Unusual Marinades

Mark came home from work yesterday, went upstairs to change...and came back downstairs with a funny look on his face.


Avery was having her nightly tantrum, so I just said "WHAT?"  He then asked me what I'd been marinating in our bathroom.  Pause.  "Oh, the baby."  Ha.  Avery has cradle cap.  A solution recommended to me was to brush olive oil on the spot pre-bath and then rinse/wash it off.  She got the suggested treatment and I left the olive oil in our bathroom in case I wanted to do it again.  It did seem to work.  Anyone else ever try this?  The marinade comment is particularly amusing to me since I often tell Avery that "some animals eat their young."

Huh.  Mommy's trick actually worked.

During last nights run, I had a running first... I successfully took off my jacket and tied it around my waste without slowing down, stopping and without dropping anything.  Go me!


Tonight, I fully intended to go on a quick 2.2 mile run before my strength training workout.  Avery refused to take an afternoon nap and was in that lovely too-tired-to-sleep-or-be-happy persona.  That persona was compounded by the normal 6pm witching hour when Avery is typically cranky.  Bottom line, by the time Mark got home, all I wanted to do was curl up with a book and some candy.  I skipped the candy, but not the book.

Don't listen to her, I'm a perfect angel.

I am now having running guilt from skipping even that short run.  Enough guilt that I considered leaving for a run at 10pm, but not enough guilt that I seriously considered my treadmill.  Don't judge.


Avery has two other fun tricks these days.  Exploring other options for paci-use....

It's more interesting at this angle.

She has also found a way to travel across the floor.  She doesn't utilize her impressive rolling skills, oh no, not my daughter.  And, she hasn't learned proper crawling yet, instead she's imitating inch worms.

My neck is stronger than your knee tendons mommy.

Every time she does it, I get worried that she's going to snap her little neck.  Totally rational, right?  She particularly loves to do this trick while you're changing her.  So fun!


Do you get exercise guilt?
Can you strip mid-run, mid-exercise?
What's the strangest thing you've marinated?

Training, Knees and More

Quick Look Week of Jan 30 -Feb 5

# of Workouts: 7 

# of miles ran/walk: 16

Weight: 190.2 (No change)

Chest: 41.5" (No change)

Hips: 49"  (No Change)

Monday: ST with Adam
Tuesday: 2.2 mile walk with the dog; 2 mile run
Wednesday: ST with Adam
Thursday: 3 mile run
Friday: scheduled rest day
Saturday: unplanned rest day
Sunday: 8 mile run, 1 mile walk

This was an off week in so many ways.  I am behind on all the blogs I follow, on the things I'd meant to do around the house, SLEEP, my exercise and so many others.  I actually wrote a long post on Runner's Knee and never published it...and since I'm going into some of that here, I won't.  I will be catching up on all the blogs tonight though!

My main excuses???  Lots of drama arriving in the wake of my mother's death.  In sum: I have a sister I didn't know about that was born the year before I was, and my mom's internet boyfriend sent a long letter to my house.  I will not go into more detail here in such a public forum.  Needless to say, I have said "I'm done with 2012" multiple times this week.

But Avery hugs make everything better, right Mommy?

I also saw Dr. B about my knees.  He tentatively said I had runner's knee and sent me to PT.  I had that appointment today.  I have patellar tendonitis, which is also known as Jumper's Knee.  The patellar tendon is the tendon that attaches my knee cap to my shin bone.  Essentially, it is inflamed.  This is an overuse injury.  The therapist thinks it was the combination of the bad footing trail run, plus all my squats and lunges, plus starting at 1 mile on the stair climber, plus all those flights of stairs I normally take.  

The cure?  Today I had electrodes places on my knees and the tendon was electrically stimulated to promote healing while both knees were iced for 15 minutes.  I've been given some simple exercises to do twice a day in addition to my normal stuff. 

I will demonstrate the proper technique Mommy.

 I've been told that I can continue to run as long as I'm not limping.  I've been given strict instructions of NO SQUATS, NO LUNGES and NO STAIR CLIMBER.  But, he promised if all goes well, I can add back in the stair climber in 5 minute increments in one week.  He laughed and said that he didn't have many clients who were disappointed about not being allowed to do squats or lunges.  I am allowed to continue all other workouts so long as I stop if the knees flare up.  He is well aware of my race and climb goals and thinks that odds are good that my training will not be too derailed. The other good news?  I don't have any knee or hip instability that is a common result of this injury. 

