1-1 Part Deux

Well, apparently my cockiness about my legs being more in shape than I thought completely backfired.  I'm a hurtin' unit today.  My quadriceps on both legs just ache when I'm walking down the stairs especially; and trying to walk down the stairs while carrying Kyle is enough to make me wince.  Also, the muscle on my shin that starts under my knee and kind of wraps around the outside of my lower leg practically shudders whenever I flex my foot and pull my toes to the ceiling.  I obviously worked a group of muscles that don't get much action, and, surprisingly, I'm feeling really good about this pain.  It's the good kind of pain that I know is short-lived and will end up making my muscles stronger.

 

Believe it or not, I'm a little disappointed that my next run isn't until Monday.  I feel like I'm ready to go for another and challenge myself again.

 

Craig still hasn't a clue that I went out on Friday morning.  Not only does he sleep pretty deeply, but I think he figured I had an early drop-off on Friday and that was why I got up so early.  I'm the Queen of new-ideas-I-get-excited-about-and-never-follow-through-on so I want to get into a pretty good routine before letting him in on my dirty little secret.

 

Workout, health, and fitness aside, I absolutely loved being outside all by myself on Friday.  There was no stroller to push.  I never had to turn around to do a headcount and make sure everyone was following along.  It was me and a ton of birds and a lonely little bunny who I scared the crap out of when I dashed past his hiding place under a naked bush.  I know there's a fox family that lives in the neighbourhood, too, so I'm hoping I'll catch a glimpse of them one of these early mornings.  Add in the hawk that nabbed a terrified mole from the path about 100m in front of me and it was almost like the Circus at home... minus the screaming.

 

Run 1-2 will come on Monday.  Hopefully I'm not as sore on Tuesday as I am today.

1-1

I did it.

 

I went to bed early, set my alarm for 6AM, refused to repeatedly slam my hand on the snooze button, got dressed and went for my first run.  Ever.  The schedule I've chosen is from Run for Life.  This morning I did a brisk walk with my arms pumpin' for a good 5 minutes before I paused and stretched for a couple of minutes and then I started with running for 1 minute and speed walking for 2 minutes.  The first few cycles I felt like the 2 minutes of brisk walking was too long but by the 10th one I was still breathing really heavily by the end of my allotted walking time.  But I never cheated myself and I ran the whole minute; sometimes I'd make a goal of making it to the end of the path or 30 more strides before beginning the walking part.  I was exhausted when I got home but it was a really good kind of exhausted.  Strangely enough, while my legs felt a little weak for the first hour or so, it's my lungs that are still bothering me.  It's almost like I have a phlegm-y cold now because I have a terrible cough and some tightness in my chest.  I know it's from the run.  Maybe I'm clearing everything out?

 

I made certain to stretch very well before and after my run this morning so hopefully I won't feel much tomorrow in the way of muscle aches.  I walk about 1km each way every day to and from Shaun's school, twice, so a total of about 4km a day.  Mind you, that's at toddler pace since Ian walks beside the stroller but I think maybe my legs are in better shape than I had originally feared because they're not sore at all.  The morning will tell the whole story!  Shaun has an early hockey game tomorrow in a small town about 30 minutes from here so I have no chance to lay in bed and nurse my aching legs.

 

I actually feel really good about this new life choice.  I've had the experience before of starting too ambitiously and becoming completely discouraged after only one try.  I have two more runs (one on Monday and another on Wednesday) with this current run/walk timetable and then I move up to the next level.  I have them all marked out on the calendar so I can cross them off as I do them.  I'm excited to get this show on the road and completely surprised that I actually enjoyed myself this morning.  Now if I could only find my mp3 player...

Excuses

I am a professional at making up excuses for why I should/should not do something. Anything. And I'm a horrible procrastinator. Believe it - it's true. I am my own worst enemy.

I'm still hanging on to some 'baby weight' that I never lost after Ian was born. Then I got pregnant with Kyle: Excuse #1. Depression hit: Excuse #2. I was still breastfeeding: #3. Weight Watchers wasn't at a convenient time, I'm too tired, I don't have time to write down everything I eat, I eat on the go like most busy moms: #4, 5, 6, 7. Yadda, yadda, yadda. Have a problem? I have an excuse. I guarantee it.

I think I need a change of scenery. I've decided I'm going to try running. Seriously. It's worth a shot, I figure. I know I need to do something active beside chasing Ian in the grocery store and hauling laundry up and down the stairs. I turned 30 back at the beginning of March and I absolutely know I want/need to lose this baby weight. It's time. I went out and bought myself some pants and a sports bra tonight (because up until 2 weeks ago I was still wearing nursing bras even though I haven't nursed Kyle since November...) and I am committed to getting up early tomorrow to go for my first run. I haven't even looked at the weather because I don't want that to discourage me.

I am motivated and ready. Of course, I am still able to walk okay so I may change my tune tomorrow when my legs and butt are aching. I figure I have the weekend to recover before gettin' back at it on Monday again and I have Mondays off from home childcare so this may be the best time to start a new routine. I have printed off a chart of how to start from the bottom and work my way up to a full 30 minutes of running, 3 times a week, in about 9 weeks. That will take me to Canada Day, which doesn't seem that far away.

No more excuses

Walkin' Man

Kyle's walking everywhere now, but not because we were encouraging him.  In fact, every chance I had to put him back on his bum and discourage his desire to explore his world on his two feet instead of all-fours, I happily cashed in on.  Once Kyle discovered he could stand without holding on to anything for support, it was all over.  Within a couple of days he had taken his first few shaky steps and there was no discouraging anymore; only clapping and cheering that he had finally done it - through no help from us.

