Friday, December 13, 2013

easing back into the saddle

Yesterday I went to the gym.

Like I said previously, I worked a little with a personal trainer and now feel better equipped to go into the weight room and not get freaked out. Now I know that it doesn't matter what you do or how long you do it, just as long as you GET IN THERE AND DO IT. (That was motivation for myself.)

I have a "training plan" tucked away in the drawer at the gym, but yesterday I didn't bother with it. I knew I just needed to get in there and do something. Since I did something to my back a few days ago, still not sure what, and it was feeling better I didn't want to injure it so I stayed away from back and arms and concentrated on legs and cardio.

I spent 20 minutes on the elliptical and then did the machine that works the outside and inside of your thighs. After that I ran around the indoor track 5 times. The goal here was to run without stopping and see how my knee did. It seemed to do pretty good but wasn't feeling quite right near the end. I walked a lap after that to cool down. I'm sure that 5 laps is not even a quarter of a mile but the point was that I did it. I got in there and felt accomplished when I left.

Next week I'm going to go at least twice and maybe do the same thing. Maybe I'll run 6 laps ;-)

Thursday, December 5, 2013

7 month check up

I meant to post this when he turned 6 months but time totally got away from me, so here is my 7 month check up!

I can't believe my baby is 7 months old already! Time really does fly. No one lies about that.

It's been a good seven months, a bit stressful at times, but good overall. We have a really great baby. He sleeps through the night and is so amazingly happy. He has two teeth coming in and the weekend that they broke through was a little rough but it was not nearly as bad as it could have been-or so I have heard. He was just a bit more fussy than is normal for him. He chews on everything and is into everything. At restaurants he wants to sit up and look at everything and touch everything. He started crawling "army man" style-using his arms to drag his body. This week he started using a leg too. Seeing him grow and meet these little mile stones is such a joy. Being a parent is amazing.

I mean seriously, how do you get over that much cuteness??

He was a parrot for Halloween ;-)

How am I doing? I went back to work in mid-October and it has been an adjustment. Being at work is fine and it was a smooth transition since I already know all the students and most days it actually feels good to be back. The kids missed me and were so excited to see me, it made me feel pretty good :-) My body and brain can fully function with little sleep now and with the help of a cup of coffee I perk up pretty quick. Getting up early isn't so bad once you have the routine down. It is also nice to get adult interaction during the day that isn't limited to my husband or tied into baby things.



The hard part is not having time left in the day for anything else. It's a struggle to get normal things done like keep the house clean or do the laundry. And you can forget reading a book or a magazine, browsing the internet and running. I have been able to get out of work on time and head to the gym for a little bit here and there. I worked a little with a personal trainer and she gave me a good strength training routine that I can do on my own in the gym without being locked into a class time. Although I really enjoy the classes that my gym offers, I don't think I will be taking any of them anytime soon. My knee bothered me for over 2 weeks after the 8K. Of course I am thinking the worst but I really need to get to a doctor and figure out what is going on and make it better. I really want to avoid having knee surgery at any point in my life.

Speaking of the knee injury, because of it I have not been able to run. A big part of me is wondering if my running days are done and this gives me a myriad of emotions that I cannot even express. Running has become such a huge part of who I am, I cannot imagine who I would be without it. It would be like someone taking away my artistic abilities. I would be utterly lost.

So that's where I am at the moment. Gearing up for Christmas and hoping I can hit the pavement again soon.