1. Apparently, I can't blog twice a week.
2. That means that either I have a dull life, or a very busy life.
3. I prefer to think the latter, but I suspect the former.
4. Knitting is going well - or it would be if I would sit down and actually do some.
5. A ten hour car ride surprisingly, lets you get a lot of knitting done.
6. But you don't see much scenery (I completely lost Roger's Pass on our way to Vancouver last week. Didn't realize we had passed it until we were in Revelstoke.)
7. Sometimes I worry about my lack of geographical awareness. But then I wasn't driving.
8. Running at sea level totally makes a difference.
9. I suspect the difference would wear off if I moved there.
10. No-one does pomp and circumstance like the British. It makes me want to move there and celebrate a royal wedding.
11. Second best option was a wedding brunch with my book club (and other assorted, interested parties).
12. Thank goodness for the technology known as a PVR. Makes getting up at 5:00 a.m. (instead of 2:00 a.m.) totally bearable.
13. Our daughter came home this week for the summer (hooray!!).
14. She couldn't get up for the wedding, even though she was still on an east coast time zone.
15. There is a new yarn store opening in Calgary.
16. Pehaps my daughter will go with me this weekend.
17. Not that I need any more yarn.
18. But she might.
19. In any case, it would give me something to blog about.
20. Does that reinforce dull or just rather pathetic?
Saturday, April 30, 2011
Saturday, April 9, 2011
On the road again (stay with me - it's about knitting and running!)
So I start the marathon course again on Monday. I didn't have to register again for it - I am fine with running by myself and there are any number of training programs on line that would see me through to the finish line. There are likely on-line groups that would give me the encouragement that I currently get from the people that I run with.
But I am wayyyy better with this structure and group. I have a New!! Fresh!! focus to my running. I even think I can do a wee bit better time by being part of this group (we're not talking Boston qualifying, just my own PB). The program is based on 4 runs a week - 2 coached and 2 solo. And after one run there is a lecture. I took in some of the lecture material last year, but I am really looking forward to hearing it in the context of my own experience - maybe it will allow me to make some changes and "tweak" my runs. If not, well, then I know I can forge ahead next year without the benefit of the program.
This morning, in my post-run coffee, one of the women said she had never seen a pair of hand-knit socks - ever. I was a little surprised - although if you didn't grow up with knitting relatives and your parents are younger than mine, I guess it makes sense. So I will take a pair for her to see. But it got me thinking about running and knitting.
One is a sport and one is not (the Knitting Olympics aside), but they both involve doing something that brings you personal pride. And it is something that can't be taken away from you. I will always have that experience of crossing the finish line, just as I will always have the skill of knitting something original (because every knitted item is an original). And sometimes my knitting makes me want to cry (like when I can't get gauge. Or I notice a wee tiny mistake, 9 inches before the point where I am currently at). And my running is tear-invoking too (like when every step gives me pain - and I mean the mental kind, not the physical). And there is the thing about taking a run and turning it into a race. Or taking some yarn and turning it into socks.
People who don't knit think you are crazy for knitting something that can be bought at Zellers for two bucks. And people who don't run, think you are nuts for running, never mind running a marathon. Those who do only one likely respect the person who only does the other (and vice versa) because they get where the other person is coming from. It's personal pride and the sense of completion. And those of us who do both? Likely a little nuts - but also likely a little calmer and more fit than the general population (in my opinion).
Then I clicked on this month's issue of Twist Collective - and there is an article that celebrates the kntting runner (or perhaps the running knitter) - and she says it much better than I do. So go on and click on the link - and then if you are like me, go put on your shoes and go out and celebrate the aliveness of running. Or pick up your needles and celebrate the creativity of knitting. Just (as Nike says) do it!!
But I am wayyyy better with this structure and group. I have a New!! Fresh!! focus to my running. I even think I can do a wee bit better time by being part of this group (we're not talking Boston qualifying, just my own PB). The program is based on 4 runs a week - 2 coached and 2 solo. And after one run there is a lecture. I took in some of the lecture material last year, but I am really looking forward to hearing it in the context of my own experience - maybe it will allow me to make some changes and "tweak" my runs. If not, well, then I know I can forge ahead next year without the benefit of the program.
This morning, in my post-run coffee, one of the women said she had never seen a pair of hand-knit socks - ever. I was a little surprised - although if you didn't grow up with knitting relatives and your parents are younger than mine, I guess it makes sense. So I will take a pair for her to see. But it got me thinking about running and knitting.
One is a sport and one is not (the Knitting Olympics aside), but they both involve doing something that brings you personal pride. And it is something that can't be taken away from you. I will always have that experience of crossing the finish line, just as I will always have the skill of knitting something original (because every knitted item is an original). And sometimes my knitting makes me want to cry (like when I can't get gauge. Or I notice a wee tiny mistake, 9 inches before the point where I am currently at). And my running is tear-invoking too (like when every step gives me pain - and I mean the mental kind, not the physical). And there is the thing about taking a run and turning it into a race. Or taking some yarn and turning it into socks.
People who don't knit think you are crazy for knitting something that can be bought at Zellers for two bucks. And people who don't run, think you are nuts for running, never mind running a marathon. Those who do only one likely respect the person who only does the other (and vice versa) because they get where the other person is coming from. It's personal pride and the sense of completion. And those of us who do both? Likely a little nuts - but also likely a little calmer and more fit than the general population (in my opinion).
Then I clicked on this month's issue of Twist Collective - and there is an article that celebrates the kntting runner (or perhaps the running knitter) - and she says it much better than I do. So go on and click on the link - and then if you are like me, go put on your shoes and go out and celebrate the aliveness of running. Or pick up your needles and celebrate the creativity of knitting. Just (as Nike says) do it!!
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