The Gift of the Run

I've run on this path so many times in the last year since we moved here to Asheville for this adventure.  So many days I've made a choice with these divergent paths...

each one, 

welcoming me, 

listening, 

letting me wander...

always leading me back to myself. 

These paths have heard my deepest of secrets and fears. 

Shared in my greatest of joys and feelings of hope and possibility. 

They've caught my tears in heartache 

and whispered 

"YES! You can!" 

in moments where I've spoken my dreams and intentions. 

All on a run. 

Today's run was no exception in all I've found and given of myself while running here. 

As I came to where this path splits...

the rain pouring down on me...

I couldn't help but be grateful. 

For here.

 For now. 

For all the healing, hurt, and happiness that is part of life. 

For the gift of the run. 

This run. 

And for all that is waiting ahead.

Amanda

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Best Race Swag Ever, Easy Pace Getting Faster, Love, and Random

 Could today get any better?  I'm not so sure. It has been one of those days that starts slow and cherished and then just keeps getting better.  After my 11 mile easy run that felt amazing for easy (more on that in a minute),  I came home to a hot shower, happy kids, a husband grilling and a cold beer!

1.  I think a day like today calls for a good beer. 
2. I used my favorite race swag EVER to open my beer.  Seriously, the Boston Marathon knows how to do it up right.  This bottle opener is some pretty sweet race swag.  I love it!  

Waking up to cold weather, sunshine and nowhere I needed to be made me feel all cozy inside.  It was one of those rare mornings that are far and few in between these days where our little family is just frozen in time:

Cold Saturday morning,

                                                      frosty windows, sunshine-full room, 

a family wrapped in blankets,

cartoons, cuddles, coffee 

A promise of chocolate chip pancakes.

These mornings will be one of those slices of life memories we treasure for always.

After a few cups of coffee, plenty of blanket/couch time, and deciding my run could wait,  I couldn't help myself ... the beautiful fall day was calling my name....and a walk to the bakery in town for one more cup of [good] coffee was in order. Have I mentioned lately how much I LOVE this town that I live in?  Yes, I think I have.  Well, for good measure, I'll say it again...I LOVE living here!  I love this small town.  I love the Blue Ridge Mountains.  I love the community.  I love the sunshine.  I love the little 1900's Craftsman style home that we are temporarily living in.  LOVE.

Decided the run could wait until later. Too much life to enjoy at home this morning! Cold, crisp, sunny, beautiful morning with a short walk to the bakery for our last cup of coffee. Notebook along for the walk...you never know when there will be words to catch.

More coffee
Plenty of cuddles
Sunshine
A new haircut
Quality time with my oldest daughter

Only thing missing was a nice longish run (long run for me these days seems to be around 10 to 13 miles) but I made sure to add that to the list too!

My run today was just another part of this Joyful morning.  I turned my watch around so I wouldn't look at it and I just set the goal to run Happy and Easy.  Every time I did look at my watch, I was surprised to see my mile splits at quite a bit faster than I expected.  Must have been the gorgeous fall weather! With my first mile at 7:45, I tried to deliberately slow down but most of my splits stayed under 8 until the end where they were a bit slower.  My EASY is getting FASTER!  This is a good feeling!

Yes!  Easy pace is picking up again!  Thank you body.  Thank you mind.  And Hello Spirit!  Truly a Run Happy kind of day!  And my Brooks Ravenna 4 felt perfect. 

I'm certain that this day (now night) will only continue to get better.  I intend for it to be that way.... Today, I CHOOSE JOY!  We really do have so much to do with how our life unfolds.  There are some big things I'm working on in my little world and not all of them are easy.  However, I can say that they are all WORTH it because they are part of making my life the very best that it can be.

And to end this post with something to think on, I thought I'd post this quote that I saw on Facebook.  Definitely something I could chew on for a bit and see from multiple perspectives.  A good discussion piece FOR SURE.  I'd love to know YOUR first reactions after reading it.  I posted this on Runninghood's Facebook but in the comments below, I'll include some of the comments posted about it.

1. How was your weekend? What stood out to you?  
2. Who's racing this weekend?  
3. What's your idea of a perfect weekend morning?  
4. What's the best race swag you've ever received? 
5. Is the weather in your neck of the woods drastically cooling off?  What's it like?  
6. And, last but NOT least, what are your thoughts/reflections about the quote on love posted above??  

