Resilience

I once read a book about sports psychology and one thing I took from it is that I needed to work on my resilience and my coachability.  Which essentially means I can be stubborn and dwell on stuff for too long.  So if someone is giving me good advice I needed to work on being open to it and use it to my advantage instead of either coming up with excuses as to why I shouldn't or poking holes in their theories.  This is hard to do in an age when we are bombarded with so much information it's hard to tell the difference between good and bad advice.  But one very good example of advice I should have taken was quite a few years ago my brother went for a run with me.  He never runs anymore, he commutes everywhere on his bike and doesn't want to know anything else about exercise after that, but he went for a run with me and ran circles around me.  He is a natural at all the sports he does just didn't ever have that competitive urge to race.  I on the other hand love the challenge I get from entering races but never had the natural gifts.  I made the comment to him "You are so fast and without even trying, I'm jealous"  He told me well you just aren't trying hard enough you are running like you're on a stroll enjoying the views.  I of course was taken aback at first and thought who is he to tell me I'm not trying hard enough.  But it's true I take my time and thoroughly enjoy my training runs sometimes never feeling like I'm breathing very hard.  I never pushed myself unless someone else was around i.e. at races.  But if I know I can run faster why don't I and would that make me even faster if I worked at that.  I find myself not pushing it on training runs when I should and remember this conversation.  So while I need to work on this at least I recognize it and am trying to make a conscious effort to make changes.  I just hate making things too complicated like on x, y, z days I'll do a tempo run on other days I'll do.... I just like to go and run and the most I usually do is know how many miles I need to build up to.  But if I can just concentrate on some true hard effort days I think that would be progress.

Resilience, or lack of, is when I'm passed by a runner and I automatically get down on myself and think well that's the last I'll see of them and sometimes even feel myself let up in my stride a little!!!  But if I'm on a bike I think who do they think they are, and spend the rest of the race trying to catch ok.  He wails briefly because, yes, it hurt like hell!  But then after a quick hug from me and a wipe of his tears he is off again as if nothing ever happened.  He only gets upset if I try to slow him down by putting ice on it.  I remind myself we all go through this and as adults we can sulk in the corner or dust ourselves off and try again no matter how many times we've failed.  The nice thing about sports also is that we can look at issues like this in our athletic endeavors and approach them in a non threatening way but sometimes make the connection as to how these lessons would also benefit us greatly in our every day lives.

from this.....

them.  I need to quit letting myself give up in the sports I know I'm not good at.  Lately also I've learned a thing or two about resilience from my 1 year old son!!  He is such a dare devil and always on the go but you know it takes a while to master this whole walking, running, climbing thing.  So that means his little feet get ahead of himself sometimes and he finds his head making contact with the floor before his feet.  When witnessing this my heart goes into my throat and the only thing keeping me from crying or having a heart attack is knowing that I need to show my son that everything is

to this in a matter of seconds...

So for the next couple of months I want to make an effort to work on these two things.  It's been a long time coming but watching my son grow up has really brought this to light for me.  Not really sure why.  But he amazes me every day and makes me want to be a better person in every way possible!

Happy Training!

Festivus 5k for the Rest of Us! and other feats of strength...

Photo credits go to Shannon Larkin Sempsrott

The weekend was quite the success for us!  We had a wonderful Saturday morning waiting for us for our 2nd Annual Festivus 5k for the Rest of Us!  It was around 46 degrees by the start of the race which was nice compared to last years 19 degrees and luckily the storm waited until that night to blow in.  There we about 240 participants quite a few of which were running their first 5k, in costume, part of other running groups, or under the age of 15 (part of the running 505 group).  There were some strollers, some dogs and plenty of fun!  There was a Festivus pole at the finish for photo ops and a backdrop of the beautiful Sandia mountains with blue skies as a back drop for the finish line photos.  It was so exciting seeing everyone have fun.  On top of all that we are going to be able to donate a nice little chunk of change to the UNM Cancer Center!  Directing a race, even a small one, can be nerve racking and thrilling all at the same time.  When I got home my mom was surprised by my great mood!  She kept saying "You seem so happy!  I haven't seen you like this in a while!"  Well the stress of everything going on had culminated with this race.  To see that it all came together in the end made me so happy!  I'm so thankful for my partner in crime who put this race on with me (we balance each other out just right), for my parents (my dad participated and my mom watched my son while I was MIA), and for friends and the running community who supported us with such enthusiasm, not to mention some fabulous sponsors.  We had wonderful volunteers that helped us with the photography and finish.  And don't you love the glass we gave with each entry?


What do like getting with your race entry?  The tried and true race shirt?  A mug, hat, socks, gloves, none of the above?

