Don't Play Catch-up

So...it's been a while.  On my phone I have a list of topics I want to write about; currently that list has well over 20 unwritten entries.  Some of them actually made it draft form, so maybe I'll at least finish those...originally I had planned to back blog and pretend I never really got behind but now that I'm pushing two years I figure I'll just make a clean start!

In a nutshell, since last I wrote probably the biggest thing that's happened is this little guy:

Baby B is no longer the baby, he's currently our crazy toddler...now we have Baby D!  We just love him.  Of course the above picture was taken when he was only a few hours old...these days he's this bundle of 10 month old goodness (pictured with my beautiful mom).

I had intended to document my very detailed and exact prenatal fitness regime; obviously that didn't happen.  Maybe if we venture into the crazy person land of 5 children I'll be more on top of it, but I'll not hold my breath on that one.  In short, I did treadmill intervals the day he was born, and restorative yoga in my hospital room the next morning.  All pregnancy experiences are different for everyone, but personally, exercise during pregnancy saves me. The end.

Anyway, one might ask why today I felt like abandoning the whole catch-up track after so long.  I'm not entirely sure, but as I was doing my run today I just felt this intense need to start again.  So here we go...

I started out the morning with Baby D freaking out...a lot...that I wasn't protecting him from B holding him while I was simultaneously getting S out the door for his very early and very long kindergarten day (seriously, the child has school from 7:45-3:15.  SO glad he's old for his grade), getting E ready to go to preschool AND putting the finishing touches on my "lesson" for B's mommy co-op preschool group thingy.  

After 2 hours of Baby D's whining and successfully getting the older two children off I decided a nap was in order for him, which turned out to be a Godsend as he slept through the first half of B's preschool.  Let's discuss.  This is 5 2 year olds.  At the same time.  For 2 hours. I know a lot of people do this as a career, but it's really not my thing...I do it because it gives me 2 hours once a week of time with only one child :) Also, it just so happened to be a total downpour so I didn't have my usual fall back of playing outside.  And I had the bright idea to feed them sugar cookies (how can I teach children the letter 'C' and not make fun sugar cookies?!  Really.  Even my general and growing avoidance of white sugar had to be put aside for such an occasion).  Said sugar cookies may or may not have changed the behavior of the children, but since I haven't had much white sugar the past few months (and I only snagged 4.5 hours of sleep last night...) I found myself with a crazy headache by the end of it.  After they all went home I felt I had only two options for recovery: a nap or a run.  I spotted this workout on my runner's world calendar and thought it completely appropriate for the 2 hours I had just spent with 5 adorable, energetic 2 years olds:

and since there was no way a nap was going to happen with B and Baby D all bright eyed and bushy tailed we braved the downpour and headed to the YMCA (here again the nap idea was tempting me with their 2 hours of daycare...but there wasn't really anywhere discreet to nap so to the treadmills I went). Let me just say how awesome this workout is, especially on a treadmill!  Though a track would have been great, too, on a treadmill there really is no option other than go up a full notch each lap and hold that pace...it was incredible.  I only had time for 3 2k repeats so I ran them closer to my *goal* half marathon and 10k pace rather than my actual, making it that much harder.  Now, I don't like the term 'detox' but that's how this run felt on so many levels.  Running is so therapeutic.  I find it interesting how all the different forms of exercise I do and love have different healing effects for me. When I run, and especially when I do a hard run like this, for a moment I'm able to let go of everything that's weighing on me, as though I can run the stress right out.

