Depending on where you live, this may not sound like much, but it marks a turning point for seasons in Illinois. Today, I took my very first run since fall of last year in shorts and a t-shirt. Woo-hoo!
This past winter was probably one of the toughest through which I have attempted to train for a race. I have some decent Under Armor winter gear, but I really didn’t think I could run in weather below freezing. Well, I had to get over that pretty quickly because the majority of January and February never got above that!
Then, I decided that I could probably run with temperatures in the 20’s, as long as the wind chill wasn’t in the teens. As you can probably see where this heading, I’ll make a long story short: I ended up running at least once with temperatures in the teens and wind chills in single digits and several time with temps in the 20’s and wind chills in the teens.
Yes, it was miserable. Yes, I nearly froze my face off, since that’s the one part of my body that is difficult to effectively cover. Yes, I swore each time I was buying a treadmill or joining a gym. But I did neither one, and, yes, that type of training is really paying off now! The weather has lost its power as a good excuse for not running. And, on days like today, I can truly rejoice and be glad in the day that the Lord has made!
In any case, my running group did its final long run before the race on April 30. I ran 12 miles, something I haven’t done since the last time I trained for a half-marathon. I was blessed with a great run that day, and it is such an encouragement going into the race in a couple weeks.
And now, I’m toying with the idea of running a marathon in the fall. I’ll keep you posted on what I decide…
In other news, we had a good weekend in which we spent lots of time outside. We are planning to put in a fence along the backside of our yard soon, so Jeff got that measured out. We are also planning to redo a lot of our landscaping, as what we currently have is ugly and dying. As part of clearing out the old stuff, Jeff was raking next to the cracked concrete slab that currently serves as our patio (another future home improvement project), when he caught a whiff of something unpleasant.
Upon investigation, Jeff found that a young raccoon had crawled under the concrete slab and died. Yes, it was beyond nasty, and Jeff had the unfortunate job of digging it out and disposing of it. It’s now buried next to the guinea pigs along the back of our property and will probably be smack in the path of our hoped-for fence.
The joys of home ownership.
This has been a weird school week, as Charlotte and Elijah both took standardized tests yesterday and today with a homeschool organization to which we belong. I have never had them tested before, but I figured, with Charlotte being in fifth grade, this was probably a good time to start. After all, they will need to know how to fill in bubble sheets and work under time constraints eventually. And I would like to know how they compare academically to other kids their age.
While we won’t know the results for a couple of weeks, neither one say anything on the tests that they hadn’t seen before, so that was good news. There was only one other child testing in the third grade with Elijah, so his room was able to complete the entire test in one day, rather than the two it took Charlotte. Let’s hope that because Elijah found it easy and not because he was hurrying to get done!
This upcoming week brings spring break for the local schools, so that also means a slower week for us, as all activities, except for Charlotte’s soccer practice, are canceled. Jeff’s parents were supposed to visit this weekend, but a death in the family changed those plans.
Jeff’s Aunt Carol, who is Jeff’s mom’s sister, lost her husband on Monday to a long struggle with pulmonary disease, so Jeff’s parents will be going to Virginia to attend his funeral. George was a great guy, and we were very sad to hear the news. As he was a veteran, he will be buried at Arlington Cemetery when those arrangements can be finalized.
Perhaps Jeff’s parents will be able to join us on Easter weekend. We shall see.
And that’s what’s happening here! Have a good one!
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