Breathe.

Earlier this week, my husband showed up with an early Valentine's day gift. A small brass frog in lotus pose and a flat,round garden stone with the word "breathe" etched into it.

Later that day, I did a little rearranging and moved the guest bed downstairs, making the upstairs room my yoga and music space-my "breathing" space.

On the eve of my return to racing, I keep finding myself forgetting to breathe. More than once today I have let my mind wander to the race and as my heart rate increases and my breathing becomes more rapid I remind myself to breathe deeply, filling my lungs with clean air and replacing the nerves with calm.

In the process of moving objects around I came upon a scrap of paper stashed away inside of a book. I had written it in 2008 when, after struggling early in a 5k I dropped out. For the first time in my running career. it read, "I let myself down tonight. I didn't let anyone else down but myself. I am the one that will have to live with this and the only one that can get past it. All the excuses in the world don't make up for the fact that I just plain QUIT! I will NEVER have this feeling again. I won't allow it happen."

Reading that reminded me of how far I have come as an athlete. Not only physically but mentally and emotionally as well. It is all about breathing. Honest. Stop and think about all three of those aspects, physically, mentally, emotionally. In the end, it is all about the breathe we take and where that leads us.

Have you ever...

Have you ever had an okay night turn into a GREAT night?

Have you ever cursed a Sunday morning because of it?

Have you ever been oh-so-grateful for the post "great" night run and all that it cures?

Have you ever felt like this?

My soul runneth over....

...with excitement when I stopped by the indoor track last night. It was 8:30 pm and I was driving home from a running group in downtown Boise. I knew Pat and some of his kids were there so I decided to stop and do my DST there.

When I walked in the smell of the track wafted up and hit me in the face full-force. I had a flash of past races and the burst of excitement that always accompanies them. Once I calmed myself down, I walked out onto the track and just stood there for a moment, watching and taking it all in.

While I did DST, some of the Oiselle gals (http://www.oiselle.com/athletes/team) were doing their hurdle mobility. I was just drinking in the moment. Listening to the light chatter and the feet pounding the track around me. Being able to run, strength train, jump, skip, or what-have-you with no pain has not worn off-I am still reveling in it.

While I would never wish injury or setbacks so anyone, I would wish them the renewed appreciation and thrill I experienced last night and have felt for the past week. I love being a runner again.

Happy, happy running!

"It is obvious that we can no more explain a passion to a person who has never experienced it than we can explain light to the blind."
-T.S. Eliot

Calling all opinions!

For a long time I have been searching and waiting for the perfect tattoo idea to come along. The initial problem was there were too many ideas and I wanted to find a way to combine them. Then, once they were combined in my head, how could I get it out? This is where my good friend, Chris Chandler came into the picture. The guy is a genius. Period. Check out his online portfolio:  http://www.nappinggoat.com/home.html.

In short, the image combines my near obsessive love of owls (for many reasons), running, and the initials & date are representative of my baby nephew, Jacob Enoch and the day he passed away.

After only a few drafts Chris had it nailed. Now, I am ready to take the plunge (well, once I have some income coming in). However, I cannot decide where to place it. Here is what I am thinking, ribs, outer thigh, or left scapula. What do YOU think?