On a personal note last week I logged 21 miles of just running.  I can't remember the last time, actually I don't think I have ever, had a week where all I did was run, no swim or bike or class just run (ok I got 2 weight lifting sessions in there as well) and now I know how people build higher run mileage, all they do is run.  It's quite simple actually, I just have always had a love/hate relationship with running as it is my weakest of the 3 sports.  But maybe this whole being forced to sit out of triathlon season for a while is going to be good for my running!  This Run every day in December challenge is just what I needed.  The change up also made me lose just a little bit of weight.  Now let's hope when I'm off for work for the week and 1/2 over the holiday I maintain this running streak.

Happy Training!!

December Challenge(s)

Get some hot coco and settle in as this is going to be a long one.  Or just run away now!!! :-) 


It's that time of year, no not the holidays, but apparently the time of year I go crazy and decide to try and make a ton of commitments and some how try to stick to them.  Why would I do this to myself you ask?  I have no idea.  I'm not very good at saying no is one major reason.  I try to give up a commitment and I get asked if I would reconsider a week later and I give in!!! ;-)  I'm afraid of completely losing myself into "mommy" and "work" world so I try to maintain contact with the groups that I feel I identify with and keep a little part of who I really am but then realize work and life demands don't always allow for that (especially when hubs needs all of my free time to watch the little guy so he can study).

I had an interesting conversation with a friend the other day.  I was at one of my favorite relays that my local running club puts on and I've written about it on here many times before because I have so much fun at these handicap runs my dad did this one with me which was awesome!  I mentioned that I had signed up for the Run Every Day in December Challenge on FB.  She said "Oh yeah I did that last year but decided not to do it this year.  I found that I used it as an excuse to only run 1 mile since that was the minimum so I ran every day but fewer miles."  I hadn't thought about it that way before.  I on the other hand signed up and it has been a great choice since I am so competitive with myself way more than with others and when I make a commitment to myself and on top of that vow to post about it online every day with this group I get this sense of urgency with the goal!  So for me the hardest part is usually getting my foot out the door.  The effect this has on me is well I promised myself so I better get out there and do one mile.  Then as soon as I'm out there I'm like I made it happen I'm out here I might as well take advantage of it.  So I end up running more miles than I normally would have because I force myself to make time for it so I build on that.  Now I'm like wow I can do this running every day thing now let's see if I can add to my running miles from last week.  See as a triathlete and a not very fast runner I never understood how some people get such high running mileage in.  Now I know how, all you do is run, if you don't do any other sport then the miles tend to add up faster and you can't hide behind the bike or under water.  All in all this challenge has been a good decision for me and my dog approves with two huge paws up!  It's gotten me out there on cold nights after 8pm and for a quick lunch run when I'm feeling overwhelmed at work.  This December Challenge I have been very thankful for.

My friend and I are also putting on what has turned out to be a very fun 5k for a second year in a row the Festivus 5k for the Rest of Us which this year not only are we having the theme and costume contest but also get to benefit the UNM Cancer Center and get some of the Running505 kids out there running too.  Each year we hope to grow it just a  little bit so that we hopefully don't experience growing pains.  That has been a lot of work for both of us but we are super excited to see the benefits and results and have as much fun with it as possible.  That culminates this Saturday with hopefully a much warmer day than last year.

Work has been insane as I was covering my work along with my assistants due to her being out after a bike accident but she is back and I am very thankful that she is doing a lot better and we are slowly starting to catch back up and my over time has dwindled thankfully!  I hope to wrap up all the lose ends before we are out for the Holidays and start the new year fresh and refreshed!!  With an expansion and build out in the near future we'll need to be prepared for lots of new hires and everything that comes along with that.





On the home front there has been hubs going through finals and we are truly living separate lives right now and are definitely not the example of positive and productive communication.  We will grin and bare it until some how we hit smoother waters, maybe in about 4 years once he's out of school?  In the meantime we've been making time for our son and letting him enjoy all the wanders of the season since last year he was barely able to hold his head up let alone enjoy lights and festivities.  He's such an amazing little human and brings me joy every day.  I'm also not ever allowed to go into a toy store because I found out I will want to buy everything for him and I get way too excited!  I some how ended up with 2 pretend cameras when I got home apparently he had grabbed one and I had too and didn't notice it at check out.  Toys for Tots will benefit from that one!  Thanks to friends and family helping I've been able to still fit in a few fun runs and take the stroller out for some shorter stuff around the house whenever I can't find any coverage.  Now if this weather would just cooperate and I could try to get a ski day or two in this season that would be awesome I haven't been in 2 years!!!  I guess the "Winter Welcome" and the "Let it snow" signs I have up at our house wasn't enough of a hint for mother nature.  Still not sure if the in-laws will make it for Christmas but I'm sure the house will clean itself right?  I'm not even going to try to think about coordinating Christmas dinner yet, maybe everyone else will do the coordinating? ;-)  I'm cursed with being a planner.

