On Wednesday Sophie woke up with a horrible cough, some wheezing and labored breathing. It seemed like, at times, she was struggling to catch her breath. Scared the crap out of me so I called in sick to work and made a doctor appointment. They didn't have one till 12:30!! Lots of sick kids out there right now. So by mid morning she seemed to be doing a little better and was running around and playing, so I cancelled the doctor appointment.
Because I'm not a doctor, I self diagnosed her with Croup. Actually I read about it, my sister's kids have had it and when she heard her cough and breathing we were both pretty sure it was croup. Of course if she seemed to not be doing well I was going to call the doctor back, but croup is a virus and just like with all viruses you have to let it run it's course.
Luckily that night she slept very well and sounded so much better the next morning. Poor kid, I hate it when she's sick.
Running has been going well this week, I've mostly forgotten about that horrible run and am moving forward. I am scheduled to do 12 miles tomorrow but will possibly do a couple extra. Just to make sure my base is strong and to make way for the crap ton of calories I will be eating and drinking for New Years. We are having some friends at our house and I am going all out.
In typical Jennifer fashion I have a lot going on in the next few weeks. Charleston Marathon is only 2 weeks away!! I can't believe it!! I'm super excited (because I'm no longer going to think negatively).
Aside from wrapping up training I will be painting Sophie's new room (she'll be "moving in" sometime in Feb.). I will also be re-painting our kitchen because we are getting granite counter tops installed today!! Now I just have to find the time to do it all!!
Happy New Year! 2012 is going to be an awesome year, I can feel it.
Merry Christmas! It has been a fast couple of days and I've been a busy little bee baking my little heart out the last few days.
I am happy to report that I've mentally and physically recovered from my sucky run on Friday. I have come to realize that I pushed it and wasn't in the mood to run that day but wanted to get it done so I didn't have to worry about it over Christmas. I realize that I should have waited a few days. It's all good. I redeemed myself this morning with a 7.5 miler on the treadmill. I had planned on running outside but for some reason the treadmill was calling my name. Weird but I had a great run so that's all that matters at this point.
Sophie had a fantastic Christmas. I think she was very overwhelmed by it all but she made out good with a doll house, Wooden food sets and a Diner stand to cook us up some good "play" food. A bunch of other stuff too. I have pictures I need to download but haven't gotten around to it just yet.
I made homemade cinnamon rolls from the Pioneer Woman. I made them last year and figured these would be my Christmas tradition. They take some time but are well worth it. So yummy and so bad for you but that's OK, it's Christmas!
I was suprised myself this year. My hubby got me an iPhone 4. I think I mentioned it like a month ago that having one would be kind of neat. I just figured the phone and plan were too expensive but when I opened my present there it was! I spent the majority of the moring getting it set up and playing with it. This is the girl who didn't have a cell phone for the longest time and still manages to leave it in my purse and miss a ton of calls and text. But the iPhone is pretty neat and I feel like I'm a little more technologically advanced now.
I got my hubby some fishing apparel, some spiced rum that he likes and he pretty much between his mom, my family, got everything on his list.
Sad that it's my last day off and I have a ton of cleaning to do but it's been a nice 4 day weekend and I can't really say that I've relaxed like I wanted to but that's just the way it is sometimes. I guess when my kids are older and can fend for themselves or at least be a little self sufficient I can relax.
Looking forward to a short work week and then another 3 day weekend for New Years!
I haven't posted anything since last Friday. I'm a slacker. Actually I've just been very very busy with work and then I literally fall into bed when I get my little one to sleep.
In a nutshell here's what my week has consisted of:
-Traveling to Charlotte, NC for "fake" Christmas with my family plus celebrating two birthdays (my Mom and nephew) - pics to come.
- Ran 7 miles on the trail behind my parents house. I love that trail. I miss that trail. It ends right accross the street from a Starbucks and Trader Joes. If I had my debit card on me I would have totally gotten a coffee and gone shopping and just called someone to come get me. But I didn't so I ran back to my parents house.
- Drove home and then had to do laundry, clean and get ready for the work week.
- I worked all week. It was busy.
- Ran during the week at the butt crack of dawn. Scratch that it wasn't even dawn yet.
- Ran 19 miles today and then had to go to my husband's company Holiday lunch (because in this day in age you can't call it a Christmas lunch anymore. Gotta be PC).
About those 19 miles.......
It blew.
I walked.
I cried.
I even threw my water bottle and then sat in the grass and called my sister. I mean who would have thought a 31 year old could throw a tantrum like that. I learned it from my daughter :)
I love my sister, she's always so positive. She's not a runner but she just makes me feel like a good person.
