Into the Woods - A Farewell for Now

Hello dear readers.  I am ruthlessly stealing today's TriTalk Tuesday post to say goodbye to everyone.  Or perhaps, farewell for now.

I started this blog nearly a year ago, as a way to reflect on my journey through becoming a triathlete, to raise awareness of mental health issues, and to (hopefully) gain some understanding of myself and some compassion and empathy from others on the same road.  I have met some amazing people through blogging and social media, Courtney and Cynthia being two of them.  I consider myself blessed to be able to share my goals and triumphs, frustrations and failures along the way.  For this I am grateful.

My last race of the season, the Sun Multisports Cranberry Trifest - Olympic distance, is in less than two weeks.  After this race, I'll be taking some time off of triathlon.  As I've already shut down our bakery due to competing demands, blogging under the name "Cupcake Triathlete" seems a bit silly, as I will shortly be neither.  Well, mostly - once a triathlete always a triathete! 

I find my focus for the fall shifting.  This past weekend we went on a family backpacking trip to Mt. Greylock in western MA.  The time being completely unplugged and 100% focused on my family was very special.  I find myself looking inward more, looking for more privacy in my life and my goals.  I'd like to become more involved with my children, even as they both start school in September.  I'd like to hike more, spend more time outside with them, and perhaps start working on the bucket list of backpacking trails I've been neglecting in the years since becoming a parent.  This morning one of our pet goldfish died - not a great loss in the grand scheme of things, but as I held my crying children, I felt that being there with them was the most important thing I could be doing.  More than work, more than training, more than blogging.  I want to be more present.

I still plan on staying active.  Cycling will always be my primary sport and I look forward to the American Lung Association ride in September - perhaps taking on the Pan Mass Challenge in 2015.  Someday I'd like  to hike the Long Trail.  I'll still run in the town Turkey Trot on Thanksgiving morning (likely with my daughter by my side!).  You will likely even see me at a few local sprints next year.

In parting, I'd like to reiterate the sentiments that prompted me to start this blog in the first place.  No one can ever know just what another person is feeling or thinking.  What their challenges are.  What scares them, what makes them joyful.  As a society, we judge.  We judge working mothers, we judge people with mental illness, we judge others appearances, their race stats - everything is fair game.  I truly wish that people could be more understanding and helpful to eachother.  The fitness community is fabulous at supporting eachother and encouraging everyone to be their best.  I wish everyone health and happiness, in whatever forms it is meaningful to them.  As we all move through this life, let's be kind to eachother.

Best wishes,
Miranda

Friday Five - Things I'm Happy About

Another Friday, another week.  No major races, themes, or specific rants to write, so I'm jumping on the "Friday Five" blogging bandwagon and writing up my week in the form of five things I'm feeling really positive about this week.  (Yes, I'm still on my "against negativity" kick.  Get used to it).  Besides, who doesn't love a bullet-ed list?  Admit it - we are all list-makers.....

1.  Spring!!!

First ride outside on my husband's hybrid

It's finally been consistently in the 50s up here in New England.  We had a ton of rain earlier, but the last few days have been clear and dry.  We put up our birdhouses and are watching our bluebirds move in.  Our sprouts for the garden are coming up in their seed pots in our kitchen, crocus and daffodils are poking out in the yard.  My kids are able to play outside for hours, running and biking endless repeats up and down our driveway.

Mini birders in training

Most importantly for me, this marks the end of a tough season in terms of feeling down and anxious.  Winter is always the hardest part of the year for me, and this extended polar vortex did my mental health no favors this year.  Equally important is that with the weather clear and the roads dry (if a little sandy), I can ride my bike outside!  Which I did on Wednesday, for a glorious hour and 16 miles.  Biking is by far and away the sport I enjoy most - there's just nothing like a nice bike ride to fix anything that is wrong anywhere in life.  

