Thanksgiving

It's been a few weeks since I posted.  There's been a lot, I think, that happened in the last week or so.

A week ago on Sunday, 11/18, Maddox woke up with a scream, literally.  He complained that his tummy hurt, he couldn't move, he couldn't breath, and he was dying.  I'll tell you, there's nothing worse than hearing your child saying "mommy, can you help me" and not knowing what to do, much less what is wrong.  Off we went to the hospital.  Before we got there he seemed to get a little better (no screaming) so I decided on the fly to go to Urgent Care because I thought he'd get in faster than going to the ER with a kid that had a pain, but is no longer in excruciating pain.  He was seen within 10 min . . .

Anyway, he went over to get an ultrasound on his appendix and it showed that his appendix was slightly inflamed and it had a "stone" in it.  Google it, it's a real thing, it's calcified fecal deposits. So off we went to the hospital to be admitted for an appendectomy.

We were there from around 12pm to 3pm before anyone came to talk to us.  And at that time Maddox wasn't complaining of pain anymore, so the glorified nurse surgeon's assistant said he wanted to talk to the surgeon before prepping him for surgery.  Another 3 hours later, the surgeon came in and said she didn't want to do surgery on a child who exhibited no symptoms and had a "iffy" ultrasound.  Which means that we were released, close to 7 hours after getting there and with no treatment at all done.

I did get my mile run in.

Wednesday afternoon came and I got a call from the school nurse saying that Maddox was crying  and saying he couldn't breath.  She thought maybe he was having a panic attack or something.  I asked if his stomach hurt, to which he replied yes.  So Chris went to pick him up and took him to the dr's office, where they sent him to the ER to get another ultrasound (they couldn't just send him to the hospital, he had to go in through the ER).  I got there and the surgeon's assistant said that his appendix was more inflamed than on Sunday and he needed to have an appendectomy.  So back up to the hospital.

He had surgery at about 11:30pm Wednesday night and we spent the entire next day (remember, this is Thanksgiving) in the hospital before he was released about 7pm. 

He seems to be doing okay, but it was not a great Thanksgiving for us.  I did manage to get away to do a 3 mile run, which was nice because I really needed to clear my head. 

This weekend I am going to eastern WA to decorate my dad's house with my sisters.  I am really, really not looking forward to that at all.  My Mom loved Christmas and her house was always decorated to the nine's (as she would say).  So it will be very difficult to go through all her decorations and put them up.

There is a picture of just my Mom's tree, but it's from several years ago, and I can't find it at the moment, so you get this one from 2 years ago instead.  Ignore me.  =)

Not a lot today

I have successfully run 14 days out of 14 (yes, I know that today is the 15th, I run in the evening, so I'll run tonight).  There's only been one day that I haven't wanted to run, last night, but I put on my shoes (and shorts) and ran one mile.  Tonight is the Seahawks game, so it's a short 3 miles on the treadmill while the game is on. (Sadly)

The biggest reason I didn't want to run last night was because I had homework to do and I didn't want to wait.  Well, I didn't really want to do my homework, but that also is non-negotiable.  I have yet to turn in any school work late, but there are definitely times when I don't feel like doing it.  I also notice when I have a paper due for school I don't feel like writing on here, and that is what I am feeling today.

This week has been ridiculously busy.  I don't know why this week has been worse than other weeks, I don't really know why.  Today has been the first day I haven't been running around crazily at work.  In fact, I knew that I wouldn't have a lot to do today and almost called in sick today.  I didn't, but I should have.  ; )

So, last Friday was the first weigh in after my official knuckle down and actually start working on it again.  And I lost 2 lbs.  It's hard to say that because I think that I'm going to gain this week.  The biggest thing I did last week was really cut down on my wine intake.  And I also didn't eat out at all for lunch or get coffee.  This week I've already had more wine, and eaten out 2 times.  I guess we'll see.

Last week I mentioned that the fast run is what really bothers my hip, well, I think it's either the increase in running (which really isn't that much, just about 3 more miles a week, but I'm still under 20 miles weekly) or the weather.  I didn't have much problem after I quit my pace runs in the summer, but I only did one fast run and it still is bothering me.  I did hear somewhere that weather does affect arthritis, so I'm thinking it's the colder, wetter weather.

This was from my Saturday run.  I ran 3 miles on the treadmill and then the neighbor kids and Maddox wanted to go for a run so we went around the block, and then they weren't done so we went around the bigger block.  We probably ran .75 miles but I only turned my Garmin on after starting the second block.  =)

Days 1-6 of a runstreak

I will say . . . and will probably change my mind . . . but a run streak is not that hard.  I am lucky in that I have a treadmill in my living room.  It was put there for my husband to be more active because he said he would use it if it was there, but I have used it more than him, and I don't use it very often.  It has mostly been a jungle gym for Maddox.  However, it is great for a run streak in November when I get home after dark and don't want run outside for 1 mile. 

My first run was a 1 mile run on my treadmill on November 1st.  I discovered that my Garmin watch is pretty accurate to my treadmill.  It was slightly off, but there was a moment when the belt slipped on the treadmill and I grabbed the railing. If my arms are not moving, then the Garmin does not accurately count my steps on a run. 

My second run was also on the treadmill.  It was still light out when I got home, but I was home alone with Maddox and couldn't go outside for a run.  I decided to only do 3.1 miles because, well let's face it, treadmill running sucks (even for 1 mile).  Again I noticed that if my arms weren't moving then the Garmin wouldn't accurately track distance.  There were a couple times I started swinging my arm faster than my legs to make up for the times that I wiped my face or messed with my phone.  (I don't have this issue when I run outside, probably because of GPS.)

