Baby wipes, life hacks and other randomness...

My thoughts have been scattered lately and I think it's because I feel like I'm always busy both at work and at home.  There's always one last thing I should do no matter where I am.  Therefore you get a post like today's full of all kinds of random stuff, sorry or your welcome not sure which yet.  You know how now a days you can find "tips" or "life hacks" for just about anything and of course I find myself reading a lot of them before I realize why am I wasting my time on this?!? ;-)  Well once I read a tip from a busy mom that said I never leave a room without taking something with me that I can put away or do on my way to the next place.  So I sometimes try to do this but what ultimately results is this:
1. Take the kiddo's blanket from the living room to his bedroom
2. I see his milk from this morning in his room so take that to the kitchen
3. See some bills on the kitchen counter take that to the office
4. See an old soda can take that to the recycle
5. See some dirty clothes take that to the laundry room
6. See some trash take that to the kitchen and put it in the fridge
7. Go to the bathroom to pee which is what I originally started out doing and I have to run because I have to pee really bad by now!!! As I'm sitting on the toilet I think crap (no not literally) why did I put trash in the fridge!!

Life Hack #1

Start over!  oh yeah and the kid is following me this whole time going "mas, mas, MASSS!!" which means more in Spanish as he always thinks I have food and wants some of it...  So don't ever take advice from what you read online... :-)

Life Hack #2

On Monday I started teaching my total body sculpting class during the lunch hour for staff again and it was so much fun!  I love seeing old and new faces!  They are always a little shocked by the format I use for my class but then get use to it and really push themselves to test their own limits.  I mentioned this to my husband and his question was "I don't get it so they all just go back to work sweaty after your class?!?"  Yes, we do have to go back to work and try to seem put together after a tough work out.  I told him what do you think I do every day when I have to work out at lunch?  I workout, sit in the sauna, take a shower, reapply makeup and 3 hours later go back to work???  No, I rush through my workout whenever I can manage to get away for 40-50 minutes get back with just enough time to take bath by baby wipes (yes there are some very non PC terms I heard used for this type of bath) reapply deodorant and body spray and hope my hair cooperates slightly.  So yes that is what we do when lunch is the only time we have to workout.  I know it's not glamorous and we spend the rest of the day hoping no one can smell us but you gotta do what you gotta do!

My favorite life hack

Not a life hack just made me laugh!

Training for a 10k where the training involves a weekend long run and a weekday sprint work out.  The long runs go all the way up to 10 miles per the plan and I can't decide if I feel this would be beneficial or not.  How far do you usually run when training for a 10k?  I know what would be beneficial though!  If I actually got my butt out there and did the stinking speed work!  I end up just running the miles it says to run but without the sprints, ahhhh!!

Last but not least:  Happy Birthday Dad!!!  We had the fam over yesterday for my dad's birthday for some pesto pizza, homemade, per his request along with some great conversation, and a kiddo that crashed hard at bedtime because he was so hyper and chasing everyone around all night he tired himself out.  Happy Birthday to the most awesome dad in the world and even awesomer babysitter!

Happy Training!!!

Intense vs Intenisity

I started thinking about this for some reason when I started thinking about interval training.   I've always been a little intimidated by high intensity workouts even though they take less time.  I've been comfortable with enduring discomfort for long periods of time and been ok with being slow.  But due to that I tend to enter races that are either really short (5k or sprint triathlon) or races that are long (Ironmant, half and full marathon).  But the Olympic Distance triathlon and distances in running like a 10k have always been my Achilles heel.   So I had a talk with myself and told myself that I need to get comfortable with interval training and try a 10k and an Olympic tri this year without feeling it's a lost cause.

I think part of my problem is that I've always thought intense and intensity meant pretty much the same thing.  Lately there is a difference:
Intense = In your face, always on high alert, big personality or big goal, overwhelming, tiring
Intensity = Level of output, short but focused, quick way to see big results, satisfying, hard yet attainable

So while I may dislike intense maybe I can become good friends with intensity!!!

I did a google image search and see the difference in what I found for each ;-)

Intensity

Intense

On a side note last weekend it was the weirdest thing.  It was a nice sunny day out and I met up with some friends for a bike ride.  When I got home I jumped in the shower and all of a sudden became chilled.  I didn't want to get out of the shower and kept making the water hotter.  When I got out I couldn't get warm.  The rest of the night I felt like death horrible chills, queasy stomach couldn't eat all day.  achy bones, sensitive skin.  All night I was sweating like crazy.  Then the next morning I felt fine other than tired.  Weird little bug.  The next day it hit my husband and the day after that my dad.  As long as our little kiddo doesn't get it I'll be happy.  It was quick, but it was intense! :-)

Happy Training!!!

Licks and kisses and falls!

What do licks, kisses, and falls have in common?  Well they are all there for a reason I suppose....

