tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6744011635573251782024-02-08T05:12:18.439-08:00Heartland's HarrierAn Iowan's reflections on running, life, and service.Elizabethhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02029083472297452208noreply@blogger.comBlogger51125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-674401163557325178.post-54552749619061495532016-10-29T11:35:00.002-07:002016-10-29T12:34:45.861-07:00It Takes A Village, and an Open HeartThe Cat Community of Caring is Growing!<br />
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I am absolutely thrilled to write this brief post towards the end of kitten season 2016. It has been a busy season-- lots of strays and fosters, and quite a few TNR. All the foster have found homes, colony cats are neutered! Most gratifying to me has been how many people have come together to help.<br />
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Neighbors sought traps to help TNR in their own neighborhoods (Sarah and Zak, Karin), and friends have called, knowing Steve and I will take care of strays found in lots or wandering around, like the Hy-Vee kitten and Community Bank and Trust kitten. And of course, it is wonderful to continue to get to know the passionate individuals who care for colonies. Over these two years, I've built friendships that I would not have otherwise! Thank you to all!!<br />
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The progress in two years is amazing and gives me hope. In this crazy year of uncertainty and viciousness, these small acts of love and care, accomplished together, show that together we ALL make a positive, if small, impact in
the world.<br />
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The Stats:<br />
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<u>TNR and kitten placement since 2015:</u><br />
5 TNR from North Cedar Trailer Park, May 2015<br />
19 from 20th Street in May, 2015 (11 TNR + 5 and 3 kittens placed into homes)<br />
9 from College and 24th St in Summer-Fall 2015 (5 TNR + 4 kittens placed--Cooper, Cherry, Jax and Bella)<br />
<u>2016</u> <br />
6 from College and 24th St August, 2016 (4 TNR + 2 kittens placed-- Ruben and Pumpkin)<br />
1 Kitten from Hy-Vee lot placed (Widget)<br />
1 Stray from 2nd and Clay placed (Destiny, now Rosie)<br />
5 from College and 5th, August-September 2016 (1 TNR + placing 4 kittens--thanks Sarah and Zak!)<br />
3 kittens from 24th and College placed,September, 2016 (Oreo, Cookie, Harper) <br />
1 kitten from Community Bank & Trust October, 2016 placed (name TBD!)<br />
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TOTAL in two years: <b>50</b> cats spayed/neutered or socialized, vetted, and placed into homes! That's <b>50 cats that aren't making more litters! </b><br />
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For earlier stats on fostering and TNR see my post from June, 2015 <a href="http://heartlandsharrier.blogspot.com/2015_06_01_archive.html" target="_blank">"Until There are Wait Lists for Kittens"</a><br />
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I wish I could say such positive things about my running. That aspect of my life has definitely slowed. I ran two half-marathons this October (best time: 2:00:08...my PR is 1:43) but because of the difficult spring and fall (personally, politically), priorities necessarily shifted. That makes these kinds of community actions even more meaninful.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-PDjNzbziplU/WBTuswSjRoI/AAAAAAAAA4E/XfvjbzgDcvcRdEU_G9vYbJHfvapx6kw8wCLcB/s1600/CommBankTrustOct27.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-PDjNzbziplU/WBTuswSjRoI/AAAAAAAAA4E/XfvjbzgDcvcRdEU_G9vYbJHfvapx6kw8wCLcB/s200/CommBankTrustOct27.jpg" width="150" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Kitten found under the engine of a maintenance truck at Community Bank! </td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-idJhsOKOpXk/WBT5njWt1WI/AAAAAAAAA4c/R5FULOJ4wF0XN-1yuhpNgSrkjvrDfTRoACLcB/s1600/HarperandCooperOct21_2016.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-idJhsOKOpXk/WBT5njWt1WI/AAAAAAAAA4c/R5FULOJ4wF0XN-1yuhpNgSrkjvrDfTRoACLcB/s320/HarperandCooperOct21_2016.jpg" width="180" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">half sibs Harper (adopted 2016!) and Cooper (adopted 2015!)</td></tr>
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Hy-Vee kitten and Miss B (now Widget and Pumpkin) got a furr-ever home in Lincoln, NE. <br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-Bk_GsgT1hxM/WBTnnN73HMI/AAAAAAAAA3Y/ltakTt2NqvgIfxuVvZNwO9ei5tL2Y9PDgCEw/s1600/IMG_0810.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-Bk_GsgT1hxM/WBTnnN73HMI/AAAAAAAAA3Y/ltakTt2NqvgIfxuVvZNwO9ei5tL2Y9PDgCEw/s200/IMG_0810.JPG" width="112" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Babs now Pumpkin, with her caregiver</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-MNh87ySHDHs/WBTnxlyDg7I/AAAAAAAAA3c/1dusRV9Jtz8UOvIZjghaYxUb21sDvVURwCLcB/s1600/Widget%2B%25282%2529.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-MNh87ySHDHs/WBTnxlyDg7I/AAAAAAAAA3c/1dusRV9Jtz8UOvIZjghaYxUb21sDvVURwCLcB/s200/Widget%2B%25282%2529.JPG" width="112" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Hy-Vee now Widget, with her caregiver</td></tr>
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Sam is now Ruben, and with "best buddy" Boss. <br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-k_vMhq9mNQs/WBTrv81svkI/AAAAAAAAA3w/IHTDu57Vw8QeobIIvr8VxvkMApylGcdMgCEw/s1600/Spencer%2Band%2BLittleManakaRuben.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="112" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-k_vMhq9mNQs/WBTrv81svkI/AAAAAAAAA3w/IHTDu57Vw8QeobIIvr8VxvkMApylGcdMgCEw/s200/Spencer%2Band%2BLittleManakaRuben.JPG" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Ruben and his caregiver</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-YVA9LuzhUeE/WBTm5Agcj3I/AAAAAAAAA3M/XcvWrnEfKq40y2Dp1X7rmEGrLfoTWQiqwCLcB/s1600/HyVeeakaWidget%2Band%2BBabsakaPumpkin.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="112" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-YVA9LuzhUeE/WBTm5Agcj3I/AAAAAAAAA3M/XcvWrnEfKq40y2Dp1X7rmEGrLfoTWQiqwCLcB/s200/HyVeeakaWidget%2Band%2BBabsakaPumpkin.JPG" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Boss and former foster Ruben!</td></tr>
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Little Dude who came to me dirty with oil from staying warm under the engine of a maintenance truck at Community Bank and Trust is adopted...name TBA!<br />
<br />Elizabethhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02029083472297452208noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-674401163557325178.post-91177859537277228542016-08-07T14:47:00.000-07:002016-10-29T10:50:26.476-07:00Open to Other Ways of Being (or: You Can't Coerce a Cat)<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-rcN5z2vCptQ/V6eer4oDswI/AAAAAAAAA0k/p7olx7T9s_ovCUQA1pAje2AgyuiB0Dt3gCLcB/s1600/August2016_fosterbabies.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-rcN5z2vCptQ/V6eer4oDswI/AAAAAAAAA0k/p7olx7T9s_ovCUQA1pAje2AgyuiB0Dt3gCLcB/s320/August2016_fosterbabies.jpg" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Babs and Sam August 5, 2016--Now Pumpkin and Ruben</td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td></tr>
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Babs, the tuxedo kitty above, ran away yesterday. I'll say more about her story in moment. In some ways, it parallels my own.<br />
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It has been eight months since I last wrote in this blog. Over those many weeks, I continued doing what I do: running, working at the university, and trying to help animals and my students as best I am able. However, I also almost broke down. Not because of the things that sustain me, and give back: family, animals, teaching--but rather, because I had spread myself too thin in other areas of my life, namely, work. I allowed other people to get under my skin. I had become anxious, unhappy, my self-esteem dropped. This is somewhat normal for me during the winter months in Iowa--I need vitamin D and sunshine!--but the real issue was my own ego. I took on too much, thinking it was for others. But really, it was for me, for the idea I had of myself as able--and perhaps, more able than others--to fix things, to solve all the problems. I was the "yes" woman. And then I got angry and frustrated when I realized the time and energy I put into these things may not actually yield anything significant, and certainly did not gain me the ego rub I unconsciously sought. Pride is a sin for sure.<br />
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It is also a sin in this patriarchial society to be an opinionated woman. I might have gained some respect for the energy and work done, but I was still a woman. Tenured, with two books, many articles, and a third book contract, but I still couldn't speak for myself without getting snide emails from colleagues. I still couldn't love openly and give freely to my students because to do so would be viewed with cynicism. Sadly, <b>I </b>was becoming cynical. I got prickly in everyday interactions, anticipating what others would want from me. But the problem was that I sought approval from the outside--approval that 1) doesn't matter, because it only stokes pride 2) that I will never be able to gain.<br />
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So when I ran away to Utah at the end of the school year in May (or rather, went to Utah on a planned research/vacation trip), I needed that time alone to assess what mattered, where I was safe, where I could be healthy.<br />
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Babs did the same thing yesterday. She ran away. We caught Babs in a trap a week ago. She had an injury (from another animal? A piece of wire? Who knows?) under her lip that needed attention. She had fleas and worms. We trapped Babs along with four of her cousins. One of them, little Sam, above, will be adopted out. The others were spayed and neutered (thanks to the TNR services of <a href="https://www.cedarbendhumane.org/" target="_blank">Cedar Bend Humane Society</a>) and returned to the colony on College Street.<br />
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Babs and Sam were playing in the garage, outside of the large cage in which they are safe at night. I opened the garage door without paying attention, and Babs bolted. I should have known better; she had spent the morning meowing by the window, clearly wanting to get outside. I did not listen. I did not pay close attention.<br />
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Steve and I spent hours trying to find her. She first ran under our deck; then she ran through the yard into our neighbor's shrubs. I set another trap. I opened tuna. Every now and again, we would hear two or three loud meows--the same meows she had called out from the window. I think she was calling her family.<br />
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By 10:30 p.m., still no Babs, though we knew she was nearby. I went to bed hoping that she would get hungry and enter the trap, or that she would seek shelter again in the garage. I purposefully left the door cracked, just in case.<br />
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At 3 a.m., I heard Thea bark, and what I thought was the garage door being shut. I got up and went outside to check on the kitties. I saw the door was more open than I had left it, and when I switched on the light, I was thrilled to see Babs resting on top of her cage. I was so glad. She knew where she was safe. She knew where she would get food. She knew.<br />
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We had wanted to desperately to catch her-- we intuited from her behavior that she would prefer being free, but we also want to have her spayed once she is big enough. What we didn't anticipate was letting Babs work out for herself what she needed. Babs ran because she wanted out. But once out, she realized she still needed some help. She was smart enough to come back. Animals are smart. Kids are smart (my students often show me how sophisticated, empathetic, and thoughtful they can be). Often, in our pride, in our egotism and self-centeredness, we do not open ourselves to hearing and respecting that these beings can make choices, that they, indeed, <i>do make choices. </i>They respond to us, as we care for them.<br />
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We will help Babs, as we try to discern that that is what she wants. We will feed her and get her healthy. And when she is spayed, we will let her be free, back with her family in the colony. I hope that is what she wants. If she starts warming up to us, that plan may change. But we are open to listening to her. You can't coerce a cat. You can't coerce anybody, really. Each of us would run if we were to feel cornered or coerced.<br />
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I feel joy every time I release a cat back to his/her home. I also feel joy every time we adopt a kitten into a good home. Each being will be--and what we must do is try to listen to each unique way he or she <i>is. </i><br />
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I have never been good with authority. I have never liked being told what to do. But I have always wanted to help others. I had to run away to come back to myself. I had to be with nature, feel the openness of the world, the blue of the sky, the orange of the canyons, see the audacity of desert flowers and be with my twin, art, and animals to return to <i>me.</i> Nothing we do should be for pride, for our ego. If I check my ego at the door, I know what I should do. And when I check my ego at the door, I know what I don't need to do. <br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-JTZGq-O8SgQ/V6enigMtQyI/AAAAAAAAA04/Cckva3ZyFh8kZ0WUJSeLdY1wuKcMbVVLACLcB/s1600/IMG_0575.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-JTZGq-O8SgQ/V6enigMtQyI/AAAAAAAAA04/Cckva3ZyFh8kZ0WUJSeLdY1wuKcMbVVLACLcB/s320/IMG_0575.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Horseshoe Canyon, Canyonlands National Park, May 2016</td></tr>
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<br />Elizabethhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02029083472297452208noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-674401163557325178.post-77948097604489808282015-11-22T10:18:00.001-08:002015-11-22T10:32:23.338-08:00Blerch Kittens<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-mSvq713cBcM/VlICZIrhORI/AAAAAAAAAus/aZcP4wBq0_U/s1600/BeatBlerchNov14_2015.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-mSvq713cBcM/VlICZIrhORI/AAAAAAAAAus/aZcP4wBq0_U/s320/BeatBlerchNov14_2015.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">At the Beat the Blerch 1/2 Marathon start, Nov. 14, 2015</td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td></tr>
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One of my favorite comics is The Oatmeal (see for example <a href="http://theoatmeal.com/comics/running2" target="_blank">"the terrible and wonderful reasons why I run long distances"</a>), and my brother and I made a commitment to run his Beat the Blerch race in Sacramento. Although I had signed up initially for the marathon, after Twin Cities and my ongoing fasciitis/tendonitis, I switched to the half marathon. This was a wise move for my body, and it allowed us all to run together for the first five miles and enjoy each others' company and catch up. This social aspect is part of why I enjoy running. It's as important to me as the individual goals and meditative components that are also so beneficial for my mental health (I have a sticker on my bedroom mirror that reads: "Everyday is a good day when you run." True!)</div>
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We love
California, and the weather there was perfect. I enjoyed the half,
although it was difficult to work through the pain. But once I did
(around mile 8), I found a good pace, knowing I'd finish, and finish
strong. It certainly wasn't a PR--those middle miles were too cautious
and painful--but I was fine with my performance, given the shape I'm in
these days. As I wrote in the prior post, I've been stressed and
anxious, and that always takes its toll on quality running. Time with family and old friends--including my Aunt, my sweet 18-month-old nephew, and a good friend from college-- also helped lesson anxiety sourced in work and all the things around the house that when at home, seem so important, and when away, seem so <i>un</i>important. </div>
