Thursday, July 28, 2016

Walworth 5k 2016 - Hills? What Hils?

Well hello there, faithful readers!  And I do mean faithful.  Every time I decide to get sorta regular about this blog (hey, I really do enjoy writing, I promise) something happens.  Toddlers.  Baby teething.  Work deadlines.  Relatives in crisis.  20 mile training runs (yeah, I know.  But I could have a worse addition, amiright??.  It seems there is never, ever enough time in the day.  I've been off all week, as our nanny is in Quebec for a wedding, and "write blog post" has been sitting there on the to do list since Sunday, among the other fun household stuff like staining the deck, finally ditching the maternity clothes out of my closet, and pulling out the wedding dinnerware I got for a shower gift in 2009.  No, I didn't stutter.  I'm sure my mother in law is smiling down on me, as we did battle over those plates for years.  What?  If I got divorced, I didn't want to feel bad.  KIDDING.  My plates worked just fine, so why open the new ones?  I'm a weirdo, but half of our shower gifts, including some nice towel sets, pyrex, and a bunch of glassware are sitting in the guest room closet, just waiting for the old stuff to break.  It feels kinda nice to open new stuff a few times a year :-)  In this case, our kitchen is being re done to a cherry theme (pics as I progress!) so the cherry berry corning ware had to come out.  It makes me smile, so it's worth it.

Anyways.  Enough rambling.  It's been a great week off with the kiddos - we have played, hung out together, snuggled, and I've gotten in some house stuff that's been bugging me for months, along with some quality runs (it's amazing what having a sleeping kiddo does for your long run pace - I threw down a sub 7 minute mile on my last mile of a 17 mile LR because the baby was waking up.  Sweet).  We head to Alex Bay tomorrow for a long weekend - my best friend from high school has a few family cottages up there , so it will be a mini reunion with him, his family, and one of my other buddies that hung out with us.  No reception, no laptop, water front, kayaks, beer, and cards.  Perfect.

BUT.  This was supposed to be a race report, right?  Right!  I'll make it short and sweet.  Last weekend I raced the Walworth 5k - this race is super awesome because it's exactly 2.3 miles from my house.  It's only 20 bucks, benefits the Lions Club, and we always know people there.  I did it last year for the first time (it aways conflicted somehow before then!) and at 7 months pregnant, threw down a 30:12.  It's bitch of a course, with a quarter mile 8% grade hill within the first 200 yards, and has more of an elevation gain than the half marathon I'm running in next month.  Yikes.  Greg signed up as a birthday present from my uncle, and I debated running it if we had childcare, which we did.  So race morning, I forked over my $20, got my shirt, and got in line.  It's a small race - 90 people - and I had no idea what to expect.  I've started doing some speed work in the last few weeks, but nothing amazing.  I figured a 26-27 minute finish, as Mendon was flatter, but I was pushing a stroller then.  Good to go.  Pre race, I had a waffle, changed a diaper, scrounged for some fruit snacks for a toddler, said hi to some of the other Gananda running moms, and got in line.  Good as any prep.

The weather.  OMG.  At 8:30, it was already in the upper 70s, with stupid humidity.  Sweet.  Keeping this in mind, when the gun went off, I went up Walworth's version of cardiac hill semi easy, keeping a slow trot.  I hit the top, took a few deep breaths, and said fuck it.  This will hurt  So let's go.  I picked off a few people, settled in to some trap music (thanks Rob) and coasted to mile 1.  In 6:43.  Bull hockey.  The guy next to me was wearing a garmin and confirmed it was .9, not 1 mile.  Good to know.  Miles 1 to 2 were uneventful - I saw Greg, who was suffering in the heat, but soldiering on.  Coming up to mile 2 was a gradual .25 mile uphill, then a sharp 200 feet climb.  Hit the water stop at mile 2 in 15:02, which was (NOT) mile 2, rather, mile 1.9.  Good to know. The last mile was a series of turns and rolls until the last half mile, which was alllll down hill.  YESS.  I hit the down hill, kissed my quads goodbye, and gave it my all.  As I hit the last 100 yards, chasing down some unsuspecting sucker (yep, passed him) when another guy blew past me like I was standing still.  I crossed the finish in 24:42, and almost passed out.  Success!  I confirmed with my Garmin guy that the course was 3.15, which made sense for the long last mile!  Finished 2nd out of 6 in my age group, and 6th OA female out of I think 40 total.

