I am passionate about running, parenting, education, and self-help information. I enjoy writing articles that will offer readers the information needed to help them in some way. I recently retired from teaching French and Spanish for forty years. I run every day and have done all kinds of races from 5ks to ultra-marathons. I have three children and three grandchildren. I write for several magazines in my area, I am a contributor and in charge of the Pinterest board for a parenting magazine called Screamin Mamas, and I have a second book about to be released through Loving, Healing Press called 101 Tips to Ease Your Burdens.

I am an avid runner who has run almost every kind of race including sixteen ultras. I also coached cross-country running for many years, so I have learned many ways to avoid injuries.

The following are some easy ways to prevent injury from running.

Have this runner’s toolbox to help prevent injury.

This is a round piece of foam that is used to roll out aches and pains. They can be found at most stores including Wal-Mart and Target. Position the roller under the aching muscle and roll back and forth on top of it. It is fairly painful but a great way to help your muscles recover.

This is used for the same thing as the roller, but it is easier to use. It looks like a long baton, and you just run it over the muscles.

This can be used for the same things as the stick and the roller, but it is more portable. It works great on sore shoulders too.

You can buy pieces of elastic and use them to strengthen your legs. Put them around your feet and do leg lifts. You can also use them for arm exercises. You can also use resistance bands to stretch.

Compression socks and sleeves can aid in recovery, and they are also helpful during running. You can also find sleeves for things like sore it bands.

Balance is an important health component and balance boards can be fun. Once you think that you can keep the board steady, add something to it like bouncing a tennis ball off the wall and catching it while keeping your balance. You can buy them at almost all department or running stores.

These are placed in the bath to help soothe sore muscles.

If you are doing a high intensity or a long run it’s a good idea to carry something to eat with you. You can choose from a variety of bars, energy waffles, or gels. Find what you enjoy. Good nutrition can help you avoid injury too.

Running stores sell body glide that helps avoid chafing but Vaseline works just as well and it’s less expensive.

You will eventually experience sore muscles. Bio freeze can help keep you comfortable.

I am passionate about running, parenting, education, and self-help information. I enjoy writing articles that will offer readers the information needed to help them in some way. I recently retired from teaching French and Spanish for forty years. I run every day and have done all kinds of races from 5ks to ultra-marathons. I have three children and three grandchildren. I write for several magazines in my area, I am a contributor and in charge of the Pinterest board for a parenting magazine called Screamin Mamas, and I have a second book about to be released through Loving, Healing Press called 101 Tips to Ease Your Burdens.

I learn life lessons all the time through exercise. I see inspiration, courage, fear, and everything else that has to deal with the human condition. Many people use exercise as a weapon to prove they are strong enough, some use it as a therapy to deal with emotional pain, some want to push to be stronger, and some see it as a healthy social event. Either way, exercise can teach us life lessons.

Robert Frost is one of my favorite poets and I love his poem, The road not taken. He comes to two divergent paths in the woods, and he has to decide which path to take, just as we have to make decisions about which path in life to take. What if we had chosen a different path in life? Would the outcome be different, and what decisions would have been responsible for those changes? I’ll tell you a few decisions that would have changed my life, and I hope they help you to reflect on some of the things that have influenced your life.

I was interviewing a local business owner and I was impressed by what a great listener she was. She was completely focused on our conversation without checking her phone, her e-mail, or looking around at what others were doing. I knew she heard me completely. Can you say that about most of the conversations you have during the day? We are so distracted by the many facets of our life that many times we don’t really hear what someone is saying to us. Good communication can solve problems, and poor communication can cause them. I am going to try harder to be a better listener.

Overcomers are faced with huge obstacles, but instead of letting the obstacles crush them, overcomers bust through them and come out stronger, all the while inspiring us. We don’t always have the power to control what happens to us, or what challenges rise up in our paths, but we do usually have a choice about how to react to the situation. Overcomers respond with grace and strength. They see complaining as a waste of time in a search for a solution. They will state the facts, but it is merely to describe the situation.

I have been running for forty years, and I coached cross-country for many years. Running has always been a passion and I have run many different types of races, but nothing prepared me for the ultra-marathon. An ultra is a race that is longer than 26.2. This race causes both mental and physical feelings that were unexpected, but that also made the ultra my favorite distance to run.

