Today my mother claimed that he has ennui. Which reminded me of Neville in the Gashlycrumb Tinies, poor Neville died of ennui. My mother’s source of ennui is winter. They’ve had a particularly cold and brutal winter in her neck of the woods so I don’t blame her. We moved to Austin particularly because of the mild winters and in some strange city swap, this year we seem to have been given Seattle’s winter. Our back yard is a sort of pond and I realize that the toddler’s rain coat and rain boots are now too small. While I am a somewhat hearty runner, cold and rain are my least favorite combo so the past few days I’ve chosen to hit the gym.

I think a change of pace is just the thing for a touch of ennui. My least favorite piece of equipment at the gym is the dreadmill so unless I’m training for something and HAVE TO get the miles in, I opt for the elliptical machines (actually I’d love to swim but my gym doesn’t have a pool). On the few occasions I skip a workout because of weather, I feel guilty all day so I’d rather at least do something. A routine is nice but as I told my daughter last night after she discovered she liked the broccoli nuggets I made her try, if you try new things you’ll discover you just might like them. So if winter or life has got you dragging, make a little change. Try a new class, download a yoga podcast, or take a swim. Don’t end up like poor Neville.

I feel really sorry for people who live in tropical locales where the weather is beautiful every day. What must they use as a topic of conversation when they meet someone new? And without the universal complaint that binds us all together “boy this weather sucks today!” They don’t know what they are missing.

My linkmaker isn’t cooperating today, but if you want to listen to a little musical ennui, check out Django Rheinhardt’s Fleur d’Ennui.

I’ve met many people who, when I tell that I run marathons, say “oh I could never do that!” These are often young, relatively healthy people. I almost always say “yes you could.” If you have the desire and the dedication, there’s a lot you can do. In every marathon I’ve run I’ve seen people older than me, heavier than me, and even racing in a wheelchair. When I see people like that I always think I should not utter a word of complaint because in comparison, I have it easy.

Whenever I see older runners, especially women, I say to myself, “I want to be like them when I’m that age.” I’d also like to be like Betty White who always answers “Robert Redford” when asked “what’s the one thing in your career you’ve never done.” But then I saw this video of Joy Johnson, an 81 year old marathoner. And now, I’d like to be just like Joy. Well if I could be a Betty/Joy hybrid, I’d be pretty content in my old age. Take a few minutes to watch this video about Joy, it will put a smile on your face and might even make you want to lace up your running shoes and start training for a marathon.

If you listen to my running mix suggestions you’ve probably picked up that I love me some French music. Today’s pick is a French singer and the daughter of a French singer. I love French things even though France to me is a lot like New Years’ Eve. You always think it should be way more romantic and awesome than it usually is so it’s kind of a letdown. But I have this very vivid memory of sitting on a park bench near the Eiffel Tower next to my husband, each of us reading a book, and tearing pieces off the most amazing baguette  and I think France is kind of cool. Seriously, any country that invented pain au chocolat can’t be all bad.

It’s been a bit like groundhog day for me, I keep meaning to update here and then life sucks me in and I have a million things to do and next thing you know I’m sitting here at naptime trying to post and then naptime is over again. I’ve also been thinking of groundhog day because I was in Kansas City this week. The site of my very first race, the Groundhog Race.

It’s an odd race run in a series of underground storage facilities. But there are lots of donuts at the finish line! It got me thinking of fun and funny races, like the one a running friend’s brother did. It was a relay and instead of a baton the runners passed each other a burrito and the rule was that your burrito had to be completely eaten by the end of the race.

Thinking of my first race got me excited about running some more races and better yet, got me looking ahead to warmer, sunnier days that as the groundhog will tell us soon, are lurking on the horizon. I’ve already got one race on the schedule and I’m trying to convince my friend Joanna to venture south and do the Danskin triathlon with me in June. And if Joanna’s willing to do something different, I’m thinking I should be too, so I’m going to try and find a fun or different race too. I’ve always wanted to try one of those adventure races. As long as it doesn’t involve orienteering, because I do not need the embarrassment of being the only competitor who gets lost with GPS.

I think 2010 should be the year of venturing outside your comfort zone. Do something that scares you a little bit. My mom was telling me about an episode of This Emotional Life about fears and the guidance was that you really need to face your fears. “Unless it’s bears” I said. “What?” said my mom. “Unless your fear is bears, it’s not a good idea to confront them.” “True” she agreed. So let’s all resolve to do something a little bit frightening this year. Something that doesn’t involve bears that is. Like running a 10k instead of a 5k, that’s scary, but in a good way.

Here’s a little something bearish for your running mix.

How are your resolutions/goals for 2010 working out? I don’t know about you but whenever I read yet another study about the benefits of exercise I feel virtuous. Until the long awaited “Candy and Diet Dr. Pepper are the fountain of youth” proclamation comes out, I have to cling to exercise and fairly healthy eating to get me to 100. When I’m 100 I am going to eat cupcakes all day long and not care if they make my butt fat. But for now, I’ll settle for one and do some running to keep my ticker going. Today’s Wall Street Journal was jam packed with info to validate my plan.

The Hidden Benefits of Exercise highlights research that shows that exercise lessens the impact of the common cold, incidence of diabetes and high blood pressure, mortality and risk of recurrent breast cancer, risk of colon cancer, risk of developing Alzheimer’s disease, and can decrease depression as effectively as Prozac. And as many of us know, just doing the minimum amount of anything isn’t always enough. After studies of runners, there’s also evidence that this is the same of the recommended exercise guidelines of 30 minutes per day. Researcher Dr. Paul Williams found that the more miles runners put in, the greater their health benefits. Another interesting thing the studies showed was that as we age, runners need to add 1.4 miles a week to our mileage to fight off weight gain (that or reduce their cupcake consumption by 1.4 cupcakes per week – this is my theory).

The best way to ensure that you will get your workout done is to do it first thing in the day. I had an epiphany today about my status as a morning person. I always say “I’m not a morning person” but the truth is that I’m a begrudging morning person. I don’t jump out of bed and greet the morning, but I do get up early, by 6 a.m., and get a whole heck of a lot done in the mornings, including exercise. Exercise has to be one of those things you don’t “try to fit in” it has to be a blocked out part of your day. It has to be fairly non-negotiable. Then you have your evenings free to watch stuff like Conveyor Belt of Love.

Now as of tomorrow, you’re all morning people. Get to exercising in the a.m.! Here’s a morning song for your running mix.