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Of course, after our return, we commenced a busy work week. But adding to the balance and richness of work was the service I enjoy: this included my appointment to the Cedar Bend Humane Society Board of Directors, and even better, the adoption of ALL FIVE of the kittens from the litter being fostered by our neighbor. Below are photos of one of the five, now happily relaxing and buddying up in his new furr-ever home!</div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-86x4Y-s21bQ/VlICIkA5_OI/AAAAAAAAAuk/uMUbirOSMYs/s1600/Cooper_nov.20_2015.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-86x4Y-s21bQ/VlICIkA5_OI/AAAAAAAAAuk/uMUbirOSMYs/s320/Cooper_nov.20_2015.jpg" width="180" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Scruffy, now Cooper, Nov. 20, 2015</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-u1UwYLW_Kug/VlICHmFBksI/AAAAAAAAAuc/TmNZq0Ba_l8/s1600/Cooper_MilesNov17_2015.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-u1UwYLW_Kug/VlICHmFBksI/AAAAAAAAAuc/TmNZq0Ba_l8/s320/Cooper_MilesNov17_2015.jpg" width="180" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Cooper and Miles, Nov. 17, 2015</td></tr>
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It snowed Friday--the day the last of the litter were adopted-- and now
it seems the holidays and the stress they induce are upon us. I will try
to <i>not </i>be stressed this year; to enjoy family, friends, and
outdoor time. I read that depression is living in the past and anxiety
is worrying about the future. I will remember this! And rather than
worry, I will mindfully enjoy the present. I ran 3 times this past week, with very little pain. One of those days was in the snow, loving the quiet, the smell of the cool air, the effort of running on slippery and uneven surfaces. I am also mindfully enjoying my current obsession with all warm
things--not only kittens, but especially hot sauce (I am in love with Sriracha! The Oatmeal is
too: <a href="http://theoatmeal.com/comics/sriracha" target="_blank">"Dear Rooster Sauce"</a>), and smart wool socks!Elizabethhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02029083472297452208noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-674401163557325178.post-88941380860092036822015-11-07T12:36:00.002-08:002015-11-07T12:59:24.143-08:00The Existential Rescuer: Regrets, Chance, HopeI've been waking in the wee hours of the morning somewhat frequently lately, anxious and worrying about things over which I have no control. The specifics are about animals, past and present, whose welfare I care very much about, but the broader issues of not knowing whether the decision one makes or made is or was the right one weighs on every human soul.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-OGMwBYvD7QQ/Vj5aAgg7OwI/AAAAAAAAAt0/RivUNemZMaI/s1600/BabiesNov5_2015.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-OGMwBYvD7QQ/Vj5aAgg7OwI/AAAAAAAAAt0/RivUNemZMaI/s320/BabiesNov5_2015.jpg" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">5 kittens, November 4, 2015</td></tr>
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At present, 5 wee babies are being fostered by the very same neighbor with whom I TNR'd 5 ferals earlier this fall. The babies' mama apparently was hit by a car. They're about 4 weeks old, and doing great. Of course, I worry about finding them homes, and I worry about them receiving the best care.<br />
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These babies won't go to the local shelter, because I know now just how chancy kittens' lives are, even at shelters (unless they are clearly no-kill shelters). Don't get me wrong--CBHS is doing all it can to help as many animals as it can--but there are so many and when they're full, that's it! They look for foster parents, but sometimes it's not enough. This is why, in the crazy hours of the morning, I start thinking about the foster babies from CBHS we had that we brought back to the shelter about a week before they were fully weaned when a few of them had contracted the ringworm fungus. Although I was told that they would receive medical care and later, that they were adopted, I always wonder... was the ringworm bath just too much for the understaffed shelter? Was there room for them at the intake building? DID the babies end up getting adopted? We had to bring them back to receive the medical attention they needed, but I will always beat myself up about it. While perhaps not a mistake, the chanciness of their lives was then in my hands...and I will never know their fates.<br />
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I also once advised a former student to call Animal Control to pick up a stray kitten she had found. I now regret having advised that, because municipal and sheltering resources just aren't there, and too many of the animals picked up never make it out. I don't know if the kitten found a home, or if the kitten would have been euthanized. Neither my former student nor I at the time had the resources or space to foster, and for her, calling Animal Control was the best option. It was an act partaken of need and taken with hope--hope that the local animal services <i>could </i>help, and with the animal's welfare as a priority. I look back though, and regret that I didn't try harder to get in touch with a no-kill foster only organization like Waverly Pet Rescue...but there too, I would have served as foster mom by default, which at the time, I couldn't do well.<br />
<br />
Another regret I have is one where again, the chanciness of the situation will always make me wonder and worry. I was in Greensboro, North Carolina for a conference in 2013. On an early morning run, I was chased (playfully) by a pit bull puppy, probably about 8 months to a year old. He was a sweet thing, and he followed me to a nearby fire station, where the kind firefighters used a rope to tie a lead on him, and called Animal Control. Only then did they say that there was a breed ban in Greensboro on pits, and at the shelter he would probably be put down, unless a breed rescue stepped in. I then begged the gentlemen to keep him--obviously, I couldn't! After returning to the hotel and conference, I called and left numerous messages for the local pit bull rescue organization--but never heard back. I only hope that the rescue got my messages and stepped in...but I also assume they are probably so overwhelmed, that it was unlikely.<br />
<br />
These regrets are borne of not knowing--first, of not knowing that calling the local animal shelter or Animal Control is not always in the best interest of an animal. Shelters and Animal Control are fine if it's a stray who probably has an owner, like a dog or cat that has escaped a yard, but for kittens and truly stray/homeless cats, it can be a 50/50 chance for finding a home or meeting the needle. I didn't know that well-- the realities of overcrowding and understaffing and lack of resources was not clear to me then. My experiences volunteering and learning from others has given me a broader view. And this is why I foster as much as I can and why TNR is such an important program--it keeps cats out of shelters, hopefully making more space for whatever strays <i>do </i>come in, from people like I used to be, who weren't yet educated or empowered to save on their own.<br />
<br />
The other piece of not knowing is the not knowing about the fates of so many of these animals with whom I have come into contact. My prior ignorance put some of them in chancy situations. I like to think if I had more control, their fates could have been known, and good. Even still, Steve and I waffle back and forth on making a decision about our current foster, Mona. 5 cats in our house is too many, and Gracie beats up on her. But would she be happier somewhere else? We can't <i>know </i>that she would be, and we can't hand pick a new home for her. I know too, that even if we did hand pick that home, life happens. There have been a lot of animals that I know <i>have </i>had amazing fates--or at least, I know that for the first few years of their lives, their outlook is good, and assuming the homes they ended up in stay secure (we all know something like Hurricane Katrina or a lost job could turn it all upside down...), all will be well.<br />
<br />
Ultimately, each of us has to act with knowledge and compassion, with the understanding that what is in our control we have responded to in morally and ethically consistent ways. Each of us can only act on the information we have and do the best we
can with it, at any given moment in time. And when we make a decision
and act, we HOPE that our decision will have positive outcomes, that our
information and reasoning was sufficient and good. Once a decision is made, we have to move on, to acknowledge we did the <i>very </i>best we could, and that the very nature of the dynamic world in which we live means that chance may always throw a wrench in, despite our good, moral, and ethical intentions and actions. Of course, knowledge also allows us to predict and act preventatively rather than as a reaction. As Rebecca Solnit has written: "Hope and history are sisters: one looks forward and one looks back, and they make the world spacious enough to move through freely." Truly, that freedom is what every existentialist thinker seeks.<br />
<br />
Foster! Adopt from a shelter! Never buy from a puppy mill or breeder! One day, there will be wait lists for kittens. Let's envision such a future. <br />
<br />
<br />Elizabethhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02029083472297452208noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-674401163557325178.post-89842746133056876962015-10-10T14:16:00.000-07:002015-10-11T09:36:58.597-07:00Disruption and Change: A PW and BLM at TCM<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Ti9mRT94qPw/Vhl2yTBoXTI/AAAAAAAAAsI/3vqg3MLCTOk/s1600/TCM3_2015.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Ti9mRT94qPw/Vhl2yTBoXTI/AAAAAAAAAsI/3vqg3MLCTOk/s1600/TCM3_2015.JPG" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Twin Cities Marathon, October 4, 2015</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
I ran Twin Cities Marathon for the 6th time last Sunday. My goal was to finish. As seems to have become a pattern every few years, I have injured myself. Notice the verb tense...I did it to myself, not a passive "I got injured." I need to take responsibility for running with pain and continuing to run with increasing pain. Ironically (or just bad luck?) the trail running goals that I set and blogged about in January seem to have exacerbated the pain by causing a lot of foot and ankle strain. In August, I did Mines of Spain 1/2 (more like 15.5 since I got turned around...) and since that early August day, my right foot has not been okay. I proceeded to get help from a physical therapist, as I had done in 2012-13, and I also asked for help from a chiropractor, for the first time. I honestly don't know what exactly is the root of the pain. Is it stress? Twisting and weakness and imbalance from trail running? A pinched nerve somewhere from some spinal misalignment? That's what the chiro thinks of course, especially since it's gone right/left/right in terms of foot injuries 2008/2012/2015.<br />
<br />
My injury isn't the point of this blog (if you want to read more about mentally overcoming the frustration of injury, see my blogs from <a href="http://heartlandsharrier.blogspot.com/2013/08/ups-and-downs-heres-to-2014.html" target="_blank">2013</a>). Suffice it to say that I finished the marathon and obtained my finisher tee-shirt (very important!). I also clocked my slowest time ever (PW! Personal Worst). But I am grateful! The point is to draw attention to the power of <b>DISRUPTION</b> and the importance of reflecting on the imbalance that causes the need for disruption. Disruption is a powerful form of resistance that can facilitate some healthy and necessary changes.<br />
<br />
On the micro scale, the disruption of injury forces one to change one's activities--or continue hurting oneself to the point of incapacity. I personally need to re-adjust and rest and let myself heal. I need to acknowledge and be witness to the disruption my body is signalling. If only we as a society would listen to our Body too. There are integral and important parts of this Social Body that are injured and sick and only the DISRUPTION of something like Black Lives Matter or Occupy--the disruption of populist social movements-- might prompt the changes necessary to heal it. <br />
<br />
In case, dear reader, you are unaware of the controversy that surrounded this year's TCM, the St. Paul chapter of Black Lives Matter (BLM) had announced plans for a disruption event at the marathon. This announcement caused quite a kerfuffle among the white-bourgeois-dominant running community who, perhaps, did not quite understand the inconvenience of a disrupted event is nothing compared to the "inconvenience" of systemic social inequality. The best essay I have found on the TCM BLM issue was written by the blogger at <b><a href="https://runvegan.wordpress.com/2015/09/30/justice-and-recreation-for-all/" target="_blank">Run Vegan,</a> </b>and I encourage you to read it in full.<br />
<br />
Disruption is a powerful force for reflection and change--even with seemingly insignificant changes (see for example, this <a href="http://well.blogs.nytimes.com/2015/09/24/at-my-yoga-class-sleepwalking-no-more/" target="_blank">NY Times blogger</a> on how changing the direction of his yoga practice disrupted his world). I want to change, but it is hard. I am in the <i>habit</i> of running a lot, almost everyday. But I <i>can </i>change. It will be easier with support of friends and family, and those who are willing to call me out if they see me doing something unhealthy, especially now that I have expressed my desire to change these habits. I have decided to take action. Similarly, changing the presumptions, privileges, and the blindness, deafness, and dumbness of dominant society and media to the rampant racism and inequality of our Social Body is hard. It will continue to be difficult because our Social Body is in the <i>habit</i> of inequality and of justifying it through all sorts of tautologies. But here too, disruptions, and subsequent support and reminders are, and will continue to be, necessary. We have created this imbalance in our Body, and we can heal it, together, through mindful action. Let's remind each other, daily--in class, in friendly gatherings, at the gas station--wherever we see inequality and racism in action, call it out. Support and love those who are already calling it out. With love and compassion, let us work together to heal our Social Body.<br />
<br />
From N. Scott Momaday:<br />
House made of dawn.<br /> House made of evening light.<br /> House made of the dark cloud.<br /> House made of male rain.<br /> House made of dark mist.<span class="text_exposed_show"><br /> House made of female rain.<br /> House made of pollen.<br /> House made of grasshoppers.<br /> Dark cloud is at the door.<br /> The trail out of it is dark cloud.<br /> The zigzag lightning stands high upon it.<br /> Male deity!<br /> Your offering I make.<br /> I have prepared a smoke for you.<br /> Restore my feet for me.<br /> Restore my legs for me.<br /> Restore my body for me.<br /> Restore my mind for me.<br /> This very day take out your spell for me.<br /> Your spell remove for me.<br /> You have taken it away for me.<br /> Far off it has gone.<br /> Happily I recover.<br /> Happily my interior becomes cool.<br /> Happily I go forth.<br /> My interior feeling cool, may I walk.<br /> No longer sore, may I walk.<br /> Impervious to pain, may I walk.<br /> With lively feeling may I walk.<br /> As it used to be long ago, may I walk.<br /> Happily may I walk.<br /> Happily, with abundant dark clouds, may I walk.<br /> Happily, with abundant showers, may I walk.<br /> Happily, with abundant plants, may I walk. <br /> Happily, on a trail of pollen, may I walk.<br /> Happily may I walk.<br /> Being as it used to be long ago, may I walk.<br /> May it be beautiful before me<br /> May it be beautiful behind me.<br /> May it be beautiful below me.<br /> May it be beautiful above me.<br /> With it be beautiful all around me.<br /> In beauty it is finished.</span> <br />
<br />
[Acronyms! PW= Personal Worst; PR= Personal Record; TCM= Twin Cities Marathon; BLM= Black Lives Matter; PF= Plantar Fasciitis]<br />
<br />
2008 TCM 4:41:29 (1st marathon; PF right foot)<br />
2010 TCM 3:53:27<br />
2011 San Francisco 4:00:24<br />
2011 TCM (PR!) 3:49:34<br />
2012 TCM 4:24:51 (PF left foot)<br />
2014 TCM 4:19:54<br />
2015 TCM (PW!) 4:47:08 (PF right foot)<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-x4b3ByVuDiA/Vhl26bW4O1I/AAAAAAAAAsQ/aDrXlbLZwmc/s1600/TCM1_2015.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-x4b3ByVuDiA/Vhl26bW4O1I/AAAAAAAAAsQ/aDrXlbLZwmc/s1600/TCM1_2015.JPG" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">BLM and 'Merica</td></tr>
