Hot Water

That's all it took to get the wallpaper down - HOT freaking WATER! Why didn't someone tell me to try this to begin with. I assumed that the hubby tried a few options before purchasing the chemical stuff, but you know what they say about ASSuming. :-)

So, the bathroom is done. The kitchen is painted...but, turns out I hate the paint DH picked out, so it's getting painted a different color today. Yeah, I'm picky.

We found 2 houses that we really, really, really like! One has everything I want in a house with the exception of no granite counters in the kitchen and funky vinyl flooring in the upstairs full bath...small things. But, the house is 10 years old. Not old by any means in house years...however, when looking at the other house (the BRAND SPANKING NEW, NEVER BEEN LIVED IN HOUSE), it's hard to not be a little bit in awe of the shiny newness. So, I have my list of pros and cons:

House #1 - Pros
- upgraded tile throughout the living area and kitchen
- new light fixtures that I actually like
- large house (approx. 400 sq feet larger than NEW house)
- large yard on corner with walking trail behind it (no back neighbors!)
- Huge deck in back - perfect for cookouts and parties
- Detached garage - something I prefer, but don't have to have
- Garage already has tons of shelves for storage built in
- ceiling fans and 2" blinds throughout
- great paint colors - we thought we'd have to re-do all of that
- several, mature trees & great landscaping
- has a formal dining, study, fireplace and the # of bedrooms I want (we can't seem to find a house with all that in our range)
- Quiet area of subdivision that we like, which has lots of amenities (pool, splash pad, playgrounds, good Elemetary school)

House #1 - Cons
- Formica counters in kitchen and funky backsplash
- Funky bathroom vinyl floor
- Carpet has a few stains (nothing major)
- House is a bit older than other house, so may have some maintenance needing to be done soon (new roof, hot water heater, A/C, etc.)
- Not THE section of the subdivision we wanted to live in, but still a good section

House #2 - Pros
- It's BRAND SPANKING NEW!
- Oversized lot (but still smaller than the house #1)
- Upgraded everything - tile downstairs, hard woods in the dining room, granite counters, awesome cabinets, etc.
- great paint colors
- pretty good landscaping
- has a formal dining, fireplace and the # of bedrooms I want (we can't seem to have a house with all that in our range)
- Quiet area of subdivision that we like that also has a new elementary school

House #2 - Cons
- It's 400 sq feet smaller than house #1
- No study!
- Subdivision is newer, but has fewer ammenities than the one where house #1 is located
- Attached garage (but I can live with that)
- Smaller lot than house #1 with back neighbors

Sooo, considering that the prices are the same (before bargaining)........which would you choose???

Ugh!

Two weeks ago, we finished installing the tile on the bathroom floor and tub area, as well as on the kitchen counters. Well, let me clarify, the tile guys finished...not me and the hubby. We leave that type of work to the professionals.

We did however decide to take down the wallpaper in both rooms, texture the walls and paint ourselves. It sounded easy enough, right?

I never in a million years would have thought that 2 weeks later, we'd still be working on these little tasks! Thank God the bathroom wallpaper was a bit easier to remove! The bathroom is almost done. Just need to touch up the hard to reach areas and paint the ceiling. Hallelujah!

On the other hand, the kitchen still has wallpaper. I really need to track the hours we have been working on this little project alone - at least 3 hours on Sat and 3 hours on Sunday, followed by 1 1/2 hours on Monday (since I didn't have class), at least an hour on Tuesday and again yesterday. Of course, this doesn't count the interruptions to help the kiddo out when she presses the wrong button on the computer, to press play for her dvd (she can't reach), etc. Our poor kiddo, she's watched more dvds this week and played more games on Playhouse Disney.com and Noggin.com this week than she has in her entire life combined. Not that she seems to mind. ;-) We only have a small section of wallpaper above the cabinets along one wall...it's not much, but I guesstimate that it will take about 5 hours to finish. Honestly, if I had known what a pain in the ass this was going to be, I would have said screw it and we would be selling the house "as-is".

I am so tired of scoring the walls with this:

Glopping this goo on the walls:

Then scraping with this:

Of course, since I'm baking a baby, the hubby insists that I wear this and this:

One the upside of all this, I may end up with some great arms from all that scraping! But, I've only been able to get on the treadmill once this week and that is driving me crazy!!!!!!

Spirit of the Marathon

It's finally here and for one night only! If you are interested in seeing the movie, go to www.fathomevents.com. I've been looking forward to seeing this flick since before I ran Chicago in 2006, so you know I'll be there!

Still here

Yeah, I'm still here. Still gettin' on the treadmill. I didn't get a chance to workout all weekend, because 1) school started and 2) who needs to workout when you're scraping wallpaper for 3 hours straight on both Saturday and Sunday?

I. hate. wallpaper.

Really.

Now, when the hubby and I are looking at older homes, we automatically rule out any that currently have wallpaper! :-) True story. And, the builder we both fell in love with decided to discontinue the special offer they had this month, so we're back to square one with the house hunting. That sucks. Royally.

In case you're really bored...

Here's the video we created for our International Business class...

http://www.onetruemedia.com/otm_site/view_shared?p=47a3761a2381dc36a52810&source=category&category_id=all

School has started, the kiddo will not fall asleep at a reasonable hour, I cannot get on the treadmill because of the last item, the house is a mess...

Can I just say

I. hate. wallpaper.

It's taking forever to remove it from our kitchen walls. At this rate, we will never be able to paint. Sigh. I completely hate our house being in disarray and just want to get all this work done already.

But, on another note the kitchen counters and bathroom tile look fabulous! The munchkin is doing well, although he (yes, he) is a bit on the large side (along with my butt). ;-) And, I believe the hubby and I found a home and neighborhood we both agree on...hallelujah!

Volunteer Duty

First, congrats to everyone who ran this weekend! Whether it was the 5k, the 1/2 marathon or the whole enchilada...way to go!!

