Thundering Herd....

If you own a Basset hound or two, like I do, at some point in time or multiple times, you will be sent this link...

50 Bassets Running

You will laugh and think 'yep, my dog looks like that too when he runs.'

If you also own a camera and are a budding photography geek, you will then round up your dogs and head to the local park and try to recreate the pictures.

At the park, you will quickly realize that Bassets while not great runners are even worse at stopping before crashing into said photographer.  They also get sidetracked on the way to you because they saw someone who might want to tickle their belly.   They will also get tired of running to you just so you can get the perfect shot with the perfect lighting and not do it anymore.

So, after making them run around, you will get the preppy dog shirts you found at Old Navy for $3 a piece and throw them on the dogs and take more pictures.  People will walk by laughing at the goofy dogs in the goofy shirts and then ask if they can come pet them.  It will make your day, but more importantly it will make your dog's day.

Without further ado,
here are Humphrey and Bacall running

                                                 Nice start, Bacall!!!

  Brakes would be good... (about 1/2 second later, I was cleaning slobber off my lens)

                                              Alright, Humphrey.... your turn

                            Keep going, Humphrey, you're not done running yet!  :)

               And now, the Thundering Herd of Basset Hounds are on their way!

                          Don't you hope, that you don't look like this while running?

 

                                           Whew, we made it!!!  No more running.

                               Can someone, please please please, tickle my belly now?

                                                     Or even just pet me?

              And if you have a cat, she will stay home and think
                                        Dogs drool and Cats Rule!

All in all, it's just another Brick in the Wall

No, it's not Pink Floyd day here at the blog,
it's a reference to my running adventures.

Yes, my running!  :)  My New Year's resolutions are still in tact!  and it's June.....

I've signed up for a 5K race on July 14th!  It's the Run Thru the Lavender 5K and Half Marathon at the Young Family Farm in Mona, Utah.  I will be running thru fragrant beautiful fields on dirt roads for 3.2 miles.

I had looked for a while to find the best race to sign up for.  I did not want one that was too big, too hilly or too soon.  I wanted to take my time and train properly and then when I finally do run the race, I did not want to feel like a sardine fighting for a spot.  The Run Thru the Lavender fit everything!

Signing up for a race has focused my running.  I had stalled out in terms of pushing myself, because I knew I wouldn't sign up for a race with less than a month notice, so I had basically kept myself at week 4 of my training regiment and had taken days off (running only 1 day a week sometimes, oops).  The deadline of July 14th has gotten me moving forward again....

and into the wall.

I had never really understood the 'wall' that runners had talked about since the beginning of time, until Thursday.  It literally felt like I had slammed into an invisible wall during my run.  I was cruising along, breathing nicely, shoulders relaxed and feeling groovy when it hit.  I like a newbie, started to walk, instead of slowing down my pace.

BIG MISTAKE.

Guess what happened on my next run on Saturday?  Yep, another wall at the exact same distance.  This time I did not stop running, I kept at it.  I remembered a quote that I saw on Pintrest --

Unless you throw up or faint, you don't stop.

I told myself that fainting was a little extreme, so I altered it a bit to light headed and since I was not I  kept running.
I asked myself if I was nauseated-- I was not, so I kept running.

Guess what happened....
I broke down that wall, brick by brick, and made my distance increase!!!
The wall did not last forever and once I made it thru it, I felt like I was just starting my run, full of energy and ready to go!
Progress was made and as a result,  I'm up to 2.8 miles and I have 6 weeks until my race!

Running has been more about the psychology than the physiology for me.  Pushing myself; learning what is real or what is me just wanting to give up; and most importantly, quieting that voice in my head that has all of those negative thoughts.  The ultimate benefit, it's carrying over to the rest of my life.  :)  Physically, I feel amazing!  My knees, which has been operated on 3 times (2 on the right, once on the left), have never bothered me.  My muscles are toning up and fat is leaving the building.  The most unexpected benefit, on days that I run, I sleep AMAZING!!!

