Time knows this and is trying to exploit that weakness with their headline and the accompanying picture.

Don’t fall for it… you are enough!

Yesterday I was inspired by Rachel Held Evans’ post Enough: Or, why we should all be laughing hysterically in the magazine aisle (go read it!)

As I was editing, I wondered if I was just adding to the comparison conversation by asking “Are you human enough…” but I trust my definition of human will show that I have no desire to compare.

My Time Cover

Do you know that you are enough?

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Some of you have asked about spectator viewing details for the Bob Potts Marathon that I’m doing on Sunday. It would be great to see each of you there! Please bring inspiring, funny, motivating signs and write a personalized cheer for Tab, Bev (it’s also their first marathon!) and me. And, of course, bring dark chocolate and red wine for the after race celebration.

Just kidding. (kind of)

I’m generally no fun before a race. I don’t talk. I look like a grump, but I’m just trying to relax because running when anxious takes more energy and is harder on my body. So I get quiet. I turn inward. I meditate. I focus. Before my family and my friends realized this about me, they usually thought I was mad at them before a race.

But after a race, it’s party time! I usually love to sit, talk, sit, laugh, eat, sit and party. But since this is my first post-accident full marathon, I’m not sure how I will feel… maybe I won’t be in the mood for a party or even to see anyone, but I think I will.

My 20-mile training run went well and if the popular runner’s saying if you can do 20, you can do 26.2 holds true for me like ‘everyone’ says it will, I should be fine.

The race starts (at 6:30am) and finishes at the Grumbacher Center at York College, with the finish being on the track… surrounded by a stadium with plenty of room for cheering spectators. 

Bob Potts Marathon on the Heritage Trail (click to go to the interactive map)

It’s an out and back course on the Heritage Rail Trail which is often surrounded by trees, fields, meadows, and bears cows with not many spots for spectators. (I’ll pretend the cows chewing their cud are silent cheers) 

But there are a few designated viewing spots, some will have entertainment and hopefully, all will have rest rooms. The runners will go past each of the viewing spots twice… once on the way out when we’ll be all perky and again on the way back when we’ll be all perky—not!

I run to be healthy (and sane) today and long into the future… so I don’t set specific time goals (other than I hope to finish before Christmas). I will be doing the same run/walk/run  routine I did while training, so I can give guesstimates, but not specific times when I’ll fly by shuffle past each spot.

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Spectator Viewing Points

Directions from Grumbacher Center  (approx marathon miles – not exact)

1. Brillhart Station (at approx. mile 4 and 23)
First time: between 7:15 and 7:30am
Second time: between 11:15 and Christmas noon 

* Follow Indian Rock Dam Rd.
* Turn left on PA-182 (Indian Rock Dam Rd. extended)
* Turn right on Croll School Rd.
* Take first right onto Days Mill Rd.
* Brillhart Station will be on your left

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2. Serenity Station (at approx. mile 9 1/2 and 17 1/2)
First time: between 8:15 and 8:45am
Second time: between 10:15 and 10:45am 

(Music by Kayla Kroh)

* Take 83 South toward Baltimore
* Take exit 10 toward PA214-Loganville
* Turn slight right onto North St./127 Spur.
* North St./127 Spur becomes PA-214/Reynolds Mill Rd.
* Turn left onto Valley Rd/PA-214
* Turn left onto Valley Rd./PA-214. Continue to follow PA-214
* 11 Church St. is on the right. (just past Cross St.)

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3. Hanover Junction (at approx. mile 10 1/2 and 16 1/2)
First time: between 8:30 and 9:00am
Second time: between 10 and 10:30am 

(Music by Royal Red)

* Follow Indian Rock Dam Rd.
* Turn left onto Indian Rock Dam Rd./State 3044
* Turn left on Arnold Rd.
* Slight right onto Messersmith Rd.
* Turn right onto Glatfelter Station Rd.
* Sharp left onto PA-616 S/Seven Valleys Rd.
* Turn right toward PA-616 S/Seven Valleys Rd.
* Turn right at Green Valley Rd./State Route 3041
* Turn right onto PA-616 S/Seven Valleys Rd.

