Over the past few days, I have had the opportunity/challenge to finish off some small to larger goals. The first goal that I had really no control over was taking a SNOW DAY! Stephanie lives in an area of the state much more prone to blowing snow and thus they get snow days a little more often than we do. We lived down that way when we were first married and my husband spent a lot of afternoons playing poker with the other teachers rather than teaching English. My daughter Haley and I spent most of the day having our own version of quilt camp and it was completely delightful. Here is a sampling of our projects: A little bit larger goal was to finish a 14 mile run on Saturday complete with five miles at a harder pace. This was not as easy as looking at the weather forecast and hoping the storm didn't miss our town and that my boss would deem the roads impassable for children. Deb and I set out early and took a route we have not run in a really long time. The run turned out very nice and renewed my hope of a good half marathon in April. We got separated during the harder portion, so we ended up walking about a mile home after the run. When my watch read 14.00 miles, I was D-O-N-E. I was pretty stiff the rest of the day, so I took that as mission accomplished of a nice long run at a strong effort. The final goal to be finished this week has been a long time in the making. In the past couple of years, my husband and I have watched our mortgage balance decline at a faster clip than when we moved here in 1999 and have gotten more diligent on trying to get it paid off. I knew that last month's payment was starting to really close the gap and we'd even talked about going to the bank to just pay it off with savings or our tax return. Yesterday, we got a call from the bank that our escrow account had enough money in it to just pay the loan balance off but we needed to be aware that we would have to come up with the property taxes on May 15. Since the April and May payments we would have made are more than the tax bill, we said, "Go for it!" and like that, we are mortgage free. This morning, I asked Deb what was missing from my house. She said, "I don't know; it's pretty dark out and I can't see." I said it was the mortgage which we followed up with high 5's. If you've never checked out Dave Ramsey's radio show (also available online), it's motivating, no-nonsence talk about money with a Christian perspective. Charlie likes listening to Dave while we walk and we try to guess how he will answer the listener questions. This morning, we struggled with the remnants of the snowstorm and subsequent melting. The roads were kind of slippery and very rutted. We needed these: And felt like this: I shuddered to look at our overall pace and time this morning, but the important thing is that we got out there and took care of business by logging some miles. The snow will melt quickly in the March sunshine and we will be running easier again soon. Mission Accomplished! Happy running--Missee
One last winter funny as I'm really hoping we don't have any more winter!
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Most of Minnesota was socked with a winter storm. We had ice, followed by snow. Everything looked as though it was coated in frosting. Due to the weather, we did not have school today. This was our first full snow day of the year. Instead of school, our students have a "Virtual Snow Day." Students are required to complete school assignments at home. Because students are required to turn in work for each class, it is considered a school day and we do not have to make it up. After the school work was done, we had baking to do. We made monster cookies. We only ventured out to clear snow and for dentist appointments. Happy Snow Day! -Stephanie
"Sometimes you win...Sometimes you don't." This quote was on the board at the local cross-fit style gym that I go to. I could probably change that to "Sometimes we succeed... Sometimes we fail." Friday was a day like that for me. My regular morning run of 4.5 miles with my friend was cut short at about one mile due to stomach issues. I knew that my run for the morning was DONE... fail. When I fail to complete a run for any reason, I always make that run up. I resigned myself to run after work. Since I had twelve miles on my training plan for Saturday, I decided to move that up a day and run the long run on Friday. The weather was warmish and it would be light for the entire run. However, it was going to be a challenge. I am a morning runner. My energy really declines during the day and I had one running fail on the books for the day already. After work, I set out for my run. The first two miles were tough. However, I decided that I would just keep moving, keep running, make forward progress. When I reached six miles I made the decision that completing this run today is better than having to try again tomorrow. I was determined to finish all twelve miles TODAY. I spotted this sign at about the ten mile mark. This church has some great messages displayed on their sign. Not everyday is a good day for running. If you are like me, some days we struggle. We may not feel like running, lack energy, have an ache or pain, or get defeated in our minds. When we can push through that, it is well worth it. I started my day with a running fail and ended up with a success. (Success for me is not defined by my pace, but by finishing what I set out to do.) I normally might see a sunrise as I complete a run. On Friday, I saw the sunset. It was beautiful, but I will stick to my mornings.
Happy Running! -Stephanie Too often these days, you hear that kids today are spending their lives looking at their phones; they don't talk to one another and are self-absorbed. Well, last weekend, I witnessed two large groups of young people that put those ideas to rest...track kids! If you ever needed a reason to appreciate what running might do for you or your child, watching a track meet showed me a whole lot of positive effects.
