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A whole year

Tomorrow we're having Maggie's first birthday party! A week and half late, but she won't know. Unless this blog still exists ten years later and she comes back and reads this. Anyway, we did celebrate on her actual birthday and had presents and cake and stuff. Well, at least we tried to give her several presents but the first one she opened was Legos and then she got so absorbed in making lots of noise with them that she didn't want to open anything else. Also, I took the day off work on her birthday and spent the day with her, which was sooooo nice. We went for a walk to the park, then had lunch, then went to the toy store, then another nap, then played at home :)

Climbing up the slide

Mini pineapple upside down cake!

A big bag of presents!

So I went and got her Halloween costume last weekend - no fairies and princesses for her! At least until she grows up and insists on it herself. But I got her this awesome dragon costume with cool shiny wings and a spiky tail. Hehe. Sydney thinks people will tell me what a cute little boy I have, and she's probably right, but oh well.

Then again, I'm not even sure if she's going to be able to walk by Halloween to do some trick-or-treating. These days she cruises a lot, and she can stand up by herself for a few seconds at a time, but no walking on her own just yet. But really, she gets into enough trouble as it is with just the crawling. I literally just turn my head and she's somewhere else entirely from when I last looked, usually about to get to some dangerous item, such as bottles of cleaning supplies I've left on the floor. She's also unplugged the vacuum twice now while I was in the middle of using it. Grrr.

Anyway, will report back tomorrow after the birthday party. It will be at the park and we will have bbq and cake.

A forgotten post

that I never finished. It looks like I wrote "it's been a while" and then forgot about this blog for another month (it's now Sept. 30)

Well, it's been a while but Marlon is finally home and so we have gone back to being a dual-parent household, thank goodness. We considered having me go over there for part of the trip but I didn't want to be away from Maggie. And part of it is definitely not family vacation material, since he went to go stay at a small remote village for a week where apparently all the buildings are decrepit and the water and electricity are constantly being shut off. In fact I think I probably would have run away screaming in less than a day.

Anyway, Sydney started 3rd grade last week at her new school. She was super excited to get a locker, and to also carry around real school supplies such as a binder, folders, notebooks, etc rather than just the one folder that contained all her necessities for 2nd grade. She has this enormous binder with a zipper and a shoulder strap that you can literally your lunch bag in. I thought it was overkill (after all, thinking of the adult equivalent here, don't you want the smallest lightest laptop/tablet possible?) and the zipper was poorly constructed and really a pain to open and close but I couldn't kill her excitement.

Maggie is now getting into even more things, opening and closing cabinets, shutting the door to her room, pulling lots of tissues from the tissue box. She doesn't walk yet (just cruises) but her crawling is pretty fast these days. It seems to be the fastest when she sees me pull out a bag of Cheerios. She no longer eats everything I give her and has started spitting things out a lot. In fact, she even feeds herself food and then spits it out (for fun? because she can't remember if it is something she likes or not?).

need to take a deep breath

I am doing too much driving around in a) traffic and b) car with no AC lately. Michele is on vacation so the kids are in a backup daycare which is located in a place that is technically in between home and work, but a few miles of traffic-clogged streets from the freeway. The kind where there are many traffic lights that all seem to turn red when you get to them and then stay red for a very long time while you are all getting sweaty because the car has no AC. (I've been driving Marlon's car because it's in the back of our tandem driveway when I leave and I am too lazy to park it somewhere else then take my own car).

To top it all off, this morning after spending 30 min to get to the daycare I parked and then realized I had forgotten Maggie's stuff. So I drive home to get it then drive back to the daycare where I realize that her bottles had both leaked and spilled milk all over everything else in the bag. Luckily there was still enough food for her to eat though. I ended up arriving at work around 2 hours after I left the house. After I got there I must have looked very frazzled because several people looked at me oddly and then my manager asked me if I was okay. Actually first she asked me if I was getting sick (ok...this might have been because I was just picking at a zit located right my nose so it was kind of red there). Then when I asked her if I looked strange she told me that maybe I need to fix my hair (!) Hahaha. I don't always brush my hair but it must have looked even worse than usual.

Anyway, we had Indian the other night for a change (we have Chinese food about 75% of the time when we go out, usually at the same restaurant). Maggie was a happy baby and consumed a small bowl of her lentils and rice along with 1.5 peaches (her favorite food of the moment, along with plums).

Mags and Daddy!

now where did this come from

Maggie has started making this face all the time. I am not sure where she learned it but Marlon says it's something that I do.

Ignore the food on her tongue (it's tofu)

Also I just got her bows to put on her head because her hair is just not growing fast enough and so she still looks like a boy. Actually even with the bow she just looks like a boy with a bow. Sigh.

pity party

When I'm just going about my life I always think of things I want to write on here. But when I'm actually sitting here on the computer I can't remember any of them. So I will just ramble. I'm tired because last night was one of those nights where Maggie woke up at 3am and started crying. She does that sometimes and I still haven't figured out why. I had this theory it was caffeine getting in the milk from all the Diet Cokes I drink, but I didn't actually have any yesterday...so I don't know. To make matter worse I couldn't go back to sleep last afterwards and was awake until almost the morning. Doesn't help that it was a busy day at work today, too.

So after I get home tonight I was trying to make a soup for dinner. We had fish sticks the last 2 days so I wanted to cook something real today. So then I was had to figure out how to simultaneously cook dinner, feed Maggie, and give her a bath. About 5 minutes after she finished her bath she needed a diaper change again, so I put the changing pad on the floor and started to change her. But she really, really wanted to roll over and crawl off the changing pad, so I'm struggling with keeping her on there as she starts crying and yelling. She gets louder and louder while I'm trying to wipe all the poop off her butt so she doesn't get it all over the place every she manages to escape a little bit, and then the stupid timer in the kitchen decides to go off at the same time. Aaagggh. By the time I was done with the diaper change Maggie was completely pissed off and screaming. Then I go into the kitchen and turn off the timer and put Maggie down and check the chicken I was baking (to put in the soup) and then the chicken juices start spilling all over the place because there was a hole in the foil as Maggie starts crying AGAIN even louder from being put down. Aaaaaagh!

Anyway so now Maggie's in bed and so I'm here having wine and cheese. Ha.

we love kale

Pasta salad with tuscan kale, chicken, grape tomatoes, olives, and parmesan.

bad baby!

