Who has time for this??

Blog? Oh that's right, once upon a time I blogged with a bit more regularity. My excuse? There is the baby who is up like clockwork at 5:30am, really 4:30 but I refuse to go in that early. I lay there and pretend to sleep until she threatens to wake up the boy then I scoot as fast as possible to scoop her up and silence the alarm. Then there is the boy. Oh the boy. Lets just say that nursery school starts in 2 weeks and it can't come soon enough. I love him, I really do, but we need some space...time to miss each other. Joking aside, life is a whirlwind. I can't tell you if I'm coming or going. Every week starts and I wonder how we will survive and then before I know it we are celebrating suriving yet another week. My sense is this is life now and we just have to get used to it. Running? Yes, I'm running. It varies week to week, no training plan but I aim for 3 week day runs and usually hit them all with distances in the 4-6 mile range. Add to that a weekend "long run" which has been anything btw 5-7 miles. I should go longer but need beach season to end. Um, also we are owed a round of applause. Not only am I runing with pretty good regularity but Joe is getting out there as well. Yes, you read it right...2 kids and we are both running! Difficult feat but we are pleased with some small tangible baby steps. What's that? When am I going to come up with a training plan for that spring marathon I keep hinting about? Patience please, I need to get in a few 10 milers before I feel like I can commit. Yoga is going strong, 3ish classes a week. 2 weeks before that training takes over my life and I think I'm underestimating the impact it will have. Ignorance is bliss right? Ran 3.5 miles today

200 YTT...here goes nothing

I'm gearing up for my 200 hour teacher training program at Wayland Square Power Yoga. I feel like this has been something on the to do list for a number of years and the fact that it's finally going to come to fruition is a little wild. There have been any number of reasons why I didn't do it sooner and the story as to how I ended up with this program is one for another day. Regardless, here I sit with a month to go and a world of doubts. I mean really, I signed up for a program that requires my total attention 8 full weekends over 14 weeks while trying to manage 2 small kids?? We are the definition of a hot mess at our house, all of us! So then why am I doing this? For the last year and a half I've been introducing yoga to kids and love it. This certification will allow me to continue with this work and also expand to working adults and older adolescents. Going in and introducing kids who have never experienced yoga and watching it click for them is something else. Listening to them tell me that they taught their parents and siblings the breathing exercises is really what this is all about. Seeing kids develop a healthy sense of self and grow in confidence week to week gives me a sense of fulfillment that is hard to find elsewhere in the professional world. Most importantly I'm at a crazy time in my own life. I need yoga now more than ever, the quiet, the focus, the clarity, all of it. So I can't do handstand and my sandskrit pronunciation is laughable at best but yoga is about expanding personal boundaries and testing limits so here goes nothing.

Save the Bay Recap and what's next

Fail on my part, Save the Bay was over a week ago now and I've been absent. No worries! It was amazing, great event. One that is already penciled in for a repeat performance next year. So it's hard to recap a swim event, unlike running once you get swimming things zone out. Morning of was nothing but laughs, ball busting, and photo-ops with friends. No nerves, just smiles all around. I knew I had put in the work, joking aside there was no question that the day would go without issue. Hardest part was at start of swim trying to hook up with my trusty kayaker. Once we found each other, or lets be honest she found me (I had given up and was ready to bandit with someone else's kayak) I just started to swim. The water was like glass, easy breezy. Yes there were jellies, yes there were other creepie-crawlies and they only made me swim faster. I started to get cranky about 3/4 of the way through and thankfully that's when Melissa started to get more excited. With running you get cranky and slow your pace maybe walk a bit, with this I would sputter a bit and just keep swimming. Nothing else was going to get me out of there. Official time was 1:11:03, just 1 minute over my estimated time. Forgot my garmin, but a friend clocked in at 1.9 miles so who knows how far I actually went. This might go down in the books as an annual event. I've been a bit bummed ever since finishing, it was one of those events where I really loved not only the lead up to but the day itself. So what is next? Too be honest I'm not sure. Had toyed around with a spring marathon but not sure I want to go there just yet. I'm running 3-4 times a week and never more than 6 and having a good time with it. I've been accepted to a yoga teacher training program and that starts in Sept!!! Every time I think about this I get excited and queasy all at once, it's going to be wild! I have to get my personal practice in gear, both at home and in the studio. So far doing well with 2-3 classes a week, the home practice is a work in progress. More on the yoga in another post, I have a lot to say and am still formulating it all. I don't know if I can do that and marathon training, at least not without Joe threatening to leave me. And I will sheepishly admit to not swimming a stroke since Save the Bay, ah well, happens to the best of us! 1 hour of yoga today

Good for the soul

It's crunch time, a week and a half before I risk my life going across the bay in nothing but a wet suit. Nevermind the 399 other swimmers, my personal kayaker, and coastguard support. And yes, there is a god damned whale somewhere in the bay, just waiting to eat me. The pressure is on to get more comfortable in the open water. We hit up the pond last week and things went ok. Minor panic attack in the beginning but settled in. Not smooth enough that I could call it and stay in the pool, so this morning we headed back out to the pond. We had a newbie with us, who needed some reassurance. Did I complain about pond scum? What about the snapping turtles the size of my table with biting teeth and a taste for toes? Water snakes anyone? Nope. "An open water swim is good for the soul, easiest mile of your life." I lied through my friggin teeth. Misery loves company! So 5:30 rolled around and we quickly found ourselves on the beach. After some minor hesitation we headed off. No panic this time, I might as well embrace it. Soon the sun started to come up over the trees and it truly was beautiful. Peaceful. Newbie swam back and was amazed at how nice it was. She was right. It was quiet. You could get lost in your thoughts, zone out. Struggles with a sick kid faded away; stress about work and sleep deprivation all forgotten. We hit the first dock in no time at all and ventured out for the far buoy. Wrapped things up back on the beach, 1.5 miles in total. A needed dose of peacefulness before hitting the chaos that is my current life. Swam 1.5 miles