I'm trying to get a running group up and running, pun intended or maybe not, but it has been a slow start mainly due to scheduling conflicts but I really am excited to hopefully give it more attention in the new year.  Hubs has a nonprofit he has also decided to get up and running at the same time so again living separate lives and spending time elsewhere.  Apparently this is why he is constantly on the phone and FB so we will both patiently (and sometimes not so patiently) wait to reconnect.

I have temporarily given up on my return to triathlons as I know I don't have time to train for all three sports.  Although I did hear that Toughman is bringing a 70.3 race to NM which is huge news for our triathlon world and very tempting to want to check it out! But that course will not be something to be laughed at and I will need to start out smaller once I do venture back.  I have to figure out how the heck to make time for the bike and pool time!!!  Running when I'm in charge of Aiden is doable with the jogging stroller pool and bike not so much.  I have been trying to stick to my healthier eating habits and at least to consistent running and weight training and I think my work pants are finally starting to fit comfortably again! WooHoo.  I haven't lost any additional weight (I have been back at my pre pregnancy weight) which means the extra ab work I've been doing might finally be paying off.  I will not give up!

Ok I warned you this was going to be a long one.  I think that's almost all of what has been going on.  Things should start to ease up a little here soon.  But if you don't hear from me before then Happy Holidays!! and Happy Training!!

Doggie Dash Weekend

This was the weekend of the pup!  Dear Lexi, we did not forget about you and we do still remember that you were our first baby!!  Please forgive us if we miss a walk every once in a while because we are busy cleaning up baby poop from the inside of a bath tub or from your mouth!  Know that when "A" grabs you by the jowls and yells directly in your face a bunch of none sense it's him telling you how much he loves you.  If we yell "Out" at you so many times that it is one of his first words that he now says to you while flailing his little finger while pointing at your doggie door we are sorry.  But we just can't have you always licking his mouth in search of food or hanging out under his high chair waiting for scraps because he loves you so much that if he sees you there he'd gladly throw his entire dinner on the floor for you.  You have been there for me through some tough times and helped me celebrate other exciting times.  You kept me company while hubs was deployed for a year and run with me through rain or shine!  You race "A" to the door to greet me and I appreciate every wag of your tail.  You sit by me at night as I read him his bed time story waiting to say good night before I put him down and you sit by the bathroom in the mornings as I get ready for work.  You may be a hyper dog, bark at nothing, chase your own tail, air hump the cushion on the couch, act like a psycho in the car, and pull relentlessly on runs but we LOVE YOU!!!

She got a bath on Saturday so she could look her best and impress at the doggie dash while she proudly wore her "Adopted at Animal Humane" bandanna.  At least this time as we drove there instead of smelling the nasty scared dog smell we got a whiff of the shampoo from the day before.  She gave me a turbo boost on the run in a couple of spots and helped me run it faster than last year.  May not be a PR but it's a post pregnancy PR! :-)  We ran the 5k in 25 mins this year!  Although I have to admit she was a lot more distracted this year maybe because we had to leave "A" behind she kept looking for him.  She usually is pulling me hard throughout the whole race but this year I had to keep cheering her on to get her to stop looking back and falling behind.  I also had to stop 2 x to untangle her from the leash!  There were 2 kids that fell and ate asphalt in front of me poor kiddos I asked if they were ok and they said yes as the kept running but I could see the pain in their face. All in all everyone survived and we didn't step in any dog poo!  At the home stretch she kicked it in to show off for the crowd and to try to jump in the stroller and give our kiddo a kiss!

She got lots of treats and toys from all the vendors and slept the rest of the day.  Thankfully we didn't let the rain scare us off.  I'm so glad hubs went with me and took the little guy because he enjoyed it just as much.  And they got to try the agility park.  Even though the results were messed up at first other than that the race was great.  I just didn't know spectators had to pay $5 to get in.  If it wasn't for such a good cause that might have been a little annoying. Now I don't have any races on the horizon so I have to figure out what the heck I'm going to do all winter!  Need to stay motivated!!

Reasons I'm not hip...

1.  Running on campus, minding my own business, then all of a sudden a flurry of pink bandannas engulfed me and I was caught in the middle of some kind of chase or game.  I'm obviously not hip enough to know what this was about so instead of joining I made my way out of the catapulting bodies and kept going on my merry way to the gym.

