Ack!

I'm feeling quite slug-like after not getting in a workout of any kind for the past two days. Wednesday night, I met up with my group to work on our school project. Last night, I and a group of co-workers were at A&M for a presentation to a group of students (and potential employees). Both nights, I didn't make it home until between 9 & 10 pm. Tonight, it's our company's "holiday" party (yes, we're being all politically correct) and tomorrow is school all day! Sunday is the kiddo's official b-day party with her friends, so maybe I can squeeze in a workout later then.

Honestly, I am just ready for this semester to be over. One class is nothing but high-schoolish busy work with posters and videos. The other class is taught by a tenured professor who can't remember what he said in the last class, gives us handouts with multiple errors, but follows-up with multiple revisions and is trying to get us through more chapters than humanly possible.

Two more weeks!

Merry Christmas & Happy Holidays!

Thanks to Runner Susan and Masthead Factory for my holiday masthead!

I managed to get in two very short workouts...that's about all I've time for. Hardly seems worth it, but I figure 20 good minutes is better than nothing. Oh, I've discovered that running and bad heartburn are not a good combination! I've actually done more walking than running, because everytime I start running, I feel the heartburn and feel like I'm about to lose my lunch! Yuck! And Tums do absolutely nothing for me. Fun!

Thanks to everyone for the bike advice. I think I will look a little more before making my decision. I totally *heart* the black and pink Specialized, but if it doesn't feel as good as the other bikes, I guess I will move on.

Workout Stats
Monday - 20 minutes, treadmill, 13:00 pace (serious heartburn)
Tuesday - 20 minutes, treadmill, 12:30 pace

She's 3!

Here are some of my favorite pics from the kiddo's 3rd birthday/Christmas photo session. We also took a few with her cousins as a gift for my mother-in-law....

?

Sorry, I couldn't think of a title for this post. After meeting with my group to discuss our group project yesterday, I came home to an empty house. Turns out that the in-laws took the kiddo to see her cousins and I had time to hop on the treadmill! I only did 30 minutes of intervals...had I known the in-laws wouldn't be back for 3 hours, I would have done more. Oh well! It did give me time to work a little on our group project.

By the way, I am having a hell of a time figuring out how to edit our video. We have Windows Movie Maker on our computer, but it isn't compatible with the files from our camcorder. I downloaded a free trial version of WinDVD Creator, but I can't seem to get it to do what I want it to do. If anyone out there in cyberland has any words of advice or tips, please let me know. I still have 3 weeks to figure out how to get this done!

Speaking of advice and tips, I am officially ready to buy a new bike (thanks to my bonus at work!). The hubby and I went shopping on Tuesday of last week and I am having the hardest time trying to decide what to do! Do I get an entry-level, but still good bike (i.e. Trek 1.2/1000, Specialized Dolce, Cannondale Synapse 6)???? Or, do I go a step up for a bike with better components like a better rear derailleur, some carbon fiber (like the front forks & seat post)? Or, do I keep looking? I know there are other brands out there that I still haven't seen yet.

My goal after having the baby is to get my swimming up to par and train for a few sprint-distance triathlons. However, I would also like to train for longer rides like the MS 150, Hotter than Hell, or something similar....in that case, I can imagine that the carbon fiber would be nice. Honestly, I don't want to go much higher price-wise than say the Specialized Dolce Elite. So far, I think I prefer the Trek to the Specialized, because it just felt more comfortable. I felt like I was really reaching on the Specialized...of course, I know that can be adjusted. Ugh, I am the world's worst when it comes to making these decisions!

Workout Stats
Treadmill - 30 minutes, 12:40 pace

Just Checking In

I can't believe it's been over a week since my last post! Jeeze! It's just been a crazy, but fun week.


I had to go to work on Monday...we were supposed to fly to our Dallas office in the AM and then the Austin office in the PM and then head home. However, there were radar or communication issues with both Dallas airports, so our flight was delayed for about an hour and a half. We made it to Dallas only a few minutes late for our meeting. The flight to Austin was cancelled due to mechanical issues, so we held that meeting via conference call in the airport. If I wasn't preggo, I would have held it from the airport bar with a Margarita in my hand.

Tuesday, I had the day off, so I actually took the kiddo to school and had a "me" day! I went for a ride on my bike, got a mani & a pedi, then went to see American Gangster before picking up the kiddo from school. American Gangster was awesome by the way! Violent, of course, but awesome performances from both Denzel Washington and Russell Crowe.

