Tuesday, February 17, 2009

Gratitude Unlocks the Fullness of Life

Gratitude unlocks the fullness of life. It turns what we have into enough, and more. It turns denial into acceptance, chaos to order, confusion to clarity. It can turn a meal into a feast, a house into a home, a stranger into a friend. Gratitude makes sense of our past, brings peace for today, and creates a vision for tomorrow. Melody Beattie
I started my 7 mile run in a sprinkle but it quickly turned into a down pour. Did I tell you how much fun running in the rain is. It makes me feel like a kid. If you have the right gear it can be fun. I ran along the Alameda creek trail and finished with a run in and around Quarry lakes.
It works out great on Tuesday to run there for me before my 12pm crossfit class which is just a few minutes drive from there.
I often think ultrarunners are badass for running in extreme conditions. But as I was running today I counted at least 10 fishermen sitting in the rain in these less then perfect conditions. They didn't have the best gear on but I guess they were determined like me but in a different way. They wanted to catch some fish and I just wanted to get a fast run in.
After seeing them I thought to myself they are way hardcore..I couldn't sit there for hours in the rain and cold. Sure I can run in it but I'm to wimpy to sit in it.
I hope they reached their goal and caught a fish or two. I reached mine and had fun just running in the rain.
Happy to be almost done my run in the puring rain. Notice Mission peak in the background.
WOD 2/17/2009

Complete five rounds for time of:
  • Row 300m
  • 30 push-ups

Your goal is to finish this workout in 8-10 minutes.

My time 16:05 rx'd

There has been only 1 person so far today that has finished the wod in under 10 min. I was hoping for under 15 min. but I was happy doing in under 17 min. after running 7 miles.

9 comments:

Hone said...

Well I must be a real badass because my 2 favorite things to do are fly fishing and ultrarunning.

I am not hardcore enough to go ice fishing though.

Catra said...

Dude you are way badass and Hardcore...LOL..Ice fishing now that would be cold sitting around doing that ;)
Good luck this weekend.
xoxo

Anonymous said...

You wrote, "I hope they reached their goal and caught a fish or two. I reached mine and had fun just running in the rain."

Like you, more of us need to take the time and appreciate the small things in life, like those people fishing. Happiness is often best found in the simplest of things, not the biggest car,most impressive academic credentials, or what you did yesterday.

Ultradawg

Smithposts... said...

Well, it's raining today. You have provided some great motivation for me to get out anyway!

Anonymous said...

running in the rain is fun! I live in a climate where we get a lot more rain than you and it's kind of a necessity even though there are a lot of people who'll head for the treadmill at the first sign of rain.

They're missing out. Some of my best running stories are during rain.. like the time I was pinned down, squatting on a rock, on a trail 100 yards below a ridge and 100 yards above a clearing, in one of the most violent thunderstorms I've ever seen! It was a scary 30 minutes but in retrospect I wouldn't trade that experience for anything..

If I lived in California, I wouldn't miss any chance to run in the warm refreshing rain, because it's so dry there..

jb said...

Running in the rain makes me feel about 6 years old too. When I start I think it will be miserable, then I have a blast.

Anonymous said...

Catra,you've got to come running in
A.Z there so many great run's over
hear!

Baldwyn said...

I love your comment about the fisherman! When I showed up to Lake Chabot for the Epiphany 50k at 5am in foggy darkness, there were cars already there, and people pulling in as I was getting ready. They weren't there to run!

jaltevers said...

I agree, running in the rain is awesome. I just did it last Monday...it poured on me and I loved every minute of it.

I work at a decent sized lake and fishermen will fish in any weather and get mad at you when you ask them to leave for their own safety. I had a guy get really mad at me because I was asking him to leave the lake due to lightning...he was in a metal boat!!!! It cracks me up. Keep up the great posts.