Happiness, Joy, Luck, etc.

My daughter, Rosie, loves gymnastics.  She's 9 years old and has been doing it since she was little.  Last year she decided to take it to the next level and joined the team at her gym.  She practices four hours a week and has just started competing in meets this year.  She plays other sports….soccer in the spring and fall and skiing in the winter; but gymnastics is undoubtedly her favorite.  You'll often see her doing cartwheels in the middle of a soccer game and she tends to use them, cartwheels that is, as a means of getting herself from point A to point B.  For a kid who has a hard time sitting still, I am in awe of her ability to get it together and focus when she gets to the gym.  Oddly, there is something about it that calms her, despite the fact that she's running and bouncing around all over the place.  I get it.  When I was a kid, I loved to run.  Like gymnastics does for Rosie, running always gave me the greatest thrill.  At the same time, it always was, and continues to be, a calming force in my life.  It makes me happy AND keeps me sane.  Go figure.  Last week Rosie had her first official meet.  She was incredibly composed.  I was not.  I did my best to hide it.  She ended up with a 4th place finish on the beam and a 5th place finish overall in her age group.  The surprise on her face when they announced her name was priceless.  Her joy was tangible.  Not just from receiving the awards, though.  From the minute she stepped on the floor and started her routine I could feel how happy she was to be out there.  That was pretty cool.

Later, as I looked through my pictures, I noticed that she'd had her fingers crossed throughout the awards ceremony (note how they remained crossed even after she received her trophy).  Enter the power of luck.  I knew it was her hard work and dedication that had gotten her up on that podium.   Deep down, she probably knew it, too.  But she believed in the magic.  And that's part of the whole package.  Even now, at age 39, I know there's a sprinkling of luck involved with every race I run.  And I gotta believe that it's that little element of surprise that keeps us coming back and helps us continue to find the joy in what we love.  My lesson of the day?  Have fun, work hard and always keep your fingers crossed.  Thanks, Rosie.

Listen to this:
Don't Wanna Dance - MØ  

Pass It On

When I dig around for new music, new meaning both new to me or newly released, I try and steer clear of the mainstream channels.  Whenever possible, I aim to unearth songs and bands that are off the beaten path, but that I think are worth a listen.  That said, I was more than thrilled that Daft Punk and Lordes took home grammy awards last night.  In my humble opinion, they are both pretty amazing.  And like their fellow musicians they, too, were once unknown.  So a big congrats to them.  Now back to my point.  Over the past couple weeks, I can't tell you how many times I've been listening to Spotify or Pandora and heard a band or song that has literally stopped me in my tracks.  My first thought tends to be, wow this is fantastic.  My second is usually, how is it possible that more people don't know about this music?  Don't get me wrong, I'm sure many of them have a solid following.  And their committed fans may not want these lesser known gems to be on the beaten path, so to speak.  But we can certainly spread the word in a grass roots manner to get more people listening, right?  Everyone needs to make a living.  I like to think that my efforts will help, if only a little.  This week, why not take a minute to spend some time listening to something new.  Listen while you're running.  While you're cooking.  While your driving.  While you're working.  Then listen again.  And if you still dig it, share it.  I'll start.  Here are the albums I've recently downloaded and spent some solid time with.  Pass it on.


LISTEN TO THESE:



Bright Moments - Natives






I Break Horses - Chiaroscuro 





NewVillager - NewVillager

Damien Jurado - Brothers and Sisters of the Eternal Sun

TOO COLD, CONT. (anything for BACON)

Well, fellow runners and readers, I rarely post two days in a row.  Primarily because I don't have time and also because I don't want to bore you with too many stories.  But today, after my experience on the road, I feel like a little follow up to yesterday's post is necessary.  And, if I'm being completely honest here, I now have BACON on the brain (thanks a lot, PegLeg1983).  So, here's the low down:

TEMP: 5℉ (-9℉ w/ the windchill)
WORKOUT: 2 mi warm up, 8 x 400@5K race pace w/ 400 recovery, 2 mi cool down
MOTIVATION LEVEL: ZIP
SANITY LEVEL: LESS THAN ZERO