 

There has to be a moment in time when a baby decides that walking is easier than crawling.  But there's always a lot of difficulty in making that transition so I don't know why babies keep trying since crawling is decidedly easier in the beginning.  Food for thought.

 

When people would ask me if Kyle was walking yet at 14 months, they would usually react with surprise when I'd reply with, "no, thank goodness."  Developmentally, I knew he would walk eventually.  I was in no hurry to push him.  Partly because he's my last baby; partly because crawlers are a lot easier to keep up with; partly because a walking baby is no longer happy in the stroller/shopping cart/you name it; but mostly because something happens to children when they evolve from a 4-legged creature to a 2-legged:

 

They gain an attitude.

 

One day they're this delightful, smiley little creature in a chubby package who snuggles, keeps out of the cupboards and comes when you call.  The next day they're walking and all of a sudden they're screaming when breakfast doesn't come quickly enough, toilet paper is being dunked in toilets and they turn the other way and run (well, walk very quickly in Kyle's case) when you call.

 

In the last week, Kyle has dumped a dish of glue, spread a cup of applesauce into his hair, sucked on the toilet brush (twice!), tried to eat a penny, removed a massive clump of hair off of poor ol' Pokey's hind quarters, stuffed numerous dinky cars down the basement floor drain, ruined a CD-ROM for the Play Station, lost the letter D for the alphabet puzzle and broken a jar of pasta sauce by hitting it with a jar of pickles.

 

I'd like a Re-Do.

Technical Difficulties

Somehow, Javascript has been disabled (even though I have it enabled in every place I can find) so I can no longer post directly from blogger. 

 

I have figured out how to post directly from email, though, so I simply have to email myself a post and blogger takes care of the rest.

 

As my last post explained, there's been some illness here to say the least.  It's finally getting a little better but there has been no sympathy from me whatsoever.  Rough road.  Let's leave it at that.

 

I want to tell all about what the boys have been up to lately and Shaun's ball hockey and Kyle's new attitude now that he's walking, our trip to the US for shopping, and my discovery of my love language.  Lots to share!  I promise, I will be back very, very soon.

Man Cold

<div><div><div>I have just about had it with Craig's sitting-on-death's-door illnesses. We got into it a few weeks ago after some wierd virus spread through the house.  I think I blogged about it. Anyway, I was sick for, literally, 8 hours. I laid on the couch, skipped dinner, went to bed super early and sucked it up the next day when my family duties didn't disappear or get absorbed by someone else.  Craig, on the other hand, was sick for a week.  Seriously!  We all had the same illness and a grown man was the one who dragged his ass around the house the longest; whined and grunted and sputtered the longest; missed the most work/school and basically milked it for all it was worth.  I don't think he means to milk it, I just really think he's a total and complete wimp about the whole being sick thing.  And it completely pisses me off. Royally. </div><div> </div><div>I ended up bringing the boys to visit my parents on my own that day because Craig was sick (day 6). We stayed overnight and enjoyed a great visit. I got some advice from my Dad who is a great manager and negotiator and always seems to have the right thing to say. When I came back home I waited for a chance when neither Craig nor I was tired or irritated or busy (not an easy task) and simply said, "I felt really abandoned when you didn't come to my parents' with me. We had been planning this visit for weeks and then at the last minute I had to do it on my own. When I get sick I suck it up because there's no sense in wallowing in it. You need to do the same.  Get over it. You have the same illness I had so I know you're not any sicker than I was."</div><div> </div><div>He didn't say a word in response.  Not later that night, not the next morning, not again.  I could tell that what I said bothered him and was beginning to think that he finally realized what a baby he was being. Until today.</div><div> </div><div>Craig got up with the boys this morning since Saturday is my day to sleep in.  When I got up around 8:30 I took the Bigs outside to ride bikes and play around a little.  Craig eventually joined us and played a little road hockey with Shaun and Ian and we both chatted with the neighbours a fair bit. We were outside for a couple of hours.  When we came inside, all of a sudden he was coughing and rubbing his sinuses.  I asked Craig if he was excited to head to his Dad's place to watch the hockey game this afternoon.  His reply was that he wasn't excited for anything because he had a brutal sinus infection and his whole head felt like it was imploding.  He had to lay down and thus couldn't help me make lunch for the boys or do anything else.</div><div> </div><div>I ignored him, fed the boys and started preparing to leave the house for the afternoon with the kids.  Craig headed to our room - without telling me where he was going, which drives me completely NUTS!... ever heard of teamwork?!  We're a team so I need to know when you're going to be out of commission.  It's common courtesy!  </div><div> </div><div>Phew!  Okay, moving forward, Craig headed to our room.  I finished up lunch with the kids, got everyone cleaned up, tidied the kitchen, packed the diaper bag, loaded everyone in the van, checked in with Craig who told me he was still heading to his Dad's for the hockey game, and left. </div><div> </div><div>We were out the whole afternoon and only arrived back home for dinner.  Craig wasn't home yet.  When he finally walked in around 5:30 or so, he plopped his ass back on the couch because whatever sinus medication he had taken earlier had now worn off and he was back to feeling crappy.  Well, Princess, no sympathy from me.  I fed the kids their dinner and came down to the basement to hide out.  I can hear chaos ensuing upstairs and frankly I don't really care.  He's there, I'm here, he needs to suck it up for once.</div><div> </div><div>I'm so completely sick of this bull shit.  I already know I'm going to take FULL advantage of the very next cold I get.  This is ridiculous.</div><div> </div><div>I disabled comments so you don't feel you have to comfort me.  I just need someone to rescue me from this Princess!</div></div></div>