Outside with Kids

I think we’re in the better-than-average realm of outdoor play, but I know we could be better. Hardly a day goes by (even a rainy one) without us finding a window for playing at the park, walking the dog, or riding bikes.

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Rainy hike in Smuggler's Cove on the Oregon Coast

Go Mamas Go...

My Mostly Mommyhood collaborator has written a running post right over here... on our new Mostly Mommyhood site.

Weight a Minute... Why isn't this working?

While I was visiting my doctor about my naughty Achilles tendon, I took the opportunity to ask her if she had any ideas for me for losing weight. I was so successful losing all the baby weight before Anna was a year old, but it's been a roller coaster of up and down since I had Eric. Exercise and watching my eating have worked in the past, but even with running several times a week and not being too stupid about my intake, I can't seem to lose.

Frustrating. I don't even want to go to parties, because all my cute party dresses are about 20 lbs too tight. {Not go to parties? Who is this person, and what have you done with Krista?}

My doctor is awesome, and she had some valuable insight for me. So I thought I'd share it...
1. Write down everything you eat.
OK, I knew this from Weight Watchers, but I haven't been doing it. Her reasoning is this: There is a really big window of food intake to maintain weight. There is a very small window of food intake to lose weight. The difference between losing weight and maintaining weight can be as few as 300 calories. If I'm not tracking everything, I won't know that, and a couple snacks or an extra glass of wine might be holding me back. {If only it were only one extra glass of wine!}

2. Our bodies will tell us we're hungry for the heaviest we've been in the last 2 years. TWO YEARS. So even when I've lost weight, my body tells me I'm hungrier than I should be. I have to maintain my real weight for TWO YEARS—and be hungry some of the time—in order to convince my brain of my new, lower weight. {And by "new," I mean back to pre-baby!}

3. Running long distances may be thwarting my weight loss.
WHAT? That's so counter-intuitive.
But yes, our bodies learn quickly how to conserve energy. She suggested I add some sprints into my training runs to shake things up. That makes sense!

So what will I do with this information?
Well, I guess it's back to Weight Watchers.
And I need to adjust my thinking that it's just going to be ok to be a little bit hungry for a few years. I know having snacks like raw veggies and fruit around will help, I just need to take the time to prepare for each day so I'm ready. I'm anxious to try the speed training as soon as my dang Achilles heals!

What do you think? Good information?
Have you been on a weight loss journey yourself? If so, what works when you're successful?

I Found My Achilles Heel. Literally.

I gave myself acute Achilles tendonitis because I didn’t know when to quit. A sports massage therapist said, “What have we learned here?”

“That I have bad judgment?”

He was kind enough to say, “No, we’ve learned that your body is trying to tell you to slow down a bit, and you are learning how to listen.”

My body has always been here for me, and I’ve been grateful. I’m strong. I have a high pain threshold. Ask my dad. The day after he witnessed me give birth to my firstborn with no drugs, the nurse asked me what my pain level was. I said 4. Dad said, “Yes, but her 4 is a 10 for most people!” I’m proud of that.

I knew I needed to slow down when my Achilles felt like it was on fire. I rested and iced it for 4 days, then set off for a long run ~ 9 miles. I told myself repeatedly, “If it starts to hurt, I can turn back.” But I’m so freaking stubborn. It started hurting at mile three. I ran another three miles. Finally, at mile six, I couldn’t go any more and walked the rest of the way back. But it was too late. I should have turned back at mile three, but my stubbornness wouldn’t let me. I thought I could push through it.

Argh.  No amount of icing and resting worked this time. People saw me limping and told me horror stories of rupturing their tendons, or straining them so badly that they were in casts for weeks. It got so I was afraid of going up stairs for fear of rupturing my tendon.

I was really distressed that I had let my desire to finish a 9-mile run possibly put me out of commission for running the half marathon with Dayl. But even more than that, I started realizing that my body is getting older and I need to take better care of it. There are consequences to pushing myself too hard.

What if I hurt myself permanently and couldn’t every run seriously again? OK, there may have been a little melodrama going on in my head as I lay around not running.

