Run Like a Dog or Cat

During today's run I saw a dog running.  It was retrieving a ball and what I noticed was that it ran just as fast for the ball as it did bringing it back.  It also ran like crazy each time the owner did a fake throw.  It ran in circles all around as if to shout, "throw the ball so I can run more!"

Also during today's run (in the rain) I saw a cat sitting in the doorway.  It look annoyed by the rain and by the fact that it would need to eventually run. 

Dogs run for joy, cats run because they have to.

I think I'm more dog than cat.  There are a bunch of other ways to exercise, get outdoors, wear spandex than running.  I just like to run.

Maybe I don't get all slobbery getting ready to run in the rain but I'm glad I was reminded today that I run because it is fun, not because I have to.

I won today!

I was in this major battle today.  I was fighting this mind bender (I'd be a much better at describing this sort of thing if I had played Dungeons & Dragons rather than worked when I was a kid).  My thoughts were being warped with this clear message, you need sleep.  I fought that message back by concentrating on the reality that I had only been up once helping my girls with errant blankets last night.

The next attack was that I might as well sleep a bit more and bike because family was visiting so I may not be able to bike tomorrow.  I really didn't get a chance to fight this thought except I realized that I'd rather swim than bike this morning.

The final thought as I lay in my bed which seemed to get warmer and more comfortable by the second was that I already missed my workout by laying in bed so long.  I opened my eyes and focused on the clock projected onto the ceiling and it read 5:02.  So I had plenty of time.

As I got out of bed, got my stuff and headed toward the door I was just thankful that it rained all night and I wouldn't have to scrape my window.  I took two steps toward the car and nearly turned around because my car was a sheet of ice.  The scraper was even worthless.  So I turned on the car, listened to Christmas music, read email and waited.

Then I swam in celebration of all the winning I'd already done this morning.

Feels good to be a winner!

Miles that I didn't log

It's hard not to get compulsive this time of year about trying to get year end numbers to come out cool.  I'm way off from being impressive this year and so I thought I would go for some interesting pattern or at least a round number.

And so I'm looking for every extra mile at add to my totals. 

Monday night was bike night at Portland International Raceway - Christmas light thingy.  We've made a tradition of paying a bunch of money and driving slowly through and the girls have loved it, especially since it was the only time in their lives that they were allowed out of the car seats in a moving car.

Well, this year, we decided to ride bikes rather than drive.  It was cheaper and sounded like more fun.  So Monday night, I loaded up the the mountain bikes and trailer in my VW van and the girls put on more layers of clothes than I though possible.

We went to the raceway, and we crammed the girls into the trailer and figured out how to wear bike helmets and keep their ears warm and then started our trip. 

Two things stood out right away.  First, our girls have out grown the trailer, physically and emotionally.  Second, we need to put flashing lights on our bikes.

We rode slowly around singing songs and pointing out stuff.  My oldest noticed how pretty things were.  My youngest kept saying, "Faster, Faster" and hated to be passed during a race. 

We sang (I sang with my wife correcting) the 12 days of Christmas and we had a great time.  Loaded the bikes back in the van and headed home.

I didn't count either time or miles, just told the girls that next year they are going to ride their own bikes and I silently started planning my lights, or maybe flame thrower...

Listening Deep

I don't seem to be able to do and listen at the same time.  My wife and girls know this more than I do.  I especially can't be near a TV without going into that special zone of emptiness.  I can fall into this zone mid sentence even by infomercials and stuff I'm not interested in.

I tend to start my day with distractions.  My alarm goes off at 5:00 AM and I shut it off.  Well, it really isn't my alarm, it is my iPhone and it contains a whole host of things that distract me or make me distracted.  I typically check my email to see if anything is pressing and then workout.

Rather than starting my day focused on what I want to focus on, I end up starting my thoughts on what someone else wanted me to focus on.  It just goes from there, I let myself get on auto-responder rather than allowing my mind to focus on what it should focus on.

I'm not selling or getting rid of my phone but I've added a new discipline to my mornings.  Don't check my email or FB or Twitter or... until I've had a chance to focus on more important things.  I workout, connect with my girls, and eat, say good by, get coffee, plan my work and then I check my email.  I'm thinking about even adding some more things to the list of stuff more important than email.

So in the few days I've tried this, I've found that I focus on deeper stuff rather than allowing superficial stuff to invade my early morning time. 

I'm not Socrates, but I like knowing that I have more focus in my life.

What do you think?  Any ideas on other things I should try?