Baystate Half 2018

I'm sure you've been dying to read this update, and here it is.  Not even a week late! Amazing. 
So I did run last Sunday, as I said I was going too.  Turns out I ran more than I anticipated, making it to around 7.5 before I started walk/running.  Pretty good considering 6 was my max and even that was a one time only training run.  Of course, I still had to stop at every porta-john on the course, but that's just something I'm going to have to embrace, for now, I guess.  The course itself wasn't too bad and the weather turned out pretty nice considering it was cloudy and drizzly when I woke up.  Wind was only an issue on the back side of the course on the Esplanade and on the bridges.  Other than that, it wasn't too noticeable.  Ryan and X came for the end but it was too cold for X so they ended up waiting in the car for me.  At least they made it to the end, last year, Scott and I went to meet Ryan and Brittany and arrived after they had finished!
Speaking of finishes, I suppose you want my stats now.  I'm going to give both Garmin and official stats because they're widely different.  Of course, every bathroom stop I paused my Garmin because I like to know runtime, not time elapsed.  And I'm sure you're all aware that the course time doesn't stop for you.  So my course time was 2:45, official.  My Garmin time was 2:26.  I guess I took 20 minutes worth of bathroom breaks! If there's one thing I would like to improve on now, it would be that.  20 minutes is almost enough time for another whole 5K! Unfortunately, I'm not really sure there's much I can do in the way of eliminating bathroom breaks, except let time pass.  At the end of the day though, I'm just happy I was able to finish the race and that I can reasonably expect to be able to continue running longer distances now. 
In a weird coincidence, this half was 11 weeks after his birth.  The Louisiana half, which was the last half I ran, I was 11 weeks pregnant.  For comparison, I ran Louisiana in 2:30, also with bathroom breaks.  But I was a bit more in shape then, considering I had been working out all summer and had just run a trail marathon back in November.  So that one was probably easier, though it didn't seem like it at the time.
So I was a bit sore the day after, but who wouldn't be.  It took a long time for me to not be sore after running a half and then I went 5 months without running longer than 4 miles once or twice.  So that's going to be something else I need to build back up.  Since I didn't want to run and make the soreness worse, I decided to at least go out walking this week.  We went all over the place this time, the bike path, the battle road, you name it, we went there.  Two of our walks were over 4 miles, the others were shorter.  Still, I feel better walking since I haven't been able to get to the gym.  Plus, stroller time is the only long nap X takes, so it's either go out walking while he naps or sit at home and listen to him cry every 30 minutes when he wakes and probably won't go back to sleep.  I'll choose to walk every time in that case. 
But now I need to make a choice.  Sign up for another half or just run for recreation.  Both seem like good ideas on any given day.  The biggest influence is the weather, which could ruin both choices.  If I run for recreation, I know I won't go when it's too cold, windy, snowy, etc.  If I have a half to run, I'm more likely to go out and run. However, I wouldn't want to run in that weather, so I just don't know.  Sometimes it's just hard to make a choice. 

On our way to the start

I will take a porta-potty picture every time.

Starting line---brrrrr

Finished. X is not impressed

Inspiring messages on the bike path. 

Only 5 days until Halloween.  So we wear our costumes out to stay warm.

