3K, Shmee Kay

Yep. Not gonna lie. I definitely have a case of the old lady legs today. This is due in part to my decision to neglect stretching before my run/walk/crawl yesterday. Okay, I didn't really crawl, but at the rate I was going, it probably looked as though I was standing still. I'm also thinking that maybe the fact that I haven't gone for a run in over two years might have a little bit to do with my creakiness. Just maybe. I did participate in a fun run (sooo not fun) last summer, for which I did absolutely no training, but I don't really think that counts. I thought that since Justin and I were only going to do the 3K distance, I didn't really need to train. I mean, I can so run a mile. I did, and I also got second place, which sounds good until I tell you that I ran a ten-minute mile. Yeah. I think that all of the good runners opted for the 5K. I was a little sore after that race too. Okay, a lot sore. I think I may have pulled my heel muscles? Maybe my Achilles tendon? I don't know. All I do know is that I was sore for at least a couple of weeks afterwards. I won't be doing that again.

But back to my run yesterday. I figured that since I was going to start off with a brisk walk for a couple of blocks that maybe that would be all the warm-up my legs would need. Apparently not. Overall though, I'm feeling pretty good about myself. I wasn't nearly as out of shape as I imagined I would be, and at one point during the run I almost felt good. Almost. I am definitely not having any heel issues this time, so I think the walking thing helped. I also just realized that yesterday was the first time I've really gone out for a run by myself. Whenever I've gone running before, it's been for a sport or I've gone with a friend. I guess this was the first time that I've been able to just go along at my own pace (read: oooold lady*). It was not entirely unpleasant is all I'm saying. I'm certainly not dreading my next run, although it may be a couple of days.

Tomorrow I am going swimming with a friend of mine who is training for the same triathlon as I am. We swam 1000 yards on Saturday, and hopefully we can surpass that tomorrow. I love swimming. I think that maybe the feeling I get while swimming is similar to a runner's high. After I reach a certain point in my swim, I feel like I could just keep swimming forever. It's so relaxing and so much less painful than running.

Anyway, here are my training stats so far, just in case you were dying to know:

Swimming: 2000 yds

Biking: 3 miles

Running: 2 miles

For the triathlon, which is a sprint distance, I have to be able to swim a half-mile (approximately 35 laps/875 yards), bike 12 miles, and run about 3.1 miles. At this point I think I could totally bust out the swimming and biking no problem, but I want to really improve my skills. When I bike (if the wind ever stops), I haul Audrey in a little trailer behind me, which adds a little bit of resistance (uh like 40 pounds). I figure that this can only help add to my speed when I bike without her. When I swim I've been really focusing on my technique so that I can be as efficient as possible. I think this will become important when I'm swimming in open water, which I've never done before...to tell you the truth, the only thing I'm really afraid of is running into a dead fish or some stray seaweed (lake weed?). I'm totally creeped out by underwater things, and I'm not even talking sharks or, you know, giant squid. Just seaweed. Eww...I'm cringing just thinking about it.

So, there's that.

* Phoebe: "Okay, lesson one: chords. Now, I don't know the actual names of the chords, umm, but I... I made up names for the way my hand looks while I'm doing them. So then, this is, "Bear Claw." Okay, umm, "Turkey Leg" and... "Ooold Lady."

--FRIENDS

And to make a boring post a little more interesting, here is Audrey and a glimpse into what my life is like on a daily basis. It's cute things like this that save her on a daily basis from being tossed out into the garden with the cat.

Ooh, You're as Cold as Ice

I just swam 1000 yards (40 laps) this evening with one of my good friends. It was my first time in the pool since September, and I felt just a little out of shape and creaky at first. The thing about swimming is that even though it may be hard at first, I always feel so relaxed and accomplished afterwards. Especially when I find out that I can still do the butterfly. Sort of.

I've wanted to participate in a triathlon for a couple of years now, but I've never quite gotten around to actually doing one. Oh, and just so you know, I'm not talking Ironman or anything, just a sprint distance. I'm not that crazy. Yet. So, this year I've decided that it's high time I actually make the time to train and enter a triathlon. I know that I can do it, I mean, the swimming will be fairly easy, as will the biking. It's the running that I dread. I hate running. I think there is only one time in my life that I have run more than a mile at a time. I need to be able to run three miles for the race. Boo.

So far I've biked once (3 miles, with chubby baby/trailer in tow) and swam once. Or swum. Swum is not a word...is it? Anyway, my lack of excercise has a little more to do with the weather around here than my lack of discipline. Or so I say...It really has been pretty cold lately; too cold for a toddler to ride in a bike trailer anyway. Here's hoping the weather will change so that I can start running. Ugh.

And that's all I have to say about that. I'm off to watch me some Johnny Depp (Nick of Time, circa 1995? It's decent so far, but what Johnny Depp film isn't?)

Update! With Pictures!