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Elizabethhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02029083472297452208noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-674401163557325178.post-84442159227821719212015-08-19T19:12:00.000-07:002015-08-21T05:48:08.802-07:00How Was Your Summer?We're getting to that time of year....school starts on Monday, and everybody will be asking about each other's summers. Summer... those three months "off" for students and teachers. Of course, if one is a teacher or professor, one knows those three months are hardly a vacation! I relish summer of course, because I need the mental and emotional break and distance from all that teaching and being at University entails. Three months away from students, daily meetings, asinine emails, and the stuff that slowly wears one down is a wonderful and necessary span of time for mental, intellectual, and emotional refreshment. It's a time for re-establishing balance that so easily goes off-kilter during busy times, whether or not one is a student or teacher who follows the rhythms of semesters and academic calendars. <br />
<br />
So how was my summer? Pretty great! It has been refreshing emotionally and intellectually. It was a time for doing all the things that needed to be done--that always need to be done--but that summer allows to get done. Indeed, while I love teaching and I love the stimulation of being among colleagues at a University 9 months of the year, I am extremely selfish about my alone time. There is so much constantly going on, not just 8-5, but evening events, weekend trips etc. etc. that summer allows the pace to slow down, allows one to be, to live, to remember that constantly plugging away or answering that email freak-out, or whatever actually doesn't matter <i>that </i>much. Because there is time. There is time for thinking. Time for doing. Time for being. The long days and the self-prescribed schedule allow each of us to expand our breathing into the space that increased time allows. Ahhhhhhh<br />
<br />
I guess that's the point of a vacation...is it vacation, really?<br />
<br />
So how was my summer? What did I do? Even while it was relaxing, I still did a lot! In fact, what I do during the times I'm not on campus I find extraordinarily meaningful, and the experiences I have in my "free" time (is it free? I think it all relates to my being, purpose, and work...) refreshes me for my students and my thinking and writing. The experiences I have off-campus shape what I do and how I think and how I teach during the year. Like sabbaticals, summers give us what we need, if we are aspirational and ambitious enough to know what it is we need--or as a wise former Dean of my college, quoting Madeleine L'Engle, said "Inspiration usually comes during work, rather than before it." Professors and teachers work in the summer, but it is work of different kind. Yes, summer or sabbatical is self-structured, so that helps. Summer provides breathing space, thinking space, and the opportunities for unexpected experiences and concomitant interconnected ideas that we allow our minds to link together in the spaces and expanded time without strict schedule, routine, emails, meetings, and classes. That space and time is absolutely necessary for the best work--the <i>inspired </i>work--to happen.<br />
<br />
So what did I do this summer? Well, most importantly, I saved lives. Even though I want to say the highlight of my summer was the U2 concert in Chicago (ok, it really was!! Beer at a tap room and U2? Phenomenal!)<br />
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Really, lasting rewards are in the work with animals that also refreshes my scholarship. Not only did the school year end with the trapping of 11 cats and subsequent fostering in May and June of the remaining kittens (see June post), but we also are about to close the summer circle of cat care by trapping a few (hopefully 4-6) more black cats living feral on College Street for TNR. We are also fostering a darling 12 week kitten, Mona, who is available for adoption through <a href="http://awos.petfinder.com/shelters/IA143.html" target="_blank">Waverly Pet Rescue</a>.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-P4jDQyUjBaY/VdUz9zOvuGI/AAAAAAAAAqo/hd2qfaft9jk/s1600/foster8-8-15.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="239" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-P4jDQyUjBaY/VdUz9zOvuGI/AAAAAAAAAqo/hd2qfaft9jk/s320/foster8-8-15.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Mona--available for adoption!</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
I am sure that the black kitties scheduled to be trapped Monday are the relatives of Peanut aka Lil P, whom we found on campus last summer. I've also been walking tons of dogs at CBHS--they need so many walks--and I love that time. It can be stressful, in its own way, but it requires full attention, which allows my brain to relax, and solve problems my active mind couldn't. I find walking dogs extremely cathartic for that reason--much like running in "the zone." Total focus is required.<br />
<br />
Somewhat satisfactorily, I wrote--a lot (always with the help of many friends and colleagues!). I wrote two IRBs (both approved!) and fellowship applications, a chapter for my next book, and the conference paper that summarizes it...in addition to some reports blah blah blah. Less importantly, but necessary for my engagement with the modern world, I upgraded my material life. I bought a new (used) car (the first car I've ever purchased on my own! Shocking!) and I just finally upgraded to an iPhone. Ha! AND we're still in the throes of remodeling! AAND we put in a rain garden!<br />
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<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-3RTLrqdVu-M/VdU3FZ2kEvI/AAAAAAAAArU/QyAHg_lnasY/s1600/raingarden.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="149" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-3RTLrqdVu-M/VdU3FZ2kEvI/AAAAAAAAArU/QyAHg_lnasY/s200/raingarden.jpg" width="200" /></a></div>
Goodness, we DID do a lot since May!<br />
<br />
I ran a lot, too. I ran quite a few trail races--the Hawkeye 25K, Pilot Knob 15k, Grand Island, MI half-marathon, the Mines of Spain half marathon, and of course, other runs on the trails...[Taking Back the Trails was an important event this summer too, after a horrific violent assault in George Wyth State Park...]<br />
<br />
I guess it's no wonder that the plantar fasciitis returned to my right foot, so that my running has been curtailed... even though mentally I feel refreshed after these three months, all this physical work afforded by the longer days has taken its toll on my human body! That...and all the running. Now to let that body rest while my mind works in class...<br />
<br />Elizabethhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02029083472297452208noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-674401163557325178.post-70351614314391144392015-06-19T13:47:00.002-07:002015-06-29T17:01:38.909-07:00Until There Are Wait Lists for Kittens<br />
Today I said goodbye to Ruby, the last of the three foster babies Steve and I have raised over the last month. We had had Ruby, JT, and Brittany since May 17. They came in to us at about three weeks old, still so young they were being bottle fed, and needed the occasional enema when the formula wasn't processing well.<br />
<br />
These three babies were from a litter of four, by a mama who was spayed by <a href="http://iowahumanealliance.org/" target="_blank">Iowa Humane Alliance</a> on April 27. Mama, along with 10 other feral cats near UNI's campus, were trapped by me and concerned neighbors. It was a community undertaking! We all came together, pooled time, money, and resources, and have, we hope, prevented the continuation of lots of babies who are difficult to keep healthy and for whom it is difficult to find homes.<br />
<br />
<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-6beD_8hD_qw/VV4xzu7R2VI/AAAAAAAAAn8/9DzaM4HQ5SY/s1600/April26_4.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-6beD_8hD_qw/VV4xzu7R2VI/AAAAAAAAAn8/9DzaM4HQ5SY/s320/April26_4.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: xx-small; text-align: start;">11 Cats at 20th Street and Merner, April 27, 2015</span></td></tr>
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<br />
Early that spring, Steve and I had helped trap 5 cats at North Cedar trailer park, in March, 2015. We were thrilled by the success of that enterprise, so when our friends and neighbors approached us about the situation near campus, we were ready to take it on.<br />
<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-5UOTEYBcyTk/VV4x7D4HUlI/AAAAAAAAAoE/N_ZS9h2Ba78/s1600/photo%2B5.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-5UOTEYBcyTk/VV4x7D4HUlI/AAAAAAAAAoE/N_ZS9h2Ba78/s320/photo%2B5.JPG" width="239" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">At Iowa Humane Alliance</td></tr>
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In both TNR cases, the homeowners made it easy. They had already established feeding schedules for the cats and getting them used to the traps over the course of a couple days was no problem.<br />
<br />
Two litters were, however, born before April 27--the litter of four, and another litter of 5. The mama of the 5 returned to her litter after her spay, and those 5 were subsequently caught at 5 weeks, socialized, and adopted. The litter of 4, as mentioned, was a tougher go, since Mama didn't return. Taking care of them too, was a community event. We had volunteers bottle feed them and wipe their bottoms every 2-3 hours for the first three weeks. We also had help from <a href="http://cedarvalleyvet.com/" target="_blank">Cedar Valley Vet</a>. Drs. Paulsen and Christman and the vet techs there provided useful and compassionate advice and care at a critical period. One of the babies, Runty, didn't survive. He died at the vet with warm food in his belly and having had 3 weeks of love and care. Sometimes kittens have congenital issues that can't be overcome.<br />
<br />
The remaining three--JT, Brittany, and Ruby, subsequently entered my care. I bottle-fed them, wiped their bums, gave them enemas, and eventually, weaned them.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-euYEOwMhH2o/VYR8Qrn6TcI/AAAAAAAAApY/4JnDDAoO8BY/s1600/Brit3.5wks.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="239" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-euYEOwMhH2o/VYR8Qrn6TcI/AAAAAAAAApY/4JnDDAoO8BY/s320/Brit3.5wks.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Brittany, inspecting her enema implement at about 4 weeks old.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-S8VcnwXrKS0/VV4xh3CxwBI/AAAAAAAAAn0/t0tzCqrotTY/s1600/BritandJTMay20.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="239" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-S8VcnwXrKS0/VV4xh3CxwBI/AAAAAAAAAn0/t0tzCqrotTY/s320/BritandJTMay20.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Brittany and JT, May 19, 2015 (just under four weeks old!)</td></tr>
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Fostering is a rewarding and emotional experience. We have fostered many babies, and they always integrate into our home and hearts. I said goodbye to Brittany and JT on Wednesday; Cedar Valley Vet has them available for adoption. I know they will get excellent care, lots of love, and find good homes. Ruby went to her new home today, leaving me what felt like an empty nest. The energy and fun of kittens is good for our household of 4 adult cats and dog, just as it's good for the babies.<br />
<br />
Even though it is always hard to say goodbye, I know the babies will be in good hands and grow up to be great cats, and that is partially because they were cared for socialized in foster care. Adopting them out means we can do it again....and again...and again.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-VmlEzLSJ_eY/VYR8RsywHGI/AAAAAAAAAps/pnTeg--7q5Y/s1600/babiesJune2015.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="239" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-VmlEzLSJ_eY/VYR8RsywHGI/AAAAAAAAAps/pnTeg--7q5Y/s320/babiesJune2015.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">JT, Brittany, and Ruby, at about 8 weeks</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-2Djjs1xhEgE/VYR8RFEKzzI/AAAAAAAAApo/ru9_u-kkIw0/s1600/Rubyonwaytonewhome_Jun19_2015.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-2Djjs1xhEgE/VYR8RFEKzzI/AAAAAAAAApo/ru9_u-kkIw0/s320/Rubyonwaytonewhome_Jun19_2015.jpg" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Ruby, on her way to her new home, June 19, 2015</td></tr>
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<br />
<br />
Since we began fostering and TNR, we have saved a lot of lives. I'm listing them below, along with running events (some complementary) for my own memory...<br />
<br />
In 2015 so far, the 11+5 TNR + 3 kittens in our care= 18<br />
<br />
In 2014 I <a href="http://heartlandsharrier.blogspot.com/2014/10/post-marathon-inspiration-togetherness.html" target="_blank">Ran 2014 Twin Cities Marathon</a> and raised $1000 for CBHS and Waverly Pet Rescue.<br />
<br />
In August, we found Lily, now "Mouse" in Fairfield she is now in a wonderful home there.<br />
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We also <a href="http://heartlandsharrier.blogspot.com/2014/08/18-and-counting.html" target="_blank">Fostered Jessie and her 9 babies</a> in July-August of 2014 and found Panther 2, aka Lil P aka Peanut in July. We kept Peanut ("foster failure"!).<br />
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We fostered Benson, a cat from CBHS, in January, hoping he would integrate with us. It didn't work out, but he found a home not long after.<br />
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2013<br />
Omar (adopted from WPR in August)<br />
Kima (Kaylee) (fostered in August and now in wonderful CF home)<br />
Panther 1 found on campus between Union and the Library in July; she died a few days later from kidney failure RIP<br />
Our cat Sophia died in March<br />
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2012<br />
I ran 2012 Twin Cities Marathon (supporting marriage equality in Minnesota)<br />
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2011<br />
I ran Twin Cities Marathon for Bolder Options<br />
Fostered and adopted Gracie in July-August<br />
Fostered Willa aka "Skidmark" in July-August<br />
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2010<br />
I ran Twin Cities Marathon<br />
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2009-10<br />
We fostered Cody, a papillon, in December-January<br />
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2008<br />
I ran Twin Cities Marathon for Childrens' Miracle Network<br />
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That's 38+ animal lives saved and improved (more if you include our already-resident cats and dog)! Here's to 50...and on and on, until, as a sage woman once said to me, "there are waiting lists for kittens".<br />
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Update 6/29/15: JT and Brittany were adopted by the same woman from Cedar Valley Vet! Ruby continues to be Miss Independent in her new home.<br />
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AAaand I am registered for the Twin Cities Marathon, October 4 2015 and Beat the Blerch, November 14!<br />
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Elizabethhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02029083472297452208noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-674401163557325178.post-65043628295532548372015-04-11T14:44:00.004-07:002015-04-11T14:44:58.850-07:00Appreciating Mortality<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-0N8P_oMA5A8/VSmOG22mAaI/AAAAAAAAAnY/Vs9u7Ti2qF0/s1600/Hawkeye25KApril11_2015_2.18.30.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-0N8P_oMA5A8/VSmOG22mAaI/AAAAAAAAAnY/Vs9u7Ti2qF0/s1600/Hawkeye25KApril11_2015_2.18.30.jpg" height="320" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Hawkeye 25K April 11, 2015<br /><div style="text-align: left;">
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Appreciation can mean a lot of things, Some thing can "appreciate" by increasing in value. Similarly, a person can "appreciate," or value, some thing, or "appreciate", or recognize, the value or significance of some thing.<br />
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I ran my first trail race of the season, the Hawkeye 25K, in Solon, Iowa. It was a great course. The first 5 miles consisted of a wide gravel path along the shore of Lake McBride. It was pretty and I focused on listening and breathing the cool air. After crossing a dike, runners stepped through rock rapids. That was exciting! The trail continued in the woods, on soft dirt and leaves up and down and all around. I enjoyed it very much, and again focused on the sounds of the woods, the chirping of birds and frogs, the sounds of the lake. I was happy to focus on my breathing to control the ascents as well. I felt strong, pulling the air into my lungs and envisioning it spreading to my muscles, giving my blood and muscles oxygen and preventing cramps. The final four or so miles was on the paved road, up a few long hills. I felt good, and appreciative of my lungs, my legs. I thought about striking the ground on my forefoot, of keeping my turnover going, and breathing deeply with each strike. I felt strong, passing many other runners (to be fair, some probably were 50K runners!).<br />
