Tag: running

Coffee and Red Eyes…

On By runnergirl02In running, ThankfulnessLeave a comment

I don’t usually drink coffee. I should say I really never drink coffee, but lately I have been drinking a coffee now and again.

It started a few months ago, I got sick and wanted something warm but I didn’t want tea. My husband drinks coffee, a lot of coffee, everyday. Black. He drinks his coffee black! I’m not sure why a human would do this but I’m guessing the reason is like those of us that drink unsweetened iced black tea.

Saturday morning I had a sugar-free iced vanilla coffee from McDonalds. McDonald’s sugar free iced vanilla coffee is hit and miss, mostly miss, but every once in awhile when I’m wanting a coffee and I order one there it turns out ok. Right now as I type this I’m having a cappuccino with almond milk. I like those two coffees and that’s about it.

I have a headache, the last two or three days when it gets to afternoon I’ve been getting a headache. I think I need to be drinking water but I don’t fancy water right now, not sure why, probably because it’s cold. I don’t want tea and I don’t want any sugary drinks so that leaves coffee.

On occasion, I’ve actually tried to become a coffee drinker. The problem is, I really just don’t like coffee! It’s bitter and leaves a bitter taste in your mouth, and I just really don’t like it, except for this cappuccino I’m currently drinking or a sugar-free iced vanilla coffee from McDonald’s now and again.

I woke up with my right eye really red in one corner yesterday morning. I thought it would go away if I slept well last night. I slept, not well, and it’s still there.

We mostly had a fun weekend. Our daughter got a PR in her 400m event at a track meet. She’s been trying to break 60s in the 400m for a few years now, and she’s very close. I love to watch her set and achieve her goals. Her 4X400m team broke the school record, which was cool to watch. They came in 2nd to last, but we cared about the time for the school record; no one expected them to win the relay. They did what they needed to do, each girl giving their all and finally a school record.

Last year, in the final race of our daughter’s season, in the final 100m of the 4X400m, she was tripped by a girl she passed. It was a hard fall, but she got up and finished her race. The next day, we found out she was injured with a pelvic bruise and a ligament in her hand was hurt, she had bruises on her stomach and the sadness of a bad end to her Junior track season, robbed of a medal and a school record. No apology or check-in was ever offered to her from her opponent or the coach of the other team, which just isn’t really a kind thing, even if the other team was disqualified. It took her weeks to recover and her hand still isn’t quite right. Our daughter doesn’t understand unkind people and neither do we.

At Saturday’s track meet, the girl who tripped her was in the lane next to her in her 200m, it was nice to see her overcome her fear of facing that particular opponent again. It was fun to watch her win her flight. We wonder if she realizes how resilient she’s become, facing challenges and overcoming them to achieve her goals. She is a marvel to me. I wish she saw herself like we see her. I wonder how much better we would all do if we could see ourselves how God sees us.

Before she was going to run her 400m, she called me, distraught. I could hear the tears in her voice. She had called a teammate to let her know it was the last call before her race, the 1600. Our daughter is the team captain, and another team member had asked her to call their teammate, so she did. They didn’t want her to be late. The teammate got worried that she would miss her race, panicked, told our daughter to call her mom, and hung up. According to our daughter, the Mom side-eyed her, telling her that maybe she shouldn’t have called her daughter. Our daughter called me because she was really sad that she had done something wrong. She went from being excited and hopeful for the day to crushed in spirit, all because she interpreted something an adult said to her as a reprimand for doing something wrong. I assured her she did nothing wrong and that her intent was not to hurt her teammate but to help her teammate. We walked back to the tent, hoping to find the mom and let her know the intention was to help, but we couldn’t find her, truthfully I wanted the mother to reassure our daughter she had done nothing wrong, but there was no real guarantee that’s what would happen, people are strange.

She was doing everything she could to keep from crying, her eyes watery and red. I kept reassuring her she did nothing wrong, that she needed to reset and move forward. (This word which I wrote about earlier has really been heaven sent, it’s my word for the year.) With the help of a sweet friend, she was able to do that, and 40 minutes later, she ran a PR in her 400m and set a school record. It’s not always been easy for our girl to redirect her negative thoughts, and more than setting a school record or getting a PR, we were really proud she was able to change the channel and ended up having a great day at the track.

When we got home, even after all the great stuff and a dinner celebration with another sweet friend, she was still worried about that mom. I guess changing the channel in our brains is an ongoing process, with our mind cycling back to the preset even when we don’t want it to do that. We need a way to change the presets. Some people are really good at that, and others need practice. She’s working on that, and it’s hard work.