Saturday
I made it to the GRB Saturday for my 10 am shift with the Media Relations/PR group. They're a great group and I had a great time. It was pretty slow by the time I arrived, so after making sure we had enough media packets, I ended up blowing up helium balloons for that night's pasta dinner for a couple of hours. We also went through training on what we would be doing on race day - for me that was tracking the male marathoners. I had a feeling that Saturday was the calm before the storm. I suspected that Sunday would be a frenzy of activity with the actual races and the press conferences. We did get a sneak peak at the cowboy hats that were presented to the winners. :-)


After my shift, I headed to the Expo for a look around. Last year, I wasn't completely sure I had made the right decision about switching to the 1/2. But, by the time I made it to the Expo, I was okay with the decision. Today was completely different. For the 1st time, the realization hit me that I wasn't participating in any race. That was a bit difficult for some reason. Seeing all the runners picking up their packets made that realization really hit home. For a second, I actually thought I was going to cry. Weird, I know. I'm blaming it on those crazy-ass pregnancy hormones!

Sunday
Sunday, I started out at 5:30 am at the corner of Commerce and LaBranch. It was dark and scary and no other volunteers were around yet, so I walked over to the next block where there were already two people. Our job was to just make sure that no one drove through the intersection once the streets had been blocked off for the race. Easy right??? This is crazy...after the cannons went off, we (the volunteers) were all looking toward the start line and could see the police cars slowly coming towards us. All of a sudden, this woman comes out of no where in her car! We had no idea how she got there, because she would have had to come through the intersection where the full marathoners were running. This lady goes on and on about how she just HAS to get to work and wants to know if she can cross "real quick". We were just looking at her like she was nuts...um hello lady, the race has started there are runners coming! She told the police officer, "You know, some of us actually have to work" and the police officer was all nice and replied, "Yes Ma'am, I understand, but I am sure all these people work too. They've been training very hard and this is their day." Turns out, she told the police at the other intersection that she had a medical emergency and was on the marathon medical team! Can you believe that? One other person tried to get through right as the 2nd wave started. He was going the wrong way on the one-way street. Crazy people!

Next, I headed over to the GRB to help out in with the PR group. The PR stuff was pretty interesting. The carefully planned out tasks we were assigned the day before got completely scratched. There was supposed to be someone on the trucks that lead the 1/2 and full marathoners with a radio updating us on what was happening. Then, we were supposed to blog race info on the marathon website...but we had technical difficulties getting the radios to work. So our updates were basically just repeating what was being shown on ABC. Here and there, we could wander over to the window and look down on the start line to see the finishers coming in. We also helped set up everything for the press conference after the race and got to see all the elite runners head over to the elite area. Occasionally, a reporter would want to interview a runner, so we would have to run over to that area and look for that person and bring them back to the media room. I had the honor of finding Jessica Armenteros-Word and walking with her to the media area...I have no doubt that she will once again be back at elite status soon! Umm, stupid me for suggesting we walk up the escalator to get upstairs. It was after the race, so I am sure she was exhausted. Doh!

Volunteering was fun and was exhausting at times, but in all honesty, I would much rather be out there running! ;-) I'll see you out there next year!

Good luck!

Well, the Expo has begun and marathon weekend here in Houston is underway. I can't not participate at all! That would be so not-me. After I had the kiddo back in November of '04, I had a friend who was running the 1/2 marathon for the 1st time in January '05. I met her in multiple spots along the course of the race and helped her run the race in. This year, I thought I would do something a little more "official" and volunteer to help out.

I'll be at the GRB from 10 am - 2 pm tomorrow helping out the PR/Media Relations group. When I signed up, I didn't realize that we would be all the way over in Hall B....the Expo is in Hall D, so I may not be able to see any of the peeps from Striders, Houston Fit and fellow bloggers. I am second guessing my selection in volunteer duties, as I would love to be where the people are both at the Expo and during the race. But, I thought I would try something a little different and this sounded pretty interesting to me. I am hoping to check out the Expo a little after my shift though, so I hope to see some peeps then. I should be easy to spot...most marathoners at the Expo will not have a protruding belly. LOL!

On Sunday, I'll be at Commerce and LaBranch from 6 am - 8 am making sure that the course is clean and safe for all those participating in the race. At 8 am, I'll head back over to the GRB to help out with the PR group again until noon. After that, I hope that I'll be able to hang out a bit, since that will be about the time the folks I used to run with will be finishing.

Sooo...I hope that I do get to see some of you out there. If not, best of luck to you!!! I can't wait to read your race reports.

Legs be strong, mind be stronger!

She's alive

Hi there. Yes, I am still alive and well...just busy. I actually had a long New Years Day post all typed and even saved, but still Blogger somehow managed to eat it. Grrrrr.........

I really thought my winter break from school would be a bit more relaxing, but for some reason my schedule still seems pretty busy. Right now, there are renovations going on at our house. We've been out there searching for the perfect house in the 'burbs every weekend and are gradually getting the list narrowed down. So, the point of all the renovations is to get our house ready to go on the market. Oh, how I am going to miss the short commute that goes with living in town! Sigh.

I have been on the treadmill. Mostly walking. Not as often as I'd like, thanks to the kiddo refusing to go to sleep before 10 pm. I may need to call in Super Nanny Jo, because there are nights when I want to pull out my hair. LOL!

As we get closer and closer to Sunday's Houston Marathon, I started thinking of all the nervousness, excitement and anticipation that I would normally be feeling this week. At a cafe during lunch today, I overheard a girl talking about the marathon this weekend. It's her first. I have to admit that I am a bit envious. I miss that nervous excitement and I will miss the feeling of accomplishment that happens afterwards. So, I thought I would dust off this post from last year with some tips for running this Sunday. To everyone who is participating in the 1/2 or full on Sunday - GOOD LUCK!!!

From last year....
Okay, so I am no elite athlete or running guru, but if this is your 1st time running a marathon, I have been in your shoes! I remember my 1st marathon day vividly. While it was definitely difficult, I can say with certainty that it changed my life forever. If I have a chance, I'll tell you more about the experience later this week. For now, here are a few things that I've learned along the way...