So maybe picking writing back up again without any sort of catch-up, something that's been needlessly weighing on me for some time, is one thing my endorphin flooded soul was able to extract from that feeling of weightlessness. Even if I don't write regularly from here on out I've officially let go of the need to compose those dozens of unwritten entries.  It's made me realize I probably have a lot of mental clutter like this I should get rid of...stuff like fitness blogs really shouldn't be allowed so much real estate in my neighborhood of worries (though I do plan on properly updating our family one...eventually...).  Getting more than 5 hours of sleep a night would be beneficial as well, so I suppose I'll stop rambling for the night.  And if I write another entry in less than 2 years I'm calling it a success :)

Shaking Things Up

As much as I like to think I'm a spontaneous person, I tend to crave routine more than I like to admit  (perhaps some of that comes from the fact that there ISN'T much routine in my life so I create routines just to pretend I'm in control of something...).  That being said, however, I do realize the importance of avoiding ruts, especially with exercise where rut = dreaded fitness plateau, so I usually try alter something every so often.  With fitness you don't have to shake things up much, even doing exercises in reverse order can be enough to keep reaping the benefits (i.e. lifting weights before cardio instead of after, etc.).

Anyway, rather than harp on what's recommended as far as variation, here's what my last three days looked like:
I've been doing a strength week of P90X2 so Thursday I did the shoulders and arms workout.  One of the bonuses of Thursdays is that both S and E have preschool so I have two glorious hours at home with baby B napping.  Lately I've used that time to both watch Charmed reruns (one of my guilty pleasures) and workout.  Then, because I have a tri coming up in May I try to run after I've done whatever else was on deck for the day (to practice running when already fatigued) so when E got home I threw her and B in the stroller and headed out for some 4x1 intervals.  She jumped right into playing 'I Spy' with me (usually I initiate it as a way to stimulate her away from premature stroller napping, but today she started it while fully awake); really one of my favorite things about running with my kids is the silly conversations I end up having with them.  Not much variation here, yes, except for the recent shift to running last which is more significant than you might think.

Friday things were a bit more interesting.  P90X2 devotes most Fridays to yoga, however, I plan on doing the second version of strength next week so I don't want to do Tony's yoga two Fridays in a row.  Plus there's a yoga class at my YMCA I've been eyeing called 'Yoga Sculpt,' which is just yoga while holding some of those squishy small medicine balls.  Awesome.  Anyway, I've only ever done yoga with one teacher at the Y and I love her, but I thought I'd branch out and try this new class.  Turns out my regular teacher was actually subbing, which was good because she's a fantastic teacher but I still have yet to try out another one. Oh well.  It wasn't as tough as I thought it'd be; I started out erring on the side of caution and used the lighter balls but quickly moved to the heavier balls, and the weight actually made some poses easier to hold.  But it was nice to do something different.  Then later (during blessed nap time), because I had big plans for Saturday and would be skipping the prescribed Base/Back workout I also tried out one of the bonus workouts they sent me with my P90X2 called One on One on One Leg for Legs.  No joke.  It's part of Tony's one on one series where he literally has a guy videotape him while working out at his house.  I liked it better than the other One on One I've tried, though it wasn't quite as intense as I was hoping for.  And it was way shorter than the advertised 52 minutes, especially with my fast-forward-through-the-chit-chat method, it was more like 30 (if that).

This morning was great - S woke us ALL up way too early yelling he had to go potty (what the...he's almost 5, he can totally go to the bathroom on his own...and doesn't have to yell about it) so that was fun.  I tried to let Bishop get a few extra minutes of sleep while I set the children down to Mickey Mouse Clubhouse and headed out to Master's Swim, though I doubt that held them for long.  I haven't been to Master's in a while, mostly because it's been lovely to enjoy the pool in the day, but today I wanted to do a good brick workout.  I did my classic Master's Swim Lite, only getting about 1300 yards, followed it with a couple of squat jumps to get my land legs back (yes, in my swim suit...it's a pretty sight) then ran upstairs to catch the spin class.  I searched in vain for the nice Keiser bikes that were all taken (as expected...I was ten minutes late so I sulked to the clunky schwinn one closest to the door) and then enjoyed 30 minutes of cycling.  Probably one of the best parts about spin class is the music, which is why I get so picky with my spin instructors.  I've settled on one at the Y because she plays mostly great songs, so when one of the first songs I rode to was Muse's 'Super Massive Black Hole' I was trying to remember why I don't always exercise to music (see Thursday's paragraph as to one compelling reason I don't run with music).  After my half hour limit, I bailed for the treadmill and ran some hill repeats (the only hills you can find in Houston are on the treadmill.  Or over a freeway).  Nothing complicated: 90 seconds at 5% incline and 8mph with 90 seconds 1% incline and 7.5 mph recovery; 8 of them kept my run less than 25 minutes so I could maintain my goal of 90 minute exercise cap.  It was interesting how short 90 seconds is, as lately all my intervals have been more in the 4-5 minute range.  Yay for brick training!  I should do them more often.

