Yesterday marked the kickoff of my Spring/Summer season of running events. I ran in the Inaugural Lansing (MI) Half Marathon. My dad told me about it a couple months ago but I didn't decide to actually run in it until a few days before because I was waiting to see what the weather was going to be like. A lot of good that did because it ended up being 45 degrees and very windy. Since I had committed to going to another event in Lansing the night before I decided to buck up and brave the cold. Other than the many cracks and potholes in the road the course was quite nice. It took us through the farmlands of Michigan State University, through a few neighborhoods, and through Potter Park. I anticipated the course being very flat but they managed to find the only hills in Lansing and put them all in. Running up those hills with wind gusts coming straight at me was tough but luckily I had on a brimmed hat so I put my head down and pushed forward. Some people were bold (crazy) enough to run in shorts and a tank top but I wasn't messing around. I had on warm leggings, three layers up top (short sleeve, long sleeve, and pull over), gloves, a hat, and ear warmers. All that kept me warm and at no time did I feel the need to shed any layers (except the gloves which I took off for a few miles but had to put back on towards the end when my fingers were going numb).
I finished in 2 hours 2 minutes and my dad, stepmom, and Carter were there to cheer me along during the course and Jimmy made it just in time to see me finish. I know I say I HATE to run in the cold but so far I've had my two best times in cold weather. Maybe the cold weather helps keep me hydrated since I'm not sweating as much as I would be in warm weather. I'll have to test that theory as the weather warms up. I would love to improve my time to 1 hour 50 minutes which is 6 minutes faster than my best time.
My next race is the Mini Marathon (half marathon) in two weeks. I'm running with Jimmy's cousin who will be running in his first half marathon. My job is to get him to finish in under 2 hours 10 minutes so I likely won't reach my personal time goal in this one. Two weeks after that I'm going to do the Geist Half Marathon. My friend who's done it before says it's a pretty challenging course but if the weather is warm I'm hopeful that I'll get a personal best. I should be in better running shape by then. The rest of my schedule looks like this:
May 26th: Lawrence Sprint Triathlon (I haven't decided on this one yet. I'm waiting for the weather to warm up to get back on my bike)
June 24th: iChallenge Indy Classic Duathlon (1 mi run, 17.5 mi bike, 4 mi run)
July 21st: Indy Sprint Triathlon (500 meter swim, 10 mi bike, 3 mi run)
August 4th: Eagle Creek Trail Run (15K)
That's all I've planned so far. There is the Indianapolis Marathon in October and the Monumental Marathon in November but it's usually too cold for my taste during that time of year. This is an ambitious schedule for me so wish me luck!
23 April 2012
The End of the Nap? Noooo!
Carter would not go to sleep at nap time today. I put him in his crib at 12:30 pm like usual and went downstairs to eat lunch. When I finished 30 minutes later I still heard him making noises so I went to check on him. "Hi" he says cheerfully as I open the door. Since he wasn't even close to being sleep I pulled him out and let him come into our bedroom. Not 5 minutes later he started what I like to call sleepy behavior. He started trying to open random drawers, spinning around in circles, and hitting me. That behavior landed him right back in his crib with my hope that he would close his eyes and succumb to nap time. 10 minutes later he was still standing up in his crib so I decided to give up because it was close to 2 pm and he hadn't eaten lunch yet. We went downstairs so he could eat lunch and after that I just knew the "itis" would kick in and he would be sleep in no time. No such luck. He was bright eyed and ready to play. That was the last trick in my book so I accepted the fact that he wouldn't be going to bed until bedtime. Luckily, he fell asleep just before 7:30 pm as I held him in the rocking chair. One lullaby and 2 minutes of rocking was all it took.
I hope today was an anomaly and will not be the status quo moving forward. I am not ready for the end of Carter's naps. That 1-2 hours (especially on days he is not in school) is sometimes the only break I get all day. Tomorrow will be a good tester because he's having a party at school. If that doesn't tire him out we may be in trouble. Houston...we have a problem.
I hope today was an anomaly and will not be the status quo moving forward. I am not ready for the end of Carter's naps. That 1-2 hours (especially on days he is not in school) is sometimes the only break I get all day. Tomorrow will be a good tester because he's having a party at school. If that doesn't tire him out we may be in trouble. Houston...we have a problem.
04 April 2012
Carter Update
I've been loving hanging out with my little man lately. The nice weather has allowed us to go outside and explore. Carter loves being outside. A lot of the time we just take a walk through the neighborhood. He likes to walk up our neighbors' driveways or sloped front yards and loves to climb the stairs leading to the front door. Sometimes I feel compelled to ring the doorbells so he can say hello. Of course, he always invites himself in if there is an answer. The boy is definitely not shy. He didn't get that from me.
There is also an open field and trail across from our house and he can stay out there for an hour picking flowers or throwing rocks. Not only is he not shy but he also doesn't have much fear. He will walk aimlessly into the woods that back up the trail trying to discover whatever is rustling in the trees. We also try to get to the park whenever we can. Thankfully it is a 5 minute walk so I turn on some Pandora tunes on my iPhone and we're there in a snap. Whenever I take him out of the stroller I say "I'm unleashing him" because he doesn't stop moving from the moment we get there to the moment I'm strapping him back into the stroller. First he wants to swing...but only for about 30 seconds; then he want to climb up the baby slide and then slide back down again; then he wants to drive the life size tractor; then he wants to climb up the hills; then he wants to go down the "big kid" slides (at least 6 times); and finally, he just likes to wander checking everything out. I like to take him late in the afternoon because by the time we get back home he's exhausted. Dinner time, bath time, and bed by 7:30 pm. Works like a charm.
