Week 10: The Lingering Flu

Well, my whole family got the flu and it was awful.  Everybody was sick and just needed rest.  So, we did, and now we're back on the mend.

I woke up feeling perfectly normal on Tuesday.  With the rain, I cancelled Stroller Fitness and headed to the gym where I had a great workout on the bike.  It was a little tough to start because my body was still a little fatigued from all that non-movement, but I took Eric Harr's advice and made assessments every 5 minutes.  I said, "I'm going to continue for another 5 minutes to see how I feel then."  By about the 3rd time I did that, I felt much better.  In fact, I felt strong enough to do a good upper body workout, as well.  I felt normal again.

I had decent workouts throughout the week, in part because I took advantage of going to the gym with the rain.  However, I felt fatigued earlier in the evening than normal and fought stomach cramps most of the week.

I headed to my chiropractor on Friday and while getting my adjustment, I confessed that I was having a difficult time getting rid of the flu.  He recommended drinking a LOT of water.  I started drinking and realized that I was slightly dehydrated.  Fighting sickness uses a lot of resources, and water aids in transporting nutrients to different areas of your body.  Dehydration impedes your body's ability to effectively heal.

After my adjustment, I was pretty amped for my long Saturday workout, but instead, I still felt really lethargic when I woke up.  I motivated, ate a really good breakfast, and made it about 1/3 of the way through my swim before I was kaputt.  I had a small snack and a lot of water in the locker room and tried out the treadmill.  I walked briskly for about 20 minutes and felt good, not great.  The flu just seemed to be lingering.

I drank no other beverages except water on Sunday.  The second my water bottle was empty, I refilled it.  No surprise, I woke up on Monday morning feeling great, and as of this writing, I'm still feeling great.  I think it's gone.
What Sapped My Motivation:

• Rainy and cold and no time to play outside
• Residual tummy and fatigue issues from my lingering flu

What Kept Me Going:

• Dana at my gym.  I saw her getting on the treadmill with wet hair and post-goggle eyes.  Generally, triathletes are the only ones nutty enough to finish a swim and only be halfway done with the workout.  I asked if she did triathlons.  She did.  We had an amazing conversation and she's doing Wildflower (1/2 Ironman) too!  She does one Ironman a year!  It was great to talk to somebody else working for similar goals and not be all gushy about it.  It felt good.
• Dr. Ito's quiet confidence that water and rest were the answer.  I love when following doctor's orders works.
• I worked through fatigue and sapped motivation to keep blood flowing and muscles moving.  I fought the flu with a lot of water and a heavy dose of positive thinking.  Each time I come across a potential setback, I know that my brain makes or breaks my success.

Well, it's 9 weeks away!

The Perils of Parenting

This week started out great!  I felt strong and motivated, and was prepared for a busy schedule.  I'd even resolved to going easy on training mid-week so that I could have an awesome workout on Saturday.

Well, the schedule started to fall apart on Tuesday afternoon when Marcus woke up sick.  Later that night, Alexandria woke up feeling nauseous.  She woke up every hour between 11:45 pm and 3:45 am, then again at 5:45 when she decided she wanted to get up (she was tired of being sick at night).  I took it easy and kind of went into survival mode.  I did the bare minimum to keep her on the mend and me from getting sick.

I headed out to Stroller Fitness on Thursday morning and had an amazing workout.  Two laps of power walking around the track plus plyometrics left my body feeling strong!  However, by one o'clock, I was running a fever and conked out for almost two hours.  My fever broke around 2 am, and I felt great on Friday morning.  I met a nice group of ladies on the Promenade for SF, and really enjoyed myself.  I planned a big, fun day for Saturday.

Until... I woke up today completely wasted.  My body is beat.  Clearly, I went through the ringer this week, and my body is telling me what to do.  REST!

So, today I skipped my workout and like Eric Harr recommends, I did it with gusto and without guilt.  I spent the morning clipping pictures from magazines, helping Alexandria decorate her new jewelry box from Grandma, and relaxing.

I don't have any major inspiring workouts.  Nor did I have any great accomplishments that will make me a stronger triathlete.  This week served to remind me of my first task, which is that of a mother.  My kids take precedence over all.  I do not apologize.  The world stops for them.

What Sapped My Motivation:

• Not practicing any of the skills I'll need in competition
• Sick kids
• Sick me
• Busy week

What Kept Me Going:

• "One week makes not a season"
• I ate well, slept well (when I slept), and stretched
• I had a great week at work

Shameless Plug

No, I'm not peddling products.  I'm offering you the chance to do something amazing this second.  My friend Anastasia has walked over 420 miles in the Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer 3-Day walks to support her mom.  She's incredible and motivated.  She's heading out to Atlanta to walk miles 421-480, and she needs some love.  Please consider donating!  If you or anyone you know has ever suffered from this terrible disease, please join in the fight.  Anything and everything helps.

