Ugly Toes

Awesome

2008-08-17T16:06:57Z

I feel awesome this morning:
1 | 8:47
2 | 8:45 | 17:32
3 | 8:44 | 26:17
4 | 9:02 | 35:20 (all uphill)
5 | 9:01 | 44:22
6 | 8:57 | 53:19
7 | 9:11 | 62:31 (overpass + starting to get tired)
8 | 9:07 | 71:38
9 | 9:09 | 80:48
10 | 8:52 | 89:40
------------------------------
10.03 miles with Little Miss/BOB | 90:00 | 8:58/mi.

Not bad for pushing a 14lb 15oz 5-month old!

What a Week

2008-08-10T18:53:19Z

I am so glad this week is over.

]]> The Engineer went in for his Electrical Physiological study (the EP) on Friday. We were both really anxious and nervous about it all week. Worry that something would go wrong with the procedure, worry that they wouldn't be able to trigger the tachycardia, worry that the pathway would be in a position that they wouldn't be able to do anything ... But long story short, the EP was long but they were able to trigger the tachycardia and it was in a position that they could do the ablatation. I think the worst part of the whole thing for him was having to basically be flat on his back without moving for something like 12 hours. He had to stay overnight but is home now and feeling pretty good. I am so relieved to not only have this over, but that I won't have to worry about him playing broomball or doing anything physical anymore.

His nurses were all really nice, and the other medical staff was pretty decent with one exception. There were two different people that came out to talk to us during the procedures - and they both addressed his parents instead of me. I even introduced myself to the surgeon as his wife (after he'd told the surgeon that his wife was waiting) and he still addressed the parents. That was pretty annoying.

The other exciting event of the week? Thursday morning, I'm out running by myself since Molly had her playmate in town. I'm just running along, minding my own business when I hear a rustle in the bushes. I look over, expecting to see a rabbit or something. Uh, no. It's a skunk! And it's running towards me. I start running faster, and I see the skunk kind of turn maybe like it's going to spray. So I started just hauling ass to get away from there. I don't know if it did spray; I picked a different route home just in case.

I think I've possibly turned a corner with my running. With the exception of Wednesday's run (9:04), the average paces for all my runs this week were below 9 min/mile. I even ran 9 miles today, averaging 8:59, and I didn't feel too bad. I have to keep myself in check, though - today's run was decent enough that I caught myself thinking that maybe I could run the local half-marathon in 2 weeks. But even though I feel good about the pace I ran today, I know I'd be mad after the 1/2 if I did the same. It seems today like I'd be okay with a 9:00 average for a 1/2, but I'd feel disappointed in myself for not being able to go faster. I could run the 5K, though. So that's something to think about.

On a roll

2008-08-06T01:55:23Z

Had a pretty decent run this morning, with some being run below 9 mpm. I think I probably could've done the whole run under 9, but I had Molly with me. Molly is ridiculous sometimes. She gets super excited when she hears the Garmin turn on (even if I'm just turning it on to download my runs or to look at splits). She knows my running clothes - if I dare go out the front door in my running clothes without her in the morning, she barks and wakes up the Engineer. When I first got my BOB, Molly howled and cried and whined that I was not only going running without her, but I was taking Little Miss. We'd be outside, either getting settled in the stroller or just getting back from running, and we could hear the sad pup.

]]> So anyway, Molly gets to go with me most weekday mornings so that she doesn't annoy the Engineer and because she's a fatass who needs exercise. She hasn't gotten to do a lot of running in the summer previously because it's too hot for her thick black coat, but since I'm going at 5:30AM it isn't too terribly bad for her. She gets really excited when we start running ... but then she starts to get this look of "why did I want to come with you again?" and she starts dragging. I have to remind her that we're running; sometimes she'll rally for me but other times I have to kind of pull her along. Running with her isn't always the most pleasant because she does still sometimes cross behind me or get scared of something and get all weird, but I think she does enjoy getting some time alone with me and she really does need the exercise.

1 | 8:40
2 | 9:03 | 17:44
3 | 9:01 | 26:45
4 | 8:56 | 35:41
---------------
4.09 miles with Molly | 36:30 | 8:55/mi.

Two in a row?

2008-08-04T01:36:36Z

First, I have managed to screw up my blog template so things look really weird here. I guess that's what happens when you just start messing around with things without first figuring out what they are and how they work. Good thing I was at least smart enough to backup my template so I can reverse my changes if I can't make them work.

