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Well, it is has been over a month since my last blog entry. I know I have often shared the woes of leading a busy life, but the month of August has probably been our busiest month this year…and I have a messy house to prove it. I’ve been so tired during the week and busy during the weekends, that I have let tidiness slip and slip. And now it seems overwhelming to clean! We will get there though. Fortunately, Labor day means a three day weekend for me and Michael. We have NO plans. And that is exciting because all of the things that have needed to get done on the house can now get done…hooray!
August started off with a “lock-in” at the church with the youth group and then going to the George Strait concert. We had a great time at both events. The next weekend was Jim and Carrie’s wedding. Michael was the best man in the wedding so was really involved in all of the festivities. Luke and Julie stayed with us that weekend too–it was great to catch up with them. The day after Jim’s wedding, we had an all day leadership training at the church for the youth group. It was fun, but we were so exhausted. The training ended at 7:30, we were home at ten till 8 and I was asleep by 8:30! The next weekend was another fun weekend! My company, Communications Plus, had a retreat in Austin to relax and play but also plan our vision for the future of our company. It was a great time, and relaxing, but again I as tired! Finally, this weekend Communications Plus celebrated 30 years of being in business. We had a fun party for clients, vendors and friends to celebrate. On top of all that, the building that we had been renting space in failed to pass some city inspections. So we found out last Tuesday that we had to move offices this weekend! It has been eventful to say the least. Tonya and I also made a quick run to College Station on Friday to meet with the Philadelphia Sisters officers (we’re on the alumni board), and we got to see the Neals and Megan and her baby Ella. So now you know why I haven’t been blogging!
On a totally different note…we’ve picked up on our training for the duathalon considerably this past week. The weather has turned slightly cooler/drier, so this week we are going to try to get up earlier and run in the mornings and then bike in the evenings. We still have until October 11 and we are feeling pretty good on our running and biking lately. I really hit some kind of running wall for a while and just couldn’t get through it! I was waking up in the mornings and taking the dogs with me. Which is good, but kind of a feat. They run really well for the most part, but Kona is slow and Dixie is a roamer…she’ll trip you up because she kind of zig-zags her path. So the running was really difficult with them! This past week though, Michael and I have been running together sans dogs, so it has been so much easier. I never really realized how much extra energy I used when running with the girls…having your hands free is much much easier. We don’t live in a bad neighborhood by any means, but just for safety, if I’m running by myself, Michael likes me to take Kona with me. She is a GREAT guard dog. But like I said, she is slower and running with a dog is tough. So I think Michael and I will try to train together more.
You know, the duathalon is a funny thing. Michael and I do not consider ourselves athletic by any means. We don’t work out a whole lot, although I am always trying to be active and healthy. To a runner, it may not seem like a big deal to run 2 miles, bike 12, and run another 2. While it really is more difficult to bike than you might think and then run when your legs feel like Jell-O (people–you really have to try it before you say it’s “easy”–it’s not), the duathalon for me isn’t about fitness or time. It’s about accomplishing a goal and doing something that I’ve never done before. My goal is to be able to complete the whole thing without any walking. Again, that may sound simple to you, but this is coming from the girl who used to go for a “run” and walk as soon as it got hard. I never pushed myself to get through those blocks. The duathalon isn’t easy for me. I love the biking and am pretty good at it, but combine that with the running and then it isn’t easy anymore. There have been times when I’ve wanted to give up in training. But for some reason, I really want to do this. And I want to do it well.
A lot of goals that I’ve set in my life are hard to measure. Like I want to be a good friend, wife, daughter, sister, worker. But in working towards this duathlon, I wonder if the reason why I set goals that are hard to measure is because there is less accountability in achieving them AND they are so open for interpretation. Like what does it mean to be a good friend? There are a million definitions, so I can almost always get away with saying I’m a good friend…does that make sense? So I’ve shied away from this duathalon thing a bit, because there is actually a standard I will be measured by. And I’m not sure I want to be measured–what if it isn’t good enough? What if I’m the last one to cross the finish line? What if I want to give up? What if all my friends are waiting on me? I’m trying to push all those things aside though and just focus on finishing well. It will be one of the first goals I’ve set in my life in a very very very very long time that actually has a beginning and an end. And I want to meet that end.
Ok, so there is my philosophical insight into the duathalon and training. I’ll keep you posted on that. In the mean time, I will work on just keeping you posted in general. We’ve been running a little bit on empty this month and are hoping that this weekend brings some rejuvenation with it.