6 Days Away

The half is on Sunday, so I'm using this week as a taper week.  Funny, right?  I know, I can't really taper from nothing, but I am not going to try and run 6 or more at all.  I'll keep them short.  I can take X on a couple of 5Ks and that should be sufficient for now.  For Sunday I have GUs and Tailwind, so I should be all set to run, it's just a matter of how long it will take me to actually finish.  I'm hoping for a 2:15/2:30. 
Really what I need to be doing is going to the gym or outside just a bit more often.  Last week was a good week since it was nice out and we were able to take lots of walks.  But with the pattern of rain every other day or so it seems, it makes it hard to get out during the day and then by this time at night I have no interest in changing, going to the gym, coming home, and showering.  That just seems like so much.  I'd rather get the gym out of the way really early, or during the day.  And so here we are.  If someone would nap, I would work out in the living room, but we're still working on napping for more than 20 minutes at a time at this point.  I suppose it is only Monday, so as long as I get outside or to the gym for the rest of the week, I should be ok. 
Last week I ended up with over 600 workout minutes for the week, which hasn't happened in a very long time.  We're talking years.  The walk through Concord on Friday really pushed me over the top.  I took X to the Old North Bridge and Sleepy Hollow Cemetery.  I was hoping for more foliage, but the walk was nice either way.  We might go to Salem sometime during the week and walk around there, but it's probably unlikely.  Salem is nice and all, but I don't know that I want to pay for parking and deal with crazy people just to stroll around the streets for a little bit.  There are closer places.  We'll see where the week takes us for that.  It is supposed to be rather cold by the middle of the week.  40s or so.  Which makes sense, since last week it was in the 80s.  Cold weather won't keep us inside though as long as it's not raining.  But I might need to find other races to run just to make sure I at least keep running a little bit!
And here are our photos from our Concord walk.

Fall is (not) in the air

Today it was a lovely 79 degrees.  Yup. October 9 and it's 79.  It's fine though, yesterday it was 52.  Consistency is what's important here, of course.  (Hard eye roll.)  Listen, I love summer as much as the next person, but is it too much to ask the weather to cooperate and just stick to fall?  Or at least maintain a steady average instead of jumping from sweater weather to shorts and a tank top again.  Apparently, it is, and here we are. 
Alright though, I know you're all here for the running updates, not my thoughts on the weather.  So the other day I asked the pediatrician when I could start running with X in the stroller, and he said there was no reason I couldn't start now.  Just stay off rocky trails, bundle him up in the cold, you know, common sense. So today we took the BOB out to the Minuteman Bike Path.  On Saturday, I had gone for a 6 mile run, just to make sure the trail was as flat as I thought.  This bike path goes all the way from Bedford to Alewife Station out in Boston, so it's really an ideal route if you need a flat path.  There are so many plus sides to this path that it mostly makes up for the fact that I get bored running in straight lines. 
One plus is that you can run basically any distance, as I think the trail is about 10 miles long.  Now, I am clearly on my computer and could easily Google the actual distance, but I'm not going too.  And that's probably the laziest I've ever been.  So, anyway, it's somewhere between 10 - 13 miles long in one direction.  That means you could basically use it for full marathon training if you felt the need.  It's also incredibly flat, though it does incline up slightly through to Lexington, at least from the Bedford side.  It's not noticeable until you turn around and realize you're kind of running downhill.  They've also added free bike shares to the Bedford end, so, in theory, if you got tired of running, you could hop on a bike and make your way back to the other end.  Finally, it passes through a few different towns, so there are a few different bathroom options should you find yourself in need. 
Like I said, a nice path, even if I'm not a fan of running straight.  So, on Saturday I started in Bedford, but today we went to Lexington center to run.  I wanted to see a different part of the path, so it made sense.  It was nice to be able to run again during the day and bring my little man with me.  I originally planned on going 3, but at 1.5 I decided to just keep going the extra .5 and make it 2 out and 2 back.  It was a good plan and a good run.  X slept for most of the first 3 miles.  Then we stopped for a bottle and diaper break before finishing the last mile.  Next time maybe we'll go to a different spot and run some more.  Hopefully, the leaves will start changing on the path too, making it even nicer.  Right now most of them are still green. 
Ok so the half is coming up and I haven't made it up past 6, but I did make it to 6, which was my goal anyway.  I'm sure I can run and finish the half, even if there's a lot of walking involved.  Maybe I'll find it easier after pushing a stroller for the next few runs, to run without it again.  We'll see with that. So, that's it for now.  Since it is October, no matter what the weather wants to pretend, X is dressed for Halloween, if you're wondering about that. Oh, and wearing shorts now leads to chaffing, a problem I didn't have before, so I had to come up with a quick solution after mile 2 when it started to get bad.  Luckily I had his diaper bag with us so I threw some diaper cream on the thighs and carried on.  It seemed to work a bit, and mostly it just taught me to not wear shorts anymore.  Or at least not for a while.  Hopefully I can remember that!

