Running

Photos by Gary, Washington Co., MDSeems like in music and culture there's a mystique about being southbound (think Allman Brothers, here).Maybe it's images like the lure of warm weather, barbecue on a hot summer day, fireworks on the 4th of July, relaxed lifestyle, the Gulf, whatever, if you say "Northbound" it just doesn't work.When I ran the other day I just HAD to take a shot of this glorified address rock at somebody's retreat.But on the road just behind me as I took this picture was something that had also headed south, permanently. The odor of skunk combined with the odor of decaying roadkill, was, well, pretty pungent:The connection to Ultrarunning? Once while running at night I stepped right on a dead skunk. After that I usually kept my flashlight on.

This weekend reminded me once again that our paths are far less pre-determined than I once believed. Go to college, graduate, get a good job, work until 60, retire….then you enjoy life. Anyone else grow up assuming that was the only way to do things? I’m not saying it’s the right way or wrong way, just that now I realize it’s not the ONLY way. In August, I flipped that model on it’s head when I took a sabbatical from my consulting job for what I would call a mini-retirement. This idea was initially planted in my subconscious from oddly enough an HGTV house hunters episode!! A young couple moved to Costa Rica for two years to surf, assuming that at the end of it they would head back and do something more “corporate”. Mini-retirements have been further popularized by Tim Ferris in The 4-Hour Workweek (an interesting read for anyone considering an entrepreneur life). It takes the same amount of effort to design the life you want as it does to let life happen to you. And whether you actively choose to create the life you want, or sit back to see how life unfolds, you made the decision. - Deepa Maisuria Blend Retreat was a great reminder that more and more people are choosing alternative paths to create the life they want. They are quitting jobs to move to the city of their dreams. They are earning money doing things they enjoy from taking pictures to eating to traveling to fitness to…well blogging! The redesigned lifestyle isn’t just for the creative or “hippy dippy” folks, a lot of great business minds are putting in in practice so they can earn a living while still having a lot more time for family and fun. The redesigned life isn’t about living each day in a bubble of happiness. It takes HARD work to pursue your dreams and MONEY. As wonderful as it may be for people to say “follow your passion” at the end of the day you have to pay the bills. It means evaluating your lifestyle to figure out if you need to cut back, what you really want to experience, what you excel at and what are your true priorities {Tips from Zen Habits and the Art of Non-Conformity}. I imagine it’s a lot like jumping out of an airplane - FREEING and TERRIFYING all in the same moment. EXAMPLES OF LIFESTYLE DESIGNHere are a just a few of the women I met at Blend Retreat who are creating their own path. These examples are simply top of mind because I have been surrounding by them for a weekend. But there are MANY, MANY more examples….and yes I notice there are a lot of Laura’s and Lindsay’s let’s prove they aren’t the only women with the gumption to chase dreams! Lindsay - Her priority in life is her children and she has designed a life with her husband that makes it possible. She spends 2 hours each day training clients and the remainder of her day homeschooling…and then yes blogging in the evening.Lindsay C - Her husband is a pro-triathlete and they have created a lifestyle that allows him to pursue this goal while she supports him with HIGH quality nutrition and runs her own business called Healthy Bites. Laura - She actually has a traditional 9 to 5 job as a consultant, but it allows her to travel to a marathon nearly every weekend of the year!Lauren - Quit her job as a high school teacher and moved across the country because she just had an inner knowing for YEARS that Colorado would make them supremely happy. Now she’s choosing a new path. “It shouldn’t take winning the lottery for you to go after your goals and dreams- anything really is achievable in this short time that we have on earth.”Laura (below) - After helping her own family through an illness, Laura realized she had a true passion for it and left social work to earn her degree in Holistic Nutrition. She is now a certified health coach, running coach and has created plenty of time for her family in the process.Bobbi (above)- Both her and her husband currently work at Forrest Home a Christian camp that allows them to share their joy of life with others! Bobbi is also a personal trainer and

Today was a good day! No particular reason, I just decided to make it that way. :-)Exercise today: This morning I did 300 kettlebell swings and a Pilates video. This afternoon I did Dance Party with Shaun T. It was a hoot! There is a group of ladies that work out every afternoon to some sort of video - they've done PX90, Insanity, that sort of thing. It was 45 minutes of crazy fun!On to food: the usual coffee and prunes:Breakfast was a turkey burger with mustard and sliced cucumbers.Lunch was the usual grilled chicken and salad except I made a greek vinegarette dressing - living on the edge! Snack was grapes.Dinner was a baked pork chop, ear of corn, roasted asparagus, and a fruit salad of fresh mango and kiwi. I don't put anything on my corn - not even salt & pepper. I like it plain. Good corn tastes good!I eat a lot of food at my desk because I use my lunchtime to work out.That's all I've got today - that puts me right around 1200 calories. It doesn't sound like a lot but I look at my meals and I certainly feel like I eat a good amount of food - I'm not stuffed but I'm not starving either.