2.  My new toy

Garmin Forerunner 310xt

I went to the TriMania Expo in Boston last weekend with a secret hope of getting a new training watch at a good price.  I've been harboring some serious hostility towards my previous GPS watch (a Timex) for utterly refusing to work properly in any race that I used it, and quitting or misrecording most of my training runs.  I've been using apps on my phone for most of my training, which is great except that when I also try to play music I invariably turn something off I didn't mean to.  Anyway, I have had my eye on the Garmin Forerunner 310xt for weeks.  Come to learn at the expo that it is being discontinued, so I ordered on Amazon and two days later it was at my door.  Not only does it beep and vibrate reassuringly when I turn it on (yes I am working!!) it also is easy to use for the watch-button-impaired, and also spits out tons of marvelous data for me and my coach to pour over.  Hello - my day job is a data analyst.  I like data.... even data I don't fully understand...

Fellow nerds can see all the pretty data at
http://connect.garmin.com/activity/472465642

3.  My support crew

I have really, truly great friends and family.  Needless to say (but should be said anyway), the Jedi is always a total rock of encouragement.  He never bats an eye about me skipping off for workouts and leaving him with the kids.  My kids are huge cheering crowd, telling me every. single. workout I do that I did great.  A big part of Siri's Lindley's talk at the expo was about how much her mom supports her.  My mom asks a lot of questions and I feel like she is behind me, which is huge since she's my best friend.  Gypsy and I have been training together a lot - her constant support and practical advice is awesome.  Hummingbird and I have done a few runs and swims together, but are practically joined at the IPhone with how often we text each other with training and cake questions for each other (she owns a cake business too).  

I can't go to the gym anymore without running into someone I know.  Ran into tons of friends at the expo.  I finally am starting to feel like part of the triathlon community.  I even have gotten a little recognition for this little blog, as last night Laura from A Fat Girl's Ironman Journey pulled me over in the pool to introduce me as "The Cupcake Blogger" to her friend that reads this.  Squee!

As always, my biggest cheerleader is my coach Sheriff.  He's starting to really get into his training for IM Lake Placid, so I get to see his workouts and push self accordingly.  He also is tireless in his encouragement to not skip workouts (unless I need to for health reasons, then he's the first to tell me to bag it.)  I had a tough day yesterday and wanted to punk off my evening workout in favor of drowning sorrows with some Pinot Noir.  Not only did he tell me not to, but followed it up with a pic of himself actually in the pool at the time doing his own workout.  Walking the walk.  Hard to argue with that.  

4.  VIP Portapotty status for my next half marathon.

This could be filed under "support crew", but really deserves its own bullet.  I swear this is a real thing.  For the Rock'n'Roll Half I'm doing next weekend in Raleigh, Rio and I got an email for VIP portapotty status if we bought something (Brooks maybe?) or shelled out some additional money.  Basically, they rented fancy clean portapotties in a designated area that only The Chosen can relieve themselves in.  As I already shelled out a race fee and plane ticket for this, it was a no for me.  I quipped something wistful to Rio via email, and a few hours later she signed up!!!  This also comes with some other things that she and her husband (who is also running) are psyched about like closer parking, some extra food or beer or similar, but for me, it's all about the pre-race poop.  I'm in heaven.  Thank you Rio this is true friendship!!!

5.  Working hard

Yes, confession.  I like Britney's music.  This song has been on repeat a lot this week - it's great for hill repeats and for speed intervals, both of which I've done this week.  (Side note, I'm pretty sure that the Jedi likes Britney too because "Oops I Did It Again" came on three times in a 30 minute car ride in his car.  He protests.  I think he's lying.....)

Dominatrix theme aside, I like the lyrics of the song.  "You want hot body, drive a mazaradi... you'd better work b**ch".  Stick with me Mom - I have a point.  Nothing in life comes free.  I've had to double down in the work (career) department lately for a number of reasons.  That's ok.  Ditto for athletics.  I'm working hard to get the results I want.  Working hard to carve out time to train and ditching the associated guilt.  Working physically hard (remember when I said hill repeats and speed work?  Ouch.  I was so tired after last night's run/swim brick I could barely move).  Working hard is good.  I'm grateful to have a job to work hard at, and a body that is capable of pushing through some of my recent workouts.  It's a good thing.

