Lazy W Marie

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

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literary saturday may 27, 2017

Hello, and good Saturday morning to you! I am up extra early, caffienating and foam rolling before a little group run with friends in Midwest City. I have another running meet-up planned for early Sunday morning, too. Twice in one weekend? Who am I?

Besides starting two of our long-weekend days with running, my guy and I have some fun stuff coming up. Lots of sunshine-related fun stuff. Hopefully fewer wasp stings than we had yesterday (because can we all agree than one is enough). A sushi group date. A bonfire party. Some movie watching, to be sure. More sunshine. Less cerebral books than I have chosen lately.

The gardens are lush and making progress. I could be very happy spending several hours out there, “puttering” as my grandparents used to say, and adding another block of seed to the Three Sisters market garden.

In case you are up on Saturday morning with some great coffee and an appetite for reading, here are a few sweet spots on the internet:

This mini modern bohemian space in Philly, via Apartment Therapy. So nice. Plants like a jungle. Natural light. Colorful artwork. Did you see that tiny kitchen, but so neat and tidy? And the blue velvet sofa? And the interior brick wall? And the iron bracket, open shelving? It’s all a small version of my favorite aesthetics here in the farmhouse Apartment. And the smallness and coziness remind me so much of my daughter’s cabin in Colorado. Nice.

(( she has added a fridge & made some cool changes since this photo was taken ))

I am a sucker for research into and advice on how diet affects us, inside and out, physically and otherwise. This article at The Chalkboard shines some light on Omega fats and how they could impact our moods.

Nester shared a guest post by her friend Tsh titled, “When You Love to Travel & You Love Being at Home.” I thought it was written directly to me, ha. Then I read the article and was entranced by this woman’s life story. So fascinating! As different as our lives have been, she offers lots of relatable insight. I happened to read this close to some travels of our own, which was nice.

Travel is the one thing you can buy that makes you richer.

(( oh new orleans… xoxo ))

I love the Bon Appetit network of media. They pack both their website and magazine full of great ideas and gorgeous photography. And so upbeat! This article, though, especially got to me. The woman’s smile first caught my attention, then the title: “Transplanting Traditions Farm, a Place Where Refugees can Grow a Bit of Home.” Oh man. This is amazing. And inspiring. And humbling.

Have you noticed that inspiration almost always comes as a package deal with humility?

I have a still very long list of good reading to share, but the skies are brightening up a bit. Time to move on. Can we talk about S-Town, soon? Also a book called Lincoln in the Bardo? And Kite Runner? Okay thanks. I am a mess over them all.

Happy Saturday!! Tell me something you’ve been reading!

XOXOXOXO

endurance diet (book review)

Hey friends, happy Motivation/ Marathon Monday! This week I have an on-topic book for you to consider: The Endurance Diet by Matt Fitzgerald.

I’ve been lauding it on Facebook and Instagram for a few weeks, and my husband and friends have endured (get it?) my overflowing commentary since reading it. Thought it was time to begin laying out my thoughts.

Whether you are…

  • a long distance runner or other type of endurance athlete,
  • a curious exerciser who wants to finally figure out the nutrition part of the wellness puzzle,
  • an exhausted dieter who is pretty much DONE with diet culture,
  • or someone who lives with and loves such a person,

…you have a lot to gain from reading this slim book.  

First, let’s clarify that despite its title this book is not really a “diet book,” not in the traditional trendy fad/ quick weight loss/ make some money and sell some protein shakes kind of way. It’s all science and anthropology. Just a smart collection and analysis of best practices, eating habits that have coincidentally been working well for the world’s most successful endurance athletes. The author is a professional running coach and sports nutritionist and early on takes great pains to explain his research process. I groove this.

