Pep Talk


We start this post with a picture of the Atlantic Ocean. It's cool, calm, and beautiful, like I aspire to be.

 I'm running the Humboldt Half Marathon a week from Sunday, and have been cheerleading myself in preparation. I address all my body parts with a "Yay, you can do it!" attitude. Body parts include the brain, who needs to be told "You are strong. You can do anything, including continue to function as your body gets beaten into the ground!"

To my nose, I give the happy suggestion: "Don't forget to stop and smell the you-know-whats!"

 "Feet," I say, "I know you tend to cramp. It's okay, babies. Just hang in there. C'mere, let me give you a massage!" 

 Meanwhile, I continue to run, but try to do it gingerly so I don't annoy any more body parts:  "Aw, come on piriformi [the plural of piriformus?], don't go all whiny on me now."

 Got back a couple of weeks ago from a trip to the East Coast. Then last weekend I was in LA for three days. Wait a minute. How did Calvin James get into this post?? Go ahead and click to enlarge. Awwww.

 It takes some planning to travel and still keep running, but it can be fun. While in far-away places I find it an ongoing challenge to run enough to maintain my base mileage and stay fit without trashing myself by overdoing. 

 If you are waiting for this post to reach some profound conclusions, I suggest you switch over to YouTube for some funny cat videos right now. Nothing here except the same old, same old message--I love to run, I love to take pictures, I feel blessed to do these things and am hoping to continue doing them until I reach my dotage--which many days seems like it's right around the corner. 

 This morning I went to the track but didn't attack my workout with any blazing speed. Just did a couple of mile repeats at what I hope will be race pace--lovely how wildly optimistic that pace was, but, why not. 

 As I returned home I thought it would be fun to photograph some local color. If you find yourself standing in front of this gate and puzzling over what it signifies, that means you're in my neighborhood. Berkeley: sui generis.

 Final note to body parts: Hang in there, babies.





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