Welcome to the family
Posted: June 12, 2013 Filed under: Running/Exercise | Tags: Brooks, InStep, Jog Stroller, Kinvara, Saucony Leave a comment »I’m a person who’s motivated by rewards. Take a look at my new reward…
Saucony Kinvara 3
Ooo, pretty! Last month I ran the Capitol Hill Classic 10K–my first race since welcoming my little one into the world this past December. I promised myself a reward for running 6 miles before she turned 6 months. Welcome to my world Saucony Kinvara 3. I’d been drooling over them and was super surprised when they arrived in the mail one day. Hubs…He even ordered the right size (I always get my running shoes a size larger).
It was time to retire my Brooks Ravenna 3. Oh the miles they’ve seen. I love my Brooks running shoes. In fact, until I tried Brooks, I never thought a shoe could make much of a difference in my running. A pair of Ravenna’s, two Adrenaline’s and a Ghost later, still loving Brooks running shoes. There will certainly be more Brooks in my future.
Still, I’d heard so many good things about Kinvara that I was really wanted to try them. I’ve strayed from Brooks before. I tried a pair of well-reviewed Nike’s and New Balance shoes in the past, but for me, they weren’t anything to rave about. I’m super excited to get out and road test my new Kinvara’s.
I’ll be road testing something else on my next run, too.
Folks have asked how I’ve managed to go this long without a jog stroller. Truthfully, I don’t know. I typically avoid running during the cold months, so it wasn’t an issue during the winter months. While training for the Capitol Hill Classic, I squeezed in runs here and there–early mornings, late evenings, quick intervals with the walking stroller. I managed, but it wasn’t ideal by any means.
I picked this one up used for a steal. An InStep Safari jog stroller with a swivel front wheel. It has an adjustable handle, foot break, and pocket and basket storage. The canopy has a plastic widow that’s great for sneak peaks but can be covered to keep little ones safe from the sun. The canopy can also be pulled back. The seat is also adjustable and can recline for sleepy little ones (perfect for my little one who can’t seem to keep her eyes open any length of time in a stroller…It’s just so soothing!). I laundered some of the material and wiped the rest down with wipes. Hubs made sure the tires had enough air. Other than a little fading on the canvas, it’s in great shape. Can’t wait to use it.
Race Recap
Posted: May 28, 2013 Filed under: Running/Exercise | Tags: Capitol Hill Classic, running 1 Comment »Feeling pretty great. Ran the 34th Capitol Hill Classic last Sunday. That would be 6.2 miles before my little one turns six months old. So yeah, I’m feeling pretty great.
Race day was a gray and misty. The race was supposed to kick off at 8:30 am, but the line for packet pick-up rounded the block so race directors delayed the start slightly. Once the race got underway, I was feeling great. This was my first race since having my little one in December, and frankly, I was a little nervous. I didn’t get out to train as much as I normally would before a race. I’m still learning how to fit running into my new mommy schedule. I try hard to make it a priority, but sometimes life (or laundry, or dishes, or vacuuming…excuses, I know!) happen. Despite not running as often as I would have liked leading up to the race, I was still feeling pretty confident that I could cross the finish line not far off my average pace.
How’d I do? Finished in 1:03:20. 1,720 out of 2,365 runners overall, and 776 female out of 1,289. That put me at or about 10 minutes per mile.
So, what really made this a great race? I enjoyed my sister’s company along the way–and it took very little convincing to get her to race which leads me to believe there’s a runner in there somewhere. And for the first time, I got to greet my baby girl at the finish line. That smile always makes my day.
Can’t wait to run it again next year.
Bedroom Lovin
Posted: April 17, 2013 Filed under: Home Renovation | Tags: hardwood floors, master bedroom Leave a comment »Hubs and I have been showing our master bedroom some lovin. We have a terrific master bedroom. It’s spacious and gets tons of morning light.
