Half Marathon

So, I ran my first half marathon in Spanish Fork on Saturday and it was grueling. I started off feeling good, but at mile eight, I felt my body start to tingle all over and by mile nine my legs hurt all over. My hips hurt, my knees hurt, my ankles hurt, and all the muscles in between. I admit that I'm starting to think about a marathon, but I was in so much pain when I finished that I don't know how I could run thirteen more miles.

I also learned a few things that I'm anxious to apply the next time I run a half marathon. I have this thing where I like to do something hard more than once so that I can benefit from the experience I've gained and give it another go since I never seem to get it quite right the first time. (The rest of this post is mostly for my benefit, so don't feel like you have to read this if you're not into running.)

Lesson 1: Don't start out too fast. I used to believe that I wasn't competitive because when I first started running, I couldn't really compete. But I'm more competitive than I'd like to think (not that I'm winning any races these days either). On Saturday, I started out with an 8 m. 15 s./mile pace and by mile nine, I didn't have anything left and I had slowed to a 9 min. pace. Everyone I had passed by mile five started passing me and it was discouraging. Plus my legs hurt all over, adding to my discouragement.

Next time, I will start out at a slower than normal pace, so that I can finish feeling strong and I can pass some people instead of being passed myself.

Lesson 2: Wear my Amphipod belt. I have a belt with water bottles and a pouch for food or other small items that I always wear on my longer runs so that I can stay hydrated. For the most part, I really like it, but it does feel heavy and sloshy at the beginning and I thought that going without the belt in the race would be like shaving all my body hair off just before a swimming competition. But I've decided, that it's better to have the liquid I want when I need it, and it's better to start off feeling slow and heavy and end feeling lighter and faster. For the most part, the water stations worked out okay for me, but sometimes the Gatorade was too watery.

Lesson 3: Bring a jacket for after the race. For the most part, the weather was great, and I didn't actually need a jacket, but I can see how I might feel cold if the weather had been just a bit cooler. Without my belt or my jacket, I felt a little unprepared and I think it affected me mentally.

Once I finished my half marathon, I thought I would feel a sense of accomplishment, but instead I've actually felt pretty discouraged the last few days. My legs ached all the rest of Saturday. I probably should have taken some anti-inflammatory pain killers and I know I shouldn't have spent the rest of the day on my feet running errands. Sunday I woke up with sore muscles and that actually felt better. In addition to the pain, I think I have felt woefully aware of my status as an amateur. I like to read books about gardening, quilting, child behavior, etc. but I have no interest in running books. I guess I'm too independent to learn from others, but after my race, I felt extremely ignorant about running something as long as a half marathon. So if anyone knows of a book they like, I'd love to hear about it.

I think I'm also coming to grips with the fact that no matter how well I do, there will always be someone faster or stronger than me. I don't know why this bugs me right now because it's always been this way for me. When I started running in high school, I couldn't even run a mile without walking and still Coach put me with the Cross Country team. But then running a full two miles without walking or knocking a minute off my time became a huge accomplishment for me. Some how, I've got to get back to that mind set, where I'm only racing against myself.

I should also mention how grateful I am to my sister Erica for showing up at the finish line to cheer me on. After such a tough race, I was hoping that someone I knew would be there to see me finish. So when I heard Erica scream out my name at the top of her lungs, I couldn't help but smile and feel encouraged. In fact, I almost wanted to cry when I saw and heard her. Dan tried to make it there to see me finish, but both he and Anna overslept and so he was still in Provo when I crossed the finish line.

Nursery

Anna went to nursery for the first time on Sunday. She walked right in a didn't look back. About half way through, she had a dirty diaper, so I had a good excuse to see how she was doing. I wondered if she might freak out when I took her back to nursery since this time she would know that I was leaving her, but she didn't. I know I should be relieved that it was so easy (at least for this first Sunday), but I'm sort of disappointed that she didn't miss me more. I guess I was secretly hoping to spend a few weeks in nursery while she adjusted and maybe I still will. I certainly don't want to jinx myself. It just feels like she's growing up so fast and there's a part of me that doesn't want her to.

Here are a few other things we've been up to in the last week.

