slacker

Yep, that's me!

I ran the Chicago Distance Classic last Sunday, with near-nary a significant training run going into it.  I realized that I feel rather grateful that I was able to do it.  And, I suppose that I shouldn't complain about my 2:22 finish time considering how much work I put into getting ready for it ... that is, not much. I wasn't in it for the money.  This time especially I felt the "race is the prize."

So, what have I done with myself since?  Not running, that's for sure.  I've been so busy in my other life (that is, my job, geek stuff) that I haven't been able to get to sleep at any sensible time to allow me to get up in order to run!  I really hate burning the candle at both ends (which I do so well, and consistenly for years), so in the interest of my mental health and health in general, I've been allowing myself the extra 90 minutes to sleep.  I thankfully have been getting in some yoga practice, but even that has been challenging.  Regardless, I consider this particular way of living to be temporary.

Marathon training must recommence now!

I've come to realize (or remember) that I'm not a runner for PR or speed.  I really just like to run and to be out running regardless of the given performance.  I recall that when I started I never had any intention to actually run anything, only to be able to.  What this *really* means is that I go out to run because it's *fun* ... as it should be!  And I just want to run a 26.2 mile chunk of fun!

ॐ नमस्ते ... back in action

Wow, that was cool.  

Anyway, I haven't been here lately, but I have been many other places!   I am running.  I am practicing yoga regularly, and I'm learning.  I work hard, and I'm having a really good summer around all this cool stuff I'm doing.  

My running has changed, though, since my last post.  I ended up taking most of May off, which was kind of a shock after logging many miles/week.  June saw me slowly building up mileage, ditto July, and now here we are at the beginning of August.  I'm not where I was, but I'm not so sure I want to be.  I've been practicing yoga, and I'm coming to this conclusion:

Yoga is great for running (and pretty much everything), but running is not great for yoga.

I'm not going to stop running, I just dig it too much.  I'm just not so enticed by running for any particular purpose....I just like to run.  Even jog.  Cruise.

I don't know what's going to happen, but I do know I'm signed up for the Chicago Distance Classic and I feel rather unprepared (but I think I'll finish with some self-respect).  I've also got the Chicago Marathon, and I'd sure like to participate in that.  I'm just kind of worried about my lax attitude, and the fact that lots of running doesn't really allow me to progress the way I think I can in my yoga practices.

Like everything everywhere, it's a matter of balance, and a matter of always finding it.  

नमस्ते

(that is really cool, huh?)

DL

Confession. Admission. Reality. I've got pain. I'm on the "down-low," which is to say I'm techinically on the Disabled List. Some would say that's a permanent state with me, but alas, it's just a sprained quad/hip-flexor thing. Naturally I've been running on it for at least a month to make sure it really hurt... The last 10 days have been days off, which was somewhat convenient since I had company and parties and things to go do with humans for many of those days.

And I tried to sneak in some runs, which really only frustrated me and exacerbated my leg. My speed is way down, and my gait just feels awkward.

This really sucks, it's so hard to not run. I do think I'm at the point where I can do low-miles at low-speeds, which is mental discipline. I'll try. I really will. I think I gained about 5 pounds with all the abuse of the last week.

Practicing yoga definitely helps, and static "western" stretching does too. I think this is reinforcing the lessons involving listening to my body. It shouts and I ignore, it whispers and I strain to hear.

sigh.

Changing patterns

Back when I was training for the LA Marathon I recall posting here every couple days or more. Now that I'm not training for anything in particular, I'm now 3-for-3 for posting every 10 days. And I think that's fine, really. It's not because I'm not training or running. Far from it - I'm running great, and have seriously gotten myself into practicing yoga.

Let's see, I go to 2 yoga classes a week, and study privately once a week. That private session occurs on Sundays, which is now the same day as my "long" run. (Long is relative - I'm only sub-20 right now, and that's fine too.) However, I don't feel like it's enough; rather, I feel like I want more. I'm putting energy into incorporating mat time at home every day, somehow. The benefits I'm realizing in the amount I practice now are inspiring me to practice even more.

I'm going through an exciting inner change. My health is good, my head is clearer than it has been in a long time, and my heart is generally buoyant. In the past I'd be paranoid or trepidatious, waiting for the negativity. Now, I'm not concerned about it.