I stumbled onto The Endurance Diet by accident. During those weeks I was injured and taking a frustrated break from running, I listened to a podcast about dealing with and preventing injuries like mine, and the author happened to be the guest that day. He and the host just grabbed my attention. They dovetailed into a conversation about eating well to support the hard work of training, and how the elites do it all. I listened raptly, took notes between ironing my husband’s shirts, and once the book was mentioned, excitedly ordered it. Paperback, so I could write notes in it, because Know thyself, right? Ha.

As soon as the book arrived in our turquoise mailbox I cracked it open and could scarcely put it down until the final page. It was a pleasant, head-nodding read, largely I think because of the variety in each chapter. Fitzgerald mixes an array of instruction and bullet points, scientific explanation, personal anecdotes, and case studies about actual endurance athletes from all around the globe. That last part was so much fun. I got a big kick out of learning little bits abut other cultures’ food options, morning drink rituals, native grains and farming traditions, etcetera. Fascinating stuff. As I read the stories about other people’s experiences (injury and recovery, weight gain and how they fixed it, depletion versus vitality), deep thoughts and life lessons started clicking into place. I actually looked back at my old running journals and saw lots of similar observations. I noticed familiar lines about how certain modes of eating and exercising had made me feel and perform, both the good and the bad. It was all highly relatable.

OKC marathon 2015, aka “The Crying Games” because my body had revolted against my combination of dieting for weight loss and marathon training. Look at my sweet friends.

This is a point worth stressing: The fact that a below-average exerciser like me can glean the same wisdom offered to elite competitors is cool. Fitzgerald writes repeatedly that what is good for the highest level athlete is also good for most people’s general health and well being. These are not extreme-condition pieces of advice. I love that.

One of the most valuable themes throughout The Endurance Diet is the gentle pressing of a positive food ethos. The inside-out importance of seeing food as not only fuel (of course it is) but also pleasure and a means of connection (of course it is!). The key ingredient, he teaches, is trusting your own body and its complex regulating systems, which, once healed from misuse, will always be more reliable than any external plan or set of rules.

This articulation has been a long time coming for me. I don’t think I have had an eating disorder, not truly, but I have for years tortured my mind and body with negative thinking and unsustainable rules. If this book has had a single measurable benefit for me, it could simply be escape from calorie counting once and for all. I’ll keep you posted.

So. I am not pushing a “diet to lose weight” book onto my friends. Pinky promise. I am suggesting a book aimed at relearning the power of natural nutrition for endurance sports and the amazing (almost magical) ways our own bodies can regulate and heal themselves. I’m really excited to have found a simpler way to view this part of the big wellness puzzle and am hopeful that I can take another stab at long distance running without making those weird mistakes I made in 2015.

Okay. If you’re still with me, here are some specific takeaways:

The book offers habits, not rules, and just 5 of them:

  1. Eat everything.
  2. Eat quality.
  3. Eat carb-centered.
  4. Eat enough.
  5. Eat individually.

The book reinforces the myriad benefits of a good cardiovascular exercise program, whether you are a competitive athlete, an “age-grouper,” or a health-conscious human being:

  1. reduces body fat levels
  2. strengthens the heart
  3. improves circulation
  4. helps the body absorb and adapt to stress
  5. improves metabolic efficiency
  6. sharpens the nervous system
  7. boosts muscular fatigue resistance

The book identifies “endurance super foods,” though the author balks at such labels. The list of 22 items was accessible, too, plus affordable. I feel so grateful to naturally crave good-for-you nourishment!  Seventeen of the foods already make constant rotation here in our kitchen, and only one of these 22 foods was foreign to me, Teff.

  1. almonds
  2. bananas
  3. beets
  4. black beans
  5. brown rice
  6. cherries
  7. coffee
  8. corn
  9. eggs
  10. garlic
  11. olive oil
  12. peanut butter
  13. potatoes
  14. red wine
  15. salmon (or lox)
  16. spinach
  17. sweet potatoes
  18. tea
  19. Teff
  20. tomatoes
  21. tuna
  22. yogurt

Every part of the book makes a big deal out of individualizing your plan, listening to your own body daily, and honoring your actual daily needs, personal chemistry, happiness, and health above and beyond any external motivations. This is huge. I appreciate this so much, as it is something my husband and I (and recently some good friends) had already been discussing for months.

