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A Day in the Life {At Work}

18 Nov

Before I went back to work, I looked online for examples of what working mothers’  schedules looked like. How did they handle dinner? When was bedtime? How did they get stuff ready for the next day? After scouring the interwebs, I didn’t really find any examples of workday schedules. So I thought it would be interesting, and hopefully helpful to some, to write a “Day in the Life” post about a typical day in the life of a working mom (and a 7-month old). 

I also wanted to mention that at first, going back to work and figuring out what to do when and how was very overwhelming (I seriously made about 15 different schedules trying to ‘nail it down’). But after a week or 2, we fell into our own rhythm and it works pretty well. Mornings when Travis isn’t home are definitely more hectic but we manage. Anyway… here was our day last Thursday.

3:00 am – Emma’s crying. She sounds pretty upset. I find her on her belly in her crib. Since she usually wakes up to nurse about this time, I nurse her and put her back down after bouncing her a little.

5:50 – Emma’s crying again. Usually when she wakes up for the day, she’s happy and just coos in her crib for a while. Not today. I find her on her belly again! Silly girl. It’s like she forgets that she knows how to roll over. I change her diaper, clean out her stuffy nose with saline drops and a bulb syringe, and nurse her.

6:15 – Emma plays on her playmat while I let the dogs out, feed them and brew a cup of coffee. I turn on the news and play with Emma while I drink my coffee. Ahh…

6:35 – I give Travis his 10-minute warning (he was up late playing hockey) and feed Emma mango for breakfast.

6:45 – I put Emma in bed with Travis while I jump in the shower. Then I do my hair, makeup and get dressed while Emma jumps in her jumperoo.

7:10 – While Travis dresses Emma, I make my lunch, get the bottles and diaper bag ready, make another cup of coffee and 2 pieces of peanut butter toast, and load my car with the following: purse, breast pump, pumping cooler, Emma’s bottle cooler, diaper bag, lunch bag, water bottle, peanut butter toast and coffee mug. So much stuff!

20131114_174059Travis was going to pair magenta pants with this shirt… I will never understand what goes through his mind regarding color combinations. 

7:30 – We’re out of the door on time! I eat my toast in the car as we drive to daycare.

7:53 – Arrive at Charlotte’s house. We chat for a bit and then I drive to work.

8:28 – Arrive at work.

9:50 – First pumping session. I get 5 oz!

10:30 – Back at my desk for snack time!

20131114_10322311:30 – I’m still hungry so I eat lunch.

20131114_11285812:45 – Second pumping session. Only 3 oz this time.

1:10 – Back at my desk.

1:50 – Snack time again! I am a bottomless pit today.

20131114_1352042:40 – I’m yawning so I go get a peppermint mocha from our on-campus coffee shop with a co-worker.

3:30 – Third (and final) pumping session. I get 3 oz.

4:30 – Leave work to go pick up Emma. I’m done for the week! (Usually I leave at 5, but today I need to pick Emma up early.) On the way to my car, I run into a co-worker who had a baby 3 weeks after me but then moved to our Seattle office. We catch up for 10 minutes.

5:05 – Pick Emma up from Charlotte’s. She had a good day at daycare, with one fussy period, and has been awake since 4:00.

5:30 – Get home. Emma has a poopy diaper, so I change it and feed her pureed spinach/banana for dinner. It’s the first time she’s tried it and she really likes it! Then while Travis watches Emma, I make dinner for us – homemade macaroni and cheese with mixed veggies. It’s the best I could do – I need to go grocery shopping tomorrow. (Often, Travis makes dinner while I feed Emma.)

20131114_1824396:30 – Bath time! We read Emma some of Little House in the Big Woods while she splashes. Then we put on her diaper, lotion and jammies, sing a song and pray.

6:50 – I nurse Emma.

7:15 – Emma’s asleep! I’m glad that she went down easy instead of being wide awake for another 30 minutes. I drink a couple glasses of wine while Travis and I watch Breaking Bad and hang out.

9:20 – Bedtime!

11:30 – Emma’s awake. Ugh. Apparently she traded going down easy with being awake for 2.5 hours in the middle of the night. After nursing, letting her play in her crib, bouncing, rocking and everything else, I’m at the end of my rope. We let her cry for a bit until she gets really upset and then Travis goes in to get her back to sleep. It takes him about 30 minutes.