I do have scheduled running "things" coming up. I'm looking forward to them, as markers or perhaps indicators of my overall state of (perhaps physical) being. There's the 10-mile Lakefront run next week, sponsored by the wonderful people at Universal Sole. There's the Chicago Distance Classic (a half marathon) in August, and the Chicago Marathon in October. But, I don't really have a running agenda for those events, except to run them as well as I can. I expect my current "training" to only continue and evolve in a suitable way to allow me to perform well. I do have some desires, like "maintain a certain pace" or "finish within some timeframe," but those are not my ultimate goals. For me, the race *is* the prize. What a pleasantly unstressful way to go about them. For what it's worth, I'm certainly ready for the first two, and probably able to do Chicago right now.

My day job involves a lot of market data. Having been in that industry for a number of years now, data awareness seeps in. I do geek out when I run, wearing a Polar and a Garmin. I like looking at my splits (and they've been steadily improving since LA!) and work output, and I think looking at my courses on maps is interesting. It's all a profound curiosity to me, as I was never athletic in school or whatever. I also enjoy learning about my machine, my body. It fascinates me to see how my performance reacts to how and what I feed it, for instance.

All in all, I feel myself changing in profound ways. Deepening, or perhaps "waking up." I feel like I'm growing, and some patterns in my life may fall away while others continue to deepen and evolve for me. I like the flow.

And the sleet goes on...

What can I say to this? Sigh. It's like training in February.

Bright side ... it's not less-than-zero out there.

I guess all the stuff I've collected (cold-weather running clothes, for instance) is money well spent. Evidently I'll be using them for the better part of any 12-month stretch.

Catching up, and moving right along.

I've been running around so much lately! I can't believe it's been over 10 days since I've written anything, and the time seriously has flown.

I seem to be intensifying my running. Not only that, I've found some regular yoga practice sessions that I look forward to. I'm realizing that the bigger picture seems to be one of personal growth, learning how to improve my health overall, as well as how to improve my running abilities and now yoga (it's definitely "sticking" to me).

My runs for the last several days have pretty much consisted of my regular routes at the usual evil early hours of the day. There have been a couple standouts, though. Last Wednesday things were all "on" for me. I don't know what it was - a good pasta lunch, the right amount of fluid, the addition of Gu2O to my now-habitual water bottle strapped to my hand, or the nice air that night.... I was tight for time, so I was only doing "4 maybe 6" as I told my neighbor as I ran into her. I cranked out a great 8 miler that night for some reason. Everything was just sync and flowing. This is one reason why I do this, without a doubt.

The Gu2O was added because I had a lousy 10-miler (10.85 per sporttracks) the Sunday before. When I got back in, I did some reading and learned that I had pretty much encountered classic dehyrdation (it was a mid-70s humid day). I'm learning a lot about how my body likes to be fueled. I picked up the powder on Tuesday night and was going to try it on a quick run Wednesday morning, but lightning in the AM killed that idea....which of course brought me to my smooth Wednesday night cruise.

Today (Sunday) I had a great lakefront run, even going out around the Montrose bird sanctuary for the truly stunning view of the city to the south. The wind was seriously howling out there, as the weather was threatening the whole time. Some sun, big dark clouds, and wind were the ingredients. It was a nice low-60s temperature, though. I didn't have a set plan for how much I was going to run, but I knew I wanted to go farther than last week. At the decision point (Fullerton) I could go in for about 12, or continue south and get a couple more or so (I wasn't sure at the time). I decided to go for it, and I'm glad I did. I realized at that moment I'm not going to improve my endurance by running the same distances (ok, not entirely true, but still). I was rewarded with 14.5 for the day. Also, I didn't take any walking breaks (i.e. to down a gel shot). In the interest of training I figured out how to get the shot and dispose of the wrapper while on the move. I even refilled my bottle while on the move. I carried a couple of 10oz bottles in this Amphipod belt, and dumped them into my handheld when it was empty. I guess that's cool to me because I did the whole run running. I mean, that's the point, ultimately...I don't think there's anything wrong with walking, but personally it seems like an improvement.

I had a yoga session with Jody a couple hours later. I'd not done a run of this length and then gone in for yoga, so I was a little nervous about burning out. Happily the opposite happened, and I'm hooked. I got a great workout, some excellent stretching, and I feel pretty close to fully recovered. I did a headstand, too!