]]>
I had another good run this morning, but this time it was by myself. I was prepared to take Little Miss with me until I saw how windy it was outside. She's not a big fan of big gusty winds so I left her with the Engineer. Since I was staying mostly within the neighborhood I broke one of my rules and ran with my headphones. I am pretty firmly on the "headphones are for inside only" side of things, but every once in awhile it's nice to have a little music outside.

1 | 8:27
2 | 8:29 | 16:56
3 | 8:37 | 25:34
4 | 8:35 | 34:09
--------------------
4.10 miles | 34:00 | 8:32/mi.

I did feel like I was making more of an effort than most of my 5:30AM runs, but not that it was necessarily a much harder effort (or that it was an entire minute faster). So I am fairly pleased with being able to have a good run the day after a pretty decent 7-miler.

I did have a lot on my mind, though. Long-time readers might remember that the Engineer has PSVT, Basically he has a defective pathway in his heart and occasionally something will happen to trip it up and cause his heart to beat really fast. Sometimes people like to tell him that they have a racing heart, too. It irritates him because when it happens to him, it's really fast - in high school it was measured around 290-300 beats/minute. Over the last few years, it's mainly just been a problem with broomball,
but when you're talking about sprinting across ice when it's -20F it's not that surprising. However, he's had a few problems this summer with softball, with one episode involving us going to the ER because his vision started fading. And long story short, this Friday he's going in to have an electrical physiology study done, and if they can identify the malfunctioning pathway they will ablate (burn/destroy) it. The success rate is pretty good, but it's still a little nerve wracking. If anyone wants to send good thoughts in our direction on Friday, we'd appreciate it.

Great Run

2008-08-03T03:06:00Z

Jeff's updating BTT this weekend and advised us not to post until the update is complete, so I'm temporarily posting here (ETA: on blogspot). I had such a good run this morning and wanted to write about it while it's still semi-fresh instead of waiting and then forgetting. That's one reason I rarely blog anymore, I'm too busy when stuff's fresh and then when I have time I can't remember what I would've written about.

]]> I am so bored with running around my neighborhood. The last time, other than trips to the parents or in-laws, that I started my run from anywhere other than my house was in November (the time-prediction race and my Ryan Shay run) and before that it was last July. So yeah, running around here has gotten really old. I struck a deal with the Engineer that I would get up early to go run on the bike paths. I'd leave a bottle for Little Miss, and he'd get up with her and take care of feeding her while I was out. I was really curious to see if part of the reason my longer runs have been kind of crappy is because I both pump and nurse before running, so this way I'd only have pumped.

I woke up around 6:15; I didn't intend to wake up that early but I was hungry so I went ahead and had breakfast and pumped. Little Miss went to bed between 8:30-9 the night before, so based on previous weekends I didn't expect her up until 8:30-9AM. But I peeked in at her around 6:30 and her eyes were open. I gave her a pacifier and she did seem to go back to sleep ... but when I looked in at her awhile later she was back awake. Now, she wasn't being fussy at all so I could've just continued getting ready and let her wake up the Engineer when she did get hungry. But I would've felt like a total dick leaving an awake baby alone in her crib. So I got her up for the day and decided if the Engineer was still sleeping after Little Miss nursed, I'd just take her with me (running from the house). As much as I wanted to run somewhere else, by myself, his needing to sleep trumped that.

So Little Miss, BOB and I went for a run. I initially thought maybe I'd just do my 4 mile run and try the bike paths/longer run tomorrow. But Little Miss was being content in the stroller and I felt okay so I decided to just get the longer run out of the way. And as said above, it turned into a great run. Here's the proof:

1 | 9:03
2 | 9:10 | 18:13
3 | 8:58 | 27:12
4 | 8:57 | 36:10
5 | 8:57 | 45:07
6 | 8:54 | 54:01
7 | 9:01 | 63:03
------------------
7.22 miles | 1:05:00 | 9:00/mi.

Most people smiled at me and/or looked like they were trying to get a peek of Little Miss. I did have one woman that gave me kind of an odd look, though. I don't have any idea what that was about. The absolute best part of my run was probably just after 3 miles when I had to run up an overpass. Not only did I catch up to a guy, but I passed him. Normally that'd be no big deal, but passing someone up a hill with a stroller felt kind of badass. I did fade a little towards the end, but nowhere near as bad as most of my runs lately.

