60 Minutes to Freedom

Nothing relieves stress for me like a good run.  Fridays are my long run days.  I always have an early morning conference call on Fridays so I am already up and ready to go.  After this morning’s call I had a lot to get done quickly and unexpectedly so I couldn’t hit the road right away.

As the morning hours ticked by, I started to get frustrated over little things that really shouldn’t matter.  That was a sign that I needed to make my run a priority and put everything else on hold. Just for 60 minutes.

It was GORGEOUS out.  A perfect morning for a run.  It was a little breezy, but I was pretty well protected on the trail.  It is amazing how freeing a run can feel.  All my stress seems to melt away and I am able to be present and in the moment.  Everything gets clearer and the BS all just goes away!

Now it’s time for a productive and positive rest of my Friday!

Dear Tampa

Dear Tampa,

You have amazing sunsets.

You were not as humid as I had expected (although I will not be back in July or August).

Your road system is not cool. The stoplights are sooooo long and there is zero warning that a regular 2 lane city street is going to turn into a hiway that will take you miles and miles in the wrong direction. At least that’s what I hear, I totally never got lost

I loved how conveniently located your airport is and how effecient your rental car system is. I left my hotel at 7am and was able to get gas in the car, drop off my rental car, walk to the terminal, check my bag, print my boarding pass, take the tram to the terminal, go through security, get a coffee at Starbucks and be at my gate by 7:45.

Pretty nice except that my flight wasn’t until 9:25 and I hate sitting around at the airport. Oh well.

Flying from one side of the country to the other is FAR!

2012 Girls on the Run Summit Day Two and Three

Tuesday marked the second day of Summit with another full agenda.  The morning started off with a presentation by Shellie Pfohl, the Executive Director of the President’s Council on Fitness, Sports and Nutrition.   As she mentioned, most people know the Council for the Presidential Fitness test you had to take in school every year that everyone hated (hello, sit and reach?!).  Shellie mentioned that they are in the process of “modernizing” the test, so it will be interesting to see what that looks like

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Some notable things Shellie discussed:

• Childhood obesity has more than tripled in the past 30 years.
• 1 in 3 kids is overweight or obese (2/3 of of adults)
• 70% of young people are turned away from military service for at least one of the following reasons – not physically fit, criminal record or no high school diploma. That is terrifying.

Shellie put it brilliantly that we have “engineered ourselves out of physical activity”.  People are afraid to let their kids run around outside, we have built freeways between neighborhoods and schools, so while a school might only be 1 mile from your house, you still have to drive.

Most of us are aware of the LetsMove campaign.  There is also PALA, which is a challenge for both adults and children. Shellie is also focused on quality Physical Education in our schools.

After Shellie’s presentation, the day included:

• Breakout Session:  Volunteer Recruitment and Retention.  I got some great ideas from this session.
• Lunch: much better than Monday’s lunch!
• Council Meetings: we met with other councils that are similar size to our council.  We got to bounce a lot of ideas off of each other and discuss challenges and successes.
• Cocktail Cruise:  We took a fun little cruise around the bay with some snacks and drinks.

Wednesday is always the final day of Summit and it is a short day.  We had breakfast before a celebration of awards for councils doing great things, the Coach of the Year award and Molly’s final remarks.  They also always announce where next year’s summit is – New Orleans 2013!

Aaron was sweet and offered to go with me to that one.  I was really hoping for California so we could send a bunch of people, but I guess we better just start getting serious about our budget and how important Summit is.

I had such an amazing time at Summit, as always.  I got to meet a lot of inspirational women and have made some great connections.  I am so hopefully for this 2012 year for GOTR Sac and can’t wait to see where we can take the program.

Why do you run?

 

2012 Girls on the Run Summit Day One and a Sunset Run

Summit got kicked off to a fabulous start today.

I could not fall asleep for the life of me last night. My body was still on California time, even with the early morning and long day of travel.  I finally fell asleep at 1, so there was no workout in the morning.  I was a zombie until I got some coffee and GOTR President Liz Kunz gave the “State of the Union” address.  The theme of her presentation was about transformation – both the transformation the organization is going through we well as the power we all have to transform the world.  Liz is always so inspiring and her address is the best way to start Summit.  By the end the whole room was in tears.  All those passionate women in one room is so powerful – the feeling is indescribable.

After Liz was finished, we were treated with a presentation from Mina Samuels, the author of Run Like a Girl.  She discussed the power sports has to change women all across the world.  One point that stood out to me is that as women we tend to push credit for our achievements off on other people and minimize our accomplishments.  With sports like running, you can’t push credit off on someone else.  When you finish a marathon, you can’t say “well, someone else did that.”  Own your accomplishments, ladies!  Oh yeah, and:

In the afternoon I attended two breakout sessions – one on Strategic Planning and one on Enhancing regional Relationships.

After the day at Summit was over, I rush back to the hotel and headed to Bayshore for a sunset run before it got dark. I was so tired and there wasn’t much sun left, but I managed to squeeze in 2 miles in 19 minutes and it felt great to be outside.  Florida has AMAZING sunsets.  I think its because you are basically just sitting out in the middle of the ocean like an island.  Gorgeous!

Another great day at Summit tomorrow! Can’t wait. Fingers crossed for better sleep tonight!

Jet Set

This week is the Girls on the Run Summit. I absolutely love Summit.  Last year was my first summit and it was such an amazing experience.  So inspiring, motivational, and positive. You can read about my experience here and here. After a long Saturday of coaches training and an intense 49er game (!!!!!), I was up at 5 this morning for a 7:30 flight. I flew out of the new terminal at Sac International and I didn’t even know I was at the Sacramento airport.  I never really mined our small old terminal because it was quick to get in and out of. But this is like a real airport.

I brought lots of gluten free snacks for my trip and a full day of travel (I don’t land in Tampa until 5pm). I figured it would be all granola bars and rice cakes today since the Sac airport has very few food options, and probably none for gluten free folks. But then I walked into the new terminal. The new terminal is packed with travel sized versions of some of the city’s best restaurants.

I snagged a Turkey, Brie and spinach omelette to eat at the gate. Glad I got some “real” food. They even had a Peet’s which was awesome. I do not like Starbucks, but it is usually the only airport option.  Not anymore!

Cali to Florida is far! One 2.5 hour flight followed by a 3.5 hour flight. Yowza! And I don’t know what I was thinking taking the window seat on a 3+ hour flight and then guzzling water. #tinybladder

Ready for some fresh ocean air and.some GOTR love!

Here we go!