That First Snow...my lil devotion.

Technically, it is not our first snow. But it is our first Snow Day, our first BIG snow of the season. 

It was the kind of snow that danced in the air. In its silence, it changed the landscape of everything. The snowflakes bent the branches with a thick coat of brilliant velvety dust. 

I really had NO intentions of running when I got the call that school would be closed. 

It was one of those days. 

Snow day. 

Laceys lost her father last week and today was the funeral. 

The wind was so angry that I didn't want to get in its way. 

And I am not training right now.

So many great reasons to NOT run.

BUT then there was ONE big reason to RUN...

THE FIRST BIG BEATIFUL SNOW...It is always so much fun to play in. 

The first snow always brings out the kid in me. 

By 1pm I had plans to go out and play on the trails in it. 

I met Claudia and Rachel for a fun run at Holdridge. It was breathtaking. Stunning. We couldn't make it through a mile without "Ohh-ing" and "Aww-ing".

It was so magnificent we never felt cold or wet. The snow took every struggle, every confusing thought and every negative feeling from me. In its most perfect state it gave me a NEW Beginning. 

The girls laughed, played, and together we escaped from adulting for a few minutes to play like we were kids again.

Fresh Start. My lil devotion.

When you see that first snow, thick and fluffy covering all things you are taking back.  It is disguising ugly things and making all things pretty again.
The old path is gone. There are not many prints before you, as you gently navigate yourself through what you once knew so well.
It all looks so new.

“Forget the former things; do not dwell on the past. See, I am doing a new thing! Now it springs up; do you not perceive it? I am making a way in the wilderness and streams in the wasteland."Isaiah 43:18-19

I needed NEW.
I needed to look forward. It was a reminder that all that ugly from my yesterdays was gone.
The words that haunted me from others was covered. Gone.
The guilt from my mistakes was hidden in beauty. Gone.
All that daunted me, that path overally traveled, beaten down, muddy and messy was GONE.

What was left was Beautiful. A New Beginning.

We all need a NEW BEGINNING. A reminder to LET THINGS GO.
To speak Love and Kindness. And not just to others but to ourselves. See the beauty in yourself.

Today as I ran with the girls their kindness warmed me. They don't hold my mistakes in front of me. Good friends cover you in love and kindness.
Just like that fresh snow. Good friends see your magnificence.

Grateful for mine.
Grateful for new beginnings.

RUNDOWN:
Where: Holdridge West loop.
Distance: 4.5 miles

photo credit Rachel...WOW..I look bowlegged!

Anita

"Can you save my heavy dirty soul...from me.."  twenty one pilots

Thanksgiving. Giving Thanks

It is the end of the day. I am tuckered both emotionally and physically.

This weeks events were kicked off with

• Sunday Runday with Lacey. 9miles
• Monday Funday with Claudia in Fenton, Dahners Park and downtown. 8miles
• Tuesday busy busy at work. The Holiday Hair has started. 
• Wednesday Group run at Holly Rec, backroads. Pie Day at my Mother in laws. I made potato soup for the family and a big breakfast casserole. I taught the nieces and nephews how to make pie crust. Alecs girlfriend, Lydia had fun learning with us all too. It was a LOONG day. 10miles
• Thursday Run with the Hubby around town, BRR, 19' degrees. I hustled to my friends who were running at Holdridge to bring some pie for our Friendsgiving. And from there I kicked it into gear to get home and bake a Sweet Potato Casserole and Corn Soufflé. Needless to say I was already exhausted and we had not even left for Thanksgiving Dinner yet. 5.5miles

HALT

Hungry 

Angry

Lonely 

Tired
(When these things are going on, it is a great Petri Dish for our own bad behavior.

This is a sure fire place to really make a mess out of yourself. 

As much fun as I have, I have really struggled with MYSELF. 

I had a few vomit of the mouth situations. Totally cringe reactions that left me wanting to put my tail between my legs. 

THANKFUL, Thankful for those friends that pray over me in the middle of my sloppy behavior. 

THANKFUL, Thankful for those friends that let me have a tearful breakdown in their kitchen when they are going through so much worse grief than I am. 