Wednesday, after a routine dr appointment, the kiddo and I headed to The Children's Museum for a couple of hours of fun. Next, I surprised the hubby with a suite at a hotel downtown for our Anniversary.

Thursday, the parental units brought the kiddo up to the hotel in time to watch the Thanksgiving Day Parade from the 2nd story window. Next we headed to my parent's house for Thanksgiving Day dinner.

I spent Friday cleaning the house and grocery shopping to get ready for the in-laws and other family members to come over on Saturday to celebrate the kiddos b-day. And of course, I watched the A&M/t.u. game. Gig'em!

Saturday was the kiddo's b-day and she made she we were all aware of it. LOL! We had a small gathering of family for burgers and cake. She had a stack of presents that you wouldn't believe (courtesy of the Grandparents)! Between her V-Smile gaming system and Star Station Entertainment System, we may never be able to watch our TV again! She also received a toddler-friendly digital camera and a new bike. She still has a birthday party with all her school friends next weekend at Gymboree....sigh!

I have pictures from the weekend, so I'll try to post a few soon.

Have a great week!

Fake-Out

The kiddo always does this to me...

We've read the books, sung the lullabies, she's drifted off too sleep (I think). Then, I get up and begin to walk to the door and I hear, "MOMMY!". Sometimes, I actually make it out the door before hearing that. Ugh! It's the fake-out. The "you think I'm in a deep sleep, but I'm really not" thing.

Finally, she's really asleep! Now I can hit the treadmill while watching a little "Dirty Sexy Money" and then hitting the books for awhile. I think I've finally moved past the "I must go to sleep by 8:30 pm thing"! At least I hope so, it's wrecking my study habits.

So annoying...

Okay, here it goes...a work-related post. (GASP!)

The only thing that drives me crazy about my job is that in HR, you're constantly trying to make/keep employees happy. You know that old saying..."you can't make everyone happy"...or, the one that goes something like, "you can make everyone happy some of the time, but you can't make everyone happy all of the time". It's so freaking true! I like my job, but seriously, I cannot make everyone happy all the time. Get over yourselves people. Really!

Short Update

Not too much to report today...I started hitting the books again for my Finance class. I have to admit that after all the studying and preparation for the mid-term only to get a mediocre grade, I was burnt out. I didn't open my book at all over the past two weeks. (I'll admit, not the best way to make a better grade on the final!) I did have to work with my group on another presentation for my Int'l Management class, but that's about all I did. Next, we get to make a video in that class. Sounds like a fun assignment, but no one in my group has any clue how to edit a video. If anyone out there has any tips or knows someone who can help, please let me know!!! :-)

I managed another 30 minutes on the dreadmill this morning doing embarrassingly slow intervals. But, it felt like a 1/2 way decent workout.

Workout Stats
Treadmill, 30 minutes, 2/2 intervals, ~12:40 pace

Whew!

Talk about a long day!

I was up at 5 am to get out to the HMSA 25K for my volunteer duties. Right after parking, I saw speedy Steve, Jake and a couple of their friends in the parking lot. I made my way over to the Wortham and was greeted by what sounded like thousands of chirping birds...that made me a little nervous, as I really didn't want to end up with a nice surprise on my head. LOL! After getting the run down on how the relay area worked and my duties for the morning, I headed over to the club tents to looks for familiar faces. I ran into several of my Houston Fit buds - Fred, Rebecca, Bob, Gaye among many others. Finally, it was time for the race to start. I headed to where all the runners were gathering and waited for the gun. After all the runners passed, I ran into June and chatted for a few minutes before heading to the port-a-cans before my volunteer duties started.

I have to say that since I've never participated in a relay, it was interesting to see how everything works. We had a volunteer out on the course who would radio in the bib numbers of relayers, so that we could notify the next runner that they needed to start getting ready for the hand-off. For the 1st hour or so, my job was just to direct relayers to the relay area. During that time, I finally met Barbara!!! It was great to meet you and chat for a little while! Next I had the radio, waited for bib numbers to be called and notified runners that their teammates were on their way. Since there was a lag between runners, the morning did seem to go much slower than when I was calling out splits at the 1/2 marathon. But, I was able to pass the time by cheering...which was something that was difficult to do while calling splits. Congrats to everyone who ran yesterday and finished. It was hot as heck out there, so kudos for getting it done! It was definitely one race I was actually happy to not be running. As I was leaving, I ran into Pony...it was great talking to you!!!

