Project 333

33 pieces of clothing and accessories...for three months?   No doubt it's true that the fewer items you have to clean, put away, manage and choose from will save time.  But can I downsize my closet to 33 items for the next three months?  I was initially intrigued by this idea, wanting to take the plunge, but also feared the challenge and procrastinated.  Infact, you could say that I'm procrastinating now, as I write this.

http://theproject333.com/getting-started/

For the past year I've had an intense desire to purge and decrease the unnecessary clutter.  As we get ready for the kitchen cabinets to be refaced, I'm hopeful that when I clear out all the cabinets and drawers, I will be successful in getting rid of the stuff we no longer need.  It's weighing me down!

Be gone clutter, I'm ready for simple!

Back at it

Cadel just turned 10 weeks old this past weekend, oh how time flies!  It's funny how I thought I was going to be back at training (cardio and weight lifting) a couple of weeks after giving birth...what was I thinking?  I am now getting back into it, though it's a bit more difficult than I anticipated.  It's incredibly tough for me to even jog for a mile without a walk break, but I know that it will get better with time.  I didn't realize just how much my pelvic bones had shifted, and how off-set they still seem to be, but running certainly does remind me of that fact.

The San Francisco marathon is just 88 days away, just a little over 12 weeks, and I've managed to get two 6.5 mile walk/jogs in, and will build off that.  This won't be a PR...no way...but it will allow me to get back into the swing of things and have some sense of "normalcy" and no doubt a sense of achievement.

It's all a balance. Due to breastfeeding, I'm up against the following:

1. Hormones are playing a part in my joint and ligaments and I have to be cautious to avoid injury  
2. I also need to be aware that too much exercise will effect my milk production
3. Too little exercise will make for a miserable marathon experience
4. Wearing double sports bras to properly "manage the girls"
5. Nurse/pump immediately before going out on a long run

I read an article in Runners World magazine this month about moms and running.  There was one mother (a serious competitor in her age group) who runs ultra distance marathons and manages to pump at aid stations and sometimes even nurses her baby right there next to the gatorade!  Yes, you read that right...are you freaking kidding me?  The thought did occur to me though that if the San Fran marathon takes me much longer than 4.5 hours, I'm going to be in a world of hurt, if you catch my drift.  By no means am I suggesting that I'll have my Medela pump on the ready at mile 20, but I'm sure I'll be feeling it by then.  Yikes!

Yesterday I started doing the math in my head..with only 12 weeks to train for this puppy, that means I need to bump my long run mileage up by about 1-2 miles every week.  In the past, that wasn't a problem, infact that was a common way for me to train during my last 5-10 marathons.  

I am also contending with an extra 10 pounds on my body in comparison to last year's Seattle marathon (when I was 5 weeks pregnant) so I'm hoping that the final 10 pounds will come off with this training (in addition to breastfeeding).  I'd also like to start back to some resistance training, and work on my abdominal muscles again.  One step at a time, I know...

With four more weeks of maternity leave, I feel the pressure to get a couple two-a-days in each week, to make use of this time "off" and kickstart my training.  Again, I know I can do it, it's just finding the balance and not overdoing it.  So, here goes.  Tick tock!

5.5 weeks

There\'s no better time than the present to just get back to blogging, especially at 2:30 am after just feeding the baby...I guess it gives true flavor to my post, as this is my new life. Time to update my profile and in addition to being a daughter, wife, Ironman, marathoner, jewelry artist...I am a mom. Say what?

I was putting off writing the first post as a mom because I had so many things I wanted to say, and in certain order, but as you see, procrastination has gotten me nowhere.

So I\'ll begin, now.

Still trying to keep up with my 30 Days of Lists and have failed miserably. I will keep at it, because I do believe there\'s value in journaling my new days as a mom, even if brief.

How\'s the training going? Well I\'ve managed to get out for some good 30 minute walks, but my running needs to kick in. I ran for 15 minutes one week ago...felt pretty decent, all things considered.

Baby boy is 5.5 weeks old. Sometimes I think I have it figured out, and then I realize I don\'t. Each day is new and different, but the same.

I need to get my training plan nailed out and commit! That\'s the goal for this week. Next weeks goal is to start working on daycare.

7 more days

It's hard to imagine, really, that we have 7 days (if all goes according to plan) of being D-I-N-Ks.  Granted, I don't know all the details for sure, but come Monday (ha, which happens to be our wedding song) I will know whether we're scheduling induction for February 19th.  And that being said, I'm assuming he won't show up before then...though I'd be secretly happy if he does.

I'm ready...we're ready...as we'll ever be.  There's a certain comfort in knowing that there's a finish line ahead...and ironically at that point, there's a whole new big start line of the ultimate endurance event - parenthood.

So maybe early March will be the start of my training to get back out there.  Oh, I'm sure those first few miles will be rough, but I'm looking forward to it!

A new year, and a BIG one at that!

It's hard to believe that my last post on this blog was back in April...9 months ago??? Really?  Well, ironically, that 9 months has been filled with so many events that it would take me days to write about.  Back then, my mind was on finishing my fifth half Ironman race and gearing up for my 15th marathon.

Little did I know that I was about one month away from some magnificent cell multiplication that would become a baby boy.  Say what?  Wait...what?

And three days after finding out I was about 5 weeks pregnant, I crossed the finish line of the Seattle Rock N Roll Marathon, one minute slower than my PR.  Two weeks after that, I ran a half marathon, and then threw in the towel shortly after, with the intention that I would get back to running after the baby arrived.  That's still the plan.

And so begins the next chapter of our lives, with baby in tow, and an attempt to continue doing all the things we love:
Marathons, ultras, and more triathlons (for me)
Creating jewelry, and growing SwirlyTwirlyGirl
Drinking wine...lots of it
Reading books
Maintaining the social life and friends that we so adore

Can it be done? Time will tell...and so will this blog.

With three weeks until my due date, I'm just trying to get things as situated as possible.  I kind of equate this upcoming experience to the time when I signed up for my first Ironman race.  It's going to be a challenge, I really don't know what I'm in for (honestly), there will be some grueling times in addition to some amazingly good times, but in the end, the payoff will be radtastic.