Friday, July 18, 2008

The Name Game

So I'm thinking this new baby can't go through life named GoofyBaby. We've come up with a few ideas, but nothing perfect. I guess we can just look at him and "know" his name, but that seems a bit too last minute, even for the girl who still hasn't pre-registered at the hospital.

I've polled my WISH friends- they like Miles and Max (son of Goofy). Miles is my front runner for a middle name. It's in Ted's family tree, and it seems very appropriate for a GoofyBaby. I like the name Max for other people's babies, not mine. I don't know why, but there you have it.

I also asked Emma and Harry. Emma and I have more fun picking names that won't work for whatever reason- our current favorite is Joshua. Try saying Josh Smith fast. For that matter, try saying it slow. It never fails to crack us up (but so does I Survived a Japanese Gameshow, so we are obviously simpletons.) Still, as we like to say, that is not focusing on the task at hand.

I asked Harry for his thoughts last night. Shockingly enough, he seemed to get the question and immediately blurted out an answer- "WallyMe." Uh, okay... He was still insistent on WallyMe this morning. Tracy (his teacher) thought maybe he was talking about the movie, but he hasn't seen it and isn't particularly interested in the commercials. In a funny twist, Wally kind of goes with my Disney running inspired theme- kind of feels like Walt, doesn't it?

That's about it for that topic.

I haven't completely neglected my running. I am wearing my sweet new shoes right now. They are Pearl Izumis, so I can run like an animal. We at WISH were pretty peeved at their ad campaign (essentially mocking joggers as being weenie runners), but I'm a sucker for a good sale. I can still tie them too! And they're a very serious reflective silver/orange, so on the off chance that a driver can't spot me by the giant gut and unruly hair, they'll totally see my feet. (As I walk through the parking lot at Walmart, because again, not doing so much running).

I've also spent a great deal of time (ok, wasted a great deal of time) coming up with potential races in the future. I've found a bunch of prospects. Now we just need to decide how to work them into our schedules based on the following factors:

1) Location and weather;
2) Time of year and time of start;
3) T-shirt appearance;
4) Is there a medal? And if so, is it worth the trouble?
5) Past results- can I maybe get an age group award?
6) Scary- but stroller friendly?
7) Race atmosphere.

I like my rewards, so if it's got a good medal and a cute t-shirt, I'll probably be willing to drive a little farther. And if it just looks like fun (think Christmas races), I might be more eager to sign up.

Oh, and of course, will it fit in both my life schedule and our training schedules? For instance, a 10k run on a weekend we are scheduled for a long run from 5-7 miles would be perfect. I need to go get some calendars while the school planners are on sale-- time to start penciling in our running schedules! I loved that part last year, especially when I could look at a 20 mile run around Christmas and fall over laughing. (More grim than funny when you are actually in the middle of that 20 miler, but still really fun to put on the calendar). I'm assuming we won't do anything over 9-10 miles for the half, so my calendar will be slightly less daunting (until you remember GoofyBaby and his imminent arrival).

Wednesday, July 16, 2008

The Glucose Horror

I head over to my doctor's office to do my glucose test for gestational diabetes/regular check up a couple of weeks ago. Lovely crowd. The girl next to me was having a conversation with her toothless mother that centered around the baby's name: "well, if it's Dakota's, we're thinking Chloe; if it's Justin's, we're thinking Victoria." Hello. The most shocking part? Her name choices weren't bad... Another woman and her charming family were screaming that it was going to be $270.00 that day instead of $150.00 and "she was going to kick some ass." Yay! Future playmates for GoofyBaby!

They finally call me back. I've gained one pound in a month, which is surprising because I'm feeling very, very big. The nurse looks a bit wide-eyed when she tests my blood pressure. I have to say "it's usually low" before she lets out a "oh good, it's 90 over 60." Whatever.

That's pretty much it, except they tell me I have to do the glucose test at the lab, and it's closed for lunch. Good, I wasn't in the mood for needles anyway.

