18 Miles Then The Farm...Phew!

This week was my 18 mile long run week, which I have been nervous about since I first started training for this marathon.  I was a little worried about doing it since last week I had such a hard time with the 12 miles.  I got lucky again with the weather being a perfect, beautiful fall day with temperatures in the 60's.  We went to Dick's on Friday and bought some gel inserts for my heel since it has been a little bit sore since after the 16 mile run I did a couple of weeks ago.  While we were there I got some gel energy/electrolyte packets that I figured would be easier to carry and eat on my run.  I was all prepared and ready to run.  This time I knew from the get go that I could do it.  I did have my coffee so maybe that helped, even if only mentally!

I decided to do the Hilly Hills run again just because I don't have to drive anywhere to do it.  Weird how I am too lazy to drive somewhere to run, but will do the stupid Hilly Hills run for 18 miles.  This run really is beautiful though, I'll give it that... and I think I'll be glad that I trained here come marathon time.  I had a great run just enjoying the day and time outside.  Dom and the kids met me toward the end of my run to refill my Gatorade and bring some Ibuprofen, but Dom forgot the Ibuprofen part (this came back to haunt me in the last two miles, but at the time I just said "Oh, that's okay").  I think the gel energy/electrolyte thing helped me a lot, but was really GROSS.

I ended up meeting them at the Agway in town where they stayed to paint pumpkins.  I was bummed that I missed doing that, but glad that they got some fun time with just Daddy.  That was at about mile 13.  I ran the 3ish miles back to the house then added on the lake run to make an even 18 miles.  I will tell you that I was in pain.  It's always my feet that go first, although that gel thing really helped my heel because it didn't hurt at all. This is the first run that I thought I might not be able to finish.  It was hard, and even though I really don't want to hurt myself, I wanted to do this and aside from my feet, I felt okay.  I haven't had to walk at all yet, so I figure I still have that up my sleeve come marathon time.  I did it and it felt great to be able to cross it off on my training schedule.

Afterward I stretched like crazy, took some Ibuprofen, and showered.  It's amazing how much better I feel after a shower.  I relaxed a bit then Pepere and Oma (my dad and step-mom) along with my brother, Miles, came over to visit.  We were talking about what to do and I mentioned going to the farm to see the animals, and of course Constantine heard and went crazy wanting to go..so we did.  We had a great time at this farm outside Hillsborough that allows you to walk around and check out their cows, goats, emus, llamas, and different birds.  It's a great place and the kids love it.  We even got to take home some peacock feathers.


Now I am trying to plan out my training schedule around our weekend away, which is fast approaching.  We are going to Mass for a wedding on the same weekend as our five year anniversary.  We figured we'd just go as a couple and have grandparents watch the kids (Ahh...I know everything will be FINE, but we never leave them!).  That is the same weekend as my 20 mile training run, so I think I'm going to do it earlier in the week so I won't be sore and tired for our nice weekend.  Two things I am especially excited for:  Getting some really good sleep, and getting dressed up and actually feeling pretty.  Fun, fun!

Fall (way) Back Week

This week was supposed to be a fall back week after the 15 and 16 mile long runs.  My long run was supposed to be 12 miles.  I only did 9 (sort of).  I also missed about 5 miles during the week.  I feel really bad that I missed so much this week, but I guess that's just life and I should get over it.  Here's what happened.  First, Dom got called in for overtime on Wednesday so I wasn't able to run at all and missed my 8 mile run.  I did that run on Thursday instead of the 5 miles I should have done.  In retrospect maybe that wasn't such a great idea because it probably made it harder to do my long run on Saturday.  Earlier Thursday we went to A-Tech to figure out computer stuff for Constantine (which I will tell all about later because it was awesome!) and we were pretty busy.  As for an excuse for not doing the full 12 miles...I've got nothing...I just couldn't do it!

