Lazy W Marie

Carpeing all the diems in semi-rural Oklahoma...xoxo

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Archives for March 2016

“My Life on the Run” by Bart Yasso (book review)

Friends, I know the title My Life on the Run might give you the idea that this book is only about running, and maybe that’s just not your thing and maybe you are tired of me talking about it, but I am writing this review for every single one of you. I want all of my friends to read it, okay? If you are nice and share your tortilla chips, then you can even borrow my copy, but you will then want to buy your own. I have read the entire book twice and several excerpts a few times.

Whether or not you consider yourself a runner, just you being a human being full of dreams and faced with challenges, just you all by yourself on a unique life journey filled with both triumph and difficulty, pain and laughter, means that Bart Yasso’s memoir can feed you. In fact, it will feed you if you open up just a little.

And those among us who appreciate a great story telling pace and lots of jokes will enjoy it all the more.

Of course, if you are a runner then this book is a must read. You already know that running has trans-formative powers, and as Mr. Yasso says:

It’s an affirmation of life. Running was magic, and I never wanted to lose my ability to conjure up that altered state again.

I first heard of Bart Yasso a couple of years ago while researching online how to achieve a faster marathon time. Seasoned runners are probably familiar with his proven 800-meter pacing method, and in fact he devotes an entire chapter to how he developed this training strategy. Trust me, as technical as it sounds, even this chapter is funny. He is pseudo-proud and self-deprecating in the best ways, describing his professional interactions and private thought processes with just the right amount of detail and insight. This is one of the chapters I read three times, partly for reference and mostly for entertainment.

Reading about how to run faster put his name in my brain, so when I showed up in Lawton, Oklahoma, to run that Spirit of Survival half marathon last autumn, I saw his name advertised as a guest and was more than a little curious to meet him. He was shaking hands, autographing books, and being truly the nicest person in the hotel that Friday night. Inside my purchased copy of My Life on the Run he wrote, “Marie- Never underestimate where running can take you. –Bart Yasso.” If you know me very well at all, then you understand how my throat seized up and I fought back tears. I have a lot of places I want to go in life. Running has been taking me there already.

bart yasso book signature

And don’t you dare ruin this for me by saying he probably wrote that in everyone’s book, haha! I already know that.

Mingling in the crowd, Mr. Yasso was infinitely approachable, and the talk he gave to runners and media at the pasta dinner that night endeared him to me. I sat with this sweet couple. Remember them, the local pair who posed for a photo with Tiny T?

bart yasso couple tiny t

We all three (four if you count Tiny T and you better) laughed so hard the entire time! You just cannot believe some of the adventures Mr. Yasso has had while running! I tried taking notes but only succeeded a little because his stories were strung together in a very casual, life-of-the-party kind of way, not stilted at all. Not terribly outlined but still rhythmic. He’s the exact opposite of that speaker who puts the audience to sleep. However long he was at the microphone that night wasn’t nearly enough for the crowd. It was just plain fun and deeply motivating.

And the thing is, his book is written is exactly that same smart, affable, witty voice. His writing is purely conversational with several moments of either confession or transparency that draw you closer, just a little hushed, like he is sharing a secret he doesn’t want the whole room to hear. With the written word his tone softens and you know it’s serious. Then? It’s all fun and laughter again. Page after page with the brightest of outlooks, the strongest of wills.

You might recall that before sunrise on the morning of that particular race Handsome and I bumped into Bart while walking to the start line. We had the loveliest conversation during that five-minute commute, and his positive energy multiplied my excitement tenfold. He indulged me in a photo and wished me luck on the run. I was giddy.

So now you have an idea of why I am so engaged with this runner-writer He’s just a wonderful person! And his ideas are effective. He is not just sharing his personal experiences; he also works for Runners World magazine and travels the globe promoting events and helping people. He wins races. Difficult ones. He overcomes incredible obstacles like injury and chronic disease, but you have to read about that for yourself.

