A Very Happy Birthday

What a perfect birthday card.  Thank you to my mother-in-law.  Life in indeed a journey, and what shoes you wear are a big part of your happiness along the way.  Both literal and metaphorical shoes....

Mice concert ornament at the botanical garden

This weekend I turned 34.  Yes - I'm admitting my age publicly.  Why not?  Honestly I am so much happier and fulfilled at this age that I was at 24, 14... actually maybe I was pretty happy at 4 years old, but I just don't remember.  So right now, overall.... life is good.  My weight (normal + 4 lbs of Christmas cookies), and my pace (about a full minute slower than I'd like to admit).... I will keep to self :)

The specifics of life lately have been a little hairier.  For one thing, Mother Nature decided to dump a foot of snow on us over the weekend, so the original plan of my parents watching the kids so the Jedi and I could have a date was scrapped.  Instead, we decided to meet my folks at a local botanical garden on Friday to see a holiday display I've been wanting to see. Local, free, and safe.  Unfortunately, even though we ALL had the stomach flu last week and should therefore have been past it, my son woke up vomiting Friday morning.  After several hours of watching him, we decided he was ok to still go, and we headed out.  We had a very nice time - the display was beautiful.  The plan was to hit the gym on the way home for my fast-finish training run and to let the kids play in the kid gym.  That plan was also scrapped when my daughter got hit by the flu while we were at the garden (I'll save the details).  Needless to say, getting her home and into bed (bathroom?) was key.

Heading out into the dark and cold.
I am Rudolph.

The kids were bummed to miss the gym and so was I.  I made the best of it - dressed for the cold and lit myself up like a Christmas tree and took my run outside.  It was a little icy (scary!) and dark (scarier!).  Not sure how I feel about night runs.  I know that many people do it, but... man.  I just don't know.  At least I got the run done.

Saturday morning started with the kids seeming a little better, so rather than subject them to grocery shopping with Dad and all the crazies stocking up for the storm, I took them to the gym with me for what should have been my Total Immersion Class followed by my long run for the week - 4.5 on the treadmill.  Got the kids settled in Kid Watch and got to my class a little late.  Five minutes.  Was just starting to warm up when..... there she was - the staffer from child watch.  I went upstairs - little guy had nearly (but not actually) had an accident.  I got him cleaned up.  The staff was ok with him staying and he and his sister were having fun, so I crossed my fingers and went back to the pool.  I made it through most of the class (although my attention was sadly still upstairs with the kids), but then 10 minutes before then end, there she was again.  "Your son has been in the bathroom for 10 minutes".  Oh God.  I'm the worst mom in the world.  I didn't even bother to throw on anything - just wrapped a towel around myself, grabbed my bag and followed her upstairs into the kid area to my crying little buddy who was, indeed, in the bathroom.  I got him sorted, got some clothes on, and carried both crying children home.  (The girl was crying because she didn't want to leave without her time in the kid gym, which was just about to open.  Oh my).  Long story short, the rest of the day I threw myself into being Mom (oh the guilt) and trying to get both children well again.

I don't do cold.....

So Sunday (yesterday) was my actual birthday.  We had no idea what to expect.  The storm could have dump snow or rain.  The kids could be fine or go to the ER for IV fluids.  I just didn't know what to expect when I opened my eyes.

As luck would have it, I woke to two healthy kids, a nice present and nice breakfast made by my wonderful husband, and a foot of fresh snow for my kids to play in.  After about a half an hour of shoveling our 200 foot driveway (really - we must get a snowblower), I was liberated by Merlin, who came by to pick me up for a really beautiful (and really tough) 4.5 mile snowshoe on the MidState Trail nearby.  I haven't seen Merlin in months, it seems, and it was great to catch up with her and meet some of her friends.  Once I got home, showered, and warm again, I was off to a cookie swap party.  The kids and I made the cookies the day prior, and they were dead set on winning.  Luckily we did (we've got a reputation to defend, after all!).  I got to carry a prize home for them.  Then dinner out and collapsing in front of the TV, totally tuckered out from a day where I actually got to do exactly what I wanted to.  How often does that happen???

