TITWDD & My Wolf

On the way to my parent's this morning the dogs and I stopped at one of our favorite trails and headed out for a quick ski. It was a beautiful morning and I immediately felt calm and started grinning. After being cooped up all week I think the dogs were grinning too. They live to run off leash, don't we all? Ruby and I have been pretty busy with ski lessons, ski jumping, and swimming so this was the first time in a couple weeks that the dogs and I have been out to crash through the woods the way we love to! While skiing and grinning I came up with a diagnosis for what we've been suffering from during the work week-TITWDD (Time In The Woods Definiency Disorder) and it usually makes me run around like a chicken with my head cut off! It was nice to feel calm and not have to think of anything but keeping the dogs in sight and moving forward!

At one point I got so wrapped up in nothingness that I realized I hadn't heard the dogs in a few minutes and it might be a good idea to give em a holler and regroup. When I turned around to yell Quenton was quietly trotting behind me with half a dead bunny in his mouth-I couldn't stop laughing. The old man seemed so proud to show me his new toy, he carried the back end of that bunny like it was his new born baby. He even let me take a picture of it. You might be thinking-what is wrong with her, the poor bunny is dead, but there's a story behind the laughter. This year I've gotten fixated on turning my indoor track team into a wolfpack. I think it's because I have so many students that wear those awesome wolf t-shirts mixed with the fact the wolves are fast and fierce. For our Sectional Championship last night each athlete recieved a card from with a pic of a wolf and an inspirational quote. These are a couple of the best ones. These cards worked cause the kids channeled their inner wolves and had a great meet. Back to the dog carrying the dead bunny, imagine my surprise when I turn around and he's playing wolf for me carrying half of a dead bunny-very strange Q! When we got closer to the car he ducked into the woods and found a nice place to lay his bunny to rest and jump into car, sat down, and grinned calmly:)

My Awesome Support Team

On Monday afternoon I rolled past a friend's house with a car full of children headed to the pool. He asked where they all came from and I replied, "it takes gaggle of children to raise a triathlete." Over the last few weeks of getting back into the swing of triathlon training I have been constantly reminded of this. Last year Ruby finally hit the age where she and her bff, Emma, could accompany me to the pool and play while I got my workout out in. Now whenever we hit the pool we call teh Peer family ahead of time and borrow one or two or three of their girls to come along with us! My friends and family know me well enough to recognize when I'm starting to unravel and I'm so fortunate that they seem to swoop in just at the right moments. Alison got me out on a morning run when she stayed over and totally got me through a what would have been a long week inside! A couple weeks ago Ruby and I headed to Grandma and Grandpa's for a the weekend after our Friday night track meet and the dogs and I were treated to three great outside runs where I didn't feel panic striken to get back to Ruby. Sensing a touch of crazy in my voice again last week they came to Saranac Lake, took Ruby to the circus and I got to have the nicest long run with Q and Wendy. These are just a few of the acts of kindness and generosity, as well as Ruby putting up with hours in a babyjogger or on a trail a bike or Smartcycle next to me, are what makes it all doable and I'm so grateful! Thanks team-get ready Ironman training is creeping up!

I'm Gonna Recycle This Resolution

1/1/08

I resolve to stop being lazy! To shovel my front walk and keep it clear.

I tried to start this anti-sloth movement a few days before the new year with the great ice removal project from my front side walk. I also did a great marathon paced run that day and a long run the next. Yesterday I cleared the sidewalk again but only ran 3 easy miles after I dreamt about sore legs and a trip to the massage therapist. In the past year I've rarely been lazy about running, I'd lose my freaking mind if I was. I have bigger things that I've been ignoring-unsettled relationships that are holding me back, a house that needs finishing-I often ignore them instead of tackling them, even though I feel much better when I do. For 2008 I will channel my inner Janet Farrell and be a woman with a smooth sidewalk and an unfettered soul. I'm going to be a woman who uses words like unfettered and mean it. 2008 will be about action and freedom-stay tuned!