I finally saw my doctor today and she reassured me that it’s “just” tendonitis, as opposed to a more chronic condition like tearing. However… I have to take it easy. Massage (not so bad), an ankle brace (ick), a lot of stretching and then… when I’m pain-free I can slowly start running again.

I really hope I can manage this so I can run the Hippie Chick. But at least if I’m not ready for that, I know can do the next one. My body is here for me, I just need to take a little more care with it.

Thoughts on Running

I became a runner in 2003, though I didn't actually start running until 2004. Brian and I were driving over Mt. Hood in late August, heading off on another camping trip with the dog, when we saw all these crazy people running down the mountain.
Hood To Coast.
Brian completely echoed my thoughts when he said, "I'd like to do that someday."
So I decided then and there that we would run Hood to Coast. And we did! I formed a team of mostly zoo people. Our team was called, "Not Cheetahs." Tagline: "Cheetahs are the fastest animals on land. We are Not Cheetahs." Clever, eh? Our main goal was to finish. Minor secondary goal: don't finish last. But really – if we finished last – we weren't going to beat ourselves up about it. I started training for the event in 2004, and realized I LOVE RUNNING. Now, before this experience, I would have placed myself firmly in the non-runner camp. Not only did I not run, but I really had no interest in running. But the thought of completing this tremendous ordeal of running this giant relay turned me in to a runner. I guess at that point I should have realized a bit of my competitive nature.
Anyway, we completed Hood to Coast and had a BLAST.  Fast forward 6 months, and I was completing the Shamrock Run – and drinking copious amounts of beer afterwards – not realizing I was pregnant with Anna. Wondering why I was so so very tired...
Fast forward one year after that... Mother's Day, 2006. Five months after having Anna, I ran the Hippie Chick. Such a feeling of empowerment and control! I think it was then that I realized that running is something I really enjoy. Running through the trees at Champoeg Park with perfect music playing on my iPod... I have lingering happiness, even 5 years later.

SO... what is that I like about running?
Here's what makes it more pleasant for me:

~Start slowly • You can't pick up and run a long distance without building up to it. Run short distances or 20 minutes, and slowly –week by week– build up to longer distances.

~Music! • It's amazing to me how much more pleasant a run is when I have background music. I like to have a combination of superfastgetgoingrunfaster songs and  j u s t r e l a x  songs. I find it helps regulate my speed a bit.
FASTSONGRUNRUNRUN!  s l o w s o n g t a k e i t e a s y.
I particularly like sing-along-songs because I imagine I look and sound pretty silly running down the street belting out, "Can't hold us down!*" at the top of my lungs. For some reason, several songs from the James Laid album really get me going.
One caution: never have your headphones so loud that you can't hear cars or other signals of danger around you.

~Friends • I so value my early morning runs with a couple of neighborhood mamas. As a working mama (out of the house that is... all mamas are working mamas!), I have a tremendous amount of guilt about spending any additional time away from the family. So I'm so grateful for the 5:30 a.m. runs with my girlfriends. My family is still asleep, and not only am I getting valuable exercise time, but the chatting, catching up and parenting/marriage advice ("Peanut-shelling time" as my friend Annie's grandma called it) that we share have become indispensable to my sanity! Likewise, I'm training virtually with my BFF Dayl. We live more than an hour away from each other, but we keep track of each other and periodically run our long distances together. Our plan is to run the Hippie Chick Half Marathon together on Mother's Day, and I'm so looking forward to having that quality time with her. When we run together, the miles really do fly by as we talk about everything and nothing under the sun. That's a good friend.

~Nutrition • I make sure to get up a solid 45 minutes before my runs. I typically drink a cup of coffee and a protein shake mixed with berries or EmergenC. I like the Aria brand protein powder from Trader Joe's. Most mornings, I simply mix it with 16 oz of water and a packet of EmergenC. If I'm motivated enough, I'll blend all that with a handful of berries.  Water is so important THE DAY BEFORE. Hydration doesn't begin right before a run, it's important to be drinking plenty of water all the time.
I can't believe I got to 40 before learning this, but the recovery meal is crucial! Apparently, eating some lean protein and some carbs within 30 minutes after your workout helps build muscle and mitigates some of the build-up of lactic acid (which causes soreness). I've been doing this for a couple months now, and I've noticed a HUGE difference! Why didn't I know about this before? I don't know, but I'm telling as many people as possible!