I mentioned the exciting possibility that this book may have nudged me once and for all away from calorie-counting. What the author offers as a stand-in might be of interest to you, though I actually feel relaxed and informed enough now to move forward without it: Fitzgerald separates foods into “high-quality” and “low-quality” and then into sub-categories for each. From there he offers a scoring system that helps you evaluate your daily eats then zero in on ways to make smart substitutions. He sells a phone app, if you’re interested, too. Each food group is worth up to 2 points depending on how often you eat it that day, and the maximum score is something like 28.

High-quality Foods:

  1. Vegetables
  2. Fruits
  3. Nuts, seeds, & oils
  4. Unprocessed meats & seafood
  5. Whole grains
  6. Dairy

Low-Quality Foods, largely made popular during the Industrial Era:

  1. Refined grains
  2. Sweets
  3. Processed meats
  4. Fried foods

(You know, if I continue sharing all of my many notes, this review will end up being longer than the book itself. Ha.)

If you are a long-distance runner, swimmer, or cyclist and this topic is interesting to you, I highly encourage you to read this book. A lot of the content seems like common sense, and Fitzgerald himself admits that; but it is gathered in a compelling way and is supported by all kinds of satisfying explanation.

I feel so refreshed to understand now precisely why certain efforts have failed. I feel excited to test out less dieting and more intuitive eating. Motivated to view my food as absorption for challenging workouts.

I will check back in after a month or so of this effort and let you know how I feel. In the midst of it all I am training for a trail half marathon, too, so I am really happy about the prospect of feeling great during these coming weeks. (Upcoming post on injury recovery and some little things that have helped!)

Gotta go. Thanks so much for sticking it out through a super long book review! If you read The Endurance Diet, let me know what you think!

“…but in the real world, the healthiest and fittest people,
including elite endurance athletes, follow a few basic rules of eating
and let the details take care of themselves.”
~Matt Fitzgerald
XOXOXOXO

 

friday 5 at the farm: feel good meals this week

Happy Friday!! Lots to celebrate over here. Lots of good stuff to press again into our flesh so it becomes more a part of us. 

 

Yesterday I got to nourish my soul as much as my body by gobbling up two hours of top-shelf conversation with my cousin Jen. Actually our moms are cousins. More importantly, we are friends and have been since we were little girls.

 

Jen and me at Roman Nose state park, circa the 80’s. Climbing rocks in flip flops? Since this is a food post, I will tell you that I clearly remember eating cottage cheese with pineapple that day, on a bed of lettuce. We also roasted hot dogs.

I am always so grateful to grab time with this woman. She lives in Colorado now, not far from Jocelyn. Needless to say, we have some fun activities planned for my next drive up.

I love you Jen!! Thanks for sharing your heart and your cake. 

 

 

Real quick, five meals that made me feel great this past week. 

I do not “meal-prep” in the traditional hashtag sense of the word, though I admire those of you who do. How fun to see what other people eat, especially folks with similar goals and lifestyles. For us, I just plan loose menus aiming for as many vegetables as I can find, some lean-ish protein, eggs, fruits, good grains and cereals, and, okay, copious amounts of caffeine. Also popcorn.

Close observers might notice a conspicuous absence of tortilla chips these days. Just an experiment to see I die from not eating them?

When I hydrate completely and nourish myself with just a little intention, I always feel better. Happier, more energetic, stronger for good consecutive days of running and farm chores, sleepier at night, comfier with life in general.

Handsome feels better with good habits, too. He and I eat the same more than our friends might believe. I might eat slightly bigger salads than he does, and he might like potatoes more than I do, but otherwise? Like 67.814% the same.

Onward!

