Checking in...

Arrived Monday evening in Toledo, where my mom lives. Tuesday morning, Husband & I went for a short run through the neighborhood. The temps were fairly cool and the oxygen was rich (thx to a much lower altitude) but the humidity was killer. No Garmin, just a sport watch, so I have to estimate distance. I'd say that I ran maybe 2.25 miles.

Wednesday, we took off for Cedar Point. The weather was perfect - not too hot, not too cool, not too sunny, just a few spinkles. Husband & Kids rode nearly every roller coaster in the park. Some of those new ones are insane! Unfortunately I was not feeling well all day, and ended up mostly walking from ride to ride, waiting, and hoping to feel better for the next one. Disappointing for me, but at least the rest of the family had fun.

My scale says that I lost a pound and a half in my first week of getting serious about watching what I eat. Yay me! I'm continuing focus on portion control while on vacation; trying very hard not to gain that back. I think I'm doing a reasonable job so far.

My apologies for sporadic posting and commenting. Internet connection opportunities are hit and miss while we're on the road...

Spalsh & Dash #3 Report

or "All Kinds o' Sucky"

PRE-RACE
Alarm went off and I popped out of bed after only hitting the snooze button once.

Made my way to the kitchen to make coffee. Then went to the bedroom to get dressed. Came back to the kitchen and there was coffee everywhere. I don't know why, but about once out of every 10 times that I make coffee, I do something wrong and we end up with a coffee mess everywhere.

To have it happen on this particular morning wasn't so good. I found myself cleaning up the coffee mess when I should have been drinking coffee and eating breakfast. I managed to get everything cleaned up well enough the the rest of the family could make coffee when they woke up. But I was now running out of time. There would be no coffee for me and my breakfast was reduced to whatever I could find to grab and go. Which turned out to be a strawberry milk chug and a small POM Wonderful.

I also wasn't able to rewrap my finger. Somewhere in the midst of the coffee disaster, I misplaced the tape. Couldn't find it anywhere. Time was ticking, and I needed to go.

This time the event was at a location a bit farther from my house. The drive over stressed me out a bit, but I made it on time. Got body marked, signed a waiver, and then went back to my car to rummage through my first aid kit in search of tape.

Found some white tape that seemed like it would work. Taped my finger to the one next to it. Went over to the pool and tested it out. I found that it didn't hurt too much if I bent my two fingers in toward the palm of my hand. My swim was definately going to be compromised, the entry and pull on the left was messed up, but I could do it.

Got lined up and waited my turn to start...

The SWIM (400M)
The swim was up and back in each lane, then under the rope to the next lane, and so on until the 400M swim was complete. The were starting us 30secs apart. I had estimated my swim at 8:15, a pace of 2:04/100 based on my last month's splash & dash result.

I turned to the person behind me and apologized in advance. I expected to be swimming slower than my estimated time. She said "no worries" the lanes were wide enough, she'd just pass if she needed to.

My watch says that I finished in 9:20, a pace of 2:19/100. Definately slower than my estimate, but not as bad as I expected with the compromised left hand. And while the lady behind me made ground on me, she never got close enough to pass (in the water).

TRANSITION
There isn't too much to set up in transition for a splash & dash. I set up my shoes, socks, hat, and small handheld full of Nuun.

All I had to do was throw down my goggle and cap, put on the shoes, grab the hat and bottle and go. Somehow this took me 1:01.

The RUN (5K)

The run course consisted of going up and over a highway on a pedestrian bridge, then running along side the highway on a bike path. Possibly one of the least scenic courses ever. The first part was on a gradual incline, then after the turn around, it was a gradual decline.

I knew I was in trouble about 100 yds into my run. The combination of lack of coffee and decent breakfast, extra energy spent in the pool trying to make up for issues with my left hand, and the sloshing in my stomach of strawberry milk and pomagrante juice was not doing good things for my body. My stomach was upset and I seriously contemplated if puking might make me feel better.

Struggling the whole time, I was passed on the run by many participants who started well after me in the swim. Run time ended up being 33:45, an 11:12 pace. For a 5K?!?! Ugggh. I think that's the slowest 5K I've run in 3 yrs, possibly ever. The only exception was the 5K at the end of the Patriot Tri last year which I mostly walked due to my knee, so that doesn't count.

My total combined time ended up being 44:06. While I wasn't the last to cross the finish line because of the seeded swim start, I think there is a good chance that I had the slowest combined time and will be listed in the results as the final finisher.

