(only) 91 TO GO...

That's 91 more training runs before the NYC Marathon.

no.big.deal.

Right? Wrong...

Ninety-one more runs seems like an awful lot. So does running 26.2 miles. But, honestly, I could not be more excited. Training officially started yesterday. I'm following the NY Road Runners Association training plan - for the most part. I'm going to keep up with the recommended mileage per week, but may do my runs on different days from the plan - to better accommodate my schedule.

To jump-start my training, I went for an hour long run on Sunday. Before deciding to use the training plan, I decided that I would train in such a way that each month I would increase my long run time by an hour. In June I would have to complete an hour long run; 2 hours in July; 3 in August; and 4 in September. If I can run 4 hours straight prior to race-day, I'll have no trouble finishing the race. So, I ran my first hour long run on Sunday. It felt great. I measured most of the run distance by car on Monday and believe I ran a little more than six miles. Seems like a good start...

D has also been a great motivator to me. On Sunday he completed the Philadelphia Triathlon. Just hearing him talk about the race and the sense of fulfillment and pride was extremely motivating to me. I'm also crazy proud of how well he did. Way to go!

To keep me motivated throughout the training, I am putting together a couple of running music mixes. Songs I can take along with me when I'm out there on my own. This is the first time I'm training for a marathon without D. Not having someone out with me on the long runs (in the middle of the freaking summer) is somewhat disheartening. So I'm going to put together the best-of-the-best mix to keep me motivated. If you have any songs that HAVE to go on playlist, please let me know. Note: I will not be caught dead wearing my iPod and running with a jogging stroller. When I'm out with K, there will be no music. Music is only allowed when I'm running alone.

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Weekend run: I have an 8-miler scheduled for this weekend. D is going to do it with me.

Cross-training: I have instituted a cross-training schedule, which includes resistance training (light weights and a resistance band), sit-ups and push-ups.

Today: home with the K. She had a terrible afternoon nap (if you can even call it that). We're off to the library in a few minutes and then Target. Hopefully she'll sleep along the way.

Long-weekend: so looking forward to having D home for a three day weekend! And excited that Becky L is coming into town. If only I could go tubing with everyone on Friday... (boo hoo for me.)

HAPPY (belated) FATHER'S DAY

Father's Day 2009 --- the first father's day in which we celebrated David as a father. It's a new, exciting, and humbling experience to celebrate your husband on Father's Day. David has been amazing these past 8 months with K and was throughout my pregnancy. He's a wonderful papa to our little girl and a kind and compassionate husband to me.

David, thank you for...

asking me to marry you;
committing yourself to me for better or worse (you had no idea what you were in for...);
creating a loving home with me;
providing a soft shoulder for me to cry on;
forgiving me;
being a fantastic and loving father;
offering to help me when I need it most;
providing me with some "me" time;
encouraging me to follow my dreams;
planning a future with me;
taking care of all the details - bills, craigslist sales, computer backups;
all your creativity in the kitchen;
supporting my decision to become vegan and doing so yourself;
going on family runs with me and K (especially the early morning ones);

and, most of all,

for loving me through the good times and the bad.

K and I love you so much. Happy Father's Day!

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Father's Day present: D got a 5.5 quart Le Creuset dutch oven in slate (his choice of color).

Really proud: that D will be participating in the Philly triathlon this Sunday. Have a great swim, bike, run, honey.

MARATHON UPDATE

As you can see from the ticker to the right, the NYC Marathon is a little less than five months away. Each week, and sometimes more than once a week, the marathon organizers and sponsors send out emails to the race participants. Recently I've received information about training schedules, running clubs in NYC, cross-training tips, and transportation to the start of the race (which is on Stanton Island). To date all of the information has been extremely valuable and some of it necessary.

That is until today.

This afternoon I received an email from the marathon-people about the "Finish Line Banquet/Reserved Seating" for spectators. Hosted by The Tavern on the Green in Central Park, the Finish Line Banquet provides spectators with a breakfast and lunch buffet, open bar, TV viewing of the race live, and bleacher seating at the finish line. And what might such an event cost?

$250.00 US

Are you freaking kidding me?

Bleacher seating alone costs $75.00.