In fact, at the meet, she kept telling me she was trying and that it was hard, and I said it is hard, but Jesus told us not to fear, and I reminded her about Romans 12:2 where St. Paul said “Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect”. In Philippians 4:8 St. Paul says “Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things” and in 2Chorinthians 10:5 St. Paul says, “We destroy arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, taking every thought captive to obey Christ”. Jesus talked about self-control and discipline, with prayer, practice and trust in Jesus, we can change the presets in our minds. It’s hard work but with and through Jesus it’s possible. Jesus wills our good because He loves us, so much that He gave his life for us, something we focus on during this holy season of Lent.

So today for coffee, resets, fast runs, P.R’s and school records…I give thanks!

Well, we got sick for two weeks so our long run is back down to 3 miles currently but my weight lifting routine is intact and we are signing up for the Mother’s Day run, so looking forward to that! KOR…

This word is everywhere, even in my favorite magazines…
The track at Yosemite High School…

Forward

On By runnergirl02In ThankfulnessLeave a comment

A few years ago, probably more than a few years, but, it feels like a few years, I started picking a word for the year.  I read about it in some article, I don’t even remember where or who the article was written by, or maybe I saw it on an early morning television show? I guess it doesn’t matter.

Earlier this year I was talking to my husband, and I was asking him if he picked a word, sometimes he does and sometimes he doesn’t.  One year, he picked kiss for his word.  I asked him why, he said, “because I don’t kiss you enough”, which I thought was sweet.  He’s sweet like that.  Nothing struck him because he hasn’t mentioned a word to me.  Nothing struck me either because it’s almost March and I still did not have a word but over the last couple of weeks a word keeps popping up over and over, or maybe it’s just a frame of mind? 

It’s not like it was bothering me that I didn’t have a word.  It seems sometimes, a thought percolates in the back of your mind and just keeps percolating until something pops up. 

Over the last few weeks, the word/idea of forward keeps popping up, in likely places, like church, in unlikely places, like a random conversation with a random person.  I think Jesus talked to us a lot about living in the present and moving forward with faith.  I think He talked about those things because He knew it was human nature to look ahead, look behind and to get stuck.  A friend once told me that when you look ahead, you can feel anxious. When you look behind, you can feel sad.  When you stay in the present it is harder for those feelings to attack you.  I have actually found this to be very true. 

You can find passages all over the bible in the Old and New Testaments with this idea of moving forward. In Philippians 3:13-14, it says, “ forgetting what lies behind but straining forward to what lies ahead, I continue my pursuit toward the goal, the prize of God’s upward calling, in Christ Jesus.  In Isaiah 43: 18-19 it says, “Remember not the events of the past, the things of long ago consider not; See , I am doing something new!” There are many more.  I find it interesting that this theme is running throughout the length of the Bible and I find it very comforting. 

Today, I had to take my sweet husband to Urgent Care. He woke up clammy and weak, said he was dizzy, and things were spinning.  Last time that happened he ended up passing out in the bathroom and I had to call an ambulance, so I called in a substitute and told him I’d drive him over to Urgent Care.  I didn’t get a lot of push back, which was unusual, so I knew he was not feeling well.  I was worried, we haven’t had much luck this season, it’s been tough.  All I could think selfishly was that I needed him to be ok, I needed nothing to be seriously wrong, because through this particular season of loss we have been through, he has been steady and true, comforting and loving and always reminding me that God always takes care of us.  He has a steady and sure faith in God, a love for Jesus and I love this about him. 

As we get older, I start to worry we have fewer days together in front of us, than behind and since the statistics aren’t on my side, I wonder how I would ever navigate this weary world without him.  I hope not to find out anytime soon.                       

So we have been facing many challenges lately, I think Jesus is telling me to keep a forward mindset this year.  To keep this word in front of me.  Forward.

“Forward always Forward, God Will Provide”

So today for Jesus who speaks so clearly, for sending me this word, Forward and for my husband…I Give Thanks!

Long run up to 5 miles this past weekend.  We want to find a race to run, but my daughter has track meets almost every Saturday in March, so we’ll see.  KOR

Running our long run by our River Trail…
Visited a new to me beach…lots of room to run, looking forward to staying over for a run!

Vacation…

On By runnergirl02In Thankfulness, UncategorizedLeave a comment

We’ve been on Christmas Vacation. My daughter got off the week before me, my husband’s vacation started on Christmas Eve but now they are back to school and work today and I have another seven days off. I smartly or stupidly, I can’t decide which, scheduled a lot of health appointments and check ups for this week. Right now as I’m looking at the schedule I’m leaning toward stupidly, but I did try to make time to meet up with a friend or two here or there, so we’ll see how that turns out.

