Focus on the Core and Weekly Mileage

My hamstring has made an AMAZING recovery this week! I just got back from my longest run in 3 years and it felt GREAT the whole run! My PT gave me a number of simple exercises to strenghten my core (abs, hip flexors, etc.) that have made all the difference. I keep expecting it to come back and find myself anticipating the pain...while nursing Nathan, while driving in the car, while laying down in bed...and it NEVER comes! Sometimes I think I feel phantom pain because I am so used to being in pain. I hope it sticks! It is amazing that I have spent years focusing on massage and stretching to address the pain but all I really needed to do was strengthen of the right muscles! This week I dusted off a Pilates abs video that I purchased YEARS ago but never used because it was too darn hard! I could barely do the beginner moves in the video! I want to sign up for a Pilates class in the spring as I think it will really help me.

My Weekly Mileage:
Monday, February 23, 2009: 9.6 miles, BodyPump
Tuesday, February 24, 2009: 8.4 miles
Wednesday, February 25, 2009: 10 miles, MTV Yoga Video & Pilates Abs Video
Thursday, February 26, 2009: 8 miles on the treadmill: 1.5 mile WU, 4 x 1600 @ 6:22 w/ 800 jogs, 1 mile CD, BodyPump
Friday, February 27, 2009: 7 miles, MTV Yoga Video
Saturday, February 28, 2009: 16.4 miles @ 7:55
Sunday, March 1, 2009: 75 minutes elliptical
Total Mileage: 59.4 miles

I know that I said I was going to cut back on mileage, but I have felt so great that I didn't feel the need to drastically reduce my miles. I think if I keep it low 60s and below, I will be OK. I know that when I go back to work I won't be able to put in mileage like this, so I am trying to enjoy it while it lasts.

Tonight my hubby and I are going to the Blarney Ball! I am excited to dress up!

Also, Nathan got his 2nd round of vaccines (HIB, Pc) and he weighed in at 12lbs 5 oz. Less that I would have hoped for 16 weeks. He's only gained 1.5 lb in the past 5 weeks. I was hoping that he would have gained 2+ lbs in the past month. This just fuels my concerns that he isn't eating enough, but the nurse said that it was a perfectly normal weight gain.

The Good Life

What makes the Good Life?

I love our life right now. We have so many deep, rich friendships in this area....old friends that have known us for ages as individuals before we were a couple and newer friends with whom we share interests and values. We have great neighors that we can rely on. Even in a city as large as Washington, DC, it is rare that I go out and don't run into someone that I know. For example, I just ran into one of my friends from work at the grocery store. It makes a city feel like a home. We also have so many career opportunities here and I love the job that I have. Plus, my family is only two hours away and hubby's family is five hours away.

All this being said, sometimes I feel frustrated with this area. Mostly, I feel frustrated because it is so damn expensive. To buy a three bedroom house (~2000 sq. ft.) in a decent neighborhood (i.e., decent public schools and short commute) is at least $700,000-900,000. Childcare costs anywhere from $1200 to $2000/month (for ONE child). I look at properties in other areas and can't believe how cheap some of the houses are. And, I also feel a little bit of wander lust. I never intended to stay in DC when I moved here after college. It was a layover on my way to bigger and better places (i.e., NYC or the West Coast). But, then I met my hubby who didn't want to move and I got a full scholarship to a local grad school program. So, I made the decision to stay. It's almost 9 years later and I feel comfortable here. Part of me loves that comfort, as someone that went to 9 different schools growing up and was constantly the "new girl" it is refreshing to feel embedded in an area. The other part of me is craving adventure and wondering if "this is it." This is the rest of my life.

A couple of things would have to fall in place for this to happen, but my husband might have an interesting job opportunity in Denver, CO. Part of me is so excited to think about moving to a new place! Plus, I LOVE Colorado...I have always been a mountains gal and it is such an athletic, outdoorsy place. One of my best friends from grad school lives in CO and I know that her family would adopt us as their own (they have told us as much....her father is a jeweler and designed my engagement ring!). We try to go out and see them every year. It would also be great from a quality of life perspective...we could buy a bigger house and have a similar mortgage, plus childcare is cheaper, and this would allow us more options financially. But, the other part of me is scared to leave my family and friends. I saw my own parents struggle to make new friends when we moved to new places and know how lonely it can be. Could we survive without family to rely on?