What can I say? It definately wasn't my day. I expected a slower swim, but never anticipated having such trouble on the run. Sometimes it just isn't meant to be.

But that isn't a good reason to give up, right? I thanked the race director on my way out and told him that I planned to be back for the next one...

[Edited several hours later to thank you all for your comments so far! I still can't believe just how sucky this was, but I like to think it was more a situation gone awry than a reflection of my ability. The next one will surely be better!]

First Impression of New Shoes

Earlier this week, my new shoes (courtesy of the onlineshoes.com giveaway on Wes's blog) arrived at my doorstep. I decided to debut them during my Thursday morning long run.

Before I get too far into this, let me back up a bit. I'm a neutral runner that runs on mixed conditions (trail, track, pavement). I typically run 3 days a week, shortish runs, but plan to ramp it up to 4 days and a little more mileage as I prep for a HM in October. Because of the shape of my feet, I prefer shoes with a wider toe box - narrow ones cause blisters on my big toe. For the past year, I've been running happily in Nike Zoom Vomero +3.

I originally thought that I'd use the gift certificate toward some trail shoes, but they didn't have the shoes that I wanted to try in stock in my size. So I decided to go ahead and look for a possible alternative to my Nike's. I decided on the Saucony Progrid Triumph 5. Here is what they look like:


My first impressions are generally favorable. I'm really only able to compare them to my Nikes, so that is what I'll do.

They seem to weigh about the same as my Nikes. They offer shock absorption, but in a more supportive way. That makes these a bit more suitable for the trail, in my opinion. Toe box isn't as wide as the Nikes, but it seems to be wide enough. At least I didn't notice any rubbing on my big toe the first time out. They have decent traction. One gripe I have with the Saucony shoes is the laces. They are really thin/flimsy and will need to be replaced.

For now, I think I will continue to run in these new shoes on my trail runs, and use my Nike's for pavement and such.

Thanks Wes and OnlineShoes.com!!

Long Run Thursday Morning

Plan:
Get up at 5am. Be out the door by 6am. Stick with Run/Walk. Stay hydrated. Try to have fun. Test out new shoes. Run 7 miles. Don’t Bonk. Don’t be (too) late for work

Actual:
Alarm went off at 5am. Holy smokes, how do people get up this early?! Made friends with snooze button. Twice. Up at 5:18. Yawn. Thought about going back to bed. Looked for new shoes. Ate a small breakfast. Found the shoes. Got ready. Slowly. Finally out the door twenty minutes behind schedule. Ran until my first scheduled walk break. Okay, it’s not so bad. Took a swig from handheld at each walk break. Smiled and said good morning to everyone encountered. Wondered why some didn’t reciprocate. Decide they must not be morning people. Smiled. Tried to be cognoscente of my new shoes. Enjoyed the cool morning temps. Felt good. Finished the distance as planned. Wow that took a long time. Crud, time to leave for work NOW. Shouldn’t have dawdled so much. Stupid snooze button. Quick shower. Off to work. In time for first meeting. Whew.

One Thing and Long Run Plan

Looked into weight watchers point system and it seems too complicated to me. But in the process, I did some research on nutritional content of some of the foods that I eat and it is clear that I eat wayyyy too much at lunch when I'm at work. Not good when I have two other meals in the day plus two snacks. Similarly, some of my snacks are too big.

For the past several days I've tried to make one conscious change and focus mainly on portion size. That's it. One thing each day. That's how habits are formed right? Here's how it played out:

* Got a smoothie Sunday afternoon for a snack. Had them add a protein scoop. Drank half and froze the other half for another day.
* Had the other half on Monday.
* Chose a garden burger over a regular burger Tuessday for lunch. Ate about 2/3 of it. Tossed the rest.
* Ate 2/3 of my roast beef and provolone sub for lunch. Also ate only about 6 of the chips that came with it.

In running news, I've decided to target tomorrow morning for my long run (7miles) rather than Saturday with the hope that I am able to do the Splash&Dash on Sunday. That leaves Friday and/or Sat to test out swimming with taped finger and will put me in a better place energy-wise on Sunday. While this all sounds good on paper, I doubt it will seem like such a good idea when my alarm goes off at stupid o'clock in the morning to make it happen.

And! My new shoes arrived. I'm not sure if running 7 miles in them straight away is a good idea, but I'm seriously considering it...