Did I mention she's awesome?  Because if I didn't, I'll say it right now. 

Anastasia is awesome. <---link

Thank you!

Week 12: Getting To Know You (Again)

Monday:  I started out the week on my bike.  Not my road bike, but my transportation bike.  I haven't been on my bike for a long time, and it felt really good to ride again.  I forgot the pleasure of air pulsing in my ears and the road rushing beneath me.  I smiled wide the first time I rang my bike bell ("On your left!" Rrrrrring!).

I hooked the trailer up and hauled the kids down to the beach for a 9 mile ride.  Our bike trail is awesome because you're either going uphill with the wind or downhill against the wind.  While the ride proved a little challenging for me, the kids had a blast!  I suspect most of my bike training will come by pulling the kids behind me (collective weight: 80 lbs.).  When I finally hit my road bike, with any luck, I'll fly!

Friday:  Midweek was pretty mellow, so I lit the fire today.  I did a 45 minute tempo ride on the stationary bike at the gym and followed it with a challenging abs workout.  I even did a set of  explosive push-ups where I clapped when I came up!  I felt great throughout the whole workout.  I'm going to have a great dinner tonight to prep for my long workout tomorrow. 

Saturday:  Wrestled with stomach cramps last night.  Not so fun.  Woke up early today and felt good, but the tummy pains came and went.  I was going to work out in the morning, but by the time we got ready to leave, I realized I would only have about 10 minutes in the pool before the AquaRobics ladies took over.  Not worth it.  I opted for the afternoon (which is a gamble because I might talk myself into being tired).  I followed through on my committment and had an amazing swim!  I practiced my open water swimming stroke after an encouraging chat with Lexi.  I felt really strong.  I swam about 3/4 mile.  Then, I went out and ran for an hour.  Now, the cramps were en force, but I was messaged by God to persevere.  First, this lady in the locker room had a dope tatoo that read "Discipline Through Pain," and then, when I was running and contemplating whether to turn around and go home or keep at it, I saw a guy wearing a shirt that said, "Pain is temporary.  Pride is forever."  Hell yeah!  I ticked it up a notch, found my rhythm, and had a great run!

Each time I work out now, I imagine I'm racing.  If I'm swimming, I imagine I'm in the lake, swimming as strong as I feel.  If I'm on the bike, I imagine climbing one of the 5 hills of the ride.  If I'm running, I imagine that every step takes me closer to the finish line.  While training, I imagine myself undaunted, indeed strengthened, by the psychological challenges presented on the course.

One of the most important challenges of my training is that I want to include the kids, especially Alexandria. I want them on this adventure as much as possible.  I think it's important for kids to watch their parents achieve goals.  I especially want my girl to see her mom do this.  I want my kids to not just believe, but know, everything is possible with hard work.

What Sapped My Motivation:

• Tummy ache on Friday night from aforementioned huge dinner.  Totally worth it, but still, I didn't feel so great when running on Saturday.
• No chance to have good workouts on Tuesday, Wednesday, or Thursday.
• Spending a lot of energy cleaning the house on Saturday before re-motivating to leave for the gym.  I could have easily ditched.

What Kept Me Going:

• Lady in the locker room with the bad-A tatoo that read "Discipline Through Pain."  Seriously.
• While trying to stay motivated through my crampy tummy on Saturday's run, the guy wearing a shirt that said, "Pain is temporary.  Pride is forever."  With that, I decided I'd continue.
• When discussing the challenges of training within the confines of our schedules, Dave asked, "What do you need from me?"  Amazing support.  He's so proud!
• My awesome friend Lexi giving me encouragement and great advice for open-water swimming.
• People I've never met in person cheering me on!
• Talking with Alexandria about camping on race weekend.
• The excitement of doing this.

So concludes Week 12.  Eleven weeks left.

New Beginnings

So, some of you followed me through the tumult of last year. 

I'll compare last year to a fire that burned away old, dead growth.  This year, new growth is coming in.  I've started training for a triathlon again (last time I trained, I, well, nine months later there was a baby).

I'm really excited and feel really confident.  This is the healthiest I've ever been.  The past few years have toughened me up bit.  This thing is going to be a piece of cake.  Sort of.

Wildflower Olympic Distance triathlon is on May 1, 2011.  It's a 1.5k (.93 mi) swim, 40k (24.8 mi.) bike, and 10k (6.2 mi.) run.  Training for an event like this, especially when I haven't raced in a LONG time, will be both mentally and physically challenging.  I've got two kids now.  I'm trying to build a business based on fitness and health.  I write (have you checked out http://www.fitnesswithnatalie.blogspot.com/ yet?).  My time is more precious and there's less of it.

