Keep it cool....

The Urban Obstactle Course, or Where the Sidewalk Ends

Running in the city in winter is challenging.

For every person who shovels their side walk, there is another who only shovels half (generally from their door to their driveway or car) and yet another who doesn't shovel at all.

Sometimes there is a side walk...and then it disappears under snow, or ice, or some combo of the two. And when it's snow, it can be a giant bank of the white stuff that the plow left or a car owner dumped when digging out their car.

Those big snow banks need to be climbed over. Or skirted, like the ice that forms in lots of places, on the side walks and on the street.

They also block drivers' view and runners' view and need to passed with caution. Dayglo yellow is imperative.

Trash day adds a new element of this obstacle course...what side walk there is, is often blocked by trash and recycling bins, as well as whatever else has been left for the garbage men, including but hardly limited to furniture, television sets (which subsequently sit around because the city won't take them in trash), building materials and tree branches.

Running is fun and challenging and hard even on a good day...but the Urban Obstacle Course makes it all the more so.

I like a challenge, bring it on!

fasten your seat belts...

it's going to be a bumpy night.

so famously said Bette Davis in All About Eve.

In 3 short weeks life's been bumpy.

My mom got the bad news that the cancer is back again. Onto another drug regime that will hopefully work for a while...time will tell.

My running has faltered. Not fallen off, but faltered. A wicked cold snap, a bit of a busy spell, snow and ice, and some general malaise has meant I've let my running go a bit. I have some goal races but I'm floating a bit in some unscheduled time and lacking in some motivation. All is not lost however...for as much as I feel I've not been running at all...the reality is I've gotten in at least 2-3 runs a weeks consistently, even if they are short. Overall...it could be much worse.

I'm not worried yet.

Work is fine but I'm saddened to hear a colleague is ill. It will affect my day to day work, but this isn't a problem for me. I'm just hoping very much she'll pull through and stays strong.

Have I mentioned how much I hate cancer? I know...one track record. Sue me.

Roberto and I had a great weekend in Baltimore visiting friends. THAT was just what we needed. I actually felt relaxed when we got home, if not the least bit rested. Too many late nights...but all in fun.

We have a new president, and I am hopeful he can make some changes...if only because the American population seems to be behind him. He's just one man, but he is inspiring many and THAT is how change can happen.

I'm feeling a need to lay low and hide a little bit right now because I'm a bit raw and fragile, and those traits are what got me feeling like this in the first place.

Not even a month in and already bumpy.

I can deal with bumpy.

I run a lot of hills...for every down, there's an up.

Starting off the new year with a bang....

I can't believe it's 2009. How did this happen?

I was born in the '60s. The '60s! Now it's almost the 20-tens?

This year could hold a lot of promise for me but it, quite literally, started off with a bang. Or at least a bump.

On New Year's Eve, driving home from work in the early afternoon, I got into a car accident. We were in the middle of a snow storm, and while I was driving cautiously and carefully, my tires just could not get traction when the SUV in front of me slowed to a stop unexpectedly. It was weather related and no one was hurt, but our car needs fairly extensive repairs and will be in the shop for another week at least.

Some have pointed out to me that this was the last thing of note to happen to me in 2008, rather than the first thing to happen to me in 2009, but it's left me feeling unsettled and shaken beyond the mere accident.

Is this how 2009 will be? I've had some very good and very bad moments in the last fews years, and at this point, I could really use an uneventful one for a change.

The big 4-0 is no longer approaching, but here...so I don't have to worry about it anymore. (that's like asking the sun not to burn but one can hope, yes?)

My mother's health is stable at the moment. That could change any day...but right now...stable. And she feels better than she has in a long time. That is the biggest blessing of all for her.

I'm still running, and better than I've ever run before. It's easier and more inherent for me now...and best of all, more fun. I have a good coach, but this year, I hope I can ask less of him and draw more strength internally. (That, too, might be like asking the sun not to burn...but I am trying to learn a little more self motivation, self reliance and inner strength.)

I constantly wonder if I'm doing the right things and where I can make changes. I'm probably a little old for some of this reflection and self discovery, but it's never too late to learn and grow...and given that I am very worried about how long I will be healthy and here at all, I need to do all I can now to be a better person to myself and everyone around me.

2008 was definitely a year of changes for me. I've made a lot of new friends who are dear to me and lost a friend or two along the way. Some have drifted more recently for reasons I don't understand and this is very upsetting to me but I'm trying to just move on; I don't think I've done any egregious to make this happen, so time will tell if they will come back to me. I've become close again with my sister which is wonderful. I've had to work hard on my marriage last year and will need to do more work around that this year.

So will 2009 be the year that started with a crash...or the year that started clean of past accidents, stupid mistakes and slip ups? I don't know yet...ask me in a year.

in the meantime, I'll try to keep you posted on how it's looking.

First post of 2009

I just love this cat...I think it needs to start off my 2009 blog, if only because it makes me laugh every single time I watch it.

I apologize up front to those of you who are not amused.