Me and The Boys

Weekend Stuff, and Ode To A Pop

- I realized this morning that I have never done track workouts outside of marathon training. And I then realized that when you are not in the middle of marathon training, and haven't just run an 18- or 20-mile run two days prior, track workouts aren't nearly as awful. They still hurt, but it's much more tolerable. And I nailed, or exceeded, my goal paces for every single interval this morning - 1000s @ 6:40 pace, 800s @ 6:30 pace, 600s @ 6:35 pace, and 400s @ 6:20 pace. I am going to get that sub-21 5K - hopefully sooner rather than later!

- Finally, finally, finally dusted off the bike (it's been so long that I literally did have to dust it off) and went for a ride early Sunday morning, and it was fabulous!  Two rounds of marathon training have definitely carried over into biking, just as they have with swimming. I felt like I hadn't taken any time off at all, and rode almost 25 miles at an average 19mph pace. I was out on the road by 6am, so there was virtually no traffic, so it was wonderfully quiet and I was able to fly through the intersections - just the way I like it.

- Mother's Day was great - I got some time to myself, and spent a leisurely hour browsing at the garden center, and picking up the rest of the veggies for the garden, as well as some perennials for a flowerbed beside the deck. The kids ran played in the backyard with Scott while I did my planting, and it was such a warm day, we capped things off with a quick trip to the beach. My crazy boys went in the water!  Scott and I were content to stay on the sand and tell Carmine roughly 379 times to "stop throwing sand."  I figure by the time Labor Day rolls around, he'll finally listen to us and actually stop throwing the sand.

- I took the boys to a festival at URI Saturday afternoon, and a photographer from the local paper took a picture of Gabe, and asked me for his name, age, etc.  So I told Gabe that his picture might be in the paper, and he and Dante immediately started yelling about how we were going to be "famous and rich!"  I felt bad that I had to tell them that would most definitely not be the case.

- I'm in the process of finalizing plans for the afterschool running club I'm heading up, and the good news is that there are THIRTY-EIGHT kids signed up!!!!  This is clearly something these kids are interested in, and I'm so excited to finally get started. A little nervous, too, but the school's PE teacher is going to be helping out, as are a few parent volunteers, and I know once we get things rolling, it's going to be great! 

- The sentiments from the boys' Mother's Day cards were, as usual, both sweet and hilarious. Dante's card had a picture of the Titanic on it - because nothing says Mother's Day like a sinking ship and hundreds of people dying. But he did write that he loved me "because I take him places." Gabe chose to draw one image of me with hair, and one image of me bald, with the caption - "You can't be beat - It's true!  You are this (pointing to the picture with hair) and Not this (the bald picture)." I'm not sure what that means, but I'm going to take it as a compliment.

- Carmine and I were at the dry cleaner last week, and they had a bowl of lollipops, and he asked so very sweetly if he could have one, I caved and handed one over. This is only the second time he's ever had a lollipop, and the last time he had one was months ago, so he was kind of awestruck by the whole thing, and spent much more time talking about the pop than he did eating it. His pop monologue went something like this:

"Whoa!  Big pop!"  (chuckling) "Funny pop!"  "Hot pop!"  "Carmine eat pop!" "Good pop" "Mommy get pop!" 

Who knew a simple pop could inspire such poetry?

Six Things About the Boys

- Carmine is determined to keep me guessing. When he doesn't want to do something, he'll shake his head vigorously, while yelling "yeh-yeh!"  And whether he wants his shoes/coat on or off, he consistently asks for them to be put 'on.'  We seem to be perpetually living out Opposite Day.

- Always eager to take after his big brothers, he loves brushing his teeth at night. The only problem is that he can't quite reach the sink, and uses toothpaste that doesn't need to be spit out, but of course he sees Gabe and Dante spit theirs out, so he wants to do the same - and he does, regardless of where he's standing - in the middle of the bathroom, or in the hallway. The boy loves to spit.

- Gabe is becoming - or at least believes he's becoming - wise beyond his years. Dante asked him to play Chutes and Ladders this morning, and Gabe said he didn't want to, because he doesn't like to play that game anymore, and Dante reminded him that he used to love to play it. To which Gabe replied "Well, I'm growing up, Dante. Times change."