It seems that it is time to do some babyproofing in our house. In the last few days, Maggie has:

- pulled books and papers off Sydney's bookshelf and crumpled them up

- pulled a shopping bag full of stuff off a chair

- chewed up an ear plug (it was used, yuck)

- unplugged a hand-held massager while I was in the middle of using it

- pulled out a bottle from the wine rack (I caught her before she pulled it out all the way)

- tried to eat some soap while in her bath

She also seems very interested in electrical outlets, cords, chargers, and the like. Argh!

back to the routine

Even though I was only gone less than 2 weeks total I feel like I lost the entire last month at work, because I didn't take the two trips back-to-back, and also I would leave and come back midweek which is kind of disruptive to getting back into the swing of things. Anyway, so Phoenix was very hot, but not as bad as I was expecting. I just went about my day a little sweatier than I would normally be. Poor Maggie, on the other hand, would sweat through her shirt every time we had to go somewhere in the car because the car is so hot when you initially get in, and also the AC takes longer to kick in in the back seat. But it was great to see all the family, most of whom I haven't seen in years, and finally meet baby Sami...who is no longer a baby come to think of it. Sydney had (and is still having, since she doesn't come home until next week) a blast with her cousins, and indulging in large quantities of video games and ice cream which she isn't usually allowed at home.

Here are some pictures from the trip:

Goofing off

With Nana, while the big kids bounced

Rebel, your hair is so silky smooth!

At the Apple store

And with Cousin Malyk at the mall. Hehe.

sunny socal

We just came back from a week in LA visiting my mom and it was really hot over there! It's be a relief being back home in cooler weather, but next week we leave for a trip to Phoenix where it will be even hotter.

Sometimes I feel like I can't keep up with everything I want to write down about Maggie. To make it easy on myself since I missed so much time since the last time I posted I'm just going to make a list.

- First concert! We went to see the 4th of July Spectacular at the Hollywood Bowl. I spent the first half of the show feeding her and the second half walking her around in the stroller.


Mom and the kids

- First time in the pool! :) We got her a baby floaty with a little sunshade and she just loved it. She stayed in there with us for over an hour just kicking her little legs the whole time and didn't get fussy or bored. Also we got her a pink polka-dotted swimsuit with a tutu. Heehee.

- First time to the beach! She sat on the towel with me for a while and took a little nap, then Marlon took her to splash around in the water.

- She learned to crawl up stairs at my mom's house (we don't have any) and also get up into a standing position by herself.

- She no longer eats everything we feed her and is starting to be picky (bad baby!) Right now she doesn't like blueberries at all, even though she used to eat them. I think we gave her too many of them and she got tired of them. She won't even eat blueberry yogurt, but nonfat plain yogurt is okay. She also won't eat mangoes! But, apparently pureed bok choy is fine with her.


Yum...green glop

- She had her first fever (poor baby!) The thing is, she was acting fine even though she was blazing hot - 102.6 so I'm not sure what happened. We called the doctor's and gave her some baby Advil and she was fine the day after.

- She feeds herself food now - cheerios, blueberries (before she decided she didn't like them anymore), carrot and zucchini pieces. And she picks up her sippy cup on her own and drinks out of it when she is thirsty too.

- So far she hasn't been attached to any toy in particular but when she saw Cookie Monster it was love at first sight :)


With Cookie in the ghetto stroller that my mom's friend procured for us after we forgot ours (yes, we left in a rush)

Oh yeah, so moving onto a different topic, our rental car got broken into and Marlon's iphone was stolen. We had left the kids with my parents and gone for dinner out in West Hollywood at a nice restaurant. We discovered the damage after dinner and made a detour to the LAPD to file a police report. The officer there basically knew every option available on an iPhone as well as the replacement cost of each because they get stolen so often.

Me: Is the street we were parked on a common area to get your car broken into?
Officer: All of Los Angeles is a common area for cars to get broken into.
Marlon: You seem to know a lot about the iPhone.
Officer: Yeah...well, whenever Apple releases a new product or version, people will be lining up over there to buy it...and then they'll be lining up here to report it after getting jacked.


Sigh.

So I have basically given up on running for the forseeable future. I'm thinking about going back to the doctor because my foot is not getting better. I seem to have aggravated it on the trip by just being on my feet a lot more than I would normally - going to the mall, beach, museum, etc. Boooooo.

three quarters

Yesterday we went for Maggie's 9 month checkup and everything looks good, yay. This whole time we had been thinking she was a big baby but she is actually not! Here are her measurements:

height - 28" 67%
weight - 18.0 lbs 35%
head - can't remember but it was 87%

So actually her head is pretty big. She has really thinned out some though (her weight was at 75% or so at her last checkup), so from now on we will be giving her more food to fatten her up! Hehe :) Dr. Laura said she can pretty much have everything we eat now, as long as it's soft enough, except for eggs, honey, and milk. But she can have other dairy. She had some full-fat greek yogurt today which I tried and it was GOOD. Much better than the non-fat version we usually get...tastes almost like sour cream actually.

Also, her teeth are coming in! We were feeling along her bottom gums and there are some sharp things poking through there. I was surprised, because drooling and fussiness are supposed to be precursors to teeth coming in and I hadn't noticed a spike in either recently. She's definitely been drooling a lot for a while now.

So she keeps on getting more and more grabby. Yesterday at Trader Joe's she was sitting in the shopping cart and yanked down a sign from a display and started chewing on it. Also it seems like her old toys aren't as interesting to her as all these new things that she's started to notice around her. For example, at the dinner table, she'll go for the place mat, or cup, or napkin, or anything else but her little pink piggy toy which is also on the table. Go figure.

And, of course, I have to include some photos. Here's Marlon opening his Father's Day card with the girls:



And Maggie playing with a container of banana puffs :)




On the running front, still no running for me. This tendon is really taking it's time to heal...apparently it's a slow healer because it gets used just walking around so it doesn't get to rest much, but if you wear a walking boot then all the muscles around it will just atrophy and you'll end up with different problems. I've been doing some stationary biking and strength stuff at the gym in the meantime but nowhere near as much as I used to run - maybe about 30 min 3-4 times a week? Better than nothing though.

wriggly squirmy

I've realized recently that Maggie is really starting to be able to do stuff and I really need to start being more alert. For example, I normally try to make sure she doesn't grab the faucet handle when I'm giving her a bath (in the kitchen sink) so she doesn't turn the water to hot and burn herself, but today she managed to evade me and turn the water off twice. She also pulled out the tap to drink some water and spent half the bath trying to climb out of the tub, so of course there was water everywhere by the time we were done. She also can't stay still when getting her diaper changed anymore so I've had to use those straps that come with the changing pad finally and buckle her down so she doesn't roll off the changing table or make a big mess.

