iloveyoufall.

Fall is here, and it's my favorite season BY FAR!

I love the nice cool nights, am SO done with hot weather (and hot for me is 80 degrees...I know...I would never last a day in the south, fo' sho'). Football games and bonfires and pumpkin stuff. Although this year I must admit I'm missing the beer. Especially a nice pumpkin ale. During a football game.

Sigh.

But, it'll all be worth it, and I'm halfway to baby this week (holy crap, how did THAT happen?!), so YOWZA.

The nice thing about not training my butt off this fall is that I actually have time to do stuff I don't usually get to do. Like, sleep. Or, get work done at work. And even some fun stuff, like taking Bug to Miller's Apple Hill to go apple picking with some of his buddies!




We had a blast. And then tonight, because I had time and don't have to worry about a 3 hour ride tomorrow or a 2 hour run at 6am, I took said apples and made some really tasty apple crisp out of them.

With ice cream. Because the baby needs calcium, people.

Anyways, another great thing about fall is riding and running. Which, I must say, I miss even more than a nice cold beer during a football game. I get jealous every time I see a cyclist out on a crisp, sunny day. I know, I know...I'll have time next year. But fall is my favorite season to ride, and I sort of feel like I'm missing out on that.

I'm thinking about next year, too. Now, here's the deal: I have never had 2 kids before. So I don't know how it's going to be, or how it's going to work. I know professionally I'm in a much better spot now with 3 years of AP US History under my belt and taking the RIGHT half of the year off, so I feel really good about that. When I go back to school next year, I don't think it will be quite as hard as it was the first time around, nor will I have as many battles. So, the next thing I'm thinking about is training.

Because that's how I operate. I'm a triathlete. Planning is what we do best, right?

So FOR SURE I'm in for the Rev3 Cedar Point half, and I am SO STOKED for this. It's going to be a blast to show off the NEO to all my teammates. And, I firmly believe September is the most gorgeous month here, too, so it will all around rock. I will also have March, April, and May to recover and just get a base back, and then June, July, and August to ramp up the training--which is perfect because I'll be off school and can (try to!) time up workouts with naps and stuff.

However, I need to recognize that this little bean might not be as easy as The Bug. And that's not anyone's fault...it might just be the way it is. So, here's me OFFICIALLY giving myself permission to LET THINGS SLIDE and deal with that.

Remind me of that, K?

The next thing I'm thinking about (because that's how I roll) is a nice fall running race. I love me the fall marathons. I do best running in the fall. So, ideally, I'd like to do a fall full, and most likely Columbus again. I know the course, I have tons of buddies in Cbus, and it is a course that was really good to me last time around. REALLY good.

And of course, if I'm going to run the full, then I might as well try to BQ.

Right?

But part of me thinks that's a lot to bank on for now. Again, I've never had 2 kids before AND worked full time while marathon training. So, here we go again: this is officially me GIVING MYSELF PERMISSION to do a half in the fall if it's too crazy. Marathons come and go. There's plenty in the spring I could do. And sanity is really quite important.

So, in my perfect world, here's what I'd do next year:

February 17th: have a happy, healthy little bean
April-ish: start working out and dropping the pounds/building the base
July: be in full training mode for Rev3
September: kick butt at Rev3 and PR
October: Run a 3:40:59 or better in Columbus

That's the perfect scenario. And dreaming about that makes me happy, as my butt gets bigger and this baby is bound and determined to give me MORE ZITS THAN AN 8TH GRADE BOY.

But logical me is saying it one more time here (which makes three, if you're counting): I need to be FLEXIBLE and ROLL WITH WHAT LIFE GIVES ME. It's not just about me. I need to make my goals work with my life, not dominate and frustrate my life. So I'll remember that.

And if I don't, then you will, right?

Because that's easier written than done.

Falling off the wagon

Well, I certainly haven't eaten very well the past few days.

It's just that this BABY seems to make me SO FREAKIN' HUNGRY. And eat things like chips and salsa mixed with Velveeta.

Yes, I said Velveeta. Me, who likes to only eat whole foods. FAKE FRICKEN CHEESE.

What's gotten into me?!

The good news is, the Velveeta (or, as it says on the package, "pasteurized processed cheese food") is gone as I used it up to make a casserole for Matt's Mom and Dad. She'll be coming home from the hospital--again--tomorrow. It's been a rough week over here for us, involving a trip to the ER for Matt's mom and a car that broke down in the hospital parking lot late Wednesday night. Stressful for me, but doubly so for Matt. Ugh. So, my eating went by the wayside a bit.

