Alarm, Coffee, Run, Repeat

Sounds pretty crazy and my Dad thinks I am a loon every time he sees me running anywhere; but he especially thinks I am a complete nut job when he sees me running home from dropping of my truck at the shop. I had to do this today because the next several weekdays are packed with work, fun, packing for a trip and our wedding anniversary. As well, I do not know yet if there are hidden things to deal with on the truck that will be in addition to the lengthy list I gave the mechanic. And so, after taking my Mom to get some blood drawn at the lab, I came back home, dropped her and the weasels off at her house and drove about 4.5 miles back into town to Lakeside Muffler and Welding , where I left my truck in very capable hands. I had planned to run home because I am training for a 1/2 marathon and need the hill work and it was a short distance and I needed the exercise and so on and so on. I left the shop at a solid training pace, got to the Lakeside River Walk and did some trail running ...

I love running near lakes! At home, I try to get out to Santee Lakes or Lindo Lake , Lake Jennings or Lake Miramar , and if I want to take a drive, Lake Cuyamaca on the inner island is a great run! Farther from home there is Lake Alma in Hamden, Ohio and on Vancouver Island, BC, I found two more lakes around which running is both a challenge and adventure: Thetis Lake and Elk Lake . With all of the links in this paragraph, an interested reader can transport themselves from their office chair or couch at home to some pretty spectacular places but if you actually get a chance to run around any of these lakes or a lake near you, you will know exactly why they create a peaceful venue for your next run. Peaceful? Aren’t most lakes inundated with people in the summer? Lots of kids running around, yelling and laughing? Yes, to both, and for some strange reason, at least for this runner, they become the preoccupations that make the run both fun and interesting. It’s a nice contrast to ru...

Running hills is great for so many reasons. I don’t enjoy them but I do enjoy the workout and the pure feeling of accomplishment when I reach the top. My love/ hate relationship with hills leaned a bit more toward love when I visited my cousin in Massachusetts several years ago. We ran through Westfield, parts of Springfield, Martha’s Vineyard on Nantucket Island and then all over Hamden, Ohio when we took a road trip to help our grandmother on her farm. All of the scenery and new locations were motivating enough but my cousin, Larry, had the greatest description ever for hills. A little mental game always helps motivate me! “Don’t think of them as hills, think of them as inverted down hills, get up on your toes and move along. Breathe normally, relax and try to maintain an even cadence (that’s foot strikes per minute).” I thought he was insane! But it worked, and hills and I have become more and more friendly ever since. This is a good thing, given the two half marathons I have in ...

The best and worst thing about hard workouts is the ability to run farther and more freely then before. Running farther and with more freedom is the best because the feeling is unlike anything else; you breathe and relax, your feet move lightly over the ground, you can enjoy the scenery or your music without panting so hard you feel like you are going to throw up, or pass out, and you can get in a great run and feel refreshed at the end instead of wanting to take a nap. On the other hand, and this really only applies if you have responsibilities waiting for you at the end of your run, this new found ability to run farther and with more freedom is the worst because you can’t run forever regardless of how great you feel. Those little people, or other commitment waiting for you, isn’t going to go away…no matter how far you run. Do you start running sooner so that you can have more time? Do you shorten your runs but do more of them in one day to get your miles in if training for something...

fracas n. A noisy, disorderly fight or quarrel; a brawl. See synonyms at brawl . If you have more than one child roaming the halls of your home…and you have the joy of experiencing their summer break with them…you fully understand what a fracas is! I have attempted to instill a, “play hard, be nice,” philosophy with both of our kids since the older was big enough to wield some level of pain over the younger. Yet, I remember from my own childhood with a younger brother that certain times necessitate a full-on, out of control, no holds barred, fracas! Some sibling discontent cannot be solved any other way. Is it a bit too contrived on my part that I create the battleground, complete with pillows, blankets, stuffed animals and a starting bell? I think not! By the end of said, “brawl,” that they find totally insane on my part, they are usually laughing hysterically and the reason they were fighting in the first place is totally forgotten. I love these moments! They and I, laughing so ha...