Today's run was just kind of what I needed to feel a bit better about my running. Maybe I need to run with the stroller more often.

Short Report

2008-07-19T16:09:32Z

Thoughts that ran through my head this morning:
"I can't believe I paid money to feel like crap"
"OK, I gave birth - I can suck it up and run for 10 more minutes"
"It sucks that I have to work this hard to run this slow"

]]> I thought going in that 8-somethings would probably be a good effort. I ran the first mile in 7:30-something, which surprised me. I felt like I was running through quicksand. I fell off of that pace, though but managed to only let 2 or 3 (?) people pass me. I ended up running 31:43 (I think) for a 7:56 average. So better than I expected, but nowhere near where I'd want to be. But it's okay, although I do get frustrated when I read about other new moms having more success - you know, why can't that be me? But I'm sure I have things that other moms are jealous of, like my mostly sleeping through the night baby or the over 600 ounces of breastmilk I have in my freezer. (Just call me Bessie, seriously). I think I'm probably definitely out for next month's half marathon, though. Aside from my long run being stuck around 6 miles, I do not want to work that hard only to come in over 2 hours. That might sound a little snotty, but if I'm going to work hard for 13.1 miles I'd like to actually feel like I accomplished something at the end. I don't want to even bother running a half until I can sustain a pace that starts with a 7.

But it was good to get back out there. And the most surprising thing? I finished 3rd in my age group! Obviously someone stayed home ... but that keeps up my hardware collecting streak for this race. The prizes are always handmade - 2004 was a wooden box with press clippings from the previous 25 years screenprinted, 2005 was a box in the shape of a flower, 2006 was a clock. This year it was a tissue box cover - very handy since I needed a tissue!

I got passed by the woman in white without a hat.

Post-race.

My prize.

Racing ... ugh.

2008-07-15T11:36:19Z

The difference between a jogger and a runner is an entry blank. ~George Sheehan

So by George's definition I am making my return to the running world on Saturday. (By my definition, I never left: I loathe the term jogging). The Women's Race is this weekend, and while I don't feel anywhere near ready to run in a race, this is my favorite local race and the only one I have a streak for (if you count volunteering last year) anymore.

]]> I don't dwell on it because I have more important things to think about, but it's hard sometimes not to be a little disappointed with the state of my running. I guess I expected that since I did manage to run (some) through my entire pregnancy, that I would bounce back quickly. My old AG rival was back out kicking butt pretty quickly after the birth of her son - she ran a 40 or 41 min 10K at 3 months out. Meanwhile, I'm still puttering along at 9:30-9:50 pace most days; I tried to run a little quicker one day last week and came up with an 8:26 average pace for 3.2 miles - and I didn't feel like I could run any farther at that pace, or faster for that distance. (Two things that do not bode well for me with this weekend's 4 mile race). My long run has topped out at an hour - by that point, I'm pretty ready to be done running. During the week, I'm really limited by having to run in the morning. Getting 4 miles in is really pushing it, so most mornings I just do 3.2-3.5.

Okay, started this entry on Tuesday - now it's Friday. So I lost whatever train of thought I had going.

Being back at work is okay. I am surprisingly doing well with less sleep. My running suffers, as mentioned above, but I don't know how much of that is less sleep and how much is because of breastfeeding - probably a combination. Getting out the door in the morning has turned out to be not that bad. It's the evenings where I have more of a time crunch, hence having to get up at 5AM to run.

Little Miss is doing great. She was 4 months on Tuesday. She's up to 13lb 13oz and she's 24" - pretty much right about average. She's trying to figure out how to roll, she can get onto her side but can't figure out how to flip over. She has really great head and trunk control and she loves spending time on her tummy looking around. Daycare is going pretty well for her, too. I think her teachers enjoy her since she's such an easy going, happy baby. It took her a bit to get used to bottles, but she's adjusted and has gotten a lot better. I've been told she's the best napper there; she naps for at least an hour in the morning (sometimes 2 naps of an hour each) and she sleeps for at least 2 hours in the afternoon. She had been sleeping through the night until maybe a week and a half ago, when she started waking up once or twice. Since 4 months is prime time for a growth spurt, that's not surprising. We moved her to her crib in her room last month, and that didn't even phase her.

I have to get ready for work now.

