River Run

“Sometimes, if you stand on the bottom rail of a bridge and lean over to watch the river slipping slowly away beneath you, you will suddenly know everything there is to be known.” ~ Winnie the Pooh

I love having so many running options available to me every day. Downtown streets, mountain trails, paths by the river. Today was a 7 mile run by the river. The weather was just perfect. I love crossing the bridge over the river and feeling a cool, almost cold breeze and watching my breath materialize in the air beside me.

Instead of deer and owls, today I saw heron and geese and lots of small birds - blue jays, doves, cardinals, mockingbirds. We have had lots of storms recently so the river was high. I ran right beside the edge of the water which was up pretty high along the path. Being outside, especially first thing in the morning, is one of my favorite parts of any day. I am focusing on being very aware of everything around me - the sweet gumballs left dangling from bare branches, the different calls the birds make, the lap of the water along the riverside, the sun as it hits the water and bounces off in a glare of light, the bare white trunk of a tree reflecting in the water, the cries of the geese as they fly low and land in the water.

I love the feeling of having had such a special experience already by 9:00 in the morning when my day starts with running outside, taking pictures, and finding a still place within myself that I carry with me for the rest of the day.

Making Time

"My feeling is that any day I am too busy to run is a day that I am too busy".--John Bryant

John Bryant is really onto something in that quote! It's all about making time for the things that are important to living the kind of life that I want to live. I have been setting my clock 20 minutes early to being incorporating a yoga practice into my days. It's something I've felt drawn to for years, and I've dabbled in yoga here and there, but I've never really made a commitment to it. So as much as I love to sleep, I am making a choice to get up and practice yoga to start my day. It makes me feel so good - mentally and physically.

Most days I am able to take my daughter to school and then run before going to work. Today it was POURING down rain, complete with thunder and lightning. Once I've showered and dressed and am at work, it's so much harder to change into running clothes, run, take another shower and go back to work or go home for the evening. But running is important to who I am so I left work in time to get 5 miles in today before I picked up my daughter after school. And I am so glad. As with the yoga - it makes me feel so good!

I have woven running into my days very regularly for the past decade - hard to believe! It's definitely a choice to make every day - to run or to not run. I'd like to think of other things I want to make part of my life and add them in gradually so they become routines too, part of the fabric of my days.

Winter Woods

"Go to the winter woods: listen there, look, watch, and “the dead months” will give you a subtler secret than any you have yet found in the forest." - Fiona Macleod, Where the Forest Murmurs

I love the bare beauty of the woods in winter. The stark branches silouetted against the sky, the blanket of leaves that covers the forest floor, the quiet that fills the air. At a glance, everything is brown and gray, dead, lifeless, but if you open your eyes, the woods are still full of color and sound and beauty.

Today 3 deer bounded into the trees at my approach, white tails flicking as they jumped out of sight. A tiny chipmunk skittered across the trail to avoid my feet. A hawk keened from high in the trees, and a single owl hooted in the distance.

Color filled the woods when I opened my eyes and looked beyond the gray branches and piles of moist leaves. A tree stump blackened from a bolt of lightning stood broken at the edge of the woods, bright orange fungi decorated a fallen branch, brilliant red rocks scattered across the trail, soft green moss clung to the roots of a tree, golden clumps of wood shone through a broken tree limb.

A perfect winter run.

Gorgeous Sunrise!

“Climb up on some hill at sunrise. Everybody needs perspective once in a while, and you'll find it there.” ~ Robb Sagendorph

Exploring New Paths

The natural function of the wing is to soar upwards and carry that which is heavy up to the place where dwells the race of gods. More than any other thing that pertains to the body it partakes of the nature of the divine.
— Plato

I had the day off work yesterday and had the most wonderful day all to myself. I had been reading about a Sandhill Crane Festival that was held an hour or so from my home and decided to go and see these birds. Unfortunately, you needed a really long zoom lens or some very powerful binoculars to actually see much of them. Apparently around 5,000 birds are in the area and I could see lots of them from afar. A few flew overhead making this haunting call and I got a few pictures that at least show that I saw some birds! I enjoyed being outside and hearing them anyway!!

