Recap of the Last 5 months

Haven't posted since July. Holy cow, has time really gone by that fast? I mean I just found out I was pregnant and now Christmas is almost here.

It's been that busy, seriously. Time...what's that? I have no idea anymore.

A lot has happened since I shared my news. Good things. Well, I think they're good things, we'll see.

Recap:

July - pregnancy announced. Getting pregnant with Sophie happened very fast. I mean first month we tried I was knocked up. This time around we had been trying since February. Like my first I took a test before my LMP (last missed period) because I felt funny. And sure enough 4 days before I was supposed to get my "friend" the test came back positive.

I decided to wanted to continue running while pregnant. With the doctor's blessing of course.

Me at 17 weeks. I ran 7 miles that morning and that's the farthest I have run since. After that run all my joints ached for days so I decided to scale back to avoid injuring myself.

September - At about 18 weeks we decided to do a 3-D ultrasound to see if we could determine the gender a little early. We never did this with Sophie just had the 20 week ultrasound at the doctor's office. So without further delay, we found out we are having a BOY!!

Very excited to be having a little boy and Sophie is super thrilled to be having a baby brother. It's what she wanted to whole time.

So at 20 weeks everything looked great and ultrasound tech confirmed that it is indeed a boy:

Name we picked: Owen Thomas. Can't wait to meet you little guy!

October - November was spent working, taking care of a very dramatic and crazy 3 1/2 year old and growing a baby. Not to mention trying to get a nursery together for a boy, getting rid of baby girl clothes (a sad day) and getting ready for the Holidays.

The cutest little girl I have ever seen. Her school picture:

December - Getting ready for Christmas and currently 32 weeks pregnant as of December 17th. Everything is going great with the pregnancy. I am measuring right where I need to be and have only gained 23 pounds so far. Very happy with that as I gained about 45 with Sophie.

I am still running but only managing about 3 - 4 miles every other day. So about 10-11 miles a week. That's nothing compared to some women I read about but my body is starting to reject running all together. My hips ache, my joints are starting to ache and there's a ton of pressure in my nether regions when I run. I have to stop and pee every mile.

Most of my running has been on the treadmill. I am still getting up at 4 am during the week and running Saturday mornings. I need at least one rest day in between exercising or I feel completely drained.

Again, I am happy for what I have accomplished so far but I am mentally not ready to stop running. Then again just when I think I am done I pound out a 4 miler and feel like a rockstar. So I will attempt to run and if it ends up that I just walk to move to the elliptical then so be it.

I am still weight training but starting to lighten it up only because my muscles get so fatigued so easily.

In other news, I am quitting my job to become a stay at home mom. Yep, my wish has finally come true. Tomorrow is my last day at work. I am going to take the last month or so and relax and hang with my girl. We still have a bunch to do around the house to get ready for Baby Owen's arrival but I won't have the stress of work, the commute from hell and being rushed.

I will admit I am nervous to stay home. I've worked since I was 15 and the thought of 1 income scares the hell out of me. But I know it's the best decision for us right now. Two kids in daycare cost too much for my salary and then with all the gas I pay to drive here, well it wouldn't be worth it.

I will eventually go back part time once Sophie is in Kindergarten, something that is closer to home.

I am eager to start this new chapter in my life. Stay tuned, it will be interesting!

Big News!

So much has happened the last few months as I touched briefly on my Hiatus post. My little girl turned 3 (going on 13).
But the biggest news of all is that I am expecting!

My ultrasound at 7 weeks, 3 days

It finally happened after about 3 months of trying. Which really isn't that long to try but with my first I got pregnant right away, like the first month we tried so this time around I was a little shocked that it didn't happen right away. I had hopes for a November baby, I love the fall, favorite time of year.

Ironically my due date is February 11th, February is my least favorite time of year so now I have something to look forward to! This could potentially be a Valentine's baby. Sophie was 9 days late so I'm really hoping that this baby comes around the due date, that would be nice for a change. 9 days late was brutal and I had to be induced, which really worked out well for me, but still! I was so tired of being pregnant.

Today I am 10 weeks and starting to finally feel better. About week 6 I started feeling queasy 24-7. Morning, afternoon and evening. No appetite, yet if I didn't eat I would not feel well. The other problem I was having is that I would get full really quick and not feel well. On top of that I was tired ALL the time. If I could have laid my head down on my desk for an hour and sleep I probably could have.

This is a little different than my first, with Sophie I didn't really have morning sickness but would go to bed at like 7:30. Now I still have Mommy duties in the evening and only play the pregnancy card when I have to. My husband has been pretty good about the days when I just need to go lay down. After working all day and then coming home and still taking care of a 3 year old, I'm exhausted.

I'm still running, not as much and mainly that's because it's a million degrees here in South Carolina and the air conditioning is on the fritz at my gym. It's the stale, stagnant air...well basically no airflow and it's been difficult to run in it. I still manage anywhere from 3 - 5 miles but I stop after every mile and guzzle water (which in turn makes me have to pee) and then I'm pouring sweat. I need to be careful and stay hydrated and not over heat so it's been a challenge. I'm doing what I can so if I can't run then it's elliptical and weights.

For example yesterday I could only manage 2 miles before I had to stop. Just wasn't feeling right so that's when you know not to push it. Makes me mad because I really want to continue to run as long as possible but this heat and the damn gym AC are making it difficult. Oh and I have called to complained and they assure me that "it's going to get fixed." I call BS - they said that 3 months ago.

I have gotten a little slower but am still under a 9 minute mile. I am happy with this. I could probably run a tad faster but with the heat, just taking it easy.

So far I've only gained about 2 - 3 pounds. I say 2 -3 because I have been a tad bloated here and there so it depends on the day. I gained 45 pounds with Sophie so I'm trying to keep the weight gain about 25 - 30 pounds. I realize that my body is going to do what it's going to do but I want to stay healthy and not eat all the crap I did first time around (I'm talking about you pizza and mac and cheese).

It's true what they say, you show sooner with each subsequent pregnancy. I'm 10 weeks and getting bigger by the week. Pants started getting tight about 8.5 weeks. My dilemma is that my maternity clothes are HUGE!! I weigh a good 7 pounds less this time around so everything is a size medium. However my regular clothes are getting tight and uncomfortable so I'm in between, making the best of it.

 Sophie is seems to be excited to be a big sister. Every time we ask her if she wants a baby brother or baby sister she says baby brother. We'll find out in September! I say boy but then again I said that with Sophie so who knows. Either way it doesn't matter, I hope for a healthy baby!

Hiatus

It's been a long time since I've posted last! Life has been busy!!! A few weeks ago I seriously contemplated deleting the blog, mainly because I haven't had much time to post and then I wasn't sure if I wanted to continue putting my life out there for the world to see.

So I'm still debating what to do. I even have ideas of starting a new blog that's a little more anonymous, but mostly focused on being a mom trying to juggle...well everything!! I still like having an outlet and a place to put my thoughts and opinions, which is why I haven't deleted it yet.

Running has taken a bit of a back seat lately. I still get out there and run on the treadmill at my usual 4:30 a.m. time (mainly because it's been so stinking hot out!!) but the farthest I've run is 6 miles. There's a reason for this that I will explain at a later time :)

Like I said, I'm still running, just doing shorter distances, and still lifting weights but that's not my complete focus at the moment.

In May we went to the beach for a week with my in-laws. The weather was perfect all week except for the last day there was a tropical storm that was brushing past the coast. 

My daughter turned 3 years old on June 12th!!! I also finally moved her over to her big girl room. It's about 95% complete. I still have to re-finish a nightstand and finish the mermaid painting I've started. It's going to be 100 degrees out this weekend so I see myself sitting in the A/C possibly working on this.

Back to my daughter turning 3, we had a small party at our house. We ended up buying her a swing set for her birthday and all the kids came over to play on it. They had some cake and ice cream, she opened presents and then it was done. She had a great time and I didn't have to do a lot so everyone wins!! She was so thrilled to blow out the candles on her birthday cake. I love that little girl, she's so stinking cute!