Transitions

2008-06-08T16:21:07Z

I am so glad I listened to reason and did not enter the Twin Cities Marathon; this would've been week 1 of an 18 week training program and there is just no way I'm ready for that. I might enter the lottery for the 10 mile race because I think that might be possible, but a fall marathon is pretty much out of the question for this year.

]]> I've managed to get up to 20 mpw; I would've hit 21 this week but I'm pretty sure I am taking today off. Details on my training are located here. I'm up to 6 miles for my "long" run, but am not feeling like I can really add onto that, I feel kind of wiped by the end. In what I'm sure is a familiar feeling to anyone that has had some downtime, when out running like that it's amazing for me to think that two years ago I ran a 20:40 5K, a 1:36 1/2 marathon and a 3:36 marathon. It seems impossible sometimes to think of ever being able to run that fast again, but I know it's not - 2 years ago I started running again after a few months off and it seemed pretty bleak at first but things turned around after awhile and then that summer was amazing. So I'm really not worried, but it does get frustrating sometimes.

Little Miss and I had been doing about 14 mpw with BOB. I've had some pretty good runs with it, and what's weird is that I think I run faster with BOB than without. I had a fantastic run on Tuesday. I was kind of dreading going running because it was on the windy side. But I ended up with my fastest run since May 2007:
1 | 8:52
2 | 8:57 | 17:49
3 | 8:48 | 26:37
4 | 8:40 | 35:18
-------------------
4.08 miles | 36:00 | 8:49/mi.

I felt amazing afterwards ... running sub-9s again WITH a stroller, even uphill and into the wind. I didn't even feel like I was running that fast.

But things are changing here again.

Little Miss started daycare on Thursday, and I went into work on Friday for a few hours. Tomorrow, I go to work full-time and she'll be at daycare all day. I am having trouble figuring out where running is going to go. I will be working from 8-4:30; my lunch hour will be spent with Little Miss. She had started sleeping through the night, so I thought I'd figured out that if I got up early I could run, shower, dress and eat before she woke up for the day. But the last two nights she's woken after 7 hours, which throws a wrench into my tentative plan. I think I'm maybe going to not run this week - I'm feeling really tired and headachy (which is why I'm skipping out on my run today) and I think maybe I should just try getting a handle on going to work and then try and fit running in. I'm not used to having to be somewhere each day at a specific time (much less a specific time in the morning) so that's going to be an adjustment enough!

Little Miss is 12 weeks - it's gone by so fast. She's a very happy, easy-going baby. She has started to occasionally laugh this past week and I just love that. I keep trying to figure out how to make her laugh again because it's so adorable.

She's holding her head up pretty well:

And she found her fingers this week:

Little Miss's New Ride

2008-05-15T22:04:00Z

On Tuesday, I got a call from REI that my BOB was in, 2 days early. I also got an e-mail notification, but it was only for the stroller and not the handlebar console I'd also ordered. I decided to take a chance and drive the hour to pick it up yesterday. I lucked out and they were unloading the console when I arrived. The BOB box was pretty huge:

]]> REI had offered to assemble it, but I opted to do it myself. I only had two spots where I had trouble with the instructions, but I figured it out in the end. I decided to take Katie out for a test walk last night, and thought I'd be nice and take Molly, too. Unfortunately for Molly, she got left behind - the BOB is much lighter than our normal stroller, and Molly yanking on the leash threw me enough off balance that I almost tipped the stroller over. Katie tolerated the short walk, so I decided we were a "GO" for a run today.

She looked a little confused when I strapped her in this morning.

I expected that pushing a 21 pound stroller with an almost 12 pound baby would slow me down a lot, but I was able to run about the same pace as I've been running. Not to be too big of a nerd, but I felt kind of "tough" running around with a stroller, especially when I had to run up hill. I stopped to peek in at Katie a couple of times; it seems she stayed awake for the first mile and then decided to snooze. I had thought beforehand that I'd be lucky to get in 3 miles, since I didn't know how well Katie would tolerate running and how I would deal with pushing the stroller. We ended up running 4 since she was doing okay and I was having fun. Next time, I'll bring a water bottle and it'll be even better.

9:03
9:08 | 18:11
9:16 | 27:28
9:28 | 36:56
------------------------
4.04 miles | 37:15 | 9:13/mi.
walk CD | 0.21 miles | 3:22

I'm not sure how well she liked running with me, but she didn't hate it at least.

