We still have 20 weeks of training left and I already feel like someone has kicked me repeatedly in the shins! Well, really, it's my own fault. I had the spectacular idea to start running again in the midst of training for the 3Day. There is only one sport in which I will "play" through the pain, go out in the rain and heat, and do it every single day. I LOVE to run.
I started running about 4 years ago to deal with the stress of student teaching. It was also an awesome way to lose the college weight and get into shape :) I ran nearly every single day at least 3 miles. It was a high. I had to take 3 weeks off when I went to Mexico and I had the running itch. I couldn't wait to get back to the States to start running again. Andrew and I went to Disney World at the end of July for a week. I would get up every single morning at 6am to run 4 miles. Oh and then go walk around the parks all day long! When we got back, I remember running 7 miles and then we went for a 6 mile walk before going to a wedding in MKE later that night. It was fabulous! (The run, that is, although the wedding was fun too)
Then on Labor Day of 2009 tragedy struck. I was running an easy 2 miles, well that's as far as I got, then all of a sudden I couldn't anymore. I didn't fall, I didn't do anything, but I was in so much pain. I could barely walk. I went to the ER and all they could tell me was that it was a strain. I went through a year of physical therapy and was devastated I couldn't run anymore.
Fast forward to last year and I was finally able to start running again. I could run a few miles here and there, but nothing spectacular and nothing regular. Then this year we have had some unusually warm and beautiful weather. I got the itch again. Most of my motivation is weight loss, but I hope to get back up to that 7 mile mark. I downloaded a "Couch to 5k" app on my iPod and it's hard! The hardest part is taking it slow. Only running for a minute and then walking for 90 seconds is killing me! But I'm determined to follow it through.
So in short, running again while training to walk 60 miles in 3 days sound crazy? Oh heck yes. I am totally nuts for doing it, but I hope that I can. Running is the only thing that I can stick to (that and walking, but it's not the same kind of high).
On another note, we did another 4 miles today. Miss Lucy needs a haircut because this unseasonably warm weather is too much for her. Poor little thing is so hot! Soon the little girls will have to stay home because the heat is too much for Lu and Mads is still too little to walk so far. But they are loving it right now :)
Wednesday, March 21, 2012
Sunday, March 18, 2012
Gardening is a metaphor for life
Not something I ever thought I would say. I don't have the greenest of thumbs, but being a Loeffler now, I feel like I need to give it a try. Spring is one of my most favorite times of the year. Anyone who knows me knows that I am in love with daffodils and prefer them to roses any day of the week. The fact that it's 80 degrees in the middle of March and my daffodils are already blooming makes me smile.
I decided to be a good wife this afternoon and go out to help with the yard work. I'm very ADD when it comes to any type of gardening. I start in one area and 2 seconds later I've moved onto something different without finishing task number one. Usually I always get stuck pulling up the weeds or the grass that has crept into our flower beds.
As I was ripping grass from the ground, I thought "this is such a metaphor for my life!" Those stray little blades of grass are like the little problems in my life, the little bumps in the road. Usually we just end up scrapping the surface and rip the grass at the stems. We don't pull out the roots and really figure out where the problem lies. Well, those roots will just keep growing and grass and weeds will just keep popping up, much like problems. And you know what? Getting those roots out sucks. You get your hands dirty, you have to dig in the dirt, and some of those roots are stubborn!
I've come to realize that nothing comes easy in life. And I usually have to take the hard road and not by choice. I went to Spain by myself, lived with a crazy family member, had severe panic attacks due to living situation and had to move across the city by myself to an apartment full of people I didn't know. I cried, I sobbed, and sucked it up because there was nothing else to do. I couldn't go home, so I had to be a big girl and solve my own problems. My very first big girl job was the job from hell. I had no support, I hated going to work every day, I spent day and night working, not sleeping, not eating. It took 2 months of tears, misery and panic attacks for me to realize that it wasn't worth it. I finally resigned and went into subbing (which was another weed in and of itself). I have more examples of my weeds, but I won't bore you with them all and with my venting. :)
If I could have avoided those life events, I would have, but them I wouldn't be who I am today. I wouldn't know what I could handle and how to solve my own problems. I have become a more reflective person and have tried to figure out the reason behind my life events.
