Completed! A few weeks ago I wrote about how I started the Couch to 5K program, at that time I was in week 4 of training and nervous about a 20 minute long run ahead of me in week 5. Well, I completed week 5 moved on to weeks 6, 7 and 8 and today completed day 3 of week 9. That means I finished the program and I've been running for 30 minutes straight for my last 3 runs!
Now before I mislead anyone, I want to point something out. If you follow along with the workouts you'll see there is a running time and distance that should directly correspond with each other. I have continuously fell short in the distance portion of this program. Week 9's 30 minute runs should result in 3 miles of running (that's nearly a 5K) and my time should be a 10 minute mile. I'm short by a FULL mile! And that means I'm running a 15 minute mile which isn't really something to write home about. After I started to realize that I wasn't quite making it in the distance category I decided I kinda didn't care. Because, well I was running for 25 then 27, and now 30 minutes straight with no walking breaks and THAT is a feat that I never thought I could do! I started to read forums and ask around among my other friends who were also doing C25K and they too were having the same distance problem. Knowing that others are also struggling to get the distance makes me feel a little better. I don't mean that in a negative way either, I just mean that I'm not alone in this and that most of us who have never run before are having the same issues. Motivation enough to keep me going!
I've decided to keep running. A 30 minute run is a GREAT place to be. I feel good after I run, I'm noticing changes with my body (as are others ;) ) and with regards to my schedule and how much time I have to run, this seems to work for now. I do have plans for the future... I plan to run a 5k this fall. Prior to that I will continue to run 3 times a week for 30 minutes. I will be working on my form in hopes to increase my distance and I will be adding some hill training into the mix a bit too.
As for long term running goals. We'll see where it takes me. For right now, I'm content with the current time it takes me to run. I'm willing to put a little more into it but not much. I don't see 10K's in my future but that could change. I guess the lesson learned here is never say never or in my case, I can't...
Wednesday, July 21, 2010
Thursday, July 8, 2010
Camping: Toddler Style
We loaded up the minivan (seriously, when did this happen to me?!) last week with our camping gear. In addition to our camping gear of yesteryear we had only a few EXTRA items than usual: a 2nd air mattress, 2 small chairs, extra pairs of tiny undies, TWO children under 4 years of age and a LOT less beer than usual. That's right we took the boys on their first overnight camping trip.
We wanted to keep it simple, keep it close to home and have some fun. We headed about a half hour away to Raccoon State Park. We chose this location because if the trip took a turn for the worse and we had to pack up and come home in a rush we wouldn't have far to drive. I am pretty certain we both knew we had nothing to worry about though. I knew both boys would be fine....
We got to our site, we chose to be close to the potty which I have to point out were very clean and tidy. I had no problem taking my toddlers in there and we all know how touchy feely toddlers can be. There was also plenty of hand soap and the sinks were clean too! No smells what-so-ever either! All BIG pluses! The site we chose was somewhat private too. We had neighbors to one side and others up around the road loop. We can only HOPE that Andy didn't keep those folks up too late (until 11:30 pm) with his random squeals and yelling and our persistent shushing.
We set up camp, built a camp fire, cooked some dinner, enjoyed some marshmallows, enjoyed the fire, and greeted some visitors. Visitors of the 4 legged, rings around the eyes kind. Yes, Raccoon State Park is properly named RACCOON State Park. Just around twilight, these little buggers came out of their dens and started to scavenge for food. Our site was as tidy as it could have been considering we were toting two toddlers... I'm pretty sure one furry "friend" got a noodle from some pasta salad and a half a bite of hot dog. Other than that, we didn't have much else to offer them other than the smell of food. They didn't hesitate to check out the site though. Frankly it was a little (read: a LOT) unnerving for me. I've got two little guys that aren't much bigger than a well fed raccoon so I was more worried about them vs. the kids than I was worried that one of the rascals might take my marshmallows.... the kids thought they were HILARIOUS though and are still talking about the silly raccoons.
Needless to say, we got the boys in the tent and tucked in, kept the raccoons at bay while enjoying some beers and once our little guys were FINALLY asleep (2 hours of shushing later), we too hit the air mattress. AS SOON as we were in the tent and it was zipped up we could hear a few raccoons enter the site looking for scraps.