Earlier this month, we started laying hardwood floor upstairs. New flooring is a project we’ve been wanting to do since we moved in to our little house in the country. But when your house needs updating/renovating from top to bottom, you have to prioritize. It’s finally time for us to show our upstairs some lovin and I’m so excited we started in the master bedroom.
We started by tearing up the existing laminate. You can read more about that here. Before we started laying the new floor, we took time to freshen the ceiling paint, and select new a paint color for the walls. We chose Behr Soft Taupe–a warm brown/gray color. We only painted the top portion of the walls because we’ve decided to do wainscoting on the bottom half. Those of you who follow my blog know that plaster walls in our house have a textured skim coat. The skim coat is damaged in several places in the master bedroom so rather than hire a professional to fix the patches, we’re going to cover it up.
We also decided to make a few changes to our bed. To lay the new flooring, we had to take our bed apart and move it out of the way. Our bed was designed to sit higher than the average. I even had little stairs to climb up in to it. When we put it back together, we decided not to use the box spring. Instead hubs screwed a platform to the bed slats for the mattress to sit on. It’s looks totally great. Our headboard is beautiful and you can see so much more of it now that the mattress doesn’t sit so high.
We’re still a long way from done in our master bedroom, but it’s wonderful to see we’re making progress. In addition to the wainscoting, we’ll be adding moldings and trim, new closet doors, and drapery. At some point, a few new pieces of furniture will complete the room. Until then…
Joy
Posted: April 16, 2013 Filed under: Day-to-Day | Tags: Baby Leave a comment »Hearing my daughter’s little baby laugh is the closest I’ve ever come to pure joy in my life.
Slow going
Posted: April 15, 2013 Filed under: Day-to-Day | Tags: running Leave a comment »With my first 10K of the season coming in May, I’m feeling pressure to get my running mileage up. But, it’s slow going. Things (and by “things,” I mean my body) are still not back to the way they were before baby. I ran regularly until the second trimester of my pregnancy, then off and on as it was comfortable for the next three months. I didn’t run at all the last trimester, but the weather was turning cold and I typically slow done then anyway. Now that spring has finally decided to show itself I’m back at it, but my body feels different. Five more weeks to find my new normal. I’m slow, my breathing labored, my legs like cinder blocks, but I LOVE every minute of it.
Recent runs:
April 6, 2.23 mi., 22:03
April 9, 2.25 mi., 23:01
April 11, 1.77 mi., 24:13 (my first stroller run!)
April 13, 3.71 mi., 38:30
Sayonara
Posted: April 3, 2013 Filed under: Home Renovation | Tags: flooring, hardwood, master bedroom 1 Comment »Yes, I did have to look up how to spell SAYONARA. This is a very exciting post for me. Hubs and I have been renovating our little house in the country, well, since we moved in over two years ago. We had to take a little break from our progress while I was pregnant. But now that our little bundle of joy is here, we’re refocusing on our home. First up…hardwood flooring for upstairs! I’m so excited!
Our bedrooms, several closets and two bathrooms are located on our upper level. With the exception of our bathrooms and master bedroom, the upstairs has been without flooring essentially since we moved in. The smaller bedrooms had carpet that reeked of dog urine. No amount of cleaning was going to get the smell out. So we ripped it out leaving the sub-floor exposed. We also tore up some seriously dated vinyl tile flooring on the landing at the top of the stairs. This is the way it’s been since we moved in.
We knew we wanted hardwood flooring. It’s beautiful and lasting. Some prefer carpet in bedrooms, but with our dog, I’ve found hard surface flooring much easy to keep clean. Carpet just collects too much hair. Plus, it’s easy to find rugs for those spots that need to be a little softer under foot.
The hardwood flooring arrived and spent a few weeks acclimatizing to our house. Hubs wants to start laying the new flooring from the back of the house, so that meant it was finally time to remove the laminate flooring from our master bedroom. Before we could start removing the floor, we had to remove furniture and items from the floor. And so it begins…