Yay! Saturday and a day home where I can run outside during daylight hours . . . except everyone in my family who could watch Maddox, works on Saturday.  Luckily he started playing with a friend and asked to go to his house for awhile.  So I called the parents and asked if they minded if I went for a run (they live down the street and often the kids just go to each other's house randomly).  So I was able to do a 5 mile run in the rain. yay =|

 It was very wet, I wasn't even halfway done when the water started dripping off the brim of my hat. 

Sunday was another 5 mile run, nothing especially exciting about this run.  

Monday is almost always my rest day, so 1 mile on the treadmill.  

My animals have discovered my electric blanket.

And then yesterday I decided to try 3 miles at the fastest I could run.  I have decided that if I want to get faster, I have to actually work at it.  So the slower miles are nice, but there has to be some sort of faster runs in there so that I actually get faster.  I am not fast, my fastest 3 miles turns out to be a 8:38 min/mile average.  Granted, I don't consider that slow, but I really did feel like I was dying at times.  I even stopped a couple times and walked once or twice.  I think my actually running time was closer to an 8 min/mile, but when you factor in the stops and the walking, it slows down the average.  In my defense (of dying) I ran my normal 3 mile route, and that includes a steep incline at mile 0.2-0.5  with a gradual incline at mile 1-1.5.  I sprinted up that first hill (and then stopped), then ran fairly fast up the second incline (and then stopped).

I did remember after I laid down last night that the fast running is really what causes my hip to hurt the most.  I haven't had an issue with it since I quit doing pace runs, and actually forgot that I had problems with it after the pace runs this summer.  I briefly thought about putting ice on it as I was laying in bed, but then fell asleep.  Once I got to work I noticed it was bothering me again so I put ice on it for a little bit.  

My plan is to keep the slower runs for the majority of my runs, and I'm not looking at pace for my 1 mile runs.  In fact on Monday I set it at a 6 and left it (turns out that is a 9:59 min/mile, for sharing purposes my Garmin rounded down, so the extra 6 seconds were from going over 1 mile).  But I would like to do one faster run a week.  I guess we'll see how that works.  =)

Hello November

I have never been a huge fan of November.  There's nothing exciting happening outside.  Yes, we get 2 extra days off for Thanksgiving, but really there's nothing else exciting that happens.  The weather gets colder, everything just seems grey and dreary.  Western Washington is even worse because it really gets grey, the rain starts (well, it often starts sooner) and it just is pervasive.  The rain here is more of a mist than a rain.  I have actually walked around outside thinking it wasn't raining to go inside and realize my hair is soaked.  I hate it.  A friend of mine posted this on Facebook today and I liked it.  Don't get me wrong, I'm still not excited about November, but I do like this post.

One thing that I've been a little excited about is . . . a run streak!  I've been thinking about it a lot, and I'm going to do it. In fact, I don't think I'm going to wait for Thanksgiving.  For some reason, this weekend I really wanted to start it, but I decided to wait for November 1st (today!).  I don't normally subscribe to the belief of waiting till Monday, the first of the month, the first of the year, but this time I decided that's what I wanted to do.  I am going to run every day for at least a mile for all of November and December.

Well, last weeks running . . .

Only 2 runs.  7 miles on Sunday, which I already posted, and 4 miles on Tuesday.  I was crazy busy every day after work last week and only got those 4 miles in by running in Marysville while waiting to meet a friend after work.  That was a fun one.  I don't know Marysville (a town between my home and where I "officially" work).  I found a park on Google Maps and drove there. I changed in the restroom (yuck) and ran in a straight path 2 miles out and turned around and ran 2 miles back. 

Friday I went to my dad's house.  Sunday was the Tri-Cities marathon, which I did not run.  I did tell my brother-in-law that I wasn't running and he invited me to do Crossfit with him.  I did a 40 min session and it didn't feel extremely hard in the moment but the next day I couldn't lift my arms.  I did a 4 mile run on Sunday after I got home.

Tuesday I did another 4 mile run and I am going to run at least 1 mile today. 

I realized the other day that I am 4 months away from going to Hawaii.  My sister and her husband started doing a diet plan, 30/10 Fitness for Life because my brother-in-law needs to lose weight (dr's orders).  They are losing a lot of weight, although I don't recommend their diet.  You can only have food once a day, otherwise it's smoothies or some sort of snack that they provide.  I guess they can eat vegetables (not all, no carrots) and no fruit at all.  It's a completely carb free diet.  My sister has been pretty worried about what happens when they are done, but she's doing it and hoping for the best for my brother-in-law.  He has a great track record of losing the weight, but always gains it back within a few months of reaching maintenance. 

What does this have to do with Hawaii?  Well, my sister is losing weight . . . she's been slightly (not a lot) heavier than me since I started running, if she loses weight and I don't, then I become the "fat sister."  That sounds really terrible, she isn't/wasn't fat, but I picture myself being fat . . .  It's not about competition, it doesn't bother me that she'd be thinner than me, but I just don't want to look fat in comparison to her, which is why I need to lose weight as well.

So, I need to get serious about my eating.  I've been comfortable with how I look for awhile, but I know that I can be thinner.  I loved the way I looked in 2015 right before my first marathon.

2015

2018

Not quite comparable pictures, but as close as I can get.  You can definitely see that my boobs are bigger, and my stomach is poochier now.