So go out there and pull up some weeds. It's beautiful outside, not to mention yanking out all of those weeds is incredibly therapeutic! Or get out there and go for a walk. Our little family of 4 took a 3 mile walk this afternoon and it was wonderful out. A little too hot for some girls, but it was perfect for me!
I decided to be a good wife this afternoon and go out to help with the yard work. I'm very ADD when it comes to any type of gardening. I start in one area and 2 seconds later I've moved onto something different without finishing task number one. Usually I always get stuck pulling up the weeds or the grass that has crept into our flower beds.
As I was ripping grass from the ground, I thought "this is such a metaphor for my life!" Those stray little blades of grass are like the little problems in my life, the little bumps in the road. Usually we just end up scrapping the surface and rip the grass at the stems. We don't pull out the roots and really figure out where the problem lies. Well, those roots will just keep growing and grass and weeds will just keep popping up, much like problems. And you know what? Getting those roots out sucks. You get your hands dirty, you have to dig in the dirt, and some of those roots are stubborn!
I've come to realize that nothing comes easy in life. And I usually have to take the hard road and not by choice. I went to Spain by myself, lived with a crazy family member, had severe panic attacks due to living situation and had to move across the city by myself to an apartment full of people I didn't know. I cried, I sobbed, and sucked it up because there was nothing else to do. I couldn't go home, so I had to be a big girl and solve my own problems. My very first big girl job was the job from hell. I had no support, I hated going to work every day, I spent day and night working, not sleeping, not eating. It took 2 months of tears, misery and panic attacks for me to realize that it wasn't worth it. I finally resigned and went into subbing (which was another weed in and of itself). I have more examples of my weeds, but I won't bore you with them all and with my venting. :)
If I could have avoided those life events, I would have, but them I wouldn't be who I am today. I wouldn't know what I could handle and how to solve my own problems. I have become a more reflective person and have tried to figure out the reason behind my life events.
So go out there and pull up some weeds. It's beautiful outside, not to mention yanking out all of those weeds is incredibly therapeutic! Or get out there and go for a walk. Our little family of 4 took a 3 mile walk this afternoon and it was wonderful out. A little too hot for some girls, but it was perfect for me!
Saturday, March 17, 2012
Happy Birthday!
We celebrated Andrew's 26th birthday yesterday. Hard to believe that we have known each other for 20 years! Since he is quite the meat-lover (sure didn't get it from his mother!), we went out to Samba Brazilian Grill. Thank you, Groupon and all of my school friends, for recommending this beautiful restaurant. Samba offers a salad bar and then gauchos come around to your table and offer you 8 different types of meat (or pineapple dusted with cinnamon) from the spit. Andrew was in heaven. Me, not so much, but hey, it wasn't my birthday!
After savoring every type of meat cuisine offered (including ribeye, pork, chicken, lamb, chorizo, chicken curry salad, calamari salad, lamb and chorizo stew, flank stank to name a few), not to mention some Brazilian nuts and olives, we walked down State Street for a bit. Who would have thought that March 16th would feel like June 16th? It was beautiful out. Of course, all that food meant that it would be an early night and we curled up in bed with the girls to catch up on Community and 30 Rock. After all, we had to get ready to walk 5 miles the next day.
This morning we took to the Military Ridge Trail with Lucy and Maddie leading the way. It was a fabulous morning to go for a long walk and it was before everyone else decided it was a beautiful day too so we only encountered a few joggers. However, we decided that our littlest ladies will not be able to take all of these long walks with us. It's quite the workout walking and having 20 lbs of pure muscle lunge and pull you this way and that chasing birds and squirrels. It's too much for Old Man Andrew's back (and he didn't even have to walk with Maddie who runs after every bird that she sees. And let me tell you, there are a lot of birds out in spring, go figure!)