Since my last post we’ve had sweet Emily’s memorial service. My daughter sang at the funeral Mass and I wonder how she found the courage to sing, I wasn’t asked, but I’m not sure I could have even if I was. She sang well. It was a lovely service for a beautiful lady. I’ve always found comfort in the funeral Mass, probably because I’m Roman Catholic and the service is familiar, giving room to the grieving to do just that, grieve, while reminding us, Emily is not far or absent, just part of the “invisible”. That’s not always great comfort at 2:00AM when you wake up missing someone or anticipating a loss, but in the moment it provides a space to think about your own mortality, what kind of life you want to live and the ultimate goal, heaven.

I have so many people now to reunite with in heaven. Our Lauren Rose of course, my baby sister Tracy, my Dad and, now almost all his brothers and sisters, good friends, like Hector who we lost last year, Great-Grandma’s Doris and Lana(who Laina is named for) and, Great-Grandpa Floyd, my own grandparents, one who I only know by pictures and the other who I vaguely remember, but the memory is not a happy one, the list is growing. I had a friend who said her Grandmother once told her, if you live to be old enough you will know more people one day in heaven than on earth. I think her Grandma is right and I don’t always like it.

It’s been a rough Fall and, I have found myself holding onto God’s promises tightly, even while my brain fights me, especially it seems around 2:00AM. Maybe a believer isn’t supposed to admit they struggle at times but I do and I think Jesus knew we would or he wouldn’t have put all His promises in writing and surrounded us with people whose faith at times is stronger than our own.

Still, in the midst of all the sad, we have life to look forward to I suppose. Track season is coming up and I love to watch our daughter run fast, she’s pretty good at it and has found more success in track than cross country. I’ve always thought running provides us with the opportunity to train our minds to be mentally tough and theoretically that should help with life, though it doesn’t always. I was glad when she decided she would try out a track group called the Flyers when she was in 6th grade and she enjoyed it, so we stuck with track and it’s been fun to watch her set goals and most of the time achieve them. God has surrounded her with many good coaches who love Him and as my goal for our daughter has always been heaven and not a career or things, I’ve been pleased and thankful with the adults God has placed in her life.

The second semester of the school year will start Monday for me and I hope to see all my students back safe and sound. I hope they’ve had a restful vacation and I hope they are ready to learn some more Chemistry. We’ll see, quite often it seems I’m the most excited one in the room. It makes me wonder if Jesus ever felt like I do sometimes. I kind of don’t think so because He is Jesus, but I feel badly if He did! Some days I’m really excited to share a lesson or something I found out or learned with the kids and they are NOT as excited as I am. In fact, they are clearly elsewhere, listening to music with their ear pods hidden under their hair or cap or sneaking peaks at their phone every time it buzzes and as a teacher you can get to feeling pretty ignored. I wonder if Jesus ever felt or feels ignored, like I do in class some days. It’s a lonely sad feeling, so I hope not. We can look to the bible to find out if Jesus every felt like I do sometimes. When Jesus was about to die on the cross before he died he called out, in a loud voice, “Eli Eli lama sabachtani” translated, “My God, My God, why have you forsaken me?”

When I googled the word forsaken, AI said forsaken means, “to be abandoned, deserted, or left completely alone. To be deprived of another person or let down when you are in need.” If Jesus felt forsaken on the cross, maybe I’m wrong and He does know exactly how it feels to be ignored by a class full of teenagers or when I’m awake at 2AM pondering a future only He can see? Yeah, I’m wrong, but it doesn’t always feel like I’m wrong. So I love that Jesus left us His book, with all its stories that point to Him and with his teachings to remind us of His love.

A friend told me my words sounded heavy. Another friend recently told me I seemed weary and I am. The weight of my responsibilities sits heavily upon me some days and I am weary of all the sad, so tired. Deaths, illnesses, now these fires in LA, for some reason, ever since Covid, at least for me, it seems a constant stream of loss or tragedy after another, but as Peter said, “to where will I go, you have the words of everlasting life.” I’m holding on tight to those promises and I think of JJ Hellers song, Your Hands.

“I have unanswered prayers, I have trouble wish wasn’t there, and I have asked a thousand ways that you would take my pain away.

I am trying to understand
How to walk this weary land
Make straight the paths that crooked lie, Oh Lord, before these feet of mine, Oh Lord, before these feet of mine.