Her party was on the 16th so on her actual birthday, which again was June 12th, my husband and I took the day off of work and took her to lunch and to the Aquarium. It poured down rain that day but we still had a great time.

Work has been REALLY busy, which in this economy is a good thing!

I've been stressed, I've been tired but I've been happy this past month. I will explain in another post, just can't share the news quite yet.

So we'll see how long it takes to post next time around. In the meantime, it's SUMMER!! Stay cool out there!

Charlotte Race Fest Half Marathon

Oh Monday, I was not looking forward to you today! I'm tired today. It was a tiring weekend. But a good one. 

Friday I left work about 4:00, picked up Sophie, and we hit the road to Charlotte. I stopped to get her a happy meal but I was waiting till I got to my parents house to eat dinner because I didn't want fast food. Her fries were tempting and I might have taken one or two....

I got to my parents house about 7:15. Sophie immediately wanted to play which gave me a chance to bring in all our stuff and eat dinner and chat with my Mom. She picked up my race packet for me so I didn't have to worry about it. What a great Mom.

Then it was off to bed to be well rested for the race. Well as rested as you can be with a bed hog. I swear for such a little girl, she takes up the whole bed. I slept decent. 

I was up at 5:50 to start getting ready and we were out of the house by 6:50. My dad went with me to the race and my mom stayed home with Sophie.

It was the perfect morning. The sun was out, the temps were cool. Far cry from last year's torrential downpour and severe thunderstorms. 

I think there were a lot more race participants this year because the start seemed extra crowded and it took us all a while to break apart when the race started. 

Even though I didn't get to train for this race, I was still hoping that I would PR or at least break 2 hours for a third time. However, when the gun went off and we started running, I immediately knew that this was going to be a long race. My legs were just tired and stiff from the get go.

I felt pretty good after the 1st mile but the miles seemed to go by slow. 

Mile 9 was the hill from hell and I had to walk! So frustrating but I wanted to save my energy (or lack there of) for the rest of the race. The last few miles had a bunch of hills and that just drains me after a while. Again, I didn't get a chance to do any hill runs so I felt a bit out of shape.

At mile 11 I realized that if I sucked it up and sped up a little I could still finish under 2 hours and I really wanted to do this.

I put on my "fast" songs and just ran up those hills with all my might. 

The finish line never looked so good and I crossed at 1:58:44, chip time. Woot!

I'm happy overall because I have a feeling this is the last half marathon I will be running, probably till next year. Kind of sad but it's time to move on to my next quest. Baby no. 2. 

I know I keep saying that, hopefully it'll happen this month.

Rest of the weekend was spent hanging out with my family, a little bit of shopping, and eating. My mom is the best cook. 

Sunday we packed up and hit the road and I was home by 2:00. Only to still have to get everything ready for the work week. I was tired last night.

This morning I managed to drag myself out of bed and run 3 miles and do a leg workout. I am still coughing a bunch at night and even though it's getting better, I still can't get rid of this tickle in my throat. Very annoying. 

So far it's been a stressful Monday so I hope that doesn't set the tone for the week. 

One month till vacation!

Sleep! Finally!

All it took was a small dose of NyQuil and I was out cold. From what my husband said this morning, I didn't cough once. Thank goodness! It was starting to get really annoying.

I took less than the recommended dosage because I wanted to be able to get out of bed in the morning and not be groggy. It worked. I was able to get up at 4:20 for the gym but still felt a little out of it. Luckily I had some caffeine and I was good to go. Mostly.

Now I just have to make it through work. Leaving a little bit early to get my daughter and get on the road so we can get to Charlotte sometime around 7:00. I'm sure I'll have to stop for her to go potty and get some dinner. I'll eat when I get to my folks but I know she won't be able to hold out that long.

I'm sure she'll be wound up and wanting to play when I'm ready to go to sleep. My race starts at 7:30 so I'll have to be up probably around 5:45 and leave about 6:45 to get there and walk to the starting line.

Course map for anyone familiar with the Charlotte area:

Starts and ends near SouthPark Mall. I might, just might, have to sneak in after the race and walk around. Charleston does NOT have good malls and shopping. You go to a mall here you run the risk of getting shot. Seriously, it's happened. A few times.

Pretty sure that Sophie will just stay at home with my mom and dad while I run. Which is fine with me. This isn't a big huge race or anything. It's just nice to run around in my hometown. I miss it.

My sister and her boys will be coming over at some point tomorrow to hang with Sophie and play. It's going to be a really nice weekend, not too hot, so I'm sure we'll be able to let them run wild in the yard.

Looking forward to a nice weekend with my family while Ricky slaves around the house :) Just kidding. I wish he was coming too but we have to take advantage of time that can be used to get things done. Plus we're having Sophie's birthday party in our backyard in a few months and our backyard needs some love.

This Should Be Interesting

I am running a half marathon Saturday. I haven't really gotten a chance to "train" for it due to my cold and it's remnants the last 2 weeks.

I did do 10 miles last Saturday and felt really good and strong.

Then I coughed up my lungs for about 20 minutes after.

I ran Monday and yesterday and had aspirations to get up this morning and do about 7 miles tempo run (because I was suppose to do it yesterday but never got into my groove and only did 5 - super tired). However, that plan failed when I coughed up my remaining lungs last night from about midnight till about 2:00 am.

The secret to great abs is to cough your brains out for 2 hours a few nights and you are sure to have a six pack.

This happened Monday night as well and I think at this point my husband is going to hold a pillow over my face. He's a trooper. I would like to point out there is a couch he could go sleep on if he got really annoyed. I guess neither of us wanted to give up our bed.

I am no longer congested but apparently I have some leftover "junk" that I keep coughing up and can't seem to shake this last little bit. I hate taking meds but thinking I might need some cough syrup or something. I really want to sleep tonight!

So needless to say when my alarm went off at 4:00 I could barely keep my eyes open so I did not get up. I'm super tired today and have already downed 2 cups of coffee and still feel very sluggish and sleepy. It's going to be a long day.

I wasn't planning on running tomorrow morning for the simple fact that I have to work all day and then drive to Charlotte and didn't want to be too tired, but I think I'm going to shoot for 6 slow miles and then a few weights and drink lots of caffeine throughout the day.

That's the plan anyway, we'll see if I cough up the remainder of my lungs tonight.

So Saturday should be interesting. I'll either do really well or completely bomb but either way it's my last half marathon as this month we are going to start trying again for baby no. 2. If I run as well as I did on Saturday I'll do fairly well. Weather is going to be perfect so at least I have that going for me.

After the race I'm going to go shopping with Sophie and my Mom. I miss shopping in Charlotte. Lots.

Ricky is staying here to get some much needed stuff done around the house. He'll only have the dogs to manage, he should get a lot done with wife and daughter out of the house.

Next Saturday Ricky and I are running a rather small 5k that's going to be in our neighborhood. I haven't ran just a 5k in a long time so that will be interesting as well.

Lots of interesting things happening.

My Easter Sweetie

I have to brag. My daughter is gorgeous! Love love love her big brown eyes.

And the fact that she wore a dress without argument.

And let me put her hair in pig tails!

Photo by my sister in law, edited by me in Photoshop.

Photo and edits by me. 

Here are the before's:

An Eye Opener

Last week I had an appointment with the Dermatologist to have a few spots to looked at and removed. I was very nervous about one mole in particular on my right leg. It grew about 5 years or so ago and had gotten darker. The more I looked at it the more I got disturbed by it.

All I could think about was one thing: I don't want my daughter to grow up without me.

A little dramatic, probably, but I was a big time sun worshiper in my youth. Big time. I was never smart about sunscreen. Of course I knew I should have worn it, but I have dark skin and rarely burned so I just didn't think twice about it. Dumb.

All things change when you have a child. You start to realize you were an idiot growing up and hopefully it's not too late.

I also had another spot on my stomach that I've had since I can remember. Over the years I noticed it had changed, gotten a little bigger and not quite symmetrical. Of course it did grow with my stomach so for a while I chalked it up to that.

