gaining weight

we must be on the same diet, my son and i.

i was able to squeeze in three runs last week and two swims. one of the runs was a great trail run with the orange county trail runners at aliso creek and wood canyon wilderness park. boy, let me tell you, it felt great to be back on the trails and hammer up some of those climbs. but, even those five workouts are a far cry from the training maniac i was a couple months ago. add in that i haven't been reducing my portion sizes and that equals some weight gain. i've had my eye on it for the last few weeks and it's been a consistent increase of about 3-4 lbs.

which is really interesting. because when we went to tc's first month check-up yesterday (happy one month, tc!), he, too, had gained some weight. 3lbs 6oz, to be exact, from our last doctor visit. our little guy well past his birth weight and now into the double digits. he weighed in at a healthy 11lbs 4oz yesterday.

the doctor was very happy with how he's doing. he's healthy, showing all the signs of proper development, has a healthy cry, strong limbs and we were reassured that his little wiener is all healed up and the doctor actually used the term, "perfect". i asked him if i could quote him on that and use it on his resume at some point. i mean, heck, that'd look just as good as "3 time ironman", "egregia cum laude from harvard" or "#25 on the forbes 400", right?

it's so awesome to see the little guy changing and growing. we can see the weight gain in his face, as it starts to fill in. he's starting to become more aware of his surroundings, too. he loves to sit on my knees and look over my shoulder out the window at the patterns the trees are making. his 'content' smiles are becoming more frequent and more pronounced. yesterday morning he fired of a series of smiles that weren't just the 'corner of the mouth' smile, but full blown grins with the whole face getting in on the action. at one point, he even kicked out a "HEH", which i took as his version of a laugh.

at week two, it became apparent that the healthy bacteria were setting up shop in his intestine as his poop began to have an odor. oh, the joys of growing up. okay...and you all know me and poop. i'm fascinated by this. i thought at first i'd be hesitant to change the poopy ones, but man, i love it. i love the different consistency, colours and which colours smell worse. and this is just on formula. i can't wait for the science experiment that will be solid foods.

so, he's growing and so am i. let's just hope that the number of inches he's growing aren't the same increases that i begin to see in my waistline!

swimming with the sharks

last saturday's ride down to solana beach introduced me one of the board members for the oc tri club, q. we seemed to hit it off and we made plans to continue to do some training, as he's preparing for the half iron at vineman and i have the camp pendlton oly next month. since the camp pendleton oly is an ocean swim (albeit in an enclosed bay) i really wanted to get out into the pacific and get over my fear of swimming with marine life that is higher on the food chain than i am. so, q and i planned on an ocean swim/run brick for thursday night.

i showed up at corona del mar a little early, suited up and took a couple easy strokes out into the surf. the water wasn't too cold and the wetsuit again felt fantastic. q showed up and the two of us hopped into the surf. the plan was to swim out to the first line of buoys, regroup and then swim parallel the shore along the line of buoys, regrouping at each major buoy. i was glad to have him out there with me, since he was formerly a rescue swimmer for the coast guard. we headed out and surprisingly, i felt quite at ease.

i kept pace with q out to the first buoy, we paused for a moment and then headed off along the line of buoys. q pulled away from me easily, but waited up for me at each major buoy. before we knew it, we were at the end of the line and i was noticing that the swell had significantly increased. sighting was more difficult and it felt like i had to work a bit more to stay on course and keep my body position correct. the great thing was that i was so focused on sighting and keeping an eye on the buoys that i didn't have time to scan the water around me for signs of marine life.

i'd hit my rhythm by the time we hit the last buoy and i indicated to q that i was ready to return. q again waited for me at each of the major buoys and i was able to swim straight back to the first buoy without pausing. as i neared the end of the loop, i evaluated how i was feeling and actually felt like doing another loop. i decided against it, though, since i didn't want to spend too much time on the workout and we still had an hour run coming up. we exited the water and proceeded to get changed.

the run was a fantastic out and back through crystal cove state park, which runs along the bluffs overlooking the beach. as we ran along, temps in the mid 70's, wonderful breeze blowing and bright, afternoon sunshine, i asked myself what i was doing looking at real estate in other parts of the country earlier in the day.

the plan is to keep doing this sort of workout on a weekly basis and now that i'm over the fear of the unknown, i'm really looking forward to it!

and i ran, i ran so far away (and cycled, too!)

well, this week at work wasn't a true work week, seeing as how we had several appointments with tc and whatnot and as a result, working out at lunch wasn't really an option most days. add in the fact that the gym was overhauling it's locker rooms and the showers weren't available and that resulted in little to no training. i was determined to get in at least one run, one bike and one swim during the week, though, just to keep loose and active.

