Chickened out of the BOB...

...and thank goodness! This morning I did a 5 mile "race" (I'm thinking of them simply as group long runs, not actually races...) and had planned to run with Andra. Sweet girl was still snoozing at 7, and I couldn't bring myself to wake her after she'd gone to bed late the past 2 nights. I also had this feeling the course was going to be hilly. It was...mile 2 was downhill, but I swear the rest was up. So although I'd have preferred an 8:5x pace, I got a 9:08 (45:37 I think, 45:30 watch time). Considering Wednesday's intentionally easy pace was 9:00, and really I didn't push a whole lot more today (some, yes, but not much til just the last half mile), I guess I can deal. Though I miss the days I would always have a 8:xx pace. Just guess I don't miss them enough to hurt for it! At any rate, despite coming in 100th (out of maybe 150?) I was 4th in my age group and got a cute yellow ribbon! Reminds me of the horse show ribbons I used to get when I rode in high school!

Friday I did a 1:30 bike ride (finally got a computer today, I think it was 26 miles...again, I'm just not into speed/pain right now, especially when I'm by myself).

Thursday night I had a soccer game. There were no women subs (must have at least 5 women on the field at all times) and I had no babysitter or husband to watch Andi. So she came with me. She hung out by the bench sucking on a chunk of frozen mango for the first half, didn't want her bottle at halftime (which would normally be bedtime), and was still good as gold til the last 5 minutes of the game. The one daddy sub picked her up and hung out with her til the end of the game. Of course she went right to sleep after her bottle when we got home around 8:45. I'm working on getting our 8th grade neighbor to come with me to Monday's game since my husband again can't make it home in time, and I am not sure I want the 8th grader putting her to bed. Although I probably should do that...the agony of decision-making is so annoying!

Double

In stealing X-Country2's idea of a kcirb workout, yesterday I did some form of a brick workout. I had hoped to do my own mini-triathlon, but between naps and rain and pool schedules, this was the best I could do! I did an easy 4.5 mile run (consciously easy, which ended up being exactly a 9:00 pace), half in the rain, then lifted a bit, then swam half a mile. Felt good! Today I'll get in the bike.

Random Things

So far I'm loving summer. It's totally fun to hang out with Andra, she's just happy and when she's NOT, I'm learning quickly what she needs (food, or sleep - that's about it). She's become a huge talker, even though most of her stories go "Blah, blah blah" I don't get bored hearing it over and over and over and over. She totally can self-entertain in her exersaucer for fairly long stretches. When I go into her room in the morning or after naps, instead of just a smile, I now get a huge grin along with flailing arms and legs - nice that someone is so excited to see me! She can also sit up now, not totally reliably, but soon I'm sure.

Random things I want to mention:

WebMD - I found out my piece isn't airing on the site until September 24! That sucks. But at least they did put up a schedule of what's coming so I know they didn't cut me out.

RA and running - Wendy (aka Rusted Runner) emailed me to invite me to run the Outer Banks marathon or half with her and a few other women with RA. It's super tempting. November 8. If it were within driving distance, I'd do it in a heartbeat. This would require flying though, and logistically I'd have to figure things out.

Weight - So I finally am not starving all the time. It's been a week or so that I've felt much more normal in this area. I had 5 pounds to lose to get back to pre-preg weight for the past month or 2. I just weighed myself after my shower this afternoon and I was even lower - despite that I normally weigh first thing in the morning, etc. etc. So maybe I'll hop on tomorrow morning and be pleasantly surprised. Although my core/abs feel as strong as before (I never really felt like I lost much there, I did ab works pretty much all the way through the pregnancy), I'm ready to lose the little fat rolls that give me a nice muffin top when I'm not careful.

Breastfeeding - I'm still nursing twice a day and pumping once. After out trip to Michigan in July, I think I'll think about cutting out the pumping mid-day and see how that works out for a while. If the boobs can handle it, morning and night nursing might be sustainable longer than I thought. But, maybe not, too. At least I feel not too much stress about whatever I decide.

Injuries - Went to see another foot guy about my Achilles to see if anything had changed in the last 7.5 years since I hurt it. Nope. He said surgery was an option, but not a good one with a baby since recovery would involve a few weeks of crutches. So my other option is to be MUCH better with ice, and start taking ibuprofen or something again.