Every morning as  I leave the house for work my dog is on the couch staring out the window as if she doesn't even care that I exist and my son is usually crying and clinging to me as if I were doing such an injustice to him!  Then every evening as I return from a long hard day at work I can barely get through the door because my dog is wagging her tail eager to cover me in her licks and my son is excitedly yelling gibberish at me trying to grab my hand to take me to some new and exciting spot (usually the kitchen).  My husband is somewhere in the house usually on his phone or adding to the pile of mail I need to go through but I believe he tries to give me some room to get in.  I have two choices right then and there I can be drug down by the extra weight of my child and dog and let all my bags fall to the ground along with me and let the exhaustion set in or I can laugh hysterically at the fact that I can't balance my bags on my shoulders as the excitement of my little kiddos (yes my dog is a second child) re energizes me and gives me the extra oomph I need to cook some dinner and do bed time routines.  Then on days I didn't have time to work out at lunch hopefully get in a workout while they are fast asleep.  The good thing is if I make the wrong decision one day I have the next day to make the right one!

This weekend I was so excited to get out for a run on Sunday that I tripped and fell and bruised up and scraped my knees.  The second I hit the ground my dog came running back to me and licked me as if her life depended on it.  I'm pretty sure there was some french kissing going on at one point.  But instead of letting the throbbing of my knees keep me down I laughed at how enthusiastically she was encouraging me to get back up.  I did the rest of the run a little slower but still just as excited to be out.  When I got home my son was there to help me stretch and he kept sitting on my lap and I hugged him until he broke free!  They are there whether I'm down or up and with just as much joy for life either way.  I hope to use every day to make the right choice but on the days I don't like this morning when I was overwhelmed by having to do laundry, wash dishes, feed myself and my son, and prep my lunch before work and I gave in to a knee jerk reaction that set me off (this is like my fall on my run) I hope to remember the licks and kisses and laugh it all off, get right back up on that treadmill of life!  My son just started giving us real kisses and it was the best thing EVER in the whole world!

January, my favorite month!

Yes, January is my favorite month for so many reasons.  There are the obvious ones: fresh start and a new year, renewed gusto in everything job, life, goals, etc.  There are the ones that are specific to me:  It's my birthday month and my birthday is my favorite holiday to celebrate!!  I love the clean crisp air that winter brings and January seems to be a great month for winter.  When snow covers up what is normally grey and gloomy, people are still buzzing from the high of the holidays but not dealing with the stress of it anymore and not yet upset about being back at work, and the sun is still shining which makes it not seem quite as cold! 

We have had a doozy of a year getting use to parenthood, hubs being in school full time, me at a new job etc.  I never set new years resolutions.  I'm more the type that likes to have ongoing goals and reevaluate them every couple of months and adjust as necessary.  This year my husband approached me with a some "promises" instead of resolutions he had for us and I liked them.  Some are private but one I liked is that he wants us to do a bike race together!  I'm looking forward to that one.  He is going to pick one, make a plan that will somehow allow both of us to have time to train for it and then get us there!  I decided I needed to make time to get back to triathlons this year.  I'm going to be more realistic in my expectations though.  I will pick out about 3 to do probably 2 sprints and 1 olympic.  I will need to be ok with training during times that may not be ideal for me.  Like at 8pm after I've put my son down and I'm either tired and full or tired and starving.  But in order to train for 3 sports I'm going to need a gut check literally and figuratively.  :-)  I also will find constructive ways to handle if I feel someone is putting up a road block to my training.  If there is a complaint about my training getting in the way of something I will not shut down and let that be the end of my training I will work with that person on how we can make adjustments and make it work.  So I'm excited to set out a schedule for the year!

Laughing with my brother

My BFF and mom

My 2013 birthday was probably the best ever and hubs threw me the best surprise birthday party I've ever had with so many friends and family.  What he wasn't planning on at the time is that we would have just found out I was pregnant so I wouldn't be able to drink my favorite beer and I wouldn't be able to eat my meal because I'd be in the bathroom sick.  But I got to see so many friends and family that night that I was so happy.  It was also the night we told our immediate family and BFFs the great news.  So needless to say he thinks he'll never surpass that birthday!  I know he has something planned for me tonight when I get home from work and I know Aiden will be there and how can it get any better than having my two favorite men waiting for me?  So no worries each birthday just keeps getting better and better!  Thanks to everyone who has already sent me birthday wishes!

I mean come on how can you not love these faces!

I have a feeling this is going to be a good year!  I mean I started it off by getting a day on the slopes for the first time in 2 years!!!  It was a beautiful day with some nice snow and no responsibilities until I got home that night.  I was so thankful to have this day to myself and hadn't realized how much I needed it until I was riding up the first ski lift staring at the wonder of the mountains with a huge smile on my face remembering the thrill of the trails!

Happy New Year, Happy Training and Happy Birthday! :-)