It simply blows my mind to think that folks would pay more to party during the marathon than I paid to run in it. It also makes me mad to think that they are selling tickets at the finish line. Call me crunchy, or slightly old-fashioned, but I want my family and friends and the families and friends of the other runners at the finish line cheering me on. I do not want to be surrounded by a individuals attending an up-scale frat party while running the last mile of the race.

I'm hoping D can sneak into the bleacher area and watch me run across the finish line. I'm also planning to pick up the K during the last mile of the race and run with her in my arms over the finish line.

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Training: I'm running 5 days a week now and averaging 15-18 miles per week. I need to get a couple more miles in this week than I did last. Training officially begins a week from this coming Monday.

Getting organized: I think I'm finally starting to nest. I've spent this week organizing the K's pictures into an online account that friends and family can view. It'll be a private account. Let me know if you'd like access. I'm also organizing and sorting through baby clothes, selling more stuff on Craiglist, purging clothes from my closet, and getting rid of books through Book Mooch. I need to reorganize my book shelf in our office.

Reading: just finished New Moon the second book in the Twilight series. It was a fun, quick read. Perfect summer reading.

Watching: D and I finished watching Lost. We're now trying to catch up on Heroes. And, I'm embarrassed to admit to watching, The Bachelorette.

SUCCESSFUL CRAIGSLIST WEEKEND

It was a great weekend to sell things on craigslist. We sold a stroller and one of those backpacks to carry a kid within a matter of minutes. Two families arrived at our house ON TIME yesterday afternoon, took a quick look at the merchandise, and paid with cash. Sweet. And it looks like we have someone interested in buying a diaper genie, which we don't need because we're all crunchy and using reusable diaper. One more thing gone!

We also got rid of my papasan chair. We ended up giving it away. Although the cushions were new, the bamboo frame was broken and duct-taped together a la MacGyver. A nice couple, expecting twin boys in the coming weeks, picked it up and was so excited about it.

It was such a successful weekend I am regretting not reposting the cat on craigslist. Maybe we could have offloaded him, too. Maybe next week.

We've offered our glider/rocker to friends. If they don't claim it in the next day, we'll be posting a white glider with blue cushions on craigslist.

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Today: I'm at home with the K. Our nanny had surgery on Friday and is home recovering. Today is domestic day: laundry, baby food making, errands, mopping, and ironing.

Tomorrow: I'm at home with the K, as scheduled. It will be a work day: scheduling meetings, finishing reading list for course syllabus, and registering for classes next fall. Also need to renew some library books.

Yesterday: in addition to successful craigslisting, I went out for a 'long' run yesterday. It was my first 5 mile run since I quit running last spring. It went well. K was with me. We had a lot of fun together! We did the run at Haines Point along the Potomac River. It was lovely and so flat. I do miss The Awakening statue that used to sit at the tip of the peninsula. Why did they have to go and move it?

TO TAKE OR NOT TO TAKE

To take the antibiotics prescribed or not to take them... that is the question.

For the past couple of days, I suspected I had a UTI. Yes, I avoided getting one while pregnant and have one now. And it is awful. I should have gone to the doctor Monday or Tuesday or even yesterday, but I didn't. I stayed home. Hoping and praying it would just go away on its own. Puff...gone. But no. It got worse. I woke up last night when D came to bed. I went to the bathroom and that set off a chain of unpleasant events. I felt terrible. I tried to fall asleep, but the urge to pee was too strong and my discomfort was too great. I downed a couple of tylenols and played on facebook for nearly an hour. By that time the tylenol had kicked in and I was really tired. I was able to go back to sleep. And K slept until 6am. Excellent.

I called the doctor when they opened at 8am. They told me to come in right away, which I did. I was seen by the nurse practitioner surprisingly quick. And no surprise at her diagnosis. I had a ton of white blood cells in my urine and basically every symptom of a UTI. I also have some sore spots on my back (the nurse called the location my "flanks") indicating that the infection is getting or is in my kidneys. Great. Wonderful nurse, can you make me feel better?

My wonderful nurse (who seriously was so kind and understanding) said I needed an antibiotic. I responded back that this was great, but I'm nursing my nearly 8 month old. She said she'd double-check to be sure what she was planning to prescribe was ok for a nursing mother. And double-check she did. Actually, she quadruple-checked. She asked a doctor in the office as well as consulting with the American Academy of Pediatrics and some national breastfeeding group. She also referenced some honking large pharmacy book. All agreed that the prescribed course of antibiotics was ok for me.

