Busy weekend

What a weekend; it seemed short, long, busy, fun and gloomy, all in the span of a couple of days.

Saturday morning dawned perfectly - sunny and nice.  The boys slept in (if you call 6:30 sleeping in, and believe me we do), allowing Mandy and I both to get in some exercise before they got up.  Mandy rode her bike to the Plaza for a tea, and got back as I was putting the finishing touches on my usual Saturday pancake breakfast for the kids.

Noah had an early game, so we skipped the farmer's market and headed to the soccer fields instead.  We got there early, so Noah killed time by running back and forth between goals for 15 minutes straight, becoming red-faced and sweaty before the game even started.  Naturally.  His grandparents came to watch him, and while he didn't steal the show like last week, he did score a couple of goals in the win.

If I'd been suffering from any illusions of my own self-importance, they disappeared quickly when Elliot decided to pee on my leg while I was watching the game.  No shit.  He's been notorious lately for considering the world to be his bathroom, and when he gets the urge, there's a better than even chance he's going to run with it right then and there.

Well he took it to another level on Saturday, although I'm not sure he thought of it on his own.  I heard him behind me, looked down and saw his pants down to his knees.  I thought he was getting ready to go, when I felt the wetness on my leg. I was too shocked to even come up with a way to discipline him.  He walked off while my brain was still trying to process it.  We've been gently trying to steer him to more discreet places, where there isn't an audience of hundreds, but this time I caught up to him and read him the riot act.  It must have worked, because later that day when Mandy tried to get him to go in the woods, he was very reluctant to do so.  Fortunately I'd ridden my motorcycle to the game, because I needed to go to work afterwards.  I ended up riding to work with my left leg int he wind to dry it out.

That night, we left the kids with Grandma to babysit while Mandy and I attended the annual auction at Noah's school.  It is always a great time - especially since the Catholics aren't shy about indulging - with a dinner, silent auction, live auction and dance.  We met some friends for a drink beforehand at a nearby pub, then went to the auction.  A couple of glasses of wine later, Mandy jumped into the bidding to procure the pre-K class art project, which is almost like all the art we have of Noah's in the art drawer, except this one is framed.  Mandy said "But this is priceless!" Not any more, judging by the price we just put on it.

She was more excited about bidding than actually winning anything, and it was fun to watch her.  If I'd let her, I'm sure we would have come home with much, much more.  You could tell she was serious about her bidding, because she wasn't content to just flash her bid number, but would stand there with her hand up the whole time, as if the auctioneer might forget that he had a live one.  But it was fun, and we ended up with the picture, and front-row seats to the Christmas program and the Thanksgiving program.

What a priceless work of art looks like.  Noah's heart is the all red one in the middle. 

The next morning was stormy as hell and we had plans to run the Trolley Run, a fun downhill race to the Plaza, at 8 AM.  Mandy may or may not have been nursing a wee bit of a hangover, and hinted that maybe going out for breakfast instead of running four miles in the pouring rain might be a better use of our babysitting dollars.  When she walked in the door after having picked up the babysitter, her face visibly blanched when she saw I had my race bib pinned to my shirt.  After a few disbelieving looks, I finally convinced her that we could bail out in Brookside if it was too miserable, and that I was probably going to be walking anyway given that I was still rehabbing my knee, and I'd only run very short distances since the surgery.

Wisely, she had stopped for a few donuts for the kids for breakfast to make it easy on the babysitter.  Fortunately for the babysitter too, who had spaced the job and had been woken up by Mandy knocking on the door, and didn't have time to eat before jumping in the car.  Since we never buy donuts for the kids, Noah proclaimed his mom to be awesome when she told him what was for breakfast.

We parked near the start, and stood among several thousand wet participants.  We were dressed for more severe weather than we actually ended up with - the rain and lightning tapered off right at the gun, and we encountered mostly sprinkles the rest of the race.  I started off jogging, figuring my knee would begin hurting soon and that I'd have to walk.  Partly due to the adrenaline of a race, and partly due to the fire of internal competitiveness, I kept going.  Mandy, bless her heart, stayed beside me even though she could have easily gotten far ahead.  First one mile, then two and three, and finally the finish line.

