3 Miles

For the past 2 weeks I have been hitting the 5K distance with my 5 minute walk warm-up as part of the distance. Today, I ran 3 miles in 34 minutes (outside of the warm-up walk and walk cool down). It was shy of the actual 5K distance but I decided to not push my knee. Yeah, I could have done it but then what would I brag about as a next milestone. There is hope I can start shaving some time off now that I can go the distance.

I pass a lady every once in a while that I think is doing the same couch to 5K thing because I see her vary her walk and running. Party of me wants to say something encouraging to her to keep motivated but then I figured that is cheesy. I usually just smile and say good morning.

In fact, there are a couple "real" runners I see frequently. One is an older guy who I think runs 3 miles every day. He's fast compared to me. Every time I see him I think if he can do it, I can do it. The second is a woman who I think is the true runner of the neighborhood. She always looks happy and barely breaks a sweat. We crossed paths this morning and it's been an hour later and I just saw her run by the house as I was typing this. She run runs! She is true inspiration although I have no desire to run for an hour straight.

Back from LA

My trip was uneventful (the best kind).

Flight wise, both legs had delays. I had 20 minutes to deplane and reconnect last night. I hauled butt and got in line with a few minutes to spare but like all other flights, they were running behind. I could have stopped to go the bathroom. I got in at 1:20am last night rather than at midnight as scheduled. Add in the drive home and my head didn't hit the pillow until 2am. I just took a nap and hopefully will feel human again.

Work wise, it was a decent time. I worked normal hours while there. I had a great dinner one night at a fancy Beverly Hills posh place. The martini I had was called a Latin Lover. It was jalapeno vodka and had jalapeno stuffed olives. It was fantastic. Then I had a Clementine which was a nice, fresh alternative to the spicy one prior to that.

LA sightings, none other than a high person crawling across an intersection almost getting creamed by a bus while 50+ people (myself included) just waited to see what happened. No one offered to help the crazy person or stop the traffic. I did see the space shuttle Endeavor make it's final flight around LA before being put in a museum. I don't get into that stuff but when it flies by the office on top of a 747 with fighter jets beside it, it's pretty cool. Then I saw it even closer at a stop light before getting on the highway. Lastly, our shuttle bus saw it as it was landing at LAX. It was less then a couple blocks beside us. Amazing!

Time away from the boys, was tough. I loved being away and having some adult time but I missed the boys by the third day. Yes, I missed them, not the chaos that goes with them. This morning Miller climbed into bed and snuggled with me. He told me stories and I honestly felt like he really missed me. Mason joined us shortly after that and I think he was happy to see me but the reality of me being gone and back is kind of like time for a dog. I could be gone 4 seconds or 4 days. It's the same in his mind. He improved his walking almost 100%. He barely crawls and is all over the place. I don't remember Miller deciding to walk and doing it being such a fast process. Maybe it was, maybe it wasn't but it feels different with this rascal.

Lastly, I turned in my loaner car this morning and got my own car back. The dealership redeemed themselves this time. First, good customer service. Second, drop off and pick up was smooth. Third, I really appreciate my car after driving a rental corolla in LA! Remind me a year from now when I want a new car how much I love it.

Oh, I had novel plans of running today but the 2am bedtime and all day rain didn't take much to change my mind. Monday I will resume my normal schedule. I did enough walking the past few days to count as being mobile.

Off to LA

It's been another whirlwind week and it's only Wednesday! I am off to LA this morning for work. I wouldn't mind the trip so much if it weren't for the dreaded time difference. I get tired just thinking about the fact that we have dinner plans with a client tonight at 6pm which is 9pm at home. Ugh!

I switched up the running schedule this week to work around my trip. I ran Sunday and Tuesday. I added a couple extra minutes to my time. I felt ok on Sunday but Tuesday when my alarm went off I had no desire to go. I knew I just needed to do it. Ryan reminded me I would be mad if I didn't go so I begrudgingly got out of bed. I had my mind made up I would only run about a 1.5 route and call it good enough. Instead, when I hit that distance I figured I was already a sweaty mess and it was too late to go back to bed so I kept going. I finished my run and have to admit it felt good to say I had it done. Normally I would run on Thursday with this schedule but do to travel, I am putting it off until Saturday.

I had no desire to pack extra clothes and shoes. I also didn't want to have to find a route in downtown LA or use a treadmill. I figured the break may keep my knee in decent shape too. Plus, the distance from the parking garage to my gate today was probably counts as some exercise. It felt like I parked miles away.

So that's my story for now. Time to get a few work things done before we board.

Success Running

I successfully completed week 9 this week after taking most of last week off to heal my knee. I had to take my car into the dealership this morning so I had to get up extra early to squeeze the run in. At 5:30, the temp was nice. I avoided all falling nuts and was able to actually run 32 minutes rather than the planned 30. I probably could have finished out the full 5K running but decided not to push it.

My new dilemma is what my running schedule will be next week. Work is tossing a wrench in the plan with travel and I am not quite up to the time zone difference and running in a hotel gym. I think I might switch it up and run Sunday, Tuesday, and then on Saturday once I am back home. Then I can resume my normal Monday, Wednesday, Friday thing the following week.