I attended two different meets on different days, one was a Division 3 college meet and one was a Divison 2 meet. What I noticed about the kids on those teams warmed my heart and made me glad two of my kids could be lumped into that group. On the first night, I watched several of the longer events, plus a couple of field events. It was actually challenging to find a space on the bleachers because so many athletes as well as parents and other fans crowded on them to cheer wildly for their teams...even in the 5,000 where the runners came by 25 times. My daughter had pom poms she purchased from Amazon to wave at her friends and others had signs. The only cell phones I saw being used were to check the stats on the live results page. At the field events, there were kids not in the event lining the stands to cheer and to tell one another good job. By the time I left, my ears were a little sore from the amount of enthusiasm being poured from the lungs of the teams. Wow! Saturday I attended a meet with completely different teams. I wasn't sure what to expect compared to last night. It was much the same. However, at this meet, they had a large awards stand in the middle of the field and the athletes proudly wore their medals throughout the rest of the meet. I noticed quite a few from Blake's team asking one another how they did in their events and congratulating one another whether they had earned a medal or not. I didn't go over to any field events, but one couldn't help but notice that one UMD Bulldog must have had a tremendous day in shot put by the intense cheering coming from that direction. When I talked to Blake after his race, his first comment was that "we are smoking Augie (another school) in the distance events. It's so awesome!" These kids weren't worrying about their own performance except that how it might affect their team's standing. The next time you see something about how kids are so disconnected from one another, take in a track meet. I hope you will observe what I saw this weekend. It was truly heartwarming to feel the sense of team and genuine encouragement. Also, these are the future road-racers we will encounter as they graduate from college and become citizen runners like Stephanie and I. I'd be willing to bet they will even cheer for the old ladies in the races! Happy running--Missee I often write about my adventures as a track/cross country/Nordic mom. It's truly one of my favorite pastimes and, with the ages my kids are at, one that I know is not going to last forever. This past weekend was not great for driving with snow on Friday morning and Saturday evening. That fact posed a problem for track meets...would have been lovely for Nordic where we struggled all season for snow. Friday morning, I headed to the Twin Cities on fairly icky icy roads for a workshop and then headed over to see the MIAC Track & Field meet at Macalester College. The CSB Blazers were doing a great job so far in the meet. I got to watch several exciting events on the track and the 20# weight throw for women which my daughter competed. She missed qualifying for finals by factions of an inch, but had a solid competition. Since she has one sore shoulder, she was not disappointed not to throw three more times that night. Meanwhile at MSU-Mankato, the Northern Sun Conference was having their meet complete with the UMD Bulldogs. Blake ran the 3,000 meters in a personal best time of 9:00. Good start to the meet, Andersons. I previously blogged about my Saturday morning adventures with my own running, but once that was done, it was time to get ready for Day 2 of the track meets. My husband and I switched spots with him headed to Macalester. I left for Mankato. We both knew there was a prediction of 4-8 inches of snow for the afternoon, but kept our fingers crossed it would arrive late or be much less than predicted. Haley's competition was at 2:00 and went well with her earning an All-Conference in shotput. Bobby headed back and said he struggled on roads that were quickly deteriorating. I was further south and since Blake's race was not until 4:00, took the opportunity to visit the quilt shop that had participated at quilt camp, enjoy a Chipotle burrito and then watch a few other races prior to Blake's. I tried not to fret about the incoming weather. There was no way I was missing this race. Blake ran the 5,000 on Saturday and while his time was not a PR, he ran a super smart race and was passing other runners in the last mile or so who had taken off too fast. He was satisfied with the race and also with the fact that he is a senior and never has to run an indoor meet again unless he so chooses. Distance runners typically do not enjoy indoor running compare to outside. It's usually warm and stuffy and the turns are very tight...especially if you are about 6'3". Here he is running. I'm terrible at taking pictures and don't know what I did wrong with my camera, but perhaps if you are running at 5:00 per mile, you are just going to be blurry in pictures??? I may be a little biased, but just take it from Mom, he's handsome and fast. Since the snow had begun, I knew it was in my best interest not to delay getting home, so I took off pretty soon after the conclusion of Blake's race. It was already snowing when I left, and when I got to the highway, it was snow-covered but decent. I talked briefly to my husband and younger son who advised me to keep it between the ditches because finding a 3rd car just like mine could prove difficult...I live with a bunch of wise-guys! Road conditions quickly got worse as I turned north and the sun started to set. It seems that no one was headed my direction that night and when I realized that my strategy for driving was to try to stay parallel to the tire tracks from cars who had gone the other direction, it became clear that getting all the way home should not be a priority. I called the guys again from Winstead, MN, and they found me a hotel only seven miles away. I took over a half hour to get there, but it was very nice and not too expensive. At that point, they could have charged extra and I'd have happily paid up. Here is the view from the hotel parking lot when I arrived: Upon check-in, I asked the clerk if any local restaurants deliver as there was zero chance of me taking off driving again tonight. She said one pizza place does, but they just called and are not delivering tonight. There was a bar/grill two doors down if I wanted to try that. I dug through the sacks I had in the trunk from a quick Target run on Friday and came up with some provisions: I sent the photo to my kids with the hashtag #mymomsadietitian. They thought it was great. I did have a microwave and refrigerator in my room, so I could have heated up my Larabars for a hot dinner. My room was clean and comfortable, plus it was the last night of the Olympics; I had library books in my bag and some treats from the quilt shop to examine. I was set for the night! Here is the picture on the wall in the room: Sometimes the best approach is to be flexible. If I'd have attempted to keep driving, conditions might have improved in a while, but it was nearly 30 miles to the next town which could have taken hours to navigate if I managed to keep it between the ditches. As it was, I got to bed early and made it back in time for Mass on Sunday morning. It was our week to distribute Eucharist, and the Sister who is in charge said, "Oh, you made it!" and didn't seem to notice that I was dressed more for a track meet than Mass. Maybe that should be a lesson to all of us to accept people just as they are and be thankful they are here, not worried about their aesthetics. I tried not to be too self-conscious although I'd have felt more in place with a CSB Track sweatshirt than the UMD Cross Country one since we go to Mass at St.Ben's.
I love being a track mom and wouldn't have missed Blake's last indoor meet if at all possible. As it was, I made it into quite the adventure and will always remember it. I hope everyone is taking the time to enjoy the what's around them this weekend whether it's the people in your life, nature, a special project you are working on or the library book you must finish because it's due (that will be me!). Life is too precious to worry about the small stuff. I've got 14 miles on the schedule with 5 miles at a harder pace. Wish me luck and happy running! Missee |
AuthorMissee and Stephanie are two Minnesota sisters and moms who love to run. We are not experts in running, parenting or anything else, but we do have years of experiences that may be helpful or entertaining to others. Archives
May 2020
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