11/21/12

2 years, 3 months

since my last post

looking for myself again.

Running may be a great reminder.

9/21/10

Oh hello there

Oh yes. I only like to blog every six months or so apparently.

Quick facts: Hubs leg is all healed up. It still gets a bit swollen at the end of the day, but he has resumed pre-broken-leg habits such as "sitting on the couch" with gusto. Baby girl is great. She is tiny still (13+ months and about 18 pounds) but healthy and happy and the best sleeper ever (I'm sure I just jinxed it). We've moved into a new and improved apartment. It's just across the hall from the old one, but it's mucho bigger and we love the space. Work is worktastic. Still being a video editor for a college athletic department and dorm mom at fancy schmancy prep school. Not much is even slightly bad these days.

And back in July I managed that big 5 mile up-mountain race. Finish time of 1:04:33. Not very fast, but I'm pretty freakin' proud of it nonetheless.

More to follow soon. I made it through year one of motherhood and I feel ready to devote something major to myself. What goal to choose ... ?

5/20/10

Training ... continues.

A few bumps in the road since the last post. A week visiting family in North Carolina, a week with a very sick baby, a week on a big deadline for work, then the mack dadddy of them all, The Hubs falling and breaking the absolute shit out of his ankle (I think at last count there were a total of 3 broken bones down there).



I was actually out of town when it happened, but I've heard it was very gross, in a "hey, his foot is laying on the ground, pointing the wrong direction" kind of way. So he is on crutches for the next 4+ weeks (we are in the middle of week 3 of crutches right now. The doctors said a total of 8 weeks out of commision), and I am being superwoman. And really I shouldn't complain too much - work is very not busy and Megs is at daycare during the week. And she's sleeping like a rockstar, so I am as well. But it's just a bit on the stressful side.

I'll be writing more about the running stuff tomorrow hopefully. Until then, here's an updated picture of my girl. She's 9 months old and tiny. But moving right along!

3/9/10

A glimmer of a habit

Two runs in three days - a new post-pregnancy record for me!

Yesterday's run was fo' sho' the most I have pushed myself since baby girl was born. I enjoyed it. I have missed the mind games - the "just make it to that stop sign, then you can rest." Best part of that was that a few times I was able to make it to the stop sign and keep going. There was plenty of walking. But way more running that walking this time out.

A big congratulations to Laurel over at Brand New Life as a Runner on the birth of her baby girl. I have thought of her often in the last week. I hope her early days of motherhood are going well and she is seeing the sunshine through it all (I was not a fan of the early days of motherhood. Oh wait, have I not mentioned that in like every post since Megan was born?).

I am proud to report that after many, many years of planning-but-not-doing, gnumoon and I have finally booked our first ever joint family vacation. We are very excited about it and I am hoping we can make it an annual event. Let's see how we are feeling after a week at the beach with a 10-month-old and three-year-old!

2/17/10

Look at what I'm doing

I always tell people the best way to start running is to sign up for a race, then tell everyone you know (and even some total strangers) about it. You will either train for and triumph in the event (any finish is a triumph - time don't matter none) OR you will FAIL and be forever shamed in the eyes of everyone you know (and even some total strangers).

So now I will tell you all, strangers and friends alike, I've signed up for The Bear. Oh my.

2/6/10

Feeling

I ran on Thursday and it was all good. Still a bit sore from it even. Love that feeling.

Normally, my girl goes down to sleep at 7 pm, no tears involved. It's now 8:35 and she's crying like there's no tomorrow. We've gone through the usual checklist and it's going to be a cry-it-out night. Funny how those never bothered me when she was 4 months old. At the time I frankly didn't care if she cried. I guess we have bonded more in the last two months, because sitting down here watching the red lights on the baby monitor bounce up and down (we dropped the sound down about an hour ago) is fairly torturous. If I go in there, she will stop crying, slowly smile up and me and even giggle. A sign that nothing is wrong other than she just doesn't want to go to bed.

Two things that are making me thankful for the screaming tonight.

This morning I got the news that the brother of an old friend passed away. I can't say that I've seen this young man in like 15 years, but it was still the kind of jarring news that makes you thankful for everything in your life, including the 13 screaming pounds upstairs. I ache for her family and I hope he has some peace now.

The second thing was a blog post. The rundown: a young mother is excitedly expecting her second daughter. Everything, including champagne for a toast and two delivery room photographers, was present. Don't worry - this doesn't have a sad ending. The young mother gives birth to a beautiful and perfect daughter.