The rest of the day?  Laundry, laundry and more laundry.  My dryer was broken for almost a week and I hadn't done laundry as a result (letting things air dry here takes f..o..r..e..v..e..r and takes more planning than I was capable of).  Yes, a broken dryer is a huge first-world-people-problem but it still derailed my routine of daily laundry loads.  It goes without saying this variation in my routine was not as appreciated as my brick workout this morning or yoga with squishy medicine balls.  But it was probably still good for me.  I'm still trying to figure out that sweet spot between keeping a routine and keeping things varied, regardless of whether or not things were varied by choice.

Ensign Peak

Tonight we had our first mountain excursion this trip!  It was totally, absolutely glorious.  I don't know what it is about having a view, but that's one of the best parts about the mountains in Salt Lake is that it's so easy to rise above it all - this particular hike is only a mile round trip and it's still amazing.  Right now my mom's serving in the youth organization of our church, with the 12-13 year old girls to be precise.  Most Wednesday nights they have activities and tonight just happened to be a hike up Ensign Peak, yet another sentimental location for me.  When I was a teenager and our prophet, President Hinckley, rededicated the updated monument I was one of a large group of youth where we all carried huge flags from around the world up to the top...I don't remember why, exactly, but I would guess something along the lines of representing the fact that our church has grown into such a worldwide church since being restored in 1820 and that we are to be 'an ensign to the nations.'  But that's just my guess.  A few years later I ran up to the top by myself anxiously carrying my unopened mission call and then reading at the summit the words 'you have been called to serve in the Thailand Bangkok Mission' and my life has been forever blessed since.  So I generally jump at any opportunity to go there, especially now when I can bring my kids (well, not B, he went to bed) and share such places with them.

Because we were leaving from a church picnic with my in-laws, the kids and I missed starting the hike with the group but I thought that would be fine anyway since I wanted S to hike up as much as possible on his own (E was riding in my carrier backpack).  He did quite well, probably about half or more of the way up, but eventually we looked like this:

Ensign Peak is at the north end of Salt Lake Valley, so the view really is incredible.  Yep, that's my mom in the red.  She totally looks younger than me.

We've really got to train S to be a bit more self-sufficient on hikes though.  I'm not sure where I would have put baby B had he come along...perhaps I could wear him on the front in the ergo...no, that would be moving out of the 'fun' realm and into the 'annoying' one.

Sugar House Park

Once upon a time Bishop and I lived in Utah for just a short time.  Then we moved to LA.  Four years and 2 kids later we moved back to Utah for a glorious 14 month stint while he did his internship year.  Even though it was a killer year training wise (for Bishop) it was a lovely year for many reasons: family, Utah, mountains, seasons, mountains, etc.  One of the best parts of that year is where we lived.  It was this idyllic, charming historic district of Salt Lake, within a few miles of both of our parents, easy freeway access, minutes from the temple (and other downtown attractions), and right next to this huge park near the high school we both attended called Sugar House Park.  I've spent a lot of time in that park over the years and a trip to Utah wouldn't be complete without ample visits there.  Usually my mom goes walking with a friend there once a week, which works out great for me because anytime we visit Utah the kids and I will tag along.  Even better is that my mom and her friend always offer to push my kids and let me have a solo run!  AND, this particular visit we catch my mom in her 3 month post-hysterectomy time which means she takes it easy during her recovery.  Translation: park walks almost EVERY DAY.  Score!  Not to glory in the fact my mom's recovering from surgery, of course, but when life gives you lemons make some lemonade, right?