It was a good time, a little stressful though, keeping a very active 2 1/2 year old OUT of a fire ring is NOT an easy task. In fact it's quite exhausting. Both boys enjoyed the campfire, enjoyed watching daddy cook dinner over said fire and they managed to kept surprisingly clean. In fact, I put the same clothes they came in back on them in the morning while we waited for breakfast to cook. Daddy makes a kick
What will I do differently for next time? Bring some toys! What was I thinking?! I didn't bring anything ANYTHING for them to play with! I gave them tasks like collecting twigs for the fire and looking for bugs but that only kept them busy for a little while. I'll be sure to remember their magnifying glasses and bug cups next time and maybe a few trucks, a ball, a bucket and some sort of toddler game. I DID have a toddler card game but it was too advanced for Andy therefore it was frustrating for Max to learn and understand while his little brother was kicking me and him while I played three hands of this game myself while they watched me move cards around... I think I was still expecting to arrive on site, set up camp and sit in my camp chair with a few beers and enjoy the great outdoors... not sure why I was thinking I could relax WITH my toddlers! ha!
I hope to have another camping experience this summer and instead of just doing a quick overnight I would love to spend two nights and hike and swim a bit during the day. I think doing something with them to wear them out would help with the falling asleep part in the evening. I also would like to go somewhere with LESS raccoons much to the dismay of my kids.
Have you taken your toddlers camping? What kinds of toys or activities do you take with you? What do you like to cook while camping?
Thursday, June 17, 2010
Fireworks, Thunder and Lightning Bugs
Both of my boys have a fear of fireworks, I attribute that to my idiotic neighborhood that believes from Memorial Day to Labor Day (and other special occasions like at 12:00 am on Jan. 1st and after big Monday night football wins, to celebrate Halloween and maybe after a hockey playoff game or 25!) is actually known as the best time of the year to shoot off fireworks, bottle rockets and any other type of pyrotechnic noise maker at 9pm or so on any random night of the week because well, that's the BEST time to wake up all the just fallen asleep toddlers within a 3 block radius forever scaring the bejesus out of them and in turn giving them a irrational fear of loud booming sounds for ever and ever amen. (holy run-on)
Last night, I put the boys to bed, it was a little later than usual for them. I was cleaning up around the house and outside when for no explainable reason, I heard some shouting and BOOOM! It was loud enough to make the hair on my arms stand up, my leg hair grow and my heart skip a beat. Less than 2 minutes later, same thing, shouting and BOOOM! Almost like that loud noise you sometimes hear at parades, I don't know if it's trucks backfiring or pyrotechnics but it's loud and it's ground shaking and to a unsuspecting child it's quite alarming. I came inside both times to listen for the kids and no one spoke up or made a sound so I let them go.
Well, first question out of Max's mouth this morning was, "Mama! What was that big loud noise last night?" We talked about it, I told him I wasn't sure (because I wasn't and I didn't want to tell him it was fireworks because that would further solidify his fear of them - forever dashing my dreams of watching them with my kids on the fourth of July).... I asked if it scared him, he said no but that he covered his ears in preparation for the next one. He's a smart one! Then he said he fell asleep. Then Andy chimed in with the questions, he was mostly just repeating what Max had asked but I'm certain he heard them too. We all talked about it a bit longer then the topic was dropped and we moved on to Cheerios or something breakfast related.
Fast forward to our conversation this afternoon, I was telling them about how it's June and that means it's lightning bug season, I mentioned that we might stay up late one night to see them since I'm fairly certain that my kids have never seen lightning bugs. They are always in bed before these bugs come out and on the rare occasion my boys would have been up during past lightning bug seasons they would have been very young and would not have really understood what they were seeing. So then Max starts to tell me that he is afraid of lightning bugs because they are noisy (Andy is agreeing) and that maybe the loud noise we heard last night was lightning bugs. (get it? lighting is noisy so lightning BUGS must be too right?) So adorable.... So then Andy chimes in with how if the lightning bugs are out and it's loud and we're scared then we need "umbwewas" and we would need to hurry so we don't get wet and that it might be loud and that we really need to remember our "umbwewas" if we're going to stay up late to see these lightning bugs. And YES, he mentioned the "umbwewas" twice! LOL
I of course assured them that lightning bugs were NOT noisy and that they were only called lightning bugs because they light up when it's dark. I'm fairly certain they have NO clue how to comprehend that... but I sure am excited to share lightning bugs with them one evening this week!
Last night, I put the boys to bed, it was a little later than usual for them. I was cleaning up around the house and outside when for no explainable reason, I heard some shouting and BOOOM! It was loud enough to make the hair on my arms stand up, my leg hair grow and my heart skip a beat. Less than 2 minutes later, same thing, shouting and BOOOM! Almost like that loud noise you sometimes hear at parades, I don't know if it's trucks backfiring or pyrotechnics but it's loud and it's ground shaking and to a unsuspecting child it's quite alarming. I came inside both times to listen for the kids and no one spoke up or made a sound so I let them go.
