All I Wanted For Christmas

...and then some.

What an amazingly fun first Christmas as three! It began with a few things before Christmas....

--A fun time with my 2 chicas, TriShannon and DaisyDuc as we met up in Columbus for lunch

--Lunch the next day with JayZ and my buddy, Steph, who came up from C-bus for a quick visit
--an 8 mile run at a 9:42/mile pace, followed by coffee at Caribou with my running buddies

--an awesome 2500 yard swim at the BRAND SPANKIN' NEW REC CENTER opened in the city where I teach...which means, folks, that I can buy a membership for Matt AND myself for less than just myself at the Y! Goodbye, 20 yard Y pool that is 99 degrees. (moment of silence for my Y membership)

--42 pounds lost and counting. (Sadly, I have a few more still to lose...you'd think 42 would have been enough, but Baby Z just really wanted me to pack it on.)

--Registering for the final stage of my comeback "trifecta..." the Columbus Marathon. Sub-4, here I come!

Christmas was spent with family and friends, and we had a wonderful time at home sharing our first Christmas morning with our little guy. He wasn't quite sure what was going on, but that's OK. I can't wait until he gets to understand the magic that Christmas brings.

And to think, that last year at this time I was sunning and surfing in the Pacific Ocean in Hawaii...wow, what a difference a year makes.

With all the changes of the past year I feel so overwhelmed with gratitude for what I am so lucky to have...my family, my friends, and my health. As two of our friends are struggling to deal with some serious issues in their families this holiday season, it makes me realize even more how blessed and lucky I am.

I can hardly wait to see what 2008 brings.

Busy week! It's amazing how much I have going on despite not being at work.

Stopped into work to see my students today. JayZ was a trooper and let everyone oooh and ahhh over him without pooping, spitting up, or fussing. Thanks, buddy! It was good to see my students again.

Workouts have been going well, although a pesky old plantar fasciitis-y heel is bothering me slightly. I've been icing and stretching lots and lots, and sleeping with the funky sock thing, which is how I nipped it in the bud last time. Hopefully it won't bother me much longer and I caught it fast enough.

In biking news, there is no biking news.

(I know, I know. What ever happened to "working on my limiter?" Gimme a few more weeks...)

In swimming news, things are going really well! Got to drive out to Oberlin on Sunday and swim with some tri friends, including JenC, who was looking solid in the water as her usual Ironman-self always does. Even got to move up for a few sets with the fast dudes--score! Although, said fast dudes pretty much caused me to get my ass handed to me. Hey, that's a good thing, though. Keeps me motivated. I haven't been able to hit the pool as much as I've liked, so if I have any hope of staying in the fast dude lane, I'd better get there...asap!

Tuesday, JayZ and I got to have lunch again with superfast blogger Kurt! Here's proof:

And here's proof that Matt and I had way too much with hair gel:

Tomorrow, I'm driving to Columbus for a few hours for something super-fun...pics to come!

Another 7 mile run this Saturday, as I'm holding the mileage steady at 20 for a few weeks. If the heel thingy gets worse I'll be cutting that way back, but for now I think things should be OK for a nice run outside.

And finally, happy three-years-since-we-brought-you-home tomorrow, Mugsy! You're such a good Pug Man. :)

A Few Numbers

1 cozy nap with my three boys (Matt, JayZ, and Mugsy)

3 Clif Bloks (Strawberry)

16 ounces of NUUN

8 ounces of water

1 mint-chocolate GU

7 miles ran in the snow

1:09 total run time

9:57 average pace/mile

1 Trisaratops who looked like a human icicle upon arrival back home

3 giggles at Mommy covered in snow from one happy little boy

20 miles of running this week

70.3 miles will be covered at Steelhead on 8.2.08--I'm in...it's official!

1 very happy tri-mommy

1 handsome little devil

Running Roulette

I've been playing a little game I like to call "Running Roulette."

