Finally. I hope. I hope, I am achieving some sort of balance again between the demands of every day life and my dreams. This summer, wait, this last year, has been really emotionally and physically draining with the school stress, the decision-making, and the relocation, that my inner life has taken a beating. I haven’t been able to focus on anything other than making the decision about, and the subsequent move for, the boys’ school. But it’s done and we are finally settled. They received their official selection letters and so are now Freshmen at Cal State. It was a big mountain to climb, emotionally and logistically, but it is done.
My sons are 14 years old, but have really struggled with extreme boredom in school. They were very fortunate to have amazing teachers who were willing to move them through the curriculum quickly, but soon they faced the problem of having no peers – the older kids didn’t want to hang around with middle schoolers and their classmates didn’t really know them. It was a very stressful time. Academic or social? We were being forced to choose.
But along came an invitation for the boys to test for an early entrance program. If accepted, they would start college early (now), skipping high school altogether, but most importantly, they would do it with 150 other kids! Finally, we weren’t going to have to choose between academics and a normal social life! They could have friends their own age, but not be bored in school. The only problem, and it was a doozy, we would have to commute to California! You can sense the level of desperation we were feeling now that you know we did it. But, thankfully, the boys couldn’t be happier. They had a great, challenging summer session AND made lots of friends. Whew! or Yikes! I’m not sure which yet 🙂
Anyway, with all of this finally sorted out, and us settled into a semi-regular routine of commuting, I am able to get back to some serious running. And it feels so great! I am firming up a race plan and I am really excited! Right now, I’m trying to get my base built back up without injury, so I’m doing a lot of long slow distance (my favorite). Soon enough though, I know I will need to start adding hills and speed (not loving those as much). I’m also doing some of my running in the gym just to change it up.
I will post my race schedule soon, and hopefully, it will match up some of y’all’s!
Happy Running!
Mom, ultrarunner, four-time US 24 Hour National Team member, adventure athlete, food writer. Graduate of the Pro Cooking Program at the New School of Cooking, Los Angeles. Will run for food.
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I am in owe of your boys. You are a great mama. Take a deep breath, it’s going to be wonderful:)
Hi Olga! Thank you so much. It has been very tough, but I’m glad a decision has been made – that was half the battle. Now, we need to get back to training!
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