Ahhhh, SUMMER!

And in a blink of an eye, May is gone and summer has arrived in Denver: The temperatures turned overnight from 50 degrees one day to 90 the next; my grass is toasty-brown already due to lack of any substantial rainfall in the past month (see above); my kids have turned the tent tarp into a slip-and-slide (see above again, at least the hose provided some relief to the toast); 3 more days of school and I am officially done for the next 9 weeks; 3 more days and the last of my children are done with middle school and venturing to new world of HIGH SCHOOL; and the college daughter has moved back home, evident by the entire contents of her dorm room now sprawled out on my living room floor:

Ahhhh, summer!! Seasons are a good thing, even the hot sweaty ones, because they force us to regroup and readjust, maybe try some new things. I decided the end of the school year is just like running strides. You start out steady and quickly pick up speed until you are hauling at full throttle, arms pumping, legs flying, chest heaving, until you thunder across the finish line and want to collapse. I'm tired, y'all, tired of the relentless stress winter dumped on me and I am so ready for a little break.

I look forward to working some new muscles this summer, literally and metaphorically. Summer is a season of rest, growth, playfulness, reading, freedom, fun, and adventure. New adventures and new memories with my kids are awaiting. Financial restraints will require us to be a little creative this summer as we won't be venturing to our beloved cottage on the beach of Lake Michigan as we normally do, but hey, we live in Colorado which screams active fun. I have a few side trips in store for us which I think are going to be a blast, yet physically rewarding. I plan to write them all down and pull them out of a hat, on which one we will do, when we have a few days to get away. Whatever we end up doing, I plan to forge memories based from "get to's" instead of "have to's". I plan to do a lot more trail running, which I adore, and I have big plans for my running which include getting stronger; getting faster; feeling good; fearing less; getting leaner; sleeping better; working though the pain; developing more confidence. I want to make it a priority ...oh, and I want to rest more, a wise habit I’ve avoided for years for fear I’d backslide into inertia. And most importantly, I want to take my running to a level of "fun", something that's been lacking in my running shoes lately. Of course, all this will be at wee-hour of 5a.m. to avoid the excessive heat, and the allergens that threaten constantly to take me down.

My running highlights since last blog have included a 46 mile week last week, mostly due to a last minute extra long run on Sunday beings I got a late start for Friday's long run and was left melted into part of the pavement at mile 10. My friend, Jim, ran with me over at the Highline Canal, which is a pea-gravel dirt trail, which is nice, but mostly it's partially shaded, a necessity in this heat as I am not a heat runner. Yesterday I slapped together some 400's and before I knew it, I was feeling great (which it didn't initially start out that way) and ended up doing 20 of them (with a 200M recovery jog between each). I couldn't believe I had the stamina to do that many, but when I reached 16, I knew I had to try. And the best part was that the last 10, I progressively got faster until I was doing the last two at a 6:12 pace. I know that's not very speedy for me, but in the current condition I'm sporting, I'll take it. The nice thing about being slow right now is that I have nowhere to go but up!

My blog friend, and now real-world friend, was in town on Monday to run the famous Bolder Boulder (which I heard had an astonishing 51,500 runners finish, making it the largest road race in the entire country. wow!). Runtherace was here with her family to run the BB and I was able to hook up with her whole family (who are just absolutely adorable) in downtown Denver at the Hard Rock Cafe for a little dinner. We had a great time chatting about running and life and I'm hoping she can make it out to Denver for a little girl-fest 1/2 marathon in August. All girls welcome, we're going to have one heckofa good time!! Anyway, it was really fun to meet her and it made me think, as I was walking back to my car after dinner, how very blessed I am via this blog to have met some truly wonderful people who have touched my very soul.

Summer is almost here, don't forget to go outside and play. And while you’re at it, develop an exercise plan that makes you clean and free and whole. Maybe the truth behind acknowledgement has the power to impact results.

Write down some ideas of your own, tear them into strips and stick them, folded, into your overturned, wide-brimmed, straw beach hat. Pull one out when you need it, and see where summer takes you.