So I was really nervous about my appointment, thinking the worst (because that's what I do).

The appointment went very well. I got a full body check and the doctor immediately told me the "mole" on my leg was not a mole but a small hemangioma. Basically small blood vessels that have grown out of the skin. Gross, yes but very relieved to hear!! Apparently I have them all over, these tiny red dots. They are hereditary. After talking to my mom, she has them too. Just to be safe the doctor removed it and sent it away for biopsy.

She also removed the spot on my stomach, just to be on the safe side, as well as another small but darker than normal spot on my left leg - a spot that I had seen before but really didn't think too much of it.

Just a tiny procedure where she numbed the three areas and then scraped away the skin. Just a band-aid and some instructions on wound care and how to prevent scarring and I was on my way. Results would be in 2 weeks from now.

Fast forward to yesterday (or I guess I should say rewind?) I got a call from the doctor's office about my results. Immediate heart flutter.

They confirmed that the "mole" on my leg was indeed not a mole but the hemangioma and it was completely fine.

The other two spots however came back as atypical nevus (another term for mole). Good news is that the skin that was taken for biopsy "cleared the margins" so I do not need to go back for more skin removal. I am fine.

They did caution me to check my skin every month and come in immediately if I see any of my spots (and boy I have a lot of them) change (following the ABCD's of skin cancer detection. Also said I need to make sure I am wearing SPF 30 or higher when I'm in the sun. I should get yearly checks but I will probably go back in a couple months and get checked again just to be on the safe side.

I say this because I am now analyzing every little spot on my skin and am wondering if maybe something was missed and I need to go back? I've spoken to my sister as well as a co-worker and both have talked me down from the ledge and assured my that if I wait a couple of months it will be OK.

I'm just paranoid because they told me I am at risk for more atypical moles that could potentially develop into skin cancer. POTENTIALLY - doesn't mean they will, which is why I need to take extra precautions.

This has been a real eye opener for me and a tad scary that the thing I was was most concerned about was not a mole and a spot that I probably wouldn't have thought twice about ended up being atypical.

Very important to get your skin checked!! And to wear sunscreen!!

I will say while I was never good at it myself, I am a sunscreen nazi with my daughter. She gets re-applied and sprayed every 45 minutes. She's fair skinned like my husband so I am extra diligent with her. And now will be with myself.

My days of sun worshiping are over. And I'm completely fine with sitting in the shade with a big hat on.

And I would like to add that when I went on my long run on Saturday I wore sunscreen!

Running in a Sauna

The gym was open this morning, thank goodness. I mean who am I to complain about it not being open if I'm not going to go right?

Really I had some assistance waking up this morning. A thunderstorm rolled in about 3:15 this morning and a little doggie of mine was all snuggled up next to me because she gets scared of thunder and lightning. 

So I listened to that for about 30 min until I finally fell back asleep, only to wake up 30 min later when my alarm went off.

My run went well, I'm 99.8% over my cold but still coughing up nastiness here and there. 

To say it's warm in my gym is an understatement. I started sweating like a pig within 2 minutes of my run. I was right under the air conditioning vent too. They really need to fix and soon because it's only getting warmer here in the South. 

Except for Friday. Both my husband and I have the day off and were planning on taking Sophie to the beach. Yeah, it's going to be 60 degrees, barely, on Friday. The only day of the week that it's going to be that cool.

I'm sort of bummed because we were going to meet friends there and hang out. 

I mean I guess we could still go and walk and pick up shells and stuff, bundled up in a sweatshirt but that really takes the fun out of a beach day. In my opinion. 

I was shooting for 7 miles but was running low on time and wanted to get a quick weight work out in. So I managed about 6.25 miles and then did quick legs, chest and back. You would have thought I took a shower in my clothes. I was dripping. It was gross.

Tomorrow I'm thinking about "sleeping in" and doing a quick workout at home. Only because I've gotten up the last two mornings and am pretty tired. Friday I'll run since I have the day off and the Saturday I'll attempt 10 - 11 miles before my half marathon next weekend.

If Friday beach day doesn't happen I'm going to attempt to work more on Sophie's big girl room. The room that's not even half done because I don't have time to do it. So maybe this cool weather day is a blessing in disguise.

Workout Woes

I'm alive! I survived what I think was one of the longest running cold's in my history. I swear I wasn't sure when I would feel better but I can finally breathe and have stopped hacking up my lungs.

Saturday I ran 6 miles but stopped every mile to either cough or drink water. It has been super hot in the gym lately, not sure why they can't crank up the air, I mean we live in the South. It was almost 90 yesterday.

Sunday I threw a baby shower for my friend Pam and didn't have a chance to run. I was up at the wee hours prepping food for the shower and by the time it was over and I was home I was pooped. I think I even fell asleep on the couch at like 8:00.

Monday I woke up and was thinking about going to the gym but as I was thinking about it I fell back asleep. Damn.

Which brings me to today's events.

I didn't want to wake up, but I did. I literally dragged myself out of bed this morning, got ready and drove to the gym, feeling pretty proud that I'm going to get there at 4:30. As I pulled up to the parking lot I noticed that there were only like 3 cars in the parking lot. There are typically more. That's cool,   I don't mind being the only person there.

I walk up to the door and gave it a little pull and.......locked! What? The lights are on, music is playing, what is going on?

Then I see the morning guy standing on the other side on the building. So I go over and state the obvious, the doors are locked. He tells me that they changed the locks and they didn't give him the new key. So he's called someone to bring the new key but isn't sure when they will get here. Huh.

So I wait in my car.

And I wait.

And wait.

At about 5:00 people really start showing up, most who do the cycle class at 5:30. All are dumbfounded as to why the doors are locked. Join the club, I've been waiting 30 minutes.

I tell myself I can wait till 5:30 and then by that time I have to head home and get ready for work, still optimistic that someone will show up and let us all in.

5:15. Nothing. But I did have a nice chat with someone named Cedric who shared the same frustrations. Getting out of bed, this being the only time you can workout, wasting the gas to drive over here and it not being open, why can't they turn on the air, why are the lights and music on, we pay for the gym to be open and there's really no excuse for it not being open. You know, those types of things.

Of course I could always just go run on the road but I just don't feel comfortable doing that in the dark. Call me paranoid but I read way too many news stories and I'm just not that hard core.

Cedric leaves and I wait another 10 minutes, watching two guys try to jimmy the locks and "break" in. It didn't work but I personally appreciate their effort. By this time there are about 15 people waiting and looking rather peeved, especially the cycle instructor who's class was suppose to start 10 minutes ago.

5:40 realization has set in that it's just not going to happen. Bummed.

When I got home I do a quick workout, and I do mean quick. 15 minutes but still managed a small sweat. If you want to good oblique workout try this:

Just to note I use a 5 pound dumbbell for the russian twists and 25 lb. for the side bends.

I also did some quick squats, lunges, lower abs and push ups.

Not what I wanted to accomplish but something is better than nothing right? I'm going to try to run this evening but to be honest I'm super tired when I get home from work and sitting in traffic but who knows, wierder things have happened.

As I was driving to work I was still sort of fuming about this morning so I decided to call and complain. I never complain so this was something new for me.

Reason I don't like to complain is because I've been in customer service before and have been on the receiving end of those complaints. There are some angry people in this world.

When I got to work I called and spoke to a nice lady who tried her best to explain what happened but it sort of was getting me riled up so she told me the manager was busy and would call me back (yeah right).

In the meantime I called another gym that just opened up in my town, they are smaller but open 24 hours. You scan your key card and it unlocks the doors. Additional pro's it's new, clean, and equipment is new. Con, it's small and have barely any group fitness classes. Their rates are actually about what we currently pay so the only thing we would come out of pocket for is the enrollment fee. It's a 2 year contract but you go month to month after that (which is what we have now, we are month to month and can cancel at will).

So I think we're going to check this gym out. Ricky is a big weights guy so we have to factor in that for him. I'm all about the 24 hours.