Here's how it works:

1. Feed a hungry JayZ. Watch for his eyes to start a-drifting.

2. When eyes are heavy, put JayZ on bed and change into running clothes.

3. Pick up JayZ and take him to the basement. Proceed to rock him and sing him a few songs until he's OUT.

4. Put JayZ in his swing, which is right next to the treadmill. Turn on swing and classical music.

5. Quickly lace up shoes. Grab water bottle. RUN RUN RUN START RUNNING HURRY UP

6. Run 4 or 5 miles. Continually look at JayZ to see if he is waking up. (he never, ever does--must be the music and humming of the dreadmill)

7. Stretch while facing JayZ in swing. Here's where it gets interesting...

8. Wonder if I have time for a shower.

9. Make sure monitor is on. RUN up to bathroom, stripping down on the way. Jump in shower and HURRYYYYYYYYYY and take fastest shower of your life.

10. Listen to monitor. Usually still just hear "click clack" of swing and music. If this is the case, dry off and attempt to dry hair. If you hear rustling, or even worse--crying--throw on a robe, put hair in a turban, and rush downstairs.

11. If music is still playing and no rustling is occuring, attempt to dry hair. Abort mission as soon as monitor shows signs of fussiness.

12. If you've gotten this far, you can try and get dressed. MAYBE even throw on a little makeup?

13. And finally, the ultimate--you get to eat lunch.

Most times JayZ lets me at least get to shower, and more often than not, actually dry my hair and have lunch. Provided I can get outside for my long run tomorrow, I will hit 20 miles of running this week with my little game.

Thanks, Little Man. You're the best little guy for a million reasons, and this is just one. :)

Munch Munch Munch => ajfksdlfjsdlfjsdkldsajfkds

That's the sound of me eating my words.

Remember pretty much all summer when I was FREAKING OUT about gaining so much weight, and many of you told me not to worry and stuff?

Yeah. I get it now.

Not the first time I shoulda learned my lesson and listened to those who've been there....

Anyway, now that the running is coming along (I'll hit 20 miles this week--yahoo! Then I'll hold that steady for a few weeks before beginning speedwork/hills) the weight is starting to go.

I am officially able to button both my favorite pairs of jeans--no bella band required! This is good news. I still have 6 weeks to get back into my work pants and not have them look too muffin-top-y. The size 6 stuff still isn't a go but the size 8 stuff is. Sweet.

It looks as if my marathon plans have to change, too. One of my best guy friends from like, kindergarten, just got engaged to an awesome chick on Thanksgiving. They just announced their wedding date: October 11. Chicago's marathon is the 12th. The wedding's in West Virginny.

So that's not going to work. I can't miss his wedding, nor do I want to.

Looks like I might be heading to Columbus the following week. I've heard pretty good things and have a bunch of buddies that live there, so free room and board, and only a 2 hour drive. I'm a little sad that I can't do Chi-Town though and I know I still want to do it someday, but friends are more important, you know?

Munch munch munch. I promise to listen more to others that have been there.

And some of you told me that the anticipation of going back to work and leaving my little guy is worse than the actual event, so I'm trying REALLLLLLLLLLLYYYYYYYYYY hard to listen.

Distance Girl, Revisited

Wow.

Sometimes blogs and email just go by the wayside. For like, a week.

Anyway, I had an awesome week of workouts and spending time with JayZ. He had his shots on Tuesday--which was harder for me than for him, if that's possible--and is already 14 pounds. Dare I say that he's been sleeping through the night? From what I'm reading on websites it qualifies as sleeping through the night if we get a stretch of 5 hours. For the past week, he's given us at least 4 and the past two nights we got 6.

SIX.

IT. WAS. AWESOME.

It's amazing how much better you feel with sleep. Sometimes after I feed him around 7am I bring him to bed with me to snuggle for another hour or so. I know that I don't have much longer to enjoy this time so I'm trying to take every advantage that I can. I already had a little meltdown at 4am on Saturday morning after I put him back in his crib and wondered how on earth I'm going to leave him in January.