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I am appreciative that my body works. I appreciate that friends and colleagues also enjoy running. I appreciate the volunteers and wider circle of runners who make these events happen. I appreciate nature, and those who care for it.<br />
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To appreciate my body and what it can do, I appreciate mortality. Not that I am <i>grateful </i>for mortality, but I recognize its constant presence. Every day I am older, as are family members and friends. Every day, my body ages a little more (depreciates?)--and at the same time, I still do a lot-- and so do so many others, much older than me.<br />
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I've been struck reading <i><a href="http://atulgawande.com/book/being-mortal/" target="_blank">Being Mortal </a></i>recently, and reflecting upon a desire to <i>be appreciated</i>. Gawande writes about how important purpose is to make living <i>living--</i>even if one is dying. I'm not (actively) dying, I have purpose and meaning (we create our own) in my life--much of that is from my work, from teaching, from writing. But often my students, young as they are, don't yet recognize mortality, appreciate the gift of education, the brevity and privilege of college, of vitality. Who does appreciate transient moments? Animals, to be sure, and the elderly, and those close to death. Gawande writes about that inverse dynamic. It's not necessarily being older or being wiser or more experienced so much as recognizing-- <i>appreciating </i>the mortality and transitory nature <i>of </i>nature.<br />
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So many writers and artists have reflected on this subject, a silly running blog can't do justice to it (Ecclesiastes, Thoreau, Solnit; Pieter Claesz, Nicholas Poussin, Andy Goldsworthy...).<br />
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Running though, and especially running in nature, enhancing mindfulness, reminds me<i> </i>of my mortality, in a very positive way.Elizabethhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02029083472297452208noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-674401163557325178.post-35606421322080311752015-01-03T11:02:00.003-08:002015-01-03T11:20:30.727-08:002015: Inspirations and GoalsIt's been a long time since the last post...three months. In that time, I've had some amazing experiences running and with animals that have shaped what I want to focus on in the coming year.<br />
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In November, Steve and I drove almost 3000 miles round-trip to Kanab, Utah and the Grand Canyon (north and south rims). It was a wonderful, scenic, and educational trip. Some of the best experiences we had were running trails along the red rocks in Kanab, and hiking the trails at the Grand Canyon.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Squaw Trail, looking at the summit around 8 a.m. Kanab, UT</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-RNG2IkHX-NQ/VKg9wWt9WyI/AAAAAAAAAl8/fKgX_ohsptU/s1600/brightangeltrailmules.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-RNG2IkHX-NQ/VKg9wWt9WyI/AAAAAAAAAl8/fKgX_ohsptU/s1600/brightangeltrailmules.JPG" height="239" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">On Bright Angel Trail, Grand Canyon South Rim</td></tr>
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We were in Kanab specifically to volunteer at <a href="http://bestfriends.org/" target="_blank">Best Friends Animal Sancuary</a>. It was amazing. The sanctuary is the largest no-kill sanctuary in the U.S. and it is <i>beautiful. </i>We volunteered the first day at Cat World, and then we each did a shift at Dog Town and Wild Friends. The shift at cat world was incredible, awesome, inspiring, educational... we played with cats in Quincy House, a house that is dedicated to special needs cats, especially those with FIV, FELV, and <a href="http://www.ufaw.org.uk/manxsyndrome.php" target="_blank">manx syndrome</a>. Many of the manx syndrome cats have deformed hind legs, or cannot use their hind legs, and/or are incontinent. Needless to say, these are the animals that are euthanized elsewhere. Hence most people (like us!) have no idea. And yet each one has his/her own personality, to be sure!! We played with them and walked them...<br />
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In addition to running the <a href="http://kanab.utah.gov/ord/Parks-Trails-Master-Plan/PTMP-Chapter-05/webpdf/KC_PTMP_C05.pdf" target="_blank">trails around Kanab</a>, we ran some of the acreage at Best Friends. Running trails with vistas and hills (ascents that sometimes force one to walk!) was challenging, fun, and took my mind away from the habit-forming chains of time and distance that are so often how I think about my running.<br />
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So, for 2015, I have running goals that derive from these western experiences. Some are mental goals; some are physical. As we know, the two are linked... (<i>mens sana in corpore sano</i>)<br />
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1. Run more trails.<br />
2. Be okay with getting lost. (See for example, Rebecca Solnit's <i><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/work/quotes/2756721-a-field-guide-to-getting-lost" target="_blank">Field Guide to Getting Lost...</a></i>)<br />
3. Be mindful. Breathe. Enjoy the scenery. Enjoy being. Enjoy the moment. (see earlier blogs on <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/sakyong-mipham-rinpoche/running-with-the-mind-of-meditation_b_1418102.html" target="_blank">running with the mind of meditation</a>...)<br />
4. Run more trails in Cedar Falls/Waterloo. Especially along the creek to Hudson. Explore.<br />
5. Complete at least three trail races in the midwest: <a href="http://driftlessdirt.blogspot.com/p/mines-of-spain-trail-races.html" target="_blank">Mines of Spain</a> (8/8), <a href="http://www.loppet.org/trailloppet/" target="_blank">Surly Loppet</a> (9/26), and...?<br />
6. Complete a race in the West...preferably in <a href="http://www.grandcircletrails.com/" target="_blank">Utah</a>,....preferably a trail race....<br />
7. Continue to practice yoga, pilates, and build general strength.<br />
8. Share it. Expand the community. For others' mental and physical well-being, including animals.<br />
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Over the last two years I have benefited enormously from an ever-growing running community (FASTR friends, marathon running friends, trail running advocates...). My running has become much more communal, external, and more rewarding internally for me as a result. I am so very, very grateful for all the support of my friends and family, particularly for your support of the causes I've linked to my running.<br />
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Here's to sharing health, mindfulness, and love in 2015!!Elizabethhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02029083472297452208noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-674401163557325178.post-55917736390298151252014-10-07T11:48:00.000-07:002014-10-07T11:54:53.566-07:00Post-Marathon Inspiration: Togetherness<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-yYBaYrMbGn4/VDQbvPMHstI/AAAAAAAAAkE/oIIr0ZUKsRc/s1600/twincitiesmarathon2_2014.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-yYBaYrMbGn4/VDQbvPMHstI/AAAAAAAAAkE/oIIr0ZUKsRc/s1600/twincitiesmarathon2_2014.jpg" height="320" width="239" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">2 miles in and smiling</td></tr>
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The Twin Cities Marathon happened, and I finished in 4:19:54. No PR by any means, but more importantly I was delighted, awed, and inspired by two friends and runners who completed their first marathon--together.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-VMvvJEcgu3w/VDQbxsFVR6I/AAAAAAAAAkM/d2P_6uETGIQ/s1600/savandJess2014.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-VMvvJEcgu3w/VDQbxsFVR6I/AAAAAAAAAkM/d2P_6uETGIQ/s1600/savandJess2014.jpg" height="320" width="239" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Finishing Together</td></tr>
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I was also delighted and grateful to be running with my kitty tank and ears, in honor of all those who donated to Cedar Bend Humane Society and Waverly Pet Rescue. I raised over $1000 for both organizations, thanks to the generosity and support of friends, family, and colleagues.<br />
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I commented on it many times over the weekend, and I'll write it here too: I am more inspired by first-time runners who set a goal and accomplish it--often exceeding their own expectations--than I am by elite runners. Watching my friends smile through 5+ hours of running fills my heart with love and joy that others are sharing this amazing sport. My heart is filled by the camaraderie that is built by such an event. These two women had met only the night before (at <a href="http://dangerousmanbrewing.com/" target="_blank">Dangerous Man</a>, of course!) and yet for 26.2 miles they pulled each other along. They talked the entire time, no music necessary. Each had worries and fears, neither had run more than 14 or 20 miles, respectively. And yet they did it. They ran. Together. And loved it.<br />
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I could write about being disappointed in my mediocre time (judged against myself) and my frustration with starting too fast, with wanting to PR too much, the sadness of realization and necessary goal-readjustment when pace groups passed me at miles 18 and 20. But how selfish! How antithetical to the purpose of running these events! How disingenuous to the support I received from a whole community of people who helped me help those furry animals who can't help themselves! A marathon is all about togetherness, support, assistance, love, caring. <i>Because </i>it is hard, <i>because </i>it is impossible to accomplish on one's own. We take time from our families, loved ones, jobs etc. just to train--and in the event, we receive the support of so many individuals on the course, and those in our memories and in our hearts. I was strengthened by a friend who ran up the St. Thomas-Summit hill with me, and by knowing where I would see my parents cheering and by knowing how many people supported my running and the cause.<br />
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How much better is that than being in one's own head for two or three or four hours? The elation that is knowing it's going to happen, that <i>you can do it </i>is so much more rewarding and motivating than worrying about numbers and splits and breaking (personal) records. What I witnessed with these first-timers is what running is about: Camaraderie, love, gratitude, strength, and assistance; sharing the experience of a challenge that not many individuals take up or accomplish.<br />
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I joined them briefly at mile 24. I will always remember seeing them before they saw me. I started screaming their names and telling them they were going to make it, they were going to finish, that it was <i>less distance to the finish than we had run just the day before. </i>I will always remember the smiles I saw break across their faces. They didn't even look tired. My heart was so full it was ready to burst. That's why people cry at marathons--both runners and spectators alike--because there is so much, almost too much, love.<br />
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Marathons remind me of a quote from Marguerite Young. I have used it to critique capitalism, but it also demonstrates community love as exemplified in running: "The individual is the one illusion."<br />
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<br />Elizabethhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02029083472297452208noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-674401163557325178.post-45196155341192200002014-09-01T12:36:00.003-07:002014-09-01T12:51:24.849-07:00Labor Day Cleaning!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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I have been looking forward to cleaning today! While we acknowledge the power of worker solidarity today, I am feeling good about doing a deep clean of the house. A full day to vacuum, dust, scrub, and pull carpet!<br />
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I realized as I was vacuuming the den that it's not so much that I love cleaning as that I love two things that are cause-effect related to cleaning. I love that brief moment when everything is clean and in order--when it's all done, if for a moment, and I love the events that prompt me to clean.<br />
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This actually relates to running--I ran a good 20 miles on Saturday morning. By 10 miles in my shirt and shorts were saturated with sweat. The shower after that long run felt amazing, especially sloughing off the dried salty dirt on my skin. Saunas, hot yoga, exercise generally--it's not just cleaning the dirt and sweat off, it's the cleansing power of sweating itself that makes one feel so good.<br />
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Think about it--we all probably enjoy the things that prompt really good cleans. These are the things that are awesome and fun, often events to look forward to or work hard for. I enjoy parties, well-prepared food, house guests, 10 kittens, and good runs not because I know of the imminent cleanse, but because these provide sustained moments that refresh and re-set me. These are phenomena that I not only enjoy but that I love. And each of these phenomena require a good scrub afterwards, which for me, also leads to that brief moment where everything is new, fresh, and re-set again--be it an orderly room or a relaxed body.<br />
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What prompted this particular reflection on cleaning was that we returned the foster kittens to the shelter yesterday. Feeling bittersweet about it, I took Azriel, Ike, Zeke, Miri, Debbie, Annie, Zara, Liza, Micah and mama Jessie to <a href="http://www.cedarbendhumane.org/" target="_blank">CBHS</a> in the morning. Although we enjoyed watching them grow, learn and play, it was good timing that we returned them when we did. They are just shy of 7 weeks old, eating solid food, and they had made a <i>mess </i>of our guest bedroom in spite of my best efforts. Embarrassingly, within the last 30 hours, a few of them also somehow manifested what appeared to be ringworm (ringworm isn't a worm, it's a fungus, and it can be tracked in with dirt, or a person who had it, or whatever; so all our visitors made our kitten room like every single daycare.). The kittens will get cleaned up by the amazing vet techs at <a href="http://www.cedarbendhumane.org/" target="_blank">CBHS</a> and hopefully find furr-ever homes very, very soon!<br />
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Meanwhile, while the kittens are receiving cleansing love, Steve and I pulled carpet and cleaned. Not to eradicate their presence, but to start new for whatever fun, wild, and probably dirty adventure is to come. As an aside, Lil P aka Panther is still with us.<br />
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The marathon is less than 5 weeks away! Time to get donating if you've been meaning to'!!!!! Donate <a href="https://sites.google.com/site/runningtorescue/" target="_blank">here </a>today! https://sites.google.com/site/runningtorescue/<br />
<br />Elizabethhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02029083472297452208noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-674401163557325178.post-31968060053069757962014-08-24T12:03:00.004-07:002014-08-24T12:09:27.993-07:0018 and Counting<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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No, there aren't 18 kittens in La Casa Sutton/Swanson, nor are we breeding or self-promoting Dugger-style. But Steve did find his second kitten of the season, on campus early this morning while walking Thea. Panther (2) is a healthy little black kitten, about 4-5 weeks old. After some initial fear hisses, she's warmed right up to us and is exploring. She's napping in my lap as I write this.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-TQ6lGVxkGFc/U_oqfF7YHeI/AAAAAAAAAiU/9yGXRVpgHgI/s1600/pantherAug24.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-TQ6lGVxkGFc/U_oqfF7YHeI/AAAAAAAAAiU/9yGXRVpgHgI/s1600/pantherAug24.JPG" height="239" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Panther (2) August 24, 2014</td></tr>
