Dimple Hill....Again! :-)

Oregon thinks that we didn't need winter this year and has been showing all it's spring beauty early.  I know we will pay for the lack of snow during the summer but I sure am enjoying it in the meantime.

Decided to take another whack at the route to Dimple Hill via Dan's Trail.  I wanted to see if I could run more of it.  The good news is I did run more of it.  The bad news is I trudged up Dan's Trail like a wheezing asthmatic.  I have got to figure out this breathing thing!

Joe was working, Meighan was lazy, and everyone else was busy or already had different exercise plans for the day.  So it was me and my puppy once again.  Which is not a bad thing.  I am finding I like having the forest all to myself once in awhile.

It was gorgeous! The sun was shining.  I had dressed with just the right amount of layers so that I wasn't too cold or too hot.  And if I was I had a light jacket that could be thrown on or tied around my waist.

She didn't want to sit for her picture.  Running and sniffing are WAY more fun!  lol

I managed to run the first mile.  Last week I only ran the first 3/4 of a mile.  It is downhill about that far and then it goes uphill quickly.  I had decided to run a mile and that was hard.  I wanted to stop several times.  But kept going until my Garmin buzzed that I had one mile done.  Every time I ran downhill I tried to go as far as I could when the uphill started.

This went pretty well and I was feeling good until I got to Upper Dan's Trail.  I trudged.  I had a hard time breathing and I was really, really slow.  This could have gotten me really, really frustrated.  But it didn't.  I figured that I had pushed myself harder on the first part of the hike and that I just wasn't ready for that much pushing in one hike yet.  :-)  But I will be.  :-)

So I slogged up the trail and eventually made it to the top.  It was so beautiful and warm.  I sat on the bench and just soaked up the sun and the quiet.  I was the only one there and could hear the birds and the wind and it was lovely.  Bailey explored and smelled everything.  She is in puppy heaven when we go on hikes.

Another lovely view at the top of Dimple Hill.

Hanging out on the bench on Dimple Hill in my TANK TOP in March!!! 

I always am proud of myself for getting up here.  I don't think it will ever get old.  :-)

Bailey and I headed down the road to the Saddle.  I probably should have stretched a bit before we took off.  It's amazing how fast I got tight in just the little bit that I sat there enjoying the sun.  It took a bit to get loosened up again.  I wasn't running as fast as I had at the beginning of the hike but I was running.  That's another victory.

Sunshine through the trees.

I was tired heading down the hill so I was slow but I tried to keep moving.  I had a couple of times where I stopped or slowed down because there were bikes or runners and I wanted to make sure Bailey behaved.  She does really well.  She has figured out that if she doesn't listen then I put the leash on her but if she does what I ask she can stay off leash.  Little smarty pants!  

There was a big group of high school aged looking boys that were running up the hill.  They were in a big group running side by side and took up the entire road.  Evidently they don't move over for overweight, slow, old ladies.  lol  I had to do a quick side step to avoid getting crashed into.  I might have just let the kid hit me but I'm pretty sure I would have come out injured in the process.  It's a wide road, there isn't a need to be rude boys.  

We stopped at our bench on the way down.  Mostly so that Bailey can jump over the ditch.  She is getting more confident in her leaping abilities and likes to show off.  It's pretty funny.  I will have to try and get a video of her doing it next time.  

This little guy was sitting on the back of the bench awhile back when Joe and I hiked the road up to Dimple and back last month.  Don't know who put it there or where it went but it made me smile.  

I'm getting a wave and a salute from a Green Army Guy.  :-)

I love random things like this on runs and hikes.  They always make me laugh and start thinking about why it might be there.  