So there you have it.  My Friday Five Happy Things!  For good measure, here's my workout stats for the week:

• Tuesday: Hill repeats (5).  3.47 miles in 41:38.  That hill was hard!
• Wednesday: First outdoor bike ride of the spring!  15.3 blissful miles in 1:05:43
• Thursday: 25 min strength training hips/core in the morning.  Evening brick: 1 hour kid swim, 40 min speed intervals on treadmill, then 2000m swim
• Tomorrow (Saturday): 10 mile outdoor run with Gypsy
• Sunday: Spin class and another hour in the pool!

What are you feeling good about this Friday?

100 Happy Days

Because I'm HAPPY!!!!

Whew that was fun!  I think this was playing at the finish line (or somewhere) of the New Bedford Half Marathon last weekend.  I thought it was ironic at the time, but it's been stuck in my head ever since (which makes a nice change from Frozen music).  I'm going with it.

Buoyed by my resolution against negativity, I also took the advice of my wonderfully wise PT and friend Laura and signed up for the 100 Days of Happiness Challenge.  It's simple - for 100 days you take just five minutes to appreciate and enjoy something that makes you happy.  Then ideally you take a picture of it and share it via whatever social media floats your boat.  100 days of being annoying cheerful to your friends....

But in all seriousness, it is a great idea.  When I was a kid, I also had a tendency to be pretty negative.  Not remember the good stuff.  Which, as a parent is deeply annoying when you spend all day playing with your kid and doing nice things for them only to have them throw a temper tantrum at bedtime.  So my mother started a tradition of making me tell her three nice things that happened to me during the day.  (We have also employed this parenting strategy with my daughter, who is a copy of me in all things).

When you have to deliberately find something to be happy about each day, it makes you appreciate your life more.  Because, let's face it - most of life is craziness sandwiched between responsibilities and more responsibilities.  If you don't look for them, it's easy to miss the small things that are most important.  Also by tagging all your photos, you are able to look back over the days and months and get a picture of just how nice a life you really have.  Even on days that aren't so great.  Even on Mondays <<cough>>.

This weekend kicked off my 100 Days.  It was a pretty amazing weekend.

Saturday morning the kids and I packed up early and headed to the gym.  Although my Total Immersion class is now over, I am fond of our Saturday schedule.  Plus Hummingbird is starting TI at the same time, so I wanted to be in the pool to make faces at her (which she appreciated).  I had a really nice, comfortable swim set of about 1300 meters.  It was slightly abbreviated due to child watch difficulties, but that's ok.  I got to take my class picture with Gil, and received a TI swim cap as my finishing prize.  Also bumped into (almost literally) Laura from A Fat Girl's Ironman Journey, which is the first time we've met in the real world versus online.  Yay!

Me and Gil.

Hummingbird also hopped out of the pool long enough to give me another present out of the blue - Shwings!!

All Shwinged out!

I'm not sure what possessed her, but it was really sweet.  I've wanted these for a while, just because I think they are cute.  She told me that they would help me run faster.  I guess she knew I needed a confidence boost.  I felt so very lucky to have good friends.  It takes a village to raise a triathlete.

I followed the swim set up with a spin class - something I have not done in literally months.  I had forgotten how much fun they could be!

Total mileage for Saturday: BRICK Swim 1300 meters, Spin 22.1 miles in 53:46

In the afternoon we took our kids to a local historical museum and enjoyed the temps in the 50s and the warm(ish) sunshine.  It was a perfect day.

On our run.  There's a instrument business
the next town over.
Love me some French horn!

