Peanut unleashed?

I was searching Runner's World for advice on dealing with loose dogs while running (for background, yesterday's incident was the third time a dog has gotten out of its invisible fence and chased me). I found this article that was somewhat helpful, but as someone who has seen almost every episode of the Dog Whisperer, none of it was new information. Although, I'm a fan of maintaining running while dealing with the loose dog, mostly because I want to keep the stroller in motion. There's something about motherhood that makes me feel like if a loose dog came near the stroller that I'd rip the nearest mailbox out of the ground and bludgeon the offending dog with the post...anyone else? No? Just me? Fine :)

I was surprised to find a whole section on the Runner's World website on running with dogs. As someone who normally runs with a canine companion, I was intrigued. There is a debate article about trail running with your dogs: should they be leashed or allowed to run free? I normally run with Peanut on a 6 foot leash (I have beef against retractable leashes), and when I trail run with her, I use a 20 ft lead so she can go further ahead. I would never consider letting her off lead because she doesn't even come when I call her in the yard, let alone the woods. I absolutely hate coming across other people who have their dogs off lead because their dogs are normally running ahead of them and I have to deal with the dog meeting on my own before the owner of the loose dog shows up.

I have always considered keeping my dog on a leash at all times to be the responsible thing to do because even if my dog is a saint, some people are terrified of dogs. On the other hand, I understand that some people have smart dogs (like Border Collies) that can handle complicated commands like "Come" that seem to baffle my dog. Also, running without a leash is nice because you don't have to worry about it getting stuck on trees and bushes.

I have a bad dog

I'm going to be trail running a lot more in the spring and summer, so I'm sure I'll come across this issue more and more. Peanut used to have a backpack (which would be very handy) but the chest strap broke. I might have to get her another neon backpack so she can carry her own water :) If I wasn't so cheap, I'd get her this one, which I'm sure would last longer than the 13 dollar one I picked up at Petco.

What's your opinion, should dogs be allowed to run off lead on trails or should they always be kept on a leash? Do you trail run with your dog?

Doing things the right way

Bouncing in the jumperoo the right way

Other babies land on flat feet, but Faith prefers to start her ballerina training early and get those toes used to bearing weight!

Eating cake the right way

Save the best for last

Taking a day off from running the right way...with a two hour nap from 7-9am :)

Grocery shopping the right way...includes bringing your wallet. I went yesterday, but forgot my wallet on the coffee table at home, so I get to try again today. So no lobster mac and cheese for my husband last night :(

Protecting myself from loose dogs the right way...probably calls for some bear spray. I need to find some discount bear spray, 50 bucks seems steep for something I'll hopefully never use!

What are you doing the right (or wrong) way today?

Sweet baby cheeses

If you watch Modern Family, you'll understand my title. If you don't watch, you really should, it's such a funny show :)

Edited to add clip (the picture quality is awful, but the audio is what matters)


Today started out innocently enough. Faith got us up at 5:40am and then we went to church. If anyone is wondering if it's hilarious to have your baby blow raspberries during the sermon and loudly go "BLAH BLAH BLAH" (Faith's favorite word), the answer is no. It's only hilarious if it's not your baby :)

Elmo always comes to church with us

After church, I threw together a spinach artichoke dip for my husband to take a memorial service his coworker's husband. Faith and I didn't go because it's 2.5 hours long and held outside. Yes, outside. In MD, in January. Not exactly baby friendly.

I decided to go for a run to help loosen up my legs and build my endurance for running when I'm tired. The first part of the run was pretty uneventful, other than my pathetically slow pace. It was a combination of tired legs and a windy day. Nothing makes running with a stroller harder than wind!

This is what I have to deal with when I'm trying to get ready to go

As we came back to the neighborhod, I noticed that the St. Bernard up the street from us seemed...kinda far from his house. See, all the houses in the neighborhood (except us) use invisible fences. So it's hard to know exactly where the boundaries are for the fence. This St. Bernard hates Peanut with a passion. I mean, I think Israel would give the Golan Heights back to Syria long before this St. Bernard would not bark like a hound of hell when Peanut goes by. When this dog barks, it's so deep, you can actually feel it. My husband always jokes that Peanut would die if that dog got out.

