Wow

It has been a LONG time since I have had anything important to say, apparently. I have been busy. I ran my second half marathon and am a mere few weeks from my next one. Hayden turned five and Violet is nine months old. Neil is working about ninety hours a week. Everyone in the house has been sick on and off since Christmas day, but at this particular moment, the plague has lifted and all is well.

Running is going great. I have the new Ipod and Nike + thing and I love it. I still run mostly with my group, but now, if there's a day when no one else can make it, I don't mind running on my own. In fact, I look forward to it so I can really work on my speed.

Hayden really is a five year old. More self control, less freaking out, which is very, very good news. We were able to get the enrollment process started at the Montessori Kindergarten where he will start in September. So, he's in and we're relieved. We have a parents' information night at the school this week, and I don't know about Neil, but I am fully aware that this puts us in a whole new realm of parenting. A kid in elementary school is like a real kid. Not little. Just kid.

Violet is a force to be reckoned with. She is freakishly strong and extremely coordinated. She lives for danger and refuses to eat anything other than breast milk, pureed bananas, and Ritz crackers. She crawls around, usually toward the stairs or electrical outlets. Her sheer strength allows her to pull up to standing using one pinky finger and any semi-vertical surface, and she even took a step a few weeks ago. She puts anything she picks up directly in her mouth, unless it's food, which she smashes up and drops to the floor. She never tips over, bumps her head, loses her balance, or slips. Like a ninja.

Neil passed all of his interviews and now has to get his store absolutely perfect before he meets with the CEO and is officially placed in his new position. Hence, the crazy hours. We agreed to six weeks of insanity to get things in order, so I have been bringing Hayden and Violet down to meet him for dinner, or lunch, or just to hang out for a while. I am back to the levels of necessary efficiency I perfected when he was in school. So, things are very busy, but actually, pretty good.

The 1/2

I finally have a minute to post some pictures from last month's half marathon. It feels like a great accomplishment just to complete it, but now I really want to improve on my time for the next one next month. I finished the silver strand half marathon in just over 2 hours and thirty minutes - about 11 minute miles. I know I can do much better, but I was nervous about runnng out of energy toward the end, so I started off a lot slower than I normally do, and then just tried to keep the same pace the whole way. I didn't want to speed up at the end, because in my very first race, a 10 K, I started practically sprinting when I thought I was near the end. A race staff person told us we had just passed the 6 mile mark, so we thought we were only a tenth or two away from the finish. Well, we had actually just completed the fifth mile, and were starting the 6th mile. So, I just about killed myself and got really sick and dehydrated. I really didn't want that to happen, so I didn't even speed up until I could actually see the finish line this time.

My Mom and the kids and Neil were all there cheering for me. It felt amazing. Here are a few pictures. We had the best time!

The end is the beginning

It's already been almost two weeks since I completed my first half marathon and I haven't even had a chance to write about it. This time of year is always busy, I know, but this is the busiest I have ever been. I will write more about it soon, and have pictures too. But, for now, all I can say about it is that I am really proud of myself and all the girls in my running group. This is something I never thought I could do, and I know they each felt the same way. I could see it on everyone's face as they crossed the finish line. It was a moment we had all tenatively envisioned, but never quite pictured. And yet, here we were. With 13.1 miles behind us.

We are back to our schedule, training for the triple crown of half marathons - one in Januray, April, and August. It's on, baby!

...momentum...

I am now in my 6th week of training with my running group. This morning was hard. We only ran 4 1/2 miles with the double strollers , but most of our route was uphill. My knees and ankles are sore already. We ran 8 miles on Sunday without the strollers, and felt like we could easily have done another four or five miles. I guess pushing all that weight from the strollers is helping with our strength and endurance. But, the whole time, I'm thinking how good I would feel without pushing 70 lbs along. So far, Hayden and Violet are both really content during our runs. I pack up Hayden's breakfast and he eats along the way. Violet usually sleeps, so it has been working out well. This morning was pretty cold and Hayden's hands were like little ice cubes when we finished. I have three miles of sprints tomorrow, 4 1/2 miles again Thursday, cross training on Saturday, and a 9 mile run Sunday.

Here is a picture of our running group just after we finished our first 10K about two weeks ago...

In Training

Since Violet was born, I have been trying very hard to keep up my workout routine. Up to, and throughout my pregnancy, I worked out four days a week at the gym doing everything from Pilates and power yoga to cycling, weights, the elliptical machine, stairmaster, and running on the treadmill. Since Violet isn't really old enough to take to the childcare at my gym, I have been trying to go at night when Neil gets home, in the morning on his days off, and any other time I happen to have an hour or so free for myself. I haven't been able to do any of my classes since they are all during the day. I just wasn't getting it in as much as I needed. So, I borrowed my friend's double jogging stroller and decided I would take the kids out in the mornings around the neighborhood on the days I couldn't make it to the gym. I did it a couple of times right after we borrowed the stroller. The third day we had the stroller, we went to the park for a playdate. I ran into another Mom I knew from the gym who had a baby a couple weeks after I had Violet. She was there with a few other women who are in the process of a 12 week training program for a half marathon. They invited me to join them. They were just starting the third week of training and meet 6 days a week. I didn't commit, but said I would think about it. I couldn't stop thinking about it. I was so intimidated because I am not a distance runner. I like to run because I know it burns calories and I know I will get results fast, but that's pretty much my only motivation. But, I kept coming back to the idea. I decided to go to the next training session and just see how I did. If it killed me, I'd know I wasn't ready for it.

I met them pretty early in the morning. There are six of us, and a total of 11 kids. That first morning, we did three miles of fast sprinting and then recovery time in between the sprints. I was able to easily keep up with the group. We were done by 9:00 and I had plenty of time to get Hayden to swimming, and still go about my semi-usual routine. So, I decided to continue. The next morning, we did three and a half miles straight running. I was initially afraid of the distance, but it ended up being easier than I thought it would. Then, we moved on to our day of cross training, followed by a 5 mile run the next day. Our 5 mile run was actually a 6.1 mile run when we clocked it later. I would never have tried to run that far alone. So, in the last seven days, I have run almost 18 miles. We are doing a 10K next weekend. So far, it has been a really good fit for me physically and emotionally. It's really challenging so I know I will see improvement and physical results, it's something I can do with the kids, the women I met are really cool and fun to hang out with, and Hayden has a bunch of new friends to play with. I am completely committed now. So, of course I had to get a brand new bad ass double stroller and $200 running shoes.