We had a family picnic in Provo Canyon on Friday and Anna loved the Oreos and all the attention. By the end of the evening she would plop down in someone's lap and then almost immediately get up and move to another lap. This kid is constantly on the go. Lucky for me she still takes two naps (most of the time).
Yes, I do believe in child labor and teaching my child how to work at an early age. I saw this idea on a website, to make my swiffer handle shorter and Anna loves it. She doesn't really get the floor clean, but I'd much rather have her doing this than pulling my makeup out of my bathroom drawer or playing with matches like she was today. A few days ago, she brought me a tampon. I guess those safety latches on the cabinets don't work if I don't shut the cabinet.
This kid loves fruit and especially watermelon, even the rind. On our picnic, she kept trying to bite the rind. I figure she'll eventually realize that the rind doesn't taste half as good as the pink stuff. She would eat only fruit if I would let her, but I continue to torture her by giving her other foods to eat. She's great at eating pinto or black beans and pasta with tomato sauce, but she will not allow me to put cauliflower or broccoli on her tray. As soon as I set in on her tray, she picks it up and hands it to me or throws it. Little does she know that I puree the stuff and hide it in the tomato sauce. Bwa ha ha!

Approved!

It took me much longer than I hoped, but our adoption application is finally approved. Feel free to check out our online profile at www.itsaboutlove.org. The Church has recently revamped this website and there are lots of great resources for women who find themselves in a crisis pregnancy or couples considering adoption, as well as friends and family who want to support adoption.

If you want to see our profile or point someone to our profile, go to this link: https://www.itsaboutlove.org/ial/search.jsf and then search for Dan and Alisa.

Approximately 750,000 teenage girls (15-19) become pregnant each year.* And this figure doesn't include women outside of this age range who also find themselves in crisis pregnancies. We don't need more crisis pregnancies, we just need our society to think more positively about adoption and to recognize it as a positive third option to choosing to abort or choosing to parent.

If you know a young woman in a crisis pregnancy, let her know first of all that you love her and will support her whatever decision she makes. If you share a relationship of trust with her, you might consider letting her know about adoption or about our profile. And you never know when your positive attitude (or negative) about adoption might influence someone who is in a position to choose to place.

We appreciate all of you who hope and pray for us.

*statistics come from a report prepared by the Guttmacher Institute in Sept. 2006.

Lounging and Swimming

This isn't a very flattering photo of me (I know I'm stating the obvious), but I post it because of what Anna is doing. I had just finished running 12.5 miles (I'm training for a half marathon on Sept. 5) and while I was stretching, Anna decided to use my legs as a chair. And because I'm crazy in love with my child (most of the time), instead of making her get up, I told Dan to get the camera. AND I let him take a picture of me in all my sweatiness.
So, it's the end of the summer and I finally got Anna some floaties, water wings, arm bands, or whatever you want to call them. We took a Mommy and Me swim class in April and I've been trying to keep up our skills all summer. Anna's great about sitting on the side and leaning in to be caught and dunked by me. She's also pretty good about kicking her legs when I tell her to. But she has no idea how to do anything that resembles swimming and she's not content to float in her inflatable ring. She wants me to carry her around the pool wherever she directs and usually that is into the middle of a bunch of splashing kids. Then one day while we were at the pool, I learned from a friend that they have floaties for kids Anna's age.

Of course, it's the end of the season so I had to get a pair that Anna will grow into. I figure she's still small enough that I've got to keep an eye on her constantly anyway, so it's okay if they're a little big. She's pretty cute to watch because she doesn't understand the concept of floating on her tummy and dog paddling. Instead she keeps her body perpendicular to the pool floor and kicks madly to keep her chin and mouth out of the water. The kicking usually causes her to spin in circles, making it hard for me to get a photo of her facing forward. But most importantly, she has more fun in the floaties, she works harder, and she takes longer naps when we get home form the pool.

July and August Update

Geez, it has been a long time since I posted here. For the past month I have been working hard to finish our adoption application and I'm finally getting to the point where I have to wait for feedback before I can do anymore. I hope we'll be approved in the next few weeks.

