I came home from work yesterday to the sweetest gift in the mail. My friend Diane, who is the wife and mother to the father and son who were on my Kilimanjaro climb, mailed me this awesome block with the sweetest note of encouragement: Continue reading
Category Archives: Gratitude
About the Last Year.
A year ago tomorrow, Dave rolled into town in a U-Haul, committed to starting a new life in a new state with some girl he’d known for less than a year. He asked me today what I thought about the last year. I answered in the moment, but I haven’t stopped thinking about the question. Continue reading
Wednesday List #35 – Gratitudes.
I woke up in the middle of the night and quickly realized that I would not promptly fall back I sleep, so I got up and wrote. Two hours later, I did go back to sleep, and I ended up sleeping until 8:30 in the morning. Thankfully, I have a job that doesn’t require certain hours of me, so that wasn’t a problem, but in that moment I did appreciate the flexibility of my work. In the thick of not being healthy, I may have lost sight of all the goodness around me. So today I am focusing on recognizing those good things and expressing my gratitude for them. Continue reading
Grateful for the Push.
I am deep into my training. Since starting at my new facility, I’ve kicked my training up about ten notches. I’m training seven days a week, often with two workouts a day and with a swim only on my recovery day. I’m loving swimming, especially the occasional high-five from Brendan. I’m biking on a trainer that measures my power and hitting numbers I didn’t expect from myself. And I’m running, mostly comfortably, on my previously injured calf. For the last couple of weeks, I’ve averaged fourteen hours of training a week. I’m feeling really lucky to be healthy and able to train as much as I am. Continue reading
On His 41st Birthday.
My friend Jeff should have turned 41 today. He was killed in 2006 after a drunk driver drove into a crowd of pedestrians waiting to cross the street after a concert at the Backyard. The world dimmed a good bit when he left it. Continue reading
No More Going Solo For Me.
This week, I made the decision to join a masters swim program. I swam in different programs years ago when I lived in Austin, and I did really well in them. I became a strong swimmer, especially during my years training at the Courtyard when I would swim four days a week. It wasn’t the frequent swimming, but the swimming with others that really made me strong. When I moved from far northwest Austin to the country far southwest of town, I abandoned my masters program because my old facility was miles and miles away, and there was no good option nearby. That’s now changed.
0 for 2.
It’s official. I’m skipping the Cowtown Ultra this weekend. I ran five miles this morning and felt good for just over four of them. I saw the doctor again today, and he confirmed what I feared – there’s no way I can do 30 miles on my calf and foot right now. I missed the Austin Marathon a couple of weeks ago, so that makes me 0 for 2 on big races in 2015. This year is not going as planned. So what do I do? Melt down because I’m 41 and falling apart? Give up on my race plans for 2015 because this is all a big sign that it won’t go well for me? Or forge ahead, being hopeful and patient with my body? I’ve considered all of those options, and, as much as I’m tempted to pick (a) or (b), I’m going with (c). Continue reading
Happy Blank Page.
I had the delightful serendipity of rounding out the last hours of January 1 by filling out the last pages of my old journal. I have a stash of blank journals, so I spent some time last night carefully selecting the book I’d use in the coming year. Did I want a leather cover? Did I want a simple composition book? Did I want lined or unlined pages? Did I want tablet sized pages or full 8 1/2 by 11 pages? There were so many choices. After a bit of fondling through my options, I chose a full-sized, unlined book. Specifically, I chose this book: Continue reading
With Dave on His Birthday.
This time last year, I was traveling to Africa to climb Kilimanjaro. It was my third international trip of 2013, so the wonder was a bit lost during the trip preparations. It took actually getting to the airport and getting a bag checked before I felt true excitement surrounding the trip. Before my mom and I sat down for a cup of coffee together before I entered security, I felt a sadness for leaving town on Dave’s very birthday. Even on the plane, I wrote, “This is my last big trip for a while. I want so much to be at home and to spend as much time with Dave as possible.” Now, a year later, I’m home with Dave. I got what I wanted, but I was wrong about one thing. Everything that’s happened with and around Dave during the last year has been the greatest trip I’ve ever taken. Continue reading
Good, Hard Efforts.
I had a great first week back from being sick. I ran four times last week. I had a busy week at work. Dave and I did lots of fun things. We went out to dinner Thursday night to a new-ish spot that he discovered driving around the neighborhood. On Friday, we went to a friend’s 40th birthday party. On Saturday, we went to a church service at a friend’s house and a performance by an a cappella band. On Sunday morning, I ran a 10-mile race in Austin, and we had a fun breakfast with other runner friends afterwards. Then we did organizational stuff around the house, which was fun with him. And then last night, one of my Kilimanjaro friends rolled into town. We’ve had a lot of goodness after a period of sickness and stress. I’m so grateful. Continue reading
