Dingos Jogging Into January 2012! - Page 2

[JenLove]

Hopping on and hoping I can stick with it.... miss you all!

 

Geo - I would go for a black tank for those colors.

 

Jo - I hope he comes around.  Doesn't he know I want to see you more? :)

 

Nic - Oooh yoga!  Sounds like a delightful way to wake up.  I've been digging kundalini yoga even if I only get 15-20 minutes in at a time.

 

Gaye - Congrats on the job! :)

 

My year goals include a big garden, milking goats, and running a 5K.  I gotta get things ready for the goat though first.... JO I may need some kidding wisdom! ;)

 

[JayGee]

Geo ~ this tank is the one we got at Target.  It comes in a lot of colors.  We have white, but I think I'm going to pick up some black ones too.

JenLove ~ your year ahead sounds lovely

RR ~ 3 miles, mostly running with 35 mph winds and 30 degrees.  Brrrr.... But it felt wonderful .

[Ann15]

Hi Ladies!  May I join you again?  My running has not been great lately, but this is the year I am doing a half marathon!  I'm mailing my registration for the Door County Half in May tomorrow.  I'm excited and nervous, but I think I can be ready by then.  I'm planning to start the Hal Higdon novice plan in February, adding a couple weeks to get at least a 12 mile training run in and spending this month training myself to get my rear on the treadmill at 5:30 most mornings again. 

Other goals for the year are running the Cheesehead 5k in August again and getting into the top five for my age group.  I was 10/40 for my AG last year, so it feels possible.  

Time to get the house back in order after a weekend of in-laws in town.  After reading of others' IL experiences, I have little to complain about.

[JenLove]

Hi and welcome! Where are you located?!  Sounds fairly close to me. :)

Originally Posted by Ann15 

Hi Ladies!  May I join you again?  My running has not been great lately, but this is the year I am doing a half marathon!  I'm mailing my registration for the Door County Half in May tomorrow.  I'm excited and nervous, but I think I can be ready by then.  I'm planning to start the Hal Higdon novice plan in February, adding a couple weeks to get at least a 12 mile training run in and spending this month training myself to get my rear on the treadmill at 5:30 most mornings again. 

Other goals for the year are running the Cheesehead 5k in August again and getting into the top five for my age group.  I was 10/40 for my AG last year, so it feels possible.  

Time to get the house back in order after a weekend of in-laws in town.  After reading of others' IL experiences, I have little to complain about.

[Plady]

Happy New Year!  Okay, now can we all go back to normal life yet????    I hit the gym early this morning to do some lower body weights and to get myself on track.  I was a little cautious after I reread my last workout journal entries for the weight routine.  Three days in June.   Then injury I think.  Gar.  So I'm going to try and be very careful and push myself just enough to make some progress without also hurting my back. 
 

Originally Posted by tjsmama 

She would have to sleep in the living room, perhaps not ideal, but better than changing sheets six times a week?

What about one of those sleep sacks made of sheet material?  Then she could just tuck in under existing bedding without it being a big ordeal all the time, and you wouldn't need to wash it every single time she uses it right?

Originally Posted by Nickarolaberry 
And although I am a happy thrift and goodwill shopper I think I buy in sort of a half-assed manner and end up with a lot of nothing to wear.

Me too.  Although one time I had the brain storm to actually put together outfits while I was at the thrift store.  That worked really well.  I must have been alone since I had time to try everything on and mix and match. 

Originally Posted by Nickarolaberry I can't say I'd ever be a total enthusiast as it doesn't give me much of a cardio high or rhythm but I didn't hate it, so that was good. 

That's how I feel about yoga too.  It was a victory on Friday that I didn't hate it.
 

Jo - Dang it!  I thought your dh was getting all cool about the plans!  But I would heartily agree with Geo (below) that there must be some ways of checking progress so he doesn't have to panic about them going dumb. 

Originally Posted by Geofizz 
Jo,  I wonder if you could do regular testing to help establish to your DH how the kids are progressing.  There are ways for homeschool kids to take standardized tests, and I think there's one for title 1 schools that kids take 3 or 4 times a year (MAP?).  For some of the online circles I run in, the test is fairly well respected because it gives a decent measure of actual level and progress.  I wonder if you could do something along those lines to keep a close eye on how the kids are progressing, give your DH some assurance of efficacy and peace of mind. 