I eat coonhound mutts for breakfast

So as we start running by, I'm getting a sinking suspicion that this monstrous dog is not in his fence and there is nothing between Peanut and Cujo except for Faith and the BOB. Then Cujo runs into the street and I KNOW he is loose. Peanut is almost pissing herself with fear (she's hiding on the other side of the stroller with her tail between her legs), so I yelled at her, "Run, bitch, RUN!" (seriously, that's what I yelled) and we hightailed it out of there. Luckily, Cujo turned out to be a lazy dog and gave up, but it still was a very quick last quarter mile of my run.

After I got Peanut inside, I did the right thing and went back to Cujo's house with Faith and rang their bell. When the guy answered, I told him that his Cujo dog was out. He thanked me and by the time I had gotten back to my house, his kids had caught the dog.

Confession: If Cujo hadn't given up the chase, I was going to drop Peanut's leash and sacrifice her to Cujo so I could get Faith home safely. Don't tell Peanut I said that :)

Lesson of the day: You always have a little gas left in the tank for a sprint away from Cujo and invisible fences suck.

Don't you think my husband should let me carry a taser when I run? Do you carry anything with you when you run (pepper spray, etc)?

Peanut is displeased

She has been glaring at me all day since I didn't take her with on the run this morning.

The hound dog judges you

Check out Alyssa's blog for her recap of the crazy, icy half marathon this morning (she's braver than me!)

We've had a nice relaxing Saturday around here and I've enjoyed staying inside (warm and cozy!)

Faith likes to feed herself, but Mommy doesn't love the mess!

Tomorrow night I'm making Ina Garten's Lobster Mac and Cheese (I lost last week's football bet with my husband and this is what he won), so that should be interesting. I don't think I've ever made mac and cheese from scratch and I've definitely never cooked with lobster before. Mostly because I think lobster is gross. But not as gross as crab. Yes, I live in MD and I hate crab. That's a shameful statement to make around here where the blue crab reigns supreme. Honestly, I wouldn't eat anything that came out the Chesapeake Bay, but that's just me and my prejudice against heavily polluted waters :P

What's the fanciest thing you've ever made at home?

My own private half marathon

I was pretty bummed last night when I went to bed after deciding to back out of my half marathon, but I decided to make the best of things. I trained for a half marathon, so I'll run a half marathon!

We barely got any snow down here in southern MD, so my running group was still meeting this morning at a nearby neighborhood. I met up with them and did 6.6 miles with one of the women in the group at a fairly easy pace. Actually, I was running ahead of her a little and then circling back behind her so we could stay together without me having to slow down too much. I thought that would mess with the Garmin, but it didn't seem to have an effect.

After we got back to the cars, I was able to use the bathroom (there is nothing worse than running in a neighborhood if you have to go because you can't even go in the woods) and filled my water bottle back up. At this point I tried to take the Gu. YUCK! It was so, so bitter. I'm sure it's from the caffeine, but I really just couldn't do it. I put it back in my water bottle pouch, turned on my music, and headed out to finish the distance on my own.

By mile 10, I was dragging. I really just wanted to go home and cuddle with Faith instead of running in 27 degree weather. I thought about hitching a ride back to my car, but I remembered my upcoming marathon and decided to treat the Gu like medicine and just took the rest (and the rest of my water bottle). It was pretty gross, but it worked!

Miles 10-13 were fast! I did those at a sub-8:30 pace, which helped make up for the slow start to my run. I don't know what they put in that Gu, but I think it might be crack.

Once I hit 13.1 on my Garmin, I stopped and walked a short distance to cool down. When I stopped running, I was hit by a jolt of pain in my butt that felt just like I had fell down directly on my tail bone. Ouch! When I gave birth to Faith, my tail bone was fractured (it was a somewhat urgent forceps delivery) and I keep thinking it's healed, but when I run over 6 miles, I still have pain when I stop. It doesn't hurt at all when I run, only when I stop. It's nothing a little Advil can't help :)

I'm pretty happy with my time for the run. I really wanted to get below 2 hours (hence the quick pace in the last 3 miles), but I feel like I could have done that in a real race setting. It's so hard to simulate the feeling of a race on your own and I usually run quite a bit faster in a race than on my own. I tried really hard to pretend today was a race, but it was hard since most of the time I was by myself. I need people to pass to motivate me to run faster :P

It was pretty cold this morning, but I had better luck in not overheating by dropping a layer on my top and adding a hat. That really helped me feel comfortable (temperature-wise) during the run. My husband was not thrilled when I got home and he saw how I sweated through his hat (so gross!)

