So Many Reasons to be Thankful!

Every day should be Thanksgiving Day.  I don’t mean that we should gather with family and friends to eat and watch football every day (although that doesn’t sound too bad).  I mean we need to be thankful every day.  No matter what our circumstances are there are many things to be thankful for.  Of course if you focus on what you don’t have you’ll always be wishing for more.  But, if you focus on what you DO have, there will be too many things to count.

Today I was so thankful to be able to run 4+ miles (yes, with a pirate patch).  As I ran early on this Thanksgiving Day the streets were very quiet and stores were closed.  It was a great way to start a busy day.  After my run I was thankful to just relax with my wife and two terrific teenage sons for a while.  Then we all headed to my parents for a traditional Thanksgiving meal with my sisters and their families.  All the nieces and nephews were home and everyone including my parents are healthy.  That’s a lot to be thankful for. 

So today and every day I thank God for all I have and for what He has done for me. 

Happy Thanksgiving!

The Running Pirate

If you read my last post you know I am unable to run outside for a while because I can’t blink my eye.  So I thought I was forced to use the treadmill for a few weeks.  Well, I remembered I had a pirate eye patch that my friend Dan gave me as a joke so I tried it.  It worked great!  I ran 9 miles outside yesterday with a black eye patch that has a skull and crossbones embossed on it.  Maybe I’ll start a new club, “The Running Pirates”.

Forced Inside

Today I was forced to run on the treadmill.  Not by cold weather or snow or rain.  By Bells’ Palsy.  A very strange condition that causes one half of your facial muscles to stop working.  That means your eye doesn’t blink.  And if your eye doesn’t blink wind hitting your eye is a killer.  I woke up with it Wednesday and since I have had it in the past (20 years ago) I knew what it was.  If you’ve never heard of it and you get it, it can freak you out.  Anyway, I went to the doctor and got steroids (Oh-oh, banned substances) that hopefully will make it go away quicker.  But in the meantime I can’t risk outside running.  Your eye can easily get infections if it can’t blink to clear itself to remove particles and bacteria.  So unless something extreme happens I’ll be sweating on the treadmill instead of nice and cool out in Michigan November/December weather for a few weeks.  Oh well, at least I have two legs to run on.

Another Good Read

Keeping with the reading theme here… my old college friend Jeff recommended a very good book to me this fall that I want to share with you.  It’s titled “Born To Run”.  No, not the classic album by The Boss.  This is a national best-seller by Christopher McDougall.

It’s an entertaining story that involves some very colorful characters that are all runners like Caballo Blanco – The White Horse, Bonehead Billy, Barefoot Ted and more.  The main story is about a tribe of barefoot ultra-marathoners in Mexico but the story takes many detours to explore things like why there have been more running injuries since Nike invented the “advanced” running shoe than there were when runners wore flat canvas shoes.  Or to go down a totally ridiculous path about how running is somehow proof of evolution (nonsense). 

Overall, a fun read. Check it out.  I’ll comment more on it later.  (Maybe after I try the Vibram Five Fingers running shoes).

 

Stay Motivated by Reading

  This time of year it can be difficult to stay motivated to run regularly.  The prime race season is done, each day has less sunlight, and the temperature is dropping.  I find that reading about running actually helps keep me motivated.  Runners World ( www.runnersworld.com ) magazine has a great variety of articles each month.   Reading their work out advice, eating tips and feature stories about runners facing extreme challenges or with special accomplishments gets me thinking about how to take my game up.  Plus, when I see ads for races in other states I start dreaming of running Big Sur or a Rock n Roll marathon.  There are also many good blogs written by runners of all abilities from all parts of the country that can keep your mind on running even when it’s dark and cold outside.  Complete Running Network is a great source for hundreds of blogs (www.completerunning.com/running-blogs/). You can search by topic, experience level, geography and more.

So, grab a magazine or find a blog to read then start planning your Spring races while you’re pounding the pavement this winter dressed in layers with your hat and gloves.