Saturday, April 12, 2014

Getting Sick...



It’s no fun being sick and it never seems like getting sick comes at a convenient time.  I’m not surprised…when a person doesn’t eat healthy nutritious foods and get plenty of sleep and then attempts to do more things than is humanly possible…well…sooner or later sickness will arrive knocking at the door.  Yep, I’m talking about myself.  Since the start of the year I have been telling myself I’ll start my “real” training this week which has turned into the next week and then the next week and now I’m 2 weeks out from a marathon and haven’t had more than 2 good weeks of training.  I’m pretty sure I have consumed more sugar and junk in the last few months than I did in the entire year training for Kona. 

To tell you the truth I’m not too upset.  I have had some of the best times with the boys and Lee over the last months since Kona.  Before I know it they will all be graduated and off doing their own thing.  Except Lee of course; he is kind of stuck with me forever.   Lee and I will only be 43 and all five of our boys will be off at college (or at least I hope they are doing something productive).  There will be so many hours in the day which will be open for running, bike rides, swimming, and yoga.  Now many of those hours are consumed with driving them to school and picking them up which I totally love!  Those are some of my favorite times of the day…right up there with family dinners.  Also, this going back to school is cutting into my training time.  One more year and I will be done.  My plan is still to find enough time to get enough quality running in before the trials so I can run a qualifying marathon time.

Back in the day...5 little boys....this pic of the 7 of us just about sums it up.

So my plan going forward…I’m running Run for the lakes Marathon on April 26th no matter what.  Am I in the shape I want to be?  No, but who cares.  It will be a good slap in the face to wake me up to do the work I really need to do to reach the goals I have for myself.  It’s easy to dream big dreams.  The hard part is putting the work in each day to really make those dreams a reality.  It’s the moments when no one is watching or no one is pushing you to run one more mile or to run a little faster that really makes those dreams a reality.  

I truly believe anything is possible.  Would it be easier to reach my goal of running in the trials if I wasn’t getting my master’s right now?  Yes, but more than likely I would fill my plate with another crazy thing.  That is just who I am.  So I need to suck it up butter cup and start eating to run a 2:39 marathon in a little over a year from now and be more diligent with my training.  

The shoe dilemma…I loved my old Nike frees until they changed the style.  I have been trying to find the shoes that I slip them on and I have no other choice but to run.  Do you know what I mean?  There are some shoes that when I slip them on I just want to head out for a run.  I have narrowed it down to a few different ones…the adidas boosts are great for training (not the ones pictured), the Nike road racer is great for speed, and my shoes I wore at Kona for the marathon seem like good race day shoes.
 
Riley and I in Florida
The 13th birthday trips…gosh I love my boys. They are so kind to me.  I believe they have a very good role model in their father.  For each of their 13th birthdays we take a trip of their choice just the two of us.  They can pick anywhere in the US.   We originally planned them for last year.  The triplets turned 13 in September.  I was very focused on Kona and training at this time last year so we decided to push them back to 2014.  Riley and I spent 4 days in Florida having a great time on the beach jet skiing, kayaking, and para-sailing.  We spent a day at Busch Gardens and even found time to do some shopping.  Gavin and I headed to New York to watch a Yankees game and Rangers game plus took in all the typical New York tourist sights.  Soon, Wyatt and I will be heading off to San Diego.  It’s one place I have never been, but always wanted to visit.  I feel very fortunate to be going there with Wyatt.  He is a happy go lucky kid and will find joy in anything we do. 
Gavin and I at Yankee Stadium eating sushi.  He loves sushi as much as I and Yankee Stadium has great sushi!
 

Mitch turkey hunting last year.
Spring sports are in action…  Four boys are in tennis and one is in track, but two are wishing they would have joined baseball.  I love spring and fall sports.  The boys spend most of the year focusing on hockey and this time of year gives them an opportunity to try something different.  Turkey season starts next week and they are SO excited.  They think they need to miss school or at least go in after a morning hunt.  I think not.  We do have a rule if you are getting all A’s them you can miss school for hunting.  However, we have received the official school letter our boys have missed too many days of school.  They all get good grades, but we tend to travel a bit and they tend to miss quite a few days for hunting especially in the fall.  So, they are planning to hunt and still make it to school by the first bell.

Training…Finding the time to get those quality sessions in…well…I haven’t been getting in those quality sessions.  I have them wrote down on my training plan, but they haven’t been my #1 priority.  This will need to change real quickly here if I’m going to make it to the 2016 trials.  I have some work to do.  Serious work.  

But for now I’m enjoying -
Slowing down…listening to the boys stories and looking at them while they talk.  These moments will not be here forever and I don’t want to miss any.  Being a mom, a wife, having a full time job, going to school, and running down my own dreams takes balance each day.  I have learned to let the small things go and spend more time enjoying the important things.  Life is about the journey not the destination.