I'm feeling a little lazy today, so I'm going to update via bullet notes. I hope you don't mind. If you do, too bad, I'm using the bullets anyway.

• Each week I attend "Girl's Night" with various friends, and the theme this week was Rock Band. By rock band, I mean, like with actual instruments. The guitars even had strings and everything. I know that's a little old fashioned nowdays, what with that Wii those darned kids are always talking about, but anyway...we all got together and played instruments and it was really fun. My nephew, Toby, kept telling us to play "superloud!", which reminded me of some sort of Japanese cartoon. The only thing we were missing was a dirty, old garage. And a crazy drummer.
  

• On Saturday I packed up my hockey gear and headed to Wenatchee for the St. Hat-Trick's Day tournament. I was a little nervous because I'm fairly new to hockey and I was placed on a team with a bunch of people I'd never met in my life. Also, when I got there, the arena was inundated with senior citizens (and other people, I don't want to be an ageist or anything) and none of them were weilding hockey sticks. Apparently there was also a home show going on in the arena. When I finally figured out where to go, I met with my team and started warming up. It was nice to already be fairly warm to begin with since I'm used to playing in sub-freezing temperatures in Moses Lake (seriously, one night is was about -7 degrees with the wind chill). It was also great to be one of six women, SIX! There are two women who play in Moses Lake, and I am one of them. To wrap this up (because I'm even boring myself)--We lost all three games, but not by more than one or two points each. My teammates were really fun and encouraging even though I had never played in an actual game before. I almost scored about four times (I know, horsehoes, hand grenades) Our captain (and woman in charge of the women's team in Wenatchee) told me a made a "FANTASTIC" forward. That was nice.

• Audrey has been sick with some kind of phlemmy, coughy junk for over a week now, but save for one day when she had a fever, she's been pretty much the same energetic/spastic/tazmanian devil baby as usual. I decided to take her to the doctor yesterday though, because her cough was morphing into some kind of miniature smoker's cough that would wake her up at night. I'm pretty glad I took her in when I did because I found out that she has ear infections in both ears! Apparently they just started or something because she hadn't complained of an earache, or maybe she's some kind of super baby. I don't know. So, she's on antibiotics right now. I have to basically pin her to the floor and pry her mouth open to get her to take it, even though she actually does like the taste of it. Explain that one. I mean, once she tastes it, she'll take the whole dose. I guess she just has to keep with tradition and be a crabby patty about everything. Can't you just see the mischief in her eyes?
  

Sporting her new dress for St. Patrick's Day

• My little greenhouse is doing amazing well! I feel like some sort of gardener or something. Let's just ignore the fact that all I did was pour some water on some jiffy pots, plant some seeds, and...uh...yep, that about sums it up. Maybe all those episodes of Gardening with Ciscoe I watched while on bedrest payed off. He's a little goofy (read: A LOT), but he knows his stuff. Well, Ciscoe or not, mah seeds are goin' ta town, yo! It's just too bad I won't ever be able to transplant them since it's still like 37 degrees!

Snap Pea, which looks a little like a four-leaf clover if you squinch up your eyes...

So, that was my weekend. I guess it was better than sitting around watching the X-Files like I usually do. I don't know though, the fourth season is pretty intense. I mean, Scully and Moulder almost kissed once! Aah! (I know. Nerd.)

And one last picture because it makes me laugh really hard. All we did was ask her to bring her coat to us so we could go to the store...two boots, one coat, a scarf and a hat later, we were ready to go.

Dove, sweet dove...

Yesterday Justin and I went to Lowe's to look at various landscaping materials such as bricks, plants, bark, and that black plastic sheeting that is supposed to block out weeds (but it never does). I never thought that I would ever be someone who got excited by the Lawn and Garden section, but apparently things changed when I become an old, married, homeowner. Now it's a little bit like going into a really overpriced candy store and I sort of turn into this slack-jawed mouth breather. "Ooh, aren't those paint samples just delicious!" "Oh man, can I just a little bit of that granite counter top? Just a small piece? Pleeeeaaase?" "Drool...."

Anyway, we perused the various shades and shapes of brick edging while Audrey ran around like some sort of miniature landscaper oohing and aahing over each style of paving stone. We eventually made our way inside to browse some of the other departments. I've been trying to find a funky light fixture to replace the old ceiling fan in the dining room, but Lowe's is apparently not the place for funky. Also, Audrey wanted to rid the shelves of all light bulbs, so we started to head towards the register when it happened. I found the meaning of life in Lowe's.

So, Audrey has this scarf that my friend Megan crocheted (does anybody else notice that crocheted looks a little bit like 'crotchety'? I'm just saying) Lately, she's been obsessed with this scarf and she brings it to us every time we're getting ready to go somewhere. Naturally, she was wearing it yesterday while we were strolling around Lowe's. While we were browsing the lighting section, she had taken it off and dropped it, so I picked it up. As I handed it to her she said, "Tate too (thank you) Mommy!", and then seconds later, "I dove ooo (I love you!)". Yeah. She has never said 'I love you' before (or thank you, for that matter without being prompted). Wow. I told you. Meaning of life. In Lowe's.