1. Try not to obsess about the marathon, but realize it's perfectly normal if you do. I do this for every marathon, not just for my first. You will read and re-read every inspirational e-mail and every list of tips and advice. You will have all these tips memorized and will be able to recite them all as you run on Sunday. :-) Before Chicago, I watched this over and over again, too.
2. Try hard not to freak out. I know the marathon is probably consuming your thoughts right now, so that's easier said than done. But try to throw yourself into your work if you can, because the last thing you need to do is worry.
3. Think about what you want to wear on race day now. Be sure to think about what you would wear if it's colder/warmer than expected. You will probably change your mind 2-3 times between now & then, only to revert back to your original plan.
4. Check out this support map at the Katy Fit website. It's awesome! My hubby has used it every year to figure out where he's going to meet me and how to get there.
5. It's your 1st marathon! Gather all your friends and family and tell them where to meet you on the route. Chances are, you've run a 21 miler and know where you could have used an extra boost. There areas where I needed a pep talk were - between mile 18 & 19 in Tanglewood, miles 22 on Memorial and anywhere on Allen Parkway.
6. Print out a pace band here. No, print out two - one with your "ideal" finish time and one with your "not so ideal" finish time. With the world of Garmins we live in, you probably have a Garmin and don't need to wear the band. However, if you are math challenged like me, you can use these to estimate where you will be at each mile and write it on the above mentioned map. Then, give the maps to your support crew. They will thank you for not making them wait for hours to see you jog by.
7. On Saturday, plan to pick up your race packet early before all the crowds hit. Then, do something you find relaxing. I like to catch a movie. It helps take my mind off the race...for a couple of hours at least.
8. It's race morning. At the GRB, you will see people you don't know doing stretches you've never seen before. Don't attempt to try them out now...stick to what you've been doing all along.
9. Also at the GRB, you will probably have to pee right before it's time to start the race...even if you just went 2 minutes ago. The port-a-cans outside the GRB usually have shorter lines than those inside.
10. You're going to see some crazy stuff along the way - men peeing on the side of the road after the turn between mile 2 & 3, ladies in the heights jumping up and down with cowbells, a priest sprinkling holy water on Main (get some, it can't hurt), Elvis & Marilyn Monroe near the Galleria at mile 16, Belly Dancers around 610 & Memorial, Cheeseheads on Allen Parkway....don't be too focused the race and your pace - enjoy it and laugh a little!
11. Along with the crazy stuff you see, people you don't know will offer you some crazy food. Obviously, some of these folks are not runners. I've been offered everything from candy & cookies to bananas & oranges to tuna sandwiches & donuts.
12. Let's face it, you're running 26.2 miles...there will be times when you are hurting. You will question your sanity. You will swear you will never run another *&+@#$ marathon! You WILL want to cuss out the next person who says "Lookin' Good!" or "You're almost there" (at mile 8)! Try to remember these folks don't have to be out there at all - thank them kindly, smile or wave...then cuss them out in your head or under your breath.
13. Along the same lines, I probably don't have to tell you this, but be sure to say hello and thanks to the policemen and volunteers out there too.
14. When you're feeling tired, find a little kid in the crowd at give him/her a high five. Miraculously, you feel better and it gives you a boost of energy you didn't have before.
15. Allen Parkway will seem like it's a million miles long. You've run this path before hundreds of times, so keep reminding yourself that you will eventually get there....really, you will!
16. When you get downtown, just take it one block at a time...you are there - the home stretch. At this point you don't want to take another step, but you know you can. The roaring crowds are right around the corner. When you finally see them, you will think they are a beautiful mirage. I assure you they are REAL.
17. The closer you get to the finish, the faster you will want to run. You are probably not running that fast and your finish photo will be proof of that, but hey it feels like you are. :-)
18. When you cross the finish line, you may feel like laughing or you may feel like crying. Hell, you may feel like doing both at the same time. Go with it...it's normal. Savor the moment..you have just become A MARATHONER!
19. When you are done, you will not want to take your medal off....DON'T! You've earned it, you have bragging rights. Only take it off when you shower. Yes, you can even sleep with it on if you want to.
20. Set your VCR/DVR/TiVo to record the special KTRK Houston Marathon special. It airs at 10:30 pm, after the news...you most likely will not be awake. It's fun to watch.

What do you think?

My friend who got me into this crazy running-thing has been on hiatus for about 2 years now. She just had a baby last month and is really excited about joining Houston Fit again and training for Houston 2009. Naturally, she wants me to train with her.

Just one tiny issue - I am having a baby in early May.

With the kiddo, I started jogging (slowly) on the treadmill at 4 weeks post baby. If things go as well with this little bean, I would not really start jogging again until June. Marathon training starts in July. I'm not sure I will be up to par to train for a full that quickly. A half perhaps, but a full?

Am I being a wuss here?

I know Paula Radcliff ran (and won) the NYC marathon only 9 months after having a baby. But, she is an elite athlete. There is no comparison as far as I'm concerned. Not to mention that July will be crunch time for my final semester at school. The seminar class I am taking is supposed to be a killer. That, paired with my elective, will not be fun. So, that means my "training" wouldn't really begin until August (after I am all done!). And, training with 2 kiddos...well, that is going to be a bit trickier than training with one.

I'll be honest...I'm not even sure I want to train for a 2009 marathon. I thought I did, but I really don't miss training. I do miss running with my peeps, because I am more of a social runner. :-) But, I don't miss the early mornings, running in the Houston heat, the sore muscles and injuries. Of course, I still enjoy getting out there and running...even if I am much slower these days. I suspect that by the time the baby is here, I will be longing to get out of the house and run as much as possible. By then, I will be going through withdrawals! But, I also know I want to throw in some cycling and swimming. I guess I have a little time to re-evaluate. Until then, I'll keep doing my little shuffle on the treadmill. :-)

Speaking of...

Workout Stats
12/26- Treadmill "run" - 30 minutes, 12:50 pace, 1/1 intervals

Movies

I forgot to mention yesterday that I actually have been able to see some movies (mostly rentals) since school has been out.



Nanny Diaries - While I thought it was really cute, the book was so much better! But isn't always? Entertaining, but Mrs. X wasn't near the bitch she was in the book.

3:10 to Yuma - Very good, but not as good as Unforgiven. Then again, how can you go wrong with Christian Bale and Russell Crowe?

Wonderland - Who would have thought a movie about ex-porn star, John Holmes, would be any good? The movie was made in 2003, so I am a little late seeing it. It was about the investigation of a brutal murder scene in which John Holmes was a suspect. I enjoyed it!