Then I called my husband who pretty much told me the same thing my sister did: Don't quit.
Then I came home and e-mailed a blogger who kicks ass at the marathon and she gave me some awesome advice too. (Thanks Skinny Runner!)
General consensus: Don't quit. Everyone has bad runs now and then. I have trained way too hard and come to far to quit now. I can still do this!
However I had a huge blow to my confidence today. This 20 miler, which actually was only 19, was supposed to be better than the last. I was supposed to feel strong. I was supposed to run the entire time and feel ready for the marathon in 3 weeks.
Instead I felt awful from the first 3 miles till 12 and then had to walk/run the rest if the way. I mostly walked. And cried. I think a biker thought something was wrong because he looked back at me several times. No worries Mr. Bike Rider, just being a cry baby! Thanks though! My stomach was rejecting any water and energy chews. I knew if I ate one more I'd hurl all over the place.
I just didn't have it in me today. I admit I've been feeling very tired and burned out lately. Maybe this is my body's way of telling me to rest. Seriously I shut down physically and mentally today.
So I'm going to take the next couple of days and enjoy Christmas with my husband and daughter. I'll pick it back up on Monday and then enjoy my taper. I will hope for the best on Marathon day. I know I can make it 20 miles and it's ok to walk!
Half marathon is by far my favorite distance so after this marathon I think I will focus on that. I'm still excited for the marathon, just don't feel as ready as I hoped I would.
I mean not that I'm complaining that it's Friday already and we are one week closer to Christmas, but what happened to this week?
Oh yeah, I know. I have been elbow deep in quotes and orders. Which is not a bad thing. I mean really if the company gets orders and makes money that means I get to keep my job! But my theme lately is there is no rest for the weary.
I ran three times this week, yay! I did not make it to Body Pump this week (or the last 3 weeks) boo! And I'm not even sure if I'll get a chance to run this weekend but it is what it is and I have to learn to roll with it. Might be a good time for a small rest before my next 20 miler. My plantar fasciitis in my right heel is flaring up again.
So last night I was supposed to be packing so we could head out to Charlotte today. I'm leaving work early and I wanted to get on the road to be to my sister's house at a decent time. My husband apparently ate something bad yesterday and was laid up in bed by the time I got home from work. He didn't move for the rest of the night which means I had to fly solo for dinner, bath and bed with Sophie. Not a bad thing, it just means that I got zero packing done.
So now I have to make it home, pack, load up the car with presents, luggage, child and dogs, in hopes that we can still make it on the road at a decent time. Hubby is still feeling funky so that means I will more than likely be driving and I hate driving at night. This will be fun (and fun = stressful in my world).
Next week I am looking forward to my 20 miler and then a 4 day weekend with relaxing and watching my daughter open and play with her presents as top priority!
I am looking forward to celebrating Christmas and birthdays this weekend. Just wish we had longer (it's my Mom's b-day on the 20th and my nephew is turning 6 on the 22nd).
So fingers crossed that I make it in one piece tonight with my sanity in tact!
Oh and the other day I realized but didn't have time to post, that I run my marathon in one month!!!!!!!!!!
It's been a busy busy weekend. And it will be like this till the end of the year. We have something planned every weekend between now and New Year's Day. I'm going to be exhausted by the time this race comes around. I'm almost looking forward to being pregnant again so I can take it easy. However relax is not in my vocabulary, even when pregnant.
Friday I finished all my painting. Well, not all. I still have other items I need to get done but the bulk of Sophie's furniture is DONE! Headboard, bookcase and a mirror. Whew! All I need to do is the clear coat but it's been a little humid with this rain that moved in, and I didn't want it to dry funky so the furniture is still sitting in the garage till I can do this last step. Pictures to come.
Saturday I ran 12 miles, 1:46, avg pace 8:54. Getting better with this distance. Would love to run just one more before I get pregnant so I can PR again. There is a 15k (Charlie Post Classic) at the end of January and a no frills half marathon (Save The Light Half Marathon) first weekend of Feb. that I'm thinking about doing. We'll see, I don't want to jump hard core into running after my marathon. Body would probably like to recover and we'll pretty much go from marathon to "trying" to get pregnant.
Sunday we woke up and got ready for a Brunch with Santa with a friend of mine at her neighborhood country club. It was a nice spread of food, they had a mini pancake station for the kids and I topped Sophie's pancakes with yummy strawberries, chocolate chips, whipped cream. She only ate the chocolate chips. And some bacon. Mom of the year, right here!
We even got her to sit on Santa's lap for a few minutes. The look she gave him the whole time was priceless.
Not so sure about this guy.