I had plenty of time in the morning to do the 12 mile run.  I had a good breakfast (with no coffee because we ran out of cream!) then got all stretched out and prepared with my fuel belt and comfy running clothes.  I felt fine and ready to run.  I stepped out the door and started running down the road and was surprised by how hard it was.  I kept going thinking that I just had to warm up, but it just didn't get any easier.  I swear it's because I didn't have any coffee, could that be?!  I didn't feel sick and can't think of any other reason why it was so hard (aside from the 8 miles on Thursday).  I tried to push myself to do the whole 12 miles, but it was like torture just to do 5.  I felt bad so I made up 4 the next day (which was easier, but I didn't want to mess up the next week by doing too much).  I only have one (sometimes two) cups of coffee a day so I can't believe it would effect me so much, but I just could not do it!  We went to my mom's house later that day for my little brother's 15th birthday party.  I wish we had the camera there because it was a beautiful day and we had a great time!  Oh, and yes, I did get my coffee on the way :)

I said earlier that we went to A-Tech to check out computers for Constantine.  We had a whole group of people there for him including our family, his OT, the school OT and PT, and the specialists there.  We tried out different mice (mouses?) for him since the normal ones are too hard for him and he is limited in what he can do on the computer.  We ended up finding one with a ball on the top that he picked up on right away.  It was amazing!  It was like all he needed was this one tool and he just took off learning and playing on the computer.  It was such an awesome moment in our lives to see this click and a whole new world open up to him.  Being able to access the computer is a very big deal for him since it will be a huge part of how he functions at school (and in life).

We bought the mouse and he has been using it a ton.  He is teaching himself to read on a site called starfall.com, and he LOVES it.  He's not even three years old yet and starting to read, pretty awesome!  I've always been a big reader and so has he.  Ever since he was a little baby he has enjoyed reading books.  This is compared to Aurelia, who up until recently would rather throw them or eat them, but now she loves them too.  Constantine constantly is talking and if he isn't saying something to us he is narrating stories that he makes up.  It's really cool, maybe he'll be a writer.  Anyway, books are a big part of our life so I think it will be wonderful for him to be able to read! 

I don't have any pictures of C with his new mouse, but I do have this one of Aurelia abusing our computer.  I love this picture because it is catching her in the act of like five different bad things.

16 Miles of Hilly Hills

Well, I did it.  I ran 16 miles through the hilly hills of Hillsborough and Henniker.  The last time I ran this route was for my 13 mile training run... and it was a killer!  I felt pretty good after doing the 15 mile run in Keene (where it's flat) last week so I wanted to see how it would be doing the distance through all the hills since the marathon will be hilly.  I have yet to actually see the marathon route, but there is no way it could be more hilly than this route (I have been wrong on more than one occasion so I really shouldn't assume this!).  I took my 13 mile run and added on the roads taking me back home instead of into town.  Wow, was it a good run.  It was definitely hard, but this training program must be working well because I felt great. 

It was a cool,crisp air beginning of fall kind of day, which was just what I needed.  The air was great for running, but toward the end it was very enticing to be running toward our bright warm cozy house.  I have a fuel belt for Gatorade and my phone and stuff that I wear on the long runs, but running such long distances I need to refill along the way.  Since a lot of this run is in the country Dom and the kids met me half way through and brought me some more Gatorade and a granola bar (which at first I tried to eat while running....SO not smart!  Just what my family needs is to loose me to a choking accident while running!).  The bar totally saved me and gave me some much needed umph toward the end of the run.  It's also nice to see my family cheering me on, well Aurelia was asleep, but C was excited to see me! 

Another tribute to this being a good training program is that I am never sore after these long runs.  I think sometimes I make it sound easy when I say that I had a good run, but they are VERY challenging.  I guess I always expect to be in way more pain and be crawling on the ground at the end, but it's not like that.  I think that I will need to lay on the couch all day after a run, but really I still play with the kids and do all the normal everyday things (maybe a little slower).  One thing that I am a little worried about is that my heel just started hurting.  It's now a couple of days after my long run and it just started to hurt.  It doesn't hurt a ton, but I just don't want it to get worse...not after all this hard work I've put in!

Things are moving along for Constantine getting ready for school (AAH).  This is definitely not something I am ready for, but he is so excited.  We went to the school to check it out and see the pre-school room and the PT/OT room and meet all the people who will be in contact with him while he is there.  He was in heaven meeting all the people and checking out all the cool toys they have there.  That is a huge difference between PT and OT in our home vs. the school is that they have all the cool tools like swings etc. to use with him.  I just hope it all goes perfectly and he stays healthy (yes, I am knocking on my wooden kitchen table!).