We had her 2 month appointment today and I had her get two vaccinations. (She was supposed to get 5, but we're going to space them out). The first one wasn't so bad because it was a liquid. But the second one was a shot and she didn't like that one bit! She got bright red and cried, it was sad. But after nursing, she decided she was okay and conked out. The pediatrician said Katie's doing great. She's 11lb 9oz now, which is 70th percentile - she was only 48th percentile at birth. She might be a shorty like me, though, since she's only 22.4" (54th percentile).

How to Hug a Baby

2008-05-12T21:10:18Z

My boss sent this to me and I thought it was funny:

]]> HOW TO HUG A BABY
--Instructions for properly hugging a baby.

1. First, spy a baby.

2. Second, be sure that the object you spied was indeed a baby by employing classic sniffing techniques. If you smell baby powder and the wonderful aroma of wet diapers this is indeed a baby.

3. Next you need to flatten the baby before actually beginning the hugging process.

*Note: The added slobber should help in future steps by making the 'paw slide' easier.

4. The 'paw slide'
Simply slide paws around baby and prepare for possible close-up.

5. Finally, if a camera is present, you will need to execute the difficult and patented 'hug, smile, and lean' so as to achieve the best photo quality.

Dogs, if this is done properly, will secure you with a warm, dry, climate-controlled environment for the rest of your life.

If you don't pass this along, a dog will come out and pee on your computer!

I guess you didn't send it fast enough!

Happy Mother's Day

2008-05-11T21:41:41Z

I celebrated my first Mother's Day by being a big ol' slacker. Little Miss and I slept past 9, and by the time I'd fed her and was ready to run it was almost 11:30. While it was sunny, it was chilly and windy (almost 40 MPH gusts) so I was going to treadmill. But I really didn't feel like getting back on the treadmill, and I did feel pretty tired running yesterday so I decided to take a day off. I can run tomorrow. I was thinking I needed a cut back week anyway.

Yesterday I ran 6 miles, for the first time since Jan 12 when I was 32 weeks pregnant. While I was feeling kind of tired, it was a lot more enjoyable than last time. Yesterday I ran 6.01 in 57 minutes (9:29/mi), almost 4 months ago it took 70:23 to run 6.03 (11:40). The weather was a lot better yesterday, too!

]]> Since I last posted, we were notified that a daycare space has opened up for Katie next month so I will be going back to work in 4 weeks. I'm still not 100% confident in that decision, but I want to give it a try and see if we can make it work. I think it will be really good for both Katie and me to interact with people our age.

I'm trying to decide when to go and get my BOB. Since I have to drive 80 miles to get it, it would probably be easiest to go on a day I don't run so that we can get on the road earlier. It's supposed to come in on Thursday, but Katie's 2 month peds appointment is that afternoon. (She's due for her first shots, so it won't be a super fun appointment). In theory, I could probably get up to REI and back before the appointment, but we would have to get out the door pretty quickly in the morning. So maybe Friday, and then we could test it out with a walk and maybe try running on Saturday.

Katie's getting really good at lifting her head up. We did some tummy time earlier, and she held it up for a pretty long time. I took pictures, but my laptop is still stupid and won't read the SD card. The Engineer wants to reinstall Vista, which would probably fix that issue and that it also won't read CDs, but backing everything up is such a pain.

New gear coming soon ...

2008-05-07T20:51:17Z

I bit the bullet and next week I'll be the owner of this:

REI has BOB's 20% off, so I ordered myself the Ironman stroller. I went through ebates.com for a 3% cashback, and I'm going to pick the stroller up at the store to avoid shipping charges. I had hoped I might be able to get it this weekend, but I've been given a tentative 5/15 pick-up. It'll be nice to do something other than treadmill during the week; I hope Little Miss tolerates it.

]]> When I posted pictures the other day, I forgot to post and write about my belly/weight progress. As of last week's weigh-in, I have 2 pounds of pregnancy weight left to lose. Then I'll just need to lose about 12 to get to racing weight - but I should be approaching 25 mpw by the end of this month and that seems to be around what I need to be running for my weight to drop back into the teens. Of course, it might not be that simple but I prefer to look on the bright side of things. I haven't had to work particularly hard to lose what I've already lost, after all.

So here's a composite showing my 2 week PP (postpartum) belly versus my 7 week PP belly. It's getting better, although I swear it looks less round in person. The jelly belly is tightening up, although what's really weird is that I seem puffier/more jell-o like above my belly button instead of below, which is my usual problem area.