There's a high 5, she's warming up....slightly
After brunch we walked down to a little area near the clubhouse that was on a marsh to take some pictures. They actually turned out really nice and I have to credit my good hair day to my friend who spend 2 hours highlighting my mass of hair on Saturday. Actually my hair is not very thick, just long.
A rare moment - I'm usually behind the camera
My favorite! Love this little girl!! This is a keeper.
Another keeper!! Even if we all aren't looking at the camera we are all smiling.
My loves!
On the way home, little bit feel asleep so we sat through the Starbucks drive through for about 20 minutes. Apparently everyone in our town decided to go to Starbucks at exactly 12:20 Sunday afternoon. We got home and rested/relaxed for a few hours until it was time to head back out for the James Island County Park Festival of Lights.
All the 6 years I've lived here and we've never been. Mainly because it gets packed, there's traffic, a ton of people and I hate all of that. I'm probably the world's most impatient person. But since Sophie is getting older I want to start doing traditions so I decided to suck it up and deal with the mass of people. And we went on a Sunday which was less crowded than Saturday. And we got there right when it opened so we didn't sit in too much traffic.
So basically you drive around the county park and look at all the light displays. The have a Santa's Village you can park and walk to. Includes fire pits for marshmallow roasting, a carousel, Santa of course, food and beverages and a climbing wall (??) Not sure about that last one but people looked to be having a good time.
Getting ready for the lights
Sophie got to ride on the carousel, almost caught my hair on fire roasting marshmallows. Again, letting my child play near fire = mom of the year. Actually she's becoming quite the Miss Independent so I let her try it out. Teach em young, that's what I say!
Fun with Daddy!
Waving at us every time she passed by. It was too cute and I'm so happy she loved it.
All good things must come to and end and she started getting upset and fussy and we knew it was time to go. Sleepy Sophie is not a fun thing to deal with. Luckily we made it back to the car, saw the rest of the lights, and got home before a full meltdown occurred. So I call it a success.
However this morning she was NOT a happy camper to be woken up. Thus I call it a Santa hangover. Poor girl could barely keep her eyes open and fell back asleep in the car. These are the days I feel guilty to be a working mom. Clearly she needs to sleep longer and I felt so bad having to get her out of bed. One day, one day I won't have to do this to her. Hopefully. That's the plan anyway. In the meantime there's money to be made and bills we gotta pay.
Because I didn't get to workout and do my cross training I dragged myself out of bed and went to the gym. Ran 4 miles, 33:49, avg pace 8:27 or something like that. Did some legs, chest and back.
It's a very rainy, cold and dreary day today so I'm anxious to get this Monday over with.
Woke up at 4:30, on my day off, and ran 4 miles in 33:20 and did weights. Actually a stomach ache got me up at that time and since I was already up, hey why not go ahead and go right? Thanks stomach! I owe you :)
So now it's about 38 degrees out, which I find rather chilly, and I need to get started on my painting. I'm going to layer up and head out. Times like these I wish we had a space heater for our garage. Just don't normally need those things down here in South Carolina, but today it would have been nice.
Hope to have a picture of the finished product by the end of the day!
I crashed hard last night. Fortunately so did my daughter so as soon as she was fast asleep I crawled into bed a slept all the way till my alarm went off at 4:00. I hit snooze and passed out again. Next time my alarm went I decided the gym was a no go this morning. My body felt really tired, from the last two days of running and weights. Clearly this is a sign to rest.
I'm laying there, and laying there and am not going back to sleep. So by the time I said "forget sleeping in" I looked at the clock and it was 4:50. Crap, no time to go and get a decent workout in. Hate it when that happens. So finally I must have fallen back asleep because I had a dream and we got a new washer and dryer?? Huh. Weird.
Woke up at 6:15 and realized that I had no gas in my car, which was the real reason why I was going to go to the gym and get gas on my way home. Oops!
Oh honey..... can you go put gas in my car?
Luckily he got a quick shower and ran out for me. Love that man!
My Christmas shopping is about 98% complete! I have just a few more items to purchase, that just required a quick trip out to a few shops.
I am on "vacation" tomorrow and will be priming and painting Sophie's headboard. I'm going to attempt to at least get her bookcase primed but I doubt I will get it painted. Between coats I'm planning on working out, running errands and cleaning.
Saturday I have 12 miles, a hair appointment and more painting.
Sunday we are doing a brunch with Santa with some friends, the Holiday Parade in our town, and hopefully the Festival of Lights and the county park.