Well, first question out of Max's mouth this morning was, "Mama! What was that big loud noise last night?" We talked about it, I told him I wasn't sure (because I wasn't and I didn't want to tell him it was fireworks because that would further solidify his fear of them - forever dashing my dreams of watching them with my kids on the fourth of July).... I asked if it scared him, he said no but that he covered his ears in preparation for the next one. He's a smart one! Then he said he fell asleep. Then Andy chimed in with the questions, he was mostly just repeating what Max had asked but I'm certain he heard them too. We all talked about it a bit longer then the topic was dropped and we moved on to Cheerios or something breakfast related.
Fast forward to our conversation this afternoon, I was telling them about how it's June and that means it's lightning bug season, I mentioned that we might stay up late one night to see them since I'm fairly certain that my kids have never seen lightning bugs. They are always in bed before these bugs come out and on the rare occasion my boys would have been up during past lightning bug seasons they would have been very young and would not have really understood what they were seeing. So then Max starts to tell me that he is afraid of lightning bugs because they are noisy (Andy is agreeing) and that maybe the loud noise we heard last night was lightning bugs. (get it? lighting is noisy so lightning BUGS must be too right?) So adorable.... So then Andy chimes in with how if the lightning bugs are out and it's loud and we're scared then we need "umbwewas" and we would need to hurry so we don't get wet and that it might be loud and that we really need to remember our "umbwewas" if we're going to stay up late to see these lightning bugs. And YES, he mentioned the "umbwewas" twice! LOL
I of course assured them that lightning bugs were NOT noisy and that they were only called lightning bugs because they light up when it's dark. I'm fairly certain they have NO clue how to comprehend that... but I sure am excited to share lightning bugs with them one evening this week!
Wednesday, June 9, 2010
Just the three of us, some hot dogs and a little giving back.
This past weekend was the first of quite a few weeks and weekends through the end of July that Chris will be out of town and I'll be home with the boys. With a packed schedule of traveling and workshops for him that will leave me with LOTS of time to plan play dates, zoo visits and park visits for just the three of us. And I'll tell you what, I'm ok with that.
This weekend (a three day-er) was beautiful. I had planned some fun activities outside of the house for us. They included a visit to Grandma and Papa's for dinner one night and the Better-Than-A-Picnic Picnic with Hebrew National the next day. Saturday, despite the wet forecast, I packed up the kids and some snacks and headed to Highland Park where we met up with the Hebrew National Crew and a few of my local blogger friends from TheMotherhood.com for an afternoon of picnic food and a little community service too.
We got there is it was POURING. I parked, pulled up the radar map on my phone and we waited it out a few minutes. When the rain let up a little we went to our picnic. I had told the kids we would have hot dogs and they were READY to eat! We enjoyed our hot dogs and a few apples and multiple bananas! Then it was time to get to work. The service project was to remove some invasive plants from the park. Much to my surprise, my kids WANTED to weed! We found our plant and went to town! We filled two garbage bags with Garlic Mustard (invasive) and another with trash! Upon our return to the picnic area our friend Amy and her family were arriving. So we visited with them while they ate and then we headed to the playground on the other side of the park together!
The kids had fun, I had fun, we didn't let the weather hold us hostage at home and that felt great! The kids seem to have turned a corner too. More and more they are able to stick nearby and entertain themselves a bit while I have a conversation or two and that is quite liberating! They are also interested in more "big" kid activities like weeding! They wanted to follow the trail and help with trash too and that was a lot of fun! I'm looking forward to taking them to a few new parks solo this summer, a task that was quite daunting prior to this Spring because they weren't interested in sticking together at all. Consistently, one would always run one way and the other would run the opposite...and that is WAY to stressful for one parent to manage.
I've got some fun and exciting things planned for the next few weeks of my solo parenting gig! I'm sure I'll blog about some of them too! We're headed to a Splash park within the next two weeks and I'm looking forward to it!
This weekend (a three day-er) was beautiful. I had planned some fun activities outside of the house for us. They included a visit to Grandma and Papa's for dinner one night and the Better-Than-A-Picnic Picnic with Hebrew National the next day. Saturday, despite the wet forecast, I packed up the kids and some snacks and headed to Highland Park where we met up with the Hebrew National Crew and a few of my local blogger friends from TheMotherhood.com for an afternoon of picnic food and a little community service too.