This is Mandy's game face.

I didn't come within a country mile of a personal best, but I had a perverse sense of great accomplishment as I reflected a little on the last year or so. About a year ago, I had to bail from the half marathon Mandy and I were training for due to IT band problems.  Instead, I focused on plyometrics, speed work and cardio in an attempt to set a personal best in the Trolley Run a few weeks after that.  I was in excellent shape, when I tore my medial meniscus.  That was the last time I ran until just a week ago, when I jogged for nearly 10 minutes.  Today, I jogged for almost five times that long.  I've got some work to do, but it feels great to be getting back.

At one point during the race Mandy said, "They say slow and steady wins the race.  I don't know, because I see a lot of people in front of us."

Afterwards, we took a bus back to the start, and ducked into a great little coffee shop nearby to warm up. I had my first coffee since Lent started (which is why I'm still up at 10:30 without feeling the least bit tired), and we both admitted we were glad we didn't bail out on the run.  We engaged the babysitter for another hour, then went across the street for a great brunch.

When we got home, Noah asked me about the race.  He had asked to go that morning, and when I said he was too young yet, he told me to "tell the judges that he was fast enough to beat all those old people".   He was sincerely disappointed he didn't get to run.  So when I got home, he wanted to prove it to me by hopping on the treadmill and running a mile (at the exact same pace I had run, coincidentally), barefoot, and not even getting out of breath.  I finally had to stop him because I wanted to go back upstairs.  I think next year I will give him a try if he still wants to do it.

Afterwards, I went back into work.  There have been an abnormally large number of things at work on my plate for a few months, and consequently I've been working way too much trying to keep up. I was determined that this would be my last weekend where I'd work most of it for quite a while.   I really need to spend more time with my kids, and we've all been feeling it.   Unfortunately, that meant leaving Mandy alone with the kids again, on a gloomy, rainy day, where they seem to do nothing but get on each others' (and mom's) nerves.

It was made worse by our decision not to get a dog that Mandy had her heart set on, and was set to pick up today.  Mandy had been actively searching for a dog, spurred on partly by the golden lab puppy that St. E's was planning on auctioning off.  While we had talked about it before, I was non-committal, and told her I'd leave it up to her.  She'd found a sweet 10-month old blue tick hound mix that she really wanted.

What I really should have said was that I wasn't ready yet, back when she first mentioned it.  While I would really like a dog, I was not ready to add another commitment to an already work-logged schedule, and wanted to spend more time with them and the kids before adding another obligation to the mix.   It was pretty late in the game, but we talked about it this morning and we decided to hold off for a little while instead.  I put her in the awkward position of having to make a last-minute call to the lady who runs the dog rescue operation to tell her we had changed our mind.

She was understandably agitated, but at the wrong person.  I felt bad for disappointing them both, but especially Mandy.  One of the things I love about her is that she would save the world if she could, and had already become smitten by the dog.  If she held any resentment about it, she showed none of it, and in fact was very gracious.  I know it made for a hard day for her though.

I wish it had ended better, but on the whole, it was a pretty good weekend.  I think I'll go back to not drinking coffee though. I'm still not sleepy.

Great Prostate Cancer Challenge

Even before my surgery, Mandy signed us up for the Great Prostate Cancer Challenge 5k run.  She wanted to do something to contribute to getting the message out about prostate cancer.  I thought it pretty optimistic at the time, coming only a couple weeks after my scheduled surgery date, but things progressed better than expected and we were all able to turn out.   Both boys woke up extremely early for some reason, and Noah came downstairs and said "Happy race day, daddy!".  He had been excited to run it.  We were joined by Mandy's mom, and our friends Jacob and Jenni on a great morning.

We ended up walking 1.7 miles.  I wanted to walk further, but I wasn't feeling it and the kids were getting tired as well.  But I was glad I had been able to get out and participate.  I had several men who had been through the RP procedure ask how on earth I was out there just two and a half weeks after surgery.  Noah and his friend Liam ran off and on the entire way, and when we approached the finish line, they hauled ass towards it.  They were running so fast and hard they ran past the turn off towards the finish, and had to be redirected by the cops.  We hadn't yet turned the corner, and the last we saw was them running full speed together.  While we couldn't see them finish, we could hear the crowd erupt in cheers as they made it towards the finish line.  Fortunately, the event photographer captured some great pictures of their finale.

