and I wonder.....who's loving you?

Sang by Michael Jackson...ahh, something catchy about that one!

I don't really have a post that hinges on that line, it's just been going through my head this morning. I slept in today! Sunday is a perfect day to do that! Yesterday was the long run day. It's a cut back week, so I ran 7 miles on a gravel, hilly, cut-ney road! The scenery was beautiful, and believe this or not, but my skin was COLD! It was 7 AM and there wasn't any humidity, the sun peaking up and the air was crisp! I had to keep reminding myself that it was July! B-diddy rode my bike alongside me while I ran. It was a good combo and we were able to talk during the run. It was a first for me to be able to voice that my legs felt stiff and tired at the beginning and just weren't moving very quickly the first half of the run. I had times where striding out felt good down a hill, but for the most part, I felt kinda sluggish the first half. Then, turned around at 3.5 and my pace quickend and I was feeling really good the whole way. The last mile I was really able to pick it up and run 1 minute faster (8:50) than the previous miles. I liked finishing strong! Beth finished strong as well...and has the gravel-scars to prove it :) (B-I HAD to mention it...now, the telling of the story, that's entirely up to you! see: www.smollerfamily.blogspot.com) haha!

Anyway, since it was so nice out yesterday I decided it was a perfect day to hop on the bike and do a nice leisurely ride around Manhattan! I got on Linear Trail and rode the entire length over to the west side of town! It was 9 miles one way-and then 9 miles back! Quite the ride, and my bum and logs were pooped when I was done!

Happy Sunday all, I hope it's refreshing! :)

Weeds

I have a lot of them. Literally, the front, side and basic perimeter of our house is being swarmed by weeds. Now, as a renter I realize that since I'm not the homeowner it's not necessarily my responsibility to pull them. BUT, as I live here, I have this continued feeling of slowly, but surely being OVERRUN by the weeds, big ones, small ones, really nasty bug-infested ones, all kinds! So I'm working on this slowly. I've tried to make a grand spiritual analogy out of this, but all I keep coming back to is the crap in our souls--it's gotta come out, and thankfully God has really strong, sturdy gardening-gloved hands.

On to the runs...outside, not in the toilet. Although, one of my favorite roommates likes to think that I always have some sort of digestive something because in her mind I go through a roll of toilet paper a day. I do NOT go through a roll-a-day friends, and if you hear otherwise, deny the rumors!! :)
I ran yesterday feeling pretty tight and sore still from the 10-miler, so I went slower and did 4.5 miles. Then, I hopped on my new tricked out bike, complements a one N. Parker, and rode for another 30 minutes or so. I love going fast on my bike and covering lots of terrain. Seeing as I don't ride very often I needed to get my "bike-legs" back under me so I don't just fall off at an intersection. It could happen. I also got an email from World Vision charity with some inspiration as I continue training. The subject line read: don't feel like running today? So I thought it was going to be some grace-filled message like: it's okay, take a day off, do some cross-training, enjoy the day blah blah. Nope. The first line read: Too bad. Do it anyway! So I stuck out my lower lip, cinched my eye-brows and read it like the sour-puss I like to be sometimes! This morning when my alarm went off at 5:41AM, I thought, I am UNABLE to get out of bed. Heck, I am unable to really open my eyes. So I laid there and pondered what my next move would be. After much debate, an 1 hr. of more sleep, I decided to bike to the gym, do my speed-interval workout on the treadmill for 3 miles, then so some weights/core work and bike home. I thought it was a good decision and now here I sit.

I really enjoy our kitchen and I'm sipping coffee looking at, yep you guessed, the weeds. I'm going to pull more today and think about this:
God's love is meteoric,
his loyalty astronomic,
His purpose titanic,
his verdicts oceanic.
Yet in his largeness nothing gets lost;
Not a man, not a mouse;
slips through the cracks.
Psalm 36:5-6 (the message)

I guess that means, that all those weeds, big ones, small ones, He's seeing ALL that go in the trash! And He sees me.

Love to you friends!
S.M. :)

P.S. Rach-thanks for yummy coffee this morning!