And that’s a wrap!

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If you missed A Day in the Life {At Home}, click here.

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Monday Randomness

11 Nov

Here’s some randomness for you on this Monday morning:

1) This is over now, but this past summer/fall, Travis traveled so much for work that his boss kindly gave us a $50 stipend to go out to eat every weekend. And we took full advantage of it! At first, we just ordered food or got takeout, so that we didn’t have to deal with Emma freaking out in a restaurant. But the last month and a half or so, we went out to Red Lobster, Macaroni Grill, Texas Roadhouse, and local restaurants Colorado Plus Brewpub, A Taste of Home Cooking, and Trattoria Stella. Some outings were too late and Emma was fussy but usually she did really well. And now that she can sit up in a high chair, eating out is even easier.

2) I finally spent a couple hours Saturday and yesterday making baby food for Emma. I made butternut squash, green beans (which she didn’t like!), carrots, spinach (pureed with a banana to make it a bit thicker), and sweet potatoes. I think we’re set for a while!

3) I wasn’t sure how I would like cloth diapers once we started getting into solid foods, since Emma’s poo would also be more solid. But it actually hasn’t been bad at all. Her business comes off really easily, either all by itself or with a little spray from our shower hose, and it really doesn’t gross me out at all. So I think we’ll keep going with the cloth!

4) Our church’s single and young married group had our annual Chili Cook-off yesterday. Travis and I have won twice with our elk chili, but we did not take home the trophy this year. No matter. There were some really good chili recipes this year! And the chili that won was the one that I voted for. It was called ‘For the Faint of Heart’ and had no heat and no meat. Unconventional, but delicious!

5) We’ve started packing up our house in preparation for moving/showing. We also went to Home Depot and got a new exterior light, a wireless doorbell (since ours was broken), and some paint samples. Moving at this time of year definitely presents some challenges, especially when there are things outside that need to be painted and stained. We weren’t really planning to move this quickly, but with the condition of my mom’s health, we’d like to move as soon as possible. So we’re trying to figure it all out quickly and try to get this stuff done while the weather is still nice.

6) Emma has been sleeping better since last Friday but still doesn’t seem to quite be herself. At church yesterday, she lasted 5 minutes in the nursery before having an inconsolable meltdown. She was fine sitting and playing with me though. I might take her into the doctor today to see if it’s an ear infection.

7) Travis’ birthday is coming up at the beginning of December and I’ve actually taken the time and effort to plan something fun. He’ll be traveling for work on his actual birthday but we are going on a date night the Saturday before his birthday (for the first time since… a long time!) and I am so excited! God has really put it on my heart to make our marriage more of a priority, so I’m doing that.

8) We’re volunteering for Operation Christmas Child again this year, the day before Thanksgiving. I’m looking forward to that too. I didn’t go last year because I was pregnant and didn’t think I could handle standing for 4 hours straight, but I’m ready this year!

9) We’ve decided that we’re going back to Minnesota for Christmas and will stay 2 weeks – the week of Christmas and the week of New Year’s. While it won’t be as relaxing as Christmas past, it’ll be Emma’s first Christmas, which I’m really looking forward to! She is too, though she doesn’t know it yet. And it’s always great to see our families.

10) We’re staying here for Thanksgiving though. I’d like to do a Turkey Trot but Travis might go play in our church’s Turkey Bowl. Maybe Emma and I will do it ourselves… Or maybe I’ll try to find a friend who’d be interested. For dinner, we’re getting together with friends from church who also won’t be with family. Can’t wait! I love the holiday season! I might just start putting Christmas decorations out now…

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A Day in the Life {At Home}

10 Nov

This day turned out to be rather atypical for Emma in terms of naps/sleep, and Travis was gone on a work trip, but otherwise, it was a pretty typical Friday for us.

4:30 am – I hear Emma on the monitor. I give her a chance to fall back asleep on her own.

4:45 – Emma’s still awake, so I get up and nurse her.

5:10 – I put Emma back down after a little bouncing, crossing my fingers she stays asleep (at that hour, it’s always a crapshoot.)

5:15 – Emma’s awake. Darn. She’s still tired though, so I hold her until she really wakes up.