Worth mentioning is that he was not necessarily born a runner.

But then I started running. And when I started running, I started dreaming. It couldn’t be helped.

Can you relate to this? I sure can. In many ways my life turned a supernatural corner at the age of 39 when I finally started.

And if you have a tendency to see the glass as half empty, consider this:

I made peace with it after recognizing that running isn’t about how far you go but how far you’ve come.

Truly, friends, I could quote and attempt to retell this book all night long. Please just read it. Watch out for the burro racing chapter and the rhinoceros story and the banana bread especially, and call me the minute you read each of those. I want to hear your beautiful voice laughing out loud! Then I want to hear you tell me how this book inspired you. Because I know it will.

bart yasso book review sticker

Thank you for so many friendly interactions, Bart, and for sharing your life with the world. Thank you for plunging into running as a teenager and for staying open to it all these years since, despite the painful setbacks. I am honored to have met you and really loved your memoir.

“The starting line beckons.”
~Bart Yasso
XOXOXOXO

 

 

motivation monday: life lately & 5 ways to keep up positive momentum

I can’t remember the last time I went for almost two weeks without blogging, ha! Not that big of a deal, but I do miss writing about the farm and connecting with you. My reasons for neglecting this space are good: Life is full to bursting with happy writing deadlines, interesting volunteer activities, and general momentum. I feel amazing bodily and heartily. Gratitude is seeping out of my bones.

Here’s the low down:

Gardens are awake! All over the farm! This consumes my senses as well as my imagination day after day. I want you to come walk through it all with me. Stuff is sprouting that I do not remember planting; and treasures are blooming that I had feared were lost.

Chickens are laying eggs again like gangbusters.

The statewide spring Beekeepers’ Conference was so fun, and I am just weeks away from new honey-makers. (squeal!!)

Running has picked back up, and my ankle feels amazing. I logged 23 miles last week and have 35 planned for this week. I feel like myself again. I’m beginning to look myself again, too, though happily that is now a lesser concern. Still unsure what races are in my immediate future, but I’m not worried about it.

Handsome and I have been cleaning out, organizing, and freshening up the farm in wonderful ways. Weekend warriors we are. The turnpike might be a phantom worry after all, and together with the weather inching toward true springtime, that happy news is giving us such a boost. We have that old craving to really improve our home. Our nest. Our beautiful sanctuary from the world.

Speaking of which, we have big delicious plans for the sunny, sandy front field. If you say it backwards, it’s nolemretaw.

Gardening class with Maddie is just downright pleasing my soul. She is insightful, sensitive, interested in growing her own food, and simply a pleasure to be with every Thursday. Last week we planted her first round of potatoes on Saint Patrick’s Day! Isn’t that cool? And she has been amending her flower bed with rotted horse and chicken manure (from our farm) and will soon be tackling early veggies. Love it all.

Handsome is blazing through obstacles at the Commish. He makes me so happy and proud. Oklahomans should know that your utility regulators work their guts out and care deeply for doing the right things. Balance, fairness, clean business. Three cheers for PUD!! xoxo

I signed up recently for my first trade/craft show. As “Green Goose” I will be selling handmade textiles at a cool little place not far from here, and locals… I would be thrilled to see you there! If it goes well, I will continue to show up once a month and will add fresh eggs and seasonal produce to my booth.

Let’s see… What else?