A perfect daughter who has Down's Syndrome. I don't know what about this story moved me so much. Maybe it was the picture of the sweet little girl with the caption "Love me. Love me. I'm not what you expected, but oh, please love me", maybe the writer's complete honesty about her feelings initially ("I want to run away") and how, despite the fact that her image of her perfect family was forever changed, she is now head over heels in love with her new girl. Maybe I felt some of the same kinds of feelings (Can I run away?) for my completely healthy and chromosomally correct daughter. And though it has taken me about about six months, and though she is still crying up in her nursery, I feel like all is well for my family.

I don't often post feelings like this, but give your loved ones an extra kiss tonight.

1/10/10

It is much easier to find the energy to get out for a run when your baby is sleeping through the night. The holidays, plus teething (maybe), plus a random fever and a bit of the sniffles made for a craptacular week last week. For her and for us. But she seems to be returning to my "sleep for 12 consecutive hours" baby, so things are looking up.

The wicked cold temps sent me back to the cardio room today. I should have known it would be packed. And two of the four treadmills are broken. So I did elliptical and leg work this afternoon.

I am headed to NYC this weekend for my sister's wedding. I really really want to get up on Saturday AM to go on a group run with the NY Road Runners Club at Central Park. But the high that day is 22. I really don't think it will happen. But it would be a nice thing to be able to say that I've done.

1/1/10

That time of (new) year

Oh what a fun time of year. Resolution time. So much hope, promise. Wait until about early February when those have all fallen by the wayside and many of us resolutioners are sitting right where we are tonight. So what kinds of resolutions can I come up with?

1. Figure out this whole mom thing. Well, this one isn't so much as resolution as "you have no other choice, so make it work." And I am sure that this will be my number one resolution for the rest of my life. Can't you just see me Jan 1, 2088 (I would be 109 years old. I may be overly-optimistic about my life expectancy) making this exact same resolution.

2. Oh the running. I would like to be a runner again.

3. Promote/market myself. Right now I call myself a freelancer, but really I just have one big contract that takes up about 9-10 months out of my year. If I lose that nugget, I will go from "freelancer" to "broke." So I would like to get some more gigs. Branch out a bit. I do lovelovelove the sports video, but I've done other topics before and it might be nice to try again. Maybe a documentary or something. And suggestions for topics?

4. Eat more vegetables. I have this resolution every year. This one might actually be harder for me than the mom resolution.

Those are pretty much the top four. There is really no "how do I do this" to resolutions two through four. I know how to do those things, it's just a matter of doing it. Once upon a time I signed myself up for a marathon and then, shock of shocks, I actually did it. So I know that I can start things and then finish them. I just have to remember to make myself keep on keepin' on.

Happy new year all! And here's a picture of my baby. Just 'cause.

12/29/09

A Very Good Place to Start

It's like riding a bike. But figuratively. I hit the pavement yesterday REALLY for the first time since bebe girl came along. I had done a few runs right after I got the okay from the D-O-C, but I was not in the best place and running was the last thing I wanted to be doing.

Fast-forward to now and I am in a mucho better place. I actually like my child for one. It just took me a while to get past the "what is the return policy on this item" with her. Maybe it's the sleep that we all get now, or the fact that her little personality is coming out, but I'm finding out that she's actually quite awesome.

But this post isn't meant to be totally about bebe girl. It's about teaching my body to do this running thing again. My last significant run was probably in May, when I was about 25 weeks pregnant. My body told me it was time to stop, and I did. But yesterday was time to get back out and it was like being a brand-new runner all over again. I picked a rough day outside - 30 degrees, breezy. And even more breezy when the route is alongside a somewhat major river. But I bundled up according to what Runner's World said I should wear for such conditions, stopped and purchased a pair of gloves on my way, and hit the trail. The fist six minutes or so were pretty solid. Then I had to throw in some walk breaks. But the final tally on the run was 30 minutes. 30 minutes back to myself.

Here's to 30 more minutes tomorrow. And maybe a few blog updates as well!

10/13/09

New Hotness

I am thinking I may have used this blog title before, and for probably about the exact same topic. Behold, the new hotness ...

I was hoping to get out tonight once baby girl went to sleep. But I ended up watching Marley and Me for the first time, so I opted to spend my evening taking the dog for a long walk instead. He also got to eat a whole mess of leftover ravioli tonight too.

***This should have posted last Wednesday, but it didn't for some reason. Dog has been on lots of long walks, but no runs yet!