- His new catchphrase, whenever we thank him for doing something is "Oh, it was nothing."  Because that's just how cool he is.

-Dante’s class has invited all the moms in for breakfast this coming Friday morning. He’s reminded me of this at least 20 times in the past two days. I think he’s a little excited : )

- Dante has started writing yet another story, and this time it seems to be a spinoff of Captain Underpants. His version is called "Captain Poopy Under Diaper."

I knew that with three little boys, I'd be subjected to quite a bit of potty humor, but I had no idea just how bad it would get. I try to ignore as much of it as possible, but it really gets under my skin sometimes, because I just don't get why it's so hilarious to randomly insert the word poop into songs and sentences and stories. Apparently it is completely hilarious, but the humor is lost on me.

One of the hazards of being the lone female in the house, I suppose.

Fun Stuff On The Horizon

Anyone who reads this blog regularly knows that I love talking about my running, and my races, and my track workouts, and how far and fast I've run, and whether or not I got a PR or won an age-group award.

I love it. I'm proud of what I do, and I like to share that, and I also love that I've been told many times that people find it inspiring to read about what I'm doing.

But I have three running-related things on the horizon that are NOT all about me, and I'm so incredibly excited for both of them.

First up is the United HealthCarehalf-marathon in Providence next weekend - the kickoff to the Triple Crown Series of races.

I'm really excited for it, but I am most definitely not racing this one.

What I am doing is pacing a friend. I wouldn't go so far as to say I've been coaching her through her training, but I have helped with training questions and offered lots of encouragement and support, and it's been so fun to see her making progress along the way.

We're hoping for a PR - for her, not me - at the half, and I can't wait to get out there and run with her and hopefully help her to that PR. I think seeing someone else accomplish their goal is going to be just as, if not more, rewarding than my own accomplishments.

It's going to add a whole new twist to the race report, too, and I'm really looking forward to writing about the experience. I run with the running club when I can, but I'm mostly a solo runner, and have always been a solo racer, so this is uncharted territory for me, and I'm sure I'll be learning a thing or two.

After that, I'm embarking on something that I'm so excited about, I can hardly stand it. I've been given the chance to facilitate an afterschool running club at a local elementary school!  It's been in the works for a while now, and I'm still hesitant to write too much about it, just because all the details aren't completely finalized, but it does look like we're going to be moving forward.

I kind of fell into this opportunity, and I have no coaching experience whatsoever, but I've done my research, and came up with some plans that were very well-received by the school.

And I may not have any coaching experience, but I definitely have a love of and enthusiasm for the sport, and can't wait to get out there and get those kids running!

And speaking of kids running - I'm finally committing to getting out for regular runs with Gabe and Dante, in the hopes that we can all run a 5K together sometime this summer, or early fall.

They both love running at the Youth Track meets during the summer, and I'd love to have the experience of running a race with them, if it's something they want to do. I'm not going to force them, but when I mentioned the idea, they both seemed pretty excited.

We went for our first run this morning - a 1.5-mile loop around the neighborhood. Dante is definitely cut out for distance - unlike most kids, he's not so eager that he sprints at full speed for the first 1oo yards, using up all his energy. He's happy to jog at a comfortable pace - and I know it's a comfortable pace, because he talks the ENTIRE TIME - no worries about him running so fast that he's gasping for air.

Gabe prefers the 'run as fast as I can for 100 yards, come to a screeching halt, complain about how tired I am, and then resume sprinting' routine. He repeats this again and again and again, until, by the time we've gone 1/4 mile, he's about ready to collapse.

I worked really hard to try to keep him to a more moderate speed when we went out this morning, though, and he did do a little better, but still spent the second half of our run talking about how tired he was. 

Some other snippets of conversation from the approximately 20 minutes we were out there -

"It's freezing!"

"Oh my god, I'm SO hot!"

"Water is good because it gives you energy."

"What is that smell?"

"I want to send the Easter Bunny a thank you card."

"Running really makes your knees tired."

During one of our walk breaks "This is called a rest walk, right?"

"When we get to the big hill, we're going to stop and walk, right?"

"Are we going ALL the way around the neighborhood?"

