8-miler today

My body gave me the gift of 8 miles today. Guess it really liked those baby-back ribs last night, huh? I gotta tell you: I felt good. That's right - dang good.

After the 1st mile, I didn't even notice that it was chilly - just under 50 degrees. And by the 5th or 6th mile when it started raining, I thought I was in heaven.

For those of you who don't know this about me, I LOVE LOVE LOVE the rain. I'm obsessed about it. I write poems about it. Especially Spring and Summer rain, when it's not too cold or windy and everything looks green, like you can practically see the grass and the trees drinking the rain drops right out of the air. When I was living at home, 2 of my sisters and my younger brother used to wait for me on the front porch to get home from work so we could go run around the neighborhood splashing in puddles, floating sticks down the street, and seeing who could get the wettest. Today was chilly, but the fact that it was raining meant that it was too warm for snow, so I took it as another gift personally crafted for my heart's delight and reveled.

In fact, I'd still be out in it, but Clint was starting to wonder why I was gone so long. (I hadn't originally planned on running 8 miles.)

Anyway, so... the rain felt good, the Spring blossoms on the trees smelled like paradise, my i-pod was shuffling through my "running" mix, and as I finished mile 7 and pounded into mile 8, the stars aligned to grace me with Gift Number 3. My i-pod randomly picked up Collective Soul's "Shine." The world was spinning just for me. "Wooooooooo-hooooooooo!"

Thinking Thrillsome Thursday Thoughts

Hi all!

Let's start things off with how happy I am to have Sunshine! Blessed, glorious sunshine! This is a huge relief to me because I was starting to come down with serious winter depression. Not really. But really. I was ready to move to St George. or Cali. But the past 2 days here have been 80 degrees and I've even gotten some sun outside on my lunch breaks. It's beautiful!

So about the whole half marathon shebang. It's been really nice to run outside with the sunshiny, mild weather. Last night, I did a tempo run, which basically means you run a stint of a couple miles or so at a faster pace than what you're used to. My runnersworld.com training schedule has me do a tempo run once a week and it's supposed to train my body to run faster over time. Last night was a doozy for me. I ran 6 miles, 1 warm up mile, 1 cool down mile, and the 4 miles in between at an 8:00-minute-mile "tempo" pace. That's a whole minute faster than what I'm used to and I'll tell ya, it just about did me in. I was drained for the rest of the night. My arms and legs felt like they had 50-lb weights on them, I could hardly eat, and I slept a solid 9 hours. Feeling better today, I'm happy to report. I'm supposed to run 7 miles this weekend so...we'll see how it goes. The half marathon is at Bear Lake, on Saturday June 13th. We're going with Brett & Jessica, though Jessica will happily abstain from the run this year. She and her family are kind enough to let us stay at her parents' cabin near the lake on Friday night before our run on Saturday morning. All 4 of us did the 10K (about 6.2 miles) last year. It's pretty fun.

By way of an update, Clint's about to graduate with his master's in Civil Engineering. We're totally excited for evenings together! I don't know if we've told you or you've heard, but we're planning on going to Disneyland over Clint's birthday. Woop woop!!! Can't wait!!! Clint will get in free for his birthday. And I'm hoping we'll be able to spend lots of time on the beach. Just being lazy heads.

We're also planning on doing a Southern Utah backpacking trip over Memorial Day. Can't you tell we're getting stoked for summer? We're practically desperate to play and spend more time outside!! I'm hoping we'll do a hike every week this summer, June through August. Maybe through September since Clint won't be starting school next fall. People, I'm going to test my strength against the mountains this year. (And against the half mary, for that matter.) Even more than last summer. We'll do Olympus and probably Pfeifferhorn again, but I also want to conquer Timpanogos, maybe Nebo, and maybe Lone. It will definitely be difficult, but I'm ready to show myself and everyone that I can be hardcore. I will keep y'all updated.

Welp, I'm out. Hope everyone's enjoying their week and this marvelous sunshine!

the love-hate relationship continues

The love-hate relationship refers to Utah weather, by the way. Though I do have off days with running. Was it just me making up hopeful forecasts in my head or did the weather man REALLY say that is was supposed to be warm and sunny on Saturday? High fifties to low sixties, I thought.

