drowsy sunday....

back briefly....so very tired though. that's what i should expect however when i stay up til 1am partying like a 23 year old with fellow runners, most of whom ran 26.2 yesterday on a beautiful day in duluth....i fininshed my 2nd half marathon successfully thanks in great part to awesome coaches and my teammate kim, who saved my sanity the entire race.

and i know i've said it often, and loud. i don't have any interest in running for 5 hours. i don't have any interest in running a marathon.

something this weekend, be it the lake, the company, the team, the event, the 'magic', changed in me.

if there is *ever* a chance i'll run a marathon, it would be Grandma's. we'll see how life plays out between now and next year.....i'm still not confident or trained enough but if i found the magic pacer, like i had in Kim, i just think i might try one.

holy frijoles. i never thought i would ever say that out loud, let alone in print. but there it is....dream big i guess ;)

quinn the dog is okay. still no idea what exactly is wrong, and he's on many meds and cost a staggering amount to not have answers, but he *is* home so fingers crossed we don't have any more relapses and that he only gets better.

a few pics below to share from the fabulous but fast weekend....


titled: "eating with greatness" these are kenyan runners benson and cyprian, who we just invited to eat dinner with us. benson, in the foreground, finished *third* in the marathon and cyprian finished 9th. incredible. for those not part of running, kenyan runners are the best on the entire planet. so meeting and talking with a few up close was really inspiring. and they loved every minute of it :)


kim & duana went on a walk with me at sunset to see my lake. i can't explain how just being up there heals my soul but it does. yes i would love to move there. if they ever need a librarian and a singer/manager, i'm done here in the cities....and will hope friends will visit :) but until those odds happen (very unlikely) i'll continue to visit often...


the fantabulous allison finishing her very first marathon....i have totally taken to this girl (and a few others) since we met running this winter...she makes me laugh like no other ~ and she shares a bed very quietly when we all have to cuddle up for 2 nights in a big hotel room :)


team short bus....on the way home from an awesome running/celebrating weekend...one of our runners owns this special bus, and this took most of our team up and back to grandma's marathon weekend 2008....

next up, the TC 10 mile, the Whistlestop Half, both in October, and 3 of us are 'in' for the Country Music Marathon in Nashville, TN next APRIL. HOO-RAY for Nashville!!! Through random conversation i discovered i am *not* the lone country fan on our team. there are actually others :) who are willing to fly with me to TN to *run*.

damn this team makes my heart smile. thanks so much ya'll.....

time for some wine. i've earned it....~jd

'um, mom, this is *my* couch....you must share....'

dogs have been called 'man's best friend' for years and years and years.

as most of my friends know, we have two greyhounds.
common myths about them:
* Myth: they need running every day. Reality : i have never seen such a lazy dog breed in my life. think 75 lb cats. for real. in fact our cat Ellie *is* way more active than either of the dogs. and ironically fatter ;) go figure...
* M: they are mean or extrememly shy due to how they are treated at the tracks. R: Not true. again, *amazingly* loyal and they are so very happy to be 'retired'. who doesn't look forward to retirement?? they are not really allowed the opportunities at the tracks to bond with humans, they are just there for sport. hence the big time loyalty they grow into once they are adopted into a home....
*M: They're too skinny and underfed. R: They're naturally built for speed and they *are* fed high protein racing diets at the track that keeps them very slim... our dogs are fed Eukanuba food, along with Quinn's affinity for paper...whether it be newspaper, magazines, paper bags, $20 bills or firestarters. no, those last two are *not* made up. sadly.

that's a few things....now, attached is a news report about a cowboy's dog named Skidboot....god bless Texas ~ (um, trivia of the day, I was born in Houston). This clip proves what so many of us with dogs know. (and those with cats, you are not discounted one bit. you are wholly included as well. The cats got one of the first clips on the blog ;)....animals and humans have a bond like no other. unconditional love they call it. no matter what kind of day or life you have going on, your pet's love for you is the same every day. they don't care if you didn't pick up your clothes. they don't care if you had either a bonus day or horrendous day at work. they want to be fed. they want to be loved. they purr and snuggle with their thanks and affection.....and they reciprocate with absolutely no hesitation. what on earth could be better than that kind of love? which is one reason that I chose to have a tattoo of my grey Cora on my ankle....peace to you all, and scritches to all of your pets...~jd