She Rides

She flies, she flies, oh baby when she rides, she rides.


Annika decided a few weeks ago that it was time to ride without training wheels on her bike. We've had several "learning" sessions which consisted mainly of me pushing her down the hill in our side yard and her coasting until she fell over.



Until last week.



Doug took her out onto the golf course because there is a flat path there. In 30 minutes flat, Annika was riding solo. She can even start off by herself now and come to a stop without falling over. It's amazing.

Here is a side view.




And a view from the back as she pedals up the hill. She goes a little further each time and can make it within about 20 yds from the top now.

Here are Annika and Sarah Anne on their bike date. Aunt Katie chased them up and down the road and sent me this photo.

Now, if I can train her to stop and look both ways before leaving the driveway, we will be in good shape.

In other news, I walked up and down the biking road with Annika 3x today. That's about 0.7 miles. The foot is a little sore but not bad. Just in time for my MRI tomorrow. Still, 0.7 miles is way better than zero. Way better.

At this rate, I'll get to wear my new running shoes (Brooks Adrenaline 8s that I bought in September) before summer!

It's All About the Races, Baby

Nearly a full month after I started this post, here is a list of the choices for the 5K race for the couch-to-5K team. It is not an exhaustive list so if you know of a race I forgot that folks might want to do, please say so in the comments.

In the 5K group, everyone is doing awesome and a lot of folks are exceeding the plan minutes by a huge margin. Way to go, runners! Racers, please comment back with your top 3 races and I'll make the next post a poll so we can vote on them. There were just too many races to vote from this huge list.

Saturday, April 18

Gwinnett Ecological Heritage Center 5K. This race appears to be a trail run at the Gwinnett Ecological Heritage Center in Buford near the Mall of Georgia and starts at 9:30 am. There is no info on the website yet.

Granite Grinder 5K. This is a 5K trail race at the Georgia International Horse Park in Conyers and it starts at 8am. It is done in conjunction with a half-marathon distance trail run. I could easily talk Doug into the trail run.

Eye Run - Chart the Course 5K. This is a 5K in McDonough (just south of metro Atlanta) that starts at 8:15am. Early registration is $15 and the proceeds benefit http://www.onesight.org/.

Covington YMCA Cheerios Challenge 5K. This race benefits the Covington YMCA and is part of the Healthy Kids Day Celebration. It appears to be a family-oriented event and General Mills is one of the sponsors so that means free cereal. There is a 5K, a 10K and a fun run. The 5K starts at 9:30am.

Phinizy Swamp Stomp 5K. This race is in Augusta and benefits the Southeastern Natural Sciences Academy. They have not listed the race on their website yet, but the start time is supposed to be 9:15am.

Sweetwater 420 Fest 5K - This is the 5K race associated with the Sweetwater 420 Fest in Candler Park. It starts at 11am on Saturday, April 18. The Candler Park location is a draw, but it may be difficult for everyone to park because the festival is going on at the same time.

Terrapin Beer 5K plus One More Mile. This race is actually 4.1 miles. Get it? 5K plus One More Mile. The registration fee includes a brewery tour and free samples. The race starts at the brewery in Athens at 4pm. Mmm, beer. I love Terrapin's Rye Pale Ale.

Water for the World 5K. This race starts at 7:30am and is located in the Johns Creek Area. It benefits Mt. Pisgah United Methodist Church (the big one on Old Alabama Road) and clean water projects. There is a 5K, 10K, 1mile fun run and a tot trot.

Sunday, April 19

Radiant Systems Sprint for Cancer 5K - This race is at Atlantic Station at 8:00am on Sunday, April 19, which means that there are lots of food options for after the race. They also have a 5K and 10K at the same time.

Chickamauga Chase 5K. This is a 5K race done in conjunction with the half-marathon race at the Chickamauga National Battlefield outside of Chattanooga. It starts at 8:30am.

Stray Pet Strut 5K. This race is in Gainesville and benefits the Humane Society of Hall County. It starts at 2:30pm.

Saturday, April 25

Arbor Day 5K. This race is in Augusta, GA and starts at 9:15 am. There is no web info yet.

Fig Leaf 5K. This race is at the Paradise Valley Resort in Dawsonville and is clothing optional. It starts at 10am. I'm not running naked and am not taking my kids. No offense to any nudists, but my kids are a little too grabby to be around a bunch of naked people.

Grayson Day 5K. This race is a part of the Grayson Day festival in Grayson (north of Lilburn). The race director was my middle school algebra teacher. His daughter goes to Grayson High School, which is putting on the race to fund a trip for their cross-country team in the fall. The race starts at 8am and there is a fun run.

Jay Cullen Share the Roads 5K. This race is in Cumming and benefits the First Baptist Church of Cumming. It is done in memory of Jay Cullen, a cyclist who was killed while out for a ride. It starts at 8:30am.

Race for Riley 5K. This race benefits the Joseph Sams school and is in Palmetto. It starts at 8:30am.

Run the River 5K - This is the 8th Annual Homestretch Challenge race by the river at St. Andrew Catholic Church in Roswell. It's a good race, very flat and fast. They have a 5K (7:30am), a 10K (8:00am) and a fun run (8:30am) all on the same morning. Because there is a 10K race, the faster folks tend to do that one and it's easy to place in the 5K.

