On Running...Nature and Self-Talk

I'm carrying my phone with me on runs more these days. It keeps me in communication with the fam while I'm gone, especially on long runs. Occasionally I stop to take a picture or two.

I came across these two the other day. When I showed the pictures to Ben and Obi, Obi said it looked like they were walking home from a date! It was morning so they must have be the party all night, sleep all day kind of birds.

Just felt I should take their picture. I felt they were standing in solidarity with me- We get up to eat. You get up to run. Each of us just doin' our jobs.

Over Memorial Day weekend, I had a long run on schedule and decided I could finally get to Geode park a few miles down the road from Bill's parents and check out all the roads for myself. The snails were my favorite though I'm sorry to say a few got squished during my run. I hear a soft crack underfoot and after examining what it was, found that snails covered the roads like nightcrawlers usually do! I tried to avoid them but couldn't. 

 Also on that run, I was surrounded by six- 6!- dogs that came barreling out from some house!! I was at a stand still for nearly ten minutes before I felt I could slowly start to move on. Besides being so scared it's a wonder I didn't mess my shorts, I was really angry that that many dogs were roaming free from one house, never mind it being in the country. A half a mile down the road, I was finally able to start running again although two dogs continued to accompany me at least another mile and a half before turning back. At the edge of the park, I met another dog but it was too old to do anything other than hop off the porch and bark. One last dog greeted me at the beginning of the park and ended up running most of the way through with me. 

Yesterday's run confirmed that I am not a fan of dogs off leash. I ran past a house in the country that is on one of my normal running routes. A dog came out barking and though I slowed down before taking off again, he decided he would help me finish my run. I ended up being way short on distance for the time I needed to be out so I extended my route which took me along Hwy 69. Well, I ended up having to keep that dog out of highway traffic (I ran along the very inside of the shoulder, which is quite wide.) to keep it alive. It followed me well until I got to town and then decided every single tree, sign post, and flower bush needed to be marked. So much for my run. Bill was just leaving for work when I came around the corner and he gave me and the mutt a ride back to his house; the dog panting over my shoulder and me fuming. Owner of a chocolate brown lab with no collar whatsoever-  I know someone was home because a car was in the driveway when I ran past and when I returned your dog the car was gone. You didn't come looking for it. You're lucky your dog didn't get hit or impounded because that's what I intended to do. The next time, I'm just gonna pepper spray it. Take care of your dogs (because you have more than one and this isn't the first dog of yours to come out at me), even if you live in the country. 

Moving on... You all get the magazine American Motorcyclist, the journal of the American Motorcyclist Association, right? For those of you that do you will remember this story from March's issue. I'll recap for the rest of you. Dave and Jody Perewitz are a father - daughter team who have built and ridden a motorcycle that set  a land-speed record. The story is obviously about how they got to that point. In building that particular motorcycle Dave said "We did everything in very small steps. We never rushed to go fast."

Don't rush to go fast. 

Put in the training, bit by bit. As Bob confirmed, Dr. Leo Marvin is a genius.

Also knocking around in my brain is my own phrase "Run your own race"

And I came across this quoted by Theodore Roosevelt "Comparison is the thief of joy."

I'm running because I like to run. I'm racing because sometimes having a goal at the end of the training is good for both the motivation to train and the completion of the training, whether it shows up in race day results or not. 

Well, there you have it. I've spilled my guts on running for the last week. You know all my secrets. I wear goofy socks, eat fried food, feel at one with nature and talk to myself. Running is so healthy for you.