turning the page

todays run marked the end of week 12 of my marathon training plan. with just 6 weeks left to go, i feel like things are starting to really click into place. this is the third time i have used this training program, and this time around ive really tried to stick to the exact workouts it has called for on the days it says to do them (oh, thats how a training plan works? interesting...). in the past i have shuffled workouts around to fit my schedule (i mean.... life!) and the "oh it calls for sprints?... naaaaah" "18 miles? 12 seems good" mentality reared its ugly head once or twenty times. the first go around with this plan failed miserably, but that wasnt my fault. well, i guess the second go around with this plan really wasnt my fault either (although who signs up for a marathon in the end of july?! at night! barf, literally). i carried this plan into another marathon just a few weeks after the barf fest and finally got the sub 4 hour goal i had been training for, barely (3:58:14).

but i crossed the finish line with a smile on my face, and at the time that was all that mattered to me. i look back and think if i had only.... this, and if only i had.... that. smuttynose marathon (sadly no longer going to be an event) was a day ill never forget for many reasons. but its in the past, and i am anxiously looking towards what the future holds for me, and hoping i can again cross the finish line with a smile.

after last weekends 20 mile run, i came to the end of the weeks on the first two pages of the plan...

(i decided not to write all over the book this go around, but you can see all my previous fails)

i needed to turn the page for the rest of the plan, but i knew what was coming on those next two pages....

the end.

for many reasons, i dread thinking about the end of the plan. i know its still 6 weeks away, but i get nervous. my head asks a bunch of questions. my legs yell at me. i constantly think "what in the world are you doing?" 18 weeks is a really, really long time. but its coming to an end soon and i question whether im really ready.

i know im not ready, yet. but...

i turned the page. and i can now see the last day of the plan. may 11th. 41 days 17 hours and counting...

todays run was no easier on paper than any of the others on this plan, and the stupid weather were having here in maine (winter is still here... rain, cold, ice pellets....) forced me to do this run inside. on the treadmill. im no newbie to the treadmill, 39 of the 55 runs ive done over the past 12 weeks have been on the treadmill (ugh), but i have never gone farther than 14 miles, and i dreaded even thinking about doing 17 (well it ended up being 18 with a cool down mile). but once i started i felt so good, and this ended up being by far the best run i think i have had this entire training. i gained a lot of confidence with heart rate and pace, and just overall felt really good. a lot of people will say "well its easier to run on the treadmill, it does a lot of the work for you", etc etc... ive found that my paces out on the road are easily matching the work i have been doing on the treadmill, and i challenge anyone to run 18 on the treadmill and tell me how easy it is... 

this isnt a supposed to be a blog post to brag about my stupidity or how insane i am (i think i make all of that pretty clear in person if you know me well enough). turning the page of this book... seeing the work i have put in, the progress i have made, and the work i have left, is a big point in the training plan. my head wasnt in it earlier this week, but good runs towards the end of the week and time on the road (outside!) with the bff helped clear my mind. whether or not my ultimate goal is reached at the end of these 18 weeks, i know that i have really worked hard to get to both the starting line and the finish line of the race. ive run over 500 miles so far this year, and 215 miles for the month of march (marks the highest month i have ever had... 200.13 miles in june 2012) and i feel like i am stronger than ever. (i should probably get my head checked...)

but, i turned the page. and i can see the end. and im excited.

(please excuse the swearing from a few years ago)

henry: ten months!

weight
at his check up a few weeks ago henry weighed 20lbs 3oz and was 29.5 inches tall!

health
healthy as can be! got his antibiotic dose upped at the last appointment. we head to the cardiologist and urologist in may for check ups.

clothes
i finally packed away the rest of the 6 month clothes (good thing since this is his 10 month update! so much denial). all 9-12 month clothing now.

