CHA CHA CHA CHA Changes

So the past week began with my last day at Burton's and ended with my first day at Valassis. For those of you that don't know, Burton's had been my part time gig for the last 18 months or so. It's an upscale restaurant that I worked mostly lunch shifts. My parents were each able to help out and watch Justin while I worked, and my hours were so few that I never unclaimed my title "stay-at-home-mom"...until Friday anyway. Friday I started working the ole 40 hour, 9-5 again.

Over Thanksgiving, a past co-worker reached out to me. He is with Valassis, a company which laid me off while I was still preggo with the Noodle. Joel asked what my current job situation was and if I'd be interested in working with him in an Event Planner type role. I was immediately interested. I told him I'd have to give notice at Burton's and with Triple Helix (another company in which I worked up to 3 hours per week as a virtual assistant to the CEO). Thank goodness Joel contacted me so many weeks before I started for him because there was a lot of prep I needed to do. In addition to giving notice at my two jobs, I had to secure daycare for Justin. Not only secure it, but mentally prepare for it...

I've always been very apprehensive about getting Justin into a daycare setting. I think germs, first and foremost, then guilt settles in. Justin is MY KID, why should I hand him over to a bunch of strangers while I work? I thought this until just a few weeks ago when I realized he is at an age where he should be interacting with other kids. The daycare we looked at, and later chose for Justin to attend is great for Justin to interact with other kids in, learn, play, explore, etc.

So, though I initially never thought Justin would attend a daycare, I now think it's good for him, albeit the germs are still a concern of mine...

Friday was the big day. I surprisingly slept well on Thursday, woke up on my training rest day and began getting ready for work. Joe was in charge of getting Justin dressed and ready. He will be, going forward. We successfully got ourselves out the door and to daycare and work with no tears. I'm leaving out details of my mini-breakdown on Thursday evening after Justin went to bed ;o)

I called the daycare twice during the day to check in on my little guy and both times they said he was doing great. When I picked him up, I learned he had napped, ate, and sat on the potty twice!! WOW!! That's more progress than I make in a week, LOL! He had a wonderful day and wants to go back, thankfully. He'll only be there three days per week. The other two days, he'll be with my mom or dad. They are able to watch him and I think it's still important for him to be with family.



Work for me was good too by the way. I'll enjoy my role there. It was good to be welcomed back by so many familiar faces.

So, it's winter in New England and I'm training for the Hyannis Marathon in 6ish weeks. Friday was my rest day and yesterday was supposed to be a 17 miler. Wind and bitter cold pushed me into postponing the long run to today. A sleepless night and still single digit temps are pushing me into postponing to tomorrow. Justin woke up vomiting three times last night. Twice I stripped the bed and stuck him in the tub. Poor guy has never been sick like that before. Correlation with daycare...I dunno... :-/ I'm tired today but still am contemplating running 17. Tomorrow is MLK day, a work Holiday and temps are supposed to be back up into the 30's. I may be stupid not to take advantage of being able to do it tomorrow. We'll see. If it's not above 20 degrees by noon today, then I will go tomorrow. It's a shame since I hydrated so well yesterday in preparation for a run today. I'm a planner after all and if things go askew, it nags me.

Well, laundry beckons... need to take one comforter out of the dryer to get the next set of bedding in then the next set. argh. An all day affair :o(

Racing For A Cause - Youth Suicide Prevention

I am not one to ring in the new year with hopes of keeping a resolution. I am one to continually make goals, regardless of the date and adhere to those goals, no matter the obstacles. If I'm committed to something I will RARELY do anything but stay committed. I don't like the word "resolution". I'd much prefer "goal". I'm a goal setter. I'm a planner. I specifically plan to reach the goals I set. If you fail to plan, you must plan to fail, correct?

In the year 2012, these are the goals I will accomplish:

• Hyannis Marathon (2/26) in 4:10 or less
• Bradley 10K (April) with a placement overall or in my age group
• Iron Horse Half Marathon (June) in 1:50 or less
• Hartford Marathon (October) in 4:00 or less

While meeting the above goals, I will raise money for a cause. I've been running for years now, all for the purpose of ME and ME alone. I guess my family benefits too since running keeps me sane. But generally speaking I have been selfish. Why not run for a cause?

