KICKS

I'm participating in this year's A-Z challenge, and so will be posting daily about a subject focusing on a letter of the alphabet.

Although I DO get a kick out of you, that's not what I mean today. Instead, I want to talk about shoes. 

In both my Couch to 5k and Bridge to 10k groups, people ask me all the time what brand of shoes they should buy. They see some they think are kind of cool and want to know if they should get them. I hate to burst their bubble, but I have to tell them the truth. 

Go to a reputable, specialized running store (not a big-box sports store), get your foot sized, and then have them analyze your gait. It's simple -- you'll run on a treadmill as you're videotaped. Then the salesperson will explain the ins and outs of how you run. If you have great form, you can buy a neutral shoe. But if you turn your ankles in while you run, you overpronate. Your foot continues to roll in while you should be pushing off, and this twisting can cause injuries. A good stability shoe will help with this. Supination means your foot doesn't roll in enough after striking. This, too, can lead to injuries. Having your gait analyzed will give you the information you need to make an informed decision about what type of shoe you need, and you'll have the opportunity to try on several brands of shoes that are exactly right for you. 

Don't be intimidated; it's interesting to see how you run and what shoe you need. If you don't want to buy them from the store, that's fine too. There are several online resources that you can purchase from, including roadrunnersports.com. Most places will let you actually run in the shoes for a specified period of time and if they don't work out, you can return them and try a different one. I've personally done this, with no problems at all. I'd bought one particular shoe, and at about 8 miles, I started getting hot spots and blistered. I took the shoes back, they let me try on some more, and I went home with a pair that I'm still wearing. 

Think of your running store as a handy source for all types of information. They are glad to be of service to you, and do their best to help. And then you'll come home not only with some kicks you love, but the ones that are perfect for your feet.

JEWELS

I'm participating in this year's A-Z challenge, and so will be posting daily about a subject focusing on a letter of the alphabet.

I was born and raised in the South -- I'm a Southern Belle through and through. My mom, Gram-maw, and Pap-paw all hailed from North Carolina, and I grew up listening to the sweet cadence of their Southern slang. These are just a few of the phrases that I thought everyone, everywhere, said:

He's so lazy he couldn't be a taster in a pie factory.
They threw him in jail 'cause he was paradin' around nekkid as a jaybird!
Jeez O'Hannah!
What in Sam Hill was he doin'?
He was runnin' 'round like a chicken with its head cut off.
Bless his heart, he's dumber than a stump.
That's a tough row to hoe.
That man's nothin' but a no-count liar.
You lie down with dogs, you get up with fleas. 
He cut his leg and was bleedin' like a stuck pig. 
Don't just sit there like a bump on a log, get up and help!
What in tarnation are you doin'?  
Don't sass me or I'll send you out for a switch.
I'm madder'n a wet hen.
I'll jerk a knot in your tail!
It's hunkey-dorey.
My stars and garters!
Quit piddlin' around so we can get outta here.
Great day in the mornin'!
She looks like she's been rode hard and put up wet.
She's ugly as sin.
She's havin' a hissy fit.
You can't make a silk purse out of a sow's ear.
Jeet yet? I'm fixin' to cook a mess o' collards.
I'm full as a tick. I put some Goobers in my RC cola and then I had a pack o'Nabs.
I'm plum tuckered out now.

It was a colorful upbringing, to say the least. I reckon it gave me a Pure-T love for words and a turn of the phrase. I'm fit to be tied that these idioms are dying out -- it gets me all riled up. To me, they're the precious jewels of my Southern heritage. I'm stubborn as a mule, though, y'all. God willin' and the creek don't rise, I'll be talkin' Southernspeak the rest of my born days. Now, come over cheer and gimme some sugar.

IF

I'm participating in this year's A-Z challenge, and so will be posting daily about a subject focusing on a letter of the alphabet.

If only...
What if...
If...
If...
If...

Such a small word that can make such a huge impact on people's lives. Those two little letters can take up a lot of  room in people's minds.

"If only" lives in the past. There's just no point to dwelling on it. You can't go back and change anything, so why waste energy? "If only" robs you of the joy of the present.