This, That, & the Other

First off, thanks tyou for all the great comments and suggestions on my last post. You gave me a lot to think about! One of the first things that I will do is take a more scrupulous look at my snacks - make sure they aren't too many calories and included a reasonable amount of protein. Next is learning to say no to second helpings. And tryng to be more reasonable about the size of the first helpings. And of course keeping up with the exercise.

Today I went out for a 4 mile run/walk this morning. S-l-o-w as molasses, but got it done. It is beyond me how I managed to eek out a 9:38 pace a week and a half ago at a 5K when a 12min pace about did me in this morning.

Not sure how I'm going to work out my training for the next few weeks. We have vacation travel plans starting Monday. next week. Have the flights and car worked out, but need to work out hotels and such. Nothing like waiting til the last moment!

Which may end up not being such a bad thing. Plans just might be changing. Dad is in the hospital again, this time worse than when I went to see him in May. Things aren't looking good, but who knows...

On a different subject, I've decided that I need some sort of cargo partition/pet barrier to keep Bandit confined to the back-back of the car when he comes with me on short car trips. 75lbs of dog that occasionally decides he wants to jump in the front seat just isn't safe. I think I found what I want to order, but will wait until closer to when we leave so that it arrives closer to when we get back.

Oh, and Son's Senior photo proofs came in the mail the other day. A few of them really captured his personality. I just can't believe he's a senior already! It really struck me how much he's grown up when he was taking me to urgent care a few weeks ago.

Which brings me to the stupid finger. Couldn't take the wrapping any longer. My hand was cramping. So I took it off. A week and a half early. Yes, I know that I need to remember that broken finger is still not healed even though the wrap is off. Shouldn't be too hard to remember, since it still hurts!

Not sure if/how I'm going to pull off the Splash & Dash on Sunday. This stupid broken finger seems like it will interfere with any attempt at swimming. Later this week I will see if re-wrapping my hand gives it enough support to swim. If not, guess I'll be a no show again. Sigh.

Running Shorts

I really need to post a photo of the orange Nike Pacer shorts that I picked up at Marhsalls a few weeks ago. I *heart* these shorts...sooooo comfortable. Today I wore them on my 6 mile run/walk with Hubby.

And as of this afternoon, I have a 2nd pair in a lavender-ish color.

It gets better. I just discovered that in addition to a little pocket for my key, they have a 2nd pocket in back. Presumably for an ipod. Didn't even know it was there until I took them out of the dryer inside out the other day. So it's like a bonus pocket. Woot!

I'm also enjoying my two pairs of Nike-some-other-model-that-I-haven't-figured-out shorts. Not as much as the Pacer shorts though. Those are far and away my favorite.

What I'm *not* loving this season are my Running Skirts. Last year I was all about the Running Skirt and didn't really have any running shorts.

So what changed? Well, it's not the Running Skirts' fault.

I've got this issue with an ever expending midsection. And thighs. And butt. Basically the entire section of my body that the Running Skirt is supposed to fit has gotten bigger. And trying to shove a bigger body into a Running Skirt that is now too small and then run?! That's a recipe for all kinds of trouble. Trust me on this.

I started out trying to lose 5 lbs. That was such a resounding success that I found myself upping the number to 10 lbs. Now it's more like 12-15. I basically suck at losing weight. I'm good at finding it though.

In the simplest sense, it's a matter of Calories In vs Calories Out and I'm fairly certain that my issue is on the Calories In side of the equation.

I've been doing the whole Eat-Less-More-Often thing. To a certain extent, that helps keep me from totally pigging out at dinner. But it's not sufficient to get my weight to move in the correct direction. Probably because my version is more like Eat-Less-a-Whole-Lot-More-Often.

I've also tried writing down everything I eat. It hasn't helped me decrease my food consumption. It just makes me feel bad when it comes time to write it all down. So now I probably need psychological help too.

Just kidding.

Sort of.

Here's my serious question to you all. Who out there that likes to eat has been successful at losing weight? How did you do it? What specifically have you done that helped you eat less? No logging tools or tricks are going to work for me if I'm still hungry. I need to figure out how to kill my appetite and do better with portion control more than anything else.

Small Handheld Bottles

I frequently find myself wanting to carry hydration on shorter runs at times when a fuel belt seems like overkill. Especially in the heat of the summer. So, I decided to search for a small handheld bottles to see if I could find one that might be an effective solution for this situation. I wanted it to be small. For reference, my fuel belt holds four 8-10 oz bottles, I figure that anytime I need 16oz or more (2 small bottles), the fuel belt is a good idea.