2 weeks out

Baystate is on the 21, so that's just about 2 weeks from now.  So far, I've gotten 5 miles on the treadmill, so that's almost good enough for me.  I want to be able to do at least 6 running, which I don't think should be a problem at this point.  Mostly I figured if I can run 6, I can walk the other six, if necessary.  Of course, I don't plan on running the first six and then walking the whole second half.  No, I'll probably end up doing a combination run/walk every 5K or so.  Obviously, it will all depend on how I feel that morning, if I got any sleep the night before, etc. 
Now I don't want to ruin a good thing, but we have been lucky enough that Mr. X seems to know daytime from nighttime. He's not a great daytime napper, maybe sleeps in half-hour chunks, but does well throughout the night.  Generally, he's pretty good about sleeping for a six-hour stretch, waking up to eat, and then sleeping for another 3.  That works out fine for me right now because I don't have to go to work in the morning.  I don't know what I'll do when I actually have to get up after his second wake up instead of taking a nap with him. 
He does sleep well if we're out for a walk, so I suppose if I really wanted him too, I could strap him in the stroller and put him to sleep that way.  His dr. said it was perfectly ok to take him running in the BOB, so we're going to try that out today.  I'm not sure why BOB says to wait until 8 months, actually. I asked his Dr about it the other day and he seemed to think that was an absurd recommendation.  I mean, I'm not going to take him off-roading, but for paved surfaces, apparently, there's no reason NOT to take him.  I'm very curious to see if he will sleep through a run, so I'm going to, possibly, take him with me to do my 6 today.  Hard call, I might want to just go alone and have some me time and take him during the week.  But either way, he's coming running with me now, which opens up a whole new world of fun for us!
Since it is October, he's been dressing up in different Halloween outfits, basically every day.  It's not as crazy as it sounds.  Mostly they're just onesies with ghosts or pumpkins on them. But he has a few different costumes he's going to wear throughout the month.  After all, there are only a few times I can get away with this before he voices his opinion on what he wants to wear/be for Halloween.  So I'm taking this opportunity to dress him in costumes that I think are cute.  For instance, we may go running Salem on Monday afternoon.  He can't go to Salem in October without a costume, he'd be a weirdo! 
Plus, none of the Thanksgiving outfits for boys are cute.  That is quickly becoming an annoyance for me.  There are thousands of girls clothes and for boys, you either get bowties and collared or plaid shirts.  Carter's had a super cute Thanksgiving outfit, a turkey onesie with a cover-all blue skirt with white polka-dots.  This outfit could easily be made for a boy too, just take the tiny bow off the onesie and make the skirt into overalls.  But no, instead, the boys get football shirts and onesies that say, I came, I ate, I napped.  I haven't started looking at Christmas clothes yet, but I imagine it's going to be more of the same.  So disappointing.  Which is why we're making the most of all our cute Halloween outfits instead!  Maybe I'll even wear my Disney running costume for Baystate.  Hmmm....

4 Under 40

Ok so I still haven't done much running, but I did get 4 miles on the elliptical the other day, in just over 33 minutes!  I know that road running is going to be much harder than elliptical moving, but if I can hang for at least 5 - 6 on the elliptical, I'll be fairly confident in my ability to be able to run/walk and complete the half next month.  Plus I have my 6-week check-up next Monday, so hopefully, after that, I can go back to full time running without worrying.  I'd love to be able to go out on the rail trail, especially now that it's almost fall, which is generally perfect running weather.  The Bob website says that babies can ride in the seat starting at 8 weeks, so even if I can't run a ton, we can go for long walks on the rail trail.
Besides my elliptical success, I've been using resistance bands to work on my leg and back strength.  I noticed that even though I can *sort of* fit into my regular clothes, for the most part, my back and legs seem to have changed the most.  (Well, outside of the obvious places, of course.) So I'm trying to get some tone back into those places.  Like I said, I really need Title again.  I know they would be able to whip me back into shape in no time.  Unfortunately, without daycare, there are not too many gym options for us at the moment.  Eventually, I would like to leave P.F. and join a place that does baby swim lessons, like the Y.  What I would really like is to join Lifetime, but they're crazy expensive and probably not worth it right now.  Maybe in the future. 
Back to the elliptical for a minute though.  Am I the only one whose feet start feeling like they're falling asleep after a mile or two on it?  I get pins and needles going and I'm not entirely sure why.  Once I was told that going backward will alleviate that problem, but I'm not there to go backward at the moment.  My other thought was that my shoes are too small, but even when I wore my regular old running shoes, it still happened.  It's not really a problem so much as an annoyance, but I am curious if it happens to anyone else. 