After the race, my parents, the kiddo and I headed to the Veteran's Day Parade. It was a great event and I was happy to see that so many people attended. My mom and I went to the parade a few years ago and the turnout was really disappointing. My favorite part was the helicopter flyover and then the F-16 flyover. It was amazing to see the helicopters flying so low between the downtown skyscrapers! The kiddo had a great time waving at all the soldiers, hearing the marching bands and waving her flag.

Next, we headed to Party City and Arne's to get all the goodies for the kiddo's upcoming birthday party. I was disappointed that Party City did not have any Wiggles stuff (her choice for the party), so as we headed to Arne's I asked the kiddo what she would want if the next party store didn't have any Wiggles decorations. She shrugged and gave me an "I dunno". I asked her if she would like to pick something different - maybe Little Mermaid, Strawberry Shortcake, Cinderella..."or Sponge Bob?" she asked (I don't even know how she knows anything about Spongebob..school I guess!). After giving it a little thought, she said "I really do want Wiggles Mommy". So, I'm sure you can imagine how relieved I was that Arne's had a tiny section of Wiggles decorations! So, we bought Wiggles plates, hats, party favors, table cloths and a banner. Hooray...one thing to check off my list of things to do!

I don't know if it's a preggo-thing, or just the long day, but I was pooped by the time we made it home. I ended up going to bed around 9:00....for the 3rd day in a row! I did manage to squeeze in a little time on the treadmill this morning. I figured I better try to get back into the morning workout/study routine, since I can't seem to stay up past 9 pm. :-)

Workout Stats
Treadmill, 6 am, 25 minutes

Thank You Vets!

Happy Veteran's Day, especially to my favorite Vet of them all - my Dad!!!

Craptastic to Terrific

No workout last night! I felt completely craptastic yesterday - headache, achey, sore throat. The kiddo had a fever for the 2nd night in a row and was feeling bad too, so I ended up letting her sleep in our bed and actually went to bed at the same time (8:30 pm). Nothing like almost 10 hours of sleep to make you feel much better. Terrific actually!

Viv, I am also glad to find that other 30-sometings watch The Hills. :-) Oh and the hair/heartburn-thing was totally true with the kiddo...unfortuntely, her hair seemed to stop growing until about 6 months ago. She had a short "mullet" for the longest time!

Good luck to everyone running the 25k this weekend! I have been assigned to the relay exchange area for my volunteer duties, so I hope to see some of you out there racing. I'll be cheering you on!

And thanks to everyone for the congrats. LOL, Holden...I can't remember if I already knew when you made that comment, but you were so right. :-)

Quickie Update

I just realized I haven't been posting any workout stats...not that there have been that many to post!

Workout Stats
Friday, 11/2
40 minutes, walking w/jog stroller @ Memorial Park followed by 30 minutes at the playground, followed by dinner at Beck's w/the kiddo (mmmm....Mediterranean salad!)

Sunday, 11/4
30 minutes, intervals w/jog stroller @ local park

Wednesday, 11/7
30 minutes, treadmill, intervals (watching The Hills!)

Some conclusions I've come to about this pregnancy....

I already have major heartburn...WTF? I didn't experience that until the last part of my last trimester with the kiddo. I mean, how can I get heartburn from drinking water?

I am already outgrowing my clothes....I didn't need maternity clothes until my 5th month the first time around. Luckily, a lot of my work clothes were a tad bit loose in the waist and I can wear them...as long as I don't have to button them. As for my jeans...forgetaboutit! I've already had to go buy a pair of maternity jeans. They look ridiculous, because they are obviously too big...but I refuse to buy larger regular jeans! It's like a way of telling myself that it would be okay to have to wear the larger size after having the baby. It's not okay!

Confession Time

Some folks out there might be wondering what going on with me and the sporadic posting. As if working full-time, being in grad school, having an almost-three-year-old and trying to workout on a consistent basis left much time for blogging. ;-) Since I've taken my blog private (which I am still stewing about), I don't think there are really many people visiting my blog on a regular basis....meaning, there may be no one out there wondering whats going on with the sporadic posting. Either way, it's time to come clean.

You probably know all about the lower back issues. They're still there. It's better, but it does hurt to run. Maybe not during the run, but it always comes back to haunt me sooner or later.