 Sunday was cold again, and I did NOT feel like running.  Happily (there's that word!) Sheriff has told me that I can keep my long runs close to the Oly distance (6 miles) from now on.  No need for epic shenanigans in the cold for hours at a time.  I was still in bed when Hummingbird texted that she was on her way.  Shoot!  Quick breakfast and throwing on my not-yet-clean running tights and we were off!  We did a nice, slow 6ish mile loop from my house.  My hips were still just a little tight, but overall I felt really great.  So relieved to be feeling strong and well again after my tough run a few days prior.  We even ran negative splits with the last 2 miles in the 9:00s for pacing!

Total mileage for Sunday: 6.2 in 1:04:03 plus some good yoga

After lunch it was back to the Y with the kids for their swim session.  Humongous mommy brag alert:

Both kids now swim with no floaties or bubbles.

I was thrilled.  Getting my girl into the water has been a pretty big deal - she has a lot of fear to work through.  It's just a great milestone for them both.  I rewarded them with pizza and hitting the Lowe's to pick out seeds for their garden this year.

Helpers.

We rounded out the weekend with some new recipes - broccoli rabe from our organic vegetable share, and maple white chocolate brownies in honor of our visit to Maple Days at the historical museum.  One upside to scaling back the cake business is that I have the energy and inclination to bake for the family.  The kids were so happy when I answered Yes! to their question of "is that for us?" instead of telling them the treats were for customers....

Maple brownies

So now it's Monday.  I have the kids cold, so perhaps I should be grateful for modern medicine:

Or perhaps I will be grateful when I get to go home and curl up again with this one:

Cuddle me!

There is a lot to be happy and grateful for.  Even on Mondays.  Let's hear it for the next 97 days and me keeping this streak alive!!

What are you happy about today?

How Did I Get Here? 2013 in Review

This was me in March of this past year.  Beer in hand, having just jogged/walked the St. Patrick's Day 5K in 35+ minutes.  On a dead flat course.  Followed up immediately by chugging two beers and having the brilliant idea to buy my kids a plastic toy trombone thing that deeply annoys us (and certainly the neighbors) no end.

Now admittedly, that race was a blast because I was there with two awesome friends, BUT I've come a long way since.  I've read innumerable blog posts from other athletes summing up their years, so in the interest of not making mine just one more, I'll try to keep it brief.  By the numbers:

• 6 5K races.  That includes 2 color/glow runs and a Warrior Dash
• 2 10K races
• 3 sprint triathlons
• 150+ miles of charity bike rides
• 3 rides up and down Mt. Wachusett
• 4-5 open water swims across a substantial lake and back, during none of which did I drown
• 764 miles logged total, according to my various compulsive tracking programs.  That's combined sneakers, wheels, and swim.
• 12 pounds lost
• 5 weeks in a walking boot on crutches
• 1 coach obtained

I love numbers just as much as the next endurance athlete, but the most important moments of 2013 are those that can't be quantified.

Like becoming a triathlete on the same day as my kids.

And teaching them to love being active as much as I do.

Like getting spectacularly messy with friends.

And meeting some of the most amazing women I know.

Also defying the number are how many fears I've conquered, and how much I've learned - not just about the sport and being active, but about myself.

• I am no longer afraid of falling off of the back of treadmills (though maybe I should be).
• I know the difference between a spin bike and a regular exercise bike.
• I learned how to swim (kinda....)
• I learned how to put on a wetsuit.  Even more impressive, how to get one off.
• I learned how to change my own bike tire.

• I learned how to shower at work and wear spandex in front of whatever coworkers happen to see me running near the building without being embarrassed.
• I learned how to sleep in workout clothes in order to get up and out the door just that much faster for a 5:45 a.m. strength class.
• I learned I push myself too hard.  In all things.

• I learned just how important it is to have Date Night.