Went shopping at my local REI and found two solutions that seemed like they would work. Couldn't make up my mind between the two of them, so I bought them both!

The first one that I found was the Nathan Sprint Handheld. This is a 10oz flask. A few nice features include the reflective material, easy to use velcro adjustments, and a nifty race cap with a one way automatic closing valve.

The second one that I found was the Amphipod Hydraform Handheld Lite. This one is a bit larger at 12oz and has a pocket built into the strap.

I have used each of them a few times and found them both to be quite effective. They are small enough not to interfere much with arm motion. They are easy to hold onto. I almost don't notice that they are there. And they do just what I wanted - provide hydration on those shorter runs when a fuel belt seems like too much. Definately money well spent. How on earth did I manage before?!?

A few of you have inquired as to which I like better. I'm honestly not really sure. I like them both for different reasons. I prefer the cap on the Nathan model. I also feel that the reflective detail is a nice feature. However, the Amphipod seems to fit my hand better, holds a bit more liquid, and has a pocket that may come in handy sometime.

If you're in the market, you probably won't go wrong with either one!

Five Happy Things

1) My schedule calls for rest or cross training today. I'd be all over cross training if it weren't for the pesky fractured finger. So I've opted for a rest day. Slept in a little bit, got some extra coffee, no rushing. Ahhhhhh. Mid-week rest is niiiiice. Who knew?!?

2) Remember my post about Nuun? Well, apparently the Nuun folks found out about it and decided to send me some unsolicited thank-you Nuun, which I received yesterday. How cool is that?!?!

3) I was the lucky recipient of a $75 onlineshoes.com gift certificate courtesy of a giveaway on Wes's blog. I can't even begin to tell you how excited I am about that. Anyway, I picked out shoes and put the order in this morning. Woot! I'll be sharing a review after they arrive and I get a chance to try them out.

4) Checked out the official results from the race on Sunday. I was 4 of 14 in my age group and 60 of 134 overall. I''m rather pleased with the thought of being solidly middle of the pack. I've come a long way, baby!

5) I've run twice with my Nathan Handheld and once with my Amphipod Handheld. I promise to post about my experiences with them in detail after running a few more times, but I'll tell you right now that I'm liking them both.

"Jumping for joy is good exercise." ~Author Unknown

Paces and such

I apologize in advance for all the numbers. I know it's boring, but it's what's on my mind as I try to work out my training for the week.

This morning I did a one hour easy/long run on the ditch bank. It was lovely. The plan was 5 x 10:2 min walk:jog. I ended up going 5.04 miles for an overall avg of almost exactly 12 min/mi (11:55 to be exact). That's within McMillan's calcualtions for my target easy/long pace, but I think the actual running pace was about 11:15 min/mi when I wasn't walking. Not sure if that's too fast or not. In any event, I think a run/walk is a good strategy as I try to ramp up distance toward a half-marathon while protecting the knee. Yes, I realize 5 miles isn't all that far, but I've missed enough long runs that I'm starting over. No worries though, I have plenty of time.

Tomorrow's schedule calls for w/up, 2x10mins steady with 4min recovery between, then c/d. McMillan says my steady pace should be 10:38-10:52, so I'll target 10:45 and hope for the best! Normally, I would meet Tuesday evening with the group for this run, but I think it's best if I go solo and run in the morning. So that's what I intend to do.

I think Thursday is a tempo run. My tempo pace is currently somewhere around 10min/mi, and Coach wants me to start running this progressively faster week on week as the month progresses. Eek!

Women's Distance Festival 5K Race Report

As the name implies, this is a women-only race. I found myself amidst a sea of pink "Women in Training" shirts from a local running group. It made me smile to see so many women in all shapes, sizes, and ages out there running.

Despite my grumbling about the 7am start time the night before, it turned out to be a good thing. It was a comfortable 66 deg when the race started and quickly began warming up to the high near 95deg as the morning went on. Early running is good thing this time of year.

I don't have too much to say about the race itself except that I went out too fast and faded at the end. Garmin says my finish time was 29:54. While that's not anywhere close to my personal best 5K time, and is also slower than my time last year at the same race, it *is* the fastest 5K I've run in 2009 and works out to a 9:38 min/mi pace. I'm counting it as a PB for 2009.