Now, if you know me I'm a bit of a conspiracy theorist. Among other things, I think several non-profit organizations out there are not in it for the awareness raising and the "finding a cure". Organizations like Susan G. Komen hit the proverbial lotto when they introduced that trendy little pink ribbon of their's... Now everyone wants to wear pink. Where does the money they raise actually go though? $500,000 went to the former president's salary in 2010. For a non-profit, that bitch sure is profiting. Komen's total revenue in 2010 was $311,000,000!!! Wow! So why is there no cure for breast cancer yet? Because fat cats at the top of the Komen ladder bank too much off of the revenue. Their jobs would be obsolete without cancer. So would the oncology units in hospitals, and the pharmaceutical companies, insurance companies and not to mention the swag manufacturers that brainwash you into thinking you're making a difference when buying that stupid pink key chain. The list goes on.

Ok, so the most of the money they raise goes to raising awareness and to research. Did you know that the Komen Foundation has been around since 1982, but there have been no significant advancements in treatment or screening breast cancer since 1981? I dare you to enlighten yourselves. Do the research...

So I digress... What I am trying to convey in my long rant is that I don't want to raise money for such an organization that is nothing more than a pyramid scheme. I'm not a minion in pink, or yellow or purple or blue. The money I raise will go directly to the cause.

My sister Melissa is a PAL (Police Athletic League) Officer in Las Vegas. She works with kids (most are under the poverty line and under privileged) in the community to enrich their lives, encourage, empower and teach them. Being so close to the kids in her community, she is reminded daily that childhood is not always rainbows and butterflies. These kids are poor, bullied, abused, undereducated. Only a few will finish high school and fewer will graduate college.

In Las Vegas, the youth suicide rate is among the highest in the country. Only a few weeks ago, Melissa shared with me that within days of each other, a 10 year old and a 13 year old in Las Vegas took their own lives. They were just babies! But old enough to believe their lives were never going to improve. Was it depression? Bullying? What led them to thinking there was no other way out?

Knowing of these two kids and what they did hit me hard. I began to think that maybe I can make a difference to help eliminate this epidemic. It's still a taboo issue in some communities which perhaps isn't a good thing. Education and awareness to this issue needs to be priority.

So, let it be known that the money I raise in 2012 will all go to a foundation synonymous with educating communities on the signs and prevention of suicidal behavior, supporting victims effected by familial suicide, and other initiatives.

I'm still researching which organization I will end up with but stay tuned! My first race is at the end of February. I expect to narrow in on an organization before then and get the ball rolling with fundraising!

Flying Home

It's been an interesting few weeks. Thanksgiving happened which was an uneventful day. Thankfully it was uneventful because the days after seemed to be jam packed. A day of rest was necessary. I chose not to do the Manchester Road Race this year which is on thanksgiving morning. Instead I did 5.5 on my own, then went home and made dinner for just Justin, Joe and myself. Breaded haddock over parmesan risotto. YUM!!

The next morning, my sister flew in from Vegas. My step brother got married in the evening so she came solo to attend. It was a beautiful ceremony and reception in a 300 year old barn. It was a rustic ambiance but with a modern flare. Sandy was a beautiful bride! There were about 100 guests and just about everybody danced the night away.

The next morning my sis and I headed out for a long run. Clearly we barely drank at the wedding, lol. We set out for 12 but had to stop at 9.5 due to time constraints. We averaged in the 8's so I was happy regardless. This was our last long run before the Vegas half marathon. While Melissa visited, we fit in another run and a trip to the gym. We also visited family, did some Justin-friendly activities and drove to Maine and back in a day. She was in CT from Friday-Tuesday.

On Thursday, only two days after she left, we flew to Vegas. This trip had been planned before we knew Mark and Sandy were going to marry in late November and Melissa was coming to CT. Quite the treat to get so much quality time in with my sis!!

I ran the morning of our flight then again our first full day in Vegas. I wouldn't run again until Sunday, the day of the half marathon.

Knowing this race would accommodate 44,000 runners, we decided to forego any PR's and just have fun. The race was at night under the neon and glitz of Las Vegas Blvd. It was pretty cool. We put together matching costumes...think Santa's little helpers. We attached strings of LED lights to our tutus and shirts, along with jingle bells to our gloves. We looked AWESOME!

We approached the crowded starting line from the police substation parking lot. My sister being a cop has its perks- free parking! We lined up in our corral and began our fun run about 10 minutes after the gun. Everyone seemed to love our outfits. Strangers even took pictures of us!!

Mia, my youngest niece was manning a water station around mile 4. We stopped to chat with her, took pictures, found a semi clean port-o-potty, took more pics... It was nice to just sorta trot the course, stop when we wanted and have no real desire to run hard. It was fun!!

