Flippin' Out!

     Do any of you do flips?  A flip is something I learned from one of my really good friends a couple of years ago and it has changed my life!!!  I love flipping~ it keeps me going when things are bad, puts a positive spin on stuff, changes my attitude.  I can flip anywhere, anytime!  Here is the great part - I can teach you how to flip right now and I promise it will change your life, too!!!!  
     A flip is not really a flip in the physical sense, it is more of a mental maneuver.  So here goes - you know that old lady driving exactly 5 4miles per hour ahead of you.  She is making you so mad because you have places to be, people to see and you CAN NOT get around her.  You can feel your blood pressure escalate and expletives are ready to spew forth.  Time for a flip, a new story.  The little old lady has a backseat of freshly baked apples pies in the backseat of her car that she is dropping off at the church bakesale that benefits the pet shelter.  Seriously~ how can you be mad at a lady doing such a nice deed? *FLIP*
     Let's try another one.  That man at the laundrymat butted ahead of you for the next available dryer.  Your clothes need to be dried NOW and you waited your turn and there has to be a system for doing things and people need to STICK TO THE SYTEM!  Time for a flip, a new story.  The young man is proposing to his girlfriend tonight, the one who just got back from serving overseas, and needs his one dress shirt to look nice for the occasion.  Aaaaaaah, I love love! *FLIP*
    Kids who don't hand homework in time? They were spending the evening visiting residents in a nursing home.  *FLIP*
    Coworkers who don't do their share of the work?  They are storing their energy for busier days?  Maybe?  *FLIP*
     OK - I am not really a Pollyanna and don't flip everything. But an occasional flip?  Oh yeah!  Try it, you'll like it!

Aaaaah- youth!

     On Wednesday, after a long day of teaching, I headed out for a run.  This was not going to be just any old run- on this day two of my students had decided to join me!  They had been talking it about it for days and they were both looking forward to it.  Secretly, I was a little afraid.  I knew these two boys were fast!!!!!!!!!  And I mean like 6:50 mile fast.  In my head I was preparing myself for a serious butt-kicking from these 5th graders.  It rained all day and I kept checking with the boys to see if they wanted to back out.  "Nope," they assured me.  "We like running in the rain."  "Better check with your moms. They won't want you to get sick."  "Mom says it is fine."
     So Stephen and I started off from school and made our way to the park at which we were to meet Brody.  The park was about 2 miles away, and the plan was to run the fastest mile we could when we got there.  I thought for sure my endurance training would come in handy and MAYBE I would stand a chance against these speedsters. Stephen totally cracked me up - not only did he keep a steady and amusing conversation going, he jumped through every mud puddle, bounded up and over boulders, and zoomed around with airplane arms!!!  He kept that up for the entire 2 miles!!  I kept checking with him to see if he was ok - yep, he was great!!!  The first mile was an 8:15 pace, the second was 7:30!!!!  I was working hard, he was not!
     Brody ran down the block to meet us whooping and hollering!  Aw man!  Boy energy!  I saw the spark in Stephen grow as he met his friend.  Well, there was no backing down.  I offered my watch to the boys because I was pretty sure they would finish the fast mile before me.  They declined, I am pretty sure they were just being polite.  And away we went!  The boys started out like wild banshees!!  laughing, skipping, yelling.  I trailed behind for a while and slowly started gaining ground.  At the half mile mark I told them our split "3:30!"  and then guess what?  I pulled away!!!  I heard one of them say "She blew right by us!"  I was beaming but felt like I should not be!  Should I let them win?  Should I do a faster mile and show them their teacher can really rock it when she needs to?  I kept on going and finished the mile in 6:54.  Whoo hoo!  I stood and cheered for them and secretly inside cheered for myself!!  I did it!  I beat the speediest!  And then I heard Stephen say "I walked with Brody a little bit.  He had a side ache." "Yeah,"  Brody said, "I have asthma."  Oh.  I had to laugh at my cockiness!  It was a great run with great company and I hope they join me again!  Next time they better bring their inhalers!  Ha ha!  And btw- Stephen completed SIX miles with me that day and he was not the least bit winded!  Cool!

Women Rock Marathon 2012

Yesterday I ran the Women Rock Marathon in St. Paul.  Promises of being fed grapes, a fast course, and hot firefighters got me into a race that I really had no business doing.  I signed up for the marathon in May- right after I completed the 50 mile ultra.  I was on a high and thought 26.2 would be fun to do. But a summer of being plagued by all kinds of muscle and tendon problems kept me from training my best. In July I went into what I called "survival mode"- training only every other day.  I had to do that or there was no way I was going to be able to do the run.  I threw out junk miles and only ran tempo runs and long runs.  Well, that plan and a huge amount of rehab got me to race day.  The Wed before the race I went out for a quick 4 miler.  EVERYTHING hurt.  Every ache and pain I had over the summer came back to haunt me.  I sat in the parking lot by myself and cried.  And then at that moment I got a text from a friend that pulled me back from the edge.  She texted "the race clock does not know your story.  Run without your watch."  That is so true.  We, as runners, have highs and lows, we have accomplishments and struggles.  We have things in our lives that we have no control over.  When we toe the starting line, the only person who knows your entire story is you.
Race day was beautiful!  The start of the race was cool with little humidity.  It was so inspirational to be at the race with all the other women runners!!! The course was a lot tougher than I thought it was going  to be.  The hills (and there were many of them) tired me out.  I started out doing really well and I was soooooo happy!  It didn't make sense to me that I was doing as well as I was but I was going with that. I knew I should not start out too fast, but my theory was that since I did not know if my hammie and Achilles would last the whole race that I would run fast while I could. For the first 13 miles I was in 7th place!!!!!!  What a great feeling!  By mile 17 I had been passed by a few runners and then. the. wheels. came. off.  But I don't want to dwell on that.  I did the best I could with what I had for that day and I am pretty proud of that!!!!  I finished with a 3:43 (14 minutes over my PR but so much better than I thought I would do!), 17th out of 237 and 2nd in my age group.  Yeah, that makes me feel proud, but seriously, the thing I am most proud of is that I DID IT!!!!!!  Now to rest...
PS - I did NOT wear a watch!!

After-race celebration with my ladies!