We've only been in Utah a few days and we are loving these park walks (among so many other things).  Sometimes I'll bring all three munchkins, sometimes only two depending on the availability of pushers.  I've been loving running up some REAL hills - in the park there are 4 hills on the road: 2 down and 2 up so doing two laps can get me 8 hill repeats (magic 8!) and I can finish at least two laps while my mom walks one.  OR I can run the perimeter of the park and get a small taste of trail running, just enough to whet my appetite for the real deal.  There are a couple of huge grass hills in the park where I can do some serious hill sprints/plyo circuits.  Not to mention 30/20/10 is really fabulous when you add hills in...those 10 seconds seem oh so long up a hill.  The smell of summer mornings in Utah is just exquisite and is only amplified at the park where the sprinklers have all recently shut off, and all the while my beloved, familiar mountains stand protectively in the background of it all.  Plus we can run at 8am and not melt, unlike August in Houston where you've got to be done before 7 at the latest (don't get me wrong, it's still hot here, but losing the humidity makes a huge difference).  It's also nice to have my mom's DVD collection.  My week without them was nice, but I'm glad to get back into a schedule.

We might have to make this August exodus an annual thing, though I don't know that Bishop likes having us gone so long.  Looking forward to some time with family, time in the mountains, a couple of races and definitely more mornings in Sugar House Park!

Vacay Day 6

The last day of a vacation is always a little hard to swallow for me.  Last year my family came here for three weeks and still it was hard to leave.  I wonder how long I'd have to be on vacation for it to get old...I know my threshold is much larger than Bishop's.  He and I once vacationed to Thailand for two weeks together in our much simpler newlywed life and after a week I thought he was going to bust.  I felt like I was speaking to an alien when I was trying to convince him that Southern Thailand was, in fact, a glorious place to be and he would definitely survive one more week.  He thrives on, as he puts it, 'being up and doing.'  Maybe someday I'll be that motivated...

Rather than mourn the end of the Newport segment of our trip I'll just relish in the fact that I was able to squeeze in another beach run with Cath.  I haven't run on the beach at Crystal Cove yet this trip and neither had she, so we headed out there before all the kids were awake and had a beautiful oceanside run.  It wasn't really a structured run, we just enjoyed the conversation and the place and the fact that neither of us were pushing a jogging stroller.  I did convince her to try a round of 30/20/10 once we got back up onto the trail, but other than that it was just a nice way to polish off the week.

And now it's off to packing up (hence the shorter post) and heading to Utah for a month...as I said, my vacation threshold has yet to be determined.  On a positive note, the drive to Utah is only 10 hours which is WAY better than the 25 we drove to get here (yes, we have to face that drive eventually, but not for a month!).  Not to mention it's August in Houston.  Given the choice I'd MUCH rather experience Utah's August over Houston's!

Vacay Day 5

Today was another run day.  I haven't decided whether I just default to running because it's easiest and I'm without my regular schedule or if it's because I just really really love scenic runs (as much as I'm trying to love Houston, it's not exactly what you'd call 'scenic.'  Okay, not even remotely what you'd call 'scenic').  Probably a mix of both, I would imagine.  Anyway, Bishop and I went for broke today and totally bagged naps so we could just beach it all day which left me giddy at the prospect of doing a run to the jetty, one of my favorite spots at Newport Beach.  My mind raced with what kind of run to do - naturally I can't just straight up RUN, that would be boring, so I settled on a good old fashioned fartlek.  The Newport Beach boardwalk lends itself well to fartlek runs as the blocks are quite short so it's easy to pick a block and start sprinting for a bit.  It was lovely - upon arriving a the jetty (the end of the peninsula - there are crazy waves there, the locals call it 'the wedge' and it's well known for surfing but I've just always referred to it as 'the jetty') I did the following 4 minute plyo circuit to justify myself hanging out there for a minute:
     20 sec burpee (full sprawls and jumps, baby, not just plank), rest 10 sec
     20 sec mountain climbers, rest 10 sec
     20 sec high knees, rest 10 sec
     20 sec jumping jacks, rest 10 sec
     REPEAT the goodness, with the exception of doing any plyo of choice for 30 sec. on round 2.  Love it.
And then it was a return fartlek into the headwind.  Which is somewhat evil, but also somewhat invigorating for some reason.