We stuck around and played a few games, had some pancakes and donuts, and I even got my picture taken with a Jayhawk mascot.  It goes against my Mizzou blood, but what they hell - they did save my life, I suppose, so I'll give them a pass this time.  Elliot also won a $50 gift card to the Capital Grille.  Sorry, little guy, but you're going to have to miss out on this one - mommy and daddy will be taking care of spending it on our next date night. Mom says you owe her.  

All the way up to this morning, I wasn't sure I would participate.  My recovery hasn't been linear, but more up and down.  I'll feel (relatively) great for a couple of days, then really struggle for a while.  I was walking several miles a day, but I was sidelined almost all of yesterday, and except for this morning's walk, I've been cooped up inside resting.  It seems like as some part of me gets better, some other part of me starts having more issues.

When I had absolutely no choice but to be patient, I was pretty good about it, but yesterday I let the pain and frustration and limitations get to me, and I turned into a bad patient.  I undeservedly made Mandy's life miserable the last day and a half - the one person that is bearing more of the brunt of this than me, and doing her best to keep me, the kids and the house all going.  I apologize sincerely.

This up and down is all part of the healing process.  It can be a little concerning at times, but it's all normal (repeated calls to the doctor keep assuring me), and there are some indications about long term effects that are very promising very early on.  I have been much more physically active than many who've gone through this surgery can expect to be at this point, and I have to remember that relatively, I'm doing extremely well.  I'm an impatient patient, but I have to remember that's not anyone else's problem.  This is a 4-6 week recovery, not a two-week one and in the grand scheme of things, this will be just a blip on the timeline of my life.  I'm down about 15 lbs since the surgery, mostly due to diet, but partially due to loss of muscle mass I'm sure.  It won't be that long until I'm at full speed again.

  

The crowd cheered as he and Liam ran the final few feet.

Bringing up the rear

Trolley Run

Yesterday Noah & I ran the Trolley Run benefiting Children's Center for the Visually Impaired.  It's the biggest (and funnest!) run in Kansas City and I love that it benefits CCVI (Elliot is a graduate of their infant program.  He had OT for a developmental delay secondary to his crossed eyes. He caught up pretty quickly after surgery and didn't need services for very long.)

Noah has been wanting to run in a race for awhile now.  Ever since I ran my half marathon he's been talking about it.  So I signed him up for the Kid's Run they do after the Trolley Run.  Well I put him in the 3-4 year old heat, which was just a small little run on the grass.  It was so short, Elliot could have done it.  Easily.  Heck a baby could crawl it, quite honestly.  Next time, we'll sneak him into the 7-10 year old heat which actually runs around the track at Mill Creek Park and is more up his alley.  He still had a good time though and was just as excited about having the shirt and bib as anything else.

Paul had great intentions of having the boys ride their bikes literally a block away from our house to cheer me on, but it didn't happen.  It's a pretty short run and I totally didn't mind.  I could actually see them when I crossed 67th across Wornall still by the church.  They ran into Hudson & Addison and had to play and ride bikes a little and by the time they got across, my speedy self had passed them.  In fact, I ran so speedy (for me) that I set a new personal record:  36 minutes and 32 seconds for a 4 mile run!  That's a 9:08/mile average pace.  I was quite pleased. My previous 4 mile PR was 38 minutes and 52 seconds.

This guy is getting fast on his little Strider

Noah is wearing HIS race shirt and bib number, too.  He did the Kids Run after my run was over.

Hooked up with friends in front of Hudson's house

Riding on the Trolley Trail alongside the race

These nice cops let the boys get on their 4-wheelers.  In exchange, the cop rode Hudson's Strider

Running around in front of the JC Nichols fountain.  After my race, before Noah's.

It was SO crowded and congested around the Kid's Run, this is all Paul got, just before Noah ran.

Muffins from First Watch

Me & my running buddy

My first Half Marathon - Rock the Parkway!