15 Miles & Pitcher Mt.

This week started out a little rough for running.  On Tuesday I took Constantine down to Boston Children's for a tube change.  He has to go down every 2-3 months to have his G-J tube replaced so it doesn't get clogged up.  He is such a good sport about being in the car for so long and while we are there he is so brave.  It's pretty uncomfortable to have the tube changed, but we bring Thomas' Hero of the Rails with us and that helps a lot.  On our long car ride we told stories and listened to his FAVORITE song over and over and over.  He loves "Down Down Down" by Jay Sean.  Dom made me a CD for Valentines Day last year and ever since then whenever we are in the car that song is all C wants to hear.  Surprisingly I'm not sick of hearing it, I love to see how much he likes it and watch him sing along.  Now (since we've heard it so much) Aurelia really likes it too and dances when it comes on.

Anyway, when we got back from Boston there was a lot to do (which is actually just my excuse because I was really tired).  I missed my first run of training so far (oh, except for when I was sick), which was only three miles, but I needed the break.  The rest of the week was pretty good and I didn't feel quite so tired.  The mileage is increasing during the week, but it isn't too bad yet.  My body is doing really well though all this running, I just get a general feeling of fatigue with all this lack of sleep (some day I will get sleep and it will be AWESOME).  The weather has been getting cooler too which is great.  I'm glad to be training harder in the fall rather than the summer. 

My long run this week was 15 miles, which I finally did in Keene.  I feel a little like I cheated by doing my long run in Keene.  It was definitely easier than running around Hillsborough.  The marathon is pretty hilly so I am glad that I do most of my training in the hills, but I wanted to take it easy on this run.  Not only is Keene flat, but it is all paved roads, and I know every road very well since I used to run there all the time in high school.  Keene was also a good choice because Dom could take the kids to hang out with family while I ran, which they always love.  It was another great day ( I have been really lucky that every Saturday has been so nice) and my run was awesome.  I felt so good the out there.  It really helps when you know the route. I need to familiarize myself with the marathon route or I am going to be in trouble (although I do know Manchester pretty well).  I was doing great until about mile 13 then it started to get hard, mostly because my feet started to hurt.  I am beginning to think that it was not such a smart idea to take something that I love (running) and take it to the extreme.  I'm hoping that I still like running when this is all over and that it doesn't ruin it for me forever!

He wanted to go up the tower. 
It totally freaked me out but we did it!

At least I'm not usually sore after these runs so we went on a great hike the next day.  I took the kids to meet up with Pepere, Oma, Memere, and Uncle TJ ( my mom, dad, step-mom, and brother) at Pitcher Mt. in Stoddard.  Dom stayed home to watch his favorite team win on opening day. 

We had an awesome time.  My kids are so lucky to have family in their lives and get so excited to spend time with them.  Pitcher Mt. was the perfect place to go for us.  It was a very short hike with such a huge reward.  The views are amazing at the top!  We haven't really gone on any hikes since C's diagnosis that we couldn't bring his chair or the stroller on.  We carried him in the Ergo Baby and he did great.  He had to face toward us which was the only down fall, but it kept his legs in enough so they didn't dangle like in the Baby Bjorn and our hands were free to hold his head from bobbing around (what I was really worried about hiking with him).  This opened up so many opportunities for us in the future. 

He was so excited the whole time, it was great!  Aurelia stayed true to her busy, wild self and was most happy stumbling over the rocks and eating twigs.  She is an explorer with no fear who doesn't like to be told that she can't do something, she definitely makes things interesting! 

And climb all over the rocks

Of course she wanted to go higher!

But she's so cute!

Eating for Three

Hahaha, no I am not pregnant with twins!  I have just been really really hungry lately.  I feel like I am eating for three; my legs, Aurelia (since I am still breastfeeding), and myself.  I feel like I could just keep an endless supply of food coming into my body to keep it energized for all this running.  When I look at it, I don't actually eat that much during the day since I am always running around doing kid stuff, but at night, when the kids are tucked in bed, I seriously eat what must be five pounds of food.  Whatever we have for dinner I pile up on my plate and think there is no way I could eat ALL that food, but I do...and then I have ice cream or cookies for dessert.  I should just eat more throughout the day, but for some reason I don't.  I'm going to try to work on it though so I don't feel so ravenous at the end of the day.  It's not that I don't eat by any means, just apparently not enough.

