Motivation... depends on what we're talking about...
-- Motivation to get up and get out of the house today? Everyone else being home for President's day!!! (I have discovered that my stats class at the college is "hybrid," meaning that attendance is not graded and pretty much everything but tests can be done from home...) BUT it's hard getting a quiet moment at home on the best of days, and with DD15 home off-and-on for the last week-and-a-half, and DD11 trying to fake sick as well... I'm losing going crazy!!!! (Short trip!!!) So yeah, I went in today and just relished the silence of the computer lab!
-- Fitness motivation... I found a new project/obsession!!! I've mentioned before that I like to volksmarch (which is really just walking with little trophies every so often...) Well, I discovered that they have a new (ish) program, they are piggie-backing on the Appalachian trail!!! So awesome! For those not familiar, the AT follows the mountains about 2100 miles between Maine and Georgia, passing through 14 states. Some people hike it a section at a time, some people just visit it for the day, but the most avid hikers try to go the whole length in a year. While most don't succeed, the ones that do take an average of 5-7 months. So it's not something that is feasible for most people, it's a lot of time off work, and an insane amount of stamina... so while it's an absolute dream, it's not something I'd expect to ever be able to do. Not the thru-hike, and not even doing the whole length in chunks over time...
… BUT... the volksmarch club has come up with a new challenge for us less-athletically-inclined... just doing a part of the trail in each of the 14 states, at least 5k in most places, 10k in others. So I've been wayyyy down the rabbit-hole researching different parts of the trail that would count and I'm hoping to get away to do the southern states in a few weeks during spring break.
The downside is that all the information out there is geared towards serious hikers, the thru-hikers and the section-hikers, people who plan to sleep on the side of the trail, carry dehydrated foods, and cover 10-30 miles per day... translation, a LOT of recipes for trail mix and people telling you the most efficient way to eat 4500 calories per day. So now that I am through the initial research blitz, I have to pull myself back out of the rabbit hole and try to plan my road trip, reminding myself that the ultra-light tent and dehydrated trail foods aren't necessary for someone planning to camp in her van, do only a few miles in each state, etc. I have to plan this as a road trip, not a thru-hike... (I wish!!!)
So that is my goal, to get out and hit the local-ish Maryland and West Virginia parts of the trail in the next month or so, then Georgia, North Carolina and Tennesee on Spring Break. There's a close-ish walk in Virginia I'll do when the window opens in April, and we'll take a family weekend to the Poconos in Pennsylvania to pick up the trail into New Jersey. I don't know when I'll work in the Pennsylvania part of the trail, but not that weekend, apparently the PA section right there is a bit too intense for my level. So that's the goal-- eight states this year, but only a few miles in each one... physically very do-able, just a matter of making the time... No idea how I'll work out the Northern States, but not this year.
I'm totally chomping at the bit with this, but there is a special "passport" book to track the program, and I have to wait for my check to reach Texas, and then the book to reach me back up here... (It's an old-fashioned organization, what can I say?) But I noticed my last few walks that I'm needing to replace my shoes, so now I have to remind myself that ordinary walking shoes will be fine, I don't need the top-rated $150 trail-runners.
Planning this is **WAYYYYY** more fun than dealing with sick kids, college statistics class, or shopping for a couch! So it's been hard to tear myself away from the daydream! (Like planning a Disney trip, but way less expensive, and the food's not going to be as good...)