And actually the manager did call me back! I was surprised. He explained that they had the locks changed late yesterday due to some turn over and the morning guy never got the new key. This I understand but as I explained to the manager, the morning guy was there with the wrong key and was trying to call someone to come open. Why would it take someone almost 2 hours to answer their phone and get over there? He only offered that they person's phone was on vibrate and he didn't hear it ring. Whether that's true or not, Mr. Manager assured me that this won't be happening again and they are making some changes that will benefit the members. Time will tell on that.

I did bring up the air conditioning issue and he said that they are aware and working on getting it serviced before it gets really hot. I hate to remind him that we skipped Winter and have gone straight to Summer.

I'm not sure if we'll stay or go to the new gym but I do know that now I have to get up again tomorrow morning and I've been 3 days without running and have a half marathon next weekend. That will be interesting.

Sick

For the past week I have been battling the cold from hell. Thursday morning I woke up with a scratchy throat, did my 8 mile run, and proceeded to get a bit of a stuffy nose. Friday was about the same but I could tell I was starting to get more and more congested.

Saturday I woke up and did a 4 mile run but could tell my balance was off because my head was so stuffy. We had a wedding to go to that evening and by that time I was in full fledged hell. My head felt like it was going to explode, I couldn't breathe, my nose was running like crazy. Fun.

Sunday I was supposed to do 10 miles for my up and coming half marathon. Didn't happen and I was bummed. I almost ventured out anyway until my husband knocked some sense into me convinced me to rest, this is my body's way of telling me I've been going a mile a minute the last 6 months and to give it a break. So I listened. I did venture out to see The Hunger Games with some friends Sunday afternoon (which it ROCKED!!) I read the books long time ago so have been very excited to see the movie. Of course I felt like crap the entire time, having to blow my nose and cough and my head being so stuffy. Just a reason to see it again.

Monday I called in sick to work and laid in bed. All. Day. Lost my voice too. However through out all these days I've been sick I have not been sleeping well. How are you suppose to get better if you're not sleeping? I can't breath and my head has been so stuffy it's been really difficult to sleep.

Tuesday I went to work still feeling like crap but I had stuff that had to get done. Woke up about 12:30 this morning coughing my brains out, blowing my nose, and having the worst sinus headache I think I have EVER had. So I didn't sleep much last night either.

Oh not to mention my eyes were all crusted shut and am on the verge of viral pink eye AGAIN!!! Luckily after my shower and cleaning them out they don't look as red and they did when I first peeled my eyes open.

So I'm at work again today and hoping that someone puts me out of my misery, oh I mean I hope I start to feel better because I really want to run tomorrow and I have to do my long run Saturday which at this rate could be long and painful. I'm throwing a baby shower Sunday so I really need to be feeling better.

Why don't I take any medicine? Well I'm really weird about med's and won't take any unless I absolutely have to. Sleeping pills? NO WAY!! So I suffer. But if it's just a virus it still has to run it's course. If in another week I'm still this bad off then I'll go to the doctor and bed them for an antibiotic but in the meantime I can kick this myself. I think it makes your immune system stronger, which is why I warded off colds the last year. This was just my time and boy was it out to get me.

I hope to be up and running tomorrow. Literally.

In other news Sophie is officially paci free!!! Last week was a little rough but I had her convinced that the paci would make her teeth nasty and that she gave it to her baby cousin. It seemed to work because she asked for it only a few times but when I told her it was gone she seemed fine with it. And the really good news is she's still sleeping pretty well!! So happy to be done with that phase of her life.

Operation Paci Take Away

It's been a long time coming. I've put this off for way longer than I ever said I would.

Operation paci take away has commenced and it has not been pretty.

Yes, I realize that my child is almost 3 and still sleeps with a paci. The dentist has lectured me and family members have lectured me but what can I say? I've needed my sleep.

I'm sure at some point in the blog I've mentioned how horrible of a sleeper my daughter was and really within the last 8 months has she started sleeping through the night consistently. Who could blame me for not wanting to take the one thing that would aide in her sleeping well? Call me selfish I don't care. I personally would just call me tired.

I always figured it wasn't killing her. She is a happy and healthy girl so who cares that she sleeps with a paci? Yes, I realize that it could mess up her mouth and the odds of her needing braces increase tremendously but both me and my husband had braces so she's doomed anyway. 

Over the last few months I've tried to with hold the beloved paci but I couldn't take the tantrums that went along with it.

Last Friday she went to bed without it (surprisingly) and slept all the way until 5:00 but woke up asking for it. I caved. What can I say I was tired. Horrible excuse I know but who really can deal with a screaming child at 5 am?

So Saturday she's just pissed from the get go and cried for over an hour when I wouldn't give it to her. The real kicker? "Can you get it for me please mommy?" I am mush and I caved yet again. Confusing this child? Yes! I have no will power.

So fast forward to last night I try a different tactic. I say "Sophie, paci's are nasty. They are yucky and you don't want that nasty thing in your mouth." "Paci's are for babies and you'r a big girl."

She seems to contemplate this for a few moments and finally tells me "Mommy, I give paci to a baby because I'm a big girl." What?? OK roll with it. So I tell her to give it to baby Lawson (her cousin who is 10 months).

She gives it to me and then a few minutes later she asks for it back, well cries for it really. So I give it to her but continue my negative talk of the paci. My new plan is to make the paci sound like it's the grossest thing ever in hopes that it'll ultimately be her decision to give it up. Sophie just isn't a cold turkey kind of kid.

We fall asleep in my bed and all hell breaks lose when my husband tried to move her back to her bed. She wakes up crying because she wants to sleep with mommy and daddy (we've been letting her fall asleep in our bed but move her when she's asleep - just another one of those phases that'll work itself out in time).

So I go in and tell her she can sleep with mommy and daddy if she takes her paci out. If she wants paci she has to sleep in her own bed. Once she gets in bed she tells me "Paci's are for babies, I give it to a baby." and she hands it over.

And she sleeps all night with out it. I, however, did not sleep. She's a kicker. 

Let's see what tonight brings. Either way I call it a step in the right direction.

The Long Run that Wasn't

I'm running my 6th half marathon in just under a month and "training" did not start off very well this past weekend.

All I can say is sangria is evil. It goes down way too easily and before I knew it most of the bottle was gone! I blame the 80 degrees and friends over for a cookout.

Me, Jill and Rachael - mom's of girls = sangria and lots of it :)

Kinsey, Kendall and my girl Sophie - best friends!

We grilled out for St. Patty's Day and invited our good friends over for an afternoon of letting the girls run around together. As I mentioned I had about 1 - 4 glasses too many of sangria and I felt like going to bed at 8:00.

Then I woke up in the middle of the night dehydrated and didn't sleep well so when it was time to wake up and get my run on, I laid on the couch for several hours instead, drinking water and hoping my motivation would come.

It didn't really and by that time it was sunny and 70 out so I knew it would be miserable. My mother in law wanted to take Sophie for a few hours so Ricky and I do what any normal married couple would do when their kid is gone for a few hours. We went to the gym together - something we haven't gotten to do in a long time.

By the time we got to the gym it was warm (I mean it's the South, crank that air UP!) and smelly so after 3 miles I was done. Sweating profusely and still not quite right, I did weights instead. Then we went home hoping to plant a bunch of shrubs we bought at Home Depot but the thunderstorms rolled in and nixed those plans.

Lesson learned: easy on the booze because I'm a light weight and nothing good ever comes from it.

So Saturday I will have to knock out 8 - 10 miles before the wedding we have to go to. Race is still about a month away so I'm not concerned. I'm just kind of running it and hoping for the best, no real goal for this one. Mainly because I'll be traveling to Charlotte just me and Sophie and I might be a little stressed and tired but I want to get one more race in before I (hopefully) get pregnant - I say that a lot lately.

The weather has been beautiful here lately, minus the afternoon storms that pop up, but we're used to that all summer long.

I hear the beach calling my name soon, just need to get through a wedding this week, baby shower next week, a birthday party the week after that, Easter, race, and THEN beach! Free time? What's that?