Pebblebrook Junior Falcons 5K - This race is a fundraiser to benefit the Pebblebrook Jr. Falcons athletic association on Saturday, April 25 at 7:00am. I've never done this race, but it is located in Mableton, which is near Smyrna.

Athens Twilight 5K Run - This is the 5K race associated with the Twilight Criterium race in Athens. It is on April 25 at 8:30am in Athens, Georgia. The Gambler bike race/ride (50 or 100k options) is also scheduled for this morning at 10am.

Sunday, April 26

Run for a Reason 5K. This race is in Cumming and benefits college scholarships for Cumming high school students. The race is at Cumming City Park on Pilgrim Milll Road and starts at 8am.

Out of Practice

Doug went out of town for a funeral yesterday. He will be home tomorrow. He was all worried about how I would fare without him. "I did OK when both kids got the throw-up virus the last time," I said, in reference to a trip he took a few years ago. "What could be worse than that?"

Maybe I'm just out of practice, but it is really hard to take care of the kiddos and go to work. Sure, I cleaned the stove and got caught up on the laundry, but I stayed up too late watching TV and doing my physical therapy (and facebook) last night. Then, this morning, I got up early, made Annika's lunch, got the Valentines packed and the grapes cut for Dagny's party, but we missed Annika's bus because I lost track of time while on the phone getting work advice from my friend, Steph. I must mention that I was also curling my hair and applying make-up at the same time as I was on the phone, lest you think that I can't multi-task. I also think I dropped the f-bomb when I realized what had happened. It was not my finest moment.

Then, while Steph and I were on the way to a post-meeting lunch, Dagny's school called. Dagny was coughing and feeling badly so we picked her up and took her to lunch at Moe's with us. She had 1 chip and a cookie. We dropped Steph back off at the office, picked up my computer and work and headed home. Dagny took a long nap, but we will be going to the store now for some medicine. That party we are all supposed to attend tomorrow is looking iffy. Poor old Dagny.

In other news, my foot is worse after all of the activity on Sunday. I'm sucking it up and still walking from my regular parking space this week because I'm done being a close-parker. I refuse to do it any longer. I did make another appointment to see my dear orthopaedist on Tuesday, so maybe he will have the magic bullet for me.

Also, I'm really enjoying the Brooks ID group. I'm living vicariously through all of the neat races the other members are doing and the discussions of all of the shoe models. Couch-to-5K folks, the Track Club still does not have their April race list up, so that is why I've not posted the poll for your race yet. Maybe over the weekend it will appear. I have a prelminary list, but want to be sure we don't miss a fun race because I posted too early.

One Man Down

Annika is with Grammie and Grampa at the GymDogs meet this weekend. Dagny, who falls out at 7pm (which is right about the time the meets usually start) was not invited. So Dagny and I have had a lovely day on our own. We watched some shows, we had Dagny's favorite breakfast (cereal) and a picnic lunch at the park before playing on "all of the playgrounds" as requested. The queen is currently napping off all of the activity.

Doug and I have been invited to not one, but three (three!) adults-only events this evening. Doug is going to our friends' child's wedding, and we had to beg off of both the 30th birthday party and my cousin's girls-dinner. Dagny and I will have some spaghettios or other similarly simple dinner before reading books until bedtime. We might even shower. Or not. There is always tomorrow for a shower.

It's strange how much easier it is with just one kid. We didn't have to negotiate anything today - we just did what Dagny wanted to do, which is very similar to what I wanted to do. Except that she gets to nap while I go downstairs to pay the bills.

In other news, all of the couch-to-5K peeps are doing great. It's really cool to see everyone's minutes total growing each week. The April races are STILL not up on the Atlanta Track Club website, so I haven't posted the race-picking poll yet. Maybe next week.

In still other news, here is the link to the Georgia Bike Ride to the Capitol on March 3. Any of you readers who ae also bike-riders, get out there and ride with us.

Miss Independent

Dagny wears underpants at night now. My Grammy can't understand why we didn't take the pull-ups away sooner, but Grammy isn't the one who has been changing and washing Annika's sheets 2-3 times per week for the last two years.

Anyway, Dagny told us last week that she was ready to wear underpants at night. Since she has been getting up to use the potty at night and taking her pull-up off anyway, and we were out of pull-ups, it seemed like as good a time as any. And so far it has worked well. She wakes up in the middle of the night, takes herself to the potty, and gets back in bed.

Awesome, right?

Unless she has a bad poop or runs out of toilet paper.

This morning she came downstairs and confessed to having dropped a washcloth in the potty.

"I'm sorry I dropped the washcloth in the potty, Mommy."

"Did you flush it?" [Eyes widening in alarm]

"No, I put it in the sink"

"After it was wet from being in the potty?"

"Yes." [thinking: where else would you put it?]

SIGH.

Yes, she peed and pooped in the potty, wiped herself with at least one and what looked like several washcloths, dropped one in the potty, carried it over to the sink and then went right back to bed. I disinfected the whole room. Ugh. I'm ignoring for now the idea that she brushed her teeth this morning in the sink where the potty washcloth was.

