Victory!

So I wanted to follow up on my race status since the last post on my Movement from the Couch.  I have in fact completed both races, the 5K and the 4 Miler.  I am proud to say that I was able to run both the whole way!  I am not only impressed with completing those races, but my time for both wasn't half bad either.

Wounded Warrior 5K (aka - LM 5K)

So in my first for real race ever, I was mostly on time for the start.  I managed to get there, get out of the car, and find my posse I was going to start with with a handful of minutes to spare.  No one was under any illusion that we would run the whole race together.  Especially considering some flat out told me they would run the first short bit, be it a block or a mile and then walk the rest of the race.  :)  No hard feelings for sure.  By the end of the first hill we were all split up.  I fell somewhere in the middle of our group and just kept on trucking.  I have to say, the layout of this race did nothing for me.  It was an out and back (as people in the running business call it) which I have decided aren't my favorite, but for this one I couldn't remember where I had been running on the way out, so I didn't know where I was going on the way back.  That's just as annoying because you think you should know, you were only just there.  The course was anything but flat, so that also had some annoyance factor.  I think about half of the second mile was straight uphill.  The second half was at least downhill, but still not enough of a boost for all that uphill.  Haha.

Anywho, the overall weather was nice.  It felt too cool to run without a long sleeve shirt, but really, I didn't need it after about the first mile, but my bib was on there, so I couldn't just take it off.  Lesson learned.  :)

My overall time for that race was a 35:57, which put me at an 11:25 mile.  Way faster than I was hoping for, so that made me feel pretty giddy.  As for my first race, it was small, uncomplicated, and just a way to get out there and get timed.  :)

Mother's Day 4 Miler

How nuts must have I have been to sign up for a 4 mile race a week after finishing my first 5K?  My friend Megan had talked me into doing this race with her with all kinds of encouragement, "You'll be fine.  If you can run 5K, you can totally do 4 miles."  In the back of my head I was thinking, are you high?  Haha.  I am thinking of this from the perspective of a person who couldn't run a mile in February, so 4 miles seemed a bit of a tall order.  I went into this race thinking, ok, if I have to it's ok to walk.  My personal goal was to go at least 3 miles since I had demonstrated that I could handle that without many issues last weekend.  When I got to the third mile, I was thinking, "Ok, cool, well you can walk anytime now and no shame."  The back of my brain was like, seriously?  You can do this, get your butt up that hill and get on with it!   The back of my brain won out in the end.  I managed to pull it together for the last hill and finish the race without walking.  Totally shocked about that, but still kind of an ego boost.  "I CAN DO IT!"

So the overall results for my 4 mile status: finished in 46:49, which breaks down to an 11:42 mile.  I thought that was pretty fantastic for adding an additional 0.9 miles to my longest run which was only last week.  This also earned me 46 active minutes on my pedometer which topped off my max points for the day and earned me a badge of "Busy Bee" for having 45 active minutes in one day.  Winning!

So now I am an official running fool.  Onward ho!

Will It Grow?

It's been a long long time since I have lived in any one place to be really "settled" in.  In fact, now that I think about it, the last time I was in one place this long I was in high school.  Wow.  I guess that enhances the reason of why I am so excited about my garden project.  It's been forever since it was even a possibility!

My father is a farmer.  He grew up on a dairy farm and has basically had a farm, tractors, land to play on most of his adult life.  I know how delicious food from a garden can be and have wanted to have a mini garden of my own for a long time.  Even growing herbs seems to be a challenge around here with cats.  This year I decided to get serious about it and figure out what I wanted to plant and how.  I called my dad and said, "I have room on my deck that gets good sun, what can I grow?"  The answer was apparently a lot.

This is my year of experiments.  I plan to take notes on what grows well, what doesn't have a hope and a prayer for making it on the deck, and how much of any one thing I really need.  I went to the garden supply store in March and purchased starter soil, containers, and seeds.  A lot of them.  I think the whole thing came to about $50?  I figured there's something to that 'strength in numbers' philosophy, so I planted a bunch of them.  Probably more than was necessary, but that whole survival rate can be tricky.  There were a few things that had a terrible success rate; oregano - zero, catnip - one plant made a come back, dianthus and carnations are running at about 2 plants each. 

