Things That Went Bump Tonight

• My seven-year old, D, on the floor, bemoaning his grounding after his latest 'responsibility slip.'
  
• My three-year old, P, on the floor, bemoaning his
  
  
  
  • being hit by his brother with a bat ('twas a glancing blow and he's ok).
    
  • not being the first one to wash his hands before dinner.
    
  • not carving the pumpkin the exact second he wanted to.
    
  
  
• The house itself, after the 5.6 earthquake that struck about 14 miles from here.
  
• Not me, because I was oblivious to above earthquake, doing laundry in the garage. Hmmmm, guess the garage is a good place to be. But I could get buried. Hmmmmm.
  

Then, we're watching the Nova show about Marathon Training and, at the very end, when all of Team Nova completes the Boston Marathon, I have tears rolling down my face and am all choked up about their determination and I want to do a marathon now.

What a night. And it's not even Halloween yet. Speaking of which, I should probably go back to the garage and dig out the kids' costumes for tomorrow.

A Gorgeous Morning Ride

Rushing to meet up at 7:30 am
Suppressing the guilt at having to wake up and drop off the kids early
Sitting in the morning traffic
Waiting, waiting for the lights to change
Don't want to be late, hate to be late

Pull up in the parking lot
Load up bikes
Drive to start of ride

Breathe

Brisk morning air
Leaves turning color, here and there
Sunshine peeking through the trees
Wind blowing
Hills rising and then falling
Heart rate rising and then falling
Losing my breath and catching it
Following and leading
Zooming down a hill, without a brake or a care in the world

A smile as wide as the sky
A charge to last the rest of the day

Back to Normal

Yippee! I'm back on the mat and today was a good day to be back. Nice sized class - 7 guys , 2 girls. Nice mix of techniques - some throwing and rolling, some pinning and shoulder cranking stretching. More throwing and rolling. A preview of a nasty kotegaeshi high breakfall (which I have yet to try but am secretly dying to - maybe I should choose slightly different words).

The test is not going to happen on the 30th but that's ok. With the week off due to sickness, I need more time anyway.

The sloth has been banished. The Red Sox are in the World Series. The family is healthy again. I'm giving a talk at a conference on Saturday and it's ready to go. Life is good.

Got to savor this moment.

Curatrix, Thy Name is Sloth

Oh boy, one week of NOT a second of organized exercise (besides chasing the kids around, of course) and I can see how easy it would be for me to slip back in to my old sedentary lifestyle. Time for a leisurely lunch and a chat, what a novelty!

Oh so tempting.

Thank goodness I've got a full schedule planned for next week. Monday, back to running with the guys. Tuesday, back to aikido. Wednesday, time for a nice fall bike ride. Thursday, heading to the main dojo for class with Sensei. Then comes a three day conference which will probably mean no exercise again but I should be back to being hooked on endorphins again.

But what about today? It's already 4 pm. Game 7 of the ALCS starts in an hour and a half. Boston had an absolutely brilliant night last night and has tied it up. You know I'm going to be on my couch watching this game so that pretty much puts 5:20 pm onwards out of the running. M is working on the fence . Does vacuuming the carpets, hanging up laundry on the line and putting away groceries count as exercise? Hmmmm. 'Cause if it doesn't, I really need to get out of this chair and into my running shoes.

Grounded

I've been under the weather since Sunday afternoon. Yeah, I think the cold virus was just waiting for my defenses to drop and then it struck with a vengeance. Staying home from work on Monday helped a lot. Got back to work today and decided that I'd take today off from exercise too.

I'm starting to get antsy and am weighing whether I should go to aikido or swim tomorrow. Maybe a short run? Then the rational side of me weighs in with, "ARE YOU CRAZY?" I know. If this were anyone else, I'd be urging them to wait until they were completely healthy before venturing back into exercise again.

Alright. One more day off. Sigh. But Thursday, Thursday could be the day.

Rock and Roll, Baby

I made it through the half-marathon.

Mile 1: This isn't so bad. Only 12.1 to go.
Miles 2-9: Doing ok, steady pace. Nice, flat course. Two slight dips but the Dish, my dear friend, makes them seem miniscule.
Mile 9.6: Energy gel stop. Energy would be good. Down the hatch.
Mile 9.8: Left side stitch! Go away, go away. Tighten abs and release, repeat.
Mile 11: Want to stop running and walk. Ah! Accelerade stop, good excuse to slow down and grab a drink. Don't really want to start running again. Tom pushes me on - we're almost there!
Mile 13: Is that it? Is that the finish line? My feet are feeling slightly numb but the finish is SO CLOSE.

2:16

Augh! I Should Have Trained More

The half-marathon is next Sunday. This week, I ran the Dish on Monday and Wednesday. Really felt it after the second one. Took a break from running till today when I thought I should at least try to run 10 or so miles so that I don't completely shock my body when next week rolls around.

OMG. It is going to be a tough run. Let's just say that in the next five minutes, I'm going to go grab some ibuprofen, slug it down with a glass of water and head into bed. It's a pity one can't cram for a run like one can cram for a test. I'll have to count on adrenaline and determination to get me through. Maybe M should have a stretcher waiting for me at the finish line.