No Need For Speed

At one of our first training runs, a Team In Training alum told us not to worry about trying to run fast. If you run too fast, he said, you'll miss all of the interesting things you pass.

Here are a few of the sights, sounds and smells I noticed on tonight's 4-mile run:

• A little blonde-haired girl waving to me from her swingset
• Barking dogs in every size
• The familiar smell of a horse barn at dusk
• A baby crying
• A flattened chipmunk that didn't make it across the road
• Leaves just starting to turn on the trees
• A few new For Sale signs on front lawns
• More discarded cups, bottles and other trash items than I care to count
• Rebel's toenails clicking on the pavement
• The sounds of an argument coming from inside a home
• The clanging of tools as a man worked beneath his truck
• The smell of someone's laundry
• Fallen apples from a roadside tree
• The jingle of Rebel's collar
• The alert stares of horses in a pasture
• The sputtering of a sprinkler on a perfectly green lawn
• The steady sound of my sneakers on the pavement

It's amazing what you see, hear and smell when you take a few minutes to notice the world around you ... and I wasn't even running that slowly tonight.

REMEMBER, I'M DOING THIS FOR A GOOD CAUSE.
Have you donated to my fundraising campaign for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society? If not, please consider doing so. You can donate online at http://www.active.com/donate/tntma/Teresa. Please pass this link to everyone you know. Every dollar helps me get a little closer to the Disney 13.1!