What makes you feel better?

1. A 56 mile hard bike ride where I was the "lead" woman the entire ride. (Let's just not talk about the fact that I started the ride at the same time the triathletes started swimming.) For the first and probably last time I knew what it was like to ride behind the lead motorcycle on the course.

2. Another great track workout where I hit my 800s consistently under my goal. Followed by a great swim workout!

3. Ryan trying to make me not be sick today. "mommy do you feel ok?" No, buddy mommy doesn't feel good. "Mommy, I will get you some coffee that makes me feel better. Yeah coffee and candy, I will get you some."

4. A husband that recognizes I don't feel good and let's me rest while he picks up, cooks dinner, feeds kids and handles bed/bath time.

5. Seeing doggies get along.

In your face

So Tim asked me Thursday night "you wanna do that cross country 5K in Greensboro Saturday with me?" Sure, I guess. "It'll be a good way to see how your 5K time is coming along." Sure, I guess.

So today overcast, temperature somewhere in low 60s, drizzling rain.
6:30 - wake up and make breakfast for the boys
8:45 - swim class with boys
9:45 - Tim aerates lawn while I take boys to grandma/grandpa's
10:45 - we leave for 5K in greensboro
12:00 - arrive in Greensboro at site
1215 - register for race
12:30- Race starts...
12:47:33 - Tim finishes 5K
12:54:33 -Angela finishes 5K

Oh you read it right, booo yowww. In your face 8 min. pace....24:33 a PR by exactly 1 minute from May. Sweet 7:55 pace....on a hilly (sort of) cross country course. Toot Toot! That's me tooting my own horn. I'm so happy. Sorry, I'm not normally this "out there" about my accomplishments, normally pretty modest and humble but I'm excited about this. This time came after my 90 minute run yesterday, in the ran with my trainers on.

When we got to this race, I was a little overwhelmed. It was huge. I found out as we were hustling to the start line that this race is one of the largest east coast invitationals for cross country for middle school, high school and smaller colleges. We registered for the "open" division, which normally presents itself with a wide range of ability levels...not so much today. I was standing at the start line, the only person not in a posed race position, not wearing a watch and I had to giggle. These people were serious and I knew I was going to get my butt kicked...by the good runners.

So I just tried to remember what Tim said in the car...
1) keep the first 1/2 mile easy, let everybody go, don't let them pull me with them. Check. I found myself feeling like I went out to fast but quickly realizing that I was next to last at the first little turn around. Were they really that much faster than me or was I going out too conservatively?
2)start to pick up pace at Mile 1 to 2. Check. So I busted my butt from mile 1 to 2 to make up some ground and over took about 4 or 5 people.
3)Try to go all out for the last mile...um half check. I remember seeing the mile 2 marker and thinking "seriously, what the hell?" I tried to push but honestly I think I was just working harder to keep the same pace. I popped out of the woods and saw Tim.

"You're at 24 mins....run Angela, you can break 25...run faster, use your arms, push." No crap...I am, aren't I? Am I? Did I? 24:33. Yes. Tim said it didn't look I picked up my pace very much so he was wondering if I heard him yelling at me...If anyone knows Tim, can you answer that question for him? Did I hear him? Uh yeah. But the fact that I can't pick it up much means I didn't leave anything on the first 3 miles if you know what I mean. I was at maximum effort here people.

So Tim said "I'm so proud of you. Get you on a flat course that's not cross country and I can get you in mid 23's easy...maybe high 22s."

Let's just take this one step at a time shall we? That run hurt.

I'm a dork

Okay so apparently when I changed my photo it somehow (obviously user error) changed my signature name to the name of the photo...all should be better.

Thank you Tim for understanding what all these lovely ladies were talking about. I was clueless.

I'm not sure

1. what to think of track workouts. All 3 have been completely different. Last night we had 3 x (4x400) with 100 jog between the 400s. As I've yet to find anyone else there who will run with me I did the workout alone. My goal was to hit the 400s at 2 min...putting me at 8 min pace. Tim says that's a good goal for me for a 5k time right now. So that's what I tried.

After last week's mess, I was a little worried. my first set was 1:50, 1:54, 1:55, 1:54. Whoa...cool, can I keep that pace up? Second set was 1:55, 1:55, 1:57, 1:54. Uh, oh...seriously come on Angela you can do this one more time, right? Last set 1:54, 1:55, 1:54, 1:49. Well color me stupid, I did it. I freakin did it faster than I wanted to. Take that 8 min pace, I kicked your butt with 7:40, how do you like that? I got a total of 5.25 in and actually did it. I told Tim that I had to walk some of the 100s and asked if that was "ok" and he said it didn't make a difference in my legs only my breathing. So I guess I need to work on my breathing at faster paces.

