No shoulders here, not even for crying on

This is a few days ago; we have more snow now. It's gorgeous and I love it...until Valentine's Day. After that, I will effectively ban all future snow until next year. It interferes with my training, therefore, it shall not be allowed. Sigh. There are no more sidewalks, no more shoulders...even if there were no traffic it would be dangerous as there are a lot of slick parts. Did I mention it is still coming down?

11.5 on the treadmill yesterday, in two sessions. I was having an autoimmune day (hereafter abbreviated AD), so a lot of pains-n-twangs-n-thangs. I actually took an ice bath last night, the water was much colder, even without ice, than 3 bagger ice baths I do in the summertime. I know, I should have just sat in the snow, but I wanted at least my top half to be warm. And it helped. The immediate pain went away, and when my legs had finally warmed up, two hours later, I was able to sleep.

AND. The MRI has been scheduled. For this Saturday. They better see something or I will never complain again, will just run in pain till I really am insane Elaine. This has been going on since last January and it is now obvious I have other issues besides the hernia (which is fixed).

My best friend, the one who calls me all the time, is named 1-000-000-0000. Do you get those calls? If you do, do not answer. Apparently it is telemarketers, bypassing the laws and calling anyway. I get so many of them I rarely even twitch when the phone rings, just wait for the caller ID. I did have one welcome "caller" today, the FedEx truck (see below). My son's laptop has arrived. Oh well, it's been nice having him home, but I'll be losing him now to the world of technology.

Lists of Blessings Do Not Work

All my life I've been regaled by admonitions to be grateful, often with the assumption I will start by naming off my blessings, which usually go something like this, 1) family 2) God 3) country
4) health....etc. So I make the list. And I don't usually feel grateful, usually I feel guilty--I have all this, I have been blessed by all this, so why am I not happy? Why does my life not seem easy? Why aren't I contributing more--what do I have to show for it?

But I've heard gratitude is great at combating the blues; I've also learned discipline of thought patterns (cognitive behavioral therapy) works. President Monson recently spent an entire conference talk on gratitude. The first part of prayer, the way I have learned it, is to thank God for our blessings. So, I've been working a little harder on it.

It does not work for me to make lists of blessings. But recently, I decided to try a little harder. There was a day. A doozy. I felt kicked in the gut emotional pain, not really knowing why. I don't get PMS, so shush about that! I was driving so I had some time, about 20 minutes. I started naming blessings; I tried to make the list different and more specific. Then with each blessing, I would try to understand why I had been blessed with it, why I was grateful for it, sort of an essay on each blessing. Each guilty or destructive thought dismissed: I tried hard  to let in more and more light on a very gray day. It was hard work.....but it eventually worked. It took 20 minutes, which seems like a long time until you consider how long every other therapy takes.  Instead of making me more grumpy, as a list of my blessings often does, I arrived home anxious to go to work, even cheerfully.

No matter how down you are, or why, efforts at gratitude can work. Why ask why? Because when it comes to gratitude, it works.

Morning feast

A gorgeous morning here, -2F, and the above is part of my attempt at a fruitarian diet this morning. It really does give me a buzz and heightened senses when I eat fruit on an empty stomach and that is all I eat. However, succumbing to pizza late at night probably negates any possible weight loss effect....


My foot and hip are still hurting and I haven't ran since Saturday. Is this a real pain or some sort of autoimmune wackola? It didn't hurt while I was running. My foot feels better every day. I may run on it today.

Exorbitant amounts of holiday calories loom in my immediate future; exercise of some sort is crucial.

Flying life

If I don't blog enough, it's because I don't run fast enough. Every time I run fast, I think of blogging...otherwise, not so much. I've been a little unhappy in the hip area, but much of the pain seems to be going away after stopping physical therapy and doing less miles. We shall see...

But today I did 10 in 1:14:45 on a 3% decline on my amazing schampazing treadmill of treadmills. Average pace 7:28. Speedy me. And then I kept going for another mile, then ran out of time, not energy... and NO pain. I am very happy.

And speaking of happiness, my oldest son came home from a two year mission in Brazil a new man, much happier, more confident, even better-looking. Oh, and nicer too. I will not soon forget that moment. He even talked to son #2, encouraging him in an hour more than I have in the last three years. There is new hope in the world. Notice the "Do not enter, EXIT" sign. He is finished with that phase and now moves on to the next phase, the film program at university.

Home 24 hours, then one day later we flew to Virginia to pace my siblings in the Richmond marathon. Unfortunately, I was too busy worrying, running backwards on the course, and bringing in three siblings, to take pictures. However, my oldest brother qualified for Boston and I swear he could have gone another mile. He looked much better that evening than he had in Hartford, even though he completed the Richmond course more than an hour faster. I also saw my Mom and Dad; my brother and sister-in-law are taking care of them. My sister-in-law is doing a great job. We also went to the Holocaust museum there in Virginia, always a sad yet inspirational experience. Never forget.

Since I've been home life has been very busy, just running here and there and everywhere. I'm not really sure why--I think I'm just catching up? Let's see, today I did the above run, jumped in the shower, then took car #1 in to get snow gear, then came home and frantically did housework, then did Meals on Wheels, paid bills, went grocery shopping, dropped off two extra turkeys to a charity, picked up car #2 with its new snow tires, picked up son from his after school work, came home, and ate more veggies.
Oh yeah! I'm on a fruit and veggie/pure food thinger. I mostly eat fruit and veggies but will eat protein if it's not processed, and not a lot. So far I've lost three pounds but I'm not sure as my weight fluctuates dramatically all the time.

I will try to blog more often.

It's a new day. Grab it, sit on it, then stand up and stomp on it.
That came into my head...which means I am very tired after the stomach flu yesterday and then staying up half the night trying to get my oldest registered for his winter term classes. (I got his classes...except his "must haves" :/
I just received this email in return for the one I sent in the middle of the night,

"Both TMA 105 and 185 are raincheck registration classes. You will need to click the "R" option to raincheck the classes, and the Department will be in touch regarding officially adding the classes. Currently there are no students enrolled, so if you raincheck both of those classes, there is still an opportunity to get into them. If you have any other questions, please let us know. Thank you and have a great day!

The College of Fine Arts and Communications
Advisement Center"


I think the Democrats will do better than we think. But if Reid and Patty Murray both win it will be very good for my running...frustration is always a good motivator.  Why do so many stay with the status quo? Same song as the Republicans, but louder, same spending, but more, same politics, but less consideration of the constituents. Both of these people have been in office far too long, both have very low approval ratings, yet they both may get re-elected.