Fun - I sort of played a soccer game last night (we scrimmaged as apparently the game was cancelled but our entire team did not know, so we all showed up) and it was fun (it's been 2 years) but my heel hurt more than usual this morning. It's a co-ed league, and though I've played with the same core group for a few summers (minus last year), I still feel like I know no one and am pretty shy and awkward at the games. I also can't figure out how my team won the state championshop my senior year and I got an MVP award, because frankly, I have very few skills! I made more than one pass to the other team last night (although, mine were hardly the only mistakes).

Working out - I've committed to a half marathon training plan, one similar to Monica's. I'm hopefully doing 2 halfs in September - one local, and a week or two later, the Philly Distance Run if all goes well (ok, I haven't committed monetarily yet). What I love about this Runner's World plan is that it has me running only 3 days a week, and once a week the run is an easy 2-4 miles! Hey, that I can handle. Where I'll have trouble is the long runs, but...hey, I can do it.

This morning I planned to go to 9:15 yoga, but Andra needed to nap badly, as she slept for nearly 2 hours as opposed to her normal 45 minutes. So when she woke up we went for a little run-turned-walk (ok, those easy 2 miles aren't always easy) and I went to a later yoga class. It was an easy class for beginners (I qualify) and largely just stretching, which was fine with me. I lifted a bit after. I was very happy be able to use a 40 pounds bar for some bicep curls - evidence that my wrists are SOLID now, despite the damage from the RA. 10 years ago when I was diagnosed, I'd given up on push-ups and any hope of weight lifting. So that's a pretty cool thing.

SUMMER!

School's out for summer! Andra came with me today, it was super easy. In part because all the teachers pretty much just let the high schoolers wander in and out of classes all day, we don't take attendance, and we really just want the day to be OVER. But it was fun showing Andra off. As usual she was all smiles, and somehow she even managed to take a 40 minute nap (I brought her bouncy seat) under my desk! All it took was a quiet room and me ignoring her enough so she could conk out. I skipped the faculty meeting at 11:30 so I could make a noon spin class. Andra was a champ at the Y daycare, and then I took her for a quick dip in the pool. She fell asleep at 2 in the car, and skillfully I managed to transfer her up to her crib without waking her TOO much, and she's having a good nap.

I sense a GREAT summer ahead of us.

Andra's first race in the BOB

We did a little 3 miler this morning, part of a summer series that progresses and ends with a half marathon in September. I figure the only way I will have a chance at getting my long runs long again is to have races to do.

This was a small race, maybe 100 people or so. We started at the back so we didn't get in anyone's way. It was actually nice, I got to pass lots of people in the first mile! (Ok, lots maybe means 20?) 8:37, but it was pretty much flat and downhill. The uphills started with a vengeance after that (probably not that bad in reality), at mile 2 my watch said 18:07 and we finished at 27:45 or so, 9:15 pace I guess. It was hard!!! I mean, obviously I was slow, but no matter...it was hard! I also think I didn't eat enough, my stomach hurt like it was hungry during the last mile. The 5 mile in the series is in 2 weeks, I think I'll take Andra for that one but then for the rest I'll need to run solo! I'm totally running these just for fun/distance, not for speed - at least, not under pressure. Andra was a champ, awake the whole time with a few moments of babbling here and there. We were the only ones with a stroller, I guess I figured in such a local event there would be at least one other.

I'm looking into doing a duathlon this summer. I have a couple in mind. Hopefully I'll actually show up for one.

Six months

WTF? Already? Good thing we started her college savings account already, she's going to need it practically next week at this rate.

I was thinking yesterday that I wanted to do a post of some of the highlights, for myself, to look back on. Of course, I had a million ideas and now, sitting at the computer having just put Andra down for a nap, my eloquent thoughts are scattered. Still...

• I'm impressed that we've managed to keep this little critter alive. I mean, I know less qualified people do it all the time, but still...she was so tiny and all in the beginning. I guess babies are designed to grow though, no matter what.
• I am SO happy I ended up with a kid who likes to sleep as much as I do. Even her naps now, at least when home, are easy (if still on the short side): when she starts fussing and rubbing her eyes, plunk her down in the crib, turn on the mobile, walk away, and she's out by the time the music stops.
  