I am a little excitable, hyper, high strung, loud, at times obnoxious. I've been called dramatic, passionate, stubburn and spirited. 

I see people roll their eyes at me, I hear the words they say about me and 99% it never bothers me. I often laugh and say "I know, I give people a lot of material to tease me." 

But every so often things seep in the cracks. 

THANKFUL, Thankful for GODS loving reminders.

His PEACE in my Insecurity: "But all who listen to me will live in peace,

untroubled by fear of harm." Proverbs 1:33

His Mercy in my Failures:  "Have mercy on me, my God, have mercy on me, for in you I take refuge."   Psalms 57:1

A simple post.

No Photos.

Nothing all that great..But HIS promises. 

No Matter What..At the end of the day I am so blessed. God has been soo good to me. 

THANKFULNESS. It is a HEART issue. 

Find gratitude in all things. 

Being Thankful is an opportunity to look outside yourself. 

Thinking humbly. 

Sometimes we have tp put  ourselves in a TIME OUT chair, take a deep breath, pray, and give ourselves a LITTLE GRACE. 

Anita. 

"Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a right spirit within me." Psalms 51:10

New Route. Escaping

We need a new route!" I texted Lacey this afternoon. 

It was a bit obvious that Lacey wasn't feeling up to par when she showed up to my house curled up inside herself. 

Our schedules were pretty open. Andy got called into work and Alec was at work. 

I jumped in Laceys car blind to where she would be driving us. 

After about 20 miles and still no idea where we were running, I thought I should ask. I was kinda getting my hopes up that maybe she was kidnapping me and we were on our way somewhere warm. 

But I liked where she decided. The Clinton River trail in Rochester. 

A new trail. A new adventure. 

Sometimes you just need to get away for a little bit. 
Our run today really wasn't about running far, or running long. To be honest, I am not even sure it was about running at all. 
It was about 2 friends that just needed to hang out together. 

Life sometimes gets you. Appointments, bills, responsibilities, family, work and the list goes on. 
We get pulled physically and emotionally in soo many directions that we often loose ourselves. 
We go on auto-pilot overbooking ourselves with agendas that saturate us. 
Not that most of that is bad. A lot of the time we find JOY in all those things. 

However, life can kick you in the teeth. We have seasons on our life that we are hurting, our friendships, our family the drama that can happen with relationships is all part of living.  But it can weigh on us. 

I had so much fun just running with no purpose. 
We literally drove over 20 miles one way and only ran about 9 miles! 

THE CLINTON RIVER TRAIL. 
We picked the trail up near the Royal Park Hotel in downtown Rochester. We found a parking lot along the River. 
This is a great place to drop your kayak in if you wanted to play that way. 

The Clinton River Trail began in 1998 when the railroad tracks were removed. 
The trail is 16 miles that connect to Paint Creek trail and is part of project that will travel across the state, The Great Lake to Lake Trail. 

We only ran 4 miles, an out and back.

 

 In just that time, we ran along the flowing Clinton River, we were awed by multiple deer, we enjoyed the scenery as well as the connecting neighborhoods. 
It was so nice. The path is flat. We ran on areas that were paved but mostly ran on crushed limestone. 

I look forward to going back. I would like to go back in the spring after a run and drop my kayak in the river. 

Lacey let me have my shenanigans. She looked so cute in her new matching Saucony hat and gloves I just had to snap a couple photos. Besides, she had a side stitch! 

After snapping this shot we headed back up the embankment to the trail. A runner was heading in our direction. I couldn't stop laughing thinking he must think we are so cringe. We just laughed more. 

Anyone ever run the Clinton River Trail? Where is another place to drop in that you like?

ANITA~

Silence means Suffering

When there are many words, transgression is unavoidable, But he who restrains his lips is wise.  Proverbs 10:19

I have several spiritual gifts that are not anything that worthy. 
The gift to annoy people. 
The gift to talk as loud as a blow horn.
The gift to fill empty space with random thoughts and ideas (nonsensical)  
The gift to make everyone my friend whether they know it or not. 
The gift to get countless eye rolls or head spins over my ideas of brilliance. 