2.  Guy wearing a hat that looked like a bear head and holding nunchucks (didn't even know how to spell this before today).  Wasn't sure if this was a pre Halloween costume or if this guys actually incorporated this into his gym workout.

3.  About 5-6 food trucks parked on campus all still running so there was a visible cloud of exhaust surrounding them as people stood around reading menus trying to decide which one to buy from.  I must not be hip enough for this because my first thought was get me out of this hell hole!

4.  I got "mam'd" at the gym the other day.  Excuse me but if you are asking to use the same machine as me with the same weights I don't think I should be mam'd :-)  but again more proof I'm not hip.

5.  I have no desire to get on Instagram, am barely ever on Twitter, only use FB to post pictures of my son now and don't even ask me about all the new sites and apps that are popping up every day, how am I blogging you ask?  That's a good question, but I don't have many followers so this is basically an online journal for myself, see not hip!

6.  I have been known to run in an old pair of boxers I bought at a ski area back in the 90s and yes I still run in cotton shirts and it doesn't bother me.  The only "hip" exercise clothes I might own is because the lululemon people see how I'm dressed at local races and feel so sorry for me they give me a coupon for a free article of exercise clothing, yes this has happened to me more than once. 

I can accept this and embrace it and am so happy that I don't give a @#*!*@ what people think about me, who says it's not great getting old! :-)


On a little more serious note the person who works for me has been in a bike accident.  I feel so bad for her she broke both elbows and will have to get surgery next week!  In a moment of panic trying to avoid something she slammed on her brakes and went over the front of her handle bars.  I hope she has a speedy recovery and doesn't worry about the work she is leaving me with.  I can handle it I just have to prioritize and know some things will have to sit on the back burner until late December when she will be back.  In the meantime I'm trying to multi task so that I can still get some workouts in even with a heavy workload.  So I had to take some stuff around campus and figured might as well do this in running shoes get a run in at the same time and avoid getting parking tickets!

Happy Training and Stay Safe!!

Pacers, Pumpkins, and Cancellations

Yes I tried to come up with another P word but I'm just not clever enough and you'd think with all the practice I get on Lumosity and my word bubbles game I could!   I've been keeping busy lately and my kiddo has been keeping up with me so that is exciting!

We volunteered for a local race that was the marathon I did over 10 years ago.  I helped coordinate the bag drop booth and the pacers.  Man this wasn't a big assignment and it took so much coordination I can't imagine those volunteer coordinators that do even more!  Thanks to everyone and anyone who has ever volunteered to make a race happen it's a lot of work and we appreciate it!!  All I had to do on race day was find parking and shuttle the pacers to the half way point and the others back.  All Aiden had to do was look cute and not have a melt down which he did perfectly!  The pacers were right on with their times and it was awesome!  My little guy kept trying to run with the rest of them and I had to catch him by the hood of his jacket because he's getting too fast for me!  I use to make fun of the parents with the kid leashes backpacks but I may be starting to see the value in them... JUST KIDDING my kid would freak out with one of those.  I can barely keep him in a stroller or carrier any more.  It was a brisk morning and a great day to race and spectate.  The turn around point was near what I believe is a cereal factory, I heard one of the runners ask why it smelled like cookies, oh the cruelty!!

We went to a Maiz Maze which turned out to really be hay not corn so not sure why they called it that and saw pumpkins which my son decided the best thing to do with a pumpkin is attack it.  That's his new thing now to beat on everything, including my face.  That may be slightly my fault since I bought him a drum and keep teaching him to hit it.  He did not appreciate the prickliness of the hay and I have picture that captures it perfectly.  He did try to make friends however.

Now that I had my two half marathons in the bag I was planning on finishing my season with a Nutcracker Sprint Triathlon and was so looking forward to it and my "secret" plan that I had but I just found out they cancelled the tri and decided to only have the 5k run this year!! Boooooooooooo!!!!  So I had done this tri 2 years ago not knowing I was pregnant and I placed 1st in my age group, granted mainly because it was a small race and I was all trained up from my IM I had just done, but to my surprise it qualified me for Nationals.  I wanted to go so bad but then found out I was indeed pregnant.  My secret plan this year was to go again and qualify and then tell hubs well now I just have to train for triathlons because I can't pass up an awesome opportunity like that twice right!??  Now that the possibility is not even there I find myself at a loss with what I want to do.  Do I keep training for other runs, do I try to do some off season stuff like lifting weights, do I plan out a triathlon season for next year even if I don't think I have enough time to train for 3 sports with a little guy?  My motivation has left me without my super secret plan and I need to re-energize myself with a new plan! Help!

