The Trail - or Poetry in Motion

I was out on a trail this morning and I thought to myself I really wanted to write a poem about running, to try and capture all the ups and downs, literally and emotionally, of a good trail run.

Written By Erin Lucero

First, there’s the warmup.

Greeting my cold legs, still heavy from sleep.

Waking up my ankles and feet.

Moving over the easy gravel, knowing there’s more to come

As I Find today’s rhythm, always unique.

Here comes the hill.

Now it’s really time to play.

Winding up the switchbacks,

The heart kicks into double time.

Pumping blood, pumping life,

Pumping movement.

Deep breaths of cold thin air,

The lungs and thighs burn in synchronicity.

The dance of oxygen and blood as lifeforce flows

To my calves, my toes, my heart, my mind.

Scanning the horizon but watching the rocks ahead,

Feeling the burn, feeling the strength.

Pain and pleasure twist together in the most ancient of cycles,

As the trail gets steeper.

Climbing, Step after step, Breath after breath.

Asking for just a little more, Digging just a little deeper.

Then my dear friend Doubt comes for her visit.

“Are we there yet?” She asks. “Maybe we should take a break?

Why not take the easy road?

Why do you keep pushing yourself?”

The cold air chaps my skin as sweat stings my eyes.

Taking a sip of water, Imposter syndrome makes its routine appearance

The inevitable faster runner comes to pass me by, bounding along in endless grace.

But Doubt, we are old friends now.

The friend you’ve known forever and have learned to ignore.

So I keep going. Trusting my legs, trusting my heart.

And as it always is, just when we’re about ready to give up, the hill lessens.

Instantly my body responds.

A rush of oxygen, my legs feel lighter.

My heart stabilizes, the world feels good again.

Endorphins flooding the system.

The sun that was blazing hot a moment ago is now a friendly warmth.

Deep breath, and then Wow look at that view.

As the trail crests to the summit, the world opens up.

Blue sky folding into layers of mountain peaks.

Snow still whispering in the crooks of the boulders,

The birds are calling to each other from the sagebrush.

Then the wind starts blowing, waking me up from my reverie.

And now I find a new cadence, as the dance changes.

My feet find a new turning, as they fall into the rhythm of the rocks,

Of the sand and the mud, of the boulders and the pebbles.

My feet move across the earth, as my toes reach out and grasp the stone through my shoes.

Connecting in the most intimate way.

Kissing the earth, Breathing in the sky, drawing life from the Sun.

As the trail begins to turn downhill, my body comes alive.

Feet moving faster than the mind can think.

Until it finally stops trying.

With each revolution, with each step, coming closer and closer

To the Flow.

And then the trail opens up, smooth as silk.

And I find the Flow.

The Dance, The Dream.

The Poetry of Motion.

Are my feet still touching the ground? Or am I the ground?

One with the movement, everything works together in perfect harmony.

Flying, Free, This is the magic. This is the reason I know not to listen to Doubt. This is it!

This is…..

And suddenly a rock shifts under my foot

And oh crap, I AM flying!

But my body still knows better than my mind does.

And it puts me back on my path.

My ankles are stronger than I give them credit for as they set me back on my feet.

And I continue on, a little shaken, but still strong.

Running a little slower, but still running.

Still moving. Still dancing.

The dance is ever-changing.

It has its ups and downs, its ebbs and flows.

Just as the world turns, we turn, step by step, mile by mile.

We find the flow, we lose it again.

We find our strength, and doubt comes along to try and snatch it away.

We falter, but then our body brings us back home, back to the trail.

For if we keep moving, if we keep dancing,

We will always find the poetry of motion.

Tackling a Marathon

I wrote this post a year and a half ago, but never posted it... because it didn't seem right at the time to post about the world pre-covid.... But now I just want to post it, for posterity, and for all the things that marathon taught me to help get me through the year ahead.  And now, looking back, to see how it changed the course of my life..... 

So a month ago I ran a marathon.  And today I'm in self-quarantine with a pandemic on our hands.  My how things can change in a month..... 26.2 miles, all in one go.  It seems like a lot, until then you start training for it, and then it seems like A LOT.
I've been trying to think about what to say about this that people might find interesting, or maybe find something that they could relate to in their own lives.  And so what I settled on is Strength.
Strength in myself, and what I learned about myself during my training, and then on Race Day.

Training:
So my training plan (The Hanson Plan) was pretty serious.  6 days a week. working up to 50 - 60 mile weeks.  And that takes a lot of commitment.  It also takes a lot of support, from my husband, who I was constantly abandoning to go on runs.
But here's what I learned. If you really want something you will find a way.  I changed my work schedule so I could get in runs before dark.  I learned to run on the Dreadmill at work.  I ran in the dark.  I ran in the rain.  I ran slow when my training plan told me to, and ran fast when it told me to.  I got bored of running, I got bored of the whole process, but that was about halfway through so it was too late to back out.  I learned to do something even when I didn't want to.  And that was Strength Lesson#1
I also finally developed a truly healthy relationship with food.  Yes 40 years on in life, I saw food for the fuel it was.  And I saw my body as the beautiful strong machine that it was.  And I wanted to take care of it.  Some days I was a bottomless pit of hunger; some days I was craving mineral water. My body told me what it wanted, and I listened and honored it and tried to give it the best nourishment I could. I very specifically told myself and everyone else I was trying to maintain, not lose, weight during my training.  I ended up losing a little bit at the end, and that's okay too, but the intent was to love and honor my body and to take care of it the best I could