Two days later, I suck it up and go for my test. I chug the nasty drink-- Powerade on crack-- all the while telling myself that if I could drink a nasty Powerade dixie cup at almost every mile for 39.3 miles in January, I can handle this. And I'm pleased with myself because I managed to have a Goofy flashback in a totally random moment!

I go sit in the lobby and watch infomercials and read a book. I feel fine, if horribly bored, for about 30 minutes. Then it happens. I'm sitting there minding my own business watching an infomercial for a Shark cordless vacuum, when I feel a bit dizzy. I try to focus on the vacuum- it can pick up wet rice and nails and get under your furniture!- when I decide maybe lying down on the loveseat would be a really good idea. (You know, if you're going to keel over, might as well get in position early...)I'm clammy, I'm queasy, I'm just utterly miserable. I feel so bad I don't even want to get the nurse (and I'm afraid she'll make me do it again another day).

Finally the nurse comes for me. I get it together enough to make it down the hall and into her little chair o' blood letting. "Success!" I think. She looks at me and says "are you alright?" I think I answer positively, but she starts freaking out. She says I'm really pale and basically look like crap. Hello, I'm upright and that's an accomplishment. Don't bring me down, lady! She draws my blood, mutters about how I obviously don't need to take this test, and runs off to get me a Coke out of their private stash (unheard of!). The Coke, which is actually a nasty Cherry Coke, perks me up enough that I consider re-joining the world of the living.

So, now two weeks later, I've had a couple more sinking spells from eating sugar. Is that cruel or what?! I asked the PA what my level was. You have to be below 130 on the test or you go to the second stage of testing for gestational diabetes. I was at 90. I asked her if that was low enough to make me feel bad- she said it was just really healthy. Call me crazy, but "really healthy" levels shouldn't require lying down in public wondering if you need to call 911.

This baby is starting to irritate me. I know I still need to pre-register at the hospital, and that either GoofyBaby or as Emma says "the baby to be named later" are not appropriate name choices, but I need my space back.

I did try to cheer myself up by buying new running shoes and a new running outfit for post-arrival. Hopefully they'll get here soon- I'll have to put the outfit away for awhile, but I can wear the shoes now. I'm proud to say as of two days ago, I could still tie my shoes by myself. Not to imply that I am actually running anywhere...

Tuesday, July 8, 2008

Sunshine Festival 5k

Well, several months ago we said we'd do this race. Heck, several weeks ago we said we'd do it. Then it got hotter, I got bigger, and the doubts kicked in...

So, my mom told her friend and fellow Disney half-runner Betsy as of the night before, we weren't going! Well, I told myself I'd wait until morning to decide...

I didn't set my alarm thinking that if I overslept, it wasn't meant to be. I woke up to a lot of light in the room and thought "huh, guess I'm too late." Then I looked at my phone and it was 6:20 a.m. Plenty of time to get to the park and register before 7:30! Before I got too over-eager, I put on my clothes. I couldn't find any BodyGlide, which was disturbing indeed, but my shirt fit! So, after deciding I was not going to have a wardrobe malfunction and nothing really hurt, I called my mother, who groaned, and left the kids with Ted, who groaned.

I walked down to my mom's house, hurried her up, and we headed to the park. We got in the line to register. My mom was laughing at the "goobers" in their running clothes, but then started laughing at herself in her WISH shirt (mine stopped fitting after the Minnie). We registered and got our T-shirts. OK, dilemma. What to do with the shirts?! So, we walked over to the Village Inn and Pub. The clerk was fine with us leaving the shirts there. I captured this shot of my mother putting on her bib in their mirror...

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We used their bathroom and headed back to the race, after a quick check in the mirror. I'm having doubts about how my mother will handle sitting in a parking lot before dawn and using a portapotty!

We stand around "stretching" and meet a nice girl from Gainesville. We talk kids, running, strollers, etc. I told my mom later that she was wearing a fairly subtle Boston shirt. I can't wait to see how she placed- she looked like she was going to be fast!