I am Legend - So far, this is my favorite of all the movies I've seen lately. It kept me on the edge of my seat the entire time. Plus, for some reason, I am intrigued by this type of post-apocalyptic theme. Hey, it could happen!

Transformers - Not bad! The kid I used to babysit used to watch the cartoons - this was way better. The special effects were awesome, so I wish I could have seen it on the big screen with the awesome surround sound. (We have surround sound, but it's hard to use it to it's full advantage when you live in a small house and have a 3-year old asleep!)

Live Free, Die Hard - I actually fell asleep during this one...blame it on the pregnancy! I did like the parts I did see of it. It was a bit far-fetched, and while the villain was a hottie, I wasn't impressed with his acting. But, it's the typical explosions and one-liners you come to expect from the Die Hard series and that made it pretty entertaining.

Bourne Ultimatum - Okay, I'm a little biased, because I LOVE the Bourne movies. So yes, I liked this one too. A lot. Not as much as Legend, but I would go out and buy this one.


Okay, I think that's it so far. The hubby is planning to be hunting for a few days, so I intend to catch up on the chick flicks I haven't seen. Oh, I did watch Barbie Fairytopia, Angelina Ballerina and The Jungle Book with the kiddo, but I won't go into detail on those. ;-)

Holiday Craziness

I don't know about anyone else out there, but I am somewhat happy that the holidays are over. I'm not happy to be returning to work today, but I am happy the the rushing-around-to-get- everything-done part is over.

Just a quick re-cap of the past few days...

Friday
I managed to leave work early and had some time to head to the park for a loop. I think this is the beginning of the end of my "running" during pregnancy. It felt great to be out there and finally running outdoors again. As a result, I think I may have overdone it a bit and when I woke up on Saturday, my back was killing me! After picking up the kiddo and heading home, we headed to the in-laws. By the way, I ran into Steeeve out at the park and shouted a "hi Steve!" as he ran by in the opposite direction...not sure that he knew who the heck I was. LOL!

Saturday
I woke up at an embarrassingly early hour to head out for my last minute shopping. I was back by 10:30 am and had the rest of the day to hang out with the family.

Sunday
After church, we actually ended up heading home, because the hubby got called into work. It was a pretty low key afternoon. The kiddo and I just headed out to have some lunch and get the grocery shopping done. While the kiddo was napping, I managed to clean out my closet and chest of drawers....something I have been wanting to get done for months now. I had four large garbage bags full of stuff that will be going to Goodwill, Salvation Army or a shelter somewhere! And, when I look in my closet, I am pleasantly surprised to find that not only can I actually see the floor, I can find the clothes I am looking for! I am usually a total neat freak, (especially when it comes to my closet) but, in the craziness of the past couple of semesters, I'd let my closet get cluttered. Once the hubby was home on Sunday night, we wrapped all our presents while watching 3:10 to Yuma.

Monday
I spent the morning baking and cooking the dishes I was going to take to my Sister-in-Law's house that evening and to my parent's house the following day. (With the kiddo's help of course!) We also baked chocolate chip cookies for Santa. Next, we hung out and watched some of the Everest:Beyond the Limit marathon while coloring, putting together puzzles and playing Candyland. Next, we headed to the park where I walked for about 40 minutes. Then, we grabbed some lunch at Beck's and went to the playground for a picnic and some playtime. (By the way, for the 3rd time Beck's has screwed up my salad...and they forgot to give me silverware. What's up with that???) After playing at the park, we headed home and got ready to head to the Sister-in-Law's for some holiday cheer. We were there until about 10:30, which made for one tired kiddo.

Tuesday
Christmas Day! We woke to find Santa gifts for the kiddo under the tree and lounged around in our PJs before heading to my parent's house. We got there early to help out before the crowd arrived...and by crowd, I mean 40 of my family members crammed into my parent's house. It was chaotic, but fun! I used to love these crazy, crowded Christmas days with my family growing up and while it's much more work as an adult, it's still so much fun to have everyone in one place. But, it was indeed chaotic and quite frankly, I'm glad it's over!

This is the 1st time in about six years that I've had to work the day after Christmas. I think it's actually less work to be at work today! :-) Next year, I will be done with school and will actually be able to get all my holiday stuff done before the holidays instead of the week of the holiday!

Hope everyone out there had a great Christmas!!!

Yikes!

Looks like I have some Christmas Shopping to do! As if I didn't already know that...but now it's going to have to be expedited a bit. The hubby decided that he wants to visit his parent's house this weekend, rather than making them come to see us.

As of today, the only Christmas presents I have purchased have been for the kiddo. That means I need to get ALL my shopping done during my lunch break or after work between now and Friday, since we're leaving Friday and not coming back until Monday. Agh! And I am not one to be out shopping on Christmas Eve!

So much for relaxing after finals! Hopefully, once Christmas is over, I can get in some R&R and some running too.

Speaking of finals...we completely scratched our original video idea. We were getting short on time and I decided to throw together something on onetruemedia.com. Not very original, but the Prof loved it and we got the highest grade in the class! (Apparently, the other groups went the same route because they could not edit their videos!)

I wish I could say the same for our Finance class. That final was beyond brutal. The prof said it should take approximately 2 1/2 hours. I left 3 hours and 15 minutes later and about 1/3 of the class was still there. Those I ran into on the way out had a glazed over expression that said "that kicked my ass!". I'm sure I wore that expression as well. But, it's over and that alone makes me one happy camper!

Breakfast with Santa

This morning we surprised the kiddo with Breakfast with Santa at the Aquarium. The kiddo had fun and we enjoyed a really yummy breakfast...here are some pics from the morning:

Just Checking In...

I managed to get in a quick 20 minutes on the treadmill Wednesday. Yesterday, I had the day off and spent the entire time at the library, with the exception of a 2 hour break to get my hair cut and colored and to grab some lunch. Today, we have our ladies holiday party at work...we're all getting manis & pedis (courtesy of the company) and later we'll head out early for a late lunch and gift exchange. After that, I will have to head to the library for more Finance studying.

I don't think I could study enough for this test...no matter how many times I do the homework problems and read the chapters, it just doesn't click for me. Yes, this is a reminder why I chose the field of HR rather than Accounting or Finance! :-) I am so incredibly ready to get this semester done. Then, 2 more to go! Wooohooo! So, if you don't mind sending some good luck vibes to me tomorrow around 1pm, I would greatly appreciate it.