Since my 20 miler I'm recovering well. I ran 5 miles on Tuesday and 4 miles this morning. I had planned on going to Body Pump tonight since I haven't been in two weeks but I decided to be a nice wife and let my husband go to the gym tonight. He hasn't gotten to go since Sunday and since he would be picking my daughter up for me to go, I will be picking her up so he can go.
Plus I wasn't really feeling it today. Maybe it's the PMS. Yep, it's that time again. Evil Jen is back. I hate this time of month, my hormones get all wacky and I get in BAD moods. Not fun.
So I'm feeling sort of blah this week but trying to contain my emotions. That could have a negative impact, if I don't release it I'm going to have a breakdown. Yes, it gets that bad and no I DO NOT want to be on birth control or any other mood altering medications.
There are just some days where every one around you would be safer if you just stayed home. I'm kidding of course.
Luckily I have Friday off to refinish the furniture I bought for my daughters new room. Since I have to prime I'm going to do a coat first and then possibly head to the gym for a quick workout and then come back home to paint. There's two body pump classes I could go to in the morning that may work.
So I started thinking about the topic of music while running. I can't run without it. My iPod to be specific.
Music motivates me and distracts me. I've tried running without music and I just don't seem to have the same drive and energy level as I do with my tunes blasting in my ear.
I think anyone who can run without music is awesome. To be able to tune everything else around you out, I cannot do it.
I tired at the Myrtle Beach Mini Marathon for a while, just to see, and all I could hear were people coughing, snorting, spitting, grunting, and farting.
Yep, that pretty much just did it for me. Ear buds back on.
I've even tried to tough out a run when my battery has died and I could barely get 3 miles.
I'm just not that runner and that's OK. It' whatever works for you.
The reason this popped into my head to write about is because there's a man I see at the gym and he's that guy that wants to talk to you. He'll talk to anyone.
Last week I was the only person on a set of treadmills and he got on the one RIGHT NEXT to me. That irritates me.
Well he got on the one right next to me so he could talk, loudly, to the woman on the next set of treadmills. They had about a 20 minute conversation. Why he couldn't go walk next to her is beyond me. I've stopped trying to figure people out.
Anyway this morning I put my water and earphones on a treadmill and the went to the locker room to blow my nose. When I came out the a**hole guy, same guy, moved my stuff!!! To use that treadmill to talk, loudly, to the same woman as last week (poor woman).
So I got my stuff and gave him a dirty look and found another one. Of course after he comes up and apologizes for moving my stuff which I appreciate but seriously people! If I saw someone's water on a treadmill I would probably think someone was going to use it and find a different one.
Anyway, my little rant is over. Back to music, thank goodness for iPods!!!!! Music on and I'm rocking out 4 miles and I don't have to listen to annoying guy's hour long conversation.
Some of my favorite songs to run to:
Anything by Muse
Coldplay - loving their new song "Paradise." Anyone seen the music video? I thought it was hilarious.
I've got some old school like Pink Floyd "Run Like Hell"
I like the hard stuff, got some Tool, A Perfect Circle.
There's a guitar song by Rodrigo y Gabriella called "Buster Voodoo" that had an awesome beat and I like to do some sprints to this song.
It's hump day and I'm looking forward to my day off. It's the last one till Christmas but, as always, I'll be busting my behind to get stuff done. Relax apparently is not in my vocabulary.
However instead of cooking for Christmas Eve I'm going to suggest to my husband we got out to dinner. I really don't want to be stuck in the kitchen all day, I want to enjoy my weekend too and cooking, for me, is stressful. We'll see what he says... or what's open.
I first want to start by saying that I am amazed by people who can run a marathon fast. A lot of the blogs I read, these ladies are fast. They run a marathon in the time I ran 20 miles. However, this is the longest distance I've ever run and I'm just proud that I did it.
I woke up Saturday morning to cold temps and frost on the ground. When I got to the start of the trail it said 30 degrees on the thermometer.
I had on my ear warmers, gloves, Nike tech capris (which surprisingly kept my legs warm) a long sleeve shirt and a fleece. No picture of this lovely sight as my hubby was still sleeping when I left.
When I started running I could not figure out why my hands were numb, literally freezing, until I realized my hand held water bottle lid was not on tight and water was splashing all over my hands. It was cold but I warmed them up by putting them under my shirt - body heat is awesome.
Once I got going I started to warm up nicely and the cold air didn't really affect my breathing at all but my nose was running like crazy.
I stopped around mile 5 at a gas station to pee and take off the fleece. In a nutshell my run went very well until about mile 16 I started to feel very tired. I did stop at mile 12 because I was back at my car and needed more water (since most of it leaked out before I started running).