So with optimistic expectations of sunshine, I went running this morning, a 5-miler, and it was gorgeous! The weather was perfect, not too warm for running and not too breezy. I hooked up with I think it's the Jordan River trail that follows right along the rusty old unused train tracks starting at 123rd South.

This is me feeling pretty good after my run. I was pumped up for Spring time and happy to have found a good, quiet, scenic route to enjoy the sunshine.

That was this morning.

This afternoon Clint and I went to the Ute Spring football scrimage and unfortunately we arrived a little late and so we had to climb to one of the top-most rows. Before long we were in complete shade. I was sporting jean shorts and flip flops, hoping to maybe possibly get a tan. A little too much to hope for, apparently. By the end of the scrimage, the hood of of my jacket was up, I was crouched over in my chair, and Clint's hoodie was wrapped around my bare legs, which were bouncing up and down in an effort to keep my blood circulating to my purple toes.

If you want to see what the game looked like, check out the reflection in Clint's glasses. If you want to see what my hand holding out the camera looked like, then the reflection in my glasses.

it's beginning to look a lot like grill-time

We had a difficult relationship with the weather this week. I was about ready to throw in the towel and sleep in bed all day when I saw the snow coming down on Wednesday morning. I was one grumpy son of a nutcracker; you bet on it. I told Clint on Friday, "we're moving." Undebateably in a southward direction. We had a window of opportunity on Thursday night though, and Clint decided that it was high time we did some grilling. I turned over the responsibility to him because it was still pretty chilly willy the Penguin out and I didn't feel keen on reminding myself that I still couldn't comfortably wear the Spring flip flops.

The bratwursts were delicious. My babe is a talented griller.

Monday Morning Musings

Like that alliteration? Bwah ha ha. I'm in the mode.

So, just for the record, the second time running a tempo run was NOT better than the first time. Geez. It was WORSE! I was huffing & cramping & had to stop and walk like every half mile! But the worst part is...I lost my runnersworld.com training plan & had to go back to the website and improvise a new one, which I couldn't get to turn out the same as the old one. So my tempo run was actually a little bit slower of a pace than what I did the first time. Geez again! Am I not eating right? Nevermind, don't answer that. Doy.

The 7-miler on Saturday wasn't bad, actually. It helps having a constant change of scenery, I think. Of course, I'm pretty slow running outside & I'll need to work out some routes that don't climb hills. Not only do hills slow me down while I'm climbing, but honestly...it takes me a good couple of minutes to recover to normal speed once I'm back on the flat. Anyone know of some good scenic and flat routes around the valley? I'm starting to think it may be worth it to drive somewhere on Saturdays to run if it'll help bump up my pace.

Thanks for all the encouraging comments! Thoughts running through my head while reading comments sounded something like: "Wow, so, somebody else thinks I can run a half marathon, too? I really can't back down now!" But seriously, this girl drinks in all the reinforcement she can get.

I also have some more April Poetry Month Celebration Poems for anyone who would like to join my basking in Spring poeticalness. And yes, I am partially celebrating my poeticious inclinations by making up as many words as come into my head. Thank you very much.

Again, if you're interested in checking out the "Poem a Day Challenge" blog, that link is here: Poetic Asides w/ Robert Lee Brewer.

The following poem inspired by my observance of other "Bridezillas" during the time period that Clint & I were engaged (with a shout out to Shel Silverstein):

an eager planner

let’s see –
I’ll have hot pink and turquoise,
and lime green for the ties,
there’ll be cream puffs and freesia
adorning the strawberry pie,
the boutonnieres will match perfectly
the bridesmaid’s sunny dresses,
the napkins too will be turquoise blue
tied neatly round tall glasses,
imagine forty-one green tablecloths
laid for five thousand thirty-two people,
centerpieces, chair covers, bows, linen, lace,
and new white paint on the steeple,
a four-thousand-dollar dress with beads
and buttons down the spine,
sparkling white high heels, pink toe nails
and no slack at my waistline,
caffeine, aerobics, celery,
and cucumbers on my eyes
eye shadow, lip gloss, shiny waves
and oh how I’ll miss french fries!
the photographer will be paid off,
and Mom will prepare her speech,
announcement papers will be ready to print,
airfare paid to Waikiki beach,
the cousins will be ready for any disaster
with super-glue, safety-pins, and string
and my nephew will practice til perfect
how to carry and not drop the ring,
the priest will reserve the chapel,
the surrounding gardens will be at peak bloom,
but there seems to be something I still need—
what is it, what is it?