I had the strangest dream last night. I met a woman who had been in a coma since 1971. She was asking me what had changed since that time. I know I dreamed this because my husband and I were talking about the crazy things happening in the world. It’s easy to shake your head and say what is going on? Has everyone lost their mind? The fact is though, we have had controversy and a lot of crazy in every decade. So, here are the questions I remember her asking in the dream and my answers to them.

Prayer is powerful hope. Prayer offers calm where there may be chaos. I respect anyone’s decision not to believe in this power, but I have seen it work too many times in my life not to believe it. Let me tell you a few stories about prayer in my experience.

Many of us suffer from insecurities, and we would rather avoid trying something new and failing at it than being stagnant with what is comfortable. We cannot grow until we step out of our comfort zone, but often that first step is terrifying. If we believe we can do it, that first step is a little easier and as we start to see success and the possibilities, the sky is the limit. I have a sign on my desk that says that something is only impossible until you do it. Here are a few things that will help you believe that you can do those things that seem out of reach.

Are you carrying some heavy burdens? Do you wish you could lighten your load a little? We all have burdens of some kind, though we may carry them in different ways. The way we react to our challenges in life will determine whether we continue to struggle or whether we live life to the fullest.

Do you ever have those days when you cannot find the motivation to do anything? If I have a day like that it usually starts out with me having a death grip on a cup of coffee while I stare into space wondering, why I am so tired and why do I not want to do anything. What are those things that steal your motivation and what can you do to find it again? Here are a few reasons for a lack of motivation that I think is common and some ideas to solve them.

Anyone who knows me will tell you that my love language is food. If you are struggling, I am going to bring you your favorite food because food can lift our spirits as well as nourishing us. It’s a way to express love with a simple gift that can help the body and soul.

Most doctors will tell you that resting enough is a smart idea to maintain good health, and athletic trainers will tell you that adequate rest is an important part of any training routine. Here is a portion of the article, Why it’s important to allow yourself to rest on the Integris Health site.

I have had some comments on my articles that expressed the emotional pain some readers were feeling. Although I read all my comments, I don’t respond to all of them for various reasons, but for those who expressed their pain, I didn’t respond right away because I wanted my response to be helpful in some way, and not just a quick reply, so to the responders to my article, Are you lonely, and Love at first sight, this article is for you. I hope it helps.

Judy Garland said, “ Always be a first-rate version of yourself instead of a second-rate version of somebody else.”. Our society values youth, beauty, and wealth which causes many people to spend time and money trying to attain a certain level of perfection. It has to be exhausting to work that hard for something so difficult to achieve, and there is so much beauty in imperfection. Let me give you a few examples.

The way we feel affects everything we do. If we are in good health, we usually feel better, and taking care of our diet and fitness is crucial to our good health. Many people have trouble sticking with a fitness regimen even though it should be a priority in our daily lives.

My husband and I are fire and water. He likes heavy metal, I like country. He likes constant noise (we have a television in each room), and I need quiet sometimes to recharge. He’s a golfer, I’m a runner. I will read anything and everything while he doesn’t get past the sports page. We are even members of different political parties. I think you get the idea that we are very different, but we are madly in love with each other despite these differences.

Dogs have personalities like we do, but what determines how that personality develops? Is it because of their breed, their environment, their experiences, or all these things and more?

I have so much to learn from life, and I will never pretend to be wise, but there are certain things I have learned the hard way, and I wish someone could have spared me the pain by teaching me about the situations ahead of time. I hope a few of the following thoughts might help you.

Do you often wish you knew what your dog is trying to tell you? Your dog probably feels the same way, but there are some ways to improve communication with our canines. The book, What Your Dog Is Trying to Tell You says, “Are they really understanding us? If the results of a study by scientists in Hungary are to be believed, then yes, it would appear that they are. The researchers scanned 13 dogs in an MRI scanner and monitored their brains while they spoke to them. Not only did they discover that the dogs were processing language in the same way as us-that is by using the left side of the brain to figure word meaning and the right to process intonation-they were able to combine the two to figure the overall meaning.” Psychologist and canine researcher, Dr. Stanley Coren says, “Dogs can learn around 165 words and signals.” It has also been proven that they can read our facial expressions, and they learn to understand our body language.