~Mapmyrun.com • If you really want to know how far you're running (I DO!), visit this site. You can find routes that other people have mapped out near you, or create your own maps. I had no idea that the neighborhood mamas and I were running 3.5 miles 2x a week until I mapped it out. Honestly, I thought it was about 2 miles each time. That's probably because we were talking the whole time, so the miles flew by!

I'm temporarily out of commission until my Achilles tendon heals (please, take it easy so you don't have this problem). I can't run this week, but writing this makes me feel better and hopefully I'll be back at it by next week!


*Christina Aquilera, btw

Well heeled = well, healed!

OK, I think this is a stretch, but I'm willing to try it. I seem to have inflamed my Achilles tendon during one of my training runs last week. I rested it and iced it most of the week, but I probably shouldn't have run 9 miles today. But I did. So now it's more ice and more rest, of course, but I thought I should do a little more research on how to properly care for this and make sure I don't put myself out of commission long term!
I found several sources of information, mostly saying that this is a common condition of "middle-aged recreational runners." Great. Now I'm a middle-aged recreational runner??

Everyone suggests ice and rest. But here's something extra useful I found on About.com:

"A heel wedge can be inserted into the shoe to minimize the stress on the Achilles tendon. By lifting up the heel of the foot, even by a small amount, a significant amount of force is decreased on the Achilles tendon."

A wedge heel, you say? I can totally get down with that!
I'm all over this... DSW is sending me a gift card to replace the shoes that Jack ate.
Boo, Jack! Yay, DSW!
Since I'll be heading there anyway, and wedges are practically medically prescribed, I thought I'd search out a few more options.

I love the flirty bow on these:  

Miss America Whitney Wedge at DSW

 I'm a sucker for white linen, and I think these would be adorable with a white sundress. 
Or shorts. 
Or anything.

These next shoes are fairly boring in comparison, but cuter than flip flops ~ and I think they would be perfect for our weekly walks to the farmer's market:

Aerosoles Guava Plush Wedge at DSW

Sensible, no? Also... who wouldn't love a shoe with "Plush" in the name? Sounds so comfy and therapeutic!


Finally, I had to include these because they're so very adorable, and would be perfect with the bold colors and 70s vibe going on in fashion right now:

Impo Tipper Espadrille Wedge at DSW

I do feel the need to point out that I don't think these wrappy strappy espadrilles would look good on me. I have fairly large calves— I'm not complaining, they're fairly shapely— but I think my legs look better if you can see my ankles. 


What do you think? Am I on the right track to heal my heels? 
:)

Trillium Festival

I did not draw this, BTW.

I've always had a special place in my heart for trilliums. I remember spending what seemed like hours drawing them when I was a kid. I'm not sure if it was the rarity of them or the perfect symetry, but I just love them. My notebooks from 6th grade Outdoor School were littered with trillium sketches. Perhaps part of the allure is that they're found out in the woods... a place I like to be!

Last year was our first to the Trillium Festival at Tryon Creek State Park. We loved it so much, we joined Friends of Tryon Creek and bought several trilliums and other native plants. Here's one of our little trillium from last year, signaling that it's time to get back out in the woods:

Trillium with some columbine and an industrial-ish fairy house built by one of the neighbors.

Today the kids and I met my parents out at Tryon Creek State Park to enjoy the Trillium Festival again.
Our adventure took us on an hour and a half-long hike through the park, on the look out for trillium, wood violets, licorice ferns, Oregon grape, and salmon berries.

We found the perfect Pixie Hollow!

Today pushed all my happy buttons: fun with the kids, exercise, nature, my parents, education... it's all there. Plus, I stopped by the native plant sale and came away with these beauties:

so pretty, right?

