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!

January recap

Although January is not quite over I just finished my run so it might as well be. I'm not planning on doing any more running today, although one never knows when the bus might just drive on by with my kids still inside or maybe Chewie or Haze will escape. But I think it's a safe bet that my running for the month is over.

It was once again a low mileage month, but I'm okay with that. It's January, I have a 6 month old baby, everyone has been sick, I'm doing the best I can do.

Stats:
Mileage: 24.8
Runs: 8
Cross Training Days: 14
Cross Training Sessions: 23

Keep in mind that the exercise program* I've been following is broken up into 10 minute segments that don't have to be done consecutively (which is good for busy moms!). So on a particular day I may do a 10 minute core routine and then later on do a 10 minute kickboxing routine. I'm counting those as different sessions.

I've tweaked the schedule a bit so I can have a full do nothing rest day on Sunday. There were then some days that called for 2 cardio sessions and I had a run planned, so I wound up using the run as the cardio. I'm going to have to figure out what--if any--other stuff I want to do on my running days. There are only so many things I can do in a day when I have a baby to feed, a preschool to feed and transport and children to get off the bus and dinner and blah blah blah.

*As I've mentioned A LOT, I'm following Jessica Smith's Thin in 10 plan (with my own modifications). Whatever I don't watch off the DVD I get from her YouTube channel & watch on my iPad (like kickboxing or toning walks or specific lower/upper body exercises). I've added a link to her book over on the side right there --------> Not because she asked me to, but because I truly recommend it to anyone who needs to find a way to incorporate exercise into a busy mom schedule. The exercises are easy for me to follow & I think I might actually have fun doing them. So weird. I try to stick to the 10 minute or shorter ones right now, but she also has plenty of long ones if you don't have a baby/child needing you every 2 minutes. I'm really not trying to lose weight--honestly--but to just be a stronger runner. So focused exercises are really good for me instead of a generic aerobic workout which would be good for someone trying to lose weight, so I gravitate towards the shorter specific routines. Regardless of your goals or fitness levels, I think you'd find something to work for you too. I don't know who "you" um, is. I guess the handful of you who still read this. Or strangers on the interwebs looking for superhero birthday party ideas.

Speaking of which it's now time for me to pick up my snot producing sick baby and attempt to once again feed him. He must be on the mend since he willingly ate every 2 hours the last 2 days and today he was not into it. Let's hope because sick infants are tough!

In summary, I am awesome.

Well, that didn't take long.

I was feeling pretty weak after Lightrunner's checkup. Sad that once again one of my kids was going to have to catch up and try to gain weight. Wait, what? Sure, on paper a 6 month old weighing 13 1/2 pounds is little. But we don't live on paper. Lightrunner is bigger than SkyWalker was at 6 months. And guess what? SkyWalker currently weighs about half what I do and I weigh more now that I ever have before (not including pregnancy). When we got SkyWalker's class picture I couldn't find him. He was IN THE BACK ROW. Not sitting down in front. I went to a Girls Night in my neighborhood a couple of weeks ago and one of his friend's moms asked me if he was playing basketball because he's so TALL. I looked behind me to make sure she was talking to me.

I don't make fat babies.

And there's nothing wrong with that. We are such a weight-obsessed society and often a number on the scale is more important than an overall picture. This is the picture I see: a smiling happy baby with chubby legs and fat rolls. I tried to force him to nurse this week and I wound up with a crying overtired baby. When he was younger I had to wake up him up to feed him, but he's 6 months old now. When he's sleeping, he needs to sleep. I'm not going to force him to feed when he doesn't need it, just so he can be on some silly growth chart. I'm going to keep doing what I'm doing, following him, making sure he is happy and peeing lots and take it from there. If he loses weight, I'll rethink things. He has a bad cold right now and I wound up feeding him at 10 last night, something I haven't done in a long time, and this morning I skipped his cereal and just fed him myself. And now he's taking a nice long nap which is exactly what he needs to get better.

As a parent it's wicked easy to doubt yourself. Sometimes I forget I'm awesome.
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On Saturday, I ran my longest distance in a couple of months. There was anything spectacular, but it was a great run just because I did it. I was tired. It was cold. I had a million things I needed to do. But I got out there anyway. For quite some time my slow runs have been in the 12-13 minute range, so I was buoyed when I looked down and saw I was running in the 10:30 range. I kept it up for 3 miles, stopped for a tenth of a mile when I blew my nose, and then started running against the wind. That slowed me down but I still wound up with a faster average pace for 5 miles than I've been doing. I haven't been running much lately but I think all the cross-training I'm doing is actually paying off. I am determined to be the strongest runner I can be for the half next fall. My immediate goal right now is to keep up the cross-training and run SOMETHING 3 times a week. I've got to be a little flexible with a baby and with kids and school schedules and something always coming up. But I think if I can do this, I can go into my spring training much stronger than I have before.
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The other night Vader and I went to a local (like 2 minutes away) bar with two couples I intend on spending a lot more time with-- naturally Shinesalot (and husband) and my friend Gina (and husband) who doesn't blog anymore. It was so nice to be out without kids, with our husbands, and just talk and have fun. I think we're going to try to do this every couple of months. We're also having a little Ladies Night this week without the husbands. I'm hoping we can do that every month but our schedules are not that easy to coordinate. I'm trying to focus on spending time with people who want to spend time with me.
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I've been reading a lot more and watching TV a lot less. I really think it helps me to relax and get outside of myself. Books truly feed your soul in ways that TV shows just can't. And sometimes my soul is a little too hungry.

