The theme for this week’s Take it and Run Thursday at the Runner’s Lounge is running advice in 13 words or less. Here is mine:
You can run through your problems, but not away from them.
Sunday night I channel surfed into the end of North Dallas 40, just in time to hear these words of wisdom:
Know the difference between pain and injury.
For a minute I thought the television was trying to send me a message 
I am old enough to remember picking up litter with my elementary school class on the very first Earth Day in 1970. I wouldn’t say that the day itself had a profound impact on me, but I did grow up with “Keep America Beautiful”, the crying Indian, and a mother who grew up during the Great Depression who found ways to recycle just about everything. I am not nearly so kind to the earth as my mother was, but I am trying to reduce my footprint on the earth. I am fortunate to work at home, so I can limit my driving to 10,000 miles/year or less. I did drive to the grocery store last night, but being a bit of a ditzy Diva at the end of the day, I forgot to bring my environmentally friendly bag from Nature’s Path. Fortunately, Top Foods had an Earth Day special where I could receive an environmentally friendly reusable bag by purchasing $10 worth of environmentally friendly products. Coincidentally, some of the Nature’s Path Organic cereals were on sale, so I stocked up and got my free bags. This only helps if I can remember to take them with me the next time I go to the store, so after putting the groceries away last night, I left them hanging on the door knob. This morning when Jasmine and I went for our first walk, I put them in the car. I still have one bag in the house, so I can use it if I walk to the store. I used to do this all the time when I walked instead of ran. Now that I’ve run my body into the ground, this is something I would like to get back to doing.
Although we are trying to eliminate grocery bags from our house, Mr Diva is a shopping fanatic, so we will always have a ready supply of plastic bags to bring along when walking Jasmine. According to County officials, Snohomish County dogs leave 2 tons of “waste” in our back yards each day. Man that is a lot of poop to scoop. I’m not always timely about picking up what happens in the back yard, but I am fanatical about picking up what happens on walks. Today I also picked up litter while out on our walk. I know I should do that every day, but it is hard to live an ideal life.
Later this afternoon I will run outside, even though the treadmill would be easier on my injured parts. It seems silly to waste electricity when I could run outside and use none. I will leave the car in the driveway as long as possible, as I will be driving 60 miles/day next week to a class I need to take for work. Wasteful, but necessary.
I am not much of a gardener, but I have been slowly replacing ornamental plants in my yard with plants that are native to the area. One of the many things people don’t consider when planting their yards is that local birds and wildlife depend on plants as a food source. Bringing in plants from other areas can be harmful to local wildlife, and can also cause changes in migration patterns. In some cases, plants that are introduced as landscaping can invade natural areas, killing native plants. One of the worst offenders is English Ivy.
So friends, runners and fellow earth inhabitants, as you take your run today, remember to appreciate the earth in all of its glory, and think about ways that you can minimize your impact upon it. And don’t forget to recycle your running shoes!
NEW
I just got the following information from the credit union, encouraging me to switch to eBills. I’ve been using eBills for a very long time because I’m a bad housekeeper, and I tend to lose paper and I never have a stamp when I need one.
Less than one week ago we were taking the hard top off the T-bird and turning on the air conditioning. Things took an unpleasant turn on Sunday, with cool, wet and windy weather, and just got worse as the week progressed. These pictures were taken today:
The forecast calls for snow throughout the weekend. Ewwww.
Whidbey Island Half Marathon
Oak Harbor Washington
April 13, 2008
http://whidbeyislandmarathon.com
I promised my friend Gladys that I would sign up for the Whidbey Island Half Marathon shortly after PF Chang’s Rock N Roll Arizona. That was before I realized just how damaged my poor body is. A promise to a friend is not something I take lightly, and since I have been running a bit lately, I decided that I would go and run for a bit, and walk the rest. Then on Thursday after a walk with Jasmine I felt a sharp pain in my left ankle. The sharp pain was my constant companion for the next 2 days. Even though I was limping around in pain and expressing concern about whether or not I should be walking or running 13.1 miles on Sunday, my friends and family all encouraged me to go through with it. Believe me, if anyone had supported the idea of skipping it, I would have.
Saturday morning was beautiful. We took the hard top off the DivaMobile and I was barely able to hold my end because of my ankle. I drove up to Anacortes to pick up Gladys, and then we took the scenic cruise over Deception Pass to the race expo in the Oak Harbor High School gym. The expo was much nicer than in 2004. Nature’s Path Organic Foods is the sponsor, and they have really done good things for this event. Their goal this year was to make the event as green as possible. The shirts were made of organic cotton and bamboo. The gift bags were reusable bags made of recycled materials. Included in the bag was a box of cereal. It was definitely the best gift bag I’ve picked up at a race in a very long time.
We left the expo and drove down to Coupeville to have dinner with our friend Cathie.
Poor Cathie has to endure this view every day. I don’t know how she does it.
A beautiful Whidbey Island sunset
We drove back to Anacortes with the top down, even though the temperature dropped into the 50s after sunset. It was a beautiful, clear evening, but something happened over night. When we woke up in the morning there was a heavy marine layer, and the temperatures dropped into the low 40s. By the time we got to the starting line, the wind was whipping up. I was regretting leaving my wind/rain jacket at Gladys’ house.
