Stop Complaining Count Your Blessings!

As I sit in my favorite chair, sipping my hot fresh coffee, staying comfortable and warm, I am haunted by how truely blessed I am as I watch coverage on Haiti. Those poor people. The faces of the hurt, the scared and those that are brave. The total devestation. The hugeness of it all is enough to shake one's soul. I hope that the Haitians can stay calm and strong and recover, eventually.

When something like this happens it really puts your life in perspective. Why do we need these wake up calls to remind us how fortunate we really are. Why do we complain about petty, petty things? All the Haitians want right know is food and water, to survive. I have plenty of it and wish I could share it. I am so lucky. I can get in my car, go to the grocery store and load up. How fortunate am I? It is sad to have so much yet see others with so little. Who cares about Jay Leno and Conan when you see the suffering, the needing, the crying, the faces of, "how will I survive." You know, life is simple. All we really need is, food, water, a way to pay the bills and love. Stop complaining, you've got it made.

My run yesterday was supposed to be an 8+ mile slower recovery type run. As I meandered the streets of Chicago it became clear that I am running faster with less effort. I monitored my pace using the Garmin. It was hard to run, my "old" slow. My previous Chicago Marathon pace is becomming my new easy aerobic pace with my heart rate staying low. I think I have entered another new running dimension. I remember when I first broke into the 7:59 mi pace. It was an achievement. Now I have a hard time staying out of that time zone.

As I was running and monitoring my pace I started to think about my Boston Marathon pace. My minimum goal time for Boston is 3:30. I feel I have an excellent opportunity to achieve this goal. If I were to average 8:00 mi pace I would finish in 3:29:45. This would get me into NYC Marathon. But, for some reason I started narrowing in on 7:50 pace for Boston. Only time will tell.

After I ran, I made myself a peanut butter and Jelly sandwich and tall glass of chocolate milk. I have had one of these every day for as long as I can remember. Then, after a while, I jumped on my bike in the basement and pedaled 10 miles as I watched coverage on Haiti. I pedaled like I wanted to get there, to help.

Split Time Distance Elevation Gain Elevation Loss Avg Speed Max Speed Avg HR Max HR Calories
1 0:09:09 1 279 480 9:09 7:15 114 124 81
2 0:08:17 1 541 470 8:17 5:34 122 136 77
3 0:08:13 1 362 422 8:13 4:19 132 149 76
4 0:08:14 1 122 175 8:14 5:10 131 144 78
5 0:08:00 1 541 573 8:00 3:30 134 141 84
6 0:08:33 1 271 315 8:33 6:42 134 138 85
7 0:08:36 1 309 245 8:36 7:13 131 136 77
8 0:08:32 1 194 254 8:32 6:38 137 144 87
9 0:01:50 0.21 41 9 8:43 7:55 134 137 17
Summary 1:09:28 8.21 2,660 2,945 8:27 3:30 129 149 662





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" Beyond the very extreme of fatigue and distress, we may find amounts of ease and power we never dreamed ourselves to own, sources of strength never taxed at all because we never push through the obstruction."