6:10 – She’s awake for the day. I change her diaper and put her on her playmat, while I let the dogs out, feed them and brew myself a cup of coffee. I drink my coffee and watch the news while Emma plays. I also put a stack of cloth diapers away.

20131108_0629286:50 – Attempt to nurse Emma but she’s not really interested. So I feed her some peach yogurt instead, while I eat oatmeal with peanut butter and brown sugar (my favorite way to eat oatmeal right now). After breakfast, Emma bounces in her jumperoo while I do dishes.

7:35 – Tummy time on Mommy! And Super Baby time – where I hold her like Superman. It’s a way to strength her core muscles that she actually likes, for a few minutes. Then we just play sitting up until it’s time for her next nap.

8:20 – Emma’s starting to fuss, so I put her in her sleepsack and down in her crib for a nap. She whimpers a little bit, but goes to sleep on her own. I brew my second cup of coffee and drink it while I spend some time praying. I spend 15 minutes on downloading pictures to add to Emma’s 12-month picture frame  (similar to this one).

9:45 – Emma’s awake. I change her diaper and nurse her.

10:00 – I change into running clothes, load Emma, the dogs and the stroller into the car, and drive to a park for a 2-mile run.

20131108_10421710:45 – We’re done! 2 miles in 22:50. When we get home, I change Emma’s clothes and take her 7-month pictures. Then I change her into a practical outfit and make a turkey sandwich before calling my friend, Amy, who lives in Hawaii to chat.

11:45 – Emma’s down for a nap, but not happy about it.

12:00 pm – I end my call with Amy because Emma’s still screaming. I go in to bounce/rock her but she keeps crying, so I decide to try nursing her. Her last nursing session was pretty quick. I change out of my sports bras and nurse her. It helps calm her down.

12:15 – Emma’s asleep. I take a shower and dry my hair most of the way. I also spend about 30 seconds doing my makeup. I work on Emma’s 7-month blog update a bit.

12:45 – Emma’s awake. I try to get her back to sleep but she’s wide awake so I change her diaper and feed her lunch. I try to give her avocado thinned with formula but she makes a face and refuses to eat it (she really does not like things combined with formula!), so I break out some food I got from a co-worker. I guessed it was sweet potato puree but after a few bites, I notice printing on the side that says “Mac cheese”. Interesting… Emma eats about half. I take a little bite and it’s not too bad, but not great either.

1:10 – Emma plays with toys while I eat a yogurt and banana, and make a grocery list.

1:30 – We head to Target.

20131108_135417I am in love with this wreath, and plan to try making it myself for cheaper.

2:15 – Emma bounces in her jumperoo while I put groceries away. She’s so happy that I sit next to her and look at photo albums. Then we play on the floor some more.

2:45 – Put Emma down for a nap. Again, she cries so I go in and nurse her. Something definitely seems to be off with her. Usually I can calm her down by just holding her, but today, she seems out of sorts. I give her some Tylenol just in case she’s in pain.

3:15 – Emma’s asleep.

3:30 – Emma’s awake. I try to get her back to sleep again so I could just hold her for her nap, but she’s awake. So I make an egg sandwich, grab an apple and we go for a drive up Clear Creek Canyon (beautiful!) to get Emma to sleep. It works! I also listen to Tim Keller’s sermon ‘Blessed Self-Forgetfulness‘, which gets better every time I listen to it.

5:15 – After sitting in the driveway for 15 minutes finishing Emma’s 7-month update, I take Emma inside. She stays sleeping and I put her in the nursery while I make dinner. I knew letting her sleep could either be a good idea or could backfire but I decided to risk it.

5:45 – Emma’s awake. I feed her pureed blueberries for dinner. They are messy!

6:15 – Bathtime! Followed by Emma’s nighttime routine.

7:15 – Emma is still wide awake. I think we can say the long nap before bed backfired. I sit next to Emma playing in her crib while I read blogs on my phone in the dark.

7:45 – Emma has a poopy diaper, so I change it and then try to bounce her a bit. She still seems uncomfortable/in pain, so I give her some more Tylenol.

8:00 – Emma’s finally asleep, albeit lightly, so I rock her while watching How I Met Your Mother on my phone.