Then I went to a Cherokee Removal Memorial that was very moving. What a sad chapter in American history and what a horrible way to treat other human beings.

I finished my day with a couple of hours of exploring some new trails at a new-to-me Nature Park of around 3,000 acres. The trails were awesome! I was going to run around 3-5 miles, but I started out and just kept going. The trails wound around and around and up and back and were just beautiful. Quite a few mountain bikers were taking advantage of the day and I saw one pack of about 5 runners but other than that I had the place to myself.

My favorite area was a pine tree forest that smelled so sharp and clean. Light brown needles lined the path where I ran and darker needles filled the woods under the trees. Occasionally a clump of bright green, newly fallen needles lay across the trail. I picked on up and rubbed it on my hands so I could keep smelling the pine scent as I ran. The trees were fairly close together and the whole area had the feeling of an outdoor cathedral. The quiet was so present and the spiritual nature of the place was something I could almost touch.

I saw one deer with huge ears. It bounded off the trail at my approach but stopped in the woods and turned to stare at me for several minutes as I stopped to gaze into its eyes. It stomped its foot a couple of times and bowed its head and then just stood and looked at me. I love deer and always feel a special kinship to ones that stop like this and share the moment with me.

I left the woods filled with a tiredness in my body and a peacefulness that lasted for hours after I got home. A perfect day!

City Run

" I have an affection for a great city. I feel safe in the neighborhood of man, and enjoy the sweet security of the streets. ~Henry Wadsworth Longfellow



A day off from work and an unexpected "long" run today. I ususally do my long runs on the weekend, but it's so nice mentally to enter the weekend knowing I have it under my belt already! I ran 7 miles yesterday and my legs felt tired today, but I ran a different route than I usually do and it was nice having some new things to look at to distract my attention.


This was a different kind of run than I usually enjoy Running, for me, is most pleasureable when I am out enjoying NATURE! I love the trees, river, birds and other critters, fresh air, solitude. Today I ran through the city and saw buildings, trains, cars, people, signs. When I'm running, I often try to focus on staying present, being fully in the NOW. I concentrate on my breath, my footsteps, a mantra. I seek out beautiful things to photograph. This run took me on city streets, and I was definitely present to the business, the sites that I don't often view while running, the traffic, and the need to really pay attention to where I stepped and where I crossed the street. I didn't feel that stillness I often feel after a run though. Mostly just tiredness!

AM Yoga

"The most important pieces of equipment you need for doing yoga are your body and your mind." ~Rodney Yee

I have been drawn to yoga over the years. I've taken a few classes here and there and decided several times I'd like to develop a yoga practice, but I've never actually made it happen. I would really like to incorporate yoga into my day-to-day life, and the early morning time seems to be the ideal - and only - realistic time for me to practice. I have been setting my alarm clock 30 minutes earlier than I usually do and doing "AM Yoga" with Rodney Yee. I may not really feel like getting out of bed that early, but I feel so good stretching my body and relaxing and developing a strong feeling of inner peace and stillness at the beginning of my day.

Divine Peace

I have been reading a book for several months called Running the Spiritual Path. I often read it as a thought-provoking book to give me a focus for my morning runs. This morning the section I read talked about how, if you are running for a spiritual experience, a successful run doesn't necessarily depend on the weather or how you feel or your pace. It depends on your focus - on your breath or on a mantra or on Spirit or whatever you like to call it. For me, sitting meditation is hard. I am a mover! I have enjoyed this book a lot because it suggests many ways to incorporate meditation and a spiritual time into your running life. Running is inherently spiritual to me - a time to be alone, to soak in the outdoors, to be quiet, to be instrospective. This book has given me ideas on many ways to enhance that experience.

This morning I focused on the mantra, "I am divine peace." I repeated it in my head to the rhythm of my footsteps. As my mind wandered, I drew it back to those words, over and over. I often try to hold a mantra or words in my head while I'm running, but I made a special effort today to do this the entire 5 miles. I think it's one of those things that the more I practice, the more consistent I will be. I loved the feeling I had today.

Then on my way back across the bridge to my ending spot, I said a special blessing of peace to every car that passed me. It felt like I was sharing some of that "stored up" peace I had collected earlier in my run.