Dogs vs Babies

So, X cries when he's not being held, which gets old.  But, the puppy keeps eating my sandals and won't listen to basic commands, which also gets old.  So really, at least with X, when you hold him, he stops.  The pup does not stop eating shoes, no matter how many toys you give him in place of said shoes.  My only hope is that they both outgrow this phase, the dog sooner rather than later.  Oh, and if he would stop peeing/pooping all over the house every time he gets scared, that would be great too. 
Now, having a newborn makes it hard to get to the gym, as you might imagine.  Sometimes we go for neighborhood walks, but this week especially has been extra hot.  90s - 100s the past few days, so I haven't been able to take X out.  Luckily, Ryan takes him at night so I get about an hour of baby free gym time.  Sometimes the family comes to visit and they will watch him in place too, but really, I've only gone to the gym maybe 3 - 4x.  I know, I know, it's only been 3.5 weeks since X was born, why do I even need to go to the gym that much, right?  Mostly because I do have a half-marathon to run/walk in October.  I certainly don't mind not running the whole thing, but I would like to be able to at least walk the parts I can't run.  And since I haven't really walked multiple miles since, maybe March, I need to at least get back some of that endurance.  So I go to the gym and walk 3 miles on the treadmill or elliptical.  On the treadmill I generally don't make the 3 miles in under half an hour because I'm not sure how fast I'm really supposed to be going before I get to my 6 week pp Dr. appointment.  On the elliptical, I go faster because it's easier, so I can at least make the 3 miles in just over 30 minutes.  So hey, 3 miles, only 10 more to go! Kidding.  I see no scenario where I would go 13 miles on either machine. I didn't do that when I was full on marathon training to cut down my time, no way am I doing it now.  The plus side to all this is that when X gets full head control, we can take the BOB out for longer runs, assuming everything isn't covered in snow and ice by that point.  Clearly that all depends on X, but at the very least, we'll be out running by next Spring, I hope!  Poor X doesn't know what he's in for.
I have given up on the step count for now, which might sound crazy to some people.  Here's the thing with that though.  There are a lot of activities I do that don't get recorded on my watch.  Cardio, weights, and pushing the stroller.  So even though I may have gotten my 30 - 45 minutes of activity in, my watch has only recorded 2,000 steps.  Now, I know that I've worked out and I know that I got my cardio in, so what's the point of checking the watch to have it tell me that I haven't?  Until they can make a good watch that records this activity without having to press a bunch of buttons, I'm passing o the step count.  Mostly I'm just trying to be aware of my activities and how many donuts I eat in a day. Anyways, X man is awake again, so it's time to go for now.  Enjoy these pictures of a cute baby and a doofy dog.  (Not the shoe-eater)

Bath time is the best time

I didn't think I needed a wrap, but then I bought one and found out how wrong I was. 

