run for my life

Many would probably ask me, what's so miraculous about running. Well...I'd say the fact that I can do it is a miracle. As a child, I HATED it. My brothers both did track and field for a few years when we were kids. I got dragged to all of the meets so I decided to try it for one year. I hated it so much I would cry when I ran.

But a few years ago I was telling a friend that I was trying to find a good way to exercise. She suggested joining a group called Team in Training. It's through the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society. They provided me with a running coach and mentor and I helped to raise money for the Society. So I trained for about 4 months and was able to successfully complete the Walt Disney World Half Marathon in 2007. I LOVED it. I couldn't believe that I enjoyed getting up at 7am on wintery Saturday mornings to run 4, 6, 8, even 10 miles at a time. And once the race was over I continued to run.

Now I meet with my friends Andy and Chris on Monday and Wednesday evenings and we run about 3.5 miles. And I still LOVE it. It helps me relax. When I'm running by myself, I have so much time to think. Often times making plans and motivating myself to do better things.

I guess I didn't realize until yesterday when I pushed myself through the entire 3.5 miles that running is one of my ordinary miracles.

Rainy days and Sundays always get me down

I once wrote a note on my facebook page about how much I have not enjoyed Sundays. I have to admit, they are typically the laziest day of the week. But they can also be the busiest. I remember when I was a kid I HATED Sunday evening. It was typically because I had waited all weekend to get homework done and then when Sunday evening came, I was rushing to finish it all before I had to go to bed. And typically because I waited until the last minute, I was much more rushed and stressed about whatever it was that I had to do.

Now that I'm an adult, I have to say that I STILL tend to leave things to Sunday evenings. Here I am at the end of a very busy weekend and I'm stressing because I just put in my first load of laundry. And the ironing that I needed to get done last week is still sitting in the guest room. And of course I've got a busy week and am leaving for a trip on Friday so I have to get everything done before then. But alas, my plan for this evening is to watch some really bad television and curl up with the kitties.

I'm new to the blog thing. I've had my moments of being good about keeping a journal but there's something entirely different about a blog. Writing someone that anyone could read and either like or think is complete non-sense. Even worse, no one might read this at all. I'd like to think of myself as someone who has witty insights. I suppose this blog will be the test.

I read a quote on the wall at work once that said "Today, I wish you a day of ordinary miracles.' And I guess that is what I'm hoping to find in this blog....the miracles in my ordinary life.

So what is today's miracle? My cat Agassi. Yes Agassi--on the day I went to the shelter looking for a new friend, I was watching the US Open semi-final match between Andre Agassi and Pete Sampras--Sampras won so the kitty became Agassi. And what is the miracle in an ordinary shelter cat? The fact that she can always make things better. Any time I have a bad day she seems to know exactly how to curl up next to me and sleep. And I feel better. As my boyfriend, Gary, would say...kitties make everything better.