Run like a dog

Had the BEST run this week. It’s amazing what you can learn from dogs.
I finally met up with my friend Nancy, Keith's boss' wife, whom I have been meaning to run with for some time. I went to her house and was greeted by three huge dogs that were hungry.... for running! Hands down, they were the sweetest, best behaved dogs I have ever had the pleasure of running with. Actually, they are the only dogs I have ever run with, but that’s beside the point. They knew the path by heart and were a fun distraction from the boring-ness sometimes associated with running.
We ran through their neighborhood, saying hello to everyone we met - I swear Nancy is the most social person I have ever met and she really knew everyone we ran by. We headed down a bike / ped path with cars honking at us… I was psyched because as they honked I thought ‘damn, I must have great running form’ or ‘Wow, I must look hot while I run,’ when in reality, it was all Nancy’s friends. She is easily recognizable with her canine body guards leading the way.
The dogs made me realize how much I love running for the simplicity of it. I usually run by myself, check my pace every mile and fret over the end speed or lack there of. I tend to be a little ‘structured’ and ‘geeky’ when it comes to things like this. Dogs run for no real reason, other than to feel the wind in their hair and hopefully get a treat when it’s over. They don’t worry about time, form or their stats – they just run. It’s just for the pure pleasure of the experience.
It was awesome to have someone new to talk with and I didn't check my watch, not even once. I couldn't believe it when she said we had just completed a 5 miler! What a nice feeling to just enjoy myself in the company of friends.

An ode to h.Lo

What can I say?!?! h.Lo ROCKS!
ok, so my blog wouldn't be possible with out giving credit where credit is due (starting with this picture I stole from her web page *sorry*!!). Heather is the creative genius behind my blog. With my limited HTML knowledge I gained while at Purdue, I had to turn to Heather. Not only did she pressure me into being a blogger in the first place, but she finally gave in to my begging, pleading and crying and agreed to rework the color scheme and layout of the blog so it fit "me" more. I know you all are shocked by the purple, but I am trying to expand my horizons here! She did a fine job, didn't she?!?!! So, now its my turn to live up to all the hard work that she did from Seattle to make this blog the best ever. Check out her blog, listed on the right sidebar of my page. I will be blogging about running, life in general, blah, blah, blah. I hope you all enjoy it and check back often. She is a Genius.....

Am I up??

Am I really up and running online?! Wow.