So mile 16 I start getting tired and then I get more and more tired as the miles go on. By 18 I had to stop and walk. I didn't even know if I was going to finish 20. I guess this is what people mean by hitting the wall. I wasn't really cramping I was just tired.
I walked for about a minute and told myself to get my butt moving. My pace was so slow towards the end and I wondered how in the hell am I going to make it 6 more miles?
The last .3 miles I ran as fast as my little tired legs would go, which really wasn't that fast at all, but I got 20.12 miles done! Barely!
Avg pace was 9:59. At least it was under 10 minute mile.
My "I'm so happy it's over" pose.
Even though I have never run 20 miles before and am proud, I'm slightly disappointed that I started to crap out at mile 16 and 17. Did I not eat enough the day before? I thought I did, which could have also been the problem...maybe I was too full and sluggish. Who knows.
What I do know is I want to run a little faster than that on race day. I don't want to feel like crap and feel like I'm not going to make it, question why in the world I decided to do this.
So I'm going to do another 20 miler in three weeks - Christmas Eve or the day before. I feel like this one doesn't fully prepare me.
The good news is I was not as sore as I thought I was going to be afterwards or the next day. Some of that is due to me wearing my Recovery Socks right after I got home. We even went out to dinner that evening with friends and I stayed up till 11:30! What!? Ha.
I did cross training yesterday and I could tell my body was tired so I tried to keep the weight light.
Today is a rest day and I'll be back at it tomorrow morning.
Since my last post I've barely logged onto a computer and happy that I've had some time away. I've been feeling very overwhelmed with life and this marathon training. I think last week was one of the first times that I honestly thought about quitting.
Then I woke up Thanksgiving morning with a sore throat and realized that this was the reason I was feeling so run down, I was getting sick.
Luckily someone in this world invented Airborne and after 2 days of eating those nasty chews I was feeling so much better.
We went to my sister's house in Charlotte (well small town outside of Charlotte, Stanley to be exact). I did not brave the Black Friday crowds because I never go and I was feeling crummy. We did go out later in the day to a few stores but the spectacular deals were already over.
I'm a believer in Airborne. I started eating the chews Friday night and by Saturday morning sore throat was gone and runny nose was not as snotty.
Saturday we drove home and went to friends house to watch the Clemson vs. Carolina game. I could care less about football but the hubby had fun, I caught up with some friends, and Sophie got to play. Everybody wins!
Note to self - puffer jackets make me look chunky.
I assure you the kids had a blast, even though it doesn't look like it on their faces.
Sunday I did 12 miles in 1 hour and 51 minutes, avg pace 9:11. Felt really good overall. It was a cool morning but I got warm quick!
Later I went to the gym to do some elliptical and weights. Kicked my butt and I was tired when I got home. And hungry. Like I hadn't eaten enough the previous 3 days.
Monday I had the day off so I:
1) worked out - ran 3 miles
2) Ran errands - shopped, went the the grocery store
3) put up Christmas decorations - still need to do the tree
4) cleaned
5) started my nephews dinosaur painting
6) cooked dinner
7) crashed
So a vacation day isn't really a vacation at all. I busted my tail and was exhausted when the day was done.
Back to work Tuesday, which is what I've been doing since. Not that exciting but I have been super swamped with end of year stuff, which is one reason why I haven't posted anything lately.
December is going to be a super busy month and I'm stretching myself really thin. I think maybe I'll get to relax in March. Hopefully by then I'll be knocked up so I'll have an excuse to rest more.
Saturday I have 20 miles! AHHHHHHHH!! So intimidating to say that but I'm ready to tackle it. Then I'll have to come home and take a nap because we are going out to dinner with friends that night. A night out with my daughter spending the night with the grandparents. Oh the possibilities. Honestly I see myself crashing early but I'm hoping as long as I take a nap and drink lots of water I should be fine.
Next week I'll be working on painting my daughters furniture to start getting her "big girl" room ready. I have a lot to do but she's 2 and doesn't care if it's not all complete at once.
Weekend after we'll be back in Charlotte to do "fake Christmas" with my family. That plus it's my mom's and nephew's birthday that week so it's Christmas and birthdays all in one.
Then the next week is Christmas. I might be able to relax a little because the only thing I have to do is cook something Christmas Eve and make breakfast Christmas morning. My new tradition is to make cinnamon rolls from The Pioneer Woman. I made these last year and they are so good.
So you see, there is no rest for the weary. I feel like I'm at the peak of training and I'll start to taper soon. 20 miles this weekend and then I'm going to do another 20 - 22 miles on the 23rd (I have off and Sophie will go to school that day for her Christmas PJ party). Then I'll taper off and be ready for the race.
