Root to Rise (reprinted)

Kristin Armstrong writes for Runner's World and while I haven't had a lot of time to read my favorite mags lately, this article struck me. It's not really about running, but life. And since RW online doesn't let me share to blogger, I'm copying and pasting ('cause that's what I do).

Root to Rise
08/31/2010 5:02 PM
Today was a double sweat day. I ran early this morning, which created tension (in my body, not my mind – especially after mile repeats yesterday, whew) and I went to yoga this afternoon, to release tension. I think I am now so accustomed to sweating that my body goes from matte to full-on-open-pore- drainage in less than five minutes.

I stood on my mat, stretched out in triangle pose, with sweat pouring down my arm and plopping onto my towel; the teacher asked us to turn, firmly plant our hands and kick one leg up. "Push against the floor, use it to ground yourself. Remember you have to root to rise." With that single sentence, my zen concentration went out the window and I started obsessing over her words. I breathed and worked my way through all the poses, gladly flopping onto my soggy towel at the end of class for a blissful savasana. I wanted to be still and ponder the idea of rooting to rise.

Rooting to rise is a visual, physical concept in yoga, when what you are trying to do requires strength or balance. You literally have to push against the floor and channel your core strength in order to extend through the pose (and, if you are me, hold it without toppling over). You can see and feel your response to the applied energy of rooting your body. But rooting to rise is a viable lesson even in less visible scenarios.

It applies to marathon training, painstakingly building a deep base in order to have something to draw upon when the time comes to rise to the occasion of race day. With our longest run coming up this weekend (22 miles), I have already started to go there in my mind, preparing myself by collecting energy and harnessing positive thoughts. I subconsciously do this when I have something challenging on the horizon, making sure I am firmly rooted for the test ahead. I am not one to reach high for something without doing the work to ensure my feet are balanced firmly beneath me. I believe in the notion that the best fun is the kind you earn.

Rooting to rise pertains to my mothering, digging deep and trying to enrich the soil that nourishes my children. It's my job to root them; their job to rise. Only deep roots will enable them to survive the seasons of life ahead. It would be so easy to get caught up in the shuffle of school and activities, thinking I'm doing it right without stopping to consider if I'm doing the right things. My goal is to shepherd these children into adulthood, not just to school and sports. If I am not consciously rooting myself, my actions and choices will not stem from a place of intent.

It relates to friendship, and the investments made in the roots of my relationships. Relationships that are fruitful, or offer a canopy of shade, are the ones that have been deeply rooted and well tended. When crisis hits, the relationships that rise to surround you are the ones you have poured your heart into during ordinary times.

The time to root is today. Whether it means a strong and steady yoga pose, a hard tempo run, dinner alone with your spouse, reading a story with your child, signing up for that class you have always wanted to take, or making time for a friend, the way to root is to stretch, to go deeper, to invest your heart.

Crazy busy

It has been insane in the Moe household. Between work, running/training, more work, canning and trying to maintain a relationship, things have been crazy. I'm looking forward to October when the marathon is over, at least that will curb a bit of the training (though MS and I have talked about going to the Navy Ball next year so we can curb the training completely ... we both have a few pounds to lose before that).

I hoping my life will calm down eventually. Is that just a pipe dream?

Salsa and weekend

So last week we made and canned salsa with MS's aunt and uncle. I was really skeptical about how it would turn out, but we tried it last night and it wasn't too bad. It had a little more cayenne pepper than I would have liked, but luckily I have a lot more tomatoes so I can try another type.

It has been a really nice weekend. Saturday, MS and I went for a long bike ride/run (respectively). After vegging and recuperating, we went into town and did a little shopping. We priced out deep freezes for the house. The freezer upstairs has been packed full of ice packs and food and as sales come around MS always wants to "stock up". So I convinced him if we're going to keep stock piling we need a bigger freezer.

Sunday, after a mini workout, MS went to work and I went to church, did some laundry, then canned minestrone soup. I keep seeing these commercials for Stouffer's stuffed melt and soup with tomato bisque so I'm thinking I might need to find a recipe for that and can that next. :)

Yesterday, MS and I went for a bike/run again (this is where he bikes and I run). We went 4.5 and I'm realizing just how out of shape I am. I'll get there, but boy I'm starting late. Then we ventured into town again before the storm hit and bought the deep freeze, carried it downstairs and set it up.

All in all, it's been a great weekend. I still have today off but I'm going to go into work for awhile and try to get some things accomplished for the week. It'll be a busy one again, culminating with my fitness test on Friday which seems to be a fail unless I get really lucky that morning and a half marathon on Sunday. Prayers are welcome! :)

Canning, Running, and Recipes

So I know I haven't written in a long while. I have had things going on, but I haven't had a chance to blog. For one, I have been really busy - good busy, but still busy. And for two, and the bigger reason, my computer has been messed up royally.

A few weeks back i was heading on a trip and so I had the comm nazi's at work clean up my personal computer and load a couple programs I needed for work. That was all well and good and Kenny G did a great job. But he also removed one of my paid-for AntiVirus programs and loaded a free one we use at work. Fine and good. It worked for a week...then i got a virus. Then it disappeared by the time I got my computer home for him to check on...then it came back but worse. So he fixed it. At least I thought he had, but it took a couple reboots for it to actually take.

Now I'm up and running again, literally and figuratively.

After my last post MS and I spent some time catching up since I had been gone for so long. Then I went to the Guthrie to see "The Scottsboro Boys" which is by far one of the best musicals I have seen in a long time. And the bonus is that after it leaves the Guthrie it's heading to Broadway! So I've seen it before Broadway snobs! YAY!

Last Monday, MS and I went to his aunt and uncle's for a lesson in canning. We made salsa and had a great time. We finished earlier than we thought we would and so Dianne and I made a couple apple pies too. I made the crust from scratch, natch, and she peeled the apples. Basically I made it though and it turned out really well. It was nice to know that I could do that from memory.

Then a busy busy week was upon me. Trainings, catch-up from being gone, budget woes, meetings, planning, etc. It was busy but great. I attempted salsa on my own one night while MS was away and that was a pain...I highly recommend doing that with friends. It took forever and the recipe I used (different from the Monday one) only yielded 3 pints. Blech. Oh well.

On top of all of that I realized that I am 5 weeks from a marathon and 2 from a half, so I got back in my running groove. I started up at the right time of year - no humidity and great temps. I got in 20 miles last week (7.5 yesterday) and took today off to give my knees a break. It starts back up tomorrow.

I really need to drop 10 pounds in the next 4 weeks so i'll be at last year's running weight. I'd be happy with 7, but 10 would be awesome.

Today I canned minestrone soup. Not sure if that was a smart thing, but it seemed to work. We'll have to try it in a week or so and see how if it still tastes as good as it smelled when I was making it.

Which leads me to my big question - what do all my cooking friends out there do for recipe gathering and storing and filing? I have a ton - books, internet print-outs, magazines, calendars, etc - and I'm looking for a good way to file them. I thought about setting up a blog and tagging them so I could access them anywhere, and I might still do that with a big disclaimer that these aren't mine but just reprinted and probably without permission. But looking for other methods too. Any ideas?