Wednesday, May 27, 2015

Ironman spectating and the end of running. For now.

Picking up where I left off last post puts us outside of damp Houston for Jeremy's Ironman. The rain was forecasted for every day we were there, which I know is common for this time of year anywhere near the coast. But that one day, Saturday, had the highest temps and least chance of rain, and it made racing completely miserable for those who melt, like yours truly. Jeremy's race was not what we knew he could do. I was so disappointed for him, after all his training and dedication to this race. But as I am the queen of meltdowns, I completely understood what was going on. My hope was that he would not be affected by what my car was telling me was 93F at the beginning of the run. On the bright side, if it had been me out there, it would have been much, much worse. My meltdowns involve things like lying on the side of the road and self-diagnosing a heart attack, unlike Jeremy, whose run was still faster than almost everyone's bike split. 

The best part of the day was Hunter running with Jeremy along the course. He was so excited, it was all he talked about. We got several chances to see him, which turned into the cutest and sweetest moments as Hunter ran faster than Daddy, just like he said he would. 

 I love this picture! H is like, Daddy, I've been waiting a long time for you.

 Now I must outrun you.

This little guy is going to have some great memories of the "horse house" that we stayed in outside of Cypress. With horses, ducks making their rounds, chickens laying eggs, pigs, yippy little dogs, zip lines, and Mammo to explore it all with, it was a 3-year-old's dream. We are so lucky to be able to go on trips like this with him. 

I didn't do much running while down there since it was either raining or I was doing lots of spectating, although I ran along with a few friends during the race to chat until I slowed them down and had to stop. When we got back home, I went for a standard run in the neighborhood, but had to walk early on from posterior pelvic pain, near my SI joint, and I haven't been walking even the uphills until then. I pushed through 4.5ish miles averaging 13 min pace running and walking. I could barely walk for the rest of the night, and the next day, and so on and on this new pain goes still, over a week later. I always thought if I needed to stop running during pregnancy it would be a tough decision, and I would wonder if maybe I could push through another week or two. That is so not the case here. There is no question in my mind about the possibility of running, since simply walking and standing throughout the day goes from painful to excruciating. Just when I was finding relief from the anterior pain too. 

I keep wondering what I did wrong (running too much?) or what I didn't do (specific strength training?) that caused this. There are so many possible answers and combinations of factors involved that there is no way to answer that, but I truly believe a big part is luck. I was talking with my super fast friend Caroline about it, and she had the same thing happen just as suddenly toward the end of her pregnancy. This made me feel so much better about the whole thing, knowing that a strong fast runner like she is could even be debilitated from this. 

It's onto the trainer more often I go for now, which I happily alternate with swimming. My vaccination-induced shoulder bursitis has subsided unless I do backstroke, which I completely dislike now, especially in the outdoor pool with the bright sun and no guidance to keep me from smashing into the ropes. I'm floating well, but so is baby girl, who floats right up into my stomach and ribs more than ever.  I still don't understand when pregnant women loooove swimming. I find it mostly uncomfortable. But relative to weight bearing, it's wonderful. 

Our family reunion was last weekend, and we loved getting to go to Ethelyn's house in Senatobia, where so many summer hours were spent when I was younger. Hunter and cousin Annie had such a great time all weekend, it was hard to come back home.

The game is Annie feeding Hunter various grasses and leaves, and Hunter never refusing. SO hilarious.

 Sweet little cousins!


Tomorrow we leave for the beach! One last trip before we are four.

Monday, May 11, 2015

Ironman week and a busy May

It has been almost three years since I have even spectated at an Ironman, so I need to get my plans together soon. Jeremy is racing in Texas this week! Of course Hunter and I are going, but this time I won't be putting him in a special Ironman outfit that he'll have a blowout poop in before the swim is over (and we hope the same for all participants). Mammo, Jeremy's mom, will be joining us, and I (all 3 of us for that matter) couldn't be more excited. This Ironman spectating thing is a hard enough sport when you don't have a bored 3-year-old with you.

And that's what H thought of that special ironman outfit.

Jeremy's training has really impressed me. He has been more consistent than ever; even though late nights with the little guy leave him tired and getting little sleep, he's been up before 5 regularly to keep his training from interfering with his time at home when we are awake. He still does dishes, carpentry work in the yard, moves stones and tons of dirt up and down the hills after centuries, and, never napping, he also doesn't complain. He is the best daddy! I hope Saturday is free of snags and any mishaps, along with being full of good luck. And a tailwind both ways with really cool temps would be nice while I'm asking. 

I have so many tales and suggestions for racing ironmans, which Jeremy has certainly heard more than once in his years with me. I'll just sum it up. Swim: wear something under your wetsuit, especially if you get stripped by the strippers. Bike: don't fall off. Run: race rules say you CAN crawl, or lie on the side of the road, so take advantage if needed. Only a couple of these come directly from my personal experience. 

I really cannot believe May is already here, since we have been looking forward to this weekend for so long. I know at this point those racing want just a little more time to second guess their training, and to them I say, it's never too late to start overtraining. 

After our adventure to The Woodlands, we still have a lot of May left to go. We are getting short on time before the baby comes, and into the few weeks after the race, we are cramming in a trip to Mississippi for a family reunion, a long weekend at the beach, and a kitten adoption or two. Like my niece said, "you're going to have tiny kittens AND a new baby?" Yes, yes I am. And she can come play with all of them. 

There's still nesting work to do around the house in preparation for the baby, but one thing we aren't worrying ourselves over is decorating a nursery for this one. We only have 2 other bedrooms on the same floor as the master, one of which is irreversibly an office (meaning it's small with built in bookshelves). The other is Hunter's room, in which we plan to store baby clothes alongside Hunter's. I'm not bothering to set up a crib that will never be used this time, since right next to our king and double beds on the floor is room for the cosleeper, if needed. There's also a toddler bed along the window wall, so this place is really a BEDroom. We imagine the arrangements will end up with Hunter in the king sized bed, baby and me in the double, and Jeremy in the toddler bed. What could go wrong with all 4 of us in one room, right? :)

A Hunter quote from a couple months ago: "When my baby sister comes out I'll sleep in my bed. I'll show her how to lie down. She'll be my friend. She'll kick me in bed. She'll cry in bed some too." 

This is the age of the most hilarious and smart quotes out of that boy's mouth. Lately he had been asking seriously good questions, like if outer space has a bottom and what it attaches to. And if we've tried fish. "I tried fish one time when I was five years old.  It was pretty good." He helped uncle Tim cook one night and then gave away his gravy secret to me. The child never forgets. Especially when it comes to food ("I like every place that has food"), trucks, or theories of relatively. 

My little artist has discovered watercolors, which he really seems to enjoy splattering, at least until his water to paint ratio gets off and he gets frustrated. 
"What color should I paint next, mommy?" 
"How about green?"
"Or black!" It's always black. 


Next I'll have him working on some Ironman posters. An m-dot shouldn't be too hard to master. Our best wishes go out to all the racers this week!