Cindy Lou: June 2011

It's that time our of lives and we were ready to take the next step. We had to take advantage of the low interest rates, the lowest in years and our rental lease was almost up for renewal. So we made the decision to buy a house this year.

We could have waited another year as the interest rates lowered even more but I'm glad we had made the decision to buy this year. We couldn't afford much but we knew what we wanted. 3 bed, 2 bath, basement, preferably an attached garage and most importantly, a nice big open kitchen.

We knew since Joshua had recently gotten the head chef job at Coachman's near Stoughton/Edgerton that we would want to be near there, considering he works 60 hours/week and needs to be there quickly in case of an emergency. So, our realtor took us to see some houses in Stoughton, Deerfield and Edgerton.

All the houses we saw in the beginning were cute but either too small or the 3rd bedroom was away from the other bedrooms. We knew that if we wanted to start a family or even resell the house in the future that it would be nice to have all three bedrooms on the same level in the same area.

Finally, we saw an extremely cute older house in Edgerton. Wood floors from top to bottom, a finished basement, an open but slightly small kitchen, 3 bed, 2 bath, detached garage with a bonus workout room. We really liked it. However, the process with the bank was very slow so at that point we were only pre-approved and not officially approved of a loan so we lost that house to someone else that put on offer on it. Since we couldn't, we had to let it go. We weren't extremely sad since it was a detached garage, a small kitchen and the 3rd bedroom was away from the rest so even though we wanted it, we weren't sad that we lost it.

Couple weeks went by as we continued to look and get officially approved of our loan. Then we found another house in Edgerton. Corner lot, huge yard, attached garage with a basketball hoop already installed (hey, we're sports people and hopefully our kids will be too), large living room with wood floors, big open kitchen with up to date appliances in the kitchen, tiled kitchen and dining room, 3 bedrooms on the same floor although with very ugly carpet, 2 1/2 baths and an unfinished basement.

The thing that really turned us off about the place was that the 1/2 bath/laundry room on the main level was next to the garage. So when you walked in from the garage, you walked into the bathroom then into the dining room area. Not exactly appealing. But we kept that house at the top of the list and continued looking.

Our realtor must have relayed that to the seller's realtor because we soon got a phone call from our realtor saying that the owners were willing to work with us to make it a private bathroom. We instantly through up a bid.

Offers, counter-offers, more counter-offers, inspection, and finally it all went through. All we could do now was wait for the loan to come through for us. And what a headache that was. I'll spare the details but let's just say we got the okay from the bank at 4:30pm when we had to close the next morning at 9:00 away. Talk about last minute!

Closing was the best relief. Even though from the moment the offer was finally accepted, everyone said we had a house but deep down in my heart, I knew it wasn't ours until we closed.

Since we closed at the end of June and our lease wasn't up until July 31, we took our time moving in. The first thing we did was repaint every room. Then we tore up the carpet from the stairs to all the bedrooms on the 2nd floor and put in bamboo flooring to match the living room floor. Finally, we slowly moved everything in.

It's so great to say we finally have our first home. We may move, we may stay but whatever happens, this will always be our first home.

This is our second year of doing this relay race from Madison to Chicago. Last year, it was called MC200. Ragnar Relay picked up this race as they do other relays in different cities.

We had most of the original Roadkill Running crew from last year. Again, Joshua and I were in the first of two vans. Last year, Joshua was runner 5 and I was runner 3 of 11. This year, we had 11 again since one person got sick at the very last minute and couldn't run with us. Joshua was runner 2 and I was runner 6 of 11.

This year, we got to start an hour later than last year. 9:30AM. But still very early. We woke up around 6 to get ready and finish packing. We had to get to Andrew's place by 7:30 to meet up with everyone.

We packed up the van that was to be used for the relay and boy was it packed up! We headed down to the start area of Olin Turnville Park in Madison. There, we had to get an orientation about the rules and safety procedures. Make sure you wear your reflective vest, headlamps and LED lights. Safety first!