Stole this picture from the Summerville Journal Scene:

Obviously I'm not the dude in the yellow shirt, coming up from behind in the teal shorts and black shirt. I don't get too many "decent" pictures of myself running but I'm digging my leg muscle. You can barely see the cellulite.

I love the time change, so happy that it stays light later now but my body is not adapting well to the loss of an hour. It's been very difficult waking up in the morning, maybe because even though my clock says 4:05 it's really 3:05. Big difference. I did make it up yesterday but not this morning.

Speaking of yesterday, it started out as any other Monday morning. We're ready, loaded in the car, make it all the way to daycare when Sophie throws up all over the place. In my car, on the car seat, on herself. Yuck. Poor kid, she was very upset about it too, not that I blame her.

So I clean her up and we head back home after calling daycare and work to tell them we won't be there today. I mean I can't possibly send her to school after she's thrown up and my car is covered. What's worse is my drive is 45 minutes so I roll the windows down and off we go.

So my morning was spent cleaning my daughter, cleaning the car and doing laundry. Poor girl, she slept for 3 hours and then seemed fine after that. When she woke up she ate and kept everything down and was a whole new girl, ready to play and run around. Maybe it was just an upset tummy? Who knows with kids. Too many little viruses going around to tell for sure.

We survived and she's at school today so hopefully there are no more puking incidents but I'm glad she's feeling better. I hate it when she's sick, I want to make it all better immediately.

Flowertown Festival Run

Yesterday I ran in the annual 5 and 10K race in our town. It's a pre-festival race called the Flowertown Festival Run, or I guess they just call it the Flowertown Run now. Every Spring right when the Azaleas are in bloom, our town has what's called the Flowertown Festival where local vendors come out and sell things, there's food and games for the kids.

To be honest in the 6 years I've lived here, we've NEVER been. How crazy is that? Actually it's not crazy at all seeing is how I've heard how crowded and expensive it all is. But now that Sophie is getting older it's one of those things we will eventually start taking her to. Starting this year, I think.

So anyway this run is put on by the local YMCA. It's actually a really nice run through our town (the 10K loops twice) and a lot of people do come out to support. It's very well organized for such a small race and we even got tech shirts this year!

Of course it being in our town we participate. My sister has come down the last 2 years to run it too. Ricky even runs, and he is not a runner. So it's fun.

We had perfect weather, except for the small wind gusts that like to keep you in check (I hate the wind).

For the last couple of weeks I've been working on getting faster. I knew I wanted to run this race fast since I didn't get pregnant last month. I'd been training for something faster than an 8:15 pace, my time last year was 51:28, my fastest 10k. It was something that I needed to prove to myself, that I could run fast (fast for me) since the last 5 months were spent training slowly for the marathon.

The plan was to start out slower, about an 8:30 pace and then speed up every mile. Well, I started out fast, I couldn't help it, I saw a guy that I see at the gym a bunch and the competitive person in me said "I will beat him."

Mile 1 - 7:59
Mile 2 - 7:54
Mile 3 - 7:57

By this time I was feeling really good, even though I was running fast, but before long I started feeling like this was too fast and I wasn't sure how long I could keep it up. I passed the guy (yay!) but I started to slow down due to the cramp in my side.

Mile 4 - 8:20 (ugh!)
Mile 5 - 8:11 (guy passed me, crap!)

At looked at my watch and realized that if I sped up I could come in under 50 minutes and that truly was my goal the whole time. Unfortunately as I approached Mile 6 I felt like I was either going to hurl or pass out (maybe both) so I slowed a bit and then picked up the pace.

Mile 6 - 7:59
.2 - 7:48

Time 50:18 - so close!!!!

I was bummed that I didn't come in under 50 minutes but I ran my heart out and beat my best time by 1 minute and 10 seconds. Plus I ran 4 out of the 6 miles in a 7:50 something pace, I haven't run that fast.....in a long time, maybe even ever? It felt really good.

So I've signed up for my next race in April, the Charlotte Race Fest half marathon.

I've honestly been enjoying these shorter distances. Maybe it's the lack of pressure I feel to run and do my day to day life. I don't have these crazy long runs to do anymore. I mean I have a decent base that I don't have to go and really "train" for the half, but I will do a few longer runs between now and April 14th.

Race season is coming to an end for the Summer, which is kind of sad seeing as how I might be really pregnant in the Fall, but that's OK, I will continue to run.

Where I've Been, What I've Been Doing

Well I can sum this post up in a few short sentences.

I've been here, in Charleston and doing the same old, same old.

Working.

Being a Mom.

Running.

Projects around the house.

It never ends, all the above. Actually I've not been bored one bit. I've been extremely busy the last month or so with husband out of town, nephews birthday, husband's birthday (he turned 34 over the weekend - old man!!), projects at work, raising a sassy pants of a little girl. She's cute though, I love her. I think I'll keep her:)

Now on top of everything I'm planning a baby shower for my good friend! There's a co host so I don't have to carry the burden of doing it all myself but the crazy person that I am I seem to be having a hard time delegating duties.

I designed the invitation myself. Bought the graphics for like $5 at an Etsy store called Coca Mint and put it all together in Photo Shop Elements. I LOVE doing stuff like that. I might have to look into doing something like that if and when I get to become a stay at home mom. 

5x7 invitations will print 2 to a sheet of standard 8.5x11 card stock

Reason I did this is because I could not find what I was looking for until I stumbled across the clip art store and realized I had to ability to create my own. I'm happy with the final product. So is Pam and that's all that matters.

I'm also doing a whole printable party package including door signs, food labels, a banner and other decorative items to help keep costs down so we can splurge on food and I am going to do a diaper cake for the centerpiece. 

Random: This is what happens when your daughter won't take a nap:

We get a little goofy! Actually Sophie was making a funny face in the picture above. Good times when it's Mommy and Daughter day. Daddy was skeet shooting (Redneck! Just kidding!).

Random #2: From Sophie's daycare:

I'm glad I made it into the suitcase along with the lizard

Not sure where the lizard came from but at least Mommy is included. May is her stuffed turtle that sleeps with her every night so that's a given.

In other news I'm not knocked up yet. We officially started "trying" this month but I don't think it took. I'm not that person who does ovulation kits and tracks it, takes her temperature and all that stuff. Yes I might have done an online calendar once or twice but ultimately it'll happen when it happens. And without getting down to the nitty gritty but it's hard to "try" when you work, have a kid, and are completely exhausted at the end of the day. So I'll just leave it at that. It'll happen when it happens. 

In the meantime if next week's test comes back negative or the "time of the month" comes we won't "try" in March because we do not want a December baby. So we'll resume in April and see what happens.

If that ends up being the case then I'm thinking about running this race:

I ran it last year. it was the second half that I ran and loved the course. Lots of hills but that's Charlotte. Still up in the air, I have until March 16th to register so that's plenty of time to decide. Free place to stay, grandparents see Sophie and everyone wins!

On the running front things are going well. I have been enjoying not doing long runs and keeping them short and sweet. I'm working to improve my speed for the 10k I have in a few weeks. I really want to either break 50 minutes or just beat my fastest time which is like 51 minutes. 

I feel very strong, hardly any foot pain and I just feel good overall. Sunday I ran 8 miles and I felt good the whole time. I haven't done double digits since the half marathon I ran early this month but I'm currently OK with it. I have dropped two pounds since my marathon training so I'm happy and content with what I'm doing. I've been doing more weight training and speed work but am going to get back into the long runs (keep it 10 - 15 miles) once my life starts to calm down. My husband had a big business trip this month, his annual skeet shoot and then a "man weekend" coming up so I've been full time Mommy on the weekends. It's fine though, I get my runs in during the week and take the weekends to enjoy time with my daughter. I feel very balanced lately. That's good right?

Heading Out of Town

OK so 7 miles did not happen this morning. I was lucky enough to make it out of bed at all. I reset my alarm twice and seriously considered sleeping in.

My stomach was feeling funky but I was wide awake.

So I went to the gym but I did not have enough time to get the 7 miles I wanted to do in. I had planned on doing at least 4 but I was feeling tired, slugish and my stomach was still kind of rolling. So I did a 5k on the treadmill, 10 minutes on the elliptical and some abs and lunges and called it a morning.