The Run:
For me, the marathon was the shortest moment in the huge run up of training and then pre-race anxiety.  18 weeks of training.  1 week of nerves.  4 hours of butterflies in the stomach, and then the starting line whistle blows and it's just me and my feet.
My race was in Pueblo, Colorado and it ran along a bike path from the Pueblo Reservoir into town, then an up and back in the not-so nice part of town and finally finishing at the Historic River Walk.  There were only 77 marathoners, and I'm a back of the pack runner to start with so for most of the race, it was pretty quiet.
Each mile was its own journey.  Some miles were just smooth, feeling pretty good miles.
Some miles were super exciting when my amazing cheer squad was at the sidelines (thank you Ed, Brit, Lauren, Jesse, Kelly, David and Amber for being there for me)
Some miles I questioned myself, my choice of clothing, if my pace was sustainable, or if I was drinking enough, but strangely I never questioned why I was doing this in the first place.
Then I got to the out and back part.  It was a not-so nice neighborhood, and miles 14-20 were a gradual uphill going into 20 mph winds.  My cheer squad couldn't get to this area, and they had a bathroom issue on the race, with no bathrooms available from miles 14-26.  This was my dark time.  This was the time I started walking, and started feeling tired, and a little hopeless. Just before the turn around I went through this super creepy tunnel that was dark and sketchy and I was like what the heck am I even doing here!?!?!
But I reached that turn around, gave myself a pity party, and then pulled myself back together and remembered all the people that were out there supporting me.  All my friends who had told me they'd be thinking of me.  My husband who was tracking my iphone and kept sending me encouraging messages, and I was like girl you got this!  You may be tired and may have slowed down, but you WILL FINISH.  And so I started running again.  And knocked out one mile after another.  Passed each aid station on the way back and thought, one mile closer to done.  And then I got to the last aid station, with one mile left to go, and a guy who I'd just come up on said to me,  well at this point we have to finish.  And so we did....  So. we. did....

I cried as I hugged my friends who were waiting for me, had been waiting for me for hours.  Who handed me oreos and chips and water and congratulated me.  I had run a marathon, and I would never be quite the same person again.  Not for that day alone, but for the entire journey that led me there.

And now......posting this 1 year and 6 months later......

with more than 600,000 dead from Covid in the US and so so many more world wide, 

with my mother gone from cancer,

with the world in the grips of climate change, 

we have gone through those dark times and we have hit the wall, but we have kept going.

Colorado's Governor said last April that Covid was going to be a marathon, and not a sprint.

Maybe now we are at mile 24, when we say to ourselves.....well at this point we have to finish. 

And I am now starting to learn about the new person that I am becoming, and how my priorities are going to be forever changed.... and that is OK.

Thank you all for coming on this journey with me, and I can't wait until we can share Oreos at the finish line.  

https://www.madmooseevents.com/pueblo-marathon

Madagascar!

It's been two months since coming back from Madagascar, and I've been contemplating how to put a trip like that into a bite sized blog post that wasn't just filled with a list of animals we saw  or a rambling essay on how different a 3rd world country is from America. 

Traveling opens my eyes to so much more than just the tourist attractions, it's the people, the culture, the different kinds of plants, there's just so much... I'll try and highlight a few moments, that maybe can begin to paint even the palest picture of that incredible country.

The People
I've observed in my travels that people are the same the world over.  Our cultural differences separate us sometimes, and we often have different beliefs or norms, but we are all still part of the Tribe Human.  Madagascar is a beautiful blend of a 18 different tribes, with some very different lifestyles and practices (from annual exhumations at the family tomb to a completely nomadic lifestyle with no family homes or passing of generational wealth).  Across the country the tribes also look quite different, as African, Asian and European peoples have all settled there over thousands of years. 

As we drove from the capital of Antanarivo to the rain forests in the north, and then to the highlands to the south and finally to the spiny forest and deserts in the west, we saw a sampling of some of the different tribes, from small wood houses to 3-story brick homes built by hand from local materials, to zebu grazing areas lined with fences made of cactus. 

And everywhere we went, whenever we saw young women or little girls they always waved and would smile back at me when I smiled at them. And it was a real smile.   A real connection of woman to woman, and incredibly powerful.  Have you ever looked out a window and sometimes caught the eye of the person in the car next to you and you feel like you just invaded on their private lives?  But then sometimes you look at them and they look back and and there's a brief connection that's made? Like for a moment you just connected, and thought, yes that's a person too, with a story and a family and life all their own.  It was like that.  And it happened everywhere we went. 

It also broke my heart too see these beautiful and proud people where survival was a struggle.  As we drove along the roads we saw piles of rock with a half dozen people sitting by the road with small pick axes breaking down the rock into gravel.  We saw young kids, 7 years old, filling the pot holes with a homemade shovel asking the truck drivers for some payment for their work.  We saw that the people who lived in the areas that got a lot of rain were well fed, and the people in the south where they didn't have as much were struggling to scrape out an existence.  The people had what they grew, or made with the resources around them.  Subsistence living finally took on a real definition for me. It made me realize just how much we take our transportation infrastructure for granted, both in terms of utilities and the movement of goods and commodities.