Come hell or high water I was not going to do this workout on the dreadmill.  So, I bundled up, covered my exposed flesh with Vaseline, and headed out....again.  You can imagine my devastation when I got down to the track and it looked like this:

Nothing was happening on this puppy today (though I did give it the old college try).  What the hell was I going to do?  Here's where I get bonus points for the BACONATOR award; along with extra points for stupidity.  I took out my phone, removed my gloves, absorbed the shock of frozen fingers for a sec, downloaded the MAPMYRUN app, suffered from a bit more shock here, pressed "begin workout" and mapped out a 400 so I could do the workout on the road next to the track.  Talk about 'village crazy', RunningFire11.  Today, I wore that crown with pride.  But, still, I banged out those 400s like nobody's business.  It was me, the road, the trees, and 5 measly degrees. And NOTHING else.  Not even the squirrels.

I couldn't help but feel like will.i.am and apl.de.ap were talking about all 3 of us as they sang "We're gettin' dumb."  I'm pretty sure the Winchester policeman who drove by me and slowed down during my 4th repeat shared this sentiment.  I am proud to say I got every single 400 done.  I had to stop and tie my shoe once.  That was rough.  But otherwise, once my feet warmed up, it wasn't too terrible.  I cooled down faster than usual as I could not wait for the ridiculously large and expensive coffee that I would be purchasing for myself as a reward.  Here I am on my last turn before home:

That look is both elation and pain and maybe a little shell shock.  All I have to say is thank the LORD for music.  There is no way any of this was happening without it.  I got inside, shed my layers, put some new clothes on and got ready to head out.  I did take this last shot just to prove how insane this whole situation is.  Note the windburn (and shine from the vaseline).  Not the most attractive shot.  But, remember, I'm going for BACON here.

So there it is, folks.  The true story of a crazy, swine-obssessed runner who can't stand the treadmill and has officially gone off her rocker.  Thanks for listening.

Listen to this: (or whatever it is you need to get you through this weather)

Keep It Up - Blackbird Blackbird 

Too Cold: A Top 10 List

The display on my dashboard after my run yesterday:
Song...awesome.  Temp...not awesome.

When I woke up on Monday it was 6℉ (below zero with the windchill).  As previously mentioned, I typically do my long run on Monday, and I actually look forward to it, but in these temps, my motivation is not quite as high.  During the winter, I'll run inside on the dreadmill up to about 8 miles but that's about all I can mentally handle.  So, this past Monday, it was outside or bust.  After I dropped my girls off at school I came home and procrastinated; checked email, did a little laundry, brushed my teeth a second time; hoping the temp might rise a bit before I headed out.  At 9:30 it had reached 10℉ and I figured that was the best I was going to get.  Off I went.  Winter running is hard.  So is a lot of other things.  What are you gonna do?

TOP 10 SIGNS THAT IT MIGHT BE TOO COLD TO RUN OUTSIDE:

1. You have to coat your face, ankles and any other exposed skin in vaseline for extra protection from the elements.
2. You run past a construction worker who gives you a confused look and asks what the hell you're doing. (yes, this happened Monday)
3. You start to feel a tingling sensation on random spots of your body mid-run.
4. You seek out hills because the extra effort will warm you up.
5. You're laces are too tight but decide it's too cold to take your gloves off and would be too difficult to fix them if you did.
6. You're hands turn white when you come inside.
7. You take a hot shower post-run but you can't warm up (or get out).
8. It's 2 hours later and you still can't get warm.
9. You want to hug the barista at Starbucks when she hands you your coffee.
10. You have a text message from a friend when you get back that says, "you didn't go, did you?"

And you smile because you did go.  You might be borderline nuts, but you don't care.  You are a runner and there is no off-season.

Listen to this:
Need You By My Side - The Sun Parade  


AND...

Coronado - Deerhunter   
off of Halycon Digest
(great song, great album)