Hmm…

Well there is this small detail that soon I will be flying to Colorado to visit Jocelyn!! For the second time in a year I get to spend a week with her in her natural habitat. This time, no hotels. She has her own place now, and (can you even!!) she asked me to help her fix it up. Paint, organize, decorate, etc. We plan to cook together. Hang out. Work in her garden. She even asked me to babysit her beautiful puppy while she’s at work. I MEAN!!! xoxo

dream big, work hard ... xoxo
dream big, work hard … xoxo

So yes, life is wonderfully full. Week to week, day to day, we have no shortage of lovely ways to pursue happiness. And we tend to catch it too, which is amazing. I feel abundantly blessed and motivated right now. Maybe it would be worth sharing a few easy strategies for keeping up this healthy momentum:

Five Ways to Maintain Momentum

  • Eat well. Not too much, not too little, and plenty of whatever makes you feel amazing, long-term. You know what your body actually needs. Everyone has a different chemistry. For me it’s lots of raw fruits and veggies, some Greek yogurt and nuts, and more eggs and chicken than you can shake a stick at. Sometimes a salty snack or bowl of kale soup with lentils. (Magic elixir!) Also at least a gallon of water daily, plus caffeine. When I stick to a mellow eating plan (without severe dieting or endless indulging) I feel like I could do anything for hours and hours. And still be in a great mood.
  • Stay active, especially when you’re exhausted! Running is such a paradox, right? It’s kind of odd that when you feel deeply spent, you can force yourself out the door for just half an hour of hard running and suddenly feel re-energized. Have time for a longer run? Oh man. Make those to-do lists long. But of course you can stay active in hundreds of ways besides running. Even on “rest” days if I stay moving during most of the daylight hours I sleep so great and think so clearly. You too? Physical activity begets more energy and drives out mental fogginess for sure.
  • Yes, also sleep. Stay active but still make time to stretch and sleep, haha. My Fitbit has the peculiar ability to measure sleep patterns (sorcery!) and on my best nights I sleep an unbelievable 7 1/2 to 8 hours. This weekend I was alone in a hotel room on Friday night and slept less than 5 hours. Staying alert for the conference was at times challenging, especially because I was sitting a lot. (How do you office dwellers do it??) I got back to the farm Saturday night and made up for the sleep loss and inactivity with almost 9 solid hours of dreamless slumber, pure bliss! Needless to say, Sunday was grand. I had energy to spare and felt happy all day.
  • Mind your surroundings. I get so much more done and feel so much better along the way when my environment is bright and healthy. Happy. When the house is tidy, smelling great, and somewhat shiny ( no need for perfection every day), our laundry and ironing are caught up at least for the immediate future, and the middle field is (mostly) scraped clean of manure. Each of these are ongoing systems, of course; but that’s why doing a measurable amount of work every single day matters. And it just feeds the positive inertia.
  • Practice Active Gratitude. Every chance you get, notice small, beautiful details. Train your senses to zero in on beauty. Write that stuff down if you can. Say them aloud, even if you’re alone. Celebrate it! Share your excitement about life with others. At the end of every day, rather than bemoaning what didn’t get done or what could’ve gone better, give thanks. Count instead what went well, what you did accomplish, what grace and mercy were shown to you. Say thank you and smile all day, every day. Remember that your mind and body listen to each other and that life tends to reflect your attitude toward it in what it throws back at you.

Okay, can we chat about positive inertia in a different way?

Weekly Goals Instead of Daily Goals

One new ritual I am playing around with is using a master weekly goals list instead of a daily goals list. I tend to make my daily lists too long anyway. So long, in fact, they take several days to accomplish, so why not just admit that? haha! I tried this new approach last week and it helped so much. Last Monday morning I grabbed one of those ginormous wall-hanging white poster sheets of paper, like what you use on a flip-board for meetings? Using a permanent marker I filled one big page with concrete tasks that needed to be completed before the weekend. Many of them were either time-sensitive or required gradual progress. Not average daily jobs: stuff I would likely forget or procrastinate without some mental supervision. My list was red-inked and packed full and nearly grid-like in symmetry and kind of gorgeous. Since no one else is here to motivate me, this big red list served as my mental supervision, and for some reason it was so much better than a notebook-style planner or small paper on the fridge.