so, despite the limitations of the week, i was able to get out on wednesday and knock out a fantastic run. i ran back bay and cruised along happily in the warm sun for about six miles. i meant to take it easy, but it just felt so good to be running and getting some sun that i ended up moving along pretty quick. i didn't feel the effort until i got home and sat down to feed tc. it was all i could do to keep my eyes open and stay alert enough to interact with him. whew!

friday after work, i planned on getting into the pool at the gym and getting some swim time in. i headed into the newly refurbished locker room, got changed, rinsed off in the newly refurbished showers, walked out on the newly finished and painted deck, hopped into the pool and noticed the new lane markers and began to put on my goggles. no sooner had i put the strap on the back of my head and a lifeguard came over and informed me that they'd be closing the pool in 2 minutes to accommodate one of the swim teams that practices there. so, i DID get in the pool. only i didn't swim. but the water felt good and refreshing. that counts for something, right?

saturday morning i was up bright and early, fed tc and then hopped on the bike to head over to the irvine transportation center where i met pete, quentin and oz for a nice, long ride down to solana beach. we headed through newport coast down to pch, where oz broke off and headed north. the rest of us took pch south and cruised along through newport, dana point, san clemente and along the beach at san onofre and camp pendleton. the route was fantastic and by the time we hit camp pendelton, the june gloom had burnt off and we were presented with beautiful sun, low 70's and amazing views of the beaches of san diego county. we finally hit solana beach after about five hours of riding and 70 miles (my longest ride ever!). we picked up our tickets at the solana beach amtrak station, bought some burgers and then enjoyed the lazy train ride back up to irvine.

two out of three ain't so bad and the great ride with fantastic company made up for the lack of a swim. next week should be better for training since it's a full work week and the gym is back to full functionality.

irresponsible marketing

crn ran an article the other day about the ad campaign that a certain shoe company is currently running. i had some initial responses to the ad but had intended to let it slide, since the rest of the interweb was making enough of a stink about it. but then i let it stew and the thing that really bugged me about the ad just wouldn't go away. this morning, i had an ad from the same company for their triathlon gear line sitting in my inbox. that bugged me. so i wrote them.

Dear Sirs,

I was going to let the ad sit and not bother you with my opinion regarding your latest marketing campaign attempting to inspire 'runners' and marginalize 'joggers'. But seeing this ad for triathlon gear sitting in my inbox this morning reminded me that I will no longer be purchasing your gear and I wanted to let you know why.

I have read many comments by 'runners' and 'joggers' across the Internet taking offense at your latest campaign for one reason or another. Either it's the pace that you list that makes someone a 'runner' or calling people who run with iPods 'joggers' or the actual division that you make between the two groups. I can see all of their points and I can agree with them all on some level or another. At the same time, I read through your entire marketing spiel on the wearenotjoggers website and I have to admit, while at one time I did fall into your 'jogger' category, by your definition I fall into your 'runner' category and from a 'runner' perspective, the ad motivated me to get out and hit the trails hard. The issues of iPod wearing and your defining line between 'running' and 'jogging' are of no concern to me.

That excited me and I liked the though of your gear being specifically engineered to support the type of 'running' that I do. But that is me. I'm just a small minority of the people that will see your ad. While I like to be motivated by things that make me feel powerful and alive, there's another issue that I think you're completely missing and as a result you've wronged the sport of 'running'. This ad, since it was run in an American publication and hosted on the Internet, is obviously viewable by Americans. This country is currently battling with several health related issues due to obesity and lack of physical activity. Getting Americans off their couches, away from their computers and televisions, is like pulling teeth. Any excuse they have to not be active is something that they cling on to. Attacks like this on slower 'joggers', however sarcastic or cleverly worded the ad may be, will be taken literally by those readers and rather than encourage them to become 'runners', can discourage them and place them back on their couches.

Back when I first started 'jogging', I walked into a Foot Zone running store in Issaquah, Washington and bought my first pair of running shorts. They were bright yellow and made me feel fast. I bought them because I recognized the PI logo on them and knew that you made good gear. If I had known then that those shorts were made for 'runners' and not 'joggers' like I was then, I'd have put them back on the rack and picked a pair of Brooks or Asics shorts. Neither of those companies are ignorant to the battle of the bulge going on in this country. And neither of them made me feel small or marginalized.

