NOW can I get my medal?

I'm submitting this photo with my mother of the year nomination form.


Record breaking snowfall in these parts! It was up to my thighs, so no running the past few days, though, as you can see above, I've had plenty of vigorous exercise. And I'm paying for it. My head cold has morphed into some crazy airway thing, but hopefully a little rest and I'll be good as new. Because being snowbound with two kids underfoot is so restful, right?

Ah, heck

Long run? What's that?

I've been struck by a cold! A mild cold, but I'm so stuffy, I can't sleep well, and breathing is tough. So I've been sticking mostly to the gym this week, which means the dreadmill and the bike. For some reason, I can hardly bear a mile on the treadmill, but can go and go and go on the stationary bike, so I've been putting in lots of bike miles. Today, feeling particularly lousy, I managed to look wearily at the treadmill, but I did 7 miles on the bike. So, there you go. Not necessarily the most hardcore, badass workout I could have done, but it beats sitting on the sofa wallowing in self pity. And for about 4 hours after my workout, I felt a lot better - things drained, I didn't feel freezing cold, and I was breathing easier.

But now I'm all stuffed up again, and my nose is chapped. But, I don't feel too awful, so I'm hoping to get back in the swing of things soon. I had a really awesome morning run in the dark the other day that made me feel like a million bucks. I couldn't find my headlamp, so it was particularly dark. There were lots of Christmas lights and porch lights on, though, and I used my cellphone for a little extra illumination when I needed it. But all that dark took me out of my body a little bit, in a good way. Rather than running the same scripts in my head, I had something else to ponder. I felt light and swift, and by the time I had put in just under 3 miles, I felt I could do anything.

I was glad to have had that run just before coming down with this cold. It really inspired me to go back to getting up early to run, even if it's dark. I had no other responsibilities. For the first time in a long time, it was just me and road. Looking back on my blog posts from marathon training, it seems they're all about how I didn't do the workout I planned, or how I was battling back from the latest daycare sickness. I had all that going on - and I was nursing!! - and I still managed to run a marathon. I can certainly find room in my life for 13.2. I'm a better mom, a better wife, and a better person when I inhabit a strong, fit body. It's worth going to the gym when I'm sick, it's worth waking up so early that my whole run is in the pitch black. Even more than being worth it, it's a gift.

beat

I'm beat. The day after my fun Turkey Trot, I started feeling not so hot. I figured it was just a little cold. I was wrong. I ended up with some strep-like infection with a side of mastitis that resulted in a fever topping out at 105 and that bought me 10 days worth of strong penicillin. My tummy is not handling it very well, and even though I'm pretty well over whatever infection I had, my electrolytes are still out of whack, and where last week I was pushing the buggy through some of the most extreme hills and feeling happy about it, this week even a walk around the block requires forethought and contingency plans. I'm continuing to improve, and am planning on at least hitting the bike at the gym on Tuesday, with the goal of doing a "long" run of at least four miles this weekend.

So yeah, another setback. But, the 10 miler is four months away so I have at least a little while to get my shit together. The Supportive Husband is on notice that I need some Saturday mornings free and clear for long runs. And my body is on notice as well! The girls have been very cooperative and have settled right down since weaning - I'm FREEEEEEEEEEEEEEE! I can throw away the industrial strength running bras and go back to my comfy Target cheapies. And so far my weight is holding steady, so I'm hopeful the 10 pounds extra I lost will stay lost. It feels good to be at my fighting weight and I *know* it helps my running.

Happy Turkey Trot Day!

I've been laying low, running-wise, knowing that weaning Sami would signal the start of training for spring races. This morning I ran the Turkey Trot. I had zero expectations - I was pushing Sami in the buggy, and have been doing precious little running. A couple of miles on the treadmill at lunch every now and again. No training to speak of, and no pushing kids in the buggy! And most importantly - I didn't have my pre-race nightmare. I did have a real-life nightmare, when I realized I had missed packet pickup, but it turns out that packet pickup continued through Wednesday, even though it was only schedule for Monday and Tuesday.

For whatever reason, my body loves this crazy, insanely hilly course. And I set a PR!! Not a "real" PR - I am truly light years away from that right now. But I set my buggy-pushing 5K PR - I beat my time from two years ago by 10 seconds!! Really, I was hardly exerting myself at all. I spent the first .75 mi caught up in the throng of non-runners, unable to maneuver through with the buggy. I stopped a few times to chat with friends. I took lots of walk breaks. My first mile was just shy of 16 min. I hit mile 2 at 29:30, and crossed the finish at 42:29. Hello, negative splits!! Am I really running faster by going slower? It appears to be so!

It was very encouraging to unexpectedly post this time. I know, 13 min miles are nothing to crow about. But I felt great, and I know now I've still got some legs on me.

I desperately need new shoes, and a new watch. I lost my cheap, plastic, 10 year old watch a few months ago, and not knowing what my pace is at any given time is a little frustrating, even at a fun run. And my shoes are nearly a year old (sinful!!), and really don't fit right. I got sweet talked in to buying narrows, and they're too narrow. I'm sorely tempted to try the new Nikes that are for overpronaters, but don't have the traditional bulkiness of stability/motion control shoes.

No black Friday shopping for me - it's Buy Nothing day, after all, but I'll be down at the shop sooner or later. I have a pocket full of coupons and I'm not afraid to use them.

catch as catch can

Is it any wonder that all my blog posts for the past year have been about how I don't have time to blog or exercise?

The baby is almost a year old - I can hardly believe it. The first year of her life has seemed to go by in an instant, except when she was crying in the middle of the night and then it seemed to drag on forever. Knock on wood, Ferber got her sleep all straightened out, though she's finally cutting teeth and that has thrown a wrench in the works. But enough sleep means that I finally crave exercise more than I crave sleep. In a little more than a week, the baby will be weaned - goodbye nursing boobs, and good riddance. Once the girls have settled down, then I'll come up with a training plan for spring races. But until then, I'm just being diligent about increasing my overall fitness level.

I gave up cookies after dinner, and lo and behold I lost five pounds immediately. I'm not only at my prepregnancy weight, but at my fightin' weight. Hallelujah! Downside: all my pants look like Hammer pants on me now. I'm doing my best to squeeze in workouts here and there. It's better to do a little than to do nothing. More days than not, I'm able to get to the gym, or go for a run or walk. And it's a great feeling. I even found the time to go to a group exercise class at the gym! Which kicked my sorry ass, by the way. I had charley horses in both calves for four days afterward. I've started doing real swim workouts, even if it's only 800 or 1000 on my lunch break. No more lazy laps - if my triceps aren't ON FIRE by the time I'm done, then I didn't do it hard enough. I did treat myself to a very lazy session on the exercise bike today - the new InStyle came, and I wanted to read it while I rode. But then I did a killer ab workout to make up for it.

Slowly but surely, I'm reclaiming my inner athlete.

Race Report - Real Girls 6K

Hoooo boy, it's been a long time since I had one of these.

6K is a new distance for me, so I knew going in that I'd set a PR. I really had no goals for the race, other than to actually make it to the start, and hopefully also make it to the finish, preferably not last. Getting to the start, as always, is the hardest part of any race. Sami's streak of wonderful sleep came to a screeching halt last night, and The Supportive Husband and I were trading baby-soothing duties until goodness knows when. I think I got about 4 hours sleep, total. To add insult to injury, I had to pump pre-race. Oh, THAT'S why I've been holding off training till she weans. What a freakin' PITA.

I arrived pretty early, and sat in my car rockin' out to my iPod. It was quite peaceful, actually. I so rarely just sit and listen to music these days. When I finally got going, I spent some time stretching, especially my hips, which are still a little tight-feeling, even if I'm pain-free. I saw a few familiar faces, rolled my eyes at the "rah-rah" group photo (but participated anyway), and I was off.

The first good bit was all downhill to the river. Even though there weren't very many racers, maybe 150-200, the course was narrow, which penned me in a bit. This was actually a good thing, as it kept a lid on my speed for the first half-mile or so. The air by the river was cool and damp, but after the turnaround about 1.5 miles in, I headed back up the hill, with a balmy breeze in my face. My car thermometer read 74 when I arrived, which was a lot warmer than you'd expect around here for this time of year. Rain had been predicted, but it held off till after the race. I was secretly disappointed. I like running in the rain. It takes me out of my head a little bit.

At the water stop, I took a few sips of gatorade and a few sips of water to get the gatorade taste out of my mouth. This started a long portion of running on grass. Bumpy, uneven grass. The uphills actually felt really good. All that pushing 2 kids around in the buggy is really paying off. The downhills were just scary. I slowed to a walk on some of them to keep my footing.

And then, the chute! I didn't push to a full-on sprint, but I did pick it up a bit in the chute, and ended up crossing the finish at (I think) almost exactly 43 minutes. I had forgotten my watch, so until official results are posted, that's as close as I can get. At a pace of 11:32, that sounds about right. I was at a pretty comfortable pace the whole time, with a few walk breaks.

I honestly don't remember the last time I ran more than a mile or two without pushing the buggy, so it was a nice change of pace. I felt great afterward, and it reminded me why I put up with the 5:30am wakeups to do this thing. I'm really committed to training for the 10 miler, and then for the half a couple of weeks later. It's really daunting to think about right now, but I'm giving myself permission not to think about it until Sami is weaned.

I placed!!!

My standard spiel about running is that I intend to keep doing it until I place in my age group. Well, I placed yesterday! Sadly, not in running. In pie-baking, of all things. I won the "nut/other" category in the Cville Pie Fest with my "Cheap Drunk Nut Pie." I can't believe it! Unfortunately, I was too sick to attend the event - my third illness in as many weeks. So there's been a lot more baking than running going on at my house.

Well, next weekend I am racing again. I think. I signed up a couple months ago, but realized that I've never gotten any kind of confirmation whatsoever that I am, in fact, registered for the Real Girls Run 6K next Saturday. Maybe I'll look in to that. With all the non-training I've been doing lately, even starting the race, let alone finishing it, is going to be a bigger challenge than I bargained for. I'm feeling much better, and would love to go for a run this afternoon, but I'm stuck at home with napping kids while The Husband is at work. Sigh.

So, in the meantime, here's my recipe for AWARD WINNING^TM Cheap Drunk Nut Pie.

Crust (This recipe is pretty much cribbed from the Better Homes and Gardens cookbook - nothing fancy here. Though I do add a little salt where they don't, since I'm making a super-sweet pie.):
Ingredients:
1 1/4 cups flour, sifted
1/4 tsp salt
1/3 cup shortening
4 Tbsp ice water

Directions:
Pulse flour, salt, and shortening in food processor until it looks like coarse crumbs. Scrape sides occasionally if necessary. Add ice water all at once and process until dough forms into a ball. Again, scrape sides if necessary. Pat dough ball into a disk, wrap in waxed paper, and refrigerate for at least 1 hour.

Preheat oven to 450.

Roll out crust and place into pie plate. Flute the edge, or do whatever decorative treatment you'd like. Prick liberally with a fork, especially where the sides of the plate meet the bottom. Line with parchment paper and fill with weights - dried beans or rice work well for this. Press into corners to prevent crust from lifting up during baking. Bake at 450 for about 8 minutes.

Optional: Just before adding filling to crust, use a pastry brush to brush an egg wash (1 beaten yolk with a splash of milk) on the edges and sides of crust. This will give the crust a nice golden color once baked.

Filling (this recipe is the result of lots of research and testing, and passed the ultimate taste test - my 3 year old like it!):
Ingredients:
4-5 eggs (I get mine from the farmer's market, and am not always there at the crack of dawn, so I sometimes end up with medium eggs instead of large)
1 cup dark brown sugar
1 cup dark corn syrup
6 Tbsp unsalted butter, melted
1 Tbsp cheap vodka* OR bourbon OR lemon juice
1 tsp apple cider vinegar
1 cup raw, unsalted pecan halves

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350. Spread pecan halves on a cookie sheet in a single layer. Bake for approx 5 minutes, stir, and bake for 5 more minutes. Watch nuts carefully and be sure they don't scorch.

Once the nuts cool, grind half of them in a food processor to form a meal**, and set aside.

Preheat oven to 375.

In a large bowl, beat eggs with the brown sugar till combined. Add corn syrup, melted butter, vodka, and vinegar and mix well. Add ground pecans and stir till combined. Pour mixture into baked crust, reserving about 1-2 Tbsp in the bowl.

Put the remaining pecan halves into the bowl with the reserved filling and toss to coat. Arrange pecan halves on top of pie.

Bake at 375 for 45-50 minutes, or until filling is set. To prevent overbrowning of the crust, tent the edges with aluminum foil for all but the last 10 minutes of baking. Cool on a wire rack. Serve plain, or with Cool Whip or vanilla ice cream.


*A note about the cheap vodka: I heard that you can also use a little vanilla extract for part of this ingredient. Long story short, I happened to end up with a large quantity of vanilla beans, and have been making my own vanilla extract by soaking the beans in cheap vodka. This process takes months, and my extract is still mostly vodka. Really, really cheap vodka. So, having neither bourbon, nor vanilla extract, and discovering that the only lemon in my fridge was a dessiccated fossil, I used my not-quite-extracted vanilla vodka. You might even find that commercially available vanilla vodka works for you, but I've never tried it, as it is not the cheapest vodka at the liquor store.

**A note about the pecan meal - I find it makes the filling really nice and firm, and not as slimy/gooey as pecan pies usually are. It also cuts the sweetness a bit. But with a cup of corn syrup and a cup of brown sugar, who am I kidding. You can go with chopped pecans, rather than ground, but the chopped ones tend to float to the surface while baking, so they don't end up binding with the filling like the ground ones do.

Edit: Ummm, eeek! I accidentally double the amount of nuts, because I had made *two* pies for the pie fest. I'm sure it wouldn't suck w/2 cups of nuts, but it really only requires 1. I fixed it in the recipe above.

feed the blog, or, why isn't mama running?

So, another looooong blogging hiatus.

What have I been up to?

Sick kids, sick mama, the busiest work season of The Supportive Husband's year. Nursing, pumping, working. Knitting!

Not a lot of running.

Max went on a bit of a buggy strike for a while. Gaaah, $400 bucks for the double BOB down the drain! Happily, a coffee shop has opened on my regular running route, and now Max will gladly ride in the stroller knowing that there is a smoothie waiting for him halfway through the buggy ride. I'm back to running Saturday mornings as well - Max has started soccer, and it is the Supportive Husband's job to take him, so Sami and I have an hour to ourselves. So, I get a chance to go for a run pushing the single buggy. Pushing an 18 lb baby plus a 25 lb stroller is like pushing a feather after pushing 90 lbs of kids and stroller. And running with no kids - well, it happens so seldom these days that it feels a bit awkward. I'm not sure what to do with my hands, and I don't have anyone to talk to.

I've also been hitting the gym a bit more these days - I have finally gotten back in the pool, and it feels amazing. And yes, I'm amazed at how my swimming muscles have atrophied over the past 10 months.

I'm doing a 6K in a couple of weeks, and I'm excited to get out there, but at this point, doing a spring half, or even the ten miler, seems really daunting. Max was the age Sami is now when I ran the marathon, and frankly I can't even wrap my brain around that kind of distance right now. Having two children now means that those tiny holes in my day - 10 minutes here, 30 minutes there - have disappeared entirely. Just now, Max has called me into his bedroom multiple times - to turn his music on, take him to the potty, get him a drink of water - and now it's 9:30 and I'm not sure he's asleep, and I haven't had a minute to myself. Let alone found the time to go for a long run.

But in a few weeks, the Supportive Husband's work season will be winding down, and with any luck, the shorter days means the kids will get to bed earlier. And maybe, just maybe I can steal a few moments here and there, and stitch them together until I've got a regular running schedule back.

4 miles and 60 pounds of kids

I pushed almost 60 pounds of kids and 30 pounds of stroller up and down the Monticello Trail this morning. I was feeling pretty badass about it until a guy pushing THREE kids in a triple stroller smoked past me.

But, both kids were angels during the ride. Max happily rode all the way up, keeping watch for any bears that might be on our path. Ever since I told him the story about the time I saw a bear while running, he's been pretty keen to see a bear. Especially since I've informed him that the bears around here are nice bears and mostly just want to eat blackberries and peanut butter and jelly sandwiches. We had neither, so the bears stayed a safe distance away.

We did stop at the snack bar at the top of the hill. Monticello has entirely redone their visitor center, and there's now a proper cafe at the top of the trail, instead of just the hot dog stand. It was a nice break, having a snack and some chocolate milk in the courtyard by the fountain. When we started back down, Max decided to walk for a while. And then he decided to run. And I ran after him, and he ran past me, and we had a blast running and laughing and leapfrogging. Fartlek/speed play, indeed! He got back in the buggy after a quarter mile or so, and I ran the rest of the way down to the car.

For my cool down, I changed Sami's diaper in the back of the wagon, wrestled the double buggy back into the car, and helped Max climb a tree.

I'm finally getting in to the groove of including the kids in whatever fitness undertaking I'm pursuing. I simply can't do it any other way. The time available to me to run or do anything without at least one kid in tow is practically nil. But between last week's awesome family hike and this week's run up the hill, that's not a bad thing.

Life and other interruptions

So, where was I? The hip is basically healed - almost exactly 9 months to the day since I gave birth. Funny how that works. I'm nearly 10 pounds lighter than before I got pregnant, but I was shocked, shocked! at how flabby I look in pictures. Running 3 miles/week and never going to the gym will do that to a girl. Strangely enough, I'm okay with it. Not okay with flabby as a permanent state, but okay with knowing there's a journey ahead. I don't have delusions of ever regaining my pre-baby body, but I do want to get to a level of fitness that is comfortable for me. Somewhere between "harried, nursing, WOTH* mother of two" and "marathon-ready."

So where is that happy medium for me? It's clear that my life, in which I am The Supportive Wife to The Supportive Husband, can't really sustain year after year of intense summer training programs. The Supportive Husband works late on Saturdays, so out of respect to him, I'd like to not have those really early Saturday wakeups during his busy season (May thru Oct). And honestly, have you ever been to Virginia in the summer? As they say, it's not the heat, it's the humidity. Or maybe it is the heat.

So I'm planning on the Charlottesville Half Marathon in April. That gives me plenty of time to get Sami weaned before I ramp up for a winter of training. I'm kicking off the season with the Real Girls Run 6K in October. 6K is a weird distance, but it's an automatic PR for me since I've never raced it, so score one on that front!

I also want to explore more trail running. The whole family went for a hike on Sunday, and it all came flooding back, how much I love being out on the trail. Oh, how I have missed it, these early years of parenthood. And it was a pretty good workout to hike with Max leading the way and the baby on my back. But I'd also love to have some solitude on the trail, even if that solitude comes in the form of running ahead of the rest of my crew, and running back to meet them.

I know good things are around the corner - my gym is opening a branch just over a mile from my house, which makes me giddy. I can finally dash out for a workout after the kids are in bed, or before they get up! I can put the baby, who does not mind gym day care, in the jogger and take her with me.

Summer hours at work will soon be over, meaning I have to work regular hours on Fridays, but in exchange I get my lunch hours back. So my lunchtime workouts can resume.

And Sami will be weaned in a few short months, so yet another layer of logistics drops away from my being able to run or work out. And I won't have to deal with the girls!! I can go back to my cheapo sports bras instead of the industrial strength.

But, all that is in the future. For now, patience, Grasshopper.


*WOTH=Work outside the home

Sleeping and waking

The Princess has decided to sleep! I don't want to jinx anything (and I am sure tonight will be very rough, no doubt), but Sami has not only been sleeping 12 hours at night, but napping (napping!!!!) during the day as well (knock wood, send anti-jinx vibes pls). Whenever she wakes I tell her how much cuter she looks after her beauty sleep.

Between a nice stretch of sleep-ful nights, Sami's increasing intake of solids and corresponding decrease in nursing, and generally emerging from those difficult days of early babyhood, I feel like I am waking up.

The lack of running had really been getting me down. But my hip is better, and I can start working back up to some real distances. I have my sights set on a spring half, and am already perusing the online sales for cold weather running gear to get me through the winter. I am more optimistic about my running, knowing that the half or the full or the ultra will all be there waiting for me when I am ready. I know that my baby won't be a baby forever. In a few short months, she'll be weaned, and I'll be able to run early in the morning without pumping, or hit the gym after work without worrying about the next feed, and, most importantly, be able to run any time without having to accommodate "the girls."

Not only am I making plans about running, I'm also consciously embracing other non-mom hobbies and interests. Knowing that Sami is our last, there is an end-date to this gig of full time motherhood.* Not that I'll have to turn in my company ID, training manuals, and restroom key when she turns 18. But yes, at some point, she'll have friends of her own, and hobbies of her own, and she won't want me to carry her in the sling to prom. Weaning is just one milestone in the long process of separation that is parenting. So I'm getting fair warning that I will someday have to fill the hours that are now consumed with bottom-wiping, burping, tooth-brushing, dicing of food, carseat buckling, and a hundred other insignificant tasks that weave together to form Max and Sami's childhoods.

I'm back in the knitting swing of things - I've started my first non-baby blanket project since before Max was born. I renewed my flight instructor's certification (not that I plan to use it, but if you let it lapse, it is really tough to get it back) for another two years, and have started reading flight instruction blogs. Last time I actively sought information about teaching flying there were no such thing as blogs! I am becoming more involved with the Supportive Husband's business, and learning about his craft so that I can be an asset to his (our) business, and pitch in a little more as the kids get older.

I feel like I am waking up from the long sleep of my childbearing years, and I have a long day stretching out ahead of me.

*Astute readers may note that I also work outside the home full time. But I am, first and foremost, a full time mom, who just happens to have a day job, too.

9 months up

There's a saying about pregnancy weight - nine months up, nine months down. I am lucky (um, and I work my ass off, literally) that I've always lost my pregnancy weight quickly, but I have to constantly remind myself of this maxim. Your body really takes a beating during pregnancy (mine does, anyway) and even though I am at my goal weight, things are still easing back to where they used to be. And let's face it, I'll be happy if some things end up in the general vicinity of where they used to be.

The problems I have been having with my hip are slowly resolving on their own, which is great, since I still have not managed to find the time to actually schedule a physical therapy appointment. But my running hiatus continues. Partly because of the hip, but mostly because I haven't quite figured out how to be a running mom of two.

The double BOB mostly sits folded in the garage, as Max will only ride in it for limited amounts of time. The Supportive Husband, while still supportive, has registered his strong objection to my 5:30 am Saturday wakeups, and that objection has been duly noted. The nature of his work means that he is often working until 11pm or later on Saturday nights, so having been rousted at 5am by my alarm, and then again at whatever ungodly hour one or both kids decide to wake up is pretty tough on him. And to be quite honest, the last thing I want to do on a Saturday morning is get up at 5:30 to pump. I burned out on pumping when Max was about 8 months old, and it did not regain its luster the second time around. And truth be told, Sami is not the sleeper he was. Most nights, I am up with her at 3am for a quick snack and cuddle. 5:30 comes awfully fast.

So where does that leave me? Squeezing in a run/walk after work in the blazing heat. Squeezing in 20 minutes on the treadmill during my lunch hour. Basically, trying to maintain a bare minimum fitness level so that once Sami is weaned, I can consider doing a spring race.

The not running hasn't been so bad, but it has been difficult to not have a "thing." A thing where I don't have to be someone's mom. A thing that has a goal that isn't work related. A thing that is mine - my dreams, my achievements, my time. I am still figuring out this dance of being a mom of two, but as my bones shift back to where they used to be, I hope my thing will start to take shape again. I need my thing back. And I think it's going to take at least nine months to get it.

Where's Waldo?

Or really, Where's Mama?

I have been so absent from my blog! I didn't think my non-running was worth blogging about on my running blog. But I supposed I owe my fan (hi Robine) an update.

The hip/groin pain I've been having since mid-pregnancy is still around, despite having laid off the running big time for the past 7 weeks or so. It actually feels worse since I stopped running, and I think that increasing my physical activity in whatever form is probably good for it. Next stop, physical therapy. I just have to figure out when...

Life with two kids is great but there is not a minute of the day where somebody doesn't need me. Anytime I do anything, I should be doing something else. When I am at work, I should be easing Max through his rediscovered separation anxiety. When I'm with Max, I should be helping Sami learn to sit up. When I'm goofing around with Sami, I should be helping the Supportive Husband with the family business. When I'm helping with the business, I should be working out. When I'm working out, I should be folding the laundry. And so on. Everything I do comes at the expense of something else. Everything.

But this morning the stars aligned and I actually got in a bit of a run, with Sami in the BOB while Max slept in. It was the most perfect morning imaginable. A sweet whisper of a breeze, bright sun, warm but not hot, no humidity. I couldn't not run. Truth be told it was a walk-run with more walk than run. It's been 3.5 months since I had walking pneumonia, and I still cough and wheeze a bit when I run. And my hip - ow. I really need to not neglect that, because my opposite knee has started to hurt because my gait is all wonky and sideways to compensate. But I had a great time, and Sami quietly watched the morning slide by, still in her footie jammies. By the time we got home, Max was awake, and had got wind of the fact that Sami had gone on a buggy ride. So I traded kids with the Supportive Husband, and took Max for a bit of a stroll.

I had worried that scaling back my running would cause the pregnancy pounds to pile back on. But no, I am less than a pound away from the weight I was the day after the 10-miler. Go nursing!! After Max was born, I was nursing and training so much that I got down to a crazy skinny weight. At times during that period, I would have had to eat 3,500 calories/day just to maintain my weight. Impossible! After Max weaned, which was not long after I ran the marathon, I put on several pounds pretty rapidly - I think my body had gone into starvation mode. Since I've decided not to really train while Sami is still nursing, I am hopeful that I won't gain much (if any) weight after she weans. Even though I'm quite a few pounds less than my prepregnancy weight, I could stand to lose a few more.

However, after reading all the recent "body after baby" drek in the celebrity mags, I have decided I'd rather be a little flabby and five pounds too heavy than waste my life away by having a protein shake for breakfast, whole wheat turkey wrap for lunch, and poached fish for dinner. And oh, if I get cravings, I could l just have a stick of gum. Gum!!! Seriously, that is one celeb's diet strategy - gum to stave off cravings. As if I'm going to walk past the cupcake shop, pop in a stick of Dentyne and just keep strolling by, while a single tear slides down my cheek.

Let's face it, even if I lost five or ten pounds, my thrice-pregnant tummy will most likely never again be bikini ready without some serious Thermage. And I don't think People magazine is going to be knocking on my door looking for cheesecake shots either. I'm fit and healthy, and as long as that is the case, I'll never pass up a cupcake.

Happy Mothers Day!!!

I've done very little running in the month since the 10 miler. I've been trying to let my hip and my airway heal. The weather has been very cool and damp - not good for my sensitive bronchioles. But it is finally sunny and warm, so I am hopeful that I'll be back on the wagon soon.

Having two kids instead of one means that instead of having half the time available to exercise or do other "me" activities, I now have zero time. Early morning runs mean having to pump, and quite frankly I burned out on pumping the first time around, and I would rather grow slow and soft than add one more pumping session into my routine. Big-time training will have to wait until Sami is weaned. Marathons will still be there when the kids are a little older. In the meantime, I'll pound out a couple miles during my lunch hour or after the kids are in bed.

Happy Mothers Day to all you other mothers out there.

Spring in my step - Cville 10 Miler Race report

I should get that freaked out more often. I had an amazing race. I did not quite meet my "stretch" goal of 2 hours, but I came very close, and more than surpassed my "real" goal of finishing the race without causing permanent or egregious harm to myself.

The wind woke me at 4:30. I had barely gotten back to sleep when the alarm went off just after 5:30. The wind was still howling, and thumping the glider on the front porch. I wasn't sure how the day would shake out weather-wise, so I started the morning in tights and a long sleeved shirt over a short sleeved shirt, then put my fleece and windbreaker on over top of the whole shebang. I pumped, ate a little, and was out the door by 6:20.

Like every year, I arrived way too early. I think there were about eight other cars in the parking lot when I got there. I spent a good long while rocking out to my iPod in the car. I got pumped by Ryan Adams' "Magick," and Ellis Paul's "Because It's There" helped me to be a brave sailor. And Lily Allen made me Smile. I finally decided to run inside to use the bathroom before the crowds descended, and spent some time stretching and fussing about my layers. The wind was already dying down, but it was still chilly, so I reluctantly ditched my fleece, windbreaker, and long sleeved shirt. I took a couple drags off my inhaler, and waited for the race to start.

I started way back in the back, and took my time moseying up the long hill that makes up a good part of the first mile. I stuck to a strict run 8 min, walk 2 min plan, even when I felt fantastic enough to keep going. The only exception I made to that was I ran through my walk break to take advantage of the screaming downhill from Grady all the way down Preston to McIntire. And then, of course, I took more walk breaks in the brutal hills of the second half of the race.

At the halfway point, I was at just 58 minutes, more than two minutes faster than I thought I'd be in my wildest dreams. I knew I'd lose most or all of that in the second half, and sure enough I finished in about 2:02:30.

Even though I felt my fair share of the pain, especially when my right hip flexor curled into a ball and refused to do any more work in the last mile, I was smiling nearly the whole way. I felt lighter and faster than I have in ages. The wind died down and the sun came out, and it was simply gorgeous running weather. I had my thoughts to myself, and I left a lot of the stress of the week out there on the race course.

By the time I crossed the finish, I felt new. The relief and elation I felt crossing the finish sucker-punched me, and for a few moments, I thought I might burst into tears. But then I found myself in line for a head of lettuce and couldn't do anything but laugh and drink in the miraculous morning.


i thank You God for most this amazing
day:for the leaping greenly spirits of trees
and a blue true dream of sky;and for everything
which is natural which is infinite which is yes

-e.e. cummings

full-on freaky freak out mode

10 miler tomorrow! I am freaking out in a way I haven't freaked out since I ran Richmond. It's been an incredibly emotional and draining week on all fronts, and the race seemed like the least of my worries. There was a lot of resolution and tying up of loose ends today, and I found myself at packet pickup after work breaking out into a cold, panicked sweat.

What am I so worried about? I know I am not in the best shape, given my recent bout of pneumonia and oh yeah my four month old nursling, but I'm confident I can finish and not cause permanent damage to myself. I know I'll probably fall short of my two hour goal. I know there are going to be some low moments (hello mile 8 I am talking about you), but nothing I can't handle, despite my lackluster preparation. I guess I've spent so many weeks being consumed by so many other matters that instead of having weeks and months to work out my anxieties, they're all crammed in to the last 12 hours before the race.

So if you see a lady in black, wearing a buff as a do-rag, with a very small "Max's Mom" and "Sami's Mom" written on her bib, running about a 12min mile (if she's lucky), please cheer extra loud. Remember, I am an alumna of the scream tunnel, so you'd better BRING IT.

A sidenote, I happened to pick up my packet right next to Cville Dave, but I was too shy to introduce myself.

6 miles

And what a six miles it was. Like a big dope slap upside the head. Not pleasant, but I really needed it. Some runs are better left out on the road or trail. Today was one of those runs.

Race Report MJH8K

It did not rain as forecast, hooray!

Just a brief race report as I am soooooo tired from the baby waking up at weird hours this week. Of course, she sleeps in for Daddy the morning that I have to get up at 5:30 for the race. And I was up wicked late last night because Max went to Monster Truck Jam and didn't get home till 10:30 pm and was amped up on cotton candy and had a huuuuuge meltdown that lasted until goodness knows when.

So anyway, like I was saying, I woke up at 5:30. Which was really too early for an 8am gun time. But this was my first time this kid for the pre-run pumping thing, so wanted to make sure I had enough time to do that, do my other regular get ready stuff, and make it to pre-race packet pickup. I know, I should have picked up my packet last night, but I think nursing mothers are exempt from that. So I rolled into packet pickup at 6:45 sharp, and was about the only person there. Chatted with Brad from The Corner for a bit, then headed to my parents' place two blocks from the start to watch the morning news, stretch, and hydrate.