Overall, SO MUCH better than I was even hoping or, and I felt good.  7:58 pace is right where I want to be for 3 hilly miles, and I feel great about the Black Diamond Half on August 28 and Syracuse in October - that sub 4 is MINE.  Up next - Sodus Sprint Tri on  August 7th, stay tuned for more of...I've swam 3 times this summer and ridden my bike....maybe 5 times more.  Shit.

Hittin the lake this weekend, wet suit packed!!  

Wednesday, July 13, 2016

Month 10: The Biz-Monster!

Seriously, kiddo.  It's not funny anymore.  Can you please just stop growing?  As I stuck on your 10 month badge yesterday and you pulled yourself up, looked down at it, took it off, chewed it, and bent down to throw it out I realized....my baby is growing up so damned fast.  In less than two months, you won't even be a baby in name anymore!  How sad.  When I feed you....you hang off the boppy.  You eat food all by yourself, no help from mom.  And you loco motor better than any 10 month old has a right to.  You antagonize your brother, then grin as if to say "look how cute I am".  Biz, you are no baby.  And I miss those super snuggly baby days so much!  But....without a doubt, you are growing into the best damn personality in the world and I wouldn't trade that for a zillion snuggly nap sessions.  Plus, you still like to cuddle.  I'd say you got it goin' on, girly - q!

Size - 20.5 pounds, 70th percentile!  You are also in the 80th percentile for height, measuring 29 inches tall.  Obviously, you are a well fed and super healthy kiddo - Doc S agrees that we must be doing something right!!


Likes:   Swimming and anything water.  We put you in the pool last month and you love kicking in your baby floater!!  You also love driving the cozy coupe....Rob pushes you all around the kitchen and white room.  You are a little too short to pull a Fred flintstone sans floor panel, but you think it is super fun anyways!!  You also are starting top love cars (Thanks Bro!) and try to play monster trucks with Rob all the time.  Grass is hilarious to you, and you also have made raspberry blowing your new jam (hah, see what I did there??)


Dislikes: Wow, I must have a brain fart here.  Other than strangers, teething and napping when something is cooler happening (all duh) I can't think of much.  You sometimes get frustrated because you aren't walking yet, but that's more of an impatience to go go go!!


Sleep: Through the night!!!  Thanks Dad!  When I was in Vegas last month, Greg trained you up and now you usually sleep for at least 7 hours a stretch, which is super awesome.  Sometimes you even go for 8!  Now we wake up anywhere between 4 and 6 for noms, and if it's earlier, we get some mommy/biz snuggles in.  Twist my arm, baby girl.

Eating:  Pasta is your new jam, specially pas-ghetti.  You suck it down and find it hilarious.  You also love eating corn on the cob.  Ice cream is a new fave, too - chocolate, of course (mommy is severely outnumbered in this household!)

Milestones/Firsts:

Word - You busted out the momma and the dadda, but also said cat.  That counts.  Smart girl!
Race-We did our first mommy-biz 5k!  You, of course, beat me by .5 seconds.  ALWAYS.
Zoo Visit- You thought the cats, especially the tiger, were epic.
Sleep Through the Night.  You rock (Especially for my FOMO children!)
Fireworks - Albeit in the distance.  You thought poppers were so cool!
Picnic - Mommy's work picnic!
Amusement Park Ride - We rode the carousel!  You had a blast!


