The Power of Positive Thinking

It’s been said that you are how you see yourself, and thoughts are everything.  If you think you can, then you can.  Well, I think I can, I think I can, I think I can.  It’s all in how you look at yourself, right?  I’m sure everyone has heard of The Power of Positive Thinking by Norman Vincent Peale.  First published in 1952, it has sold more than 20 million copies and you’ll find that it is still relevant today – the terminology is a bit old fashioned, but it’s not the sort of book that goes out of date.  As the title suggests, thinking positive can be a very powerful tool.  It has been my “go-to” book for the past 18 years and helps me to find balance every time I open it.  I read it at least once a year.  Sometimes I flip through and let it fall open, and then let my finger tip fall randomly on a line to see what it has to say to me.  I also like to go through it to see the things that previously spoke to me enough for me to highlight, underline and write notes in the sidelines.  As you can imagine, it is a very colorful book by this time, and feels like a comfortable, old friend. 

But positive thinking alone is not the answer to success; it is only a beginning.  When you open your mind to possibilities, you open the door to opportunity, as well.  And when the door opens, you need to walk through it.  And quite often, this means risk.  If you don’t take that first step through the door toward your dreams and goals, you’ll eventually be locked out.  I love this quote by Peter Sage: 

Life is not a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in a pretty and well preserved body, but rather to skid in sideways, thoroughly used up, totally worn out and proclaiming loudly, “Wow – what a ride!”

As scary as that sounds to me, I still want to be able to say, ‘“Wow – what a ride!”’ So where am I going with all this?  I waited half of my life (is 50 years old half?) to finally take control, and take those risks that could lead to accomplishing those elusive dreams that came under the category of “some day.”  I quit a good job and moved to the mountains to pursue my dream of writing.  I also made a commitment to myself to exercise, eat right and get healthy.  And so running became my chosen mode to complete that part of my goal.  I love sports and physical activity and I don’t know how I ever let it go; baseball, basketball, tennis, soccer, biking, hiking – I loved it all, but somehow it all got lost in the day-to-day drudgery that life can turn into if you’re not careful.  And so now I’m getting “it” back. 

I’m a bit of a late bloomer - but I believe it’s never too late to change your life. And this is how I came to be attempting my first half marathon at 50 years old!

I’m coming to the realization that by the time the Rock ‘n’ Roll Half Marathon rolls around, I’m actually going to be ready.  13.1 miles originally sounded quite unattainable to me – and yes, it is a long way to run – and very tiring - but now that I’m currently running 9 miles and doing okay, I think I can make it!  I’ll really be ready!  It’s a pretty cool realization, and I owe it all to the power of positive thinking!    

I'm sure you've heard the debate about whether the glass is half full or half empty.  Well, my glass is truly half full.  And it doesn't hurt when it comes with a bottle of wine - just sayin'. 

Lions and Tigers and Bears, Oh My!



FromThe Wizard of Oz

Lions and Tigers and Bears, Oh My! 

Let’s just say that running in the woods can be quite an adventure.  Imagine running along, minding your own business, grooving on the music.  The weather is cool and clear.  I'm finally able to leave the treadmill behind and run outside.  And then I start thinking about bears.  It is the end of March and the bears could be waking from hibernation and they just might be a touch grumpy – and HUNGRY!!! 

And then out of the corner of my eye I see a large creature come looming out of the forest.  Let me tell you, I had a momentary fright before I realized that it was a deer!  (Gottcha!  You thought it was a bear, didn't you?!)  She just crossed right in front of me at her leisure.  That happened three times, but the first one is the one that caught me off guard. 

I am, however, fully prepared.  I run with a pistol in a fanny pack that is especially made for that purpose.  And a Motorola radio is clipped to the fanny pack so I’m in touch with home if anything comes up – cell phones don’t work where we live.  And I have a Spyderco clip-on folding knife clipped inside my pocket.  Just saying – I’m prepared!  But it’d still be scary....

I’ve only seen one bear in the area, though.  We have lots of deer, some foxes, coyotes, rabbits, squirrels, chipmunks and blue jays.  And I heard there was a mountain lion attack not far from here, but the credibility of that is under question.  And I’m pretty sure there’s a fox den in the area.  I keep getting a whiff of a skunk-ish odor which I learned at the local Wolf and Wildlife Center (http://www.wolfeducation.org/) is actually what fox’s smell like.  No wolves in the wild near here, though, thank goodness - only bears! 

I’m sure you’ve heard the joke about the two guys in the woods who come across a bear.  The first guy puts his tennis shoes on and the second guy says, “Are you crazy?  You can’t outrun a bear!”  And the first guys says, “I don’t have to outrun a bear, I only have to outrun you.” 

It’s too bad I don’t have anyone to run with, LOL!  Oh wait!  I’d be the second guy!  Damn! 

TCQM3N9NFB9W



Running in the Rockies AKA Tortoise Training

Yay, Spring is finally here!  I’ve been running on the treadmill all winter, and it can get kind of boring.  The weather had been nice all week and so I decided that last Friday I was going to do my eight mile “long run” outside.  Imagine my amazement when I opened the blinds on Friday morning to two inches of snow! 

I just couldn’t face eight miles on the treadmill; I was starting to feel like a mouse on an exercise wheel going aimlessly around and around, and not getting anywhere.  Plus, I had too much fun the night before (St. Patrick’s Day) to even think about going around and around and around.... you get the picture.  The Irish do know how to have fun – just sayin’. 