So, I'll end it with this,
the next time you run into a 'wall'
try running thru it.

Melissa

Campsite #3

Instead of traveling for Memorial Day, I decided to go camping the weekend before to avoid the crowds.   Life and a solar eclipse had a different plan about the crowds.  This is the story of my camping adventure and how it all worked out in the end.

The original plan....
Go to Goblin Valley State Park.  The universe laughed at this plan.  I had trouble reserving a campsite on the web, so I called the call center and found out that all of the campsites had been reserved since March.  Yes, March.  oops.

Scramble...
Go to the Utah State Parks website and search for a campsite that is not already booked and/or covered in snow.

Find....
Kodachrome Basin State Park, near Cannonville

Reserve...
well, it got a little interesting, because I was planning on taking the Basset Hounds for their first camping trip and the only campsite left did not have the dogs allowed sign on it.  A call to the call center resolves that one, they had not updated all of the campsites to dog friendly.  YEAH, I have a campsite in a State Park I have never been to.

Plan, Pack, and Stuff...
Did you know that prepping for a camping trip, if you have not done it in a while, takes a bit of time, and you need A LOT of stuff?  A sedan is not the best vehicle for this.  I had stuff crammed in every available space and then added some more.

Drive...
Sunday morning, I loaded up my dogs, Humphrey and Bacall, and my mom and myself and headed out.  Basset hounds are not the best travelers, but they did great!!!  5 hours later, we arrived.

Campsite #3....
I got campsite #3 because it was the only one available, and it was perfect.  It was quite hot when we arrived, as in the sand was too hot for the dogs to walk on.  They did a bizarre hot foot dance to the shade, which was fortunately all over our campsite all day long.  Monday and Tuesday were not as hot, YA!!!, but there is no way I would camp there in July or August, it would just be too hot.

As soon as the tent was up, it became a pup tent.  (Haha)  Bacall ignored the dog bed and laid down on my sleeping bag and took a nap.

The dogs, who had never been on so much as a picnic, did AMAZING!!!  No barking and listened to all commands I gave them.  Why can't they behave like that at home?  oh well, the joys of owning Basset Hounds.

                   Humphrey says that camping and hiking are hard work....


The Park...
Kodachrome has a lot of great hiking trails that range from 1 mile to 6 miles round trip.  There is something for everyone.  I described it to a friend like this....If Zion and Bryce National Parks had a baby, it would be Kodachrome Basin State Park.  It is just beautiful and calming.

My Advice....
Get out there and go camping!!!

Melissa

These are a few of my favorite things...

These are a few of my favorite things...
you can use them even when the dog doesn't bite, a bee doesn't sting, or when you're feeling glad....


Simon's Cat website:  a must if you have ever owned a cat or known a cat.  It's done by a British cartoonist who started posting on YouTube and it grew from there.

Red Butte Garden:  a non computer related link, but an oasis on the foothills of Salt Lake City.  If you go and explore, pay attention when you're on the Floral Walk area, my mom volunteers and takes care of that area.

The Argyle Sweater:  If you were/are a fan of 'The Far Side' cartoons, this is right up your alley.

UtahDealDiva:  an amazing resource for saving money, not just at the grocery store.  Plus, lately she has been posting recipes!

BalletWest :  I have never been a ballet dancer, but I have always appreciated what they are able to accomplish with music and movement.  BalletWest has really stepped up their game lately, and if you were lucky enough to go to Emeralds/Paquita/Petite Mort performance, you'll know what I'm talking about.

Zumba:  My latest exercise craze.  I attend a great place on 7th East that is very reasonable in price.  I'm possibly the whitest girl dancing Latin, but I have fun and always work up a sweat.

So, if you're bored on the web, try some of the sites
and if you call and I'm not home, chances are I'm out at one of the places above.

Enjoy.
Melissa

p.s.
I've figured out how to link to websites, so if you click on the highlighted areas, you'll be taken to the websites.

Traveling to Africa and losing sleep....