The rice fields in the Highlands

The handmade brick homes

A local market, with clothing, goods and livestock.  The villagers would walk many miles each week for Market Day

A cactus fence!

The Animals and The Parks
I wish I could say that Madagascar is full of rain forests and lemurs are jumping from every tree, but alas that is not the case.  The main staple of the Malagasy diet is rice, and their rice growing practices are all manual labor and not efficient, so much of the country has been cleared for rice patties.  Almost all of the lemurs are endangered and their habitat is largely restricted to protected National Parks or private reserves. More than 80% of the forests are gone, but we heard that there is a movement to plant more forests and to set aside more land. But as we even know in the US, if you have the needs of people up against the needs of the wild, only a government who wants to care about both can help solve both......

But the lemurs and the chameleons were just so amazing.  We had the best moments, standing in the forest, usually on a really steep hill trying not to fall down in between a slippery mud bit or a branch poking at your back, just watching lemurs do their thing.  We saw chamelons sleeping on a leaf at night, and the largest lemur, the indri, calling their haunting call; we watched a baby lemur bouncing around non-stop on his patient parents, and lemurs coming down to the ground for their daily mineral supplements from the iron rich soils.  All just doing their thing and not particularly caring about us tourists one way or another.   One of the best moments was when our small group of 4 plus a guide were in one of the less popular national parks, and an entire troupe of Verraux's Sifaka was just hanging out right above us.  A mom and baby, jumped around just feet from us. It was just us, in the forest, with a half dozen lemurs, dancing from tree to tree.

Ring Tailed, or as we called them King Julien lemurs coming down to the river for a drink while we ate lunch

Verraux Sifaka or the Dancing Lemur

Parson's Chameleon, sleeping on a branch at night.

My favorite, the adorable Bamboo Lemur.  They were just so darn cute! and sadly don't survive in captivity, so habitat protection is especially important for them.

The Company
I went on this trip with my Mom.  And we had some trepidation going in to the trip, could we get along for 2 whole weeks at such close quarters? We might have had a couple mom/daughter moments, but looking back I can't be happier that we made this decision to take this trip together.  My mom turned 70 this year, and there were some hikes that were very strenuous for her, but together we made it through, even when we had to take her load off and carry her pack for a bit.  She has traveled all over the world, and some of it has been pretty rugged.  Having her there to talk and process through what we saw and experienced was so valuable for me.  And having such a seasoned traveler to commiserate with when things got uncomfortable, like when there was no hot water, or we had to sleep with the door wide open to get a breeze or a mosquito was buzzing around your head all night, Someone who understood and who could help keep you going and still find the joy in it all. 

So this just scratched the surface of this incredible 2 week journey, but thank you for reading, and I hope it gave a small glimpse of this unique country. 

If anyone is really interested in visiting Madagascar, I would highly recommend Pioneer Expeditions as a tour company, and Hari as a tour guide.  We saw many groups in our travels and were so pleased with our choice.

Mom, Hari and me at Ranomafana National Park

Adventures in Bordeaux

When we were planning a trip to France this spring, we decided we needed to spend a few days in Bordeaux.  We've always loved Bordeaux wine, but really we knew next to nothing about the Region, the city, or the history...and we had such a magical time here that I knew I had to capture it in my blog...   Being that it's July now, the memories are starting to fade, so I had to get this written now, or never..... 

In one of the wine cellars at a Chateau in St. Emilion Region

We spent three days in the Bordeaux region, one in the city of Bordeaux, one on a wine tour on the East bank in the Saint Emilion region and another day on a wine tour on the West bank in the Medoc Region.  Two days of wine tours, I know I know..... but these really weren't JUST about drinking the wine....   We were immersed in the magic of the chateaus, the history of the regions, the incredible complicated rules of French wine making, and the terroir (the earth) and all that makes the wine what it is.... so when we drank that wine it took on a whole other dimension.

One Winery we visited still gets the second press of their grapes by hand

I could probably spend the next 3 pages of this blog talking about all that we learned on the wine tours. I REALLY geeked out over this french wine stuff, the geography, the traditions and the rules; and it helped that we absolutely loved our tour guide Julie.... but I don't want to bore the heck out of everyone so I'll just say GO TO BORDEAUX!

And if you do, Ophorus Tours does an amazing tour. https://ophorus.com/bordeaux-wine-tours/

Chateau Hortin Ducasse

Now if you don't have the luxury of two days of wine touring, I'll say that the St. Emilion Region grows more Pinot Noir and Merlot, and the Medoc grows more Cabernet Sauvignon, so if you have a preference of one or the other you could pick that way.  But really if you can.... do both....

Streets of St. Emilion

St. Emilion is a Unesco World Heritage Site, an ancient monastery dating to the 2nd Century, and the wines we had there were quite possibly the most amazing liquid we have ever tasted, so maybe I will say St. Emilion was my favorite..... but then our absolute favorite winery was in Medoc, Chateau Hortin Ducasse. We loved them so much that we checked a box with 8 of their bottles, and missed our flight home to Denver so we could get that wine home safe and sound.   And the chateaus in Medoc were like fairy tale princess castles, which were a sight unto themselves.

A Chateau in the Medoc Region

But back to Bordeaux, the city itself.  Not so long ago, it was a gritty shipping town, and from what I've heard not much of a tourist destination, but they have cleaned it up, literally.  The mayor several years ago required EVERYONE to clean their limestone walls and the transformation was incredible.  It is a completely charming little town, with a whole downtown area that is cobble stones and no cars, fantastic restaurants, and of course amazing wine!