Jeff Smith

i hope they get the picture.

the cutter

am i the happy loss
will i still recoil
when the skin is lost
am i the worthy cross
will i still be soiled
when the dirt is off

every time i hear that song (the cutter - echo and the bunnymen) my mind wanders back to the old snl skit with a mohel in the back of a lincoln, dan aykroyd at the wheel driving over heavily rutted roads while a brit milah is being performed. well, even without it being performed in the back of a luxury automobile but rather in an antiseptic doctors office, the concept of removing the foreskin still curls my toes and makes me wince. but to the pediatrician's office we went today and we left leaving a little dna behind.

smsmh was nearly beside herself with anxiety while we waited in the office. she held tc as i wandered around the room and found all the tools for the procedure laid out on the counter. seeing the clamp, i advised her to stay on her side of the room, lest she pass out. the doctor came in and walked us through the procedure, as he talked about it, smsmh grew more uncomfortable while i grew more confident in his abilities. the doctor was actual a mohel and made the joke that he wasn't used to performing for such a small crowd. levity in situations like that win the day. every time.

smsmh wasn't going to be able to handle it, so she opted to wait out in the lobby. i popped tc up on the table, pulled out a bottle of sugar water and started feeding him. the doctor began with the anesthetic, then the clamp and finally the cut. tc cried exactly when the doctor said he would, but as soon as the procedure was done, he was calm again. smsmh came back in after tc had been bandaged and his diaper put back on, mixed him up a bottle and began feeding him. again, i was surprised at how calm he was and he was asleep before we left the office.

the whole process was incredible and i'm glad that i was able to be in the room with him during it. just another step in the little guys development and it's exciting to be a part of it. funny. i keep realizing that i get to be a part of all this because he's my son.

** i realize that this is a subject that receives MUCH debate. our choice has been made (obviously) and this is NOT a place to discuss it, this is simply me reporting on what is going with little tc. if you feel the need to berate me for my choice, please take it to email or keep your comments to yourself. thanks. **

more gratuitous photos

letting go

things are a-changing here in the hipster household. our little man is switching from the silent little lamb that we brought home from the hospital to a screaming banshee at 3am. i kid, he's actually a really mellow baby, but there are the odd occasions where he wails like someone testing a smoke alarm. awesome. good lungs mean that he'll be a good swimmer, eh?

but today has been a day of letting go.

as i laid awake in bed last night after the 1am feeding, my mind wandered to my training. or lack thereof. seriously. in the last two weeks i've put in two runs, three rides and zero time in the pool. yeah, i know i can get back on the wagon once i head back to work, but at what cost? will i be able to make it home every day in time to give him a 7pm bottle? will i get the rest necessary to maintain a level of activity required for imfl? no. i don't think so. so, for this year, i've let go of the idea of imfl in november. i thought that i could build on my existing training and that little tc wouldn't notice the extra time required for training...i mean he's little and not really with it and sleeping the whole time, right? wrong. i HAVE to be here when i can. i WANT to bond with this little guy. plus, if i push the race until next year, then little tc will be old enough to start training in the trailer/stroller with me. i'd MUCH rather have that.

speaking of letting go, our little tc has been letting go as well. in many, many creative ways. i don't know how the little guy manages to do it, but no matter how we position his little member or how properly we secure the diapers, he always figures out a way to ensure that we know he's wet himself. i guess he IS taking after his dad. like leaky father, like leaky son. seems i'm changing clothes as much as the little guy is.

and, today marks a fun day in tc's development. today he let go of the remainder of the womb. as i was getting out of the shower this morning, smsmh called down to me.

"daddy? daddy? i'm missing something!"

smsmh brought tc downstairs and showed me his newly developed innie. i rushed upstairs to look at the chunk of chord that now sat dried, lifeless and scablike on the table.

letting go, indeed.

a hearts capacity

smsmh is constantly in the baby books, bringing ignorant me up to speed on the most recent logic regarding different baby issues. one of the items that we've read over extensively is the whole SIDS thing. after smsmh read all the details to me, i've been anal about constantly touching tc when he's in the crib and holding him as much as i can.

thursday was tc's first pediatric visit (he's healthy and doing well!), and as we were rushing around the house getting ready to head to the doctor's office, i stopped by tc's crib to check on him and he didn't react when stroked his hand and head. i tried again, nothing. the adrenaline rush started and i put my head right next to his mouth to listen for breathing. still nothing. i shook his foot and still nothing. ear to mouth again and still no breath sounds. in hindsight, i think i remember seeing his blanket moving from his chest. i freaked out and began to tear off his swaddler to start cpr. as i pulled at the first velcro strap, tc startled and took a deep breath. i calmed myself down, picked him up and thought through the experience and realized it was just bad timing combined with my SIDS anxiety.

but, for the rest of the day, i couldn't put him down or not constantly hover. at one point, i plopped down on the couch with him and turned on the television. on ifc a movie called, "i am david" was playing. the premise looked interesting. a young boy escapes from a labor camp in bulgaria and tries to make his way to denmark. the story was touching and contained a sacrificial, older male character. watching the scene with the 'father figure' had me in tears. i looked down at my little boy, sleeping soundly on my chest and whispered, "i'd do that for you, too". and the waterworks were in full effect.

who knew? who knew that you could feel this strongly for another human. it's just nuts. the whole concept of this little person being wholly dependent on you for everything just adds a layer to the love you feel that i've never experienced before. i get it now. when people say that a child blows you away with your capacity for love, i never got it. until now.

wow.

extremities