X's first Target trip.  He was not sure what to think about it

And a doofy dog

On the Other Side

It's been 11 days since we grew to a family of 3.  Those first few days were a little bit crazy, but, as with any change, we're learning how to adjust and making our way in this new world.  So obviously the last few weeks I haven't been doing too much working out, due to a giant belly getting in the way.  But now, he's on the outside and eventually, I have to get back into it.  Today, for example, I went to the gym and walked on the treadmill for 2 miles.  Now before you all freak out that it's too early, I took it very slow.  We're talking 20-minute miles.  Plus the Dr did say that I could walk, as long as I didn't go too hard.  So no running yet, but in a few more weeks, I'll hopefully get back up to that. 
In the meantime, it's a lot of work not doing anything but taking care of a newborn.  Obviously, babies require a lot of attention, but it's amazing how much time I spend sitting in the corner of the sofa feeding, pumping, or trying to get X to sleep.  I feel that the pumping is the most time consuming of all, but I'm not quite ready to quit trying to get him to nurse yet.  Ok, well, that's not true.  Most days, around 4/5 p.m. I am so ready to give it up, throw in the towel, and start making bottles.  But I haven't yet, because the LC at the hospital said to give it at least two weeks before giving it up, and we all know I ain't no quitter.  That being said, if we can't get a grip on this whole latching thing after our visit to the LC next Monday, then I might switch to formula. *GASP* *insert horrified mommy hating bloggers mean comments here*  Maybe I shouldn't give it up, but if this keeps up, the frustration between the two of us isn't worth the effort. 
Ryan, for his part, has done a great job as a father and a husband since X arrived.  He is everything you would want a partner to be when your entire life has suddenly changed and I am the luckiest for having him here.  That will make it a lot harder when he goes back to work full time and I'm here alone, so I guess there's a downside to that.  Hopefully, in the next couple weeks, we'll get it all figured out and him going back to work all day won't be such a problem anyways.  Until that happens though, it's nice to have a person to take the baby when he's extra upset, or when I just need a shower or a 20-minute nap.
So that's what we've been up to over here.  I'm sure working out and running is going to be completely different now, so be prepared for a much different type of blog from here on out.  Eventually, I hope to take X on longer runs in the BOB, but until he's old enough, I'm going to work on getting up to a certain amount of mileage again, and working on rebuilding leg and arm muscles.  If there's one thing I really let go during the last 3 months, it was muscle tone. 

The X man cometh

Unimpressed at 5 days old

40 weeks...he was really taking his time.

11 days post-partum. 

Guess who's back, back again

Sure, it's been almost two years since a post, but you know how these things go.  There wasn't much left to talk about, I felt like the running posts were all getting repetitive anyways.  But there have been a lot of life changes since then, so I decided to resuscitate the blog to get back some accountability for the future.  In the next few weeks, I'll be back to running again and I think throwing it all out onto the internet will help motivate me to keep moving.  Or not. We'll see.
We're also in the market for a new gym routine, either back to Title, joining the Y, or just sticking with Planet Fitness.  Lately, I've just used online PopFitness videos, which, if you haven't used, are actually really good.  There are all sorts of workouts available, with modifications even, so you can do them in your living room.  I imagine it's like Beachbody on Demand, without having to pay a ton or invest in Shakeology.  So, if you're like me and you want good workouts without having to join Beachbody, I recommend PopFitness on Youtube.  Most of the time you don't need any equipment either, which is nice. 
So, I have about 2 weeks before I can consider getting back into running mode, and probably about 8 weeks before I can actually start running again at all.  Those dates are fluid but good estimates.  In an effort to make sure I do get back out there, I signed up for the Baystate Half in Lowell on October 21.  My goal is to run/walk the route, with as much running as possible.  But, the last time I ran a half or any type of distance over 5 miles was back in January at the Louisiana Marathon.  So, there's a short training time in there which means a DNF is also a real possibility.  That's ok though, as long as I have the starting line in mind for now. 
As a quick catch-up on the running, since August 2016 I've done the Disney Marathon, the Stone Cat Trail Marathon, and a handful of half marathons.  Disney was fun, but really cold, so I would love to go back and do that one again, preferably with better weather.  I'd actually like to do the Dopey Challenge but it's expensive.  Plus, the year I ran the full they had to cancel the half due to weather, so I'm not sure I'd want to invest all that time just to be disappointed.  Maybe someday though. 
Outside of the running, it's been two years, of course, things have changed around here.  As a teacher, I left behind elementary school and moved up to high school History, which is where I've always wanted to be.  I made it through my first year of that and enjoyed the change, so I'm glad I did that.  We went on some exciting trips, most notably to Switzerland last year and Belgium/the Netherlands this year.  Our little buddy Nala walked over the Rainbow Bridge earlier this year, in February, and just a few weeks ago, we got a new rescue puppy, straight off the streets of Jamaica.  He's a real cute pup, but he is scared of everything, so getting him to do much is still a struggle.  Stella is still here and going strong though, you can tell she's not thrilled about the introduction of a new friend.  I also had my last coaching season this year, at least for the time being.  Maybe in years to come, I'll go back to it, but for now, we're going to be too busy with other life events for me to have to worry about coaching track.  If you can guess what our new life event is, great for you, if not, stay tuned and you'll find out in a just a few short weeks! And with that, I think we're all caught up!