Daily Routine

Every single day I started with lots of coffee and happy chatting and life planning with my guy (Hot Tub Summit still reigns supreme). Then came tidying the house, planning our dinner that night, feeding the animals, and running however many miles my plan called for that day. Then I ate some feel-great food (see above), showered, and started nibbling at the master list. First most important thing first. Each day was a little different with regard to how much time was left after basic work for making progress on my goals, but pretty much Monday through Friday I was “done” and ready to get serious by 10 or 11 am. That lefts six or seven hours to focus before the after-office-evening rituals start with my guy. Well, 6 or 7 hours minus snacks and Facebook. : )

Focus

This approach kept me so focused you would not believe it. I felt more and more excited crossing items off the list each day. I was able to scan everything in one spot, looking for the next most important thing (remember Handsome’s excellent advice?); and my energy stayed strong. It was so great. By Friday afternoon when Maribeth and I hit the road for our conference, only two items remained undone, and I was able to finish those this the weekend. All of this made my little road trip waaaaaaay more enjoyable! It made for a restful, productive Sunday too, and now I am looking forward to writing a new ginormous list for this week.

Multi-task, or no?

One final thought, take it or leave it: I have largely abandoned multi-tasking, except for letting household machines work for me while I am doing something else. (Laundry, dishes, etc. Start those super early and be done with it.) I know multi-tasking used to be wildly popular and may still have its place, but this simpler approach seems to save me tons of time and also yields better results in my projects. No more trying to fulfill Master Gardener social media duties while blogging. No more trying to do beekeepers’ data entry while listening to a podcast. You get the idea. Maybe I can sew while listening to meaty stuff, but that’s about it.

One job at a time is great. And please… let’s soon talk about making more deliberate, life-affirming choices with what those jobs are. I have so many thoughts on choosing life instead of being dragged around by it.

Okay, thanks for checking in friends! Lots happening here at the W, as I am sure you’d say about your corner of paradise. Hope to meet again soon.

Carpe the heck out of those diems!
XOXOXOXO

 

from unfocused to zen

Spring has sprung in Oklahoma, and soon even the stodgy old calendar will agree. My days are filled with worthwhile activity. My heart is brimming with hope and excitement for the immediate future. My mouth actually waters every time I notice a new pink or yellow bloom or that stunning wash of emerald-green in the middle field (which seemed to happen overnight). This week’s soaking rains have rinsed everything so clean, and the breeze is so mild again, that our air has a plump sweetness. It’s delicious. And it carries birdsong in that old, soft cotton, memorized-poem kind of way that we all love so much, especially at daybreak.

My Jane Magnolia has evolved from this just in the few days since I snapped this photo. Now she has almost as much green as pink, and she is gorgeous. Time marches onward!
My Jane Magnolia has evolved from this just in the few days since I snapped this photo. Now she has almost as much green as pink, and she is gorgeous. Time marches onward!

But I haven’t been feeling perfectly springtime-ish every day. Sometimes it takes some effort.

Handsome indulged me early this morning in a little coaching session. Or maybe you’d call it a pep talk or just a nice conversation between husband and wife about life lately. I shared with him that I am feeling a bit scattered, spread too thinly, and unfocused. And what he shared in return was so helpful. I have great respect for him. His words carry a lot of weight in my heart and mind, so his encouragement gave me a much-needed reset. He said to remember that everyone sometimes feels that way when they carry a variety of responsibilities and balance various priorities. (I don’t claim to carry the weight of the world; but I do manage a crazy-quilt lifestyle. It can be, well, crazy.) My guy said calmly that what you do is the first most important thing, then the next, then the next. Stay in control of your time and energy and know that you cannot do all of it all at once and that it is okay to set limits and say no. (I am paraphrasing, but he doesn’t mind.)

Simple, right? But the incoming tide of asks and offers and demands on our time and energy can be so brutal. Sometimes the world sees a person who doesn’t work outside the home and assumes that his or her free time is limitless and energy bottomless. And sometimes these people have a hard time saying no.

