The weather had warmed up again and it was time to pull out the shorts and t-shirt. I’ve been bored with running my normal routes lately and since I got home early from work and the sun was still shining I decided to make my way to the park. Thankfully since the last time I wrote about the park I have learned my way around and am able to make the loop without any wrong turns. I eased my down the embankment to get along the creek at the bottom.
I was amazed by how different it looked. Just two weeks earlier I had taken the dog I’m watching for a walk. Granted there had been torrential rains on Halloween (hence my need for dog sitting), but there was water flowing through the creek and there was even a waterfall. It was so peaceful with the sound of running water and being surrounded by the trees even though the highway isn’t that far away.
The two weeks had taken their toll and the ground had soaked up the water. I ran along the path and where there used to be waterfalls and places where the trail was overtaken by water was now dry rocks and the makeshift cement trail. I was still enjoying being one of only four other people on the trail and feeling like I wasn’t stuck in the city.
I continued on and made it to the spot where I should turn left to make my loop up the hill only to find it impossible to turn. I knew they were doing some construction to connect this park to another, but I didn’t think they’d block so much of it off. This meant that my 2 loop run was now becoming a multiple there-and-back. While it wasn’t what I’d hoped for, it was more enjoyable than pounding the pavement alongside the cars. I was able to let my mind run free in nature and truly enjoy my run.
There are some awesome people in the world. People that you don’t even know. People who stop you on the virtual street and say, “Hi, you’re great. This is great. Keep going.” People who give you a pat on the back in a blogging kind of way: likes, comments, tweets.
Some of these awesome people have their own blogs of awesomeness and you can be awesome back to the them. You share their trials and tribulations, their photos and travels, their ups and downs. And you pat them back and cheer them on.
Hoorah to Jane Likes To Run who nominated us for a Liebster Award. We thank you, Jane, and we are honoured to have been mentioned in your Liebster Award list. The idea of this is to share the awesomeness of those who are, literally, awesome. Bloggers you read and want to acknowledge. We’re not talking bloggers who get paid thousands and have millions of subscribers. We’re talking the likes of us, and perhaps you, reading this: regular people, small fry. This is recognition to the ordinary person doing extraordinary (or not) things. And making them a pleasure to share.
The rules of this award are as follows:
I like the sounds of this. It creates dialogue and it’s fun. So, without further ado, here are the questions and my answers from Jane Likes To Run.
Jane asks: What is your go-to drink?
I say: Red wine or Cuba libre. If it’s a night of dancing, it has to be a Cuba libre: dark rum and lots of it with a splash of coke, in a glass filled with ice and fresh lime. If it’s a night of talking, or just the need to be good to my heart (any excuse) then it’s red wine. Am very partial to a nice glass of Argentine Malbec.
Jane wants to know: If you could have a superpower, what would it be?
I tell her: I’d love to be able to speak every language in the universe. Communication is so important and to be able to bring together a Namibian tribesman who speaks in clicks with someone from Lithuania, for example, would be amazing.
Jane ponders: What is the best book you have read recently?
I respond: Scott Wallace’s The Unconquered about his travels to find the last uncontacted tribes of the Amazon. You’re reading it and sometimes forget that it’s a real story.
Jane wonders: What is your special weird person trick?
I think and then say: I have a really deep belly-button. I used to show this off at parties. People would really put their finger in there and exclaim, “It IS really deep!” Gross, I know.
Jane questions: What do you do for a living?
I give her: I’m an English teacher and I love it. I teach English as a foreign language. I also write, but rarely get paid for it. Sadly.
Jane enquires: Who is your role model?
I counter: Anyone who lives without lying to themselves as much as possible, which seems harder and harder to do these days: to live as honestly as you can. I look up to my parents and grandparents and I admire my husband very much.
Jane probes: If you could take a vacation anywhere in the world, where would you go?
I don’t hesitate: The Trans-Siberian railway. I’ve wanted to do it since I was little. It’s pending. My husband and I had a deal: he had the big Argentine wedding in Buenos Aires and I get the Russian adventure honeymoon. It’s booked in for 2015.
Jane queries: Do you prefer driving or riding shotgun?
I answer: I don’t mind, really. But I like shotgun so I can spot interesting things out of the window and also prepare mate (Argentine herbal tea-type drink) for the trip to share with the driver.
Jane puts to me: Do you have any pets, or what kind of pets would you like to have?
I return: We don’t have any pets, unless you count the lonesome fish in our pond I’ve named shark. He’s currently hiding in the depths as it’s got cold. But I do put bird feed out so tits and robins and their friends visit our garden.
Lastly, Jane wants to know: City life or country life?
And I tell her: Both, although I am slowly becoming more of a country person, living where I do. But if you had to transplant me back to a bustling metropolis (of which Luxembourg has none) I would be just as happy. You make the best of wherever you are, I think.
Now, here are my nominees.
I might have cheated slightly; one I know has more than 200 followers, but I don’t care because it’s awesome, and this is all about sharing awesomeness. And one of them is my personal, other blog. Which has way under 200 followers and nothing to do with running.
And lastly, here are my questions. I’m sticking to five magic ones.
Happy blogging, writing, running and living. You’re awesome.
Life takes over sometimes and I’ve put running as well as writing on the back burner. But now it’s time to rearrange things and get back to it.
As I know, I need to sign up for something in order to keep me on track. I’ve been looking at different races for a while now, but hadn’t found one that I was ready to sign up for yet. I talked with Whitney, our friend who was with Laura and I in Buenos Aires, the other day and she was in the same boat. We spent time researching different races and finally decided on the Nashville Rock ‘n’ Roll Marathon. So on April 26, 2014, we’ll be running through the rolling hills of Nashville listening to country music.
That means I have to get busy getting a base under me as I haven’t been running more than twice a week for the past several months. I’ve found a training plan that is much more intense than what I’ve done in the past, but I figure it’s worth a shot. I’ll probably make a few edits as running 20+ miles multiple times and hitting 48 miles in one week seems daunting.
I’m going to take it one week at a time, but for now I need to have a base to be able to run 9 miles the first week of January. That means it’s time to hit the streets…
Nov 6
This gallery contains 7 photos.
Autumn is in its home straight. For those of us who run, it brings both joy and pain. Joy in its beauty: the multi-coloured pathways, bursts of warning reds and oranges, elegant sunsets. Pain in its jog towards winter: foggy and rainy mornings, drowning temperatures, darker nights. Here are a few pictures from my recent […]
Laura Alonso
Maria Mendoza
mandmrunningclub 