I feel like I have so much to tell you guys. . . .little things that don’t make my other posts, so I thought I’d combine everything into one post and give you a full update on life.
Running
This topic has been mostly covered in a lot of other posts. But as an overview, training is going really well, and I’m optimistic about being able to run a sub-3 hour marathon at Grandma’s Marathon in Duluth, MN on June 18. Training hasn’t been flawless, but the goods definitely outweigh the bads. I had a small bout of low iron over the winter, but as long as I’m diligent about taking my iron supplement and multi-vitamin, I’ve been feeling great. This week I’m in the midst of running 95 miles, so be sure to check back on Monday for an update.
Related post: Running 100 Miles While Working Full-time
I also went to see the physical therapist for a second appointment on Wednesday regarding my postpartum core. (You can read about my first appointment here.) I’m going to do a separate post about this second appointment hopefully within a couple of days, but I can tell you I have to relearn how to recruit my transverse muscle, and it is not easy!
I finally got a new Garmin! I have been using the Garmin Forerunner 405 for 4.5 years, and it has seen its better days. The little band to hold the strap down broke several months ago and the backlight hasn’t worked for over a year, which is annoying in the winter since it is always dark out. I ended up buying the Garmin Forerunner 235. I’ve only used it on a few runs, but already I love it. I love that it gives me a VO2 estimate, measures my cadence, heart rate, and the display is just so much nicer when looking at my splits during a run.
Jobs
My full-time job is taking care of Cullen, which I wouldn’t trade for the world. This is what I’ve wanted to do since high school, and I have no regrets about staying home with him. Every once in a while, I wish I was ‘that working mom,’ but in reality the thought passes very quickly.
I am also coaching several athletes and helping them reach their running goals–whatever they may be. I really enjoy working with each person on an individual basis and giving them very personalized attention, which is why I like keeping my team of athletes small.
On the weekends I work at Skinny Raven Sports selling running shoes and providing customers with any running-related advice they might need. I am very grateful they have allowed me to stay on even though I can only work on the weekends. I love what I do and especially the people I work with.
I am also helping coach training groups through the store. I just finished an intro group, and we are now doing the Her Tern Training Group to prepare 180 ladies for the Her Tern Quarter and Half-Marthon in July!
Family
Cullen turned 18 months on Sunday, and I did ‘A Day in the Life’ post to recap what our days are like. He’s been sleeping through the night for the last 1.5 weeks (knocking on every possible wood surface), which has been awesome. . . .although Craig and I still don’t sleep great. We still wake up and toss and turn a lot. It is definitely still better than when he was getting up during the night, so hopefully we’ll relearn to sleep better soon!
Any waking minute we are at home, Cullen is outside playing in our backyard. Someone asked me what he does. Well, he does typical boy things: picks up rocks and sticks, digs in the dirt, follows Sadie around, scoops the sand out of his sandbox, and climbs on things. He does so well playing by himself, maybe he doesn’t need a sibling.
Other than work, Craig has been busy getting our backyard and greenhouse ready for summer planting. He is also starting to make plans for our friends and family that are coming to visit this summer.
Food
For the last 40+ days, I have been eating a vegan diet. Every year our church (Greek Orthodox) fasts for Lent by eating a vegan diet (although we can have shellfish: shrimp, scallops, lobster, etc.). We celebrate Easter this Sunday, so we are almost done with the fast. I am going to be doing a separate post on eating vegan while competitively running next week. I definitely learned a lot, including I would never want to be vegan all the time.
Misc.
The weather has been quite nice here this spring, and I hope this is indicative of what is to come this summer. Give me hot summer weather!
I love having my nails painted and splurged on a Shellac manicure a couple weeks ago with a friend.
Here are several ways to stay connected and follow what I’m up to these days:
- Of course there is the blog, which you should ‘subscribe’ to in order to receive an e-mail every time I publish a post. Enter your e-mail address on the right-hand side of the blog.
- The Runner’s Plate Facebook page –> ask questions and see other running-related items in your newsfeed
- Instagram –> probably my favorite of all of the social media outlets
- SnapChat –> I wasn’t sold on Snapchat at first, but now it is kind of fun. I share a lot more pictures of Cullen on here than anywhere else. username: therunnersplate