• I learned that many people will not understand, and not be supportive.  You lose friends.  But you also gain friends, and those that stick with you and cheer you on are worth a dozen of the ones who drift away.
• I learned that a really good workout is better therapy than a really good beer.  And that when you can't have one all of a sudden, the beer doesn't really help either.
• I learned am learning moderation.  And humility.  And hopefully to let things go and let someone else drive for a while (that's the coaching part.  Eventually I imagine he'll stop letting me schedule my own workouts).
• I even learned that I'm not actually afraid of things I thought I was.  Like rock climbing...

next up... dinosaurs (maybe)

So yeah, 2013 was a heck of a year.  Add in our oldest starting school, our first year doing wedding cakes, and the day to day business of sick kids, ER visits, work, promotions, bills, homework, and forgetting to buy cat food and I'm somewhat amazed I'm still standing.  I don't believe in New Year's Resolutions specifically, but I do have some ideas for what I want to work on next in this journey on mine.  

More on that soon...

Bible Smashing

No, this post is not about dissing the Catholic church or similar.  Yesterday I got the results of the MRI on my foot.  Delivered by the nurse at my general practitioner's office, who had zero other pertinent information (Like what now?  How do we fix it?  When can I walk again? etc.  eye roll).  Equally helpful was my podiatrist's office, who flat out refused to talk to me, look at me or my charts, whatsoever until my appointment tomorrow.  Thanks, medical science.

I know I know.  The suspense is killing you.  It just about near killed me too, because after five weeks in a cast and on crutches, I have absolutely no broken, stressed, or otherwise harmed bones anywhere.  In other words, there was never any need for me to be in a walking boot or crutches in the first place.  You've got to be kidding me.  I've wasted the last 5 weeks, my life, my work, my physical fitness, and all the strength in my lower leg for NOTHING.  The first thing I did after I hung up was march down to my car (I was in the office) and throw my crutches and boot in the trunk and slam the door.  Then stalked back into the building looking really pissed.  The receptionist was very confused, bless her heart.

See that tiny black dot near the arrow?  It shouldn't be there.

Ok - it's not exactly nothing.  What I have is a small ganglion cyst sitting right next to one of the key nerve junctures in the foot.  What it is is a small pouch of fluid that forms associated with a joint, usually in the wrist but sometimes in the foot as well.  The cyst often forms as a result of repetitive trauma, which makes a lot of sense, for a runner like myself.  This is also where the "rachet" for the laces of my bike shoes is placed, so a lot of pressure on that area when I ride.  Like the 100 miles I did the weekend I got hurt.   Mine is right where the first metatarsal meets the bones of the foot - right near under that big tangle of nerves in the picture

Nerves of the foot

Until recently, the home and official remedy was to hit the cyst as hard as you possibly can with the heaviest book you own (usually the bible).  Really.  I am not making this up.  The idea is that by whacking the stuffing out of the cyst, you pop it, your body absorbs the goo, and in about 50% of the time it doesn't come back.  Great odds, eh?  Heathen that I am, I don't own a bible, so Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire is gonna have to do the trick.  Any volunteers?  No?  Jedi isn't signing up, so some of my coworkers said they'd do it.  Gotta love a supportive work environment.....

Many people find comfort in religion.....

 Alternatives to crushing my foot with a large dictionary and causing further damage is to have the cyst drained or removed surgically. Or wait and see if it will go away on its own.  Now this is the part I don't know about yet and have to talk to the doc about.  The cyst is possibly too small to drain, and also in an area with a lot of nerves - in other words where it might be ill advised to have someone go after with a knife.  I have two appointments in the next two days to meet with two different podiatrists to figure all this out.  Because although I am thoroughly enjoying not being booted and walking around like a (somewhat) normal person, it still hurts like h*ll.  Knowing what it is isn't changing that.

Group stretch!!!

