Female Octogenarians Caught Playing at the Beach

July 28, 2011 at 4:27 pm | Posted in attitudes, Health | Leave a comment
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OK so to start- what in the world is an octogenarian? It happens to be one of my favorite words. It means a person who is 80. And if you are 80 I think you really do deserve such a fancy and fun name as octogenarian. Anyway, I was out in the water playing dunk my 11 year old daughter. My mother and her cousin were doing their exercises in the waist deep water. Walking, using their arms, and looking solid and strong, and just a bit serious.

Then all of a sudden they began to play catch. They tossed the little orange and black water ball-the new ones for this sumer that “bounce” in the water- And things changed. There was bit of a giggle floating across the water. They began to have just a bit of a bounce in their movements. Then it happened- they let loose and began to splash. These two old ladies- yes my mother and her cousin are old ladies- they splashed each other for all they were worth.

Needless to say I was in utter hysterics, as were many other beach goers. Who ever saw old ladies just let loose and play like that? Not me.

SO after they settled down in their beach chairs, I asked them what it was like to get out there and play like that. “OH, were we playing?” said my mother. “I was just trying to get your mother back for all the times she got me. I thought this might be my best chance ever.” “And was it?” asked my mother. “No- you won again like always.” “And boy was it ever fun!” They both said in unison and burst into that laugh you usually only hear with a couple of 8 year olds.

So at 8 or 80+ the desire to play a physical competition still lingers. My mother wasn’t about to let her “little” cousin get the best of her. And her cousin still longed to win. Bottom line- It was fun.

But how could they still do it? Lots of things. Here’s a few things.
* They still do exercises daily
* They eat healthy- relatively anyway
* They think they can do things
* They love to compete
* They have high self-esteem

So as you do your play or compete formally, know that you may be setting yourself up for an octogenarian all out splash fight in a few years down the line. IF nothing else it will make others have a great ab workout with all the laughing caused by you.

What about family meals?

July 26, 2011 at 4:04 pm | Posted in Uncategorized | Leave a comment

Some Days I Really Question Why I Run

July 22, 2011 at 2:16 pm | Posted in attitudes | 2 Comments
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Some days I really question why I run and you’d think that when the heat and humidity are supposed to reach unbearable numbers, and people are hot inside their air conditioned homes and I don’t have any AC, just fans in my home, and a river, pool and ocean to swim in- None at my home though- that maybe I’d think this was a great day to take off.

Then again you might think that I’d want to get out there and have a real connection run with the heat. Let it really get into my soul and stir things up.

Of course since I suggested these they are not what I did. I decided last night that I needed to get in 12 miles today to stay on task with my 60 miles per week goal to reach my year long goal of 2011 miles in 2011.

This being decided I knew that I wasn’t going to skip the day and I wasn’t young and foolish enough to want to have a connection with the heat run. So I set my alarm for 5:15 and got my self up. That was actually rather easy. It was light out, but the sun hadn’t quite come up yet.

First things first- Lyona –my dog- needed her morning outing. Easy enough- just a ¾ mile out and back. She KNEW that she was going right back home after her business- no long run for her today!

Then came the first hard moment, when I brought her back to the house and had to turn right around and take off. OK so I do this many mornings, but this morning it might have been nice to just say, “Oh its so hot I’m going in to nap- maybe I’ll run this evening.”

Whew- I did it. And yes I was already wet from the outside in from the humidity with just that short little jaunt. As I ran on I saw the sun rise. This was extraordinary. It was brilliant magenta- without even a red ball of sun in the middle. But I had my plan to be back before that sun had anytime to really get into action. I had some dream running time- that’s when I know I am going and I don’t really remember when I am in the run what is happening or what I’m thinking I just keep going. And got through Long Shore.

Off to the beach- oh it was lovely- Just a whisper of breeze. Not cooling. But somehow refreshing nonetheless.

Then it was uphill after that, which is OK with me. I like the up hills. I had purposely made my run route to have an option to head home early if it really was too hot. I’m not really interested in being in the news for having been found in a bush about to die of heat stroke.

This made for the second hard moment- I knew I could go on AND I knew there was coolness at home. I checked myself out- was I delirious? No. Was I still sweating? Yes. Was my mouth dry? No. Did I have any cramps? No. Did I really want to run another bunch of miles? YES. All that thinking took me a mile. And that was good because there were five side streets for that mile that lead straight home. I did run on the right side of the road to avoid the even easier access to those streets since they were all off to the left.

Then came a nice steep hill- Park Lane. I put my head down and ran up. Still in the shade and truly on my way home now-

As you may expect after the up came the down. And as a runner there are different ways to go down. You can attack it, let it take you, or somehow glide down without much work at all. For me the last is actually the slowest, but under the heat circumstances I took the easy way down. If you’re not a runner then there is no easy way down. You just have to do it.