I don't know that moving would make us any happier in life. It would be exciting to live someplace new and explore the mountains and redefine ourselves in a new place. But, would we find ourselves wishing we hadn't left our friends and family? It breaks my heart to think of my siblings having children and us not being a part of their lives. I know that material wealth doesn't bring happiness and that isn't the sole motivator for wanting to leave, but will I always live my life wondering what if? Would we become different people if we moved away? Would I have the financial freedom to explore other careers? Would we love the mountains and the beautiful national parks enough to make up for the loss of family? How important is extended family when some amount of disfunction exists? Would we be missing out on an opportunity to live a life less ordinary?

Back on the Horse and Weekly Mileage

Feeling a bit refreshed after four days off, two lovely nights of muscle relaxers (I LOVE DRUGS), and a deep tissue massage, I started running again on Thursday. I felt a little better but my hip flexor is still bugging me a bit and the hamstring pain is nagging. I know that no amount of time off is ever going to heal the hamstring issue, but lower mileage, no speed work, and minimal time sitting can help manage the pain. I have decided to start running again, but keep my mileage lower and do more core work/cross-training to keep myself fresh. I have also decided that half-marathons, ten milers, and below will be my lot in life and that marathons and longer distances aren't worth the pain. I went to a PT yesterday and he gave me some core stabilizing exercisizes as I was already doing everything else he would prescribe. He said that he couldn't really see anything wrong with me that would cause this chronic injury. My legs were the same length, both legs were pretty comparable in their strength (although they were both weak), and my pelvis didn't seem to be tilted or anything. He thought that perhaps my core was weak and this was causing me to rely too much on my hamstrings. Additionally, sitting on the hamstring can aggravate an irritated tendon. So, we'll work on my core. I have tried Pilates classes before and I have to be honest...I hate them because I am so freaking weak. Maybe I should relish that which I resist?

My weekly mileage:
Monday, February 16, 2009: 60 minutes elliptical, MTV Yoga Video
Tuesday, February 17, 2009: 65 minutes elliptical
Wednesday, February 18, 2009: 70 minutes elliptical, MTV Yoga Video
Thursday, February 19, 2009: Body Flow class, 8.6 mile run
Friday, February 20, 2009: 7 mile run
Saturday, February 21, 2009: 10 mile run
Sunday, February 22, 2009: 8 mile run and Pilates Video
Total Mileage: 33.6 miles

In other news, Nathan FINALLY slept for 4 hours in a row after about 1.5 weeks of only 1-2 hour increments. Maybe he was going through a growth spurt? Or, as is usually the case, tonight was a fluke.

In addition, my husband and I had our 3rd date night since Nathan was born. It was great. It is amazing that 2-3 hours alone can feel so exciting and can help us to reconnect as a couple. I have been feeling a little bit distant from him as we had a houseguest for about a week and we didn't have any time alone together when we were both awake! It's like dating all over again (except way more comfortable) when we go out now. We set a goal of having these nights at least once a week...but securing a babysitter is harder than one would think! On our few date nights, we've been trying to go to restaurants that we have never eaten at before. Tonight, we even had a fun little jaunt into a lingerie store....hubby actually expressed interest in a corset, which I couldn't believe. He has NEVER expressed interest in lingerie before?! I guess he's loving my "porno boobs" as much as I am (if c cups could ever be considered porno material). I can't believe I just confessed this on my blog.