No Trespassing

Isn't this little guy cute? Not the best picture in the world, but I couldn't resist this mockingbird that perched atop the No Trespassing sign. I wish I had something profound to say about not following rules and such, but really this bird just made me smile :)

Solitary Sunday

"Being solitary is being alone well: being alone luxuriously immersed in doings of your own choice, aware of the fullness of your won presence rather than of the absence of others. Because solitude is an achievement." ~Alice Koller

I love the solitude of running. Being around people so much of the time, I crave solitude, quiet, peace in my daily life. Running is one way I achieve this. Today I had a glorious 2-hour solitary run on a foggy, misty, gray Sunday morning. Gray and brown squirrels skittered about the tree stumps. A lone woodpecker called mournfully from the treetops. Deer ceased their grazing and stared at me quietly as I ran past. I stumbled upon a large group - which incidentally is called a "rafter" - of about 20 turkeys pecking their way along the leaf-strewn forest.

I anticpated their being many folks out today - the New Year's Resolution people. Surprisingly, I saw no one in the two hours I was running. Heaven!! I don't know if the chilly air, the misty rain, or the Sunday morning itself was the deterrent, but I was truly grateful for the time alone in the woods.

Day Off!

I like challenges and being able to check off lists and look back at accomplishments. Several web challenges are out there at the beginning of this new year that entice me to run 365 days in a row. The perfectionist in me is really drawn to that. Yes, I could do that. 365 days - totally doable. It's just a mile. I could just walk a mile if I wanted. Doesn't even have to be a mile run. I find a challenge like this appealing - as I find 365 of taking a photograph a day, doing yoga every day, meditating every day, writing in my journal every day, not eating sugar every day appealing. Then I go back to Wayne Dyer's advice about taking life a day at a time, being in the present moment. I can make the choice today to eat well, meditate, practice yoga, run, write, photograph, and then gradually these things will become part of me, part of my daily life.

Instead of 365 days and then, "Whew I'm done!" I want to make those life-changing habits become... well, life. And in that I want to allow space for days off. Especially on something like running. I have some pretty ambitious goals for my year - a trail marathon in May, my first triathlon in July, a 50K in October. I'm gonna need some rest time in there! I know my body well enough to know that running 3-4 days in a row is good for me and then I need a day off, a day of rest. Then I'm goood for another 2, 3, 4 days.

I like the idea of more mindful eating but I also like the idea of chocolate chip cookies. So while I am putting more thought into what I put in my body, I also don't want to make an unbreakable rule for myself that cuts out one of my life's big pleasures! Then I'm just destined to fail and I don't want to feel guilt over a cookie.

I have added many activities into my life over the past decade or so that really bring me to a place where I feel so much peace in my days and where I truly enjoy getting up in the morning and going about my life. Those are the kinds of things I want to keep adding in, day by day.

The Best Snack Mix in the World!

I'm on a bit of a not-eating-sweets time after the holidays! Chocolate chips cookies, pecan pie, pound cake... I ate waaaay to much of all of those and more for the month of December. Sweets are my downfall and if they are in my house, I have such a hard time staying away from them. I've been eating smoothies and soup and Greek yoghurt and salmon and other pretty healthy things. But this snack mix is the best and the combination of crunchy and sweetish is just delicious. It is filling and wonderful with a glass of milk. Peanut, cashews, raisins, yogurt-covered raisins, and sundrops - perfection!

Reflections

Ordinary to Extraordinary

I want to live an extraordinary life! I recently read Running the Edge by Tim Catalano and Adam Goucher and felt so inspired after I finished it. They talk about being a distance maven, having peak experiences, really experiencing life, being an actor instead of a reactor, and living an extraordinary life. They relate their ideas to running as they are runners, but these ideas can be applied to anyone's life. I really relate to the running stories and the experiences they have had as runners. I am not a runner who will ever win a marathon or set the world on fire with my 5K time. I am a dedicated runner though. I have been running fairly consistently for a decade now. I love running and love what running brings to my life. It makes me be a better person in all areas of my life. The time alone, the time spent outside in Nature, the time pushing my body, the time to think, the time to be creative, the time to meditate ~ running provides me with all of this. It helps me be extraordinary in the rest of my life.