No matter, I put my run off until Sunday and it worked out great!  The weather was in the forties with clear blue skies and some high clouds.  Eight miles seemed incredibly a little daunting to me.  I knew it would take me two hours and I just didn’t know if I could run for two whole hours!  Oh, and let me just mention that we live in the mountains and there are hills outside!  Something you don’t get on the treadmill – unless you set the incline, which I would never actually do on purpose, lol.  Needless to say, I was working muscles on my backside that may never be the same.  I’m walking kind of funny now, like a corn cob is stuck somewhere it shouldn’t ought to be, but I just have to trust that someday I’ll be normal again. 

Here’s my tortoise training update!  I began training for the San Diego Rock ‘n’ Roll Half Marathon in January running 3, 3, and 4 (Three miles twice per week and four miles once per week for a total of 10 miles per week).  Now at the end of March I’m at 4, 4, and 8!  That’s not bad considering my “long run” was only four miles last year. 

And since I couldn’t possibly post a Run Gwen, Run! blog without poking a little more fun at myself, here’s a true story:  I was laying in bed the other morning, trying to wake up, my hand on my stomach.  I patted my tummy a little and thought, Huh!  My stomach is feeling a little flatter these days!  And then I shifted a little and realized that I was sort of laying on my side – and Crap!  The rest of my stomach was still there, only it was laying there on the downside.  Damn gravity! 

Are You There, God? It's Me, Gwen.

Dear God,

Why did you give me bad genes?  I thought you treated all of your children equally.  I thought you loved all of your children the same!  But it isn’t true – you have your favorites!  You love Allan more than me!  *Sniff*. 

Allan (my husband) eats bacon, eggs and toast with butter and jam every morning.  He eats fried spam and corned beef hash.  He eats canned chili for lunch – do you know how much saturated fat is in a can of chili?  He makes fried eggs sandwiches for midday or late evening snacks.  He salts everything in sight.  His blood pressure and cholesterol are fine.  He drags trees home every day and chops them up.  He runs the dogs five times a day.   He’s tall and lean and doesn’t gain an ounce!   It just isn’t fair, God.  *Whine*. 

You can’t possibly love me as much as you love him.  You gave me terrible genes.  I can’t eat any of the things he eats.  If I even smell a piece of bacon frying, my butt starts to grow and the buttons on my jeans pop off under pressure.  I don’t eat bacon, I don’t eat eggs, and I definitely don’t eat spam.  *gags*.  I eat oatmeal, healthy cereal, non-fat and low fat everything.  I eat chicken breast.    

When it’s Allan’s turn to cook dinner, he fries pork chops and calls it sauté.  When it’s my turn to make dinner, he asks what kind of chicken breast I’m making.  Like I only make chicken breast or something?!  I don’t only make chicken breast!  I make um, uh, ah ...other things, too.  Yes, you blessed him with wit and a stupid good sense of humor, too. 

You, Dear Father, also have a good sense of humor, albeit a little cruel, I might add.  The joke fell flat.  You know that I love chocolate and candy and dessert in general.  But of course I can’t eat any of it because of my weight and high cholesterol – You went just a little too far.  Just sayin’, Father, a child knows when I’m she is not the favorite. 

Now, you wouldn’t want a child of yours to think that you’re partial, would you?  So here’s what I’m prepared to do; I’m going to give you the chance to make it up to me.  If you take it all back, and bless me with good genes too, I’ll forgive your cruel little joke and never mention it again.

Amen. 

(P.S., Happy Birthday, Allan!  I love you, and I’m very jealous happy that you have good genes!). 

Quit Complaining & Thank A Soldier!

My family is very supportive of my endeavor to get healthy, and even though I joke about my running abilities, they are behind me on that, too. But I complain – a lot!  And make fun of myself - a lot!  Sure, it’s mostly self-deprecating, but still....my family is totally behind me....

                             

When I first started to run, my son in law came to run with me on the two mile fun run with the Pikes Peak Road Runners on the first Saturday of every month.  He even let me beat him once – now that’s the kind of son-in-law everyone wants, but that’s not all. 

First of all, it’s very cold in Colorado Springs in the  wintertime.  Second, getting up at 6:00 a.m. for an 8:00 race is really early to get up on a Saturday morning, just to freeze your buns off (if I thought freezing your buns really worked.... oh, never mind!).  And third, he had lost his right calf and most of the bottom of his right foot to an IED in Iraq, so running was really difficult, not to mention painful, for him.  How can you run without foot pads?  The short answer is - you can’t.  Johnny broke his foot. 

When he got home from Iraq, he’d had many surgeries, and many attempts at saving the foot, and it just wasn’t working.  The foot became more of a hindrance than anything else, so it was decided that he could actually be more mobile, and more active, with a prosthetic foot.  He had it amputated last November, and has since gone through several new legs. 

Johnny never complains and just goes with the flow.  He works, goes to school, and takes good care of his family.  He’s a jack of all trades, and can do lots of things (except fishing – note the fishing lure in his left ear in the picture on the right – enough said about that). 

He makes the most of what he’s got, i.e, he’s going to be a pirate for Halloween, with a wooden peg leg, eye patch and sword.  Maybe even a stuffed parrot on his shoulder.  Oh, and maybe a "Yo Ho Ho and a bottle of rum!"  Any suggestions on the best kind of rum?  What would Captain Jack Sparrow drink?  Or Long John Silver?  "Rum, damn ye!"   It probably doesn't matter to either of them, and I'm getting off track. 

But, my point is this: WHAT THE HELL DO I HAVE TO COMPLAIN ABOUT?  Short answer?  Absolutely Nothing. 

I can’t wait for Johnny to get his ‘running leg’ so we can run together again.  I’m sure he’ll leave me in the dust, but I can live with that. 

P.S.  REMEMBER TO THANK A SOLDIER!

P.S.S. HAPPY BIRTHDAY, JOHNNY!