One of the gates into the City

I went for a run there in the early dawn one morning and it was euphoric to run down the cobble streets and along the river long before the shops were even open for the day.

The City square at Dawn

Lodging

So we stayed at this very trendy somewhat unusual hotel called Mama Shelter.  I think we are showing our age because the amount of social media available in the room itself was a little unnerving (a wifi camera in the room???)  but a great centrally located option if you are up for something different.

Eating

The food here was fantastic.... absolutely fantastic.....  you will need to get a reservation for dinner, because most of the restaurants are quite small and really only do reservations.  We found making a reservation on thefork.com  was incredibly easy, once we made one just 30 minutes before dinner.

At the recommendation of the hotel, we ate at Bistro Reno, which was a fantastic dinner.  In a lot of places in France they only serve what's on their chalkboard special that night, so they just bring over their board for you to look at while you decide.  Google translate and some discussions, and voila you have an incredible dinner with a fantastic bottle of Bordeaux from the Graves Region.

At the recommendation of our tour guide, the last night we ate at the Bistro Gloutton, which was beyond fantastic, it was sublime!   I remember my white asparagus with hollandaise sauce, and just thinking how can something so simple be so incredible?

We also found a great bread shop there for breakfast, Le Boulanger de 'Hotel de Ville, where we got croissants and an incredible praline sweet bread.  Our tour guide told us it's the best boulangerie in town, so there you have it...  you must stop by if you are ever there. And while I'm talking about sweets, the special dessert in Bordeaux is the canele, which is a sweet cake made with egg yolks.  In Bordeaux they use egg whites to separate the sediment from the wine, and so with so many egg yolks left over this became something of a hallmark dessert for the region. You will find a ton of shops selling caneles, pralines and beautiful chocolate, all things that go great with wine.

And if you still haven't had enough of wine yet, then you can go to Cite du Vin, the WINE MUSEUM.  Yes, of course, Bordeaux has a fantastic wine museum that talks about wine making all over the world, and finishes up with a wine tasting on their top floor overlooking the beautiful countryside.  

The highlight of our travels so far this year; Bordeaux, France.  

Happy Travels!

Process vs. Results - 25K Reflections

So I've been thinking about running a lot recently, which tends to happen to runners. And yes, I call myself a runner now. I've always heard people say a really long run is a metaphor for life; it has its highs and lows and the run is a journey through all these moments until you get to the finish line.  And this is what I've been thinking a lot about, the finish line. Was it a good finish, a bad finish?  Did I achieve my goals or fall short?  Am I "happy" with my "results"?  And the more I think about this the more I realize that this attitude is sort of a black hole of self judgement.  Am I a fast runner, am I a slow runner?  Am I good at running or bad at running?  Am I good at math or bad at math?  Am I good at spelling or bad at spelling? Am I a good driver or a bad driver (okay maybe this one is sort of important)

Putting adjectives onto myself is so easy to do, and yet goes completely against any desire for self-acceptance and self-love.  How can I love myself if I'm constantly asking myself if I'm good enough.  We have enough of other people judging our looks, actions and fashion choices; why do we need to pile it on ourselves?

So to the topic of this blog, process vs results.... I just finished reading a book called "The Happy Runner" which talks a lot about this... and the first thing it reminds you of is that at the end of it all, we will all be dead....and really isn't that the final finish line?  The book goes on to say if there's one thing you can guarantee in running is that for a period of time you will get faster, and then reach your peak, and then you will get slower, if injuries don't sideline you completely for a bit, and so if you judge your worth only on results then aren't you just setting up for disappointment?

To go deeper, if my biggest goal in life is to run an 8 min / mile, or to get a promotion to Director of Awesome Company, or to finally purchase that Aston Martin sports car, what happens when I get there?  Am I happy forever?  What happens if I don't get there?  Am I devastated with life?

And this is why I love this idea of process over results.  If life is a journey, then the goals and achievements on that journey are great moments in the timeline but they are not the only thing that define us.  The journey will have good and bad,  and we should try to give equal weight to each, because they are just moments along the long run of life.

I made a goal in January to run a 25K trail race, and yesterday I completed that goal.  And as I trained for this race, I worked on getting longer runs in during the week and building my mileage up.  I did some speed runs and started running trails with hills.  I got out of my comfort zone and started running with groups, many of whom were much quicker than me or could power hike up a hill like nobody's business, but they pushed me and gave me confidence.  I also got sidelined with bronchitis, went on a vacation that threw my training plan for a loop, had charlie horse cramps for 2 weeks and slept like crap the week before the race.  So come race day, the results of my race were nowhere where I wanted them to be in my mind.  And this had me down for a day... until I remembered process vs. results.  Here I was judging myself, good vs bad, fast vs. slow, and in an instant I had forgotten everything about the journey.  And that journey is where all the juice is, where all the stories live, and truly where you find all the happy tears of self love.

So whether my results were a personal record or I crawled across the finish line, at the end it doesn't matter. What matters is the journey; accepting that the world is going just they way it is at that moment, and we don't always have control over the outcomes, but we do have control over our attitudes to those outcomes. I am choosing to embrace the journey.