 

1. Apple Oats & Strong Coffee with Full Fat Half and Half, no sugar: I ate this late Tuesday morning after running nine miles, six with my friend Sheila and three solo. I was cold, wet, happy, and pleasantly depleted. I got home and craved something sweet. Normally I put runny eggs in my plain oats, but this day a Granny Smith apple was perfect. Loads of cinnamon. I was at max energy for hours. And behold the extreme volume of froth on that coffee, thanks to my $1.79 IKEA gadget. Obsessed. 335 calories, 68 carbs, 3 fat, 12 protein.

 

2. Roasted Broccoli with Quinoa, Lean Ground Beef, & a Parsley Mountain: A few cups of broccoli thawed and roasted, a nice sized patty of lean ground beef, and a hefty scoop of quinoa-wild rice mix. I smothered all of it with fresh parsley and added mustard instead of salad dressing. I was so full and content. 537 calories, 15 fat, 55 carbs, 53 protein.

3. The Egghead at Red Cup: Thursday was lunch with Jen. We met in OKC at the Red Cup, an adorable, artsy coffee shop that has evolved nicely over the last couple of decades. First I ate this picturesque sandwich you see here, and washed it down with some pretty decent French Press coffee. The bread was marbled rye, and the good stuff inside was a fluffy egg or two, avocado slices, some salad type things, and maybe a smear of hummus? Delicious. No exact nutrition data to share, but I felt great after eating it and had energy all afternoon. See below for our dessert…

4. Vegan Peach Cake: Jen and I nibbled together on this cold, fluffy, nutty, fruity mound of indulgence in between updating each other on our lives lately, our hearts’ desires, and what books we both have read. We made this cake last a long while, man! And by the end of our two-hour lunch, still half of it remained on the plate. Not because it wasn’t good, because it was. It was just so dense. And we were both already so full from our actual food! Yum. 

5. Green Salad with Broccoli Slaw & Sirloin: Have you ever tried a baggie of that raw broccoli slaw from the produce department? I grabbed one a few days ago for a great price and have to admit, I love the convenience. I recently saw the idea of using these tiny veggies slivers in a stir fry, which I will eventually do. So far, on a “big salad” night I just added about half a cup of it, plain and raw, to a bed of chopped romaine and tomato, topped it with several ounces of petit sirloin and some vinaigrette, and called it a huge win. I ate a big handful of “air-fryer” russet potato fries afterwards, too. Yum. 464 calories, 38 carbs, 15 fat, 42 protein. 

Food regrets this week? Nope. We were well fed and happy every day, for which I am grateful. I feel super fortunate.

Wednesday night we ate that slightly famous homemade Chick-Fil-A pan-fried “pickle chicken,” this time on toasted hamburger buns, and I added cheese and peppers to mine. This dish did not make my top 5, but it was really good. I call it an extra win because I relaxed enough to enjoy every bite despite not being able to run that day. Still, let’s not discuss nutrition on that. Thanks. : )

Let’s admire a llama instead.

Meh the llama wondering why I take so many pictures of him.
Meh returning to his lunch of dried pine needles.
Klaus pouncing like a kangaroo to interrupt the pine needle lunch, actually having underestimated Meh’s agility. Yet again. The fight was short and sweet.

Why is food so fun to talk about?

Time for my long run! And then one already nicely assembled weekend about to launch. Gotta go.

xoxoxoxo

motivation monday: january fitness so far

Hey hey, it’s Monday! A fabled day for fresh starts and checking in on goals. Let’s review life lately.

I paused just after the holidays to take stock of my health and well being and was pleasantly surprised to be not too freaked out. After enjoying my fair share of December decadence and inactivity, I fluffed up but only a little. For the first time in my adult life I started the year with not so much regret and self loathing but rather just a craving for better food and more sweat. Easy. Simply time to get smoothly back in a groove.

Okay.

