Bling Chaser

I found this sign late last year on this Etsy page.

While I haven’t read A.A. Milne since 2nd grade these are the kinds of quotes that make Disney timeless for me.

Initially I sent this to friends who have teenage daughters who are too far away to hug on a daily basis. In recent weeks, however, I’ve seriously considered sending it to people who seem to be suffering from a crisis of confidence. If there is such a thing as a visual pep talk this might be it.

A great beat for running…

It seems like everywhere I go there is some kind of drama.

And by drama I don’t mean real life issues, I mean manufactured conflict for purposes of entertainment. I’m not sure who is supposed to be entertained in these scenarios but most people seem to think it’s much funnier then I do so apparently I’m just dense when it comes to these things.

I always find that when things that don’t involve me start upsetting me it’s always nice to go back to a nice dose of reality. This is “The first song Andrew McMahon wrote and recorded after his stem cell transplant in connection with his leukemia diagnosis in late 2005. The song’s lyrics are heavily influenced by his recovery from the disease.”

The Lights and the Buzz

I find that when the universe seems full of noise it’s good to focus on the things that really matter.

“Sometimes your only available transportation is a leap of faith.” Margaret Shepard

The theme for the year for so many of my running friends seems to be quality over quantity. I admire their dedication, I admire their discipline, but I don’t think I can share their restraint. On January 2nd I completed my 18th half marathon (my first of 2011). I’d like that lonely 2011 medal to have a lot of company. I’m looking to add a marathon medal or two, a number of half marathon medals and even some shorter distances. Do all my races involved medals? At the moment yes. I didn’t choose this blog name on accident.

“It does not matter how slow you go so long as you do not stop.” – Confucius

Unity Ribbon

Two weeks ago I DNF’d my first race. I was injured and it was the right decision (I know this because two weeks have passed and my foot still hurts too much to run) but it was heart-wrenching to walk off a race course filled with soldiers active and retired.

Our soldiers don’t have the ability to stop when they’re hurting. They don’t get to say they’ll try another day or get on a nice clean school bus and have a police motorcade escort them to the finish line. These are the people I registered to honor and I don’t feel like I did a very good job of it. That’s the part that bothers me. Not that I missed the medal. Not that I have a DNF on my record. As far as I’m concerned those things are the price of running as much as I have been. Yes, injuries happen, but why that day?

People thank soldiers every day. Or at least I do. It takes two seconds to see a person in uniform and thank them for their bravery and service. But as often as I adopt Any Soliders, or thank veterans, the true difference between these brave individuals and myself couldn’t possibly be more obvious then when viewing the race results for the 35th Anniversary Marine Corps Marathon.

My name isn’t on there because I stopped. My buddy Dan, however, (active duty AF) is on there after having run 7+ miles of the race with a knee injury at a full hobble. He did it to show his kids the importance of finishing what you started. The hero of the day, however, was a gentleman named Bob Dolphin (ret. Marine) who managed to fight persistent pain for the last 6+ miles of the course. He has the distinction of being the oldest participant and finisher at 81 years old. He crossed the finish line after 8 hours with the entire crowd on their feet clapping, a host of Marines surrounding him and full police and medical escort behind him. They’d been trying to talk him into walking off the course for hours. I am told he collapsed on the timing mat. The friends who told me this via text message were weeping with emotion as they followed Bob on the MCM’s live streaming camera. It was his 475th Marathon.

There are no words that could begin to describe that kind of strength and determination borne of experiences I cannot fathom. If anything it makes the phrase “thank you” seem woefully inadequate but sadly they’re the only words I can come up with at the moment. So in that vein I’d like to say:

A big Thank You to all US Military members past, present, and future for your service

For soliders who have made the ultimate sacrifice, you are not forgotten.

For retired soldiers, many of whom go unacknowledged, thank you for your service

For active duty soldiers defending our freedom both at home and abroad I wish you good health, success in your missions, and a safe return home.

Particular thanks to:

• My uncle Jim
• Julius, Junie and Jerome S.
• Lori and Arthur S.
• Jay and Wade P.
• Trey
• Dan M.
• Cory K.
• Greg J.
• James M.
• Steve S.
• Colleen P.
• Chris C.
• Don P.
• Ernie R.
• Chuck R.
• Bob T.
• Matt W.
• Bob D.
• Zach W.
• Randy G.
• Jordan R.
• Nick H.
• Glen Y.
• Charles W.

