100 Days

At my daughters’ school (and surely elementary schools around the globe) the 100th day of school is kind of a big deal. They normally glance back at what they have done over the year, acknowledge how much they have grown and learned, and of course there is a party. I have found that grammar school is in a perpetual state of cupcake frenzy and forever looking for a reason to celebrate with frosty delights. I guess this is something that kind of carries over into adulthood. I mean who among us has not worked at a job where there is a person virtually assigned to discover the birthdays of co-workers so that we can meet in the break-room for cake to celebrate “Bob’s” birthday. No one really cares about Bob, but everyone loves cake. It’s kind of strange isn’t it? I have on more than one occasion known I was merely an excuse, a segue if you will, to “cake”.

Today is a very different type of 100th day; it is the 100th day of our current deployment. To be honest I didn’t really give it a lot of thought. I noticed last night that it was coming but I didn’t feel the need to bring any great recognition or celebratory response to its arrival. What would be the point? I would love to say that I feel some sense of accomplishment in how far we have come, but we are barely a quarter of the way done. To know that although we have done 100 days and we still have at least 265 still to go, well that is daunting to say the least.

But, today was a good day regardless of the reminders as to how long a year truly is. Today was also summer solstice – the longest day of the year. In Alaska that means up to 24 full hours of sunlight. In Anchorage things are not quite that extreme, but it still means nearly 19.5 hours of glorious daylight. And as much as I hate to cross this tipping point in the seasons, there was something akin to relief in crossing that threshold. Kind of like reaching the top of the mountain and finally starting back down the other side. Of course there is no real logic in this line of thinking. Yes, the days will begin to get shorter tomorrow, but in December when we still have 3 months to go we will start back uphill again in terms of solar measurement.

To celebrate solstice, the girls (minus 1 – our oldest is a camp this week – more details about this later) and I had a fun-filled day that included the library, the track, the pool and concluded with a hike and picnic. Overall, it was a very good day. However, I was reminded of the potential irony in my uphill downhill assessment of a deployment as I nursed an IT band injury on our hike. I have been stubbornly ignoring and running through a stressed IT band in my left leg for several weeks now…okay probably at least 2 months. My brother – the runner – tells me the only answer is to stop running until it heals. The thing is I don’t want to stop running, so I haven’t. I have cut way back which I thought was helping, that is until the 2 mile uphill hike today. The thing is, with every step up, each one slightly more aggravating than the last, I knew I would have to make an additional step back down. And for anyone who has ever had a problem with an IT band I think it is pretty universal that “down” is actually far worse than “up”.

So where does this leave me with my theory? Up was hard, but the view and the accomplishment from the top made it well worth it. Down was horrible and with no reward other than being done. What does this mean about deployment? Perhaps there isn’t even any real correlation. But I think there might be. The first half is really hard, but the second half may be even harder because even though you’ve reached the top, the distance back down is just as far. But here I am getting WAY ahead of myself. We are only halfway up the mountain – far too early to start thinking about the trek back down. 100 days. That does sound like something though doesn’t it? Yes, I think it is. I think perhaps I should be more excited, feel more accomplished. Maybe I will make cupcakes and we will celebrate.

Running to Afghanistan - Not going to happen!

I decided - just for the sake of curiosity to see if I could "run" to Afghanistan while my hubby is gone. I thought that would be a nice goal to work on - symbolic, distracting and health oriented. So I googled a distance mapper and found some devastating news. It is 5,474 miles from where I sit typing to the far away city he will be working in. That means that means I would have to run 14.99 miles every day to make it from here to there in 365 days. So I decided to try and find something more achievable. I searched for towns named "Soldier" thinking I could run to my soldier that way. The closest is in Iowa - still well over 2,000 miles away requiring a daily 7+ mile jaunt. Also NOT going to happen. So I've decided maybe I'll go with something fittingly more appropriate and run to "Chicken" Alaska - 321 miles away - and less than a mile a day. I'm exhausted already.

Running

Back to school! And thank God for that! Hubby chose to leave right in the middle of spring break, which was good because he was able to get in some extra time with the girls and bad because by the time he left they were bouncing off the walls – and my sanity with them! It was nice to get back into a little bit of a routine today.

Dani and I go to the gym on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays. There is a wonderful set-up on our military base where they have a playground/gym facility all in one. Dani can play while I work out on the equipment which is arranged in viewing position. It’s a fantastic idea and I don’t know why more places are not doing this. I run a few miles and then do some strength training. I hate to run. I have always hated to run. My Dad was the high school cross country and track coach so I’m sure a mental health expert would have a great deal of commentary to make here. I also hate to floss and I hate to put away clothes. I run and I floss because I know they are good for me and I should do it to be kind to my body – and a little easier on the eyes of anyone having to stand next to me. I’m not sure why I put away the clothes. I can think of no real benefit in that. In some ways it would be easier to just leave the clothes strewn about to sift through as one needed something. I do not think we are at a socially acceptable stage however for this sort of adolescent behavior to continue beyond high school so I guess I will continue to conform and put away the clothes. I actually enjoy folding clothes – sort of mind numbing – calming methodical process. Yes, I quite like to fold clothes – I’m mentally drifting to a pile of warm towels right now…. My train has de-railed where was I? Ah yes! Running – so I hate to run. I have made a promise to myself that I will not run more than 3 miles on Mondays and Wednesdays, and make Friday my only 5+ mile day. I have been gradually breaking my promise to myself however and find that I am almost always running at least 3.5 miles now and creeping ever closer to 7 on Fridays. Not a big deal – but that little voice inside my head is screaming – YOU SAID ONLY 3 MILES!! And where is it all going? For what purpose? I have no desire to enter a race or anything silly like that. So why am I running further and faster? Because I can? I can see how people develop running addictions. There is something sort of soothing and mentally cleansing about running, that repetitive foot thumping and rhythmic breathing. My brother tells me that there is nothing you can’t run from if you just go far enough. I’m afraid to test his theory out on the open road or I may never come back.