sleep
hen is such a great sleeper... when he wants to be haha. now that teething has slowed down (why does it have to be so painful for them?!) he is napping much better. still naps at least twice a day, if not three times, and naps much better if mommy naps with him (no problem, kid!) goes to bed without a fight before 8pm, up around 430 or 5 (just fussing) and will most often fall back asleep with us in our bed until 6am (always sleeps in with daddy, never wants to sleep in with mommy. guess he makes up for that with all the mommy naps).

milestones
on 9 months and one day henry finally crawled forward! and now he is just crawling all over the place! (including following you to the bathroom, cant go anywhere alone!)

we also began brushing his five teeth... (another top one just popped through)

and yesterday i walked into his room to find him standing up on his own in his crib. after bringing him downstairs, he stood up against the coffee table and then the chair ottoman. were in trouble now. (and finally he did something the day before his monthly update instead of the day after!)

clearly so proud

he also had his first big boy bath... the little whale tub was getting, well, little.

baby gear love
still loving the walker. he cruises all over the house with that thing. he loves to play peek-a-boo around the corners, and even though you can kinda tell that he knows youre going to be hiding around the corner and jump out at him, he still acts surprised. its really cute. we also love the high chair... a simple thing but its great. hes very content sitting in it while we are preparing his food (he eats all meals in it). can i do a baby gear dislike here? anything with batteries (aka things that make noise. aka all the damn toys). babies would really suck with a hangover.

outings
the usual... target, babies r us, dunkin donuts... but a major one was when i convinced kristal she would love to babysit while i ran on her treadmill in the basement! luckily kristal is an easy one to convince (coffee and a breakfast sandwich) and they had a blast together! (im kinda worried she might steal him!)

diapers
i finally bought size 5 diapers for him to wear at night (didnt make much of a difference), still wearing size 4 during the day.

diet
this little man could eat all day long if we would let him. new foods he tried this month include turkey, grilled chicken with bbq sauce, veggie macaroni noodles, cheerios, pineapple, and grandmas homemade applesauce. he sucked on a french fry at a restaurant, and ty dipped one of his banana puffs in ketchup. kid loved it.

likes

dislikes
its a serious wrestling match to get his diaper changed. he dislikes sleeping in with mommy (4am? lets party!) we seriously think he communicates with duke about his socks... they are quickly taken off his feet and immediately in dukes mouth. and he haaaates sippy cups.

happy 10 months big guy!

PDF- phone dump friday

fact.

duh

gross? or delicious. im not sure i want to find out.

7 pairs of brooks running shoes...

the next three pairs of brooks since that previous pic was taken...

and todays purchase. i have a PROBLEM.

seriously... brooks? sponsor me? please? im pretty awesome...

apparently shoes arent the only problem i have (no need for additional comments on this...)

note the minutes...

but i made it. funny how one simple word can cause 42 likes and 19 comments!

ridiculous. i think i might have been that 52 second person.

by far my most favorite screenshot of the week... 135% to my goal! amazing.

wanna help?

running for a cause

seeing as how i am halfway through a pretty rigorous training for maine coast marathon, i figured it would be a good time to take a look at how im doing so far. i also thought it would be a good time to try and jump start my fundraising... i will be running my 9th marathon on may 11th to raise money for the Autism Society of Maine through Operation Jack. so what does that mean?

my goal over the next 9 weeks is to try and raise $500. Autism Society of Maine relies solely on donations to cover costs for running their programs and activities that that help bring awareness and community to individuals and families who are affected by autism spectrum disorders. autism has affected my best friend and a woman i work with, and many many others. i felt that this was a good way to run for a cause, and im hoping that even the smallest of donation can be beneficial for this foundation. ive also been a strong supporter of operation jack since his endeavor to run 61 marathons in 2010 to raise money/awareness for autism, and in turn my fundraising for ASM will also help his foundation as well (85% of what i raise will go to ASM).

weeks 1-9 of my training plan have gone almost perfectly. there will always be bumps in the road, but i have done as good as i feel i can do under the circumstances i face (which arent many). more or less some days i dont feel like running, and early on i can take that with a grain of salt, skip the run if im not feeling it, and move on. no sense in dwelling. but for the most part, things are going very well... and i can tell i am getting stronger, and faster.