Actually I wanted to do some upper body but looked at my watch and saw that it was time to head home and get ready for work. The other morning I went past my time and ended up running late so I wanted to avoid that this morning.

Still, I felt like I had a good workout so I'm happy I made it out of bed. I knew if I didn't then I would have regretted it since we'll be out of town this weekend and I don't think there will be any time for me to workout. Plus it's going to be raining and the trail I would normally run at my parents house floods when it rains so it's just not looking promising. I'm sure I could find another route but since I'm not really training for anything I will take it easy and visit with my family.

If we make it home in time Sunday I'll try to make a quick run to the gym but it's all good if it doesn't happen. There's always Monday morning.

So this weekend we'll be in Charlotte for my nephew's 2nd Birthday party (his birthday is actually in the 26th along with my husband's). It's at an indoor water park which should be interesting.

So glad it's the end of the week! Even though the weekend will be a whirlwind of driving and visiting with family, I love the weekends. And as much as I miss being able to run and workout, I embrace my rest days because it's rare that I get to relax - and by relaxing I mean my husband will be driving there and back :)

What a week it's been.

It all started last Thursday when my husband had to go out of town for work for 4 days, his sales meeting in Orlando, FL. So that left Sophie and me at home for the weekend. 

Which meant no running or working out, unless it was an exercise here or there at home. Brutal!! 

But it was a much needed rest. I would not have taken the time off had he been at home. The plan was to take the whole 4 days off but I cheated and got my mother in law to watch Sophie on Sunday so I could hit the gym and grocery store. She was happy to oblige and Sophie was stoked to play with Gigi.

I had a great run, working on getting a little bit faster since my marathon training left me slow and worn out. I have a 10k to run in a few weeks and I really want to beat my previous time of 51 minutes (and some change).

I have to admit it's been kind of nice just focusing on my shorter runs lately. The last long distance I did was my half marathon almost 2 weeks ago. I won't to keep up the long runs, to a point, but I knew Feb heading into March would be busy so I'm really not sure when I'll get the time.

This morning I did a tempo run and tomorrow morning, provided I can make it up, I will aim for 7 or 8 miles on the treadmill. 

I have also kicked my 5 hour energy habit in preparation for possibly getting pregnant in the near future. It was brutal but I have overcome. Now that doesn't mean caffeine all together, yet!

I have a busy month coming up. Still working full time and still trying to get Sophie's big girl room put together, my husbands birthday is coming up, my father in law's 60th birthday, this coming weekend we are out of town for my nephew's birthday party, my 10 k race March 10th, AND I'm throwing a baby shower for my good friend. 

So I'm happy that I got the marathon out of my system because if I thought that was difficult training through the Holidays, this next month takes the cake. 

I think I've convinced my husband that we need a treadmill for our house, especially if there is another baby in the picture. One the look out for one on Craigslist. Anyone know a good brand to look out for? 

I was sent this picture from the Save the Light Half Marathon I ran on Feb.4th

If you happen to click and get a larger picture you can see the amount of sweat that gathered on my forehead. I take such goofy pictures :)

Killer Ab Workout

I did this ab workout yesterday:

It's from Tone it Up, a new blog that I stumbled upon recently. Lot's of video demonstrations and printable workouts. I printed a few for me to do at home when I am not able to go to the gym.

My abs are sore today! I only did the circuit 3 times for 2 reasons: 1) It wore me out! and 2) I was doing this as my daughter was watching Dora and she thought it would be tons of fun to jump on me and then sit on my stomach and bounce up and down :)

I slept like the dead last night and did not make it to the gym this morning. Bummer but at the same time it felt so good to sleep. I was starting to come down with a runny nose and sore throat but it seems that it went away so maybe the extra sleep did me some good.

Tomorrow is a new day.

Recent Race and Today's Run

Saturday I ran the Save the Light Half Marathon on Folly Beach, SC. It's considered a "no frills" race. They don't use timing chips, you tear of the bottom of your race bib when you cross the finish line, the amount of people running is pretty small. There just aren't a whole lot of extras.

To me that's OK because it's for a good cause and the scenery was pretty. Can't beat views of the ocean.

Two good friends of mine are trying to break into the running thing and wanted to do the 5k race. So we decided to get a room at the Tides Folly Beach Oceanfront Hotel.

They had a special rate for one or two nights so we decided to stay Friday night and wake up and be right at the starting line for the race.

(Rate for one night was $122, split 3 ways, about $41 a person. Not bad).

I admit I was worried that it would turn into a booze fest, three mommas away from their hubbies and kids. But to my amazement I was the last one asleep and that was at 9:30.

However there was the loud obnoxious drunk girl a few doors down talking on her phone, speaker phone, at 12:30 am and then I had trouble sleeping the rest of the night.

When we woke up it was warm, like 57 degrees warm. I don't like being hot when I run because I tend to dehydrate so easily and the heat just seems to zap my energy so I was getting a little nervous that it wasn't as cool as I thought it was going to be. Luckily I brought shorts and a tank so I was not overdressed.

Even though it was cloudy there was still a beautiful sunrise.

We walked all of 1 minute to the starting line waited about 10 minutes and then it was time for the race! Can't beat that.

Killing time:

Making fun of my fuel belt - Gatorade on one side and water/Nuun on the other.

Me (center) and the girls (Jill and Rachael)

Jill sporting her old school headphones.

Overall the race went well. I didn't expect a PR and it didn't happen. My legs felt sluggish and tired after 3 miles, and that's about when I was drenched with sweat and the sun came out.

For some reason the race felt long, maybe that's because we ran some of the same loops twice.

My Garmin time was 2:03:51, avg pace 9:28.

Not too shabby seeing as how the marathon was only 3 weeks ago and my legs have felt funky ever since.I am happy.

I took Sunday off to paint Sophie's soon to be "big girl" room, which took way longer than I anticipated so there was no time to go to the gym or running because then we went straight to a friends house to watch the Super Bowl.

I took Monday off because I was too darn tired from painting the day before and staying up late watching the Super Bowl to make it to the gym.

I made it up this morning and had a fantastic run so those 2 days must have done me some good. I'm trying to get my "speed" back because the last month or so I've felt very slow. Strong but slow.

Warmed up slow and then up'd my speed every mile. So I did 5 miles, avg pace about 8:26. I didn't have any leg or foot pain so I'm calling it a successful run! After the run I did circuit training.

I know I've talked a lot about trying for baby no. 2 after the marathon but it did not happen last month and that's because we weren't really trying. So it's a go this month!

I plan on running a 10k in March so even if I do wind up pregnant I will be very early on so I don't see it as a problem. Although I want to run fast so we'll see how that goes.

Why I Hate February

February is my least favorite month of the year. I'm not really sure why to be honest, I've always hated this month, which stinks because my husband's birthday is this month.

I think it's because it's still Winter and at this point I'm over Winter. March starts to warm up however March can be touch and go sometimes.

It's the rainiest month here in SC.

It's typically the coldest month but the last week or so the weather has been nice so I can't complain but I know it can turn on me and then I'll just go back to hating it again.

This is the only month I can't spell and I always abbreviate.

Luckily it's the shortest month, except for this year there's an extra day. Urgh! Happens to be my father-in-laws birthday. Yep he's a leap year baby. He's also a lefty and color blind. Random facts there.

Although I must say March makes me nervous because 2 years in a row I caught a stomach bug so I didn't like March there for a while. Last year I managed to come out unscathed so let's hope I can make it through this year.

To start off my least favorite month I managed to NOT go to the gym this morning! I totally could have but wanted to give my legs a rest. By the time I decided to not go and reset my alarm, I could not get back to sleep. Then my husband started snoring and for some reason I still laid there and didn't get up.Urgh!

Tomorrow is a new day!

Not a Good Sign

My shins were killing me this morning while I ran. 

I even warmed up on the elliptical and stretched before I started running. 

But the shins hurt. The. Whole. Time. 