Andrew has spent the afternoon working on his trellises for his vegetable garden while I have been making him a birthday dinner of enchiladas. (Now I know why I always make enchilada casserole. Rolling those tortillas without breaking them is impossible!) Hopefully they still turn out :/
Another milestone to celebrate, besides someone's birthday, is the halfway point for me in fundraising! Yesterday I officially hit 50% with $1170 raised! How awesome is that? I know some very supportive and generous people (a big, huge thank you to my parents who gave big and are so supportive! And thank you to mi madre for making me beautiful thank you cards to send out). We still have 146 days left, so there is plenty of time to donate. We would greatly appreciate it!
Visit our team page
After savoring every type of meat cuisine offered (including ribeye, pork, chicken, lamb, chorizo, chicken curry salad, calamari salad, lamb and chorizo stew, flank stank to name a few), not to mention some Brazilian nuts and olives, we walked down State Street for a bit. Who would have thought that March 16th would feel like June 16th? It was beautiful out. Of course, all that food meant that it would be an early night and we curled up in bed with the girls to catch up on Community and 30 Rock. After all, we had to get ready to walk 5 miles the next day.
This morning we took to the Military Ridge Trail with Lucy and Maddie leading the way. It was a fabulous morning to go for a long walk and it was before everyone else decided it was a beautiful day too so we only encountered a few joggers. However, we decided that our littlest ladies will not be able to take all of these long walks with us. It's quite the workout walking and having 20 lbs of pure muscle lunge and pull you this way and that chasing birds and squirrels. It's too much for Old Man Andrew's back (and he didn't even have to walk with Maddie who runs after every bird that she sees. And let me tell you, there are a lot of birds out in spring, go figure!)
Andrew has spent the afternoon working on his trellises for his vegetable garden while I have been making him a birthday dinner of enchiladas. (Now I know why I always make enchilada casserole. Rolling those tortillas without breaking them is impossible!) Hopefully they still turn out :/
Another milestone to celebrate, besides someone's birthday, is the halfway point for me in fundraising! Yesterday I officially hit 50% with $1170 raised! How awesome is that? I know some very supportive and generous people (a big, huge thank you to my parents who gave big and are so supportive! And thank you to mi madre for making me beautiful thank you cards to send out). We still have 146 days left, so there is plenty of time to donate. We would greatly appreciate it!
Visit our team page
Saturday, March 10, 2012
A 4 miler (well 4.55, oops!)
Today was our first 4 mile walk. It was a little windy, but we couldn't have asked for a better day. Warm, sunny, not a cloud in the sky.
I used MapMyWalk.com to map out a nice little route for us to take (well, 3, actually). Living so close to Madison, we are blessed with some really great bike paths. However, a little thing called "spring" doesn't always mesh well with those dirt and gravel paths. Our 4 mile walk through the neighborhood and then on the Military Ridge Trail was sidelined by big puddles; hence the need for 3 different routes. We settled on one that would take us winding through the neighborhood.
Oh well, a little extra walking was good for us. It will just get us ready for 5 miles next week. And speaking of next week, have you heard that it is supposed to be BE-A-U-TIFUL? Guess who's pumped... This girl! I love spring. Warm, weather, flowers blooming; it's wonderful.
As we train for the big 60 miles in August, we also have lots of little projects to complete as we embark on our first spring in our house and our second summer as homeowners. All the bulbs are planted and I can't wait until they started coming up. Andrew is going to plant a vegetable garden on the side of the house and is currently in the basement cutting pieces of wood to build his trellises. Oh and we need to clean and restain the deck, paint the front door, paint the inside of the screened porch, and maybe finish off the basement. You know, little things. Farm and Fleet has become our new favorite store (we have already been there once today and will have to go back for things we forgot this morning).
I would also like to say a huge "Thank you" for all of your support. I am always overjoyed whenever I check our team site and see how close we are getting to our goal. (I am currently working on those thank you cards, so hopefully you will be seeing one in your mailbox soon!) Only $695 left until I post a picture of Andrew's bald head! Although his hair is starting to grow back, but I know he'll shave it again. I think he really likes it. Oh these Loefflers, they are such an inspiration to me :)
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