We finished in over two hours. No worries! After we crossed the finish, retrieved our medals, water, etc., we were clueless on how to get out of the mob of other finishers and what seemed like their entire families! Melissa started to panic, which led us to hopping through fences.

We began to plot our escape after the crowd pushed us a good 1/3 mile back to the chute where finishers were approaching the finish line. We were about 2/3 mile from our car, and frustrated we wouldn't get out of the madness until midnight.

My sis was determined!! So much that we squeezed our bodies through the spectator fence, ran against the traffic of finishing 1/2 marathon runners, darted across their path, squeezed through another fence, crossed the path of the marathon runners then proceeded to squeeze through two other fences before getting onto Las Vegas Blvd. and car bound.

We returned to my sister's before 9:00 and I was back to the hotel with Joe and Justin shortly after. Phew!

We rested yesterday, got in a gym sesh today and now I'm on a plane home to CT. Not since 15 years ago have I spent so much time with my sister. Thankfully we have a love of running in common. We won't see each other again until February, then subsequently in the summer. Hopefully we can log more miles together.

It's always bittersweet parting from each other. Though many miles keep us apart, the miles we run keep us bonded.

So here I am on a plane. Justin is behaving wonderfully! He slept for 3 hours and will be up all night, but whatever... As long as he's not "that child" on the plane, I can deal. About an hour til we land. About 90 minutes til we see our kitties and about 12 hours until I will hit the pavement again.

About 10 weeks until the Hyannis FULL Marathon... Yes I registered. I'm committed now!! Oh boy!

Snowtober

What a crazy week!! Seven days ago, a freak snow storm named Alfred barreled through the northeast. He dropped a foot of snow on us and while doing so, knocked out power, heat, phone lines, etc. Our yard looks like a bomb went off in it. Tree limbs and entire trees still litter our yard. Because it was October and leaves were still on the trees, when the snow fell, it added hundreds of pounds the trees couldn't support. So they snapped. And cracked. And plummeted.

The nighttime sky during the storm was bright because of cloud cover. After our cable and power went out, we needed to watch something entertaining, err riveting... My husband Joe and I couldn't peel ourselves away from the back window. Against the white sky, we could see it all. Snow flakes the size of silver dollars, increasing wind and every few seconds, a snap and pop was heard, then a big THUMP. We were hopeful none of the many falling trees would make their way through our roof. We were lucky.

The house got cold that night. Forced hot water heats our home, via the magic of electricity... Normally. Not on this night, nor the next night...seven days later, it still is not.

We "roughed it" for three nights. Days were spent in layers. Poor Justin wore two pairs of footy jammies for three days under his clothes. The house was 50 degrees. We slept under a hundred pounds of blankets, all three of us huddled together.

All businesses, restaurants and retail alike were out of power. Nothing was open. No morning coffee, no hot food, NO GYM, no showering, nothing. We stayed busy playing trains and cars with Justin, visiting friends and family; all of whom were in the same boat.

This storm happened on Saturday. On Tuesday, my dad's power was restored. He called to tell us to come over. So far, we've been there for four nights. I'm so grateful for their hospitality but I want my own bed back :-(

Not only did we get the invite to come over to dad's but so did my step-sister and brother, their fiancés and their pets. It was a full house, but in the best way. Justin was in his glory being surrounded by so many pets and family members, he's probably wishing this could happen more often.

Along with restored power at dad's came access to his treadmill!!! Woo hoo! My first workout in four days! I would have been running outside this whole time but without the ability to shower, it wasn't happening. Not to mention all the trees and downed power lines I'd have to dodge.

So anyway, being at dad's, we were provided heat, food, water, cable... Overall a sense of normalcy after three days in the dark ages.

Right now I'm on a train to New York City. It's marathon weekend. I'm going to watch my step-sister Missy cross her first finish line after 26.2 miles, along with her childhood friend and neighbor, Kristin. Mark, my step bro is running with Missy, but it's old hat for him. He's done several marathons.

I left the hubby and babe behind in CT. I have guilt, but not enough to get me down. Fingers are crossed for power restoration at our house today. Joe is struggling with ideas for activities to do with my Peanut. At least if at home, they're in their comfort zone and surrounded by Justin's toys. Nobody but my dad is at dad's anymore. Seemingly our street is last to get power back. Argh.

I'm excited to vacation for all of 36 hours in the city. I miss my boys but what lies ahead is a massive clean up of the yard. NOT looking forward to getting back to that. $1,000's in clean up fees, I'm sure...(sigh)...

