Week ????

I totally forgot I was doing this. Again. 😬🤷🏼‍♀️🤦🏼‍♀️ Mach is good to me for not harassing me when I’m down.🤣 Anyway! Update time.

To be completely transparent, I didn’t just forget about this blog. I kind of forgot about Cruel Jewel, too.

One of my kids has had some ongoing medical problems for the last year or two. Back in April, things took a scary turn. We ended up confirming a very rare and serious heart problem and had to address it immediately. Thankfully, we’ve got an implant recorder now and I can sleep a lot easier at night! (Who am I kidding… we all know raising teens means you don’t sleep much regardless.)

On top of the health scare, the track team I stepped up to volunteer coach ended up having athletes make it all the way to State, and it’s still not over! Meets are all day events and my time is completely spoken for. I do not regret this at all. If there’s one thing I’m willing to have my own running take a back seat to, it’s my kids running. And by my kids, I mean every last one of the athletes on the TFXC team that owns my heart.

Additionally, we had some career shakeups here in the home, and really life has just been quite off kilter. Running and preparing for cruel jewel has still been happening, but I wouldn’t say I’ve put my heart and soul into it or anything like that. Basically I went into survival mode & that’s all there is to it.

I’ve gotten in a lot of decent / long treadmill workouts and ample time in the sauna. I haven’t got in a ton of mountain days, which I miss terribly. I had one fun day out with my friend Courtney and Rush puppy who moved to Asheville recently! After almost a decade of very long distance friendship, the 2 hours away thing feels remarkably close. I’m here for it!!!

Despite a ton of confidence boosting long efforts, I feel confident I can still probably pull out a decent finish off of fitness and grit alone, so long as my heart holds up. And I think it will thanks to my sauna training & electrolyte plan.

I was walking with my husband last night and we were discussing how quickly life can change, and priorities can shift. One minute you think you’ve got it all figured out, and everything is in line, the next you don’t even know what day it is or where your kids are. I’ve gotten good at taking each moment for what it is though. I’ve learned to ignore the whole “me first” agenda of the world and let my own life and priorities patiently take a back seat while focusing on cultivating the lives of others, my children and other youth especially.

It’s okay though… One benefit of having my children so young is that I’ll still be young-ish when I’m done raising them. Which is great because there’s a whole lot of things I want to do. 🙂

Anyway, back to CJ. I’m going for it bc it’s all set up and ready to roll. I’ve got a super nice cabin paid for – that I won’t even get to enjoy bc I’ll be running, as per usual 🤣 – and there’s really no other opportunity for me to re-up my HR qualifier this year, calendar wise! Sooo I’ve kinda gotta make this one happen!

The course is in reverse, so that puts 60 miles of dragon in one shot and in the middle of the night. I’m assuming I will handle this okay-ish. I usually climb at night and alone pretty well. Honestly I just greatly appreciate the silence it provides. There’s nothing to stimulate my mind, and now, more than ever, I need that. I crave that. Just existing. Being quiet and being human. The more I write about it, strangely, the more I’m looking forward to it.

It will be very very busy leading up to race day, so I hope at least that I remember to pack ALL the things! If not, I’m sure my people will take care of me. They always do somehow 😁

Okay I’ll report back in 2 weeks!