I set out for 4 miles and stopped at 3.1. A little frustrated but I decided to stop because running is not as enjoyable when you're in pain.

So the fact that I'm in pain when I run concerns me a little. 

It's not a fall down on the ground and cry pain but more like a grimace when I step. I'm pretty sure this is a sign that I need to take a break from running for a little while. My body is rebelling for some reason.

I will take a break, promise. Right after Saturday's half marathon. I'm debating whether I should try and run the rest of the week or just cross train and rest and see how Saturday goes. I'm going for the latter. 

I went through the whole marathon training without injuring myself (except for my nagging plantar fasciits) and I know that I probably didn't give myself enough time to recover but this is a little annoying.

First it was the tight calves and now it's the shins. 

Luckily in the up and coming weeks I will be forced to take a few days off to rest - no working out at all - due to my husbands job so that will be good for my body, but not my mind. No working out for 4 days!! What am I going to do??

Break out the P90X I guess. But then that's not really taking time off is it? Hmmm........

Anyway like I said, this half marathon coming up is not going to be a PR race even though I would love it to be. I just don't know if I have it in me right now. It'll mostly be for fun and that's all that matters.

Saturday's Long Run

It's been 2 weeks since my marathon and my legs STILL aren't quite right. I know I'm no spring chicken anymore but really? Maybe I didn't rest and recover long enough but I didn't want to take a whole week off of running because I have another half marathon this weekend.

I'll be alright, it's really not that bad, just some tight, REALLY tight calves and my darn plantar fasciitis flaring up.

I ran 10 miles on Saturday while my husband rode his bike. I'm generally a lone runner but I have been missing running with people lately. My good friend and former running buddy is 21 weeks pregnant and just found out she's having a girl!! So obviously she's not lacing up the shoes for the next 6 months at least.

The run started out pretty well. It was windy, yet again. I swear the wind is my nemesis. When I try to pick up the pace it starts blowing and I can't seem to get going. So it was sort of a slower run that I was hoping for but that's OK. I did 10 miles in 1:35 avg pace about 9:28. Not too shabby.

I was going to do 12 miles but decided that I was sick of getting my butt kicked by the wind so at 5 miles we turned around and headed back to the car.

Then we grabbed some lunch since our daughter was at her Grandma's house and we went to the gym for a weight session. After the gym we hit the grocery store and had the rest of the day to relax.

Sophie dressed up as a princess and did some twirling for our entertainment:

Yes that's chocolate on her mouth. And yes, I didn't clean it off seeing as 5 minutes later it was bath time.

We all had a case of the Monday's this morning. I think all 3 of us were less than thrilled to be up and at it. I'm not sure what kind of stay at home Mom I'll be but I cannot wait to not have to sit in traffic everyday.

We were going to "start trying" for another baby right after the marathon but that came and went and I started having second thoughts. Only because I still have many items on my to-do list and I was starting to get very overwhelmed.

So we decided to putt it off a month. I have a feeling by the time middle of Feb. rolls around I'll be ready. I just wasn't a few weeks ago. Now the opportunity is kind of passed so we have to wait until after Feb. 11th.

This weekend I'm running a half marathon. I signed up for it before I ran the marathon thinking "how hard could it be?" Well after the way I've been feeling the last week it's going to be interesting to say the least.

I have two friends that are going to be running the 5k so we decided to get a hotel room on Folly Beach since they were having a race special. Friday night we're going to grab a bite to eat and hang out and then roll out of bed on Saturday for the race. The hotel is the starting line. Can't beat that.

The only difficult part will be reminding the ladies that we do not booze it up the night before a race. See we all three have 2 year old girls, with in a few months of each other so we have a lot in common. Like husbands who were less than thrilled with the plan of us getting a hotel room. Sorry guys, mom's need a break too.

I think it'll be a fun night and will be nice to not have to get up super early and drive all the way down to the beach. I am honestly not running for a PR this weekend, although a PR would always be welcome. I'm just going to take it easy, enjoy what will be my last long distance race for a while. When I'm pregnant I'll probably only do the occasional 5k or 10k.

It all depends on how I feel come Saturday. Hopefully we'll make it to sleep at a decent time.

First Run Post Marathon

Hello legs!! Good to feel ya!

I made it to the gym this morning with high hopes of doing a 3 mile run. I'm happy I made it out of bed because I slept so good last night, which I haven't been sleeping well the last week.

When I get to the gym I see people standing outside. Uh oh, not good.

So yep, sure enough the opener is late.

Our gym used to be 24 hours then they wanted to change it to 5 am. I think a lot of people complained and they settled on 4 am. Which I think is perfect and believe it or not there are quite a few people that get there that early. I arrive anywhere between 4:30 and 4:45. I need that extra time to do my thing and make it home in time to get ready for work.

So I wait, talk to some guy that lives in my neighborhood. He leaves and it's after 5 at this point. Hey - I know people oversleep have something come up but when then cycling instructor shows up and is trying to call people, managers and no one answers the phone - that's a little annoying. I could tell she was getting mad.

I go and sit in my car when it starts to rain and tell myself that after 5:30 I'll head home because if they show up at 5:30 I can get at least 30 minutes in.

Luckily I waited till 5:40 and by that tome someone finally showed up.

So I got 2 miles in 18 minutes done. I'll take it, some is better than none.

Legs were really not cooperating so I took it slow. And even then my slow still felt like a lot of effort. After a while I think things were loosening up but at that point I had to stop and get home. Bummer but there's always tomorrow. I think maybe I'll call before I leave the house tomorrow, just to make sure someone is there!

Post Marathon Blues

I hear this can happen. You experience this amazing high from finishing your race, your training is over, and now what do you do?

I think I'm starting to experience this. No I'm not depressed or anything but I tossed the last of my training schedule and then I had this feeling of "now what?"

People at work are asking me if I want to do another one and YES I would however it's not in the life plan this year. Maybe next year but not this year. I think my husband is thinking I've gotten running out of my system, oh how wrong he is, but I don't think he's ready for me to dedicate my time to training for another one. I have to remember as much as I love this accomplishment, there's things we have to do and things that he wants to do, it's not all about me.

I'm having a mental dilemma: Get pregnant or put it off? The only reason to put it off is a selfish one. I'm not ready to lose all that I've accomplished these last few years. Not just with running but the weight loss and feeling good about myself. I'm not ready to lose my body again (sorry being honest). Like I said, it's purely a selfish reason. Oh and there's the thought of having 2 kids scares the crap out of me (again - honest). Then there's the chance I can finally be a stay at home mom but quitting my job and only having one income...scares the crap out of me! Two kids in daycare would be 90% of my paycheck so it would not be worth the stress of my commute. I would be the one to take kids to and from daycare while barely netting anything extra from my paycheck. Plus our tax accountant already told us it would be better if I stayed home. But still, it's very expensive to raise just one kid let alone 2.

On the other hand I'll be 32 this year (ugh!) and I've always said that I want 2 kids by the time I turn 32. I know 32 is not old but I can't imagine being sleep deprived being any older than what I am. It's hard. Sophie will be 3 this year and I would love for my kids to be somewhat close in age. She'll make a fantastic big sister. She's told me twice, when prompted, that she wants a little brother :) Ricky will be 34 this year and I think he's ready to be a dad again.

Deep down I feel this is our year to have another. I've already started taking my folic acid, now I just need to kick the caffeine.

This will also be the last kid. We even said before we got married that we only wanted 2 kids. I'm the third kid in my family and I remember that we were all a handful.

So this is where I'm at with our future plans. It's all on me to say "OK." I have one more half marathon I want to run in a couple of weeks and then it'll be time. If I get pregnant right away like I did with Sophie then we're looking at a November baby. Eww, that means I'll be pregnant threw the summer. Hmm....

The soreness is finally starting to dwindle. I'm still very tired and it didn't help that Sophie woke up at 2 am crying and scared. So I brought her into bed with us and it took her FOREVER to go back to sleep. She kept tossing and turning, hogging my pillow and then asking for water. So by the time we got back to sleep it was after 4 am. And to think I was going to attempt to go to the gym this morning. I guess it's a blessing in disguise because I could probably use another day to rest.