One GIFT I do not have....THE GIFT OF SILENCE. 

The problem with silence is even if words are not exiting my lips they are screaming between my ears. 
I found that out the hard way Monday. I had all these ideas on what I was planning on doing for the day. Unfortunately, my Monday turned out like Mondays are known for.
It went to Hell in a Handbasket.
I sat home in silence all day. I cleaned, I cooked, I tried to fill the hush when the voices got too loud. I sought God for a voice bigger than my own and I even blared music. 
But the silence was still deafening. 

"Silence" was the theme of my partner Monday.
"Silence" was the theme of our run today. 

Like anything, if you work at it long enough I think you will get better at it. But I am not sure that being "Silent" is something I enjoy working on.

Silence often means SUFFERING to me. 
Today proved that well. 
Claudia, earlier in the week, possibly last week even, had planned to do a 8am purposeful trail run. 
Very early my friends starting jumping ship because we all forget it was Opening Day. 
Not real brilliant to run trails on Opening Day. We have done this in the past, you are on your toes for sure with every gun shot. 
After multiple ideas of different techniques to make ourselves suffer we opted for Indian Springs, a tempo run. 

Claudia has been working on her Yoga certification. One of her practices that she is teaching is "SILENCE". 

THE PLAN:
Tempo Run: 2 mile warm up @ a 9:30min/mi. 5 mile Tempo @ a 1/2 marathon pace, 1 mile cool down, shuffle jog to the finish. 
We both brought music and decided we would stay focused and silent during our tempo. 

PROBLEM 1. WE RAN TOO FAST FOR OUR W/U. oops
PROBLEM 2. MY MUSIC PROVED TO BE MORE OF AN ANNOYANCE.

Silence means Suffering. 
It felt good knowing all I had to do was FOCUS on the task at hand. All I had to do was zone in and push myself out of my comfort zone. 
We took turns pulling and dragging each other. At one point, Claudia took off running a sub 8min mile. I knew she had a power song on and that energy would drop down after the song ended. "JIMMY HENDRIX!" She screamed. I was cracking up. 
5 miles of silence. 

RUNDOWN:
Time: 1:09
Pace: 8:41/mi

COLLISION:

Silence means Suffering. 

Tempo runs are not designed to be chatty. " I don't think we should chat..." might have hurt my feelings any other time..But it was too exhausting to string more than a few grunts together. I didn't have the words during our 5 miles. 

A couple things I am learning when it comes to Silence. 

*Respect others. Not everyone wants to chat. 

If I don't know what I am thinking, feeling or the other person isn't at a place they are "listening" silence needs to be implemented. 

Words do fail us. Words confuse us. Words hurt us. 

Silence isn't always a period, sometimes it is a comma, a pause if you will. 

Today in my Silence I was suffering. It hurt. But I knew it was just for a little while. Everything would be better, I just had to work through it. 

Sometimes Silence is suffering. But you have to work through it. You have to listen to yourself, and for me, Listen to a voice bigger than my own. I didn't need vocals to pray. to seek God. 

"My health may fail, and my spirit may grow weak, but God remains the strength of my heart." Psalms 73:26

How do you do in SILENCE? What does it mean when you are silent?

Anita!

Clarkston Backroads 2018;

I am trying to work on some words for my Clarkston Backroads recap.

It was seriously soo much fun.
I may have been at peak for obnoxiousness.
I caught a few eye rolls at my screaming raspy voice but I didn't let it steal my joy.

I saw soo many friends, acquaintances and people I know of.

BACK; Claudia, Heather, Jessica, random gal, Michelle

FRONT: Erin, Nita, Melissa, and Joan!

I hitched a ride with Erin and Heather.
We met Lacey, Katie and Holly.
Joan was at the park with Javon waiting for us.
And Claudia was just a few car spots away from where we parked at Independence Oaks.

By the time we all actually snuck out of our vehicles to head to the start line we were all soo hyper.

I continued to see people heading to the start line. Christina B, Andy J, Melissa C, Doug, Joe,
Jill M, Diane...The list goes on and on.

