Random and occasional thoughts on

Most runners I know use running to occasionally "clear their head".  You know, when the pressures of life build up and you feel like you can't get ahead, a good run will help to prioritize the important things and start making progress on them.  A few nights ago, I was at that point and ended up going for a run around midnight.  Nearly full moon and lots of streetlights made this a pretty safe thing to do for me, and while I was not able to fall asleep as soon as I got home, I was able to sort out my thoughts and feelings a lot better.  When I did fall asleep around 3, I slept so soundly that when I woke up at 6, I felt more rested than I usually do after 8 hours of sleep.  That run was more of a "release-valve" type of run.  It just let me vent some emotions on the pavement instead of on my family.  This morning was more of a "clear my head" kind of run.  I decided to use a regimented 3/1 run/walk ratio rather than the "run till you are ready ...

My 2 dogs like to play. The 8 year age difference and 60 pound advantage make no difference to the Young Pup (YP) and he will still try to to get the toy away from Old Dog (OD). Sometimes he even wins, or maybe OD just lets him win or gets tired. Maybe it is true what they say: It is not the size of the dog in the fight It is the size of the fight in the dog that matters most Remember that the next time you think you have bitten off more than you can chew.

While this is going out Wednesday, I am calling it Terrific Tuesday because of when I heard and found these items. Item #1. My mom called. Biopsy results are in. Not Cancer. GREAT NEWS!!! Item #2. A friend on Twitter sent a link to this video . That prompted me to dig a bit more to find out about this guy and found his site here . If anyone has a reason to be bitter, Nick would be it, but he is not. You will fall down, but you don't need to stay down. Keep trying and never give up! Now, your turn. Share something good that has happened to you recently. Or something that you read that made you feel good. Or tell me this stuff makes you sick (though if that is the case, I highly doubt you have even read this far). Hey, that is why the comments are there and I just made it easier than ever to post a comment. As long as I don't start getting a ton of spam, I will leave these looser settings, so if you want to post a motivational message about your discount pharmacy, pleas...

Frankie's blog entry from yesterday is powerful . There is nothing I can add except my own humble thanks to the men and women of our armed forced putting their lives on the line every day to protect my freedom. Lest the cynical among us (myself included) suspect this is just some political hot air trying to drum up pro-war sympathies, snopes has verified it and lists it as true. Check it out.

Before I ran my first HM, my coach told me about post-race depression that could make it hard to keep running. I didn't experience it then. I figured 9 months later after my first marathon I would encounter it. I didn't then either. Nor after my second, third or fourth marathons in the subsequent 14 months. Not even after a rough first Half-Ironman where the altitude slowed my run to a personal worst HM time of 3 hours. So I guess I was due. I had not missed more that a few days of running, biking or swimming for about 3 years. I had planned on taking it easy after my IM debut in April. I hadn't figured on taking it this easy for this long. I have not been on my bike since April and have been swimming only once or twice. I did get back to running 3 days a week a few times, but have not gone above about 6 miles at a time and it has been hit-or-miss lately. Getting motivated to run in the summer in the desert is hard, but I am trying to do it. My plan is to make p...