8:30 – Emma wakes up crying and wriggling while I’m holding her, and I’m at a loss for what’s wrong, so I put some Orajel on her top and bottom gums. Maybe she’s getting more teeth? It seems to calm her down at any rate. I hold her for another episode.

8:50 – I finally put Emma down. Travis should be home in the next 30 minutes, but I’m exhausted so I eat a bowl of cereal, wash my face, brush my teeth and go to bed. I watch another episode of HIMYM (I’m obsessed!) before turning the lights out. Travis gets home right as I’m done watching, so I talk to him for a few minutes before going to sleep.

9:30 – Sleep!

Emma woke up 3 times that night, at around 12:30, 2:45 and 4:45, and didn’t go back to sleep after that last wakening (at least, according to how my sleep-deprived brain remembers it!). I fed her each time, because when she’s so uncomfortable, it’s the only thing that settles her down enough to fall back asleep. During the second nursing, I spaced out and when I opened my eyes again, I panicked because I thought Emma was upside down (with her butt above her head). It took me a good 20 seconds to realize that I was looking at the wrong end. Oy. I really hope this passes quickly!

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Free Day Fun.

5 Nov

This past weekend, we took advantage of the ‘free days’ at both the Denver Art Museum and the Denver Zoo.

Travis, Emma and I went to the Art Museum on Saturday with some friends from church. It was a lot of fun and Emma did really well. I found some sock puppets in one of the exhibits and put crazy eyes on one for Emma. She thought it was pretty funny.

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We gave her a bottle around her usual eating time and she fell asleep while drinking it. Soon after, we were also hungry so we left and had lunch at Cafe Rio. Mmmm… pulled pork salad.

On Monday, Travis had to work so just Emma and I went to the Denver Zoo with some friends.

736178_10151974635723540_382117657_oStroller Brigade!

1417707_10151974632598540_169358723_oWe saw elephants, giraffes, polar bears, brown bear, monkeys, lions, leopards, cheetahs, you name it!

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Emma did really well there too – I had her in the Baby Bjorn for the first hour or so, and when she started to fall asleep, I transferred her to the stroller. She slept for about 40 minutes before waking up and then it was time to eat! I nursed her in the car and then we went home.

What a fun weekend!

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Elk Camp 2013

3 Nov

Every year, Travis’ parents come out in October for elk hunting. We go up to the same area, stay in the same wall tent and hunt the same mountains (well, the hunters do. I don’t hunt!). Last year, we got nothing. This year, we got 2 elk on the first day!

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Shooting an elk on the first day, let alone 2 elk on the first day, has benefits and drawbacks. It takes the pressure off for the rest of the week, but it also enables the hunters to be a bit more lazy. You get to pack the animal out when you’re fresh, but you’re sore and tired the rest of the week. But nevertheless, it’s always nice to get one so there’s no complaining!

This year, Travis’ parents, nephew and his brother all came out. Along with one of Travis’ friends from Denver, it was quite a group. Emma and I stayed behind after everyone went up Friday morning. We picked up Travis’ brother from the airport Saturday afternoon and headed up then. We arrived at elk camp just as everyone else was getting back from packing out the 2 elk they had shot.

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Packing an elk out is hard work. We estimate that 1 hind quarter alone weighs 75-80 pounds. Times that by 4, add 4 front quarters, 2 backstraps and a bull head/rack and you have a LOT of meat.

Anyway, we ate dinner and then Beth (my mother-in-law), Emma and I headed back to Frisco, where we were staying in a hotel. We were planning to go straight to bed but Emma had another idea. She had fallen asleep in the car on the way to the hotel but by the time we reached our room, she was wide awake. It took her over an hour to settle down and then she had a horrible night. She woke up every 1-1.5 hours. She’d fall back asleep right after I picked her up and I could put her down after 10 minutes or so, but she’d be up again in 60 minutes. I thought maybe she was teething but once we got back home, she was back on track so it must’ve just been the new surroundings that were throwing her off.

The next morning, I was definitely tired but didn’t feel horrible.

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We went out to breakfast at Butterhorn Bakery, which has become my tradition whenever I’m in/near Frisco. (Seriously, they have THE BEST FOOD!) I had a waffle with strawberries, blueberries, walnuts and syrup. Mmmm… Emma had sweet potatoes for breakfast – it was easier than bringing her oatmeal cereal along to mix up. Beth had an egg scramble that also looked delicious.