So in the last 2 days I've been stretching.  Practicing walking with both feet.  Frankly, how to taper off the pain meds I've been on (if I can) without going into crazy withdrawal.  That last one is something I am ashamed of, but feel like I have to mention in this blog for the sake of being honest.  Trying to integrate back into the flow of my regular life.  That last one is a problem, because I've realized my regular life is INSANE.  Work is batty.  I had three cake orders come out of the woodwork for this weekend.  The kids are not down with my new-found freedom after a month of being chained to them.  I'm trying to figure out how to exercise again.  Christmas presents.  Social calendars.  What needs to be remembered in backpacks for school.  More work.  More kids.  How did I ever do this?  And how am I going to do it again?  Totally overwhelmed.  While I'm very grateful nothing is broken, I've gotten whiplash from going from zero back into life in the space of one phone call.  God help me.  Oh right - he already wrote that nice thick Bible.....

Wishing on Milkweed & Acorn Wreath Tutorial

I am not in the mood to write.  When I'm feeling down (and I don't want to whine), even extrovert me tends to get quiet, hide in the closet, and wait to feel better.  Kind of a "if you can't say anything nice, don't say anything at all" mentality.  BUT a training buddy / friend saw one of the very many crafts I've been posting to Facebook, and asked me to write a tutorial for it in this blog.  It is neither triathlon nor baking related, but.... here it goes anyway.  I'll cut right to the tutorial chase and save the philosophic ramblings for later on in this post.

Acorn Wreath

For this craft, you will need a glue gun with a LOT of glue, some heavy duty wire, a foam wreath frame from a craft store (mine was about 9 inches around with a 2 inch diameter - green foam.  from the florist section), some silk leaves (or real if you prefer) and a giant bag of acorns.

I've been trying to get out of the house at least once a day.  Like many breeds of large, hyperactive dog, I apparently need to be walked and exercised in order to be happy.  Mommy is a Dalmatian.  Fresh air fixes almost anything (temporarily).  Yesterday's outing was to a local farm for a gorgeous hayride, to get mini-pumpkins for pumpkin spiders, and to the bike path so that the little biker dude could get in some miles that he's been desperately campaigning for.  

On the hayride

 The spot we parked at the bike trail was under some giant oaks trees.  The little girl still has no interest in biking, and since Mommy can't run with her, the plan was to crutch over to the nearest bench and sit keeping me company while Daddy chased the little man on foot.  Seeing the hundreds of acorns on the ground, I grabbed a bag from the car and we set to work instead.  If any of the many people that passed us thought it was odd to see a five year old and a full grown woman on crutches sitting in the dirt collecting acorns, they didn't say so.  Once the boys got back, more collecting ensued.  We got hundreds.

Before you can craft with acorns, it's important to dry them, so that any critters living in there don't come out to play once you've work them into crafts.  So - to dry spread in a single layer on a towel for an hour or so.  Then place in sheet pans, single layered, in a 175 degree oven for at least an hour and a half.  Leave the oven door open a crack so that moisture can escape, and stir them every so often so they don't burn.

Got enough?

Once they have cooled, they are ready to use.  Today is our Farmer's Market day, so the Jedi is furiously baking for the morning and then gone the rest of the day.  Girl child goes to half day kindergarten, but the little guy is around all day, and since Mommy is present, is completely underfoot and incapable of entertaining himself.  So I set us up in the playroom craft table for the morning.

Kid wreath version - Elmers and foam wreath

We both started with wreathes.  For him, an orange "wreath" of foam stuff and regular glue, and for me the florist green foam wreath and the hot glue gun.  Putting together the wreath could not be more simple.  Glue the acorns to the wreath.  That's it.  I started out in the inside - applying a small section of glue along the inner edge and sticking on a few acorns (with no caps) at a time.  Working outward until the entire wreath was covered. Offset the acorns in a "honeycomb" pattern so that as much of the foam is covered as possible.  Be generous with the glue - I went through several sticks.