The popular East End Road Race in Lowell, Massachusetts, and accompanying post race party, will take place on Sunday, July 21, 2013. The venerable East End Club hosted this legendary race for 26 years until 2007. After a hiatus of five years it was brought back last year. This is the second running of the “NEW” East End Club Race, with innovative changes to go with many traditions—and a new Extreme Team Challenge.Related:East End Race Event Website

Aloha Athletes: If you are lucky enough to have a three-day weekend coming up, get outside and make the most of it! Saturday training will be another preview of Mango Madness. Meet at 6:30 a.m. at the Makiki pumping station...

Lems not only recently released their "barefoot shoe boot" — a.k.a. the Lem Boulder boot (reviewed here) — they also updated their original shoe, the Primal Origins with the "Primal 2." You can read my original review of the Primal Origins* here or check out Tim's review here! If you're wondering, "What changed?" I'll speak to that below, as well. The TL;DR though is simple enough: the Primal 2 is a fantastic, casual barefoot shoe that you can wear for all day comfort thanks to a super-flexible sole and lightweight build married to healthy-foot design—zero drop from heel to toe with no arch support and generously sized toe box! You can get them for $95. Full review of the Primal 2 after the jump! Full story »

I love Lindsay’s weekly meal planning series and while I am definitely a batch cooker, I don’t always plan out my whole week. I keep trying to be a planner, but what I’ve realized is I tend to eat roughly the same things with random variations. So instead of a lot of prep time, I just keep the ingredients on hand and then whip up a large batch at one time when I am ready. One ingredient that has been sitting in my cupboard for awhile are steel cut oats. I enjoy oatmeal, but tend to be too lazy for the process of steel cut oats in the morning. Hence time for a big batch cooking session that allowed me to have oats ready to go for the entire week! And yes I do enjoy oatmeal even in the summer, you’ll see why below!I am always looking to “enhance” my food so this oatmeal is bulked up and loaded with good things to keep me humming all day long! INGREDIENTS 1 cup steel cut oats 4 cups water (OR 2 cups water, 2 cups unsweetened vanilla almond milk) 3 diced small apples 1/2 package shredded carrots 1/4 cup ground flax 4 tbsp maca powder Vanilla extract to taste Stevia to taste (est. two dropper fulls) Cinnamon to taste Place all ingredients in the slow cooker before bed, set on low, and wake up to a house that smells great!! Let’s talk a little more about the add-ons to this oatmeal and why they are so great for us: Oatmeal: Stabilizes blood sugar, removes bad cholesterol, high in fiber, good for post workout recovery, Maca: Great for athletes and those under stress to help your overworked adrenalsGround Flaxseed: High source of Omega 3’s and fiber. It’s important to use ground and not whole flaxseed for your body to absorb the nutrients.Stevia: A few drops adds a little sweetness without calories and without the chemicals found in sugar free sweetenersCinnamon: Regulates blood sugar to help prevent that mid-morning vending machine run and reduces LDL cholesterol (the bad kind). I’m becoming obsessed with using my slow cooker all the time now (remember that BBQ Tofu)! I’ve got a whole Pinterest Board just for these recipes, so please leave me any you might have and I’ll check them out! Do you call it a crockpot or a slow cooker??? Are you an oatmeal eater even in the summer? -------------------------------------------------------Gratitude JournalMay 22I am grateful for time in the kitchen this morning to prep food for easy eating the rest of the week.

Do you have what it takes to run through all six New England States? Do you want to experience the relay race of a lifetime? Well, put yourself to the test! Start training and grab 11 comrades. You can - and will - cover 220 miles: from Rhode Island to Maine, and four states between. Get your relay team together and start planning! Explore New England's most scenic routes – on foot – June 22-23rd, 2013!Related:New England Relay Website

The Newton 10K by Fattman Productions provides is an excellent race, and for a great cause. It's a family friendly atmosphere. Changes: They have made adjustments in the course with a new finish and moved the start up to 8:00 a.m. And it's back to the first Sunday in June, June 2, 2013. Run the Sixth Annual Newton 10K in historic Newton.Related:Newton 10K Website

My arms felt fine. Even though my chin wouldn't quite clear the bar on my last rep of pull-ups amid the mosquitoes, the final two upper body exercise stations at the Sand Run Parcours Trail didn't seem too difficult. By the time I had finished in near record time, it felt like I'd barely done any arm exercises at all. Unlike last time, my arms survived 10 pull-ups and almost managed a chin-up, as those thirsty bugs swirled and swarmed about, taking any opportunity to drain my blood. Three stations later walking on my hands over parallel bars was a breeze, and then 10 push-ups felt nothing like Perry or Moss. Despite four more pull-ups, my final time was only seven seconds slower than last week's par course circuit. This must be the law of diminishing returns that I've heard about before. Does this mean I'll have to work harder to get that same satisfying sensation of a good workout? Well, crap. I don't want to do that. Maybe I need to go back to doing less. The frustrating thing is that there has been very little improvement in my weight. Despite noticeable gains in fitness over the last month, the scale continues to vex me, but I'm trying not to get so hung up on a stupid number. Right now I'm just enjoying the act of running, and that's all that matters. ADDENDUM: The pull-up station has four tiers of bars, and the one I've been using is just low enough for me to grab with my feet still on the ground. There is one higher that I should probably start using to make it harder.