So even though she doesn't do a real crawl, she does get around. I realized this the other day when I left her on the floor in her room to go take a shower, thinking that this was still completely safe as she wouldn't go anywhere. But by the time I came back she was about 10 feet from where I left her, in front of the sliding closet mirror door, and on her way out the room. Speaking of which, every time she sees herself in the mirror she gets really excited and just has to go towards her reflection. Anyway, so it does seem that the combination of scooting, rotating, and rolling is more effective than I had given it credit for.

Also, she just wants to get her hands on everything these days. Here she is trying to get to the cell phone as I'm trying to take a video of her:



But it's not just fun things like balloons and cell phones and toys anymore these days. It's dirty napkins and slippers and metal forks and mugs full of liquids and all sorts of other inappropriate things. Today she made her way to a big metal weight (a taichi ball, similar to a bowling ball except that it weighs 40 lbs) that Marlon works out with and gave it a slobbery lick before I stopped her.

Well I'm still not running these days. I realized today that it's the middle of June now which means it's been 6 weeks since I've been able to run regularly, which makes me so mad at myself, because if I hadn't tried to jump back into it in so quickly in order to try to run that half marathon, I could be much further ahead by now. Argh. It's been about 1.5 weeks since my last run, and the improvement has just been very, very slow. But on the bright side I can now use the elliptical without any pain so that's a step. Also, I read a magazine on Crossfit Endurance the other day and thought that I would try out the toned-down beginner plan that was included with the article. The first workout was 3 sets of 5 pull-ups, 10 push-ups, and 20 sit-ups, which seemed easy enough as long as I did assisted pull-ups, since I can't even do one of those. So I tried it on Monday...and realized that I totally overestimated how many sit-ups I can actually do. In fact, I couldn't even make it through the second set! :/

excess

Hmm, there were actually many more strawberries and grapes an hour ago.

another one down the tubes

People continue to ask me if Maggie is a boy. Even if she is wearing a pink shirt, they always have to make sure: "It's a girl, right?" Well maybe I should put one of these flowers on her head all the time (and no, flowered shirts don't convince people that she is a girl either).



(Yes, that is a foam roller wearing a skirt and scarf in the background).

So we need to go for a 9 month appointment which I have yet to schedule, but I suspect she's going to grow out of her car seat pretty soon which has a limit of 22 lbs. or 29". I guess we could take a tape measure out and see how tall she is but lately it seems like her feet are starting to hang off the edge of the seat. Well, it's a good thing she doesn't sleep in this thing anymore:



Also, I'll admit that she does look like a boy in that outfit. Haha.

So, I didn't run the half marathon today. I was in a state of indecision all week as to whether to run it, switch to doing a 5k, or not run at all. Yesterday, my ankle was feeling sore so I had to admit to myself that racing 13 miles on it would probably be a pretty bad idea. I almost changed my mind this morning but Marlon made me stay home. Which was fortunate, because later on this morning I went out and ran 9 miles slow, during which both ankles were bothering me, and right now the left one is still pretty sore. So back to more cross training this week :(

champion spoon-thrower

During mealtime Maggie likes to grab the spoon from me and feed herself with it. Then, when she's done she throws the spoon on the floor. Today it looked like she takes aim when throwing her spoons. Notice the two spoons under the table:

3-day weekend

We didn't do anything exciting for the Memorial Day weekend but it was very nice to have the extra day to spend with Maggie, run errands and of course sleep. We watched a couple movies on Netflix (The Mechanic which was completely absurd, and Kick-Ass which was actually pretty good). I also watched a bunch of episodes of Grey's Anatomy - I think I'm somewhere at the end of season 2 now since I just started watching it this year. Marlon's not a fan though so I just watch it by myself, which is better than making him watch something he doesn't want to and being unable to listen to the dialogue over his commentary.

I also managed to not cook anything until today. We're having some chicken lentil curry for dinner (chicken, lentils, onion, garlic, carrots, curry, turmeric, and cumin) and Maggie's having lentil-brown rice-carrot slop for the week. She really likes it though :) Our fridge is completely full because I finally went to Costco and we also have a few months worth of toilet paper and paper towels. Whenever the toilet paper starts running low it makes me feel uneasy for some reason. It's as if we don't live less than a mile away from at least five different places we can buy toilet paper, half of which are open 24 hours.

So Maggie's been doing a lot of standing practice lately. She loves standing, particularly when she gets to do it in front of the mirror and scream at her own reflection. Actually these days she just babbles all day and every once in a while she'll emit a random scream. I have no idea why or what about but they seem to be just because she likes the sound of them.



Well I managed three runs this week and my ankle is probably about the same as it was a week ago. Okay maybe it's slightly worse because yesterday was 10 miles, probably not the brightest idea, but I wanted to see what would happen so I could decide if I should do the race this weekend. I think I would do it if I could come in within 5 minutes of my original goal and not have to take off more than a week afterwards. But I'm not really sure of either of those, so I'm having trouble deciding. I think I'll give it a few more days and see how it feels (as if anything miraculous or unexpected is going to happen in the next 3 days, but who knows).

This week's running:
Wed: 4 miles easy, no watch
Fri: 6 w/ 3 @ (6:55, 6:51, 7:06)
Sun: 10 @ 8:18

diagnosis

I was just looking through all my pictures of Maggie and she has just changed so much. Here she is at two weeks:



I think she actually had more hair then than she does now. She also made lots of funny faces. This one (at 3 weeks) always cracks me up:



I really miss when she was just a teeny tiny thing. Now she is just getting tall and even her tummy seems to be thinning out :(

I've been gradually giving her new foods to try - the latest ones have been baby yogurt (banana and vanilla) and lentils cooked with rice and sweet potato. So far the only thing she hasn't enjoyed is carrots and broccoli that I added too much garlic to. Oops. Dinnertime almost always ends up being a huge mess though because she insists on grabbing the spoon and feeding herself, as well as smearing the rest of her face and body with food before throwing it on the floor. Oh and she also eats Cheerios now! I like giving her Cheerios because they are mostly mess-free unless I step on one that has been dropped on the floor by accident.

Anyway, so I haven't run now in 2.5 weeks, or really more like sometime in April if you don't count the couple unsuccessful short test runs I did. My ankle has been improving but very slowly, and last week I did some biking and elliptical. Yesterday I finally got a MRI done and went to the doctor today for the results. It was good news - well, good compared to the alternatives - just tendonitis, and not tendonosis or another stress fracture. So now I have bilateral posterior tibial tendonitis. The MRI also showed an inflamed achilles tendon (which I've felt on and off for the last few months, but goes away when I'm good about stretching and massage) and some old ligament damage from all the times I've twisted my foot over the years.