Pain Management

I haven't run since Saturday and, unfortunately, rather than getting better things have gotten worse. Last night I had a melt down. Despite stretching, using my stem machine several times a day, taking massive amounts of Ibuprofen, rolling out the knot in my butt with a field hockey ball obsessively, my sciatic nerve started going off. I basically haven't slept for the past two nights because I was in so much pain. So today I took action: (1) I went to see my general practitioner and got prescriptions for three pain medications (Tylenol 3, Lidocaine patch (a topical patch for pain), and Amitriptyline (a former anti-depressant that is now used to treat muscle pain)); (2) I scheduled a massage for Thursday AND Sunday; (3) I scheduled a PT appointment for Friday. Between extensive stretching, time off from running, deep tissue massage, and the new pain meds, I am hoping that things will start to feel better. I am pretty frustrated with this injury. I have had it off and on since 2001 and NOTHING has ever made it better, including extensive physical therapy and 3 periods of 6 months rest from running/ exercise. It comes and goes of its own volition, but seems to be stress related. And, as we just found out that my husband's company is going bankrupt, I think stress is definitely playing a role in this flare up. I hope for reprieve to come quickly! I am a much better mother when I am not in pain and exhausted.

Weekly Mileage

Still feeling burned on running and hamstring tendonitis is literally a pain in the butt. Am considering quiting running to become a yoga enthusiast and regret signing up for so many dang races this spring.

Weekly Mileage:
Monday, February 9, 2009: 10 miles, Yoga class
Tuesday, February 10, 2009: Body Flow class (this is the day I decided I hated running)
Wednesday, February 11, 2009: 10 miles with stroller, Body Pump class
Thursday, February 12, 2009: 8.3 miles with 6 miles @ 7:08 pace
Friday, February 13, 2009: 9.4 miles
Saturday, February 14, 2009: 14 miles between 7:20 and 8:10 pace
Sunday, February 15, 2009: Worst Yoga class I have ever taken and 60 minutes elliptical
Total Mileage: 51.7 miles

Man Room Rant

I have one of my best friends coming in town this afternoon to visit. I love her so much I did something that no woman should ever have to do: I cleaned the "man [bath] room" that my husband uses.

I have previously mentioned that I think the secret to a happy marriage is separate bathrooms and today's visit only further confirmed this conclusion. I love my husband, but he is a dirty, dirty boy.

Examples of husband's disgusting grossness and obliviousness towards dirt:

1. Husband routinely DOES NOT LIFT THE SEAT to the TOILET and gets pee all over it. (I probably don't even need to continue this list after submitting this evidence....)
2. Husband abides "if it's brown flush it down, if it's yellow let it mellow" philosophy. While wife supports most green-living practices, this is found to be unacceptable and unsanitary given that animals sometimes drink from toilet (EWWW!).
3. Husband produces excessive ear wax and uses any available implement to clean ear wax, including bobby pins (his personal favorite), pen lids, tweezers, and once in a blue moon (despite the fact that wife buys them FOR THIS PURPOSE) cotton swabs.
4. Husband rarely uses utensils to eat food. While this would be acceptable if we lived in a Ethiopia, we do not and, thus, is not a good example for impressionable children.
5. Husband does not believe that clothes are dirty until they have stains on them. Clothes which may reak of sweat, grime, or other disgusting matters do not necessarily meet this threshold and are still considered to be clean.
6. Husband routinely walks around outside without shoes. This would not be a problem if our entire backyard was paved in cement, but alas we have soil and grass in which our animals deficate. Husband thinks that black feet in bed with wife-who-detests-dirt is acceptable.
7. Husband routinely lets dogs in the house after they have been playing in the mud and they get paw print stains all over the carpet in the basement. Wife has purchased steam vacuum to clean up said paw prints, but success has been minimal.
8. Every morning, husband cleans out coffee grounds in kitchen sink. Unlike normal person that might try and control impact of coffee grounds or at least clean them up, husband lets coffee grounds get all over everything in the sink and never uses faucet to clean up coffee grounds. Wife then has to load and clean dishes that are covered in coffee grounds into dishwasher.
9. Husband routinely leaves dishes all over the house and never loads them in the dishwasher. Yesterday, wife found dish in basement from some dinner that husband had obviously eaten months before that had food permanently caked on and possibly new life forms growing.
10. Husband only brushes teeth once a day and sometimes not at all.
11. Husband has never cleaned his bathroom in the 7 years that he has lived in this house. The "man room" is only cleaned once or twice a month when maid cleans it.
12. And, while unrelated, but highly annoying, husband thinks it is acceptable to smack wife's @ss and say "niiiiice" whenever she is within arm distance (but especially when she leans over to pick something up).