"I can't believe how long we've been running!"

As we headed up the final incline to go home, Gabe was dragging his heels, complaining how tired he was, and telling us that he couldn't possibly run any more.

And then I said the magic words - "run this last little stretch like it's a race."

He suddenly perked right up, picked up his feet, and ran up that hill as fast as his legs would carry him.

I suspect he may have inherited my competitive streak  : )

Vacation Week Tidbits

It may not be apparent from my last few posts, but there is more to my life than running. It's just that the weeks and days leading up to and immediately after a marathon are kind of consumed by the race. And I'm still constantly thinking about it, and analyzing it, and, yes, already thinking about what my next short-term goals are, in terms of racing.

But in between all that, there is still plenty of other stuff to keep me busy, including the antics of my three crazy little boys.

Carmine is finally saying his own name, and has started referring to himself in the third person. And of course all I can think of when he does it is the episode of Seinfeld with the character "Jimmy," who did the same thing.

He's also fully embracing the terrible twos, and our days have more than their fair share of screaming and temper tantrums, and lots of "NOOOOOOOO!!!!"  and "MINE!!!!!"

Dante has had a particularly exciting vacation week - we went to see the Titanic exhibit at Mystic Aquarium, which was awesome. He was so excited that he woke up that morning and ran into the kitchen yelling "Happy Titanic Exhibit Day!!"

And last night I took him to see Robert Ballard speak at URI - a pretty cool thing for a 6-year-old to be able to do. And I found it really interesting, too. It's great when your kids get to the ages where they're interested in are things that you also find interesting. Much cooler than having to sit through a live performance of The Wiggles.

His reading skills have really taken off now, too. It's so cool to see him be able to sit down and read an entire book. He was so proud of the fact that he could read the "Magic Treehouse" books all by himself now! 

He's also taking a cue from Gabe and writing his own sequels to the books he reads, and he wrote one the other day called "Diary of A Stupid Kid." The story was as follows - "One day I jumped off a mountain and I died." His title was very accurate, I think.

And I forgot to write the other day, but when Dante woke up on Saturday morning, he told me that he had dreamed about me winning the race. What a sweetie :  )   And when he said that, Gabe asked me "I forgot - how long is the race today? Sixty miles?"  At times, it sure felt like it was.....

I have lots to write about Gabe and our visit with the psychologist last week, but I'll save that for another post. I'm still working on processing everything and figuring out where we go from here. One thing we know for sure, though, is that we are not opting for medication at this time, and it's very helpful that Scott and I are on the same page with that.

Aside from that, we're enjoying the amazing summer-like spring, gearing up for the beginning of soccer, tennis, swim class, and a return to busy schedules. It's good timing, though, since I'm heading into a period of much less intense training.

I can't deny, though, that I did peek at my 'Run Less, Run Faster' book this morning, scoping out the training plan for a 3:35 marathon.....  

Taper, Disaster Boy, and Gabe

Not having to run for 3 hours on Saturday morning makes the day feel so much longer - in a good way! 

I actually did my long run on Sunday this week, opting out of the cold rainy weather we had Saturday. Sunday was so much nicer - sunny and dry, and in the 50s. My fingers are crossed that we'll have weather like that for race day.

The schedule called for 10 miles, but I was enjoying myself so much, I tacked on an additional 2 miles. It's been so long since I really had fun while running - it was lovely : )

I ran on the course again, and thought the entire time about how I'm going to feel as I'm running those miles 'for real.' No matter how slow or fast I run this race, it's going to be an incredible day, and now that I'm down to just 12 days to go, I'm getting so unbelievably excited. I cannot wait to be out there on the starting line.

I know the nerves, and the doubt, and the anxiety are going to kick in soon, too, but for now, I'm going to enjoy the excitement and happiness.

Lots of excitement with the boys lately, too.

They went bowling with Scott last night for their school's annual 'Boys Night Out," and had a great time. Last Friday I got them out of school early to come home for a quick visit with Grammy and Grampy, who had made the trip up to bring Gabe his birthday presents. (They weren't able to be here on his actual birthday, but they did call to wish him happy birthday that night, as did several other family members, and when he picked up the phone, he commented on how many phone calls he was getting, saying "Boy, people must think I'm a hero, or famous, or something!")

