Starting Over-Sort of

Last time I tried to begin half marathon training it didn't go so well, in fact it really didn't go much of anywhere! I guess it's a good thing the one I plan to do is a good ways off.

Competition Begins In

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Yeah-that's 288 days, so I think I have enough time to begin again! :) They do include training programs on their website that allow for 6 months of training, so I'm gonna try to follow one of these and see how it goes. It's actually titled "To Finish in the Upright Position." Perfect. Sounds like a good goal to me! The most exciting part to me is that it only includes 3 days/week of running. I really want to be able to do this and still spend lots of time with G so if I really can do this with 3 days/week of training, I will be ecstatic!

 And here is my latest training tool, can I tell you how excited I am?! OK-I'M EXCITED!

I've had a simple heart rate monitor for e past few years so this is going to be a big upgrade for me. And now that I'll be doing at least one run each week outside the data this provides will be very helpful. I'm gonna take a day to figure it out and then test it on Saturday morning. Hopefully I'll have some encouraging data to post! Yes, I said data..I've always called myself a data dork so we'll see just what I can do with this!!

I'm looking forward to getting outside more to run. I've been trapped in the basement for too many months. Although alot of the time I have had a sidekick!

Now that she's more mobile, this really isn't very fair to her either. We'll still have this arrangement one night or so a week and I have a feeling that will become interval training as I jump on and off the treadmill tending to her. I'll have to discover some new ways to keep her occupied ;-)

I have her 7 month update coming soon, lots of changes as you would expect and I'm excited to share!

ET & BLW...WTW?!

Most days I feel like my work world is run by acronyms, so I figured why not add some from Gwyn's World to the list! What the What (WTW) is a classic Liz Lemon line from 30 Rock and comes in handy for a swearing substitute, which I generally don't need alot of help with, I just think it's witty and cute. As for the other two: Elimination Training and Baby Led Weaning.

Elimination Training

Some may think this is a little out there, but G has started using her very own big girl potty. When I read about this concept I was not so surprised to learn that the US is one of the few places babies remain in diapers for so long. Diapers are really just a convenience for us, not a necessity for them. Moms in other countries are in constant contact with their babies and get to know their elimination cues very quickly. This is harder for a full-time working mom but we are working on it every weekend.

Babies tend not to go when they sleep but right after they wake, so in the mornings and after naps we sit on the potty, more to get her used to it than anything else right now. But as you can imagine, cues for #2 are alot easier to see and we've been successful with that one a few times now. I feel good about that for her sake since I can only imagine how difficult that is to accomplish while fully clothed!! I'm not expecting that she'll be potty trained next month or even this year, but I think this will help when the time comes.

Baby Led Weaning

I talked about this a little bit before, and we've tried a few more foods now. Besides banana, we've also had avocado, mango and cooked egg yolk. The mango seemed a little strong for her but everything else has been a hit and she really loves the independence of it. If I were here with her all the time we would be doing more of her feedings this way for sure.

I don't know how well I did, but I was trying to capture her new top teeth on film, she has cut 3 and is close to the fourth. This makes her look like a full blown toddler and also gives us a few more options food-wise. These teething biscuits are labeled for 9 month olds, but baby girl gnawed the heck out of one and screamed like I have never heard her scream when I tried to take it away! Definitely only a treat but definitely a hit!

She's also eating jarred food with meat now and we are starting our first week where she probably won't get a breast milk bottle every day. Oh, the freedom!! It's almost time for the 7 month update so there are a few more things to talk about then...

  

Earth Day 5k

I completed my first post-baby race this past Saturday. It was almost a full week after Earth Day, but hey, who's counting?! When I did this race a few years ago it was followed by a nice event with local vendors and businesses doing 'green' things: education, giveaways, promotions. It was a good time, and when I signed up this year I looked forward to taking G. She stayed home with Grami but at least the race fees went to something I feel strongly about.

 Unfortunately the weather did not cooperate and I almost didn't go at all. It was in the 40's with gray skies that spit rain right up until race time and the crowd was rather small. Maybe I was just looking for a way out since I was nervous I wouldn't finish without walking (not that there's any shame in that!). I did zero outdoor running to prep for this and it is certainly climate controlled-to some degree-in the basement where the treadmill is located so the cold wasn't fun either. Of course I warmed up once I got my butt in gear!

I did feel crappy at first, but once I got going I felt pretty good. This is a nice (flat!) rail trail along the river and the scenery is lovely so that helped! I have added a watch that gives your pace to my wish list; that would have helped I think. I kept trying to catch the woman in front of me but since I never knew how much further we had I probably didn't push myself as hard as I could have. I still finished in 30:47, just under a 10 minute mile pace and considering my only real goal was to finish without walking I'd call that a success :-)

Here's the best part though. We stuck around for raffle drawings since so few people showed up to run due to the weather. I ended up winning a package with a Carhart shirt (gift for the hubs for coming along and taking pics!) a gift certificate for a rafting trip (so excited to use that this summer!) and a gift certificate to a tattoo parlor! I'm thinking about adding a little flower in G's birth month near the sun I already have on my back. Just a subtle ode to her and everything that went into being able to have her. Can't wait for the next one...race and baby both ;-) Haf marathon training officially begins next Monday. For real this time!!!