Yesterday I finished my first half marathon, 13.1 miles, in 2 hours and 18 minutes!  I am still in amazement that I did this.  I have never been an elite athlete - you know, the type of people that do this sort of thing.  I have off and on run for fitness my whole adult life, but usually just a couple miles at a time.  And 4 mile races for the Trolley Run were my BIG races.  And those were HARD.  The reason they were hard, is I didn't train for them.  Some years I was in better shape than others, but it was never with ease that I ran it.

Last summer I started the Couch to 5K Program.  It is designed for complete couch potatoes not used to any physical activity to get to a 5K in 9 weeks.  I wasn't a total couch potato, but I wasn't a runner either.  So I started it.  It began with intervals, only running a minute at a time.  I remember when I first had to run 20 straight minutes and how proud I was of that.  I couldn't believe when I finally worked up a 5K.  I ran the Race for the Cure in August of 2010.  I remember the feeling of accomplishment.  It was brutally hot and a hilly course.  I felt so proud of finishing in sub-10 minute miles.  In September I ran a 4 mile Run for the Zoo.  It was pretty hard for me.  Paul was pushing me to run fast and at that point I was just starting to increase mileage on my runs from 3 miles.  In October I ran another 5K on a relay team for the Kansas City Marathon.  Seeing so many people running marathons kind of inspired me to keep adding the mileage.

By Thanksgiving break I ran my first 10k (not a race, just around the 'hood) and slowly began increasing it with the intentions of doing this half marathon.  I was doing good in the cold weather layering up to stay warm.  Then the snow started.  And ice.  And some bitter cold temps mixed in.  I'm not that hardcore.  I kept up basic running during those times on the treadmill of 3 miles or so, but my training fell behind.  I didn't know if I could make it up to run this half, but I did it!

What a great feeling of accomplishment.  I DID IT!!!!!!  Not only did I finish, but I finished at a great pace.  It's not just the fact that I ran 13.1 miles, but it's the realization I can do anything if I just decide to do it.  And train for it. 

I was disappointed Paul couldn't run with me due to some injuries.  He was too.  But, the good part was that he was able to cheer me on all over the course.  It's in our neighborhood, so it was easy for him to go all over, with both kids at one point, and just Noah at most of the others.  He was there at 3 miles into the race, 4 miles, 6 miles (with the boys), 9 ish miles, 11ish miles and at the finish line.  Seeing him and Noah cheer me on and getting high fives from Noah really kept me going.  And I love having all these pictures to remember my first half marathon.

Just before the race.  I was SO NERVOUS!

Ready to get running!

This was about 4 miles into the race, just a couple blocks from our house

They were at the top of a hill waiting for me

Getting some high five encouragement from my main 4 year old man

Meyer Circle - sad the race is before they turn on the fountains

high atop Meyer Circle ready to cheer me on about 9 1/2 miles into the race

Noah: "Mom, is your race over?"

almost there, one foot in front of the other

HOLLA!!!  (the time posted above is gun time, not my actual running time)

I did it!

I couldn't bend my knees to give him a proper hug at this time :D

Love my 13.1 necklace made by Jacque at The Silver Maple

Running Away

Blog-wise, we’ve been largely silent in November. Not due to a lack of things going on, but rather the opposite. It’s been a busy month, getting ready for visitors, holidays and other stuff going on.

We started off the month with doing the 5k Lung Hill Run, a benefit for the early detection and successful treatment of lung cancer. It was a very chilly morning, but the run was near the Liberty Memorial, and the many hills got us warmed up pretty quickly. We both set personal records (27:47 for Mandy, 23:25 for me).

In September, Mandy and I decided to make a commitment to maintaining a healthier all-around lifestyle. Last summer we were both in very good shape, and for no good reason at all (not that we didn’t use every excuse in the book), we backslid pretty far over the winter and the summer. It got to the point we were both feeling pretty miserable, so we decided to do something about it.

In less than three months, by getting and staying off the couch and not succumbing to any excuses about the weather, busy schedules, sleepless nights or [insert excuse here], between us we’ve lost the equivalent of Noah – except it’s 50 lbs of fat instead of muscle. We’re not really dieting or depriving ourselves of anything either – Mandy’s cooking some tasty yet healthy meals every night, and we’re generally (but certainly not always) making more good choices than bad.

Looking good!