When my world is shaking, heaven stands
When my heart is breaking
I never leave your hands”

So my vacation is over in three days and I’ll be back to shining my light best I can. Break was filled with it all this year, sad, happy, regretful, anxious, weary, heavy thoughts. The waves seem to be crashing all around me, like the day we went for a drive to our favorite beach and they were wild and so tall, ready to sweep away anyone who wasn’t paying attention, but…

“What can make me whole again? Nothing by the blood of Jesus.”

For me there’s no other answer, there’s no other place to go, but Jesus and so today…

for Jesus, my brother, God, my Father and the Holy Spirit, my counselor…I Give Thanks!

We ran the Jingle Bell Run during break and our long run is back down to 4miles currently, due to a few reasons, that’s my update on that, we are planning on doing a 5K in a week that I’ve never run before so hopefully that will be fun. KOR

Crazy waves…
Fun New Years Eve game…I lost 😦
Our zoo as Baby Meerkats!
Beautiful hikes!
Visit down south…

Antibiotics…

On By runnergirl02In ThankfulnessLeave a comment

Today I am thankful for antibiotics! Somehow, apparently I caught strep throat, I’m guessing at school. I got sick the day before my birthday, October 15th. A friend of ours had told us awhile back if we had a sore throat to take some Advil, so I took Advil and figured since it felt better I was fine. After about a week I felt ok-ish, but then last week my daughter was complaining she was sick and her throat really hurt. I offered several times to make her a doctors appointment, however she wouldn’t agree to go to one until the third day she was sick. Off we went to the Urgent Care because her doctor was booked and surprised she was when she tested positive for strep! Fast forward to this week and my husband starts feeling sick yesterday. Since our daughter has strep I convinced him not to wait and to go in to check, Bingo! He tested positive for strep. We went to go get some soup after his test and he asked how I was feeling and I said that I was still feeling tired and on the sick side and then he said, “Maybe we should get you checked to”, so off I went back to the Urgent Care and viola after telling the doctor I just wanted to make sure I didn’t have it, he said, “Well I’m sorry but you tested positive.” I said, “Are you sure, I got sick two weeks ago and I feel mostly better.” He said, ” You might have gotten better but then since you never took antibiotics, you probably re-infected yourself with your toothbrush or it just came back around to you after your daughter got sick.” So today, I’m thankful for something called a z-pack, because I’m actually allergic to the antibiotic most commonly given to treat strep, penicillin and all it’s relatives.

I’m also thankful to report that our family member actually woke up from her coma! Praise be Jesus Christ, she woke up! She is home and recovering from her ordeal, a little on the wobbly side but it is a far cry from being on life support and being declared basically brain dead. Miracles still happen and I’m glad one happened for her, it makes me happy. Though sometimes, part of me wonders why for some people and not others, not us, but that is not for us to “reason why” it would just drive me crazy if I even tried. So I’m thankful for big miracles today!

Nice weather. The weather has been so nice, not too hot, not too cold. I can still wear a t-shirt if I want to or put on a sweatshirt if I want to and it’s crisp and chilly in the morning for our runs, my favorite weather for running. The sky is blue with little white wisps of cloud floating around. There may be something blowing in our way and this time of year, rain is always nice too!

So today for antibiotics, miracles, and nice weather…I Give Thanks!

Ran yesterday but not today, for some reason my body did not want to rise and go for a run, but hopefully tomorrow. Signing up for our annual Turkey Trot today, so that will be a fun run to look forward to, our long run Saturday was 5miles because I have been sick, but that’s ok, well get back to it…KOR

Falls…

On By runnergirl02In Thankfulness, UncategorizedLeave a comment

There are many different kinds of falls…

Falls from grace…

Falling off the wagon…

Falling water…

Falling in the literal sense of the word…

On the day of my 50th birthday, I did the latter. My husband and I were training for a half marathon in November and needed to get in a long run, I can’t remember how long now, so even though we had planned a trip out to Monterey for my birthday, on the morning of my birthday, we headed out to complete this run. Less than a mile from our house I tripped on the sidewalk and hit the ground hard, landing with my hand’s outstretched and I heard an ugly pop. It was not good. My hand immediately started swelling twice its size and in that moment I knew two things; first, I wasn’t going to Monterey for my 50th birthday, second, I wasn’t running a half marathon in November. Both were confirmed a few hours later after a visit to urgent care.

However, hand wrapped in a splint and wanting to salvage what I could of my 50th birthday I let my husband and daughter take me out to Casa De Fruta where we enjoyed the fall decorations and ate an early dinner. This was not what I had planned at all and I found myself for the first time that I could ever remember really really wishing I could go back in time and skip the run. That one run altered the plans I had for the next few months and even though it was awhile ago now, my hand still isn’t right. It hurts in cold weather and gets stiff in the morning, tired if I use it too much. My wedding ring didn’t fit for a year and the hand that was injured is still a little bit swollen at times.