I have been asked how this is different than Runner's Knee.  Patellar tendonitis is an inflammation of only the patellar tendon.  Runner's knee typically involves the patellar tendon, the quadriceps tendon, the kneecap and the associated soft tissues that are used while extending the knee.  Furthermore, with patellar tendonitis, the inflammation typically occurs just below the knee cap at the origin of the tendon rather than extending to all the soft tissues below the knee as in runner's knee.

Caveat - I am not a doctor, nor do I have any sort of medical degree.  I am describing what is wrong with me as passed along to me by those with such education.  I could be completely wrong and will mostly just do as I'm told.  :) 

Bottom line:  This is not a permanent injury and most likely will NOT keep me from reaching my goal races and completing my mountain training!  WOOHOO!  Plus, I can keep running.  DOUBLE WOOHOO!

In fact, before the PT (but after Dr. B said it was okay), I went on an 8 mile run with my friend Laurie.  The weather was GORGEOUS and she was nice enough to let me stop in the last couple miles of each 4 mile loop to stretch my leg and alleviate knee issues.  Love her.

Is it really February?

I will be doing some walks while carrying weight this week to make up for my stair-climbing restrictions.

How did your week go?  Have you ever had a training or sports related injury?

PSA

This is my public service announcement...and perhaps a bit of a nerd rant.


We still haven't taken CSI Miami off of our scheduling recordings on the DVR.  It's often nice because I then have something brainless for background noise.  Monday morning, after Avery's sleepless night, I watched it...and my head exploded.


I'm a science nerd, chemistry to be exact.  

Solutions of iodine in cyclohexane and varying amounts of pyridine from my chemistry days.

I have often overlooked this show's liberties with science....like when they said they put a solid sample into the GCMS.  (GCMS stands for GAS Chromotagraphy Mass Spectrometer).  I even overlooked when they got a totally absurd and impossible chemical product from a particular chemical reaction.  (Although - my husband says complaining to him about it doesn't count as overlooking it).


This past week though, their science mistake could get idiots people hurt.  They violated a major safety rule.  SPOILER ALERT.  The girl spilled acid on her arm.  She went to the sink to flush it with water (or so I thought - because that is the CORRECT method for dealing with an acid spill on your body)...and then asked the guy to pass her the base.  She then dumped the base onto the acid, and performed an acid-base neutralization reaction ON HER FREAKING ARM.  This is ultimately how they figured out how to catch the killer, by the yellow stain it left.  


First, acid base neutralization reactions typically generate HEAT.  In addition, bases are just as corrosive to your skin as an acid is.  So rather than having one hazardous substance on her arm, she added a second one and performed a reaction on her skin that generates heat.  And yet, there was no fire and no screaming.  I feel completely deprived.  At the very least, the yellow mark should have been accompanied by skin burns.


I looked and looked for a proper video of cool acid-base reactions, but alas, you'll have to settle for this awesome video of Avery.  I fully intend to save this for when she is a teenager and thinks she should be dating. 

She was obviously as unimpressed by their lab safety techniques as I was.  Hopefully, the amount of laughing you did at this video made up for having to read my nerd rant.  :)


My husband has now forbidden me from watching shows about "scientists." This is the same reason I'm not allowed to watch lawyer shows. 


Are there any television or movie liberties that make your head explode?

Rainier Training: Knees

Quick Look Week of Jan 23 -Jan 29:

# of Workouts: 8 

# of miles ran/stairs: 18

Weight: 190.2 (Down 2.4 lbs from previous week)

Chest: 41.5" (Back down 1.5")

Hips: 49"  (No Change)

Monday: 2.16 mile run, 1 hour ST
Tuesday: 3.0 mile run
Wednesday: 30 min ST - Legs rest day
Thursday: 4.0 mile run, 1.0 mile Stair Climber, 1.0 mile walk
Friday: Rest day
Saturday: 7.0 mile run
Sunday:  Unscheduled rest day

I got on the stair climber this week!  (mostly because I'd promised in my blog that I would - Ha).  I did 1.0 miles on the stair climber.  I'd intended to do 1.5, but I was feeling a bit light-headed and decided to quit at 1.0.  For the record, one mile on the stair climber feels a lot harder than 4.0 miles running!!!  In other words, I have a lot to do before the mountain climb!

My new BFF.

My original secret goal was to be down to pre-pregnancy weight by the end of this month.  I didn't quit reach that goal.  It made me re-evaluate my time table for weight loss pre-climb and realize that my expectations were a little unrealistic.  I'm not on Biggest Loser and I'm not training 5 hours a day...and I don't require ice baths, yet.  LOL.  My new time table is a little frustrating, but more realistic.  It also doesn't give me as much EXTRA weeks pre-climb to allow for any time needed for plateaus.  It's a little daunting, to say the least.

