A Much Better Week

Oh happy day - I actually have good news to report. Chasen got home safely on Tuesday night and the rest of the week, running wise and otherwise, has been great.

I did make the switch to running Mondays and Wednesdays, putting my "easy walk" on Thursdays and my long run on Saturdays. This will work out much, much better timewise and heatwise for the long run. Isaac and I did most of those runs and walks together this week, except for the long run. But I'll get to that.

On Wednesday my Olive Branch Mommy Group arranged for a police officer from the OBPD to come and talk to the children about safety. I'm pretty sure Isaac didn't get much out of it, but he did get to go in the police car!

He got to push all of the buttons, and he loved it.

We gathered teddy bears to donate to the police station for when they have to remove children from bad situations. Sad, but necessary.

Lots of bears! The goal was to collect 100. I have not heard if we made it or not.

That night I did my hill workout at dusk. Alone! It was so nice on so many levels: no sunscreen, no stroller, far less heat... perfect. The next afternoon, after our easy walk at the city park, I left ALONE to go to a friend's bridal shower in the Little Rock area. Aaahhh... more "me time!"

I have known Denise since high school. She now lives in Idaho.

I got ten whole hours to myself, i.e. child free. It was awesome. Denise even rode most of the way back with me. She had to be in this area for a family reunion. It was so nice to be able to catch up in person AND have someone accompany me on the long drive through the night (I got home just before 1 AM).

We went to Isaac's 15 month checkup on Friday. Can you believe how big he is?

You better watch me, Daddy. There's no telling what I might do!

Here are my two best guys.

Isaac is in the 50th percentile for weight and the 97th for height. Tall guy! Chasen wants to know who his father is. HAAAAAA!

This brings me to today's long run. It was awesome. I guess I needed that! I got up at 5 AM and hit the pavement just before 6 AM. I put on my "ice necklace" (burp cloth/cloth diaper filled with ice) and enjoyed the lower temps. It didn't really get all that hot until mile 13 or so of the 15 miler. I just chugged right along! It gave me great hope. The race is 19 weeks away. Look out, Chicago, here I come!

A Week Of Weeks, Part Deux

I've had another doozy of a week. I'll spare you all of the specifics, but the major thing is that Chasen is in the midst of being gone 7 of 8 days for work right now. Aaaaargh! Calgon, take me away.

Last Sunday's 13-miler turned into a 10-miler. It was just too hot out there. It has made me realize that I need to shift the Jeff Galloway schedule one day to make the long run on Saturday. That way I can have all the time in the morning I need to get the run done, as opposed to Sundays when I have to be home in time to get ready for church. Not enough time!

Isaac's new thing is turning objects over.

All of this week's runs were a dual effort between Isaac and I. We are definitely getting our money's worth out of the stroller! I really don't mind having him with me. Somehow I manage to run faster while pushing the stroller. I haven't figured out how that is possible, but the Garmin doesn't lie. Additionally, with Chasen being temporarily gone, I think Isaac likes the "distraction" of being outdoors.

For a little variety on Friday's "easy walk," we went to the park. I think I'll try to make that a regular event when possible.

Being a single mom (albeit temporarily) is NOT fun. It is so hard doing everything alone when you're used to being part of a team. No help, no relief, no break... it stinks. One's temper shortens after a while.

On Saturday we received an unexpected and much needed invitation to get away for a while. A friend invited us over for an awesome cookout. There were plenty of activities for the little ones, including a kiddie pool. We had an awesome time!

"Splashing water is the most fun I've ever had!"

What a hunk! Even if I do say so myself...

Today was supposed to be a speedwork day. The weather was supposed to be 90 degrees even before noon. My best shot for decent temps (under 80 degrees) was at the crack of dawn while Isaac was asleep. I'm not supposed to use the treadmill, but I really had no other option given my lack of childcare and roasting hot weather (even getting an afternoon babysitter would have me out in 90+ degree weather). Well, I couldn't get to sleep last night, and then Isaac woke after only one hour of sleep for me. Aaaaack! Needless to say, I didn't make my 5 AM wake-up. And the post-church treadmill stint during naptime only netted one mile before Mr. Cranky woke and demanded my presence.

Calgon, take me away. I just HATE to miss a run, but especially when I am in a "high stress" week. Running is my only method of blowing off steam when I am alone with Isaac, and that was taken away from me this weekend. Not good! Chasen will be home in less than 48 hours... and I just can't wait!