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Of course, we still have Jessie and her brood of 9 kittens. They will be 6 weeks on Wednesday, and are busy learning to play and climb mountains and beds and legs. Soon though, they will be up for adoption at <a href="http://www.cedarbendhumane.org/" target="_blank">Cedar Bend Humane Society</a>.<br />
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All this care for little lives has taught us a lot, and one of those lessons has been our own limits and needs. We know we can't keep them all, and really, that our set up will need modifying for any larger number of fosters. We learned our limits of integrated animals (ie those in the house) with Benson this past winter. Three's a crowd, four's two many, five's not allowed! </div>
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This posed a dilemma when we found a kitty while visiting family in Fairfield August 8-9. Near our b&b, we heard mews in the lilies, and a sweet young thing came out for us. We called her Lily, fed her for 24 hours, and worried about her, because we knew we couldn't bring any more cats into the house! Serendipitously, the evening before we were to depart, we met neighbors who were gracious,willing, and kind-hearted enough to agree to care for her until she is old enough to be spayed, and perhaps even find a home for her. They've stayed in touch, and Lily seems to be doing well. My biggest concern was her getting spayed, so as not to continue the problem. <a href="http://www.alleycat.org/" target="_blank">Alley Cat Allies</a> is great on TNR education, and just recently a "planned parenthood" for animals clinic, <a href="http://iowahumanealliance.org/" target="_blank">Iowa Humane Alliance</a>, opened in Cedar Rapids. They have very inexpensive spay/neuter services, and will do them on a pay-what-you-can scale, even if you can't pay at all.</div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Lily, Fairfield August 9, 2014</td></tr>
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With this most recent black stray kitten, I reflect on the number of animals' lives saved by fostering and finding homes, just in the last four years. 18, by my count...and only one of those is a true foster-failure for us (ie: we kept her): Gracie. Since 2010, we've fostered a nine-year old papillon dog, Cody, Gracie and Willa (aka Skidmark) in 2011, the original Panther (RIP), found on campus, and Kaylee (aka Kima) in 2013, Benson, and Jessie and the crew this year (2014). I have been humbled and inspired by a volunteer foster mom from <a href="http://www.petfinder.com/shelters/IA143.html" target="_blank">Waverly Pet Rescue</a>, who, when we adopted Omar from her, said that her goal was one day to have people <i>wanting a cat and having to be on a wait-list for one </i>because supply was less than demand. The very idea that there might one day <i>not </i>be a pet overpopulation problem blew my mind. That is indeed, a goal that every one of us can work toward.</div>
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Indeed, the selflessness of others and the belief that every little bit counts when we work together toward eradicating a problem is why I am collecting donations for <a href="https://sites.google.com/site/runningtorescue/" target="_blank">Waverly Pet Rescue</a> and<a href="https://sites.google.com/site/runningtorescue/" target="_blank"> Cedar Bend.</a> The marathon is about one month away, and I've raised $552! <a href="https://sites.google.com/site/runningtorescue/" target="_blank">Donate today</a> to help spay/neuter and save animals' lives!<br />
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Many of the lessons I have learned by fostering are translatable to running--really to life generally, but I'll make the link for the purpose of solicitation. Lessons relevant to every being's life can be gleaned from these on-going experiences. Trust is built from shelter, food, and care; adaptability and intelligence is manifest and encouraged by learning, exploring and growing in new environments; grieving, healing, and forgiving take time; and patience is necessary with ourselves, and them. We are each others' guardians and teachers. Throughout, I have been amazed by how adaptive animals--and all of us-- are.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-Up-PWfYAkK8/U_ouDkbJD5I/AAAAAAAAAjE/Sp0eHsnh9H4/s1600/babiesthea.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-Up-PWfYAkK8/U_ouDkbJD5I/AAAAAAAAAjE/Sp0eHsnh9H4/s1600/babiesthea.JPG" height="239" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Thea, Jessie, and Babies, August 2014</td></tr>
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Thea helps get the kitties socialized and dog-friendly. Max, our 13-year old senior, has always been an ambassador, calm and curious.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Omar, Max, Benson, January 2014</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Max, Jessie, and Crew, August 2014</td></tr>
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Thanks again for reading, and for your support!! https://sites.google.com/site/runningtorescue/<br />
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Elizabethhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02029083472297452208noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-674401163557325178.post-37617576298826373062014-08-02T08:48:00.001-07:002014-08-02T08:58:37.711-07:00Running to Rescue...the Cycle of Life<br />
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Look at Jessie, the young foster mama! She has been with us for a week now, with her nine babies. The kittens were born July 16 and will be available for adoption in September, through <a href="http://www.cedarbendhumane.org/" target="_blank">Cedar Bend</a> Humane Society.<br />
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Remember, I am currently training for the Twin Cities Marathon, and raising money for Cedar Bend and <a href="http://www.petfinder.com/shelters/IA143.html" target="_blank">Waverly Pet Rescue.</a> Please go to my fundraising site, <a href="https://sites.google.com/site/runningtorescue/" target="_blank">Running to Rescue</a> to donate and help these fabulous organizations in the Cedar Valley. I ran 14 miles this morning, 9:15 pace with friends, so we're on a roll! I've raised just over $550 so far, and committed to kitty ears, whiskers, and a (short) tail....let's see what else I'll have to wear/do for 26.2! Every day I run I am grateful that I am able to do so without pain, and grateful knowing so many people in the community support running for this cause.<br />
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Three events this past week have brought the cycle of life to the fore:<br />
At the same time we have these 2-week old kittens, we also are caring for our 13 year old cat, Max, who is recuperating from a stroke. <br />
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Kitty strokes are apparently very rare. He must have had it sometime last Thursday or Friday. It's incredible that he came through it. He didn't move, eat or drink for almost 24 hours. We got him to the vet, got advice and prednisone, and force fed him--not unlike a new baby without its mother. We really thought we would have to put him down if he didn't eat on his own. Thankfully, he was eating on his own and managed stairs within 48 hours! He certainly has a will to live. We think he is blind, and his left side and back legs especially are weak, so he is very wobbly. Still, he is inspiring, and clearly enjoys being with us and being petted. He listens for us, and meows to us, even as he gingerly makes his way from room to room. He needs help getting on and off the bed, but so long as he is eating and making it to the litterbox, he's still handicapable!!<br />
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We joke we have 10 blind cats, a nursing home and a nursery all at once!<br />
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Finally, last night some friends had a Sweet 16 birthday party for their dog. 16 is ancient for a coonhound (or really, any dog)! They collected donations to Cedar Bend in his honor. What a fabulous idea! We'll have to wait 6 more years until we can throw a quinceañera for Thea...but we will. Maybe we'll even auction off her first dance.<br />
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Summer is a wonderful time for me to renew my service and my running. So often during the year it is hard to feel appreciated in the busy-ness of daily life. Animals--especially babies, and stroke kitties and dogs at the shelter--these animals in desperate need of attention and care clearly appreciate whatever time and resources we have to give. It's very rewarding and enhances the other aspects of my life that seem mundane and routine. In their appreciation of the moment, I have learned to try to let go and appreciate each moment, and the small gifts (of ability, motion, food, love, shelter) that we tend to take for granted.<br />
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More baby pics!<br />
The babies don't yet have names...so if there are ideas, we are open to them!<br />
And please...<a href="https://sites.google.com/site/runningtorescue/" target="_blank">DONATE</a> or visit your local shelter today! Go to: <a href="https://sites.google.com/site/runningtorescue/" target="_blank">Running to Rescue</a><br />
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<br />Elizabethhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02029083472297452208noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-674401163557325178.post-37971708862965325842014-06-12T10:16:00.002-07:002014-06-12T10:26:18.717-07:00Enter National Pride<br />
I don't generally think of myself as very patriotic. In fact, much of my work critiques simplistic categories of social distinction (nationalism/race/class) and how news media and visual culture perpetuates simple-minded and often jingoistic and imperialist attitudes of misplaced racial/national/cultural superiority. Still, having just spent sixteen days driving across the country-- 3,177 miles and through at least 14 states and the District of Columbia later (IA, IL, IN, MI, OH, WV, PA, KY, NY, NJ, MA, CT, DE, MD and D.C.)-- I feel, oddly enough, very patriotic, proud, and grateful to be American. Let me explain by way of three of my favorite things: running, food, and art. These elements, shared with friends and loved ones, reminded me of the ideals and exceptional* qualities of this vast expanse of land and confederation of people.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Heartbreak Hill, Newton, MA June 8, 2014</td></tr>
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The epic road trip began with a three-day stop in Chicago, and culminated in my running the Heartbreak Hill half-marathon just outside of Boston. Along the way I visited various museums, ate a variety of food with friends, and ran in beautifully managed urban and suburban landscapes. Visiting the museums was the rationale for the trip--I am conducting research on animals in the biblical prints by Rembrandt, and in paintings by Paulus Potter and Aelbert Cuyp (17th century Dutch artists). It strikes me that there are many museums with outstanding collections across the United States. These collections speak to (some) Americans' interest in and valuing of visual and material objects from across cultures and countries. Indeed, how some of these collections were shaped (for example, the Barnes in Philadelphia, Corcoran in D.C., or Isabella Stewart Gardner museum in Boston) show how individuals thought broadly (or narrowly) and desired to share their respective privilege. While in D.C., I was particularly struck by the ideals for access to education, culture and cultural capital, information, and government. Being able to walk down the Mall and visit art museums, history museums, government buildings and memorials all for the people and paid for by our taxes--so free in that they are all our shared cultural heritage and identity and responsibility-- provided me that constant reminder of just how <i>rich </i>culturally and financially this country is. It made me feel proud to be among tourists speaking many different languages who had come to D.C. to see the actualization of the ideals on which this country was built.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Lakeshore Trail, Chicago. Crushed rock/dirt good for the tootsies.</td></tr>
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I had some amazing runs while I was in various cities: along the lake shore of Lake Michigan, along the Potomac River and into the National Zoo in D.C., up and down wooded trails in a gorgeous gorge in Philadelphia, and along the Charles in Boston. Here too, our municipal, state, and federal government with the aid of our voices and our taxes--help to create and maintain beautiful trails open to all to walk, run, bike, and enjoy. It is not lost on me either, that the highways and interstates on which I drove are also a benefit of this wealthy nation and the taxes we pay. Along some of those roads--particularly old Highway 40, the vistas are truly spectacular. The Dutch must have felt a similar pride and awe in themselves and their ingenuity in diking and claiming land and building <i>trekschuiten.</i> Certainly such thoroughfares aid in commercial transport, and they also contribute to the transport of ideas and people who intermingle and enrich each other.</div>
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<tr><td><img alt="File:Rock Creek and Potomac Parkway - Dumbarton Bridge.JPG" src="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/8/89/Rock_Creek_and_Potomac_Parkway_-_Dumbarton_Bridge.JPG/795px-Rock_Creek_and_Potomac_Parkway_-_Dumbarton_Bridge.JPG" height="241" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" width="320" /></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 13px;">Rock Creek and Potomac River Parkway, Washington, D.C.<br />
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<tr><td><img alt="(The "Forbidden Drive" recreational trail in the Valley Green section of Fairmount Park, Philadelphia. File photo)" src="http://cbsphilly.files.wordpress.com/2011/06/forbidden-drive-trail-dl.jpg?w=420&h=315&crop=1" height="240" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" width="320" /></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 13px;">Valley Green trail, Philadelphia</td></tr>
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<tr><td><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-ntMYmD0zeFw/U5h9xk6P9BI/AAAAAAAAAgA/ILPKoRQQTIU/s1600/Charles+River.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-ntMYmD0zeFw/U5h9xk6P9BI/AAAAAAAAAgA/ILPKoRQQTIU/s1600/Charles+River.JPG" height="279" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 13px;">6 miles along the Charles River in Boston<br />
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Roads, managed landscapes, museums and cultural institutions--these are all spaces where many, many different kinds of people come together, both in real time (international tourists, citizens, local residents), and in museums, abstractly. Looking at architecture or at museums' variety of objects, we can trace how various peoples have interacted and exchanged ideas and shared what drives, motivates, and makes them--and how some peoples and their cultures have been suppressed, subjugated, or even eradicated. Food also tells this story of the gifts that are brought by diverse human exchange. In Chicago I ate donuts and pasta; these are not "American"--donuts, I want to say are Dutch/Scandinavian (poffertjes anyone?) and pasta of course, has origins in the Mediterranean, although today it is most commonly identified with Italy. It was immigrants who brought such delights here--and these were the cheap things to eat, for those who had little money for extravagance. I ate homemade lasagna with locally gathered mushrooms in Ann Arbor, and I appreciated the hours of labor necessary for such a meal. </div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Delightful donuts in Chicago</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-WfaoGmQPIME/U4_AS0Es8CI/AAAAAAAAAfM/86mlB3fVS2E/s1600/AnnArborEmilyMikeandJackie.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-WfaoGmQPIME/U4_AS0Es8CI/AAAAAAAAAfM/86mlB3fVS2E/s1600/AnnArborEmilyMikeandJackie.JPG" height="239" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Purely homemade mushroom lasagna in Ann Arbor</td></tr>
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In Cincinnati, I enjoyed a tamale with fresh corn and tomato salsa-corn and tomatoes are "new world" crops--and so here too, food is an indication of the richness of the land and indigenous cultures, that while co-opted and often suppressed, still have hugely influenced "American" immigrants' diets--and diets around the world because of exchange and travel.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A delicious summer tamale at Senate in Cincinnati</td></tr>