Last Thursday night was their school's Arts Night, and we went to tour all the classrooms, which the students had decorated with various ocean-themed artwork. This was very apropos to Dante's current obsession with the Titanic. He's devouring Titanic books from the library, and I can't even keep track of how many very detailed drawings he's made of the ship - complete with cutaway views, showing the bunks in the cabins.

Prior to this, his big interests have been earthquakes, tornadoes, hurricanes, and volcanoes. I'm sensing a theme here. Going to have to start calling him Disaster Boy.

Tomorrow night is their school production of The Wizard of Oz, which they've been rehearsing for for many weeks now. I can't wait to go see it!

It's also report card time, and parent-teacher conference time, which, when one of your kids has ADHD, can be a kind of stressful occasion.

Gabe's report card was ok, but for the first time, his teachers are seeing evidence that his problems with focusing and paying attention are affecting his ability to learn.

He's always struggled with those issues, but up to this point, he was still able to keep up with the curriculum and do well with his school work and homework, and at every meeting and conference we had, we were always told (and we were of the same mindset) that as long as he wasn't having any problems academically, we shouldn't even consider putting him on any kind of medication.

Now that's changed, and the areas where he's having trouble are no surprise - social studies, science, history - areas where he really needs to stay focused so he can comprehend the information he's reading, or being taught, and take the time to think things through so that he can answer questions and problem solve.

He knows he needs to do a better job paying attention, and he knows it's causing him to not do well on some of his assignments, and he gets frustrated that he can't. His attention wanders, and he has so much trouble preventing that from happening.

We are still very, very reluctant to use medication. Even though he is having some problems right now, I think there's a good chance that, with lots of practice and hard work, he can overcome those problems and develop better study habits. These problems just recently cropped up, and I don't want to immediately turn to medication without exploring other possibilities, and I can say with certainty that it's not something we're even going to consider for the immediate future. I want to exhaust every other option we have first. 

To that end, I'm going to call a therapist in our area who specializes in working with kids with ADHD, and set up some appointments, for Gabe, and for me and Scott. I think it will be helpful for Gabe to talk to someone who can hopefully give him some more strategies for reigning himself in, and also give Scott and I more information on things we can do to help him, both at home and at school.

I've read books, I've pored over websites, and I've implemented so many behavioral charts and systems that I can't even keep track of them all. And they all work to some extent, and we're by no means in crisis mode. I just feel like we could use some help. It takes a village, right?

Why I Do This

I woke up feeling super grumpy today - despite the fact that it's the first day of spring, and it felt more like summer - beautiful warm breezes and blue skies.

It was just one of those days, and everyone's whining and demands requests were amplified tenfold, and I felt like the Grinch, ready to scream about the "noise, noise, noise, noise!!!!"

Thankfully they made me laugh a few times, too - Dante, when I told him he could write on our weekly calendar what he wanted to have for dinner Sunday night, and he wrote "makincheese," leading me to believe that he thinks it's called "Mac IN cheese." I’m also still laughing about one of his journal entries from a few weeks ago: “Today is Monday. Yesterday was Sunday. Tomorrow will be Tuesday.” Thrilling narrative, isn’t it?

And Gabe was talking about someone he knows who wears braces, and commented very casually "yeah, I don't think I'm going to want to wear those when I'm older."  As if it's an accessory he can choose whether or not to sport.

Carmine cracks me up almost every time I turn around, but his latest adorable thing is that he refers to Gabe as "Gee Dah-Dah," and he also refers to Dante as "Gee Dah-Dah." He spends plenty of time with both of them separately, but I guess he finds it easier to have a combo name. He does the same thing with Scott and I, referring to us both as "Mommy Daddy."  At least I have top billing!

It was a day with a lot of ups and downs, though, despite the funnies and the gorgeous weather. 

I don't say this often - almost never, in fact - but this morning when I woke up and thought about the fact that I had to go for a run, I cringed. It was the last thing in the world I wanted to do. Shocking, right?

I wasn't even staring down a crazy workout, either. Since I put in a pretty intense effort in New Bedford, I planned on a nice easy recovery run today - something I'd normally welcome, particularly in the midst of marathon training, when 'easy runs' are few and far between.

