Good Day

It's one of those rare and fun Sundays I don't have to work. I was able to do my long run (18mi) and not wonder how tired I would be by the end of my shift tonight. I got to have coffee with some good friends a little bit ago and now am home about to embark on our first good sized kitchen renovation. My folks are coming over later to help and have dinner with us. It's also Easter sunday and for me that has been a day I celebrate my friends more than anything else formally. We have all been scattered across the country these days, but every Easter we find a way to be a part of each other's lives. All in all, it's just a good day.

Gratitude

Today is a special day. It marks an anniversary for me that I am grateful to have been celebrating for quite a few years now. I am truly grateful for this life I've been given a second chance at. While my destructive road was not long, it was pretty clear where I was heading. To have a chance today to be better, to be of service, and to have hope is nothing short of a miracle in my life. It is a gift from god and I do try and stay ever mindful of that. Today, regardless of any adversities, I have hope. Just for today, that's pretty fucking awesome. Thank you to all that have helped me and to all those that take time to read my little musings. 

The Plan

I just got back from my weekly tempo run where I run "uncomfortably fast" and then look gratefully to having 7 days till I have to do it again. You know it's rough when every week I finish and think all I have left this week is a 14 or 16 or 20 mile run to do, no problem. I would honestly rather hit one of those long runs anyway over speed work. The tempo runs and hills are new to my training and it has kept it interesting.

What's a bit of a surprise is that they are working! Hills have not been as tough the last couple weeks, even with the increase to 8x up my favorite incline. The tempo runs have also seemingly been working too. Every week for the las 5 I have set a new PR on my 5K time. Today, I hit a new PR for my mile too. While I was winded and not as happy as I felt when I was just walking the dogs an hour before, I didn't want to die as I has last time I broke my mile PR.

What I love about the marathon is that it is too long to cheat, either in training or the race. You put in months of training and you survive and thrive in a 26.2 mile run. It is that simple. Follow the plan and take care of yourself (which is part of the plan) and the results are almost guaranteed. As a perpetual skeptic, I love watching that unfold every time. Logically there is no was a guy that smoked two packs a day and never ran a step till he was 33 should be able to run marathons, but the training works. I am again impressed that though there never was a "maybe" involved in improving with hills, speed, and higher milage it is again seemingly working.

I consider myself a relatively smart guy, but am humbled how often and in so many ways I need the reminder to just follow directions.

Rain in the Air

It's damp from the rain outside right now and the temperature is higher than it has been for quite a while this time of the morning. It definitely feels like Spring is on its way. There is a true rejuvenating feeling that always comes this time of the year. Even though I am a die hard winter fan and will take mounds of snow to a summer day any time, I am still moved by the underlying happy that exists in the Spring. It just feels good.

Dream World

Ever had one of those bad or weird dreams that you woke up from still feeling it? That just happened last night to me and I couldn't shake the feeling. I decided to take my frustrations out and knock out my hills run this morning. It seems one of those mysteries we all just accept the way dreams affect us. They entertain and confuse us. On occasion they scare us or even cause us to actually move. While there are volumes of research, studies, and amateur theories on what and why dreams happen, no one seems to have an answer for why our dreams do what they do. I have awoke in a full sweat and heart racing just because of the pictures in my mind. It does make for an interesting point that so much of what we believe and experience is how our mind sees it. Why else would that strange dream last night have left me so cross this morning? None of it actually happened. At least for last night's area, I am glad for that.

Muddy Fun

Maybe it was growing up in Houston with severe allergies to what seemed like everything, but I just never really got outside to play much as a kid. Consequently, as an adult, I am far more accustomed to cities than anything nature. That trend has been turning over the last few years but I am still far and away a city guy. That might have explained the child like joy I found in my run through the park this afternoon as I soon discovered most of my park look was slush and mud. It was a blast clomping through the mess, feeling huge globs of snow and mud hitting my legs. It was just fun in that way every kid seems to know and for this afternoon, I was glad to also.

Rules

I heard a comedian talking about the uproar involved when the debate was on about the legal right to burn a flag. He talked about the simple fact of being allowed to do something does not mean you should do something. It has lingered in my mind as an interesting overview towards where we are standing as a society. We seem to clamor for regulation and rules to prevent that which we don't want to see happen all the while it seems interesting to question why rules are needed to prevent desire to do so. I am not so naive as to assume all citizens live by the same standards and morals, but it would seem more and more we request to have even the simplest of codes regulated in law. Some have outcried that this is the slow stripping of our civil rights. That may be a little of a stretch, but it does make me wonder.