Our back yard:

I'm a Versatile Blogger (apparently)

Kristin at Mrs. Miller's Miles tagged me as a versatile blogger!

The Rules are as follows:

1) Thank the person who gave you the award and link to their post.

2) Share seven things about yourself.

3) Tag some recently discovered blogs, and pass the award a long.

Thank you Kristin Miller! A fellow runner who is training for her first marathon, the NYC Marathon, mind you, who is saving and improving the quality of lives while doing so. She is supporting World Vision. Please private message her to donate or find out more info!

Okay, so here I go with seven things about myself. They may or may not be interesting, but either way, I'm following the rules...

1. I was married in Las Vegas at one of those quintessential chapels on the Strip. My husband Joe and I have been married for 10 years. We planned a big wedding to be held in October 2002, but in September 2001, we traveled to Vegas (where my sister lives) to attend her wedding. While we were there, we agreed we would save $1,000's if we tied the knot then. I contacted the Candlelight Wedding Chapel, booked our wedding and on September 24 (one day after my sister and brother-in-law were married), we were married by a barely English speaking French-Canadian who, for an extra $50 would have dressed up as Elvis.

2. I have three sisters whose names are Melissa, Melissa and Alyssa. Okay, so only one is my biological sister. One is my step-sister and the other is my sister-in-law. Still makes for an interesting fact :-)

3. I'm a huge Howard Stern fan! Not a day goes by that his show doesn't play on either the computer or Sirius car radio. I listen for several hours each day (my hubby works from home and streams the show from his computer which is just next to the kitchen). Howard is witty, funny and speaks candidly. I can't say I agree with everything he says, but he is the epitome of good broadcasting. I love the News with Robin and calls to Tradio the best!!

4. I have a 17 pound cat. She is all white and her name is White Kitty. We call her Whitey.

5. I have never watched an episode of Jersey Shore, the Bachelor, Dancing with the Stars or any of the other (non) reality CRAP that is sadly taking over prime time television. I love a good sit-com or series. My faves are Fringe, The Killing, Modern Family, Happy Endings, Community and I love Tosh.0 and The Soup. My latest fave is American Horror Story! Excellent series... well written, great acting, original material.

6. I have impeccable time management skills. Most days are NOT dull but I never overbook myself or family and we always have much needed down time. I'm a full time mom, wife and homemaker, a part time waitress, I work at home as an Assistant to the CEO of a web-solutions company, I babysit for friend's children weekly, I train for marathons, triathlons, half marathons and overall HEALTH and WELLNESS. I used to have my own custom jewelry business, but I sacrificed it for the love of running!

7. My lucky number is 9. I have 9 letters in my name. My birthday is 9-9-81 (do the math...9x9=81). I was born at 8:51 a.m., which is 9 minutes til 9:00. I graduated in 1999 and I turned 18 (divisible by 9) on 9-9-99. I'm pretty sure there are more 9's but I can't think right now...

Okay, the original rules say to tag 15 blogs, but I only know of 2 in addition to Kristin's. So here are 2 blogs which I follow and a short description of the authors...

Self Embodiment- The blog of a personal trainer with whom I went to high school. If you look up "fitness" in the dictionary, I'll bet his pic is there. Seriously.

Strides to Health- The blog of a determined runner (I also went to high school with her). She has high hopes and the will to get her to which ever finish line she'll set her mind her to.

Staying With It

People often take a stab at a lifestyle change by adding a fitness routine and/or eating better. It's not always easy to maintain a new lifestyle if A. You are not 100% committed, B. You do not have a support system or C. You have a combination of A and B.

The people successful in making positive changes in their life are those determined to see their goals met at all costs. A rainy morning will not prevent a determined person from getting their run in. A late night at the office, a child's baseball practice, traffic, a bad day... The list of excuses is long. A successful goal setter will ensure they do not let the obstacles become excuses.

It helps too, to have people in your corner. That friend who tells you to skip the gym because she wants a buddy at happy hour is the personality a successful goal setter will want to avoid. Sure it's fine to have fun with friends, but plan those happy hours on your rest days. You'll enjoy them even more!!

I will share a few things with you that keep me successful in my training. People often wonder how I stay motivated, but motivation may not be a factor. It boils down to commitment. Being driven to stay committed.