Gluing on the acorns

 As always, kids and hot glue guns don't mix well, so make sure you keep an eye on both when they are adjacent.  Once the wreath is covering in acorns, I hot glued on some silk fall leaves and berries that were part of a garland I had lying around.  You could use fall ribbon, burlap, or any other kind of accent you like.  Wrap the heavy duty wire around the top and twist it into a loop to hang.  That's it - easy!!

__________________________________________

So yes, I've been doing a lot of crafting.  Still can't drive, and I'm off work this week.  I tend to measure each day by what I've accomplished, so it's hard to not feel like a total waste of space when I'm not working, training, walking, driving... etc.  Crafting gives me some quality time with the kids (which I never have enough of), and the feeling of having something tangible at the end of the day to say, "Look what I did!!"  I like to hang my stuff right up there next to the kiddos'.  It also keeps the kids entertained at least momentarily so that the Jedi can see to the running of the house, the business, and every other useful thing around here, in addition to his laid up wife.  Awesome.   The feasibility of "resting" while entertaining a four and five year old is a whole other line of discussion.... one that I think if I get into here would take lots of space.

Building a teepee in the yard

I mentioned I'm feeling pretty down.  This afternoon I was outside with the kids doing a photo scavenger hunt. (A brilliant idea - you give the kids cameras and send them racing all over the yard to take pictures of clues and then come back to show Mommy).  One of the clues was a milkweed plant.  I showed the kids how to open them up and release the fluff on the wind.  How to make a wish.  My daughter asked me to make a wish - my first one was, of course, "I wish my foot would get better".  But then I thought about all that I do have in my life, and what kind of example I wanted to set.  When she gave me my next wish, I wished that someone else out there who needed a wish more than I do - that their wish would come true. (bad grammar - did you follow?) We tossed up the rest of the pod's wishes for sick children to get better, for people who lost their jobs to find new ones, for hungry people to get food, and many more.   Because really, those are the people that need the milkweed wishes.  Not me with all of my blessing and not my kids who have so much.  Lessons in gratitude.

Other craftiness the Cupcake Triathlon team has done lately:

Painting acorns

• Painting acorns.  Have your kid hold them by their tops and paint the bottoms.  You can go back and draw faces.

Mini-pumpkin spiders

• Pumpkin monsters & spiders.  Use pipe cleaners, craft foam, and google eyes to make mini pumpkins and gourds into spiders and other creepy crawlies.

• Trick-or-treat bags.  Let your kid decorate his own cloth trick-or-treat bag with glow in the dark puffy paint.
• Yet more Halloween cake pop designs.  Dip round cake balls in orange and add a green sunflower "stem" for pumpkins.  Form cake balls into cone shapes and triple dip in yellow, orange, and white or chocolate, orange, and white to make candy corn pops.  Make the mummies by dipping in white chocolate then drizzling more white chocolate all over while spinning the pop to make bandages.  Press in mini chocolate chip eyes.

Oh mummy....

Gypsy asked me the other day when we delivered her celebration cake for finishing her first half marathon if I was out for the 70.3 next year.  I told her that honestly, quitting it had never occurred to me based on this injury.  Upon further contemplation, it very well may be that I never run all 13.1 miles.  My body seems to hate running - I cannot stop getting injured.  This season I went from a non-runner, to a 12 minute miler, to a 9:30 minute miler in 6 months.  I was so close to being able to pace Gypsy and Hummingbird (who crushed her own 10K race yesterday) that I could taste it.  Letting go of that dream, at least for this season, is hard. It is hard to know that I'll be starting so far back when I am cleared to run again.  I want to work out - swimming or cycling, but just crutching around has me exhausted most days.  I'm still taking some hefty pain meds - I went to bed at 8 last night and didn't sleep until midnight because of the pain in my foot.  It is hard not knowing what to do.  But I have faith that I will see the other side of this particular injury.  In the meantime, I hope I will have the presence of mind and fortitude to be grateful, patient, and keep wishing on milkweed.

Congratulations Gypsy!