So the doctor actually said I could run my half-marathon next week just based on the amount of damage in the MRI but for me to just go with what I can handle given my symptoms. Right now I think it's unlikely that I can do it because I walked a little the other day (to the library and back, about 1.5 miles) and I definitely felt a little more sore afterwards. Also I've lost so much time at this point that I wouldn't even be able to run it well. Of course, I don't want to lose yet another race fee...and if it seems like I'm going to risk making the tendon worse then it's totally not worth it. I'll probably just see how I feel next week and decide the day before.

little miss muffet

It's fun playing dress-up with Maggie. This bonnet, which was crocheted by Marlon's grandma once upon a time brings to mind nursery rhymes.




So today I went to the doctor and didn't get a diagnosis, because I need to have a MRI done, which won't be until next week. But here are the takeaways:
1. I could have any of the following: posterior tibial tendonitis or tendonosis, scar tissue around my posterior tibial tendon, separation of my accessory navicular bone from the navicular bone, or a medial malleolar stress fracture. But he thinks it's probably the tendon.
2. I have "unmanageable" feet which are hard to correct with orthotics and an "enormous" accessory navicular bone (as seen on x-ray). Unmanageable because they splay out instead of moving straight up and down. The accessory navicular bone is an extra bone that some people have, I already knew I had one in each foot but didn't know that they were that big.
3. I can cycle in the meantime, and use the elliptical trainer as long as it doesn't hurt.

sedentary

Well I haven't done any exercise all week, which makes me pretty grumpy. Actually I did have two short stints (20 min and 30 min) on the elliptical but I don't really count that. I didn't do any more because I wasn't sure if I should be even doing that. My left ankle still hurts despite the fact that I haven't gone running in over a week, and sometimes doesn't even feel any better than it did when I hurt it initially, so I'm pretty frustrated. I have an appointment with the doctor tomorrow so I'm hoping to find out what is wrong finally.

Unfortunately, being sedentary doesn't seem to decrease my appetite so I'm probably going to gain some weight. Doesn't help that my workplace is basically an all-you-can-eat buffet all day long. Incidentally, we also just went to a seafood buffet for lunch today. I got five plates of food but on the way home I realized I still wasn't full! Grrr. We had to leave because Maggie was getting upset because she was late for her nap.

But other than that normally she has been pretty happy. See?

She's also been trying to eat everything these days.

It's so fun to see her become interested in everything around her, but I guess it also means it's time to get some gates and/or a playpen and start watching her every second. We used to be able to just leave her sitting in her carseat at a restaurant without being strapped in but now when she gets mad she just tries to launch herself out and she seems pretty close to making it.

rowdiness

Happy Mother's Day! This is how part of the day was spent:



I also slept a lot, as usual, to catch up. Sadly, I did not run at all this weekend because something is wrong with my left ankle (the other one). I'm not really sure what is actually wrong with it but I do know that it's probably something I should take more seriously because taking a few days off hasn't alleviated the problem. I should probably pay the doctor a visit but who has time for that.

Anyway, we had some pancakes for breakfast, and I received an antique framed print of a pretty landscape from the family, a card from Sydney, a card from Marlon, and a card from Maggie with some crayon scribbles :) One of the scribbles was even in the shape of a heart which Marlon and Sydney swear she drew by herself...hmmm. Maggie's been continuing to say Mama a lot, but now I'm starting to think that she thinks it refers to my boobs rather than me, because that looks to be what she's going for whenever she says it. Or maybe we are one and the same to her. Hehe.

bedtime is fun

Ever since we got the new crib, Maggie seems to like going to bed.


There are all these fun things to look at! But she does go to sleep quite quickly, probably because she is tired out from the day. Yes, we are very lucky (for now, at least). She generally goes to bed at 7pm but sometimes we are bad parents and keep her up because we want to go out to dinner.

So my other ankle is now acting up, so now I have two sore ankles. But I am planning on cutting way back this week, and I am getting my new orthotics tomorrow, so maybe the combination of the two will get rid of my problems. One can only hope. I wanted to do a 5k next Sunday but my main goal is to make it to the half-marathon and not waste yet another registration fee, so if I have to take the whole week off and/or miss the 5k, then so be it.

Last week's running:
Tues: 7 w/ 5 x 1000m@(first one 6:40, others 6:36), 3 min jog recoveries on treadmill
Wed: 7@9:16
Thurs: 6@8:36
Fri: 8 w/ 6@7:19 tempo on treadmill
Sat: 4@9:14
Sun: 13@8:50

tyctwd and maggie is an oatmeal monster

Yesterday was Take Your Child to Work Day and I decided to bring both children to work...which was quite exhausting! Marlon was able to come, or otherwise I wouldn't have brought Maggie - since the activities were for kids age 5 and up (not that there are any relevant activities for a 7-month old in the first place). Sydney got to do some good ones - learning about GPS/Streetview, Money Smart Tips for Kids (haha) and Astrowizard (get to watch things like a bottle of coke erupting to splash on a 2nd story window). Mostly Marlon just got to go with her though because Maggie needed a few feedings, a few diaper changes, and was fussy due to having missed her naps. But it was still a fun family day nonetheless :)

Anyway, I've been giving Maggie solids about once a day for half of her meal. There are all these guidelines about what to give, how much, when, etc. but I've kind of stopped paying attention. Actually yesterday I fed her random things from my plate at lunch (probably breaking all sorts of rules) - avocados, sweet potato fries, roasted carrots, and papayas. Some of those had spices but she apparently liked them and gobbled it all up. She goes totally crazy with eating sometimes - today I was giving her oatmeal and she kept grabbing the spoon out of my hand and trying to feed herself:



By the time we were done it was all over her face, hands, legs, and toes on one foot?! This was right after her bath too. Maybe next time I should do the bath after eating?

The rest of us had chicken apple sausage with butternut squash and rosemary for dinner:

sunny sunday

So we think Maggie has started saying "mama". Well she's definitely saying it, and usually it's when she wants to be picked up and she's looking at me, so it does seem like she knows what it means...so I guess that means I'm a mama for real now! :)

This isn't a video of her saying it but it's cute nonetheless. She's just goofing off in her car seat here waiting for Dad to get ready to leave the house.



Tonight I cooked for real (meaning no crockpot or frozen Trader Joe's food) for the first time since I started working full-time again. We had turkey and sweet potato hash with eggs. I sauteed chopped onions, celery, bacon, turkey, and sweet potato with rosemary, then cracked some eggs on top and put it in the oven. I got the egg idea from lunch I had at work the other day when they were doing a vegetarian theme and had a lot of egg dishes.