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More recent than the European immigrants of the sixteenth- through nineteenth centuries are immigrants from Ethiopia, Thailand, Vietnam, Cambodia, Laos, Eritrea, Sudan, Somalia--the list goes on. I enjoyed Ethiopian and Thai food in D.C., and Philly too. Access to such a variety of food is largely taken for granted in these urban areas! Yet its availability is a result of our rich cultural diversity and relies upon the many different peoples who make up this nation, and broaden and enrich all of us even more.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-0wLH7umT4Eg/U4_ASwK9x-I/AAAAAAAAAfU/gmVpV0_MOdg/s1600/AlexandJasoninDCfood.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-0wLH7umT4Eg/U4_ASwK9x-I/AAAAAAAAAfU/gmVpV0_MOdg/s1600/AlexandJasoninDCfood.JPG" height="239" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Spicy and healthy Ethiopian food in D.C.</td></tr>
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These reflections on trails and food speak to community and the importance of coming together and sharing the variety of qualities and ideas that fill our hearts and minds and enable each of us to "pay it forward" in turn. My trip ended with the half-marathon in Boston. I ran the Heartbreak Hill half because I wanted to run part of the Boston marathon course. I was deeply affected by the bombings at the marathon in April, 2013. I used to work in Watertown and many of my friends and family have run Boston. During the national anthem before the race, I actually got a little misty-eyed. This is not like me at all. Then, and as I climbed that last uphill before the finish, I thought of the tragedy a year earlier. Really, I thought of how resilient runners--and people generally--are.** The runners at this race were so very nice. I felt more community here than I have at events much smaller. It was as though, unspoken, we all were bonded by our awareness of the emotional and physical pain of the past that had been inflicted on some by others who had somehow lost hope, or felt disenfranchised. There was hometown pride from those running who hailed from surrounding communities, like Shalane Flanagan from Marblehead, and there was national and international pride as well. South Koreans waved flags, and I heard Spanish cheers on the course too. It is truly awesome that Meb Keflezighi won the Boston marathon in 2014-- an immigrant from Eritrea, he draped himself in an American flag at the finish. We all meld and blend and enjoy life in the throng of people together, running, cheering, encouraging, supporting. This throng, this strength in community, in our differences as well as our shared will to help each other--with food, hospitality, encouragement up a hill--this is why I feel so proud.<br />
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What can a road trip do? It reminded me of how interconnected and interwoven my identity is with every other person's, and that all of us are part of each other. We all know it--the major religions theoretically mandate it-- we must care for, respect, and love each other as we would care for and love ourselves.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-6MmkZkEwpJg/U5nfHT2nkHI/AAAAAAAAAgk/tU40iXGihog/s1600/WCPO+Meb+Keflezighi+wins+Boston+Marathon+2014_2_1398102807472_4163559_ver1.0_640_480.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-6MmkZkEwpJg/U5nfHT2nkHI/AAAAAAAAAgk/tU40iXGihog/s1600/WCPO+Meb+Keflezighi+wins+Boston+Marathon+2014_2_1398102807472_4163559_ver1.0_640_480.jpg" height="240" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Meb Keflezighi after winning the Boston Marathon, 2014</td></tr>
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*That's not to say one should trot out American Exceptionalism in self-righteous explanations for unequal, unfair, exploitative, or bullying policies and practices around the globe.</div>
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** Read Rebecca Solnit's <i>A Paradise Built in Hell. </i><a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2009/08/21/books/21book.html?pagewanted=all&_r=0" target="_blank">Review</a></div>
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Elizabethhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02029083472297452208noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-674401163557325178.post-43534988626784033032014-05-11T12:18:00.001-07:002014-05-11T12:24:51.832-07:00Furry 5K! <table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-yCfj7Yikpq8/U2-5ISmK_sI/AAAAAAAAAco/Udu1PMn7o6c/s1600/Furry5K2014_5.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-yCfj7Yikpq8/U2-5ISmK_sI/AAAAAAAAAco/Udu1PMn7o6c/s1600/Furry5K2014_5.jpg" height="320" width="235" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Furry 5K 2014. Thea chased these cats!</td></tr>
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Today marked our second running of my favorite race!! The Furry 5K! This 3.4 mile run (2x around Big Woods Lake) benefits the <a href="http://www.cedarbendhumane.org/" target="_blank">Cedar Bend Humane Society</a>. Steve and I have been volunteering there for about one year--and fostering kittens from there for three years. We are so grateful for all they do for the animals that come their way. I ran the race as kitty-cat bait--I led most of the way, but ended up second, fittingly behind a dog named Tucker, in 23:50. Steve and Thea weren't far behind.<br />
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The race is heartwarming--not only because it's exercise--but because we get to see quite a few pooches running with their adoptive guardians. One pitbull in particular, Charlie, happily jaunted around the lake with his guardian. He had been the longest resident at Cedar Bend. He spent the first three years of his life in a shelter and was just adopted in April. To see him out and happily enjoying the morning at the lake, the people, and all the other dogs was so gratifying. Pitbulls especially often are misjudged and often wait the longest for their furr-ever homes. From personal experience with Thea, our 8-year-old pit mix, and from walking all the pits that rotate through the shelter, I can tell you they are the smartest, sweetest, and most energetic dogs. Some have issues, but they're issues developed as a result of people mistreating them. To judge a dog just because of its breed is, in my mind, equivalent to judging a person by his/her race. Such judgments are based on stereotypes, assumptions, and misinformed fear, not reality. (Annoying statements Steve and I hear frequently: "I've got nothing against pitbulls, I just wouldn't want one." and "I wouldn't want a pitbull next door." Sound familiar to racist speak? If you don't want a pitbull, ground it in something logical, like "I wouldn't be able to exercise him as much as he needs" or "A big dog isn't a good fit for my lifestyle.")<br />
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The Furry 5K is one of my favorite events because it's a great way to show people that shelter dogs are amazing. I saw one black pooch, Darla, just loving her guardian-for-the-day, pressing into her caresses. Darla had a great walk, and in that short time, bonded and trusted with her walker, gratefully accepting the pets and hugs, and giving affection right back. The dogs can be a handful at the shelter, but wouldn't you be too, if you were confined most of the day? All of the dogs still in the shelter who ran or walked had a great time. They were all so <i>good. </i>This event demonstrates that exercise is good for the soul--animals' and humans'.<i> </i><br />
<a href="http://www.cedarbendhumane.org/" target="_blank"><i><br /></i>
</a><b>Want to help animals? I'm fundraising for <a href="http://www.cedarbendhumane.org/" target="_blank">Cedar Bend</a> and <a href="http://www.petfinder.com/shelters/IA143.html" target="_blank">Waverly Pet Rescue</a> as I train for the Twin Cities Marathon!</b> Click my link<b>-> <a href="https://sites.google.com/site/runningtorescue/" target="_blank">Running to Rescue</a></b><br />
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<br />Elizabethhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02029083472297452208noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-674401163557325178.post-84813819751373178152014-04-20T13:10:00.001-07:002014-04-20T13:12:04.755-07:00New PR and Getting Back into Racing Gear for 2014!I hit an all-time new PR yesterday of 21:38! That's 5 seconds faster than one I had held since 2008. It was at the Cedar Falls High School Tiger Trot. I'm thrilled. I felt good. The weather was nice. Sunny, if a bit breezy, on an out-and-back from Pfeiffer Park, so it was very flat too. It didn't feel like a PR! My goal was to go under 24 minutes, and this was under 7 minute-mile pace.<br />
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I had had a pretty decent half marathon with Steve in Charleston, South Carolina in January, 3 minutes off my PR at 1:46--Steve PR'd, and I was so happy for him. Considering the past year of injury and recovery, and it having been January, this is all great for a start to 2014.<br />
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<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-exdC6rJOPy4/U1Qnch4fTRI/AAAAAAAAAcM/gnxceeUcH1E/s1600/CharlestonHalfJanuary2014.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-exdC6rJOPy4/U1Qnch4fTRI/AAAAAAAAAcM/gnxceeUcH1E/s1600/CharlestonHalfJanuary2014.jpg" height="320" width="240" /></a></div>
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The PR yesterday I attribute to a few things that I have changed and grown from over these last months. As all of us living in the midwest know, the winter of 2014 was brutal. It consisted of long, record-breaking cold, and tons of dark. It was depressing to be inside all day, running on a treadmill and then in an office. Fluorescent lights are soul-sucking!<br />
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However, it also probably helped keep me from injuring myself by running too much. Also, on treadmills I am able to push it, because I don't want to be bored (see earlier <a href="http://heartlandsharrier.blogspot.com/2011_02_01_archive.html" target="_blank">blog post "Treadmills and Triumph"</a> from 2011).<br />
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More significant factors were, I think, running with my new friends on UNI FASTR (Faculty and Staff Team Running), having gone over a month without sugar, and adding more yoga to my training.<br />
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With FASTR, I've been running a better pace, more consistently--ie: 8:30 miles, which aren't that hard to sustain, rather than 9:45 miles, which is what I do alone, because I just do. :)<br />
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AND we have fun! This photo is at the new mayor's bridge in November, 2013:<br />
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With respect to cutting out excess sugar, my acupuncturist had suggested that some of my circulation problems and tightness were caused by stress and sugar. Of course, my quip was that the two go together as a vicious cycle! However, after a last cupcake and m&ms March 15, I stopped eating the cookies, cakes, cupcakes, candy that before I had always gone to as a reward for running, or because I was bored, or needed a break from my office at work. With one day of falling off the wagon because I was starving and brownies were present, all in all, I've felt a lot better. AND I really don't crave it anymore, either. It's true--the more sugar you eat, the more you want it. Of course, I still eat tons of carbs and sugar is in them--bread, raisins, etc., but I truly think that some excess, some <i>thing </i>that was holding me back, weighing me down, or keeping my muscles/circulation/VO2 from being efficient was too much junk. And I've always considered myself healthy! Vegetarian, tons of fruits and vegetables...Perhaps the next step will be veganism, a la <a href="http://scottjurek.com/eatandrun/" target="_blank">Scott Jurek.</a><br />
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The added yoga--I'm trying to get in at least twice a week--has also helped keep me loose, relaxed, and stretched out. That, and a foam roller and The Stick!<br />
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Stay tuned for what I hope will be more insights from successful training. I've got the Twin Cities Marathon in October, and the Heartbreak Hill Half Marathon in Boston coming up in early June!Elizabethhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02029083472297452208noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-674401163557325178.post-62688682767255436552013-08-24T11:33:00.002-07:002013-08-24T16:30:07.616-07:00Mental Energy and Physical Energy<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-2fSAD3WDMUE/Uhj8Z-YTMOI/AAAAAAAAAYk/utTubE0iseU/s1600/sakyong-running-shoes.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-2fSAD3WDMUE/Uhj8Z-YTMOI/AAAAAAAAAYk/utTubE0iseU/s1600/sakyong-running-shoes.jpg" /></a></div>
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It wasn't a sure thing that I'd even run the 5K this morning... I was really going back and forth in my mind. This seems to be a common plague among runners, and really, type A individuals generally. Should I run the race (or do x)? Or should I do something else? It's hot (or cold), my legs are tired, I don't feel confident, it's late in the day (or too early), etc. etc. There are any number of permutations and excuses to challenge the exercise plan that run through (pardon the pun) one's mind on any given day.<br />
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I've long known I spend an exorbitant amount of mental and emotional energy on gaming out scenarios--call me a worry wart-- for any given situation, including the daily exercise plan. I also spend a lot of mental energy in my job. Writing complex, well-developed and supported arguments wipes a body out! And teaching is even worse! The cycle is vicious, however, because I run to calm the gerbils in my mind, and yet, when I'm not running, I'm worrying about when the next run will be, will it be comfortable, will my foot hurt, etc. etc.<br />
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There's a new movement towards <a href="http://www.oprah.com/health/Meditation-for-Running-or-Walking-Meditation-Series">zen/meditative running</a>, or at least, incorporating <a href="http://www.runnersworld.com/runners-stories/transcendental-steps?page=single">yogic and meditative breathing</a> into one's running form. I haven't (consciously) tried this, but I do know that I've thought about it! And maybe that's the first step...and I've even mentioned it to a newbie runner friend who was struggling to breathe on a recent run. After 20 years of running, maybe I'm still a newbie when it comes to calming the gerbils, or taming my "monkey mind," as these mental exhaustive energies are called in the <a href="http://www.runnersworld.com/sports-psychology/find-zen-through-running?page=single">Runner's World piece</a>. It's certainly taken me years to figure out when to rest so as not to get injured, and to be grateful rather than annoyed that a 5K turned into a 2.3 mile tempo run.<br />
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That's what ended up happening this morning--I went to the 5K with a calm mind. I wasn't going to worry about time (it was hot! it was a trail course!), and I wasn't going to worry about pushing myself too hard. I was just going to run what felt good. So when I took a wrong turn and accidentally cut the last part of the course, I was actually grateful. I got in what I had wanted to do--a bit of a tempo run--and I didn't care that I had no time. I was almost zen about it (except that I had to then negotiate the race volunteers...we exchanged multiple apologies...it was no one's fault!)<br />
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In any case, today's run confirmed what I know to be true, and perhaps could be a mantra: It's always a good day when you run.<br />
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<br />Elizabethhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02029083472297452208noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-674401163557325178.post-22114265310960882502013-08-10T09:10:00.001-07:002013-08-10T09:10:21.239-07:005K-9<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-wKy2_x9KyhA/UgZlP8avbtI/AAAAAAAAAX4/oZeKgo-aSo0/s1600/steve5k9Aug10.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-wKy2_x9KyhA/UgZlP8avbtI/AAAAAAAAAX4/oZeKgo-aSo0/s320/steve5k9Aug10.jpg" width="198" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Steve and Thea run to the finish at the 5K-9</td></tr>