It's really hard to take a picture of your own head

I feel good after my run, which is nice considering that I'm running 14 miles next weekend! It's so nice to come home after a good run, take a hot shower and then hang out with Faith. I think she really enjoys her Daddy time when I go running, but I love seeing how happy she is to see me when I come home, even if I'm a sweaty mess. :)

Butt paste!

Executive decision

Here is the email I just received from the race organizer:

Hello High Cloud Half Marathon Runners!

The race is still ON!

We don’t plan to let a few inches of snow deter us.  Given the conditions, each runner is asked to carefully consider their own situation and act responsibility.  The towpath is covered with 4 to 6 inches of snow, ice and slush.  It is slippery and wet.  Temperatures will be below freezing at the start of the race and are only forecasted to reach a high in the forties all day.  Our timer ran the entire course this afternoon and it was very challenging.  At the start the hard freeze tonight will make the course slippery but you may be able to run on top of the snow.  Once the temperatures rise the snow will become soft and more challenging.  Watch for the slush bogs especially on the lower part of the course from milepost 6 to the turn around.  There are a few down tree limbs but you can maneuver around them.  BE CAREFUL, if you are not accustomed to this type of course be careful not to turn your ankles in the ruts.  If you like a challenge, come on out.  The course is not for the faint hearted.  Hats, gloves, thermal shirts, and leggings will keep you warm.  Bring dry clothing for after the race.  You can keep your dry clothing in your car; we also offer bag check near the start / finish, but we are not responsible for lost items.

Unfortunately, the restrooms are under repair at Carderock so only porta-johns will be available.  If you need to drop out during the race, proceed to the nearest aid station and our High Clouders will assist you in returning to the start/finish.

I'm not interested in getting hurt and considering that I'm trying to run a full marathon in March, even a slightly turned ankle could really derail my efforts. So, I've made the decision to do my 13 mile run here on dry pavement instead, even though I'm really bummed to miss out on that race. :(

We have a situation here

No, not that kind of situation :)

Good news first: My half marathon is still on for tomorrow, despite the snow!

Bad(ish) news: Most of the 8 inches of snow are still on the ground and more is currently falling. The race is held in a national park on a non-plowed tow path.

So this race just got elevated to "adventure racing", or "Geez I'm nuts for doing this". I'm not going to try to break any records tomorrow, I'm just going to try to finish the race without falling down!

Honestly, I've never run through snow before, but I've run on plowed roads which I imagine is much easier. So, I'm packing dry socks and my Uggs for after the race and I will be very liberal with the Body Glide on my feet before the race to try to avoid blisters. I'm betting I won't even be able to feel my feet, so blisters shouldn't be an issue during the race. :)

I think you all can brace yourselves for an epic race recap after this one tomorrow!

Baby thinking

I've often wondered, "What does the baby think about?" and think this graph sums it up:

It's amazing how everything gets put in their mouths. Wouldn't be hilarious if that's how adults still approached new objects? Can you imagine social gatherings where your guests were gnawing on your decorations and artwork? :)

I've never been one to brag about the cleanliness of my house, but I never realized how freaking dirty it is until Faith has started to move around on her own. If there is just one fleck of dirt or dog grime, she'll pull herself over to it and put it in her mouth. 5 months ago I was sterilizing her bottles and now she's putting random dog filth in her mouth, my how they grow up :)

I have a Roomba for the downstairs and new fancy mop (Rubbermaid Reveal) which is the cheapskate's Swiffer Wet Jet because you fill it with whatever and wash the cleaning pads, so I really have no excuses for having dirty floors. It just seems like as soon as I clean them, the dog walks through after a big drink of water and dripples slimy dog spit all over the clean floor. We actually have carpet stains from the dog's drool when she's waiting for her food bowl to be filled. True story.

If I had to pick between a maid and a personal chef, I'd pick a maid for sure. I'd much rather peel an onion than scrub a toilet!

If you had to pick between a maid and a personal chef, which would you choose?