When I got back to the family's beach spot, I thought I'd be done but then couldn't resist the opportunity to do some sand sprints between the ocean and the boardwalk - it's not all that often I get this caliber of a a beach to do such training.  So off went the shoes and I did 8 or so (yep, magic number 8).  At each end I did some sort of plyo or stabilizing move, i.e. single leg squat with touchdowns, jump squats, etc, just to keep it interesting.  I think Bishop's family thought I was crazy, but oh well.  I played their odd version of paddle ball with them after so I could attempt to fit in again.  Even now I'm not clear on the rules of this game...

There were I think 3 balls going at once and you were playing with someone across from you and you wanted to be the last one standing, or something along those lines...it was fun, nonetheless.  But I think everything is more fun when you're at the beach.

Last day tomorrow...that's always a sad thought!

Vacay Day 4

Due to naps and other constraints, we don't get to head to the actual Newport Beach with the whole crew as much as we'd like (we usually head over after the kids get an early nap).  It's not all bad, though, since the Marriott is a pretty sweet set up.  We get to spend a lot of time at the pools in the morning, and yesterday I noticed one of their main pools is about the length of a standard lap pool.  A swim was definitely in order this trip, and today was perfect since I've run the past two days.

As an added bonus, I was able to talk Bishop's sweet sister, Cath, into swimming with me!  She was such a sport and even used her son's goggles...I think had I not had proper gear I would have declined a swimming invite, but she literally jumped right in.  We did my standard 400 yd warm up of alternating 50 drill, 50 swim then proceeded with one of my favorite fast and furious sets of breakout 75's.  I read about it in a triathlon training book (called Triathlon Training in 4 Hours a Week...my kind of promise!).  In a tri, the swim starts with a crazy sprint at first to break from the masses followed by the real challenge of controlling yourself and settling into an effective pace after that.  Hence the breakout 75's.  Sprint a 25, keep a fast but controlled pace for the next 50, rest for about 20 seconds, and repeat as desired.  I like to do 6-8...I don't know, it's my magic number or something.  Fast, effective, and easy to remember, these 75's were tons of fun.  And it was great to have Cath there, too!

I like to maintain a good base of triathlon training just in case I get to spontaneously sign up for and participate in one.  And there are a few I have my eye on during our time in Utah after the beach, so I want to be prepared.  This is why I almost always pair a swim or bike with something else.  I recently read that doing swim/run bricks is a really good way to train but can also be logistically tricky, so it was suggested that doing some sort of plyometrics after swimming can have a similar effect as a swim/run.  I just absolutely adore plyometrics; what an excellent way to top off a fun swim!  Thankfully, Cath was down with that idea so after our 75's and a little bit of stroke 50's to shake things up we did a stair circuit.  She is awesome at stairs - I've had the privilege of running the famous Santa Monica stairs with her on one occasion and it was amazing.  Anyway, not only does this Marriott have crazy cool pools, it also has crazy long outdoor staircases.  So we followed up our swim by doing a few plyo moves at the top of a giant staircase followed by a handful of stair sets: running down the stairs then alternating how we ran up them (i.e. sideways, skip a step, every step, etc).  There's something about propelling your body upward that just hurts so good.  Sort of makes me want to burst out singing Wicked's "Defy Gravity."

Swim, stairs, sister.  At the Marriott.  Seriously, I love exercising on vacation!  And I'm not having too much withdrawal from my DVD routine - it was a good decision to go rogue this week.