Green socks!

There is nothing cooler than being eco-friendly. My brother-in-law makes fun of Mr KT and I for being "yuppies" and trying to save the planet single-handedly but I guess if you are going to have a super power it may as well be that?

Anyway, I was catching up on some blogs that I had fallen behind reading and I was at Swim Bike Run Live where Jamie had posted a contest for socks! Not just any socks but sweet eco friendly socks made out of 97% recycled plastic bottles! How awesome is that? The contest is a super great idea but either way I am ordering a pair of these. They even have one with dragonflies on them. Heart. Hopefully just by spreading the word, other companies will catch on and realize that many of us are passionate that the products we use and companies we buy from are taking care of the planet. :) Maybe I do sound a little over the top.

Shhh. Don't tell my brother-in-law.

December

Well, E will be 3 months in a week or so. He is growing and healthy and that is a huge blessing. I head back to work Monday which is both good and bad. I will miss E on the days I work but it will be really nice to get back part time.

I have been running and have even managed to work in a trail run or two. :) Sigh. How I missed getting dirty with my Kona-baby on the trails. I have a couple friends who are patiently (not really) trying to talk me into a trail marathon the first weekend in April. As much as I would LOVE to, I am not sure that I can commit the time to the training off road as much as I would like to. I wish, wish, wish but maybe in a few years when E is a little older.

Tree is up, homemade Runza's are made, and baby is napping (sort of). Time to rest for just a few minutes.

A few pics of E just chillin in his giant Timbuk2 "diaper" bag.

Cleared to Run

Happy November (now that it is almost half way over). I am officially 8 weeks status post C-section and birth of my little guy. I was cleared to run 2 weeks ago at my doctor's appointment. The doctor took one look at me and the circles under my eyes and said, "hopefully this will give you a little energy because there is nothing else I can do about the sleep deprivation." Um, thanks?

I have been attempting to ramp up the obligatory 10% but haven't been very good about it.

The last week of October I ran 1 hour and 35 minutes.
Last week I ran 2 hours and 20 minutes.
This week I will have done about 3 hours and 20 minutes.

I haven't had any major issues. (Thank goodness, because after months of not running I think I would have freaked out.) After my first 4 miler, my IT bands were pretty sore so I foam rolled and stretched for a couple days. My incision occasionally tweaks as apparently the dissolvable staples hadn't yet dissolved as of the end of October. My hips and pelvis that were the problem when I was pregnant have been just fine (YAY!). And I'll spare you all the details of the nursing/running issues.

The main thing has been my lack of endurance. It is so nice to be out running and not walking but man, oh man does it "hurt". Good thing that little baby is so cute because I am all sorts of slow right now. The good news is, I am well below my pre-pregnancy weight so at least I'm not fighting that, the bad news is that a lot of that weight was muscle and so I am in the process of building it all back up.

I spend a lot of my running time thinking about what races I'd like to do next year and down the road. (It keeps my mind off of the pain and about how tired I am.) I think this year I am going to consider Trek Up the Tower in February again. That is the 40+ story stair climb. I didn't do it last year as I was about 7 weeks pregnant at the time and the massive increase in heart rate seemed like a bad idea. That one will take some training. I am also going to do a couple of 5Ks to see if I can improve some times. I am going to run the St Patrick's Day 5K with a friend. She wanted to do a 5K in the spring and this one is pretty early so should be a nice motivator for her. The other race I'd like to plan on is the Lincoln Half Marathon on May 1st. That would be 7 1/2 months after E was born and I think that is do-able. I'd like to PR but that might be pushing it. :)

The update on Mr E is that he is making neural connections left and right, up and down, in and out. He is learning new skills every day and is so fun to watch.

He has been "flying" with his dad and granddad, strengthening his neck.


He has found his thumb and loves to have his thumb, fingers or fist in his mouth.


And he is kicking and batting at toys with utter determination.


So, while E is learning all these fun new things, I am getting back out on the road and hoping to hit the trails next week for some hills. Feels so good to be back, in a hurty kind of way.

Baby Steps

Well, apparently after a C-section, you are supposed to wait 6 weeks minimum before working out. As my friend Eric, pointed out, "they practically cut you in half" as I was whining about how long it takes to heal from this. At two weeks post op I was cleared for "brisk walking". Period. That was all. I hope my doctor doesn't blog. Or read triathlon blogs. Or know anyone who might tell on me.

CONFESSION:

I ran 2 minutes on Saturday.

I ran 3 minutes on Sunday.

I am not 6 weeks post op until 10/27/10.

I mean, it's not even really running compared to what I was doing before, right? In the scheme of a 45 minute "brisk walk" it just increased my overall pace minutely, right? I just wondered how it would feel.

I needed it. My brain starts to fall apart if I can't work out. I thought I did pretty well waiting four and a half weeks. The last two of those have not been great what with the hormones, the sleep deprivation and the lack of exercise. I might add that Mr KT has been a saint. He has single-handedly managed the entire household since the middle of September. He is running the dogs, helping with the babe at all hours, trying to keep his nut-job wife from falling apart, and he is going to work.