Welcome Miranda!  You sound pretty hardcore to me but I'm not sure I'd subject newish feet to asphalt for that distance unless you normally run on it all the time. 

Originally Posted by Ann15 

Hi Ladies!  May I join you again?  My running has not been great lately, but this is the year I am doing a half marathon!  I'm mailing my registration for the Door County Half in May tomorrow.  I'm excited and nervous, but I think I can be ready by then.  I'm planning to start the Hal Higdon novice plan in February, adding a couple weeks to get at least a 12 mile training run in and spending this month training myself to get my rear on the treadmill at 5:30 most mornings again. 

Welcome back Ann!  I used the Higdon plan a couple times and really appreciate the intensity level.

Okay, I'm going to go make dd2 her second breakfast and then paint paint paint the kitchen!

[moominmamma]

Originally Posted by Plady 

Welcome Miranda!  You sound pretty hardcore to me but I'm not sure I'd subject newish feet to asphalt for that distance unless you normally run on it all the time. 

I run barefoot on asphalt whenever conditions permit and have been doing so for more than 18 months. I even managed 5k last week during a warm spell. It's just that I'm not going to be able to do all or even the majority of my running barefoot until late March, when the snow will likely be gone from the roads. I figure I'll try a 20-miler barefoot in early April and make the call at that point. 

It's cold today! Hard to get motivated. The furnace is on the fritz and being cold inside makes it all the harder to bear the first mile outside. Homeschool stuff with dd8, then hot chocolate, then run ... maybe.

Miranda

[Ann15]

Jenlove--I'm in IL, but I have friends, some family, and in-laws in WI.  DH grew up in the same town as Jo actually.  Where in WI are you?

Thanks, Plady!  DH did the Higdon plan for his half last year and liked it except for not having a couple more long runs.  The pacing looks good otherwise though.

[sparkletruck]

Popping in to report; 10 loads of laundry and counting, 2 1/2 hours of nit combing (after the 1 1/2 hours last night), and I still have DD2, um, the 4 year old, to comb. That should be fun. On the upside, Im not grossed out anymore, just pissed. It's war! and I'm exhausted (can fighting lice count toward my exercise goals for 2012? )

[Plady]

Sparkle - Ewwwww!  I hear you!  Actually, after this summer I got so desensitized to the ick factor that now I go in to school and help do lice checks.  But still.  Ewwwwww!  Not the way you want to start a year.

Miranda - Sorry, I didn't mean you were new to bf running, just that it seems early in bf season to take feet to road for such a huge distance.  My feet take a while to build up callouses sufficient for just walking around.

I got some good painting done on trim, there is still a ton to do but it's time to switch gears for today.

[Nickarolaberry]

So I was asked to have a feature blog on the website which does the Jewish homeschooling/distance learning where I teach (www.room613.net). I need a name for it. Ideas are welcome please!

[tjsmama]

Welcome, Miranda, and welcome back, Ann!

plady~Sleep sack? Tell me more...

sparkle~ re: lice

geo~I'd get white and black. I wear white camis under most of my sweaters, both to ensure cleavage coverage and to keep my belly from showing when they ride up b/c I have an uber-long torso...

The car is fixed! And it was free! It better STAY fixed this time. The verdict seems to be that the part they replaced last time was defective, so it was re-replaced, and hopefully that will do the trick.

In the meantime, my friend picked me up from the dealer this morning so we could hang out, get a run in, and shop a little. We went to one furniture store and found an intriguing option for the nanny...a sleeper ottoman! Who knew?! It's still largish, but is on wheels and could be wheeled into the corner or into the office, and used as extra seating as well. and the price is reasonable, under $300. Of course, that's the sale price and the sale only goes until tomorrow (and then the price goes up $120), but I'm not going to rush...this particular store is constantly having sales.

I've started missing DS a little, so I guess he can come home now. Mama needed the break, but I'm ready for the little booger to come home. He flies in tomorrow night, so one more day. Remind me that I wanted him to come home around Wednesday night, when I'm ready to send him back again, k?

rr~3.5 miles around my friend's hilly 'hood, trading off pushing her DD (almost 3) in the stroller. It was slow, which was ok. Clawing my way back onto the fitness wagon...I think tomorrow might be a spin class day, although I'm a little scared of the resolutioners...

