waking up from a haze...

When people tell you that parenting goes fast, they're not kidding. Really, they should be jumping up and down in front of you in an obnoxious neon bike commuter outfit with a flashing sign that reads, "YOUR NEXT YEAR(S) WILL BE A BLUR."*

For me, make that a little more than a year-and-a-half so far. Give or take. But I have been waking up lately with an increasing awareness of, well, reality: that I am getting enough sleep, that Elliot is taking care of some of his basic needs by himself, that I'm getting some pretty decent runs in, and that all personal pursuits that previously were pushed to hiatus are suddenly knocking on my door wondering when they'll get to come out and play again.

This sort of came to a head when friend-from-my-previous-life Galen posted a link to this blog about a man who completed the Barkley Marathons. I know I will never even think about entering the Barkley Marathons (that's insane!), but it's surely an inspiration.

In that previous life, I completed a race called the Dogwood Half Hundred. I also dropped out halfway into the Rachel Carson Trail Challenge in 2003 after deeming the steep mudslick trail impassible. But suddenly, just this week, decided I want to go back and finish the sucker. And that 400k brevet. And a number of really improbably lonely remote long-distance events. And then I learned that the Dogwood was somewhat resurrected as the Elizabeth's Furnace Fat Ass 50k, and it seemed wrong not to do an event that's seemingly named after me.

How on earth could I train for 30+ miles on foot, let alone a marathon, or 24+ hours on my bike, given the time constraints of toddler-parent-hood? And how could a Chicago flatlander train for ultrahikes with significant elevation gain? These two questions have kept me awake for several hours in the last few nights. (I could do training hikes with Elliot in the backpack! That could count as good weight to train with, right? Hmm. We need to move.)

But I should also mention my bike mileage this year (not including grocery-getting, taking-Elliot-to-the-Shedd, etc): 0. 0 trail, 0 bike workouts, just 0. Did I mention that I re-upped with Half Acre Cycling and now have an 8 race commitment to fulfill? Yikes.

Anyway, happy spring, fellow travelers. While everyone is working out their race schedule for this summer, I'm trying to figure out if I can find a reasonable target long hike in the woods or sleepy night lit by generator hubs. The long-slow-happy is what I'm good at. I've always said there's nothing I enjoy more than waking up in the morning with nothing to do that day but ride my bike/hike/run all day long. I need to get back to that, just child in tow. Now to figure it all out.

*I do believe length of blur is determined by length of sleep deprivation, as determined by one's children's affinity for sleeping, which we all know E is not a fan of.