But I'll do it somehow, I'm sure. I think the anticipation of my first day back is going to be much worse than the actual day. Thank goodness I'm not dropping him off at the sitter's--I get to pick up. But I'm sure I'll still be a crying mess 1st period, nonetheless.

JayZ seems to just know that Mommy needs to run, and he is great at letting me do just that. So is my amazing husband who does whatever he can to let me sneak outside for anything more than 4 miles when he can. I'm trying to repay the favor for him, although he hates the cold and prefers the dreadmill. Ew. Give me cold and rainy over dreadmill any day. But, I'm glad we have the 'mill and JayZ will sleep in his swing while I squeeze in a 4-miler here and there. Thanks, buddy.

I'm also getting stronger in the pool, slowly and surely. My 100s at 75% effort this week were quite pleasing. Now, my 200s are another story. Ugh. But, it will come.

One part of my equation as a triathlete is sorely missing here. I know, I know. I'll get back in the saddle. It's just not as fun, and time is at a premium so I'd rather do what's fun at the moment. Not the best way to improve your limiter, but hey, it's working for now so I'll take it.

I watched Ironman Wisconsin on TV and got so pumped up. It reminded me of everything from my Iron Summer of 2006, and all the amazing things I got to do an amazing people I got to meet. It got me thinking about what I plan to do next year. Things are going well so far so I feel like I can start to really firm up some goals and state my intentions. I'd rather reach high and fall hard than not reach at all, you know?

From 2002-2004 I did lots of short course racing--5Ks, 10Ks, sprints and olympics. It was fun and I had a great time--mostly because of who I was with. My buddy Canada Jenn and I raced almost every weekend and often placed in age group, although I was almost always a good 30 seconds behind her. Speedy girl, that CJ is. I now realize that I built up my base from these years, and that's a good thing.

So I thought I'd just want to get back into that in '08. I wouldn't have time for the long stuff. It would be fun to hammer again. Maybe I can try for age group glory again.

But a funny thing happened on the way to basework.

I don't want to do that anymore.

I want the long stuff.

Now, I realize that this doesn't make sense on paper. Why wouldn't I want to do shorter things? Won't that be easier to train for? But I can usually place in age group in small, short stuff...and I ain't even CLOSE to bringing home any hardware in a half marathon, marathon, half-ironman, or IM. Why would I want to do it?

I don't really have an answer for that. When I was running my six miles on Saturday one of my favorite running songs came on the ol' iPod...

"The sun has gone down and the moon has gone up
And long ago somebody left with the cup...

...No flowers, no flashbulbs, no trophy, no wine
He's haunted by something he can not define..."

I think the only way to explain it is that it's just more me.

So that's what I'm going to do.

Perhaps I should state my intentions.

(this is a little scary, but I'm aiming high with the realization that if you aim high you might fall hard)

My A goals include the following:

May 18th: PR in the Cleveland Half Marathon. Ideally, sub-1:50.

August: Sub-6 at Steelhead HIM.

October: Sub-4 at a marathon.

There. I said it.

Let the adventure begin.

Flabbergasted

Maybe it was because the Ironman World Championships were on TV last night.

Maybe it was because I got to play Whirlyball with my friends yesterday afternoon. (Which is amazing, by the way)

Maybe it was because I got to see all my running friends again this morning.

Maybe it's because two days ago I finally got my butt on the trainer for 40 whole minutes and lived to tell the tale.

Maybe it was because I was wearing my sweet new Brooks Hoodie aka "Comeback Shirt."

For whatever reason, my first "long" run blew me away. I can't believe it's only been 2 weeks or so since I started running again...things just seem to be clicking. I'm increasing 10% per week and supplementing with core work and yoga. Whereas two weeks ago I was only able to go about 12 minutes/mile, today...

...I ran 5 miles at an average pace of 9:56, with my last mile being 9:36. But the great thing is I didn't even know it until I was done. I just went by feel and hit my splits without checking until it was over.

Me. So. Happy.

:)