The Little Jobber

I just don’t know what to say about this. I plan to shield young Conal from the likes of this video, lest he think that high heels and shrunken satin are the way to go.

*This post is part of the Runners Lounge Take it and Run Thursdays series.

I have a love/hate relationship with running in the heat. My other relationships are more straightforward: It’s all love/love with running in the cool, the crisp and the warm; same for running hills. And races? Monster crush.

On the other hand, it is hate/hate with running in the cold and the rainy.

But this post is about running in the heat for Runners Lounge TIART. So, what about the heat? For me, since I hate running in the cold, the heat is preferable. My muscles warm up easily so I can get into the groove of a run quicker than I can on cooler days. And once you get used to running in the heat, it isn’t as bad as you might think. But problems can arise if you are not prepared for the heat. I learned this the hard way back when I was a novice (read: pretty dumb) runner in the mid-1990s.

I was living in the Big Apple and had recently started running again after not doing much of anything physical since college. A co-worker talked me into running in the Corporate Challenge. As it happened, the race took place in the middle of the summer on the hottest evening ever. Being NYC and all, there were a million runners in the race and all the body heat raised the temperature on the race route a good, I don’t know, let’s say 30-40 degrees. So, not only was it the hottest evening ever, but the race route was on fire!

And, I was a novice. I ran and ran and tried to pass people I thought I should run faster than and I didn’t take water at the water stops — I just kept running until I started to get the chills right before the third mile. Feeling a little funky, I kept on running, figuring it was just that I was pushing hard. I was a speed demon! And then I looked at my arms and they were covered in goose-bumps. But I pushed on — I was flying! And then the chills got worse. Soon enough, I didn’t think I could really feel my legs.

I gave in and started to walk. I walked until I could see the finish line and then I ran again, so I wouldn’t feel like a complete jerk for not being able to run the 3.5 mile race. Once across the line, I booked it toward the refreshments and sucked down water and, if I remember correctly, some oranges.

While the worst of the bad feelings passed fairly quickly after re-hydrating, I felt awful for the rest of the night and still felt off the next morning. Looking back, I think I felt so bad because I realized just how stupid I had been for a) obviously not training enough for the race, b) running beyond my abilities and c) not respecting the heat.

OK, so what have I learned about running in the heat and humidity? A few things:

1. Don’t run a race that you aren’t prepared for. That’s probably not a good idea in any conditions but it is definitely something not to do on hot days.
2. Don’t let your loose muscles lure you into running too fast — whether you are on a training run, in a race or just out for some easy miles.
3. Respect the heat! Sure, you can go out for a run in warm weather and feel great and start to motor. But, the heat will get you if you run too hard, too fast and without properly hydrating. That’s not to say you shouldn’t run fast in the heat; you should go for it if you’ve trained for it. Just don’t run outside your abilities. Take it from someone who has done just that and suffered the consequences.
4. Wicking works! Invest in clothing that wicks moisture away from your body and steer clear of cottons.

If I hadn’t had the bad race experience, my relationship with running in the heat would probably be love/love. But, that memory remains. Hopefully, I never forget it or the lessons learned.

Conal’s been climbing up the stairs for what seems like ages. This morning, he climbed down. He actually learned how to do this on our neighbor’s deck this past weekend but this morning was the first time he climbed down on our stairs.

And that is just about all the excitement I have to report. I’m a busy mama today with an actual writing assignment (!) to do. So, I should probably spend Conal’s nap time working, rather than updating my blog!

I’ll leave you with a little peek-a-boo:

Yesterday, Bridget and Janis took me out for lunch to celebrate my upcoming birthday. We were joined by our kids and, let me tell you, Conal had a blast. Maddie and Ava are about two years older than Conal and they are both very sweet and gentle with him.

In fact, the girls had no problem indulging their moms when they suggested giving Conal a kiss:

And holding his hand:

The girls even took to scratching Conal’s back for a bit:

Yup! Conal just loves the attention — especially from the cute little ladies!

An almost one-year-old doesn’t look at your just planted pansies and think, “My beloved mother spent an hour carefully planting these delicate flowers in the ground, therefore, I should not step on them as I awkwardly try to grasp the innermost leaves of the hosta. Moreover, I should not move my foot in a grinding motion, thereby mashing the flowers and tearing the petals from their stems.” No. You might, for some reason, believe that an almost one-year-old — especially an almost one-year-old boy — would think with such logic.

Unfortunately, what I learned today would prove you quite wrong. See, I learned that these almost one-year-olds do not look at the pretty little pansies that happen to be planted right where they need to step and think anything at all. Anything, that is, other than, “Let me get at that hosta. I need to pull the leaves of that hosta!” So, telling them not to step on the pansies doesn’t work. First, they don’t know what pansies are, so you should use a different word. Second, they are determined to get at those hosta leaves and all of your chattering about not stepping on the pansies is just noise. Noise to be tuned out. Don’t bother repeating yourself. It is still just noise.

So, that’s a little something I learned today and in the spirit of motherhood, I’m passing the lesson along.