I'm a little afraid for this week's weigh-in.

But never fear--I made myself some healthy quinoa tastiness to fuel me up all week. And the running's been going pretty well. And the Velveeta is gone.

And tomorrow, Matt's mom will be home again. Hopefully for good this time.

So, things are starting to look up.

Baby Z is kicking up a lot now! I am excited to see the little bean on the ultrasound tomorrow. Hopefully all will be well in the ever-growing uterus. I feel huge, although I know I don't look as large and in charge as I feel.

The weather has been wonderful, and it's been great for the running. Running/walking has gotten me through the stress of this week--that and some awesome friends and family. So that's good. Although, I have to admit, it's weekends like this where I really, REALLY miss riding my BMC super duper fast down Route 2 toward the Valley for a good 2 hours.

Sigh.

But good things come to those who wait. And so, with that, I'll have to sign off and wait until 3pm tomorrow, when I get to see my little bean jumping around on a screen again.

Happy training to all, and to all a good night!

Me, Bug, and the Bump

I've been (finally!) getting my energy back, and we've been having some awesome weather (which means, for me--low 70s in the day, sunny, and near 50 at night. perfect.) so I've been taking advantage of this and running with Bug and the Bump after work!

It totally figures that the one he smiles in, my head's cut off. Gah. :)

Yesterday, we went for a three mile run. The pace is quite snail-ish, but it's still fun. Bug looks for "PLANES!" every two seconds and we both drink from a water bottle. The only trouble is that, since my inner thighs are fast approaching the size of metropolitan Akron, running shorts are not really my friend right now. Do you know how NOT fun it is to run while running shorts are creeping up your thighs? Do you know HOW DEJECTING THAT IS? Sigh...

So today, I decided to try a different approach. I wore my Ironman Wisconsin bike shorts since this weekend it will be three years (wow!) since I traveled on those roads. Bug, the Bump and I ran up to the grocery store to pick up a box of whole wheat pasta for a recipe I was trying. And just to keep a sense of humor about my increasing pudgy-ness, I wore this:

I got a few chuckles at the grocery store! You gotta keep your sense of humor, right?

So hopefully I'll continue these runs as long as I can. I'm thinking I might invest in a support band to help with any back pain, since back pain is what pretty much stopped me in my tracks around month 7 last time around.

The Bump's not such a bad running partner, you know?

Half-Caffs and Sunny Runs

So I decided that since I am soooooooooooooooooooooooooowiped out from school, I'd introduce a little half-caff to my day. My doctor says that one cup of regular is fine, but I'm too much of a wuss to do that. Since the mere smell of coffee was enough to make me dry heave for 3 months, I figured a half-caff would do the trick.

It was WONDERFUL. Hello, old friend.

Made it through the school day with no problemo. Even had enough energy afterward to load Bug into the Trusty Bob stroller for a slow jog to and from the park!

My runs are getting slower and slower, but I decided to just count my minutes as "maternity miles." I got this idea from the Runner's World Guide to Running and Pregnancy--a MUST READ for any of you preggo chicks out there. Basically, you take your average running pace (mine's usually around 8:30-9 or so) and once you hit that time, it's a MATERNITY mile. So my 40 minute SLOW jog counts not as the 3 miles and change that it is, but as 4.5 MATERNITY MILES.

See? Good for the soul. :)

While running, I thought about how much I can't wait to race again. I mean REALLY race. Not just show up, which is what I kinda will do for the Spirit Run 5K and hopefully the Turkey Dash.

Part of me misses Ironman. Once you have that day, and experience all the highs, the lows, and the finish line, you crave it like my pregnant brain craves cheese.

(Seriously. I might be giving birth to a mouse.)

But I know that I don't miss what I would need to do to get there. I have zero--and I mean ZERO--desire to put in the 100 mile rides, the weekends where I leave at 6:30am on Saturday and return feeling like I've been hit by a truck at 5pm to go straight to an ice bath, food, and bed.

I just wanna play with my little Bug some, you know?

So I know that the half distance is just perfect for me now. And I am so excited to host Team Evotri at the BRAND NEW Rev3 race at my old stomping grounds, Cedar Point. The plan is to get a condo, relax on the Lake, and after the race pretend I'm 22 again and at the Islands.

(Well...maybe I'd better not go THAT far. Let me just say what we all used to say: "What happens on the Island, STAYS ON THE ISLAND.)

So bring on the maternity miles. I may be slow, but I have next season on the horizon. And I think I might have felt my first kick last night, too.

Life is good.