weeks 1-9

i have been very focused and have been working really hard on my training for this marathon, more so than any of the previous eight i have run. my personal worst marathon (2011 maine marathon- 4:43:30) came off a terrible training and a terrible summer (and horrible family loss). my personal best marathon (2012 smuttynose marathon- 3:58:14) i finally got the arbitrary sub 4 hours i had been longing for. yet that was not my best training... my best training (using the program i am now) led to a complete bonk, where, at mile 25, i threw up for 22 minutes after being on course to run somewhere around a 3:45 (humidity, low sodium, lots of bugs. gross). all these numbers are pretty meaningless to me right now, as i havent run a marathon in what seems like a very long time (i was kinda busy growing a little human). but im back on track and ready to try and kick some serious ass for 26.2 miles. however, as i know very well, no matter what your training, anything can happen on race day.

sooooo, even though i just stated above that the numbers are pretty meaningless, lets look at some of the things this training cycle has brought to me thus far...

in week 4 i raced my fastest 10 miler, which also resulted in surpassing my 10k PR during that race, as well as my half marathon PR, all while in a 15 mile training run (follow that?!). in week 6 i raced my fastest 5k by pace (the course was just a bit long, causing my overall time to be just over my current PR), overall pace of 6:59, winning 1st female. in week 8 i PRd the 10k again on a training run, and was able to get my 20 mile long run in on the boston marathon course (which was amazing) later that week. in week 9 i got my sprints pace down to 5:56 (what?!), and finished the week with a marathon pace run along the final miles of the marathon course (and nailed the paces).

i feel like i am pretty much right on track.

   but for what?

at this point i am certainly hoping to a) finish the 26.2 miles, and b) PR. most people would laugh at me and say thats in the bag at this point, but the marathon is hard. and again, anything can happen on race day. but im certainly hopeful. in order to qualify for boston i would need a 3:34:59 (and realistically a few minutes faster due to the registration). thats over 24 minutes faster than my current PR... but ill never know unless i try, right?

in the coming two weeks i will be at the peak of my training, bringing me up into 55 miles per week, then slowly heading towards taper. it still seems like the race is so far away, but i know it will be here before i know it. but first, i would like to get my fundraising going. i finally got everything situated with some giveaway items and informed ASM today of my coming efforts.

from my fundraising page:

My hope is to raise at least $500 to help support the Autism Society of Maine and Operation Jack. The training program that I am using for my marathon will have me running 784 training miles starting January 5th to race day on May 11th. Two simple ways of donating would be 1 cent for each of the miles I need to run to get myself prepared to cross the finish line ($7.84), or perhaps just a donation of $2.62 for the 26.2 miles of the race.

I will also be holding a donation contest- guess my 26.2 mile finishing time! Anyone who donates a guess for my marathon finish time will be in the running to win a prize. My current slowest marathon is 4:43, my current fastest is 3:58 (so for a guess of 3 hours and 58 minutes, donate $3.58). You may put in as few or as many guesses as you would like (if you donate a total amount I will be in touch via email for your guesses), and whoever guesses the correct time will win a gift from Erica Sara Designs! (those who guess the same correct finishing time will be put into a drawing). All donors will be in a drawing for a pair of Pro Compression marathon socks! If you choose to make an even donation, each $10 donation will allow you 3 finishing time guesses, and any donation over $20 will receive an Operation Jack tech shirt!

pretty simple, right? can you help?? any and all donations will certainly be appreciated! CLICK HERE to help these great causes!

breastfeeding series

last week kristin from sounds of my pitter-patter posted part 2 of her breastfeeding series, my friend tiffanys story with tips & tricks. today kristin has posted part 3 of her breastfeeding series... my story. for all of my non mommys or runner readers, this one might not be for you so you can just skip it and wait for another post later this week on running or cats. thank you kristin (!!!) for allowing me to recall this time not so long ago... certainly some things in life dont always go as planned, but i surely do feel blessed with what i was able to do for henry.