And the winner is....

Ronalee Par Miyasaki, for "Best Excuses to Procrastinate Running."  Yes, on this lovely Oscar Night in which I am totally happy that Colin Firth won, I decided to award myself this title.  After passionately declaring to Lynnette this week that I would show up to our 8-mile training session bright and early 7 a.m., rain, snow (which was actually quite possible this past weekend), or shine on Saturday, I flaked.  But, in my weak defense, I did feel like I had a slight bout of food poisoning from some Stove Top Stuffing.  Yes, Stove Top.  How can Stove Top possibly give one food poisoning, you might ask?  It was about a year past its expiration date, and despite looking it up online about the safety of eating something so far past its date and reading that I should toss it after a shelf life of 6 months, I ate it anyway. Maybe it was my craving for stuffing that made me do it.  Maybe it was my laziness to go to the market.  Or maybe, just maybe, it was unconscious self-sabotage. 

So I promised myself that I would run this morning at around 10 a.m.  Late enough to sleep in, but early enough to get on with my day.  Yet, to make sure I won the coveted title of Best Excuse-Maker, I slept a little too late (dare I admit to 11 a.m.?)  because I was up late the night before crocheting a beanie and my self-proclaimed ocd wouldn't let me stop until I was done.  When I was finally about to crawl into bed, I noticed there were little wet spots all over my duvet, and they turned out to be small hairballs that I'm pretty sure Coco coughed up.  Completely tired and frustrated, I cleaned up the mess and kicked the cats out for the night not only because of the hairballs, but because they were wrestling and fighting and pouncing our feet.  So when my alarm went off this morning, I conveniently ignored it and rationalized sleeping longer because I had to deal with the cats last night.

But don't think that this title was all too easily won -  I made it a point to run after a very lovely baby shower this afternoon that I attended.    I didn't do the full eight miles, but  I did a  6-mile run down in the lovely Arroyo Seco up to the Rose Bowl.  I upped my training to an interval of  2-minute run, 3-minute walk since I  received texts from Lynnette yesterday that that was what she did at training.  Kudos to her for actually waking up and going, by the way! Unlike Ms. Procrastinator here trying to run, slightly buzzed after some "drink beer out of a baby bottle" shower game.  Let me tell you, it's not as easy as it seems!    

The first part of the run was difficult, but once I got to the Rose Bowl and saw the gorgeous snow-capped mountains behind it, I was invigorated.  There's nothing like being outside with only your legs to get you around.  Not some vehicle to take you to and fro and shelter you from the elements, but just your body, your mind and your spirit.  Around the 50-minute mark or so I got really meditative, and just thought about all of the things that made me happy - running alongside a very calming stream,  my husband whom I am so proud of, my adorable cats, and all of the amazing people that I have encountered. 

And as I write this, I do notice a recurring theme of resistance and realization. So if I can just get past this resistance part, all will be well.  Or so I tell myself.

Thanks to the very generous donors this week - Dana Barba & JD Lastrilla, Ray & Laraine Madden, Diana Tanaka, and November Morris.  I'm just over half my goal of $1,000 and I really appreciate your support and I'm sure the American Heart Association does too!

And also, a very Happy Birthday to Russ Lowe. I am so happy to see that his physical therapy is going well and that he is gaining strength with each passing day.  You are an inspiration Russ and just know that I'm sending you and Arlene lots of love and healing energy!