Just Like Honey

Last week there was a thread on the BT board about Accelerade powder and whether folks liked to drink it during their longer workouts. Many people posted that they couldn't stand the taste or that they couldn't handle the lumpy texture or the protein in it. Doug and I discussed this at length and agreed that folks who have GI issues aside, the folks who couldn't stand the taste were just not working hard enough when they tried it.

Because on my bike ride today, that orange Accelerade was HEAVEN. Just like honey. And I've had rides where the lemon tasted like my Grammy's lemon bars. I am not kidding.

I was a trifle under-fueled today from what I would ordinarily take on a bike ride (1 bottle of Accelerade + 1 Gu per hour), but I'm a little over-fueled internally so I figured it was OK. I'm a little loopy now but not bonky so I think it was a good decision.

Further evidence of how good a decision was the uncomfortable moment when I saw what the elastic in my bike shorts was doing to my mid-section when I stopped for a potty break. Sigh. All that work from last year is gone . . . gone . . . gone.

Anyway, big thanks to Doug for changing the tire on my bike while I was at church with Grammy. I REALLY needed the endorphins of a ride today. It was yucky-looking when I started but the sun came out on my way home and more than made up for the fact that I couldn't go up the good hills. I got to wave to lots of nice bikers and told one cute young man (you know you are old when you think of cute boys as "young man") that his shoelace was untied so he wouldn't fall. What a difference a ride makes.

Last weekend I was so angry that I wanted to punch all of the walls and kick stuff. And there was no possibility of a run to even me out. And it was too cold to go outside. It got worse all week. By Friday, I was just foul.

But now I've had my ride and I'm doing better. Thanks Doug.

The update on my awesome 5K group is in the previous post. Still trying to think of a way to show everyone's progress and making a list of possible races.

Here I Go Again

Overcommitted, swamped, busy. Wah, wah, wah. I'm just slack and haven't posted the chart about the progress of the fabulous couch to 5K group.

I've been having a hard time coming up with a good chart that will accurately highlight the achievement of each athlete. The group is all over the map on their activity levels so while it's a HUGE accomplishment for some of us to finish the plan minutes, others were doing more than that before the plan began so their minutes make the first person's minutes feel bad. You see my problem?

Charts aside, everyone in the group is kicking ass. I'm so proud of you guys! You rock!

Here is an update on the crew:

• Aimee and Steve are probably going to Ethiopia next month to get their adopted daughter and Steve's foot is still sore from his surgery so their running has not been as frequent as they would like but that is OK! Babies are more important. Keep your fingers crossed for their court date!
• Barbara keeps forgetting to send her run minutes but I know from Jen that she is doing great. : )
• Elena is making a huge comeback to running after her year off last year.
• Jen was sidelined with the flu and her oldest daughter had the throw-up virus so she had a bad week last week. However, Jen is going to run at the park with Julia in the stroller tomorrow while Sophie plays with Annika, Dagny and I at the playground. Or maybe I'll have all 4 kids and beer after!
• Joe is still working up to running, but he is doing awesome on his 30 mins of walking and his healthier diet.
• Lauren has made her 30 minutes of run/walking a habit and is frequently exceeding her goal minutes.
• Lynn started late with the group, but has made a great start so far. She is a new runner like Jen so give them both some love!
• Michele ran 24 minutes yesterday and her brother was able to come home from the hospital so it's all good news from her.
• Ryan from my office is still thinking about whether he wants to join the group. C'monRyan!
• Steph F. has been traveling a lot but I think she went to the gym a lot too. I keep forgetting to ask about her minutes but will do it on Monday.
• Trish is exceeding her goal run minutes every week by a lot already, so she is going to be superfast by the time we get to race.
• Me. I'm still not even walking for 30 minutes, so until my foot gets better I'll just make everyone look good.
• I've not heard from Cindy, Charlie and Sara this week, but I'm going to predict that Cindy and Sara got all of their run minutes done even with the cold temps and that Charlie has surpassed 30 minutes per day of running already.

I'll be scoping out some races for us to do in April. Any suggestions are welcome.

In other news, my 2009 race plan is shot all to heck. I was supposed to do the Red Top Rumble trail race in February and the ING half or whole marathon in March. Not to mention a defense of my second place AG finish (and chase of Natalie) at the Chattahoochee Road Runners race. Sigh. These have all turned into volunteer opportunities, though, so it's not all bad.

The Red Top Rumble race director says that they have the perfect water stop for me to cheer on the racers and still get back to the finish AND I get to use my entry fee for next year. I was so excited for this race. The GUTS group is really neat so I hope that I get to do more of their events next year.

A friend forwarded me a link to a lady soliciting bike volunteers to escort wheelchair racers at the ING Marathon, so I made my application and I'm in! How cool is that? Do you know how fast a wheelchair racer does a marathon? 1 hr 30 mins! WHOOO! So it will really still be a race for me!

I've got an email in to the Chattahoochee Road Runners too. Doug is going to do this race so I'll definitely find a job to do there.

So, it's not racing, but I still get to play outside a little. And, volunteering is way cheaper than racing.

You Say You Want a Resolution

I'm still not running. Heck, my foot hurt just walking the dog yesterday (less than 1/5 of a mile).

