Go Away Insomnia

After listening to Aria cry for 20 minutes before falling back asleep, I find myself very awake. I want to be sleeping but I'm sure if I go to bed I will just day (or is it night in this case o_O) dream about running or cutting my hair or packing for Disneyland or any of the other numerous things I have going on right now.

So I figured I could think about them in a more concrete way by writing them down and getting them out of my head. (If only it actually worked like that...)


As far as running goes, I cannot stop thinking about running a half marathon. And taking a vacation in Prescott with Brian and Aria while I do it. I perused Hal Higdon's Novice Half Marathon Training Guide today (and by perused I mean obsessively read and absorbed each and every word.) And it got me ridiculously excited to accomplish this. I mean, seeing as how I ran nearly 8.5 miles on Monday and the longest run in this training is 10 miles and I have seven weeks to do it in, I should be totally golden!

My knee has been slightly bothered after that 8 miler but in all honesty I had no business running 8 miles. I have NOT been training my body to go that far. So for next week my long run will be six miles and I will do 8 again in a few weeks.


Tomorrow(Friday) I plan on doing the 30 day shred while Aria naps and jogging 4 miles with her later in the afternoon. I need to keep my legs and knees strong and I know strength training does that.

Okay. Better get to bed...Someone slip me an Ambien.

Lots to Do Today

Okay. 1 week left until we (Mary, Chuck, Sarah, and Rita) leave for Anaheim. I have a lot to do this week and even just today to be prepared for the trip.

Today, I need/want to

1. Jog at least 3 miles (it is rainy and cold, which as an Arizonan I am so not used to but I have tights and pants and long sleeve shirts.)
2. Grocery shop for the week
3. Pull the money for my trip and bring it to Sarah's
4. Buy hair dye and other toiletries I need for Dland
5. Find and purchase one of those gates that people use to keep babies in one room.
6. Read for microbio
7. Cook dinner

Oy. Okay.

Before we can jog I need to clean the jogging stroller. We took Autumn and Aria to the Renaissance Festival yesterday and it POURED and the strollers are now wet and very, very muddy. To get this all done, I need to start now. So, peace.

5.4/45

I convinced myself a long time ago that treadmill running was superior in almost every way to running outside. When I first started running in winter of '06, it was on the treadmill in my apartment gym. The gym was small and neglected and I did not have to worry about people seeing and being offended by the fat girl trying to run.

Well even after I lost weight and continued to run, I still kept to treadmills. In the fall of '07 I was running 5 miles M-F on the treadmills at the ASU gym. I wasn't embarrassed to be seen running but I just felt so comfortable on the treadmill and I liked how a treadmill makes you feel in control. In reality, the treadmill controls you! Taunting you with the display of time and distance. Once you have selected a speed, that is the speed you run. Unless you feel like
constantly toying with the controls.

Running outside, as soon as I want to be running faster, I am. Slower? Done instantly. I don't have to play mind games to make the time go by faster. Being a mama kind of forced me to discover how awesome it is to run outside.

When Aria was first born I could not take her in the jogger. Well, I actually didn't even have one until she was 5 months old... But I couldn't have even if had one. So I tried to run on the treadmill while she napped and it sort of worked. But her napping was erratic and I could not count on getting a run in on any given day.

Now that she can fit in the jogger, running is easy and so enjoyable! No mind games needed to get through the runs.

Anyway. We ran 5.39 miles yesterday and the time passed quickly. No more long runs for the week. Just 3 milers. I told Brian I wasn't going to run today but now I really feel like it... Hmmm.

We will see how I feel when I get home from school and Kickboxing. I'm starting to get addicted to running how I used to be. It is awesome.


We had a slumber party at Aria's house yesterday



Nothing makes your head look huge like putting it next to a baby head... :-D

Curried Lentils

So for my lentil concoction, I used 4 cups of veggie stock, 1 can of coconut milk, and 1 cup of water as base. I mixed in some green curry paste, 1/2 cup of chopped onion, loads of garlic, 1 sweet potato, some Thai chili sauce, 1 stick of cinnamon, 1 cup of lentils and 1/2 cup of wild rice. As I'm sure you noticed, this is a very exact and scientific type of recipe... (I love the slow cooker)

I'm really hoping that it tastes okay. Lentil stews always fill me up and keep me full for a long time.

I did the Shred about an hour ago and am going to take a jog in about an hour and I think curried lentils sound like amazing post-run grub.

Edited to add:

The lentils are sooo delicious! And since I figure I burned at least 800 Calories on top of breastmilk production calories, I can enjoy it completely guilt free! I'll probably imbibe some delicious fermented grapes with dinner, too!

Pre-baby Body

I really feel like my body looks greater than or equal to what it did pre-pregnancy.

I have a tummy that perhaps sags a bit more than the average Jane but it was like that before I had baby. I'm feeling very body positive right now and want to write about it before I change my mind.

My body does whatever (within reason) I ask it to. It loves me and it loves Aria and Brian and with practice there is not much it cannot do. I don't look like a porn star but why the hell would I want to? I really, really need to get over my jealousy of porn. I am awesome in the sack. :-P

So, maybe cat pose is not the most flattering for my belly but it looks pretty hot during corpse pose. Not that I think corpses are hot... Okay, moving on...


On Saturday, Brian took Aria for a car ride so Mama could work-out. Did level 2 of the 30 Day Shred. I wonder if maybe one day I will move on to level 3... The magic 8 ball says, "doubtful".


When they got home we fixed some sandwiches for lunch and after some digestion Aria and I went for a 3 miler. Clouds completely covered the sky and the air was slightly chilly and wet. Not a typical Arizona scene. Totally beautiful, though. The colors of all the desert flora really shine when they don't have to compete so much with the sun. The desert is not as tan and gray as some might think.


Aaaaaaaanyway, while we were on our run Brian took an online parenting class that is one of the last things he needs to do before his divorce is finalized. Thank God. I cannot wait to say "ex-wife" for real.

Okay. Going to run 3 miles with Zoot at some point today and maybe the 30 day shred if Aria naps.

For now I'm going to concoct some sort of lentil stew in the slow cooker. I have lentils out the A** and I love them just don't have any awesome lentil recipes.

I would post a picture of Aria here but I cannot find the memory card for my camera... Uh-oh...