I traveled to Africa last week....
no not on an airplane, but thru the words of a book.

I went to Rwanda right as the genocide was about to erupt in 1994.  A few pages was all it took for me to get transported to another time and country.  A few hundred more changed me and gave me a greater understanding of the world around me.  How you may ask, a book by the name of  'Running the Rift' by Naomi Benaron.

All I had to do was give up a little sleep.  I read a lot.  I mean A LOT.  My yearly book totals are always over one hundred.  The problem, I generally give up sleep to read them.  I read to settle my mind before I go to bed, but if a book hooks me, I am unable to put it down until I know the whole story.

When I am stressed, I read.
When I am happy, I read.
When I am busy, I read.
When I am relaxed, I read.

The only thing that changes are the genres that I read.  When I'm stressed, I read what I affectionately call 'slut books', you know the ones...  You can figure out the couple in the first 5 pages and know at the end of the book, they will live happily every after.  Life solved in under 300 pages.  Don't you wish it was like that in real life?  Problems solved in a couple of hours.  When I'm busy, I tend to read authors I've read before, due to the fact that I know their style and what I'm in for.  The rest of the time, I'll tackle new authors, biographies and non fiction.  The thing to remember, I always have a book to read.

2011 was somewhat of a disappointment in books for me.  I only had a couple of books that I HAD to tell people about. 

'The Night Circus' by Erin Morgenstern
'Violets of March' by Sarah Jio  (a first time author, which makes it all the more amazing, because this book is PERFECT)


2012 has been a different story.  I have already found books, that I will reread again and again.  So, I thought I would pass them on to you with a brief summary.

'Sarah's Key' by Tatiana de Rosnay:  A heartbreaking tale that starts in Paris in World War II.  It gives a haunting tale of a young Jewish girl that went thru a part of history that I never knew about.

'Last Letter from your Lover' by JoJo Moyes:  An unexpected love story and will leave you with your jaw dropped at the end.

'A Summer in Europe' by Marilyn Brandt:  A story of finding yourself again or for the first time, plus you travel all over Europe in it.

This post is running a little long, so I think I'll stop here and periodically do this again.  Talk about books.  My inner librarian seemed to enjoy it.

Melissa

Blog Block...

For the past couple of weeks, I have had several ideas for posts, but I have yet to put them on the blog.  Why?  I have no idea......

So, it's now the last day of February, a bonus day to boot, and I have not one post for the month.  oops.

The moment I open up a new post,  the ideas that have been forming in my mind leave.  I've got blog block.  It's frustrating...

Here's hoping March is better.

Melissa

Bring it on....

Ok, 2012....
Let's see what you've got!

I say this because in the 2 weeks of 2012,  I've been challenged in my New Year's Resolutions. 

Normally, I do not share my resolutions with everyone, but this year I am putting them, or most of them, out there.  There is one that is on a emotional level and it's how I deal with certain events in my life, and it does not need to be put out there, because it effects others.

So, here are my 2012 New Year's Resolutions....

1.  Run a 5k.  (if my knees are ok)
2.  Take singing lessons
3.  Take 10 minutes off my 1 mile swim time
4.  Get up earlier on my days off and on the weekends

Why did I choose these resolutions?  To stay the course on my healthy path I've set in the past year and for #2 to do something that scares me to death. 

So, how does the universe take to my Resolutions?  EARLY EARLY morning wakeup calls (5 times already this year); invitations to running magazines; emails about 5ks; and in cleaning out my closet, I found my favorite pair of swim goggles.  Bring it on, universe.  I'm ready.

The challenges, however, have not been bad.  Support has come in unexpected and welcome ways.  Facebook has provided accountability in achieving my running goal and then turns around and gives me cheers and support.

I do have a question or a plea for help...  Does anyone know of a vocal coach for the singing impaired?  In the Salt Lake area?  I've been looking and most of the ones I've found are for aspiring stars.

I promise to keep you updated and aware of my progress and yes, pitfalls of my resolutions.

Melissa