Summer Start

I am just going to dive right in and pretend it has not been over two months since I last posted. So let's see, I wanted to keep a good record of all things hip labrum repair and my incredible return to running faster than ever. That is a post for a later time, like when it has actually happened. My back got all painful again after the nerve regrew, and instead of cutting it off once more, I opted for PT, then more PT, with a much closer and different set of eyes. He is encouraging me to "hinge forward!" as he often calls out across the therapy floor when I'm looking a bit too sway-backed (which is apparently all of the time). Does this mean that I don't actually have a giant booty, but I just stick it too far out? Hmmm.

Apparently I am a structural nightmare. My facet joints are all inflamed from being crunched together, but at the same time there is too much movement in the lumbar spine. I have mild dysplasia in my right hip, but also an impingement if I extend it back too far, which is what happens when I try to tuck my hips and run. The newest PT is now accusing my right leg of being longer, but he said I don't have scoliosis because I'm strong. I know, I almost laughed when he called me that too, and then I realized that most of his patients are probably senior citizens, so relatively, yeah.  It does make more sense that the less exercise I do, the more things hurt. I have spent the last 5 years getting weaker, slower, more lordotic, and older. The PT also said I have taken good care of myself, of which I had recently been thinking the opposite. My aunt used to tell me to slow down, even before I fully comprehended the ill effects of my chosen sport (long distance specifically). Thanks #science.

My goal, since it is now unofficially SUMMER!! is to start extending my piddly little trainer rides to longer than 40 minutes and maaaaybe do some outdoor rides, you know, like a bike is made to do. Running will begin again, or uh, has begun again actually, if you can call it running.

Something about the trails between Watercolor and Seaside down on the Emerald Coast make it completely impossible to not run. Darn little scenic houses with white picket fences lining the smooth, sandy, pine-needled trail, and the wooden bridges over the dark alligator-infested lily-pad covered lakes force me to run. And not just once, but two days in a row. Luckily Jeremy was busy racing Gulf Coast and I didn't get a chance to go more when we were down there two weeks ago.

I'm sure we will be getting plenty of travel and swimming in this summer for my little fish.

That water!

 

 

No, I promise they were actually thrilled to be there! :)

One Year Old Life

Being a one-year-old is pretty cool, y'all. You cover yourself in paint and chill in front of the fan while soaking up the rays. Your spend your days with friends, swingin', swimmin', and having three celebrations of your birthday.

 

 

Cake! Have some.

You got me what?

 

Mommy is this icing colored with...beets?

Well it is delicious!

 

  

 

Whew, that was exhausting. 

Suntan lines and chigger bites

Oh how I love summertime and all of its sweltering heat, sun shining so bright it makes the bottom of my feet melt off when I step on the hot deck. Not worrying about clothing the children when we go outside, naked swimming on the secluded upstairs deck's baby pool has been just the thing to wash off chiggers before they work themselves into the most private of crevices. Apparently my youngest has the darkest skin so far, since she tans just walking to the car, as evidenced by those lines made noticeable when we strip down for garage fingerpainting followed by a run through the sprinklers, at just the perfect time, as the next door neighbors host an open house.  Or maybe she just tans because I forget to sunscreen everybody but myself when going out to pick blackberries or the garden vegetables leftover after the critters have had breakfast.

 

We have enjoyed having a string of visitors stay at our house this summer, either while passing through on the way to new cities, coming for a weekend visit, or catching up around a conference, and a surprise visit from Damie and Isla one evening was such a fun time. Family has come recently and the cousins are here now, and we are about to celebrate the first year of our sweet Josie baby! I'm thankful to have that baby help me keep things clean around here.

Summer has, for the past 20 years, been the season of training, and I'm thankful to have had that. The difficult recovery from the reattachment of my hip labrum is something nobody wants to hear about, but if you are interested in the effects of dry needling and foam rolling, talk to me.  I'm focusing all my triathlon energy on writing the schedules of athletes who get to run and race and be fast.

Ethelyn was always telling me to slow down, and now is the time to sit back, lounge by the pool, eat snowcones, and enjoy the slowness of summer.

 

The state of the household: August edition

It's the last week of August! I know summer is over for school kids everywhere, but not here at our house. Since we don't do "school" yet, September just means maybe some cooler weather and everybody getting excited about pumpkin stuff and boots. Except not me, since I only like pumpkin if you overwhelm it with chocolate, and hot sandal weather is still my favorite. Maybe the chiggers will die down though? We still have a lot more outdoor activities to partake in.

But! There's this:

This is Hunter enjoying his first television obsession: Paw Patrol. At least he actually learns things that I would otherwise not have had the opportunity to mention yet, such as, "walruses can hold their breath a long time, but not forever." And "bats are nocturnal." 

It does become hard to say no to one episode after another when I can actually take care of the baby while it is on. Yes, sometimes it is hard to care for both little ones requesting my attention at the same time, which is 95% of my day. The husband, on the other hand, seems to have it down. 