Nantucket Half Marathon

I was out of town from Friday to Tuesday of last week and it took me until now to recover enough to be able to sit down and write this (and download photos).  This trip exhausted me and I'm not sure why it took so long to get back on my feet.  Am I glad I took this trip?  Yes, I had two wonderful friends accompanying me that I don't get to see often enough.  Would I do it again? No just because of the mere fact that it was sooooo far.  It was 12 + hours of travel to see an island at the end of the season when everything is shutting down.  For cheaper and less travel time I could see equally as breath taking places.  I'm not trying to down play Nantucket it is very cute and quaint and I loved seeing the lighthouses and all the houses along the beach that all look exactly the same except for they all name their houses out there.  I flew to Boston (about 5-6 hours with 1 stop) then got on a bus to Hayanis (sp) another couple of hours, then a ferry to the island another hour then of  course the wait times in between each of those.  On the way out there I did it all in one day so I was up at 5 am to catch a 7 am flight and ended up in the B&B sometime after 8pm.  It was my first trip away from my son and I missed him terribly!!!  Everyone kept saying "it's good for  you!"  How is it good for me?  Not that it's good or bad but really it's good for me?  I missed him and worried about him and wished he was there with me the whole time.  He probably didn't even notice I was gone.  But I'm thinking for a girls weekend get away I'll go somewhere closer and look forward to family vacations that include him.  Really what is good for me is when I am in town to get an hour or two to myself to go get a haircut or a facial, I need a haircut so BAD!  But when we're at home we don't make time for ourselves.  It's like I binged on alone time and used it all up for the year.  I would prefer to spread it out through out the year.

Ok so I know none of you wanted to read my lame intro but there it was.  Hopefully some pretty pictures will make up for it.

Half Marathon, good!  Bed and Breakfast, great!  (so cute and loved the breakfast) Friends, awesome!  Lighthouse, way too far to ride a bike after doing a half (the guys said 5-6 miles more like 10-12 each way) but made for some nice photos.  Island cute, time of year could have been better.  Fall colors are only on mainland so we missed that.  Food I don't know if it was because of the time of year but a lot of places didn't have all of their selections which makes it very hard for a vegetarian to find something and a lot of what we found seemed like just ordinary bad for you "bar food".  Met some really friendly people of course mostly tourist.  If you like pale ales that's what seemed to be popular on the island.  We didn't make it to the brewery which would have been cool and maybe I could have found a brown or porter that I liked but I opted to see the lighthouse instead and think I made the right choice.

The course was sandy and wet the first half and I couldn't wait to get on the pavement after twisting ankles and avoiding huge puddles.  My friend said I was running somewhere between 8-9 minute miles the first half (I didn't wear a garmin on purpose just wanted to run without pressure) my lungs felt great since I was at sea level but my legs got so tired from the sand and uneven terrain and little hills that the second half was way slower and my last few mile were more like 11-12 min/miles.  All said and done I ran it in 2:09 and I can say I left it all out there!  My friend said I pulled her along the first half and I told her the only reason I didn't walk parts of the 2nd half was because of her.  We actually finished this one together!! That never happens!

I came home to a son with a bruised finger, bump and scratch on the forehead, but he seemed happy and he cuddled with me for half an hour which never happens!!!  I also went to pour myself some cereal the next morning only to cover it with soured milk, I think hubs got a new appreciation for what I do and he has been helping a lot more around the house since I've been back.  So even if I was exhausted and home sick I think it might have been good for "us".  I think I even successfully fought off a cold.  Luckily the Ebola scare in the Boston airport was a false alarm!  My BFF was the rock through all of this and I'm glad she convinces me to do these crazy trips with her because I learn something new about myself every time.

Dracula is not welcome here...

It's a good thing that I like garlic and lots of it in all foods, except for in ice cream like my hubs reminded me garlic ice cream at the Stinking Rose was not our favorite, because I don't think I would survive an attack from Dracula!  Last week my work was hosting a blood drive and they made it so easy by bringing the RV to our parking lot.  I thought I can't believe I've never donated blood before I can do that!  Didn't even think twice about it or look into it at all or think that maybe I should wait until after my half marathon this coming weekend.  I also didn't know there are different types of donations and I don't know which one I did.  I know I didn't give plasma that's about it.  Not only did I not work out that day but also for the next 3 days after that!!!  I felt woozy, dizzy, dehydrated, not that bad but you could tell something was off.  When I finally did my first run on Friday, only 2.5 miles my head hurt, my joints felt weird, and I had very heavy legs.  The next day I did 6 with the stroller and felt better but was still slow.  Lesson learned I will now only donate during off season and to be honest I think I could only survive 1 donation a year.  I understand some people donate 3 times a year with no problems at all and I am very happy that they do it's a great way to give back!  Here's an article I found in runners world that I should have read prior to donating: http://www.runnersworld.com/running-tips/7-strategies-giving-blood-while-running-and-racing


