Summer

We thought it would never arrive but it's here.



The cotton is flying, I'm sneezing, and the grass needs mowing. The rock garden we started last fall is full of wildflowers and I'm waiting for all of them to bloom before I decide which ones I want to weed out.





The Buffaloes love summer. So many things to sniff, lick, and smile about.

















I have things to smile about too. Change is on the horizon. I can't say much because I don't know the details yet, but I'm very excited that some big exciting things are happening. I'm so happy, dancing in circles, smiling so wide I can barely keep the duct tape on my face.

Sometimes change is slower than we want but there's a good reason. I'm trying to be patient this week.

I went for a 30 mile run with Cat this morning. We ran down into Loveland, past downtown, and turned around. We got covered with bugs on the bike path section at Boyd Lake, but it was a nice morning and we felt good. We stuck maple seeds on our noses and caught up about her trip to Spain.

Last week I had a great running week. I did some rock repeats, got sore from that, since I haven't been doing much on hills because the Keys 100 was such a flat run. Now I have to gear up for the hills at Lean Horse and it means tougher runs. I did some pickups to get my leg turnover going again. So far this week has been good too.

I've been in the sauna, which has been repaired, now it's extra hot. When I first came back from the Keys it was not even warm in there. When it's extra hot I don't have to spend so much time in it and other people spend even less time there so I get more time to myself. I am headed to Death Valley in less than three weeks for Badwater as a medical volunteer again, and I hear it's been warm...119 degrees is what I've seen so far. I'm stopping in Phoenix for a couple of days before that to visit my dad and stepmom.

I spoke several times in the past few weeks about my running and raising funds and awareness of the need for cancer-related services in the community. We got a good turnout at the hospital where I work.

I need a new MP3 player. I don't like the design of ipods. I prefer my old AAA battery powered MP3 player, it's durable and easy to use. I have a 2 GB Creative Zen Nano from several years ago and it's worked well, but it's full to capacity and when my old laptop died, the software was not compatible with our newer laptop.

I found one that I like except the battery is rechargable. It's supposed to last 32 hours. The problem with that is I run longer than that and I don't always have access to electricity.

Solution: Get two of them, they're inexpensive and I can double up my tunes. It's 16 GB so I won't run out of space. I have almost my whole music collection on my current MP3.

The other problem is finding a way to clip the new MP3 on my clothing. My old Zen Nano has the perfect clip but the new one is a different size and doesn't come with a clip. Also, I am concerned about waterproofing and heat exposure with the new MP3. What if the battery doesn't work in 130 plus degree temperatures? My old MP3 worked fine in Death Valley. But will the new one work?

As I'm talking to the runners at Badwater this year I'll have to see what everyone is doing for their music. Then I'll invest in something that will carry me through Across the Years and, I'm hoping, next year's run at Badwater again!