Happy Holidays

I hope everyone had a very MERRY CHRISTMAS!! I had a great Christmas holiday. I also ate WAY TOO MUCH. The scale is not my friend right now. But, I guess that's what the holidays are all about. Good friends and great eats. I am very fortunate to have been able to eat so many delicious meals, but it's time to get down to start training.

We had a bit of a snowstorm right after Christmas.. wohoo!! I love snow. I am also trying to convince my kids that they love it too :)  Since we live in a country that has 4 seasons, I like to enjoy and try to get busy in all 4 of them. So we, bundled the kids up and sent them outside to use their imaginations and play. I remember how my brother and I would play outside for hours on end building fortresses, snowmen families and  having endless snowball fights.

Did I mention that I also like to run in the winter. There's something about the cool crisp air and the snow on the trees that make the run so picturesque. I also have to start really training properly for the Rochester half in April. It is exactly 18 Sunday's away. Which means I have to start my 16 weeks training NOW!! Yikes, I felt like I had tons of time, but I really don't. I decided to go for a run after I put the baby to bed last night. It was perfect as there was fresh snowfall and the snow was still falling. It was really perfect. I found all my winter running gear for my -13 degree run (that's with the windchill) I was able to run just under 6 kms.  I would have ran more, but phoned home around the 4km mark and found out that the baby had woken up and wasn't going back to sleep. I had to turn around and boot it back home. Today is technically long run Sunday. I will see if the baby will let me out tonight for a longish run. Keep you posted. Happy Running? How far did you run today?

Safety First

Boo Nike

It's was a busy and disappointing last week. My friends and I were not selected for the lottery for Nike's Inaugural Half Marathon in Washington... BOO.  After being angry and frustrated for a day or two,  I think I've gotten over it. There's still the Nike race in San Fran and this time round we will put our names in for the FULL MARATHON. Can you believe we've tried 4 times already to run their races. Thousands of women and men put their names into the lottery, but only a selected few get chosen. I guess it's for the better as I would have been stressed with flying my whole family down to Washington then trying to figure out how to run and then get back in time to nurse James.  But, my running buds and I had already decided if we did not get into the Nike race we had another race on the same day to run.

I had the priviledge to run with my girlfriend for her first half marathon 2 years ago in Rochester and had wanted to run it this year, but it coinsided with the  Nike race, so since we didn't get into Nike  I get to go back and run this race with her again and this time try to for a better time. It will be my first half marathon after baby. Date is set for April 28, 2013. Which means I have just over 4 months to get my butt in gear to run that distance.

At the finish line... can't wait to do it again

Waiting game

It's been 11 days since my last post.. you guys miss me? What have I been doing? Hmmm trying to catch up on sleep and getting the house prepped for Christmas. Everything seems to take MUCH longer nowadays. I have been keeping up with working out and spending time pounding my dreadmill. I was hoping to be writing about some good news as this is the week that Nike is letting the entrants know if we were chosen to run in the inaugural Nike half marathon in Washington. They had told us that we would find out the week of December 10th, which was yesterday. I have been stalking my emails every second and they have yet to send any emails out.. ohh the anticipation. It's awful. I just want to know. It's terrible as it's all I think about. I don't feel like bad as I know there are thousands of other women other there like me who are doing the same thing. My next post will let you know whether or not we got it.

James seems to have figured out the day night thing, but now doesn't want to nap during the day. I guess I can't have it all. He's at least sleeping 3 hour segments in the evening and I'll take it for now. I was able to run on the dreadmill for a full hour yesterday. I was shocked that James did not start screaming as he usually does the moment I turn on the dreadmill or my Insanity workout. I've been trying to log more milage on my legs, but with no races booked I've gotten so lazy and unmotivated.

I have done more Insanity workouts as I am trying to build my core for Tough Mudder. Every so often they post photos on Facebook which just make me doubt myself and wonder what I have gotten myself into.

We got our Christmas tree last week ... yes a real one. Hubs was kind enough to go pick one up for us. Claire and I had an great time putting it all together.

What about all you out there? How's the buildup to the Christmas holidays coming along? 

Gotta get back to stalking my email to see if Nike has chosen me and my buddies.