Snowshoeing the Midstate

Of course turning older always makes you a little thoughtful.  I've had a lot of "why am I doing this to myself?" lately.  Whine whine.  I'm sore.  I'm tired.  I'm injured.  I'm burned out.  I'm not fast.  I'm all of these things.  So WHY????

There's a great article floating around about how asking yourself what you want in life is the wrong question.  That the right question is "what are you willing to suffer for?"  I've been asking myself that quite often.  I sometimes feel like I'm not quite sure how I got where I am.  The house, the career (which admittedly fine, is not in wildlife like I had planned).  These two tiny people that are forever hanging on my legs and calling me "mom".  What's with that??  It's all wonderful, but it's a little different than the kick-ass wildlife researcher / watercolor artist living in Africa that I envisioned in my youth.

So what am I willing to suffer for?  Clearly not my career, since I've mostly taken the path of least resistance, landing self in cushy corporate job that pays the bills for my kiddos and stay at home husband.  My kids?  Well sure - that's biological. That can't count as a goal.  Finishing an Olympic distance triathlon or a half-marathon?  Actually, no.  Not.

What now, you say? You're a triathlete - it's all about the next race!  

Well, sort of, but it's all a means to an end.  What I'm willing to suffer for is being the 80 year old woman at the gym's pool that swims laps every morning because she loves the water.  Being like my feisty friend in her 70s I saw at the cookie swap who still plays tennis 3 times a week.  Like my kids' preschool teacher, who has adult kids gone off to school and who's idea of a perfect date is a 50 mile bike ride with her husband.  I want to be healthy, fit, and active every day of my life until the day I die.  We had our kids relatively young - I want to hike the Long Trail once they're in college (we'll be 48, not that I'm counting).  I want to love the water and enjoy swimming.  I honestly don't care that much if I never complete a 70.3 or if I can never clear a 9:00 minute mile for a 5K.  Much - I said care MUCH.....

Taking the long view is great for training.  It lets me enjoy a snowshoe instead of obsessing my missed long run.  Enjoying some extra cookies (tho really I need to stop.  For the love - I've gained 3 lbs in a week!).  That streak of grey in my hair might to be colored soon, I have wrinkles around my mouth from smiling (yes!), but overall I'm in the best shape of my life.  And I still got carded while buying wine for the party, so....

Happy Birthday to Me and Elf On!!!

Hello Zone 2

Triathlon is hard for lots of reasons.  The most obvious ones are that is physically hard to swim, then jump on a bike, then run.  It seems straightforward, right?  Just do all of those really fast and that's how you do it.  Easy!!

That's more or less how I've approached my training.  Go as hard as I can in all sessions, and hope that it will lead to fast results.  While simultaneously cursing that I'm not able to run 7:00 miles yet.

Looking back over the year (thank you Facebook recap) I realized that I ran my first 3 miles ever, without stopping to walk, in May.  Only 6 months ago.  Only one month before doing my first sprint triathlon, and 4 months before running 7+ miles at my race pace.  Is it really any wonder that I got hurt?

I've been pretty discouraged lately - after being on crutches, then a cold I can't shake, and my family's fight with the stomach flu last week - I feel like I just can't get my mojo on.  And when I do, I'm so sore and tired afterwards I feel like I'm gonna die. How is it fair that some people are never sore after working out and I always am? Maybe because they aren't trying for PRs every single workout.  The Sheriff suggested I was over-training for the sprint distance this summer - maybe I should have listened.

Saturday I started my Total Immersion class.  First lesson - relax.  Literally - Relax your head.  Relax your shoulders, and let your head be totally supported by the water.  Go ahead and laugh... because my first reaction was "No I can't relax I won't go anywhere!!!".  Being told to relax, physically or otherwise, makes me feel more anxious.  I just am not good at it.  I'm not sure if I ever was, or if motherhood and too many responsibilities erased it from my repertoire.  Either way, it doesn't come easy.  My instructor filmed us in the water, and after lots of talking about how swim technique is all about working with the water instead of fighting it, I can easily see in the video that my terrible stroke count (30 in a 25 meter pool) is due to lots of me thrashing around and fighting the water.  Luckily my teacher says we'll work on that.