Amanda 

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Trail Run Date in Pictures and Video

A day off for my husband today meant a small slice of alone time for us.  Getting open time like this where all three kids are in school/activities for at least 4 hours feels like a huge gift and we almost always choose to go on one of our favorite dates... 

A Trail Run Date! 

As many of you know, my husband is my favorite running partner.  We try to run together as often as we can and I've written about several of our trail run dates here on the Asheville trails in May and on the Wildwood Trail in Portland a couple of Octobers ago.  We've run many races together too.  One of our favorites was the Foot Traffic Flat marathon in 2011 (his first and my fourth) where we proved to make a great team and finish in a happy 3:24.  If I had to choose anyone in the world to run side by side with for always, it would be him.  

Living in Asheville, NC means plenty of beautiful trails to run on. And ever since my first 30k trail race back in May, I've craved as much of the forest running as I can get.  The trails here are different than those in Portland, Oregon.  I wouldn't say that I love one more than the other because they both have their unique beauty and I love my time running on both of them.  The one big difference about the forests in Asheville and Portland is that most of the trees here in Asheville are deciduous whereas so many of the trees in Portland are coniferous.  So, whereas Portland stays GREEN and lush year round, Asheville is approaching it's brown and bare season once winter comes.  We're taking every opportunity to hit the forests this autumn before winter sets in.  And what a perfect time of year it is for trail running!   

Today we tried a new trail in Bent Creek that led us up into some of the prettiest parts I've seen yet.  Some of the trail was quite STEEP and we did some quick walking rather than running.  It was good practice for the ultra my husband wants to do in the near future.  

Pretty sure this was my best Superwoman pose.  Yeah, not a good one.  Guess I'll consider other career options.  

Since moving to Asheville, our date life has dwindled just a bit.  That's what we get when we move to the complete opposite side of the country as the grandparents, aunts, uncles and cousins.  Not only did we leave family behind, we also left our babysitters.  Free babysitters at that!  We weren't about to just go home after our trail run.  We used our extra 1.5 kid-free hours to eat in Asheville at a new restaurant (for me).  By the way, if you ever visit Asheville, it is a great place to eat good food.  Lots of fun restaurants.  I'm not sure I'll get through them all before we have to leave.  But that will just be a reason to come back often to visit (while we leave the kids in Portland with their grandparents).

We chose a little spot called Salsas.  You wouldn't know it from first appearance but this place has some delicious delicious food.  Wow!  We had blackened salmon pilon and the best chicken burrito ever.  Oh, and some really yummy beer.  I don't usually drink beer before noon but today was considered vacation.  And something about running through the forest that makes me want to drink a nice cold beer afterwards.

I'm putting this Monday down in the books as one of my favorites.  Life just keeps getting better and I can't wait to see what else in in store.  For now, I'm enjoying the present...especially days like this where I'm reminded of so much that I love.

1. Do you run on trails?  Are their trails near where you live?  
2.  Do you run with your partner?  
3.  Don't forget to check out the Asheville Marathon as a possibility for a spring race.

Amanda 

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Whisperings from the Inner Superhero and a 13.1 of Embracing JOY in Running!

Watching Kona IRONMAN.  Wow!  Talk about ENERGY! And inspiration!  I admit, in 2000 when I was watching the Ironman in Auckland, New Zealand, I remember thinking that these athletes were pure CRAZY!  I mean, I was still four years out from running my first marathon.  I had no idea what even a marathon was all about...let alone running a marathon AFTER some intense swimming and cycling.

Now, as I watch the coverage of Ironman Kona (Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, posts from friends, live coverage), I hear my inner superhero whispering to me.  My inner "crazy"...my "I want to do that someday too!" Okay, so maybe I don't really want to put the time and energy into completing a full Ironman but watching this makes me think of all the things I DO want to do.  There are still so many possibilities that are there for us!  Anything can happen if we believe and put our heart and spirit into it. THIS is what watching something like this reminds me of.  So inspiring!

I'm still in my HAPPY/RUN for FUN season with running.  And I'm loving it.  Such a good place for me right now.  My body feels mostly WHOLE (besides the annoying left hamstring), I'm getting excited to marathon train again in late December, and I'm finding so much JOY in running again.

