So why is it so hard for me to RUN
three miles? Our family has been training for a 5km run, and the
most I've ever ran (this weekend) is four miles, every single one of
which kicked my butt. And I had to take breaks walking on the last
mile.
Put me on a bike, and I can easily do
100 miles. Put me on my own two feet, and I huff and puff like a
chain smoker. It's incredibly frustrating, especially when I run
with my 8 and 10 year old sons, who barely change their breathing patterns or
break a sweat while jogging next to me, while I drip and groan and
moan. Is this going to get any easier, or what? I mean it, people - suggestions are highly welcome here.
I am blown away by how many people read
my blog (and I know there must be some runners out there who read
it). I can view the statistics of my blog writing endeavor, and I
can tell how many pages are read every day. I have only started
blogging in November, but there have already been three thousand page
views (not including mine). This feels so very lovely, because I
feel like I am writing to an audience – to you! My words don't get
lost in outer space somewhere, but they land – with you! Wow! I
love it when people leave comments on the blog, although most people
leave comments on Facebook, after I post my new entry there. So all
I'm saying, feel free to post here, in this space, although I know
it's kind of annoying to sign up for the whole google thing. Just
know it makes my day to read your comments, thoughts and ideas, and
it's also really great for my Ego! And – runners – please tell
me what I should do to hang in there with my pathetic running
efforts, okay?
We've been spending our days home
schooling, practicing fiddle, starting more veggies seeds, taking
enchanted walks through the woods to the river, baking bread, and
making good food. I can't eat the bread, what with my elimination
diet and all, but the rest of the family enjoys it.
I feel great, by the way! No sugar, no
dairy, no gluten, no alcohol – and no cramps this month! I usually
have to swallow ibuprofin to get through my moon time, but this
month, I am breezing through it. I have lots of energy as well.
That must have to do with my eating, don't you think? I am really
trying hard to feel proud of myself for being so virtuous, but I
still do feel deprived. Especially when my terrible dear family stuffs their
faces with my home made bread, dripping with butter and honey, while
I munch carrots with tahini instead. Or when Lukas inhales chocolate
chips after our training run, with the smell wafting right under my
nose. Sigh...
These are my brassica starts, poking their lovely heads out of the soil. |
Thanks to our wonderful friend and neighbor, Kai is getting fiddle lessons. He really, really wants to learn how to play fiddle, because, in his own words, "It makes my heart happy." |
This is one of our typical meals. Here you see salmon with garlic and dill, plus lots and lots of vegetables. |
One of our projects this week involved
fire, and lots of it. For months, I had been walking by the huge
brush pile next to one of the living room windows, and I finally
declared that I had enough of the mess. I am Southern German, after
all, and it is deeply instilled in my genetic material that picture
perfect farms do not entail big, ugly brush piles next to the house.
So we spent an afternoon dragging logs and branches over to a roaring
fire. We also burnt a lot of bamboo, since I had cut down lots of it
the week before. You can imagine how wretched it looked after having
been bent over by winter rains and snow. So my German sense of
orderliness hacked a lot of it down. Have you ever heard the
racket bamboo canes make when they burn? They sound like fireworks,
with their popping and cracking. That's why they call it BAM-boo!
Check out the sound in this video. The bamboo sounds like gun shots!
I've been on a sock knitting kick
lately. This way, my family ends up with plenty of wool socks, nice
and warm for this temperamental spring weather. And they feel so
heavenly comfortable on your feet. Another plus is the fact that
when they get wet (since I have plenty of puddle splashing children),
they still feel warm. When Lukas put on his first pair of wool
socks, he looked at me in astonishment and exclaimed, “Wow, these
socks feel like walking on water!” For the ones of us who have
never walked on water, we can just assume he marveled at their
softness and magic.
This is a hat I knit up in half an hour for Lukas. Hurray for bulky yarn! |
Wow, what a week!
ReplyDeleteI ran both regular and cross country track in school for 8 years and could run and run forever. But when I turned 17, I just couldn't do it anymore. It's like my body just refused : / Have never gotten the magic or stamina back but your story is making me think of trying again. So cool that you're challenging yourself!!
I'm also having an identical experience on the sugar/grain/alcohol/dairy free diet. It's awesome!
Crazy, hu, Erin? This whole phenomenon of bodies changing...
DeleteAnd just imagine, we had two or three kids in between as well! That'll change your body!
I'm inspired to at least take a walk today.I need to do that diet too. Love your Photos, your kids are awesome!
ReplyDeleteMy experience with running is that you can't compare yourself to others, especially not boys. But having running partners is the best way to keep doing it and have fun too. It's a lot easier to find excuses when you don't have someone counting on you. Keep it up, have fun with it, and remember that you are only in competition with yourself.
ReplyDeleteMelissa, thanks for your encouraging words. What a great reminder: I'm only in competition with myself! That's a hard thing to let go of for a Type A German!
ReplyDelete