So, I googled and googled and googled. The best answer that I could find on the internet was from the Google Scholarly Articles database: stress fractures in a 320 person study were diagnosed in an average of 12-14 weeks and the average recovery time was 11-12 weeks. So, assuming that I am average, and I can't count any recovery time pre-Thanksgiving because I likely re-injured myself by running too early that week, I'm looking at mid-February before any kind of return to running.

Add to that the 10% rule (no increasing mileage greater than 10% in any one week), and it will be mid-April before I can go even one mile. The PT lady and I will be discussing this at my next appointment. She's tabled any discussion of running, but I need to know what my limit will be, even if it is vague and may change for the worse. I'm also interested to see how quickly I'll be able to add mileage back. Clearly the Rock-and-Roll-Man HIM in May is now looking questionable, if not impossible.

Sigh.

After much whining in my BT logs about my physical therapy and how it sucks, I realized that I just need to get over my bad self. Yeah, so what if I can't run. Or bike. And can't kick when I swim. What difference does it make?

It means I have to actually moderate my food intake. Which sucks. The whole point of exercise is to be able to eat a handful of nuts or a cookie in the afternoon or beers with dinner. It also means that I feel removed from my triathlete/runner friends (and Doug) because they are all gearing up for their 2009 race seasons and running/biking/swimming together while I'm gearing up for another 40 minutes stretching with the exercise band.

But it's not the end of the world. It just means that I'll do more race volunteering in 2009 and maybe I won't take my running for granted again.

Oh yeah, the resolution. Sing along if you know the tune:

Ac-cen-tu-ate the POSITIVE and E-lim-i-nate the NEGATIVE

POSITIVES

1. 12 buddies doing the couch to 5K plan. I'm already getting emailed progress reports.
2. Annika ran a whole mile with Doug last week
3. I'm saving a lot of money on race fees and Gu
4. Volunteering at races is a really a lot of fun
5. The economy has to turn around sometime
6. I'm getting to spend more time with the kids

Let's Get Ready to Rumble!

It's time to start the Couch to 5K plan!

Two more recruits have joined since the last post:

Lauren (the "Butterfly") Starks from Transition - Here to Fe. Lauren is my internet and BT buddy and while she is not just starting out running, she is interested in the structure of a plan.

Barbara ("Crafty") Croft. Barbara is my doctor and is one of Jen's partners at Piedmont OB/Gym. Barbara has been out of running for a while and might want to get back in. We can certainly encourage her along the way.

So that brings our total number of participants to 12! Yay! It's still not to late to join in. And, if you know of any folks that might want to start (or start back) running, please feel free to forward the blog link to them. If they don't want to be included in the public group, I'll send encouragement privately too.

This week's plan is to switch the 30 minutes of walking on our 3 days to 27 minutes of walking and 3 minutes of running. All runners are supposed to report back after the end of the week on their progress towards the 9 minutes of weekly running and I'll update the blog on Monday with this information and a new chart.

I'm still not cleared to run so the pressure is off for everyone else. You can't do any worse than me. In fact, I'm still sore from a 30 minute walk on Friday, so it's not looking good for me to even walk 3x this week. But as soon as my foot is better, I'm going to catch up!

In other news, Santa brought a Wii to our house and we are all nursing muscle soreness from our virtual sports. Doug is the champ at boxing and tennis, but I'm killing everyone at bowling. I was the worst at bowling until I copied Annika's style and now I rock! She is not getting the "imitation is the sincerest form of flattery" yet.

New Recruits!

So, we've got some new recruits for the couch-to-5K plan:

Michele "LSU Runner" C. Michele is my tennis partner and swimming buddy who recently moved away to Birmingham. She is a college runner and high school track coach, but has had a recurrent ankle problem and is just starting her recovery plan.

Aimee "new Mom" W. Aimee's husband is in my triathlon club and turned me on to the "Spinervals" DVD series. In turn, I gave him "Yoga for Triathletes". I think I got the better end of that deal! Aimee and Steve are adoping a child from Ethiopia this year so keep them in your thoughts.

Cindy "Apple Queen" Z. Cindy is my aunt from Ellijay, Georgia (Ellijay is the apple capital of Georgia, in case you didn't know). and she is getting back into running after some IT band issues and a running hiatus. Uncle Mike is out with plantar fasciitus or I would have recruited him too.

Charlie "the Engine" (get it? The little engine that could?) from Running Nowhere Fast. Charlie is my internet friend who is also on the recovery train, and is hoping to get clearance from his doctor to run this week.

Sara "Yule" H. Sara and her husband lived across the street from us in our first house in Roswell, when Annie was just a pup and nobody had any kids. Sara has lost over 80 lbs and runs and walks a lot. She is starting to train for her first triathlon this year so she thought the running plan would be a good starting place to build to her triathlon.

I'll send out emails to the lot of you as soon as I've created a distribution list. I'm still not up to walking yet but am hopeful that I'll at least be able to do the walking portions of the training after Christmas with anyone who needs a buddy. I visit the physical therapist tomorrow and am crossing my fingers for a shorter recovery period. The internet research on the subject of stress fractures generally and calcaneal stress fractures in particular has really depressed me today.

If you or anyone else is thinking about joining in, it's not too late! Send me an email or pmail on BT or a Facebook note. Heck, it's never too late!!! I'll egg you on whenever you decide to start running.