Finally, I have to mention that I went to a hydration seminar on Friday night, presented by Krissy Moehl and the Piper's Alley Fleet Feet. I was actually relatively familiar with what she was talking about, thanks to the reading I'd done since my near-bonk from the week before. What I *really* liked about the presentation was hearing her talk about the ultrarunning that she does. I keep saying to myself that "I have no goal but to run," but I honestly want to be able to perform (which is to say "survive," perhaps) at those levels. To be able to run those distances. I'm very glad I went. She was a great speaker, had cool pictures and interesting stories, and provided an awesome inspiration. Wow. Thanks!

One reason why I run

I came across this great runner's-view writeup of "runner's high" at A Trail Runner's Blog. Here's a link. I'll make it a point to follow up and check out his links into further research. Regardless, I've experienced that feeling described (also at around the 8-mile mark, curiously, and later as well) and for me it's definitely something I strive to experience.

Thank you Scott Dunlap for publishing/posting that great article.

Did a week just pass by?

I feel like I'm recovering quite well in this second post-marathon week. I've been running a bit, trying to get myself back into my early morning routine. That's been tough because I've been working a lot lately, consequently coming home late and then ending up not getting into bed until late.

I missed my intended Tuesday night body elongation session (aka "yoga"), but I did take advantage of the awesome weather and went for a killer run on the lakefront. 70F out! Since I was "recovering" I only intended to do a quick 4, but because it was so nice and my spirits were good, I ended up doing a smooth 6 miles.

I don't know if it's some kind of irony or some kind of joke Ms. Nature is playing, but I ran again on Wednesday night (little sleep before, couldn't wake up for my regular time) in something that might have been rain, or hail, or freezing rain, or sleet. The wind was pummelling me with this stuff - it was terrible. But, I ended up on a decent run anyway. It seems like my split times are all coming down in general. I'm not training for speed or anything. Well, on this night I was probably just wanting to get it over with.

I finally got my morning run on Friday!

Saturday (today) I made it up and out in time to get to that yoga for runners class. I'm new at that, of course, so I'm likely doing stuff wrong. Nevertheless, I feel good when I'm there and I really like the instructor. Yoga's kind of a trip - it works me out but relaxes me at the same time. I think? I know there are times when I'm pushing myself (which is probably not the "yoga way"), but I'm getting some excellent stretching there. The feeling I have after a good session is not unlike how I feel after a good massage, in fact.

Now I'm off to my weekend! I finished the novel I was reading, "The Historian." Good book, strong story.

Moving my feet again

I did my first post-LA run on Saturday morning, to a "yoga for runners" class. I had every intention of taking it easy (for me), but I completely underestimated the distance from my place to the studio and had to really push to get there on time. It was a great class, and I'll make it my routine for Saturday mornings. That'll give me at least 6 miles, but really at least 8 since I'll do the 4 out & back along the lakefront path. I'm sure I'll be leaving the class and going for my long run Saturdays soon, after giving myself appropriate marathon recovery (and I'm only figuring that out).

On that subject, I'm limiting myself to easy 4-milers this week, even though I really want to do more. It has only been a week since I ran my first marathon! Regardless, the weather on Saturday was awesome, the path was populated with runners (I even heard someone say they had run LA last week!), and I was feeling good to be back out.

I'm going to try to put in this route image.....



Not bad (if I was able to post the image correctly)! By the way, if you use a Garmin GPS (i.e. Forerunner) I recommend checking out SportTracks - it's a great program, and for my purposes much better than Training Center. And, you can edit routes - removing spurious waypoints and such - which TC doesn't let you do. Having said that, ignore those directional indicators....at this zoom level they seem to get confused.

Anyway, the yoga class was really cool. I think I said somewhere that I took my first class from an instructor-friend out in LA, and immediately recognized this as a Good Thing. I've always been curious, honestly. Perhaps nervous about going, even (for stupid reasons, like "what if I'm the only guy"). Now that I've experienced a few, I'm so glad I'm doing it. Without fail I've felt better at the end of a session. If only my schedule and wallet would allow me to do more.

In unrelated news, I'm totally enthralled with this book called "The Historian" by Elizabeth Kostova. It's a fascinating historical fiction involving Vlad Tepes, the Count Dracula.

A series of "firsts"

My first marathon - success. I finished, in about 5:12 according to the chip (that's pretty darn official, huh?). My GPS has me at around 5:08 or so. Whatever. I finished. It was a hot day, and the hills were all in the last 5 miles. I had a ton of fun. I trained seriously for a couple of months in our dread Chicago winter, so I don't have any reason to complain at all.