Everyone should enjoy a nice sunny window as much as Chili does:

I am reading Diaper-Free Before 3 by Dr. Jill Lekovic, a book about how to get your kid out of diapers earlier than you would using the readiness theory. The idea is that you introduce “the potty” between 9 and 15 months and after the child becomes comfortable with it, you begin practicing. The author claims that by introducing the potty before the child enters the stubborn stage, you can make the potty part of the routine and the child will start to expect to use it. She also talks about how disposable diapers make toilet training tougher (because the child doesn’t feel the wetness) so she recommends cotton training pants once the child starts understanding how to use the potty.

The concepts make sense to me so I’ve started introducing the potty to Conal. It is very low-key right now; I just sit him on it in the morning, after lunch and before bed. So far, so good. In fact, on Thursday, he actually peed in the potty. Granted, he didn’t know he was doing it, but still! He was interested in the result. He checked it out, watched me pour it in the toilet and then helped pull the handle for the flush. He thought that was pretty darn funny.

So, maybe we’re on our way. Since I use cloth diapers now anyway, I’m hoping that will help with the whole process. We’ll see. I know it will be long and probably yucky. I just want to make sure it is as stress-free as possible and if starting early helps with that, then I’m all for trying it out!

I found Runners Lounge a few weeks ago and, after reading several of the Take it and Run Thursday posts, I have decided to take it and run (thus the TIART in the title).

So, this week’s topic is cross training. For runners, obviously. Let me just say that I’m a lousy cross trainer. For me, it’s all about the time. I don’t have enough time to run as often as I’d like, never mind try to fit in some cross training. Plus, I love to run so when I exercise that’s what I want to do.

When I was pregnant, however, it was a much different story. I didn’t run. I don’t know — I just didn’t feel right running. I know that it is perfectly fine to run while pregnant, provided everything is going well, and I look at pregnant runners and I’m impressed and happy that they are still out there. For me, taking the time off was the right thing to do. And, it was the perfect opportunity to cross train. I walked, practiced yoga, did low-impact aerobics, stretched and strengthened all those muscles I needed for giving birth. It was wonderful.

The yoga and stretching helped me to regain some of the flexibility I had lost over the years. The walking made me appreciate my neighborhood and provided me with plenty of alone time to think about what I was getting into with the whole pregnancy thing. It also prepared me for the many walks to come after Conal was born. Which makes me think that I am doing some cross training: I walk with Conal several times a week. Huh!

Anyway, the pregnancy cross training. I worked out with light weights to tone up my arms and did enough plies to prepare me for Swan Lake. I followed along with the ExerciseTV stars through sun salutations, leg lifts and more grapevine steps than I care to admit to. All of the exercise that I did helped keep my pregnancy weight gain in check and made my eventual return to running much easier. In fact, I started running again 3 weeks after giving birth and felt terrific. My first post-baby 5K time was the same as pre-baby. And since I’m not getting any younger, that was quite an accomplishment!

I guess that, for me, cross training isn’t a regular priority but I do see its benefits. When I can’t run, sure, other exercise options seem worthwhile. But, when I can run, I run. It works for now and until that changes, I’ll just keep running.

In some ways, I almost wish I could make this much of a mess when I eat lunch.

I’m going to come right out and say that I don’t understand what makes cat food so attractive. It’s brown. And kibble-y. It doesn’t look like any fun food that I know.

And yet, Toddler, you are drawn to it. If the pantry doors are somehow left open, you will sense this and crawl with all your might and speed over to the cat dish and, without a pause, scoop up a handful of cat food and shove it in your mouth. It doesn’t seem to matter that — every time — as soon as I hear or see what you have done I rush over and sweep my finger through your mouth to pull out the offending food. Nor does it matter that I tell you that kitty food is yucky. Blech, blech. Not for kids. No, you don’t care. You want to eat it.

So, we keep the pantry doors closed, most of the time. And now we have a lock so you can’t pry the doors open. Usually, this works.

Today, though. I’m not sure how to guard against this.

Um, it is one thing to eat new cat food. The kind in the dish that the cat just hasn’t gotten around to eating. It is another thing entirely to eat the cat food that has been eaten and puked-up. I know, you’ve seen Chili do it a hundred times. And, I know, I should clean it up right away. Well, here’s the thing. Sometimes the cats puke and I don’t know it. Maybe it happened before anyone woke up in the morning. Or, I was doing something upstairs and didn’t hear it. The fact remains, if I don’t know that they’ve puked, I can’t clean it up right away.

So, today. You found a little pile of (oldish and dry, thankfully) regurgitated cat food. You picked up a piece and put it in your mouth. Then you crawled right over to me and started to chew. Knowing that I hadn’t yet given you breakfast, I had an idea that you were eating something that was probably not good. So, sweep, sweep, and there it was. A kibble. Or a bit. Whatever, it was cat food. And the pantry doors were still locked.

At first, Toddler, I thought you had just found a stray piece. But, no, you led me right to the pile and tried, again, to put some in your mouth.

Yeah. That was gross.

So, here’s what we’ll do. I’m going to go on high-alert and scan all areas for cat mishaps pretty much any time I am anywhere in the house. You’ll have to do your part, too. You are going to stop putting any random thing that you find on the floor — including the cat food, lint, old Cheerios, all of that — in your mouth. I know you can do it, Toddler. I’ll be right here supporting you, Dustbuster in hand.