Are You Living It?

Ran with my feet wet this weekend and didn’t get blisters but apparently compromised the new skin on the bottom of my feet, because I started to get a hot spot less than 10 minutes into my run today. Now I have a nice big blister right where the last one was…not quite AS big, thank God.

Got to see Seattle through a different perspective yesterday, thanks to Guy. I was yearning to head East to the mountains via motorcycle - but he twisted my arm to go flying. And we picked the perfect September day for it.

Small planes are a trip to take off in. We quickly climbed to about 5,000 feet as we soared over the city on our way up to San Juan island.

As I sat at Gasworks on our daily walk, Makiah and I both laid next to each other and took a brief cat nap. And something struck me - I want to go to the mountains. Ryan would not have spent such a beautiful day in the city - he would be out making the most of the weekend. So my plan - ride in the morning and then head out for a day trip to the mountains.

Fresh legs are getting me into trouble! I’m not used to this feeling when I run…the feeling of smoothness and responsiveness in my legs is so alien! 5 miles today at an 8 minute pace felt like nothing to my body - I got my breathing up but even that was pretty mellow since I have a head cold. But I suspect this may the reason that my feet and hip are back at square one after every run…I am hitting the pavement a lot faster than I was used to with all the volume, and the increased intensity is too much for the old body even if it feels good while I’m doing it. I think I have to start running with people again so i have to talk, and if I talk I run slowly. Any takers?

I have to admit that my favorite times of the day are around 6:30am when the air is cool and the sun is starting to rise over my new Cali mountains. There is a local trail near my house that I’ve been hitting around this time for some amazing runs and it’s so inspiring to start the day off getting the blood pumping and challenging the body. I am such an endorphin junkie, I have to be to get out of my new comfy bed at this time but it’s SO worth it! The other night I was coming home and the skies were filled with candy cotton clouds, it was around 7pm and I literally pulled off the side of the road to soak in this beautiful sunset… wish I had some better pics but this will give you an idea.

James Schaffer’s “Visor Warning” rung a bell for me yesterday, though not quite like it did for him. The tree limb brought back memories of my childhood with my younger brother Ross. When I was about 7, I remember leading him along on a horse through the trees. I didn’t realize how low the branches were until one cleanly scraped Ross off the horse and onto the ground. As the day progressed something kept nagging at me. I felt throughout the day that I was forgetting something, checked my schedule over and over, but I couldn’t figure out what it was. It seems that if I don’t write something down I never remember to do it, so I figured I must have forgot to write something down. I found myself awake this morning at 2:30 AM. It hit me, Yesterday was the 26th, my brother’s birthday, only it wasn’t September 26, it was August 26, and I completely forgot.

Ok, I know you have to pay to play, but this is ridiculous. I have been planning to get my USAT coaching certification, as well as my PT certification, and I thought that I should look into getting my certificate in sports nutrition as well, since I certainly dole out enough advice on that front, and because many women (in particular but probably many men too) are very focused on weight loss even as they pursue the sport of triathlon and are in need of nutrition guides from a coach as well as a training plan.

We recently did a limited run of Live Your Passion headsweats visors that were so popular at the Pacific Grove Triathlon that mounted police in riot gear showed up to quell the angry mob.  Here’s a grainy photo of one taken by the security camera in my coat closet: