My February Vacation

My February Vacation

An Essay

It started off well enough on Friday with a rare date night. Dinner, movies, dessert. Saturday was spent with my sister and her family just playing at home and thinking how we need to see each other more often. Sunday Chewie took a nap. This doesn't happen. The first shoe had dropped.

We went out to dinner with my sister and when we got home Chewie threw up. She went to bed and threw up some more. I cancelled our Monday playdate. Monday morning she was running around playing and fine. My sister went home and Vader went to the woods to cut down a tree. In the afternoon Chewie took a turn for the worse and got another fever and I think she may have thrown up again so I decided to call the doctor (since Vader was home, it would be the best day to go). I called at 3:15 but the first appointment they had was 5:25. Chewie and I went, she had a 102.3 fever there, they checked her urine because of big sister's history, swabbed her for strep, checked her ears, and all was negative. They heard a little wheezing in her lungs but by this time it was damn near 7 pm so we were sent home with instructions to take her for a chest x-ray if she had a fever on Tuesday.

Tuesday morning she was running around fine. I was smart enough to do my intervals.  Tuesday afternoon she was laying on the couch with a fever and threw up again. The doc called just as I was cleaning out the garbage pail and said take her for a chest x-ray, so I packed up all 4 kids and we met Vader there and Chewie had her x-ray. No pneumonia, just a virus. An expensive virus. We went home, Chewie slept on the couch and then went up to her bed--by herself--and slept through dinner. Sometime in the middle of the night we were awoken when SkyWalker threw up. Huh? The only one without any coughing or other symptoms.

Wednesday morning Chewie was fine. SkyWalker did not throw up again. He went upstairs to read and took a nap instead and came downstairs all discombobulated thinking it was Thursday. Chewie once again failed in the afternoon. I started to feel a wee bit weird but shook it off and did my strength shot and total body band workouts. By dinner time I knew I was next. Vader got home at 6, I went to lay down, threw up around 9 and didn't get up until 7ish the next morning.

We cancelled our Thursday playdate. Chewie seemed to do a little better. She didn't take a nap at all, which kind of sucked. The Princess was coughing and began getting snotty. LightRunner started coughing. I felt a little weak, but tried to run anyway. It didn't last but only because in the ultimate everything at once story, I got yet another plugged milk duct and felt feverish and ill.

We cancelled our Friday playdate. I'm fine. The Princess is not coughing bad. SkyWalker is fine. LightRunner is coughing a little and has his first tooth coming! Chewie has been a nightmare. She has been crying the entire day because things aren't going her way. No more fever, but she's behaving worse. She had a fit in Target (yes, I had to get things. I took them to Target.) because I wouldn't let her  take another tissue when she had a perfectly good one in her hand. She is currently crying because of, well, I don't know.

I look forward to school breaks and spending time with my kids and having fun and this just SUCKED.

But, in the spirit of looking for the bright side--no one had to miss school (yet). I don't have to take off work. And I saved a lot of gas money.

Interval Love

There was a time when I only ran on the treadmill and I was afraid to run on the road. Mostly because I was sure people would be coming out of their houses pointing and laughing at me. Most likely wearing clown suits because that's how my brain works.

Then I started running the road to prepare for my first 5K and I thought I'd never be able to run the treadmill again. But when you have wee ones at home and no jogging stroller and no babysitters, you do what you have to do.

I've struck a good balance of doing my long slow run on the road when Vader is home and the rest on the treadmill. I still dislike running an easy run on it, I can never quite get into a rhythm and it's too easy to think about the undone dishes and pee on the floor. But the once a week I do speed work--intervals--I LOVE my treadmill. Or rather, I LOVE intervals. It's all because of my brain. For some reason my brain refuses to let me believe I can run an easy consistent pace run on the treadmill for a decent length of time... but when I do intervals I'm running fast for a short time and then recovering with a walk or slow run. Knowing I have a walk coming up lets my brain relax and I am suddenly capable of running much faster speeds. Lately I've been doing this workout from The Happy Runner, only I'm not running at 5K and 10K speeds. Based on my last PR, my 5K speed would be at 6.7 (with a 1% incline), but because my brain shuts off during intervals I've been running the 10K intervals at 7.5 and the 5K at 8.0. I never ever thought I'd see 8.0 on my treadmill, let alone for an entire minute! (I realize this is barely moving for some of you out there, but it's FAST for me!). Doing intervals based on distance is a little bit harder for me, still better than an easy run, but doing this workout based on time is exactly what I need. I start my training plan in March and I think I might have to make some changes and add these workouts!

Beachbody

You may have noticed that I've been talking a lot about my running and exercising and fitness lately. You're not the only one.... the good people over at Beachbody--they're the ones behind the popular P90X series--also noticed and wanted me to pass some information on to you*.

P90X Certification

If you've enjoyed the P90X workout series and are interested in teaching, they are now offering a certification program. It's a 2 day workshop resulting in official certification enabling you to take your skills to the local gym and teach a class. The price is $498. That seems a bit steep to me, but I have never done a certification program and am no where near being capable of doing one, and I'm kinda cheap. If that sounds like your thing, check out the link here.

If teaching is NOT your thing and you're looking to step up your exercise game instead, Beachbody has two programs you may be interested in:

Brazil Butt Lift Master Series

Three different kits, Base, Plus, and Elite, promise to help you train like a supermodel and "shape, lift and firm your booty." Leandro Carvalho's routine works the three major muscles of the buttocks, the gluteus maximus, medius, and minimus. The basic kit includes the workouts, stability ball and online support. The Plus and Elite kits also include more supplies like yoga mats and weights. The video looks like this would be a fun workout. Check it out here.

Insanity: The Asylum Volume 2

This dude is hardcore. And so is the Insanity workout. Seven new pro athlete routines exercising your abs, back, legs, and more promise to help you get your body leaner, stronger and faster so you crush the competition. This is not the workout for this busy time-strapped beginner exercise mom. But if you don't have kids needing to be nursed and wiped every few hours, this looks like it would be a killer workout that would help get you to your running A goal. Check out the full program here.

*Please note, Beachbody has not compensated me at all for passing along the information. I have not tried these workouts and am not reviewing or endorsing them. Just passing it on to you!