In other news, we've cleaned our ovens today and are recovering from two pee accidents last night. And, if anyone has suggestions on how to contain/govern a three-year-old during Mass, please let me know. Dagny was horrible today - we have to leave twice for time-outs.

The Man with the Plan

Ta Daaaa! Here is the 5K plan. I figured that no one would want to start their plan before Christmas. So, our running weeks start the week after Christmas. If you are a type "A," get started now by walking for 30 minutes three times a week:




Our illustrious runners so far are:

• Elena "the Boss" from my triathlon club. Elena has been sidelined with injury this year so she is in the same boat as I am and is just starting back running.
• Jen "Doc" Williams. Jen is my younger and cuter sister, who has not run since college. She is ready to get back moving this year.
• Joe "Sailor" Elswick. Joe is my internet friend whose plans to run the Currahee Challenge were thwarted by skin cancer earlier this year. He is healed up and ready to go.
• Steph B. This is me. My December marathon plans were foiled by a calcaneal stress fracture. Boo. I'm fighting to get back on the wagon, into my pants and away from the crazy.
• Steph "Sky" F. My best buddy from law school. Steph has been running off and on for several years now, but now she would like the accountability of a plan.
• Trish "Organic Fool" Sharp. Trish has been a regular walker/sometime runner for a while but is ready to make the jump to running.

I borrowed liberally from the Beginner Triathlete couch-to-5K program and the Cool Running program of the same name to make this plan. Thank you, Beginner Triathlete and Cool Running.

And, because I'm a rules girl, here are the rules:

1. We will do our walking (and gradually our running) three times per week. They do not have to be the same days every week.
2. We are committing to thirty minutes of run/walking on these days.
3. It's best to spread your running days out throughout the week, but it's not the end of the world if you do two days in a row. Pick whatever days work best with your schedule.
4. It is up to you whether you want to do your running minutes all-in-a-row or spread them out throughout the thirty minutes. Either way, we will all come to the same place at the end, which is a conversion of the whole thirty minute block from walking to running. Because I'm too lazy to divide up the thirty minutes, I'll be doing my running all-in-a-row after a short warm-up.
5. I suggest warming up by walking for five to ten minutes before starting your run minutes each day. As we get to weeks 14-15, that might mean five extra minutes of walking for the warm-up.
6. Start slow. You should be able to talk (with a little effort) while you are running. This will get easier with time, but you can't be too slow to start.
7. If it helps you to use an ipod or walkman, do it. I know that the sound of my own breathing (gasping) makes me feel awkward and out-of-shape. If you need music or a book to pass the time or mask the gasp, that is OK. Just do it with the volume low so you can hear cars or other people/animals if you are running outside.
8. Run outside or on the treadmill. Does not matter. It's more convenient and pleasant for me to run outside, but do what you like.
9. I'm available to do runs with anybody on the weekends - Annika will join in and make us feel silly and Dagny will yell encouragement from the stroller.
10. Do not do your runs in old shoes. If you've never gone to a running store (Big Peach Running Company, Fleet Feet, Phidippides, Spikes Running Company), you need to go and have them watch you run and buy some decent shoes. This is the only required investment. If you are nervous about going to a running store, I will accompany you with two loud children to deflect any possible embarrassment. If you have decent running shoes that are newish and don't hurt your feet at all, we can put off the shopping until later. It's important to get the right shoes for you, and the running store folks will help you find these for FREE. I love my Brooks and have worn this brand for 8 years, but you have to get the right shoes for you.
11. Please update me (email, facebook, pmail on Beginner Triathlete) with your weekly mileage on or after Sunday each week. Then I can update the chart and post it for all to admire.
12. I'll post a survey to see what race (if any) we all want to do together. This is not a requirement, but I thought it would be fun. And, afterwards I'll buy the beer.
13. If you are at all interested in logging your workouts, Beginner Triathlete allows you to log them for FREE if you join up (also free). And, there are cute little charts with different colors for each activity. I love a chart.

Any new recruits are welcome. Trish, Robin, Lotzie and Katie, this means you.

Hooray! Can we run it? Yes, we can!

Lemonade, That Cool Refreshing Drink

Today I went for my x-rays with my cousin, Evander. He is an orthpaedic surgeon at Resurgens. We think that I have a stress fracture in my heel, which is not visible on the x-rays. This is what we thought before the x-rays but at least we were able to tell that there is nothing badly wrong with me. So, while we might know more about the stress fracture, if there is one, from an MRI - the recovery would be the same so I don't think we are going to bother with it. The plan is just more of the not-running. SIGH.


I did get some very comfy heel cups to wear in my regular shoes and a prescription for anti-inflammatories that I will likely not use. Ander said I might want it if the pain flares up. Also, I'm to do more stretching of the heel cords (those things that go up the back of the foot from the heel to the calf) and the hamstrings. I already do the heel stretches after every run because they feel really good but the hammies have been neglected. So, the new plan is to rest for a while (that means swimming, biking and core work only) and then start back again REALLY SLOWLY. Like only a half mile at the time.


So, I was on the phone with my sister later on and she mentioned wanted to get back on the exercise train.

AHA!

I can't run at all. Jen has not run since college. PERFECT!

