Random Musings

First, I would like to thank all of the people I know (and those that I don't) that have registered to participate in one (or two!!) of the marathon events. They are taking time out of their busy schedules to help our baby Goldens and I can't thank them enough. I was also just informed that a great friend of Carole's and a vet that we use often, Dr. Kelpe, the owner of Santa Margarita Animal Care Center has signed up to run the marathon as well. (This is also where I picked up my Baby Sums!) Thank you Dr. Kelpe for your generous offer to help us raise funds!! I'm told he is using this as "practice." Oh the day when I run 26.2 miles for PRACTICE!!!!! He will probably finish, go home, shower and be watching football by the time I finish! Marathon as practice....sheeesh!

I have seen some cool and wacky things while running:

There was the man I saw biking with one of those kiddie trailer stroller thingys. Though instead of having a kid back there, he had his beautiful senior border collie, along for a beach ride looking quite happy and relaxed.

There was the woman I saw running with a baby stroller. The kid inside was the exact opposite of the border collie...screaming bloody murder. I was thinking to myself that it should have been the mom screaming, not the kid. Totally reinforced my decision to have dogs...not babies.

There is the woman who I see a lot who looks anorexic. She has the weirdest gait I have ever seen. It looks like she is running without bending her knees. And her arms are at a 45 degree angle with her fists angled down. They just flap in the wind. She is so skinny that I want to feed her a cheeseburger.

There was this man I saw on Saturday who was probably one of the biggest men I have ever seen. Had to be close to 7 feet tall and was just a wall of muscle. He was wearing a running get up that was easily 3 sizes too small for him. I laughed to myself that no one would ever tell him that he looked ridiculous in that outfit because he would squish them like a bug.

I have been training now for about 20 weeks. I have gone from running 2 miles to 22 miles. I have been completely upfront about my slowness. I get passed every time I run by everyone going in my direction and I am ok with this. Since I am in taper mode, I don't have to run the distances that I have had to in the past few weeks so I have been working on my speed.

I am just beside myself BaSCHIZZLED to announce that this past week I have actually passed people! (And NO! I am not talking about the woman with the cane...although I lapped her TWICE!!!) YES! People who were RUNNING!

I play the "Rocky" anthem in my head and imagined myself doing the Rocky dance at the top of the Rocky steps. I stop the image in my head when I see myself jumping up and down and then slipping, spraining my ankle and falling down those steps. You see, I didn't get the memo about the day they were handing out elegance and grace. So I got awkward and klutzy instead.

Be well everyone!

Fear

About a year ago, I went bungee jumping. I'm gonna say that it is probably one of the most terrifying things that someone can willingly do. You have all these ropes attached to you and you are standing on a maybe 10" x 12" platform on the "bad" side of a bridge. You look down and you see the rocks that you will hit if the ropes don't work (they have always worked). They count down 3-2-1 and you jump! Holy Moly!

Here is a picture of my first jump in which I jumped off backward. You can see from my face that I am one scared Mamma Jamma! As scary as that first jump was, I jumped 2 more times. What a rush and what an accomplishment to face your fears and jump off of a bridge (3 TIMES)!

I will admit that I am feeling a bit of fear as the marathon grows close (3 WEEKS!). Fear is what has gotten me off the couch some days because I knew that if I didn't run, I would never be able to finish. I feared that I would let all of the doggies down if I didn't finish. Fear can be a great motivator.

The Guru (Marty) told me that this weekend would be my last long run before the marathon and he suggested I do 21 miles. So since I knew that this was my last long run and having that continuous nagging fear that I won't finish, I pushed myself just a little. I completed 22 miles. And now I am in what the Guru calls taper mode. I'm going to be letting my legs rest from now until the marathon (if you call ONLY running 12 or 14 miles in one day "REST"!)

So if you see me between now and marathon day (October 11th), I may not LOOK as terrified as I am in this picture; but know that I am that scared on the inside! But as I did with the bungee jumping, I will overcome fear and I can only imagine the feeling of great accomplishment I will feel when I cross the finish line into the wonderful field of goldens that I envision will be waiting for me. I only wish that the marathon would be over as quickly as the jump was.

Be well everyone!

Beauty and the Beet

So I have made it clear that I look pretty when I run...pretty awful. I am a beet red, sweaty mess almost from the get go. I usually run around the country club near my apartment which conveniently has a dirt track around it's perimeter. By the time I'm finished running, my legs are covered with a thin film of dirt from having that dirt kicked up by passing runners. So to say I look a hot mess would be an understatement but I'm not supposed to look pretty...I'm running!

The other evening I was running around the CC and this woman runs past me. She is beautiful. Not a drop of sweat on her. Very stylish outfit. Her gorgeous, thick, chocolate brown hair is FLOWING behind her. I literally looked around for camera crew. I could see the commercial in my head:

(Shot of me running...)
Announcer: "Are you tired of looking terrible when you workout?"

(Shot of HER running...)
Announcer: "Now YOU can look amazing when you workout too! Just use LUSCIOUS LOCKS shampoo and conditioner. It not only makes your hair flow beautifully in the wind, it's patented formula actually STOPS you from sweating! Get LUSCIOUS LOCKS NOW and you will never look like this (camera pans back to me) EVER AGAIN!!!"

There was no camera crew. She was just one of those women that looks great no matter what. It's unnatural really. I'm not gonna say that I wanted to trip her and drip sweat onto her splayed body because that would make me sound mean and I am not mean. A bit envious maybe, but not mean. So instead I envisioned myself just HUGGING her! From the front. From the back. Mess up her perfect hair a bit. Yep...hugging her. Get her nice and sweaty...like me...the Beet.

Be well everyone.

A Fine Line

I have realized recently that I am just THIS SIDE of looney! People who know me may be saying "Well Duh! We've known this for quite some time". But now I know!

I have always been obsessive about some things, like checking my purse repeatedly to make sure my keys are there. I tell myself..."Don't have to look again, they're in there" and what do I do? Check again...twice.

Being a part of this rescue has fed into my tendency towards obsession.

I look every day at how many dogs we have.
I obsess about how many need foster homes.
I obsess even more about the seniors who need foster homes (ROCKO!!!)I obsess about how we can raise more money to help.

Jenna shares my obsession and although I think she beats me in the obsessive department, I am a VERY CLOSE second.

Thank goodness I can use my obsession toward good and not evil! If I were evil, I would be thinking in my diabolical mind about how I could abduct Moseby without Denise EVER knowing it was me!

I have also realized that I am quite the gifted stalker!

I find that I have absolutely no patience when it comes to getting answers; especially when it comes to helping the dogs. You can ask the charity coordinator for the marathon....she probably hides under her desk in fear whenever my number shows up on her caller id! I mean...I know this is the 4th time I'm calling, the last being only 3 minutes ago but really...I need answers NOW!

I checked the Marathon site every day to see if any new participants signed up. Up until Friday I was SERIOUSLY freaking out about whether we would get enough people (We needed 20). I was very excited on Saturday when I checked to see that we have TWENTY EIGHT!!! Woo HOO! I don't have to stalk people anymore. (NO! I am not the crazy woman who was seen chasing after people screaming: YOU WANT TO RUN A MARATHON TO HELP HOMELESS GOLDEN RETRIEVERS?!)

So I am ok with being considered looney when it comes to Goldens. It's good to be passionate, right? Just be very glad that I stay on this side of the looney line...otherwise you would all have to worry.

Now...back to figuring out how to airlift Moseby out of the yard using helium balloons........