I woke up really late this morning and missed church :( Then I sat around kind of groggy all day until around 4pm when I dragged myself out for a long run which actually turned out okay. I just turned up my music (don't worry, my headphones don't block out noise so I can still hear cars), zoned out and ignored my watch. I actually managed to run quite a bit this week somehow. Here's the summary:
Mon: 8 w/ 4 x 1 mile@6:53 on the treadmill
Tues: 7@9:01
Thurs: 8 w/ 2 miles@6:50, 400m jog, 1 mile@6:51
Fri: 6@9:08
Sat: 6@8:54
Sun: 14@8:15, progression w/ last mile@7:15. Avg HR 163 (74% HRR).

yum yum

Maggie enjoys some pear and oatmeal.

weekend away

We went to Tahoe for four days since this week is Sydney's spring break. Last year we went around this time and it was warm and sunny and we did all kinds of summery activities - biking, kayaking, hiking. This time though, it was totally different because there was so much more snow this year. Also, last year there was no Maggie yet! (I was about 3 months along)

We left on Friday and didn't end up leaving the house until much later than planned, due to poor planning, as usual. Car trip was uncomfortable due to 1) not being able to lean back with car seat behind me, 2) broken AC on a sunny day, and 3) major traffic. We made a stop at Target for a few random things we forgot, and then another stop for dinner, and finally arrived at bedtime. We hadn't brought a travel crib for Maggie and thought we would just wing it (more poor planning) so we just put her in the same bed as Sydney and woke up multiple times during the night stressed about whether she would roll off or get crushed. She also woke up super early (before 5am)...and then the alarm clock went off at 7am without us setting it! Needless to say, the next morning we were pretty exhausted.

But things did get better. In the morning we decided to switch hotels to where we stayed last year (Resort at Squaw Creek) so that we could have all the amenities that come with being at a resort (not to mention nicer everything, and a crib). Then we went up to Mt. Rose where Sydney took her first snowboarding lesson (yay), Marlon snowboarded on his own, and I went snowshoeing carrying Maggie in the baby carrier. It was pretty hard. I trudged up a ski trail because I couldn't figure out the map and hiked around in the woods about an hour before being completely depleted of any remaining energy and getting shoulder/upper back pain. That and my ankle also got somewhat aggravated from being in the snowboard boots, uneven terrain, and extra weight. So then, I just went back to the building and waited almost another 2 hours until everyone was done. Afterwards, we were all very glad to check into the new hotel and take some hot showers.

Waiting around for dad and sis

What Maggie does for fun in the absence of toys

The next morning, Marlon and Sydney went up to Squaw Valley to snowboard again. I stayed behind and went to go work out at the fitness center with Maggie. I set her down next to the treadmill and she lasted about 30 minutes before I decided the noise level emanating from her had gotten to the point where other people in there would probably be annoyed. Oh well. Back up to the room we went, where we napped, and watched TV until lunchtime when we took the shuttle over to where Marlon/Sydney were and had some pizza. Hm, I just realized all this coordination would not have been possible if Marlon had not just gotten a cell phone a few weeks ago.

Posing on a rock...notice the new braces :)

The day we left, Marlon went off snowboarding again, but on his own this time, since the day before he had spent the day teaching Sydney. I managed to get in a run on the treadmill before he left since I was up early with Maggie anyway - I really wanted to run outside during this trip on the bike paths going around the lake, but sadly it was raining that morning. The rain stopped later on though, so the kids and I went out to play in the snow with the sled. Maggie was interested in the snow for about 5 minutes before she started crying a little and eventually just fell asleep. I also forgot to use sunblock so now my face is peeling.

Getting pulled around on the sled

The trip was a lot of fun and we wanted to stay longer but I was out of vacation days after having used them all up for part of my leave. Also, Marlon had to teach Tuesday morning. It definitely was tiring with the baby but that could have been made better had we actually brought a stroller. Yup, we did not bring a stroller, because there was no room in the car.

So last week there wasn't much running because of the trip. Here's the summary:
Tues: 8 with 6 x 800m (3@6:49, 3@6:44) on the treadmill, 1:40 recoveries
Wed: 6@9:09 with the stroller
Thurs: 7 with 3@7:19, 4 min easy, 2@7:19 on the treadmill
Fri: 5@8:20
Sun: 4@ 8:50 on the treadmill

Also, on Friday morning I went to get fitted for new orthotics by an orthotist. I didn't even know there were people who specialized in making orthotics - in the past I've always gotten mine made by a podiatrist. And yesterday I went to the physical therapist! And now, hopefully I can be done with all these appointments - I know I said the chiropractor was helpful but I just don't want to take time out of my day to go anymore. I'll go to a few more PT sessions but at least those are on-site at work. The PT basically said the same thing as everyone else btw - that my problems were mainly because of "structural abnormalities" rather than some muscle weakness, etc. But there are some small things I can work on improving so I did come away with a few exercises and stretches to do for my feet/calves.

visit to the doctor

I went to see this doctor on Monday to get another opinion on my foot issues.

"The Director of the Clinic is Dr. Michael Fredericson, a former collegiate distance runner, and one of the leading national authorities on running medicine. For the past 18 years, Dr. Fredericson has been the team doctor caring for the Stanford track & field teams, a national team physician with USA track & field, and on the Scientific Advisory Board for Runner’s World Magazine. He has been at the forefront of the study of overuse injuries in runners and has published over 75 scientific articles, 15 book chapters, and 1 book related to these efforts."

So I figured with those credentials, if anyone could give me any new solutions, it would be him. Sadly however, I was just told the same things I've been told before by other doctors.
- With my feet, I have a not-very-high upper limit of how much mileage I can run.
- I should not aspire to run marathons or even half-marathons.
- I will likely develop any or all of the following: shin splints, stress fractures, posterior tibial tendonitis, achilles tendonitis, and plantar faciitis. Hm, I'm about 3.5 out of 5 right now. I say 3.5 because I've had achilles problems before but not full-blown tendonitis.

I also asked what he thought about minimalist running shoes, and he replied that it's a good idea for the right person, but not someone with feet like me.

But, I did get two things out of the appointment (which I had to wait 1.5 hours for, and really stressed me out because it happened to be my first full-time day at work) to make it worth it:
- A prescription for physical therapy. Unfortunately, I will probably put this off because I don't want to spare the time right now.
- A prescription for new orthotics and the name of a guy who specializes in orthotics (and prosthetics!).