A Week Of Weeks

Man I've had a week! Let's take it from the top. Chasen left on Monday for a business trip. He wouldn't return until Wednesday, but let's call it the way I see it: two nights without help. So Monday I cleaned the house for about 5.5 hours. Yep - insanity. The good news was that Chasen, Isaac and I all used Skype for the first time. Now we'll be able to keep up better when he travels.

On Tuesday Isaac and I headed out first thing for my 40 minutes of FUN, i.e. a Galloworkout. It's hard enough for me to understand how to do acceleration gliders, but try doing them with a stroller. Eek!

I am one relaxed boy. And I love the stroller!

Afterwards I cleaned house for another 2 hours. By then it had reached its quarterly status of "spotless" (minus toys everywhere - but that really can't be helped - at least they were on clean hardwood floors). Here's where it gets interesting. Twice a week or so, I tend to a neighbor's dog. Because I had a big evening planned, I had to go over super early (like 4 PM, and I normally go at about 6 PM). When I got home I got a text from her that the police were on their way because her alarm was going off. Oh jeez! My sitter had just arrived so I left her 'stranded' on my front porch as Isaac and I headed over to deal with it. Apparently I was in such a hurry that I hadn't shut one door all the way. Oops!

This made me late to my next event. You see, in a weak moment (ha ha) I agreed to be on my women's philanthropy group's executive board. On this night I was to go to a kickoff meeting and team building exercise for four hours. Four hours!!!! Yikes! I'll be brief: we all walked a tightrope, literally, among other activities, then ate and started a marathon (and not the fun kind) meeting that lasted waaaaaay too long (I walked out after five hours and they weren't done). My poor sitter's mother was parked outside waiting, thankfully, because at this point it was past Isaac's already-late bedtime. Aye aye aye!

Dozens of toys and all I want is cooking utensils.

On Wednesday Isaac did not give me a minute's peace. Chasen finally got home and we headed to church.

Thursday was a big, big day! I graduated from Leadership DeSoto, but not before my group presented our community service project. Our mission was to create an awareness of Sudden Cardiac Arrest. The athletic nephew of one on my group members passed away from SCA at the age of 20. CPR more than doubles the chance of survival from SCA, so we each got CPR certified and then held three different free classes throughout the community so that others could become certified. The participants ranged from Girl Scouts to senior citizens.

Here I am giving my part of the presentation in my June Cleaver dress.

Here I am after receiving my graduation certificate and trophy!

Here are all of the trophies. I may not win age group awards, but I can do community service!

The best part of the whole thing was that Chasen got to be there for the project presentation, graduation and luncheon. :)

When I got home after picking Isaac up from a friends house, he quickly went down for a nap. Hooray! So I hopped on my treadmill to accomplish 40 minutes of hill training. No rest for the weary. That night I went to let off some steam and play bunco and drink sangria with a bunch of wild mothers!!!

On Friday (today) I had to get up early and get myself to a continuing education class for my architectural license. An adult babysitter came over for the 6.5 hours I was gone. When I returned it was over 90 degrees and I was wiped out (go figure). I was supposed to do an "easy walk" but with the temps, impending thunderstorm and exhaustion, I decided to bag it. I have now missed my first Galloworkout!

Oh but it gets better: next week Chasen will be gone 6 of 7 days. Yep. That should be interesting. I have almost nothing on my schedule except one meeting, one play date and 4 runs. Wish me luck!

A 'Speedy' Mother's Day

Happy Mother's Day! I know this past year was harder than the few months leading up to my first Mother's Day last year, although Chasen disagrees. He somehow thinks pregnancy and birth and exhaustion are more difficult than actually taking care of a mobile child!

Mother's Day 2009 - Isaac was nearly 3 months old and I had not yet donated my hair.

Mother's Day 2010 - Isaac is nearly 15 months old and I am looking like June Cleaver!

It's not always easy to kiss a stoic boy in the wind - but I'll sure try. :)

Best. Picture. Ever! This is my life, peeps.

My family. Thanks to serendipitous arm placement, I look quite "hourglass" here. LOL

Father and son talk. Apparently, the art of smiling was not a topic.

What you talkin' 'bout, Daddy?

Here are my two best guys! They both treated me like the Queen Mother I am today. HAAA!

After church and some lovely gift giving, I headed to the Olive Branch City Park track for some Jeff Galloway speed work. I was to do 5 mile repeats with a 5-minute walk in between. What's more? I was to do the repeats, with walk breaks included, at 30 seconds per mile faster than race pace. Yikes! For me, that meant my stints of running had to be done at about a 10:30 pace. Whaaaa? That's fast for this gal, these days anyway. But I did it! I averaged 15 seconds per mile faster than I even wanted to.