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York Track at the Grumbacher Center:

FINISH!!!!!  Sometime between 11:45 and 1pm

As I said they are rough guesstimates… don’t hold me to them. I may or may not be at the stations at those times. And also don’t hold me responsible for my behavior, attitude, crying, laughing, etc. after I finish… I have no idea how I will react.

But I do know one thing… I will be damn happy!

That I did what I could, with what I have, the past eight years…

because I can!!

But now I’ve taken up a new sport this week. Gymnastics! Yes, gymnastics. What, you’re worried about me getting hurt?

No need to worry… it’s mental gymnastics.

My mind is getting a major workout with the mental gymnastics I’ve been doing as I wait for the day. (I don’t like waiting) And I can’t worry about it, because I just wrote a post about not worrying. (hate when I have to listen to my own advice)

A historical bridge along the route of the Bob Potts Marathon on the Heritage Rail Trail

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The big day is on Sunday, May 20th, 
when I’ll be doing the Bob Potts Marathon.

I’ve been reminding myself about all the training I’ve done, about the four half-marathons I’ve run in the past year and about all the other reasons that sounded so logical months ago…

• It’s on the Heritage Rail Trail that I’ve biked on and love.
• Running on gravel is better for my legs/body than on asphalt.
• It’s an out and back course.
• No hills, though the first half is on a slight (hardly noticeable) incline.
• So obviously after the turn around, the second half is on a slight decline, which will help mentally, if not physically.
• It’s on May 20, 2012, which will be the 8th anniversary of my accident. The effects of the accident will always be with me, but I don’t want the accident to define me and running a full on the anniversary would be huge for me.

And I’ve been reaching back into the nooks and crannies of my brain (and thankfully I found my notes) for advice I heard last November when I did the Philadelphia half-marathon with the Runner’s World Challenge. Being a part of that gave me various opportunities to hear great advice from the Runner’s World experts and editors at pre-race strategy sessions.

Bart Yasso, the Chief Running Officer of Runner’s World had the best advice I’ve ever heard about “hitting the wall” (the racing term for totally bonking at some point in the race)

He said, “There is NO wall.” 

He went on to explain, “If you hit a wall, it’s because you’ve created a wall yourself, by running too fast at the beginning of the race. If you are careful not to go out too fast, you will feel strong the whole way through.”

Bart also mentioned being cautious with the term carbo-loading. “Yes, you can eat carbs, but eat a normal meal, not a huge one. Some runners see that as an excuse to eat every carb in town the night before the race, but if you do that, you’ll be the one behind the bushes two miles into the race carbo-unloading.”

Nutrition expert Pam Nisevich Bede stressed the importance of not trying anything new to eat or drink on race day. “Stick with your normal foods.” And she echoed Bart’s advice, “Don’t overeat the day before the race or the day of the race.”

Pam also encouraged no new gels, gatorade and other energy shots during a race. And to use moderation with the ones you used during your training runs. Using too many of them could cause you to get an upset stomach.

And as I wrote recently, during long runs, I’ve been relying on a mantra that I heard from the Editor-In-Chief of Runner’s World, David Willey… run the mile you are in! This week I will be trying to remember to live the day I am in instead of obsessing about Sunday.

So with those thoughts and more (oh, so many more) somersaulting through my head, I will get through this week just like I’ve gotten through the training…

one step at a time… because I can!

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To give my whirling mind more to think about… any pre-marathon and/or marathon day advice?

And what do you do as you wait for an important day to arrive? 

Here’s a chart that gives us a look at some marriages from the Bible…

Biblical Marriage Chart .... click to enlarge

As you can see… a Biblical marriage is not just between one man and one woman. This totally messes with what I was taught as a Mennonite kid and an Evangelical adult.

Processing this…

Your thoughts…

Do you feel like once this or that event happens
then you can begin to live the life you want?