[tjsmama]

Year-end totals for me:

650ish running miles (WAY down this year, heck I only had 15 miles for the whole month of December, that's usually a light-ish week for me!)
1200 cycling miles, even with four months where I didn't have a single outdoor mile!
14 swimming miles (also with four months with NO swimming whatsoever )

10 races:
1 5k
2 10ks
2 Half-marathons
2 Sprint Triathlons
1 Sprint Duathlon
1 Olympic Triathlon
1 Half-Ironman Triathlon

2 organized bike rides, including a three-day, 200+ mile charity ride where I rode my first century!

Not a bad year, especially considering how crazy it was life-wise!

I'm still waffling on my 2012 goals. My only scheduled race so far is NYC Marathon. I'm kind of thinking I may just go for broke on it and set a huge crazy goal (4:30). And if I do that, I may take another stab at that sub-2 1/2 marathon. This may be the year that I focus on running and back off of triathlon a bit, but I still want to do a lot of riding this summer. With the new job, I'm taking a wait-and-see approach before I really commit to anything that I might not end up doing. Need to find out how time off and vacation requests are handled first!

[Plady]

Originally Posted by tjsmama 

plady~Sleep sack? Tell me more...
 

This is the kind of thing, there are lots of varieties, I'm not sure you have to have silk.  In fact, you could fold a king or queen flat sheet in half and sew it up.  Just something simpler than furniture you may not want to spend the $$ on or changing sheets all the time.

[Plady]

Originally Posted by Nickarolaberry 

So I was asked to have a feature blog on the website which does the Jewish homeschooling/distance learning where I teach (www.room613.net). I need a name for it. Ideas are welcome please!

Dh suggests "Driving me meshugana".  Which I have to admit seems pretty apropos when I think about homeschooling and my children. 

[1jooj]

Nic, I got nothing.

Welcome back, Ann! JenLove is in da UP, but makes her way down as far as GB or even Oshkosh from time to time. I have no race plans, but maybe we can meet up over summer in WI. 

I think the sleeper ottoman sounds nice. My folks come in 2 weeks, and we are going to have a little situation, I think, when it comes to sleeping. Dad's a super-snorer and both parents have a serious case of sleep apnea (accompanied by denial). The plan is to just give them our room and bed, and the rest of us will work it out.

Did someone here once mention coconut oil for lice? Or was it elsewhere? Or did I make it up? Either way, I don't get ooked out by parasitic bugs but I do become enraged, so I feel you, mama.

Just put kids on the bus. Going back to bed now. The body finally gave up and took on the cold it's been refusing for the past week. Better now than in Jordan, for certain. Drinking hot ginger-honey lemonade and hoping for a quick recovery.

Bright side, kids almost made it out the door without AM incident. Ds misplaced a usb drive he has some homework on, and since I specifically told him to put it in his bag when he finished the project last night, I'm letting him live with that consequence. For all we know, it could be in the bag. Or a cat may have stolen it and carried it off to a dark corner.

[Ann15]

The lice talk has me itchy!  I hope it's a short-lived infestation, Sparkletruck.  I was an insane cleaner when we discovered our newly-adopted dog had fleas last fall, but Frontline (terrible, I know) and lots of vacuuming to get any eggs that might have fallen off the dog prevented a full infestation.
 

Tjsmama, I think our boys are close in age (DS is 5) and mine alternates between driving me nuts and amazing me with what a wonderful kid he is.  Enjoy your last day off before he gets home!

Jo, it would be great to get together when you are home this summer!  We're planning at least a few visits to DH's family, so hopefully we can work something out.  I've never made it all the way to da UP, but my college friend who I am running Door County with is a native Yooper, yah   

Time for bed for me. Getting up at 5:30 to run is what I need to do for me, getting up early will eventually feel better than my cozy bed.  Yeah, I need to keep telling myself that.

[kitteh]

Hey Dingos!

I pretty much fell off the face of the earth in December, as far as the internet goes. We moved into our own place and then the laptops both had total hard drive failure, ugh. Luckily one of them was within days of the warranty so we sent it off to get fixed and then had a few weeks computer-free.

