Elemental

The elements.

What wonderful treats they bring the outdoor runner, biker, walker, etc. this time of year.

Frozen toes, fingers, snot.....to name a few.

I know, I know, Atlanta is in the deep South. We're supposed to be warm, and welcoming.

Tell that to my neck gater. Poor thing's exhausted from all the use she's gotten this year. Once upon a time, I'd break her out like the good wine, once in a blue moon.

Now, it is every stinking run.

I am not complaining though...I like the elements.

I like the heat. I like the freezing cold. I like running in the rain. In the snow....

Why? 'Cause it makes me feel tough. And I am not tough.

At heart, at my core? A wuss, A scardey cat wuss who'd prefer sunny and seventy, thankyouverymuch.

The elements make me feel like the badass I am not.

I take my badass where I can get it...even if it means 8 miles in freezing rain.

"Is "poopy" an adjective?"

...and other google queries.

These are the questions you find yourself asking when playing madlibs with a 5 year old.

I appreciate the lack of judgement, google.

Two things. (1) It was not her suggestion for the adjective. (It was mine. I was going for the easy laugh.)
(2) We had to google it because Mike didn't think it was an adjective. (Wrong!)

We search for a lot of random things on the internets.

Were their children on the Mayflower? (E wanted to know. And yes, there were.)

What is the difference between the KSwiss Kona and the KSwiss Kona-C? (All me there. There's none, just looks, according to someone on a random forum. Momma needs new running shoes and zappos was all out of my faves, the Konas.)

How many calories in a clementine? (Mike. He's apparently counting calories.)

What the hell this says about us, I have no idea, perhaps we are weight conscious, fecal oriented, history buffs who enjoy a run now and then?

Okay, sure.

Tis the season

It is not my fault if this post makes zero sense and is full of typos.

I am currently under two year old attack. She's trying to lure me into a wrestling match by hitting me with a blanket and head butting me. Okay, she's stopped the attack to show me the "boogie" on her hand, and ugh, now she wiped it on my shirt. Yes, MY shirt, not her shirt.

Anyone want a hug?

If you don't get covered in snot, then can offer you one of the many germs that my children carry?

I am sure my shirt has them in spades. (Being covered in boogers and all.)

Yes, tis the season for being sick. The girls, yes, of course. There has to be a patient Zero. But, I still catch everyfreakingthing that they bring home from school. Sinus infection, stomach flu, fifths disease...check. Check. And check. (And not just me this year, my filthy animals have successfully infected my mom, brother in law, each other, and the contractor working for my mom so far.) Do not talk to us until April. I promise it is a bad idea.

Cobbling together any consistency in my running has been um, challenging so far this winter. (It's not even technically winter yet, is it?)

Oof.

Life Lessons

#68 -- Teaching yourself to read.

No big deal. Just find a quiet, sunny place and an Elmo book. All set.

#154 -- The Armpit Fart.

What else are daddies for?

The Voice

I've been hearing a few lately.

The one in my head. More about that later....

And the one coming from the two year old.

It sounds like a combination of a Charlie Brown Adult and a petulant teenager imitating their parents behind their backs. Mike tells me that Alice is imitating me. That my voice sounds like that. (It doesn't.) Mike thinks he funny. (He is.) But, not nearly as funny as Alice is when she does "the voice".

So, Alice is funny and bad (in the best way possible, of course.) She was just reprimanded for spitting on the floor, twice and enjoys gargling and fake burping as loud as she possibly can, in public. My apologies to my fellow Target shoppers.

While Alice is busy being a clown, Ella is rocking kindergarten. Rocking it!

After an adjustment period, filled with lots of tears and only one full-on-the-floor-in-school-tantrum (the horror of that is seared in my brain forever. Her teachers had to literally pull her arms from my legs. Good times.) After a few short months, she is loving school. Loves her friends, loves music class, loves the bus, her teachers, the routine. I am so proud of her. It is like school matured her, in the best possible way, and she's just taking off there. Go Ella.

As far as the voices that I am hearing, or more specifically, the voices I am not hearing anymore.