Speaking of good luck vibes, I will be sending some of those out to all the peeps running the 21 miler tomorrow! The weather forecast looks pretty good, so I hope you all have a great run!

Workout Stats
Treadmill, 20 minutes, 2/1 intervals, 12:27 pace (no heartburn, woohoo!)

New Wheels

After paying off my truck (which I hate, but will drive forever because it's paid for), the hubby decided to go against everything Dave Ramsey suggests and bought some new wheels...

Yes, it has all the stuff Texas "big bubba trucks" should have - off road package, 4WD, DVD player for the kiddo, nerf bars (which will come in handy when I am super huge and need to get to the hospital!), etc.

I think the hubby's life is complete. Well, he still want's a boat, but that's not happening anytime soon.

Just when I was ready to call Dave Ramsey's show and scream, "I'M DEBT FREE!!!!".

Finally...

I finally made it back to the treadmill after a week hiatus. The run on Friday didn't happen. My 1:30 interview got lost and didn't make it to our office until 2:30, so I didn't have time to head to the park before picking up the kiddo from school.

But, I did get in 35 minutes on the treadmill while watching The Hills finale. Woohoo! I did miss the "exciting, big announcement" afterwards though...if anyone has the scoop, please fill me in!

Workout Stats
35 minutes, treadmill, walking (heartburn was out of control!) - 14:50 pace

Hello Lover!

Check it out...I can't wait!!!



http://movies.aol.com//movie/sex-and-the-city-2008/30247/video/trailer-no-1/2033774



Did I mention that I can't wait?

Best-laid plans

You can plan all you want, but when you have a 3-year old sometimes even the best made plans get thrown out the window.

I stayed late at work tonight. The parents were kind enough to pick up the kiddo, so the hubby could go to Hapkido. They were also kind enough to bring the kiddo home, so I didn't have to drive across town to pick her up. Little did I know that she would get home a hour later than planned. Had I known, I would have hopped on the treadmill as soon as I made it into the house. Oh well, it did give me time to get clothes ready for tomorrow, make the kiddo's lunch, etc. I figured I could get on the treadmill after she went to sleep.

Not quite.

It's now 9:45. The kiddo went to sleep about 5 minutes ago. Yep, now I have just enough time to work on my Finance assignment before I get really sleepy. The treadmill run went out the window! Ugh! I don't know what happened to the kiddo who fell asleep by 8:30. She seems to disappear every once in a while, only to be replaced by the kiddo who refuses to close her eyes, has to go potty 15 times, needs a drink of water, or has some other excuse for NOT going to sleep. Ugh, I hope the other kiddo comes back again soon. The sleepier one. This Mommy needs to work out! I am stressed and the only thing that helps is getting lost in a run (or in recent weeks a jog).

So, I have my bag packed for tomorrow. If all goes well, I will try to leave work a little early and head to the park for the first time in what seems like ages. Unfortunately, I was not prepared for something I discovered today. Something I knew was happening, but received an official confirmed today. My butt, hips, waist and stomach are getting huge! I know that's what's SUPPOSED to happen when you're preggo, but nothing quite prepares you for when that realization really hits home. I mean, yes, my clothes are tight. And no, I can't button my pants. :-) But, I thought that my cute running skirt that looked fine a couple of weeks ago might just be okay. I mean, the fabric does stretch.

It just doesn't quite stretch enough.

It fits, but it's tight!

It looks like I might be wearing the hubby's workout shorts soon. :-)

I'm off to hit the books.

I *heart* my friends!

A huge-mongous thank you to my buds! You totally and completely rock! First, thanks to Margo, my fellow running blogger who founds someone who could help me out. In addition to posting my frustration here, I sent out a mass e-mail to all my friends asking if they knew of anyone who might be able to help. I figured why not? I was desperate! I could not believe the responses I received! Within a few hours, I had the names and phone numbers of several people who might be able to help me. Thank you, thank you, thank you for all your help. Now I actually feel like I might actually keep my sanity in tact and for that I am immensely grateful!

Banging my head against a brick wall...

No, this is not a post about my latest brick workout. It is a post about my lovely video project for school. After working from about 5 am - 6:30 am yesterday morning, 5 - 7 pm last night and from 3:50 am - 6:30 am this morning, I am ready to call it quits. (Yes, you read that right. 3 freakin' 50 AM.)

I will accept the fact that I cannot edit a video. Those are just the hours I've attempted this in the past 2 days. Don't even ask me about the hours I put in over the past 2 weeks. And, I still have nothing to show for it.

I give up.

Quick Update

The weekend's activities went well! Friday's company holiday party was a blast...any party where the CEO of the company has his shoes off and is dancing in the middle of a circle of women is bound to be fun. LOL! I can definitely say that I DO NOT work in a stuffy corporate office. (Been there, done that...don't want to go back!) Usually the hubby is ready to leave this type of event after an hour or two, but this time I couldn't get him to leave!

School, well, was just school. Four hours of International Management, lunch and then four hours of Finance. Sounds like fun, huh? Speaking of school, I think I finally discovered a video editing software that will do what I want it to do....I think. It just takes 30 minutes to download the video...after that it's not too bad. Less than 2 weeks left!!!

Sunday was the kiddo's birthday party with her friends. Oh my gosh, 20 of the 26 invited actually showed! (Although only 16 RSVPed) It was pure chaos, but it certainly looked like everyone was having a good time. It was fabulous, because the kiddo was out about 5 minutes after crawling into bed. :-) Before bedtime, she was so great at entertaining herself with all her new toys, the hubby and I actually had time to sit down and watch the coverage of Kona. Talk about inspiring! I watch it every year, and every year I tear up because of someone's story. A few years back it was Team Hoyt, then it was Blazeman, one year it was the 70-something Nun...the hubby gets a good laugh out of all that. :-)

After studying at the library, I did get to run yesterday...35 minutes on the treadmill. And, I got to catch up a little on The Hills. Seriously, these girls are horrible at picking their guys! Of course, if they had perfect relationships, it would make for a really boring show. Haha! The hubby and I also watched the season finale of Heroes. It's the one show we both watch. It was great, but jeeze both of the bad guys are still alive! This writer's strike better get resolved, so that LOST can start in February as scheduled. That's it...no more TV for me until after the 15th when finals are over!