Best Moment: Enjoying all of the summer moments with you - playing outside, in the water, sharing an icee, going for walks.  We have really soaked up tons of small, everyday fun, and it's just amazing, kiddo.  The little things really are beyond amazing.

Looking Forward to:  Our first vacation (1000 islands), berry picking, and mommy's week off in a few weeks - I get to spend all week with my two favorites!!

Thursday, July 7, 2016

Rob Cat - My threenager

Holy cats.  Where has the time gone???  Yesterday and today, while on facebook, the "timehop" feature came up to show me pics of the 2nd birthday, the 1st birthday, and when we brought our little peanut (errr, turtle) home.  I can't even believe 3 years have gone by, then I look down at my little dude and realize how much he has grown and what a big guy he really is!!  I'm super tired, super out of touch with anything resembling a life, and way too vested in Lightning McQueen and Blaze but....I have never been happier.  Rob-cat, you are the best thing that has ever happened to Dad and I - you made us parents and we can't imagine life without you!!

So what's my "threenager" up to these days?  What ISN'T he?  Well, aside from telling everyone he is Ten (buddy, stop it!), this has been another huge year of change...here is our yearly update!!In pics.....
One week old...
One year old!!
Two Years Old

My big 3 year old!!
Size - 31 pounds.  You are about 35%, we find out for sure next week.  You are such a freakin good eater but you never stop moving, so this is probably why!  No worries, dude, Daddy was a scrawny little kid and now he has all the muscles, so it's all good.  You are 3 feet tall and sometimes I look at the size of your feet (so big!) and wonder how you fit inside my tummy.  Yikes.
Likes: You are beyond obsessed with cars, planes, and trains (wait, where is Steve Martin??)  hah.  You love Lightning McQueen, Mater, Dusty, Blaze, and Paw Patrol.  You still are in love with your Czy Coupe and love to ride bikes.  You adore dancing and are obsessed with "Party Dance" (Oiki - thanks Dad for the Trap obsession!!).  You are bananas
about your sister, you protect her and love on her so much.  You still love reading, and we read books every night.  You also have a sort of girlfriend named Jocelyn....you always want to play with her and have some definite ideas involving snuggling, smooches, and underoos.  Oh man....  

Dislikes: Eating dinner.  You have things to do!  Bedtime (of course), nap time. Basically anything that shuts you down for .5 seconds is NOT cool.  You also still are not a fan of most meats, but you love beans, so we gotcha covered.  
Sleep: Mad regression here bud.  I think the addition of a newborn and the addition of so many new cool skills and experiences leaves your head spinning at night!  You sleep through the night about once a week....otherwise you wake up at least once when you have a bad dream or your little head is just spinning.  Now that we are working on ON potty training. sometimes that's a reason, too.  Mommy snuggles make it all better but....part of me can't wait until you are that teenager who sleeps till noon!  (Remind me of that in 10 years....).
Eating: You love food....when other things aren't more interesting!  You still adore your fruits and veggies, love turkey dogs, yogurt, pouches, and ANYTHING chocolate.  You are totally your mother's kiddo in that respect!!

Milestones/Firsts:Oh so many.....Counting to 20Learning the alphabetlearning to play soccerLearning to swim!Becoming a big brother!Getting potty trained (daytime)Just to name a few!!  We have preschool coming up soon....it's going by so fast!!  You have at least 1000 words in your vocab, if not more, and you talk in complete sentences.  The other day, you told me "Mommy, you're so transparent".  Ugh.  Maybe you really ARE 10!!!
Troublemakers
Best Moment: Watching you and Biz.  Buddy, when you were born, I truly did not believe I had a bigger capacity for love.  I was wrong.  Watching my big boy and my baby....the two of you are just simpatico.  It is amazing.  I love you both to buts and pieces, and my life is so much better because you are in it!!
Looking Forward to: Everything.  Preschool.  Summer camping.  Going to amusement parks.  riding bikes.  raking leaves, snowball fights, family game night.  Buddy, I am so lucky they picked me to be your mommy!  I love you!!!