Coffee for all

I'm sitting in James dark nursery hoping that he is not going to wake. Remember my previous posts about the switcheroo of days for nights ? And how i could not wake him even if I plowed a dump truck through his room. Well now I think I've made matters worse. He hasn't slept for more than 30 minutes since last night. He's been up now for almost 12 hours solid. The only reason that we can come up with is the LARGE black coffee from Tim's. I've had the occasional cup of coffee since he was born and didn't think anything of it because he had been so sleepy. We had gotten used to him being wakeful at night but not like last night. Even hubs noticed he was different. Hubs got up and stayed with him for a few hours so I could get some sleep. Even if he had been awake for most of the night, he would pass out during the day. But, he has been up for the first half of today. I finally got him in his crib and it's been a whole 5 minutes. Woohoo!

It's funny how when I was working, I could function at all hours in every time zone and be up for over 24 hours and still be coherent. Now while on maternity leave I can't keep my eyes open. This kid is killing me slowly.

I had hoped to be writing about my awesome progress with my training but at this point I just want to pass out. This is when I would run to the basement and burn some serious calories or I would battle the dreadmill. I think today is another lay in bed day :(

He has now been asleep for a whole 15 minutes. I'm signing off and going to crash

Who needs Sleep??

It has been a few days since I posted anything. I'm not even sure if anyone out there is reading this blog. Please feel free to leave a comment..... say hello. I'm new to this whole blogging thing. I've been hoping to learn to make the page "prettier", but I've seriously had NO time at all.  If anyone else can give me some tips on blogging or making my site more appealing, please send me a message.

It's funny how many new moms think that they will have all this time on their hands when they are on maternity leave and how perfect their babies are going to come out. I was under that crazy assumption the first time, but this time I had an idea of what I was getting myself into.  We have been dealing with a baby that can sleep all day and party all night. After reading countless books and searching online for suggestions and even talking to his paediatrician, he still is not responding to any of the suggestions.

We have tried everything to keep him awake. We have striped him down to his diaper, taken cold clothes to his body, put him under the sun, made noises, banged pots, put him on his face, gently shaken him and he will still sleep. ARGH!!! He's even fallen asleep during his bath. SERIOUSLY???

He's loving the warm bath until I poured
cold water on him..he.he..

Does anyone have any suggestions??? I'm at a loss. I will continue to try keeping him up during the day even though he is dead to the world. Maybe he's a vampire. I mean the kid sucks milk as if he was. Did I mention that he had his 2 month appointment yesterday and he's 14 lbs 13 oz. Yes, you heard right 

14 POUNDS 13 OZ  He's in the 95 percentile. He's wearing 6 month clothing. This is NOT something that I want to brag about, but since he's a boy, I guess it's o.k. It took his sister 4 months to get to the same weight. No wonder I feel drained... literally.

So, what has happened since I last blogged. Well, Santa came to our town.. as in the Santa Claus parade.  Claire and daddy went with her cousins and froze their tooshies, but came home SO SO happy. Priceless

Claire with cousins finally seeing SANTA!!!

Santa also dropped by our house and dropped off one of his elves for the holidays. I think all families with young kids should look into this wonderful Christmas tradition. It will take me too long to explain but in a nutshell, it's a great way to keep your kids well behaved "nice" vs "naughty" during the Christmas season. Check it out www.elfontheshelf.com

"Princess P" our family elf

Claire had her final ballet class on Monday which means we get to see her performance. We are so proud of her as she danced very well. If you would like to check it out here's the link

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=55rpRpLc74Y&feature=em-share_video_user

Family shot

With the lack of sleep I've had since my last post, I've barely been able to squeeze in a workout. I did try another new workout video called TurboFire on Saturday, while Claire and Daddy were at the Santa Claus parade. I will write about it another time. On Sunday, I was sore all over. I could barely move my legs. I think it was a combination of the Insanity workouts leading up to the TurboFire. I had been crippled by home workout videos.. really??? I actually convinced my hubby to try Insanity with me one night and he even told me that he felt it working. I will continue working away at the videos to  build up my core for Tough Mudder.