A race isn't a race if you don't see JOE! 

MARCOOO!

But my main squeeze was Joan. This would be Joan and my 6th year running Clarkston Backroads together.

Claudia, Lacey, me and Joan! 

I am normally coming down from a race and use this as a recovering SUFFERFEST.
Detroit Marathon was 3 weeks ago for me but it was JOAN this time who would be suffering.
She was my little warrior, Joan just had a baby a few months ago.

I let Joan set the Goal.
Somewhere in between a 2:05 and a 2:10 half Marathon.

As we all took that last photo, Melissa joined Joan and I,  "Hey Guys, I think I am going to try and run with you..."
I was even more excited.

Clarkston Backroads is NO walk in the Park.
You have to really pace yourself and be aware of the route in order to have some gas in the tank the last 4 miles. OH...those last 4 miles..I swallow death those last 4 miles.

Over a thousand runners took off about 9:15am. The music was loud putting a little more pep in my step.
I decided I would try and pace the girls at a 9:30min/mi and if we had to drop our pace down we could.

BRR...it was cold. But this little Latino was warm. I brought my favorite mittens, however, Lacey brought me hand warmers. I decided to wear Erin's light weight gloves with the hand warmers.
I was scared I would loose a mitten taking them on and off. It would be a typical Anita thing.

The first couple miles are rather smooth, a good warm up for the hills through the park that wind around the lake. The scenery is so beautiful you almost don't realize you are racing.

Andy was at mile 4, ringing our biggest cowbell. It was great to see him out there smiling and cheering the runners on.

With each passing mile, I was shocked at how much energy I had. I was jumping, dancing, passing out high fives and cheering everyone one on.

We were full of it here....Cutting up and being ridiculous is my specialty. 

We actually ran with this guy who said he thought he knew us, "JOE". He spent about a mile trying to figure it out. Then it came to him.

He was with a group of older men at The Grafted Root a few weeks back. Melissa and I ended up chatting with him and his group of runners from Genesys after a run, eating lunch.
He said he recognized MY VOICE! AHHH...that voice of mine. I can't go incognito because I can't stay quiet long enough! He added I was the loud one!

About mile 7, Joan started to get quiet. this was the flatter portion of the race. I was a little concerned.
Melissa was still with us and doing great.

Catch or breath, and UP UP UP!

We were able to see Andy a couple more times. He just pulled his truck in someone's driveway. I would start screaming before we got to him. I am pretty sure the other runners didn't know WHO I was bantering with. "HEY..If you are going to cheer runners on.. you need to RING those COWBELLS! What? You think you are supposed to sit there and look PRETTY?!"

I was having fun. The girls each smiled. RULE number 1, "LOOK GOOD"! This was one of the first lessons I learned. Ken A.

About mile 9, the hills start up again. You have a half a mile incline on the backroads then turn around. They actually have a timing mat at the turn around. The good news is you get to run a half a mile DECLINE at the turn around.
The downhills are usually where you are making up time. But this is where Joan was hurting. Her hips from childbirth were hurting so bad on the declines. I could see it in her face. I know the look of suffering. Last year, she was prancing around me and I was in agony.
We dropped our pace more, we had been slowly dropping our pace.
We had enough time banked we could probably still make it sub 2:10. It was going to be tough none the less.

I kept looking for the 2:10 pacer. OHH crap, I saw him making ground. I added walk breaks and tried not to be a pest pushing the girls.
I think I saw swear words coming out of the ears about mile 11.
"You got this. Just hold on a little longer." I would have carried Joan if I could have. I hated seeing that misery.
I knew if I could just get her to mile 12 it would be a flat finish. The 2:10 pacer was just about a tenth of a mile behind us.
Melissa was still with us. She was falling back too. This was a hard race and a fast pace for Melissa.
"Come on girls, just hold on a little longer."
I counted steps, counted our hills, gave our pace, shared our finish time, our pace, I was doing whatever it took to keep them there.
When our feet it the pavement, Joan picked up her pace. I knew she would. She is tough as nails. The 2:10  pacers voice got more and more distant.