Most people think I am nuts that I am growing everything from seeds.  Apparently, getting starter tomato plants is the preferred method.  What do I know?  Seeds were $1.69/pack with the potential for 24 plants.  I had time and space, so give it a whirl.  If it does work out, I am out $5 for the containers, dirt and seeds.  I am ok with that investment risk.  So far about half have made it and of those, I am not sure which are going to thrive in the transplanting process.  I tell myself the solution will be to just buy the starter plants everyone else buys and call it a day.  :)

So what did I decide to grow?  I am so glad you asked!  Here's what's growing so far:
Heritage Tomatoes
Roma Tomatoes
Peppers
Jalapeno Peppers
Romaine Lettuce
Butter crunch lettuce
Spinach
Radishes
Green Beans
Peas
Green Onions
Parsley
Basil (also sad growth rate, but I have 3 tiny plants)

The radishes and peppers are doing very well, the tomatoes had a lot of struggling seedlings, but they are in the zone where they may make it.  I am planning on also planting a hill of cucumbers for giggles.  I am probably most excited about the lettuces because we do eat so much of them.  It would be wonderful to have a good crop to save some money there.  I am planting waves of those to have them available all summer/fall long.   

So, the ultimate question - Will it Grow? should be answered over the summer.  I'll keep you posted!

Parenting, The First Year

We celebrated my son's birthday just a few days ago.  It's really true, time does fly.  I have no idea where that first year went.  I can say that with ease looking back on it, but during the day to day, many of them felt too long.  A year ago I was just leaving the hospital with this little person who needed me for absolutely everything.  I am glad to say we have come a long way, after many sleepless nights, crying, and seemingly never ending days.

So I was trying to think about what's happened in the last year.  Sometimes it just seems like this is always how it was and other days there are glimpses of what life was like before a baby.  I still don't feel like a parent.  I don't know when that happens, but I am sure it's around the same time they start verbalizing that more (mama, dada, etc).  I know I am responsible for a little man and I worry about him pretty much always and maybe that's what it feels like to be a parent.  I wouldn't know.

But if I stop and think of all the things my son has accomplished over the year, it really is quiet amazing.  He went from being this helpless tiny bundle to a babbling, cruising, drooling toddler.  His first word was kitty ("Gigi") and he current favorite toy is a dustpan and small dust broom.  He still doesn't like getting ready for bed, but he does like bath time most of the time.  He thinks flushing the toilet is a riot and playing in the cat water dish is just something to do when mom and dad aren't looking.  He knocks over Sparky on a routine basis, but has learned to start petting him nicely ("Be nice to kitty"). He has four teeth and is working on the next two.  He loves macaroni and cheese.

He really has been a wonderful baby, but I am not going to lie, those first 6 months were the hardest.  Months 6-9 were a little easier, but we were still getting up in the middle of the night for feeding.  At month 9 we slept through the night and it was glorious.  We have been enjoying pretty much solid sleep for a good 3 months, although now it feels like we never got up in the middle of the night.  It's amazing what you get used to and how fast you get used to it.  At month 9, I stopped pumping during the day and at month 11, I stopped nursing altogether.  That had it's pluses and minuses.  We saved a load of money on formula and washing bottles, but it was demanding and it's a sole source job. 

We still have a hard time leaving the house with everything he needs.  Diapers, wipes, emergency pacifier if he gets out of control, change of clothes, snacks, water bottle, food, bottles, toys, stroller if needed.  Of course you also have to plan around naps.  We are still at a solid two naps which I think is great.  They are great when you need to get household stuff done, but they are a pain when you need to go places.  Usually we can plan it so he is in the car for at least one of the nap times, but we are rarely in the car long enough to make it really count.  It's a give and take thing. 

So the first year is over and we survived.  I think that's really what the first birthday celebration is all about.  :)  The good mews is I remember a lot more of the laughs and smiles than the really bad days (and we have had them).  I think that's why people end up with a second.  Haha! 

Movement from the Couch

So I thought it might be nice to give an update on my attempts with the "Couch to 5K" program I started earlier this year (see earlier post of the subject here).  I re-read that post before starting this one and I have to say, that leap to 5 minutes, while intense mentally, my body was able to handle.  I was shocked that I didn't feel like passing out immediately afterwards either! 

I am proud to say I am still with the program and did not abandon ship at week 4 when I went up to 5 minutes of running.  I have now completed week 6 and am up to 22 minutes of running!  For whatever reason this seems to be working.  I think it's all in how this program is set up.  They really do take you from the wading pool into the deep end but at gradual stages.  I know for a fact if I had tried to just all out run for 20 minutes at the start, I would have said, "Eff this! I am going back to my couch!"  Someone was onto something when they created this.

I do find that I have more energy when I am done with a workout.  I know it's only going to be about 40 minutes from the time I leave my door until the time I get back so that helps a lot.  It's also been nice to see that I can handle an increase in physical activity with the increase in duration of running periods.  I must be building endurance/muscle to be able to handle it.  I didn't think my body was capable of that!  Shows what I know!