You know, the voice that tells me that doing Gulf Coast is a great idea. That triathlon is really important. The my workouts are waaay up there on the priority list for the day, week, month, year. That 5am workouts are what needs to be done. The one that repeats swimbikerun, swimbikerun, swimbikerun.

Well, I haven't heard them in a while.

I didn't know why. I missed those voices, then I didn't, then I wondered why I didn't miss them. Then, I just tried to chill. (I am not so good at that.)

Then I started to hear new ones.

Ones that said, "You can't force it". That "maybe the desire will come back, maybe not." One said "take tennis lessons. You love tennis." So I did. Another one said "do the Disney Princess Half Marathon" (That one was definitely Ella's.) So, I signed up. One that said "want to do a 50 miler with me?" (Okay, that wasn't in my head, it was from my friend, Michelle). I said hells no, but hmm...maybe a 50k. THAT actually sounds like fun.

I have to say, it's been pretty nice.

Our Christmas card pic taken by awesome photographer, Andrea Mages....thanks, Andrea!

Historic Roswell 5k Race Report

So, yeah, been off blogging for almost another month...but a silly, little 5k race report's got me back on the ball. Yay for 5k's!

I love this race. Did it back in 2008. It was my first race post Alice. I think I ran around 22:30 or so, I can't really remember. What I do remember from that race was getting the "pukes" (not actually puking, but feeling like it was coming at any second. Yeah, I made that up.) around mile 1.5, and having to breastfeed A in the middle of a football field during the awards ceremony. I really class a race up. ;)

No pukes this race. (Always makes me think I didn't go hard enough!) Just a fun day with no real expectations. (Okay, I was not going to be happy if I went over 20 minutes.) I didn't think under 20 was possible today. I've been running, a lot, just not really focused running. Just 5 miles here, 8 miles there. Some speedwork, some trails, kind of whatever feels good on the day. (

(This low pressure schedule is working for me now, but I can tell I am getting antsy. Antsy for a goal. FIN-A-FREAKING-LY! I will keep pretending I am a normal person for a while, but I think once the holidays are over I am going to want to get back at it. Woo hoo. I think just running for now though...)

Anyway...the 5k. I ran, I hurt, the scenery was pretty, the course was a course I have run since I was 19 (needless to say, I knew where the hills were), great friends were there to cheer (thanks Bonnie, Meghan, Noah, Madeline and Patrick!), I finished 3rd overall female. And guess where I finished age group? 3rd. Boo hiss for stacked 30-34 year old AG. :) 20:50, eh, not bad, not great.

I guess I actually finished 2nd AG, since 1st went first overall, but I scooted out of there and ran up to watch the parade that follows the race with friends.

Fun day. Fun race. Love the low pressure stuff. For now....:)

Muscle Memory

Sometimes I wish my muscles would just forget.

Forget how fast the last race, interval, mile, long run, was.
Forget that I used to do a heck of a lot more training.
Forget the word "just" in front of "half marathon training".

'Cause remembering just makes it all really no fun.

Makes me want to not race. (I can't beat my old times. I don't know if I can (more like want to) hurt for that long anymore.)

Makes me wonder if the fire will ever come back. (Where the heck did it go?)

Did pushing, all the time, striving for some goal, some time, some AG finish push the point of all this so far away that I can't see it anymore?

(Point being. THIS IS FUN.)

I love to run (and bikeandswim).

It makes me feel good. Nope, it makes me feel GREAT. Alive. Happy. Relaxed. Makes me feel like me. Like my best me.

A solo, early fall, morning run while both girls were in school had me remembering today.

A good muscle memory. Time to make some more...

Don't mess with Ella

An admittedly weak update after a long break. Here's the gist.

Kindergarten started. My heart broke. I missed E. She missed me. And cried in the bathroom about it, daily, for a few weeks (her, not me. I didn't attempt to hide my tears). Settling in now...everyone. She likes school, which is great.

Alice is breathing well again after an ER trip last night. Damn croup. She's all 'roided up like a guido from Jersey Shore and breathing much easier now. Longest 8 miles to that hospital, ever.

