where does the time go?

so.

monday was 9mo for our little guy.  we had his 9mo checkup and tc is as healthy as can be.  he weighed in at just under 25lbs and 29".  dood.  we've got a sumo wrestler on our hands!  the fun bit about this milestone is that we get to move on to more creative foods from the plethora of veggies we've been feeding him.  i think he's consumed every conceivable combination of carrots, peas, beans, squashes and whatnot.  now, though, we get to progress to the non-citrus fruits and some meats.

with that in mind, i plopped him into his highchair as soon as we got home from the doctors and mooshed up a banana for him.  smsmh wasn't too pleased with the results.  she had just bathed him for the doctors visit and he ended up with banana all over his hands, arms, face and hair.  it's fun trying to get banana out of nostrils, dontchaknow.  he's really loving being able to feed himself food.  he gets excited and works ever so intently on getting the bits of food into his mouth.

he's also beginning to find his vocal chords.  man can this boy squeal.  i took him to the mall on our weekly daddy day (saturday) last week and he was squealing for joy at the top of his lungs (he had a crumpled up straw to chew on, wouldn't you squeal for joy?).  his voice echoed through the mall and i couldn't stop laughing at the ruckus he was making, which just egged him on.  the looks on people's faces were priceless.  when did we lose that sort of joy?  why don't we, as adults, show that sort of enthusiasm for life?

me?  i'm making it a point to try to emulate his enthusiasm for things.  let's just hope that they don't call the men in white coats when i squeal with laughter when i find a penny on the ground.

feeling ON

over the past two months, i've really begun to ramp up my mileage and keep a consistent base.  i was on a great run there for a while before my fall in arizona and the flu took me out of the game.  for a while, now, things have been amazing.  i've been hitting the trails at least twice a week with one of those trail runs being my long run for the week.  i've been able to tackle hills and mountains and feel like i did leading up to last year's twin peaks 50k.  it's an amazing feeling to be powering up a mountain and not feel like you need to stop and walk and the reward when you reach the summit is priceless. 

at the same time, i've been diligent about getting in one interval workout a week.  for a while, it was just 400m or 800m repeats, but last week and this week i upped the bar.  last week i pulled off a smoking 3x1mi workout with miles of 6:32, 6:22 and, for a final push (amazing what you'll do when you have a rabbit on the track) 5:57.  yesterday, i opted for 2x2mi and after last week's mile splits, decided to try to hit an average 6:30 pace.  i turned in the following splits: 1)  6:35, 6:25  2) 6:39, 6:25.  that second interval was rough.  i couldn't find my groove and was running the whole thing into the wind.  i eventually settled down and hit my stride, though.  both workouts were right at my limit and i was spent but ALIVE when i was done.  it feels so great to be back ON.  it's been a long time coming!

scimmia vede, scimmia fa

  so.  i'm a happy guy.  most times i have a song in my heart and a skip in my step.  that usually comes out in the form of a whistle.  i whistle.  lots.  while i work, while i play, while i think.  so, it only stands to reason that mia scimmia piccolissimo would imitate what he sees, right?  little tc will now pucker his lips and blow.  his attempt at whistling doesn't actually sound like a true whistle, but there is a little whistling sound that he makes.

makes me wonder if all we ever did was whistle around him, would he learn to communicate only by whistling?  if he figures out how to whistle before he can talk, i wonder if i could teach him how to communicate his wants through different pitches or lengths?  *heads off to wiki to find info on a boatswain's pipe*

bosom buddies

well, the tom hanks j0kes just keep flowing.  dmitri (or, for the sake of keeping with the 'head' naming conventions, cccch), is quickly becoming one of my regular running gluttons for punishment companions.  last week we pulled off a 16+ mile mudfest where it rained in every direction, ala 'forest gump' and this week it was a fun 17.5mi 5am trail run through el moro and laguna coast wilderness, with the two of us finishing together, dressed in not only the same colour, but the same shirt, too!

pete put together a well organized series of loops, 3 different ones (10mi, 7mi and 10mi) with specific start times so people could show up for the loop that best fit their schedule.  i opted for the first two and joined pete, dmitri, marisa, ryan, lori, sid and cyrus. 

we did the same loop as the sunrise loop from a couple weeks back and topped out right as the sun crested the horizon.  again, it was a fantastic sight and a great reminder of just how wonderful it is to be able to participate in this great sport. 

the second loop saw a different mix of folks, with ryan bowing out and the group picking up a handful of other folks (the only name i remember is shelli, from ryan's crazy emerald canyon run a few months back).  we dropped down into willow canyon, out to laguna canyon and up the main trail from the wilderness park entrance.

i felt just plain AMAZING on all of the hills.  i was thinking back to a couple months ago when 10-12mi on trails was tough and it was all i could do to claw my way up some of the steeper hills.  yesterday, like the last couple weeks, i've felt incredibly strong on the hills and have been able to power up them with billy goat gusto again. 

i realized that yesterday's run was the longest run, let alone trail run, that i've done since tc was born.  no, since boston last year.  wow...10+ months since i've run longer than 16mi.  boy, does it feel good to be back at this level.  this is working out nicely for my plans for this spring!

pop over to dmitri's site and check out the photos from yesterday's run.