Still have work to be done, though - here's what I looked like at 4 weeks pregnant:

What's funny (to me) is that because of the weight I gained trying to get pregnant, I was so unhappy with the state of my body then but now I think it looked pretty good. Something that surprises me about my post-pregnant body is that I'm not really that bothered by the jiggly belly or that I'm not yet wearing my pre-pregnancy pants. While pre-pregnant me would probably by unhappy by the state of things, I'm overall pretty pleased by what I see. How can I not be proud of a body that grew another human being?

Doesn't mean I don't want to get back to looking more like this (taken the morning of the '06 Chicago Marathon while watching the weather reports), though:

Sunny Days

2008-05-06T01:47:23Z

We might finally be getting some spring weather here! Saturday was crappy, but Sunday turned out to be a really nice day and today it got up to 70! I went outside to run yesterday, and other than the wind it was a pretty good run:

58-62 degrees | From SW at 22 mph gusting to 28-30 mph
1 | 9:04
2 | 8:51 | 17:56
3 | 9:05 | 27:01
4 | 9:25 | 36:27
5 | 9:08 | 45:36
--------------------
5.05 miles | 46:00 | 9:07/mi.
walk CD | 0.31 miles | 4:55

]]> Mile 4 was pretty windy so that sucked, but the other miles weren't so bad. It's encouraging to be running closer to 9 min miles again. I ended the week at 19.5 miles; I think I'm going to continue working my mileage up to 25 mpw this month and then next month start adding in some strides and tempos or something. I had hoped to maybe be able to run this month's half-marathon but that's not possible. I'm not sure when I'll be racing next - the track club website seems to be down about 90% of the time lately and it's the only accurate local race calendar. I'm not sure I'll be brave enough to run the All Comers Mile next month, but I do know I'll at least be racing in July with the Women's Race (4 miles) and I will probably shoot for the half-marathon in August.

I realized it's probably better for me not to be committed to a fall marathon this year anyway. Little Miss is an EBF baby (exclusively breastfed) and I have a goal of not introducing solids to her until she is at least 6 months - which would be September. I'm not sure how my supply is going to be affecting by returning to work, and something tells me adding marathon training into the mix might be a bad idea. It's very important to me that we make it to the AAP-recommended 1 year and that has to take precedence over my running goals. I'm hoping I will be able to mix the two, but I need to do so without having committed money to a race looming over me.

Her bib says "Insomnia - One who is unable to sleep through the night"

It is so hard to get a picture when she's making happy faces

The Engineer calls this one "Little Miss hates Vista, too"

Decisions

2008-05-01T13:14:10Z

I'm getting back on track with running, although it's a little more challenging to get my runs in during the week. On the weekends, Little Miss can hang out with the Engineer, but unless I want to wait for him to come home from work I have to try and fit my runs during the week in while she naps. I got in almost 18 miles last week, and am hoping to run 18-19 this week, hopefully with a 5 mile "long run."

]]> I'm trying to decide if I want to buy a jogging stroller. I took Little Miss up to the Twin Cities on Monday (an 8 hour trip! Most of our jaunts around town are no longer than 90 minutes) and got to test out the BOB Revolution and the BOB Ironman at REI. (Because as is per usual, I cannot look at something I want here in town, I have to drive 70+ miles). I really wanted to look at the Baby Jogger, but REI only had a bike trailer and USA Baby only had the City Mini model, which isn't really a running stroller. The big debate with choosing a stroller is whether to get a fixed wheel or a swivel wheel. You need a fixed front wheel for actual running, but people like the Revolution because you can lock the swivel when you run but then have the flexibility of the swivel for taking it on walks or around town. (On a side note, I really hate trying to find information on running strollers online - something like 95% of the reviews are people talking about taking them to the mall, the grocery store or the park. It's a running stroller, I want to hear about how it works for running!) Testing the strollers out, I was able to determine that the fixed wheel wasn't so bad, and since I might not always be on perfectly flat pavement (and again, I want to run with the stupid thing, I have a stroller for the mall/walking), I think that's the route I need to go. So I'd probably go with the Ironman, even though I HATE that it has the IM logo since I will never ever be an Ironman and I know people get funny about non-Ironman people with IM-branded stuff, because it's less expensive than the Baby Jogger and I know of coupon codes to get it even cheaper. BUT it's still going to be around $300 and that's a lot of money - especially since I don't even know how often I'll want to use it. I don't see myself wanting to run with it on weekends when Little Miss can have "Daddy time" and that's when I'd be racing or doing long runs anyway (non-stroller runs, in other words). It'd be great to have now to run in the mornings with Little Miss while we are having semi-decent weather (although I have at least a few weeks before she can go in the stroller for runs). But if I'm back at work, I'm not sure when I'll get in my runs and if they'd be during times that I could take Little Miss along. If I'm going to spend $300 on something, it needs to be something that will get a lot of use. So I have to figure this out.