A dingo ate my baby

For any readers out there who don't have kids yet or have kids but no dog yet, I thought I'd put together my tips for a peaceful coexistence between dogs and babies. Every dog is different and every baby is different, but these general tips will help in any case:

1. Unless you have a dog as smart as Lassie, playing tapes of babies crying while you're pregnant is just going to confuse them, not get them used to anything.
2. Never leave a dog and a baby alone together...ever. If you go to the bathroom, one of them has to come with you. If your dog is anything like mine, it will love the chance to follow you everywhere.
3. Train your dog to go down the stairs before you. Even if you have a tiny dog, you don't want them tripping you on the stairs while you're carrying the baby.
4. "Leave it" is the most important command. This can apply to baby toy stealing situations, or in my house, situations when the dog is trying to eat baby spit up (ew, I know)
5. While you're pregnant or first thing when you get the dog, work on training them to only walk on your left side. This will make walks with the stroller much easier. 
6. Invest in some kind of window treatment to block the dog's view of outside. The less they can see, the less often they bark. Peanut is a hound so she barks a LOT, but not as much if she can't see. 

My husband toddler proofed Peanut before Faith was born. Toddler-proofing is a nice way to say that he enjoyed ticking her toes while she was sleeping and grabbing her tail to see her reaction. To all curious parties: her reaction is to try to chew off her own tail. If that dog went to school, she would ride the short bus. At least when Faith started to notice Peanut, we knew that the dog would tolerate a lot of baby abuse.

I can't offer any advice on cats and babies because we don't have one, but I know from reading pregnancy message boards that cats often take over the crib as their own before the baby is even born. A dog won't do that, although Peanut did move all her toys to the nursery before we got a baby gate for that room. I guess she thought she was finally getting her own room in the house!


What kind of pet did you grow up with? Do you have any tips to add?

Who needs baby toys?

Faith certainty doesn't! She just discovered the door stop thing this morning and has been doing this for the last 25 min:


After that gets boring, there is always baby enjoyment to be had in annoying the dog:

It's good that Peanut is such a patient dog. It helps that she's not the sharpest tool in the shed. It takes her a minute or two to even compute that the baby is touching her. :)

Most of the D.C. area got pummeled with snow last night, except for southern MD (woohoo for living by the water!). This is all the snow we got, and they still canceled school here!

I decided to order some Gu off Amazon for my half marathon on Sat. and future marathon training runs. I got Gu Roctane because I don't normally drink anything caffeinated, so it will have a strong effect on me! I know you're not supposed to try anything new on a race day, but what can I say, I'm a rebel :)

Check out my awesome photography skills

I'm on the fence about my workout today. I feel like running, but it's not baby friendly weather outside (and my BOB weather shield STILL hasn't even been shipped). I might just stick to hot yoga tonight and hold of running so I'm super fresh on Saturday. Speaking of Saturday, they got a LOT more snow up where the race is held. It's held in a park on a gravel road, so there is a strong possibility I'll be running in wet snow on Saturday. Anyone have tips on how to avoid blisters while running 13 miles in wet socks?

Confessions

Putting spinach in a smoothie is gross (and yes, I've tried it). No matter how many healthy living bloggers claim otherwise, it's gross.

My main concern for my 50K this summer is the availability of Porta-potties and the probability of peeing in the woods with lots of people around, not the actual running.

I really enjoy telling people "The things no one tells you" about pregnancy and childbirth, mostly for their priceless facial expressions.

If I make chocolate chip cookies, I don't actually intend to bake any of it.

I am the least sympathetic person when others have a cold. It's true, ask my husband.

I was trying to give Faith a mohawk during her bath last night and her hair dried like that. I've been laughing at her all day.

It's hard to tell because she doesn't have much hair, but trust me, it's hilarious

I put way more care and consideration into dressing the baby than myself.

She's rocking the skinny jeans!

I think jeggings and Uggs are the best trends ever and I never want to give them up.

It's not unusual for me to outeat my husband.

I think I might love my dog more than some people love their children.

Right now Faith is dragging her tube of Butt Paste (yes, that's a real thing) around the playroom and occasionally chewing on it. I'm letting her because it's just not worth the fight and tears to take it away.

What are some of your confessions?

We just need some barbed wire

   She's almost creeping out of her PJs!

Race prep

I keep forgetting that I'm running a half marathon on Saturday, but I'm trying to get things ready. By get things ready, I mean make an awesome playlist :)

This race allows headphones (the full marathon I'm running does not since they don't do road closures), and since I'm running alone, I'm planning on using music for motivation. I listen to a wide variety of music including country. Say what you want about the genre, but they make some pretty awesome running music. Here's a peek at some of my playlist:

• Gold Digger - Kayne West
• Grenade - Bruno Mars
• Little White Church - Little Big Town
• Ice Ice Baby - Vanilla Ice
• That Was a Crazy Game of Poker - O.A.R.
• Fly Away - Sugarland
• Ticks - Brad Paisley 
• Bad Romance - Lady Gaga
• The Next Episode - Dr. Dre and Snoop Dogg
• Stronger Woman - Jewel
• If I Had You - Adam Lambert

What's your go-to music for running? My must-haves are Buckcherry's "Crazy Bitch", Linkin Park's "Bleed It Out" and Sugarland's "We Run". Although, the Black Eyed Peas "Imma Be" has been impressing me lately with its ability to inspire me to pick up the pace.