I had a good week of running this past week.  It was really hot the first part of the week, but not too bad if I ran in the evening.  Actually, my seven mile run I did in the middle of the day while the kids were napping because Dom went in to work overtime that evening.  I think I posted on my facebook; 7 miles. 95 degrees.  Not cool.  Literally.  That sums it up pretty well, definitely not easy.  For some reason I thought that seven miles is easy shmeasy now since I've been running more.  Another not so smart thought on my part, because (especially in 95 degree heat) it was hard.  Duh.  Luckily for me the weather changed and it became cooler for my ten mile long run ( the mileage decreases every couple weeks then increases again).  That run was much better than the seven miler earlier in the week, just a beautiful day and a feel-good sort of run.

On another note; this past week we did add to our family.  Dom dropped me off at Super Cuts for a trim and took the kids to PetSmart.  We do this a lot just to look at the fish and birds and other fun animals, but we always just LOOK.  When they picked me up Constantine had a little critter box on his lap.  Dom had gotten him a pet rat!  I thought they were fooling with me and I would open the box and find some dog treats or something, but no...it was a rat.  You probably think that I was upset because it was a rat, but I actually love rats.  I actually told Dom all the time that if we were to get something I would want to get a rat.  When I was little I had a million pets (maybe more like a hundred...a lot).  I would definitely say that rats are the nicest of the little fury friends.  I was just mad because I am annoyed with our crazy dogs and I didn't want another animal to take care of right now.

Constantine named him Four and he is actually awesome!  If there is anyone out there with a child like Constantine I would one hundred percent recommend getting them a rat.  He sits right on Constantine's tray and just hangs out with him.  He is so nice.  C likes to put toys on his tray like our toy barn and Four goes inside with some toy animals.  He makes Constantine so happy so I have no problem taking care of him....As for the dogs, as sad as it makes me, I think one of them has to go.  I feel like all I do is yell at the dogs for barking and eating things etc. etc. etc. etc. and I don't want to be that person.  I love animals and I want my kids to love them as well, not always see mommy mad at them.

See Four behind C's neck :)

Those were the highlights of this past week.  Now I am just gearing up for a harder week of running and a busy week of planning for C's school.  It is a long process to get him into preschool with the right programs and people.  I want to make sure everything is just right for him before I decide to let him go to school.  This week we have the first meeting with the school to get (and give) a lot of information.  It's kind of overwhelming (mostly because I don't want him to get sick, but also because I am a little bit of a control freak about his care). I think he would love it though so we are checking it out.

Yowza!!

That's all I can say after this weeks long run.  It was only one mile longer than last week, but wow was it hard.  Last week I felt so great out there running the whole time so it was a little bit disheartening to be out there and really feel the challenge.  I think there were a lot of reasons why this run was so much harder.

I haven't been sleeping very well because for some reason both kids have been waking up at night more than usual.  With Constantine I understand that he can't turn himself over so he wakes up a little and calls for me to turn him.  I usually don't get frustrated doing it because I can't imagine not being able to get comfortable on your own.  Lately though it has been more frequent, which gets hard.  Aurelia has just been really restless.  I am trying to figure out a way to get her to sleep better without needing me to help her back to sleep so often.  This isn't really easy (as I'm sure other mom's know) and I am definitely not the cry-it-out kind of mom.

I also switched up my workout schedule since it was raining so hard on Wednesday.  I still ran, but did 3 miles instead of 6.  I actually love running in the rain, but it is hard here because the roads get really bad when they are wet.  So, I ended up doing 6 miles the next day, closer to my long run than usual.  It was also pretty hot and sunny when I did my long run, which definitely makes it harder for me.  The biggest thing was the route that I chose to do.