So I'm back, and trying to catch back up on what is going on in you ladies' lives. I missed reading about everyone, so I'm glad to be back. Running has been good, although I've missed some training runs through the holidays (and gained a few pounds, ugh.) My first half marathon is in 13 days! 13 DAYS OMG. I'm kind of in denial. I got in an 11 mile run this morning, in 1:53. I was hoping to do 12 miles but didn't get out the door as early as I'd hoped and I had to get home so DH could go to work. I took it easy and slow because I missed last week's long run, and only got 3 runs in each week for the past two weeks. But during my most recent tempo run, which ended up being a 10k distance, I beat my last 10k RACE time with 54:51, and I didn't even realize it until I got home and checked the Garmin. I was running with a buddy and we were chatting at least half the way. So apparently the longer runs have been making a difference, because when I raced the 10k at 55:38 I certainly could NOT have chatted even a little. So yay for that!

My running numbers for the year are kinda pathetic in comparison to most of you. I got in 497 total miles for the year, but there were 10 weeks during which I did not run at all. So I'm shooting for 700 in 2012. I also ran my first two races in 2011, both 10ks. I'm so glad that I've discovered running as a sport and I'm excited to continue to grow with it this year.

That said, I'm super nervous about the upcoming half marathon. I'm not really sure what I was thinking about signing up for a half that would place the last part of my training smack-dab in the middle of holiday season.

[kitteh]

Also sorry for no personals, I'm still trying to read some of the december thread!

[sparkletruck]

Ok, 14 hours later, and the dryer just finished its last load (well, for today). I spent about four hours picking through nickel-diameter segments of hair on both girls. The boys opted for the Sinead O'Conner as a profilactic (which was good, as Dh found 2 bugs on DS when his hair was gone). Dh picked through my hair, piece by piece for nearly two hours and could find nothing, but I'm looking at doing that every day this week and then some. Oy. NOT fun. Needless to say it was a pizza and movie day today. I just hope I dont see anything on the kids' heads in the morning as its the first day of school and I need it!!

Meanwhile, its DD2's birthday tomorrow, and the cupcakes I was supposed to make today will have to be made tomorrow sometime. How skeezy is it for me to tell her pre-school about the lice, but then show up later with cupcakes (like, do they really want even her there. let alone family members singing ) Poor girl, I kept coercing her, through the combing, with the fact that she would not be able to go to school tomorrow if I see even one thing on her head/hair, and then no cupcakes. So she sat through it. I sure hope I dont find any in the morning

Sorry to be so detailed about such YUK. I will bounce back to my usual complaints soon!!

[Realrellim]

moominmamma & Ann15--welcome!

1jooj--Hope you are able to convince DH that there are other reasons for homeschooling, and yours is a very good one.

sparkle--ugh!

Geo--Ditto the tank advice. It's the style these days.

JayGee--those sound like great goals indeed.

kitteh--how fun! It will go well, don't worry!

kerc--thumbtacks? (Didn't there used to be a person eating popcorn smilie? I need that here.)

NRR: DH has reached the point where he needs to return to work, both for his sanity and ours. Thankfully, he has a 9 am meeting tomorrow. I took the girls to the mall today because R needed new shoes (sensory girl needed bigger Crocs and J wanted a matching pair) and we picked up some sale stuff for the girls too. It was busy there so we hit the few stores I'd planned on and left. It was better than hanging around the house and having DH snap at the girls every time they disturbed his obsessive need to type on his laptop. (Yes, he could go work in his office downstairs, but sensory boy pretty much insists on sitting in the middle of the action, avoiding contact with everyone, and getting annoyed by noise or anyone talking to him until I finally order him into the shower or down to his office. He argues but capitulates and returns in a much better frame of mind.)

For the first time in years, I find myself looking forward to all of January. I bought one of those mugs that entitles one to a free brewed coffee every time I stop at a Starbucks in January and I'm 2 for 2 so far. My goal: 31 of 31. There are four (!) Starbucks on the corner a mile south of us (one in Target, Safeway, and King Soopers, respectively, plus a free-standing one in the King Soopers plaza, which makes no sense at all but then again, the King Soopers just remodeled and also carries furniture and car seats and all manner of merchandise that doesn't really belong in a grocery store so...). There's also one a mile north with a drive-through, plus several scattered conveniently elsewhere, so I think I'll hit my goal. I know being caffeine-free is supposed to be so good and improve one's state of mind, but having been caffeine-free for most of 2-1/2 years, it's obvious that afternoons go better when mama is caffeinated.