Negative "what ifs" harm you too. Conjuring up all the horrible things that possibly, maybe, perchance, potentially, might happen can paralyze you so that you don't move forward at all. 

But positive "what ifs" -- ahhhh, now those can enrich and enlarge your life. Can you counter the negative questions with the positive? For example, instead of "What if I fail at attempting this goal?" can you ask yourself, "What if this is the best decision I ever made?" 

What if I can't do it? -- What if you succeed at doing something you love?
What if I'm not good enough? -- What if you are better than you ever believed possible?
What if they don't like me? -- What if you find lifelong friends?
What if they laugh at me? -- What if they applaud?
What if I can't handle the responsibility? -- What if this is your shining moment?
What if I'm not the person I thought I was? -- What if you discover you are more than enough?

Leave "if only" in the past where it belongs. Embrace your future by asking "what ifs" that you can answer positively, and you will achieve your dreams.

HAVEN

I'm participating in this year's A-Z challenge, and so will be posting daily about a subject focusing on a letter of the alphabet.

A shelter from the storm...a soft, safe place to land at the end of the day...my haven is within my husband's arms.

Vic and I met in the 8th grade, when I transferred from public school to St. Ann's, the neighborhood K-8 Catholic school. There couldn't possibly have been a more difficult time to assimilate into a group of kids who had been together since kindergarten. If you don't remember, middle school is a viper pit. Yes, even a  Catholic one. It was a very, very rough year for me. I was ridiculed mercilessly by most of the kids. I was tall, straight as a rail, had a bad haircut and blushed at every insult. No wonder I became painfully shy. Vic was nice to me, although honestly, we probably barely knew that the other existed.

Then we went to high school, and things changed. In the 11th grade, I asked him out to the Sadie Hawkins dance. Do they even have those anymore?

 Wikipedia states:  "The Sadie Hawkins dance is named after the Li'l Abner comic strip character Sadie Hawkins, created by cartoonist Al Capp. In the strip, Sadie Hawkins Day fell on a given day in November (Capp never specified an exact date). The unmarried women of Dogpatch got to chase the bachelors and "marry up" with the ones they caught. The event was introduced in a daily strip which ran on November 15, 1937.

In the U.S. and Canada, this concept was popularized by establishing dance events to which the woman invited a man of her choosing, instead of demurely waiting for a man to ask her. The first known such event was held on November 9, 1938. Within a year hundreds of similar events followed suit. By 1952, the event was reportedly celebrated at 40,000 known venues. It became a woman-empowering rite at high schools and college campuses, and the tradition continues in some regional American cultures."

I remember trying to work up the nerve to ask him out. I don't know how guys throughout the ages have managed this!! It was excruciating. Our lockers were very close by and I waited before 6th period for him, hanging around totally conspicuously until he was alone. I finally blurted out the question, and he replied, "Sure." He claims I then asked, "Really?' in an amazed tone, but I believe I played it much more sophisticated than that. We'll go with my story.

His mother remembers him coming home from school, hopping up to sit suavely on the kitchen counter, and announcing that he had a date for the dance. She says he acted super-cool, so she knew he was pretty excited about going out with me.

That was our first date with each other, and the last with anyone else. 

We've been married for 32 years now, after dating for almost 6, and while every single second hasn't been perfect, we are good together. We've had some spectacularly great times, some truly awful tragedies, and with four kids, pretty much everything in between that you can think of. I can't imagine a different life, or a different husband.

As we're aging, I think I'm more aware than ever of how blessed we are. So many years ago, back in that Catholic high school when we were first dating, we would laugh and say our match was "made in heaven!" I believe that to this day. He is still my one true love, my heart, my haven.

GARBLED

I'm participating in this year's A-Z challenge, and so will be posting daily about a subject focusing on a letter of the alphabet.

Sometimes this world presses in on me, filling me with panic and fear. At least that's how I feel sometimes. When I should have a spirit of peace, a demeanor of calm, instead I am scared, confused and hurting.

