Check In

The holiday season is here- busy, busy, busy!!  Time is moving so quickly I can hardly keep up!  I have a to-do list a mile long, and when I knock one thing off, three more take its place.   I keep meaning to blog, I swear!  I am still doing the normal- mommy, wife, work, and training. 

It is getting cold here.  20s and 30s coming up...which to us Southerners is cold.  Looks like most of my training will be moving indoors.  And guess who ran 90 minutes on the treadmill today?  That was not a typo.  90.  The longest run I have ever done on a treadmill. 

Speaking of cold, it sure is fun to snuggle with my little sweetheart when I go to the grocery store.  We have been having so much fun lately just getting in the sling and going out. 

Dave and I changed up our nighttime routine a smidge (as evidenced by my sweet, but tired child above) so we could go on a family date tonight.  Family life is rocking on.    :)

xo

Motivation Returning

I am getting the itch to train and race again.  This is great news!  I have tried to be patient in letting it come back to me, and I am now welcoming it with open arms.  I am looking forward to my workouts and plotting how to do more.  After all of this time off, it feels wonderful to have some true motivation return.

Isla is still nursing every two hours....and yup, that includes the nighttime too.  I give myself a gold star for holding up with the lack of sleep.  Dave has a long work day, and this will never change.  I am tired, and it is tough, but I am figuring it out and having fun.  I find that I am getting a little more creative with fitting in training and it doesn't seem as stressful as it did a month ago.  Every month I am doing a little bit better.  I still have such a long way to go fitness-wise to even get to the starting line of a race, but I am grateful for every little training session I complete.  Just doing the work every day will get me there.

Hmmmm...so what next?  I have started to make my "wish list" for racing, and we will see what happens!  

On the home front:
Isla still only naps about 25 minutes.  If I hold her, I can eek out an hour, but then I can't do anything during that time.  We are starting to take some naps in the crib just to get her use to it as a sleeping space.  (She normally sleeps in the co-sleeper, in my arms, or tucked in bed with me).  Today she took a small nap in the crib, and then I heard her playing.  I walked in to see her eating her pictures.  I guess those black and white brain stimulation patterns I have in her crib work after all, although someone needs to tell her we don't eat animal meat around here. 

She is now loving to blow raspberries and taste her feet.  She has also found fascination in the dogs and is constantly laughing at them or trying to grab their fur.  We are starting to have lots of fun over here.  :)

xo

"Stuff" For the Week

Some good stuff to occupy your week:

• Another great podcast by Jen and Liz.  Check it out!

• There is nothing for me to say but simply....WOW!  2:52 marathon by our friend and running stud Angela Kidd on a hilly course.  

• Smashfest Queen is going to make some team look really sharp next year.  If you want it to be your team, enter here.

• Another good interview with Dirk Bockel.  He discussion on really enjoying and sampling all of the races out there in the world resonates with me.  Challenge Roth is absolutely on my to-do list.  

• Non-triathlon related, but Dogs 2nd Chance could really use some donations to keep their rescue alive.  This is the organization that helped me to rescue Alton.  I can't thank them enough.  If you are in the charitable mood, send a few dollars their way in thanks from Damie and Alton.   

We are surviving and sometimes thriving over here.  I have finally found the carriers that work for Isla and me:  the pouch sling, the ring sling, and the ergo side carrying position.  What didn't work (As of today- it is ever changing) was the Moby, the Sleepy Wrap, and the Baby Bjorn.  So, if you are getting a carrier for your baby, make sure to try a few out before you commit.

My big parenting goal this week is to get all of the cloth diapers in rotation so we are really only using disposables at daycare but cloth the rest of the time.  Right now we are at about 50%, and I know we can do better.  Exciting stuff, I know, but I am on a mission to make our lifestyle more consistent with what I feel in my heart for protecting the earth. 

My training goal?  To just get the workouts in.  :)