On the running side, I started a new Faster 5K running program, and was dreading running after the first workout.  So I started to look - REALLY LOOK - at how I am working out, with the help of my HRM.  I have a history of going way too hard - in the HR zones well above what the workout prescribed, because I wanted to be able to log a faster pace.  Was embarrassed to be running 12 minute miles.   Clearly this needs to change.  

After my TI class, I went upstairs and re-calibrated my Pear training system with my new heart rate zones post-injury.  Why didn't I do this earlier?  Because I am delusional stubborn.  Since then, for the last 3 runs I have faithfully tried to stay in my prescribed zone, even though my Zone 1 is walking and my Zone 2 is quite slow.  I'm learning to stuff my ego down my sports bra and just cover the treadmill screen so that the Ironman in my swim class and the mom down the street that are running 6:30s behind me just can't see.  They don't care anyway.  Seriously - get over yourself.

Some decorations on my long run - so cute!

The upside of this is that I've been way less sore and tired.  I actually enjoyed my 4 mile long run in the cold on Sunday - took in the neighborhood Christmas decorations and felt good the rest of the day instead of feeling wrecked.  Was able to actually keep up with the kids through all the weekend festivities without snapping at them.  Sore mommy = mean mommy.  Poor kids.

Letting things go, relaxing, running slow(er) - these things don't come easy.  But one of my main goals in becoming a triathlete was to use it as a tool to conquer a lot of my mental demons.  Like my ego.  Like my ability to be "just ok".  To not push myself to the edge of sanity all the time.  Triathlon teaches so much....

Do you feel self-conscious at the gym or with other athletes?

Do you vary your training, with some hard and some easy days?

How sore are you while you are training?

Recovery and Recipe: Jingle Jumbles

Remember a couple of days ago when I said that, despite my entire family being struck down by the stomach flu, I was holding on?  Famous.  Last.  Words.

I'll skip by the part of yesterday that involved a very quick exit from my office, a tense stop at Target for saltines and fruit snacks for my little guy who was also sick (now that is true parental devotion - being sick in a public bathroom rather than disappoint a sick child), and what had to be the longest commute home ever, followed by the entire rest of the day too weak to move.

Kitty was deliriously happy
with the electric blanket

This morning I had already taken a vacation day.  The original plan was to hit the gym, then take the kiddos to a nearby botanical garden for their holiday lights display, and catch up on some of the zillion holiday-related projects I am trying to accomplish in the next 19 days.  But who's counting.  That didn't happen.  Instead I am resting, trying to be somewhat productive (I don't do "still" well), and generally alternating between climbing walls and collapsing in a heap on the couch.

Birdseed ornaments.  My son has a new "photo face" -
I hope it passes quickly

We did manage to make some birdseed ornaments to hang outside for our feathered friends, to roast the extra turkey breast we bought post-Thanksgiving sale, and to make some Christmas cookies.  The latter 2 were at my insistence.  As seems to happen every week by Friday, the only thing in our refrigerator is frosting and eggs.  Buttercream omelets just don't cut it, especially with a family recovering from the stomach flu.

The cookies I made are one of my favorite holiday cookies, from the The Cookie Bible, by Publications International, Ltd.  It's one of those cookbooks produced by big manufacturers like Kraft and Nestle, which tell you that you MUST use only their brands in all the recipes.  But nonetheless, it is our cookie bible.  This recipe has all the great flavor of gingerbread (my favorite) without all that fussing around with rolling, cutting, and decorating into an army of tiny men.

Jingle Jumbles - Easy Gingerbread Cookies

• 3/4 cup butter, softened
• 1 cup packed brown sugar
• 1/4 cup molasses
• 1 egg
• 2 1/4 cup unsifted all-purpose flour
• 2 tsp baking soda
• 1 tsp ground ginger
• 1 tsp cinnamon
• 1/.2 tsp salt
• 1/2 tsp ground cloves
• 1 1/4 cup raisins, dried cranberries, or dried cherries (optional)
• granulated sugar

Cream butter and brown sugar together.  Add molasses and egg and beat until smooth.  Sift all other dry ingredients together (except raisins), and add slowly to the wet ingredients.  Beat on medium speed until everything is mixed.  Add raisins, if using.  Chill for 30 minutes.