Stuffed to the gills, we went back to the hotel for Emma’s nap. I held her while watching How I Met Your Mother via Netflix on my phone. After her nap, I fed her and we went shopping at the outlet mall. I bought a few plain long-sleeved shirts from Ann Taylor Loft, Beth bought a cardigan from and a sweatshirt from Nike, and then we shopped for a couple dresses for Emma. We got a couple of cute ones from Oshgosh B’gosh but their sizes run really small, so we bought one 9-month and one 12-month sized dress (but I ended up exchanging the 9-month size for another 12-month one).

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Shopping complete, we headed back up to elk camp. We hung out in the tent for a while, playing. I had brought Emma’s playmat and bouncy seat, but she didn’t really want anything to do with either one.

1375674_641425979221061_1029597573_nThat’s her ‘Are you serious Mom?!?!’ face.

So we just played on Daddy’s cot.

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Around dusk, the guys came back from hunting and we ate dinner. Since the previous night had been so rough with Emma, and Travis had already tagged an elk so he was ‘done’ hunting (he couldn’t carry a gun anymore), I convinced him to come with me to the hotel so that we could trade off with Emma. That was a huge help!

We left for the hotel around 7 pm. Emma fell asleep again and got back to sleep fairly easily after I took her out of her carseat and nursed her in our room. She was up about every 1.5 hours again, but it was really nice to not have to get up every time!

The next morning (Monday), we packed our room up and checked out. We grabbed breakfast (and a pumpkin spice latte for me!) at Starbucks and then headed back up to elk camp. Emma took a nap in the car. We got up there around 9:30/10 and hung around camp. I fed Emma, we played a little more, walked around outside, I held her for a nap (while I struggled to stay awake myself!).

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After lunch, Emma started getting fussy because it was time for her next nap. So we packed the car up and took off for Denver, since I was going to work on Tuesday.

I was worried about staying awake on the drive home all by myself, but I put on some good singalong tunes and sang the whole 2 hours home. No problem!

The rest of the clan stayed up in the mountains until Wednesday, when they packed up and headed home. Our tradition is to go to Buffalo Wild Wings on Wednesday night after elk hunting and this year was no different. But unfortunately, this year it also coincided with an elementary school fundraiser so the place was really busy and packed with lots of kids. It took forever to get our food! (But they nicely comped 50% of our bill.) One good thing was that Emma sat in a highchair for the first time!

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I took work off on Thursday to hang out with everyone while they worked on butchering the elk. I helped vacuum seal for about 30 minutes before Emma woke up from her nap, and went to the store for some supplies. But otherwise, I just took care of Emma. Which is fine, because I could not cut up elk meat anyway! Eeeww.

And that was Elk Hunting 2013!

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Race Recap: Oktoberfest Sprint Triathlon Relay

16 Oct

Due to the flooding in Colorado at the end of September, the Oktoberfest Sprint Triathlon that I had signed up to do with my friends Jess and Charlotte got rescheduled to Saturday, October 5. Luckily, it still was a day we could all make it!

The Thursday before the race, we all met in Boulder (with kids in tow) for packet pickup. After we got our race gear, we went out for dinner at Old Chicago on Pearl Street. All 3 of us were going to a wedding Saturday afternoon after the race, so this was our ‘team building’ dinner. It was fun!

The morning of the race, it was only 35 degrees! Travis, Emma and I left the house later than I had wanted to and then we encountered a road that was closed from the flooding, so I was worried that we were going to get to the race too late. But we made it with plenty of time – the race ended up being only about 200 athletes instead of 600 due to the date change, but that meant more room in transition!

The weather had been cool the week before the race so the water was a chilly 58 degrees. Brrrr. Charlotte was a trooper, though, and swam anyway. I felt bad standing around in my many layers, gloves and ear warmers while she was getting into icy water but she totally rocked the 800 meter swim!

1383614_10153338850290271_1687547636_nMe, Jess and Charlotte before the swim

SWIM: 14:58

We were waiting for Charlotte at the swim out, but somehow missed her get out of the water. We saw her as she was walking past us so Jess ran with her into transition and I ran along outside, since I didn’t want to get in anyone’s way.