We just have rain today, no snow yet. It's supposed to change to snow tonight...but at least that's better than it snowing on Friday night and having to run in snow or cancel my half!

The stroller of my dreams

The BOB Ironman jogging stroller doesn't roll...it glides. My first run this morning with the stroller was fantastic. I kept going on and on about how great it felt and even ran up this huge hill that I normally have to walk with my old stroller. All the hype about BOB strollers is true, it's so different than my other stroller!

Doing a test drive in the house to make sure Mommy assembled it correctly :)

Old stroller pros:

• A free hand-me-down from a neighbor (can't beat that price!)
• Reclining seat

Old stroller cons:

• Hard to push. I mean, really hard. It was ok if we were on flat ground, but going up hills was tough.
• It made all sorts of strange squeaks and rattles.

New stroller pros (really, this could go on and on, so here are some top reasons)

• Bright color and reflective strips for easy visibility
• So easy to push
• Faith seems more comfortable

There are more perks (it has cup holders in the stroller area for sippy cups!), but those are the top reasons it's an awesome stroller. Really, the only con is the price, which is pretty steep. 

Faith likes when we go fast!

After our run this morning, Faith had some playtime and then a nap. After she woke up, I tried to give her some banana...nope, she still hates banana. What a face she makes! I read somewhere that a child needs to try something like 17 times before you can say that they actually don't like something, but I'm pretty sure she hates banana and this is only like the 7th time I've tried it.


We took lunch over to my friend who got put on bedrest last week. She's pregnant with twins and not due until the end of May, so she has a while to go! Her due date is a day after my due date with Faith last year. It's funny to think that at this time next year she'll have two little babies Faith's age rolling around. That seems insane to me, as I can't imagine having two, one is tiring enough! Just saying that is probably going to make me have twins next. :)

I picked up take-out Chinese food for lunch and I got stuff for our dinner too, so no cooking for me tonight! Woohoo! Tomorrow should be interesting, even though it's almost 50 degrees out, they say we're going to get 5 inches of snow starting tonight. I'm glad we have plenty of diapers!


What's your favorite "I'm not cooking tonight!" dinner?

Faith's favorite things -Part 3

From the time we brought her home from the hospital until the beginning of December (a solid 6 months) Faith slept in this:

Fisher Price Newborn Rock and Play Sleeper

 I had read about this item on pregnancy websites like TheBump and BabyCenter, and it seemed like it would be a good thing to have around. I thought I would have her nap in it during the day and maybe have it by the shower if I need to take a quick shower and wanted to keep my eye on her. 

When we actually brought Faith home from the hospital, I wanted her to sleep near me (new parent nerves), so I put the sleeper next to my side of the bed. It was great because I could reach out and rock it without having to sit up.

Fresh out of the oven!

After about 4 weeks and realizing that babies can in fact snore, we decided to move her to the nursery. To ease the transition, I just moved the sleeper into the nursery instead of putting her in the crib. She was sleeping well at this point and I wasn't too interested in rocking the boat.

Let sleeping babies lie

Then Faith started having problems with reflux. A lot of babies have reflux issues, mostly because their digestive systems aren't fully mature at birth. One of the recommendations for babies with reflux is to have them sleep at an upright angle instead of flat. The sleeper has an incline, so it was perfect!

We went through a tough couple months with Faith with her reflux and milk protein allergy, so during that time, I didn't want to mess with her sleep at all. She slept really well in the sleeper and I often said to my husband: "I wish they made a toddler size of this thing!"

Faith also liked just hanging out in it

Deep thoughts

The weight limit is 25lbs, but if you have a tall baby, they'll grow out of it faster than that. We really only moved her to the crib because she was getting crazy in the sleeper (kicking her legs to get it to rock and almost tipping it over!). It was a hard transition to the crib, mostly because Faith wasn't used to sleeping in an open space (the sleeper is almost like a hammock that cradles the baby). It took a couple of weeks, but now Faith loves the crib, mostly because she has her seahorse in there.