On these last few where I have done straight running for 20 and 22 minutes, I find it hard to keep my brain from going completely stupid on me.  I now understand why people listen to music and how that might make the workout go a bit faster.  Right now I just count in my head, 1, 2, 3, 4, etc until I get to 100 then  reset back to 1.  I count to help keep my pace right, but I probably don't need to for the entire 20+ minutes.  I just have no idea what else to do with myself while I am plodding along.  I people watch of course and pay attention to my surroundings, but from a multi-tasker, I find it hard to basically just be doing ONE thing. 

On the equipment investment, I am up to about $130 for new sneakers which were literally life changing and a pair of capri running pants.  They are super fabulous and comfortable too.  I didn't think the sneakers would make THAT much of a difference, but again, how wrong I was.  They made it feel more light on my feet.  I guess that's called support.  Haha.  The folks at Potomac River Running Company were really helpful.  They are also really big sponsors for races in the area (some right by my house) and host a number of them throughout the year. 

The crazy thing I saw the other day was a blog about motivation and fitness and something like the top 5 things to get into a routine and make it stick.  I usually scoff at these lists because they tend to be full of stupid things, but the one I found interesting was the, "Find your reason".  This may seem like a no brainer, but it made sense why they had it listed.  The reasons, "for something to do" or "I want to be healthy" probably aren't going to get you too far.  You really should make it as specific as possible.  I also want to be healthy, but I want to be healthy for my family and to be able to move and do what I need to in order to keep up with my young son.  I don't want to be the playground parent that sits on the bench and watches their kid play around.  I would much rather be the parent playing WITH my kid.  That is a specific reason and has significant meaning to me.  I am reminded every day when I hold my son or chase after him when he crawls.  He is a happy reminder that I am doing this for the right reasons for me. Might not be for everyone, but hey, you have to find YOUR reason. :)

 So far it's been working out and I hope it continues.  I have a tentative race lined up for 3 weeks from yesterday, when I should be wrapping up the training program.  We will see how close I get when I do the actual 5K race!

Freezer Meal Review

This is a review of one of the 4 freezer meals I used from the internet via Pinterest.  The original post can be found here.  The meal we made a few weeks ago was the Creamy Farmhouse Chicken and Garden Soup.  To be honest, I had high hopes for this meal, but it failed on multiple levels.  So bad in fact two nights of leftovers in, I just threw out the rest because I just couldn't bring myself to eat anymore and I NEVER do that.  So what went wrong?

First, I think the title is misleading.  This was not creamy in any way.  Maybe I have different standards or my crockpot just keeps things really moist, but it was more watery which was my first issue with it.  My second issue was I had completely forgotten that I had to put in 2 bone-in chicken thighs.  So there were surprise bones.  The time lapse between preparing the freezer meal and actually eating it was maybe 2 months tops, so it wasn't like it was ancient history.  So I had to pick through a very messy assortment of vegetables to find all the pieces which basically fall apart when cooked in the crockpot.  The third thing was this meal had an odd flavor to me and by odd flavor I mean in terms of spices.  This seems weird to me because I like all the ones it calls for, it just didn't hit my taste buds right.  The overall presentation of the meal left something to be desired too.  There were a lot of floating bits of chicken like when you boil a chicken breast so that was not too appealing.  It was more or less a glorified chicken noodle soup.  If I am going to put that much effort in, I would rather have something tastier.

So, this concludes my reviews from all the freezer meals from that blog post.  I think the ratings are as follows:
Pork and Veggies - Probably would be better with the modifications I made, but probably won't do that one again.
Chicken Tikka Masala - Delicious, just makes a ton.  Definitely redo.
Creamy Farmhouse Chicken and Garden Soup - Clearly a no.
Beef Burritos - Came out well, may redo.  We don't eat too much beef and have a recipe for chicken taco meat that's a bit easier. (6 boneless skinless chicken breasts, 1 jar of salsa, and a packet of taco seasoning mix, place in crockpot on low for 6-8 hours, shred chicken with fork)

If people wanted meals to try I would definitely suggest the Chicken Tikka Masala and the  Beef Burritos (or chicken tacos).  I am still waiting to see how my creations came out.  One should be in rotation this week, but with me feeling kind of under the weather, our meal plans went out the window last night.  Such a fine balance between having leftovers when you need them and time to make a meal when you have to.     

Happy cooking!     

Spring Wreath

I am beginning to wonder if Pinterest isn't funded through places like Michael's, AC Moore, Hobby Lobby and Jo-Ann Fabrics.  I feel like anytime I see something cool on there, I am usually ending up at one of these place to do said cool project.  Today was no exception.  Granted, I did want to go to Michael's to get Colin a decent Easter basket, but I didn't NEED to buy the other items until I saw a pin on Spring Wreaths. 

We have a fall wreath, a seashell wreath, and then usually something Christmas-y for the door during December.  I lack other wreaths to fill the front door during the spring and late winter.  I was inspired by this pin (website) for my design.  I still think that one looks a little nicer, but hey, this is wreath number two I have ever made, so I think it came out ok. 