In addition to hitting the gym, running has been a regular part of our regimen. Because of Elliot’s sleep schedule (he’s usually up by 5:30), we run in shifts. I usually run at 5:00 AM while Mandy takes care of him (and tries desperately to keep him quiet enough to keep Noah asleep), and she usually runs right after I get back.

Rather than look at it as a dreaded way to stay in shape, we’ve both been having fun with it. Neither of us can stand the treadmill, but we both enjoy the quiet solitude of the early morning darkness, so we run outside no matter the weather. Sometimes with the iPod, sometimes without – Mandy likes to end her run at the local coffee shop a few blocks away and walk home with her iPod set to Christmas music. And there are some occasionally fun and funny things that happen along the way, like the time I got attacked by an owl while running through the Plaza one early morning a few weeks ago. I thought I was being mugged – it hit me hard in the back of the head, dug into my scalp with its claws and tried to fly off with me. Unsuccessfully of course, but it left me feeling confused/unsettled/disoriented the rest of my run. I ran a 10k that morning without really thinking about it.

We’ve been signing up for a few organized runs along the way, mostly to stay engaged. We wanted to train for a 10K around Thanksgiving, but our schedules (and our kids) didn’t cooperate, so when my sister offered to let us go for a run together the day after Thanksgiving, we took her up on it. Since we never do this together, we had a great time running and talking, and in the 22 degree weather we ended up running 6.4 miles through the Plaza, and up a pretty challenging and hilly course. Just the thing we needed to take the edge off the feast we had at Thanksgiving the day before. To think that twelve weeks ago, Mandy had just started by running intervals - running 30 seconds and walking 30 seconds - makes that accomplishment even more impressive.

We’ve made a lot of progress, and while we’re still not where we want to be, we are still as committed as ever to staying healthy for good this time. With two extremely active young boys, we will need it if only to keep up with them. We're shooting for a half-marathon in April.

Noah's 4th Birthday

Can't believe that it's already been 4 years since my petite little 9 1/2 pound bouncing baby Noah made his way into the world, changing our lives forever.

How the heck did that happen so fast?! Noah turned four on September 18th! We had a fun day celebrating. Paul & I had signed up to run the Zoo Run that morning. Noah was still asleep when we headed to the zoo for the 8:30am 4-mile run. I was surprised after finishing to see him, Elliot & Claire there at the finish line cheering for us. I felt so bad I didn't hear/see him cheering until I was done. It may be because I was simultaneously cussing Paul out in my head for telling me to sprint while trying to just breathe and keep going up that last hill. Paul & I finished the run in 38:53, which is great. Previously, my best 4 mile time was 40 minutes (downhill) and this was a very hilly route, so I was pleased. Paul went "slow" so he could run with me.

I look irritated, don't I? I heard someone say once they will take up running when they actually see someone running with a smile on their face. haha!

We hung out at the zoo for awhile, seeing the Polar Bear and letting the boys play. That afternoon we had family over for a casual party. We grilled out, the boys played, ate some cake and opened some presents. Just a laid back time with family. The boys spent most of the time building forts. I wish we had taken more pictures that day. I think we were just enjoying hanging out with our family.

This is a little 4 year old update on Noah:
- He is a big boy - 47lbs and tall (will know when he goes to the doctor next exact height). He wears a size 5 in clothes & 11.5 in shoes
-He is riding his big boy bike with pedals (and no training wheels) all.over.town
-He loves building forts with these rubber foam mat things we have
-He can write his name well (in capital letters). He knows all his letters and their sounds. Can recognize/sound out some simple words.
-He cuts really well with scissors, too
-He is pretty independent. Dresses himself everyday, brushes his own teeth, even makes his own lunch and snacks.
-He really enjoys playing with Elliot, but plays way rougher and wilder than I like. Elliot laughs the whole time and loves it - until he inevitably gets hurt.
-He is very sweet to other kids - especially little kids.
-He will be starting preschool in January 2 days a week! Then he will go to Pre-K in the Fall. I'm not sure if he'll do 2 or 3 days a week. I'll see what he's ready for when the time comes.

Opening presents

Pumpkin cake with cream cheese icing

"I wish for my friends having dinner."