And the weather couldn't have been more perfect. Warm, but slightly overcast, so it wouldn't get too hot.

You'd think I would have been at least mildly excited to get out there and get some miles in. But you'd be wrong. 

Once again, marathon training has sucked the joy out of my running. Or so I thought.

Then I forced myself outside, turned on my Garmin and my iPod, and got moving.

The first mile felt awfully creaky and awkward.

The second mile felt less creaky and awkward, but I was still just kind of getting through it,  and not enjoying it.

Then I turned the corner and headed along the ocean, and along the stretch of road that I'll be running as I finish up the .2 of 26.2 miles in just a few weeks, and as I looked over at where the finish line will be, I felt a rush of excitement, thinking about all the emotions that will be racing through my mind as I finally cross that finish line - the first among them being pure joy. 

Oh yeah. There IS a reason I'm doing this.

Suddenly my stride seemed quicker, my legs felt lighter, and so did my heart.

Suddenly I found myself wishing that it wasn't an easy recovery run. I wanted to run further and faster.

I didn't feel discouraged and depressed anymore - I felt anxious and excited. I'm so ready. I want to run this race!

I still have one more 20-miler to complete this weekend, and several more track workouts and tempo runs, but I feel pretty sure that they're just the icing on the cake.

The real work is done, and I'll put it all into practice very soon. Not soon enough, but very soon.

Carmine, Gabe, Dante, and Me

Despite the fact that his name is made up of two of his favorite words, I still can't get Carmine to say it. He'll say "car," and he'll say "mine," but he simply cannot (or will not) put them together.

Whenever he sees a store sign with big letters (like Stop & Shop or Kohl's), he points and says "T, I, O." Never any other letters. Always "T, I, O."

Scott and I were commenting the other day that we feel like we're living with a little German boy, because Carmine adds "en" to almost every word he says. "Big truck-en." "Ride bike-en." "Read book-en." "Sittin' couch-en."

He also repeats things over and over and over and over and over again until you acknowledge him. And he even gets somewhat frantic about it. In the car the other day, he was asking for his cup, and he just kept repeating "cup please, cup please, cup please, cup please, cup please, cup please," and had no intention of stopping saying it. It's like a record that's skipping, and in order to move the needle and stop the skipping, you need to let him know that you heard him.

There is no way he is ever going to go unnoticed. He's going to make sure of that.

He has developed a very sweet habit of saying "thank you" whenever you give him something, which is fabulous. And it's really cute, too, because he actually says it like 'doot doot.' A good habit to have, though!

Gabe had kind of a rough week at school, but I'm not surprised, since Scott was gone all week on a business trip. He doesn't have to travel for work very often, and it's almost never extended travel like this, which is a good thing, because taking care of all three of these guys by myself is no easy task.

But I think his absence stressed Gabe out a little, and he was acting up a bit at school. Nothing that got him into real trouble, but his behavioral chart for the week definitely showed that something was up, and he was a little out of sorts. I keep trying to tell him that if he's feeling upset or bothered by something, he needs to talk to someone about it, so that he isn't keeping all that stuff bottled up inside. But that's something he struggles with, and he probably always will.

Dante was a little nutty all week, too. His acting out, though, consists more of just crazy, bouncing off the walls type of stuff. And he did get a couple of notes home this week, too - just for silly, goofing around behavior - so I know he was a little upset about Scott being gone, too.

Lucky for all of us, Scott's on his way home as I type this, and has no trips planned for a while!

Our week went pretty well, though, and the highlight was our trip to the local ice cream shop yesterday afternoon for their opening day. It was warm - close to 60 - but windy, and getting chilly after we finally got our cones and headed outside to eat them. We had to wait in line a good 15 minutes, but it was worth it. No ice cream for me, of course, but the boys thoroughly enjoyed theirs. Carmine especially liked his 'cha-cha chip.'

On the running front, I'm so, so happy it's a cutback week. My long run this weekend is only 12 miles, which seems like a walk in the park compared to the past two weeks' 18- and 22-milers. I won't even have to bring any water or fuel with me for a 12-miler! 