I also experienced yoga for the first time. What a great feeling that was! I've been to 3 classes now, 2 out in LA and one here in Chicago last night. I felt a lot better after last night's class (I'm definitely in need of some recovery).

I was also in a car accident, my first. No injuries, no fault, just an unfortunate event. I'll always get the rental car insurance though, that made everything easy.

I really wanted to break 5 hours on Sunday. My good friend Kevin (whom I blame for putting me up to doing the marathon) paced really well together through most of the race. He's truly faster and leaner than I am, but I went ahead on the hills going into Boyle Heights after about mile 22. We didn't care. We had to walk some just because the constant sun beating down on us was really draining. We were both feeling really thirsty yet full at the same time. The gatorade needed to be chased by water.

I was wearing a Universal Sole shirt (my local store, excellent place - http://www.universalsole.com), and a few people recognized Chicago - that was very cool. It was also really cool having people yell out your name in support. I wonder who that brunette around mile 1 was...I never saw her again.

I've already signed up for Chicago on October 7.

Frozen stride.

I've been doing my easy runs leading up to my marathon on Sunday. Except that these runs have been nothing short of frustrating. Frustrating (capital F). There's hard ice, black ice, slippery ice, frozen snowy ice, and some actual ground here and there. I can't get anything going on when I'm out trying to run. I think the noticeable lack of other runners is telling me something - these conditions suck, don't bother. But I have to.

I keep feeling myself annoyed at some unknown responsible party for apparantly doing nothing about the paths. No salt, for instance. I can only assume they go around checking, and do it during the day when what I encounter as slick black ice is only seen as snow meltoff. I guess it never occurs to anyone that this "water" stuff freezes at some point. It's so bad out there that I could only really open up my stride and get some freedom in movement for about a 1/4 mile on the "back stretch" (approaching Fullerton from the north, on the lakeshore path).

Oh well. My next easy run will be in sunny Southern California! I just hope the weather here is a %1000 better when I get back.

final countdown

I ran on Saturday, and was going along just fine. The weather wasn't brilliant, of course, but it wasn't stormy or even snowing (yet). I did my 10+ out and back along the lakefront. The "out" part was a nice cruise, the "back" part was hell. It felt like a strong steady headwind off the lake the entire way back. I was actually thinking that I'd end my run feeling real good, like I didn't work too hard. The wind changed all that. I was only too eager to finish.

It occurred to me that no matter what I seem to set out to run, it's always "hard" somehow. Last weekend I ran for 20, and yeah, it was hard. This week I ran for 11, and yeah, it was hard. I was running 7s in the morning, and yeah, they were hard. Running is hard. For me. It's work. It's a workout! Wait, it's supposed to be, right?

Now I'm less than a week away from Los Angeles. Normally I'd be excited about going there (I am, honestly), and eager to get away from this lousy weather we have here. Trouble is, I know I'll be doing something rather painful when I'm there. I confess, I'll be glad when it's over, but I'm looking forward to getting better at this.

I didn't run this morning - another late night out, eating some fine homemade Bulgarian food....too much of it. Since I'm in taper, I'll only go out for an easy (yeah, right) 4 after work. I always have trouble falling asleep when I run at night, so I'm going to try to get out as early as possible.

There's a battle going on.

Spring vs. Winter, warm vs. cold. Sometimes, run vs. sleep in.

Tomorrow (Saturday February 24) will be my last opportunity to have a daytime lakefront run. I've been looking forward to it all week, especially after the particularly good weather last week on my 20-miler. Now ... grr ... we're going into the weekend with a "winter storm watch" starting tomorrow, with rain, freezing rain and snow in the "wintry mix" as possibilities. But they say the temperature will be in the low 30s. Not terrible. I just wanted to run along the lakefront in some sunshine before I head out to LA!

Now, assuming I can get home from work at a decent hour, it looks like a prudent course of action for me will be to get my run in early, missing potential sun, but also missing potential nasty weather.

It won't be a long run. I'm supposed to be in my taper period anyway. Nevertheless, I feel like doing my 10-mile out & back, with a secret desire to extend that to 13.1 somehow. Then I'll start my taper, seriously!

My running life must be good if these are the problems I'm dealing with. I feel blessed and lucky.

