2011 Recap and looking forward

What a year: some good, some bad. Overall ran 3 marathons including a PR and a total of 2341 miles

• Great vacations to Mexico, Boston, Wine Country and a girls' weekend in college friends
• Running stronger and injury free
• Loving my fun and spunky almost 2 year old, what a joy in my life
• Made an important decision on school, what a stress lifted
• Finally figured out my GI issues and wow I feel great most days!
• Took a new postion as run coordinator at a local gym meaning my membership is now free
• A nasty fall on the ice resulting in a broken arm, luckily this was my only running injury
• A rough fall filled with illness and the deaths of my grandmother and Matt's aunt within 24 hours, the beginning of December was rough

2011 Goals-Continue to run injury free Yes, all except the fall last winter resulting in a broken arm
-Keep up with the strength training 2-3x week and XT 2x week, maybe even add in some yoga Working with trainer and doing strength 2-3x week, XT has been hit or miss, but much better at least 1x week biking
-More PRs and run 5Ks/10Ks and PR: I would love sub 3:30 marathon, 1:35 half, sub1:10 10 Mile, 42:00 10K, and sub 20:00 5K Marathon 3:30:32 (so close), Half 1:34:59, Only ran 1 10 mile (while sick) and a couple fun 5Ks
-Be a better mom and wife I think I'm doing better. Really trying to not get frustrated with O and understand the why of her behavior that is typical toddler.
-Decide on my thesis topic by Spring and have a plan for the remainder of my school Project on hold until fall '12 or '13
-Run an ultra (maybe) Nope
-More trail running and races Only ran 1 agian, but had a blast
-Start biking to work once the weather is nicer Nope
-Continue with weekly menu plannning and gluten free eating by adding more foods No longer GF completely now that I know the true issues, but aiming to eat healthy and avoid my trigger foods

2012 Goals
-sub 3:30 marathon (would love sub 3:20) PRs at other distances
-Add in yoga or pilates 1-2x week
-Do an tri again, meaning I need to start swimming
-Strength training 2-3x week and XT 2x week
-Run a 50K
-Graduate!! and pass boards
-Decide on the plan for my project (either start again in fall or wait another year)
-Spend more time with friends, make a point to see people monthly
-Bike to work in better weather
-Plan menus each week with more diversity and develop more recipes

Happy New Years, hope everyone has a safe night and a great 2012!

Thank you mother nature

Here we go again, yesterday marked the beginning of Boston Marathon training, so 16 weeks and 100s (maybe 1000s) of miles until the big day. This year I decided to try something new and actually train with a coach again. About a month ago I started a new part-time job as running coordinator for a local gym which enabled me to get connected with a coach and group to train with. He has an extensive running history and impressive resume and best of all I love his training philosophy of flexibility and quality over quantity.

The first training run was hills, my favorite, ugh! I don't know why I back away from hills lately since I feel so much stronger afterwards. Suck it up and think of the results! What better motivation to get out there then record high temps of 52F and sun yesterday for the run. I can honestly say that this is the first time I have ever run in less then a winter running jacket and tights in December. I am loving this weather, thank you mother nature. This warmth and snow free paths is wonderful. Today I resisted the urge to run and followed the schedule calling for cross training instead. This morning I got in 40 minutes on the elliptical and did strength/core work. I will follow the schedule and not overtrain...No Injuries!

Now that training is back so is better eating and meal planning. Looks like the blog focus will return to running and food for now. A few weeks ago in attempts to use some leftovers I decided to make this macaroni and cheese and think it will be back on the plan for next week.

Chipotle Mac n Cheese with black beans
1 small onion chopped
2 cloves garlic
1 or 2 chipotle peppers in adobo sauce
1 cup corn
1 15oz can black beans rinsed and drained
1 8oz block cream cheese (light is okay)
2 cups skim milk or nondairy milk
2 Tbsp corn starch
3-4 cups cheese (I used cheddar and muenster)
1 16oz package corn pasta cooked al dente
1 cup bread crumbs (I used corn)

Saute onion, garlic until soft, add pepper and adobo sauce. Put mx in food processor and chop, add about 1 oz cream cheese and 1/4 cup milk and puree. In large bowl mix all ingredients except bread crumbs. Pour into 9x13 pan coated with cooking spray, top with bread crumbs. Cook 35-40 min 325F

Merry Christmas

What a difference a year makes! As an adult you kind of lose the excitement of Christmas but with a toddler in the house that has returned. Actually had a tree (with lights) and watched some Christmas shows on TV this year, I can't wait to see how the exictement continues to grow.

We started the day with a 5K in atypical December weather. Snowfree ground and temperatures in the mid 30s. I finished in 23:20 (3rd woman overall).

Attempting to be festive with the Santa hats and our little reindeer. Gusty wind makes running in a Santa hat difficult.

My parents forgot my mittens, luckily grandma had an extra pair. Only this girl chooses a banana over the table of cookies.

A simple explanation

I've always said that as much as I enjoy my days home I could never be a stay at home mom and last week I was ready to find a full-time job since my typically happy child was fussing and crying for no reason. One minute she'd be happy and playing and like a switch filled she'd start crying and nothing would fix it until the switch was flipped again and she was once again happy. This has continued now multiple times a day for up to 1 hour at a time. Early this week she was complaining of tummy pain during these fits but had no other symptoms. The turning point came yesterday when she refused to jump on the trampoline at gymnastics. This meant a call to the clinic which was completely pointless. One of my biggest pet peeves is talking to clinic nurses who are clueless. Her answer to everything was juice for constipation which was not in any way a problem! This after she reassured me that it was not appendicitis, thanks I've seen enough of that in my career to know the signs. I requested a call from an actual MD or NP which never happened, just another nurse calling to say she needed to be seen.

We spent the morning in the clinic, just how I wanted to spend my day off work. We focused on any possible GI, intestinal, malabsorption diagnosis and went as far as attempting a urine sample from a 22 month old, not surprising that was a failure. Since this didn't work we reached and decided a strep test was simple, quick and would rule out another possible cause since she did have a low grade fever. Shocking to us both that was the answer. I've seen some weird strep presentations, but never intermittent crying and lower abdominal pain. Now that I think about it all fits, she's been fussy, sleeping more, drinking a lot, drooling and rubbing her mouth. A simple explanation with a simple fix. And I might even have an explanation for why I am still sick after 6 weeks. Probably time to take some antibiotics myself and hope for the best, time to stock up on probiotics and yogurt!

I want my house healthy and this happy girl back quickly!