I feel better now. Rant complete.

Not So Shiny and New Anymore

I'm tired of running. I know that I have only been back at it for 9 weeks...but I need a break...even though I had the week of lower mileage when I had mastitis. I'm not sure why I am tired of running. Maybe I am more tired of trying to find a time that works to go for a run. Between my husband's flexible schedule, the treadmill and babysitting at the gym, and the jogging stroller, you would think it wouldn't be so hard to fit in a run. But, I always feel like it is a struggle to find time betwwen naps and feedings and miss the good old days when I could just get up and go in the morning. Will those days ever return?? Plus, I feel like I am over-training for my 10 mile and 1/2 marathon races this spring. My training plan has me peaking at 76 miles before my 10-miler. Is all this mileage going to make a lick of difference in my times?? And, is that mileage even feasible since Nathan still isn't sleeping through the night? I'm struggling to keep the miles in the low 60s.

What is the point of all this running? To prove that I am a bad @ss runner that can do all the miles post-partum that I used to do pre-baby? Do I really care? Because I am the only one keeping score. I ran one of my fastest 10-milers on 45-55 miles per week (6:40 miles). To lose the last of the IVF/trying to get pregnant weight? I know from past experience that I typically only gain weight when I up the miles because I am so darn hungry. Plus, my hamstring tendonitis has been acting up and I am tired of being in pain. Even my bi-weekly massage didn't help this week.

So, yesterday I didn't run. I went to yoga, actually cleaned the house in anticipation of our houseguest, bought my hubby a Valentine's Day present, went to Costco, waited for some furniture to be delivered. It was a very efficient day.

Would I be happier if I ran fewer miles or focused on being a more well-rounded athlete? Is that more realistic as a (soon to be) working mom? Or, am I just being lazy?

Choices and Weekly Mileage

Yesterday I did my long run with the new running chicks that I met last month. I was a little nervous about it, but offered the IronWoman an out MANY MANY times, so I decided that I was no longer going to feel guilty about it and let her decide whether we were going fast enough. It seemed to go pretty well, but I could tell that we probably weren't going fast enough for the IronWoman because she was running 1-2 feet in front of us for the last few miles occassionally dropping back to chime into our conversation. Our pace averaged around 8 min miles, with some slower (9 min) and some faster (7:20 min)...and it felt slightly uncomfortable for me. I like my long runs to feel pretty easy. At the end of the run, the Chill Runner and I walked up the last long hill and the IronWoman decided to pump out a few more miles. So, I don't know that the IronWoman will ever want to run with me/us again!! I hope she doesn't mind that we went slower!

Thinking about it on the way home, I really feel that choosing between the two runners would symbolize my own attitude toward running. Am I going to be super intense about running and really focus on popping out some PRs? Or, am I going to be running for fun and not focus on racing and times? I tend to prefer the latter because it is REALLY HARD to race and focus on training schedules and times and pushing myself to the limit. Plus, I hate the competiveness that typically happens with training groups...who can run faster, harder, better...and would much rather laugh and have a good time. I worry if I ally with Chill Runner that I won't be challenging myself enough and won't improve my marathon and 1/2 marathon PRs. Can I still do well in a marathon if I am running slightly slower than I should be on my SLRs?

Here's my weekly mileage:
Monday, February 2, 2009: 10 miles, Body Pump class
Tuesday, February 3, 2009: 9.4 miles, Body Flow class
Wednesday, February 4, 2009: 8 miles: 1.5 mile WU; 4x1600 @ 6:31 with 800 jogs: 1.75 mile CD
Thursday, February 5, 2009: 9.4 miles, Body Flow class
Friday, February 6, 2009: 8.4 miles
Saturday, February 7, 2009: 16 miles
Sunday, February 8, 2009: 65 minutes elliptical and short walk with family and MASSAGE!!
Total Mileage: 61.2 miles

In other news, we've been letting Nathan cry it out for the past few nights....getting up only once at 2-3 am. It has been really hard and yesterday we decided we would get up with him whenever he cried because he is hoarse from crying so much. Plus, we were on the road a lot yesterday and I didn't feel like he got enough to eat because of car induced dozing. He was up every 2 hours last night! Ug!