• She's just a go-with-the-flow kind of kid (maybe they all are, at this age though?). A friend swears it's because she's a Saggitarius. Whatever, it's nice that she's social, happy, interested, can play by herself for fairly long stretches (10-15 minutes, with occasional tickles from mom), smiles easily and often at anyone who talks to her, and doesn't seem phased by anything. (I realize this could all change once she reaches separation anxiety age...)
• I'm still not a touchy-feely person, but MAN do I love this kid.
• I'm pretty laid back as far as moms go, I think. I don't worry too much about germs, daycare, blah blah blah. I want to raise a happy, outgoing, independent kid and that means letting her explore the world and other people.
• Working out is important, but not nearly as much as pre-kid. I do still try to work out most days, because I like it. But if I miss a day, fine. Not gonna lie, I wish I had kept up my distance with running. It's always hard to get that endurance back once it's gone. But I don't have the desire to go out for long runs like I did, I don't have that discipline with everything else that's going on, and although I have nostalgia for the old days, I'm pretty ok with where I am. (I'm also going next Monday to a foot guy about my heel/Achilles issue. If that gets somewhat better, I'll feel better about ramping up the distance/days of running this summer.)
• I am pretty sure I'm not cut out to be a stay-at-home-mom. This summer will tell, somewhat. Not that it matters, we couldn't afford for me to stay home even if I wanted to.
• My husband has become enamored with Andra since she's been more interactive...and it's no big deal to leave her with him anymore, like it was (for me anyway) when she was tiny.
• I love how when I kiss Andra's neck, she opens her mouth wide like she's going to squeal, but nothing comes out. She makes some hilarious faces and I can't wait to see what they turn into in a year or two!
• Breastfeeding was no big deal. Any big deals were in my own mind. I'm in the process of cutting down and out, but taking it slowly. I'm very confident that I'll drop a few pounds when I stop, last time I weighed myself I was 5 pounds above pre-preg weight and my appetite has been much more normal the last few weeks since cutting out one daytime pumping session. I do want smaller boobs when this is over. Big boobs make me feel fat and (totally unrelated) I don't understand why super fit/lean weightlifter types always get boob implants. Makes them look so unbalanced.

I think that's it for now. Not the eloquent post I had in mind, but it will have to do.

In other news, I did a spin class followed by a half-mile swim in the pool. The swim took 20 minutes. That is slow. I did try to force myself to practice breathing on my right side, and also alternating sides. By the end I didn't feel quite as awkward, but I have a long ways to go there.

Swimming

Ran Pear Tree Point route today, 4.5 miles down by the water. No real expectations, managed to run it all (no walking) in 39:15. Just looked back at some logs, my fastest time ever was 35:15 (at 4 weeks pregnant, unbeknownst to me at the time!), I think an average time was around 38. Felt heavy...partly because I'm sure I'm still carrying around 6 extra pounds or so (haven't been on the scale in a while! Like, months.) and partly because my legs are sore from boot camp Saturday and spinning Sunday. Still, it felt good to run. Last week I only managed to run twice (it rained all week, except the one day I had no time to work out of course), both times on the treadmill and I just was so not into it that I only did 2 miles (speedwork, trying for variety to make me go longer but didn't work). Lifted more though.

Sunday while I was spinning Fred brought Andra to the pool. I got to watch most of it since he got there toward the end of my class. She loved it!! He put her on a kickboard so she could go surfing. She was just a super happy baby and full of smiles for everyone who talked to her.




I found out today that I can buy a pass for the town pool where I teach. It's a super nice pool with a great kiddie pool and lots of shade. The only down side is that I'll see tons of high schoolers I know, but on the up side, maybe I can pay one of them to babysit for half an hour while I swim laps!

The end of the school year

I love this time of year. It's when I realize that, despite my (mostly) best efforts, 95% of my students are just as stupid (and lazy) as they were in September.

All day I've been thinking that sticking a fork in my hand would be less painful than surviving the last week of classes.