"The FLAGS.." I shouted. We were there.
We came up over that hill. I reached around for Joans little hands. I was SOOO proud of her.

SO proud of JOAN! WTG little mama!

TIME: 2:08:43

MELISSA stayed with us and Pr-ed her half marathon! I can not believe she had a PR at this race. I was so stoked for her.

After running this race, I think I am going to add another goal. Next year, I want to PACE a group. Somewhere. Some race. I had soo much fun.

AND...I DIDNT THROW UP! YEAH!

Andy weathered the cold and cheered us on! 

CONGRATULATIONS TO ALL THOSE WHO RAN.

BACK; Heather, Erin, Joe, Claudia,Andy J

Front; Lacey, ME. 

Thank you to all the volunteers. They do an amazing job.
Thank you to the sponsors, especially The Woodshop, they had their Mac and Cheese at the finish. it was delish! I gave my beer coupon away, I don't drink but I could have used a cup of coffee!

The medal and the shirt was awesome this year. The shirt fits perfect and the material is so soft.

Till next year....

My response to Claudia...I was whooped last night. 

Anita`

some days.

some days are just gloomy,

some days don't go as planned.

some days tears come unannounced.

some days nothing brings you back.

some days you are taken off guard.


you can't catch your breath

you cant find yourself

you don't know yourself

you don't like yourself

you feel every broken heartbeat.


its the sucker punch.

it comes from somewhere unknown

its an emotional blow deep in your soul

without warning it encompasses you.

everything hurts.

your todays.
your tomorrows
your yesterdays

everything.

a stranger unseen.

shhhh...no pause. no breath...no silence...abrupt. without warning.


nita.

Change.

"To every thing there is a season,
and a time to every purpose under the heaven:"
Eccl. 3:1

CHANGE.
My favorite season is summer.
But, Summer is gone.

Fall is upon us and the most beautiful part of Autumn is quickly passing us by.

The trees are loosing their canopy of majestic colors. The skies are getting grayer, the temps are getting colder and the days are getting shorter.
We try to embrace this seasonal change with Starbucks Pumpkin Spice Lattes, chili, cider mills and pumpkin patches here in Michigan.
But...
CHANGE is not always something we all look forward to. Most of us try our best to overcome the tough changes or adapt with a good attitude.

"Insanity"- Doing the same thing over and over again expecting different results."
As the year quickly comes to a close I am getting excited to embrace some CHANGE into my new year.
The funny thing about Change is often times it is a little uncomfortable.
Change can bring grief. You are letting go of old ideas, actions, people, places ect. But Change for the better will heal and bridge you to a the next season.

H-Honesty
O-Open mindedness
W-Willingness to try

Change requires getting honest with yourself. Taking responsibility for YOUR goals and progress.

Don't get Stuck in Stupid. Open up your mind to New Ideas.  Have a teachable heart.

Stop with the EXCUSES. Step out of fear and TRY. Just TRY. It doesn't have to be pretty or perfect, just TRY! 

"Desire without knowledge is not good, and whoever makes haste with his feet misses his way." Proverbs 19:2

I have thought and thought about how I am going to train differently for 2019. I have gone back into my old books, revisited my favorite highlighted areas and I have collaborated  with others to bounce different ideas.

3 Things I have to let go of to move into my next season.

1. Train more on effort level and LESS on mileage. (Sweat a little more)
2. Train on work days, even if i'm tired. 
3. Give up feeling too good too often. 

3 Things I need to gravitate to.

1. Zone back in on my stretching, rolling and icing.
2. Create a Monthly miles plan, adding speed and strength and STICK TO IT. 
3. Change up my races for 2019. 

Collision. 

You Don't know what you Don't know. 

My day did not go as I had HOPED it would have. I had to squeeze a run in due to the chaos of my day. 

The weather was less than desirable. The sky was gloomy with both rain and sleet. I actually had to get out my hat and mittens. 

As I took off from my house I just wanted a easy run. A nice shakeout. 5 miles. 

The first 3 miles never felt "Good". They didn't feel bad, but I had hoped that it would have felt better than it did.

