It's Been A While...

It has been a while.  I hope you all haven't given up on me.  Life has been quite busy - networking, working and more working, the little ladies, and the everyday stuff.  I admit fully that the thing that had to give (because something had to) was my training. Unfortunately, that meant no training.

I've been doing marathons of another sort - working or networking or doing meetings each night until 11 pm and not being able to drag myself out of bed at 5:30 to get the work outs in.  But I will say that even though a bit stressful, I'm having a great time with it all.

Yet, I was constantly missing physical activity.  Sure, I play some with the kids but going from triathelete to not exercising at all definitely left a hole - not just the pressure of not having gotten a workout done, but the physical need for movement AND stress relief.

So this Monday, I got out of bed at 6 am and went for a 2 miler.  I figure I am starting over at this point.  But amazingly, it wasn't as bad as I thought.  I've retained some stamina at least.  My back has been twingy (probably thanks to high heels being reintroduced into my wardrobe) so I didn't push it - I alternated running 0.25 miles with walking 0.25 miles and still made it home in less than half an hour.  I definitely need new shoes - they squeaked the whole way and my knee (which only bothers me when it's time to get a new pair of shoes) twinged toward the end.  It felt so good to be out and moving again.  And I felt good when running.  My lungs burned a little but then I just slowed the pace a tiny bit and that stopped.  I didn't wear a watch so I'm not sure how long it took me, but I know it was less than half an hour... I think around 25 minutes.

This morning I got up at 5:50 and after a quick look at the internet because our phone is not working but our DSL is, I did half an hour of yoga.  Oddly enough, after the yoga was done I wished I had run again.  But for now, the plan is to get back to doing 5/1's in a 2 miler and then slowly add more distance.  I have a feeling I can still do the 5/1's but my mind has to believe it more than my body.

It may be a little bit until I am able to figure out how to get tri training in and enough sleep and everything done, but for now I hope to get  3-4 five mile runs in a week and do yoga for 1/2 an hour on the other days with Sunday off.  Of course, this morning while doing a one-legged down dog pose the thought came to me - a full IM the year I turn 40.  That's 5 years from now, so we'll see but even down deep and in my dreams I'm still a triathlete.

The girls are doing great by the way... looking forward to Santa.  Angelfish is definitely driven by Santa and presents - she modifies her behavior and tells us that she's thinking of Santa and whether he'd think she was being nice or naughty, and that she loves Santa Claus.  Ladybug is stubborn still but she's getting better at making "good choices" instead of just insisting on her way.  But she may get a little coal in her stocking to prove a point... I just can't decide if that would be too traumatizing for her or not. 

We attempted to take them ice skating the other week (yes in Florida) which was more of a hassle than anything.  I don't think 4 year old balance was quite good enough to endure.  But I will say I was really proud of their effort.  They were on the ice a good 15-30 minutes before giving up the ghost.  Lots of falling but no crying.  Amazingly, I did not fall despite holding the hand of a small child and attempting to keep the child up and moving without injuring them or me.  It was kind of like cycling in a windstorm... I would bear down with my quads and steady my lower body while still moving but then was using my upper body to pull up on the kiddo.  My lower back wasn't thrilled by the end of it all, but I think they had a good time all the same.  Mr. Darcy said that he won't contemplate attempting it again until they're at least 7... so 2 1/2 years from now, stay tuned.

I hope you all are well - I have to admit that my blog reading has been nonexistent.  So I have a ton to catch up with...