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Got another great run in this lovely Saturday morning. 5K of it was with Steve and our pooch Thea. They tore it up!<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-xFNH506HlHI/UgZlSpW8GqI/AAAAAAAAAYA/i6sjKji33XA/s1600/SteveAug10.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-xFNH506HlHI/UgZlSpW8GqI/AAAAAAAAAYA/i6sjKji33XA/s320/SteveAug10.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Replenishing with much-needed water</td></tr>
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<br />Elizabethhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02029083472297452208noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-674401163557325178.post-18261133402122047282013-08-03T09:01:00.001-07:002013-08-03T09:35:52.723-07:00Ups and Downs--Here's to 2014It has been fourteen months since my last post. What has happened in this past year? Quite a lot. A lot of ups and downs, joys and much pain, both physical and emotional. I write again today because I ran my first 10 miles since November, 2012. <a href="http://runtrackr.com/routes/view/10-miles-cedar-falls?status=1">10 mile route, Cedar Falls</a><br />
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The highlights:<br />
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<ul>
<li>Finishing my fourth Twin Cities marathon in October. Not fast, but finished after a lot of mental energy spent worrying about knee and foot injuries.</li>
<li>Seeing old friends in Philadelphia for the Philadelphia marathon in November and running there with my husband.</li>
<li>Running in Evanston along the lakefront and seeing my twin in July, 2012; Running along the Witte Singel in Leiden in the dark, in a light snow fall in January, 2013; Running in the woods and along the river in Aarau, Switzerland in January, 2013 while visiting my twin; Running in shorts in Central Park in February, 2013; Running in Big Sur and Sacramento with my husband in July, 2013</li>
<li>Running a relatively fast Furry 5K with my husband and pooch Thea</li>
<li>Biking 50 miles with my husband and a bike club for the 4th of July, 2013</li>
<li>Running 8 miles, proudly, and getting a pedicure with my husband on my birthday, 2013</li>
<li>Training a good friend for a 5K and seducing her into the sport of running!</li>
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The lowlights:<br />
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<ul>
<li>A year of plantar fasciitis, of varying degrees, plaguing me since July, 2012. Knee pain. Cortisone shots, physical therapy, orthotics, and many acupuncture appointments to try to stay active.</li>
<li>Many friends and acquaintances diagnosed with various cancers. Makes my PF look like nothing.</li>
<li>Newtown, CT; Boston Marathon bombing. Drones. </li>
<li>Two feline family members died, in March and July, 2013, respectively.</li>
<li>A lot of stress, generally. Unsurprisingly, this past year was stellar for me, professionally, and we remodeled the upstairs, both of which could be considered highlights. But these things take their toll...</li>
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The silver linings:<br />
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<ul>
<li>I learned a lot about myself, emotionally and physically. I try to live in gratitude each day, and manage stress better.</li>
<li>Acupuncture, meditation, intimacy with family and friends help manage stress.</li>
<li>I took up spinning, and learned to love biking, even road biking! Two 50 mile rides under my belt this summer! I never would have done this if I hadn't been injured.</li>
<li>Only running the 1/2 marathon in Philadelphia proved I can listen to my body...I was proud of myself for cutting it short.</li>
<li>I cherish any running at all. A 5k, even slow, is a victory. Running 2 miles with a friend is a victory. 8 miles is icing on a cake. It's all relative.</li>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-0iTrBMOIg-M/Uf0nAB4I7kI/AAAAAAAAAXU/k-Rrg7ulAbA/s1600/Sturgisfalls5K2013_2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-0iTrBMOIg-M/Uf0nAB4I7kI/AAAAAAAAAXU/k-Rrg7ulAbA/s320/Sturgisfalls5K2013_2.jpg" width="174" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">I ran the Sturgis Falls 5K this June--not fast, but I did it! <br />
The Stop sign is at my back. Symbolic?</td></tr>
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Elizabethhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02029083472297452208noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-674401163557325178.post-84535068764572159842012-06-03T18:14:00.004-07:002012-06-03T18:27:11.809-07:00Running New York<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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I have been in the Empire State for the last two weeks on a research trip. While I love my research, library study is lonely, solo work largely done inside under soul-sucking fluorescent lights, so the best parts of my trip thus far have been sharing amazing long runs and food with old friends. Today, I had a fantastic run in New York City! Jean and Nick took me on a fantastic <a href="http://gmap-pedometer.com/?r=5493158">13.5 loop</a> of Brooklyn (formerly Breukelen) and the lower end of Manhattan. I was so happy to run down the promenade with the skyline of Manhattan and the Statue of Liberty and Governor's Island (formerly Nutten Island, where the first boatload of Walloons set up in 1624, until Peter Minuit began building a fort across the way in 1626), all under a perfectly clear blue sky! We crossed the Brooklyn Bridge and then ran through Battery Park and through the tiny area that was Nieuw Amsterdam--past the Customs House, which is where Fort Amsterdam was, and the plaque for the old Dutch church built in 1633 at Pearl and Broad Streets.<br />
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<a href="http://i130.photobucket.com/albums/p242/Lofter1/NYC%20Property%20Line%20Markers/100529_NYCPropLines_31.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://i130.photobucket.com/albums/p242/Lofter1/NYC%20Property%20Line%20Markers/100529_NYCPropLines_31.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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Then we wound our way back up past the Old Slip, through the Bowery (Stuyvesant's old farm) and across the Manhattan Bridge and through Fort Greene. I had the best tour guides!<br />
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Of course, part of the fun of long runs is the food and drink post-run! And Jean and Nick did not disappoint. We had fantastic breakfast tacos at <a href="http://www.guerostacobar.com/">Guero's Taco Bar</a> (Nick knows everybody in his Franklin Ave-Brooklyn 'hood, and you can follow his blog about it <a href="http://ilovefranklinave.blogspot.com/">here</a>). Post-run calories were also a highlight when I ran a longish solo11.5 miler<a href="http://runtrackr.com/routes/view/albany-rensselaer-1125?status=1"> in Albany</a> last week. After the run, I enjoyed catching up with a college friend (has it really been 10 years??) and sampling tasty beer (mmmm <a href="http://www.belhaven.co.uk/row/belhaven/weeheavy.php">Wee Heavy...</a>) and local Albany craft brews at <a href="http://www.theoldeenglish.com/">Ye Olde English Pub</a> and <a href="http://www.evansale.com/">Evans Ale Pumphouse</a>.<br />
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<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-ejHeIMyHlWM/T8wENkfPFVI/AAAAAAAAATE/_OGzkc4Glbs/s1600/AlbanyPump2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="150" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-ejHeIMyHlWM/T8wENkfPFVI/AAAAAAAAATE/_OGzkc4Glbs/s200/AlbanyPump2.jpg" width="200" /></a></div>
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Next week, I'll try to run long in Grand Rapids, Michigan, while there for a conference. Hopefully the "Great Lakes" state can compete with great Empire... (I love that the Dutch in part began their empire in what became the Empire State in our new empire 400 years later...)</div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-KrXCscS_pSg/T8wNtYkRHII/AAAAAAAAATc/0RUsYbhcz-c/s1600/VisscheratBoijmans.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="96" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-KrXCscS_pSg/T8wNtYkRHII/AAAAAAAAATc/0RUsYbhcz-c/s400/VisscheratBoijmans.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Claes Jansz Visscher, View of Nieuw Amsterdam, c. 1651. Handcolored intaglio.</td></tr>
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<br />Elizabethhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02029083472297452208noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-674401163557325178.post-84785094262732849402012-04-25T09:45:00.001-07:002012-04-25T09:50:28.395-07:00Welcome to 2012! PRs and PrideWelcome to Heartland's Harrier 2012!!<br />
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After an ass-kickin' 2011 Twin Cities Marathon, the denouement of late fall slid into the warmest winter on record here in the upper midwest. I took a long vacation from blogging. As an academic, my writing energy was funneled elsewhere. I'm opening up the racing season of 2012 with a list of personal records and a bit o' philosophy concerning pride.<br />
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First, the PRs:<br />
5K: 21:43 7/4/2008 Firecracker race, Williamsburg, IA tied with 2009 Park2Park 5K, Cedar Falls, IA<br />
10K: 47:40 Run For The Schools, 10/15/2006 Iowa City, IA<br />
7 mile: 54:20 Run The Flood, 6/11/2011, Cedar Rapids, IA<br />
10 Mile: 1:19:57 MDRA 10 Mile, 5/29/2011, St. Paul, MN<br />
1/2 Marathon: 1:43:33 Sturgis Falls 6/26/2011, Cedar Falls IA<br />
Marathon: 3:49 Twin Cities, 10/2011, Mpls-St. Paul, MN<br />
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Most of these PRs happened for me last year. The training journey continues, and as I grow ever-more comfortable with my body in my 30s, I am racing and running better than ever.<br />
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I started keeping a running training log in 2003, when I began graduate school. It was instructive to go back and read how little I ran compared to now--and note the comments I wrote about how stressed out I was! Back then, I also experienced a lot more pain running. In more than a few entries, I comment on knee pain, hip pain, and heel pain throughout the 2003 season and into 2008.<br />
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In the past two and half years--since I began training for the 2010 Twin Cities-- I have learned much about my body, strength training, and fueling. It's a wonderful thing to start a training season feeling that 15 miles is kind of hard, but by the end, feeling that a 24 mile run is the new 15, because 15 is "easy."<br />
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I credit a lot of this success to various teachers. I've been running since 1992, but only since 2010 did I really learn how to do specific strength for running, based on the weakness of my body. Butt! Hamstrings! Back! Who knew? I certainly didn't. A friend and Doctor of Physical Therapy (shout out <a href="http://www.puravidapt.com/">Pura Vida PT</a>!) clued me in to my weaknesses. A few personal training sessions, and supplemental kettlebell and pilates classes at <a href="http://www.nrgpilates.net/">NRG Pilates</a> have made a noticeable--and quantifiable--difference in my running times, and better, how I <i>feel </i>during runs and in races. Even Runner's World is jumping on the kettlebell and pilates bandwagons! <a href="http://www.runnersworld.com/article/1,7120,s6-238-263-266-14192-0,00.html">RW Kettlebell</a>; <a href="http://www.runnersworld.com/video?bcpid=780508499001&bctid=1402546877001">RW Pilates</a><br />
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This past weekend I raced my first 5K of the season (<a href="http://www.gothedistance5k.com/index.htm">Go The Distance for Crime Victims</a>), with my hubby, who has taken up running in a whole new and serious way! (I am so happy and proud of him!) He ran 21:41--a PR for him--and I ran a respectable 22:20. Saturday he'll race an 8K, and I will race the 1/2 Marathon in Des Moines as part of the Drake Relays events.<br />
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Now for the philosophy (briefly). Pride is one of the seven deadlies, and the sin I probably commit most frequently. But as I tell my students, "Own your shit." It's important to be proud of who you are--not to the point of narcissicism--but rather, so that you can hold your ground when necessary, and so that you have the <i>desire, </i>the <i>motivation </i>to push yourself. My numbers, compared to many, are painfully slow. Others may think they're crazy fast. But for me, they're the best they've been--and that's all I'm gauging. That's why I love running and other individual sports--it's about you, the work you've put in, and the comfort of the clock.Elizabethhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02029083472297452208noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-674401163557325178.post-43342556944622679912011-11-27T09:51:00.000-08:002011-11-27T09:51:24.955-08:00What makes you special?I haven't blogged in awhile. I've been enjoying not training for anything and having my runs be spontaneous mileage based on what I feel like that day. My runs have averaged between 6 and 8 miles. It's nice to feel like 6 miles is a short run! I've been in Minneapolis these past few days, and have enjoyed two runs <a href="http://runtrackr.com/routes/view/harriet-and-calhoun-from-york-av?status=1">around Lake Harriet and Lake Calhoun</a>. I did the 8.79 mile loop this morning in 1:21, about a 9:13 minute mile. Yesterday I did the same run and logged a 9:40 pace. Interestingly, this morning I was sweating out the <a href="http://www.fultonbeer.com/the-story">Fulton beers</a>* and Amstels I drank last night with one of my best friends. We went to the amazing concert at the <a href="http://www.thecedar.org/">Cedar Cultural Center</a> featuring <a href="http://www.sophiehunger.com/?p=music">Sophie Hunger</a> and <a href="http://www.tinariwen.com/">Tinariwen</a>. Last night's activities reinforced how much I love Minneapolis. I reconnected with one of the most amazing women I know. Our conversation all night was invigorating, refreshing, and comforting all at once. Together we enjoyed the cultural offerings brought by other enlightened individuals. She is special because of the bigness of her heart, the openness of her mind. This empathy is reflected publicly by the promotion and support of global music and culture within the city. While last night and this morning were fantastic, yesterday morning's run left me feeling annoyed. A small incident on my last mile left me with a feeling of negativity towards humanity because I experienced the opposite of the open empathetic interest in which I participated last night. Rather, two individuals jogging around Lake Harriet showed themselves to be selfish, arrogant, and totally unsympathetic to the comfort of others, or in tune to the realities of safety. How did joggers offend a fellow runner so deeply? By running with their 60 pound dog off-leash.<br />
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I have a dog. I know how much dogs love to run around freely. I also know how instinct-driven dogs are, no matter how well-trained you think your dog may be. Dog parks and leash laws are meant to provide a balance of comfort and enjoyment of public resources for both dog owners and those who choose not to have dogs. Whenever I see this phenomenon of dog owners flouting leash laws, my reaction is always negative because I am so aware of how <i>selfish </i>the act is. I always think "what makes <i>you </i>so special?" Other people's dogs are on leashes. MY dog is on a leash. Why do you get to let yours run around? Ultimately why I am so bothered is because this seemingly liberating action shows the arrogance and hubris of humans. To think a human can actually control an animal with only voice commands! I don't care if 99.9% of the time your animal is under voice control. There WILL be the .01% time that some juicy squirrel runs past your dog, and your dog runs after it into the street and gets hit by a car. Or, the .01% chance that someone <i>else's </i>dog hates your dog, and starts a fight because your "friendly" dog wanted to check that dog out. Or the .01% chance that your "friendly" dog runs up to someone who is deathly afraid of dogs. Or the .01% chance that your dog, running free as it is, runs in front of someone, and trips that person. The first scenario reflects how thoughtless selfishness can have totally opposite effects than intended--instead of freedom for your dog, your dog dies or is injured. The other three scenarios show how selfish hubris not only adversely affect others, but also can be liabilities for the dog owner.<br />
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What makes you special? I hope it is that you consider other sentient beings' feelings and comfort before your own.<br />