I didn't THINK I had much in the tank. I just didn't know I could go any faster, any harder or give anymore. 

I finished todays run each mile a little faster. The last mile I decided to hold on. Its a series of hills back home. 

I was scared I couldn't do it. 

I was only running 5 miles. I knew I COULD do it.

It was a matter of accepting the pain in the process. 

My poor lungs, my poor legs, I was pathetically winded and I hurt. BUT...I DID it. 

"JUST DO IT" Nike

Anita~

Focus don't Fall

I am clumsy.
I wish I was one of those gracful runners that look like gazelles when they prance through the trails.
I look more like a three legged mutt, blind and confused.
I trip on air, fall off bridges and get tangled in thorns that everyone before me seem to glide through with grace.
Running in the fall is a dangerous place for me. The leaves fall "leaving" the trails a beautiful disaster for a oaf like me.
My eyes water excessively from allergies. I am like one eyed jack trying to navigate across hidden roots, rocks and branches.

Andy wanted company running his long run today. I was not wanting to run 13 miles. Sunday is Runday with Lacey.
Lacey and I told Andy we would run his long run with him.

Holdridge.
Long runs are supposed to be long and slow. (I am tapering for Clarkston Backroad and still catching my breath from my marathon.)

With Andy in the lead, I found myself in the middle of him and Lacey.
I twisted my same ankle as I did last week within the first mile!

From that moment on. The next 9 miles with Andy I twisted BOTH ankles multiple times, nailed my toes on rocks and tripped on God knows what countless times.
Andy was so far ahead of us I quit trying to keep up. I was afraid if I picked up the pace anymore I would need a stretcher to pull me out of the woods.
I actually saw Andy trip and his body lunge forward but he caught himself and stayed upright.
I giggled.  I can't help myself. I am like a 5 year old.
I heard a rustle behind me, Lacey was gingerly picking herself up off the trail too. I have no idea how she fell. Lacey is the most cautious trail runner out there.
"Nita, I Focus don't Fall."
I smiled. I whispered, Yes, focus don't fall.
The trails were stunning.
Focus...don't fall...Don't stop too look too closely.

We finished out 9 miles, doing two loops on the West trail. Andy was heading back out to run another loop.
"Andy, I'm done, Lacey and I are going to do a cool down on the North loop."

North Loop. 

Lacey and I were both whipped. The North loop is flatter and faster. But we went slower and played a little bit. Everytime we took a walk break I tripped.
Once we were coming through the trail and the trail had a canapy of trees over it. The trail was flat and almost looked like a tunnel.
We decided to take a couple pictures......Lacey captured me perfectly....TRIPPING!

My Favorite tree. 
The last quarter of a mile my favorite tree at Holdridge stands. 
I am always in awe of it. You can hardly miss it. 
I love old gnarly trees. Trees that loom over you high and mighty. Trees that are all snarly. Their branches tangled and beaten up. I think they are so beautiful.
The bark is thick and ancient. Oh, the stores they could tell. 

I feel relatable. With the leaves falling. The trees are left bare and almost vulnerable. This old tree is bare, naked. There is nothing left to beautify it. It is left in its raw state. 

I always think of this. I feel like these old trees. Raw. Bare .Ugly
I can dress myself up, do my hair, paint my face and put pretty perfume on. I can fit in when I need too. 
But what if people see me in my raw state. Would they look at me differently? 
Of course they would. 
Would they love my UGLY?
I have soo much Ugly. 
My yesterdays incapsulate me like thick lifeless bark. 
My mistakes branch out confusing me. 
My failures are tangled like vines. 
Fear and insecurity, I wear these colors, they are dark, lifeless tones. 

But I find beauty in those ugly trees. Oh, if they could just have a voice. If they could speak. 
All that ugly had a purpose. All that Ugly had a place. 
That old weathered tree. 
Beauty really is in the eye of the beholder. 
It is deep. Beauty isn't always at face value. Beauty is dark and beauty is deep.
And sometimes...beauty is ugly.

The Plan. Purposeful.