I felt almost giddy this morning as I woke up early to run in a race environment for the Bethel Half Marathon.  I knew I didn't want to "race" this run.  I wanted to run it for the simple JOY of running.

And that I did.

Consistent.

Comfortable.

Within easy pace.

Beautiful Course.

Rolling Hills.

Colorful Countryside.

Mountains.

Happy.

Smile on my Face.

Mile after mile of feeling like my legs would carry me at this pace forever.

A good feeling.

So thankful for runs like this!

7:40
7:44
8:13
8:03
7:56
7:36
7:47
7:50
7:53
7:49
7:50
7:56
7:50
.22 at 6:54 pace.

First place AG and a unique hand made award.  I loved this event!

I'll take that 1:43:xx with a smile on my face!  And a promise of more happy miles to come.  Far from my fastest time but there's something to be said about just enjoying the run and feeling strong without pushing ourselves to our edge all the time.  I like where I'm at right now with running.  It's a good place.  My 7:50's today made me just as happy as my low 7 minute average made me a couple of years ago.  I'm not sure how I'll take on my Boston training but the goal so far looks like :  ENJOY IT!  This might mean taking it easy this time.  And it very well might mean pushing myself for a bigger goal.  Too early to tell.  In the meantime, here's to finding joy in our runs!

1.  Have you completed an Ironman or half Ironman?  Do you want to?  What about a triathlon of any distance?  I'm not sure I'd want to put the amount of TIME into training for an Ironman or half Ironman.  Just a lot of other things I want to do.  I've never done a triathlon of any kind...I'd like to though!
2.  What's one of your biggest "whispers" or goals that your "inner superhero" calls to you?  My inner superhero whispers to me about so much more than running.  Really, running or athletic goals aren't as important to me as other life goals related to career, making a difference, working with people in different ways, writing, etc. Really, I want to change the world.  Ha!
3.  What do you do to bring the JOY back to your running when you get in a running rut? I listen to my body and mind.  When the desire isn't there, I don't force it.  Giving my body a break from running almost ALWAYS means coming back happy and hungry again.

Amanda 

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All Things Running

Beaver Lake, one of my favorite places to run

Dearest Running,

Welcome back, my friend.  Thank you for always being there when I'm ready to have more of you. Thank you for the joy you bring to my world no matter how long I go without you.  No matter how many months I've just left you on the side to wait.  You are still there to be whatever I need you to be.  I'm excited to spend so much MORE time with you over the next many months.  You add color and life to things that might otherwise go unnoticed.  Thank you. I love you. 

Love Always, 

Me

Not that anyone is really going to hold me to it or even remember that I said it, but I did promise that this next post would be all about running.  Not a bad morning to write all about running either.  Just such a GORGEOUS time of year to be returning to more consistent mileage.  I probably spent more time taking pictures and stretching my wonky hamstring today than I did actually running around Beaver Lake but I did fit in some joyful miles.

Joyful steps
Dirt under my feet
Fall colors peeking out from the green hills on the horizon
Smoky cool clouds rising above the water
Rays of sunshine shining down on my
     happy
smiling
      grateful
face.

Joyful.  That's how I'd describe my running lately.  The joy has returned to it and this has made all the difference.  After a summer of just a little bit of running here and there, I'm truly getting excited to be training for something again. As I build my base and dust off my running heart, I'm excited to see my paces pick up and to feel that tired happy focused feeling when I go to bed at night.  I still think I'm at a place in my life where I want my training/running to be a bit more low key than it has been before. Although I'm excited to train more and increase the mileage a tad, I'm at a different season in my life as far as goals relating to clock time, higher mileage, etc.  These things just aren't as important to me. And I'm pretty sure my body is on the same page as my heart and spirit here.  It just isn't 100% and it needs lots of loving care if I want to be running for LIFE.  I do admit that it is likely that my goals will change as training starts in late December.  Right now I might say clock time doesn't matter so much but this always seems to change as I start putting so much time and commitment into training.  Time goals have a way of creeping in there.