I was able to finally crawl back on the dreadmill today. I only have an hour to play with so I decided to to the Nike 10K training again. Another great workout. My legs were burning but felt great. This time I covered 2.31 miles in the 30 mins. Stuck with 4.5 mph training and did the intervals at 5.2mph, resting at 4.5 mph. So now we're all caught up. Happy Hump day !!!

Tough Mudder - NY

I have decided that today would be a day off from any sort of exercise. James was up every hour last night and I was beyond tired.  My guess is that it was a growth spurt as he is 8 weeks old this week. As I had blogged earlier, we were in sleep training lock down over the weekend and was hoping that it would work since his older sister was sleeping a solid 5 hours by 8 weeks as well. Let's just say that it is a work in progress.  One of the things we are supposed to do it to keep him up during the day for at least 1.5 hours, sounds easy right??? NOT. It was as if I was torturing him to keep him awake, his eyes could not stay open. It was quite comical. I had gotten used to sleeping a solid 6 hours every night since Claire is already 4 years old. Now with a newborn who eats like had never been fed, I never seem to be in my bed for longer than 2 hours. I can't wait to have sound sleep again. Thank goodness for maternity leave. O.K enough of my complaining.

James falling asleep during tummy time

I got a sweet message from my friend to advise me to register for Tough Mudder. You see, a group of us had been discussing this CRAZY event for over a year now and had talked about how we would like to try it out. It is billed as "Probably the Toughest Event on the Planet".  I have been thinking about this event since they had started talking about it, trying to figure out if I could possibly pull it off. 

In my younger days, I would have signed up in a heartbeat, but now I was staring at the text message and thinking to myself what in the world I was getting myself into. I've had my fair share of on the edge events... I've skied some pretty scary black diamonds (almost broke a few limbs from total wipeouts) , jumped off a ski lift, jumped out of an airplane, driven across Canada, mountain biked some scary terrain and fallen off many times. So, what is holding me back? To tell you the truth, the promo video on the website freaked me out. Maybe it's because I have kids now, or maybe its just my old age. In the end I caved to the pressure from my pals and registered. How bad can it be? I've given birth to 2 kids and one was without any drugs ?  Anyone else want to join us? ToUgh Mudder, New York, Buffalo, July 27, 2013. Check it out www.toughmudder.com

Insanity

I'm not usually a fan of video workouts, but with the limited time that I have right now to squeeze in a workout, I will try just about anything.  I've been hearing a lot about a workout called Insanity and decided to give it a try. I was told that I would get a killer workout and that I would not need any equipment.

The website says that it is a 60 day Total Body Conditioning Program led by personal trainer Shaun T. There are 10 discs in the set with different drills to get your into your best shape possible. After watching the video on the website I had to give it a try.

It starts with a fit test that covers a number of exercises that you will need to keep track of, because you are supposed to go back and check your progress after doing the Insanity videos. I just about died doing the fit test.... what was I getting myself into.

I decided to try the first DVD Plyometric Cardio Circuit. It's only 42 minutes long which is perfect for me. I was out of breath and soaking wet in sweat after only 10 minutes. I LOVED IT!!!  Even though the room was spinning and I thought I was going to throw up, it was a great feeling.

I don't think I will be able to do it every day for 60 days continuously , but will continue to work my way through the program.

The Insanity program does come with a nutrition plan, but at this point getting dinner on the table for my family is an obstacle, so I will definitely not be able to follow that part of the program. At this point, whatever is cooked or in the fridge is what I will be eating.

Would I recommend this??? Heck yes, check it out.  But as Shaun T says at the beginning of the DVD, consult with your physician before starting any kind of exercise program. This will get your heart rate up and the weight down.

Long Run Sunday

James actually slept more than 1 hour last night which was AMAZING!!! Today is day 3 of sleep training. I've been in lockdown with the baby since Friday and has been dying to get out.

The inlaws came for a visit today which meant I would be able to get OUTSIDE for a run. I was dressed and ready to go waiting for their arrival. I had an hour and a half all to myself. I'm not on a set training schedule yet as all my runs are based on James nap times. I've already bought a jogging stroller, but will have to wait until James has some neck strength before I can take him out. From what I've read, I should wait until he's 6 months old, which will be in the spring. I guess I'll be going solo in the snow.

