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11/12/2012

I choose running

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Nothing in life is permanent.  While this is extraordinarily sad sometimes, it is true.  I have experienced this the hard way.  I have lost best friends, family members, and seen incredible suffering.  Life can be very very tough. Sometimes, I feel like I am too young to understand this.  But, it is what it is.

Life is also wonderful and amazing.  I have been blessed with incredible joy and good fortune.  I am surrounded by amazing family and friends.

Over the course of my lifetime, I have learned to let go.  I understand the nature of control.  Life to me is like being in the ocean.  Sometimes it is just perfect and I can catch that big wave and ride it in.  Other times I have been pummelled by surf and dragged by the tide.

When I was a teenager, I was surfing and I saw that I was going to be hit by a huge wave.  I went to duck under the wave.  I did not go under water fast enough and my board cord got wrapped around my neck.  I was held underwater and couldn't move. I relaxed and got dragged in to the beach by the wave and the board by my neck.  I was ok, but I had a big huge red ligature mark around my neck- it looked like I tried to hang myself.  I instinctively knew to relax.  Relax and let go or drown and be killed.  It was scary but I knew that if I fought the surf I would not survive.

When I was about 6 years old, my parents took us to Ocean City, Maryland.  We went to the beach and the surf was huge.  I knew how to swim, but had not spent much time in the ocean riding the waves yet. My father asked me if I wanted to bodysurf and I eagerly agreed.  We went in the water, he showed my how to swim with the wave and catch it.  I did as I was told and I got pummeled.  My little body was tossed up in the air, I swallowed copious amounts of water, and I was forcefully dragged to the beach by the wave.  I got up, looked at my father, and looked at my mother and saw a look of horror on her face.  I brushed my hair out of my face and asked to do it again.

I think this was a very harsh way to learn about swimming in the ocean but it saved my life years later. I learned to relax and let go. But, something else became apparent on that day.  My wicked and twisted side was showing through.  That wave pummeled my 6 year old body. But after it was done, I wanted to do it again.  Did I want to do it because it was fun?  No way. In retrospect, I believe I wanted to go back into that water to chase the thrill.  I was chasing the thrill of something that beat me.  I needed to conquer those waves.  I needed to learn to work with the tide and use that fierceness to bring myself to victory.

This is where running comes in. Most of my life is out of my control. The only thing I can control is my own reactions and behavior.  When I'm on the trail its me and the dirt.  Hills have darn near killed me. I've gotten my butt handed after tripping over a root I didn't see. But, I brush off and get back up.  I can control that.  I can control how I deal with the stuff that comes my way when I'm running.

I attribute my DNF (did not finish) during this summer's 100 miler to crappy circumstances.  I was healthy, hydrated, fed but things happened that I couldn't control and it affected my time.  This lit a fire in me that I don't believe existed before.  I will never quit in a race, quit on family and friends, or quit on life in general. I will hang on and do the right thing and what needs to be done in that moment until I am physically unable to do so.

Everybody needs something. You've got to have something to hold on to when it all hits the fan.  It's way to easy to fall into addictions and negative patterns of behavior and pretend things aren't real when it gets to painful.  My something is running.  I choose running.  I choose the trails and the woods.  I have learned that in that solitude, I can pound out all of my frustration and let go or be dragged. 

There is something to be said for embracing discomfort.  Lean into it.  Use your something to really feel what's going on around you.  We can't control life. Its wonderful and devastating and surprising.  Embrace the discomfort.  Use your something to bring you through those times that you just don't think you can move through.  Use your something to celebrate life's wonderful surprises and gifts.

And if you can't find me.... look on a trail.  I will be out there pounding it out.

Scars on 45, "Give Me Something"
"Give me something
Something to hold onto
Give me something
That links me to you"












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11/5/2012

support your local running store

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I feel VERY strongly about supporting local and small businesses.  I have been thinking about my local running store. In West Hartford,  our local store is Fleet Feet. In the past,  I have bought my running shoes and gear in every possible location including online, "big box" stores, and my local running  store. I shop around and I usually buy my things at the most cost effective  location.

Just recently, it seemed that I needed new EVERYTHING. I needed trail shoes, road shoes,  compression socks, body glide,  running shorts- all at the same time. For a thrifty girl that dislikes spending  money, it wasn't a good thing. 

The gear trips to Fleet Feet are regular for me. I always seem to need something. They carry almost  everything I use. I am grateful because typically, I need it NOW.

When it comes to my shoes it gets complicated. I have very specific needs. When I bought my road shoes, it took at least an hour and  multiple shoe try ons. Same thing for my  trail shoes, another hour, and I am also "test running" another pair of trail  shoes right now. It is IMPOSSIBLE to
get this kind of service, attention, and  knowledge at any of the other places we can get our shoes and gear.

My local Fleet Feet also has running groups,  an athletic trainer on staff, treadmills, they support local races, and they give me a GREAT location for my
Yoga for Runners class. Honestly, they  do so much much more.... they truly give back to our  community.

Maybe you can save a few dollars if you buy at a bigger store- at this point in time I don't even know. I trust that my the prices are fair. I am so grateful for the expertise (I'm not an easy person to fit!) and if I pay a few dollars more it is worth it.

If you haven't explored your local running resources. Please do it NOW! I can guarantee that your local running store is a wealth of knowledge. I know at my Fleet Feet I can pretty much get exactly what I need- and sometimes I learn things that I didn't even know I needed to know.

Those that have directly helped me at
Fleet Feet West Hartford in the past 2 months- Steph,  Carrie, Schuyler, Jill, Julie, Joe, David, Duncan, Todd, and Rich. THANK  YOU!

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