Just for Fun

20 minutes outside--I ran and walked for a total of 20 minutes with the snortums. I wanted to go and use the elliptical but today is garbage day and we forgot to put the garbage out last night. So I had to go back home after taking Seth to the train and put the garbage out. Then I didn't want to drive all the way back to use the elliptical.

So today I would walk for 5 minutes then run for 5 minutes, etc. until I reached the end of the loop I was running. It happened to take 20 minutes. My plan is to slowly increase the number of minutes I run and decrease the number of minutes I walk until eventually I start out with a short walking warm-up and then run the rest. I always walk from the end of our street to our house as a cool down.

BTW in case anyone was interested, Simeon's new sleep method is going well. Last night was night three. He hardly cried at all when we put him to bed (abt 5 minutes) and he slept until 5:45! Considering that we get up at 6 that is really great. He is still strongly resisting naps though.

I had a headache so we decided to walk instead of run. We almost got rained out. We were worried we were going to have to sprint back to the house to keep from getting soaked. But we only got sprinkled on a little. Fortunately the jogging stroller has a nice big cover so the snortums didn't get wet at all. He also had a blanket and warm clothes on. It's been getting a lot colder here lately.

I woke up feeling really tired this morning and I was also feeling nauseous. So I ate some oatmeal wondering if I wasn't just hungry. I felt a little better at first and then wondered for a second if I was going to lose my oatmeal. Anyway, I was debating on going for a walk but the Snortums started acting tired so I put him down for a nap. I'll see how I feel when he wakes up. I might still make it out for a walk before it starts to get too warm. That's if it gets warm today. Yesterday I didn't even turn on the fan it was so cool all day. And Simeon had to wear long sleeves and pants and socks. Right now I'm all wrapped up in a blanket. I hate being cold.

Last night Simeon fell asleep without crying at all. He slept until 6:45! It's pretty amazing. He was only up for an hour and even though he was acting sleepy, I wonder if he really was ready for a nap. He hasn't fallen asleep yet and it has been 15 minutes. I think he's just resisting naps in general. He'd much rather play :)

I finally made it out at 11:00. Yea for me! The sun was out and it was pretty warm, but there was a nice breeze that helped it to be not so hot. I ran a little bit different route today. I was getting tired of the route I usually run. Unfortunately our subdivision isn't very big and all the houses look the same, so no matter what route I take, it gets old pretty quick. I'll be excited to run on the ditch bank again.

My knee was hurting at the very end of my run. When I got back I did a few lunges and leg lifting exercises but they also hurt my knee so I stopped. Also, a funny thing happened on my run. There is a grate that extends across the road to drain water. Usually I run over it just fine, but today I stepped wrong in one of the slots and turned my ankle a little bit. It hurt for the next few steps but it was fine for the rest of my run. So that wasn't a big deal but it was kind of funny. I'm sure if anyone had been watching they would have laughed and said, "Look at that stupid clumsy girl." I look funny when I run anyway. I look even more funny when I trip :)

I thought it was good advice to try using the elliptical for a few days and see if it helps my knee. Unfortunately, it's not really the impact that hurts my knee, but the bending motion. So when I got on the elliptical my knee started hurting quite a bit. Then I remembered what Heber said about doing leg lifts before a workout. I tried it and it helped a lot. I didn't have any more knee trouble during this workout.

Seth didn't feel like running tonight. His back was hurting. I made him go anyway. I thought it might help to get out and moving since he sits most of the day. Well his back still hurts but we had a good run anyway. The loop we usually run is 1.2 miles. We usually walk the first .2 so that we can run full mile. Well the whole loop took us 15 minutes today. That means our mile must be 12 or 13 minutes. I think we are improving. Right now my goal is to be able to run my workouts faster than I can walk them :P 

 BTW, if any of you women are interested, while I was pregnant I discovered a website called babyfit.com. They have workout suggestions and meal plans and calorie trackers. It's all designed to help you stay healthy and fit during pregnancy. My favorite thing though is their recipe section. I was looking through Sarah's recipes the other day and though some people might enjoy the variety of recipes on this site.
 