I fully intend on using this sleeper with future babies, but maybe I won't keep them in there quite as long as we did with Faith :)

Surrendering to sleep

A tale of assembly

I was so ecstatic to hear a loud THUMP on the porch this afternoon...the BOB has arrived!

It's here! It's here!

Logic told me to wait for my husband to come home to assemble it, as it really is his forte. I couldn't contain my excitement and dove in anyway.

I opened it up and there didn't seem to be too many pieces. This will be even easier than assembling the Graco stroller!

Well, this doesn't look so hard

I couldn't find any directions, so logically I thought, "Well, it just must be so easy that you don't NEED directions"

Hmm...I have no idea what I'm doing

Right...that didn't seem to be true. I got the back wheels on, and then I found the directions cleverly hidden in the back pouch! Tricky!

I was about 15 min from calling customer service before I found these

 It took me 45 minutes and two phone calls to my husband (I swear he hides his tools), but it's assembled!! I almost gave up when I got to a step that said that (I'm paraphrasing here) "If this doesn't hurt your hand and leave a mark, you didn't do it right!". They were right though, it did hurt my hand and it left a mark. Success?

I can't wait to take it out for a test run tomorrow, it's just too bad that the weather shield didn't come today. I'll give a comparison review tomorrow after my run!

Such a pretty stroller

Ok, I'm ready for summer now

It is really cold today! I know half of the country is dealing with subzero temps, but I still reserve the right to whine about MD weather :)

It was 11 degrees when I woke up this morning...and then the power went out. After the fun challenge of "How do we get the garage door open without power?", my husband left for work and I was left wondering how the day was going to go. The power wasn't out long before the house temp starting dropping (I guess we have awesome insulation?) and I had no idea how long it would take to be fixed. Our gas fireplace was still on, but I knew eventually I'd have to take the baby elsewhere if it got any colder in the house. Luckily, I saw a repair truck drive by the house and I was relieved when the power come back on 45 minutes later. I was shocked to see that the temp in the house had dropped to 63 degrees (we normally keep it at 67) in just that short time, even with the fireplace going!

After the power situation was sorted out, I had breakfast and then when Faith napped, I ran 4.25 miles on the treadmill doing a pyramid workout. A pyramid workout is pretty simple, you start slow and gradually speed up and then when you hit the peak, you go back down. Here's an example:

• 2 minutes at 6.3 speed
• 2 minutes at 6.5 speed
• 2 minutes at 6.7 speed
• 2 minutes at 7.0 speed
• 1 minute at 7.3 speed
• 2 minutes at 7.0 speed
• 2 minutes at 6.7 speed

And so on, I'm sure you get the general idea :) I find that this kind of workout makes the time on the treadmill go by much faster.

I don't have any plans for the rest of the day, I'm just going to hang out with this pretty lady:

All the cool babies have giraffe bibs, right?

Man, that's some tasty plastic!

Race announcement!

Call me crazy (I know my husband does), but I'm been searching for a fun running challenge. I was looking on active.com and I found this race: Rosaryville Trail Run

 

The race isn't until July, but I'm already excited for the challenge! I'm going to do the 50K option, which is 31 miles. If you know me, your reaction might be "Well, shouldn't you run a full marathon first?" Well, that was my husband's and my mom's reaction at least :) So since I've never run a full marathon, I'm also signing up for this race:

The CBRC (Cheasapeake Bay Running Club) Lower Potomac River Marathon on March 13th.

Signing up for this marathon works out really well with my half marathon on Saturday. If I do 14 miles the next weekend, I'll be right on track with my long runs to be done just in time for the full marathon. I'm only going to train up to 20 miles (instead of the 22 that some people choose to do) and I'll have a taper period with one shorter run before the marathon. 

Biggest obstacle for this race: no portable listening devices are allowed. That means no iPod. That means just me and my thoughts for 4+ hours. Honestly, I have no clue what I'm going to do with myself for that time, especially since it's a small local race and there won't be much to look at other than the water and some birds.

I have other races on the horizon too:

April 3rd: Cherry Pit 10 mile Race in Annapolis, MD

May 21st: Warrior Dash (I'm super excited for this one!)

June 12th: EX2 Off-Road Half Marathon in Triangle, VA (right by Quantico)

I'm also planning on running the Annapolis 10 miler, but I don't know a date for that yet.