When my daughter was little and fell, as little ones do, I’d tell her to get up, she’d be fine and she always was. Her skin tends to scar though so she has little marks here and there from some of her falls over the years. She now runs track and cross country.

In May, at the final track meet of the season, she fell. She fell in the 4X400. She was running as the anchor. She is fun to watch when she’s running well. She actually hadn’t been feeling well earlier that day but when she got that baton, she took off like a firework and was almost home about to give her final kick when she went down, along with a runner who had gotten too close. At first I didn’t know it was her, then I had two thoughts, Was she ok? What happened? My husband was the first to say it looked like the girl behind her clipped her. Mama Bear went into motion trying to get to my daughter but she was on the infield, luckily getting bandaged up with her coach. I asked her teammates whether or not they saw her get pushed, which was my initial concern. Finally, I was reunited with my daughter and asked her if she had been pushed and she said no, she felt her leg get kicked. When she fell, she fell mid-stride, so both her legs we up off the ground and with nothing to catch her she literally collapsed to the ground at near her top speed in a sickening plop. It’s hard to watch on video. She had several injuries, including at least one that wasn’t really apparent until a couple of weeks later when she tried to do a push-up and found she couldn’t. When she puts much pressure on the hand that hit first, the hand immediately is unhappy. She had cuts and an injury to her pelvis that still hurts nearly a month later. It was a hard fall. To add insult to injury the other runner didn’t go to check on her to see if she was ok, nor did she apologize. When mama bear wrote an email asking the principal to tell his coach to talk to his runner about checking on others, the coach apparently mentioned my daughter could have been blocking his runner from passing, like that would be a reason not to check on someone who was injured? The other girl was DQ’d so I doubt even he believed his own suggestion.

School districts are always afraid of law-suits, sadly. We are the farthest from those kind of people you could get. The other coach didn’t ask us about our daughter either, maybe he talked to our coaches? Maybe he didn’t realize the full extent of her injuries? Not sure, but I know one thing, when you cause an injury to another, even if it was an accident, you should always apologize and check on the person who was injured.

When she fell I hoped two things; that she was ok, that it wasn’t her fault. Our daughter is the sweetest girl you will ever meet. She is kind and loving. She almost always has a smile or a kind word for others and is genuine, even when others are rude, dismissive or just plain indifferent. Whether she’s singing in the choir or running with joy, or chatting with someone she’s met for the first time, her smile lights up a room. I think about Jesus telling his apostles they are the salt of the earth and light of the world in the gospel of Saint Matthew (5:14), our daughter is light. She has brought so much light to our lives. If the accident had been her fault, she would have had a difficult time with that. As it was she still felt badly that she had somehow let her teammates down. It was a bummer way to end her season.

She still smiled for pictures after. She still laughed and posed with her injuries with her coaches. It wasn’t until a few hours later and the next day that we realized she was a little more hurt than we hoped. She’s had two x-rays now for this injury, the last one just last week, for that hand that keeps hurting, the one she can’t do push-ups on, it’s not broken, worse she’s injured a ligament, those take longer to heal. She will be reminded of this fall every time that hand twinges or tweaks. She’ll recover but in the meantime, my heart hurts for her and my hand does too.

Chumbawamba in Tubthumping, says, “I get knocked down, but I get up again. You are never gonna keep me down.” Rocky says, “It’s not about how hard you hit. It’s about how hard you can get hit and keep moving forward. How much you can take and keep moving forward.” There are a myriad of quotes about falling and getting back up again. I also think maybe sometimes people forget the other part, when you fall and get back up, you are changed. No one who falls is ever the same again. Whether it’s an injury that lingers or a memory that won’t leave you, you are never the same. It doesn’t matter if it’s a physical fall or a different type. Those clichés are supposed to be inspirational but where do they come from? Who provides the ultimate example of what you do when you fall? You can get back up but who are you now? How exactly do you move forward? No easy answers there, for anyone, I’m afraid and so I ask myself how did Jesus respond when he fell?

In my Catholic faith we have something called the Stations of the Cross. The Stations mark the journey of Jesus to his crucifixion. There are three falls. There are a total of 14 stations, at each station we remember and meditate on the journey of Jesus to the cross. Jesus falls for the first time in the 3rd station. We are encouraged to meditate on how Jesus continues to move forward, determined to carry out God’s plan for the salvation of the world. In the 7th station Jesus falls for the second time and we are encouraged to meditate on the sacrifice he is making for us. Finally, in the 9th station Jesus falls for the third time, weary and near death, our sweet Jesus gets back up and continues the Way of the Cross. We are encouraged to remember that he could have called out to his Father to ask for help but he accepted the Father’s plan. We are encouraged to remember we can’t travel the way forward without Jesus.