So seriously, maybe I just do better at shorter intervals on the track. Probably means my endurance is not so good at higher speeds...but I can work on that.

2. The name change a couple of you mentioned? If you mean the title of my blog, I changed that months ago. Not sure. Hmm. Has that evil goblin moved from my treadmill to my computer?

3. After a month of working full time, I'm not sure I like it. I miss terribly being at home with my boys. I don't like feeling rushed in the evenings to get home and get dinner done so I can be with them before bed. And in the morning I only get the groggy headed boys that can barely recognize that they are out of bed before mommy drops them off. I'm sure this will get easier, it's only been a month. Being a grown up sucks.

Better late than never

Pictures from our trip to the zoo with Grandma, Nina and cousin Madison.

Ryan at the seal exhibit.

Brayden startled by the seal.

Ryan, Brayden and cousin Madison.

Ryan looking at the big kitty.

Ryan in the bee hive.

Brayden on the playground in the middle of the zoo.

running, water and too many kids

So I got a long run in this morning...well long for me (like 75 minutes) although after reading some of the other blogs out there with everyone training IM distance it felt trivial. But anyhow, it was a good run.

Since we've moved, the runs are on long, rolling hills in the country. So nice. I passed 3 or 4 horse farms, tons of cyclists and very few cars. I got "greeted" by 2 dogs twice, as I was running out and back but fortunately they stopped running after me once they realized I wasn't stopping at their drive way. But I have to say the best thing about this run was just being able to "be". I kept thinking about things from this week that made me happy and just couldn't help but smile during the run and it made things go by so quickly.

1. back to Tuesday night's track session from hell. I think I was not focused at all...so maybe that's why I couldn't hold a pace to save my life. The reason for my lack of focus, a little boy playing in the sprinklers that were watering the field inside the track. He was waiting for his dad to finish the track work out. At the start of my second mile I just head this loud "thud thud splish ssssssppppt." So I looked over and this kid had gotten about 6 inches away from one of the sprinklers and squatted his butt in front of the stream of water. It was so funny. He kept jumping around as it would turn trying to keep his butt in the water. He was soaked through. It just made me want to forget the running and go play. I kept thinking about when I was young and we had the "fan like" sprinklers that looked like an arch of water. We'd play games to see who could make it from point A to point B before the water hit them.

2. Thursday night as I sat on the trainer in the garage at 6:30 to start my bike session, the family across the street (with 9 kids) came into the cul-de-sac to play baseball. They do this frequently. They didn't have enough this night...only 3 per side. the other 3 were riding skate boards. So I heard one of them yell "Ghost man on third". Oh man! I remember that more vividly than the sprinkler playing. The youngest little girl was wearing a hot pink sun dress with fuchsia, light pink and yellow flower prints, no shoes, and her bright blond hair was a tangled mess. It was like staring in a mirror of a younger me. To swing the bat for her took an act of God, she was only 4 or 5 at most. But she could run like the dickens. They were playing with a tennis ball and had to throw it at the runners and hit them to get them out. I wanted to go out there and call "I'll be the all time pitcher" Loved watching them.

3. Still on Thursday night, one of the oldest boys got out this little motorcycle. It looked like it was built for a 3 year old it was so small. He started riding it up and down the road. One of the sister's skate boarding wanted to ride, so she climbed on back. Just then I heard their mom yell "NO! Get off of the back of that, there's not room for two. You going to get hurt." This mother is all of 5ft.2 and probably no more than 110 pounds soaking wet. Hard to believe 9 kids came out of that body. I digress. So the daughter gets off, the mother comes over and makes the brother get off, takes the helmet and then proceeds to put the helmet on and take the motorcycle for a ride herself! Nice I thought. Look at her enjoying it and having fun with her kids. She was laughing and running with them....being a kid herself.

So all these things were going through my mind again on my "long" run this morning. What I wouldn't give to be a child again. No worries, no fears, no boundaries, no expectations, no guilt, no shame only fun, food, friends, skate boards, ghost men on third and water in your butt.

What's in a run?

Pain:
Last Saturday was a 10k, which was preceded by 4 days of intestinal misfortune. It was painful and I went much slower than I wanted to but I finished with mild stomach cramps and only vomiting up stomach acid once at mile 5.

Joy:
Monday was a recovery run. Peaceful, back to normal intestinal function and the correct training pace.

Disappointment:
Tuesday was a track workout. Last time I did this was 2 weeks ago and it went well then. That work out was 10 x 800s. I only did 4.5 of them since I had already run that day. I was surprised at how easy it was. Then this past Tuesday I got a dose of reality. The workout was 5 x 1 mile. I did the first mile at just under 8 min. pace. Uh then I fell apart. It's not that every mile got slower, it was every LAP got slower. I had to change the workout to a mix of 800s and 1200s until I got 5 miles in. It was horrible. Was I just lucky 2 weeks ago, am I just that bad with my endurance/speed or are track workouts really that hard?