Then next weekend the half, then my final 20-miler, and then TAPER!!!!! 

That light at the end of the tunnel keeps getting brighter and brighter!

Back To School, Back To Running, Back To PT

Gabe came downstairs Monday morning and asked sleepily "So what are we doing today?"  I felt bad having to tell him that it was Monday, and he was going back to school. He still loves school, but he does seem to be getting to the age where he enjoys the breaks and complains a little about having to get back to reality.

Dante was raring to go, though, and when they got home from school Monday afternoon, he wouldn't stop talking. Not that that's anything unusual for him, but his nonstop chatter was even more pronounced than usual.

Carmine, after just two days of having me all to himself again, became completely possessive last night - when Gabe tried to sit next to me on the couch, Carmine (who was sitting on the other end of the couch) jumped up, launched himself over Gabe and onto my lap, yelling "NO!  MY MOMMY!"  Luckily Gabe just thought the whole thing was hysterical.

Carmine and I are also back to our gym routine, which he's happy about. He runs around the house as we're getting ready, yelling "gym, gym, gym, gym!"

I'm happy about it, too. Only working out a few times last week was a nice little respite for me, and one I think I really needed, but it's been nice to get back to our regularly scheduled programming : ) 

The week off from running seems to have been just what the doctor ordered, too. (knock on wood) My 18-mile run Sunday went great. I ran 7.5 miles to the beach, met up with some women from the running club, ran 5 miles with them, and then ran the final 5.5 by myself.

Having company for the middle of the run was a great way to break it up. It was a little tough getting those final miles done alone, after having company for that long stretch, but I put my iPod back on and that helped keep me moving. Finished in 2 hours and 35 minutes, for an average 8:40 pace - very pleased!

Good news - the arch pain that I had been experiencing is gone completely. Such a relief.

However, after I ran Sunday - not during the run, only after - I felt some pain on the top of my right foot. It wasn't severe, but it was definitely noticeable, and I was a little concerned. But I was scheduled to go to PT Monday morning anyway, so I just iced it a bit and hoped for the best. And as the day went on, it was gradually feeling better.

My PT visit was just a check-in on my left shin. It hasn't really been bothering me, but I've been popping into PT periodically since I started to ramp up my mileage, to make sure that it doesn't start to give me any trouble. But since that's been feeling completely fine, we worked on the right foot yesterday instead.

It was already feeling loads better, but she did some massage and stretching and some cold laser treatment, and did a few tests, and said it seemed like just some tendon/muscle inflammation, and that it didn't seem like something that should become a big issue.

Happily, she seems to have been right. It feels great now, even after my 8-mile run this morning. Hopefully another catastrophe averted.

These little aches and pains and almost-injuries that have been cropping up are definitely a sign, I think, that I am pushing my body to its limits. And if I wasn't training for a race, I'd back off for a few weeks.

But - fingers crossed - I think if I continue my periodic PT visits, and stay on top of my stretching (and icing, when necessary), I can get through these last few weeks of training without a major mishap.

I also know, though, that I'm not going to try to train through something and risk getting really, really hurt. No race is worth that. I have a lot of fun races planned for this summer, and I want to be able to run them all! So I will continue to train, but I will also continue to listen very carefully to what my body is telling me, and if I surpass the limits I'm currently pushing it to, I will take breaks as needed.

I feel so much less stress about this race than I did about Hartford - it's really refreshing. I want to do well, and I'm working hard to try to meet my goals, but I'm not putting myself under a ton of pressure. I invested so much energy and emotion into my Hartford training - I just don't have it in me to do that this time around.

I'll still push myself, and I'll still get nervous butterflies when I think about race day, but I'm not going to feel terribly disappointed if a training run doesn't go the way I want it to - which is the perfect segue to today's tempo run.

My tempo runs have been the highlight of this training program - the run I looked forward to every week, and the run that's consistently been a huge confidence booster for me.

Today, not so much. I've been doing these 8-mile runs the past few weeks at paces I never imagined possible - 7:24, 7:25, and one week, 7:16!  I was feeling invincible, unstoppable.... 

