IN-LAW-TASTIC!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!:):):):):):)

Okay, little more recent posts now!!!!!!!!!!!! So this winter break was AMAZING!!!:):) The biggest and most important part of break was Somya and finally getting to spend some time with Shubhra's parents!!!  Nervous............. ummmmmmmmmmm YEAH!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Seeing their is no communication between her mom and I, since my Hindi is so AWESOME, and she only speaks Hindi!!!! Her dad and I could talk since he knows English so that wasn't as bad!!! But within the first day of being there I could feel the love from momma Chundawat!!! Which made the rest of the stay that more at ease!!!!  What I was most worried about was at rest and beginning to enjoy was the next goal!!!! WHICH HAPPENED!!!!!!!:):):) 45kg's of oranges!!! That was the amount of oranges that were bought and carried over to the house the second day I was there!! There were 4 or 5 oranges and I had orange juice the first morning we arrived, that did it!!! Shubhra's mom saw that I loved orange juice and made sure there were enough oranges for the entire week!!!:):) Objective -- COMPLETE!!! Had maybe 3-4 glasses of orange juice every single day, which has carried over to arriving back in Mussoorie!!! Except we have eased off with the 45kg's and instead buy 3kg's, which lasts us 4-5 days!!!!!

Everyday in Somya though, there was a new person to meet!!! This one's brother's sister's cousin's son!! If you want confusing titles of relatives, I'm sorry come to India!! But all I was supposed to do is put on my jeans, a nice shirt, and smile!!! OBJECTIVE COMPLETE!!!!!!:):):)  Shubhra's dad was also recovering from a surgery so the villagers were there as well to see how he was doing!! Needless to say it was a very busy time!!!:)  Every morning I would go for a run while everyone was waking up!!!  Cannot remember the last time I ran on so much flat ground before!!! It was a nice change!!! AND with a sunrise warming up the horizon and plains through the entire run!!!!:):):) After breakfast we would usually lounge around and relax, read a book, or go travel to one of the nearby larger towns!!!  All the meals were always outside which was AWESOME, since it was the perfect temperature!!! Think of a Minnesota summer night, WITHOUT the millions of mosquitoes!!! Only a couple thousand we had to worry about!!!:)  THEN the best part about Somya was the power going out at 9pm!! You basically had to go to sleep, no tv to keep you up or that book you have to read!!! Just plain, old simple BED TIME!!!!!!! That was awesome, and trying to get that going here in Mussoorie as well!!! Hasn't worked out yet, but come school time I think it should!!!

After Somya Shubhra and I traveled to Udaipur and Jodhpur!!!  I call Udaipur a really hilly Minnesota!!! THEY HAVE LAKES THERE!!!!!!!!!!:):):) Granted only 2, BUT lakes none the less!!! The two days we were there, both mornings I ran around the lake, which was about a 5 mile distance!!! It was BEAUTIFUL!!! Especially to see the sun reflect off the water!! Something I am so ever looking forward to back in MINNE-FREAKIN-SOTA this summer!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!:):):):):):):):) After Jodhpur we continued our travels via bus (which sleeper buses are AWESOME by the way) and made it to Delhi safe and sound, which then we hopped on our final bus home and made it to Mussoorie just in time for SNOW!!!!!!!!!!!!!!:):):):) On our taxi drive up from Dehradun it started to snow, and about 3km away  from home the roads were too slippery and of course our taxi driver not being the Minnesotan snow driver, took one of the uphill curves to tight and slid right into the wall curve!!!  I tried to guide him, just like Dave did with our taxi drive back 3 years ago on our way to Lake Dodital, and told him to accelerate slowly!!!  Panic crept in every time which led to GUNNING it, which every time got him nowhere!!  Finally I made the decision, before we all ended up over the cud, to get out, pack up, and walk the rest of the way!!!!!:):):)

We made it home safe and sound and my goodness it was GREAT to be home and have a very SUCCESSFUL trip overall!!!!!!!!!!!!!:):):):)  HAPPY SMILING AND TOO ALL THOSE MEETING IN-LAWS FOR THE FIRST TIME GOOD LUCK!!!!!!!!!!!!!!:):):):):)

What runs (drives) us in life!!!!

I guess it's been a while since I've written!!! Seems like that has been my starting sentence to the last 4 or 5 blog posts!!!! Again, don't even know if anyone even reads this blog anymore, since settling in India doesn't bring too many NEW and EXCITING posts like the first year always does!!!!! But then it's always nice to have a place to go and write your feelings, thoughts, ideas, whatever it is whenever you want!!! Thinking that someone out there is reading it and may actually think about your thoughts and change their life for the better!!!