If you are interested in reading more about the Happy Runner, check out this excerpt

https://trailrunnermag.com/training/the-happy-runner-an-excerpt-from-david-and-megan-roches-new-book.html

  If you are interested in reading more about this idea of self acceptance without judgement, or if you are maybe 'not your average runner'  check out Jill Angie.  I could write a whole other blog on my reflections on a talk she did a couple months ago.
https://notyouraveragerunner.com/

The Couch to 5K Transformation

I've never considered myself athletic, in fact I think book worm would have been a good name for me as a kid.  It wasn't that I didn't enjoy soccer or playing outside, I just never excelled at it and so in the fierce life of competitive childhood  you were either good at something or were bad at something, and at some point society basically told you, don't try, you're bad at it, go work on the things you're good at.....

Well 38 years of doing the academic things I was good at and telling myself I wasn't athletic, that I can't run, that walking's great but I will never be able to jog more than the mile they made me do in high school.....I think finally a small part of me told me that was just Bullsh@t.  Maybe it was the yoga I've been doing for 10 years, teaching me to be balanced in both mind body and spirit, I can't say for sure, but something led me to ask myself why did I accept this definition of myself? Why can't I change this preconceived notion of who I am? Use my strength and determination to remake the vision of who I am, not at what others see me but how I see myself.

And that something took root, and it grew until it became a GOAL. like a Capital G goal, not one of those New Year's resolution's that last a week. And that Goal was to actually run a 5K.

And then because fate always helps you out when you need it the most, Amazon sent me a link to a book... And that book was "A Beautiful Work in Progress" by Mirna Valerio.  And that book and the Couch 2 5K Training App by Zen Labs helped me fundamentally change my self-image.

So I downloaded the 8 week C25K training plan and I signed up for a race that was 10 weeks out, because I knew I needed a deadline.... and I started.

So here's my journey in recap and all the conversations I had with myself during my 3x a week runs.

Week 1:  Holy Crap I'm out of shape!  How could jogging for one minute be so hard!?!?!  I'm never going to get through this, what was I thinking??  And then... you got this Erin. You are strong. You are brave!  Tell those muscles they can do it. And they did.

Week 2:  Wow my knees really hurt...Ed (my husband)  how am I going to do this? Am I going to break?  to which he said a little pain is okay, it just happens and it will get better, you just have to be strong...

Week 3:  I'm hot, sweaty and wondering how can I be sweating like this when it's below freezing outside?  My knees ache and I finally realize that it's because my hip flexors are tight, and so I start religiously doing a bunch of yoga moves to open them up.  Every day, doing stretches, doing ice packs, taking Aleve, and thinking to myself, you can't give up now.... make this pain count for something.  Also I'm reading Mirna's book and she's telling me the same thing... don't let anyone tell you that you don't have a 'runner's body'  or that overweight people should lose weight first, etc etc....  so I keep going...

Week 4 and 5:  These were hard weeks.  Just when I started getting my thigh muscles, knees, hips and core working together, the training program takes it up to longer intervals, and man my cardio just sucked!!  Then one afternoon I was plodding along, slowly dying inside, and a woman who was sitting in her car with her kids waiting for someone, smiles at me  and puts her thumb up and says sincerely "Hey, Nice Work"  Will she ever know how much that voice of confidence meant to me??

So I keep going......  I find new problems to deal with; how do I run at night? How do I set a route when I don't know how long I'm going?  I'm fortunate I have friends and family that helped me overcome each obstacle that I put in my own way.

Week 6:  Mirna has a great quote in her book.... "You gain strength, courage and confidence by every experience which you look fear in the face" 
At this point in the training plan it has you running "1 mile or 10 minutes"  Well I could now jog for 10 minutes without stopping but it sure as heck wasn't a mile.  I knew as a beginner runner you should only worry about time or distance, not both, but I kept asking myself how am I going to get ready for a 5k if my training plan thinks I'm running a 10 minute mile when my mile is more like 13 minutes. I have to run longer then my app has planned for me.  Another obstacle, but I'd overcome so many already.... so I started to create my own running plan for those last few weeks..   I got a timer app and set up my own intervals.

Week 7.  The week I ran 2 miles without stopping.... for the first time ever...in my life...  I still start to tear up thinking about it. 

Week 8.  The week I put Live Like Legends by Ruelle on my running play list and believed it....

Week 9.  It was Thanksgiving week, and I was at the end of my training plan but still hadn't gotten to 3 miles, so that Wednesday I went out there, on the fabulous Clear Creek Trail where it's uphill on the way out and downhill all the way home, and when my timer app told me to turn around I went just a little further,  and turned around at 1.5 miles instead of 1.3 and kept going and then I did it.. 3 Miles!!!!

Day of the Race....
So 5K day is here.  The weather is unseasonably warm, I didn't sleep well, I'm out of sorts, nervous,  start the run too fast, and start to really exhaust myself.... I don't know how I'm going to finish...I'm overheated, I'm sloppy, I'm distracting myself by all these people around me, so many doubts running in my head, but then I get to that 3 mile mark, and there's only .1 to go....  and I keep going....  My husband and my good friend Joanne are waiting there for me, full of love and support and they make me brave.  and I keep going... all the way.  And I tell myself I am brave, I am strong and I can be whoever I choose to be.

            



Sending Love and Light to anyone who journeys to create their own vision of themselves, and works to create a balanced mind, body and spirit through courage and through self-love.