But today, I fought for every single one of those 8 miles. I felt creaky and sore from the start. As I warmed up, I started to feel better, but I still struggled. And my mile splits showed it - a few were below 7:20, but most were 7:30 or above, and I finished with an average pace of 7:30.

Still a VERY good pace for a tempo run, but far short of the amazing times I've been posting lately.

But I'm completely ok with that. I did what I could, and I gave it my all, and that's what my all was today. And sometimes, you have to just cut yourself a little slack.

All Systems Go

My foot held up very well during and after a 7-mile run Wednesday morning, so I'll be heading out for my planned 18 tomorrow. I'm still a bit nervous, but hopeful that I'll be ok and can make it through these last weeks of training.

As I write that, and as I updated my Facebook status today, I realized that there are only 7 weeks until I run this marathon!  My training for Hartford seemed to last forever, but this round of training has flown by. I got a huge rush of nervous butterflies when I thought about how soon I'll be out there on the course.

In some ways, I think having the issues with my foot was kind of a blessing in disguise. I would never have chosen to take a week off from training without it, but not running for a week has made me so eager to get out there and run 18 miles tomorrow, and get back to speedwork and tempo runs next week.

And since I wasn't running this week, and it was vacation week with the boys, I ended up having a very light week, workout-wise. Sure, I could have brought them to the gym with me every day, but I kind of felt like I needed a week where I wasn't working out 5 or 6 days, and it was nice to not have our days revolve around my gym time. We were free to do whatever we felt like, whenever we felt like it, and having some lazy mornings was a really, really nice change of pace for all of us.

I still got in a great workout Monday, and did my run Wednesday morning, but that was it. And yes, I do feel a little lazy and icky as a result, but I also feel like it was good for me. I needed a little break, mentally and physically - and I'm definitely ready to get back to it next week!

Vacation week with the boys has been a blast - helped in large part by the fact that the great non-winter of 2011/12 has continued, and we were able to spend large portions of each day outside.

We had a fabulous day roaming the grounds at Mystic Seaport Wednesday, and were able to stop at a playground on the way home to burn off even more energy.  Yesterday we spent the ENTIRE afternoon outside. It was glorious. A bit windy, but nearly 60 degrees!  I was a little bummed that Carmine didn't take a nap, since he didn't have one the day before, either, but it was so great to see him running around the yard chasing after his big brothers, so it was a good tradeoff : )

Our experience with Carmine has been so different from Gabe and Dante in so many ways, but right now most noticeably in that Carmine is talking so much more than either of them were at this age. When Gabe was two, he only had a handful of words, and wasn't even close to putting together sentences, and Dante was about the same.

Carmine, on the other hand - there isn't much that he can't say, and he puts together three- and four-word sentences already!  It's so fun, and such a new experience for us - I just get such a kick out of talking with him.

He still has his funny mispronunciations - blanket is "buh-buh," apple juice is "at choo," pillow is "puh-puh," Gabe is "Gee," Dante is "dah-dah," finger is "feh-feh," and poop is "poot."  He also learned a while ago what a wedgie is, and likes to walk around pulling at the seat of his pants saying "weh-wee, weh-wee."    

But more often than not, it's very, very clear what he's saying, and he so often makes me giggle. Grammy got him some Buzz Lightyear toys for his birthday, and I noticed that instead of just calling him "Buzz," he calls him "Buzz Woody." And every time he sits down now, he informs me that he's  "sittin', bum," I guess because I'm always telling him to sit down on his bum. And there's nothing cuter than seeing him hop up on the couch, pat the cushion next to him, and say "Mommy, come sittin."

And I have no idea if it's impressive for his age or not, but I'm personally kind of impressed that he sort of knows some numbers already. He can't count, but if you say a string of numbers, he'll chime in with "one, two, three," so he gets that those are numbers and they're related. He likes to play rockets, too - he'll countdown "Five, two, blastoff!" 

Our biggest source of pride, though, is the fact that at least 65% of the time, he can now nicely say "hep pee" (help please) instead of just screaming when he wants something. That other 35%, with all the screaming, is still somewhat frustrating, but progress is progress. Baby steps, as they say.....