Except for that time he seemed to calm them so quickly that I commented on how well he had things under control. "One is staring at the fan and the other is standing six inches from the television. Yeah I'm father of the year." That doesn't happen often, and Daddy is still the champion swaddler, baby sleep inducer, funny guy, rough houser, dish washer, and baby burper. 

This smirk. Amusing, Daddy. 

Daddy also has been creating. He hammered out this teepee for Hunter in 15 minutes flat. The kittens immediately claimed it as their own, as shown by the oversized white paws peeking out. 

The trampoline set-up took a bit longer, but that's what the nights after bedtime are for, while the rest of us sleep. Next up he is building us a fire pit just in time for the marshmallow and corn roasting season. "Maybe we should go to a corn roast!" said Hunter one day after a particular paw patrol episode. Just wait, we will have a corn maze in our backyard at some point, I'm sure. 

While one parent has it all together, yours truly spends the day covered in some present from Josie, usually a combination of spit up and teetee. But she tends to be clothed in similar fluids, since you just can't keep changing a baby's outfit every 30 minutes all day. I have found that if the big brother is being too rough or overwhelming her, all I have to do is say the word spit-up and away he flees. Works like a charm. 

Spit-up-covered, baggy-eyed, crazy-haired, and calloused-kneed is the state I'm in lately. The last descriptor is the relatively permanent state of my knees since having a mobile child. I appreciated Megan explaining that she was told they are "good mom knees," since it is caused by the constant kneeling, crawling, and scraping across the floors while playing on it with kids. One of my ankles has developed a nice callous as well from being criss-cross-applesauce so much. 

Besides looking awesome all day, I also feel squishy and blobby and heavy most of the time. Part of that could be because I actually am pretty heavy while wearing a chunky baby all day, and also the extra few pounds that I need hanging around for spare milk-making calories. 

My stomach is still a bit mushy and my bike wattage is atrocious, and I'm forever glad I don't have to stand next to or race my past, much younger self. But that self had no precious cheering section, and I wouldn't trade that for 100 more watts and a six pack. 

Different sorts of exercise

First, a baby picture. Those pouty lips!! Too bad you can't get the full view of the Daddy-wrapped straight jacket she's wearing. Puts her right to sleep. If you need swaddling tips, he's your guy.

And now for some thoughts on postpartum exercise, mine in particular. In some cases, average would be an improvement upon things, like my current state of fitness. Since "fitness" can technically be described in terms of cardiovascular endurance, muscular endurance, muscular strength, flexibility, and body composition, I might not be failing in all areas.

Side note: when are they going to just go ahead and take flexibility out of the equation? We have learned that it's really not always the best for fitness and especially performance, and it reminds me of a yoga teacher who once said, "If you have healthy hamstrings, you have a healthy body." After that gem, I don't think I ever went back to her class.

If you added the descriptor, "painless," to those fitness components, that's where I run into trouble. It's the hip again! Somehow pregnancy temporarily improved the ability of my hip to withstand running, although my pelvic bones did not go along agreeably all the time. But immediately postpartum, the right one revolted again. There's a sharp pain sometimes, a dull ache others, and an overall fatigue that lingers. And oh my sacroiliac joint. It is in a constant state of disstress.

This is getting troubling. I do enjoy running, and I have a great affinity for triathlons. But instead of jumping right back into running, like a (former? not yet...) triathlete might expect, it has been a slower progression. So far I can handle a measly four miles at a time. Thanks to Damie and the excellent book I borrowed from her, Jay Dicharry's Anatomy for Runners, I have started incorporating a lot of different strength training into my weeks. And there is a small possibility (knock on wood) that it is working. While I do love me a good back cracking, I haven't been back to the chiropractor since before Josie's birth, since I have known all along that it isn't getting to the root of the problem. That doesn't seem to be a chiropractor's MO anyway. I am taking things into my own hands for now.

Since running was going so poorly, I decided last week that my three mile run should be hill repeats, because why not? It actually didn't seem to hurt my hip worse than daily life. And the hours that I have been devoting to foam rolling (not literally, who has that kind of time?) seem to make the biggest difference.

I can't delay getting back into all of the triathlon stuff, since this is my 20th season of triathlon-ing, and I need to at least do one race. The closest one that isn't this weekend is mid-September, so that's on the "training plan," said with sarcasm. It won't be fast or pretty, but hopefully everyone else will do the Olympic distance while I do the sprint race.

Since swimming is my weakest sport, we have hit the pool pretty frequently lately. Just kidding, I do this at the pool mostly, but without the smirk. Nursing is always involved, and what could make it easier than a bikini top?

 

And speaking of funny faces, this is what we get when we ask Hunter to smile for a camera. He won't smile, but he will agree to a "funny face." Possibly in response to whatever the neighbor in the background was doing. ?? But we couldn't resist capturing him in his jammer/life jacket combo.