January 2-8: Ran just 16.5 sluggish miles total due to some painfully cold, windy weather but added in two cardio barre sessions plus my first aerial yoga class, which was so fun!! After a week of eating better food (more veggies, no sweets) I was feeling more like myself. For the first week of January I just aimed to gradually increase good energy and keep everything in balance with the rest of life. The phrase sustainable healthy habits has been floating in my head. 

We spent lots of extra time playing in the snow, though, which was magical., xoxo
We spent lots of extra time playing in the snow, though, which was magical. xoxo

January 9-15: Ran 38.47 total miles, and my mind and body were much more comfortable this week. Thanks to my new Garmin I am getting a grip on my actual average pace and heart rate fluctuations, which is fun, if slightly too easy to get obsessed with. I was joking with a friend recently that first I was obsessed with my weight, then my long distance ability, then my pace, and now I think about being skinny and running fast and far but with a low HR. If it’s measurable, it’s never enough. Ha. 

  One day this week was really exciting. While running 400m repeats I felt this deep surge of energy andtook off on a straight path, hitting a 6:05 pace over and over. So thrilling! My belly had that sparkler effect going on, do you know what I mean? A completely different runner’s high than long distance endorphins. When I laced up that day I only intended to run off some stress; the speed work was a pleasant surprise, and to boot I met a local girl who is training for her first marathon in April, yay! Hopefully we’ll bump into each other again soon.


garmin 6 C

Besides running, this past week I grabbed a couple of hours of cardio barre (just internet videos I follow at home, I have decided this is much better for my body than even light weightlifting) plus one more aerial yoga class, which was even more of a workout than the week before. If you can find an aerial yoga studio in your town, runners, give it a try. Such a great full body stretch, and what an incredible upper body strength challenge. WOW. Meredith and I go to OKC for our third class tonight. Yesssss…

aerial girls C

 

Food Notes: Among so many healthy and delicious meals lately, one accidental combination stands out: I assembled a plate of two cooked eggs (omelette style, not quite scrambled) with a sliced raw pear, an ounce of mozzarella cheese, and a pile of good dark green lettuce. The lettuce was dressed with lemon juice and just a scant half tablespoon of olive oil and lots of black pepper and sea salt (my favorite salad dressing, ever). The olive oil pooled beneath everything, which made the eggs extra decadent and the last few bites of raw pear something otherworldly. Those few pear slices were coated with olive oil and black pepper, slick and flavorful and mouthwatering. Delicious. So good. This accident will become a repeat performer.

  By the way, Genevieve and I are on a mission to prove that any good entree can be translated to a salad. Omelette with pear on the side? Yes. Adding it to the list. Sushi? The jury is hung on a lettuce technicality.

This Coming Week: Monica from Run Eat Repeat has been hosting a fun and informational daily running camp which has been fun, so going forward I’ll continue to check in with her. I’m also planning to run more or less according to this Hal Higdon advanced marathon training plan (today begins week four). Loving raw kale and chicken breast. Loving eggs and Greek yogurt. Junk food cravings are fading to the background, happily. Loving cardio barre and of course aerial yoga. Loving lots of time playing outside and getting a grip on our many farm projects for 2017. I feel like January is starting off pretty great.

I hope your month has started well too, and I hope that whatever plan you are following to feel good bodily that it also helps you feel good emotionally. That matters. 

And with that, I am off to start this day!

“A feeble body weakens the mind.”
~Jean Jacques Rousseau
XOXOXOXO

 

 

training for but not running a marathon

Hello there, happy Monday-eve!

Tomorrow is Marathon Monday, the first of many in 2017.

For my first fitness/running/marathon post of the new year, I would like to share some thoughts on last summer and fall, those many weeks spent training for but ultimately not running Route 66 in Tulsa. Even if you are not a runner, I hope you’ll find this interesting and maybe even useful. No secret that running is as much a lifestyle as a sport. If you are a runner, I would love to hear your perspective, too. 

 

run-windmill

For the sake of keeping good life records and answering the obvious question, why did I train but not race?