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*This a delicious beer brewed locally in Southwest Minneapolis. I went to Fulton elementary K-3rd grade; my parents still live in the Fulton neighborhood.<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div>Elizabethhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02029083472297452208noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-674401163557325178.post-56696356617444522192011-10-29T07:13:00.000-07:002011-10-29T07:26:55.360-07:00A Perfect Day<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.studiohdr.com/Pets/Dogs/Norah-in-Back/999120767_WQ4o7-M-9.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="http://www.studiohdr.com/Pets/Dogs/Norah-in-Back/999120767_WQ4o7-M-9.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br />
On my mind these last few weeks: E.O. Wilson and <i>Social Conquest of Earth </i>(see this month's article in <a href="http://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2011/11/e-o-wilson-rsquo-s-theory-of-everything/8686/">The Atlantic</a><i> , </i>Sebastian Junger's <i><a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2010/05/16/books/review/Filkins-t.html">War</a> </i>and our current human predicament. When I'm feeling down, I sometimes think we should look to animals to remind ourselves about the simplicity of things and the importance of living in the moment. Animals' needs are so basic, their actions so geared towards their immediate instinctual desires, that when those are fulfilled, they are contented. Indeed, what was so striking about Junger's book is that soldiers who had experienced combat found it extremely difficult to live a civilian life again because at war, every action is significant. Moreover, every action is significant not just personally, but towards the <i>group. </i>The possibility that someone's loose bootlace could affect <i>everyone </i>in the platoon, because if one person slowed the others down everyone could die, is not how most people live. The mundane in combat still requires constant vigilance, whereas the civilian prosaic is often so thoughtless.<br />
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This resonates with me--not because I wish to experience the intensity of combat that makes soldiers feel "alive", but because the thoughtlessness--indeed the selfishness-- of so many people around me makes me sad.<br />
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The best part of my last couple days--weeks really--have been my early morning runs. Now that sunrise isn't until after 7:30 a.m., all my runs start in the dark. Monday morning I saw two horned owls along 27th Street, out in the hinterlands of Cedar Falls. It was awesome to watch them swoop gracefully and hoot eerily in the morning mist. I took them as omens for a good day. On Tuesday's 6.5 mile run, I didn't see any neat wildlife, but for the first time in a month, I felt relaxed and mentally prepared--I was able to run in the moment rather than worry about my body or what lay ahead.<br />
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It's been very difficult for me lately to focus on the moment, to live in gratitude for the simplest thing. I've been distracted and depressed by the big picture--the constant degradation of our environment (<a href="http://www.nrdc.org/energy/dirtyfuels_tar.asp?gclid=CImt0eSKjqwCFYXrKgodDhJFmw">eg: The Keystone Pipeline</a>), the plight of the 99% (of which I count myself), the gridlock in Congress, money woes Europe, and the ignorance of Americans that if not glorified, is not helped by U.S. media. Junger notes that combat soldiers don't think about the big picture. Our pets don't either. And the best part about a great run is what I can only assume is a similar feeling--the love of the moment. The glory of fresh air in your lungs, the wind in your face, the misty light of dawn, the muted colors of fields put to rest for winter.<br />
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As humans, we have self-consciousness, and so can <i>appreciate </i>these moments. We also want to hold onto them, despite their necessary transience. We write poems, blogs, memoirs, take pictures, play music. A friend of mine photographs pets and local scenery (see <a href="http://www.studiohdr.com/Pets">Studio HDR</a>). The photo above is his. Interestingly, they are photographs with vivid colors and contrasts, the kind of images we see when our senses are at the height of awareness; crisper than reality can be. Memories are powerful--and while humans have words, visuals, and sounds to heighten our awareness and appreciation of life, alone, words, images, and sounds--no matter how profound-- provide just a shade of the original moment. It may not fit perfectly here, but I've wanted to share Jon Katz's retelling of a soldier's gift to his dying dog. It is a gift of moments, of simple things that make <a href="http://www.slate.com/articles/news_and_politics/heavy_petting/2011/09/the_perfect_day.html">A Perfect Day</a>. The idea is one that I think is powerful not just for our animal friends, but all our loved ones, and even for each of us, as needed. Perhaps it's not a coincidence that it was a veteran of the Iraq war who initiated this.Elizabethhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02029083472297452208noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-674401163557325178.post-62835505353654082372011-10-02T19:18:00.000-07:002011-10-02T19:43:21.820-07:00Twin Cities Marathon--3rd and 30<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-Lk_U06n_Av0/TokMnjKxJyI/AAAAAAAAAMs/zzz6Pqwb76w/s1600/DSCN0627.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-Lk_U06n_Av0/TokMnjKxJyI/AAAAAAAAAMs/zzz6Pqwb76w/s320/DSCN0627.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">My Awesome Parents--who ran TC 30 years ago</td></tr>
</tbody></table>As I write this, I am stiff, sore, and it's difficult for me to take deep breaths because every muscle feels contracted. But I am happy. I am very glad not to have any more marathons for 2011 and I foresee no more long runs for the year either. I am sore and happy because today I ran the 30th Twin Cities Marathon--my 3rd Twin Cities--just two months after the San Francisco Marathon. I ran for Bolder Options, and easily reached my goal of $1000, raising $1,300 for the organization that matches athletes with at-risk youth. And I ran a PR--<a href="http://www.mtecresults.com/runner/show?rid=21165&race=507">3:49:34</a> officially--a good four minutes off my earlier PR (2010 TC).<br />
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Throughout the two months between San Francisco and Twin Cities, I was anxious about my body's recovery and my ability to hang together for another 26.2. What I now think is that a marathon 2-4 months before another 26.2 race--provided one recovers and listens to her body in between-- will help one run that second 26.2 really well. My brother PR'd at San Francisco, and he had run the LA Marathon a short four months earlier.<br />
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The race today felt great! I attribute my success to multiple factors, some in my control, others not at all. The weather was good--sunny and 53 degrees at the start, 68 degrees at the finish. Without consciously planning to do so, I had topped off my glycogen stores this week by scarfing cookies leftover in the office from an art opening. I beat myself up about it during those three days of weakness, but now I'm glad I listened to my cravings (which also included waffles, beer, and tortilla chips) rather than my brain! (see<a href="http://www.runnersworld.com/article/0,7120,s6-242-301--14076-0,00.html"> "Fill 'er up" </a>in this month's Runner's World). I also ran a confidence-boosting tune-up track workout on Wednesday. I was ready to be disappointed and experience heavy legs, but it went really well, and left me feeling loose physically and emotionally more optimistic (I love sharing the track in the pre-dawn glow with ROTC recruits in fatigues! Try it sometime). That same day, I had scheduled a massage, just to get any last-minute tension out of my legs that the workout might have exacerbated. I did some pilates, and yesterday, I stretched a lot, but the only activity my legs got was a long morning walk. As important as all these physical factors was the emotional support from my family and friends who knew I was running again, and who cheered me on and supported the cause. My husband and my parents especially deserve their own finishers' medals for the many hours and care they have shown throughout!<br />
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The race went by really fast. I started slow and even, at 9 minute miles for the first three miles. As I warmed up and felt good, I picked it up a little, especially at mile 5. Looking at my results, it appears I ran the second 10K faster than the first 10K. Overall, my pacing was really even. I hardly thought at all during the race. I was pleasantly distracted by people cheering (including Doug M., Nicole M., Anne S., Jessie T., Charlie L., Meredith S., and my parents), and only put in my music at mile 10. <br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-6rQUzrsChWo/TokaXO-rUtI/AAAAAAAAANI/vPFI7w7BEUI/s1600/DSCN0589+%25282%2529.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-6rQUzrsChWo/TokaXO-rUtI/AAAAAAAAANI/vPFI7w7BEUI/s320/DSCN0589+%25282%2529.jpg" width="248" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Mile 7 at the Rose Garden. Clearly in The Zone.</td></tr>
</tbody></table><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div>The race was all about little goals and little encouragements. The only thoughts that I remember crossing my mind were similar to: "wow, already mile 5! Eat gu at 6! Will I have enough gu? Parents at 7! Where are the bananas? Already at 10! Gu at 12--I'll get more at 17. Already at the half, and a good pace! I feel good, excellent. This is a good song for this part of the course. Already at 15! I can give my shirt to my parents at 17. Almost 22! Only 4 more. This is a great race if these two miles are the toughest. Only 2 more miles to finish, it's down hill--time to kick it in."<br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-bottom: 0.5em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; padding-bottom: 6px; padding-left: 6px; padding-right: 6px; padding-top: 6px; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-BmBka6H7b4k/TokaqJXbtgI/AAAAAAAAANM/1Ak7BINphvA/s1600/DSCN0597+%25282%2529.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-BmBka6H7b4k/TokaqJXbtgI/AAAAAAAAANM/1Ak7BINphvA/s320/DSCN0597+%25282%2529.jpg" width="212" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 13px; padding-top: 4px; text-align: center;">Ditching my shirt at Mile 17</td></tr>
</tbody></table><br />
My thought at mile 25, just as I was about crest Summit and see the State Capitol and the finish, was that I couldn't cry, not now. I became very emotional and had to tell myself to hold it in. In 2008, I had also been emotional then. But that was because I had been in so much pain, and was so disappointed in myself. Today, I was choking it back because I was overwhelmed with gratitude and love. I felt so <i>not alone</i>. So many people--my parents, my husband, my brothers, and my friends; a community that includes high school teammates, college teammates, Mississippi River Road Runners, and all the people who have supported me in voice and deed and told me they care--were with me there at 25, in my mind and heart.<br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-bOq4XkZRgxw/TokbP0wfG8I/AAAAAAAAANQ/3dZhrl4eMU8/s1600/DSCN0619+%25282%2529.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="212" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-bOq4XkZRgxw/TokbP0wfG8I/AAAAAAAAANQ/3dZhrl4eMU8/s320/DSCN0619+%25282%2529.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Crankin' to the finish. Had to use those arms.</td></tr>
</tbody></table><br />
You all rock. Thank you!<br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-xouu1CyfnnE/TokY3r7PSXI/AAAAAAAAAM0/mNCvcVISg70/s1600/TCMarathon2011+019.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-xouu1CyfnnE/TokY3r7PSXI/AAAAAAAAAM0/mNCvcVISg70/s320/TCMarathon2011+019.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Old fashioned glazed donuts rock too. </td></tr>
</tbody></table>Elizabethhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02029083472297452208noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-674401163557325178.post-48629842395425553362011-09-22T18:56:00.000-07:002011-09-22T19:04:20.431-07:00Reaching Out at City of Lakes 25KI began writing this when it was 49 degrees last weekend. It's equally cool now. But Sunday 9/11 when I ran the 30th City of Lakes 25K, it was in the high 70s, reaching close to 90 by the afternoon. I suppose I could have made this blog about the 10th "anniversary" of 9/11--but all I want to say about that is listen to the <a href="http://www.thisamericanlife.org/radio-archives/episode/445/ten-years-in">This American Life Episode on "Ten Years In"</a>.<br />
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The run for me was not about anniversaries--30th, 10th, or otherwise. It was much more selfish initially. It was only about making it. My goal was to finish and to have something left over in my body to run 26.2 three weeks later (just over a week from now!). This would be accomplished by taking it easy and being happy with a 9 minute mile pace over the 15.5 miles. I started off planning not to go too hard, considering the marathons past and future. I was okay with my 8:15 first mile. I was more worried about the mental toll of two loops around the two lakes, Harriet and Calhoun. These two lakes I have been running around since I began running in 1992 (jesu--that's almost 20 years of running for me!). That, and while family members have accused me of being a misanthrope, I do admit I am easily distracted by people around me. Thankfully, around mile 3, I fell into a rhythm with another female runner. After a half mile or so, I felt it would be anti-social <i>not </i>to acknowledge our shared space and pace. So I made some comment about that phenomenon. This led to more queries about how many long races she had done, what her goals were, what she did for a living, and so on. By mile 4, I had learned Andrea and I were both Iowans, that she worked for a non-profit in Minneapolis now, but had attended Coe College in Cedar Rapids, and had never done a marathon. She was hoping to finish with an 8:30 average pace. I invited her to look up the Mississippi Road Runners, and sang the praises of having training partners and making running fun. We passed over four miles together, alternately chatting and focusing on mile markers. While we didn't end up finishing together, those four miles were easily the best of the race for me. Not because they were especially fast, but because they were meaningful. I felt like I was sharing the experience with someone, and getting to know someone new, even if (as is likely) I will never see Andrea again.<br />
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Maybe you have noticed this recurring theme of sociability and sharing in my blogs. I've written about training with my twin, positively pushing competitors in the Sturgis half-marathon, and sharing a long run with a good friend this fall. I've befriended fellow runners on airplanes, as I did flying to San Francisco.<br />
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The race itself wasn't all that great for me or my Mississippi Road Runner teammates. It was hot, and there was cramping, chafing, and dehydration. As a team, we came in last among <a href="http://www.raceberryjam.com/2011/colteams.html">women teams</a>, and I was the slowest of all. So what's the point? I achieved my goal--I finished in 2:15, an 8:43 pace. But even at the end, I had to remind myself not to be selfish. My mom was there, just a few meters from the finish. I had cramped up (the first time ever in a race!) the very last half mile. Whatever she shouted at me, I did not want to hear then. I had to get my inner <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4r7wHMg5Yjg">honey badger</a> under control. As Randall says, "the honey badger don't care, the honey badger don't give a shit."<br />
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<img height="255" src="http://i924.photobucket.com/albums/ad81/rdbrewer/honeybadger1-1-1.png" width="320" /><br />
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But the thing is, we aren't honey badgers. So I reminded myself why my mom was there (she loves me, supports me, and is proud of me, despite my proclivity to selfishness). This race wasn't just for me--it was for a lot of people, whether or not I know them. It was to get to know people like Andrea, and teach us to support each other. It was for teammates, and for 9/11/01. It was for loved ones cheering all the runners on, because, well, races are microcosms of life.Elizabethhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02029083472297452208noreply@blogger.com0