So basically he just said to me "You should train for 10k's". The thing is while you don't have to run as much to prepare for a shorter race, more of what you run should be actual workouts as opposed to just running at whatever pace you feel like. Speed workouts = lactic acid building up in legs, bursting lungs, heart racing, getting really hot and sweaty. Definitely not as relaxing. The other thing is, when you tell people that you run, they automatically assume that your ultimate goal is to do a marathon, and that doing a shorter race is somehow less difficult of a feat than doing a marathon, because hey, anyone could run 3 miles. Um, tell that to the Olympics or USATF.

Anyway. After my second full-time day at work I am still adjusting and feel like a chicken running around with its head cut off. Between meetings and pumping twice a day I hardly ever get a solid block of time to just sit at my desk and WORK. Plus I was just given some extra stuff to take on at work. Plus the doctor's visit yesterday and having to run an errand to the orthodontist today threw things off both days.

a date and a crib

We went out on Friday night for our first date since Maggie's arrival. Michele at daycare was going to babysit, which was great since then we didn't have to worry about Maggie being with someone new. I wanted to be able to see Maggie before leaving (instead of leaving her there all day and night) so I went to work earlier so I could leave earlier and spend a couple hours with her before going out. Maggie was so happy when I came to pick her up I felt terrible about having to drop her off again...she must have felt betrayed :( But she didn't cry and dropping her off back there went without incident.

We went to Hecho, a japanese restaurant and tequila bar that just opened this week.

The sushi was pretty good, but it seemed like they still had some snafus in the service that needed to be worked out. Like after ordering a drink I had to ask for it a few times and wait 30 minutes to actually get it. The other thing is we didn't order enough food, and since we were short on time and the service wasn't too spiffy, I was still pretty hungry after we left. But I always keep snacks in the car for emergencies like this so we had a granola bar, animal crackers, and a bag of almonds.

Anyway, so we went to see the SF Symphony play Mendelssohn's Violin Concerto! It was awesome. Also it was cool because the soloist (who is the concertmaster of the SF symphony) used the same violin that was used at the premiere of the concerto back in 1845. They also did Vaughan Williams' A London Symphony which I haven't heard before - I really enjoyed it, it had parts that were very dramatic and others that were quite mysterious and beautiful.

So, Saturday we went to Sydney's gymnastics class as usual. Here's Maggie observing all the activity:


Also today, we finally got her a crib! We've been using a bassinet this whole time and she's gotten so tall she was running out of room in there. We just put it in Sydney's room and are hoping it will work out - i.e., she doesn't wake Sydney up in the middle of the night or too early in the morning. Also, because she goes to bed at 7 and Sydney at 8, tonight we put her in her bassinet first and then moved her (she didn't wake up) but that may not work in the long term. Well, one day at a time I guess.

I ran 13 today - not sure if that was a good move, but tomorrow will tell. My foot/ankle doesn't feel any worse than before my run, though. This week's running:
Monday: 4@8:49
Tuesday: 6 with 3 x 1 mile@6:49, 6:44, 6:40, 3-min jog recoveries
Wednesday: 6@9:00
Friday: 7@9:10
Saturday: 6@8:46
Sunday: 13@8:53, avg HR 151 (67%HRR)

I only wore my heart rate monitor today, the rest of the week I've been in a rush and not putting it on probably saves me only 30 seconds but whatever.

greens

Today, Sydney finished her salad at dinner and then asked for more! She was having spinach with broccoli slaw, more broccoli, carrots, pomegranate seeds, and lentils with lite caesar dressing. Generally she has whatever we're having minus (or with small amounts of) tomatoes, bell pepper, avocados, beets, or green beans. Okay that's a lot of things but there are still plenty of other vegetables. Maggie's getting started early and enjoys these green puffs that are made with spinach, collard greens, and kale. Hehe. I've been giving her solids once a day, usually sweet potato, banana, or avocado, with a little oatmeal, and every once in a while she gets some puffs. She hasn't figured out how to feed them to herself yet though.

Today we had crockpot chicken again - this time with soy sauce, mirin, water, green onion, star anise, cinnamon sticks, ginger, garlic. I think this is some variation of Chinese red-cooked chicken but I'm not sure.

Anyway, after taking 4 days off from running last week I went to the chiropractor for the second time on Monday, who told me to start doing some short runs, so I obliged. I ran 4 on Monday night and my foot felt fine during, and was still fine the next morning, so I did 6 with intervals and it still felt fine afterwards. Then on Wednesday morning I did 6 again and I could tell it was starting to get a aggravated, but just a little bit, so I took today off. I had my third appointment this morning, and afterwards my foot was much better again. I had also been getting some stiffness in the Achilles in my other foot, and that also went away after the ART today. I am supposed to go back weekly a few more times as everything heals up in there.

So overall, there's been a definite improvement in my foot that I didn't get by resting/stretching/strengthening alone, so I'm really glad I tried it out. Plus, the office is literally only a 3-minute drive from my house! And, the copay after insurance is pretty minimal too.

cake overload

I wanted to bake today, but we already have half a birthday cake, cupcakes, two loaves of bread, a package of sandwich buns, and a bag of tortillas in the fridge...so I should probably refrain. Besides, if the no exercising and cake eating continue on for too much longer, my legs will probably end up looking like this:



I think it's sad to throw out birthday cake though, so I will persevere and eat it all anyway.

So I haven't run since Wednesday, and I've been too lazy to do any other form of exercise with the exception of a couple strengthening things for my foot, which apparently Maggie thinks are funny-looking. When I start with the one-legged squats she starts laughing at me as if I were doing them to entertain her. Or maybe I really do look funny doing them...balancing on one leg was never my strong suit.

chiro first visit

First here's a picture of Maggie :) She's wearing her hungry caterpillar shirt.



So I went to see a chiropractor yesterday for ART, which I've heard can really help for my particular problem. He told me that I have a super tight tibialis anterior (outside of shin) muscle, which is in turn pulling on my arch and causing hyperpronation, and stretching out the posterior tibial tendon and making it weak. He did some ART on those muscles and was pretty convinced that after another visit I would be able to run again...which sounds great, but we shall see. In the meantime I am supposed to some stretches and foam-rollering to try to keep that muscle from tightening back up. One is standing up facing the wall, with my heel on the floor and toe up against the wall and pushing down. The other is kind of like a lunge but with the toes against the floor so it looks like you are dragging your foot.

morning schedule, revised

6:15: Wake up, feed and change Maggie
6:45: Pump
7:15: Make Sydney's lunch and breakfast
7:30: Get ready
7:55: Leave for school
8:15: Get back from school, go running
9:15: Shower
9:30: Ready to leave

Better than before, this would get me to work at a somewhat reasonable time I guess. But when Sydney goes to summer camp everything has to be changed around again probably.

