Here comes the wind

Earlier tonight the winds swept down upon town and I huddled in a blanket and waited it out with the cats, all the while wondering if the house was going to blow away, like Dorothy in "The Wizard of Oz." If so, what would I wish for when I met the great and powerful Oz? New running shoes? Faster race times? World peace (like a toothy Miss America contestant)?

Imagine, getting ruby slippers of my very own!

But the wind died down about an hour ago, so no yellow brick road for me, no munchkins, no scarecrow singing "I wish I had a brain."

Also, no running today, since it was my rest day. How hard it is to rest! All day it was beautiful and warm, and I wanted to run so, so badly. Instead, I took my laptop to the Sea Bean Cafe and wrote for a couple of hours.

I LOVE the Sea Bean and will post pics soon.

I also signed up for the Iditarow. This is a yearly happening in Seward, when a bunch of people get together in teams and try to beat the Iditarod teams to Nome. Instead of mushing in sub-zero temps, we're rowing in a cozy gym with music and hot showers, but no matter. We're still racking up the miles.

I'll be rowing 30 minutes six days a week plus running my normal schedule. I'm hoping this will build up my arms without having to lift weights, hee, hee.

Here are pics of the "real" Iditarod athletes: The dogs.

Some animal rights groups protest the Iditarod but anyone who has ever watched the race in person can attest to this: Those dogs love to run. They live to run. They aren't being forced to run. They run with joy, the way we do. I think the Iditarod to them is what a marathon is to us: A painful and glorious challenge.

As for me, yesterday I ran three slowish miles along the beach with my own dog, whose grandmother came from Libby Reynolds' dog team. (Reynolds was the first women to win the Iditarod, and a personal hero of mine. I used to keep a photograph of her over my writing table and trust me, her inspiration helped pull me through some dark and terrible times.)

Anyway, yesterday was a picture-perfect Seward day, clear and very blue. Oh, how I love the blues!

After the run I cross-trained at the gym: Hour of spin plus 15 minutes of rowing practice.

Tomorrow is my 10-miler and I'm keeping my fingers crossed for nice weather. I am so not in the mood to pound out 10 mile son the treadmill again.

And oh, as much as I love being back in Seward, I miss being here, in my cozy cabin at Hedgebrook writing residency writing my butt off:

Happy weekend to everyone.
Running: Rest today. Three miles yesterday plus cross-training

Reading: "Lonesome Dove." A cowboy story before the Iditarod--kind of makes sense, eh?

Writing: Four glorious hours