I could do it no problem if Dolvett was yelling at me to work harder!

Ever since that rutted ice trail run on Sunday, my right knee has been a little tender for distances over 3 miles.  I was doing fine though until the last 0.5 mile of my 7 mile run on Saturday.  I hyper-extended my LEFT knee.  I finished 7.0 miles and then walked limped back to the cars.  I felt fine after that, but out of an abundance of caution, I took Sunday completely off.  

I have to admit, the potential of needing to take a few days off this week terrifies me.  Running is what is keeping me sane this month.  I got teary eyed just thinking about taking time off.  I even asked my mom's group to pray that my knees feel good quickly.  I know, I have issues.  I keep debating about whether or not I will cancel today's run.  Most likely, I will keep it, but force myself to go much slower than I've been going.  I will also tell my trainer no leg work tonight.  (or at least no leg work that requires too much knee involvement.) I will try to skip extra mileage on Tuesday and Thursday as well.  We shall see.  I hereby promise to listen to my knees and know my limits.

Lack of sleep last night probably doesn't help that stress level much.  I think real teething has begun.  Based on Avery's screams last night, I thought someone was in the nursery trying to murder her.  After trying almost everything, we gave her some baby tylenol, which seemed to help a lot.  She flinched when we put anything near her front gums.  Poor thing!  

She's completely figured out the solids thing now though.

My husband's birthday - I didn't do breakfast, because joining my group for the long run was more important.  I'm a horrible wife.  I did buy a recordable birthday card and recorded Avery laughing and squealing in it. It took me forever to get the recording because she was so fascinated by the talking card, "Record your message after the beep."  Up until the morning of Mark's birthday, the message was the sound of thumps as Avery touched the card trying to figure out the sounds it made.  LOL.  She also got a new hat this week...

Mommy, the house is not that cold.

How was your training this past week?  Anyone else try some new equipment?

Any other Biggest Loser fans?

Things galore

Random Kiddo update - Avery ate an entire container of Baby Food Squash today - the first time she's ever eaten that much by A LOT.  She's now tried Rice Cereal, Green Beans, pears and squash...and apparently, her favorite is squash.  Go figure.


Terzah at BQby40 tagged me in the 11 Random Things post that's going around the blog world.  Am I strange that I'm wondering which individual decided on 11?  And why 11 this time around?  I'm also going to be a brat and only tag a few people, since a lot of those I would have tagged have already been tagged and have already posted their 11 things....even though I'm breaking them, I'll post the rules anyway.


1. Post these rules.
2. You must post 11 random things about yourself.
3. Answer the questions set for you in your tagger's post.
4. Create 11 new questions for the people you tag to answer.
5. Go to their blogs and tell them you’ve tagged them.
6. No stuff in the tagging section about "you are tagged if you are reading this." You legitimately have to tag 11 people!


Here are the 11 Random Things About Me (hopefully not repeating random things I've put in other tag posts):


1.  I once played on three different soccer teams in one season...and continued playing in a game after breaking my toe when a girl stomped on it because I took the ball away from her.


2.  I'm a nerd...and not just in the good grades sense.  I once took part in a practical joke that require me to attend school in crutches for a week.  I'm much older and more mature now, honest.


3.  I will randomly go on organizing sprees.  When I get in the mood, no room or closet is safe.  But, I have to be in the mood.

YES!  Straighten that damn pencil!

4.  I play the trombone, but I haven't done so since Avery was born because it's loud.  I'd recently spent a small fortune for a nice trombone.  I used the fact that  I played a semester in the OSU band when I went back to school as an excuse to do so.

5.  I love butterflies.  I was once known as the "butterfly lady" when I did presentations and butterfly releases at the Franklin Park Conservatory.  I stopped volunteering there because of the way they treated a friend

That giant butterfly is called a Birdwing, it's from Australia.

6.  I puffy pink heart Costco.  Perhaps because, I hate shopping.  I mean HATE shopping.  So, shopping at Costco means fewer shopping trips in theory, right?


7.  I hate painting.  We painted our entire house when we first bought it, even the trim.  My right pinkie still doesn't work properly.  I. Will. Never. Paint. Another. Room. Luckily, hubby painted Avery's room.  HA!