Has it really been 6 weeks since Josie was born? She is wonderful, of course. The real lifesaver in this house is the Moby wrap. When she just can't sleep alone, or Hunter needs me to play (which is always) and be mobile (that too), I just wrap her up to sleep on me and nurse when she needs to. The ring sling is good for a quick and less complicated carry, and the Ergo, with the infant insert is just a bit bulky and hot right now. I do get some strength training hauling her around, except that she was only 11.5 pounds when we last weighed her. Kind of not significant. But the sheer number of times I squat while carrying her each day adds up to something. I'm a little surprised I get any pictures of her in her little bed, since I do hold her so much (partly... er, mostly just because I want to).

Mommy, I just. can't. even.

37 weeks with some new additions

Yes, additions, plural! We picked up our kittens from Nancy last weekend, and they turn 8 weeks old today. They have been just perfect little guys; they love Hunter, and are always out looking for him when he's not around, even though he may pick them up more frequently than they would choose. All are being extremely patient with one another. 

In other unsurprising news, I have hit the 37 weeks pregnant mark, and we realized that this time last pregnancy I had a baby in about 10 days! Since I wasn't in labor then, I really have no idea when he would've come otherwise. We better get busy! The clothes are ready, the cosleeper is not, the carseat is ready, I am not... I mean I am, but I could always do more. There is so much to do with Hunter in his final few days of being an only child! He has helped with some decorations for their room. I let him use real acrylics and canvas, and surprisingly, even the garage floor made it through unscathed.

No finishing touches yet, a work in progress. There's one for the baby too.

 

The artist and the first layer of Daddy's early Father's Day painting.

 

No running has happened in the last 3 weeks, but my SI joint is finally getting much better. I don't limp around anymore, except when my sciatic nerve shoots me a jolt. What is happening to me?! I feel like a sedentary blob some days, and this conversation happened recently as I was changing clothes:

Me: I look like a balloon. 
Jeremy: You don't look like a balloon. 
Hunter, in his toddler blunt honesty: You DO look like a balloon! But bigger. And round. And oval. And person-shaped. 

My balloon has become a good resting spot for my hands while I'm on the trainer and not doing a lot of resting them on the handlebars. It could be more buoyant while swimming though. Otherwise I don't feel huge, until someone tells me I am, like the guy at Ironman TX while I was only 33 weeks. It was about 6:00 in the morning and this guy walked up and told me how tired I looked and that I was just like his wife, HUGE, when pregnant. Also there some family members (hi Mom!) who don't remember how big pregnant people are. And then there's always the big sister to tell you that your butt has gotten bigger too.

I don't mind this temporary discomfort and strange body too much, even without being able to run. I know there's the end in sight and I don't want the baby to come before she's ready. It seems so many women are done with being pregnant before even 40 weeks, which leads to inductions and all sorts of interventions that I am doing everything I can to avoid. VBACs bring on a whole new set of issues and potential complications (most of them just built up in the minds of some people, I believe) that those without prior cesareans just don't have to worry about. Oh I do wish I could be ignorantly blissful about it all, and just go into this birth with no reason to believe it won't happen exactly like I hope. But after a c-section that you did nothing to encourage, you just know things can happen. She needs to come before 42 weeks, or I believe most medical professionals would intervene somehow. And now without running to encourage it, I'm not sure what I will do if it gets too close to that point. 

Not that it helps labor come sooner, but I'm eating dates now. Six a day, which, as good as the first two are, do not go down so smoothly by the fifth and sixth. I found a good recipe for some no-bake bars with chocolate, and that helps. I might even use these sometime in the future for training purposes. Except all the fiber. There's that.  


Lucky for me, my powertap battery went out recently, and therefore I don't see exactly how pitiful my wattage has been on the trainer. And I am not even considering how much my watts/kilo ratio has changed with the extra 15 pounds I've gained so far. That battery is not getting changed any time soon, so maybe I'll be pleasantly surprised when I get back to actual training post baby. Hopefully I'll also be pleasantly surprised by how much my balloon has deflated. The slower I get, the more room I have for improvement!

Beach!

We had to squeeze in a quick trip to the gulf before baby girl comes. This year we went to Gulf Shores, where we haven't been in years. Really all we need to be happy is sand for Hunter and a warm ocean for me.

Warning: many pictures to follow.

 I love when I catch them looking just alike.

 

Some lounging, watching the sunset.

 

We had a huge collection of trucks join us for all the digging

These two are so cute!

 

"Is that a....tower crane?!?"

Feeding the baby bird

You dig a hole, it provides hours of fun. Plus he couldn't get out by himself ;)

 

I call this one Beached Whale

 

JUMP!

Underwater camera view

 

At least two of us can still run

Just one picture of the 4 of us

Guns (actually he was describing where his hydraulic boom's cables run)

 

And daddy says, here are some guns for you :)

Still more digging

Little baby is stretching in there! (35+ weeks)

And the best selfie :)