Workout Stats
Treadmill - 2/2 intervals - 35 minutes

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!

Happy Halloween!

Sorry for the hiatus once again. I made it back safely from Tigerland (which was suprisingly gorgeous), then had to study for my mid-term on Saturday (which didn't go as well as I had hoped...not awful, but not an A), then we had a Halloween party to go to, next thing I know it's Sunday morning and time to volunteer for the 1/2 marathon (which was a blast, even though I had to miss the post-race fajitas and fun...playgroup duties!), then to playgroup and library only to return to a house full of Joseph's family and some chaotic family fun (including making Halloween cupcakes and pumpkin carving). Monday after work was a Pumpkin Patch party with the kiddo and boom, it's suddenly Wednesday...Halloween. Fun times with the kiddo...fun times indeed! What the hell happened to Tuesday??? This has been a crazy busy week, to say the least. I did manage to at least get on the treadmill a couple of times over the past week. I'm hoping to sneak away for an outdoor workout and maybe even a movie over the weekend...hey, a girl can dream! :-)

Here's a sample of the past week in pictures:

Tigerland...

Me and the hubby at the Halloween party....very tame costume for me this year (complete with a poodle skirt and saddle shoes)...


Ready for my timing duties at the Houston Half...
(thanks to Bill D for the pic, it was great to meet you!!!)

Halloween fun with the kiddo....
Getting ready to trick or treat at Grandma & Grandpa's...

Halloween Party with the cousins...
With our "kitty cat" jack-o-lantern after a long day...



Workout Stats
Thursday @ LSU - 40 minutes, treadmill (while watching Grey's!)
Tuesday - 30 minute, treadmill

Yo

Well, I'm off to Tiger-land in an hour.

With the back issues, I am not prepared to run the Koala Houston Half this weekend. So what's the next best thing? Volunteering! I'll be at the mile 8 marker with another fellow Strider calling splits. Afterwards, I'll help out with chip removal or assist wherever I'm needed. I hope to see a lot of my fellow Striders, Fitters and bloggers out there. I'll be cheering for ya!

Misc Ramblings

I managed to get in 30 minutes on the ol' dreadmill last night after the kiddo was asleep and before I had to hit the books. It's been several days, so just getting in a workout felt great. Tomorrow, I'm heading to Baton Rouge for work...more college recruiting! Thankfully, this is our last college trip until the whole process starts over in late January/early February! It was fun at first, but I am rather sick of interviewing students and seeing college campuses. Of course, this little trip couldn't have come at a worse time. Saturday, my take-home mid-term is due in International Mgmt (which has been pretty much done for almost 2 weeks) and I have my real mid-term in Finance. Plus, the hubby somehow managed to really hurt his back and can barely walk. That makes having kiddo duties while I'm out of town a little difficult. Luckily, his parents are coming into town and can help out.

I'm beginning to get excited for the kiddo about Halloween. She is really looking forward to getting all dressed up in her pumpkin costume and going trick or treating with her older cousin. I am really looking forward to seeing what kind of yummy candy she gets! ;-)

Workout Stats
Treadmill, 30 minutes

FALL

Fall has finally arrived in Houston! It's about freaking time! It was great to wake up to temperatures in the 50's for the first time since February. Now, if I had just gone shopping for the kiddo some fall clothes already. Bad Mommy! My poor child has 3 pairs of pants from last year that still fit...and two of them look like total high-waters. That's right, I sent my kid to school this morning looking like Urkel. Luckily, her cute little pink windbreaker with the fleece lining still fits. And, thanks to my Mom, who bought her three cute winter outfits last year that were big enough to put away for this year! But, I need to get them from my Mom. Of course, when I sent her to school this morning, I gave no indication to her that her pants were short...I just told her she looked beautiful. I mean, she goes to pre-school...really, do kids under the age of 5 even notice that kind of stuff? I hope not...I'd hate to give her a complex this early in life. :-)

It's perfect weather for some outdoor running. I hope and pray this weather lasts until Sunday, because that will be the 1st opportunity I'll have to run outdoors. In the meantime, I hope you are all out enjoying it. I'll just have to live vicariously through ya'll. ;-)

Another Sporadic Post...

Sorry, between spending time with the fam and getting ready for my upcoming Finance mid-term, there has been little time for much else. This was an awesome weekend for running and riding! Unfortunately, I was either at the library or doing stuff around the house, so I only got to spend a little time outdoors with the kiddo on Saturday. On Friday, I actually went to bed at the same time as the kiddo - 8:30 pm! Crazy! But, I woke up at 5 am on Sat to get in some studying before the kiddo woke up and then headed to school for a couple of hours for our mid-term review session.

Saturday night, the hubby and I had a nice date night! We headed to dinner and then to a fight. Yep, not my choice for date night (obviously!), but it was an interesting outing to say the least. If you've seen the UFC, well this is similar. The hubby is a black belt in Hapkido and currently working on Brazilian Ju-Jitsu, so he is really into the mixed-martial arts stuff. There were a couple of guys who train at the same gym as the hubby and they were fighting in this Renegade Extreme Fighting event, so the hubby really wanted to go see them fight. Unfortunately, they both lost only seconds into the 1st round, so that was a bummer. But, let me tell you, the people watching was worth every second! Let me just say that the clubs must have been pretty empty that night...all the skanky, scantily clad girls were at the fight. :-) Seriously, I have never seen so much cleavage and legs in one place! Really. ;-) I told the hubby he owes me a trip to see a good chick flick on our next date night. Hahaha!

Sunday, I actually got to sleep in until 7:40! Then, the kiddo and I did our normal Sunday trip to playgroup, followed by too many hours in the library.

Congrats to Kay and Pam who ran the Nike Women's Marathon yesterday!!! I can't wait to see their Tiffany's "medals"!!!

Finally, thanks so much to everyone for the bike advice! I'll keep you posted on my research and what I eventually decide to do.

Back

Sorry my posting is so sporadic. I snapped out of that crappy mood last week really quick and had a great time in Dallas. The weekend went by really fast, since I had class on Saturday (and didn't get to enjoy the awesome weather...grrrr.).