Here's a link to Mirna's book if you'd like to read it too...
https://www.amazon.com/Beautiful-Work-Progress-Mirna-Valerio-ebook/dp/B01N21CG4I

and the app I used for my C25K
https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/c25k-5k-trainer/id485971733?mt=8

Adventures in Italy - Rick Steves Style

So this spring (yes I know it's almost fall), my husband and I went to Italy for the best of culture, art, and architecture in Italy; Rome, Florence and Venice.  And so of course being a faithful PBS viewer I had to take my Rick Steve's Italy book along.  Instead of blogging about our entire trip, I wanted to highlight all of the BEST (in our opinion) aspects of touring with 'Rick'.

Our book, de-binded and ready for travel

So the crazy thing about the Rick Steve's book, is he literally tells you to take it apart. We sliced the binding up right before we left and made compact purse sized travel guides for each city.  Crazy and genius!  There is nothing more 'touristy' than walking around with a giant book, but when I had little bite size booklets I could discreetly figure out where we are going, what we should be eating, and of course where could we find the best gelato.

The other amazing tip we picked up on was that Rick Steve's has free audio guides.  Download the app and you will get detailed histories, including maps of all the best sites in Rome, Florence and Venice. As we walked through the Uffizi Gallery in Florence or the Colosseum in Rome we had Rick's cheery voice in our earbuds guiding us through the best of the best.

https://www.ricksteves.com/watch-read-listen/audio/audio-europe

And the last crazy great travel tip we got from Rick Steve's book was to download maps to our phone.  With maps on our phone we could be total insiders as we wandered around lost in Venice, AND these maps download for offline mode, which is essential for us Americans traveling in Europe with limited data.
The one we used was City Maps 2 Go by Ulmon http://www.ulmon.com/#get-the-app

So those are my three amazing tips from Rick Steve, but the actual information in his book is pretty awesome too.  We joked that the only times we had a bad meal in Italy was when we didn't consult his dining guide before we picked a restaurant :)  And since why does anyone go to Italy but to eat (oh and see amazing architecture and art) good dining recommendations are pretty important.  So here were some of our all time favorites out of the Rick Steve's book.

The Collosseum

So when in Rome, eat as the Romans, and that means do NOT eat by the Colosseum! Yeah, if you are starving, you may cave and get an overpriced pizza but the best places to eat are a short walk away in the Monti neighborhood.  We followed Rick's recommendations to Taverna Romana and had an incredible homemade fettucine with boar and the most delicious ricotta cake I ever put in my mouth.  https://www.yelp.com/biz/taverna-romana-roma-4

Another touristy area is Piazza Navona, and yeah we definitely had a spritz and watched people wandering through, but when dinner time came, we went just a little south to 'Cul de Sac'. There we enjoyed duck ravioli and tagliatelle with hare ragout with a lovely abruzzi vino.

So with such dining success we headed north to Florence to sample some of that incredible Tuscan food, oh yeah and see pretty much every piece of Renaiisance art we learned about in Art History Class.

Do I even need to label this one??

The hauntingly beautiful Mary Magdalene by Donatello

Again Rick Steves did not steer us wrong. I think the most amazing meals we had in Italy were in Florence.  One of his suggestions was freely admitted to 'look' like a tourist trap, but it was actually incredibly good food and a really fun atmosphere. Trattoria Za Za on Piazza del Mercato Centrale served us up some seafood pasta and the most delicious beef loin with cream and green peppercorn sauce.  And if you are a true carnivore be sure to try the bistec alla florentine while you are there.

We stayed a little north of downtown so we ended up at this incredible family run restaurant near the Academia called Ristorante Cafiggi.  I loved this place because it had three generations of family working there, and it was obvious they put a lot of love into their meals.  The charmingly grumpy matriarch taught me how to properly order house wine in Italian and helped me with all my pronunciations.  We had a beautiful ravioli with walnut cream sauce, cooked to perfection lamb chops, and peas.  Oh the peas in Italy were like no other pea I have ever tasted.  I think I fell in love....

Lastly we went to Venice.  What to say about Venetian food... very expensive, and many mediocre places and I think Rick Steve's is honest about that as well.  We found a few great meals there; an incredible mushroom risotto, great pizza and some very interesting squid ink fettucines and razor clams, but the tip I will give to you about Venice restaurants is if there is a picture map of their menu outside the establishment, just keep walking.  And in Venice it is fun to keep walking... there are so many great places to get lost in that city.  But really, if you are in Venice, go ahead and splurge on a coffee at the Caffe Florian in Piazza San Marco and listen to the orchestra.  It is just an experience that must be had.  and don't rush.... Italy is not for rushing....

San Marco, St Marks Cathedral

Happy Travels!!

Northern Lights in Iceland - All the Details

It seems this is the year to go to Iceland for the Northern Lights...  IcelandAir has been putting out some great deals, the dollar is strong against the Icelandic Kroner, and the northern lights are in an active cycle.  We jumped on the bandwagon and went this November, and since a few other people I know are planning the same I thought I'd share my trip to help others plan and make the best of their stay on this beautiful island.