Can you be thankful for falls? I’m very thankful for Jesus, for his example of moving forward, even if it was to his death, in order to fulfill the Father’s plan. I mean who does that? Who would do that? Only someone who loved us more than life itself, Jesus. Falls can teach us and sure, most of the time people get back up. I got up and my daughter got back up and she even tried to keep running to the end of her race but when you get back up you aren’t the same as when you fell. You are either stronger and more determined that ever or you can end up regretful, sad and frozen in time. I want to always follow the example of Jesus and he promised that when you fall or when I fall He will always be right there by our side to help us move forward, we don’t have to do it alone and for that I can be grateful.

For the lessons falls teach us…I Give Thanks!

Running update: We have started our half marathon plan. I can’t say I’m 100% confident that we will be able to accomplish this goal but so far we’ve check all our runs off the training list. We are slow but we are moving forward.

Our skinny lazy river that we like to run by when there is water…we were on our way to this trail when I fell.
Our trail …

Records…

On By runnergirl02In UncategorizedLeave a comment

There are different types of records. There are personal records, school records, record albums…

There are different meanings for the word record…The word itself can be used as a noun and a verb. Anything from some type of official document that “records” something, like the deed to a house, the times of a race or the heartfelt lyrics in song of a musical artist…

Seems this week around our house at least, we’ve been talking about a few different types of records.

Our daughter runs track. She runs the 200m, 400m and this year has run an 800m twice. About two weeks ago she ran a local league meet and apparently broke a school record but no one knew about it until the following Monday. There were some inconsistencies in the times of the races and actually at first they had our daughter in 4th place behind one runner who finished after her and another who didn’t even run! When they finally fixed the results for the third time it turned out she had broken her schools record by .01s. A teammate of hers ran the 100m at the same meet and her results later that same night were recognized as having broke the school record in the 100m. Neither athlete was recognized in the moment because immediate times were not given and in the end the athlete who initially broke the 100m record had her record recalled because when they redid the times her time wasn’t fast enough to have really broken the school record. Such a bummer for both athletes. Our daughter who hasn’t really accepted her time is valid and that she really did break the record and her teammate who had her record recalled. It was a disappointment for sure. We told our daughter there was nothing for it, she’d just have to do it again.

There’s another type of record we’ve been talking about in our family and that is Taylor Swifts new album, The Tortured Poets Department. Now if you know me in real life you might find it odd that I do in fact enjoy some music written by Taylor Swift, some…not all…mostly I respect her as a fellow songwriter. I really enjoy reading her lyrics. They tell difficult stories from her life or stories she’s imagined and most of the time they are set to good music and are thoughtful and interesting. On her last album Midnights, she has a song called, Bigger than the Whole Sky, which is beautiful in a fatalistic way. On this new album she has another song called So Long London, put the two songs together and you have a heartbreaking tale of love and loss. Now I don’t know that those songs are even related to the same person or relationship but they are achingly beautiful.

When we were talking to our daughter about her hesitancy to accept her record she said her victory felt hollow because she was sad for her teammate and didn’t quite believe the, as she called them, “sketchy” results. We can’t really blame her for feeling that way. She also expressed regret that she didn’t get to celebrate it in the moment like some of her other teammates have this season. We tried to remind her that records are made to be broken and they pass away and fade with time. She should strive always to be her best and not chase after someone else’s best. She’s a teenager so not sure she heard that part.

This post feels a bit melancholy to me but I guess maybe it is, me and her Dad missed out on being able to celebrate her “record” as well because a race director didn’t have the integrity to make sure the results were right. As of this moment they still have our daughter’s 4X100 team beating a team they clearly came in 2nd to, and despite the fact it’s on video, they have refused to fix it. Not doing your personal best, affects the others around you, sometimes in a negative way. We aren’t happy with the race director at all, she messed up what should have been two possible celebrations all because she was either too afraid to ask for help or to scared to admit that perhaps none of the times are right or that they aren’t sure how to fix them.

Hmm…I am thankful that our daughter wasn’t too upset and that her teammate seems to have rebounded from her disappointment as well. Both these athletes know their worth isn’t found in school records but in the great I AM. They’ll be ok so I can be grateful today for Jesus who loves us so much He gave everything He had. I can be grateful today because I know he holds our daughter and her teammate in His hands and wants good things for them whether that’s a personal record or a school record. I can be thankful for Taylor Swifts sad, heart achingly, melancholy songs, because sometimes it can help to just sit in a sadness or loss for awhile. I can also be hopeful that one day Taylor Swift will meet and know God, could you imagine what lyrics she could come up with then and the stories she could tell through song? I admit to making an assumption there about Taylor that maybe I shouldn’t make but if you’ve read enough of her lyrics I think you too would find a hesitancy of belief in God or at least Jesus.