I haven't run since week 20 of my pregnancy. That was in May, people. MAY! While pregnant, I managed to find other ways to work out, mainly because I hurt so bad that I would end up having to crawl to the bathroom the nights after I ran. For sanity sake, I needed to know that was now over.

During my 5 minutes of running this weekend my incision felt great, just a tad sore on the internal incision and my pelvis felt pretty darn good. The biggest problem, um, let's just say I am going to need the best sports bra I can find. I mean, the mother of all sports bras. Otherwise, I am going to end up with two black eyes and a soaking wet t-shirt less than a mile into each run. (My husband did mention that he would pay to see that.) Lucky for him, around here it will be free unless I can find a solution. OUCH!

I go back to the doctor a week from tomorrow to be cleared to workout. I'm ready to run, lift, ride, swim, anything would be good. I love this little boy but sometimes a mommy just needs to get away for a bit.

Here is E at 4 1/2 weeks after his first few minutes of "running". Check out his sweet ride!

Introducing

Emmett Alexander
6 lbs 15 oz
20 1/2 in long
Born Sept 15th, 2010



Well, our new addition is here. In subsequent posts, I will get back to the training and the triathlon info and probably how it goes with a little one but for today...

I have to admit that I counted my labor as a workout. Is that just wrong or what? But I was exhausted, sore and craving Gatorade afterward so I'd say that counts. The overview is as follows...

My water broke at home at 3:30 in the morning on Wednesday the 15th. We called the doctor and he sent us right in to the E.R. as the baby had been so high at the appointment 12 hours before. I was dilated to 2 and 50% effaced. We were in labor and delivery for the next 14 hours with contractions at least every two minutes for the entire time. I was given 7 doses of pitocin to help increase their strength. (That stuff is awful.) Mr KT and I had in mind that we would try things with no pain meds and see how it went and if it got too bad we would get the epidural. 13 1/2 hours later I was dilated to 3 and 70% effaced. Not enough. The doctor told me I was getting an epidural to see if that would allow things to relax. They tried it. It didn't relax me but the pain was gone and he said I could have a c-section now or wait two hours and have a c-section then. I opted to just do it since it sounded inevitable. They put Mr KT in scrubs and whisked us off to the operating room. 30 minutes later or something like that there was a baby in his arms. He was pink and healthy. The doctor said that he had the cord wrapped around his neck twice and around a shoulder. He also said that he would have had to be 1/2 lb to 3/4 lb smaller for me to have been able to deliver him naturally. Narrow pelvis apparently. So, it seems to have worked out that a c-section was the way to go. If I would have pushed, we would have had serious complications with that cord and it would have been much more emergent. Unfortunately, the anesthesiologist put morphine in my epidural towards the end and it made me sick. I threw up for a couple of hours after the surgery. (Big problem since I had a 6 inch abdominal incision.) Oh my gosh, did that hurt. Do not throw up after abdominal surgery, I repeat, do not throw up after abdominal surgery. And so, I stuck with Motrin every 8 hours for pain because I was a little gun shy about anything stronger. We went home 3 days later and so it begins.



E is a wonderful baby. He is easy to console, content, and laid back (as long as you don't ask him to be naked). Mr KT has been 100% amazing. He has taken over way more than his fair share of duties and we are so lucky to have him. I am on no driving/no lifting restrictions for two weeks but am starting to feel better already. My momma was here to help for 4 days which was a lifesaver. She did all the cooking and laundry and held E as much as she could so that I could start to recover.

Shhhh, don't tell but I already walked around the block. It has been gorgeous here and I had some major cabin fever. Soon enough E will be in the jogger cruising the neighborhoods and the parks and trails. I am excited to get back out. Apparently, I am so excited that in my morphine induced haze, as I was still laying on the operating table being sewn up, I asked the doctors when I could start running again. LOL! I don't remember asking and I don't remember the answer but Mr KT told me they said I shouldn't worry about that yet. Apparently, they don't know me very well.

Hmmm

What a weird change, going from checking splits on my run and planning out routes to cover hours to hoping and praying that my shoe laces don't come untied because breathing and tying them at the same time is just not an option at this point.

Still pregnant... and counting

It is a gorgeous August morning. Not even 75 degrees and the sun is just coming up through the clouds. The humidity is down just a bit and the wind is just a breeze at 3 mph. It has been HOT here for the last couple of weeks. We are talking 100 degrees with a heat index of 115. Not a drop of rain. Painful. I've still been out walking and things but it is hot, hot, hot.

My point about the weather description is that it is a perfect morning for a run. A run that I can't do. UGH. I still have 6 more weeks of pregnancy and then 6ish more weeks of letting things heal up. I am hoping to be out for my first gentle run/walk early or mid November. There are no guarantees and I am trying not to get my hopes up. It is going to be interesting to see how my pelvis and hips feel. All those ligaments have got to tighten up before I can run any distance again.

I can't wait to lace up the running shoes to actually run in. I can't wait to put an infant seat in the jogging stroller. I can't wait to hit a trail and get really dirty! Oh yeah, and having a little one at our house and getting my body back will be pretty great too even if I never get to sleep again.