Preheat oven to 375.  Shape chilled dough into golf-ball sized balls and roll in granulated sugar (this is a great job for little kids).  Bake for 10-12 minutes, until edges are brown but middles are still soft.  I recommend with eggnog and/or coffee.

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So tomorrow is the first day of my Total Immersion swim class at the Y.  At 8:00 am.  I'm not sure why that feels early for a Saturday, when I get up at 5 on weekdays, but.... anyway.  I have zero desire to work out.  I actually came close to just closing down this blog altogether and saying forget it.  No more triathlete.  No more baking.  No more... no more.  Did I mention I don't handle sick very well?  It just seems like after my 5 weeks in crutches, immediately followed by a 3 week cold that I still have, and now this tummy bug on top of it that the world is conspiring to keep me from my goals.  Crawling back under the electric blanket with the cat seems like a viable option.

But if I choose to do so, at least I have cookies to munch while I'm under there......

In Need of Elves

Ever wonder how Santa gets it all done?

1)  He's magic
2) He has thousands of elves that work for him.

I want elves.

Ok, he's close.  He'll do.

Seriously though, after the craziness that was Thanksgiving, I was ready for some down time.  Some nice relaxing time to sit on the couch, stare at our tree, and relax.  Maybe rethink my goals and training program, having proven to myself that I can run 3 miles in the turkey trot.  Only that last part happened, though.

The Day After Thanksgiving

60 minute trainer workout on the bike at home with my Pear system, after spending the morning decorating the house for Christmas.  After I'd showered and I was just started to relax a bit, we realized that we were late for the little guy's swim class.  Parent fail.  Honestly - We are so getting coal from Santa.  Mad dash to the gym to get the little man into the pool in time to say goodbye to his teacher.  Add 45 minutes of swimming in the pool with both kids to my workout day.

Our tree

This day also marked the return of Zip, our Elf on the Shelf.  Yes, I am one of those psycho parents that does crazy things with their elf every day.  But the kids adore him and think he's hysterical, and the Jedi and I actually have a lot of fun coming up with ideas.  For his first day back, he was so inspired by the kids run at the Turkey Trot that he decided to run here from the North Pole....

Runner Zip!

Saturday After Thanksgiving

Straight back to the gym in the morning, after taking the kids to a workshop at Home Depot.  They are pretty good with hammers!!  I had a chip on my shoulder about our time for the Turkey Trot (kids and stroller notwithstanding) and wanted to see how I would do going solo.  So I hopped on the treadmill to time my 3.1 miles.  I couldn't break 30 minutes due to some tummy trouble (more on that later), but came pretty close.  Running - check.  Although my HR while running is much higher than it was pre-injury - like up in the 170s.  Very bad.  Must work on this somehow.  I followed it up with a 1/2 hour strength workout, also on my Pear system, designed to strengthen and avoid injuries common to runners.  I found out just how weak the muscles in my right foot are.  Ouch.

Sunday After Thanksgiving

Rest Day.  Took kids to the Nutcracker with Gramma.  Zip approved.....

Monday - Back to Work

At a time of year when it seems like everyone is doing a "run a mile a day" or "don't gain any weight" or "25 days of Paleo" challenge, I decided my best improvement I could work on was getting to bed early, and back into the swing of going to the gym early.  So first day - up and at 'em.  BRICK TIME.  Forget the fact that my daughter started throwing up at 4 am and that's when I woke up.  Sleep is for the weak.

I decided to ditch the Couch 2 5K program I've been doing, and move up to a Faster 5k Running program.  It is still a low mileage, easy option - meant for people that have run 1 or 2 5ks but want to increase their speed.  Even though I've run more races than that, that's probably about where I am physically after my injury.  So I started with Day 1, a 2 mile run, and followed it with some strength work and an 1000 meter swim in the pool.  Was at my desk by 9 am, and wanting to sleep on it by 10 am.  But the show must go on....

Yesterday - It All Goes South

4 am yesterday it was the Jedi's turn.  Sick sick sick.  Poor man.  I left the house around 5:15 for an early boot camp class.  I had planned on Day 2 of running, but I texted him after my class to see how he was doing.  Poor man couldn't even get out of bed.  So home I went to get the girl child on the bus, Jedi tucked into bed, and I took the little man to work with me.  Yes, I can do everything!!!!

