EyeRun...

Wednesday's 2 mile run was pushed to Thursday and was shortened to a fast 1 miler on the treadmill. It almost never happened because I woke up 10 min late, got dressed, was heading out the door when I head the 3 year old "S" calling because he had a bad dream. Came running up the stairs only to collide at the top with my half-awake husband. Crumpled in a heap on the floor, while my husband hurdled over me to the door only to make enough noise in the process that we woke up the younger one "N".

At that point there was so much chaos and confusion that trying to go out the door was near impossible. After 10 min of coaxing, nobody was going to take me up on my offer of pushing one of them in the jogging stroller. So we made them breakfast, dropped them off at school and went shopping when I got a call from our realtor wanting to show me the lake house I saw online. Hustled home, changed into "real people" clothes (not gymwear) and headed back out to see the house.

It was perfect!!!! The pictures don't even do it justice.It is on the lake, a double lot (for expansion), has a nice 2 bedroom cottage house with a 2 story deck on it. But most importantly, a sand beach for 10 feet in front!! (the other camps have deep water frontage) It also is in a cove inlet with shallow water for 50 feet before it drops. Why does it seem like I am trying to talk myself into it? Because we are in the process of building a very expensive medical clinic and had not really planned on finding a cottage so soon. We had given ourselves 2 years to look and to take our time. Also the price is 25% higher than our max. It is priced fairly for the market, maybe even a bit under priced but it's still higher than our max. You can only push the bank account so far :(

Woke up extra early this morning to get in the 3.5 mile run. I forgot to bring my watch to work with me so I'm fuzzy on the splits but the whole 3.5 miles took me 35:35ish! Yeah for me. I'll post the times tommorrow with a weekly recap.

My kids have been watching the Aladdin movie over and over and over again. If I could have my own personal genie there would be several things I would wish for:

I wish for the days when...

1. I could go back to the days in college when my diction consisted of multi-syllablic words, eloquent verbage, and could write an essay like any speechwriter for a president.
2. I could actually watch something on TV other than cartoons. (I am fortunate than my children are far too busy playing outdoors and their TV time is limited to watching only after their nightly baths).
3. I did not have to worry about a couple of extra mid-section centimeters (who am I kidding -inches) after having 2 children in the past 3 years.
4. I could sleep in past sunrise when 2 beautiful little children wake up ready to start the day.
5. I could exercise whenever I felt like it without wondering if I could fit it in.
6. As a new grad Dr. I used to get really excited at the thought of seeing a retinal detachment coming in to the office.
7. I can jump out of bed in the morning and run 10 miles without feeling tired.

But in the end I would not trade my life for anyone else's. Why the ramblings? Because today I found out that one of our staff members was being abused physically and mentally by her husband. She apparently fainted in the office( she was fasting to lose weight because her husband said she was overweight at 105 lbs and 5'7"), and when the ambulance took her home, her husband was there to yell at her in front of the EMTs. Scary. Idiot.

OK rant over - back to running news.

Sunday morning I went with the family to the park and then a run. The schedule called for 4 miles so miles 0 to 2 = 19:23 min and miles 2 to 4 = 20:32 min ( it ended going up a steep hill).

This morning I took a detour onto one of the side streets and did what I thought was 3.5 miles. To the turnaround 16:13 min and back 16:15. Well, on the way to work I measured it in the car and it ended up being only 3.1 !!!!!! That means when I thought I was running a bit slow I actually was! Dammit! I should trust my instincts more often.

End result 3.1 miles 32:28 min.

This week was very productive overall. I am still following Hal's training guide although we shifted it by a day this week.
Woke up early Thursday at 6:00am and knocked out 2 miles as per schedule, scaring 2 little old ladies along the way who ignored my yelling (well in advance) "coming up behind" as I approached them. Maybe they didn't have their hearing aids turned up or something - they were late 70s in age, but walking at a very brisk pace.
Recap:
Sun - 4 miles ~ 39 min
Mon - off
Tues - off
Wed - 3 miles on treadmill at 10:30 pace (noon workout)
Thurs - 2 miles
Fri - 2.5 miles
Tonight's menu:
Pizza!

Humid, humid, humid and 95F! Yuck,yuck,yuck! Can I just say that moving from Texas was supposed to offer us a reprieve from the stifling heat/humidity combo. Yesterday's 3 miler did not happen. When I woke up at 6am the air so muggy and humid that it actually looked like it was misting outside. So I rolled over and went back to sleep.

Today was the same-no AM run. So feeling guilty all morning that I am messing my training schedule- I made myself drive home at lunch, turn on the window AC in my room and chug out 3 miles on the treadmill at a 10:30 pace, shower, then return back to the office only 5 min late for my 1:00pm patient who was humored that I ran on my lunch hour.
Tonight's menu :
Grilled salmon (on the BBQ) marinated in Balsalmic vinegrette
Steamed Broccoli (with melted cheese for the kids)
Yogurt and watermelon for dessert

Well we are in Fredericton again this weekend. The plan was to go camping with the in-laws at Mactaquac Provincial Park for the weekend. We decided to change that plan slightly and have "S" and Dada stay with the grandparents and "N" and I would return to Ammamma (my mom) and Tatayya's (my dad) house. The kids had a great time swimming in the lake in the afternoon, strolling around the campgrounds, chasing all the squirrels and such that they absolutely refused to take a nap. They say no to sleeping in the tent, no to the RV, but yes to the stroller. This was fine and dandy but try pushing a 3 year old and 21 month old in strollers in the hot afternoon sun for 2 hours. It bites.