Are these women bundled up for the final ascent up Everest? No, they are getting ready for the Whidbey Island Half Marathon.
I still had no idea if I was running or walking, or if I was going to have to hitchhike to the finish line. I started my iPod, turned on my Garmin and we started moving toward the starting line. We moved down hill for a very brief stretch before a lengthy uphill stretch. I kept up the easy jog, hoping I could get through the first mile before walking. When the iPod announced the first mile, I glanced at my Garmin and realized that I had turned it on, but not started it. I hit the start button, and kept up the easy run. Soon I’m at mile 2, then mile 3. I’m starting to think I might make it to mile 5. The course has many long hills. The weather is cool and windy, but by mile 4 the jacket is tied around my waist and I’m running in just a tank top. At mile 8 I realize my peroneal tendons were starting to stiffen, and I knew I wouldn’t be running much longer, but we were at the beginning of a long downhill stretch that ran along the water. Why walk own a hill when you can run, right?
I’m sure the entire course would have been scenic if the weather had been nicer, but all I remember about the course are hills and houses. When we got to the bottom of the hill, I was in so much pain, I had no choice but to walk. From this point it was a matter of gritting my teeth, keeping my head down and moving forward. Shortly after mile 11 it started to rain. I put my jacket back on, but the dry-fit material soaked through quickly. I’m wondering why I didn’t just say I was too injured to do this. Oh yeah, I promised. At mile 12 we turned and started up another hill. There were runners coming back up the other side, so I thought it was an out and back before the finish. Silly Diva, they were marathoners going into the second half of the race. I was on my way back to the high school. The course turned into the high school stadium parking lot, and then into the stadium for a lap around the track. I’ve run in many interesting places, but I’ve never run on a track before. I’m jogging slowly, but as I round the last curve I feel a sprint coming on. It’s always amazing to me how that adrenalin rush cures all of my aches and pains.
A very cute little girl asks me if I ran the full marathon. She has a handful of finisher’s medallions, but they are for the full marathon. I tell her I ran the half, and accept a medallion from the lady behind her. It is made from recycled glass, with a pair of shoelaces for the ribbon. I’m happy to have it around my neck. I stumble out of the finisher’s area and up to the stadium so I can stretch and sit down. The stadium is covered, but the wind whips right through. Warm runner, wet jacket and cold wind are a bad combination. I look own at the finisher’s area and see that they are passing out mylar blankets. I can’t get back, but I walk down to the edge of the stadium and ask a runner if he can grab one for me. He kindly gives me his, since he isn’t using it. It was a life saver. I sit and wait for Gladys to make her triumphant finish. I finally notice that Dean Karnazes is down in the finisher’s area. Did I walk right by him? Man do I feel like crap.
My mind is wandering, and I fail to see Gladys cross the finish line, but I see her in the finisher’s area. I wave frantically to attract her attention. We are cold, wet and miserable, so we head for the gate. On our way I recognize Ken Conahan, from the Athlinks.com site. He had also run PF Chang’s and Mardi Gras this year, but we hadn’t met in person. He had run a PR of 3:56 on the hills of Whidbey Island. I was happy to get a chance to say hello, but was too tired and brain dead to take his picture. As we limp toward the car I say to Gladys “Isn’t this a stupid hobby?”. She says yes. Later, after a hot shower and a good meal, the race seems like a better idea than it did at the end.
Gladys did very well, finishing only 4 minutes slower than she did in the much flatter and warmer PF Chang’s half marathon. I finished in 2:44:17. Not great, but not terrible considering the shape I was in.
Check my Garmin stats to see the hills. I managed to get up to 11.9 mph when sprinting the finish!
http://trail.motionbased.com/trail/activity/5388637
I really would like to try this race again when I’m not injured, preferably in better weather. By the way, if you haven’t tried Nature’s Path Organic cereals, some of them are really good. My favorites are the Pomegranate Plus granola and the Peanut Butter granola. The Multigrain and Heritage Grain flakes are best when mixed with something like Cheerios or Corn Checks.
Scenery/location: OK
Spectators: A few
Course: Challenging/hilly
Aid stations: Good
Volunteers: Good
Bathrooms: OK
Shirt & medal: Organic cotton & bamboo t-shirt, recycled glass medal - very nice
Post race food: OK
Jasmine the Dalmatian Princess is 12 today. Over 12 years we have logged many miles, shared many pizzas and countless other happy memories. They refer to dogs as man’s best friend, and diamonds as a girl’s best friend, but I would have to say that Jasmine is a treasure more precious than diamonds, and that “dalmatians are a Diva’s best friend”.
So far we have celebrated with 2 walks, a birthday bath (walk #1 was a bit muddy), canned dog food for breakfast, and some surprisingly tasty canine cookies (they smelled good, so I had a little nibble!). There was also a stunning new “crystal and rhinestone” collar, because she is a Dalmatian Diva
There will be further celebration this evening with at least one more walk, and probably a little jog, followed by a tasty dinner and perhaps a few more canine cookies.