I worry about each of my four children. There are so many things that can go wrong in life. I worry about my husband. He has an incredibly stressful and demanding job, with very little time to exercise and get healthy. I worry about my 83-year-old mother, who lives alone, four hours from me, and has multiple health problems. Sometimes when I think about all the "what ifs," my mind can race, and my thoughts become garbled. They're like a jungle thicket, snagging and tearing at my peace and serenity. Yes, the world can weigh heavily on my mind some days. 

                                    

                                                    Here

That's when I realize it:  the blessing of the run. I lace up my shoes and escape to the road. Blue skies, soft breezes, the singing of the birds -- it's balm to my spirit. The run speaks to me in the hidden part of my soul, quieting my heart, gentling my mind. It untangles all the garbled thoughts, and I can soar free above the problems that hold me pinned. 

                                     

                                                      Here

The blessing of the run. 

I breathe. I love. I am.

FAINT-HEARTED

I'm participating in this year's A-Z challenge, and so will be posting daily about a subject focusing on a letter of the alphabet.

Getting healthy and fit is not for sissies.

If you're like me, you'll have to change your ENTIRE lifestyle. Think that's easy? Think again.

I began running at the age of 52. I had never exercised before -- I'm not exaggerating. I wasn't familiar with push ups, except for bras; didn't know what planks were, other than boards my kids used to build a tree house; had no idea that a fartlek wasn't a bodily noise. I was the consummate couch potato, except with four kids, I never had time to sit.  "Athlete," however, was not the first word that would have come to mind to describe me.

Most of my life I was underweight. I drank milkshakes every night to try to gain weight (Ohhhhh,   [insert anguished face here]  why  did I not enjoy those days more??) I ate junk food and sugar like it was the end times. I was simply uneducated about the harm those foods were wreaking on my body. 

Fortunately for me, I'd inherited amazing metabolism, so until I had my fourth child and then shortly after became perimenopausal, I never gained weight from my poor diet. But after a hysterectomy, I packed on the pounds and the day finally came when I knew that I MUST make a change.

Altering years of bad habits was a slow process, and I had much to learn along the way. After I started  running, I realized I needed to better fuel my body. Thus began the research into what I should be eating.  

I took baby steps...The first thing I did was cut out soda, and that was brutal because I drank liters of it. I didn't like water, so I began using Crystal Light Pure packets. (I've never liked artificial sweeteners.) Once I had completely substituted those for soda, I began using half packets. I slowly weaned myself off the flavorings and switched to plain water. It was amazing to me how after I stopped guzzling soda, water tasted wonderful!! I now drink at least 68 ounces a day for good hydration.

In addition to cutting out the sugary drinks, I began adding in more vegetables and whole foods, with the goal of moving us toward a more plant-based diet. We started eating fewer processed, packaged goods. I began to be more adventurous and tried new things, like quinoa, kale chips and nori, and expanded our diet to include them. I switched to almond milk, real butter and almond butter. I started educating myself about GMOs.

Today, I run half marathons. In the fall, I'll begin training for my first marathon. It's been an interesting journey, but I feel better than I have in years. 

Nope, this healthy stuff ain't for the faint of heart. 

EXUBERANCE

I'm participating in this year's A-Z challenge, and so will be posting daily about a subject focusing on a letter of the alphabet.


Shortly before New Year's Day, when I was formulating my goals for 2013, I was asked to choose a word to describe what I dreamed for this year.  I thought long and hard, because I had so many disparate goals and I knew I wanted my word to encompass them.  I ultimately selected:
                                         

                                           EXUBERANCE 


Yup, this is how I want to embrace life:

Music jacked up,
arms wide open,
head flung back,
eyes, not squeezed shut in fear but
taking it all  in,
hair streaming back,
sweat dripping,
screaming at the top of my lungs,
leaping with total abandon
into the great unknown!!



                                                                     

                                                                                                                  Here


                                                                               

                                                                                                                  Here

                                                                           

                                                                                                                 Here

                                                                               

                                                                                                                   Here

                                                                               

                                                                                                                   Here


                                    EXHILARATION
                                    EXCITEMENT
                                    FERVOR 
                                    JOY


                          It just feels right.