T1: 1:15

Then Jess was off on the bike, wearing long pants, a sweatshirt, winter parka, winter gloves and face mask under her helmet. She said she was cold for the first loop, but then she warmed up and wanted to remove layers but couldn’t! Jess also did really well and crushed the 12.4 mile bike leg.

BIKE: 45:52

About 10 minutes before Jess was expected back, I ran around the parking lot a bit and then I went and stood in the transition area to wait for Jess.

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20131005_090257The Cheering Squad

Jess arrived, I grabbed the chip from her, strapped it around my ankle and was off on my 5K run!

T2: 0:56

Right away, my throat and lungs felt hoarse from the cold air. My legs felt great, but my breathing was just really labored. Even though there were people passing me consistently (that’s the reality of a triathlon when everyone starts in different waves), I tried to settle into a pace that was challenging but sustainable. I could tell, though, that I wasn’t feeling as strong as the Community Christian 5K I had done a few weeks earlier.

About the time I started running, the sun decided to make its appearance. So all of my layers made me very overdressed! By Mile 1, I had my gloves off. And by Mile 2, I had my ear warmer and jacket off.

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I definitely pushed myself more for our relay team than I would have had I just been racing for myself. There was one main hill on the course leading up to Mile 1. On the way back, I used that hill to my advantage. My splits were (roughly, recalling from memory):

Mile 1 – 11:07

Mile 2- 10:39

Mile 3 – 10:30

Mile .1 – 1:03

RUN TIME – 33:19

TOTAL TIME – 1:36:18

Just for fun, here are my splits from when I did the Oktoberfest Sprint Tri back in 2009 as an age group athlete (times listed in italics show the difference from our relay time):

Swim – 19:57 (+4:59)

T1 – 2:14 (+0:59)

Bike – 46:34 (+0:42)

T2 – 1:09 (+0:13)

Run – 34:07 (+0:48)

Overall Time – 1:43:59 (+7:41)

I hadn’t spectated at a triathlon in a very long time so it was a nice change of pace to watch other athletes (especially the speedy ones)! We checked our time after I finished and noticed that we got 2nd place in the All-Female Relay division. So Jess and I stayed for the award ceremony (Charlotte left after the swim because it was a busy day for her).

1383624_635629303134062_286529633_nDoing a triathlon relay was a lot of fun! I was glad that I wasn’t swimming that day, but it does make me miss the triathlon atmosphere. Maybe I’ll do a full race next year?

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The Move is On.

8 Oct

So, we are moving to Minnesota.

We’ve been planning to move back pretty much ever since we moved to Colorado. Don’t get me wrong – Colorado is an awesome state and we have loved living here. We have a great church, great friends, good jobs, nice house, and have done a lot of fun things here.

But… our family isn’t here.

And… there’s just something about Minnesota that makes us love it.

Sure, the summers are humid and full of bugs. The winters get down to temperatures I won’t even mention and snow sticks around until April. Many Most days are cloudy. But the truth is, as much as I like to complain about those features of Minnesota, they also endear me to the state. Minnesota is not for the faint of heart.

So why now? Well first, we were waiting to have kids. Check.

Then, we were waiting to talk to Travis’ boss about moving, since we were hoping that Travis would be able to keep his same job and just work from home in Minnesota. We got the green light a couple of weeks ago! 

I’ll have to quit my job but I’ll probably try to find something – whether a part-time ‘for fun’ job or volunteering opportunity – to get me out of the house and keep me sane. Since we’re really close to being debt-free (we’ll only have about $2K left in student loans by November), we don’t really *need* my paycheck. And finding a part-time job that pays me like my current job would be tough.

Anyway, so moving is no longer an IF but a WHEN. All that’s left is to sell our house. We met with a realtor last Friday and are planning to put our house on the market in January. We have some a lot of work to do to get our house ready to sell, but October is the Month of Hunting so nothing will get done then. We could probably finish everything by the end of November but not many people are looking at houses in December, so January it is.

To avoid having to coordinate selling and buying a house across 1,000 miles, we’re going to move into my parent’s lake cabin about an hour north of the Cities for a few months while we find a house. We’re looking at houses in the Brainerd area.