Our nerves weren't as high as last year since we already knew what we were getting ourselves into. But it was still exciting at the Starting line. The countdown began. 10...9...8...7...6...5...4...3...2...1 and off goes the first runners of the 9:30AM heat.

The first leg is the fun one. Everyone has a ton of energy, waiting to run their first leg. No one was tired yet. Lots of cheering goes on in this first leg of the race.

Joshua's first run went super well. As usual, he was pretty fast. Natural runner. Now if only he wanted to run as much as I do, he could qualify for Boston.

Being the last runner of the first van was kinda weird. Seeing everyone run before you kinda sucks. Makes me very antsy to get going.

Well, my first run was awesome! I got to run in the Cambridge area just outside of Madison. The only thing that sucked was the rolling hills. But there were a bunch of cars cheering on their runner so every time I ran by a car, they cheered me on as well and that helped a lot.

When I got near the exchange point, I sprinted in but had no idea who I was handing it off to since the runner was not someone who had ran last year. And yes, I ran to the exchange with no one there. I waited then finally saw Joshua and Andrew but not the people I wanted to see.

But finally, the next runner arrived! I guess they didn't expect me so fast. I ran 8 miles in 1 hour and 12 minutes, a 9min/mile pace. First legs of Van 1...done!

We ended up around Lake Mills and were starving! So we decided to head in the direction of where we'd meet up with the other van again. We stopped at Delafield Brewhaus to grab some late lunch. Most of us got fish to eat and I was one of the smarter ones to get the baked fish even though I really wanted the fried fish.

Once we got some energy back into us, we went to the next van exchange point. While we waited, we threw a frisbee around, kicked a soccer ball and just relaxed. Since I was the last runner for our van, I mainly ended up curled up in a blanket laying down resting.

Dusk was coming upon us as the last runner of the other van came in. Time to get back out on the road and cheer for our runners!

Joshua went on his 2nd run and of course was amazing as usual. He was running about a 7:45/8:00 minute pace. And again, I had to wait awhile for my turn.

My turn was coming up soon since most of everyone's 2nd runs were pretty short. I got all geared up in nighttime outfit. This was going to be a piece of cake. 3.2 miles to run.

Running at night was kinda creepy especially through dark trails. I don't believe there was any light around except for my headlamp. But I managed to keep a good pace. 29 minutes and 30 seconds, just under a 9:15 min pace.

By now, we were all exhausted. We headed to the next van exchange where there was a sleeping area. We tried to get some rest but like we knew from last year, you don't really get to sleep much. I think I only got 2 hours of sleep. It didn't help that we knew it would only take the other van 4-5 hours to run their 2nd runs.

So, back out on the road we go. Joshua finished up his 3rd run and had to leave to go back to Madison right away for work since he had to prepare for a wedding party that night. This was going to be interesting. The night before, Joshua had dropped his car off at a park and ride near where he would end. We rushed him over to his car and managed to get back before our runner got to the next checkpoint. At least it was roomier in the van!

Time for my last run. 7.8 miles to go. By now, I was really tired. No sleep, not much of a rest but that's what is so fun about this race. Seeing how far you can push your body and it's amazing how much your body can do when you doubt it. My pace ended up being a lot slower but I did finish those 7.8 miles. 1 hour 18 minutes and 45 seconds, just over a 10 minute pace.

Now that our van got done, we went to the finish line to hang out and wait for the other van. It was a lot warmer than last year but kinda windy. We ate at a place that was by the finish line so we got to watch all the teams run in. You could just see the excitement of the teams when they cross the finish line. It was great to see and we couldn't wait for our turn.

Kevin our fastest runner was last so we knew we had to be ready at the moment. The other van members caught up to us and we waited for Kevin. Finally, we saw him speeding towards us. But, he had to slow down once he got to us since we were all slower than him and half of us were in flip flops.

We made it! Madison to Chicago by foot. And just under 30 hours! A 9 minute pace! Not too shabby at all!

As always, we had a blast! Thanks Ragnar Relay and Roadkill Running for yet another amazing experience!