No, not so much… But an illness none the less. But, I digress…
I love doing Lippmans’ homework! Math is SO FUN (when you get it)…
Okay, I’m kind of just watching Kill Bill while the homework keeps my lap warm (come on guys, I’M RECOVERING!)…
Friday the 13th is approaching… I can feel it’s going to [...]
My favorite passage from The Prophet by Kahlil Gibran:
And a woman who held a babe against her bosom said, “Speak to us of Children.”
And he said: Your children are not your children. They are the sons and daughters of Life’s longing for itself. They come through you but not from you, and though they are with you, yet they belong not to you. You may give them your love but not your thoughts. For they have their own thoughts. You may house their bodies but not their souls, for their souls dwell in the house of tomorrow, which you cannot visit, not even in your dreams. You may strive to be like them, but seek not to make them like you. For life goes not backward nor tarries with yesterday. You are the bows from which your children as living arrows are sent forth. The archer sees the mark upon the path of the infinite, and He bends you with His might that His arrows may go swift and far. Let your bending in the archer’s hand be for gladness; For even as he loves the arrow that flies, so He loves also the bow that is stable.
Every so often, this passage floats into my mind and I have to go read it again. It reminds me of an important concept, that the lives of my children are theirs to live. In fact, the only life I can live is my own. I gladly share my life with others, and they share theirs with me, but still, I can only really live mine. Tonight, I’ve been in search of thoughts about teaching, searching for something profound to share with my students. I turned to The Prophet to see what was there, and although the passage was good, I was once again drawn to the thoughts about children. My mind turned away from teaching, back to the core of my adult life, to family and parenting and children. And that lead me to my other favorite passage, another that I read and reread faithfully:
Then Almitra spoke again and said, “And what of Marriage, master?”
And he answered saying: You were born together, and together you shall be forevermore. You shall be together when white wings of death scatter your days. Aye, you shall be together even in the silent memory of God. But let there be spaces in your togetherness, and let the winds of the heavens dance between you. Love one another but make not a bond of love: let it rather be a moving sea between the shores of your souls. Fill each other’s cup but drink not from one cup. Give one another of your bread but eat not from the same loaf. Sing and dance together and be joyous, but let each one of you be alone, even as the strings of a lute are alone though they quiver with the same music. Give your hearts, but not into each other’s keeping. For only the hand of Life can contain your hearts. And stand together, yet not too near together: for the pillars of the temple stand apart, and the oak tree and the cypress grow not in each other’s shadow.
Beautiful words to ponder, to live by. Words that reach deep inside me, that resonate within me. Words I will read again and again.
I ran one lap in this outfit, then I gladly stuffed it back in my bag!
We had a great run up in Bellingham yesterday. It was pretty stormy the night before, with high winds and buckets of rain, and the forecast was for showers. Instead, we got a beautiful, sunny fall day – slightly breezy, but sunny and dry. This marathon was the same course as last summer’s Wild Thing (the one where we wore dresses and performed a task at the end of each loop. This time there were no tasks, but there were costumes). It’s ten 2.6 mile loops around Lake Padden, mostly on a wide gravel trail with lots of rolling hills. I decided to experiment a little, since it was a looped course. I normally do a 4/1 run/walk at marathons. I decided to see how far I could go on my typical training pace of 9/1 run/walk. I figured it was no big deal if I burned out and had to walk, and a low-key, fun marathon was the place to give it a try.
I ran seven loops (18.2 miles) using the 9/1 pacing. By that time I was starting to get tired so I switched over to 4/1. The first 5.5 loops I ran alone, then Eric joined me for the back half of my sixth loop. Just as I was heading out of the aid station, I saw Abi coming in – she’d arrived at the marathon late and had been trying to catch up with me. I was pretty far ahead of her in terms of loops because I started an hour and 15 minutes early and she started a half hour late. She planned to run with me for my remaining loops, then finish up on her own. On our first loop together I noticed the pop machine by one of the restrooms and commented that I’d love to have a coke right then. Next time through the aid station, Abi came running out with a fistful of dollars, so we picked up a Pepsi from the machine – absolute heaven on earth. I swear, it was the best thing I ever had in my life! The sugary Pepsi revived me and gave me new energy for my last loops. I finished in 5:48 – not bad for a hilly trail type course with lots of stops at the aid station.
After the marathon, we headed to my parents for a home cooked meal and to spend the night. Eric cooked us all breakfast this morning, then while he watched half a football game with my Dad, my Mom and I laid plans for Thanksgiving and caught up on our assorted and large family. We had an easy drive home, capping off a wonderful weekend.
Eric as a “man on the run” and me after one lap in costume.
Emu by the trail. Photo by Eric.
Photo by Eric
Mt. Rainier photo by George K.
Another mountain shot by George K.
The Carbon River runs next to the trail. Photo by George K.
Walk break. Photo by George K.
Rick, Me, Jessica Photo by George K.
The Y Runners. Photo by George K.
Post-run coffee. Photo by George K.
I’m baack from the Legislative Academy with the SG team. We had a blast and took so much from it! I love these outings with my team! It’s was like a super fun bonding weekend!
On the issue of having a student on the board of trustees, is it bad that I do not share [...]
LA-LA-LA-LA Wait ’til I get my money right…
LA-LA-LA-LA Wait ’til I get my money right…
As long as it doesn’t snow! Here is my current race plan, designed to get me to 52 combined marathons and ultras by my 52nd birthday on January 2nd.
I didn’t want to do the triple this year (three marathons in three days – did it last year and I’m calling that good), didn’t want to do a double (two marathons in two days – did that last year too, good on that one too!) Instead I’ll do two in two weeks – that’ll give my getting-older bones a chance to rest. Last year we ran the entire 26 miles of the Flatass in frozen snow, and about four miles of First Call in snow (plus we did the same at the Last Chance the day before). I have no desire to repeat those experiences, so I’m hanging on to the option to bail out on snowy courses. Though I’d like to hit 52 at 52, it’s just not that important to me. The prediction is for a warm winter, so maybe it won’t be a problem. We’ll see.
The only plan I have for after the first of the year is to run the entire 24 hours of Pac Rim. I don’t have a training plan laid out, I’ll work on that later…
I’ve been a little tired since Portland, fought off a short-lived cold and have kept up with Pilates and running and work. And, I’m back on my healthy and sane eating plan. It’s all good around here!
Most weeks, I shuffle along, get my work done, and feel pretty good about the whole thing. This week, however, I can’t believe it’s only Wednesday. It honestly feels like I’ve done about two weeks worth of work in the past three days, and I’m wiped.
When this happens, I have a surefire solution: sappy movies [...]
Why am I so bad at math?
Yeah… I don’t know either…
On a better note, there’s a Super Fun Halloween Dance Party approaching and I hope to see you all there!