So we line up in back and entertain ourselves by scoping out our fellow runners. There's a fun game you can play- "who's going to take me?" and it's variation "who can I take?" (There's always someone who will surprise you!) I'm hoping we took the random people in jeans and khaki shorts...

The race started, after a really nice performance of the National Anthem. We hadn't really discussed race strategy, so at the last minute I said "let's start out running and see what happens" or something like that. It's a nice course- all neighborhoods, all flat. Several families came out on the course to cheer decked out in their Fourth finery- very nice touch. They also wrote in chalk on the streets- "RUN RUN RUN." Cute.

Guess how far we made it before we stopped to walk?! The first mile marker!! Seriously, if you haven't run a 5k, getting to that first mile marker is hard. We did it in around 13 minutes. We walked some, ran some the next couple of miles. We entertained ourselves by talking to every volunteer on the course- and there were a lot! My mom took to pointing to me and yelling "pregnant" and pointing to herself and yelling "old!" Yep, we were making a spectacle of ourselves. I think the WISH shirt brings out the crazy in wearers...

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Here I am in all my glory with GoofyBaby. (We took this picture close to the end, but before the people at the finish could see us walking).

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We blazed in somewhere around 43 minutes. As usual, I filled out the card thingy, got some water, looked around, and then remembered to stop my Garmin. The stupid part is that I thought of it about 10 feet before the finish line, but didn't want to hit it crossing the line. Oh yeah, because I'd hate to ruin the official photographer's picture-- as if! We ate some well deserved Oreos (well, generic Oreos), said bye to our super speedy friend, and retrieved our shirts.

Then we headed on back to home wearing our bibs, and strutting the walk of the pious 5k racer. (The walk is even better when you have a big medal!)

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That night we did the fireworks thing with some friends. Harry and Emma were hanging with their buddy, Jessica. Emma wanted to do her hair; Harry wanted her popcorn. Harry was a little concerned about the fireworks, but got into the spirit of things pretty quickly.

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Finally, the next morning we hit the beach. What you don't see in this picture is me being pummelled by waves trying to keep my camera dry (and reasonably non-gritty).

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So, as far as I can tell, that ends my official running career until post-GoofyBaby. Sure, I may waddle around the block a few more times, but the next 5ks I can find that are nearby are in September. I'm completely convinced GoofyBaby will arrive on Labor Day, so that makes the September races difficult at best. Luckily, I have my coaching job to distract me! I'm already looking up 5ks (and maybe a few longer distances) to work into my mom and Betsy's training. As soon as I get them copies of Bingham's Marathoning for Mortals and make them a calendar, I'll be ready to coach... I wonder if I need a whistle?

Wednesday, July 2, 2008

A Comment

This is Jen's daugter and I would like to say that I am offended!

Princess Emma and her supporters demand a retraction

Certain fussy members of my family have declared the pictures of Emma in the pool to be less than flattering. I'd like to point out that no one looks good in the bright South Georgia sun in a baby pool, especially when distracted from posing by trying to protect themselves from Harry's flailing, but whatever. So, here are some additional pictures of Emma...

This one is at Mullet Bay. Food's ok, but the butcher paper is brilliant. Even Harry behaved himself (except for one incident where he felt the need to chat with the people in the booth behind us, but that was entirely their fault for making eye contact.)

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In case you were curious, here is what you might look like after going on a beach walk in about 95 degree weather, having a complete hissy fit because it's hot and your children are whiny, and demanding to get out of the sun and eat immediately. It's a vision!

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(Note that I have a death grip with one hand, and a cracker to shove at Harry in the other- is that multitasking or what?)

This one is at the park down the street. What's up with the trend in bumpy slides now?! Hello, who wants to go down that?! Thank goodness Emma will do it with Harry so I don't have to squeeze in.

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So there are my updated pictures.