Vigilance against treachery

I have to find something to complain about. The black ice on the footpath, sure, yeah, that's it. My morning running has been dicey out there, with many spots of slipperiness. I guess I should complain that there's no salt on the path; or when there is salt, it's in a pile at one spot in the middle.

Nevermind that it's in the low 30s at this time of day now. Nevermind that a mere week ago I was calf-deep in snow. ha, this is great! Some ice here and there, but otherwise the path is coming back!

Hey, isn't today one month away from the first day of Spring?

My LA travel plans are all set up, I've got my gear (what do you wear when it's warm out, I forget....) all prepared, and I'm mentally ready. I'm excited!

I should be deep in my taper now, but I'm honestly only mildly so. I'll do 10 or so on Saturday, and then some easy 4s before I fly out. When I'm there I'll just walk around or something.

I'm in!

I finally signed up for the LA Marathon. Exciting. I hope I'm ready. I think I am......

Yesterday (Saturday) I did my last long run - 20 miles - and survived. It was a beautiful day, though. When I left for my run it was "December" but in the heart of the run and when I ended it was "March or April." I started in grey overcast skies with flurries and found myself in sunny blue skies. Very nice. Still only about 25F, but nice nonetheless.

My route was just my 10-mile loop done twice. I walked only when I was taking Gu or arranging my water belt. Like an idiot I forgot to clear memory in my Polar, so it only recorded about 3 miles of heart rate. That sucked.

I say I don't run for speed, but just for the aerobic benefit. I wish I were faster though. After the marathon is over, I'll look at my running and consider learning how to train for speed. It may be more important to me than I think.

Right now it's Sunday night, after I spent a lot of the day sleeping, and the weather report looks really nice for next week. I've got the day off tomorrow, so I'm looking forward to another run in greater-than single digit temperatures, and hopefully some sun.

I'm still cold

A few times, since the snow we had a couple days ago, I've been feeling a sense of burnout. My California heritage has a tendency to take the forefront when I'm less than happy here in Chicago. Like when I'm realizing that I've had 1 running day where the temperature was around the freezing mark in the last month or so. Whatever, it seems like it has been a long time, and I'm tired of it!

The last couple of days have been decent, snow-packed runs. I'm appreciative that someone has plowed the paths, but for some reason appears to have forgotten to plow the parts where you access the paths, like the corner at Fullerton and Cannon. There's a huge snowdrift there. Also, the paths aren't really clear of snow. I'm running on snow pretty much the whole time.

I'm also wondering why there are no streetlights on...it would be cool if we were in a full moon, but right now it's just dark.

Please don't let there be more snow on Friday and Saturday, during my long run!

From nod to plod

Dear God my run this morning was an extreme sport.

Chicago is being socked in at the moment, and I in my clearly finite wisdom "went for it" this morning. My regularly scheduled run, a 7 miler out & back along the lakefront path, can be categorized something like this today:

- moguls
- wind armed with millions of needle-like projectiles (in all directions, of course)
- wet socks
- grit

I learned a lot about reading snow drifts today, too.

Alas, I survived. I had a great workout. Hats off to the other 3 runners I saw out there. I couldn't fall asleep too easily last night either, and ended up getting maybe 4 hours before this morning's adventure. I doubt that'll happen again tonight, so tomorrow's run is already better.

It's still snowing, well over 12 hours later. Since I'm doing the same run tomorrow, I'm crossing everything I can cross hoping the park district actually moves some snow around for us.

I just had one of the most fun runs. Tonight after I finally got home from work I went out for a 6-mile loop I've settled into. Only this time, I found a bunch of snow out on the lakefront path. Powdery stuff, maybe 3-4 inches deep in places, windblown from the east. It was almost like running on the beach, and it added a challenging element to my run. For some reason I was totally enjoying it - so much so, the lousy headwind (of all things weatherwise, wind has to be my most undesired thing to deal with!) didn't even dim my glimmer. I must have waved or said 'how you doing?' to a bunch of people out there and even some dogs. I think the one dog I saw bounding through the snow drifts on the beach knew what I was feeling. Good dog. Dogs rock.

I've started to accept the adversity of snow and the seemingly constant headwind (how does that happen, no matter which way I go?), not to mention the cold, as opportunities to work out differently. For instance, it's pretty flat here - a good headwind might offer me a chance to work harder as if I were climbing a hill. Especially if I'm plodding through inches of snow. (By the way, it was 30F *warm* tonight!)