There were so many Running-Related things I wanted to write about this morning but I find myself out of time.  I have a beautiful boy waiting for me to pick him up from preschool.  And we just might have to head back to Beaver Lake for a picnic on the a hillside.  Just a few things I hope to get to on here soon and if I don't then I'll be posted about them on Facebook and Twitter:

• Active Release Therapy.  I'm looking into this as something that might help with my chronic left hamstring issue.  I posted on this earlier this morning on my Runninghood Facebook and got lots of positive comments.  Looks like so many of you have had success with this!  
• Boston Training Plans.  I have no idea what plan I will use for my Boston training.  I'm open to suggestions on this!  I guess I could make my own up but I really like having one to follow.  Recommendations?  I've used several different plans from books but I'm looking for something I haven't tried yet.  I'm also still thinking that it would be nice to have someone else just tell me what to do too...having a coach can be so nice!  Definitely takes the thinking out of it.
• Savannah Rock n' Roll.  As of now, all my previous plans for this half marathon have fallen through.  Savannah is on my list of places I want to visit before we move back to Portland for sure!  This half marathon is on my 35th birthday, only 4 hours away, and I'll be running it for free as a gift from being a Brooks runner. Why not?!  My family can't come because it conflicts with other plans.  So, there is a part of me that is feeling young and crazy enough to just get in my car at 2 a.m, drive down there for the race and head back up that evening.  Ha!  Or find a hotel but that's tricky this close to the race.  
• Asheville Marathon.  I'm really excited to have this as part of my spring training schedule.  It is March 16th and if my body cooperates, I'd like to do it and use it as a training run for Boston.  As many of you know, I've done this before and had success with it.  What a great experience too!  Running a marathon through the Biltmore Estate and seeing parts of it that are never opened to the public sounds pretty amazing in itself.  Not to mention that I don't have long here in gorgeous Asheville so I might as well make the most of it (just like Savannah).  I'd love if some of you signed on to this marathon with me.  I'd even be willing to run a different pace if one or a group of you would like someone to run with them or pace them towards a goal.  It is also a Boston Marathon qualifier.  Check it out for sure!  And if you register, click on the button on the top right of my blog and include Amanda@Runninghood in the referral box and you'll receive a running-related gift from one of the race sponsors.  Also, feel free to e-mail me if you have questions:  amanda.runninghood@gmail.com.  

• GOTR (Girls on the Run).  Yes, I wish I had time to rave about this!  So much to say.  In the meantime, just saying that I LOVE this program and I love what I'm seeing it do for my daughter.  I hope to get much much more involved in this soon.  

• Running Shoes.  More later on some shoes I'm loving lately and what I'd like to try. All Brooks of course.  Love my Brooks Running Shoes!  Thanks for making a great product again and again Brooks!  Honored to represent your company.  
• Training Races/Runs Coming Up! 

And I'm off!  I would love to hear from you if you have any information on Active Release Therapy, Suggestions for plans to use for Boston Training,  if you want to join me for the Asheville Marathon, etc.  Really, I'd love to hear from you...PERIOD!

Amanda 

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Happy Intentions, Reality and Back to Happy

If I could freeze this moment...
Fall Morning
Blue Ridge Mountains
Sitting out on my porch
Small Mountain Town
Birds, Squirrels, Falling Walnuts
Coffee
   Color
Cool
   Crispness
Clear Skies
   Calendar Day Open
 Kid Giggles coming from inside,
   as they jump on couch cushions and eat pancakes on the side
Unmade beds
SUNSHINE
Happily sore legs from a week of solid running and fitness
This will be a day I come back to in my memories...

Cue the screeching car break sound.  Or finger nails on a chalk board......

We interrupt this short moment of bliss for a few moments of full blown four year old fit reality!  

Really?! 

Deep Breaths, tight chest, irrational logic from a four year old boy who insists that jumping off the couch towards cushions right up against a brick fire place is the BEST idea despite anything we say to convince him otherwise.  

Deep breaths.  

A few tears.  

Instead of carrying on with my immediate plans of finishing my coffee while writing a long Happiness List as a morning exercise of gratitude, I needed a few moments to get my hormonal 34 (35 in a month) year old self back to neutral.  Man! Tell me again how much I'll miss these sweet days when my kids are young? I know I will.  And remind me how strong will and feisty personalities are good traits to have for life. I know this too.