Dad and I woke up this morning at 6:30 am for our 4 mile run. It was absolutely beautiful! The temperature was perfect and the view running along the river was amazing. There was a little mist rising off the water that was breathtaking. Again another reason I am sooo glad we moved from Texas and the blistering heat.

There was no actual mile markers along the way but Dad knew where the 2 mile turnaround was.
Miles 0 to 2 19:20 minutes
Miles 2 to 4 19:00 minutes

I am procrastinating as long as possible before going back to camp (20 minutes away) because the thought of sitting around reading or knitting is boring to me on days when the adrenaline is pumping.

Well the morning started off nice and cool as predicted but there was a certain "scent" in the air. This scent was reminiscent of my youthful junior tennis days when we would wake up at tennis tournaments smelling the same smell and knowing that there was going to be a thunderstorm that day. How many matches can we fit in before the rain? How long will the tourney be delayed behind?

These were the same questions that popped in my head as I dropped my kids of at school/childcare. How many errands (on my day off) can I fit in, then get a 3 mile run in before the rain. Errands took me 2 hours (ugh), then lo and behold the sun came out... and the humidity. Still I packed on my new Camelbak, slathered on the sunscreen and hit the road for a 3 miler.
Here are my times
mile 1 10:32
mile 2 9:45
mile 3 10:15
Not bad considering I walked a bit on mile 3. In training for the Portland Maine 1/2 marathon I am following Hal Higdon's half-marathon training guide.
BTW the picture of my husband and me has me standing on a 6 inch platform because me 5'2"
he 6'3".

Here are some pics of my wonderful kids. Yup these are the ones that prevent me from running some days. Some days are just need more hugs from Mama days. To help counter balance the lack of quality time some days we have bought a jogging stroller! The "N" (the younger one) loves the stroller because it fits him perfect this year. By next year he will be a bit tall for it but we'll keep using it until his head pops out the top like his older brother "S".
So last week I ran 3 days.
Monday - 3.5 miles
Wednesday - 3.5 miles
Sunday (yesterday) - 4 miles

I think the marathon thing will have to wait until spring or early summer 2006. Construction of our medical clinic is more important right now and therefore taking much of our time and energy.

I took a survey today found on one of my knitting friends blogs. It is interesting. Here's the link.


It is by a student at MIT.

Managed to finish the dang playset -- it is huge! I will upload a picture when I can- in the meantime you can see it by clicking the link. We woke up early Sat AM and steadily worked on it until 12:30 pm when we realized we were one step away from finishing. We did a ceremonial jig (aka the leprechaun dance) and hung up the third swing. A quick shower and phone call to the parents to say we were leaving and off we went.

The kids were ecstatic to see us. I love "glad to see you mom" hugs from my 2 adorable little kids. They had a great time hanging out with their 2 girl cousins ages 13 (as of last week) and 9. But with the good comes some bad. S has learned to say "Shut up" instead of "stop talking". AAAAARgh! I hate the deprogramming process that needs to be done afterwards.

As of this morning they still have yet to discover the playset. We didn't want them to know until they finish "school" today. BTW School = Preschool. I am planning on videotaping the reaction on their faces for posterity.

Had a great 5 mile run with my dad yesterday morning. Not sure how to rate the timing because I didn't wear a sports watch (I forgot it in the packing rush and was not going to wear my nice one) besides Dad was wearing one so I should be OK, right? WRONG

We started running on a trail-like run amongst the trees alongside the beautiful Saint John River in Fredericton enjoying the scenery, feeling the wind rush through my hair, good strides, then WHAM! STOP my Dad says. What, what are you OK? Is anything wrong? (He is due to have another angioplasty Aug 22). The answer - NOPE. Just time for our walk break. WTF!? Walk break? We have only been running 10 minutes! Yup, my dad runs his 1/2 and full marathons with 10 minutes of walking then 1 minute of running.

This absolutely drove me nuts! I will often need to take walk breaks but I take them much further on down the line. Needless to say that although I really enjoyed the overall run the run/walk thing messed me up.

Thanks to Cosmogrrl and Thinking runner for the marathon push. I am seriously thinking about doing the 1/2 marathon this year in Portland (Maine not Oregon) in September. Then try a full sometime next year. This all hinges upon being able to fit the training schedule into my kids schedule.

Happy Birthday to Canada! Today is Canada Day and my parents are taking the kids to various Canada Day activities and festivities then fireworks at night if they are still awake by then.

The playset is killing me slowly and softly. We have gotten a lot done on it but there is still more to go. It has been raining on and off so we have not been able to get 2-3 hours straight. That and tomorrow we will be kayaking in Bar Harbour on the ocean for the first time so when will this thing be done? Who knows - hopefully before my kids outgrow it ;)

Oh sorry, I forgot this is a blog about running. Ran on Wednesday for 3 miles and did it at 10:00 pace and felt good about it. I have been sticking to the 3 mile distance and trying to increase speed before I increase the distance. Someday I would like to run a marathon just so I can tell the kids I did and also because I would love to have them cheer me on near the end :)

My mom last weekend noticed that my legs were looking a lot toner and asked if running was responsible for this body change. It kinda shocked me that she noticed because lately I have just run without constantly looking at myself in the mirror afterwards to see if anything changed.

I crack up everytime they show the commercial on TV where the heavy black guy goes to the gym, steps on the scale, sprints around the weights one time, steps back on the scale, and smacks it because it didn't change. Hee hee! Sometimes I feel they made that commercial about me.
Happy July 4th everyone!