I wanted to do this 10-week half-marathon training plan for June 5, which would start this week, but now my foot is acting up again. I started developing a blister last week but it didn't really bother me that much until yesterday when it got worse for some reason. But I ran this morning anyway, so the blister started hurting more, and by the end of the run my ankle was sore too. Urggggh. I think I may have been - ok, I know I was running funny because of not wanting to put too much pressure on the blister and that probably aggravated the ankle more. So now I think I really need to take some time off. Which hopefully won't end up being too long, so that I can actually still run this half. I'm bummed though because I was looking forward to following a real training plan (I'm somewhat of a type A person so I like plans).

pancake sunday

Sydney totally cracks me up sometimes. Example from tonight:
Dad: Where are my keys?
Sydney (in deadpan manner): They're probably where you left them.

Here's Sydney and Maggie goofing off earlier today. Maggie's on a throne/fort that Dad built for her. The cushions are also for protection because she sometimes topples forward out of that chair and lands on her face.


I've been eating bits of Maggie's sweet potato when I feed it to her (Sorry, Maggie) and getting a craving for something more substantial so we had sweet potato pancakes today.

2 cups white whole wheat flour
2 sweet potatoes, mashed (microwave for a few minutes to cook)
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
2 tsp pumpkin pie spice
2 eggs
2 cups buttermilk



I've decided I'll try to summarize my running at the end of each week from now on. This week I haven't been wearing the HR monitor all week because of laziness but finally put it back on today. In general, I ran faster than I normally would because of the weather and not wanting to prolong the time I was out there. My foot is still somewhat unwell though - it's annoying because when I'm running it feels just fine, but afterwards it starts complaining. I did get in a long run today though, which was nice since it's been more than 3 weeks since I've done a double-digit run.

Mon: 5@8:34, last mile @7:19 (rain)
Tues: 8@8:29 w/ 10x1-min pickups
Wed: Off
Thurs: 9 progression @8:15 w/ last 4 miles@7:57, 7:54, 7:40, 7:23
Fri: 8 @8:51
Sat: 5 @9:15-9:30 (ran without my watch)
Sun: 13 @8:33 w/ last mile @6:58, avg HR 154 (69% HRR)

spring showers

We had a huge storm around here yesterday with lots of flooding, power outages, just a giant mess out there in general. And of course I went out running in it. I did 9 miles and it was pretty miserable - I was drenched, my clothes were heavy and sticking to me, and it was super cold and windy. This morning's run was beautiful by comparison, there's something about going outside right after a storm that seems almost magical with the sun peeking through the clouds and the rain smell still in the air, and the ground wet and covered with debris from trees.

Anyway, so I finished my first week back at work and it wasn't so bad after all. Of course, now I'm already starting to stress about how I'm going to manage when I have to start working full-time. I think I'll have to just do some combination of working at night and waking up earlier. But anyway, I got everything all set up and running finally, and even wrote some code today, yay. And Maggie is doing great at daycare, when I drop her off she now smiles and gets all excited when Michele comes over to pick her up.



I made bolognese sauce in the slow cooker yesterday using this recipe. It was pretty yummy, considering I made it with half ground turkey breast. The recipe does take more work than the usual slow cooker dish, because you have to saute the veggies and meat before throwing it in there, so in the future I'd probably only make it on weekends, but it was still pretty quick.

Since going back to work and having unlimited access to tons of snacks I have started eating a lot of...cottage cheese. Weird, I know, but it's really good! I had a container of it on Monday and then I just kept going for it every time I wanted a snack. So far I've had it with bananas, granola, and animal crackers, but the possibilities are endless...heh.

rain, rain, and more rain

It has been raining for the last 5 days, and the next 4 days are also forecast for rain. I was out with the stroller the other morning during a brief reprieve from the rain when it started to pour. I ended up running 5 miles with the last one @7:19 as passersby probably thought I was crazy/a bad mother/both. Yes, I was pushing my luck, but I really thought there was enough time for a quick one. Thankfully, Maggie didn't get wet, as canopy for the stroller is quite large and the rain just got on the bottom/outside of her blanket. She also stayed quite warm in her fleece-lined one-piece outfit with the ears.

As for my foot/ankle, I ended up taking 3 days off, which didn't really seem to do anything. Then I ran for the next 3 days and that didn't really seem to do anything either. Hmm. I've been doing lots of exercises and icing, so that's probably helping. I also got some orthotic slippers to wear around the house. They are leopard print, because all the other colors they had look like they belong in nursing homes. Hopefully I can get past this soon, because I just signed up for a half-marathon, but at least it's not until June.

So I went back to work yesterday. I dropped Maggie off in the morning and she was crying when I left so that was tough. Then halfway through my five-hour day I was already starting to feel tired. I think I checked the time at 3:08, 3:24, 3:46, 3:52, okay you get the picture. Well part of it was that I didn't have a working machine because I had been working on a remote host and it got shut down and reallocated to someone else while I was on leave (thanks a lot, team that handles these) and I was waiting for a new one all day. Anyway, I finally made it to 5, then on the way back I could not wait to see Maggie! The daycare lady (Michele) said she did great and had her naps and bottles fine and all the other kids there love her (I'm thinking: but they are going to get their germs all over her!) So we get home, and I find out I can't open the front door because the lock has been getting jammed recently with the door expanding due to the wet weather, and I have to get back in the car, drive to the gym, walk through an ongoing boxing class, weaving through a bunch of people punching and kicking heavy bags, while holding Maggie, to find Marlon and get him to come home and help me. Aaagh. Anyway, today ended up going a lot better, work was starting to feel more normal, and the front door of the house is now fixed.

happy half-birthday!

Maggie is 6 months today! We didn't do anything to celebrate, though. Here she is playing in her exersaucer thingy this afternoon:

She's standing on a Sponge Bob pillow because she's not quite tall enough to reach the bottom yet, but this way she can bounce herself.

So tomorrow is my first day back at work. Yesterday I organized the 40 or so bags of frozen breastmilk I have in my stash and sorted them by date. Also got stuff ready for daycare and pumping at work. As luck would have it, I am also kind of sick...and so is Maggie (her first cold!), so if we are not better by tomorrow I guess we'll just stay home!

Today's slow cooker concoction:

Chicken, garlic, ginger, soy sauce, honey, and sesame oil.

maggie plays with her new toy

And gets somewhat frustrated with it near the end.

garlicky chicken stew

I bought this giant jar of chopped garlic at Costco yesterday and tried it out in some chicken stew today. It came out super flavorful, and is super convenient!