 I've been trying to drink lots of fluids.  I'm also going to cook up a huge plate of kale and/or spinach followed by an orange for dessert.  That should help replenish what ever I have lost in time for my half.  The good thing is this half is at sea level and the weather should be slightly overcast with a high of 60.  Training at about 5,400 feet should help this feel easier.  Maybe my blood will expand at sea level and help me carry more oxygen too! ;-)   Can I just ask them to give me my blood back maybe right before I go run my race?  Oh wait, I think there is some kind of rule against that....

It's balloon fiesta time around these parts and it's been awesome getting to run with these in the air.  My son got pretty excited as we were driving and pointed to them and grunted which is his way of telling me to look at these awesome extraterrestrial vehicles!  But then on the run when I stopped at the top of a hill for him to admire them some more he was more interested in the grass next to his stroller!  That kid keeps me on my toes!

We went to a birthday party this weekend and when the pinata was broken and the candy fell out he saw all the kids running towards it he didn't know what candy was or why they all wanted it but he still dove in with the best of them, grabbed two huge tootsie rolls and took off running inside the house with his loot to try and hide it from me!  Once he saw he wasn't going to get away from me he went back and kept trying to stash leftover candy from the ground in a cardboard circle he found.  It was pretty darn cute.  I love that now I'm starting to see more and more of his personality come out.  I am petrified of this trip coming up as it will be my first time away from him at all and it will be for 4.5 days ahhhhh!!!! He's going to be fine, like mom who?, but I'm going to probably be a crying mess!  I know, I know, it's good for me yadda, yadda, yadda.   I'm going to have fun on my girls weekend and running in Nantucket but I will miss him like crazy!  I know I will run the HECK out of this race because I have to make it worth being apart from him.  Why would I go do this if I wasn't going to make the most out of it, right?

Happy Training!!

Til I collapse

I use to think building a base for endurance training really took it out of me.  I remember almost ten years ago when I was training for my very first marathon coming home from one of my longest training runs after stopping for 2 breakfast burritos and falling asleep on the couch with a half eaten burrito still in my hand.  I woke up that way 5 hours later!!  Of course eventually your body gets use to that kind of training and the second time around I didn't need a nap. 

Now having a son I feel that way at the end of each day even though I haven't done anything particularly straining or out of the ordinary.  My theory on this is that it's emotionally and physically draining because when you have a child you give them your all.  Every little bit of what's left you give to them by the end of each day.  As I'm trying to cook dinner, literally sing and dance for my son to show him I'm paying attention to him, keep the dog from licking his face off (because turns out the dog likes milk too), and replay everything I did wrong earlier that day at work while racking my brain to remember where the heck my ring could be hoping the dog didn't eat it after my son may have snatched it and dropped it...DEEP INHALE, I remember to catch my breath!

But the two are alike in that as you sit there exhausted you are still content because you know you did good and in the end it will all be worth it.

So on Sunday I did my long run, only 1 more training weekend left until my next half marathon.  I had it in the books as a 12 mile run but in the end it turned into an 11 mile run.  I am going to call that a win!!  To start my head wasn't in the game.  I wanted to go for a hike with hubs, little man and the dog instead and was really having to dig deep for motivation to go do a solo run with hills.  The first 2.5 miles were mostly uphill and tough.  I had to replay Til I collapse 3 times to make it through this.  I played this song a lot when I needed to remember I'm tough during my last IM training.  The whole time I was thinking I was just going to turn around at the top and call it good with 5 miles.  Then I thought no because I didn't want to depend on my last training weekend to also be my last long run I wanted it to be a recovery week.  So as the road flattened a little and I realized the overcast skies were helping me stay cool I convinced myself to keep going even if I was getting cramps in the weirdest spots in my legs.  I did a negative split which rarely happens (the downhill on the way back helped).  I was dead tired by the end.  Then I saw my sons smiling face coming back from his hike and a tired dog and new that I just needed to take a shower and spend the rest of the day with my family.  We went to the library and park and ate out and I reminded myself I stay in shape not only to challenge myself but for my son because he's going to want a mom that can keep up with him! 

I'm pretty sure he still had a piece of spaghetti stuck in his nostril!