I started last year’s spring marathon season with a pretty bad ankle sprain and had to skip the OKC April event completely. My high hopes of redemption after the 2015 Crying Games were, well, dashed.

My ankle thankfully healed in time to make a fun June trip to Colorado and get in some amazing hikes with Jocelyn plus run lots of hilly miles there, all of which served to kick off a brand new training season.

Joc & Bridge xoxo Best hiking guides on earth
Joc & Bridge xoxo Best hiking guides on earth

My imagination was set on the Tulsa full in mid-November, but I never registered for it. I just had this vague feeling that it wasn’t right. I did run consistently all summer, though, and into autumn, following my chosen plan pretty strictly. 

It was so great. I felt better than I had felt in all the three or so years of running so far. I even lost some weight without dieting and had energy to spare.

handstand-w-velvet-oct-2016

None of that low-energy-black-under-your-eyes-carb-starvation nonsense like in 2015. Let’s never do that again, okay? Okay. 

Then as the temperatures dropped and our leaves fell in earnest, I woke up one day with a nasty case of strep throat. Handsome joined the germy, high-fever club so we loaded our systems up with antibiotics and slept for a few days. 

Eventually we felt good enough to shake it off and visit Jocelyn again, this time during the week that would have been spent tapering. My thoughts were torn between “I should really get some miles in just in case,” and also, “Man I am glad I didn’t pay for the registration already!”

Funny side note: I had good reason to believe Handsome was surprising me with a race BIB as an early Christmas gift. I hated to ruin the surprise if this was the case, but I had to know. What a deep, amazing relief it was when he said no. He had considered it but could tell that my race enthusiasm had waned. Okay, side note over.

I also happened to get a bizarre and disturbing case of extreme altitude sickness that weekend and only barely hiked once or twice. No running at all, much different from every previous trip to EP. We assumed the antibiotics and some dehydration had weakened me considerably. Oh well.

hh-training-2016-c

Pretty cool, if you ask me, how that running chapter of 2016 was book-ended with visits to Colorado. 

Okay. The take-aways. What are some benefits of training for a marathon even if you don’t run the race?

Perhaps the most beautiful thing about marathon training is how much of an adventure it is. You know that saying, that a marathon is just the final 26 miles of a journey that is hundreds of miles long? Very true. And along that journey a runner learns plenty about himself, his life, and the world at large. This past season was my third such journey, and here is what I walked away with, despite not earning a finisher’s medal: 

