as i slog Sun 3/26/06

as i slog along...nursing injuries and making new ones... my dear friends Christie and Hope are running their last long run today (20 *wow* miles) before the taper begins.

nice.

i'm so excited for them! they are running Boston! I know i've mentioned that sometime in here before but it's worthy of notation once again. Boston is the Sunday after Easter. (He is Risen!)

so, that is so cool. i just can't believe they are running 20 miles today. it's really no biggie for them. they are VERY FAST runners and i can't IMAGINE...in my WILDEST...keeping up w/ them for TWENTY. no worries. won't be called upon to do THAT in MY lifetime! so, it's just a needless foray into an unneeded sentence! =) i'm all about verbosity for the sake of itself.

my ankle feels okay today. i'd like to go out for a 2 miler. perhaps i could meet C&H (pure cane sugar...from Hawaii) in their last 2 miles! HA! now THAT'S a good idea! get 'em while they're good and BUSHED! then i could (maybe) keep up! hmmmmmmm. i'll just have to see about arranging that one!

i'll let you know!

ouch Sat 3/25/06

thought i'd better go ahead and blog...
did i mention my perfectionism?
since i hadn't blogged in so long, i felt i needed to go back and note ALL my little jaunts into the fields in the MONTH (give or take) that i hadn't blogged. and that just kept me from it all the more since WHO HAS THE TIME FOR THAT? so i just kept putting it off. yesterday's blog entry was me, throwing my perfectionism to the wind, and just jumping in where i was! (sound like flylady?)

so, again, today...off to the desert fields behind our neighborhood.

passed paintballing young'uns today. boy they thought i looked weird. just stared!

Blazer ousted 2 jackrabbits and a pair of ducks that just did NOT know where to land after he found them out! They KEPT circling and quacking above us for the longest time. i kept telling them, "you'd better go find somewhere else, cuz he'll just GET YOU AGAIN the minute you land back here!" i fear they left babes behind and that's why hey wouldn't venture further. i got us outta there as soon as i could (in the hard-to-get-traction sand).

man! i can't believe how much land there is out there. you'd never know it. so far, UNDEVELOPED. i wonder how much longer before the subdivisions protrude and push till they cover that area. it's truly like the wild west in there. like the desert old movies you've seen. like Little House on the Prairie. except when you run into someone w/ great traction, trying to 4-wheel themselves up onto a hill. i swear, today i thought i was going to witness a horrific accident. this jeep (not like a cool 4 wheel jeep...like a family, big, long jeep...like didn't chevy chase have a family jeep in one of the national lampoon movies??) was VERTICAL! he went back down and took one last shot. i had my hand on my phone, ready to call 911. i thought for SURE he was going over backwards! but he made it. my 2nd thought was he was gonna high-center himself....would i help???? well, apart from being scared of being out in the DESERT w/ my dog blazer who i THINK would save me, but i haven't had him all that long; what could i do, really? i guess, if that HAD happened, we could have rocked it backwards...but then it would have, FOR SURE, gone over backwards! well! all this worry for nothing. didn't happen.

just noting it.

what else...

OH YEAH. that part where i STEPPED ON A HUGE ROCK (how'd i miss seeing that?) and TURNED MY ANKLE!!!! oh, me oh my. SEARING (sere? sear?) PAIN! I almost went DOWN on this one! but after a moment of no breathing, the pain subsided and i rotated around and around and was able to move on...no problem! it's a little swollen tonite and feels like it needs to pop ( i know: not a good sign ) but relatively okay. i'm gonna ice and go to bed. we'll see tomorrow. but all in all, i've been BLESSED w/ real strong ankles. (*you might remember this same thing happened last month when my bro was here. healed up right away.) pls, God. I need NO MORE INJURIES.

i won't quit going back there, tho. even when i can't run or when i have to take lots of breaks, it's way more fun than beating the norm paths! fun for blazer to run. fun to see nature. fun to be OFF the beaten path. and it's a good hike for when i can't run. harder work ... in the sand. and very hilly.

so, ROCKS begone! you haven't GOTTEN me yet!

so: one hour total. 3 covered. ran probably 30 minutes total.

and brad's still in new orleans. miss him.
God Bless!

oh boy! Friday 3-24-06

i guess i could go get my handy garmin
and relay here all the miles i've been slogging...
but the # would be so miniscule it'd hardly be worth it.
slowly but surely (and not for the past FIVE days)
i've been slogging on "the trails" sort of behind my house....the desert.

the news? we got a dog. rescued a golden lab/BEAGLE!
can you believe that mix?
the telltale beagle signs are his markings (white feet, blackish face)
and his BAYING.
yep, he TREES THE CATS and then bays! nice.
musically, i mean.

but anyhoo, he's a great running pardner.
he might not be right beside me (i don't have to keep up)
but i know he's out there somewhere...so i feel safe and not alone.
i just go during the day
but sometimes those lonely trails are so....lonely.

he chases jackrabbits (you should see that!)
and birds and i don't want to know what else.
those are the things i've SEEN, running away
@ high rates of speed.

he also waters every single sagebrush for a 5 mile radius.
i know he's OUT OF WATER by the time he lifts his leg on like bush #10
but he continues to stop and lift after that anyway.

i think he saves up all day long!
no WONDER he's always so excited to "go bye bye!" =)

oh yeah, ya wanna know HOW i know he's out of water?
cuz, out there in the desert, drops of liquid can be SEEN
as they hit the ground and turn to mud.
if he lifts close to the path, i can count the mud spots.
i've counted as few as one...then, the well runs dry.

funny, tho, he continues to lift.
does he know he's not accomplishing anything?

i think not. and he's so deliriously happy,
it wouldn't matter anyway.
i'm sure he believes that whole area back there is his territory.
i'm sure it smells like it by now.
i'm really glad I can't smell it!

but about the jogging.
i've been going about 2-3 miles a couple of times a week.
it's much harder than my normal
(once upon a time) street or paved path routes.
very hilly and bushy and rocky at times.
but i'm sure it's much easier on my joints.
and it's so much fun.

but didjya know my dear hubby is down in New Orleans?
so, this week will be a little harder to get away
w/o him to stay w/ the kiddos.

yep, he is on a team from the area churches here who will be,
starting tomorrow, "mucking out" some houses
for some hurricane victims.
very cool. but we sho' do miss him!

so hey y'all. and i hope to be BACK ON THE ROAD AGAIN soon.
building up mileage.
but not too fast and furious.
slow and steady wins the race?
i don't care about no race...winning that is.
i want to run in them. period.

love and God bless to all.