I'm really excited about my upcoming races and I have so much to learn about trail running and hydration (it's going to be HOT for that 50K), but I can't wait!

Why don't dogs have mute buttons?

So it seems that 5:40am is the baby's new wake up time. She's done every day this week, so I think it's here to stay. For some reason it's so much nicer getting up at 6 and those extra 20 minutes really make me feel tired, even though it's just 20 minutes.

Well, at least Faith made sure we were up in time to make it to church.

Tights with built in shoes!

I was shocked by how many people at church told me that they used to tape a bow on their baby due to lack of hair. I didn't tape that bow on Faith, honest :)

Peanut has been driving us crazy lately. All she seems to do is whine and pace. Every time she goes out, she just barks and has to be brought back inside. I don't know what her problem is, she gets plenty of exercise and she has lots of toys inside to occupy her time. My only theory is that her medicine for her epilepsy isn't working and she might be getting closer to having break-through seizures. Yes, my dog has epilepsy. It just started out of the blue when she turned 2 and it has been completely controlled by her medicine. Usually when she was about to have a seizure, she would pace and whine, but with more intensity. The vet can't (won't?) adjust her meds until she starts having breakthrough seizures, so in the mean time, we just get to deal with Peanut. She could just be acting a like a pain in the ass for no reason for all, so only time will tell :)

Bad to the bone!

The duck tub is still presenting a challenge. I've been trying to get Faith to just sit in it (dry), but she still screams. The last time I did that she calmed down when she starting playing with the little duckie, so I'm hoping bath time tonight won't be too bad!

Much more terrifying than it appears!

Stay tuned tomorrow for a fun race announcement!

Ready to run!

Brrr, that was a chilly run this morning! It was 18 degrees when I started and only 19 degrees when I finished. The high today is only 27, so I have no plans to leave the house again :)

One other woman was brave enough to run in this cold with me and we did an easy 10K (6.2mi). I tried to set up my Garmin to get mile splits and if I did the math, I could get them for you. I got it to mark every mile as a lap and then give me the time for every lap. I didn't do the math, so let's just say we averaged around 9:15 mile, with a couple of stops so Peanut could do her business. The woman I was running with was getting tired at the end of the run, and as we were going up a long hill, I gave her Peanut's leash and then Peanut helped her get up the hill. She's such a helpful dog :P

I felt really good on the run and I felt like I could have kept going, which is good considering that I'm running a half marathon next weekend. I feel good going into the half and I was wishing that it was today! I think the cold is actually helpful in running, it's almost like taking an ice bath while you're running. I really didn't feel any muscle stiffness or soreness at all.

We tried to give Faith her first bath in her new duck tub (read about the tub here) but it didn't go well. The tub is fine and I'm sure it will be very useful, but Faith was terrified of the duck. She screamed and screamed and I never even got any soap on her before I just said "screw this". It wasn't the water temperature because I'm really careful about that and I know what temp she prefers. We're going to have to practice sitting in the duck so it isn't so scary. In the duck's defense, Faith also screamed a lot when we transitioned her to the plastic tub from the hammock.

The dinner my husband made for me last night turned out really well, he made a Paula Dean recipe meatloaf and Annie's macaroni and cheese (the fancy kind with the cheese goo instead of the cheese powder!) I guess I'm back on cooking duty tonight and should think of something to make that isn't just pasta with tomato sauce.

Faith and I are going to spend the rest of the day in the warm house doing fun stuff like playing with her giraffe stacker :)

The ears are the tastiest part

I'm so excited!!

Guess what I just ordered on Amazon??

 

This isn't just an average jogging stroller, it is the Ferrari of jogging strollers! The BOB Ironman...I can't wait for it to get here! All BOB strollers are on sale on Amazon, so my  husband and I decided that this could be my early, early birthday present. 

It gets even better! Since the BOB was 50 dollars off, I decided to get this too

 

This shield will keep Faith warm and toasty and most importantly, out of the wind! This means I can run outside with her no matter how nasty the weather. This shield even blocks rain! 

Waiting until this arrives on Monday or Tuesday is going to be so hard, I can't wait to take it out for a run!

Here I go again on my own...

You know you're mentally singing Whitesnake, don't try to deny it.