Fun:
Today I ran for the sake of running. No watch to keep up with my splits. No "must push it" attitude. I slowed when I felt the need, I picked it up and dug deep when I got the motivation. I didn't think of anything other than the cold humid air combined with the drizzling rain hitting my face. Sure I probably didn't go very fast, but I had fun for the first run in a long time. And I dislike running the most of the 3 disciplines so that's saying a lot.

Accomplishment:
Maybe this Saturday's long run will bring good accomplishments for my time and distance again. If it weren't for needing to make sure I get a set amount of time in I would consider not wearing my watch then either. It was nice not being tied to that evil contraption.

By popular demand...

here's another one:

Getting ready for bed tonight...
"Arms up buddy...shirt off. Go pee pee please."
"Um okay mom. Watch this! It's working" (translation - The pee is flowing into the potty)
"Good job. Now let's wash your hands and brush your teeth."
"Um Okie dokie smokie."

I keep waiting for him to come out of the bathroom. As I peer around the corner he's standing on the foot stool admiring his cute little face in the mirror. Making faces at himself, rubbing his chest.

"Um, mommy...these are my nipples. Why do I have little nipples?"
"because you are little."
"No, I'm a big boy."
"you are a big boy, but you are still growing and as you grow even bigger, so will your nipples."
"Um, ok. "

He leans his head downward toward his chest and whispers something while rubbing his nipples some more.

"ryan are you ready for bed now?"
"um yeah mom. My nipples are ready for bed too. I told them they will be big boy nipples some day."

Staying Hydrated

This past weekend, Ryan saw the dead worms on the drive way:

"Mommy, you see those worms."
"yeah buddy"
"Mommy, I want to play with those worms"
"I don't think they can play."
"What's wrong with those worms, mommy?"
"Buddy they are just a little dry. They need water to be able to move and crawl back to the dirt."
"oh. Mommy, I know. Let's go get them a swimming pool. Then they can swim and crawl back to the dirt."
"That's a good idea Ryan but I think they're a little to dehydrated at this point."
"Yeah, you're right mom. Dehydrated."

If it were only as simple as getting them a pool, I could keep him from going through this conversation every time we go out to the car. When it rained the other day he told me "It's raining and the worms can get wet now mommy, let's go play with them."

I think I just need to go sweep them into the grass.

When I'm alone

and left to my own devices, I can really do some pretty ridiculous things.

Today for example, I successfully mowed the lawn and did yard work at 9:30 am with both boys outside and the two dogs. (more on that in a minute). It was actually very calm and under control surprisingly enough. Ryan and Brayden played on the swing set and in the club house while I was in the back yard mowing. Then when I had to move to the front yard, Ryan went inside and got both bubble mowers and gave one to Brayden and said "Come on baby, we got to help mommy get this grass mowed." So they followed behind me as I mowed...and behind them Bowden and Bella...we had a Gautreau mow train going.

They even helped me pull weeds and sweep up. Although their weed pulling involved some pansies and their sweeping more so just moved the dirt all over the place instead of getting it in one spot, but whatever; they were helping and being very good.

Then we had lunch and quiet time. Their quiet time was my recovery brick session. Then I decided that I still had time while they were sleeping to try and re-arrange all the furniture downstairs just to see what the different sofa sets would look like in different rooms of the house. Uh, when two 6ft.5, 250 pound men have to move the stuff in...how the heck did I think I was going to rearrange it on my own. Simple, I'm super woman. Or so I think sometimes. Needless to say I moved 2 sofas, called Tim to say "Please tell me to stop" and he did, so I did. I put the sofas back then got the kids up.

Next was a little play time which mostly consisted of Ryan and Brayden "racing like mommy", then an early dinner. I put FSU jerseys on both boys, threw my FSU shirt on and headed to Chik-fil-A. They were doing a Labor day special where you wear your teams shirt and you get a free sandwich. So we played at the indoor place because it was raining and ate free chicken.

Fast forward to after the boys are asleep and what am I doing? Rearranging/cleaning the garage, cleaning the back porch and laundry. What is wrong with me. I need to go to bed already.

Before I forget. Bella is our new dog. After 3.5 years of hints, whispers, nagging and innuendos, Tim finally convinced me that we needed another dog for Bowden. So last Monday we took Ryan to the Wake County Animal Shelter and got Bella. She's a 4 year old lab mix. Other than having a few too many pounds on her, she's a great dog and the transition has been pretty seamless. She gets along great with the boys and Bowden and is very lovable. She absolutely loves to play fetch and constantly walks around with either a tennis ball or bone in her mouth, with her tongue hanging out of the other side.