One of the biggest questions I had was what to pack.... I'm from Colorado so I am used to some cold winter temps but NOT used to the bone chilling humidity and wind that comes from such a wet island. The kind that freezes through your jeans and makes your toes and fingers go numb.  So packing list item #1 is Thermals.   Item #2 is a good pair of hiking boots.  The key is getting something that is waterproof and has good tread. There is a lot of ice and wet and so those fuzzy fashion Ugg boots will just not work well.
Item #3 is a waterproof/windproof jacket and Item #4 is a good pair of gloves and hat. Of course if you forget the hat and gloves you can pick up a lovely hand knit icelandic wool set from just about every single store in Reykjavik..... Oh and last but not least, pack your sunglasses.  It's not always sunny there but the sun is low in the winter so when it is sunny, it is right smack in your eyes.

My dress code for November in Iceland

So now you've packed your bag, what to do when you get there?

We were there for only four days but we still packed a lot into the trip.
First off, I'd recommend you have a ride to your hotel from the Keflavik airport booked before you arrive.
I booked our transfer on FlyBus+ and paid the extra little cost to go right to our hotel. Well worth it!   Flybus - Reykjavik Excursions
Grayline is another bus transfer provider that seemed to be a good option and had shorter lines.
Here's my little tip though... know the name of your hotel and know how to pronounce it properly.  Iceland is full of very organized people and their transportation system is fantastic but not if you don't know your own hotel (yes I sadly saw some Americans who couldn't communicate this simple piece of information to their bus drivers)

When we arrived at our hotel (Hotel Klettur which I would highly recommend as a good budget friendly hotel) it was only 8 am so we couldn't check in... Not to worry they had a room to store our bags and off we went to explore the town.  My very few thoughts on Reykjavik

1. There are two main shopping streets, Laugavegur which runs sort of east/west, and Skolavordustigur, which runs from the Hallgrimskrkja (the really big church) and intersects Laugavegur. Everything you ever wanted to buy from Iceland are on these streets.
2. Old Reykjavik, the Old Harbour and the Tjornin Lake are also a must visit; especially watching the swans in the Tjornin, or if it is frozen over there is ice skating.
3. We got the city card which if you like to visit museums I would recommend as almost all the museums are free with the card, plus free bus transportation.  Our favorite museum was the National Museum, but also make sure to stop and visit Hallgrimka and Harpa concert hall if you are into architecture.
4. The Icelandic language is pretty hard to pronounce, and everyone speaks english but try and learn at least how to say good morning - Góðan daginn. (Goh-than da-yin.) and Thank you - Takk. (Tahk. or Tahk Fyrir)

Laugavegur at night, or should I say at 4 pm

Dining
The one interesting thing to note about Icelandic dining is that you don't request the check at restaurants. When you are done eating you just go up to the register and pay. I think it is a security thing and it makes A LOT of sense.  This was the case even at nice restaurants.  And there's no tipping or tax added on to cost in the menu, it is all inclusive. And definitely bring your chip card, as that is the only way to pay there.

Our Favorite dining spots were
1. Breakfast: Grai Kotturinn (I think it is the Grey Cat in english)  A really good place to get a proper eggs, bacon potato breakfast.  It's on Hverfisgata St and takes a little finding but is worth it after a long overnight flight
2. Lunch:  Honestly we didn't have many great lunches in Reykjavik. All the sandwiches were too mayonaisse-y for our tastes.  Our favorite lunch was a nice meat soup and some fresh bread we had during the golden circle tour so I would recommend meat soup if you can find it
3. Dinner: Our favorite dinner hands down was Hofnin Restaurant at the Old Harbour. Very reasonable for excellent seafood. If you can get online and make a reservation they will seat you at the table by the window which was quite lovely.
The lamb, the seafood and the beer are the real treats in Iceland.  All are excellent! They are also very proud of their skyr (yogurt)

Excursions
Last but not least, our excursions.

Most of them were pre-booked with our IcelandAir trip and they were all very enjoyable.
1. Northern Lights boat trip by Special Tours - They have very warm suits to put on and they boat you out past the city lights where you can watch the northern lights, provided it is a clear night.  If you want to get a photo of the lights, be sure to bring the right kind of camera... we did not have one so had to rely on the photos that the tour group put up on Facebook

Photo from Special Tours Northern Lights trip

2. Blue Lagoon - We went on this as part of a package deal from Reykjavik excursion.  The Lagoon is almost an hour drive from Reykjavik but was really well worth it.

The Blue Lagoon

3. The Golden Circle Tour - I arranged this separately from our IcelandAir package and it was probably the highlight of the trip.  We took our trip through Iceland Horizons because they have smaller busses and we had a great guide. It takes you to Thingvellir National Park (where two continental plates meet), the Gulfoss Waterfall, and Geyser (where there are of course lots of geysers)

Gulfoss Waterfall 

Geyser

And well I guess that's about all you can fit in a long weekend.  We really enjoyed the people and the beauty of Iceland and hope to get back there soon for a nice summer adventure.

Happy Travels!

Making Homespun Yarn for knitting - A beginner's adventure

One of my great personal accomplishments of the year was something that people have been doing for thousands of years, making homespun yarn.

If you have read any of my posts, I wrote last summer on how I processed the wool, cleaning it, sorting it, pulling it, dying it and finally carding it into fluffy batts ready for spinning.