As a young teen, I impatiently waited for an upcoming day that my friends and I were planning to spend at a local amusement park. I counted the days. I could not wait! I wasted the days before the planned adventure (trust me, as a sheltered Mennonite girl, it was an adventure!) pouting and complaining about the wait.

The day finally arrived. And it was a great day! I had a wonderful time. After the day ended, it was back to real life. While that wonderful day gave me great memories, it was only a day and during the letdown the following day, I realized that while anticipation of certain days or events can be enjoyable… wasting or ruining the days while I wait was (and is) pointless.

Tom Robbins hits almost every waiting scenario in this quote…

“Oh God, are there so many of them in our land!
Students who can’t be happy until they’ve graduated,
servicemen who can’t be happy until they are discharged,
single folks who can’t be happy until they’ve found a mate,
workers who can’t be happy until they’ve retired,
adolescents who aren’t happy until they’re grown,
ill people who aren’t happy until they’re well,
failures who aren’t happy until they succeed,
restless who can’t wait until they get out of town,
and in most cases, vice versa…

people waiting, waiting for the world to begin.”

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By waiting on future milestones to do anything, you ruin endless days instead of fully living them. You rob yourself of the beauty in each day and you allow time to pass which you could be using to pursue dreams and goals you have.

Some of the main regrets of elder people is that they didn’t live life more true to themselves and that they didn’t take more risks. What do you hope to do in life and why not start today? And stop with the excuses! I’ve cut them all out below.

Do you want to get in touch with an old friend? Why do you think Zuckerberg invented Facebook? It’s the perfect way to find someone from your past. Or call your mom and see if she still has their phone number.

Do you want to have a more organized house or office? Start today with this book,  Organize This! Practical Tips, Green Ideas, and Ruminations about your CRAP (CRAP stands for Clutter that Robs Anyone of Pleasure) by Vali Heist. These aren’t untried ideas, it’s solid advice that Vali has learned over the past 7 years in her business as a professional organizer.

Do you want to start a hobby or learn a new skill? We live in a wonderful time (much better than the ‘good old days’ but that’s a post for another day) and we have an easy cost-free way to learn about anything… Google it!

Do you want to starting running and/or run a half-marathon? Go for a 10 minute walk today and then over the coming weeks, start running like I did (twice)… one step at a time.

Want to do a half-marathon, join me at the Runner’s World Half which happens on October 21st. Yes, you can go from the couch to 13.1 in the next twenty weeks. Ask me how.

Your list should include things I would never even think of… because you are unique and you will have specific goals and dreams that I (and others) don’t have. As my mom so wisely said to me one day, ”You are you and I am me… and we are different and that’s okay.”

So anticipate future events and milestones, but don’t waste your time waiting to fully enjoy life or waiting to pursue dreams you have until they happen.

Today is a perfect day to 
do what you can, 
with what you have, 
where you are.

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Seriously, what are you waiting on? What steps could you take today to begin fully living life?
Sometimes writing out your goals is the first step to pursuing them… so write them down in a journal or leave a comment.

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Mother’s Day involves too much guilt and feeling bad. For a number of reasons.

I feel bad for the women that aren’t mothers, especially the ones that really want to be one. My heart breaks for mothers who are mourning the loss of a child… whether this past year or twenty years ago. I feel bad for the mothers that are struggling as a mother… who may wish they wouldn’t be one.

I feel bad for people that have a strained relationship with their mother. I feel bad for the people whose mothers have died.

Those are all situations I can’t change. I can’t take their pain away, but I can be careful not to add to it… by being sensitive to others who may not appreciate the day. I only wish a Happy Mother’s Day to those that I know enjoy the day, not to everyone I meet, especially strangers or acquaintances because I don’t know what the day does or doesn’t mean to them.

pics on Sodahead

For about four years after the accident, I lived with a lot of pain. Thankfully since then surgeries and other things have helped it decrease. But for a time, I worried about the fact that if I had that much pain then (in my early 40s) how would I feel when I was in my 80s and beyond.