1. Enjoy. Do what you like to do! Don't run because you think you should. Do it because you are passionate about it. If running isn't your thing, then bike, yoga, kick box, power walk, weight train, zumba, or do all those things! If you don't like your workout routine, you will not stay committed.

2. Prepare. Know what the week ahead holds. If you don't know, then find out. Build your workouts and meals around your life. Or if it works better to build your life around your workouts, that's fine too. Always lay out your clothes the night before for an a.m. workout. Bring your gym bag to work with you for a p.m. workout. If you are meeting friends for dinner, plan a morning workout. If you need to be to work early, workout in the evening. Change your clothes at work then go straight to the gym. You're less likely to follow through on a plan to hit the gym if you stop at home or run errands.

3. Eat well. If you eat like crap, your body will react like crap. If you don't feel well during a workout, you will enjoy doing it less, thus being likely to stop.

4. Be accountable. Track your workouts and monitor progress. When I realized my running pace was 60 seconds faster per mile than a year ago, I wanted to make it 90 seconds faster. I'm now working on shaving off another 30 seconds per mile. Runkeeper.com is awesome for tracking cardio progress and Fitness Tracker 90 is good for resistance and weight training.

Talk about your progress with others. If you tell someone about your plan to run the next morning it may encourage you to follow through. Or BLOG about it!! LOL. Use Facebook... Update your status to say "Gone Running". Personally, I feel like if I say I've gone running, I MUST go running. It's following through, which I'm all about!

5. Set goals. Always wanted to finish a 5K? Better yet, in under 30 minutes? or even under 25? How about those half marathons all your girlfriends have been doing? Want to jump on the band wagon? Set your goal, create a REASONABLE plan and get it done!!

Okay, so there are some secrets. When people ask me, "how do you it?" and I reply with, "it's just one foot in front of the other, over and over and over", I guess I'm being cynical. There is MUCH more to it. And much more to it than what I just wrote about. It's got to be IN YOU. You've got to WANT IT. We each have our own secrets to success, and I'm glad I could share a few of mine with you.

Great Training

I had been thinking about my marathon training over the past few days and realized that I followed a really great plan! To be actually walking around, cleaning and even willing to go for a recovery run/walk the very day after the race shows that I must have had successful training. It's not enough that I was able to complete the race (with no injury in fact) but to recover rapidly is a true testament. I figured I would share my plan for anyone who is interested...

Setting the goal to race is obviously the first step. Depending on your level of physical fitness should determine when you race. Four months out? six months out? Personally, I knew I'd be doing Hartford Marathon a year ago (right after I completed my first one). From months 1-6 (October '10-April '11), I pre-trained. I did a few 5k's, and even a half marathon. I didn't over stress about timing. I just ran to run. Got my miles in before I got down to business.

Come Spring 2011, I began training for the Ironhorse Half Marathon. It's a race I've done before... a flat course with beautiful scenery. It's at the beginning of June and I was able to PR with a time of 1:56:30. A minute and a half past my goal, but a PR nonetheless.

Post Ironhorse...let's get down and dirty...four months until the full marathon. My plan was to get a lot of cross training in (I'll add that I trained for two sprint triathlons in August and September. This helped immensely to avoid injury). My training schedule consisted of long runs on Saturdays with running and cross training during the week. I swam, biked, attended spin class, etc.

The distance of my long runs began at 6 miles and I added 1-2 miles to that distance each week. Below is a sample week from months June-September/October...

Monday: 5:45 a.m. Spin class followed by 5K run
Tuesday: 4 mile run, 600 meter lap swim
Wednesday: Weights, cross train (most likely the ARC Trainer at the gym)
Thursday: 4 mile run, 600 meter lap swim
Friday: Rest or cross train/weights
Saturday: Long run (Or brick training depending on where is was with tri training)
Sunday: rest completely

As it got later into my training, into the 15+ milers, I began to back pedal with mileage. For instance, if I ran 15 one week, I'd back pedal to 13 miles the next week, before doing 17 the following week. Then I'd go back to 13 before 19 the next week. This helped with extra healing time. I think not following this type of plan last year led to extended recovery time after the race.

Looking back on my year, I realize I was quite busy!! 2 half marathons, 2 sprint triathlons, 1 full marathon, several 5Ks, even a Warrior Dash and still one more half before the year is over.

Knock on wood...no injuries!! Definitely less running, more cross training is to credit for this year's success... and added weight training too. I'll save my weight training regiment for another post...

Hope this is helpful to anyone looking to adopt a successful training plan. In the end though, it boils down to what works for the individual. Good luck to you all!