Before I headed out this morning I knew it was hot. I also knew that I was pretty tired and not feeling my best, and that's not always a winning combination. But because I run when the aide got here, I ran anyway. Just over a mile and I felt very sluggish. My legs felt like they were carrying an extra 25 pounds a piece (and no I haven't gained THAT much weight! lol). I started thinking that this run was a lot like my life. Over the last 4.5 years I have lived in what I call the furnace. Life is just one big trial; and like today's run - it can be stifling at times. I could probably use it all for an excuse and really no one would blame me. I was thinking about how my run and my life were so parallel as I was coming around mile 2. Here's pretty much my thought process: Ugh! This run is just like my life - heavy, tiring, strength-sapping and stifling hot. Lots of excuses...all of which are true - No....they are NOT excuses - they are reasons to survive! Peter says i...

Running for me seems to be about setting goals. Some of them are kept and some are not. Today as I was running in the heat I was determined to reach my newly set goals. Over the last few years I have set and made lots of goals - and set and not made lots of goals. But a couple of weeks ago it hit me real hard when I weighed in and found that I was overweight. (not a happy camper) I determined right then and there to make a difference. You see, I eat to fill a void in my life. But over the last few weeks I realized that eating more foods may fill my tummy but it will not erase the pain of the circumstance. It's up to me to change -  and I'm committed to the journey. By now I have earned the right to call myself a runner even though I didn't start until the year I turned 49. I've completed over 60 races - 7 of which are half marathons and one marathon ( that I crawled). Some might say that this is amazing but I still talk myself out of that. It's not really that ...

I know - long time no see - but I'm back! There are lots of holes in the story and maybe I will fill them in over time. For now I'll just start with where I am. I issued myself a personal challenge 9 days ago. My goal was to run every single day and to see how long I could do that. It didn't matter to me if it was only a mile - I wanted to see how it would feel to run some everyday.Then my friends on dailymile.com issued a 100k challenge. The 100K challenge is to run a 10K everyday for 10 days. I figured that would work well with my own challenge to run every day so I accepted it! Yesterday was day 8 of running every single day; and it was day 3 of the 10 day challenge. I've learned a lot already. I found out I am made of tougher stuff than I thought! (lol) That translates into "so far so good"! It's been difficult as my body cries out to stop and rest - but I keep going. The good thing is I am seeing some benefit already. I've started to lose a li...

This is my new mantra - Make it Happen! I had a conversation with someone the other day who was talking about something they wanted to do. They could not even plan toward it as they began with all these negatives about why they couldn't do it and how it wasn't going to work out. I asked them if that's what they really wanted to do - they affirmed. I said then Make it happen! Do you want to run a 5K?  10K? Half marathon? or a full? Then make it happen. Do what you need to do to get it done. I crawled a full marathon last year and have another planned for this year. I hope I do not crawl the last 6.2 again though! lol. No one can do your training for you. No one can kick you out of the bed in the morning or run your miles for you. If you want it - go get it! This is just one of the life lessons I have learned from running (and life!). I can sit around and whine about how out of shape I am or how slow I run...or I can get off the couch and change it. But no one can cha...