As we age, we tend to have more pain, especially areas that have been injured… and since almost every inch of my lower body was injured, I figured I’m in major trouble. And incase I ever forgot about our bodies aching more as we age, every now and then ‘kind’ people would wonder the same thing and instead of thinking about it quietly, they would say it aloud. To me. (Yes, really)

One day it dawned on me that worrying about what my pain would be like as I age was not only magnifying my pain each day, but it was giving the pain more power than it deserved. The pain was ruining the present days and by worrying I was allowing it to ruin future days that weren’t here yet.

Enough!

No amount of worry was going to give me a painfree body or give me a picture into what the future held. I couldn’t ignore that I had pain, but I had choices about how I responded to it.

That’s when I began doing what I can, with what I have, where I am. 

Each day I aim to live in a way that is best for my body today and long into the future… eat well, exercise, get enough sleep and all that jazz. To my surprise, as I focused on doing what I can instead of worrying… not only did my worrying decrease, but my pain decreased.

I know exercise and taking better care of my body helped, plus there’s a major connection between worrying and physical pain.

So while I can’t control everything about today or the future… I can affect today and the future negatively by the amount of worrying I allow myself to do.

Lee Iacocca recounts this conversation with a friend in Where Have All the Leaders Gone?,

“When I was worried about something, he’d prod me. “Lido, do you remember what was on your mind a year ago?”

And I’d say, “How could I remember? A lot of things happen in a year.”

He’d pull out some notes with a flourish, and say, “I have it written down.”

Then he’d proceed to tell me about something that had made me unhappy a year ago, and deliver the punch line:

“You can’t even remember it now.”

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So when you find yourself worrying about something, ask yourself two questions…

Instead of worrying, is there anything you can do to help the situation?
And whether you can or can’t do anything to change it, will it really matter in a year? 

I began finding hope.
I began seeing goodness.
I began hearing truth.
I began extending forgiveness.
I began feeling love.

                  -Maile Smucker

Hope, goodness, truth, forgiveness and love are all essential to living life well. Though Maile and my story have similarities, they aren’t identical (whose are?) One thing we have in common, other than both traveling around the country in a motorhome, is that both our journeys toward wholeness included time spent in a counselor’s office.

In a post, To the Cavern and Back, Maile not only gives us a glimpse at what led her to counseling and where counseling has led her, but she does it with amazing writing.

Here’s some of her fabulous writing that I love!

“a cellophane smile held up by double D’s”

“I hugged the walls like the lead gun in a covert operation.”

That’s only a glimpse, head over there and read the post, To the Cavern and Back, I think you’ll be glad you did.

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Your turn: What have you read or heard this week that you liked?

“The nature of a wait is not just dependent on the duration of the wait,
but on the level of uncertainty you experience during that wait.”
- Roy Sutherland

The likelihood that people will get to the end is much greater when
there is a milestone somewhere in the middle. - Roy Sutherland

20 freakin’ miles!

It was my last long training run for the Bob Potts Marathon I plan to do on May 20th. As I mentioned in my run/walk/run post, I run 3 minutes and walk 1 minute for most of my runs and that’s what I did yesterday.

Over the previous months, I’ve done 12, 14 and 16 miles runs a few times. During (and after) each one I felt better than I thought I would, but 20 miles scared me.

It’s really freakin’ far. Even driving 20 miles is far… could my beat-up body really do it?

But I relied on something that I’ve learned since being injured… trust the process.
Trust the process of eating well, training consistently and continuing to take one step at a time.

And it worked. Sure I was tired toward the end of the run… but yet I didn’t feel as awful as I thought I would. And during the last mile when I knew the end was near (my run, not the world) I had a perfect running moment close to one I described in a post last year. I ran right through my last walking break and for a brief time…

I felt like I could run forever.

Yesterday temps were in the 60s and it was cloudy (prefect running conditions!) and the run described below took place in late winter when there was snow on the ground, but the feelings were similar. Here is that post again…

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