Do you ever get tired of that question? I think I have answered it in a hundred different contests. (none of which I've won so far!) For the runner it seems more logical to ask the rest of the world, Why don't you run? That makes much more sense...those answers may seem superficial except for the very few legitimate ones...and my mind is blank...I started to say unless you don't have legs, but then I've seen too many successful runners who run with a prosthetic limb....Now they might be very well qualified to ask the rest of the world what their obstacle is to running! It's kind of amazing to see stories like that though, isn't it? Or to hear such inspirational stories. You've probably all seen the video now of the father who pushes his son in a wheelchair in his races. Those are the types of stories that give us that extra kick in the butt to get moving down the road in the morning, aren't they? And although I did begin running out of desperation du...

I know, I know! I could probably come up with another reason why I run everyday for at least a month before I'd think of another month's worth! But this week, I found another "why I run" spot in my life.  First of all, last week was crazy for a lot of reasons. But one of them was on Tuesday night when a hail storm smashed in my little garden. I know, it's really not that big of a deal to most people, but it was to me okay! In the scheme of things it really is minor. But when you are already living on emotional overload even the smallest things can catapult you into depression. And that's exactly what happened on Wednesday morning when I decided to trade my run in for a quick yard and garden clean up.  While a few of my plants survived (mostly the non-edible ones!), most were beat to a pulp by the hail. They were just blooming too. I had been so excited about finally seeing blooms and very small fruit start to appear. And now they are mangled and leafless. ...

On any given day there are tons of things that can be used for an excuse to not run. These excuses can range from very mild to real excuses, like my leg just fell off! And there are legitimate times when runners really do need to take a day, or even a week, off. When there is a serious injury or a family emergency it just isn't always using good judgment to try to get that run in. And of course, if it is actually thundering and lightening it is unsafe to take a run! Actually, so far lightning is the only reason I have seen a race postponed! So this morning after the bulk of the storm passed I headed out in the rain for a good solid run. I figured rain really could be a legit excuse; but as I found out at the half marathon - you never know what you might get on race day so it could be a great training exercise. And boy was it! First, I had trouble with my glasses during the half marathon as the rain kept getting on them and I couldn't see well. So today presented a perfect...