But I'm going to try.  And I'm not trying to simply finish.  I want to compete.

So, here's where I'm going to blab about how it's going.  Follow if you're interested.  Nice, motivational comments are ALWAYS welcome!

Nat

Trash

I really love my town.  Currently, the weather is acting like a tonic on my soul.  The sun is shining and I'm wearing a tank top.  IT'S JANUARY!

However, there is one thing that I don't love.  We have beautiful bike trails along the beach and the river, and sadly, there is a lot of trash.  It's upsetting.  USE A TRASHCAN! 

Can we not litter?  Can we take a bucket out and collect trash once a month to keep our community clean?  Please?  I would like this place to look better than the way I found it.  Can we make a pact to do that?

Let's make our lives pretty again.

Thank you.

Stream of Consciousness

Let me tell you some truth right now.  Writing is the radness.

My BF and I started doing this dope exercise in the morning where you write three pages longhand of whatever spills out of your head.  My ADDness loves this because my brain is filled with chatter perpetually.  I live in world of shiny things...everything catches my eye!  So, when the time to focus is NOW, I usually can't because of all the shiny, chattery things.

My newfound skill of stream of consciousness writing seems to be the answer.  Right about, oh, now, when Marcus is sleeping and Alexandria is perpetually asking for snacks and I really want to make some phonecalls or whatever, the brain chatter starts.  I begin panicking about everything that I need to get done that isn't getting done that probably won't get done.  So I do something I know I can do in the midst of the chaos and it's not what I needed to do.  The thing I needed to do is still left undone, and guess what?  It's more of the same tomorrow.  However, whenever I write down the thing that distracts me (like a trigger for a migraine), that seems to end it.  I've been able to refocus on what I need to do, and I approach the task with a clear head.

What that was right there, was stream of consciousness, but edited.  It might have included "I'm really hungry but I'm not sure what to eat.  Alexandria seems like she needs attention, but we've spent the entire morning together, and I just need some quiet.  Marcus is not sleeping.  He's squeaking.  He is, for some reason, not interested in napping these days.  I don't know why.  He napped last week, and that was heaven.  I still need lunch, but nothing sounds appealing.  I keep getting heartburn.  I feel like I'm pregnant but I'm so not pregnant.  Ever."

Writing seems to clear my head, like an eraser over a chalkboard.  The morning pages are like Harry Potter and the Pensieve.  It sort of gets pulled out of my brain.  Dorks will get it.  My peeps.  Anyway, that's part of the explosion of intensity that's happening.

If you're interested in the exercise, it's from a book called The Artist's Way by Julia Cameron, and it's amazing.  More to come, for sure.

Somebody Lit A Fire

Well, the year has started out with a bang.  Seriously.  Here's what I've thrown myself into so far.

• I'm in week 3 of The Artist's Way, and I've begun working through the epicness of last year, and years prior to that.  Suddenly, I find myself capable of completing big projects.
• I made a commitment to teach Sunday school at church.  I really love sermons, but service comes in so many ways, and I'm looking forward to learning through this experience.
• I started my own health blog (http://www.fitnesswithnatalie.blogspot.com/).  I contribute once a week.  I'm happy to be creating a way to approach health and wellness reasonably.  I also like taking on subjects that I need to learn about.
• I began writing for http://www.rosterbound.com/, a company that matches high school athletes with college recruiters.  I write for "In The Know" and so far (2 articles in), I love the challenge.  I contribute weekly.
• To get all this done, I wake up at 5:15 am.  I write from 5:15-7:30, when the kids wake up.  After that, I don't write (with the exception of right now, but even as I write, Alexandria is painting and talking to me).
• I started a Stroller Fitness class 4 days a week, from 9:30-10:20.  I love the idea of helping mothers get back in shape after having babies.  It's so important for women to nurture themselves in the midst of devoting their lives to someone else.  Providing the opportunity for women to take care of themselves brings me great satisfaction.
• I start training for an Olympic distance triathlon next week.

So that's what's going on.  Most of my workday occurs between 5:15 and 10:30.  It's a demanding schedule, but I'm more creatively satisfied than I have been in years.  I go to bed early, and wake up early.  I feel like a machine right now, but in a really good way.

I swam laps last weekend, and it's the one sport in triathlon that I don't love.  However, this time, every time I turned, I looked forward and said, "I am fierce."

I feel pretty badass these days.  Look out.

Ah, 2010

Every month, Esquire magazine picks a celebrity for their "What I've Learned" article.  The Chosen One passes along the tidbits and advice they've acquired through their own life experience.  Dave and I read it every time.  We've learned that Dr. Ruth Westheimer was trained as a sniper in the Israeli army, and she used those skills to win booty for her grandson at a carnival.  See?  It's fun.

