Ab Workout

I bought a Yamaha VStar 650. They don't make them anymore so I feel like I have a classic sitting in my driveway. Learning to ride wasn't difficult, since my heart has been with motorcycles since I first learned to kickstart an old 1970's Honda back in the early '80s. Riding on the freeway was new, though, and will continue to take some getting used to. My theory is that since I have to hold on with all the mighty strength in my small arms and tense my abdomen to keep from being pushed around by the prevailing winds, that really, riding my VStar on the freeway is an excellent ab workout. Not sure my running coach would agree, but I think it beats doing crunches any day!

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!

Emerging

So, what is it now? What's the drama? The heartache? The pressure? What am I "emerging" from? Nothing. I am emerging into something fierce. I am blossoming, growing, expanding the boundaries of how I identify myself and there is something magical about it. Exciting. Electric!

In five years, how will I have redefined myself? That is the question. Who do I want to be? Maybe you can help me answer that.

For now, let's start with a few new things. First, I'm a vegetarian. It took me eight months to stop craving meat, but it finally happened. Difficulty ensues when eating out. Why do most vegetarian sandwiches have tomatoes and cucumber? Perhaps I will open my own deli and delight the tastebuds of my community with a few new foodie tricks of my own.

Second, I've moved into a new community: Citrus Heights. Though I was sad to leave Orangevale, Citrus Heights has already afforded me new opportunities. They have neighborhood associations that I can join (have joined!), a community garden (I also joined), a City Council, Mayor and even an Arts and Historical Society. Who knew? Perhaps City Council is my next path. Then Mayor?

Third, the Task Force is closing. Well, at least operationally (we are still waiting to see what Senate Rules has to say). This means I have an opportunity to redefine my career as well. Will I go back to teaching? (Not likely in California these days with so many teachers being laid off.) Will I continue in wellness? Will I go public, or stay in the non-profit sector? Perhaps I will just take a little nap and decide later.

Fourth, I am running again...slowly. I have new goals for myself that include volunteering to assist at more races. I want to run in more 5ks and sprinkle in a half-marathon or two. Maybe someday I will run another full - we'll see how my hips and knees decide to hold up. As I edge closer to my 40th birthday in October, I want to push my limits and start the new era of my life with some fire under me!

Fifth, I discovered that I have amazing friends in the Sac area who came to my aid during all of the move and work chaos. I also discovered that I can make new friends, too. What a blessing to meet so many intelligent women through Emerge CA. They are truly going places and I hope to be joining them.

For now that's quite enough. But keep watching. Something amazing is about to happen. I can feel it!

Our "backyard" is in the Wall Street Journal

Trails in the Northern California foothills (our backyard and fond running grounds!) made the Wall Street Journal this month. Check out this article on over-training for an endurance race.

The featured coach in the article, Julie Fingar, is also a coach for my current running group, Sacfit. She organized the Sierra Nevada Endurance Run (12km) I ran last weekend in Granite Bay.

Running trails bright and early Saturday morning, as the sun peeks over Folsom Lake, is a beautiful, fresh way to start a weekend. I'm so grateful it's my backyard!

The 17 mile long run on my schedule this weekend is looming over my head. Dread.

When I received an email from Active.com today with an article on "3 Tips to Keep Your Marathon Training Runs Fresh", I clicked eagerly and thought, Oh, just in time. Please help me keep my mind busy.

What I expected was some advice on how to entertain myself, like funny things to think about, talk about with fellow runner, or look at on the trail. For example, a mind game to play, top ten places I want to travel, or heck... birdwatching.

What I got instead was a complicated list of ways to run differently over the time period. Warm up, then run for a mile at this pace, then for this many minutes at another pace, back to a slow pace for however many miles, fast for another set of miles....... Are you kidding!? Not happening.

I am interested to see if I can come up with a better set of tips this weekend. I have 17 miles to think of some after all. So, I'll report back next week - that is, if I make it with out passing out and forgetting all of my thoughts! ;)