I took a few moments to sip my coffee and take in the beautiful morning thinking the worst was behind me.  Then another fight broke out.  And another. And, ready for it?  Another.  I guess my kids were clearly NOT on the same vision page as I was on this fine day.  In an attempt to reclaim my happy energy, I tried to sit in silence for a bit and read past posts on here and in my journals related to Happiness. This helped. It reminded me of how capable of sweetness and love my kids really were.   It also helped me reclaim my happy mojo to be reminded of just how many things there are to be happy about. One post in particular that  made me smile was one written almost exactly a year ago:

Things That Make Me Happy.. An Exercise in Happiness

Reading this post (along with the comments from you) made me smile.  All is calm again and I'm ready to add to my happiness list throughout this day 

Things that make me Happy Today:

• Beautiful morning
• Tracking friends at the Portland and Twin Cities Marathons.
• Seeing my daughter get better at riding her bike.
• Watching my husband be such a good father to our children. His patience is a gift to all of us. When I'm feeling more emotional than normal, he is so quick to step in and pick up the slack.   
• A family walk/bike ride to the local bakery where we ate some really great kale salad and shared a cookie.  
• Living in this beautiful place that I love so much.  I know it is short lived but when we say good bye in July, we get to go back to Portland, Oregon.  Not a bad place to live at all.  One of the coolest places I know actually.  
• The Jewel Fairy came today and brought Halloween Jewels.  
• Yoga with my sweet 6 year old daughter.  I could write an entirely separate post on just the different gifts that each of my children are.  So unique.  This little girl is my calm.  She always has been.  Sweet.  Happy.  JOYFUL.  Humble.  And Wise.  Having her next to me for the hour of yoga was such a sweet moment of life.  She kept turning to me on our shared mat and mouthing to me that she loved me and telling me how much fun she was having.  
• Finding my voice again.  Not that I lost it entirely.  It was just a little quieter than usual.  
• New opportunities.  They always come when we are willing to put ourselves out there and take more risks.  
• Trader Joe's came to Asheville!  Yippie!  Only thing is that everyone else is saying "Yippie!" too.  Gee, you'd think the circus was in town.  This place is crazy right now because EVERYONE in the general Asheville area wants a piece of it.  
• Excited about training for another marathon!  This DESIRE is KEY!  Yay for it coming back.  Now, let's see if my body agrees that it's a good idea.  I think there will need to be plenty of yoga and strength type stuff. 
• My friend Stephanie broke 3 hours in the marathon this weekend at St. George!  Such inspiration to me.  Thank you for this inspiration Steph, Soggy Runner Girl!  Write that race report as soon as you recover.  LOVE!  Incredible to watch you on your journey in finding your gifts.  I love you. And I miss running with you even though you are much faster than me. 

I could go on and on with this list.  Making a list like this has left me smiling. Similar to listing gratitude...such a powerful exercise in helping us change our perspective on things...or just saying THANK YOU for all that we have that is GOOD.  And when we recognize these things with gratitude and love, we almost always get more of them.

I would love to hear a few things that you love...first few things that just pop into your head when you comment (IF you comment...I know, I know, I've been so so bad at commenting back lately so I'm surprised that anyone still reads this thing).  Love and Happiness are contagious...I love reading what people are thankful for, what makes them happy or what they love.  So, in either a comment or a post of your own.....TAG, you're it!

And Just because the pictures from my post from my Friday's Post make me HAPPY, I'm including them again!

It's a boots, long socks, dress, sunshine, crisp fall kind of day! Love my Keen Bern Baby Bern

What a perfectly wonderful message from the universe for this little boy on this beautiful morning: "You are LOVED!" I love that my 4 year old noticed this "heart" on the walk into preschool, a sign clearly meant for him! What a gift of a day! #love

Oh, and the next post will be all RUNNING!  I promise.  I know, I don't need to write about running but this used to be kind of a running blog, right?  I want to ask about marathon training plans, talk about favorite shoes, Savannah Half-Marathon (yes, I switched to the half), Girls on the Run (LOVE this program and want to be more involved soon!), The Asheville Marathon, and a few other running-related things.  

What makes you Happy??  First 5 things that come to your mind.
Who raced this weekend??!  Portland Marathon?  Twin Cities Marathon?  What else?  

Run Happy Friends,

Amanda 

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