We got there is it was POURING. I parked, pulled up the radar map on my phone and we waited it out a few minutes. When the rain let up a little we went to our picnic. I had told the kids we would have hot dogs and they were READY to eat! We enjoyed our hot dogs and a few apples and multiple bananas! Then it was time to get to work. The service project was to remove some invasive plants from the park. Much to my surprise, my kids WANTED to weed! We found our plant and went to town! We filled two garbage bags with Garlic Mustard (invasive) and another with trash! Upon our return to the picnic area our friend Amy and her family were arriving. So we visited with them while they ate and then we headed to the playground on the other side of the park together!
The kids had fun, I had fun, we didn't let the weather hold us hostage at home and that felt great! The kids seem to have turned a corner too. More and more they are able to stick nearby and entertain themselves a bit while I have a conversation or two and that is quite liberating! They are also interested in more "big" kid activities like weeding! They wanted to follow the trail and help with trash too and that was a lot of fun! I'm looking forward to taking them to a few new parks solo this summer, a task that was quite daunting prior to this Spring because they weren't interested in sticking together at all. Consistently, one would always run one way and the other would run the opposite...and that is WAY to stressful for one parent to manage.
I've got some fun and exciting things planned for the next few weeks of my solo parenting gig! I'm sure I'll blog about some of them too! We're headed to a Splash park within the next two weeks and I'm looking forward to it!
Thursday, May 27, 2010
A New Hobby or Lifestyle - Running
I have joined the bandwagon or herd or pack shall we say, I've started running. I know I know! I am not sure how many times I have said it in the past, "I can't run!" "My body just wasn't made to run." or "Running? you have got to be crazy to run!" yeah... I said that. I also said, "I will NEVER drive a mini-van! EVAH!" yeah, you can see where that got me (proud new owner of a Mazda5 A.K.A. mini-van)....
For the past few months, I've been watching friends update their facebook pages about their running endeavors. I would read their comments and their blogs about running and think, 'wow, ya know, she has four kids and still manages to find the time to run' or 'her schedule is much like ours CRAY ZEE and she finds the time too and hot damn she's looking great in those jeans'. Pile those on top of a few others who modestly were running and mentioning it here or there and then add that to the running hype up that happens in the months and weeks prior to a local marathon or race. On a very regular schedule I had one or two friends posting updates about their marathon training or race running. That was enough for me to catch the bug and I started the couch to 5k running program a few days before the Pittsburgh Marathon.
I just completed week 4, which means I'm a little behind on the schedule. I had some major knee pain during weeks 2-3 that slowed me down, I gave myself a few extra days in between my runs to recuperate and it seemed to do the trick. I woke up one morning with NO pain and I was ready to run again.
C25K is a 9 week program that starts the runner out by running in short 60 second spurts between brisk walking. Each week the running portions increase in time. So far at the end of week 4, the longest time that I've run has been for 5 minutes straight. Next week that jumps to 8 minutes and then to 10 minutes and then to one 20 minute run all in the same week - it's going to be challenging but I am confident that I can do it! In fact, I'm actually a little excited about the challenge. Who the heck? I don't think I've EVER EVER been excited about a physical challenge! HA! Something has changed folks... something.has.changed.
For the past few months, I've been watching friends update their facebook pages about their running endeavors. I would read their comments and their blogs about running and think, 'wow, ya know, she has four kids and still manages to find the time to run' or 'her schedule is much like ours CRAY ZEE and she finds the time too and hot damn she's looking great in those jeans'. Pile those on top of a few others who modestly were running and mentioning it here or there and then add that to the running hype up that happens in the months and weeks prior to a local marathon or race. On a very regular schedule I had one or two friends posting updates about their marathon training or race running. That was enough for me to catch the bug and I started the couch to 5k running program a few days before the Pittsburgh Marathon.
I just completed week 4, which means I'm a little behind on the schedule. I had some major knee pain during weeks 2-3 that slowed me down, I gave myself a few extra days in between my runs to recuperate and it seemed to do the trick. I woke up one morning with NO pain and I was ready to run again.
C25K is a 9 week program that starts the runner out by running in short 60 second spurts between brisk walking. Each week the running portions increase in time. So far at the end of week 4, the longest time that I've run has been for 5 minutes straight. Next week that jumps to 8 minutes and then to 10 minutes and then to one 20 minute run all in the same week - it's going to be challenging but I am confident that I can do it! In fact, I'm actually a little excited about the challenge. Who the heck? I don't think I've EVER EVER been excited about a physical challenge! HA! Something has changed folks... something.has.changed.
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