That's all I've got after 4 hours of sleep. On the floor of A's room. Oof.

Dance Party USA

Does anyone else remember rushing off the bus in high school, forgetting about homework, repainting their nails (freshman year, I preferred a new color. Every day. Oy.), planting themselves in front of their TV, turning on the USA network and cracking up at this show? Wondering where these people come from?? And how is it possible to have hair that big?

Just me? (And my sister. She was right there with me.)

Maybe it was a New Jersey thing. Dance Party was filmed in Camden, NJ. Proud to say.

I like a dance party. Still do. We have them at our house fairly often. E and Allie can break it down like nobody's business. Ella's future band has a name already. "Shake Your Fanny". R&B, I am guessing.

And Alice? She knows the words to "Single Ladies". Already. And requests it over, and over. She walks up to the ipod docking station and yells at me. "I WANNA DANCE!". Um, okay.

Mike's birthday was Friday and instead of the "new belt" that Ella suggested for him, I decided to give him a garage makeover. We've always wanted to be the super neat and clean and uber organized garage people, but we're just not. UNTIL NOW....

New lights, blinds, paint, flooring and it is immaculate. I love it.

So did Mike, and now instead of one car fitting into our three car garage, we can actually fit two. We broke the "Garage-mahal" as Mike is calling it, in last night with what else? A dance party.


I have to commend Mike on his robot in this shot. He is a serious robot, apparently.


Ella favors running around as fast as she can as a dance style. Me? Jumping. A lot.

It's not my fault...

...that I have not posted for almost a month.

A month.

Wow. Time flies. (And that is the last thing I want it do this summer. I want it to crawl. Not fly.)

But, anyway, it's not my fault. Someone needs to watch the new seasons of "Jersey Shore", "Mad Men", "Boston Med". And Bravo. All of Bravo. If I don't. Who will? ;)

So, what's been going on?


Since I have failed at freezing time, or making regressing Ella to her 3 year old state, we've been getting ready to embrace the inevitable. Kindergarten. (Did you hear that? My heart just sank. Thump.) She starts in two weeks. She's excited and ready, and I am, too, for her. Just sad for me and Alice and the feeling that I can't shake. That I am losing my baby. :( We are going to miss her. A lot. Especially Alice. E went to camp a few weeks ago and left a screaming, crying sister in her wake, yelling "I want Ella home!". Me, too, Allie, me, too. I know this is normal and I know it is healthy and I know it is good. None of this makes it any easier. Or makes me want to cry less thinking about it.


My other baby turned two. Wow. It is hard for me to believe it has only been two years since we had that nutjob. I honestly have to think very hard about what our life was life before two. (And very, very hard to remember what the hell we ever did before we had E. Oh yeah, nap and sleep in.) Alice continues to grow in her sassiness, self confidence, and Ella-emulation every day. Thankfully she has yet to lose (any) of her baby chub, so the feeling of holding that soft, good smelling body of hers is still available whenever I want it.

And me? Been running a lot. Biking a little and swimming none. The carpal boss pain on my wrist comes and goes and when it comes, it hurts like a mother and is triggered by who knows what? Here one day. Gone the next week. Then back again. Running is the only thing that I can count on to reliably do. Aha, but there's a catch. This old, inflexible body of mine is not so used to running 6 times a week. These legs are used to breaks. Not the daily grind of run, run, run. My piriformus is pissed and acting out. Here's to hoping a little ART and TLC will stop what I like to refer to as "drop leg" on my long runs.

I've signed up for tennis lessons and will be playing in a fall soccer league which I am pumped about. I love that I am not worried about hurting myself for a race with other sports or that I will be tired for xx workout the next day or some other reason. The half marathon training I am now doing is really just for a goal and to keep me in shape, if I can't race a half...I don't really care. I can't wait for some fun on the field and the courts.

Lobsterfest in Indiana at my brother's lake house. The cool (relative) weather was worth the 21 hours in the car with the girls. Sort of.



Oof, this is a lot of work. Note to self, update more often.