Our conversation was like a deep breath of that cool, sweet Oklahoma air. Cleansing. After he left for the Commish I comforted our dog because Klaus pouts for about ten minutes after his Daddy leaves, then I spent an hour doing just the first most important things on my day’s list, without letting my thoughts be pulled in every other direction, and I felt so energized. Soon I had a few minutes to notice again the details of this beautiful morning.

That is what I would add to my husband’s very good advice: When you’re feeling overwhelmed and scattered, start by focusing on small, beautiful details. Aim some of your energy at gratitude and allow your heart to settle on the gifts already at your feet. Then your mind will be more free to zero in on what must be done.

I love this combination approach of focus and gratitude. And articulating it now, I see that it’s a good blend of him and me.

God Bless Hot Tub Summits
XOXOXOXO

marathon monday: sidelined & up in the air

About April. The OKC Memorial Marathon is now seven weeks away. How we jumped from fourteen to seven weeks in just a few hectic days is a mystery to me, but here we are. I have spent the last couple of months in a state of gradually improving physical fitness despite that truly maddening ankle sprain and the attendant stillness that is just not my groove. Life beyond running has been full to bursting with changes and activity too, so it’s no wonder that time has flown. What does this mean for me participating in the April race? Well, maybe the Universe knew it might not be in the cards for me this spring, and that is why around the holidays when registration was cheap I just kept not clicking through and making it happen. I now feel in my guts that a full 26.2 miles is not what my body needs right now. That’s okay. There are other marathons later in the year for which I could train and be really ready. I had resolved last year not to run distance this again unless I was prepared. 2015 was humbling.

So here I am being all rational and peaceful about this conclusion, then Handsome and I drive to Bricktown last night with some friends and I see this view:

open streets

Wide open streets. Barely stormy skies. The Oklahoma City skyline. My gosh. It’s so tempting. I am going to be really sad if I don’t run something at the end of April.

Maybe the half? Back when Tiny T and I finally went to see an orthopedic doctor, I was granted permission to nibble at running short, slow distances, as long as I wore that bionic-woman ankle brace. So I began slowly, grabbing first a mile or two, then ramping up very cautiously to five miles at once then seven. That was about three weeks ago, and I am happy to say that now my weekly mileage is up to around thirteen (total), plus some barre classes or yoga mixed in, and overall my ankle feels wonderful. Sometimes it’s tight or has a stinging sensation, but it’s no longer painful. My follow-up doctor appointment was cancelled because it fell right in the thick middle of some much more important farm business, so I have yet to see the doctor again for that final green light. But I believe when I finally go in he will say, “RUN! Run for your life!” I want this more than Mitt Romney wanted the Presidency.

Okay, April. Fast forward through my convoluted brain process to this:

I’m okay with not being fast right now, which is the goal I had set for myself last autumn. I’m okay with postponing a marathon until later in 2016. But…Is seven weeks enough time to both get in the shape I crave (so I’m not dieting during race week) and prepare for a good, solid half marathon?

According to this Hal Higdon Training Program, yeah, probably it is. This is a totally reachable goal, and a lot of great stuff can happen in seven weeks.

So. It’s Monday. My plan is to dive deep into the second half of that half marathon training program and be kind to my body along the way (food, water, vitamins, stretches, positive affirmations). I will also call to set a follow-up appointment to check my tight, stinging ankle, and we’ll go from there. If racing even just the half is not in my cards this spring, it’s totally fine. The OKC Memorial has hundreds of volunteer opportunities that sound really amazing, and I would be very happy to participate that way too.

In the mean time, I know a few people running the Boston Marathon soon and I am VERY excited for them!! Most of all a local friend Robin, who in my mind is the Comeback Queen. So amazing. With her permission I might share some of those training updates soon.

Thanks for listening, friends! Obviously this is a big deal to me, haha. What races are you planning this year? How are you keeping in shape, mentally and physically? Do you ever see a wide open city street and fantasize about running it?

Run for Your Life
XOXOXOXO