I am starting to realize that this Galloway plan is by no means as easy as I thought it would be. Every run has a purpose, i.e. there are no junk miles! Well, the long run weekends seem easy by comparison - which is always something to look forward to! Next weekend I'll do a "regular" long run of 13 miles.

This Mother's Day I have much more respect for runner moms everywhere. The past year has been a challenge, and I am sure it's not over. Let's raise a glass to us!

Rose-Colored Hill Repeats

Tonight, in 85 degree weather, I headed out in my rose-colored running sunglasses for another 40 minutes of fun! I did 2 miles at 2:1, which were surprisingly fast, and then in the final mile I did a few hill repeats (per my plan). I need to take a photo of the hill - it's a doozy. I love hills, though, so it's all good.

Running in the evening is good for my skin. Why? Because in the evening I bathe after a run, i.e. a second bath for the day, which prompts me to do my full-on nighttime beauty routine. When I do run in the AM, I bathe of course - but that's generally my only bath of the day (unless I have something special going on later that day) and I have been known to just "crash into bed" at night and ignore my skin (exhausted mommy syndrome). So you see - evening running is good for my skin! Let's fight this aging process tooth and nail!

Acceleration Gliders

There's good news and there's bad news. The good news is that the Jeff Galloway "time goal" training program is not as easy as I thought it would be. The bad news is that the Jeff Galloway "time goal" training program is not as easy as I thought it would be.

Taking a closer look at the plan, my Tuesday and Thursday timed runs (as opposed to mileage runs) are more than just getting out there for a certain time. Who knew?!? Ha. Not me, not before last night.

On Tuesdays I am supposed to do some "acceleration gliders." Now, I have read it, read it, and re-read it, and I just don't really get it. I am sure I did not do them correctly... but I tried. I searched for a video on youtube and found nothing.

On Thursdays I am supposed to do some hill work "if my marathon has some hills." Chicago? Perhaps not. But I do like hill repeats, believe it or not, so I intend to do some (when I am stroller-free).

As much as I hope marathon day is cool and cloudy, one thing is for sure: training in "Memphisippi" heat and humidity will likely help me out, even though I am slow as molasses. Tonight when I went out for 40 minutes worth, it was 85 degrees after 6 PM. Gotta love it!

It's All A Matter Of Perspective

Today I dove right in to the "time goal" marathon training plan by Jeff Galloway, in spite of the fact that I am technically behind schedule and technically undertrained. I thought I'd give it my best effort and see what happened. While I was out there, I had so many thoughts that I'd like to share.

Before I even got out there, though, I wasn't sure the run would happen. We've had tornadoes around here for 24+ hours, but thankfully we are unharmed. The weather forecast called for 70% chance of rain or higher ALL day. I knew I had to at least try to get out there, so I did. And would you believe it didn't rain one drop?

I went through my entire training season with Team Point Two last year absolutely AMAZED that I did not get injured. After all, I was extremely out of shape (coming back from pregnancy, I mean) and was 25 pounds heavier than I was pre-pregnancy. Training six days per week, well... I just didn't think I'd make it uninjured. Today it hit me like a ton of bricks. Even though the training was indeed rigorous and often, John frequently had me doing the Galloway-style walk-run miles. That surely helped! Now it is crystal clear.

The Galloway method promises, as I have mentioned before, less days spent on the road and fewer chance of injury. That kind of makes sense, if you ask me. Duh! I believe the reason that the training schedule is, technically, about 27 weeks long is because he does alternate between long runs and speedwork on the weekends. So not only do I get to rest the day before AND after a long run, I also get -- technically -- two weeks off before the next one comes around. I am loving it already!

Back to today's run. Even though my highest mileage recently is *gulp* 4 miles, I thought I'd see how many of the 11 prescribed miles I could do without feeling like death. I followed the rule about adding 2 minutes per mile to you goal pace. That meant that often my running stints were done at 13-14 minutes per mile. This "recover quicker and get fewer injuries" business is starting to make sense!

I was fairly consistent out there. The final mile turned into a family affair (at my plea) so it was slower. Here are the splits:
14:08
14:03
13:56
14:11
14:15
14:28
14:03
14:00
14:38
14:37
17:11
Average: 14:31

Jeff Galloway also says to add additional time to each mile when the temperature is over 60 degrees. At that rate I'll never get to speed up, since today was close to 80 degrees and extremely humid considering all of the rain we've had. Oh well - hopefully Chicago, which is 23 weeks from now, will be cooler. Out there today I kinda-sorta decided that my goal for Chicago is to run the race and NOT feel like death after mile 20 -- which good ole Jeff says I can do. Here's hoping!