So today…for “records”…I give thanks!

Running update…had a really good run Saturday, have a half marathon plan finally and feeling stronger, now if I could only resist sugar, will keep working on that one…KOR

Some beautiful wildflowers we saw on our Saturday and Sunday run:-)

Birthdays

On By runnergirl02In Family, Food, ThankfulnessLeave a comment

I enjoy birthdays! Yesterday was my Mom’s birthday. My Mom has said that birthdays weren’t a big thing when she was growing up. My Mom has 5 sisters and 2 brothers. A brother and one sister have passed on now.

Growing up we celebrated birthdays with parties here and there. Most of the time, since my birthday was near the fair I was able to invite a friend or two and enjoy some time at the Fresno Fair. I can remember doing that at least twice. I had a big party for my 21st birthday. We had a DJ and it was a lot of fun. My Mom and my Nina made my favorite, Chicken Enchiladas, yum!

Today we celebrated my moms birthday with family and friends. I kind of invited more people than I thought, but Jason always says the more the merrier. We had a Berry Chantilly Cake! Have you ever had one? Go to Whole Foods and get a slice or even a whole cake, you won’t be disappointed 😉

My Mom seemed to have a nice time. I know she misses my Dad lots on days like her birthday. God was good to surround her with people who love her and who wanted her to have a nice day.

We celebrate lots of birthdays in my family and I love it. Birthdays mark time and provide a space for family and friends to come together to celebrate. When given the choice between a birthday party or a trip I almost always choose a party. I love my family. I love seeing them and celebrating happy days, like my birthday, with them.

I know not everyone celebrates birthdays with extended family and friends. Some people like to take a trip or enjoy a smaller gathering. I would challenge them/you if to consider what keeps families strong and together. It isn’t seeing each other twice a year, Christmas and Easter. It’s all the “little” opportunities to celebrate one another throughout the year. Birthdays for sure, but also graduations, baptisms, confirmations, First Communions, Weddings, anniversaries, Mothers’s Day, Father’s Day, Labor Day, 4th of July, so many excuses as the year ticks by to spend time with family and friends. Why wouldn’t anyone grab it?

It’s not guaranteed. Days aren’t guaranteed. No guarantee I’ll get another birthday or that my Mom will get another birthday or that anyone will get any other type of celebration. It could all be gone tomorrow, or the next day or in an hour. Birthdays are precious reminders of how short life is and that it should be celebrated!

So today for my Mom’s birthday…I give thanks!

We finally have picked a half marathon plan, for better or worse, just need to figure out when to start it…hoping my mile time will start dropping when we become more consistent…it takes grit to work your way back…I think we have it in us…I know we have it in us, hopefully God will grant us the gift of health so we can…Keep On Running….

My Mom’s Birthday Cake
Berry Chantilly …Yum!

Breaks…

On By runnergirl02In UncategorizedLeave a comment

So…Thanksgiving Break has begun! I guess technically it doesn’t really start until tomorrow because I would usually have to get up and get to school but tomorrow I don’t! I told my students I would miss them but I was also looking forward to a break! Breaks are a much needed slow down or can be if you are intentional. Sometimes I am, sometimes I’m not. I’m trying really hard during this break to be intentional, no checking work email, moving slower than usual and being ok if something doesn’t get done right when I think it should. I’m hopeful this will keep us in the present moment more spending time with the people in front of us, enjoying their company or helping where and when we can.

Today is Sunday and we usually meet together after church as a family with my brother and sister and their kids and my Mom. It’s nice to spend time together, visit with our nieces and nephews who are also our God-Children. I love my brother and sister and I love that, for the most part, I see them every Sunday, and sometimes more than once a week, depending on what’s happening that week.

The readings this week have been from the Book of Wisdom but today’s first reading was from Proverbs, 2nd reading was from the Letter of Paul to the Thessalonians and the Gospel was from Matthew, though during week it was from the Gospel of Luke.

So kind of strange…I was working out this morning with one of my favorite people, Michelle from Faithful Workouts, http://www.faithfulworkouts.com and she said something that made me think about the story in the Bible about the talents and how the Master gave the talents to his workers and then waited to see what they would do with them. Two of the guys get back double for the Master and one of them buries his talent because he was afraid. I was wondering if I’ve buried my talent out of fear, it was a passing thought while meditating during this workout.