Up a mile, down a mile, and onto the real home stretch. The sun was really doing her thing. It was just plain HOT HOT HOT.

The last main road till my road was being resurfaced. This morning is was a packed dirt/gravel road. I want to mention it because of the difference between the CT drivers on this kind of road and the NH drivers. Normally I think the CT drivers are more intense and indifferent about runners, but not on this dirt road. They made huge arches around me, drove at a snails pace, and made sure I was safe. This dirt road was alien territory to them. For me, I loved it. It was cooler than the road and just softer to the touch.

Ah, my street- in the shade and around the bends- Into the driveway. Looked the same to me, but I was surely different. I had made it. I had made this trip, this run, as planned, before the truly intense heat had struck, before I had to give up, before I had let any sensible sane ideas come into action.

With that thought I took the hose and doused myself for ten whole minutes to cool down. And yes I did let plenty of that hose water trickle right into my mouth.

I went dripping wet up to my room- aimed the fans on me and stretched. When done I was good to go for the day.

Whose Drumbeat are You Following?

July 7, 2011 at 10:37 am | Posted in attitudes | Leave a comment

Over the last month or so I’ve had some great and extraordinary experiences. And of course many basic and ordinary life happenings. For the next few days I’m going to relate last month.

Here goes-Starting Wed June 8. (This is not a diary or history- Actually there are some interesting ideas.)

It may seem that things were going pretty fast after the last two weeks of May. What with Cinthia Funes’ graduation from Wellesley College, right into the Waterville Valley Elementary School play of Alice in Wonderland to Jilly’s 24-hour birthday party. But of course those where all fantastic events and were just the setting of the stage for what was coming my way.

I knew that time would both zip by without my least ability to slow it down, and yet filled with so much to do that it seems impossible that time could move slow enough to let it all in. The way life used to be and the start of how it is changing for me began really on the weekend of June 10-12. Two things were simultaneously going on.

Jamie had been developing and creating a trampoline camp geared for girls in conjunction with Freestyle America. To offer this camp Jamie had to talk to the people who could support the idea, both in and out of Freestyle America. She had to market to the families who would send their girls. She had to think of and prepare activities that would cater to the girls. She was also in charge of her two younger sisters and our dog for the weekend.

Jamie and her sisters had a great time. Jamie and Jeanee loved providing the camp for girls- along with the regular Freestyle America coaches. Nick Preston bopped in and out with his huge enthusiasm! There is nothing like Nick’s smile showing every positive emotion possible to a person. It just bounces in all directions.

With Jamie taking the initiative to think, create, develop, market, produce, and follow up the camp my life changed as did hers. Knowing now that she has this combined ability I know that she can stay out of any confining 9-5 job for her whole life. That she has the true ability and smarts to be her own person on skis and off. Now if she chooses to have a 9-5 job it will be something she can love and be dedicated to doing. On the other hand, she can create her own life just as she wants it to be.

For those of you who know Jamie you may think, “Well, of course. Who would have ever thought anything different?’ Well, actually I knew this was totally all Jamie. She will live her life with her own flare, her own design, and her own path. As a kid she followed her own drumbeat, and played it loud and clear for anyone who wanted to join her.

But some people were afraid to follow or let their children follow- they wanted to follow a well-worn path. They wanted to follow a drummer that everyone has listened to. Some people were scared to let her follow her path and create her own drumbeat. Then when she had an injury last Dec, even Jamie had to step off her path. The path that she had envisioned- The one that she thought was straight ahead. She had choices to make. She could decide to mope and heal, mope and get out, become disenchanted. Or get the new path all cleared out and lined up so she could charge ahead with energy, gusto, and full knowledge of where she was heading.

And this tramp camp for girls- (Remember I was talking about her camp June 10-12?) – was the new path. And guess what? The new path was a circle back to the old path. By being able to give her all in a new venue, she was able to understand her deep love and devotion to her skiing. Skiing for the deepest joy, the greatest freedom, the ability to enlighten others to be their own personal best. Skiing because it’s fun, challenging and simply because Jamie loves to ski.

And here’s the thing- no matter what you choose to do or be in life, at this moment or in the past or in the future, there is only one bottom line necessity. Choose because you love to do it. There will be parts that aren’t enjoyable. I’ll always say that being a parent is my number one enjoyable thing, and of course we all know that from dirty diapers to teens’ life experiments there are many aspects of parenting that are, shall I say, less than pleasurable.

When I live my life on my path using my own drumbeat I live to my fullest, I help others partly by being an example and partly by being able to reach out to them. I can flit and float when I want to and stay close to the ground with the most solid foundation.

You have the same choice- Go find YOUR path and live by your own drumbeat.

PS- Any idea what your drumbeat really is?

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