I did go to the gym yesterday and did 30 minutes on the elliptical and some light weights. Seemed to help with the muscle stiffness.

I want to try and run again on Thursday or Friday but for right now my body is saying "no."

I've read a lot of comments on facebook about what went wrong with the race. At the time I was still on my runner's high but I realize that a lot went wrong with the race and how unorganized it really was. There weren't a lot of porta johns along the race course, there was one every couple of miles, but I remember thinking "where the heck are the porta potties?" on numerous occasions. Then I heard the toilet paper ran out. They ran out of cups at mile 4 so people were freaking out that there wasn't going to be any water or Gatorade. Luckily I had my handheld so it didn't affect me and towards the end of the race I didn't have that problem either.

They ran out of medals for the half marathoners. Ouch, that's a biggie! They are sending them to the one's that didn't get one but for you to cross the finish line and not have one that's a big blow. Plus there was either no water or they ran out at the finish. I recall thinking "where's the water" but my husband had one he brought so I drank that.

Overall I didn't have any major problems with the race but I can see why people had problems. I hear that it's the same problems they had last year plus they even hired a race director who apparently didn't do a very good job. I would run this again in the future only because it's local but I think they are going to have a really hard time attracting people to come visit.

The course needs a makeover, more downtown Charleston, less nasty North Charleston, except the Riverfront Park is very pretty - get rid of that last 5 mile out and back, there is nothing motivating out there, need entertainment for those last 6 miles. In response to this course complaint, I read where the city of Charleston was not very good to work with (North Charleston is a separate municipality). Charleston's claim to fame is the Cooper River Bridge Run and they don't really want to be associated with this race. That's a shame, people are coming to your city and spending money. Support it! I don't know if that's true, just what I read somewhere.

I'm making my own medal display, just need my husband to drill some holes and then it's almost done! Still so proud of myself.

I'm a Marathoner

I did! I finished! I can honestly say I'm a marathoner. Never in my wildest dreams would I ever thought I would hear myself say that.

Yesterday I ran the Charleston Marathon, my very first marathon. I have been training for this race the last 4 months. I made the decision last summer to take my running to the next serisous level to see if I could do this.

And I did it.

What an amazing feeling.

Friday I took the day off of work to be stress free and take it easy. To be honest I'd been starting to get nervous all week.

I took my daughter to school, ran errands, picked up my race packet and then came home and cleaned. So I didn't do a whole lot of the relaxing I planned to do.

The race expo was very bare bones. It was basically race packet pick up and nothing else.

Some background to this race. It started 3 years ago as the Riverfront Race Festival. It was a half marathon, 10k and 5k. This was the very first 10k I ran. Then last year they added the marathon. So then they sort of changed it to the Charleston Marathon.

So it's taking some time to get sponsors and work out the kinks. And they have a lot of kinks. To be very honest I really wanted to do the Disney Marathon that was last weekend but it was so expensive, then the travel, so logistically this one is local and fit our budget and schedule. It wasn't bad overall, just was expecting a little more.

Saturday morning I woke up about 5:00 to eat and start getting ready. The race didn't start till 8:00 but I wanted to make sure I wasn't rushed. I ate a bagel and had to force it down. My stomach was not wanting food due to the nerves but I knew I needed to eat.

I showered and was dressed by 6:15. Had all my stuff ready to go so once my husband was ready we were out the door by 6:25, ahead of schedule. We were driving downtown Charleston to the race start on East Bay Street.

It was a cold morning. 30 degrees and not a cloud in the sky. We made it with time to spare so Ricky waited with my until it was time to line up. No corrals or anything, which was fine because while it was crowded, this wasn't a big huge event.

It was cold and my toes started to go numb. I hate that!!

Then before I knew it we were off! Ran down along the Battery (a tourist attraction - looks out onto the harbor). Then we ran up King Street (awesome resturants and shops). Then we were headed out of Charleston into North Charleston. Unfortunately it wasn't the prettiest course at this point but it was flat and sometimes it's hard to find all the nice places. Here in Charleston they're mixed in with some not so nice places. A side note: this is what amazes me when people say "Oh Charleston is so pretty." Parts of it are. There's a lot of parts that are not. I hate to talk bad about the area I live but all in all Charleston is not a pretty area. The areas that are nice you have to be able to afford to live there.

OK back to the race. Once we got up into the North Charleston/Park Circle area it started to get serious. The half marathoners broke off at mile 11. Oh how badly I wanted to go with them.

I was fine at that point but once we got out of downtown there was a serious and nasty headwind. The. Whole. Way. The. Whole. Race. And it was COLD.

You could see all the runners around just head's down and pushing forward.

I was doing very well, keeping my pace conservative. I had to resist going out fast and reminding myself I was not running the half, my time would come to go faster (it never came but that's ok).

Around mile 15-16 I started to get tired and I thought "not yet!! 10 more to go, just make it to 20." There were no spectators, not many runners around me so I was started to lose motivation.

Fortunately the pacer for the 4:30 came up behind me and I started running with them for a long time. She was awesome, I didn't catch her name, but she really helped pep me up. Running with a group again got my legs moving. Actually she said that we were 6 minutes ahead of schedule. I passed mile 20 with ease and felt great.

Around mile 20 we head into the Riverfront park area. So the wind picked back up because we were next to the water and no trees around. At that point I saw Ricky, my friend's Pam, Earl, Jill and Steven. And they had signs. Made me feel so good to see them!!

I was still feeling good at that point so I knew I could finish this race strong. 6 more miles? Piece of cake!! Ha! Actually I made it to 22.5 before I really started to feel it. I wouldn't even really call it hitting the wall, more like I was tired of fighting the wind.

The bad part of the last 5 miles is you go all the way down on this desolte road, it's an out and back so you see the runners that have already made the loop and you are very jealous of them. This road seemed to go on FOREVER!!!!! There was nothing pretty about this road and the wind just wipped right through there. I stopped many times to get gatorade and fuel but by this point my legs were just so tired. After I made the loop it was another 2.5 miles back to the finish and I was determined to make it.

I got a little bummed when the 4:30 pacer passed and took off. I could not catch her no matter how hard I tried. Damn wind!! I walked twice and then told myself to hurry up and get out of this wind. It was time to finish. I wouldn't make my 4:15 goal but at that point I didn't care.

Once I hit mile 24 I stopped and walked one last time and then ran till the finish. Still windy but when I saw 25 I picked up the pace some (or tried to). At 26 I saw the rest of my family gave them high fives and then took off to the finish line!

Chip time was 4:34:06! Avg pace 10:26.

However my Garmin time was 4:33:55 and I started it right as I crossed the start so I'm not sure what happened there.

My daughter and me above. She was so happy to see me and I her. My family said she was so good the entire time they waited.

I was so happy to be done! I got my marathon medal! I ran a marathon!!

In hindsight I would have loved to hit my goal time of 4:15 and I really think I was in good shape to do it but that headwind was a killer. Many runners on facebook commented how bad it was so I know I was not alone. I think there were only 3 areas of the course where I remember feeling relief when the wind wasn't blowing and that's when I was able to pick up my pace. But once it started blowing it took all my energy and effort to keep going. And like I said that last stretch of 5 miles it was really kicking everyone's butt. I could see it in their faces.

I felt really good and strong overall! I am so proud of myself for this accomplishment, I felt on top of the world when I finished. Many times over the last 4 months I wanted to quit just because of life. Work got stressful, husband, daughter, things to do. I really poured myself into this training but towards the end, I have to admit, I was getting burned out. I missed running for fun and am looking forward to not being tied into a training schedule.

I would love to run another but it's going to have to wait. I really want to have another baby so we are going to concentrate on that the next couple of months.

I am running another half marathon in 3 weeks. I haven't decided if this is going to be for a PR or for the sake of running. Depends on how I feel when I do my first post marathon run. For today I am resting. I can barely walk. I have sore muscles that didn't even know existed :)

I would have to say the half marathon is my favorite distance. But I will never say never to another marathon!