-me up. 

Terry Fox touches my life....

                           I was on Netflix looking for a movie.....I first thought I wanted to watch a horror, but the minute I saw the images on the covers I knew I could not handle them anymore. Ever since my daughter's birth I can no longer down horror movies. Next, I perused romance....nah! then the Terry Fox movie, Into the Wind, caught my eye. Boy, am I happy to learn about this amazing young man.....If you have not seen this movie, please do yourself a favor. Your heart will thank you, watch it!!! I trust that if I only surround myself with people who amaze and inspire me I might get a tiny bit of them rubbing off on me. 

I noticed his birthday falls on my birthday....what an honor.