Many Hands!

I have really enjoyed having the chance during the "snow week" to work on some projects I had been putting on the side. Also, it gave me the chance to catch up with some friends.

Even with the piles of snow, there is a lot of buzz and excitement going on in WOW right now. Several people are training for 1/2 marathons. Others are thinking of some running roadtrips, or even attempting the first 5K. We have a few new members, and preparing to celebrate our 1st Birthday for the Women of Warrensburg! There is a lot to be excited about!

As with anything, we want to not just stay where we are, but grow and get better, so some terrific ideas are in the fire right now. It made me think of the story "Stone Soup".

For those not familiar with the story, the wanderer visits a small village. He goes to the center of the village with a large pot, builds a fire, and fills the pot with water, stirring.

He has a smile on his face and says "This is the BEST soup-if I only had some carrots". One of the townspeople watching, then says , "Well, I have carrots" offers them and they are added.

And so on and so forth this process continues until every member of the village has contributed a potato, a parsnip, an onion, and so on until they have a truly wonderful feast to share.

When I look at our club-I think of Stone Soup. We have a few seasoned runners. We have people connected to many Kansas City running groups, UCM, our local Churches,a graphics artist, local business women, doctors, the Main Street Group, Park and Rec, a personal trainer, the Base, and some gals who are just great cheerleaders and motivators.

My point is, everyone in WOW has something to contribute-and with our combined talents, vision, and effort to offer we have been able to truly build a club for All Women, All Abilities, All Ambitions, and our fun is just getting started!

One year might not seem like an expansive period of time-but I think just like the pot of soup, because of each member of WOW, our club has a little more zest, flavor, and because of each member, become something we can ALL share and enjoy!

Please remember to share your experiences/etc because I would love to post some of your blogs with the group!

Hope to see you on the road or at WCC-

WOW

Teri

You Had it All Along!

Chalk it up to too many snow days, but I've been watching more tv/movies than I usually do. It's really tough when you're sitting on the couch in a snuggie to think about getting up and moving. Then there is that daunting event several months and one whole season away-the 1/2 Marathon in the back, very back of your mind.

A lot of what we do as people and athletes involves creating a plan. Through each of these movies I have been watching, the characters always make a plan of some sort. My daughter, Caroline, recognized this yesterday while we watched a movie. They always know where they are going. And at some point, they recognize that they had what they needed all along, much like Glenda the Good Witch points out to Dorothy in the Wizard of Oz.

Many runners give accolades and credit not only to the accomplishment of the final event, but each run that lead up to reaching that goal. They visualized success not in the final event, but the steps they took, sometimes seemingly small, to getting there. I've posted races on Facebook up through August. Whatever your plan for the year is, enjoy each step to getting there, and remember YOU HAVE IT-just visualize and believe in yourself!

A reminder in this slippery and cold weather, run safely!

Hope to see you on the road or at the Community Center soon!

WOW
Teri

New Year . . . New View!

Happy New Year! There is always the buzz of January 1st being the day of change. Oddly throughout the other 364 days of the year, we tend to not scrutinize ourselves so harshly. But once the cheers of Happy New Year are sounded it's on, and people are in "fix it" mode. Even the tv echoes that thought as though to say, you really need to get it together!

Generally we see the bare trees of winter as an eyesore in comparison to the flowers of spring and the beautiful fall foliage. I really looked and noticed for the first time how intricate the branches are, and with the twists and turns of each one they are all just reaching for sunlight. I had never noticed before how beautiful they really are. It sort of struck me-they're really like us in a way. We are generally covered (metaphorically speaking!) and trying to make an impression or stand out. But once it gets down to the real you under all the garb, there is probably a pretty unique and lovely person just reaching the same way the branches do on that tree. Reaching for what? I don't know-we're all different.

It's a New Year-Look at things with a new view-you might be surprised at what you see!

Hope to see you on the road!

Teri