  1. Gratitude Interrupts Anxiety. Exactly as with every other kind of anxiety in life, gratitude has the power to sort of melt running anxiety and overshadow it. Gratitude for strong ankles, gratitude for healthy food to keep you energetic, gratitude for time available to dedicate to running, gratitude for pleasant (or at least bearable) weather. Gratitude for the people who inspire and encourage us. Gratitude for every goal met and every lesson learned when we don’t meet those goals. Gratitude for faster speeds and slower heart rates. Gratitude for comfortable shoes and good music. Gratitude for jeans that fit better than before and foam rollers that hurt so good and cold, sweet watermelon. Millions of big and little things for which to give thanks along this 18-week running journey. Let your thankful heart lead the way on the days you don’t think you can do it. You really, really can.
  2. Run While You Can. During the sprained-ankle months I sat around pretty depressed and pouting like a child, ha. Not being free to run leaked some funky negative energy into my life and into our home, into all of my projects. So when the day finally came that I was free to nibble at a mile here and there, everything seemed right in the world again. The positive energy quickly gained momentum. That contrast of emotion was useful later, when inevitably I felt challenged by a workout or pressed for time. I was able to remember how much worse it is not be able to run at all. Every opportunity to lace up is a gift. Run while you can, if you love it, because you never know when you’ll have to take a break or for how long. Carpe diem.One day while I was driving to Harrah to run, this lime and this avocado rolled across the floorboard of my car. I did not buy them. How they got in my car is a mystery. A delicious, vitamin-packed mystery. Had they been there since 1963 when the car was built? No one knows. I sliced them and added them to a really big green salad topped also with grilled steak. The End.
  3. Solitude is Powerful. I ran with local friends three or four times between June and November, and I thoroughly enjoyed each meeting! But most of my weeks were spent running alone, which was quite fruitful. Privacy in the midst of a hectic farm and family schedule helped me reset my nerves and reorder my thoughts. Forty-five minutes or an hour and a half on average weekday mornings gave me energy to work around the farm all day; it cleared my head early. And those 16-20 mile runs on Fridays felt like little emotional retreats. I looked forward to them as well as to the recoveries that must follow. Long runs on Fridays always made for super happy weekends. Mental freedom, baby. It counts for so much.treadmill
  4. Persistence Gave Me Speed! That was a pleasant surprise, especially in the thick of a hot, humid Oklahoma summer. I privately nibbled away at a few progressive goals and was thrilled one week to run 12.5 miles in 1:41. That was an unofficial PR, and I was elated for hours. Days. It definitely gave me the spark that I could get better with more focus, and in 2017 I intend to do just that.
  5. Long Term Goals are Totally Worth Having. I forget this sometimes, getting overwhelmed by the enormity of hard things in life, and I allow that sensation of smallness to paralyze me, believing that things are impossible or hopeless. (Which is weird, right? For someone who professes so much about positive thinking? But that’s a whole other conversation.) With running as a life metaphor, let’s remember that the structure of a well chosen plan is refreshing and wildly effective. It provides a base for time management, something good around which you can arrange the rest of your hours and days. It propels you to start small with what you can already do then add more and more as you improve. Progressively. Gradually. A smart plan gets you to your goal, but it also enriches and builds you along the way. Like magic, really.

    My long-run jelly-bracelet trick before I got my cool new Garmin. Each one represented 1.5 miles. Fun!
    My long-run jelly-bracelet trick before I got my cool new Garmin.
  6. Addictive Personalities Can be Harnessed for Good. Haha, my friend Meredith and I were chatting about this recently. Handsome and I also tease each other about being “addictive” and “OCD.” If like us you too have an addictive personality, running might be a smart way to harness that particular energy. When I am running a lot of miles I notice a special chillness in the rest of my life. It’s like, if I can apply a measure of obsession to my training plan, then I can go about the rest of my routine smiling and relaxed, energetic, drained of stress and frenzy. The phrase we toss around is “Let it be your servant, not your master,” which can be a delicate balance. But I finally see for my own life that putting running toward the top of my priorities does serve my life. It lets everything else fall into place beautifully. (Four years ago I would have called you crazy for suggesting this. xoxo)

  7. Save Some Big Bucks. Ha, I mean honestly, races are expensive, right? The entry fee, the travel costs, the extra bananas and PASTA!! LOL. Cash in our pocket, I suppose. More gardening money. I am kidding a little, but the fact is that even without a keepsake medal or BIB, even without the race experience (which is admittedly pretty amazing), those long runs are still so good. The weeks are still intensely satisfying. You can be a happy, healthy runner in private and save some money. I have not yet discovered any laws against this.

run-treadmill-boys

Well friends, those are about as distilled as my thoughts on this topic are going to get. Seven pretty wonderful things I have internalized after training for but not running a big race. I feel so happy! Fortified in many ways. Ready to tackle new pursuits this year.

I got about 50 packages of sour cherry sports beans for Christmas. Better than candy in my book! Bring on those long runs.
Yay for a whole case of sour cherry sports beans instead of Christmas candy!

Thank you so much, friends, for reading and for sharing your thoughts. I love getting to know people this way.

Thank you to Handsome for secretly almost registering me in the Tulsa full as an early Christmas surprise but also for being sensitive enough to his wife’s nuanced behavior to know she wasn’t ready. For a non-runner, he is pretty tuned in. xoxo

Happy New Running Year!!
Enjoy the Journey
XOXOXOXO