Austin weekendIn keeping with a family tradition, Kevin and I rode in the Tour de Gruene recreational bike tour on November 5. It was our 4th straight year to ride and it's a great course. Last year we were leaving a 3 month old with my parents, so watching a 15 month old was a different experience. Mimi and Grandpa enjoyed their day with Daniel. He was fun last year but so much more interactive this year. He had fun walking all around their big back yard and loved playing on the playground across the street. And then to cap off a good day, he ate well and then napped for 3 hours that afternoon. They had a great day together.
In the meantime, Kevin and I met up with our friends Crystal and Carlos Lopez. Crystal and I met our sophomore year of college and have been friends ever since, even as our post-college lives have taken us to different cities. It was fun to catch up while logging some miles, even if the cold morning made for a rather uncomfortable ride. After the ride Kevin and I went to Wurstfest for some food, beer, and polka music.
The next day was "fall back" Sunday and my 33rd birthday, and also the two year anniversary of the day I learned I would be a mom. The thing about the daylight savings fall back is, that used to be like a minor holiday in my pre-baby life, the gift of an extra hour's sleep. I actually remember the fall of 2006 when we were working a crazy 7 days a week start at 6 am shift and how cheated I felt on my way in to work that day when I realized I had forgotten to "fall back" the hour. But now with a toddler, fall back day isn't a holiday so much as a hassle. This year we had planned to get on the road back to Dallas just in time for his afternoon nap. Alas, we failed to account for the extra hour and he was overtired and cranky so he cried much of the way back till I moved to the backseat to entertain him. It was the longest birthday of my life, and on a car trip with a cranky toddler, it felt like it. But all in all it was a nice weekend.
15-month checkup
The next morning Daniel had his 15 month checkup. While he's still on the smaller side of the growth chart for his age, he seems to be a healthy size for him, and he's right on track developmentally. He walks quite well and has several words (some real, some not): mama, dada, um (said with the cutest smile), yes, baba, nana, vava, and his first word, cat. Cat is funny because he always says it in a very high voice...no idea why!
Our homework in the coming months is to wean Daniel from bottle-feeding. He only takes one a day anyway, before his afternoon nap, so it's not as though he's carting one around all day, but he drinks well from a sippy cup so we'll try to transition him to that.
Run, Mommy, run!
Last weekend I ran my first 10k race, the Salute American Heroes 10k in The Colony, a northern suburb of Dallas. I'm training for the White Rock Half-Marathon in December so this was just a training race for me, but also my first stand-alone running race (e.g., not part of a triathlon). My goal was primarily to use this as a dry run for race day and try out my fueling, pre-race, and race strategy. I run 6 miles a few times a week in my training, but doing it in a race setting feels different.
One of the things I wanted to practice was running my own race and not getting sucked into someone else's pace or preparations. This was a good way to practice that. Beforehand most people were stretching and running warm-up laps. Not a bad thing, but not part of my normal routine. This may sound heretical, but to be honest, I don't stretch before I run. It would have been easy that day to follow everyone else and do it, but I decided to play it like I practiced and just go out cold like I normally do. So I sat in the car, relaxing, reading the news on my phone, and staying warm. And once the race started, I kept a close eye on my watch the first few minutes to make sure I didn't ride the adrenaline rush of the crowd to a too-hot start that would burn me out. My goal beforehand was to finish in less than an hour, so my time of 55:29 definitely made me happy.
Today I ran my longest run of the training program to date, and the longest run I've ever done: 10 miles. I deliberately kept an easy pace and didn't push it, and at the end I felt great and like I had more miles in me, even though I was pushing a stroller the whole time. Looking forward to race day...running a half-marathon has been a goal for several years, so I'm excited to finally do it!
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