So, I'm working on a 3 day per week couch-to-5K plan for us, borrowing liberally from the plans I found on BT and that I know from the Cool Running site. The only question is whether to start out on a run/walk plan or to run the planned minutes all in a row. Hmm. I'll have to ask Jen's preference, but I'm leaning towards the all-in-a-row. Then I need to identify a goal race for us. Something in February. . .

Yay! All of this running talk is making me feel better already.

Anyone else want to join us? Trish? Robin? Katie? Emily? The only apparent requirement is the ability to walk for 30 minutes in a row three times per week. Then, we begin to mix the running minutes into our 30 minutes of walking. I'll track our progress with a chart that I can upload to the blog on a weekly basis. : ) Fun!

It's the Economy, Stupid

Since the economy is stagnating and no houses are selling, we have been economizing. And I, at least, have realized that there are many things that we have or do that just aren't that important. Here is a list. Feel free to add your own things if you are doing the same thing:

1. Store-bought bread for dinner. Thank goodness Trish posted about the bread she makes. She gave me the courage to finally attempt baking bread again. Some batches are better than others, but the it's really empowering to master the yeast. And it only costs about $0.50 per loaf instead of $4.50. Now, I just need to learn to make sandwich bread.
2. Friday night dinner out. We used to go to Mexican, Mellow Mushroom or Taco Mac every Friday for dinner. Mediocre food and crappy service but there was always beer. How else to celebrate the end of the week? Now, we make pizza (from scratch!) and watch a movie together in the basement.
3. House cleaners. Sigh. I was sad to see this go, but scrubbing potties is easy and I can do a better job on the floor anyway.
4. Fancy hair-dresser. After a couple of missteps, I've gotten the hang of coloring my own hair. And, when I took the girls to the Crossville Family Cuts, the lady who cut all of our hair (in 20 minutes flat!) told me that I didn't actually have any layers. Those folks at the salon had been charging me $50 to cut my hair straight across.
5. Expanded channels on the TV. We won't get to watch Top Chef (Bravo) or the Ironman series (Versus) or Ninja Warrior (G4) anymore, but with some thoughtful Tivo-ing, I think we will be OK. Last night we even saw a "Keeping Up Appearances" that we'd never seen before.
6. Grocery store produce. Doug planted a marvelous garden last spring and greens for the fall. The vegetables from there really make the other stuff seem lame.
7. Buying less stuff means less garbage. Who knew?
8. Doug is home more, so we get to hang out together. That's the best thing.

Just Can't Get Enough

Running.

Just can't get enought running.

So, you know how my foot is hurt and I'm still not running regularly yet?

I hit upon the great idea that I could run with Annika. She is learning to run and I can't go very far so we are equally matched. I told Doug about this idea over dinner and while we were discussing how we could do the 0.4 mile loop behind the house once or twice, Annika piped up.

"I need to run by myself Mommy."

"Why? Wouldn't it be fun to run together?"

"Yes, but I'm FAST, Mommy."

Ouch.

So, for the Thanksgiving marathon, Doug is doing the full marathon. I'm going to drive him to the start and then volunteer at a water stop. I'm at water stop #2 for the marathoners, at the Artlite Supply store. Then, once my time is over, I will hightail it to the finish line to watch the half-marathoners come in. I'll miss all but the over 2 hr, 30 min crowd, but will be there for all marathoners. Anyone who has a friend running or wants to volunteer, here is the link. You can pick your time commitment and location from the list and register all on the convenient form. And, there is really good schwag. I tried to get them to let me bring the kids but they said no - the race is too cold and too long for kids. Luckily, we have an excess of family in town who are more than happy to have the girls for a couple of hours.

And for the ING marathon, it looks like I'll be relegated to the half again this year. Doug thinks I have time to train for the full, but I just don't think it is possible with the current heel situation. Seriously, my long run is 1.5 miles right now. I don't want to jump into training to far too fast and risk being out for next season. Sigh.

Curses, Foiled Again

I got to run this morning, which was awesome and gave me a chance to scope out the voting line (already there at 5:45am). I wasn't fast, but that is OK. Running is so much better than not running. And exponentially better than not walking.


Meanwhile, Doug made waffles for the girls and fed them breakfast. Then, Doug went for his run while I cleaned up the kitchen, showered and got everyone dressed. While Doug showered upon his return, I went to vote. I counted myself lucky because I got a parking space and sucked it up with my audiobook for two hours. Standing around is tiring. We scrounged some lunch and headed to the movie theater to watch High School Muscial 3 with Katie and her kids. Ugh. It was terrible. They did reprise some of the better songs from the first movie, but not enough. I kept telling myself that this was no worse than Footloose or Dirty Dancing. Or any of the other crappy movies we liked as kids. On the way home, we dropped Doug and Annika off at the polling place so Doug could vote. The front parking lot was not full and when I turned the corner to see the place I'd parked, there was not a car in the lot. We turned around and went back for Doug and Annika to find exactly zero (0) people in line to vote. There was a line for check in, but that was all.

Curses. I should have voted in the afternoon too!

In keeping with the witchy theme, here are Halloween photos of my scawwy witches.

First is Annika at the Book Character Parade. Just the title of this event is reason enough to pay for private school. Sigh. If only it were that simple.

Next is Dagny, after she comandeered some kid's tractor. Note Doug chasing her around the cul-de-sac. Luckily, the parents disconnected the battery shortly after this photo.