The final step, which took much longer than it should have, was spinning the batts into yarn. 
I had a friend who taught me the ropes of hand spinning, even gave me a hand spindle, but she also gave me a great book which was an invaluable tool for reference when she wasn't around. 
It is called "Spin Dye Stitch - How to create and use your own yarn" by Jennifer Claydon  and I would highly recommend it if you want to start your own adventure of making yarn. Here is a link to it on Amazon.
http://www.amazon.com/Spin-Dye-Stitch-Create-Yarns/dp/1600611559

So I am one of those people who just dive in and try something out, trying to learn it myself. I am sure there are also great classes out there at your local knitting store, but I really think we shouldn't be afraid to try something on our own. I mean maybe you make a huge mess, who cares? that is half the fun!  And we learn so much more by our failures then when we get something on the first try.

The book I recommended starts off with instructions on how to spin with a drop spindle or a wheel.  I used a drop spindle. You have to start with carded or combed fiber; I was lucky enough to have wool from my sister's sheep that I had processed and carded, but you could easily pick up some fun fiber at your local yarn shop. 
I learned to spin using the park and draft technique.  Spinning has two parts, the twist and the pull. 
The pull or draft is what makes your yarn thin, the twist is what keeps the fibers together. The park and draft helps separate the two processes and I found was really great for a beginner.  Basically, you put lots of twist in a short piece of yarn, and then release that twist as you pull your fiber. I am sure I am doing a terrible job explaining it, but I bet there's at least two dozen youtube videos about it.

Once you spin some yarn, you have to take it off your spindle, to spin MORE yarn.  My friend gave me the great idea of buying those little plastic practice golf balls with the holes in them.  You slip the end of your spun yarn into the hole and then unroll your yarn onto the ball. And then spin out more fiber.

Now that you have all these golf balls of yarn, you will have to ply your yarn.  I guess you don't have to make two ply yarn, but I think it makes for a better and more stable yarn for knitting

The book I recommended gives great  instructions on plying the yarn.  I thought the most useful tip was to use coffee mugs to hold your balls in. Trust me, if you don't keep your yarn balls contained, things can get tangled up pretty quickly!  And make sure you have time when you sit down and do this. It is not something that you can put down and come back to later. And remember, whichever direction you spun your yarn, you have to go the opposite direction to ply. If you spun clockwise, ply counterclockwise.

After you have plied your yarn, it has to get put onto a niddy noddy to make a skein. What a cool name for such a strange thing!  I have heard they are expensive, but you can easily make one yourself for a few dollars getting pvc from the hardware store.  The book explains how to use one, but I confess I always get mixed up and have to look it up online too.  Here's a good site I found that explains how to make and use a niddy noddy 
http://astheyarnturns.wordpress.com/constructing-a-pvc-niddy-noddy/

Here is my yarn all wound out onto the niddy noddy.

Once you have made your skein, you have to wash it in warm water and then let it dry so that it will 'stabilize'  Be careful when washing it, you don't want to agitate it or it will felt.  What I did was use a Tupperware with a small amount of soap meant for wool washing. Shampoo works pretty well too.  After the water has been filled, put your skein in.  Make sure you have tied 4 bits of string around your skein to keep it from tangling up.  Let it soak for ten minutes, then pull it out. Fill the Tupperware with warm water; let it rinse, then dry it by rolling it carefully into a towel.  I then hang mine over a plastic hanger, and weight it with 3 plastic hangers (the weight is very important) and let it dry for a day.

And you have a skein of yarn.  The last step, is to put your skein into a ball. If you have ever bought a skein of yarn at the store, you know how important this step is. If you try to knit from a skein you will soon have a tangled mess.
I used a yarn ball winder from Knit Picks and my husband who had the great joy of holding my yarn.
They are a great resource for all things knitting http://www.knitpicks.com/ 
Here is the winder and my finished yarn. 

 

Now the fun part comes, knitting a sweater for my niece from home spun yarn that came from her family's sheep. What a great feeling and a great connection to our roots.

Happy Knitting!

Scrap Yarn Knitting - Newborn Baby Hat

New born hats are a fun and useful gift to make for a new baby.  They are easy, quick, and can be made with any worsted weight scrap yarn you have on hand because they really don't take much yarn. I personally think knit hats are great for babies because they are a more stretchy than those cotton hats they sell in the store. Just make sure whatever yarn you use is soft and washable.

Here's the pattern I use for making this newborn hat

Things you'll need:
Size 5 Needles
Worsted Weight Acrylic or washable wool. I usually use Lion's brand baby's first yarn because it is very soft and comes in cute colors, though this hat was a soft washable wool I had in my scrap bin

Pattern: 
Cast on 54 stitches
Knit 1, Purl 1 across the first row, ending on a purl
Knit 1, Purl 1 across the second row, ending on a purl
Continue the k1 p1 ribbing pattern until your work is 1" (about 6 rows)


Now switch to stockinette stitch. Knit 1 row, purl 1 row for 3".  End with a purl row. Your work will now be 4" long


Now you begin decreasing.
Knit 2 together across the row, (27 stitches)
Purl Across
Knit 2 together across the row, ending with k1 (14) stitches
Purl Across
Knit 2 together across the row (7 stitches)
Purl Across
Knit 2 together across the row (4 stitches)

Cut the yarn, leaving a long tail for sewing the seam.  Thread the yarn with a large needle. Pull the needle through the remaining stitches and then remove them from the knitting needle. Pull the stitches tight.  Sew the seam down one side of the hat and then work your ends in at the bottom rim of the hat.  
 

Happy knitting!