Return to Running

Thanks to my stubbornness and insistence upon working out up until the day I delivered, I only had to take a two-week hiatus from weight training. I held out until 4 weeks for running, just to be safe. I've pretty much picked up where I left off, with a 6 workout/week schedule that I'm trying to turn into 7. 3 days of running, 3 days of weights, and I really need a 4th weight day in there. Not sure how I'm going to make that work, since I like having one day completely off and I don't want to wedge a two-workout day in there.

The next race on my horizon is the Cincinnati Half Marathon, which is coming up in October. I briefly thought about training for a fall full, but I didn't know how I'd be feeling (strong!), didn't know how ramping up the mileage would affect my milk supply (it hasn't!) and didn't know if I'd be able to swing traveling a few hours from home and a motel stay (probably not). I settled on trying to PR in the half, instead. I ran the Heart Half in 1:51 March 2012. That's my current half marathon PR. Right now I'm *kind of * training to run a 1:45 half, but I honestly don't know if I'll be able to pull it off. My body isn't used to running as fast as it was last summer, and I don't know that 4.5 months is quite enough time for me to get back to where I was before. I know it's possible, but I'm not exactly an elite athlete. I still have kids to take care of, a house to manage, and a job to do, so 4 hour training days aren't a regular part of my life. I'm sure as hell going to try, though!

The "track" repeats are getting easier as the weeks go by, but I'm still challenged by a 6:55/mile. My "long" runs have been maxed out at 10 so far. There's not another 20:xx 5K in my immediate future, that's for sure :)

But I'll get there. Soon.

Parenting Truth



Em is a huge fan. Charlie was an even bigger fan, back in his day. <--- see what I did there?

Pump N' Grind

There are few things weirder than going topless in the office.

Granted, I'm in a closet-like workspace with a lock on the door, but still, topless. Weeeeeeeeeeeird.

Breastfeeding was been a big "thing" for me while I was pregnant. I had all kinds of issues with Charlie - bad latch, lazy eater, sleepy baby, weight loss - the end result of which was me being 100% chained to the pump. I still provided him with a full year of breastmilk, which I file away as a great personal accomplishment. This time I wanted things to be different! And, so far, they are. I would EP again for Em in a heartbeat, but it's so much easier this time. I can just grab her and go - no need to worry about dragging the pump along, finding time to fit in enough pumping sessions to maintain my supply, finding a relatively private space to plug in (pumping isn't something I'd want to expose the general public to). I can just pop out the boob and pop on the baby. It's wonderful!

But the pumping at work part? That, I could do without. The walls are thin here. I think that's one of the top 3 worst parts about working motherhood.