I haven't found a new plan (nor have I really looked) but since I am not running the full 5K yet, I think I will increase my running time by 2 minutes each week. Then I need to figure out the best way to improve my time. Do I just try to run faster or do I try for a longer distance so my stamina is better? Any tips? I am sure the almighty Google will have an opinion but I wanted to ask real runners first.

Miscellaneous Stuff

Just another hodge podge post.

Weekend:
We had a very fun packed weekend. It was Rylee's 4th birthday party and the kids had a blast. Lots of bouncing, running, jumping, and sliding.

After a quick nap it was time to head out to Pete and Mark's birthday dinner/happy hour. Other than the brutal heat and no breeze, it was fun to have a quick social hello, a few tacos, and then it was off to put the kids to bed.

Sunday, Miller and I had a date to see Disney on Ice with Rylee, Shannon, Norah, and Jess. It was super cute (could have had a better mix of themes) but overall, very fun. We topped it off with an ice cream cone and headed home to rescue Ryan and Mason from each other.

Monday:
I took today off from work. I ran this morning; happy to report my knee only hurt a little and I ran the full 30 minutes. I am repeating week 9 and will have to find my next training adventure to increase my distance and also then work on my speed (or lack of).

I did about an hours worth of work while I cooled down and iced my knee. Then I got showered up and headed to the mall. I was on a mission and came home defeated. I wanted a new suit for work and couldn't find anything. Let me rephrase that, I couldn't find anything that fit and those that could have maybe done the trick were overly priced since they didn't fit that well. Not sure what I am going to do...I have less than 2 weeks to figure a few wardrobe options out.

I was hoping to get a little pool floating in but it was raining so I watched a couple tv shows I had dvr'd a while back. Then I did a little more work and headed to Target. I met Ryan for a quick drink and headed back to Target to try on some clothes (thinking at this point, I just need a decent top and I saw some items that might work-they didn't).

I was home to play with the boys while Ryan made dinner and then back to work. So much for a day off, I still put in probably 3 hours of work on my day off. At least I won't arrive at work tomorrow overwhelmed with a full inbox.

1 Year Olds, Walking, Running, Etc.

This is a post of randoms...

1) I botched Mason's stats. Per his piece of paper from the doctor his real stats were:

Height: 32 1/4 inches (not a half inch) 93%
Weight: 27 lbs 6 oz 95%

Still heavier than Miller and only 1/4 shorter.

2) For his real birthday, he decided to have a great day at school. He ate his cupcake but likes it without frosting (just like his mom). :)

When I got home, he greeted me by walking all the way through the kitchen unassisted. I wish I had a camera but we caught some walking on video later that evening. He had mac and cheese for dinner followed by some more cake (sans frosting).

He had a good day and was clearly happy.

3) Miller had a fantastic week at school. No reported issues and even got a shout out in the class newsletter for sharing. VPK and the new school has been a big adjustment and overall he's doing well. It's tough but I knew he could do it. He also was a super big brother with Mason's birthday. He shared and showed him how to open presents.

4) On the running front, I had a rough week. I forced myself to go Monday and my knee was in pain prior to the run (sore from running plus I bashed it on the dash of my mom's car). I sat out Wednesday and Friday's run. It bothered me to miss them but I knew I had to heal it before pushing on if I was going to continue. I am just frustrated because I have been doing things by the books to try to prevent injury. Oh well. Next week will hopefully be better.

5) Work has been more "sane" this week. I worked more normal hours. My massive project launch is going better. I had a personal win too. I was asked to put something together for the budget that was like creating a fricken 3D version of Jenga in PowerPoint. I submitted it on time and I had no revision requests or questions to clarify. Honestly, that's huge and a feather in my cap at this point in my career. There has been more change in the right direction so I am feeling a little better about all the craziness. I know you have to go through pain before it gets better (aka: my knee too with running) but for the first time in a long time, I am optimistic. Yes, me, optimistic!

Tonight Miller thought it was fun to dance with me (AC/DC's You Shook Me All Night and a few others). He asked if we could dance more tomorrow. He's a much better dancer than Ryan (no offense honey but it doesn't take much) and I am pretty sure he's better than me too (also doesn't take much to top my off beat robot moves). 

We have a big weekend planned with multiple birthday parties and Disney on Ice. Now that I think I have the kids hooked on ice skating, maybe I can convince them to go with me this winter. Wish me luck. I would like to have at least one cool thing I can do with the kids. LOL!

Mason 1 Year Old Stats

Sunday we celebrated Mason's first birthday. He had a spectacular party with great friends, food, and fun. He enjoyed his balloons all day long. He wasn't too interested in opening gifts but he did have fun playing with them after everyone left and all day Monday. His favorite toy is the doggy guitar. Thank you everyone for making his day so special. Not to mention a special shout out to the kids-they were really good with helping him open his presents and sharing. It's always sweet to see the big kids help.

Monday he took his first unassisted steps to me and then a few back to Ryan. It was pretty cool since we (Ryan, Miller and I) were all there for it. Now we will have to try for a repeat on video!

Here are a few pics and also his 1 year old checkup stats.

Height: 32.5 inches
Weight: 27.5 lbs

He's a big boy. We didn't get his shots today because the person who scheduled our appoint screwed up. He can't get his shots until his actual birthday (some crazy rules with only the 1 year old vaccination). At least he got in for the checkup and next week we just have to pop in for some shots. He had his toe pricked and didn't even flinch today.