8.  I have texture issues when it comes to food. For example, I LOVE hamburgers.  I uber-craved them when I was pregnant.  But, soggy buns make me gag.  So, no cheese on home grilled burgers, because I have to be able to "de-grease" the meat with a paper towel before putting it on my bun to avoid the soggy bun problem.


9.  I really want to learn how to scuba dive.  I've always been partially limited by the whole "I have asthma" thing, but I've seen some amazing scuba pictures.


10.  I enjoy musicals.  In fact, I'm still bummed that Mark didn't buy me season tickets again this year...something about having a baby now.  Boo Hubby.


11.  My husband and my first fight ever in our relationship was about football.  It was a knock-down blow-out too.




Questions from Terzah:

1. Which U.S. state do you most want to visit and what would you do there?
Maine.  I don't know why. When I was a kid I always said I wanted to go to Maine.  LOL.  I would probably visit some Lighthouses, run a race and eat lobster.

2. If you are a parent, what's the most important piece of advice you have for those of us who are also parents (and I want to know this even if your kids are still young)? 
Avery is 5 months old, but she's way cuter and more alert than some other 5 month old kiddos...so clearly I rock as a mom.  HA!  I   would say, don't stress the small stuff, like the idea of a schedule.  As long as the kid is healthy and happy, the rest doesn't matter.  Don't allow other mom's to judge you.  Laugh a lot.  I've found that if Avery is crying at 3am (or any time really) it helps to joke and laugh.  Also, challenge the kiddos.  I realized at one point that Avery could do more things if given more opportunities and that I shouldn't be so tied to the "ages" on items.

3. Name your favorite sport (running, tris, cycling etc.). If you couldn't do it, what would be your next choice and why?
Tough call.  Individual - running...but I haven't summitted Rainier yet, so that could change.  :)  Team - soccer.  Back up? Swimming.  I love to swim recreationally, I'm just not good at it as a sport...yet.

4. If you could pick a totem animal, what would it be and why?
My first thought was Dolphin - because I love dolphins.  Then I realized they really aren't on totems, so I'm going with Eagles.

5. What's the scariest thing you ever did?
I asked my husband - and he didn't say childbirth.  That cracked me up.  Instead, he said zipline.   Ok.  I was scared before actually doing that.  It was a different kind of fear than childbirth though.  To be clear though, I feared becoming a mom more than the birth.  Suddenly was responsible for the well-being of a tiny, tiny human.

The zipline photo is MIA - so childbirth it is

6. If you still live in your hometown, are you glad you stayed? If you don't still live in your hometown, would you like to go back and live there?
I don't still live in my hometown, and because I moved a lot, I'm not sure what I would consider to be my hometown.  If we could go back to Texas and live closer to family though, I'd be rather tempted.

7. Are you a fan of motivational posters?
Not really.  This one is funny though.

8. Do you do well on standardized tests?
Yes.  I was that annoying kid that did really well on the SAT and the LSAT.  I didn't miss any questions on the math portion of the SAT, but I did skip 2.
9. Which countries/regions did your ancestors come from? Do you strongly identify with any of those places?
My Dad's family came from England.  My mom was half Korean.  I don't really strongly identify with either.
10. Which do you like best: baseball or football?
At least an easy question!  FOOTBALL!!!!!!!!  Baseball is too boring to watch on TV for me without simultaneously doing 50 other things.
11. Name your favorite movie of all time.
I can never do these ones!  I'm dominated by my mood, thus, my favorite movie depends on my current mood.  I did watch Ever After about 1 million times in college though.  And, my secret love is Labyrinth.

My Questions for those who choose to do them:
1.  What is your favorite dessert?
2.  What is the silliest thing you've done AS AN ADULT?
3.  If money were not an issue, where would you go on vacation?
4.  What time do you wake up in the morning?
5.  When you run - music or no?
6.  What's the hardest thing physically that you've accomplished?
7.  What's your favorite book of all time?  (I know, I hate these questions and then I asked it).
8.  Other than running, what are your hobbies?
9.  Have you ever been to a country other than the one you live in?  Where?
10.  Would you ever put a child of yours in a beauty pageant? (whether or not you have kids)
11.  If you were packing for a trip, what would be the one thing that it would be a disaster if you forgot?


People I'm tagging (If you hate these things, disregard the tag!):
1. Laurie
2. Sarah
3. Sarah
4. Sara
5. Amy
6. Deb
7. Lisa
8. Jenn
9. Laura

Trail Confessions

I don't know about y'all, but oftentimes, group runs on the trails turn into trail confessionals.  It's rather enjoyable, and good for my soul I think.  So, instead of a Random Wednesday post - let's do a trail confessions post.