Here he is frolicking:
He's also talking a lot more lately and doing more independently. I would estimate that he says 40-50 words, including most major body parts (nose, mouth, teeth, eye, toes), common food items (milk, juice, cheese), toileting (pee pee, boo boo, pot-pot), and many more. He will also try to imitate a lot of words I say. Independence should be his middle name because he wants to do everything by himself. He wants to brush his teeth, put on lotion, bathe himself (even though he only washes one arm, one ear, and one foot), and pick out his own clothes. I love his independence but sometimes it makes it difficult to get things done in a timely fashion.
He's loving school now. When I drop him off he gets excited, walks in, and goes directly to his class. He used to cry when I left but now he waves and say "bye-bye." When I pick him up he smiles, runs over to hug me, and then runs over to get his jacket. He also tells the other children and teachers "bye-bye." He used to cry as soon as he saw me, would run to get his jacket, and then head straight for the door without acknowledging anyone. I'm glad that phase is over. I'm thinking of changing schools beginning in July so hopefully we won't have to go through the "breaking in" stage all over again.
So I will finally admit that Carter is spoiled. In the last two weeks he went on a clothes/shoes shopping spree, got a new table/chairs, a Mickey Mouse sofa that converts to a bed, and his own lounge chair with footrest. Dang...he's living the life. The Mickey Mouse sofa is the first thing he's ever begged me to buy and I did just to quiet him down. We were in Babies R Us shopping for a gift for someone else and we passed by the sofa. All of a sudden Carter starts pointing and yelling "mouse...mouse," and he would stop. After trying to quiet him down (not very hard I admit) I caved in and said "fine; we'll get it." For the record, he did stop yelling after I put it in the cart.
Here is Carter with all his new goodies:
There is also an open field and trail across from our house and he can stay out there for an hour picking flowers or throwing rocks. Not only is he not shy but he also doesn't have much fear. He will walk aimlessly into the woods that back up the trail trying to discover whatever is rustling in the trees. We also try to get to the park whenever we can. Thankfully it is a 5 minute walk so I turn on some Pandora tunes on my iPhone and we're there in a snap. Whenever I take him out of the stroller I say "I'm unleashing him" because he doesn't stop moving from the moment we get there to the moment I'm strapping him back into the stroller. First he wants to swing...but only for about 30 seconds; then he want to climb up the baby slide and then slide back down again; then he wants to drive the life size tractor; then he wants to climb up the hills; then he wants to go down the "big kid" slides (at least 6 times); and finally, he just likes to wander checking everything out. I like to take him late in the afternoon because by the time we get back home he's exhausted. Dinner time, bath time, and bed by 7:30 pm. Works like a charm.
Here he is frolicking:
He's also talking a lot more lately and doing more independently. I would estimate that he says 40-50 words, including most major body parts (nose, mouth, teeth, eye, toes), common food items (milk, juice, cheese), toileting (pee pee, boo boo, pot-pot), and many more. He will also try to imitate a lot of words I say. Independence should be his middle name because he wants to do everything by himself. He wants to brush his teeth, put on lotion, bathe himself (even though he only washes one arm, one ear, and one foot), and pick out his own clothes. I love his independence but sometimes it makes it difficult to get things done in a timely fashion.
He's loving school now. When I drop him off he gets excited, walks in, and goes directly to his class. He used to cry when I left but now he waves and say "bye-bye." When I pick him up he smiles, runs over to hug me, and then runs over to get his jacket. He also tells the other children and teachers "bye-bye." He used to cry as soon as he saw me, would run to get his jacket, and then head straight for the door without acknowledging anyone. I'm glad that phase is over. I'm thinking of changing schools beginning in July so hopefully we won't have to go through the "breaking in" stage all over again.
So I will finally admit that Carter is spoiled. In the last two weeks he went on a clothes/shoes shopping spree, got a new table/chairs, a Mickey Mouse sofa that converts to a bed, and his own lounge chair with footrest. Dang...he's living the life. The Mickey Mouse sofa is the first thing he's ever begged me to buy and I did just to quiet him down. We were in Babies R Us shopping for a gift for someone else and we passed by the sofa. All of a sudden Carter starts pointing and yelling "mouse...mouse," and he would stop. After trying to quiet him down (not very hard I admit) I caved in and said "fine; we'll get it." For the record, he did stop yelling after I put it in the cart.
Here is Carter with all his new goodies:
Nostalgia
I spent most of my day, yesterday and today, on college campuses. Yesterday I took my niece (16) and nephew (14) to visit Indiana University-Purdue University at Indianapolis (IUPUI) and today I took them to visit Indiana University in Bloomington. Being in those musty dorms and seeing students passed out in the Student Union brought back some memories. It also reminded me of the fact that as of next month I will have been out of college for 12 years. 12 years? I can't believe it's been that long already. In a way, I didn't really feel that much older than the students I saw walking on campus. Maybe because I still look 20 (but who cares about that superficial stuff...me). Or maybe because I still feel there are great possibilities for what I can accomplish. I'll tell you one thing, I definitely felt reinvigorated just by being there. But on the other hand, I felt worlds away from the days of wearing sweats to class, eating cereal for dinner, pulling all nighters to finish a paper I had a month to write but started 12 hours before it was due, and most of all...not having any responsibility whatsoever (other than passing my classes of course). It's amazing how time flies. I feel like I've accomplished a lot in these last 12 years and while I sometimes feel nostalgic about my college days, I wouldn't want to go back and do them again.
How do you feel about your college experience?
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