You know my crazy-ass schedule has made it more difficult to post. School is nuts and work is also crazy. I used to try to blog if I got to work early, or blog during lunch. Now, I work when I get here early and work through lunch. I'm enjoying both school and work, but having no time for me is not enjoyable.

There's one other thing. A thing that only a few of my fellow bloggers are privy to...







I'M PREGNANT!







Yep, that's right, yours truly is knocked up.

Due the 1st week of May 2008.

Is the timing great? Probably not, but you know what they say...there's never a perfect time. Of course, waiting until after grad school might have been more ideal. :-)

So, if you can do the math, you will know that I am in the glorious second trimester. Past the nausea that was MUCH worse than with the kiddo and almost past the tired feelings that I never once experienced with the kiddo. My close friends and family have known for a couple of months. My CRR team has also known for a couple of months. I felt that I owed them the truth...I didn't want them thinking I was just some flaky chic who dropped out of the race. But, I didn't tell anyone here at work until this week. Because of that, I was hesitant to post anything here...even if it is a private blog. You just never know.

Sooooo, this might explain...............

• Why I switched from 47 miles to 23 miles at the Tour de Pink.
• Why you haven't seen a report on a long run since this one (when I was 2 weeks preggo and didn't know it). That might explain why I thought those last few miles were so friggin tough!
• Why my race time at the Race for the Cure was nothing short of pathetic.
• Why I volunteered at the Houston 1/2 and will be volunteering again this weekend at the 25k...and not running either.
• Why I have not been pushing myself too much to run through the back pain...trust me, if I was not preggers and still training for the 1/2, I would be running with the help of some NAIDS
• Why, when you see my short "Treadmill, 30 minutes" workout stat, I don't give you a pace like I used to
• Why my posts have been so damn boring and sporadic and filled with more and more family stuff...I'm sure no one out there finds run/walking 2:2 intervals very exciting.

With my 1st pregnancy, I continued to run until sometime in my 5th month. Then, I realized when I looked at my overall pace (as I was huffing and puffing), that I was pretty close to my walking pace. That was when I decided that I might as well walk. LOL! So, I walked about 5 days a week through the rest of the time.

I was hoping to do the same this time around too. I thought about how fun it would be to post my times and paces as the months ticked by. How funny it would be to make the comparisons...as my butt grew wider and tummy larger, how much slower and slower I would get. But, I don't think things are going to workout that way. My primary concern has been getting my back better. I mean, can you imagine how much fun it would be to be carrying around an extra 20 lbs in the form of a bowling ball strapped to your gut with lower back pain??? Now that I can walk and sit without pain, the running without pain is not as important to me. I am still running, but like I said, it's slow, short intervals. The one time I did start to try ramping things up a bit more, I had a scare that resulted in me spending an entire day at Women's Hospital doing ultrasounds and exams. Probably not related to running, but it was not fun and made me realize that I am not invincible. It was an experience that I would not like to re-live.

So, here we are. The truth all out in the open. One warning...this blog will probably continue to be sporadic for awhile. I will probably be posting about all the craziness that goes along with preparing for another baby, in addition to complaints about my lack of running. It's your choice whether or not you want to read it. Whatever you decide, please don't be a complete stranger! :-)

Good for her!

Katie Holmes Runs NYC Marathon
14 hours ago
NEW YORK (AP) — Katie Holmes was among the tens of thousands of runners participating in Sunday's New York City Marathon, finishing the race in 5 hours, 29 minutes and 58 seconds.
Husband Tom Cruise and their daughter, Suri, were at the finish line to congratulate the actress, according to event officials.
Holmes had registered under an alias so she wouldn't draw too much attention to herself, event officials said, but her time was listed in the official results under her real name.
The 26.2-mile course travels through all five boroughs of the city, starting on Staten Island and finishing in Manhattan's Central Park. This year, 39,085 runners started the race.
Paula Radcliffe, of Great Britain, who had a baby just 9 months ago, won the women's race in 2 hours, 23 minutes, 9 seconds. Martin Lel of Kenya won the men's title in 2:09:04.
Holmes has said she has always liked to run, and took it up to help lose baby weight after giving birth to her daughter, who is now a year old.

Mommies Rule!

Okay, as if it wasn't exciting enough to watch Ryan Hall win the US Men's Olympic Trials yesterday, watching today's NYC Marathon was awesome! It was extremely close in both the Men and Women's races. And, the top two women's finishers, Paula Radcliffe and Gete Wami, are both moms! In fact, Radcliffe just had a baby in January! Amazing!