I didn't have to dig too deep to find a way to enjoy the experience. At the finish line, they gave each woman a flower, a little bag of chocolates, and an orange flavored drink. They also had a table set up with muffins and stuff. What's not love about that?!?!

Enjoy the remainder of your weekend, folks!

PS. I bought two handheld bottles this weekend and will share my experiences in a separate post after having a chance to try them both out. This morning I carried the Nathan Sprint Handheld which is just the right size for half a tablet of Nuun. Tomorrow I'll run with the Amphipod Hydraform Handheld Lite Pocket. Stay tuned!

A Dog's Perspective

A few weeks ago, I took Bandit with me to drop off the recycling. It was a short trip, but to him it was paradise. He was *so* happy to go for a car ride, *so* happy to get out of the car and walk back and forth between the recycle bins and the car as I sorted and dropped things off, *so* happy to jump back in the car to go home, etc. He enjoyed everything about it.

After a few days of wallowing in self-pity, I've realized (once again) that I need to start living more like my dog. He has truly mastered the art of enjoying every moment of every day. Taking simple pleasure in a long walk or a car ride or the fresh wind blowing on his face.

Thanks, buddy. I'll try harder to follow your example.

"Don’t let your life pass you by, focus on the present and enjoy today!" - Glen Hopkins

finger update

Okay. I'm a lot less freaked out about my finger, but remain equally frustrated.

After seeing me yesterday, the hand doc doesn't think it's anything to be concerned with. She removed the splint and simply 'taped' the finger to it's neighbor for support. She wants me to practice making a fist many many times a day. And be careful not to bump it.

I'm doing the best that I can, but it's harder than it sounds. The finger is still tender, badly bruised, and swollen. Really swollen. It's currently the fattest finger on my left hand, with the exception of my thumb. And it just doesn't want to bend down very far. Not to mention that it hurts.

Here is my attempt at a drawing of what I saw on the x-ray:When I was talking to the hand doc, she asked if I've ever injured that finger before.

Why Yes, I have. Three times. Once as a very young child, playing dolls, a cradle rocked over my finger. Once in grade school playing softball. Once as a teen playing volleyball. Fractures each time.

Unlucky finger or clutzy me?

Knowing that, she said she wasn't 100% sure that this little fractured piece is a new injury. It might be. Or it might just be leftover from a past injury.

The main thing is that she wants me to keep it moving. Take ibuprofen to control swelling. Be careful with it so it can heal.

I think I can do that.

Of course I wanted to run this morning, but Husband intercepted with some other ideas.

Something about taking care of myself, that doesn't seem like such a good idea, what am I in a hurry for, just take a few days and do what the doctor says and be careful, and go ahead and make a fist and shake it at him. Whatever.

I still plan to run the 5K on Sunday, though.

Tough Break - literally

Yesterday I had a terrible awful no good very bad experience with my run group. (To the point that I think I might need to break up with them) But that's not what I'm here to blog about.

Instead, I wish to share what will soon be my excuse for at least a few weeks for not going to the gym, cycling, or swimming.

This morning I somehow managed to smash (the doc used the word crushed, but that truly makes it sound worse than it is) the little finger on my left hand (of course, becuase I'm left handed and people usually injre their dominant hand) with about 85lbs of weight at the gym.

It occurred so fast that I can't exactly recall the exact details of what exactly happened. One minute things were fine, the next minute I heard a crash, and realized that my finger was purple, swollen, and bleeding.

Immediately went home put ice on it. (I hardly ever cry, but I started sobbing on the way home from the gym because I was in so much pain) Then had my son take me to urgent care.

Xrays confirmed broken bone. No stitches required, luckily. They splinted it, wrapped it up, made an appt with the hand specialist for Friday afternoon, gave me a shot of pain meds and a script for more, and sent me on my way. (All wrapped up, it doesn't look so bad. But trust me, the finger itself is rather grotesque right now.) Bummer, eh?

I wasn't home more than an hour and the hand clinic called. They want to see me tomorrow morning instead of friday afternoon. Apparently they are concerned about nerve/tendon damage bcause while my finger will bend, I am unable to bend it (I can straighten it though, and that uses differnt tendons, muscles, whatever). Guess my piano career is over (that's a lame attempt at a joke. I'm not a pianist!)

I'm not sure what to make of this right now. (perhaps that's cuz i'm jacked up on pain meds at the moment) but if this messes up my ability to do the splash&dash at the end of the month i'm going to be ticked.