I hope you can get out and enjoy some nature soon, too!

Run baby run

I'm running a half marathon on Mother's Day. It will be my first b i g run since Hood To Coast in 2004. I did run a quarter marathon on Mother's Day in 2006, five months after Anna was born. But that's pretty much it for b i g runs. I've been really happy to run 3ish miles several times a week with some hot mamas in the neighborhood, but we really haven't been running together much for a month or so.

so anyway... I'm nervous about today.

According to our training schedule, I should have run about 10 miles, broken out into three runs throughout the week. I ran three miles. One time. That's it.
Today we run eight. 8 miles. 8 miles when I haven't been keeping up on my training for two weeks.
I know I'll be fine if I warm up sufficiently and take it slow. I know I can get through it – that's not the issue. I don't want to cause an injury that I have to live with the rest of my life! Ok, now I'm being dramatic.

After my three miler earlier this week, Girlchild says, "Mama, why is exercise only for grown-ups?"
«cue sound of tires screeching to a halt»
Obviously, I need to do more to incorporate "exercise" into our daily lives.

Sure, they get a lot through their regular activities. Just yesterday, Brian had them playing at the park —running, climbing, jumping— for 2.5 hours. But I think there's something more important than just doing the activity. If my kids are to grow up fit and strong with a commitment to healthy living, then they need to realize that exercise is important and know that it's just something you HAVE TO DO every day.

Like brushing their teeth and reading books. That doesn't mean it can't be fun. But we need to call it exercise, so it becomes habitual and normal. Wouldn't that be so much easier than trying insert "exercise" when they start going to the (oft-dreaded) PE classes in school? I'm heading over to Disney's Magic of Healthy Living site to see what they say about it. Disney has committed to providing families with healthy living resources, which we learned about at the Disney Social Media Moms Celebration.*

I'd be interested in knowing how other parents handle this, though. Do you set aside "exercise" time, or sneak it in with everyday activities?


*I attended the 2011 Disney Social Media Moms Celebration at Walt Disney World. Although we paid for our own trip to Disney World, the conference fee included 3 nights at the Grand Floridian, the conference and meals for me, several amazing meals for our entire family, park hopper passes for each of us, and some pretty incredible swag items to take home. Disney did not ask me to write about this event, and all opinions are my own.

I'm going to the gym, dangitanyway

I easily let myself be dissuaded from the strength training class at the gym today.
I was awake, so that wasn't a big deal. Awake and dressed, even.
As I was walking out the door, I realized I didn't have any car keys. They were both in Brian's pockets, apparently. So I grabbed the spare key and started the car, but look! The window is all frozen over!
I searched around for a window scraper and couldn't find one in the car anywhere. I know there is one in the Jetta, but of course I didn't have the key.
So I gave up.
I stomped back up to the house, half annoyed and half kind of grateful that I had an excuse not to go workout.
But guess what?
I was locked out of the house.
The spare key doesn't have a house key on it, and I had neglected to grab the house key.
dangit.
So I had to make Brian come down and let me in.
Now, I'm sure you're realizing that if Brian is awake, I can get the Jetta key from him and go to the gym, right?
Wrong. I was too annoyed.
But wait... Twitter to the rescue!
I had posted at 5:15 a.m. that I wasn't sure if I should go to the class or not.
While I was sitting here drinking my coffee and NOT going to the gym (still dressed, BTW), I got this tweet:

I felt kind of guilty for reading blogs and drinking coffee, and started to think I should just up and go to the gym.
Then a few minutes later, I got this one:

OK, OK! I'm going! I missed the class, but I know what to do.
THIS, people, is what Mamavation is all about.
Thank you, @fitcheerldr and @PamelaMKramer ~
I am on my way to the gym!

Wordless Wednesday • New family activity

We went out for a walk-about specifically to look at all of our neighbors' holiday lights. The kids couldn't have been more excited about each house. So fun and positive, plus it helped wear them out after dinner and before bed. I'm tempted to add hot chocolate to the next walk-about, but that might not have the same calming effect.

OK, that's enough words for Wordless Wednesday...

Cheers!