Race Week is Here

It's hard to believe that a journey that began a little more than a year ago with "Just a Mile" is down to one week. The big question right now is "Am I ready". The answer? I have NO IDEA.

If the race were today I'd say there's a very good chance I'd finish it. I just came in from a comfortable 6 miles. However, I last week (8 miles) and the week before that (10 miles) my confidence quotient was pretty low. I can worry about it or I can hope that the mind, body, and spirit stars will all be aligned properly next week. It's likely I'll do some of both this week. In the end analysis, I will be in a place that I love with people that I love so really there is no downside.

My goal is cross the finish line on my feet and hands in the air at any time that keeps me ahead of the sweeper van clearing the streets after the 3 hour and 15 minute cutoff time.

The day before the OCNJ Half, I and many others will be participating in the  10th Annual Laps for Lexi in Sandy Spring, MD.

Lexi Speight was my niece. Laps for Lexi is a non-profit, tax-exempt organization. Proceeds from its events support the endowment of the Lexi Speight Chair in Pediatric Oncology at the Center for Cancer and Blood Disorders at Children's National Medical Center. The Chair, created in 8-year-old Lexi's memory, will fight to identify innovative therapies to treat, and ultimately cure, childhood cancer. Funds raised also support the Lexi Speight Scholarship at Sandy Spring Friends School. The scholarship will make it possible for a student with financial needs to attend Lexi's beloved Lower School at Sandy Spring Friends School.

Laps for Lexi is about $20K short of reaching the $1 million mark. Please consider a donation. http://www.lapsforlexi.org Help other families to Keep Smiling and Keep Moving in the race against cancer.

-Paula

Summer Vacation 2019

1281.3 road miles
5 different baseball teams
4 states
4 time zone changes (back and forth between Eastern and Central)
3 baseball parks
2 airplanes trips (between Philadelphia and Chicago)
1 cruise ship
1 (only) day of rain


These are just a few of the significant stats from vacation 2019.

Here is a link to some photos with commentary.

Abundant research in advance helped us to plan this trip. The research yielded turn by turn directions which were part Google and part information gleaned from websites about the "Lake Michigan Circle Tour", "The Great River Road" and "The Lincoln Highway". We made a conscious effort NOT to use electronic GPS. This resulted is some missed turns and subsequent U-Turns. I would not change a thing. There is a time and a place for GPS. This trip was neither. We had so much fun.

We had gorgeous weather for 8 out of 9 days and even the rainy day wasn't horrible. We needed long pants and jackets for most of  the trip. A welcome change for the weeks of sticky hot weather leading up to it.

In La Crosse, WI I met a hotel clerk who went to college in Erie, PA. He noted our hometown and wanted to know how close we were to Erie. That conversation prompted another hotel patron to chime in that he was originally from a town halfway between Harrisburg and Penn State.

In Chicago at Wrigley Field, we met an usher who is originally from Pottsville, PA. I was wearing a Phillies hat and an Eagles t shirt. She HAD to ask. :) The Eagles shirt prompted a "Philly Philly" shout out as well.

Now we are back home eagerly awaiting what September brings us.

Keep Smiling Keep Moving
-Paula

Are thumb holes in sleeves functional or just a fashion statement? Or both?

The sleeve in question
The shadows an
unintentional bonus

Dave returned from his PIAA convention earlier this month with a long sleeved half zipper pullover for me. It's quite comfortable. It's not too heavy so it will come in handy for fall hiking when it's not quite jacket weather. It should also work well on days like today when I anticipate needing protection from climate controlled environments.

I just don't know what to do with the thumb holes. Do they serve a purpose or are they simply a funky fashion thingy**?

If they are a fashion thingy, then I feel like an impostor using them. I don't deliberately try to be out of sync in matters of style but it should be obvious to most that I don't have much sense in that department.