Once I headed to the start, I bumped into Louise, who was having a cranky IT band. Between my still coughing stuff up (yes, FIVE weeks later, oy vey) and having lingering pelvic ligament issues, I was planning a strict run-walk strategy to get through the race. Louise and her IT band decided to go slow with me. Nothing much out of the ordinary to report - we ran and chatted; when I took walk breaks, Louise would stop to stretch, and then run to catch up with me. All the normal giant hills kicked my ass, as they do every year. We finished a little shy of my goal time (1 hour) in about 1:02 (maybe 1:03 gun time, I haven't checked the official results yet).

I'm just glad I got out there - it was a good confidence builder for 10 miler training. It's just a few weeks away, and this illness and injury combo has really derailed my training. I am planning to do some 6-8 milers on the Monticello Trail with its lovely, forgiving, perfect, ultra-crushed gravel, and hope for the best on race day.

Doughman 2010

IronMo clued me in about The Doughman, in Durham, in which running, biking, and paddling across a pool in a kiddie inner tube are combined with competitive eating. I am seriously doing this next year. Since I was nursing when I started running seriously, I had to eat constantly, including before runs. While I made a concerted effort to reduce the size of my pre-run meal as my distances increased, I never went running on an empty stomach. And while I think the Doughman will be a real challenge for me, I think I'll have no trouble with my leg of the race.

Case in point, my day after 4:30pm.
4:30 - leave work, head to daycare to pick up kids
5:15 - arrive home. Nurse baby on porch while 3 y.o. plays in the yard
5:30 - leave 3 y.o. in yard w/Supportive Husband, head inside to make dinner.
6:00 - in the home stretch w/dinner, begin bathing baby in kitchen sink
6:15 - dinner on the table, baby clean and ready for jammies. Head upstairs with baby while husband and 3 y.o. start eating dinner.
6:30 - baby asleep. Eat dinner of breakfast burrito, turkey bacon, and blueberries.
6:45 - head out for quick run.
7:15 - blog as cooldown

That's right, I ate my own dinner before going out for a run. Daylight was fading and I was famished. And you know what? I actually felt pretty good.

Doughman, here I come!!!

and a little brag

I am now two pounds lighter than I was when I got pregnant with Sami.

Of course, I'm still about 5 pounds over my ideal weight, but hey, I am making progress! I just remember stepping on the scale the week after she was born and being shocked, shocked! at the number that appeared. Now I can just be shocked at my squishy, stretchmarky belly.

Spring (take 1)

Snow day on Monday, and today it topped 80. I am sitting here at 9pm debating whether I should turn on the air conditioning in the house. How crazy is that! I am sure we're due for another cold snap or two before spring sets in, but the taste of it this weekend was delicious.

So naturally, I decided that it was fine day to take my wheezy, possibly-had-walking-pneumonia lungs out for a spin. Who needs religion on a Sunday morning when you've got running? Thinking that it would be nice to give the Supportive Husband a bit of quiet time, I loaded both kids into the double jogger. Sami started wailing immediately. Max kept up a running commentary, seemingly oblivious to Sami's discomfort. I guess he got used to the noise during her colicky newborn days.

About 10 minutes into it, he wanted to go home. Sami was still wailing. So go home we did. I think I did a grand total of 1.5 miles. But I must say that between pushing the double (OMG, it's massive) containing at least 50lbs of kids, the mental anguish of listening to Sami crying as if being boiled in oil, and the physical work involved in getting the double out of the garage, unfolded, and loaded with kids, I feel like I did a heck of a lot more. Then we went for a hike this afternoon with Sami strapped on me in the Beco, so I think I'm good on mileage for today, even if my per mile pace is nothing to write home about.

My lungs are finally starting to feel clear again, after four weeks of coughing and misery. I still have some pelvic ligament issues, but it seems like the more walking I do, the better it feels, so now that I can up my activity level again, I'm hoping it will start to resolve on its own. The big challenge is finding the time to put in the miles.

I forgot how having a nursling changes everything about my exercise routine. Early morning runs require pumping to accomplish, b/c the girls simply CANNOT run first thing in the morning without being emptied. So rather than getting up 30 min early to squeeze in an early morning run, I have to get up 50 min early to pump beforehand. And then I'm stuck deciding whether I should feed her the pumped milk, or straight from the tap when I return. She hates taking a bottle from me, and I would much rather nurse her. But what if I don't have enough milk onboard for her breakfast after having pumped? Her biggest meal of the day is breakfast.

Running at lunch is a possibility. But I am using most of my lunch hour in the form of pumping breaks. I do sneak off to the gym a time or two each week, but usually only to lift weights, since I don't want to get sweaty enough to require taking the time to shower before I race back to the office.

And then an evening run - even with DST now in effect, it's still dark by the time she's down for the night. I suppose I could load everyone up into the jogging stroller for a pre-bedtime run, but that's not so much "running" as "pushing the loaded double buggy." I could run by myself if the Supportive Husband is home for the evening, but I can never count on him being home, and those precious minutes between the end of work and bedtime are my time to spend with the kids and I am loath to give them up.

So, I squeeze a little activity in here and there, and try to make up for it on the weekends. It's not perfect, I am definitely not living up to my athletic potential, but it's what I can manage right now without compromising my parenting.

Hello? Is anybody there?

Anyone still here? It's been a while. In the 27 days since my last entry, I have been sick for nearly all of them, had two sick kids, returned to work, and run just a handful of times. The MJH 8K is in just two weeks and while I know I'll finish (walking, maybe, but I'll finish) I'm certain I will not be posting a PR this year. And lest I forget, is it but 5 weeks until the 10 miler. That one I am just hoping to finish. I need to get some miles in!