Now eating out is a whole nother challenge!!  Our son will scream when I don't let him splash around
in my cup of water, or throw ice cubes at the waitress, or grab the knife to carve the table.  So unless he's eating he wants something he shouldn't have.  Even when we eat my husband and I trade off who gives him a bite while the other one of us takes a bite of our food.  So for now unless anyone knows of any wonderful tactics we are sticking to cooking at home or take out.  See he's already watching out for us and keeping us healthy! :-)

Now this song will not only be there to prep me for my long training but to tackle the day ahead with a 1 yo.   Happy Training!!

Apologies are sometimes overrated and when did "I'm sorry" become part of most sentences?

Guilt - I really have no use for it but for some reason it is a huge part of my life.  No I don't always voice or show these guilty feelings I entertain but I am sometimes so consumed with it, it actually alters my daily activities.  For example, if I manage to get away for a little while to get a workout in I'm so preoccupied the whole time I'm exercising about needing to get back quickly so that I can take care of my son that I will cut it short and hurry back.

My post workout hairdo... no longer care

And when did I start saying sorry for things I have no control over or apologizing for something that is not necessary to apologize for?  If I worked out a flex schedule with my boss so I can workout at lunch then I don't need to apologize to anyone for returning ahead of schedule.  Here's the funny thing I have yet to actually use my flex schedule.  So I'll sometimes get to work early and still only workout for 1 hour because I have this overwhelming feeling that people will think I'm not doing my job if I take more than my hour lunch.  A co-worker actually said to me "I don't get how some people take a lunch every day, they must not be busy enough.  I'm always on the clock"  When did we take pride in not taking care of ourselves and working so much that it becomes quantity not quality?

When someone is talking to me about something, usually complaining, and I don't know what to say I usually just say "I'm sorry" even though I have nothing to do with it.  It's almost like admitting guilt to something you didn't do.  I'm not really sorry and there's nothing I can do to change it.  But then what is the better response?

That being said no more excuses.  My biggest excuse is guilt and I need to stop using it.  I'm not sorry for taking 5 minutes longer than anticipated for a workout or having a bad hair day because I couldn't get my hair under control after my lunch workout or deciding last minute as I head out the door to run 5 miles instead of 3.3.  My son doesn't resent me for it so no one else should either.  Am I wrong?  Does guilt ever take over your workout?

Ok mini-rant finished thank you for obliging.  

My son's "not impressed" look and our first attempt at a selfie

Totally unrelated but isn't this bear birthday cake the cutest?  We went to his little friend's birthday last weekend. I spent the whole birthday party chasing my son because he wanted to go straight to the pool or the coy pond.  One day he'll just sit and chill right? :-) I never sit still with that kid which is why I love him he keeps me on my toes!

Chips and Salsa Half Marathon

Ok so I had been jumping over some hurdles to be able to train for this one especially when hubs was out of town or couldn't help watch the kiddo for some of my longer runs on the weekends.  I had a wonderful training partner that helped get me through some of this!  One run she actually came over to my house and let me run while she watched our two kiddos then when I got back we switched spots ( I think this was for the 10 mile run).  Now that is a dedicated training partner!  I can't believe we didn't manage to get a photo of the two of us on race day or during any of our training!  But that's what happens when you're in a hurry to get back to the kids you left at home with the dads :-)

To start off the morning I drove to the wrong starting point!  I had done this race director's last race in April and in my head just went on autopilot to the start of the last race.  I'm thinking where is everyone.  Luckily I pulled it up on my phone and saw it was a totally different race start and made it there just in time to give my training partner her bib and chip, hit the port a potty and go to the start.  Whew!!!  So with some adrenaline we started the race.  She was in the middle of tying her shoe when the start gun went off so she had to maneuver her way to the side line to get it tied.  Ok now we're really started!  We ran the first 6 miles together which was great because we kept each other distracted and we were running somewhere around 9 min. miles I think.  Then when I noticed I started getting side splints trying to keep up with her I told her this is where we part.  I felt good until around mile 10.  I could feel dehydration kicking in and for some reason my hips were hurting.  Either way I pushed through and finished feeling tired but good.  Finished 13.21 in 2:12 which I was happy with.  The last half I did was similar flat course and about 5 months earlier and I had finished it in 2:18.  So it's progress!!!

I got two medals the regular finishers medal and one for doing their 13.1 x 2 challenge because I did their two half marathons in the same year.  Didn't even plan that one!

My next half marathon is in about 4 weeks so I have 3 weekend training runs in between.  I'm having a hard time deciding what I want those to look like.  I was thinking a recovery short run this weekend then a 12 and a 7 but not sure I need all that...  It's going to be at sea level so I should be a little faster.  Anyone have ideas on mileage with this amount of time in between halves?

Happy Training!

Happy as a clam!