Day to day

To live is so startling it leaves little time for anything else. ~Emily Dickinson

Well, it was back to "real life" today - back to school and work. I am going to concentrate on the day to day and making the choices to live only in that day and not worry too much about what I'm going to do in the tomorrows! It's supposed to take 30 ~or is it 40 ~ days to form a new habit. Habits, routines, choices ~ all boils down to the day to day living of life. I incorporate so many things into my daily life that make me who I am and that I really deeply enjoy. Things like running, spending time outside, writing in my journal, reading... I start to almost feel a sense of guilt if I don't do those things. I guess in a way that's what a habit is - doing something until is becomes part of who you are, what you do, where you feel that nagging sense that something is missing in your day if you don't do it.

I would like to focus on incorporating yoga and meditation in my days. I set my alarm for 6:15 today and got up to follow along with Rodney Yee's AM Yoga practice. It was a marvelous way to start the day. I felt like I had really accomplished something even before 6:40 when I got in the shower. It's only a few extra minutes of sleep I am missing and as Rodney says - the rewards will hopefully be great if I continue!

I went down to the river about 7:30 in the freeeeeezing cold weather and took some pictures of the sunrise. I enjoyed being out in the chilly air and watching the light hit the sky in pinks and purples and them burst forth in a blaze of gold to light the sky and water on fire. I didn't see any herons but heard lots of birds waking up and greeting the day. I thought as I was going back to my car at 8:00 how much I had done already to make my day a wonderful one.

I made time to run during the middle of my work day. I really prefer to run first thing in the morning, but I had to be at work too early for that today. Running in the middle of the day is nice too because it breaks the day up and makes it not seem so long.

I am enjoying meditating on "Om Mani Padme Hum." I need to work on the time when meditation fits into my life best.

ADVENTURE: "An adventure is defined as an exciting or unusual experience; it may also be a bold, usually risky undertaking, with an uncertain outcome."

I love to choose a word for the year that defines how I would like to live the upcoming 365 days. My word for 2012 is ADVENTURE! I want to fill my days with adventures of all kinds. I want to do things I might not ordinarily do, say, "yes!" when I would usually say, "no," take some chances, connect with people in different ways.

Adventures don't have to be risky but by my definition they are going to be pursuing things I want to do in my life but for some reason haven't so far. Incorporate meditation into my days, run a 50K, start a consistent yoga practice, cook different things for meals, make an effort to nurture friendships, run/bike/swim in a triathlon, publish a new book, raise chickens!

These are some things that come to mind as adventures that I want to pursue this year. I want to keep my eyes open for others that appeal to me. I will listen to that little voice inside that nudges me toward an activity or event or person and say yes to ADVENTURES in 2012!

January 1, 2012

"Forget about those New Year’s resolutions in which you decide on the first day of January how you will be conducting your life for the next twelve months. Instead, set up day-to-day goals for yourself, and then resolve to begin living with present moment awareness for the rest of your life. When you get good at living your present moments one day at a time, you’ll see yourself changing right before your own surprised eyes. Remember, anyone can do anything for just one day, so tune out the sentences that keep you locked into your old self-defeating ways and begin to enjoy each day of your bright new year.

What are some things you've wanted to do for yourself, one day at a time?"

~Wayne Dyer

I love this! Living in the present moment is all there is. The NOW. Living in the present moment for the rest of my life. Really being there for everything I do, every choice I make, every encounter I have. Soaking in the everyday moments with my daughter, sharing time with my husband and doing things we enjoy together, taking in the beauty of the trees and the smell of the air as I run, looking into people's eyes as I talk with them, savoring every bit of food I eat, appreciating the softness of my dog as I rub her belly, really listening to music, feeling my body as I move throughout my day, connecting with my soul as I seek stillness in the midst of my busy days.

Some things I want to do for myself one day at a time?

~Meditate
~Run

~Spend time with my husband

~Grow with my child

~Read books - something for pleasure, something for inspiration

~Write in my journal

~Do yoga

~Cook and bake

~Garden

~Take more pictures and learn more about photography and my camera

~Write stories

~Make time for quiet every day

~Consciously make choices

~Be present

~Have more adventures!

I welcome 2012 with open arms!