Wrinkles

Not the facial kind but the get in the way of all your lofty plans kind. I've got some wrinkles.

I've been doing good decent ok with the new exercise regimen. The only exercise I've ever stuck with has been running, so doing anything other than running for more than a few times is pretty spectacular for me. I'm ready to profess my love for Jessica Smith and her quick workouts. The only thing I don't really like is the cardio routine on the DVD and that's more because I am so completely uncoordinated. It's okay for one session but now that I've added more, I just can't do two in a row. But luckily she adds routines to her youtube all the time and I've been able to find quick workouts for a little variety. I had to shift my running days so that I could have a true rest day with no obligations, instead of a rest day from exercise and a rest day from running and not having them be on the same day! The house is not as damaged as I thought it would be and aside from last week when I was fighting a cold and had a million things to do that kept me from home, I've been following my schedule pretty well.

And then yesterday happened.

I took Lightrunner to his 6 month checkup. And as I had feared and expected, he hasn't gained much weight in the last couple of months (he weighs 13 pounds, 9 ounces). He's grown longer so it's not a "failure to thrive" situation and he's clearly happy and healthy. He's just following in his siblings' skinny footsteps. We started cereal on Monday and I thought I would be chastised for waiting so long, but instead my pediatrician (who I love) was adamant about making sure that breastfeeding is his number one source of calories. She's afraid that his interest may wane now that cereal has been included in his diet. Luckily I spent so many wee morning hours pumping up a freezer supply so that I can mix his cereal with frozen pumped milk so he'll get some extra that way. But she also wants me to add an extra feeding and since neither one of us wants to disturb his 11-hour nights, that means I need to squeeze a 5th nursing in to our day. Just a few short months ago I did feed him 5 times a day, every 3 hours, and there was no problem. But as of late we've only been doing 4 times a day, every 4 hours, and he's been giving me glorious 2 hour naps (if we're home). Going back to every 3 hours is going to interfere with naps. Interfering with naps is going to interfere with EVERYTHING.

Wrinkles.

The good thing is that my ped is pro-breastfeeding and is not telling me to add formula or push him into pureed foods. The good thing is that he did gain SOME weight, he did grow, and he's bigger than SkyWalker was at 6 months. Anyone who sees him can see how well he is doing--he's not starving, he's got some good chub on his legs, and he is almost always smiling and happy. I just need to make sure he stays that way. I'm sure I'll come up with a good routine for us that will keep him fed and well rested and me exercised and stress-free.

And then he'll get his first tooth.

Goals but not the kind with nets and pucks (or balls)

Oh Time, how you fly. I keep meaning to post something here but I'm too busy living. Minutes, hours, days, they all blend into one. I blink and it's 2013 already.

Lightrunner is 5 months old and continues to be the source of light and joy in this house. We all hover about him like flies above a lamp hoping to get a bit of his luminescence. He smiles at everyone and even on his cranky days is just so happy. It's infectious. Impossible to ignore. He's been sleeping all night (11-12 hours) for quite some time now. I'm trying to hold out until 6 months for cereal. I think we'll make it. He tries his hardest to sit up when he's in his carseat or bouncy. He's never in one spot in his crib. I'm afraid he's going to be a mover.

The rest of the Jedi gang are doing well. Christmas break was not quite long enough. Vader took the whole week off and that was the best present I could have gotten... we played in the snow and watched movies and just had fun.

I'm taking the rest of this week to wrap up things that need to be done--badges on girl scout vests, mountains of laundry, etc--but next week my vacation is over. I have a 2 month exercise schedule (January/February) on the fridge, a combination of running and cross training (Jessica Smith's Thin in 10 routines), and once March hits I'm in 5K mode with a long plan culminating in getting me a PR by June. And then I focus on building my mileage and training for the half marathon in October. I got up to 9 miles before I got pregnant. I have no doubt that I can do the half (13.1) by October. I'll be down to just two nursing sessions by July (wake up and bedtime) so I can go out and run for 2 hours and not feel like I have to get back to feed or pump. I'm hoping all of the cross training I'll do will help.

My goal for 2012 was to just keep running. I've felt like I failed it because I stopped. But, in reality, I only stopped running for 4 months at the end of my pregnancy (a good reason to stop) and I started up again as soon as I could. So I'm going to say it was a win.

I'm keeping it relatively simple for 2013:

1. Run (at least) 3 times a week.
2. Cross train 6-7 days a week.
3. Run a 28 minute 5K in April. (pre pregnant PR is 27:35)
4. Run a 26 minute 5K in June.
5. Run the 10 mile Clove Run in August.
6. Run the Mohawk Hudson Half Marathon in October.

Non running-related:

1. Read more books!
2. Fold and put the laundry away when it comes out of the dryer... not 3 days later.
3. To live life fully and spend my time doing the things I want to do.
4. To see more of the people who bring out the best in me and to return the favor by being a positive encouraging friend.