And lastly, photos of my two friends, courtesy of Aunt Katie who remembered her camera (unlike me).

Annika was right that witches don't wear pony tails. I should have left Dagny's hair down too. Aunt Jennie couldn't believe this was Annika's real hair. Hee.

The girls had a blast at the pre-trick-or-treat party and then going around with their friends and all of the other folks we found in the neighborhood in Papa's truck. I had to put the kaibosh on the nasty halloween rhymes from the over 7 set but true to form Dagny was the big winner again this year. I think it's because she was so loud with the "thank yous" and the "Happy Halloweens" and not so quick to dash to the next house. We spread the wealth around and divided the total haul between the kids. It's open for discussion how long the candy stays, but our church is collecting any extra to deliver here, which is a really cool idea. Much better than leaving it at the office to tempt everyone.

Bread: 1, Steph 1

On Friday, since I'm not running, I thought I'd made a stab at baking bread. It's on my list, after all. My first attempt was many years ago and was a complete disaster. The bread looked lovely, but the sourdough starter had "turned' and therefore the bread was inedible.



Anyway, back to Friday. I gathered the ingredients and the Cook's Illustrated cookbook and got ready to make pizza crust for dinner. You see, the bread recipes all required bread flour and we didn't get to the store until too late to make them.




So, I started the pizza crust and made a list of stuff to buy at the grocery store. I put the pizza dough in the oven with hot water just like Alton Brown did the other night and we went to the store. Alas, when the rising time was over, it was not a puffy and delicious dough. It was some kind of gooey monster. We put in the garbage and had to go out for pizza instead.



Bread: 1, Steph: 0



Before realizing the crust disaster (while still full of confidence), I started a sponge to make bread on Saturday. For all of you that have never made bread before (me included), a sponge is basically a little bit of the dough that you make ahead of time and put in the fridge overnight to grow. So, on Saturday, we made the rest of the dough, added the sponge and some salt and continued with the recipe. There was not a lot of kneading. Apparently "Crusty Italian Bread" does not like be handled a lot.



Here are the results:



Top:

Bottom:
Yeah, you are supposed to let the stone heat up in the oven for an hour for a reason. Apparently this is not just a waste of energy and I shouldn't have skipped it.

Side view:

Check it out! Real bread!

How cool is that?

Doug had gone to the hockey game with the boys, so the girls and I did a taste test after taking the dog for a walk:

Dagny had Nutella and jam on her bread:

As you can tell, the Nutella was her favorite even though she also tried Annika's toppings.

Here is Annika making a thoughtful comparison of the bread pieces.

The honey chevre that I bought at Trader Joe's was her favorite. Trader Joes is deadly to the wallet if you go in hungry. Oh well. The honey chevre is awfully good. The plain honey is good too, though. I got to eat everyone's leftovers.

All in all, not bad bread. The loaf was huge, though. We've been eating it for three days. Next time I'll make three small loaves and freeze two. Also, you have to mix the salt in better than I did. Some pieces were pretzel-ish and some pieces were too plain.

It's Raining, It's Pouring

I wrote a very long and thoughtful post on the political situation and political philosophy (believe it or not). I spent a long time revising and rewriting so as not to alienate anyone.

Then, I had a work phone call and the next time I looked up, I had missed the bus.

So?

So, if your kindergarten or first grader comes home on the bus and you aren't outside - they don't get off the bus. Yes, gone are the days where kids let themselves into the house.

Panic ensued.

I called the neighbors and hoped against hope that the bus was late. As I stood in the driveway in the rain with the cell and regular phones and the directory in my hands trying to figure out what to do, the bus came back.

Our driver has a "layover" before his next route so he goes back by to catch any kids whose parents are late. Bless him. He will be getting some cookies for Bus Driver Appreciation Day. Annika was unfazed.

I took that as a sign that my post was doomed.

Go out to the internet and read what you can. Read Atlas Shrugged and think how many more burdens the workers in this country can bear before they just give up.

In other news, in all of the limping on the bad heel, I've injured the forefoot. There will be no running this weekend. Maybe not even next week. The endorphins are not flowing.

You Say It's Your Birthday!

Yesterday was Dagny's birthday. She is three and completely full of herself. Doug was responsible for getting her gifts - it was a Sleeping Beauty theme so she got a beautiful dress-up dress, a Barbie and the movie. We got pizza and watched the movie for dinner. What a fun evening! We will be having more family movie nights this year.

But TODAY was the party. Monster Party Rentals brought the bounce house, I borrowed tables from all of our friends and the usual suspects turned up for a fun party. It was a beautiful day and I think everyone had a good time.

This is my cousin, Fletcher. He is very serious about this cookie cake. I think he had two pieces because I remember giving him one with blue icing. Hee! : )

Here is a crowd shot. In the back row, from the left are Pete, my mom, Grammy and Robin (Fletcher's mom). At the tables are Carmella, Caroline, Annika and Sarah. Then Eve, Wyatt, Dagny (in outfit #3), Kate and Alex.
Carmella and Annika appear to be attacking Beau as Alex crawls in front of them. Yes, Annika has on the pig costume. It goes nicely with the dress, I think.

