The Miles Continue...

Pre-pandemic, we were really busy. All. The. Time. We were gearing up for CHKM weekend and the general craziness of spring.
Then, COVID came to town. The need for blood doesn’t stop in a pandemic. Throw in over a hundred blood drives canceled in like 72 hours, 6 complete schedule re-writes for one week and communications sent multiple times per day bc of urgent changes and that’s a tiny glimpse of March into April.
I worked long days and weekends. I love what I do and it was actually a great adrenaline rush every day to see what would happen next.
Then, the frantic pace began to slow and we began to find new routines at work and home. And I began to wonder how I would pass time. Sure, it’s great fun to have time with the boys, but they like video games and playing together so I knew I would have some time to kill.
I don’t do crafts. I don’t bake. I hate yard work. I don’t sew. I was needing a good way to spend my time through the spring and probably the whole summer.
Sometime in April, I saw a post for the Great Race Across TN. It was to be a 1000K and run from May 1 to August 31. It was going to be hosted by race organizing icons!
Doing the math, that’s a lot more running than I have done regularly since at least 2012.
Logically, I signed up.
Some days, it’s been great fun. Others, every step makes me wish for the run to be over.
Without all the places to go, one would think I am less busy.
Nope.
I have miles to go. Miles before work. Miles after work. Miles on weekends. I get to run miles with Jackson and some days, Karson will come “workout” while I am in the treadmill.
I run/strength training in the morning at least two days per week. I run every day after work and on weekends.
I passed Sewanee today. I am ahead of the buzzard (cutoff symbol) and am on track to finish this thing.
Each day, the miles continue. I am rediscovering my overall love for running. The highs and the challenges and all the miles in between.
So, if you need me, I am likely logging some miles.
See you on the roads! KA
P.S. - I am going to keep going when the #GVRAT1000K is over. Who knows where my miles may take me!

Summer Break Has Begun!

Offical word came yesterday that it seems summer break is officially here. It wasn't a surprise at all. But even though it wasn't a surprise, it hit me pretty hard.

At first, I laughed it off because we knew it was coming and went on upstairs to hop on the treadmill. About 1.5 miles in, I started crying. Not for myself.

I cried for the loss of normalcy for my boys. I cried because some day, they'll be telling their kids about how they had a 5 month summer break.

I cried because Karson is missing out on the end of his kindergarten year. This year begins such a big journey in life and honestly, it sucks that he won't be able to participate in the fun Rocky Hill spring kindergarten activities.

I cried for Jackson. He loves school. He loves seeing his friends.

I allowed myself a few minutes to wallow and then I did what I always do. I hit the start button and kept going.

What else can I do? Sit around and be mad at the world?

That's not how I want us to raise the children and it's definitely not what I want to see them do as adults.

I want them to understand that life can be hard. There is great joy in so many things and there will be pain at times.

I want them to understand that when life is hard, you have two choices. You can be mad and wallow in that anger or you can recognize that this is a difficult situation and figure out how to make the best of it.

And yes, it's okay to grieve our losses. It's okay to be sad. But always try to shift the perspective into making the best of situations.

There have been times in life when I was just mad. And you know, I didn't feel very good then. I am sure my physical health suffered and definitely my mental and emotional health.

So, I woke up this morning and the sun was shining and I know that we'll make the best of it.

The boys are attending Daddy School each day. Jackson and I are still running together. We finally get to play with the ridiculous amounts of Legos and toys in our home.

We tune in to Dave's Happy Hour each day at 6 PM and listen to fun music while we work puzzles.

The boys are developing a relationship that they may never have had otherwise. I'm not saying that they wouldn't be close but certainly, they are getting to know one another as friends as well as brothers.

Eventually we will be able to have play dates again. Eventually we will be able to go to a restaurant so I can yell at the children to sit down and have manners. Eventually we will have another new normal.

For now, it seems that summer break is here so we'll do what we do during the summer....boys will still be learning. The boys will play. And we'll spend time together as a family.

See you on the roads!

Giving Thanks in Challenging Times

Two weeks ago today, we were travelling back from Atlanta where we watched hundreds of athletes gut it out on a challenging course in challenging winds and cold temperatures. Out of the hundreds, six are heading to the Olympics.

If the Olympics move forward as planned.

Two weeks ago, that would have been a weird sentence to write. Not so much today.

We are pretty transparent about our lives. We make a point to showcase the good, bad and downright ugly.

I don't think I need to go in to detail about how ugly the last two weeks have been.

In my job, the first challenge was tornado aftermath and managing communications for the response to inquiries about blood needs and for our center in Crossville. We saw as many donors in one day that week as we have seen in that location in a month before. MEDIC staff were amazingly flexible and worked together to collect products during challenging circumstances.

Then COVID-19 literally became an outbreak. An outbreak not only in reported cases but an outbreak of information coming from all directions.

This virus has had a huge impact on both of our professional roles. You all know now that the CHKM has been postponed. We stayed up late every night after the kids went to sleep talking about ways to make it happen or alternatives if it had to be postponed/cancelled. We hope for a fall date but the stars will need to align as perfectly as possible.

People are frightened. This is unknown territory for all of us. That said, how we react to our fears is going to have a huge impact on the next several weeks and months. We need to be smart and we need to be flexible. And mostly, we don't need to be selfish.

News and officials are telling people to socially distance themselves from others. I don't disagree. We pulled the kids from camp next week. That's going to be a burden and we will need very creative scheduling and work days between us but we felt it was best.

We are following the guidelines of no playdates and not going out just to go out. We are hunkered down at the Altman house playing no-stress chess, Battlefront (Xbox game) and having time together that we wouldn't otherwise have been able to have.

That's a silver lining in this - at least for us. If CHKM weren't postponed, then Altman would be somewhere in the house with his head down and working away at sending emails, entering registrations and finalizing logistics.

There would be the tension that lives here in March every year knowing that race day is coming and we have to be ready.

Yes, I have worked a lot this weekend. I worked while the kids played Legos. I am writing this now while they play video games. But, we've gotten some quality time that we would otherwise not have on this particular weekend.

Who knows what the next several weeks holds for any of us. But for today, I am focusing on the silver linings and all the things we have to be thankful for.

I am thankful that we have a treadmill, bike, weights, TRX equipment, exercise ball and yoga mats that we use for our daily workouts.

I am thankful that we have groceries and that we have had toilet paper delivered for years via Subscribe and Save and that I am not scrambling to find it right now.

I am thankful that next week was already spring break so that Knox County didn't have to make the decision to close schools although I would venture to guess that the kiddos won't be back before April.

I am thankful that I have a laptop for work that allows me to work just as easily at my dining table as it does in my office. I am thankful that Altman works from home.

I am thankful for book shelves full of books for both boys and for their creative little minds that can sit and draw for hours.

The challenging times will continue. I will no doubt go in to work tomorrow to find that more drives have cancelled and our team will rally to try to fill those slots. No doubt that whatever happens with the CHKM, Altman will have a full week of navigating responses for refunds and the various questions he is receiving as well as planning for the future.

But, again, I am thankful for some extra family moments this weekend. And I will continue to remind myself of my gratitude when the children are fighting over the video game. :)