Running with the quail.....

Yes, it's a lousy photo, one that was taken as I was trying to wog up the street. Two quail were leading me up the hill this morning. I had passed a flock of chickens grazing in a neighbors yard when I looked up to see these two little California quail skittering up the sidewalk in front of me. We almost made it to the end of the block together before they decided enough was enough and flew into a tree. I smiled all the way up the road though, as it's always a treat to go running. See what you miss when you sleep in on a Saturday?

Confucious say......

...people who own dogs should have tall fences..... Okay maybe he didn't but he would have if he lived in our neighborhood.
What is it about an early misty morning that is so refreshing?! I'm out plodding along on my morning jog, listening to Car Talk on my headphones. Hey, you can learn a lot from those two! Did you know that if your accelerator gets stuck you can do several things to prevent an accident, such as shift to neutral, turn the car off BUT LEAVE THE KEY IN THE IGNITION, and hit the brakes. See, you learned something this morning. So here I am enjoying the drizzle on my face, the cool air and the quiet when it's shattered by a momma Labrador who charges me. She has been an annoyance in the past, and I really should be on the city about this one as they know she's a problem, but now that she has had puppies she has become very aggressive! I had happened to pick up a pipe from a neighbors trailor sitting out in the front as I knew the dog might be out and believe it or not there are no good throwing rocks along that stretch of road.
So I'm yelling at her to go home, and the owner, who I couldn't see as it's still semi dark yells at me, "Throw a rock at her!" What?!!!!! He's too chicken to come out where I can see him, but later on he passes me in his Union Pacific truck. So I'm thinking, okay, he probably put her back as I truck along down the road, and I reverse my circle to go back by. Well I get past their doublewide, and just as I'm ready to drop the pipe back in my friends trailor here comes the dog up behind me. I wheel around as she almost gets to me, and I see the UP truck is back at the doublewide with the lights on. The dog backed off as I turned around, but now I'm mad. The guy has the nerve to pass me again! So here's the deal, I called the police department and left a message. They will hear from me again, the city will as well as the dog catcher, until this nuisance is taken care of. I'm not really talking about the dog either. I wonder what the number to Union Pacific is....
Here's the deal. The first reaction to this sort of situation is to shoot the dog. Really, the owners should be strung up. Dogs are dogs and do what they do, where as humans know better.
Yeah, I will be creating a different running route as I don't need this. I really enjoy getting out in the morning as it's so lovely out. I have heard recently that wasp spray is a good deterrent so I'm off to the store!

Running....a wonderful addiction

Yesterday morning as I was out running I heard the "talkie" on the radio share a news blurb about how there's been an increase in depression among people who went to see the movie "Avatar". Because of the vision of how life could be in this fantasy world of Avatar, people I guess took the movie way too seriously.
So this morning the same "talkie" was mulling over the over abundance if you will, of Americans who suffer from depression. His take was that we have turned into a bunch of soft pansies and can't deal with anything. Of course he was railing on the few who really do need to get a life, but there are medical reasons at times for depression and those shouldn't be discounted.
I had a problem with being severely stressed when I was married to my ex. I won't go into details as it doesn't really matter anymore, but I did go see my OB/GYN doctor because I thought I was having terrible PMS. He suggested I change my diet, and exercise, but he did give me tranquilizers as well to calm me when I felt out of hand. I decided to follow the first two things on his list, exercise and diet, and wow what a difference! I never did take the tranquilizers, but I lost 25 lbs, and gained a new found confidence in what I was capable of. My main form of exercise? Running, which is no easy task when it's umpteen below zero, but I would put on tights, and knee high socks and thick fleece jogging pants, a turtle neck, a sweatshirt and a fleece jacket as well as my ski head band and face scarf and off I would go, running around our .6 mile circle until I hit 3 miles. That was almost 20 years ago, and I still love to run, even though I haven't been as consistent as I should be. The chiropractor would have heart failure, but I'm sorry it works for me and doesn't hurt me anymore than any other exercise does. For me, running is my only and favorite addiction. Here's something I found on running if you have been thinking about an exercise program. Oh, and for the record, I lost 15 lbs last year by adding running to my exercise routine.
Running is very good for your health. It provides a great cardiovascular workout, strengthens and tones your muscles. Regular jogging gives better overall physical condition as well as some other health benefits, including mental benefits such as relaxation and reduction of anxiety.

Regular running and jogging is a good way to improve your health and fitness. Many people are concerned about long term damage to joints such as knees, ankles and hips, as a result of running. However, with good quality running shoes and a sensible approach, the risks are minimal, and the benefits of being fitter outweigh those possible risks. There are several beneficial effects of starting a running routine:

Read more: http://www.motleyhealth.com/articles/2008/10/health-benefits-of-jogging-and-running.html#ixzz0cYYgm4yI

Have a great day, and happy running!

Word of Wisdom

This is me, ecstatic about having lost enough weight to wear this dress comfortably. When we bought the dress last year it was a bit snug and then got even snugger so I've never worn it. Today I'm pleased to say I can! Thanks to my Oregon friend Cathy, who has lost 50 + pounds and is looking great, I decided to try..... again to lose weight. I asked her what her trick was and she told me she started running, and she tried to follow the Word of Wisdom more correctly. In our belief system we have the Word of Wisdom as a guide to how to eat and what is harmful to consume. I know a lot of folks will say it's too restrictive, as in no caffeineated drinks, no alcohol and no smoking, but honestly, if you look at the health risks versus benefits of say drinking wine and such abstaining is a much better way to go. The Word of Wisdom talks about eating fruits, grains and herbs and eating meat sparingly. So along with the running and other exercise I've been doing I've cut way back on my meat consumption, substituting beans, lentils and so on for meat. I've also cut way back on sugar consumption, and one of the blessings of running or any vigorous exercise is that it has an affect on what you feel like eating and how much. I've lost 12 pounds and have 30 to go. It sure is a good feeling to be heading down. I'm not starving myself, I just eat less, and so if I want a cookie once in awhile I will have one, but I've really not wanted one. I have much more energy as well so I'm sticking with this plan. No drugs, just healthy foods and exercise. Now how easy is that?