Marathon Mom

2010 was definitely the year of change and new beginnings. The biggest being the birth of Ophelia and becoming a mother, I also made some big decisions about school and dealt with months of illness without answers. Looking back my 2010 goals: How did I do? Yearly Miles: 1330 -Pain free running after baby and a strong comeback: Yes, no injuries and plenty of PRs -Continue with my new found attitude for running/racing: Kind of, as I started seeing my potential and setting PRs late Summer I started pushing harder, but I am still enjoying running more then ever. -Start racing again and BQ: Yes, 3:31:44 at TCM -PRs at all distances, actually run some 5Ks/10Ks: Kind of, Marathon PR (above), Half PR (1:39:56) and 10 Mile PR (1:10:36 ). I didn't run a 10K and only ran 1 5K and this was the day after a 17 mile long run. -Continue with weights 2-3x week and XT 2x week as I get back to running: Another kind of here, I've been very good about strength training and even started ...

What a great toy!  11 months already, guess it's time to start planning the 1st birthday party. A lot has changed over the past month. A few weeks ago Ophelia started walking and is now more mobile then ever! She also has 4 more teeth, that was not a fun teething experience for any of us. We've been signing since very early and she has recognized some signs, but really only used "milk". Now she signs "eat", "more", "dog", "cat", "change", "sleep", "all done" and "bath". I am a huge fan of baby signing it is making communicating so much easier instead of trying to figure out what she is trying to say. I am really starting to love this age, just watching her play and discover new things is so great. Over the past few weeks she has been a great sleeper and even manages to get herself to sleep. The naps have even improved, I even managed 10 miles on the treadmill this morning during her na...

The hat I took from my cousin Not that I had any doubts but my child is spoiled! Our house is full of toys and her wardrobe keeps growing. I wasn't sure how Ophelia would feel about opening presents but the empty boxes/bags and ripping the paper and handing little pieces to mom and dad was much more exciting then finding out what was inside. We continued my family's tradition of non-traditional holidays with a great menu lacking all the typical foods (all gluten free with minimal changes): Lentil tacos Spanish rice Pumpkin cheesecake  (with a few adjustments) and all the cookies I baked last week And of course wine The food/cooking theme continued in gifts: we received a crockpot, espresso maker, beer and wine and gave my parents an ice cream maker. In all the excitement of the day Ophelia skipped her nap and still managed to stay happy. She had a blast playing with her older cousin and showing off her new found skill of walking and asking everyone for food. 4 Ge...

With all the baking (and eating) I've done over the past week I need a way to burn all the calories. Since starting on a gluten free diet the beginning of the month I've gone a little crazy searching for recipes and have tried many of them. Some successful and others not so much. I had to add the pictures since I often choose recipes based on look, sorry mine aren't so pretty. My favorite: Gluten Free Peanut Butter Cookies Ingredients: 1 large egg 3/4 cup brown sugar 1 teaspoon baking soda 1 cup peanut butter (I used half creamy and half crunchy) 1 teaspoon gluten-free vanilla extract 1/2 cup peanuts Directions: Preheat oven to 350°F and line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Beat together egg, sugar, baking soda and vanilla in a standing mixer with the paddle attachment or with a hand-held mixer. Beat in the peanut butter. Stir in peanuts. Drop dough by teaspoonfuls onto prepared baking sheet, pressing lightly with the back of a fork. Bake for 10 minutes, unti...

We were a little behind and finally got holiday photos taken on Sunday and sent Christmas cards today, better then the ones I never sent last year! Finally a family photo She sat still long enough just to get this pose Merry Christmas

Last year's trip to RnR Vegas resulted in an overnight delay in LA and cold, rainy weather, so I was hoping for a smooth trip this year. That wasn't the case! Starting Friday afternoon we got hit by a big snowstorm resulting in about 8" and leaving nasty roads. By the time we de-iced twice and finally took off we were over 3 hours behind schedule meaning that once we got to the hotel in Vegas we'd been awake for 24 hours, not fun! The rest of the trip ended up smooth and with wonderful running weather. Saturday we took full advantage of the great Indian buffet that we'd found last year and then met some friends for drinks. That evening was the group pasta party with wonderful gluten free food, they even had angel food cake. Luckily for me I wasn't running for time since I started Sunday morning with a soy latte, banana, yogurt and GF granola, very different from my typical pre-race food. Race day was perfect, started in the 40s with highs of the low 60s and su...

Trying to decide if I can classify myself as the noncompliant patient or if I am just failing at my diet. I'm not one to complain, but I've had enough so here goes... As I have mentioned over the past few months, I've been having a lot of GI issues that continue to get worse and no one knows why. These have actually been going on for years but to a much lesser extent and have gotten worse especially over the past couple months. A few years ago I had the first doctor suggest I had celiac, instead my blood work showed hypothyroid, then again last year my endocrinologist thought I had both celiac and hypothyroid so I attempted a gluten free diet for a few months, but the pregnancy cravings got the best of me I gave in to "real" food again. Fast forward to this Spring when the abdominal pain, cramping, nausea, bloating, etc returned. Over the Summer and into the Fall it has gotten worse and now add to that extreme physical fatigue and weakness combined with contin...