I think I forgot to mention that the hubby bought a new mountain bike a couple of weeks ago at our local Sun & Ski Sports, so we took it for a test ride on Sunday. We hit the trails along White Oak Bayou. I haven't been on my bike since the Tour de Pink a month ago, so I was afraid I was going to be too slow. But, I forgot that DH hasn't been on a bike for almost 10 years, so he didn't mind my casual 12 -13 mph pace at all. After 10 miles, I was ready for at least 5 or 6 more, but the hubby made a dash for the parking lot and said he was done. :-) Now that he has the bike, it looks like I am not going to have a running buddy after all. No 1/2 marathon for him, but that's okay because at least we can ride together every so often...I may even learn to do a few off-road trails too. But no Vic, I don't think I'll be getting a kayak anytime soon. LOL!

I will be buying my own new bike very soon, but unlike DH, it will be a road bike. So, for the bike enthusiasts out there, I need some feedback. So far, I've only done a test ride on the Trek 100 and Specialized Dolce/Dolce Elite WSD models, plus I've read up on both of those brands. However, going to Sun & Ski made me realize that there are other brands out there! They carry Bianchi, Marin and Scott. If anyone has any feedback on deciding between one brand over the other, I'd love to hear it. Based on my conversations with the salespeople so far, I can go with either a 51cm or 54 cm frame, but the 54 cm would need to be adjusted so that I don't have to reach quite as far. I can tell that I am going to have fun trying to make up my mind!

Workout Stats
Friday - 10/12 - treadmill, 30 minutes
Sunday - 10/14 - biking, 50 minutes

Oh, and by the way, I did ace my presentation on Saturday! Woohoo!

post and run.

I am experiencing something this morning that I haven't experienced in a really long time - a really crappy, shitty mood. Seriously. In the past few years, I have gotten so much better about not sweating the small stuff, but today everything is getting to me. The traffic was horrible, the shirt my work gave me to wear to an event today is so huge, I can barely get it tucked in. My hair looks like crap, my computer is running slow, the copier got jammed, the shredder isn't working, and our new hire has not shown up yet (an hour late!). Small, stupid things to get all worked up about, but for some reason I am so incredibly irritable today!

Life has been insanely crazy the past few days. I'm sure that has a lot to do with my mood.

I had a visit to the back specialist Monday and she prescribed another month of PT, with more stretching added to the strengthening exercises. I forgot to mention in my Race for the Cure report that I ran into the PT hottie right after crossing the finish line. He gave me that "are you supposed to be running?" look and asked how my back felt.

In school, I have a project due in my international management class on Saturday and I am only 1/2 done. Plus our finance mid-term is in two weeks!

At work, I had to travel to our Austin office on Tuesday, went to a job fair at UH yesterday (arriving at work at 6:15 am to get some "urgent" stuff done before hand) and today I am in the office until noon and then off to Dallas until about 9 pm. And somehow, I have to finish my school project, so that it's worthy of an A. Ugh! I did manage to get in 30 minutes of brisk walking on the treadmill done on Tuesday and 45 minutes of jogging/walking with the kiddo in the jog stroller yesterday. This is the 5th week in a row that I've only been in the office 2-3 days. Yet, there is still so many big projects that have to get done.

Well, I am off to get more of those "urgent" work tasks done before I head to the airport. I'm beginning to wonder if I am ever going to get back to regular posting again.

Nice.

http://www.chicagotribune.com/sports/cs-071008downey,0,4773526.column?page=1

Chicago

Wow. I just got an update from a friend who ran Chicago yesterday. Apparently, when the race began at 8 am, it was already hot by Chicago standards. Yesterday's race sounds like a completely different race from the one I ran last year. Completely disorganized! By the mile 10 water stop, they were completely out of water and gatorade. Runners were heading into the convenience stores to buy more, so they could keep going!

Someone tell me, if the race organizers were watching the same weather forecasts as the rest of the world, why on earth could they have not been more prepared? So, did the race organizers realize it was going to be hotter than normal, but just shrug and say, "Oh well, if we run out of fluids, then we'll just stop the race!", instead of going out and getting more? Thank God my friend and her crew had their fuel belts and had just refilled!

She said that somewhere between mile 17 & 18, cops lined each side of the street and a helicopter hovered over them and announced that everyone was to go to Grant Park because the race was being cancelled due to the extreme heat! Ummm, extreme heat? Maybe for Chicago, but for those in Houston, we train in the heat all summer. To quote one friend, that was winter in Houston. LOL! She said it was mass chaos.

Anyway, my friend and so many others are disappointed, angry and still in disbelief because of what happened. All those hours of training, only to be rewarded with a totally chaotic and unorganized experience. Ugh! I just can't believe a race of that size could be so unprepared. The heat is one thing...it's out of anyone's control. However, the water situation - that is completely unacceptable!

Holy Crap!

Anyone else see this?

I thought something odd was going on when I received a friend's electronic notice that said "TRG's friend, 04:21:44 (net) @ Finish (unofficial).(course shortened due to heat) By The LaSalle Bank Chicago Marathon."

October 7, 2007 Attention Participants and Spectators:
Due to the rising heat index and higher than expected temperatures, LaSalle Bank Chicago Marathon Executive Race Director Carey Pinkowski and Medical Director Dr. George Chiampas, in cooperation with city officials, have implemented a contingency plan, as a precautionary measure, to effectively close the Marathon course at the halfway point. Runners who have not reached the halfway point by approximately 11:30 a.m. will be diverted back to Grant Park via Halsted and Jackson. Jackson will be closed to automobile traffic and the participants will be provided with additional support along this route. Participants who crossed the halfway point prior to the shut-down will continue to be fully supported along the standard course to the finish line. Participants are asked to take advantage of medical personnel, cooling buses, runner drop out buses, water, Gatorade and other means of support en route back to Grant Park.

Race for the Cure

When I woke up for the Race, I could hear thunder in the distance. Knowing the Houston weather, it would either pass quickly or not even be thundering in downtown Houston (a whopping 9 miles away!). I got dressed and headed out. As soon as I walked out the door, the warmth and humidity hit me. I was a teeny, tiny bit relieved that I wasn't doing a LR this morning, as I hate running in these conditions.