Also, I will dedicate the following poem to today being Monday:

Breaking Point

I press the button and listen
to the hum of electricity while my oatmeal heats.
I have to stand right next to the microwave,
finger poised over the ‘stop’ button,
eyes fixed on the styrofoam cup.

Day to day, I never know what will happen.
Will it be 30 seconds this time or
or only 22? The water starts to bubble,
the cereal rises,
boiling,
in a sudden surge like lava
my breakfast swells above the rim.

Co-workers come and go from the kitchen,
some curious enough to glance
at the stranger on her tip-toes, hovering
near the microwave as if, perhaps,
my life’s purpose hinges on the success of this routine.
If I walked away, if I let it simmer unwatched,
my hope for the day would spill over the sides,
flood the oven’s cavity, fry on the inner walls.
Unsalvageable.

7-miler today

isn't life poetastic?

Right. So... I realize that the Poem-A-Day blog (written about in my previous post below) contains about a thousand posts per prompt. So if you DID go to look for Yours Truly's poems, it was a major Yikes. Sorry 'bout that.

You want poems??? You've got poems!!!

Look no farther, thou questing poetologists!

Let it never be said of this poetizing fanatic that I denied anyone the reading of poems! Hate it, love it, stare in puzzlement, or laugh out loud - anyone's reaction to poetry is healthy and shows LIFE WITHIN!

I enclose some of my slightly more worthy attempts at answering the Poem-A-Day prompts:

PROMPT: write an outsider poem
~my attempt:

there’s a child in my twenties

little freak, you’re
playing hide
-and-seek
in the turnings of my head—
fleeing down hallways, only to
slam doors
— those memories—
in my face.
creeping
corridor shadows—
creaking floors—
little sneak, you’re
hiding
around the corner
where I can’t reach—
you know the secret
light switches,
secret stairwells
—those daydreams—
I’ve forgotten.
a fading giggle,
a flash of blond hair
disappearing—
almost caught you.
little girl, little beast, little fairy
I’m the outsider—
this labyrinth
belongs to you.

PROMPT: fill in the blank for your title: "the problem with _______"
~my attempt:

the problem with snowflakes

is that they’re too small
even
with a microscope

to see
the colorful village of

who’s

in a perpetual state of enjoying
the snow

PROMPT: pick a landmark, big or small
~my attempt:

the rock

i know i spark defiance
like a death wish
between two freeways where
mortals speed

each crag is painted,
mocks my awkward height in loud
belligerent colors,
proving life

suicide rock is my name so they climb,
like “Happy Bday Jim,”
like “TN + KC,”
like “honk if you can read me.”

Ahhh... feel Spring awakening within you with each poem that enters your soul...

And above all, FEAR NOT poem-starved winterland dwellers! I will be posting more original work through-out this glorious April!

Poem A Day Challenge? or Delight?

Did you know that April is Poetry Month? It's true! A whole month for writing poetry! Celebrating poetry! Writing poetry! And writing poetry!

I've joined the throngs of desperate, eager, and enthusiastic Poets who contribute to Writer's Digest "Poetic Asides" blog. The blog-owner-guy Robert does a Poem-A-Day Challenge in April by posting a prompt every day, and you comment on the blog by posting the poem inspired by the prompt. And I'll be darned if I haven't already written 5 or 6 poems in the last 3 days because of the way having a prompt has encouraged my juices to gush forth with joyfully festive, creative abandone! Hallelujah, I still have poetry inside of me. Just needed a good butt-pinching to get me going. So yes, I have posted a comment on each prompt so far for the past 3 days. And I intend to continue - giddyup.

Anyway, I know I've been keeping my other blog, the mysterious writing blog on the low-low, so any of you who'd like to scan the comments on Robert's blog to find my own little nuggets - or even write your own poetic assertions! - click on this link to the Poetic Asides blog. There's incentives for posting as many poems as possible - as many as one a day. Rules to the Poem-A-Day game are on his blog, if you're interested.

And if you do write a poem this month, for the Poem-A-Day challenge or just for the undeniable joy of writing a poem, share it with me, would you please? I love poetry. And I love April Poetry month. And I want to be poetically inspired by your poeticiousness!

HAPPY APRIL POETRY MONTH!
FOR HEAVEN'S SAKE!
WOOHOO!