Again, like last week, I wanted to take it easy and do something more flat.  I mapped my run to Henniker along a road that I know well, then back to Hillsborough on a road along a river because (here is my genius thinking) I thought it would be more flat.  I was so wrong!  This run was unbelievably beautiful, through countryside, then the town of Henniker, then along the river, but man was it hard.  The road back to Hillsborough was extremely hilly and, since I didn't know it, it felt like it would go on forever.  At first when I came to another hill I found myself laughing out loud at how wrong I was, then later I actually started to get mad at myself.  What was I thinking!  It really was beautiful though so I tried to ignore my pain and enjoy the views.  It is really important to me to not push myself too hard because I want to stay strong and healthy to take care of my kids.  When I do these long runs I go slow and enjoy them, which is why I was annoyed with myself for not planning better and choosing a less hilly run.

Oh well, live and learn.  On the up-side I had Dom and the kids meet me in Hillsborough at the icecream place in town, which was awesome.  I finished my run by running up behind them walking.  Constantine was all excited saying "Mommy have good run?  Long run, Mommy!  Nice job!  Go eat icecream!"  Could he be any more cute?.  They brought Gatorade for me, which I really needed, then we had some delicious icecream.  We give C the tiniest little bites of it to keep his lungs safe, but he still loves it.  It was a great end to my most challenging run yet (by far).

12 Miles

Today was my 12 mile training day.  I was dreading it a little bit more than I would normally dread a 12 mile run for one reason. I was sick earlier in the week.  I actually felt bad that I missed two runs in there, and was almost going to go the first day when I was in denial about getting sick.  Then I threw up and gave up on the idea.  Luckily it was a fast bug because I was only sick for two days.  Constantine and Aurelia got a very mild version of it, then Dominic got it.  He may say that he had it worse than I did, but really we had two different things.  I had wife/mommy-gets-sick-and-pushes-through-like-a-champ syndrome, while he had husband-gets-sick-and-turns-into-big-baby syndrome (sorry Dom, I love you!).  Anyway, there were actually three days in there that I couldn't run, but I made one up on an off day.

My plan was to take it easy on this long run.  I still wanted to do the 12 miles, just maybe not the hilly hills in Hillsborough runs that I usually do.  I was thinking a nice easy 12 miles through Keene or somewhere else nice and flat.  My plans changed though when Pepere and Oma (my dad and step-mom) suggested we go to the trolley museum in Lowell.  When an opportunity arises that has anything to do with trains there is no possible way I could turn it down.  Constantine LOVES (I need a stronger word than that...) LIVES trains.

We had an awesome day going on a trolley ride through the old factories.  Constantine got to sit up front with the engineer and ride on an elevator (he calls an alligator) to his seat since we had his chair.  He was in heaven with all the train noises.  We also saw a huge engine and a caboose which he said looked like Hiro from "Hero of the Rails" the movie and the caboose was like the Little Red Caboose, only BIG.  Then we walked around downtown to get me a coffee ( I didn't sleep well the night before because I have two kids under three and more often than not that's how it goes).  Aurelia is so curious about everything, and is so squrimy and fast, I find myself wanting to get one of those kid leashes to keep her safe as she points and runs after something else new saying "dis? dis?".  We then took them to a skydiving place to watch the airplane and the parachuters.  They both loved that.  I loved watching them.

I just have to add this little story.  We were driving home and Aurelia was upset (she hates car rides) so I was singing to her.  C says, "Mommy sing Twinkle Twinkle Little Star".  So I did, then he starts singing Bah Bah Black Sheep while I was singing.  So I started singing with him.  He immediately switched to Twinkle Twinkle.  He is such a clever little stinker, he was joking with me.  I looked back and he had this sly little grin like "haha, I messed you up, mommy!".  So we kept singing the different songs that have the same tune and then switching.  Unfortunately, Aurelia wasn't too impressed.

We got home at 3:30 and me wanting to get my run in before  the kids bedtime just went with the same old route.  I did my 10 mile run through the hilly hills of Hillsborough then added on a 2 mile lake run.  I actually felt awesome.  I thought it would be grueling, but I really felt great and just enjoyed being out there.  Even the last two miles when I passed my road and kept going around wasn't too bad.  I have to admit that now that I am home with the kids asleep I am starting to feel it.  Maybe someone really nice will proof read my post and get a great idea to give me a nice foot massage. hmm.

Today was a great day.  My kids are awesome.