Just a regular run

To give you a taste of my current life, here's a run down of how today's run went. Planned start time of 9:30 in Bristol. 4 hours of sleep total and not straight lead to what can only be described as a very bad morning. 8:40 I begin to panic because there is no way I'm going to get everyone out of the house in time when my phone buzzes and my friend is going to be late. Start time pushed to 10. Spend the next 30 minutes getting my son to poop, my daughter in a clean diaper, do breakfast dishes, move laundry around and pack 15 snacks for the run. Yes, 15, my son is a diva. Finally make it into the car and to Bristol right on time. While we are waiting for my partner in crime to show up my son crawls up and down rocks by the water. Several times I'm sure this activity is going to end with a split chin but no blood actually happens. Partner in crime shows up about a half hour late, during which I realize that the sunscreen is at home and it's 85 degrees out and full sun. Great. It then takes us a good 10 minutes to get 3 kids locked and loaded and run to commence. Just when we get the kinks out and everyone, including the 80lb dog, is running in stride my daughter begins to wail. I try to ignore her in hopes that she'll suck her thumb, my son tries to tell her to stop crying and she only gets louder. We hit the turn around and then find a bench where I can nurse her. Lets not discuss that I have on 2 of my tightest fitting sports bras. Commence 20 minute intermission in the 4 mile run that is going to last all day. After the intermission everyone is happy, except the dog, he doesn't want to run anymore. Next 2 miles features my son begging to get out of the stroller and dog slowing to a walk. Finally 2 moms, 3 kids and 1 dog roll to a stop at the end of the bike path. Just a regular run between friends, and our kids. Ran 4 miles today.

It always feels so good

My working out has been totally derailed by the angry 4 month old who lives in our house. My compounded lack of sleep is becoming a major problem. I have no laughter in me around this subject and if one more god damned person sees her in public and comments on how happy she looks I might punch them. I told you, we have a major problem. That combined with the fact that my do.everything.with.mom.pal has relocated, it's been a rough week or so. I'm out there but missing some gumption. Nothing to do but get out and run. Finally last night the terror from upstairs took some pity on me and kept quiet most of the night. What do you do when your baby is still snoozing at 5am? That's right, you get out of bed and hit the pool for 5:30. Thank god for friends who are excited to get that "let's go, I'll be there" text. It's Thursday so the Mom Posse was missing but we got it done, torn swim cap and all. All my moaning about no sleep, I will say this, I'm feeling strong in the water. Less than a month to go for Save the Bay and I'm not too nervous. That day I'll be signing a different tune. This morning was strong, warm up, some kicking which could have gone on all day while we discussed dresses and then 100 pull/100 swim x5. I think my pal thought we were done after that and there was a brief moment where we thought about a cool down but instead went for 5 fast 50's to get the sweat factor up there. It was just what I needed. It's so easy to skip a morning workout and go later but there is nothing like that feeling after a hard am session. I'd love to say that I'll be there again tomorrow but I have no hope. Swam for 45 mins today

Lets catch up a bit.

Almost a month since my last post...sorry about that. Often I thought about posting but then you know how it goes. Regardless, I may not be blogging much but I'm on the workout train. Where to begin? Running? Yep, and it's feeling good. Have been attending track on Wednesday nights and have to say I've fallen back in love with track. It may have something do to with the fact that track gets me out of doing bedtime but the reasons don't matter. I almost came close to shelling out cash for a sitter so I could go this week but had no luck. Times on the track are good, 8 min pace for most everything and ending every workout with the last set closer to 7:30. Unlike the past where I'd go out too fast and then suck wind, I've found the sweet spot and am just enjoying it. Overall mileage is a bit all over the place. Good weeks I'm close to 20, other weeks closer to 10. At some point I need to get a bit more serious about distance but for now this works. Having trouble committing to any races, I think this is a reflection of the state of my life. Our home life has reached a level of chaos that I have trouble putting into words so to add a training plan to that would likely be futile. Swimming? 2 times a week with my Mom Posse. New recruits are joining weekly including a Dad and friend with no kids, might need to rename our group. I should go back to open water swims, even once a week would be helpful but just as I should get more serious about adding distance to my runs, I'm in no rush here. Overall feeling strong in the water, most workouts are around 2000 yards. I continue to hate circle swimming, although spend most mornings sharing a lane with at least 2 sometimes 3 others. Ugh, the things I put up with in an effort to get out of the house and enjoy uninterrupted adult conversation. Yoga? Yes to that as well. TT will start in September so I'm feeling the pressure to get stronger/more confident with my practice. Also feeling like this needs to bump either the running or swimming and be more of a focus but struggling with how to make that happen. It's all about balance. So that's where I'm at. Life with 2 kids is wild. Swam for 45 mins today