I guess I won't be shipping her to Guatemala anytime soon after all.

Bite the Bullet

• Audrey has been talking up a storm lately. She actually answers me when I talk to her, which greatly reduces my insanity. Okay, maybe not greatly, but it's so nice not to have a one-sided conversation. Like tonight...

Me: Hey Audrey, do you want to go potty?

Audrey: YEAH! PODDY! Audey poddy!

Me: Okay, sit down on your potty chair.

Audrey: PODDY! Poddy dit (potty sit). Mommy dit. Audey poddy!

Me: Uh...yeah.

• She also does this new thing where she squints up her eyes and walks around saying, "Audey?? Aaaauuudeeeey??" which means, "Where's Audrey?", and then inevitably runs into the coffee table/couch/wall/cat/etc.
• Last year I bought this little "greenhouse" tray thing so that I could grow some vegetables for our garden. It worked surprisingly well (until the freaking cat opened it up and ate most of the sprouts), so we kept it. On Sunday I planted a few different kinds of seeds in it and put it next to one of the big windows in our house. I looked in it today (Tuesday!) and some of the seeds already sprouted! Maybe I'm the only one that finds that amazing, but seriously? Two days? I didn't even use a grow light! Ha! I wasn't even sure if the seeds were good since most of them were from last year and had been stashed somewhere in the garage through the sub-freezing winter we had this year. Now I just have to make sure it's cat/Audey proof. "Dat Mommy's!" (sticks chubby hand into seed pot). Yep. Thanks.
• On Saturday, I will be playing in the St. Hattrick's (Haha...Hat tricks...) Day hockey tournament in Wenatchee. I'm pretty sure I signed up just because of the name, because what kind of person willingly signs up to play THREE hockey games back to back? I'm sort of wondering whether it was such a good idea. I haven't skated in like two weeks, and well, haven't done anything resembling physical activity in a looong time. Unless you count raking. And surfing...the 'net...ha! HA!
• Okay, I did go biking with Audrey (she loves her little bike trailer) about a week ago, back when I thought the weather was getting warmer. Now it's back to the 29 degree teaser. Sun, blue skies...snowflakes? Wha? But anyway, biking felt great! I was actually surprised at how in shape I felt. I haven't really been doing anything since I stopped biking last fall, well, except ice skating. Maybe I'm in better shape than I thought. It's just a little depressing because last year I didn't have to do anything and the weight just kept coming off. That's probably the only thing I miss about breastfeeding. I was down to less than my pre-pregnancy size within six months, and even less during the summer. It was glorious! Now? Not so much. It's not that I've gained a lot of weight, I just feel jiggly. I hate that.
• Speaking of sizes, it wasn't until last summer that I found out that there is a difference in sizing between junior and women's (misses? I don't know what they're called) sizes. I mean, that sounds like a no-brainer, but I guess I thought the sizes just kept going up. Does that make sense? I knew that dress sizes were always different, but not clothes. Anyway, I found this out because my mother-in-law asked me to be the "model" for her Cabi show. Cabi is like designer clothing, but sold sort of like Pampered Chef, Tupperware, etc...what's that called? I don't know. A home show? So yeah, modeling. Not something that's ever been near a list of my aspirations, but I thought I'd give it a try. She asked me what size I wore so that the lady could bring the right clothes, and I told her size 6-8 depending on the fabric number of molecules in room weather pattern wonky size charting brand. By the way she said, "Really?" over the phone, I automatically assumed that she was implying that she thought I wore a bigger size (yep, I got that all out of one word). As it turns out, she thought just the opposite, and I was outfitted in a size FOUR! So, women's sizes make me feel good. Too bad the selection in the women's section in most stores feature, oh I don't know, cat's on sweaters?
• I'm going to do a triathlon this summer. Technically, it's called a sprint triathlon (because I'm soooo not running like 2390 miles. Or six. Whatever), but I'm finally going to do it. I've been meaning to for awhile...but yeah. Then a baby came out of my uterus. I want to do the Danskin in Seattle, but it fills up like the day after registration opens, so that's out for this year. The one I'm doing is in Chelan, which is good because I think I can handle swimming in the lake there. It's clear, and I'm fairly certain that no giant (octopi...octopuses?) cephalopods live there. The swimming part (1/2 mile or 33 pool laps) should be cake, the biking (12 miles, I think) should be somewhat easy (especially when I'm not pulling a chubby toddler behind me), but the running (3 miles)? I don't think I've ever run three miles in row like, ever. Seriously. I HATE running. So, we'll see.
• Is that enough? No? Okay, look! Pretty dress! This is the dress that I'm wearing for my best friend's wedding in June! I love it!

Well, I do believe that's enough random trivia for one night. Until next time...