1 lb. chicken breast
1 lb. chicken thigh
1/2 onion, sliced
a few carrots, chopped
a few celery stalks, chopped
1 apple, chopped
a very large amount of chopped garlic (I think I may have used 1/4 cup?)
2 tbsp. dijon mustard
chicken seasoning
1-2 cups water

Cook on low for 8 hours. I stirred in some flour with an hour to go to thicken it up a bit.

foot woes

So I went to the podiatrist this morning because my right foot has been acting up lately and I thought my orthotics might need replacing. Instead, she diagnosed me with posterior tibial tendonitis. Thankfully, it's a mild case at the moment and I can continue running once I get this wedge put into my running shoe. Basically, I had to bring my running shoe to a cobbler and have them add this wedge to the bottom of the shoe (but above the actual sole) to make my foot pronate less. Oh, and we're also going to have my orthotics remade in a firmer material because the ones I have were getting pretty battered. This and I already wear what are probably the heaviest, stiffest (and ugliest) running shoe out there.

My foot has been not quite perfect for a month or so now, but it hasn't bothered me when running so I didn't think it was really a big deal. It's more like this general achy/weak feeling in the arch/inner ankle area that I get sometimes when I'm just walking around barefoot at home. It's not really a new feeling at all - I've basically had this issue my entire life whenever I'm on my feet too long. For example, if I walk around all day in flip flops, or if I happen to do a lot of cooking and am standing for a few hours in my bare feet, my feet hurt a lot the next day. Actually, I think a big part of why I'm having this problem lately is that I'm home all day and barefoot.

morning schedule

This morning I had a doctor's appt at 10:30, so I got to do a dry run of what my mornings will be like once I start working full-time again.

6:45: Wake up, feed and change Maggie.
7:10: Make Sydney's lunch.
7:20: Brush teeth, change, etc.
7:35: Pump
7:55: Leave for school
8:20: Get back from school
8:25: Run
9:25: Get back from run and shower
9:35: Feed baby again since I will be gone for a few hours and forgot to defrost milk. I suppose I could have taken the milk I pumped earlier back out of the freezer...but I wanted to use up the older milk, first!
9:45: Put ingredients in crockpot that I prepared last night (chicken fajitas). Make myself a PBJ to eat in the car.
9:55: Leave

I would rather not pump in the mornings because it takes so long but that seems to be when I can get the most milk. But maybe if I am getting enough while pumping during the day I can stop the morning session. Or something else has to change, because I need to be out of the house earlier than 9:55!

6 month visit and sleep answers

We just got back from Maggie's 6 month pediatrician visit, because she turns 6 months in a week! She got the 3rd installment of her shots (that she had at 2 and 4 months). It always makes me so sad to see the needle puncturing her chubby little thighs. She is usually good at her appointments but this time as soon as I set her down on the exam table she started crying. The nurse said that she can recognize the place now and that's why she was upset! I don't totally buy that though - seriously, she can remember back 2 months and associate it with getting shots??

Anyway, her head/weight/length checked out just fine. She is 75% for her head, 90% for height, and a little above 50% for weight. To use the doctor's words, she is "thriving". Yay.

I also asked the doctor about the night feeding issue, and she said that Maggie is just waking up out of habit and not because she actually NEEDS the food. And that it would actually be better for her if she slept continuously the night. So it is just down to personal preference whether I sleep train the night feeding(s) away - some parents can't bear to let the baby cry it out or find it easier to just wake up and do the feeding. She said that if I do decide on the sleep training, I should expect her to cry a lot the first night, even more the second night, and for the whole process to take about a week. I have exactly one week to go before going back to work. Hmmm.

meatballs in the slow cooker

We had these meatballs yesterday. I'm going to attempt to quantify my recipe this time. Also, I probably would have used shallots and Italian parsley if I had had some.

2.5 lbs ground turkey
1/2 red onion, chopped finely
lots of garlic, chopped finely
a few handfuls bread crumbs
1/3 cup milk
2 eggs
1 tbsp dried oregano
1 tbsp garlic powder
salt and pepper

Shape into meatballs and put in slow cooker. Pour pasta sauce on top. Cook on low for 8 hours.

juana run

So after much procrastination and indecision, I went to the running store Friday night to sign up for the Juana Run 8k Saturday morning (saved 5 bucks vs signing up race morning, ha). The weather forecast was good and the course is certified and supposed to be mostly flat. I slept horribly - went to bed at 10, still awake at 11 when Maggie woke up, still awake at 1 when I got super hungry and had a snack. Finally fell asleep then woke up again at 4 to feed Maggie again. Arggh.

Anyway, I got there about 20 min before race start but the parking lot was already full. Another problem - I didn't actually know where the race start was (didn't bother bringing the map) and was going to follow signs from the parking lot. There was another car pulling out of the lot so I just followed it down the block and parked behind it, then got out and asked the people inside. They decided to drive closer to the race start and offered me a ride there - being short on time, I agreed and got into a car full of complete strangers.

I finally made it to the race start area but I really needed to use the restroom so I got on the end of a long line with 9 min to go. Then I found out the start line was actually another couple blocks away. Great. By the time I was finished I had to run over to the start to make it on time, but hey, I hadn't gotten a chance to warm up yet so that was my warmup.

Splits:
Mile 1 (6:35): This was faster than I had planned, but the pace felt comfortable so I went along with it. There was a very slight incline this mile. Unfortunately, right after I start running, I feel my heart rate monitor strap start to slide down...pretty soon it was around my waist and stayed there during the whole race. Aaargh! I had forgotten to tighten it when putting it on this morning. Great.
Mile 2 (6:44): Eased up a bit because the first mile was definitely too fast and I didn't want to blow up at the end. Another very slight incline here.
Mile 3 (6:39): Slight downhill now. As I pass the 3rd mile marker I hear the guy call out 20:0x and I realize I am actually going faster than in my 5k from 2 months ago!
Mile 4 (6:51): Okay, things are starting to get uncomfortable here. Now I really wish I were just doing a 5k, because then I would be DONE.
Mile 5 (6:57): I can really hear myself breathing now and I hate that! I am slowing down but I think I can still make it to the end okay. By the time I see the clock it's at 33:51 and I think I can make it under 34 so I try to sprint, although I don't think I actually sped up any.

Official time: 33:59 (6:51 pace)
AG (F30-39): 7/62
Overall: 78/467

I think a lot of local running teams do this race so there were some super fast people there...the winner ran a 24:34 (4:57 pace) and the female winner was 27:47 (5:36 pace)!!! Craziness.