Full Moon Run for December

Last week, I ran the usual 5.2M on Tuesday but DTR did something Christmasy: They went caroling.

I'm not Christian. I believe there's a Supreme Being devoid of gender (I've had some individuals try to convince me God is male), and history indicates there was an individual they call Jesus of Nazareth, but I don't acknowledge that individual as being the Son of God.
So it makes no sense for me to celebrate Christmas in the usual way. I like a good time, I like togetherness and good-cheer and well-wishing, etc. And I like to party! Commercialized gift-giving has become a problem, but real gift-giving from the heart is a good thing at any time, not just holidays.

Back to running...
There's no way I was going to grab a song-sheet and sing songs about baby Jesus and stuff, stopping every-other-house.
So I went to Green Mtn instead and tried to run but it was too muddy, and icy, and post-holing deep in snow, so I gave up after 4 miles and drove to Bear Creek Lake Park and ran another 6 miles on concrete bike paths. (How's THAT for a run-on sentence?!) The running wasn't nice, but it got the job done, and the solitude of the night was good for my soul. It was nearly a full moon.

The actual full moon was Sunday. DTR met on top of Mount Falcon and ran 4 miles in the snow. The "word" was that the snow was trampled and firm. That was true - for about a mile of it. The rest was uneven and sometimes not at all trampled or packed and we were guessing where the trail was in knee-deep snow. But the Denver Trail Runners are a crazy bunch and we were loving it - laughing at how comical the conditions were - dashing through the snow in the moonlight.

Afterwards, Tania P invited us to her house for dinner. Wow, how very generous! She roasted a turkey, and made a very delicious soup with every kind of the most healthy beans there are (World's Healthiest Foods), including lima, garbanzo, white, and maybe a few others, plus polenta, which was very delicious.
It was a very good time with great company and big-hearted hostess.
Tania is definitely one of my biggest inspirations both as a runner and in life. Always generous, never conceited, even though she has exceptional attributes. The wisdom of her advice has never been just about running, but about being healthy in life. Even though she's one of the most competitive runners, with international reknown, she doesn't lose sight of "why" we should be doing things.
When talking of peoples' talents, I don't like using the word "gifts" because it seems a "gift" is something you were born with. The person Tania is today is no accident of birth. She deserves full credit - more so than most.

I'm lucky to know quite a few people like that. Maybe I need a blog-post about that. There's a long list of people who inspire me, though. Somehow posting a list of "The Top Ten" people who inspire me sounds trite. It might trivialize the whole thing (like a count-down on the David Letterman show). So I'll have to think a bit on the approach.