Yea for great running days! Today Seth didn't have to go to school. The doctor that teaches his class wasn't going to be there today. Some of the other students were going to get together, but Seth thought he could get more done if he stayed home and studied. So he held the baby this morning so I could go out and run. I was curious to see how my mile would be since our mile last night was pretty good. I did the entire loop in 14 minutes. It took me 3 minutes to walk the first .2. That means my mile was 11 minutes! I was pretty happy with that.

I got new running shoes today! Hurray! I have always bought Asics shoes because I over-pronate and I was told that Asics are the shoes for over-pronators. However, I also wear custom orthopedic inserts in my shoes so I wasn't exactly sure how much good the Asics were doing. I wasn't sure if I was actually over doing it on the arch supports. Well we went down to the store and after trying on 5 pairs of shoes, with and without my inserts, I finally settled on a pair of Sauconies. They felt more comfortable than the Asics, very cushiony soles. We kept asking the salesmen about them but no one seemed to know anything. Finally, a salesman came over who said they are a newer shoe brand and that they are the best shoes they carry in their store. He also said they are good for lots of wear, so they are durable. I really like them

Nothing is better than the feeling of new running shoes. When Seth and I went out tonight, it felt so good to have some cushion under my feet. I am really impressed with these shoes. Maybe it's just been too long since I've had new running shoes and I've forgotten what it feels like to have a little pep in my step. Anyway I am very happy.

My mile time was 12:02 today. It was windy and I think I actually started out a little to fast. It felt a little too good to have new shoes. Anyway, I got a stitch all across the bottom of my belly and had to slow down for a while. Still I feel like it was a good run. Did I mention that I love having new shoes! 

I ran on the elliptical for 12 minutes in between conference sessions. Then we had a very exciting conversation about lions and tigers and bears, oh my. Actually it was just about lions and tigers. I couldn't resist throwing in the bears.

I took the snortums our for a short walk before bed.

12 minutes on the elliptical. Jackie wasn't supposed to be home until tonight, but she called me this morning to let me know that she got home last night. It was so cold this morning that I didn't go over there until almost 10:00. And it was still really cold in the sun room! Our house is still cold and it's 1:30.

I ran on the elliptical in the morning. Simeon was kind of grumpy so I only did 7 minutes. It's okay because I was feeling kind of tired anyway :)

BTW, Seth is coming home at 6:00 every night this week because he has his end of block competency exams next week. We barely have time to eat before Simeon goes to bed so we are having to take a break from our evening runs. 

I have a sad story to tell. A year ago, Seth and I were in Colorado visiting my parents. My license was about to expire so we went to the DMV to get a new one. It was two weeks before my 21st birthday, so they wouldn't renew it. I couldn't have an over 21 license because I was two weeks away from turning 21. So I had to get an out of state extension on my license. Well that extension just expired. So last week Seth and I were at the DMV to renew the registration on our car. I wanted to get my a new license that day but I didn't have my social security card with me. They told me to bring my social security card and two proofs of residency back. Yesterday I did that and I found out that anyone who is under 25 and is getting a first time New Mexico license has to take a DUI awareness course first. So now I don't have a driver's license and don't know how long it will be before I can get one since I have to sign up for the class, take it, wait for them to mail me a certificate, then take that certificate to the DMV. Needless to say, I'm feeling a bit frustrated. 

Anyway, it means that I no longer drive Seth to the train, which means I can't drive to his parents' house either. Today, they picked me up on their way home from the temple and then took me home again afterwards. I ran on the elliptical. Tomorrow I will probably run outside with the stroller before it gets too warm. Anyway, I was really excited for Jackie to be home because I like going over there in the mornings. But now it will be a while before I can do that regularly again. 

I went running with the snortums in the stroller today. He always likes that. He holds perfectly still with his fat little chin resting on his chest and his eyes as bit as dinner plates. He's so cute. 