We’re definitely excited to move back, and get a new, bigger house where we plan to live for the next 20ish years, but it’s definitely bittersweet leaving Colorado. We’ll miss it!

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Community Christian 5K Recap

15 Sep

Yesterday, I ran my first race since June 2012, when I ran my first (and only) full marathon. I can’t run nearly as far now as then, but I’m faster!

The night before the race, Emma had her worst night of sleep in months. She woke up every 2-4 hours, which is very abnormal for her. The only nice part about it was that she was in a good mood whenever she woke up – instead of crying, she’d just lay in her crib and talk (aka. ‘squawk’) to herself. My longest stretch of sleep was 4 hours. After being up with her 4 times, I asked Travis to get up the last time so that I could stay in bed for another 40 minutes.

Anyway, not quite the way you want to prepare for a race but oh well. I had a cup of coffee and cinnamon raisin bagel with peanut butter before the race, dropped Emma off at my friend’s house, and made it up to the race site about 20 minutes before the race started.

It was a very small race so it only took me about 5 minutes to get my packet and go to the bathroom. I found my friend Cathy and her husband James just a little before they asked the runners to move into the street where the start line was. Then they said the start was still 15 minutes away so Cathy and I did a slow jog around the block to warmup.

My goal for the race was to at least run faster than an 11:00/mile pace, and if I beat my previous 5K time of 33:43, that’d be great too. Cathy wanted to see if she could beat her husband so we agreed to not run together.

I thought about taking my phone so that I could keep track of my pace and the mileage, but in the end, I decided to just enjoy the race and push myself by feel.

Finally, the race started and we were off. I settled into a nice, strong pace and kept Cathy and James in my sights for about the first .5 mile. Then they were gone. I kept running strong. I was pushing myself, but not too much. It was downhill, which was nice, but I knew that meant an uphill later so I couldn’t go too crazy.

I had no idea how far we had gone, but I figured it had to be close to a mile at least. I ran past the aid station (stopping for water would have just thrown off my pace) and then saw a sign that said Mile 2. ‘Holy cow!’ I thought. ‘That’s the quickest 2 miles I’ve ever run!’ It didn’t quite seem right, but if it was, I was going to kick this 5K’s butt!

Around a corner, there was another mile sign. It also said Mile 2, with an arrow to the right. Um, what? I took a right and found the uphill. I walked a bit at the top of the hill and was told by a flagger that first time through, we had to do another loop. Second time, go straight.

On my second loop, I saw the Mile 1 sign, which I had missed before. So I was just now coming up on Mile 2. That made more sense.

We passed the aid station again and were directed by another flagger to turn right for Mile 3, making a smaller loop than the first time, but not too small to miss the hills! I walked a bit again at the top, so I could catch my breath.

Even though it was only 65 at the start, the sun and (rare) humidity made it really hot. I was getting tired, and couldn’t accurately judge how long we had left. But I kept pushing it, reminding myself that I wanted to beat my old 5K time, and that I hadn’t been pushing it for 2 miles only to give up at the end.

We passed a different school and I thought we were getting close, but I saw runners far ahead of me… climbing another hill. Bummer.

I muscled up the last hill long enough to see one of Community Christian’s buses, so I knew where we were – and that the end was close! I crossed the finish line strong and grabbed a water, banana, and half a bagel from the volunteers.

I felt confident that I had made my goal of running faster than an 11:00 pace but had no idea of my time. I found Cathy and James, and we stood around talking until they posted the times. James had beaten Cathy, but she wasn’t too upset. Men…

Finally, the times were up. I finished in 31:52! That’s a pace of 10:17/mile, I later figured out, for a new 5K PR! YAY! I was very happy with that. Cathy finished in 29:50 and James in 26:19.

This was my first time doing a really small race (there were about 130 runners), which I’ve always wanted to do because I figured I’d at least have a shot at placing in my age group (which is now 30-39! I feel so old.) But when I looked on their website, it said they would award ‘the fastest in each age group’, which I took to mean only THE fastest (one person). I was mistaken though, and I got 3rd place in my age group. So I actually got a medal! YAY again! (Cathy got 2nd place in our age group. The 30-39 Female winner finished in 25:12.)

So my first race back was a success AND fun. I’m glad that I didn’t take my phone. The mile signs kept me guessing, and I ran on feel not on time, so I didn’t get discouraged.

