Mile PR

Saturday morning I took off for a nice 3 mile run before we started our day. Luckily right outside my house I have a dirt road that makes a nice 1 mile loop. I did 3 loops of the road and on my third mile I got a mile PR! This was just a normal run, no speedwork or anything..

Thanks to the Garmin Forerunner 10 I know things like this! My 10:37 mile might not be speedy for some of you.. but I'm taking it!

The rest of this weekend was spent with some friends visiting from CT :)

Unexpected run

Lucky for me and not so lucky for the hubs he was home sick today. I took advantage of 30 minutes of his time and got outside for a run. The sun was shining and I really wasn't looking forward to a treadmill workout.. everything just happened to fall into place. I did a little speedwork with the Garmin since I wasn't running on a track.

0.5 miles warmup 11 min/mile pace

0.15 miles faster pace (varied between 9&10:30 min/mile)
0.15 mile recovery at 11 min/mile pace

Then repeated those two intervals as best as I could until I got to 2.5 miles, I'm sure I slowed down a lot for my "faster" pace as my run progressed, but I got out there and did it so that's all that matters. I think now that it is warmer I am going to get M back into the stroller all bundled up. A half hour of fresh air will be good for her, and good for mommy to not be bored on the treadmill!

I am going to tentatively plan to run 2-3 weekdays (I say tentatively because it's weather pending if I am going with M in her stroller) and 1 weekend day so I can get speedy for me! I am sure pushing the stroller will help me be a lot faster when I am not pushing it.

And a reminder for myself.. don't wear too many clothes when it's 37° out. I was way too hot!

Princess Half Recap

Since it's been over a week I think I owe you guys a recap of my first ever (and definitely not last) half marathon!

Saturday morning we attended the race expo, getting our bibs was no problem. There were no lines for that by the time we got in. After getting our bibs we headed over to get our race swag and to get in line for the RunDisney goodies. We walked in and the guy manning the "I Did It" t-shirt booth gave someone the last one. I was a little sad about that but luckily I had my sixth sense in overdrive and I overheard a woman talking to her daughter about whether or not she wanted the shirt. I casually stood near her and she offered me the shirt, I was psyched! That was on my must buy list for the expo! After checking out all the other goodies in there we looked around the expo (which was pretty crowded, I can't even imagine what it was like Friday) and I met the ladies from Another Mother Runner and they were so sweet. Loving on M like everyone was ALL week.

Once we were done with the expo we took the bus back to Downtown Disney and met up with the boys to do some prerace grocery shopping and dinner prep!

Sunday morning came awfully fast, I guess 2:30 am usually does. Couple that with a little case of race nerves and being overtired from our Friday evening/Saturday morning travel fiasco I can definitely say I wasn't rested. But once I got up and moving and got some food in my belly I felt a bit better. I was still nervous for the heat and humidity since training in a northern Vermont winter was 80° cooler than the Florida temps. We made it to the parking lot at Epcot around 4am and it was pretty smooth sailing for bag dropoff and porta potty usage.

Then we began the pretty long walk to the corrals where we sat and waited for quite awhile. I sipped on water and had a banana while we were waiting since I ate at 3:30 am and knew I wouldn't make it on the bagel thin with nutella alone. We sat around and waited, chatted it up with some people near us.. and soon enough it was time to start! You would think being all the way back in corral G would make it seem like I was waiting forever, but once everything started it wasn't too bad.



 Once the race was underway it was hot and HUMID within a mile. We were drenched. We had a tough time running around people who were walking on the left side of the road and stopping/starting without giving anyone a warning. Once we were in the Magic Kingdom I found my sister in law (and the reason I was running this race). She was in corral F so I never imagined I would find her, especially with 24,000 people running the race. We ran together the whole second half which was awesome. During the race I had my shot blocks every 3 miles or so and pretty much picked up water or powerade at each stop. It was necessary. Around mile 8 my feet started to get really sore, I am just not used to being so sweaty when I run since the weather is a bit different here in Vermont. I was definitely expecting blisters when I finished but I lucked out in that department. And everyone lied about the hills, the mile 11 & mile 12 ones are way worse than mile 10. But finishing the last hill at mile 12 and getting into EPCOT was amazing, all of the people cheering and the choir when you pass the last bend was just what I needed to push myself through the last mile of the race. I finished in 2:52:44, and I am not disappointed. It was my first half and I did what I set out to do. I ran the whole thing and FINISHED!

 As much as it is awesome that I finished, I have a few things for next time (because I'm pretty sure there will be a next time).

I will make sure to have a 10K time to submit to RunDisney for a better corral placement. If people want to walk or walk/run a race that is okay by me, it was just hard to keep dodging people/jumping on and off of sidewalks and curbs. I would rather be out of the way and hopefully miss as much of that as possible.