Fast forward to Mass…the Gospel reading was about…the talents!! Hmm…I thought, I’m probably supposed to be hearing something from this. Father Carlos talked about not being afraid to use our talents/gifts/treasures. He reminded us that everything we have belongs to God and we just get to use it for awhile. He told us we should be wise about how we choose to use our talents. I’m still pondering exactly what Jesus wanted me to hear but I think it’s the being afraid part. I’m going to think and pray on it some more.

I bought a book about grief that a friend of ours wrote. We read the first few pages today and there was an exercise about breathing in prayer. I was thinking about it and adapted it later today to use with The Jesus Prayer, do you know The Jesus Prayer? Here’s a link to the book, in case your looking for something to help you during a season of grief: Breathing Through Grief …

Lord Jesus Christ, (breathe in)

Son of the Living God, (breathe out)

Have mercy on me, (breathe in)

a sinner. (breathe out)

I liked how that worked out. It is helpful to bring your focus back to the present moment. I appreciated the reminder.

For dinner tonight I made, Pesto Chicken Pizza, yum! I don’t get a lot of time to just kind of stand in the kitchen and cook during the week so I enjoyed putting our pizza together for our dinner tonight.

Time to get somethings done for Thanksgiving….

Today for promptings, for family, for prayers, for Chicken Pesto Pizza…

I Give Thanks!

I did run a little over 3 miles yesterday. I was aiming for 5 but I wasn’t feeling all that great, but our daughter guided us through the “middle mile” of the CIF State XC championship course…it’s very hilly…and I enjoy and appreciate that she still wants to spend time with her parents, she’s a sweet girl and God has blessed up greatly by allowing us to be a part of her life…she is a gift, everyday.

KOR

Here is the Chicken Pesto Pizza Before…I forgot the tomato, but it was still tasty!

Chicken Pesto Pizza after…Yummy! 🙂

Hills!

On By runnergirl02In running, Thankfulness, UncategorizedLeave a comment

My daughter joined a track club last month. She has been enjoying the workouts. So far I like her coach. She’s positive and encouraging. She encourages the parents to do the workouts too and so we did our first hill workout in about two years tonight. Hill repeats. Up the hill, down the hill, repeat. I think we were supposed to do it six times but we only managed five, which I felt good about. I was injured for a long time and I’ve actually been afraid to run hills because I was worried about my knee but the knee feels great and I feel great knowing I was able to push myself. We met some other parents tonight who also live in our town and so that was fun too!

I have always loved how encouraging and supportive the running community is. I wanted that atmosphere for our daughter. Running is more about personal goals, being the best you can be in practice and races. I LOVE Running! Tonight I remembered how much I really loved this sport and why:-)

To top it all off, it was a beautiful spring night. Green and flowers as far as the eye could see. Just more of, WOW, Everything is a gift from God moments. It was a great way to end a Monday.

Today for Running, Hills and Beautiful spring evenings…I Give Thanks!

KOR

Here’s a picture of the sunset at the park where we ran tonight!

SNOW!

On By runnergirl02In Thankfulness, UncategorizedLeave a comment

I live in a valley. The most beautiful valley in the state, if you ask me. Unfortunately, you can’t always tell that I live in a valley. My valley is about an hour away from the front gate of Yosemite National Park as well as an hour away from the front gate of Sequoia National Park, well, maybe I should say my town not my valley. In any event, the mountains are flush with snow right now and the air is clean and so the views when I drive over to my school are breathtakingly beautiful! I mean I could stare at the wonder of the mountains and the snow for hours. The foothills are green and the mountains are snow capped, its the valley of my youth. I was so very thankful to God today for my views, almost 360, amazing!

My valley feeds the world. It is a beautiful place to live, even in the summer when it’s hot. I love it in every season but my favorite is probably right now just before spring and fall, whenever that happens because sometimes it doesn’t happen until December. We live hours away from a spectacular coast line and like I wrote an hour away from beautiful foothills, lakes and world class National Parks.

I love running here. It’s spectacularly beautiful most days. I love my drives to work. I love driving past the open green fields and the orchards. Much of the land has been owned by family farmers, sometimes for generations. It’s getting harder for them though, which concerns me. My town is a relatively conservative leaning town in a crazy liberal state. I enjoy my town. I know people at my church and in my community. I feel like I belong. I care about the people here, the kids here. Some days I am so happy as I drive through my valley I think my heart will burst, like today.

Today….for the spectacularly beautiful mountains that are surrounding my valley, they remind me of God’s ever lasting and ever surrounding love…I Give Thanks!

KOR