Tuesday, February 17, 2009

Fellow Runners of the Day Awards

I have tried to post this blog for the past two hours now....every time I try to add a picture, it locks up. Not sure what's up with that but we're going picture-less tonight. Sorry. What I started to say (but will condense now due to the time), was that I have reconnected with my former Alabamian neighbor, a fellow running addict, Shari. What a sweetheart,she's runner award #1 of the day!! We never got to run much together when we shared mutual land borders due to physical constraints of either me being pregnant with twins or their hellacious birth and recovery from birth, but we talked often of our common addiction. She's an amazing runner with her desire and her drive! THAT we share. She posted a FB comment to me today and I wanted to share it with y'all:
Shari Williams Crowe wrote: Hey, Jill - tried to post to your blog but wasn't successful. So here's what I wanted to say . . . I so enjoyed reading this, Jill! If everyone read your blog, more people would run. It is hard to explain the sheer joy of having a good run, where mind, body, and soul all feel good at the end. I think you may capture it here, though . . . and through that maybe you will convince more people to run. The world would be a happier place if everyone had some endorphins on board.
Okay, that's it! That's why I keep blogging each day; I hope to inspire those that don't run to run. Or maybe it's not running, per say, that you desire but maybe some other sort of activity that you are struggling to get going, had once but lost, continue to do but can't get past a certain plateau...I want to help by writing down my experiences because I have learned in my bagillion years of running that there is no other high than to physically get out there every day and challenge yourself to reach your goals. Or challenge yourself to find those goals! Thanks Shari, you're awesome and I can't wait to see you next month whether it's dusting me in the Atlanta half or having a few cervezas at Bandito. I look forward, too, to our continue running (and non-running) stories; it's been a blast the past few weeks!

My other fellow runner of the day goes to my current neighbor, Jim Clawson. I was talking to his wife on the phone when I said I had to go; it was getting late, the sun was going to set soon and I still had to get in my hill repeats (I know, it's not a Wednesday so don't look for me on the hills tomorrow. Schedule change). She said: Oh, Jim hasn't run yet, he can go with you. Well, that turned into me calling him a few choice names when he was trying numerous excuses not but he finally caved and met me at the top of the hill. I'm not certain Jim's ever done hill repeats so he was a bit skeptical - but what a man!!!...he ran with me, despite his ever increasing speed (obvious by him kicking my butt at the 10-miler in January). I can't speak more than a few brief words within the first few steps so it's not like we had a chatty conversation, but it was great to run with him up those hills. They weren't easy, the winds were howling in seriously gale-force, and I was wheezing hard by the last one (this actually kinda scared me). But I managed to keep my time consistent and I did feel good and strong tonight. Jim definitely pushed me harder than my normal solo attempt up those hills , evident by my 171 hr on the last two (usually around 168)...a great workout - thanks Jim! Next week same route or 'The Vista' hills?

A non-running related comment, but inline with following your passions: Brendan was in the backyard today when he saw Air Force One take off from Buckley Air Force base as Obama left the Natural History museum after signing the new bill. He was thrilled beyond belief - this kid has had an obsession about flying for about the past 9 of his 13 years of life! I have no doubt that someday he will follow this dream; he talks constantly about flying! He took a quick picture with his cell phone but you can't even see the dot of the plane. I will play around with it and see if I can get it enlarged some and share if I can.

Thanks guys!!

Back to work tomorrow...been off for 5 days and done nothing much at all....ahhhh. Felt great!

6 miles run

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