Some Random Things

A sign of how unusually warm our weather has been this winter - the boys' had an afterschool trip to the tubing park planned for tomorrow, but it had to be cancelled due to lack of snow. It's been so warm, they can't even make snow!  I'm sad for them, but at least it's warm enough that, instead of tubing, we can just play outside after school.

I am still occasionally astounded that I can see, and no longer have to deal with contacts or glasses to do so. It's so liberating, and so amazing. Best money I've ever spent.

I've been dairy-free for quite a while now, and have pretty much adjusted to it, and have a few observations:

- Non-dairy 'cheese' slices aren't too awful when they're part of a larger entree - i.e., a slice of veggie cheese on a sandwich.

- Non-dairy veggie shreds are totally nasty, no matter what you do with them.

- Soy milk can be substituted for regular milk in just about any recipe - a very good thing, since I love to bake, and I love to eat the things that I bake.

- I LOVE soy milk in my coffee.

- The two things I miss most are yogurt (greek yogurt with homemade granola was my favorite post-workout snack, and I'm still struggling to find a good alternative) and ooey gooey cheese pizza. I've gotten very creative at making pizzas with lots of veggies and no cheese, and they're delicious, but sometimes you just want the real deal.

Carmine, for months now, has referred to any kind of treat - cookies, cake, chocolate - as det-doh. This word was such a part of our everyday life that we were all saying det-doh, too. But the other night, for the first time, he said "treat."  And when I gave him his treat - a piece of chocolate - he said "cha-cha."  I know it's exciting for him to keep expanding his vocabulary, and it was awfully cute to see him grinning and shouting "tweet! tweet!" but I'm going to be sad when det-doh is no longer part of his vocabulary.

Gabe continues his night-owl ways, staying up until 10 or 11pm some nights. We're trying a two-pronged approach to getting him to go to sleep earlier - 1. We're waking him up at 7am every day, no matter how late he's been up the night before, in the hopes that being unable to sleep in will make him tired enough that he simply can't stay up so late anymore. 2. We've instituted the Wii Clock. Every night that he stays up past his lights out time (8:30), he loses 10 minutes of Wii time. Since they usually play about an hour of Wii on Saturday or Sunday, he starts the week with 60 minutes, and the clock will provide a very visual reminder to him of how much (or little) time he's going to have for video games, based on his nighttime behavior. Hopefully we see some progress with this.

There's a dead tree on the side of the road where we wait for the bus stop - it's a pretty small tree, and it blew over during a storm a long time ago, and has just been laying there on its side - not blocking the sidewalk or the street, so not really a bother to anyone. But it has made for a great jungle gym for the boys, and they're now making it their mission to try to dismantle it piece by piece. It'll be interesting to see just how successful they can be.

I really want an iPhone. Really badly. But I just cannot justify the $70 per month plans. I wish someone would offer a plan that costs a little less than that.

My spring and summer race schedule is shaping up nicely. I may even be running my first 10K ever. All the 5Ks, 10-milers, half-marathons, marathons, but I've never run a 10K. It'll be an instant PR : )

Dante brought his journal home from school today. One of his entries was about the football game that we watched while sitting on our "cowch," and how the "Pacthreeits won."  And today's entry talked about how tomorrow is "groundhawg daye." 

Got our welcome package for the 10-Day Family Re-Charge, and I'm really looking forward to it. We've already begun to make some subtle changes, even before the program has officially begun, and I've noticed a little more brightness, a little less stress. And when those stressful situations do come up, I'm feeling much more in control of how I react to them.

I'm completely addicted to avacadoes right now. Can't get enough of them. Also have gotten pretty hooked on an afternoon cup of tea with a little bit of honey. Even though our weather has been so warm, it's still a nice cozy ritual.

Despite the warmer-than-usual weather, I'm still longing for summer, and daydreaming of long days at the beach. I know it'll be here before we know it, but it can't come soon enough for me.

Carmine is going to be a digging machine at the beach this summer. Unfortunately, he's probably also going to be a throwing, screaming, and kicking machine. Love the terrible twos.

He's actually been slightly less screamy lately (is screamy a word? If it isn't, it should be, because that's what he is). He still lets out some big ones now and then, but it's not his default volume level.

Speaking of letting out some big ones, he also now giggles any time he farts or burps. His brothers have taught him well.