Drunk

Last night I went out with my girlfriends and had 2 margaritas. IT WAS AWESOME. Of course, our conversations have totally changed...talking about how much milk we pump (my friend pumps 40 FREAKING OZ a day?!); how much we love our little ones; how annoying our husbands are because they never seem to clean any baby bottles and complain about how tired they are when they aren't the ones doing the middle of the night feedings; etc. But man was I wasted. I think I ate 1/2 pint of icecream when I got home to try and sober up. I'm trying not to remember that part of the evening....

6 hours 58 Minutes and Counting and I Changed My Mind

It is 1:54 am.

Nathan is sleeping.

I am not.

We have a record breaking sleep session going on here and my boobs hurt so much that I can't sleep and enjoy it!! We'll see how long it lasts...but my boob situation is tempting me to waive them in front of him and entice him with my scent (OK...so maybe I already did).

Also, yesterday I found out about another friend that recently had a baby and decided to stay home and I felt jealous. Now, my husband and I have crafted our life in such a way that going back to work is totally a choice for me. We live in WAY less house that we can afford (he bought this house before the housing bubble) and we live pretty modestly (with the exception of the $600-$700/month we have budgeted for food....we love to eat well and a lot and no that number doesn't even include the $$ we spend on eating out which has diminished greatly since we have had baby Nathan). Not five days ago I was posting that I hadn't become an "Earth Mother" and that I can't wait to go back to work. Today I am not so sure. Do I really want someone else to spend the whole day with my little guy? I have to find out if part-time really is an option for me...and, if I do so, accept that going part-time will limit my career options and advancement. Or, maybe it is time to get that reporter gig that pays 1/2 my current salary for 30 hours a week that I can do whenever and wherever. Hmmmm.

In other news...today is Nathan's 3 month birthday!! I will post pictures at a more decent hour.

Hmmm....my boob wave might have done the trick....I think he's crying....




FOR THE RECORD: Nathan went 7 hours and 12 minutes between feedings and slept for approximately 6 hours.

Double Dating

I am probably making this out to be far more complicated than it needs to be...but at the beginning of "relationships" you have such little social capital that you can easily screw things up. As I mentioned, I have met two gals running in the past month. They are both very different in their attitudes about running and their paces. #1 runs faster, is more competitive, is an Ironwoman. #2 runs a bit slower, is more laid back, and is just a marathoner. They are BOTH going to be at the long run this weekend...and both expecting me to run with them. What to do? Do I let them know that I met this cool other runner and we should all run together? I worry that #1 will think that we are going too slow and I had a great conversation with #2 that I would love to continue but you know how the dynamic changes when you have three people. Why do I make things so complicated? I guess because I want to keep everyone happy.

Revision: My (Slightly) Sad Weekly Stats

Well, having mastitis definitely cut in to my mileage this week. I am feeling better, but I still have some hard nodules in my affected breast. Also, I have noticed a decline in my milk supply in the affected breast and in general that I am a bit worried about. I am going to set up an appointment with the breast whisperer next week to see what she suggests.

My Weekly Running Stats
Monday, January 26, 2009: 9.4 miles, Body Pump class
Tuesday, January 27, 2009: MTV Yoga Video...this is when I started to feel sick
Wednesday, January 28, 2009: 3 mile walk with hubby to get lunch, 8 miles @ 8:12 (I was feeling better...and then got MUCH worse)
Thursday, January 29, 2009: Body Flow class
Friday, January 30, 2009: Body Pump class and 60 minutes elliptical
Saturday, January 31, 2009: 9.4 miles
Sunday, February 1, 2009: 7 miles
Total Mileage: 33.8 miles

At least this was supposed to be my recovery week. I was supposed to run 45 miles total with no long run.