So I go to fill the prescription, which went so quickly. Seriously, I was in and out in matter of 15 minutes. I go to open the prescription bottle so I can get my first pill into my system pronto and what does the label on the container say:

"Not recommended for nursing mothers."

Are you kidding me? What's a girl to do?

Not wanting to go back to the doctors office AGAIN and wait around AGAIN or wait at the pharmacy, I called my OB. As you may remember I.HEART.HER. She's the best. I talked with the triage nurse, who informed me that my antibiotic is safe to take. Thank goodness. I want to feel better soon. I want this infection to get as far away from my kidneys as possible. I want to sleep through the night.

So I took my first dose. And maybe its just the placebo effect, but I think I'm feeling better already.

My question is: why put the warning on the drugs if they are safe to take? Why cause so much confusion and anxiety among the nursing moms? We're crazy enough on our own. You pharmacists don't need to make matters worse. Why the stern warning when basically the entire medical community agrees that the antibiotic is safe for nursing moms to take? Who do you think you are?!?! You stressed me out today. And I don't need you for that.

MY SUMMER VACATION

So...what does a grad student do during summer break? With no classes, no journal club, no TAing responsibilities, no papers to write, no data analyses to run - what is a girl to do? Here's what I'm up to these days...

WORK: I'm still designing a class of public health and GIS for a professor. I've finished the syllabus and the list of assignments. I need to finish the list of reading assignments and a draft mid-term exam. I would also like to create some skeleton power point presentations.

HANGING OUT WITH MY BABY: The K is so much fun right now. She's crawling and pulling up on everything. She learned how to clap. So I spend a lot of time saying, "yeah" while she's clapping her hands together. We go out for runs and walks together. She loves to drink water out of my glass. And she's become quite the drummer. She bangs her hands on everything - from her high-chair to the toilet seat. Bang, bang, bang... all day long. We also play a lot of peek-a-boo. Her smile and laugh brighten my day.

MARATHON TRAINING: Official training (I'm using the NY Road Runner's training schedule) begins June 29th. Before then I need to have a 25 mile per week base. Must.get.butt.in.gear.

READING: My Own Country: A Doctor's Story of a Town and Its People in the Age of AIDS by Abraham Verghese (a Diane Rehm recommendation - I'm enjoy it).

WATCHING: D and I are watching Lost. And, I'm embarrassed to say, I'm watching The Bachelorette.

PROJECTS: I'm crocheting a couple of hats and hope to get started on a pair of gloves for the K. Also looking to reorganize a couple of things in our living and sunrooms.

LOOKING TO SELL: a backpack to carry a baby/toddler, a glider chair and footrest, a stroller, a papasan chair, and a diaper genie.

GEARING UP FOR: my real job at school to begin August 1st. I will be on campus working 20 hours a week and taking one class in the fall. I'm hoping to TA in the spring and not have to take any classes then. Also looking forward to a beach vacation at the end of the summer.

CIGARS

Cigars... are they the new cool thing to smoke?

Seriously, I've seen/smelled more people smoking cigars than cigarettes recently. My most recent cigar siting took place last night in the grocery store. I ran over to the local market to pick up this week's edition of People magazine (more on this below). I was standing between two registers looking for the magazine when a lady behind me tapped me on the shoulder and yelled:

"I'll beat you" at me.

Puzzled. And frightened. I turned around and there was the woman with a huge unlit stogy hanging from her lips. She thought I was cutting in front of her. When I explained, as politely as possible, that I was looking for a magazine, she took the cigar out of her mouth and said, "ok" as I quickly walked away.

So what's the deal with cigars? And what's up with women and cigars? Of all my cigar sitings during the past couple of weeks, at least half of the cigar smokers were women. I just don't get it. Gross, gross, gross. The first time I spied/smelled a woman smoking a cigar (about a week ago) she was walking her four kids to the metro. It was deplorable. Unhealthy. Disgusting. Totally unbecoming.

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People magazine: EVERYONE should go out and get this week's edition. My good friend is featured as this week's "Hero Among Us" for her work as a teacher. Not only is she one of the best teachers around, but she's also a quadriplegic. The article on her is really nicely done and there's a fabulous picture of her.

Today: going to finish the first draft of a syllabus for a class I'm designing with two professors. Must get said draft turned in today.