AllState 1/2 Marathon Recap

After much deliberation and ignoring sage advice from people who know better, I decided to run the race in spite of the following factors:

1. Lack of training (only ran 10 times since my last HM in October, longest distance of 8 miles)
2. Recovering from a flu
3. Jason dropping out of the race because of his cough

Running turned out to be a great decision.  Although I did not race it, I didn't get a Personal Worst.  My chip time was 2:15 and change.  I'm calling it a win.

The race course was ideal, mostly flat with mostly beautiful ocean views.  I say mostly because we ran by a sewage treatment plant and I found myself holding my breath.  Let me tell you, holding your breath while trying to run is not a clever idea.  Also an ocean view is great except that it's super cold by the beach in the morning.  It took me 5 miles to feel my elbows again.  I don't think I ever did get feeling in my face.

At mile 2 I found someone who was running a pace that I liked and tagged along.  After about a mile, he seemed to notice I was following him.  By that, I mean he started turning back and looking at me every quarter mile.  I figured the time was right to introduce myself.  Have you ever tried shaking hands while running?  I'm surprised I didn't trip. 

Jeremy turned out to be a really nice guy and motivated me after mile 10 to keep going.  We chatted the whole time about our jobs, our families, and our life goals.  Funny all the things that you can cover with a stranger in 2 hours.  Around mile 11, I was beyond needing to pee.  Jeremy volunteered to wait for me at the next portojohn station and I up to the next available grouping.  All the doors were locked (I guess they were full, ewwwww).  In the distance I could see a truck was coming with new ones.  I didn't want to wait, so I kept running and for the first time ever, I peed my pants while running.  Let's all say it together, "ewwwwwwww!"  Fortunately it wasn't a lot, and it was dried by the time we got to the finish.  Or at least mingled with the sweat.  I'm just glad it wasn't poop.

I really wished I trained better because it was the perfect race to get a PR.  It wasn't too crowded, the cold numbed any pain, and the course was really familiar to me.

After we got home, we took our now tradition photo with the B wearing my finisher's medal.  I'll get it from Jason and post it later.

In B news, I'm proud to say that we are 99% potty trained.  She has an accident now and then but it's becoming more rare.  The key was to get her to think it was her idea.  I think that may be the key to her behavior in general.  Here is a snippet of our once daily conversation.

B: Bonnie push (gesturing a pushing motion with her hands)
Me: Who did you push?
B: Bonnie push Cameron
Me: Bonnie, that's not nice.  We don't push our friends.  Did you say you were sorry?
B: Bonnie push Cameron.  Lucy says, sorry Cameron, time out
Me: Did you say sorry?
B: Bonnie time out, Bonnie sorry.  Bonnie hug.
Me: You know that pushing is not nice.  Please don't push anymore.
B:  Push no nice.  HUGs nice.  (hugs mom)

Trying to keep a stern face during this conversation is always hard.  Especially since she is so excited to tell on herself when I get home.  Also, how can I frown when I'm getting a hug.

Do you ever find it hard to maintain a stern face while parenting?

P.S.  I'm quite aware that you're probably laughing at me because I think that 41 degrees is freezing.  Here's a funny clip from Kimmel on LA weather.  Kimmel on weather

January is the Monday of the Year

Like most people, I detest Monday. 

 
For me Monday means:
1. A new list of things to do while still having to finish the things you failed to do last week only with more urgency
2. A new set of expectations of what you want to get done
3. The sinking realization that what you want to get done will always be less than what you actually get done

The start of a new year feels exactly the same to me, only worse because instead of 7 days to fail, you get 365.  Yay!  I think my husband was on to something when he joked, "I'm tired of breaking resolutions.  This year I plan to start smoking and gain 5 lbs."

In the spirit of defeat, instead of setting up resolutions that are well-meaning/character-building-in-the-long-run, this year I plan to do things that will make me unequivocally happy.

1. Craft more
2. Eat dessert everyday
3. Decorate the house with things that I love NOW even if they are on trend and I'll probably hate it in a month.
4. Run whenever I feel like it, even if it's only 1 mile
5. Drink more wine
6. Learn apathy

 Since this won't fly (dammit).  Here's the real list I will measure myself against.

1. Stick to a budget
2. Decide once and for all on the 2 kid situation
3. Decide on, or waitlist the B for preschool/pre-K
4. Eat more fiber, get the B to eat more fiber
5. Run a half-marathon in under 2 hours
6. Appreciate happy moments more

On the topic of happy moments, the B randomly ran up to me, hugged me and said, "I love Mama".  I'm not sure if it was because she actually loves me, or if she loved that I let her have ice cream, but I'm taking it anyway.  Take that #6!

Where Does the Time Go?

It is amazing how quickly time passes when you have a kid.  People used to tell me that when I was pregnant and I never really understood it.  Time is a constant, right?  Wrong!  Disagree?  Have a kid then tell me your thoughts on time.

The past couple of months have been a whirlwind of activity.  Here are a few milestones. 

1. First there was Halloween.  B moves too darn fast for my phone camera to keep up.  She enjoyed taking handfulls of candy from strangers.  By the end of the night she had forgotten all about the candy, and we ended up giving it away because we ran out.

I don't care if I can't eat it, getting it is the fun part!

2. Then there was the B's 2 year birthday party.  I don't have any pictures because I was too busy getting everything set up.  This is the only photo I have because I'm lame like that.  I made bumblebee cake pops and the B was desperate for one.  Since having a toddler run around a newly cleaned house with a chocolate covered ball of cake sounded like a bad idea, my mom shoved a chopstick into a lemon and I sharpied on stripes and a face.  B probably would have taken it with her to nap time, but the lemon fell off the chopstick and a lemon with a hole in it is just not as much fun. 

There's something wrong with this "bee"...

Because I'm awesome, I didn't get a photo of the B in the birthday dress I made her.  The party was Winnie the Pooh themed and she fit right in.  I slightly modified the wonderful Peplum Dress tutorial Ana sent me.  This was my first experience with installing a zipper and I loved the result.  I did put it on backwards at first but it was easy to rip off and fix.  Turns out zippers aren't that hard.

One of the B's most favorite birthday gift was this fun tea set from her babysitter.  The teapot makes pouring noises when it is tilted.  I seem to have an ability to ignore it, however it drives Jason crazy when she leaves it tilted on the floor.

Would you like some more tea, it will drive my daddy nuts.

3.  The B is potty training!  She's gotten fairly good at pee but pooping is still a struggle.  We tried over Thanksgiving the first time but that was a huge disaster.  The experience dissolved into tears.  "Whose tears?", you might ask.  "Mostly mine", I will answer.  A week later she had a terrible diaper rash.  Probably the worst she's ever had, and I decided to put on her underwear to let her poor butt get some air.  The thought was that I would just change underwear and pants instead of diapers.  Three accidents later, she got a hang of the idea.  Or else she just got tired of having pee run down her legs and getting hosed down in the bathtub.

This isn't a milestone, but Jason and I registered for another half marathon.  This one is in January.  Even though it is only 5 weeks away, I'm not motivated to train because:

A.) It's next year which feels like a long time away

B.) Jason is getting faster than me, and that annoys me

C.) It's cold, dark, and foggy at 5am

It is fairly likely that this is my last post of the year, so I'll leave you with a favorite 2012 photo.

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!