I pulled into the same surface parking lot that I've parked in years past, only this time there was an attendant there. Imagine my surprise when he told me it would be $10 to park. Ugh! I never carry cash, so I had $9 and some change...he took it. I met a couple of Houston Fitters while waiting for the traffic light. We proceeded to the chip pick up tent, which was a bit chaotic - the signs showing which numbers were where were down low, so no one could see which line to get in. I really wasn't even going to bother with the chip, since I am not really supposed to be running. But, I decided that at least I would have a record of the race, so why not? Besides, with 29,000 other people, it's not as if anyone runs this event for a PR! After getting my chip, we headed over to the start to meet the other folks from Houston Fit (who had just finished 6 miles of the scheduled 9-miler). After chatting for a few minutes, I headed to the back of the sea of people. If I wasn't going to really run, there was no reason to be in the front. About the time the kids K was starting, the heavens opened and it rained hard for a few minutes. I think most of the crowd was happy to get a little relief from the warm temps.

I knew that there was no way I was going to walk the entire course. That would be way too boring. And, I really wasn't supposed to be running....so, I compromised. I set my intervals for 2/2. I decided I would walk 1/2 and slow jog 1/2. That was better than nothing. So, off I went. The 2's of jogging did bother my back, but the 2's of walking were fine. It wasn't as bad as it had been a few weeks ago, but definitely not 100%. Anyway, here are my slow splits...

Mile 1 - 12:33
Mile 2 - 12:40
Mile 3 - 13:20 (mostly walking)
0.1 - 1:11
Total - 40:14

During Mile 3, I hit the sloping hills of Allen Parkway and decided that running up or down them may not be good on the back, so I walked both. Then, I ran into one of the Houston Fit crew who had bonked from the 6-miler earlier that morning, so I walked a bit with her as well. I finished mile 3 in 13:20 and the .1 in 1:11, with a total finish time of 40:14.

Even with all the people, I love doing the Race for the Cure. It's definitely not the place to worry about your time, but it's great to be able to celebrate the victories over breast cancer and remember those whose lives were cut short. It's a cause near and dear to my heart!

Green Eyed Monster

This weekend is the Chicago Marathon! Woohoo! Lots of good luck vibes are going out to Red group coach Rebecca and fellow Fitter/Strider Margo! I have to admit, I have a few pangs of jealousy. This time last year, I was heading to Chicago for my very own marathon experience. This year, I am trying to get over this nagging back pain. Sigh. Okay, enough of the self pitty...Margo and Rebecca, I'll be thinking of ya'll on Sunday morning. Remember - "Legs be strong, mind be stronger!"

So what else is new? I had another round of PT for the back Wednesday and the quads, hammies and glutes were sore on Thursday. I had a chance to "power walk" 30 minutes on the treadmill yesterday and tomorrow I am walking the Race for the Cure. Ugh, finally a Saturday with no classes and no other obligations and I can't run with Houston Fit. :-( Oh, and I think I am officially on sugar overload. The hubby, kiddo and I went to the mall earlier and went to one of those candy shops where you pay 3x as much for your m&m's and such, because you pay by the ounce. I made the mistake of buying a big ol' bag of candy corn. Ugh, It's like crack! I can't stop eating it! Someone stop me please!

Okay, enough of that. Hope everyone has a great weekend! Don't forget that the Greek Fest is going on this weekend...Opa! And, the Wings Over Houston Airshow is at Ellington Field. (Two of my favorite events in Houston!)

Update

I've been having trouble getting the kiddo to sleep the past few nights. Last night it was 9:30 pm before she drifted off. Since I can only study and blog after that, studying always has to come first which leaves little time for blogging. And, I've returned to my treadmill in the mornings before studying some more, so again, no time for blogging.

I talked to the PT hottie during Monday's session about the back and not being able to run. He feels that since I am showing improvement, that if I stick with it, I will be running soon. We'll see. He really increased the intensity of the workout and I felt it yesterday. My quads were sore! Everytime I went up and down the stair at work, I'm sure I grimaced! Today will be my last PT session until I see the doc again. Unfortunately, I've had to reschedule the doc appointment until Monday due to a work meeting tomorrow. It looks like I'll be walking the Race for the Cure on Saturday! Oh well, it's a huge race anyway and definitely not the best place to plan a PR, so I'll just enjoy being part of such a huge, awesome event.

In other news, the hubby has taken quite an interest in running lately. He ran a 5k distance on the treadmill yesterday and we are talking about going to Memorial on Sunday, so he can run a loop outdoors. He is also talking about signing up for the Turkey Trot 10K in November, so he'll have a goal to shoot for. He's taken up running here and there in the past, but then dropped it after a few weeks, so who knows. I'll be estatic if he decides to continue! He's also looking at bikes, so maybe we'll have a couple of hobbies in common soon. He is more interested in mountain bikes...but, he's promised to go on some rides with me as well.

Workout Stats - 10/1
30 minutes, treadmill, walking :-(
1 hour PT torture

Workout Stats - 10/2
30 minutes, treadmill, walking

Speechless

Okay, I'm never completely speechless. However, I am currently at a loss about what to blog about since this is technically a "running blog", but I have not run in almost a month.

I am happy to report some improvement with the lower back. Not much, but a little is better than nothing I suppose. I can now sit for pretty much any length of time painfree and I can do a "power" walk on the treadmill with almost no discomfort. But, I was greatly disappointed when I attempted to do some intervals on the treadmill last Thursday while in Lubbock. Let me back up a week...there was one instance in NYC when my friend and I were forced to run down 10 blocks of 8th ave to get to 47th st. so that we wouldn't miss our show. I noticed the back pain then. I was hoping it was just because I was caring an assortment of souviners and my Cold Stone ice cream and wearing non-running shoes. But, it was confirmed on the treadmill last week...my lower back feels no different when I run. It feels exactly like it did before I started PT. Sigh.

Will I ever get to run again???

If I was training for the marathon, I would probably run regardless. Bad, I know, but that's just how I am. However, since that's not the case, I felt I should follow doctor's orders and not run until given the okay. I wasn't given the okay, but I figured why not try it and just see if we're getting anywhere. I have more PT today after work, so I am going to bring this up. It's been a month, I feel like I should be able to run again!

This is very frustrating.