I have a friend who has been trying to convince me to run in the Missoula Marathon this summer and while I applaud her efforts and all of the determined people who will run in a marathon, I am (at this moment in my life) completely uninterested in doing one myself. In fact, when I lay my head on my pillow at night I often feel like I have run a marathon -- my own four kid version. Right now I am excited to do my own non-pressured little thing -- if I am lucky, three decent runs a week. This week there have been no runs for this lady -- still working on recovering from a nasty cough that plagues our whole family. But I did watch a really good PBS documentary that I grabbed at the library as I was chasing my screaming two year old daughter through the DVD area. I highly recommend Marathon Challenge, a Nova special that tracked a group of 13 sedentary people who joined Nova's team and trained for nine months in order run in the 2007 Boston Marathon.
The show is filled with personal dramas as well as scientific facts about the way bodies respond as they are transformed from couch potatoes into marathon runners.
Here is a link: http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/body/marathon-challenge.html
On the reading subject, anyone got any good books to recommend? On that same mad dash through the library, I grabbed The Cookbook Collector by Allegra Goodman. Started it but can't say it commands my attention yet. Any recommendations???? What is they best thing you've read recently?
Have a great weekend! Here is to good health and the end of chorus of coughing in my house! I need to get back up in those North Hills!
Friday, April 29, 2011
Thursday, April 28, 2011
Finding Your Center
Day two of my life as a blogger! Who knew? In the middle of the night laying awake with one of the various coughing children in my house, I started thinking about ideas for the blog -- themes to consider, ideas to hash out, directions to take. It kind of felt like being up on my favorite trail in the North Hills trying to decide what route to take -- the long, meandering trail; the short, get-her done favorite loop; a trail I have never tried before?
The comments and e-mails I got about the first post made me think about the ways we all try to find out center. Some of you might not be runners at all and that doesn't matter. What I find interesting is the personal challenge of keeping one's life in some sort of balance. There are plenty of things that we all struggle against from managing a household, to that ridiculous pile of laundry to be folded and put away, to financial stress, to the crazy developmental stages of our children, to worry about our loved ones, to health issues, to the ups and downs of friendships and relationships. Finding a sense of balance and the attempt to maintain that balance is a lifelong effort. Maybe you hike, maybe you run, maybe you do yoga, maybe you pray or meditate, maybe you paint or sculpt or play golf. What you do is not really the point. Doing it is the point. Finding the time and motivation and energy to do what is necessary to keep find your center in spite of life's ups and downs -- that is my point.
Interestingly, a reoccurring theme in several books I've read recently is the fall out that occurs for people when they can't find their center and how that impacts their lives and relationships. I am thinking mainly about the characters in Freedom by Johnathan Franzen.
Well, my four year old seems to think that I have spent enough time on the computer now. So, spell check, quick edit and send this out into the world.
By the way, it is cool to know that this blog was read on three different continents yesterday!
How do you find your center?
How do you know when your have lost it?
It is easy to make comments once you set up a gmail account. I'd love to hear your thoughts! Maybe this blog is becoming a way for me to find my center?
The comments and e-mails I got about the first post made me think about the ways we all try to find out center. Some of you might not be runners at all and that doesn't matter. What I find interesting is the personal challenge of keeping one's life in some sort of balance. There are plenty of things that we all struggle against from managing a household, to that ridiculous pile of laundry to be folded and put away, to financial stress, to the crazy developmental stages of our children, to worry about our loved ones, to health issues, to the ups and downs of friendships and relationships. Finding a sense of balance and the attempt to maintain that balance is a lifelong effort. Maybe you hike, maybe you run, maybe you do yoga, maybe you pray or meditate, maybe you paint or sculpt or play golf. What you do is not really the point. Doing it is the point. Finding the time and motivation and energy to do what is necessary to keep find your center in spite of life's ups and downs -- that is my point.
Interestingly, a reoccurring theme in several books I've read recently is the fall out that occurs for people when they can't find their center and how that impacts their lives and relationships. I am thinking mainly about the characters in Freedom by Johnathan Franzen.
