Live a life that matters

"Ready or not, some day it will all come to an end.

There will be no more sunrises, no minutes, hours or days.

All the things you collected, whether treasured or forgotten,

will pass to someone else.

Your wealth, fame and temporal power will shrivel to irrelevance.

It will not matter what you owned or what you were owed.

Your grudges, resentments, frustrations and jealousies will finally
disappear.

So too, your hopes, ambitions, plans and to-do lists will expire.

The wins and losses that once seemed so important will fade away.

It won't matter where you came from

or what side of the tracks you lived on at the end.

It won't matter whether you were beautiful, brilliant, short, tall , heavy,
or thin….

Even your gender and skin color will be irrelevant.

So what will matter? How will the value of your days be measured?

What will matter is not what you bought, but what you built,

Not what you got, but what you gave.

What will matter is not your success,

but your significance in making a difference in people's lives….

What will matter is not what you learned, but what you taught.

What will matter is every act of integrity, compassion, courage or sacrifice
that enriched, empowered or encouraged others to emulate your example.

What will matter is not your competence, but your character.

What will matter is not how many people you knew,

but how many will feel a lasting loss when you're gone.

What will matter is not your memories, but the memories of those who loved
you.

What will matter is how long you will be remembered, by whom, and for what.

Living a life that matters doesn't happen by accident.

It's not a matter of circumstance, but of choice. As we enter the holiday
season and ring in the New Year with its resolutions…

Choose to live a life that matters, and celebrate those who matter to you."



Merry Christmas!

December 21st already?

It's hard to believe that it is December 21st. The year has just flown by. I hate that part of life. This flying through life is the pits. I want life to S.L.O.W. down. Christmas is here despite my dislike of it. I am sad that it has become so commercialized. Spending money we don't have and giving gifts to people we feel we have to. Christmas just seems so crazy, stressful and hurried. I wish I wasn't so Bah Humbug, but I am. Regardless of how I feel about it, it is upon us. I found this link on Mechelle's blog, which she took from Erin's blog. It is an eye opener. I think it will make you think. It sure spoke to me.

Despite how I feel about Christmas, I am excited to spend time with family and to begin the New Year. I always enjoy thinking up New Years Resolutions and this year will not be any different. I will come up with some Resolutions soon and it is always fun challenging myself trying to keep them. As many of you know, in 1981 I quit drinking alcohol for my New Years Resolution. 28 years and I am proud to say that I am still living an alcohol free life. Life is good. :) This year I know that I will continue training in the gym. I love the gym. I walk in and I feel like I've found my mothership. All the sounds and the smells of the wt. room feel so comfortable to me now. I don't feel like a visitor anymore. I feel like I've come home.

Running is going well. I love my La Sportiva trail shoes. The Fireblades totally rock. You can check them out at Backcountry.com.

It has been cold here in Santa Rosa. I scraped the skin off of my knuckles trying to scape together enough snow to through a snowball during my run with Wally a few days ago. But seriously, it is butt cold for this neck of the woods! I wore my Drymax cold weather socks with my new Sportiva's and it was great. I love the cold weather socks! They kept my feet dry and very warm. They are thicker than my other socks, but they felt great on my feet on a 30 degree morning.

I wanted to share that I have continued to work my upper body and have now incorporated ab torture. It's time to up the ante a bit, so my abdominals are beginning to join in on the fun. It fun to change my routine a bit. It keeps my muscles guessing. I am quite lean right now and that feels good for this time of year. I am thankful for my life and for that I am so blessed. I hope you all have a wonderful week. I remember my Mom always use to say that you needed 4 hugs a day to be happy. Give someone a hug this week and make their day!!

An Epic Run

Saturday was an epic day for a run. A really LONG run. A really LONG, COLD, BEAUTIFUL run.
Eight of us started at Bear Valley at 6am with our lights and the moon lighting our way. Our goal? To run about 70 miles to the Golden Gate Bridge. It was beautiful under the canopy of trees and we all had a great time swapping stories and joking about Facebook. It was funny to find out that everyone running had recently joined. Well, everyone but Suzanna. I don't think we convinced her to join the madness of Facebook.