Nuun

[No, Nuun didn't send me samples to test out and review. I just felt like sharing recent personal experience.]

I've been using Nuun on and off for a year or so, but started using it more regularly since the tight quad incident a few weeks ago. I'm using it at times that I previously would have just had water, not when I would have used Accelerade. For example, still taking Accelerade with me on longish bike rides, but adding a Nuun tablet to my water bottle when I go to the track.

Each Nuun tablet contains four essential electrolytes (sodium, potassium, magnesium, and calcium). Drop one into your water bottle and they fizz up a bit. Two minutes later, you have a slightly flavored, sugar free, electrolyte drink.

My observations. I've had zero muscle cramping issues since using it more regularly. And I'm feeling less "thirsty" which I assume is because it's working well to hydrate me.

Nutrition/hydration seems to be very personal. What works well for me might not work well for you. Having said that, this is one product that I'm keeping in my bag of tricks.

Santa Fe Wine Festival

This afternoon, Husband & I drove up to Rancho de las Golondrinas for the annual Santa Fe Wine Festival. This is my favorite of the local wine festivals, because of the scenic location. This one is held on the grounds of a historic living history museum.

Admission price includes the annual wine festival glass. I like the one they gave us for this year.


It was a nice afternoon, not too hot, with several tents set up for sampling wine & local foodstuff. There were a few artisans present as well. We shared Carnitas for lunch - yummy!

Came home with two bottles of wine. The first is Milagro vineyards "Corrales Red" which is a dry red table wine. The second is Gruet Syrah. Gruet is known locally for their Champagne. I was pleasently surprised to discover that they also made a few red wines, and the Syrah was quite good.


It probably goes unsaid that I will not be running this afternoon.

Which would be okay but I also didn't run yesterday. Or the day before. And for that matter, I've consistently missed my long run for the past 4 weekends. I'm pretty much back at square one - 5K distance.

Yeah, not so good.

BUT...weather permitting, I will run tomorrow morning before work. At least 4 miles. Because, I've decided to start ramping up my mileage over the next month to test my knee to see if Duke City Half Marathon might be in the cards for me this year.

Hope everyone enjoyed their weekend!

[Edited to add - I did indeed get in a 4 mile run this morning before work. Took it at a leisurely 12 min/mi pace. Followed by some yogurt and fresh berries. Not a bad way to start off the week if I do say so myself!]

Making Plans

FYI - I've made a few small but meaningful changes to my blog header to shift focus a bit, otherwise decided to maintain my blog identity and keep it as is.

Yesterday Husband & I finalized dates for an upcoming trip. We're flying to northwest OH to visit my mom, then driving east to Cedar Point, then to Niagra Falls, then up and over to Toronto, and back around to OH before flying back home to NM. If anyone has any ideas of fun things to do along that route, please drop me a line!

In the process of firming up the dates, I realized that we were going to be out of town for the Socorro Sprint Tri. D'oh! Sent an email to the race director asking if I could have a refund or have my registration forwarded out a year. Seems I only manage to do that race in even calendar years. Oh well.

I was able to confirm, however, that I will be in town for Splash & Dash #3, and officially signed up for that. In addition, I signed up for the Women's 5K next weekend. Woot!

Whatever your plans, I hope you enjoy your weekend.


"If our country is worth dying for in time of war let us resolve that it is truly worth living for in time of peace." ~Hamilton Fish

Change of Focus?

Received the Splash & Dash results in my email. A few observations.
- My swim was solidly middle of the pack. Woot!
- My run and overall finish was back of the pack. Third from last, to be exact.
- Most of the participants were under 30.
- Only one person older than me showed up.
- I believe that it would be understandable if this makes me feel old and slow.
- But it doesn't.
- I feel alive and happy!

I've been thinking that it might be time to modify the theme of my blog. I find myself relating more to the words of Jon Blais than to the story of the Tortoise and the Hare. That's not to say that I don't relate to the tortoise at all, but I'm finding that my focus is less about getting to the finish line and more about enjoying the life that I've been given.

"Live more than your neighbors. Unleash yourself upon the world and go places. Go now. Giggle, no, laugh. No...stay out past dark and bark at the moon like the wild dog that you are. Understand that this is not a dress rehearsal. This is it. Your life. Face your fears and live your dreams. Take it all in. Yes, every chance you get. Come close. And by all means, whatever you do, get it on film." - Jon Blais

Hill repeats tonight, if we don't get rained out again. I can't wait!