It's gone now but it is still making me smile all these weeks later.  :-) 

Because I did the same route that I did a couple of weeks ago I wanted to compare to see how I did. Green is where I'm running at my fastest pace of this particular run.  Yellow is still running but slower and red is walking

They aren't a whole lot different overall but I can see some places that I did better today than I did a couple of weeks ago.  Improvement is improvement.  I am proud of the fact that I pushed it a bit and tried to do more.  Baby steps are still steps forward.  I'm taking it.  :-)

This shows the elevation in the background with the pace on the line graph.  I'm all over the place.  lol  But, hey, there are hills!  I wonder how I will do when I go on a nice flat run around my neighborhood?  Hmmmm.  

Pretty slow in the middle (Upper Dan's Trail) but I'm pretty happy about the rest of it.  

Funny part is that the pace and time is almost the same as it was a couple of weeks ago.  There were faster parts and there were slower parts and it all averages out to be almost identical.  :-)  

For some reason, even though it was sunny I got chilled on the run down the hill.  I put my jacket back on but never really got warmed up again.  I took a warm shower which felt heavenly and cuddled up in my recliner for a nap.  Bailey decided to join me. 

She still thinks she is a lap dog.

I think I tuckered the poor puppy out.  :-)  She spends most of the afternoon after a hike sleeping.  :-)

Today was about pushing myself mentally a bit.  Didn't make huge gains overall but I know that I kicked ass in a few places and then paid the price in others.  That's okay because I know that if I keep working at it I will eventually get better.  

I still need to figure out how to not be wheezing so hard on the uphills.  A lot of the time my body feels fine but my breathing is terrible and I can feel my heart pounding really hard trying to compensate for the lack of oxygen in my body.  It is not a fun feeling!  

Last spring and summer I was struggling.  I was sad and discouraged and tired.  NOT a good combination for me.  It took awhile to dig out of the sad and discouraged.  I don't think at this point that the tired will ever really go away so I'm learning how to manage it better.  

Once I realized how whiny and pathetic I had been I was embarrassed.  I felt so bad for my husband and friends that had to tolerate me while I had a bad case of the dumps and poor me.  Here it is, months later.  We are almost to spring again.  I still have my moments of sad where I miss the people that are gone.  That doesn't ever really go away.  I think we just get accustomed to missing people who have passed on.  It becomes a dull ache rather than a sharp pain but it is always there and surprises us at odd moments.  I am so grateful for the friends that walked with me last year and helped me work my way through it.  I can't tell you how many texts, messages, phone calls or visits I got where I was just loved on for who I am.  Even though I was a mess.  

The last year has also reminded me of something that I used to do often and have not done as much in recent years.  I used to be good at dropping cards or notes in the mail or shooting off a message when God laid someone on my heart.  Usually just "I'm thinking of you" kind of message.  I have remembered how good it makes me feel to bring a smile to someones day.  So if you get a random text, card, message or email from me know that you have been on my heart and you are loved.  :-)

I made many mistakes last summer on how I dealt with life.  Made myself miserable for awhile, pushed a few people away that I love.  Hopefully they won't stay away.  I'm better now, promise.  :-)  But I'm realizing that while it wasn't good it was useful in teaching me some important lessons about how I see myself and what I want.  

I want to be healthy not skinny.

I want to be happy in the every day.

I want to love my family and friends and bring them smiles and encouragement.

I want to be an example of God's love.  

I want to enjoy the journey instead of getting frustrated that I haven't arrived at some random destination I have stuck in my head.  

I want to inspire my students to love learning and to find the fun in school.  

I want my students to leave my classroom feeling like they can achieve anything. 

I want my students to leave my classroom feeling like I 100% believe in them!

I want my own amazing kids to be strong amazing people who have a kick ass time living life.  (Which they do, so proud of them!)

I want to be the best wife possible to the fabulous husband that I have.  I love sharing this journey with him (Thank you Lord that he is a patient man and can handle my tears!) lol 

I want to cheer on people I know, and ones I don't, when they are doing awesome shit.  Whether that is the first time they run all the way around the track for the first time or they just did their first Ironman (and everything in between!)

I know, that's a lot of wants.  But good ones.  I might have to print this list out and stick it on my mirror to remind myself.  :-)  

What do you want?  And how are you going to get it?