We continued along while other friends joined in along the way. A few stopped after about 25 miles, but Suz and I were continuing on for the whole enchilada. We had a roving aid station that met us at specific stops and it was the best aid station I have ever seen. We ate so much that I think I gained weight!
As morning became afternoon, and afternoon became night, we continued on. The moon was the biggest it has been in 13 years and the shooting stars were amazing. We all secretly hoped to see a mountain lion this year but that was not to be. At 12 midnight, we reached the Golden Gate Bridge. Five very happy campers. We had ran about 70 miles. Lots of mountainous trails and no pavement. It was totally epic! My Drymax socks rocked as usual. No blisters or hot spots. My toes were sore from pushing off on steep rocky trails, but other than that no problems. It was a great day for a jaunt in the hills. We all came to the conclusion that what is said on the trails, stays on the trails. Running with good friends is the best. Another great run with great people. What could be better than that?

Did I really just join Facebook?

I finally broke down and joined Facebook. I may regret it, though. It looks complicated and confusing. I don't know. I will give it a go for a few weeks and see if I can figure out what a poke is or what writing on my wall means. With this ADD mind of mine, it all seems too much. I want to scream, "Stop the bus, I want to get off." HELP!!

This morning a group of running friends and I are running a long run that will take us from Pt. Reyes to the Golden Gate Bridge. It is all trail and is a beautiful route. This years route is slightly shorter at approximately 60-65 miles in length. The weather calls for rain so I am keeping my fingers and toes crossed that the rain will wait until Sunday. I will be wearing my Drymax socks and it will be a good test wearing them out in the rain and muck. I will let you know how they perform. Have a wonderful day of shopping or doing whatever you want to do or HAVE to do. PEACE OUT!!

A training Day in the Headlands

"By entering here, you agree to give 100% of what you have. There are
no second chances. Every day, every moment is an opportunity to excel,
to be more, to be your best. Do not squander your time by going
through the motions. Train hard and get results. At the end of the
day, look in the mirror and ask yourself if you gave it your all. If
you do not have this type of commitment, do not waste your time or
ours." This was written on the door of a gym. Wow. It makes you think.....


The above photo is Suz and I running in the Marin Headlands. A cool, crisp, windy day on the trails. A long, slow run (time on our feet), all in all a great day to be on the mountain. This photo was taken a few days after Suzanna won the Quad Dipsea. It's always a pleasure to run with Suz when she is tired. LOL

I got my La Sportiva Fireblades in the mail yesterday. They fit great and I can't wait to try them. I hope they will be one of the shoes I bring to wear in The Coastal Challenge in January. I also got a new jacket from Matt. I finally have a very warm jacket that is so lightweight that you hardly know it is on. It is the Mountain Hardwear hooded compressor jacket. It is toasty warm and the color is a beautiful blue. Can you tell that I like it?

My training is going well. I am running strong and feeling good. My gym workouts have been a great addition to my running. I love the way my muscles feel and I love the feeling of being "powerful". I certainly don't "look" powerful, but I feel it anyway. Have a nice weekend, my friends.

The Mind runs the body

"Now if you are going to win any battle, you have to do one thing. You have to make the mind run the body. Never let the body tell the mind what to do. The body will always give up. It is always tired in the morning, noon, and night. But the body is never tired if the mind is not tired." –George S. Patton, U.S. Army General, 1912 Olympian

I ordered a pair of La Sportiva Fireblade trail shoes the other day. I can't wait to try them out. I would love to wear them next Saturday on our "epic run". Pt. Reyes to the Golden Gate. It will be a blast, I know. I am really looking forward to it. I wanted to give an update on my Drymax socks. I ran on the Western States 100 trail for 31 miles last week, and my feet and toes were unscathed. No hot spots, no blisters, nada. I hope you will give them a try. Gone are the days where my toes would be sore after a long run. Drymax works. Try them, you will not be disappointed.