Another dilemma (for me, anyway) is that as a statement of style, I have a vague sense that thumb holes belong to the younger generation. My social anxiety voice tells me that using them will subject me to scrutiny for trying to be something I am not. On the other hand, they've been around long enough that perhaps they are not considered trendy anymore which makes them perfect for me. 😵

As I type this with thumbs through thumb holes, I can see a real advantage to something like this in my office where the air is arctic 24/7/365. It's difficult to use a keyboard or a mouse with gloves on. Yes, I've tried. I've tried finger-less gloves as well and find them uncomfortable. Perhaps a zip up hoodie with thumb holes in the sleeves is the answer! Something to think about.

I welcome your thoughts on function vs fashion. ** And bonus high fives for anyone who can come up with a suitable synonym for THINGY that begins with "F".

Keep Smiling Keep Moving
-Paula

Anxiety and the Perfectionist

I lost my phone yesterday.

If you know me, you know that my phone and I are not in a serious relationship. I use it to phone, text and take photos. The latter being it's main function for me.

I do not do social media or email with it. I rarely connect to the Internet with it. When I do, it's because someone texted me a link and it's too long to copy (by hand) to my iPad or computer browser. And then there was the time I missed a trail marker and got lost on a hike and needed the GPS to find my way back and (it turned out) off someone's private property. 😨 Even then I connected with reluctance.

All that to say that being without it isn't a hardship.

Except for the knot inside that just won't go away.

Since I determined the phone was truly lost I can't stop thinking about how stupid it was to lose it and how losing it will impact others and our budget. The knot inside me is a reminder that my carelessness has caused a problem(s). The list of  'should haves' is endless. You can try to tell me that's it's going to be ok and deep down if I think really hard I might believe you -- for a little while -- and then I'll be back to feeling crummy about it.

I am a perfectionist. It sounds like a good thing but I've come to realize that perfectionism is just a coping mechanism for anxiety. By DSM standards, my anxiety probably doesn't register. However, it is real enough to have an effect on me and I'm willing to bet I am not the only one who deals with this. Which is why I'm sharing this post.

I'm not writing this looking for hugs or support. In fact, that's one of the reasons I almost deleted this post. It's part of the anxiety - worrying what others will think.

I'm writing this and sharing it because "saying" it out loud does help. And I've come to realize that sharing our weaknesses is just as important as sharing our strengths. Not because we want people to tell us "everything will be alright" but because there is strength in being vulnerable.

On the upside, the paralysis that comes from my anxiety about 'screwing up' only lasted an hour or two. The knot is still there reminding me but I did not crawl into a ball and keep myself from enjoying other things. I disabled the service through my provider's website and went out to enjoy a wonderful evening watching Lancaster Youth Productions presentation of  "The Prince and the Pauper" at Garden Spot Village.

Keep Smiling Keep Moving
-Paula

Heniz Refuge Revisited

Back in April I ran at Heinz Refuge. There are no mile markers and I don't wear a watch. But I know that the funny looking figure 8 that covers most of the refuge is approximately 8 miles. There is also a smaller loop of 4. In April and again today I did the 8. Today, I did it in reverse since thanks to new maps posted through out the refuge it was not hard to find the reverse route. The forward one I can do from memory.

What a difference a season makes!! One section, referred to as the woodland trail on the map, is a peaceful alternative to the main path in fall, winter, and early Spring. In summer - especially after the hard rains we had on Thursday - it's sneaker sucking bog. The photo is of my shoe at the end of the run. By then it had dried out considerably and at least two layers of mud had been knocked off by footfalls.

The less popular trails of the refuge are also quite overgrown in summer. The grasses grab your ankles for a significant tripping hazard. I did mange to stay upright.

All in all I had a lot of fun!!

I was however, bone tired at the end. I'm going to chalk that up (hopefully) to something other than I'm old and shouldn't be doing this. I did have a long hard work week and yesterday I felt like I was getting a summer cold. I didn't feel it this morning but I'm using it as an excuse for the fatigue anyway. 😏

Keep Smiling Keep Moving
-Paula