It was a perfect fall day today. 5 degrees and sunny. I would have ran in a blizzard if I had to, I just wanted to get out of the house. I know it's supposed to be Long Run Sunday, but any distance for me is long at this point. I ended up running 5.54 km and feeling great. I would have like to have gone further but the "girls" were starting to ache which meant I had to head on home. I got home just in time to grab a bite and feed my hungry little man. Hope you all have good long runs :) Have a great week

Number 2

James is number 2, as in our second child. He's 7 weeks old this week, which means I haven't slept in 7 weeks. Don't get me wrong, I'm not complaining, but do I ever miss my nice warm bed. Since I nursed number 1 for the first 13 months of her life, I feel like I should at least give number 2 the same option. The only difference this time is that I was NOT running when I had number 1. I only started running when she was almost 1 year old.

As a self confessed runaholic, I think, dream, and fantasize about running at least 100 times a day. I spend my spare time looking up races to add to my bucket list. I try to squeeze in a run whenever I can which at this time is quite hard since number 2 nurses/feeds almost every 3 hours.  I'm now in the search for a sports bra that will keep my "girls" happy.  When the OB gave me the all clear last week, I went straight out for a quick 5K run. I hadn't gone for a run outside since I was 37 weeks pregnant, so I was just giddy to be out again.

Since that 6 week post birth run, I haven't had a chance to get out again .. so sad. I am trying to build up my milage now on what I call the DREADMILL, which most of you all know as the treadmill.

Hubby found a Nike 10K Treadmill training audio file for us to listen to when on the treadmill. Since I'm stuck inside for now, I decided to give it a try. This is a 30 minute workout, which is perfect for me to squeeze in when James is sleeping.  Narrated by fitness guru Jay Blahnik with some funky music in the backgroud.  It was designed to help people train for the Nike 10K human race. You cover rolling hills, then flat road endurance and finish with speed work.

So how did I do??? Let's just say it's a pretty good workout. According to my dreadmill I covered 2.24 miles in the 30 minutes. My training pace was 4.5 mph, intervals were at 5.3 mph and resting at 3.6 mph. I was drenched at the end of the run and legs ready to give out. I will definately be incorporating this into my training. I highly recommend this to everyone.

My 2 babies. Number 1 is on the Right and Number 2 on the Left.
Both pictures were taken when each of them were 6 weeks old

James didn't sleep at all last night, so we've decided to try to sleep training. He likes to sleep all day and party all night.  I must sign off now and try to catch some zzz's before he wakes again.

NWM 13.1 DC

Nike has a Full and Half Marathon in San Francisco every October. My friends and I have tried for the past 3 years to get into this race as it is a lottery system. I actually flew out to San Fran to take part in one of their challenges to get an extra chance to run the race... yes I know.. I'm nuts.

I think one of the main reasons, actually the ONLY reason to why this race is so popular is that you get a Tiffany Necklace at the end of the race... yes, you heard right .. a nice little blue box with a Tiffany Necklace to greet you at the finish line.

This year Nike has decided to have a half marathon in Washington DC. Needless to say, I'M ALL OVER THAT!!! Once again it will be done by lottery. BOO Here's hoping that my friends and I get in.

Registration will be opening up later this week and we will all find out who's running December 10.

I'm BACK !!!

It's taken me a long time, but so glad that my blog is up and ready to go. As some people may say, I have a problem.... I am (kinda) obsessed with running. It was all I could think about when I was pregnant with my son. Most pregnant women would crave ice cream and pickles, but all I wanted to do was to go out side and run. I was fortunate to be able to run throughout most of my pregnancy as well as compete in 2 races

Toronto Womens 5K - May 2012

 

I started running with my childhood friend (Karen) after my daughter was born in 2008. It was a way for me to get out of the house and lose the baby weight I had put on during the pregnancy.I dragged her into joining a 10K running clinic with me and that's where all the madness began. 

Karen and I after our First Half Marathon in Tampa 2010

Our son was born this past September (2012) and I've decided with a few of my friends that we are going to train for a full marathon. Follow me on my journey to the finish line of many races ahead.