Ryan, Nat and Doug.
After calling Publix to get a quote for the cake, I decided that I'd be baking the cookie cake. Instead of one big cake, I made two. This is the "good" cake - I got better with the pastry bag with a little practice. Inexplicably, one of the first two burned on the bottom and sides so I had to make another. I decorated this morning with icing that I made. Note to self - next time buy the black icing because it really did take 2 packages of food coloring to make black. The other icing worked great, though, except that I made it a trifle too thin because I didn't account for the thinning that would occur with the addition of the food coloring. I'm all empowered now about the cakes.
Here is Dagny worrying about how I cut the cake.

Then, Dagny and her blankie enjoying some cake with Carmella.

It was a lovely day. I'm watching the Kona coverage while blogging and icing my foot. We are having Ro-Tel and other bar food for dinner with the new stout that Doug made. Mmmm. Tomorrow is cousin Slater's baptism. Never a dull moment!

Hello Pool My Old Friend

Apropos of nothing, my foot hurt when I got up in the middle of the night to use the potty last night. This morning, it hurt to walk.


Not right, I say. I SWAM yesterday. No bike. No run. We did take a walk after dinner but it was slow because Dagny likes to dawdle and spit at the fish when we cross the creek.


"Maybe it will ease up and I can do my long run today," I thought. Doug and I dropped Dagny at school and Doug took off for his run. Alas, I made it as far as the bathrooms at the park before the pain got too much for me. It was not easing up, but increasing. I drove until I found Doug and handed off the i-pod and went home to ride my bike.


That didn't hurt as bad, but my foot still throbbed after I showered to get ready for surprise lunch with Annika at her school. As I was dressing, the phone rang. It was the school nurse. Annika had cut her ear and they wanted me to come and look at it. Surprise foiled.


And now, I'm icing. Ibuprophen is on the way. The internet may tell me what the problem is but I'm afraid to look. Afraid that I'll be stuck in the pool all winter. Again.



On a happier note, here are some more photos that my friend Rivi took of the race last weekend. First, I'm starting the run looking strong.
Our tri-club has their priorities in the right place. They wrote notes to every member on the run course. This one says "run like there is free beer". : ) Mmmm, beer.
Put your shirt down, woman! Yes, I'm dumping water on my head. It was hot and the sweating wasn't working enough. And the shirt, thin though it may be, was hurting my stomach. Same with the shorts - that is why they are rolled down. Desperate times call for desperate measures.
This is my good side. : ) Rivi ran up next to me to take my photo. He rocks.

South Carolina

Here are the pre-race photos from the camera that they gave us in the schwag bag at the race this weekend:

Nat and me, sporting our swim togs.
Nora, looking cute as always. She even looked cute on the run when I was drag-assing around the course with my belly hanging out.

Doug telling me not to take his photo - can you see his teeth are clenched?
Me, modeling my team ZootGu outfit.
Doug, getting in the race zone with some tunes.
Nat and Doug in swim gear. Look at that flexing.
So, I posted my race report on BT. Here is the link if you want to read all about it in nauseating detail. I had a marvelous time at the race. Sure, parts of the run hurt a lot, but the whole thing was fun from the time we started packing the car until we collapsed exhausted into bed on Sunday night. It has been awesome to share the experience with Nat and Doug and all of my internet (and real) buddies.

Soreness kept me to a walk yesterday and I left my i-pod in the car so I was alone with my thoughts about the race and triathlons in general. It seems like a longer distance triathlon is like a puzzle where you have to fit all of the pieces together just right (the swim, the bike, the run, but also the pacing on each one and the nutrition the day before the race, the nutrition the morning before the race, the nutrition during the race, the outfit, etc). Only, the trick is that first you have to make all of the pieces and then you have to grind or sand them to make them fit together and if you do it wrong it throws all of the other pieces off and you either have a complete mess or have to start over.

Given this complexity, it's a complete miracle that I was able to finish Sunday's race at all. I had the pieces - we knew I could swim and bike and run the distance. And, because of my GI issues, I knew what I needed to eat during the race and the day before. And, because we've practiced, a lot, we knew mostly what the paces should be. So, I had a good shot going in.

Then, I went faster than plan on the swim. That's OK because I didn't go hard. Wasn't breathing hard or feeling stressed at any point. I did sandbag a little on my goal pace for the swim. Then, I went out too hot on the bike. This is a common error and I tried to rectify it by slowing down for the rest of the ride. I tried to ignore my falling average pace because it was still above goal pace. This worked out OK. I finished only 0.2 mph over goal pace. On the run, I also started hot. It's easy to do this because you are already warm from the bike and the heartrate is elevated. I talked myself off of that ledge and was headed off just under goal pace when I was immediately slammed into reality with stomach distress. I don't have tummy problems on the run - it's the lower GI that gives me fits. My only guess is that I overfueled on the bike or the bike was too fast for my level of fitness or my run was also too fast for me. I dunno. Whatever happened, I was able to finish the run 10 seconds per mile over goal pace. However, when you add all that together, I came in well under my goal time.

Swim: 37:32

T1: 3:46 (yeah, wetsuit removal is hard)

Bike: 3:08:44

T2: 2:17

Run: 1:57:26

Total:5:49:43

Wow, it was so much fun. I can't wait to race again next year.