Quotes of the day

I had another awesome day of snowboarding and skiing with my little beast at Big Tupper today. Here are a few of the best quotes of the day:
Ruby-I feel like I NEED to get really good at skiing and snowboarding. I NEED to get down the Mighty Mite on my snowboard without falling! (and she did)
Ruby-My skis are kinda getting chipped up because I go off a lot of crazy stuff.
Ruby on the chair lift-Does this mountain have any jumps? Do you think I can do that jump that Daddy did last time, not the baby one I did, but the line he did.
11th Grade Boy-Ms. Farrell, it must be so much fun being your kid. Ruby's really lucky. Me-Thank you, I think it is pretty fun, but Ruby has to put with a lot of my crap to have fun!
Ruby when I asked if we should do a green trail before we leave the mountain-Green is for babies!
Ruby on our way up the lift before our last run-THIS IS GOING TO BE THE BEST RUN EVER! (and it was)

Totally unrelated to Ruby but another great quote of the day came from my BFFL Jenny, who before she was a struggling grad student was a finicky food and wine connoisseur-You know who has good boxed wine? Target! Really they've won awards for it!

The Healing Power of a Morning Run

Since Kevin left for Colorado a week ago my dogs and I have had to go without our morning runs. Even though Q is almost 11 and Bandit is 8 they still need to get out a couple of mornings a week to make it to the weekends long run and ski-I love the image of their perked up ears, like they're smiling. Ruby and I had a sleepover with one of my BFFL's, Alison, last night so the dogs and I were able to get out and enjoy the darkness this morning! These morning runs have been an important part of my sanity control over the last 16 years. When I started doing morning runs at 15 or 16 life was about finding every way possible to bring my running to the next level and finding my niche. At 16 life seems completely out of your control and these runs, often with a beloved friend willing to stay awake after a night shift at a local factory to accompany me, were quiet time from typical teen craziness. 16 years later they are still serving the same purpose! As I ran this morning I thought about different stages in my life and athletic career and how these runs have brought me much needed perspective to get through the hard stuff. Almost like I have a chance to look at a situation through someone else's eyes. For me morning runs are full of extracting positives and developing a plan of attack, unlike runs at other times of the day there's no room for negative thoughts or feelings in the morning.

Thank You Rick Cowles

When I started teaching in Tupper Lake we had a great Athletic Director/PE Department Head who helped us obtain some awesome grants. One of the best things to come out of our Carol M White Grant was our fitness room which is chocked full of top of the line cardio equiptment and an endles climbing wall. This room has been a huge part of saving my athletic career and making time management a lot easier-especially during cold snaps like this one when I get to run killer hill workouts and not freeze my face off!

Bluebird Day

Last Saturday morning I awoke to subzero temps and prepped for my run. When I started the run it was -6, I had 2 dogs, and about a million layers on (including my Darth Veder face mask). In the first 4 mile loop Quenton and I warmed up while Bandit found herself completely exhausted and happy to be left in the sun on the front porch. I stripped a layer of pants, the mask and a jacket before Q and I took off down the railroad tracks which the local snowmobilers had so kindly packed down and stayed off of on this bright sunshiny morning. By the end of the run it was a solid 10 degrees so I lost one more layer and was able to thoroughly exhaust the old man-a great beginning to a great day.
The big adventure of the day was a family ski day at Big Tupper. As I drove to Tupper Lake to meet up with Ruby and Kevin the temps crept all the way up to 20! By the time we got up to Big T we were blessed with the most perfect bluebird day for Ruby to "rip the gnar," which is exactly what she did following her dad at warp speed and off jumps. It was our first day at Big T and the minute we got on the chair lift and turned around to see the beathtaking view I couldn't believe that this place could have possibly been closed for 10 years! Wow! By the end of first run the 3 of us couldn't stop raving about how amazing this great mountain was-the grooming and terrain were perfect for natural snow and an almost totally volunteer staff. It's amazing what the ARISE group of volunteers has done to get this mountain going again and the locals love it! Everybody we ran into was so positive and appreciative-kids and adults grinning like fools-awesome. Ruby even broke out her snowboard to practice on the Mighty Mite before deciding it was time to get back to the top and race her parents on the rest of the trails until the sun went down:)