We didn't stop for any character pictures and I think I would have if I were in a better corral to start earlier.

For my next race I am definitely going to get some speedwork in, because I know there won't always be a choir around the corner getting me to the finish.

RunDisney, you haven't seen the last of me!

11 months

Here's some stats:

Height: 25 inches

Weight: 20.5? pounds (that's just what I saw when you crawled on the scale while we were in the bathroom one day)

Eating: nursing, avocado, puffs, yogurt, bananas, pears, shredded chicken, carrots, cheese, bread, hummus, pasta, peas, spicy foods (inside of my homemade southwestern eggrolls - black beans, chilis, corn, spinach, cheese and spices) and anything you can get your hands on!

Favorite toys: LINKS! The edges of the interlocking playmat, kitchen items (spatulas/tupperware), books, motorcycle, purse

Words: Mama (more of a chatter but I think we're counting it), Ella and Dada

Teeth: None

Sleeping: 9-6, nurse, then back to bed until between 7 and 9.
This month was another big one, you found the stairs on your own and climbed all the way up them (with mama right behind you of course). After you found the stairs you didn't forget about them, you kept sneaking down the hallway.. not an easy feat since when you crawl your hands slap the laminate flooring. We also played outside in the snow, the first time you didn't like it so much because we didn't have a sled for you yet and I just plopped you on the ground! The second time you hung out in the sled with your mouth open and tongue out trying to catch all the flakes. This month also brought the purchase of your first real pair of shoes and a lot of standing on your own. We have gotten a half step out of you and that's all. I'm sure you'll be walking before your first birthday which is coming up way too soon! In music class this past week instead of gnawing on the drumsticks when Mr. Chris took them out you put one in each hand and banged them on the ground. It was really cool to watch you do that! I can't believe that the next monthly update I will write for you is the big 1 year! How has it already been almost a year? It's insane and I still trying to put it together in my mind that I'm planning your first birthday party. You are such an amazing baby and I love watching you grow and explore every day. You are such fun to be around and I couldn't imagine my life without you!  

Round here..

Round here we..

Crawl onto the dog's bed and lay down for the quickest power nap ever (a split second),

 Go for treadmill runs with skirts on to get used to them for Florida temps,

 Cheer mommy on when she's running,

Clap with our feet,

 Play in the snow,

Run 13.3 miles on snowy roads with a windchill of -10,

Eat delicious cookies in anticpation of our trip,

Play with all the other babies at the mountain,

  

Take our clothes out of the laundry basket, 

Climb up the stairs

We're busy people!

Busy bees

This has been one crazy week! Between work and life there has been no time for writing. So here's our week in a flash..

Saturday I did 9.5 miles with my buddy, when we started it was -2°F! My motivation for even getting out of bed was a text telling me that if we were cold we would turn it around.. Okay, so that got me out of bed and I wore my normal layers with my silk ski pants and top over them and my new lulu running jacket. I felt and probably looked ridiculous, but I was warm once we got moving!

Monday M and I met up with my running buddy at the chiropractor to get a run in on the treadmill and we used this crazy wave machine which apparently really works your muscles because I was so sore the next day! M chatted on the phone..

Tuesday we had music class which was so much fun this week, M was really into it. She was clapping, yelling and hamming it up for everyone there. We had a great time and I can't wait to go back next week! She really loves the scarves so we might have to get her some.

Wednesday and Thursday were normal days of playing and snuggling. But a fun thing happened this week, M learned how to give kisses. She smiles this big huge grin and then sticks her chin out for a bit then plants one on my lips. Sometimes she even goes for the open mouther. It's really cute! And the dogger is starting to appreciate M a bit more now, she doesn't bolt as soon as the baby comes over.

And bringing the week to a close, we had a playdate today with our friends. The kiddos were so cute playing together, M was crawling all over everyone and everything.

This weekend we are birthday planning, enjoying the superbowl and doing a 5 mile run.. Almost Princess time!

The Worst Feeling

You know what the worst feeling in the world is? When your kiddo has a stuffy nose and she's moaning because she can't breathe. We had a pretty rough night last night, I made the hubs go downstairs at about 3am to get some rest before work. I finally got the baby to fall asleep in bed with me, maybe around 4 am? Luckily she slept pretty late today so I was able to get some rest and be able to function!

But I have to say, I wish I had M's spirit and determination when I am sick. Once we finally got out of bed and I showered she played in the kitchen with the recycling for quite awhile. In the afternoon she had much less energy but still wanted to play. Gotta love babies. Here's to a hopefully better night's sleep since there are 12.5 miles on the table for tomorrow AM!