I've always wondered why that expression came around because there isn't much to clams other than sucking in dirt and waiting to be dug up and eaten so why the heck would they be so happy right? So Urban dictionary says: The full phrase is "happy as a clam at high tide." Clams can only be dug up at low tides, so at high tide a clam is safer and secure, so therefore, happy.

Also what the heck does slow your roll mean right?  I mean I know what they mean by it but why would you say that?  My boss says it all the time and I found: According to Urban Dictionary "slow your roll" means:
Term used to inform a homie that he's getting outta control and he might want to shut the hell up before he gets beat the hell up. "Yo dawg, you better slow your roll fool."

Haa!!! Gave me a totally different impression of him! :-)  Somehow I think Urban dictionary uses different editors than Websters. 

Anyway the whole point of that educational moment is that I'm happy as a clam because I am back to having found a solution to my exercise problem that might make everyone happy!  It's going to take some playing around with schedules and some testing but I think I can manage to be able to get all my work done so I don't get fired, be home as soon as possible as to not impose anymore on the wonderful caregivers for my son (you know who you are), not wake my son up by leaving at the ass crack of dawn, whoops sorry Urban dictionary started influencing my vocabulary, cook dinner, maybe shower from time to time, eventually be able to get back into triathlons and best of all keep my sanity without the help of a therapist!!  So here goes nothing let's see how long this lasts.

I have a half marathon coming up this Sunday and for some reason I'm not that nervous.  I know I've trained enough but I'm not really sure I can beat my time from the first one I did post pregnancy.  Let's face it my PRs will now be listed as PPPR(post pregnancy PR) and  PrePregPR because speed doesn't seem to be anywhere in my dictionary these days Urban or Suburban.  It will be the same course as the first one I did PP so it will be interesting to see if I improved at all I did it in 2:18, 5 months ago and it was a rough one for me!  So the only problems I've had this training cycle is tummy problems and if I don't SMP during this race I'll consider it a success, I'll give you a minute on that one...   Also one other thing different on this training cycle is that I didn't have to do near as many long runs with the stroller so I wander if that will make a difference.  What do you thing?  Will I do about the same?

Happy Training!

Back to the drawing board and 1st birthdays!!

I was so excited about getting to work out in the early a.m. and I felt so good going in to work every morning after a good workout.  Then I went to go to my first day of Master's swim a group I found near by so that I could swim 5-6 am and still make it back in time to the house to spend 1 hour with my little guy before heading to work and I thought that way hubs won't even complain that it's too hard for him to get ready in the mornings and take care of "A" but I showed up and it was pitch dark.  Apparently the pool was closed for a few days something had gone wrong.  I guess that was a sign!  Because when I got home that day hubs ever so kindly told me that my leaving and coming from workouts was waking our son up and that I should "figure something else out"  I was so completely bummed for the rest of the day! :-(  I guess it's a good thing I didn't pay the monthly fee.

I built up the courage and crafted a very nicely worded email to my boss asking for possible flex time to be able to get exercise in (which makes me a more productive worker) while still meeting my childcare and work obligations.  I figured ideally I could come in at 7:30 take half hour lunch and leave to they gym by 4 and still be home by 5:30 to take care of the kiddo, voila!  If that doesn't meet his fancy I offered to also consider coming in at 7:30 and taking a 1 1/2 lunch and working out then, but this would mean I'd come back to work gross and stinky, and still leaving at 5.  Of course being an exempt employee means these things can change if a deadline needs to be met or a meeting comes up.  I haven't heard back from him yet! :-( 

So if I get turned down there my only option left will be to go back to exercising at 7pm after I've put "A" down for the night.  We all know my track record with that has been dismal!!  I'm either starving because I haven't eating or stuffed because I did eat and I'm so tired by then it's very hard to be motivated to push myself and do anything other than the minimum!  It would also mean I probably wouldn't be eating much of a dinner just a snack to hold me through the exercise and another snack to hold me through the night when I got back and this means hubs is on his own for dinner and would probably go back to eating (ummm not as healthy) but that's on him.  But if it's my only option it's my only option and I need to find a way to make it work!  I know, I know first world problems!  I refuse to give up my exercise and ideally I'd like to still exercise enough to get back to doing triathlons.  Anyone out there that has tips on late evening exercise I'm all ears.

Ok for the fun stuff.  It was my son's 1st birthday this last weekend and we had so much fun!  I know this one is mainly for the parents but he got to have his very own cake and very first taste of sugar.  We're back to fruits for dessert but he

enjoyed everyone clapping for him when he took his first bite so much that every bite after that he'd look at everyone and start clapping so that they would clap again.  It was so cute!!!  He's such a trooper I love this kid!!!