Anyway, I was feeling a bit sluggish today. When I started running my first thought was that my legs felt like they had 50 pound weights strapped to them. When I finished running, my legs felt kind of jello-like and my arms could have sworn that Simeon weighed 30 pounds rather than 13 or 14.

Still, my total time was 15:21. I didn't look at the watch after I walked the .2 but usually my total time is around 14 or 14:30 so that isn't too bad. I expected worse. Especially since my other times were without the stroller.

Seth took care of Simeon so I could run on my own this morning. It's always a little bit nice to be able to do that. I decided to run my usual loop backwards for a change in. I got to see a bit more of the yards on the other side of the street :) Also, I was surprised at how quickly I got to different mile-stones. It seemed to go a lot faster (though my time was about the same, 14:36 total). Anyway, I didn't really feel like going out this morning, but after I did I felt better and was glad that I had gone.

[Insert exciting, descriptive story here]

Oops. Looks like I've fallen off the wagon again. Actually Simeon and I have had a cold. So I could handle some light running, but I don't want to have to take him out in the cold. Being carless is really not fun :(

Actually, I've started to get concerned about taking Simeon out jogging with me. The weather is getting cold now and it has been really windy lately. Even with a hat and a sweater and a blanket, I still feel like he's going to be cold. I'm sure he won't like that cold wind in his face. So do any of you moms have suggestions?

Simeon wouldn't take a nap so I took him out in the stroller for a walk. It was warm and that made me glad. Halfway through I was feeling like jogging and thought that I could jog the rest of the way back. A few steps reminded me that I wasn't wearing a sports bra so jogging wasn't a good idea. Still, going out for a walk was nice :)

Today has been an interesting day. I got my driver's license yesterday. Yea! So this morning I took Seth to the train then came back home. Simeon and I took a nice long nap (that was nice). Last night when I realized that my new driver's license had the wrong birthday on it. Just my luck. I finally get my license and it has the wrong birthday. So I decided to go back today and have it fixed. I also wanted to go running though so I decided to stop by the rec center (I've been wanting to try it out) and use the treadmill there. They have really nice treadmills that not only show your distance and time, but the pace you are running at and where your position would be if you were running on a track. It even tells you what lap you would be on. I was very impressed.

So that was the good part of my day. Then I went to the MVD. Seth told me I should call them before I left to make sure they would make me bring anything. I thought it was their mistake, they should just print me out a new license, right? But just to be safe I decided to bring my folder with birth certificate, SSC, etc. Well when I got to Belen I realized I had left that folder sitting on the kitchen table. But I went into the MVD hoping it wouldn't be a problem. I explained that yesterday I got a new license and THEY put the wrong birthday on it. They very rudely told me that I needed a birth certificate and that they couldn't help me. I told them that I didn't need a birth certificate yesterday but they still said they couldn't help me, even though it was their mistake to begin with. So I drove all the way back to Los Lunas, got my birth certificate, and drove all the way back to Belen. Then the lady told me my birth certificate wasn't valid because it was a hospital certificate, not a state certificate. I told her that I used this same certificate to get my first driver's license. She said that they could make an exception just this once. I don't think they realized that I wouldn't have even been there today if they hadn't made a mistake on my DL in the first place. And you would think they would be more considerate of the fact that they had made a mistake. But they were really unhappy that they had to use my "invalid" birth certificate even though they never would have needed it if they hadn't made a mistake in the first place. (They didn't need it yesterday because I was changing my residency, I'm not sure what the difference is). So it was a horrible horrible experience. And they weren't nice either. They seemed very impatient and rude about the whole thing.

So it wasn't a great day. But the running went well and I guess that's all I'm really supposed to say  huh :)
 

I took the snortums out in the stroller this morning. It was kind of cold but not too bad. I wish I had been wearing gloves. My legs kind of felt like lead so that wasn't fun. But today's run seems to have cured my two-day headache so that is a plus. 

I'm excited that it is halloween. Simeon has a pumpkin costume that he got from my mom. It is way cute :)