I love to run.  I am kind of a lot slow compared to most hard core runners.  I'm also VERY competitive.  This is not a good combination sometimes.  LOL.

Maybe if I blindfold the fast runners, I can beat them!

I may have forgotten to tell my husband that the Key Lime pie fell on the floor before he ate a piece last night.  In my defense, if he'd read my blog, he would have known!


My husband's birthday is on Saturday and he is impossible to do something for.  I need some suggestions!  His present is that I'm allowing him to purchase and install the sound system he's been wanting.  (That's actually his Christmas, birthday and anniversary present).  He's not a big sweets fan.  I thought about getting a sitter so we could go out to dinner - but since I don't have a regular sitter, I probably waited too late to do that.


My friend Laurie signed up for her first full marathon - and I was ITCHING to register with her immediately after I saw that!  I keep telling myself to wait until I hear back about NY...but that seems like it'll be FOREVER!  I'm tempted to register now for Columbus, and just pay the $15 to switch to the Half if I get in to NY.


Every time I hear about some cool race that some other blogger has done I think - I want to do that!!!  I think I will need to be running with a walker by the time I finish all the races on my list.  LOL

Every day I say - I need to drink more water.  Every day - I don't.  This is not a good thing.  Somehow, saying it all the time is not a recipe for success.

I spent precious sleep time last night after putting Avery to bed...loading the Buffy Musical soundtrack and the Newsies soundtrack onto my ipod for something to entertain me during the boring time on the stair climber.

I admit - when I was younger - I always thought "Jack Kelly" was hot.

I laugh at my daughter...a lot.  Lately, she has discovered the cat, Ginger.  Ginger does not yet know to be afraid of tiny humans.  So, Avery petted her yesterday....with her feet.  Ginger purred the whole time.  A match made in Heaven?

Any one else find Christian Bale attractive?


How early do you register for races/events?  Do you have the same problem I do about wanting to do most races you hear about?? (with the exception of the Hot Chocolate race!)

Rainier Training: Fresh Start

Quick Look Week of Jan 16 -Jan 22:

# of Workouts: 6 

# of miles ran/swam: 9

Weight: 192.6 (Down 1.2 lbs from previous week)

Chest: 43" (Up 1.5" - never noticed this monthly change before!  HA!)

Hips: 49"  (No Change)

Monday: 1000m swim - no ST, trainer canceled
Tuesday: Mom's birthday
Wednesday: no ST, I backed out.
Thursday: 5:45 am Spin and TRX combo class; 4 mile group run
Friday: 800m swim
Saturday: 75 minutes ST, core was actually sore on Sunday!
Sunday: 4 mile TOUGH rutted trail run

I should get credit for more than 1.2 lbs, because we had book club last night and I indulged in scrumptious brownies and key lime pie and pizza and buffalo chicken dip.  This despite Sarah dropping the Key Lime pie UPSIDE down on the floor.  Like that would stop us.  Pfft.  The picture is blurry because my camera focused on the Kermie lunchbox instead and I was too focused on food to notice.  :)

It may not have been pretty any longer, but it was still very tasty.

My Saturday workout, on the other hand, was AWESOME.  I met Adam at the gym for the first time in a while - and there was this new piece of equipment, a vicore fitness bench.  I commented that it looked cool and Adam said - let's do your whole workout on it.  

It was awesome - and sort of seemed like a Bosu ball stretched out into a bench.  It made all the bench exercises that much harder.  My core was actually sore the next day - awesome.

My Dad recently shared on Facebook my first (and so far only) mountain summit success, Mt. St. Helens when I was 14.  You can see Rainier (or maybe Mt. Adams) in the background.  I had so much fun doing this!!!  I was obscenely proud about being the youngest one on the summit....pride goeth before the fall.  I did a little summersault on the decent when I tried to stop while going too fast on the volcanic ash.

Three generations: My Dad, me and my Grandpa

Dog didn't get her walks this week - shame on me.  

I titled this fresh start - because I need to start the true mountain training NOW.  I will be visiting the stair climber this week no matter what.  I will also return to always changing Avery on the upstairs changing table and stop wussing out and using the downstairs option.  In addition, I am adding back in an extra run day - when my cross training for Rainier gets longer in time, I may re-drop it, but for now, it's back in.

Avery started something new this past week as well - gurgling.  I think she's trying to tell me to get with the program already.  You'll want your volume up to watch it, because it's boring without it.

How do your training week go?  Anyone have any events coming up?

How do you typically come up with your training plans for events?  How comfortable are you with modifying them?