For the first time in 4 years, I finished a run with the utmost excitement and pumpitude!!!!  The reason being, for the first time in 4 years I ran a training run I had to fight through to finish!!!!! The previous day I ran a 2 hour 15 miler over the extreme hills of Mussoorie out East, and then today ran another 2 hour/15 mile run through the rolling hills of Mussoorie out West!!! When I came to the finish of the run, I stopped, bent over, took a breath of exhaustion and FREAKIN FIST PUMPED THE HECK OUT OF THE AIR!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I thought for a second, and really thought, when the last time I ran back-to-back15 milers................NEVER!!!! Even when training for my PB marathon back in 2008 I would run a 10-miler on Saturday and a longer run on Sunday, but never during the week would I run such extreme amounts, especially not back-to-back!!!!!!!!:)

Then I thought about what I just did and how this relates to the experience of life!!!! Sure I could stick to my old training ways, running maximum 10 miles through the week, ranging from 6-10 miles on those days, then a nice tempo run of 10 miles on Saturday, and long run on Sunday!! But that would be the easy and comfortable way out!!  And what I want/are determined to do this Grandma's Marathon will be something I cannot prepare for with the "easy" and comfortable way!! No, this time I need to get back that "Eye of the Tiger" and train like I've never trained before......... with my heart and mind completely set on the hell I'm going to put my body through for the next 4 months, with that 1 shot I will have to qualify for a dream I've had since 10th grade: RUN BOSTON'S MARATHON!!!!!! The 1 true goal every marathon runner dreams of accomplishing before they retire the shoes!!!!

With that being said, I compare my new training schedule to my life now and realize they are one in the same!!! Being Head of Physical Education now, there is no way I can take the "easy" path and coast through this year after year!!! First, the students will gain NOTHING from that, and me being so passionate about living a healthy life, will completely demolish their desire to be active and fit!! Secondly, lead by example!! If I expect my students to bust their butt in class, then I better be busting my butt behind the desk in prep for the next day's teachings!!!

Now going back to my marathon training, if I want to truly accomplish this goal of qualifying for the Boston Marathon, then I need to intensify and increase what I love to do 10 fold!!!!  You get in life EXACTLY what you put in to it!!! If I want to qualify for Boston, will that be accomplished by running 40-50 miles a week and not putting some 2-a days in there.........NO!!!!!!!!!! I'm not what you call a naturally "fast" runner, I've had to work at running my entire life, which has been a blessing!!!!! Because I know what hard work is and aren't scared to do it!!!!!!  This relates exactly to people who complain and whine about their life because things aren't going their way and when will something good happen to them!!!!  Well guess what, CUT THE WHINING OUT AND DO SOMETHING ABOUT IT!!!!!!!!!!!!  I'm so sick of talk, talk, talk, talk, talk and instead of wasting your breathe and taking up my oxygen I need to run, TAKE SOME DAMN ACTION!!!!!!

This world would be such an easier place to live in if people just shut-up and let their actions speak for themselves!!!!!!!!  The people I respect the most are the quiet ones (a.k.a. non-whiners) who quite frankly focus all their energy and attention on their work!!!!!!  People are so worried about what other people are thinking, or who's hanging out with who, that if they would just not care about that and focus on bettering themselves, they would find themselves SO much more happier in life!!!! And guess what, if EVERYONE did that then you would have no "gossip" and would have a pretty wonderful place to work at every single day!!!

All this being said, life comes down to one thing: hard work!!! Work hard for what you want and you will see results!!! Shubhra found a stat that states you need 10 years to become "good" at something!! Well that pretty much sums up that theory right there!!! You think for those 10 years, the "good at something people" sat around and just one day became good at it?!?! NO!!!!!!!!!! For 10 years they worked their butt off to finally have all that hard work pay off!!!  Practice makes perfect indeed!!!!!;)

On an entirely separate note, CHARITY RUNNER IS A GO BABY!!!!!!!!!!!:):):) With Grandma's Marathon coming up in June, a tradition I've longed to do for so long is back!!! And that's run Grandma's Marathon as an ACS (American Cancer Society) Charity Runner!!!!!!! It's been 3 years now since I've run Grandma's and 3 years since I've ran for charity!! WELL now I can do both in the same race!!!! My goal, similar to the past goals, is $1,000!!!!!!! With an overall life goal of $50,000 for charity raised in my lifetime!!!! If you would like to help out and donate to this wonderful cause PLEASE click on the link below and help out!!!!!  I and ACS would greatly appreciate it!!!!!!!

http://main.acsevents.org/site/TR?px=2564838&pg=personal&fr_id=42091&fl=en_US&et=htphZGVX-HgCurbiWPSc6A&s_tafId=896033

Thanks for reading and HAPPY SMILING!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!:):):):):):):):):):):):)

Goal time for Grandma's Marathon: 2 hours 50 minutes!!!!!!