So, it's going to get really cold and windy here today. So cold and windy in fact that all of the other women in my running group have backed out of our run tomorrow. I mean, just because it's predicted to be 19 degrees at 8am with a 18mph wind, you would cancel?? I totally would too, but my half marathon is in a week and I'm not going to pass up my last opportunity to have a stroller-free run. At least I won't be running completely alone :)

Even when she sleeps, she's running

Hot yoga last night was great. It seemed much hotter in the room than last week and sweat was just pouring off me! I haven't sweat that much since the summer. It was kind of gross though since the class was packed and the mats were so close together. At least girl sweat isn't as smelly as guy sweat!

Lesson for the future: black beans and brown rice wrapped up in a high fiber tortilla is an awful pre-yoga dinner. ;)

My husband is home today, but he has to call into meetings, so at some point he'll take Faith and I'll go hit the treadmill. We had a bet on the Jets/Patriots game last week and he was so sure that the Patriots would win that he said he'd make me dinner if the Jets won. Well, the Jets pulled through for me and now he has to make me dinner tonight, ha!

Does your spouse/significant other cook for you? What's their specialty?

The siren call of the McFlurry

I go through food phases. My husband laughs because I'll be all about one food and then just wake up one day and not want it anymore. This habit leaves us with situations like 4 unopened boxes of Peanut Butter Puffins and 2 gallon size applesauce jars in the pantry. My dessert habits are subject to phases as well. When I was pregnant, all I wanted was cake. Not just any cake. The sheet cake that you get at the grocery store bakery, and more specifically, the corner piece. Bonus if it had an icing flower. Basically, it was a frosting thing :)

My latest phase seems to be McDonald's McFlurries. We don't have a Diary Queen around here (it's torture, I know!), so I would occasionally get a McFlurry to satisfy my Blizzard cravings. In the past couple of weeks, it's really all I want for dessert. I stopped and got one today (it's in the freezer now!) and I think that's my 3rd one in a week's time. At least I can't stock up on this craving, so when I get tired of it I won't be stuck with a freezer full!

Faith and I went to the commissary this afternoon to pick up cheap meat and frozen stuff. The commissary here has crappy produce, but the meat is super cheap and I like getting stuff like frozen turkey burgers and cheese ravioli for those nights that I don't feel like cooking. Confession: I almost never feel like cooking anymore. I used to enjoy before the baby, but now I'm just too tired by that point in the day to put much effort (read: get many things dirty) into dinner.

Faith fell asleep on the way home clutching her Elmo toy. It's pretty much the cutest thing ever.

Do you go through food phases? What's the strangest phase you've had?

Back to sleep and running nutrition

When you have a baby, everyone is quick to remind you to put the baby on its back for sleeping. Faith even has some pajamas that have "Back is Best" stitched on them. Even though 30 years ago everyone put their babies to sleep on their bellies, if you don't put your baby to sleep on its back, DEATH might occur. Pretty much nothing gets a new parent's attention more than a mention of SIDS.

Faith always slept on her back...until recently. When I would go into her room after she woke up from a nap, I'd notice one side of face was bright red. Eventually, I saw her sleeping on her belly with her face mashed in the corner of the crib. It seems that she sleeps on her belly every night with her face mashed in the corner, which explains why she sometimes wakes up and looks like she's been in a prize fight. I guess she's a rebel already? :)

I like rock and roll too!

My half marathon is 9 days away and with some bigger running goals on the horizon, I need to develop a better running nutrition plan. When I ran longer distances training for my 1st half, it was summer time and I regularly used Sports Beans every time I ran for over an hour. Now that I'm training in the winter, I haven't been taking in any calories while running. I always have it with me, but I never use it for 2 reasons:

1. The beans are really gross and super chewy when they are cold
2. I don't feel any energy lag during my runs

It might be because I'm not doing the 11 or 12 mile runs that I did last time, but so far I haven't used any mid-run nutrition in training. I'm planning on bringing some with me to the half for back-up, but I'll probably just drink Powerade instead. I normally run with a water bottle in one of those hand held things, so I'm planning on just putting a sports drink in there instead and filling up any leftover room with water. I think Powerade is drink served at this half and I'm not partial enough to Gatorade to pass up free stuff :)

I've never tried using Gu for running nutrition, but maybe that's better for cold runs. I need to find a place that sells them for a reasonable amount. The only store that sells Gus around here charges 2 bucks per Gu. True story.

I have some Gu Chomps, but it's the same problem as the beans. It gets way too chewy to eat while running when it's cold. I really need to figure something out because this half is most likely not the last big race of this winter!


Does anyone have any advice for running nutrition that works in cold weather?