The LA marathon has some hills, including a steady climb from the start (I'm from LA; knowing the area, I'm nervous about the first and last few miles!). I'm hoping that the training I'm doing here, and the conditions I'm doing it in, will somehow toughen me up for a decent passing performance (i.e. not DNF) on the 4th. Heck, I won't be wearing all the clothes I have to wear here, that's gotta count for something.

Overnight tonight we're expecting inches of snow and windy conditions. I'm doing a slightly different route tomorrow morning, and I may be miserable. If it sucks, I'll try to remember the good feelings from tonight to keep me going.

I don't normally run at night, since it's possible I won't know when I'll be home from work. At least in the mornings I can decide to wake up at the severe crack of dawn. Tonight was different because I got home completely late last night from a really fun birthday celebration (Whirlyball and then Liar's Club). I didn't think 2.5 hours of sudsy sleep before getting up would be too cool, so I decided to get my run in after work today. I'll get up at my regular time on Tuesday to get back to "normal." I liked running after work, but now I'm completely awake. But happy. Hopefully it'll repeat tomorrow morning.

Oh yeah - I think I want to cue up the first four or five Van Halen albums for my long run on Saturday. That just popped into my head.

Sand in hair, salt in shoes

It seems out-of-sync to be writing about my running. I'm totally beginning writing, but I've actually managed to maintain running as a regular part of my life for a year and a half. Believe me, I don't feel like an old hand at running at all. I don't feel fast. No races, no PRs, no clue. All I know is that I get up early in the morning and head over to the lakefront path and run.

The only real quantifiable signs of progress are revealed to me in how much I [don't] weigh now, and what my tech-geek gadgets have been telling me. They say I'm maintaining a decent pace, and I'm not working hard to do it. Believe me, they weren't always this nice to me. They've taught me important things, though. Be patient, take your time, positive change will occur. Seems totally obvious in hindsight, but when I was starting out it all seemed so impossible.

Yesterday I ran 18.5 miles out there in the beautiful sunny (still cold!) day that we had here in Chicago. Jeez - that's *definitely* a personal best. I've *never* done that before, and it was tough. Start to finish clocked in at 3:24, including a totally convenient port-a-potty stop by Belmont Harbor at mile 8.5. I also included walking breaks, to allow me to suck down this recently new-to-me gel fuel stuff (totally works). I don't care about the time, though - I'm pretty stoked I was just able to finish and still walk (and go out for some music and Guiness)! I mean, less than two years ago I couldn't do 10% of that. Heck, even less time ago, but that's another story.

I'm reasonably convinced I'm going about marathon training (March 4 in LA is looming) all wrong, but friends and people more experienced than I am are only encouraging me and telling me I'm definitely capable. I'm just too scared to go look online at training programs, only to avoid a total sense of "I'm definitely screwed." I think in some ways I have to learn things the hard way, by having my head yanked out of the sand.

I never intended to complete anything when I started running. My motivation was merely to see if I could actually do it with some intelligence (start slow, build up, etc.) - essentially make it stick - and of course improve my health. One step at a time, I guess, and I'll learn from each one.

Day Zero (?)

Beginning running for me was not real simple. In fact, I've tried it many times. My last attempt was the one. I've lost about 40 pounds (which is not a little scary to admit), I've had to replace a lot of clothes, I eat differently now, and I've noticed that my cruising speed has increased as my effort has decreased.

Oh, I'm also deep into training for my first marathon, at Los Angeles on March 4, 2007. I feel like I've turned a corner in that I actually think I'll finish it, and perhaps decently! I have learned so much in the process.

Why did I call this "plod, lift, repeat?" Well, that's how I started running. I took first steps in August 2005, and by October 2005 I was hooked. I think it's all right to say I plod less, but in some ways I still feel like a beginner. Every day is a new day, and as my LA training is showing me, a new adventure as I reach new milestones. Lift, repeat.

I'm new to blogging as well. I may or may not have readers, but I confess to lurking in other blogs (which I'll link to). I've learned from their experiences, and have been inspired by their trials, tribulations and successes. Inspired enough to even write something.

It's probably not unusual to have some sort of lofty goal or intent in starting a blog, but I do want to write (and share) what I've learned and experienced. At least I won't forget it (like, what did I wear when it was so friggin' cold out!?). If there's something to take away, and I do hope there is, it's all worth it to share my own trials, tribulations and successes.