My three kids have been home for the Thanksgiving Holiday and it has been nothing short of great. We hiked, ate our favorite foods and just had a lot of time to catch up. Chelsea brought her puppy Bentley home and he is doing great. That has made us all happy. Matt's son Lloyd is home too, so the whole gang has been here. Lot's of laughing and commotion happening at all times.


Naomi and I ran yesterday in Annadel for 1.5 hours. It was a chilly, foggy morning and we had a lot to talk about. Unfortunately, we only get to run together about once a week. We have been running together for over 15 years. We have even backpacked with our families a couple of times, but that was years ago. Naomi has been a great friend and she even paced me at Western States 100 and Wasatch Front 100. I have a feeling that pacing me sent her over the edge and she will probably never pace anyone again. LOL.

On the racing side of things, Suzanna won the Quad Dipsea yesterday!! Yaaahhh!! I knew she would. She has been running so well lately. Way to run like a girl, Suz! I don't know her time, all I know is that she kicked royal booty in the womens race. For all of you who have run that race, you know it is not a walk in the park. That race chews you up and then spits you out. Four. Times. She will running Hurt 100 in January. I am sure she will rock there.

Today was a nice 7.5 mile run in the park with an upper body weight workout tonight. I am feeling good and getting excited for my race in Costa Rica.

Have a happy Monday.

Happy Thanksgiving

Yesterday Wally and Karen and I ran in the Marin Headlands covering 13+ miles. It was a nice day for a run and we managed to finish before the rain hit. Wally is training for a half marathon in December and he wanted to familiarize himself with the trails there.

This morning I woke up early and got to the gym for an upper body workout before work. It was the perfect start to a busy day at the Hospital. Yes, the Hospital was BUSY!! WTF! Why is it that so many people line up to have surgery two days before Thanksgiving? Is it the perfect excuse not to cook? What possesses someone to WANT to have surgery during the Holidays? Amazing.

Tomorrow is Thanksgiving. I hope you all enjoy your day and that it is spent in a special way. Have a safe and fun Holiday!

Running "down" to the river ---Ha!

Here is my daughter lying with her "baby", Bentley. He is home from the Hospital resting and recuperating after having life threatening internal injuries after a heavy object fell on top of him.

Yesterday a group of friends ran on the Western States 100 trail from Foresthill to the river and back to Foresthill. 31 miles of beauty and sweat. The weather was great and the company was even better. Everyone is training for something and a few in the group are running WS 100 this June. I don't think I have ever run this section in late November and so it looked so much different. The river is low, as we have had little rain. There is something so refreshing about running somewhere different for a change. I felt a little lighter and motivated running in one of my most favorite places.



Foresthill is at mile 62 in the WS100 race. We ran down to the Rucky Chucky river crossing which in the race is at 78 miles. For any of you that are planning on running WS100 for the first time. Listen up. When you hear someone say that you run "down" to the river, don't believe them. There is a lot of ups and downs and you don't want to be surprised. Running "down" to the river is just a bunch of BS if you ask me.


It was a long day but sharing the trail with friends always makes our runs so much fun. I hope you all had a good day doing something that you love. Whatever you do, MAKE IT COUNT!

Running on the Western States 100 trails

Tomorrow morning, really early, I am leaving for Foresthill to run on the Western States 100 course for 31 miles. I can't wait. Hopefully, I will take pictures and have them to show off. If not, well, then I will just have to tell you about it.

Today was a sad day as my daughter Chelsea's puppy is critically ill after having a book shelf fall on him. He only weighs 5lbs and I am just worried sick about him. He is just so cute and my heart goes out to Bentley. He has internal injuries and is bleeding. I will let you know when I know more.

I ran for 2 hours today in Annadel with Suz and it was another beautiful day. It was cold and crisp but the sky was blue and we had a great run. Running in comfortable socks make any run more enjoyable. I just love my Drymax socks! They are the most comfortable socks I have ever worn and I will wear them tomorrow for my long run. I encourage you to try them out and see for yourself. I guarantee that you will love them the first time you try them. No more Injinji's for me!