Well, my four year old seems to think that I have spent enough time on the computer now. So, spell check, quick edit and send this out into the world.
By the way, it is cool to know that this blog was read on three different continents yesterday!
How do you find your center?
How do you know when your have lost it?
It is easy to make comments once you set up a gmail account. I'd love to hear your thoughts! Maybe this blog is becoming a way for me to find my center?
Wednesday, April 27, 2011
Entering into the Unknown
I have never blogged. I have hardly even read other blogs. I am, in short, a complete novice! But here I go...... What do I hope to accomplish with this blog? My goal is to keep track of two passions that sustain and nourish me in my busy life as a mother of four kids ages nine and under -- running and reading. These solitary pursuits help me find my center. I have often wished that I kept a journal of the books I've read so I could look back and reflect (or at least have proof). Maybe this blog will serve as a sort of online book club with friends who share these same passions. Not so sure when I will find the time to write posts but today I choose to dive in and go for it. Every journey starts with a single step.
After a long break from running -- I.T. band problems and two pregnancies presented challenges -- I am out on the Missoula's trails again. Last year, around the time of my 40th birthday, inspiration came from my husband,who was getting very into trail running and coming home with that runners high, and a friend who was training for the Missoula Marathon. A non-exerciser who claimed to never have worked out to the point of sweat, this friend faced the daunting challenge of running a marathon. I was a former trail runner who had switched over to hikes and bi-weekly strength training sessions at a local gym. I worked out with a few great moms and found muscles I never knew I had, but as I drove home and passed people out running, I longed to join them. That awesome friend gave me a gift certificate for running shoes and suggested the Couch to 5K running program. This gradual program helped me find my stride again. Now, a little over a year later I am happy to report that I have returned to my favorite trails in the North Hills and am choosing to take the longer routes with more hills and different inspiring views.
So that is the running part. Now onto the reading element of the blog. Somehow I squeeze in reading time after the kids go to sleep (or secretly when I should be folding laundry). Whenever I am feeling off kilter it is usually because I haven't been making time to read (or run). Recently I enjoyed Freedom by Johnathan Franzen, Brooklyn by Colm Toibin, Abide With Me by Elizabeth Strout, and Truth and Beauty by Ann Patchett. It seems like the overarching theme of all of these books is compassionate look at flawed human beings. More on the books in later posts. Now I need to return to my day (and night) job as mama to many.
What are you reading?
What great runs have you been taking?
What challenges are you facing?
After a long break from running -- I.T. band problems and two pregnancies presented challenges -- I am out on the Missoula's trails again. Last year, around the time of my 40th birthday, inspiration came from my husband,who was getting very into trail running and coming home with that runners high, and a friend who was training for the Missoula Marathon. A non-exerciser who claimed to never have worked out to the point of sweat, this friend faced the daunting challenge of running a marathon. I was a former trail runner who had switched over to hikes and bi-weekly strength training sessions at a local gym. I worked out with a few great moms and found muscles I never knew I had, but as I drove home and passed people out running, I longed to join them. That awesome friend gave me a gift certificate for running shoes and suggested the Couch to 5K running program. This gradual program helped me find my stride again. Now, a little over a year later I am happy to report that I have returned to my favorite trails in the North Hills and am choosing to take the longer routes with more hills and different inspiring views.
So that is the running part. Now onto the reading element of the blog. Somehow I squeeze in reading time after the kids go to sleep (or secretly when I should be folding laundry). Whenever I am feeling off kilter it is usually because I haven't been making time to read (or run). Recently I enjoyed Freedom by Johnathan Franzen, Brooklyn by Colm Toibin, Abide With Me by Elizabeth Strout, and Truth and Beauty by Ann Patchett. It seems like the overarching theme of all of these books is compassionate look at flawed human beings. More on the books in later posts. Now I need to return to my day (and night) job as mama to many.
What are you reading?
What great runs have you been taking?
What challenges are you facing?
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