I can’t believe that the last time I wrote a post was in late May. My older kid was home, having survived a semester away at school but taking online classes, but the younger one was still in the final (painful) weeks of online school. I honestly don’t think I’d given that much as a parent since my kids were newborns. Not surprisingly, when something had to fall off my plate, this blog was it. As we head back towards another school year and a life still heavily influenced by Covid, I make no promises that I won’t fall silent again. (But follow me on Instagram – I do manage to post there regularly!) Today I’m joining Deb and Coco (who both are local to me but I haven’t seen in person since before the pandemic!) for some virtual coffee.
If we were having coffee, I’d tell you that I’m very nervouscited about the fall. (That’s nervous and excited for those who don’t make up their own words…) I’m excited that in person races are back and that my kids are both going to have in person classes. I’ve discovered that I suck at training to run long races in my neighborhood. I’m nervous about the Delta variant. I know that being vaccinated makes us safer, but I know enough people personally who have had it after vaccination, to feel just a bit wary of it. And I’m definitely burned out on the “risk decisions” that we’ve all had to make for the last year and a half.
If we were having coffee, I’d tell you about the (probably) first in person race I’m going to go to. I’m running the Quantico 12k in two weeks. The pandemic has made me incredibly slow, so I may be DFL, but I look forward to running surrounded by others again. You can join me in person or virtually if you aren’t local!
If we were having coffee, I’d tell you my birthday is coming up again soon. Last year was a big round number and I couldn’t have a party, so I treated myself in 50 different ways, including running my second 50k for MCM. I’m not sure what I’m doing to celebrate this year – except that I’ll be driving the kid back to college. That’s likely to be my lot in life for the next 7 years or so (the downside to a late August birthday.) I do admit that while I will miss my kid, I won’t miss the bugs in my freezer or the Mutual of Omaha Wild Kingdom that is my life.
If we were having coffee, I’d tell you that marathon training is going meh. I am signed up for the in person MCM and the virtual 10k and 50k. That’s right, I’m running a 50k by myself again. Apparently I will never learn self control when it comes to race registrations. But c’mon – who doesn’t want to run 31 miles just to get another Trifecta coin??? Oh, and speaking of running virtually for bling, I finally reached the point where I got my map for the CRAW race I started last fall. It’s really cool, but really huge, and the geeks in my house spent way too much time discussing the accuracy (or lack there of) of the geography. Me, I’m just happy that we are in region 9 of 12. I’m kind of mentally done with the whole virtual logging of miles.
Have you started racing in person yet? I have a handful of races on the calendar that I’m running, plus I’ll be producing 3 fall races for ZOOMA again. I can’t wait to get that adrenaline buzz from being surrounded by runners again!
I am excited and nervous for my first race which will be Cherry Blossom in September. That sounds weird, doesn’t it? Things sure do feel unsettled again. Who cares how slow you are do the race anyway! I actually got my running mojo back this past year. It was really one of the few things I could do w a friend that felt safe, Thanks for dropping in for coffee. Hope to see you in person one of these days soon