Little Miss and I toured a day care center yesterday and got put on the wait list for next month. I still have 5 weeks of maternity leave left, and am conflicted about going back to work. On the one hand, I like my job and co-workers and miss interacting with other adults. I think I would miss contributing financially, even if most of my salary would go to day care. I think it'd be good for Little Miss to spend time with other kids and adults. But on the other hand, the Engineer has been back at work since she was 2 weeks and he has said he feels like he barely sees her during the week. Part of that is he works longer hours than me, but that's when I start trying to figure out when I'd see her and how I'll fit running in. If I were to get up early (like 4 or 5) I could run before work, and then I'd have 4:15-bedtime with her. But I don't want to go to bed at 8, and I'm not sure if there'd be enough time in the morning to get in a mid-distance run, shower/dress, feed Little Miss and get her dressed. But that's probably the option I'd have to go with, since if I run after work I wouldn't pick her up until 5 or 6 and then we'd only have an hour or two before bedtime. (Sometimes I'd be able to take her with me in the stroller if we get one, but July-September, it'd be way too hot, and June is a little questionable for weather).

Twin Cities was 75% full as of Monday. I kind of want to run it, but I'm not feeling able to commit to a marathon at the moment. Especially not one that costs close to $100 and that I've already been burned on twice. I think an 18 week training program would start the beginning of next month, and I won't be ready to start Pfitz and don't want to do Higdon. I could do Pfitz's 12 week program to buy myself some time, though. Or I could try to modify Higdon's plan. But without knowing how going back to work and all that is going to work, its hard to predict how I'd be able to add in marathon training. So I think TCM is out and I'll have to settle for just spectating. It looks like Des Moines, which is 2 weeks later than TCM, allows for race weekend registration so that could be an option. Logistically, the Lakefront Marathon in Milwaukee would be a lot easier than Des Moines, but it's the same day as TCM and it's approaching 50% full already.

Ugh spam

2008-04-06T18:35:04Z

I've gotten hit by spammers this morning, so I just spent an hour closing old entries and deleting junk comments. Some of the "comments" the spammers leave crack me up, especially the "your blog sucks" variety. Do people really click on their links?

]]> Overall, not a bad week here. Little Miss had a few fussy days but we're trying some new things and she seems to be doing better. After two sleepless/interrupted sleep nights, she's sleeping for decent-length stretches at night. And she's now up to 8lb 9oz so she's growing like a weed. She's now almost as big as the Engineer was at birth, but she still has 11oz to go to match my birth weight.

Running is coming along:
Tuesday: treadmill
1.5 miles | 15:57 | 10:38/mi.
walk CD | 0.25 miles | 4:10

Thursday: treadmill
2 miles | 20:10 | 10:05/mi.
walk CD | 0.25 miles | 4:10

Friday:
treadmill walk | hill level 4 (3-7%) | 1.24 miles | 20:00

Saturday: 48°F | felt like 42°F | From SW 16mph
1 | 10:33
2 | 10:39 | 21:13
3 | 10:39 | 31:52
----------------
3.01 miles | 32:00 | 10:38/mi.
walk CD | 0.34 miles | 5:46

Sunday:
1 | 9:51
2 | 9:47 | 19:38
3 | 9:27 | 29:05
-----------------
3.04 miles | 29:30 | 9:42/mi.
walk CD | 0.41 miles | 6:22

Today's run was great. I can tell my abs are in some dire need of strengthening, but it's gotten better as the week has gone on. I have started doing some crunches and pushups - I am definitely going to need arm strength to carry Little Miss around. But I felt a little bit more like myself and am thinking maybe I'll be up for racing sometime. I still think the 15K is out, but maybe the half-marathon might be possible. My big mission for the week, though, is to figure out my pump and to get Little Miss to take a bottle - I'll never be able to do any long runs or run outside my boring neighborhood if I don't accomplish those things first.