Harder and better.

Last week, I finished reading 50/50by Dean Karnazes. I'm so glad that I finally got around to reading it; I thoroughly enjoyed it. Yeah, I'm never going to anything similar to Dean's feats, but I was inspired by much of what he had to say. He wrote a lot about how running is his passion (it would have to be is you're going to run 50 marathons in 50 days!) and what that passion means to him and how it relates to the rest of his life.

Running is my passion, too. Yes, I have others, but the thing is, I love to run. Running can wipe me out, running can kick my butt, but I still love it.

Karnazes wrote about this "hard work" idea in the book and I wanted to share this passage because I thought it was so right-on:

Running teaches you that there's a difference between working hard and feeling bad. Consumer culture tries to teach us otherwise. How many television commercials talk about "making life easier"? If everything you knew about life came from TV, your goal would be to live the easiest, most comfortable and unchallenging life you possibly could. You would believe that the only good feelings are sensual pleasures such as the taste of a good soft drink and the fun of driving an expensive car and lying on the beach.

But it's just not true. Challenging and testing your mind and body, even to the point of exhaustion, failure, and breakdown, can feel as wonderful as anything else life has to offer. I suppose the enjoyment of hard work is more of an acquired taste than the taste for pleasure and fun, but once you've acquired it, you're blessed with more ways to feel good, and life is better. Harder and better.

-- Dean Karnazes, 50/50

When I enter a race, I know I am not going to win. The facts are the facts: I'll never run be a speedy 16-minute 5ker or sub-2:30 marathoner. Just not going to happen. But that doesn't mean I can't continue to enter races and challenge my body and my mind. I can train. I can run for fun. I can run tough workouts. I can work hard and enjoy every minute of it because running is my passion and working hard at your passion can be exhilarating.

Yes? No?

For me, it is a hearty, fist-in-the-air yes.

Run hard, everyone. Run happy!

~ Felice

PS: Don't forget to enter my Bondi Band giveaway over here. The giveaway ends tomorrow at midnight!

Happiness maker.

I feel like I barely know which way is up, but that's OK. My life right now is one part excitement, one part super sea of stress, one part hopefulness, and one part fear of the "what if...?" Not unlike most people's lives, I'm sure. It just feels very concentrated right now and has for the past two weeks.

But, the sun is shining! The weather is lovely for upstate NY in January. I got in two refreshing runs this weekend, both outside in the crisp but warm-for-winter weather. They were exactly what I needed. Running is the true happiness maker.

And, I got to prove my mother wrong.

Some of you may recall from past posts that my mother has a thing about my running. In October, after I missed my 5k goal, she asked me what I expected since I was, after all, getting old. I gave her that look I mastered back at age 13 and she went on to say something like, "Well, you are. You're getting up there. You can't expect to run as fast as you did at 30."

So, I was very happy to be able to gloat about my second place age group finish in my recent 10k. I pointed out that not only was I second, but I was second in the 30-39 age group, and I am at the oldest end of that range. So there!

Of course, I did not tell her how few people were actually in the age group. But don't worry, I wasn't too misleading because there were a few others who didn't place!

Anyway, she congratulated me and was happy for me. And she told me she took back what she had said in October. What a mom!

I hope you all had a great weekend and have a nice week ahead. I have another giveaway up at my other site, this one is for a Bondi Band headband. They are super cute, so check it out!

~ Felice

Five things Friday, ep. 9

1. First, I have to say a public, "Congratulations!" to Amanda who has not only lost 104lbs (!!!!) but also just celebrated one year as an ex-smoker. If you haven't been to her site yet, you should stop over and help her celebrate her awesome accomplishment! She shows that it really is true that you can do anything you set your mind to!
2. After a forced break from running the past few days, I'm itching to head out for a run this weekend! I'm planning an easy 5-miles for tomorrow when the temperature is supposed to be 38 degrees. Woo hoo -- warm spell!
3. Do any of the moms and dads out there feel like potty training goes on forever? I mean, c'mon!
4. I *heart* Vampire Weekend.
   
5. Good luck to everyone racing this weekend! I'll be rooting for you :-)

Happy, happy weekend, everyone! Thanks for visiting.

~ Felice

Nothing but thanks.

Can't tell you how much I greatly appreciate all of your kind words and wishes over the past two days. You're all terrific and you've helped buoy my spirits and keep me on the positive side of things! So, thank you, thank you, thank you!

Not much else to report from Happy Runner-ville. I have a giveaway ending tonight at midnight EST (here) and I'm pleased to report that the super cold temperatures I've (almost) gotten used to have climbed out of the single digits and into the 30s (!). Very, very nice.

Oh! And there's a snowshoe race that I hope some local runners might consider checking out. I wrote about it here.

Well, that's it for me. Over and out.

~ Felice