The new pup

Stella living her best life

On the canals in Amsterdam

Our last big run together and Ryan's first half!  It was cold!

Breakfast on the river in Zurich

Disney 2017.  Yes, I was freezing in that costume, but I made it, there's no way I wasn't wearing it!

Skipper

Well I guess I'm officially a Wednesday night Woods Run Skipper.  Today I had to go into school to get a bunch of stuff figured out for the new school year and by the time I was done there, I had no interest in hanging around until 6:30 waiting for a run to start. So I went to the gym and then scooted on home.  Maybe next week I'll make it back to the Woods again.  Time will tell.

I did go for a run yesterday, around Horn Pond for a change of scenery.  It wasn't a terrible run, but it is a small loop, so I did it twice, but we all know how I feel about loops.  If you've never been to Horn Pond, there's one path on the back side, near the golf course/water treatment plant that basically goes straight up.  It's about a quarter to a half mile long and it is seriously a hardcore climb.  Mostly because it's just steep and continuous.  Obviously to make my run worth more, I started on that side and made it to the top.  Unfortunately I was turned back by a Momma turkey and her little baby turkeys.  They were crossing the path and I"m not fool enough to mess with Momma birds.  So I turned right back around and ran down that path again.  On the second go around I attempted the top one more time, because it's a nice view, even when it's cloudy.  This time the turkeys were gone and I got my view.  Then I had to go back down the other side, which is much harder than it should be.  It's a rocky path/small cliff that goes down in the same way the other trail goes up.  Steep and continuous.  If I had to compare it to anything to give you a visual, it looks like a place where a river or small stream would cut through.  But I made it down and back onto the trail no problems.


At the end of the run, I managed 5 miles and some short extra workouts on the side.  Tomorrow I think I'm going to try and run around the park near our house.  It has some nice trails, but they all seem short.  I've never really explored back there though, so it's possible that there are longer trails off the main loop.  Otherwise there's always the workout circuit at Manning Forest.  Until then, I might have a picture from my run yesterday, so you can enjoy that you lucky ducks.

Made it to the top.

Surprise second picture!

Camp life

Last week/weekend was our annual Runyan/Troisi camping trip and it was just as good as I hoped it would be.  We've been going camping together for 24 years, sometimes for 10 days, sometimes for three, but we've always managed to get in at least one trip with almost everyone there.  There's a lot that goes into these camping trips and obviously a lot that can never be explained to an outsider, but I can't let the event pass without acknowledgement, because it was a real fun weekend, as the camping trips usually are at this point in our lives.

While I was at the lake I managed to get in a few short runs, 3 miles per run.  Conveniently, two laps around area 2, a lap around the lake, and the trail back to the site is just about 3 miles.  I liked doing the lake trail because it gave that added difficultly level of dodging rocks and tree roots, as well as snakes apparently.  Aside from running, I also did a lot of swimming, a little bit of paddleboarding, and one run across the actual lake, in water, from rope to rope.  Plus there was the usual family game night, S'mores making, and general hanging out around the fire that happens every trip.  So I probably could have/should have run longer distances, but I didn't.

Since I was camping and driving back and forth to see the Impractical Jokers, I didn't make it to the woods runs this week either, much like I figured.  Generally I would end this post here, but tonight I have a craft or two to add in.   So I'm going to add the photos from camping and then create two more short posts about the crafts. Enjoy!

After my run around the lake, I jumped in, because it was humid AF out there.

Michelle hanging at Diana's Bath

The top of the bath...sort of.

sunset sketch

Impractical Jokers

Muffin Lady Legacy.  Too bad not everyone was there for the picture...

And the original photo from our first year of camping. Look how much we've grown!