I'll save the Interwebs from my tale of woe. It involves amoxicillin (for Max), a Z-pak (for me), albuterol (also for me), and liberal applications of breastmilk up the nose (for Sami). I think we're all on the mend. It is my yearly tradition to be sick before the 8K, so hopefully this is it and we will (knock on wood) not be struck with any other calamities before the race.

Why I run

Why would a new mom run? Because the pain makes the sleep deprivation not feel so bad.

My immediate recovery from Sami's birth was so much easier than Max's. I was astounded at how quickly, you know, things felt normal again. However, my loose ligaments have yet to tighten back up. I still can't open jars, and I'm still not convinced that my pelvis won't take off in two different directions at any given moment. And today it really caught up with me.

It's been cold lately, and we've had some icy weather, so I haven't run outdoors as much as I'd like. I've done some time on the treadmill, which always seems to exacerbate any injuries I may have. Many years ago when I had a knee injury from overtraining, even a few minutes on the treadmill would cause it to flare up again. After a couple of miles on the treadmill the other day, I felt pretty creaky. So like a moron, I went all out today.

What can I say, it was 60 degrees and just lovely; the baby was sleeping, and I had cabin fever. So off I went, with no plans other than to enjoy the day, and throw in a few gliders just for kicks. I started feeling some weird twinges in my back at the halfway point of my out and back, so I had two mostly uphill miles to struggle through before I got home. And no cellphone to call for backup.

Struggle I did. I had a weird twinge in my back with every stride, so I gave up the gliders. Then it settled in and just started to ache all the time, so I walked. I walked a lot. By the time I got home, my back wasn't hurting, but it was stiff, and yes, my pelvis felt like it was about to fall apart.

How timely is it that the latest Runner's World has an article about pelvic stabilization. It features the advice of the awesome Jay Dicharry, who I happen to have worked with once in a blue moon at my old job. Thank you, Jay, I will be taking your advice to heart. I am sucking in my bellybutton as I type!

I am still committed to the 10 miler in April (I don't want to miss it twice in a row!), but I am seriously reconsidering a fall half. Is it wimping out to say that I want to spend my Saturday mornings at the Little Gym with Max, or the pool with Sami, rather than abusing my ligaments in the heat and humidity? Maybe a break will give me time to recover, and I can train in the wintertime (no humidity!) for a spring marathon. It took nine months for my body to get all shot to hell, it's going to take nine months for it to knit itself back together.

I feel like a quitter even considering not doing a fall race. I am Mama Marathon, after all! I ran a marathon when Max was just 10 months old, and still breastfeeding! I did it once, surely I could do it (or even a "measly" half) again. And really, other than the pain, I feel great after a nice run. Mentally, that is. Even physically - my lungs feel bigger, my muscles feel relaxed. But it is a relief to think about not having to pump pre-run every Saturday at 5 a.m. With my childbearing years now behind me, I don't feel the urgency to cram in a marathon in between pregnancies. Those marathons will all still be there when I no longer have a nursling.

And even if I'm not training for a big race, when the clouds break or the humidity relents and it's 60 degrees on a Sunday, I still have permission to drop everything and go for a run.

Out with the old, in with the new

Being newly postpartum and not having run for several months does have an upside. I am retraining myself how to run. Since I am heavy and slow these days, I am using the slow-going as an opportunity to really concentrate on my gait. I'm cultivating a spring in my step I didn't know I had. Added bonus - I think once I get my weight down and fitness level up, I will actually be faster than I was before. 'Cause I sure couldn't get much slower!

I'm also making an effort to work some hill repeats and other gentle speedwork into my weekday runs. I haven't done enough of that in the past. I guess I was scared that I would look stupid or hurt myself or wear myself out. I already look pretty stupid with my giant, double-bagged chest; the only nagging injury I have ever sustained was on a garden-variety long run (oh, and that one time walking up the stairs at the bagel shop); and I'm already pretty worn out, so I have nothing to lose and no more excuses. I feel better about a short run when I've pushed myself hard on a hill.

So I suppose my New Year's running resolutions boil down to "train smarter". With the second child, I definitely have less free time than before, so I've got to make the most of the time I do have.

NYD5K09 pic

Mama and her little bandit, just about to enter the chute.

NYD5K09

It was quite the circus getting out of the house with two kids and a husband in tow, but thanks to the Husband's superior navigational skills, we managed to take a shortcut and arrive with plenty of time to spare. Which was not so great, since it wasn't quite 30 degrees when we arrived. I was all layered up, wearing my winter buff and new Nike shell that actually zips up over the girls (thank you, Supportive Husband).

I had three times in mind when I started:
The "just wanna finish" time: 45 minutes
The "I think I could actually do it" time: 40 minutes
The "No way, but it's nice to dream" time: 35 minutes.

And damned if I didn't finish in 36:56 (by my watch - gun time was about 20 sec longer). This included a good long pause at the end to kiss the baby, and have Max run with me into the chute, wearing his froggie rain boots, no less. I know, bad form, but no one was immediately behind us, and I made sure to tell the officials that he had not, in fact, run the whole race and shouldn't be counted.

I'm pretty satisfied with my race. I decided that no matter how good I felt going out that I would run 5 minutes, and walk 1. I kept this up for most of the race, except for about the last half mile where I walked a bunch, and didn't run much at all. I had an 11:53 pace overall, which jives pretty well with my splits. So it was a good lesson in pacing for me.

But most of all, I just feel good about running again, and feeling stronger and stronger every time I go out. Now if those last five pounds would just hurry up and come off...