Anyway, this year, Dave and I decided to do our own "What I've Learned" (because Esquire will never ask us).  We chose to limit the experieces to 2010 only.  Here's my list.

• I wear my heart on my sleeve, and sometimes it's not a good thing.  Sometimes I let my emotions make decisions that my head would be vehemently opposed to.
• I wear my heart on my sleeve, and sometimes it's an asset.  When I'm passionate about something, I try to get as many people as I can to adopt the same passion.  Usually, it's for good.
• I'm okay with raunchy humor.
• I like to sing in front of an audience, and I'm confident that I sing well.
• Every morning I wake up, it's a gift.
• I cannot comprehend a love greater than what I wake up to every morning.
• I am not afraid of long road trips with my kids.
• I'm a lot stronger than I ever gave myself credit for being.
• Everybody needs a good therapist.
• I'm on the computer too much.
• Bathtime is my least favorite time with my kids.
• I like hot summers.
• When dressed properly, I love snow.
• I will say "vagina" if it'll get a laugh.
• You can't dream big and stay modest at the same time.
• I am a successful person.  I have a strong, loving marriage and great relationships with my kids.  I love my family.  I have amazing friends.  Voila!  Success!
• I don't let the weather determine my mood.  It's cold and rainy.  Get on with it.
• I hate listening to rich people complain about anything other than health problems.

So, that's it.  There's probably more, but for now, that'll do.  Happy New Year, everybody.

Day 5: Your Budding Mathmetician

Algebra in preschool?!?  I could barely do it in high school, and...what?  Oh.  Not the same thing.  Oh it is the same thing?  Ah.  Beginning.  Right, building a foundation before we build the house.  Yes, yes.  I remember.

Math is beautiful.  Math is fun.  Math is challenging.  Math is everywhere.  Let's get our kids more comfortable with the basic concepts so they'll have a solid foundation as they move into upper grades.  Let's work with them, help them understand difficult concepts, and let them feel the joy of the "Aha!" moment.  Let's close the gap between where our nation is in the world, and where we should be be.  The following toys have been designed to help children better understand algebraic and geometric concepts.  Bonus: they won't know they're learning.  Shazzam!



Tangram Puzzles

These puzzles strengthen a child's understanding of matching, shapes, colors, and spacial relations.  With an adult's help, they can also learn to identify the shapes by their proper geometrical name.

Abacus

Both aesthetically pleasing and practical, an abacus teaches the basic concepts of counting, addition, and subtraction.  Numerous publications are also available to learn the many uses of the Chinese abacus, the first calculator.

Dominoes

Teach your kids to play a little game of bones!  Fortunately, dominoes is a game they will simply not outgrow.  As a beginner, they can simply match the dots.  Some sets, like the set listed above, color codes the dots, as well, making the game a bit more accessable to preschoolers.  As the child gets older, they can play dominoes "for realsies" by incorporating strategy and logic into their play.

Lacing Beads

Lacing beads are an amazing toy for children.  They can understand the geometric concepts of pattern recognition while incorporating the algebraic concepts of addition and multiplication.  As a bonus, your child develops her hand-eye coordination while expressing her creativity.  Finally, she'll experience the enjoyment of quiet, independent play.  She can work on this activity at the kitchen table, and she probably won't need any help.  It's self-directed.  Lacing beads are a GREAT toy!

Wedge Blocks  Colored Blocks  Zen Blocks

Understanding the basic concepts of spacial relationships, counting, and matching are key mathmatic concepts. Blocks can help children achieve those goals. The possibilites with blocks are endless! In addition to the mathmatic concepts they'll be learning, they'll also be introduced to concepts in physics like balance (when the structure inevitably falls) and velocity (when they throw them).  They'll also develop fine motor skills.

The epidemic of our anemic performance in mathmatics as our children grow must change.  Interactive toys like these provide a sound foundation for children's learning, but we must continue to encourage our children's engagement in these concepts.  Let's make math cool.  Remember that we don't need to "purchase" items for our kids to experience math on a daily basis.  They can count out 9 pretzels for a snack, they can help bake cookies by measuring and adding ingredients.  They can put toys away based on their age (if you're 4, you can put away 4 toys).  They can figure out how to fit all of their toys in one box.  They can make neclaces from tube pasta.  By introducing them to everyday interactions with math, we'll encourage problem solving through creative thinking.  They'll see that sometimes it's frustrating, but the moment they solve the problem, when they say, "Aha!", makes the challenge more exciting.  As parents, family, and friends, we are obliged to give our children every opportunity for success.  We can do this.