Strength in Rafa

Life is short...running makes it seem longer.
Baron Hansen

For me, that statement has never been more true. Watching someone I have loved my entire life become someone else, merely because of their own mortality, has given me a deeper sense to why running is so important.

When I was a teenager & first getting acquainted with running, I would spend some of my long runs dreadfully counting telephone poles. I needed something to focus on to get me through the miles, because they took forever. Seriously.

Now I dream of the moments of having time to breath, to think, to be alone in my own thoughts as the world sometimes feels like it is testing me to see how much I can bear. My single biggest daily challenge is to remember who I am & what I live for, those moments when I can get lost again.

But truthfully, I have no room for complaint. Because my days are, in large part, spent doing what I want to do. Planned around my very decisions. I need to remember these times because there will become a time when my choices, my decisions will not be nearly as much in my own control. So, every telephone pole I count now has a bit more meaning behind it.

Distance: With a new treadmill (think home gym circa 1983), plenty of easy miles
State of Mind: Pushing for more

Sweet & Sour

Moving from 2010 to 2011 is sweet & sour, all in one little bite. It's a relief to move beyond last year, but in so many ways I still don't feel ready. My indifference & inability to see clearly makes me feel less ready than ever to take the next step.

From a running perspective, it was the first year that I realized that my lifestyle may impact what I want for my future. The word I have trouble moving away from is "my", as it seems that what comes easy for others may not ever come easy for me. But as I toe the line of being a martyr, I couldn't imagine a better way to close the year than spending it with my family & realizing that my own faults, my own weaknesses...are truly not that overwhelming. And the next crossroad will become part of my past too, just like 2010.

Spending the last two weeks in a Mexican paradise taught me a lot about my goals for 2011. One, I love running. It's as simple as that. From beach runs to cobble stoned hills, I need to share my love with this sport as much as possible. But it's just not running that I adore, it's the rush of going within. From yoga to paddle boarding, I love the fearless, childlike manner that I need to somehow capture. There is nothing more enjoyable than being 100% committed to the moment. The moment when nothing else matters.

2010 didn't have nearly as much running as I wanted, but I plan to gently work on that in 2011. But I also plan on monopolizing as much time as possible to spend doing other activities, from swimming to hiking to meditation.

I recently read this quote that I just can't get out of my mind... "perfection is achieved, not when there is nothing more to add, but when there is nothing left to take away". I think that will be my goal for this year!

Distance: Over canyons, under water, sinking into the sand...
State of Mind: Being happy for what I do have in this moment