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.