Account -- Ability, Day One

The first race I ever ran was a 2-mile fun run
that came before the 10K. I was shocked when
I learned that I'd won, but despite my
amazement, I started to think I might be
destined to become a running
super star! Ah, the dreams of youth.

Went for a fairly jolly run / walk this morning, reveling in the springtime sounds, sights, and smells along the Clarksburg Branch Trail here in West Sacramento. The birds. The trees in their newly donned greenery. The freshness of the rain-washed air! 

As I moved happily along, I was thinking as I often do that gee, I ought to get out more regularly. I was wishing I was better at keeping a schedule than I usually am these day. I thought about the two separate times in the past when I made a commitment in this space to blog every day for 21 days--and followed through on that commitment. 

What a good idea, I thought. Too often I neglect to use my ABILITY because there's no one outside of myself to hold me to ACCOUNT. What the heck. I'll do it again, I said aloud. (There's that crazy lady talking to herself, the passersby said, but I dint pay them no mind, honey.)

When I got home I opened up my blog to see what I'd done in my previous two accountability stints. I smiled to see that both series occurred in April, that loveliest and cruelest of months. I did the most recent 21-er in 2016, and took as the de facto subject my exploration on two feet of my then bailiwick, Pleasanton (which I always found to be a tres pleasant town). Loved the running there!

Here's the first post of 21 from that Pleasanton blog:

Welcome to the Accountability Blog, Day 1. The longtime readers of this blog (all 3 of you) may vaguely recall a time when I posted for 21 consecutive days. This was back in March-April 2012. Today I'm here to tell you I've decided it's time for another bout of daily writing. Starting today, I'm going to post every day for 21 days. Twenty-one is a committed, even military kind of number: 21-gun salute!

As I said then, "Twenty-one is a committed, even military kind of number: 21-gun salute!"

And so, on April 5, 2016, I was off. And now, on April 17, 2018, here I go again. I can't yet tell you what you'll find after this blog post in the 20 to come--because right now I don't even know myself. I'll try to run as much as I can, although I warn you that I'll probably whine a bit too. In any event, I hope you'll drop into this space now and again and run (or don't run, as the case may be) with me! 

P.S. You saw above the first concrete evidence that I was a runner; here, 39 years later, you see on the left the latest. I received this bling last month after I came in third out of five runners in my age group. The same principle that applied in my 2-mile win applied here: It helps to choose a race with a small field.

See you tomorrow!!