Over the past month, Anna has started talking and signing more. I sort of gave up on sign language when she didn't seem to show any interest in it at nine months but then she started to actually do some of the signs a month or two ago. Of course many of the signs look the same. "More" and "shoes" look a lot alike, but if she really focuses, she can say "mo" and she usually only says "shoes" when we ask her to. Learning to sign "cracker" also helped her figure out where her elbow is, but most of the time she still likes to stand at the open pantry door, point to the top shelf, and cry rather than pat her elbow or say "cacka." Other favorite words include no, ball, purple, baseball, touch down (you can probably guess who has been teaching her those last two words), and "thank you." She can also make the sign for thank you and it looks like she's blowing a kiss, which I think is just too cute for words. Her first true word was probably "mom" and that's still what she calls both Dan and I. She can say "Da da" but if I point to a photo of Dan and ask who that is she says "Mom!" Ball was her second real word. It took me a long time to figure out that that's what she was saying at the pool. But she wanted the other kids' balls enough that she finally got the message across to me. She will also frequently pick up just about everything from the TV remote to a calculator to my cell phone, hold it up to her ear, say "hello" and then continue to babble. Of course, I think it's adorable, but I'm not biased or anything.

Here are some photos from the last month.

We finally went on a picnic up Provo Canyon. Anna loved the idea of sitting on a blanket and eating Pringles. Recently she's learned how to pull herself up onto a chair and a few times, she's made it on top of the table. So she's not to keen about sitting in her high chair when she could be dancing on a chair. But sitting on the ground outside and eating, now that was right up her alley.
Anna's also been working on going down the slide by herself.

We've been spending some time coloring, but I have to admit that several crayons have teeth marks in them. My pediatrician warned me that she would try to eat them, but she's so dang fast! I turn away for a minute and she's got a big hunk of purple crayon in her mouth.
Our ward went to see an Orem Owlz baseball game and Anna discovered root beer. I'm learning that if I don't want her to eat junk food, then I can't eat junk food, but despite my best intentions, I continue to be a bad example. She couldn't get enough of my root beer and eventually I had to hide it from her, because she was turning into a sticky mess.
This stream was ice cold, but Anna didn't care and my mom was nice enough to help Anna dip her toes in the stream. I'm glad grandma was there because I probably would have tried to prevent her from getting close to the stream and then it would have been a big kicking and screaming mess.

Independence Day

On the Fourth of July, I got an early start to my day participating in the Freedom Festival 10K with a few ladies from my ward, while my sister Katie and her husband Jack ran in the 5K. It's nice to go to races with friends these days. In the past I felt like such a loner. It was my first 10K and I felt pretty sore the next day, but all in all, I was pretty happy with the race, averaging 8 min./mile.

We decided to take a dip in the neighborhood pool. Anna loves leaning off the side even though we dunk her every time. Those swim lessons we took in April are paying off.

Ooh! Cheetos! This was the highlight of Independence Day: her Aunt Katie brought Cheetos to our family picnic and let her eat some. By the end of the evening I had Cheetos fingerprints all over me.

This was Anna's first time watching fireworks. We can see the fireworks from our front yard, so last year we put Anna to sleep and brought the baby monitor outside. This year, Anna wasn't about to miss the party, but when the fireworks started to go off, she started to whimper and tried to bury her head in my chest. Even though I am mostly selfish and didn't want to miss the fireworks, I eventually took pity on her and took her inside. But as soon as Anna realized that everyone else was still outside watching the fireworks, she pointed at the front door and whined. So we went back outside and she nestled herself between my legs. She was pretty rigid and tense and as soon as the fireworks ended she sat up and started to look for the Cheetos again.

Bathtime and Bedtime

Look at this kid, flossing her six teeth and at such a young age. Actually, I think she just figured out that the floss tastes minty and is trying to lick all the wax off.

Another not so great thing that Anna is doing these days is peeing in the bath water. I'm sure she's been relieving herself in the water from the beginning, but I never had to see it before. Ever since she started walking, she likes to stand up in the tub when I first put her in. As soon as her feet hit that warm water, she pees. It's just a little disheartening to see, but I'm getting used to it.

Lately, our nap time routine has changed a bit. Up until about a month ago, every time I put Anna to sleep, first we would rock in the rocking chair and I would sing her lullabies to calm her. Recently she decided she wanted me to read her books instead. Her favorite books are Counting Kisses by Karen Katz and Ten Little Fingers and Ten Little Toes by Mem Fox. I can almost recite both books, but they are teaching her her body parts. Already she anticipates the kisses on the nose and points to her nose.

Just this past week she started saying "hi." Now she likes to walk around the house saying "hi." I guess that's how she does things. Several months ago she walked around the house saying, "Mom?" and then for a few weeks it was "huh?"