Catching up

So I've been so busy lately.

Thursday night was NCAA football season kickoff and my Alma mater was the first game of the season: NCSU vs. South Carolina. Tim got us tickets to watch the game, 20 yard line and pretty close to the field. We even had cushy seats on the bleachers for us...it was nice. We got burgers and cheddar brats and did a little tailgating before the game. Tim was the one that went to get the supplies, but forgot plates and silverware. I was going to use the box top that the little grill he bought came in to flip the burgers but he asked some people beside us for supplies. I felt like an amateur tailgater. Sitting there watching the burgers sizzle and realizing we had no way to get them.

Friday I somehow got volunteered by my manager to bring cases home for the weekend and work. Not sure how I got roped into that, I'm one of three of us on my team at work with a laptop so it's inevitable that I'll get dumped on occasionally. But holy wow, the first week I'm back full time and a holiday weekend at that. Thanks team, no really I mean it.

Saturday I got a great long run in and then we took the boys to Monkey Joes. Doesn't seem like a lot but when I added some case work in, it was a long day. I tried to stay awake and watch football with Tim but by the time the good game (LSU vs. Washington) started I had been asleep for at least 2 hours. Sorry Tim.

That brings me to today. This morning I got up to start my long ride, I needed to get about 2.5 hours so I was out of the house by 7:15. My legs were pretty heavy so steady pace was the way to go. I felt decent during the ride and then it happened...again making me feel like an amateur. The only time I had to stop on my ride was crossing a major road (Highway 64) on 751 Hwy. I always clip out with my left foot when I stop. As I had done this and was just starting to slow down, foot off the pedal, a car speeds by me. I didn't hear the car at all. It was one of those electric cars I guess. I usually hear the cars, but not this one. It scared the living daylights out of me. They had not moved over at all and were only a few inches from me as they pulled in front of me to get in the right turning lane. I jerked as a reflex and couldn't get my right foot un-clipped in time. So to cushion my fall, like an idiot, I put my hands out. I only got a little scape on my knee, a small cut and raspberry on my thigh from my chain and little scuff marks on the heel of both hands from bracing myself.

I kind of fault myself for the fall as much as I do the driver. Sure they could have moved over more to give me more room. But dang, I'm never that skittish on the bike when other vehicles pass me. I'm typically unphased and can stay steady. Not today. I was worn out. When I got up from the pavement, my knees almost buckled. No, the car didn't stop, but I didn't expect them to, they seemed rushed. When I got home it was just over 2.5 hours of riding but my wrist and hand hurt from trying to break my fall. Still a great day of training.

To top it all off, I'm single again for the remainder of the weekend. Tim found somebody to get a FSU ticket from, somebody to ride to FL with and an old co-worker to stay with when he gets there. So he's living up his college football dream of going back to Doak Campbell Stadium to see his Seminoles play Miami tomorrow. I hope they can kick some hurricane booty since my wolfpack mucked it up on Thursday.

Things I will miss

So I started work back full time this week. A necessary evil for moving to a bigger house. Maybe I can convince Tim that when we pay the cars off I can go part-time again???? Just a thought.

So here's what I'm going to miss:
1. Monday/Friday wake up from Ryan hopping into bed and cuddling up to me saying "mommy can we cuddle and watch pinky dinky doo?"
2. Peeking into Brayden's bedroom to see him lifting his shirt and saying to himself "bee bo" or belly button for those of you who might not have read Sandra Boyton's books.
3. All day PJ fest with pancakes for breakfast, lunch and dinner!
4. Playing "Not a box".
5. Racing dump trucks with Brayden in the back of them.
6. Wrestling.
7. Taking a nap with my boys.
8. Watching Brayden make the "where did it go" sign while saying "Ah???" every time Ryan walks out of the room.
9. Playing "tag your it" with Ryan
10. Seeing the boys smile and light up when Tim comes home.

Ryan's 3 year old mind

Ryan had his 3 year check up today and I couldn't go so Tim took him. The phone call update went like this:

Tim: "He is 3ft. 4 1/4 inches and weighed 36 lbs. They gave him the flu mist shot. The doctor checked his belly, nose, ears, mouth and then told Ryan he had to check his "privates"."

Doctor: "Can you take your pants down so I can check your privates." He did his thing then "Okay I'm done checking your privates now."

Ryan: "No silly, that's my penis."
Doctor: "He just called me silly."
Tim:" Yes he did."

Notice there was no mention about the proper terminology he said for "his privates".

I love my son.