If I’ve left anyone off this list, I accidentally deleted the first draft of this and am certain this version is shorter then it should be so please let me know it was not intentional.

Oh and the ribbon is a free image taken from a scrapbooking website. Click the image to visit the site.

Tags: Marine Corps Marathon, Veteran's Day

I love free stuff. Free books. Free clothes. Free drinks. Whatever. Free generally makes me happy, particularly if it’s something I already use.

And today I was doubly lucky. I grabbed my Lululemon reusable shopping bag (the one I got for FREE at the San Francisco Marathon) to take to Target with me.

 I had a couple coupons, you see, and I’d planned to pick up free C9 socks.

I did briefly consider using my other Lululemon bag. The cute little one I’d gotten FREE a the Rock and Roll San Diego Marathon Expo in June but the size disparity made me reconsider. (I know you’re getting sick of the word FREE but just go with me on this).

I’d also planned to do a couple other errands along the way so the extra space in the bigger bag would come in handy.

Shopping trips aside, I really I love these bags. They’re like visual yoga. You read the slogans and it empowers you. I know this because I read all the sayings on that little bag. I’ve had it for months.

And another

I mean you can just see how awesome it is.

The bags are cute and clever so you can imagine I’m very excited to promote a brand of women’s clothing that empowers women.

So I grabbed my handy dandy big bag and ran out to Target.

Now entering Target is always a risk for me so I try to hurry. I grabbed my socks and 2 pairs of shorts and headed for the register.

As I got in a line, I was followed by a mom and her high school-aged son who were arguing. Well, more accurately the kid was acting like a punk and the mom was trying not to kill him.

Since I don’t have kids (and therefore a pretty low tolerance for snot-nosed punks) I did my best to ignore the scene behind me and instead focused on my crackberry. Until I heard the punk snicker loudly and say: 

“Children are the orgasm of life”

…HUH?

His mom shushes him, which of course does not work.

Meanwhile, I’m thinking Target needs to reconsider which weird magazines they stick in public view. Or mama needs to take the kid’s iphone.

But snotty 15yo isn’t done. He says in a loud sing-song voice:

“Just like you did not know what an orgasm was before you had one, nature does not let you know how great children are until you have them.”

Okay that did it. I shoot the kid a dirty look and lo and behold he’s looking at this.

I’d like to direct you to the top right hand corner.

It’s sideways but I’ll place it right-side up for those of us (like me) who apparently are oblivious.

As you can imagine in that moment I wasn’t thinking of Lululemon and their empowering slogans. In fact, I’m not thinking very highly of Lululemon at all because they had to have KNOWN by giving a female a reusable bag we were going to reuse it.

Really Lululemon? You didn’t see that coming? You didn’t think this could be a little…awkward in public?

15yo boy now realizes he’s caught me offguard and he is laughing so hard he would have attracted the attention of the entire checkout area if it hadn’t been blessedly empty.

His mother clearly can’t decide if she should be angry with me for carrying a bag in public that has such stupid sayings on it, or if she should just kill her kid who has reached a level of obnoxious seldom seen in public.

But I’m an older sister and I have many years of babysitting in the land of spoiled children under my belt so I wasn’t going to cower. Plus, it turns out I’m quicker on my feet then I thought I was.

So I look at this kid and say. “You think it’s funny that orgasms create babies? I’d think in a guy your age that would be a really scary relevation. But hey, maybe you want a little kid whose bills you have to pay who will call you dad.”

Kid stopped laughing, Mom gave me  a radiant grin and 3 minutes later I was out the door with my free socks.

Win!

Now I appreciate that much of the drama of this tableau was caused by a particularly snotty kid. But what if it had been my 8yo niece who likes to read things out loud? Or someone else’s little kid just learning to read? I can’t believe I’m saying this but the punk kid actually did me a favor.

So Lululemon, you’ll understand why I don’t plan to carry your bag anymore.

Tags: Lululemon Athletica, marketing fail, Public Embarassment

Sometimes I come across stories of runners who just amaze me. People who move forward no matter what. These are the people who motivate me and I figure they’ll probably motivate you too.

Article taken from CNN Health and originally appeared in Mental Floss Magazine.

A man by the name of Brian Fugere managed to walk a marathon dragging his I.V. pole 144 laps around the oncology department of the hospital where he was having cancer treatment. My hat goes off to him.

Cancer couldn’t stop him from his marathon goal