A New Route

I was supposed to run with the Harey Tortuga group this morning, but had to miss it in order to complete my motorcycle safety class. (Yes, I recently purchased a Yamaha VStar 650!) At any rate, because my class started at 6:45 AM and lasted until nearly 4:00 PM, I was unable to meet with my running group. Goodness knows I wasn't about to run in the heat of the afternoon, so I set my goal Thursday night to get up and run 8.5 miles Friday morning before heading off to work. The problem? I didn't know an 8-mile route from my house.

My lovely husband jumped in his card and sleuthed his way around our winding neighborhood, until he had come up with a plan. At nearly 11:30 Thursday night, I wasn't looking forward to the 4:30 AM wake-up call.

If you've read my early running blogs, you will find that running is mostly mental. I struggle with my "running confidence" and Friday morning was no different. Thirty minutes prior to my alarm, I was awake and grumbling. However, I have found that once I put money on a race, I am more apt to train, so off I went, head lamp on lighting the way. At mile three I was feeling good. At mile six I could feel the finish line and by mile 8.5 I was hot, sweaty and happy. The route took me through rolling Citrus Heights, into Fair Oaks and down to the American River Bike Trail and back. I wouldn't want to run it on a busy afternoon (there would be too many cars on part of the route), but it was lovely in the early morning. Seeing the sun come up while on a run is amazing. It's like the world started its day just for me.

Turtles and Rabbits

Which are you? Does it matter? Not if you run with Harey Tortuga. This group of amazing people receive weekly coaching from the infamous Rich Hanna and Tony Milevsky. We are all ages, all sizes, and run/walk at all levels. We are the slow, but mighty. The fast, but modest. We sweat (for sure!), and chat, and laugh a little, too. This running group has a plan for everyone and everyone fits into the plan.

I'm so grateful to have such nice people to keep me accountable to my exercise routine. I jogged 7.35 miles on Saturday and simply couldn't believe it. If you haven't set a gameplan for your exercise routine, yet, consider joining Harey Tortuga. I promise you'll be welcome, and every time we meet, you'll likely feel like a champion.

Skydive Sacramento

Sometimes it's not all about the running. Sometimes, it's simply about the living. Recently a dear friend died quite quickly from cancer. One the last things she said to me was, "Well, I've done everything on my bucket list. I just wish I would have made a longer list." This profoundly changed my life.

Yesterday I crossed off one more item on my list: skydiving. It was two hours of torture while we waited and watched others land and then 20minutes of butterflies while we loaded our gear, hopped on the bus, boarded the plane and rose more than 10,000 feet in the air. I've been asked at least a dozen times, "What was it like?" The sensation is completely indescribable.

It's like the Earth is standing still and it looks bigger than it ever has before. It's the most sincere sense of peace I may have ever experienced. And, in many ways, I imagine it's what it would feel like if God Himself held you in the palm of His hand and let you see the world from His perspective.

My advice: do it. At least once. And if skydiving isn't for you, do something else on your list. Life is shorter than we'd like to pretend and truly experiencing it is one of the greatest gifts we have.
FYI: I bought my skydiving coupon on Living Social. Thanks Skydive Sacramento for a great ride!