"For the moment all discipline seems painful rather than pleasant, but later it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it."  Hebrews 12:11

10 days post Marathon. My body is still not where I want it to be. But don't feel sorry for me because I am running and proper recovery would not allow that.

**The rule of thumb is for the distance that you race you should take HALF that time off and allow your body to recover. 

**One of the biggest recovery tools is SLEEP. I just watched a video of Desi Linden, Olympian and Boston Marathon winner and she said she sleeps about 12 HOURS a DAY. 
-------I am lucky to get 6 hours. I am the WORST bed partner. I flip, dip, turn, get up and turn pillows.

Today is Andys 45 birthday. It is his day. And he wanted me to run with him. I was scared. Andy has been a man on a mission. His mission meant my suffering.

THE PLAN: Run trails. Holly Rec. Wilderness loop.  6miles. Sub 1hour 5min.
Run a SECOND loop with Claudia as a cool down.

Maybe I should have consulted with Claudias plan as well.....

LOOPS ONE: Andy and I.
I warned Andy out of the gate. I was not going to be much for chit chat. And if Grunting was considered conversation then I guess I lied.

My lungs burned up the hills. My sore hamstring stayed in the shadow lands. But my legs kept up. My watch would beep at each mile and I got so excited to see how well we were running. I had not ran this pace on the trails in months, maybe even a year.  It was worth all the pain. We ran most of the hills and the longer hills we ran most of them until my chest was heaving and my ears were ringing and walking still hurt.
At mile 5, I did some simple math, the only thing simple I was capable of at that time, and discovered at the pace we were at we would be finishing below our goal. I was so excited.
I was also very concerned. That I would be crawling with Claudia and ruin her run.

We came out of that loop, drum roll please...1H 3min!

LOOP TWO: Claudia and I.

Claudia was chick on a MISSION. And I didn't get the memo. She took out of the trails like a horse out of the barn.
I knew after a mile I was DOOMED. My body was SCREAMING profanities at me. At mile 4, Claudia left me in the dust! I waved her to go ahead. I knew I could maintain my pace but she had actually picked her pace up.  I hadn't seen this Claudia on the trails in a long time. I loved it, I just couldn't keep up with it.
We never paused, or stopped. Until I twisted my ankle. I am pretty sure my ankle did a full out exorcist style twist. I stopped my watch and in TYPICAL Anita fashion, forgot to start it up after we started back up again, about 2minutes.
I tried my best to stay with her but she was pulling away.
She ran up a hill about a tenth of a mile ahead of me. I looked down trying to maintain my pace. When I looked up Claudia was breathless waiting for me. She wasn't even sweating!
I giggled to myself. BEASTMODE. That girl was on FIRE and my whole body felt like it was BURNING with FIRE.
We didn't stop. I got to her and we were off. We were focused and on a mission. Even when we walked it was a brisk power walk up the hills.
I looked at my watch about a mile and a half from finishing. "WOW, Claudia, we are on target for a 1hour 5min loop."
I was determined to bring it in.
I was soooo EXCITED....1H 6min.

I finished both loops in less than 2 hours and 10 minutes!

I had many moments in that 12 miles that I questioned myself and my body. I flirted with a some excuses to not give as much effort. However, each time I looked at the clock, I looked at my miles, I was encouraged by what I was capable of.
The is a lot of pleasure in the pain of hard work and discipline.
The trails were saturated with the most picturesque shots. I wanted to stop and take a photo and of course catch my breath.
But we only stopped when I twisted my ankle.

The fun part really was equally present. No, we didn't laugh as much as we normally do, joke or prance through the trails.
The fun came in the suffering. The run was quieter, intentional but the joy came in the results. I was SOO EXCITED.

Claudia and I caught our breath and took a few minutes to take a few photos of the Lake Loop.

"For the moment all discipline seems painful rather than pleasant,"

Todays run was a good reminder that not everything is meant to feel GOOD all the time. We have many moments that we have to be disciplined and often times later we are glad we were.
"Joy comes in the Morning"
I know for me I have a lot more than my miles to work on. I am very grateful for the push today from both Andy and Claudia.

Anita