About the race itself – it was the inaugural race, and a small one organized by parents instead of race professionals, but I was very impressed. They had a decent website, with all the pertinent information included. They sent out a pre-event email with lots of details. There were a ton of volunteers and even though the course could have been a little confusing, their flaggers were very helpful and it wasn’t confusing at all. The course was also USATF-certified and they posted a course map online (though I didn’t realize that before the race). We were instructed to park in the Target parking lot, and they had a shuttle taking people to the school (even though it was only like 2 blocks away). And the race proceeds benefit the school, which is where Cathy and James’ kids go. I would definitely do this race again!

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Me and Cathy

I’m unfortunately not going to be able to do the triathlon relay this coming weekend (long story) but I’m already looking forward to doing another race. I’M BACK BABY!

And quick sidenote, this is my 700th post!

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Running with a Stroller

6 Sep

Even though I said I was going to start running more than once a week, I haven’t. But at least I’m still running that one time a week. And I can finally see my frequency going up because….

I’ve started running with the stroller.

This is a milestone in 2 ways:

1) Emma used to only last 10 minutes in the stroller (in her carseat) before having a meltdown. Now, she can hold toys and enjoys looking around, so she’s content for up to 30 minutes.

2) Pushing a stroller while running is a crapton more work. Especially when I lock the front wheel to stay straight (like you’re supposed to). The stroller wants to veer to the right slightly, so I’m continually pushing on it to stay in a straight line.

The first run I did with the stroller was around our block a couple of times. MapMyRun on my phone said that it was a mile, but Travis doesn’t believe that. Based on my pace though, I believe it! (If it’s not right, I’m REALLY slow!)

strollerrun1The second run I did was around a small lake (pond?) near our house. One lap around it is roughly .5 mile so I did 4 laps.

strollerrun2One side of the lake is slightly hilly (or at least it feels like it with a stroller!) so I was very pleased about my pace. Maybe I can have a ‘fast’ 5K yet.

Speaking of which, I officially signed up for the Community Christian 5K on September 14! The race raises money for the school, and my good friend’s kids go there. She’s running the race too.

RACELOGO1

Another one of my friends is going to watch Emma (since Travis will be in Wyoming hunting antelope). I’m very excited. Races are so fun.

Do/have you run with a stroller? Any tips?

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3 Miles Straight

19 Aug

There was a week when Emma woke up at 6 am every day. Travis and I got into a routine of him watching her from 6:30 until around 8:30 so that I could have some time to myself to go on a run, get into the Word, etc. Travis went on runs and ran errands at night. But then Emma stopped being predictable and we got out of the routine.

So for the past 6 weeks, I’ve only been running once a week. Which also means I’ve only been working out once a week. But now I have a reason to get my butt in gear: I signed up to do a triathlon relay with two of my friends. It’s the Oktoberfest Sprint Triathlon on September 22 in Longmont. I’m doing the running leg. I also might do a 5K fundraiser run with one of my other friends on September 14 but that depends on whether or not I can find someone to watch Emma.

I’m happy to report that I have finally worked my way up to running 3 miles straight, with no walking. I’m still slow, but when haven’t I been? 😉

My mile splits on my run today:

1 – 11:49

2 – 12:05

3 – 12:07

.08 – 11:08

Average pace – 12:02 (3.08 miles in 37:03)

81913paceMy goal is to run at least twice a week. Ideally, I’d run 3 times a week but with Travis traveling so much right now and Emma not being old enough for daycare, it’s hard – partly because I want to hang out with my husband when he is home! Maybe one of these days we’ll try taking Emma on a jog with the two of us…

Anyway, I plan to do a speed workout (intervals, repeats, tempo, etc) for one run and a easy run focused on distance for the other. My fastest run so far was on August 9. I ran 2.57 miles at a 10:42 pace.

How does that compare to my previous running times? My 5K PR is 32:52, a 10:34/mile pace. My PR for the running leg of a triathlon, is 30:50, a 9:55/mile pace. So it’s possible that I could get better than 32:52. We’ll see how the rest of ‘training’ goes.

I felt great after my run this morning though! It reminds me of why I love running, and endurance sports. It just makes you feel good!

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