Little Toads

It has been quite a while since I have done this blog and now I have something new and stimulating discuss while I am blabbing about sports. Running.

Mrs. DDSF and I have decided to start training for a marathon. We want to do this for an old coworker of hers who passed away from cancer at too young of an age. We have yet to decide on a marathon, but are shooting for the spring. March or April.

Now for a little history about me for those that don't know (even though I'm sure that 99% of the people who will read this know everything I am about to say). When I was in high school I was a runner. Started with Track and moved on to cross country by my junior year. While basketball is my true love, I am 5 foot nothing and a shade under 160. I was smaller then.

So I took up running. And loved it.

One of my favorite memories from high school was going to a running camp in Arkansas put on by the University of Arkansas and their athletes. There was a group of 7 or 8 of us guys that went down their spent a few days together running, playing and causing mischief. Lots of it. I was even the slowest of the group by far, but it was a ton of fun.

Riiiiiighhttttt. STriiiiiighhhhhhhhtttt.......

Anyway, I have started running again and realized how much I miss it. When you are able to find that zone, where you feel like you can just keep running and running and running, it is one of the most rewarding feelings in the world.

Tonight, I went for a run in Wisconsin because I am here for business and it brought about something else that I have missed.

Sweating.

I know its gross. There is something about sweating that is just cleansing. The feeling that you have worked so hard you are giving up a part of yourself. Gratifying.

When I was playing little league (I was on one of the worst teams in the league for years) I was always intrigued by pitching. I wanted to be a pitcher, thought I was pretty good, and never really got a chance for a multitude of reasons. We got to play in an awesome park with lights, and pretty good playing surface. For whatever reason, I will never forget one night when I got to go in the game and pitch.

I couldn't tell you the score. I think it was a close game.

I couldn't tell you how many batters I faced. I couldn't tell you how long the inning lasted. I couldn't even tell you what inning it was.

But there were a couple of beads of sweat that formed on my brow that I had to wipe away. It was like I was in the big leagues, the pressure was on, the lights were on and all I could do was give it everything I had.

...

I haven't really experienced that too much since I moved. It wasn't until I was bag in the muggy midwest that I really felt a good sweat. I guess I kind of missed it. Who knew?

But while I was running (and walking around the night before) I noticed lots and lots of tiny little toads on the sidewalk. Just hangin' out, being toads. It just made me wonder what that meant. Like a black cat means bad luck, a penny is good luck. What do a bunch of little toads mean?

DDSF