Inspired and ready to go, I headed off to Michael's to buy supplies.  My sad hot glue gun, wires, and pliers were in stock in my closet, but I needed a new wreath ($4), flowers ($5), and some bling ($6).  If I had held out (read - had the patience), this project would have been a bit cheaper, but for a $15 investment, I thought it was worth getting everything at once.  I did save 20% on everything at least (hooray coupon!).

I basically just watched TV and puttered until I got a look I thought was decent.  Then I got the hot glue gun going and starting making it permanent.  After the flowers were in, I placed the butterflies where I thought they would look the best and then added the beads in various spots for sparkle.

Overall I thought it turned out pretty cute.  If I had wanted to spend more on the flowers I am sure it would have changed the nature of the wreath, but not too shabby for $15 and an hour of my time for the end of the weekend.  And now we have something for our door for the spring.  I am sure the neighbors will appreciate a bit of brightness in this dreary wannabe spring weather (currently wintery mix falling from the sky - hooray).

Couch to 5K

I have never been a real big fan of routine exercise unless we are talking yoga.  I could do that 5 times a week if only I could go to a studio and practice with people.  Have you ever tried to do yoga with cats around?  I assure you it adds a whole other dimension to your workout.  That being said, I have surprised myself with taking a recent interest in running.  Anyone that knows me would probably recall me poo-pooing the whole idea of running at some point in fitness conversations.  "Why would you want to do that to yourself?"  "How can running that long be good for you?" "You want to do a marathon?  Are you on drugs?!" 

I think having a kid puts your health in perspective.  I have been more physically active since having him and he isn't even walking yet.  It's only going to get harder from here on out.  I want to be the mom that can keep up (somewhat) with my kid(s) and enjoy spending time with them playing and running around.  And personally, I am tired of being the person who seems to be the only one who is struggling when we go for a hike or similar activity. 

So I have heard a lot about this program called "Couch to 5K" which inspires people like me who are essentially couch potatoes when it comes to running and getting them the ability to run a 5K.  They have a 9 week program which gradually walks you through the beginning and works you up to a 5K distance/time.  Straight from the web page: "Too many people have been turned off of running simply by trying to start off too fast. Their bodies rebel, and they wind up miserable, wondering why anyone would possibly want to do this to themselves."  Oh hells yes I may have done that once or twice. 

My problem always was finding a running partner that was actually at my pace.  Don't they say to get a workout partner to make you accountable?  Silly idiots.  I would tell people, "Umm, I am not very good at this and I don't run fast."  I would eagerly be greeted by "Oh me either!  It'll be fun!"  And so off we go and I was always the one, without fail, who wanted to die 10 minutes in.  I would think, ok, if this is my "this is really hard" and they are still moving and getting on with what appears to be at least 75% more ease than me, I must really suck at this.  Which eventually leads to - why bother?  Talk about demotivation.

So I have finally said, screw this, I'll figure out how to do this on my own and for ME.  So I finally looked into the program which is spelled out pretty clearly on the website and gave it some serious thought.  I was finally kicked in the rear when I found a 3 mile path that went right by our door.  Ok, this is it!  To really talk myself into this, I did the whole 3 miles walking and figured out the absolute maximum time it would take to complete.  For some reason my brain works better if I can plan out the maximum time rather than the actual time.  So I did the 3 miles in just under an hour so I knew that it would probably take less time than that for any workout and thus could form a plan of attack.

I have completed 3 weeks (although it's taken me about 5 due to weather and other nonsense) so far and I am excited and scared to start week 4.  I thought running for 3 minutes was a huge accomplishment, 5 seems a bit of a leap.  I might be repeating week 3 for a while.  But that's the beauty of this program.  You can set your own pace and expectation level. 

I think it's amazing I am still attempting any of this.  I got out in the coldest crappiest weather (for here) in the middle of February including one day in the cold rain, and I still want to do this.  I think spring is going to be down right delightful after what I have been out in.  At the end of the day, I want to be able to go out for 30 minutes, 3 times a week and get the recommended fitness box checked.  Do something to prolong my youthful years and if I loose weight and build muscle tone, all the better.

As a side note, I think it's hilarious how much physical activity can cost you once you think you really want to be "into it".  I am going to get fitted for a pair of running shoes for the first time ever.  I usually just pull a pair off the rack and say, ok, close enough!  But apparently, having the right shoes (and more importantly, the right fit) help a lot.  Since I am still going on this, I figure I can go ahead and make that investment.  And of course, buy new running capris and various other accessories.  Although I will say, March appears to be the time to buy fitness things because it's all on clearance now.  I guess if they didn't get you for New Year's Resolutions, they have already lost their top profit margin period.  Hahaha.

Happy trails!