Legos at my desk.  What is better?

I was exhausted from so little sleep the previous 2 nights, and sore all over from the boot camp class.  But work was busy, my little guy had Legos, the IPad, and as much free hot cocoa as he could drink.  Plus the unending adoration of my coworkers who were happy for the tiny distraction.  Back home to take care of the little girl and Jedi mid-afternoon.  Son was then running a fever.  Daughter still having tummy issues.  Oh h*ll.  I got everyone fed, asleep, moved the Elf to a new location, and got to sleep on the couch last night.  Fully expecting to take kids to school then Jedi for some IV fluids in the morning....

Even Zip is sick.....

Today - I rest.  Kind of.

This morning my daughter was running a high fever, so she skipped school.  Jedi is on the mend.  Son is chipper.  No workouts for me - every part of my body hurts, and I am trying very hard to not come down with the GI bug.  Someone has to stay standing around here....

So by my count, since Thanksgiving I have:

• biked once
• strength trained 3 times
• swam once
• ran twice (not counting thanksgiving itself)
• disinfected the house and changed all the sheets twice
• answered about a zillion emails
• written about 30 reports
• Put up 2 Christmas trees
• wrapped all Christmas presents
• Mailed 50 Christmas cards
• Done 9 loads of laundry
• cooked 16 meals
• moved Zip 5 times
• not thrown up once.

Let's hope that last one stays true.

How is your Holiday prep coming?
What do you do to stay healthy?  Any tips for when your whole family is sick?

Those Who Can't Run..... Register!

Pass the tissues, pass the cold medicine.  I have the plague.  I started to feel it on Tuesday, and tried to beat it into submission with a running workout in the nice warm gym (instead of outside in the freezing cold as originally planned).  No dice.  So yesterday and today I've done my best to rest.  Which, for a working mom, means pulling a 10 hour workday online from home while simultaneously juggling the kids, making dinner, and staying up until past 11 just to enjoy some peace and quiet and put off having to wake up and do it all again.

I wish I could say this to everyone....

To me feel that much more like Parent of the Year, we forgot to take our daughter to dance class.  Just completely escaped our minds.  Now she doesn't have it again for 2 weeks because of the holiday.  Parent.  Fail.

So today, as I am still working (and attending my son's preschool Thanksgiving celebration, picking up daughter at school, making dinner, and working on Christmas card), I decided that since I'm not up for anything athletic, and since my credit card is already smoking from all the online Christmas shopping I've done, that I would go ahead and plan/register for my 2014 race season.

First up is the Sterling Freezer 5 Road Race on New Year's Day.  Jedi and I have a tradition going back even to before we had kids where we go to bed early on New Years Eve, and then get up early on January 1st to do something that reflects how we want to coming year to be.  We've done hiking, snowshoeing, skiing, and on years where I was 9 months pregnant or had small kids, smaller outings like lunch and a museum or similar.  So I after this fall's injury, I really want to start 2014 with a race.  I will likely still be walking parts, having not quite finished my Cast25K program by then, but at least I'll be out there.Several friends are doing it as well, and the Jedi has kindly agreed to come scrape me off the pavement if needed, since it is close by.

Next on my dance ticket is the Raleigh Rock -n- Roll Half Marathon with Rio in April 2014, but that is already booked.

My first triathlon of the season is the brand new Greendale Triathlon, hosted by my home gym and in the very lake that I learned to open water swim.  Seems appropriate.  It's also four weeks before my first Oly, the New England Trifest up in Fairlee VT which I'll be doing with or in the company of my brother and sister-in-law.  This one fills up early, so I registered for it as well.

I plan on my last Oly in the year being SunMultisports Cranberry Trifest, but registration isn't open on that one yet.  Thank goodness.  I might be running out of credit card space.....

With all these races, I also stepped up and bought an annual USAT membership.  Boo yeah.  I feel official now....

How do you get over colds quickly?

Have you ever forgotten to deliver/pick up your kid somewhere?

What's on your 2014 race schedule?