Running Update

Had a great week of runs, as in I actually did them, they felt good and are getting faster.  We did 11 miles on Sunday, then I did 3.6 Tuesday and 4 tonight... all felt great.

Here is the revised long-run plan with 4 weekends left:

This Saturday- 12 miles followed by 8 miles, 14 miles, 6 miles then race day!!!

Luckily my youngest sister has volunteered to watch baby boy since my hubby has to go out of town for the race to attend our nieces graduation-- boo for having no fans on the sidelines this year but I'll deal.  My sister plans to get a lot of studying done while watching baby-boy.  Can't wait to hear how that goes!  : )

Homemade Baby Food

And now for a post that is TOTALLY unrelated to running...

Disclaimer- I know many decisions with babies are sensative issues so I preface this post with the statement that I am doing what I feel is best for our baby and best for the way we live and have researched and I hope you do the same for your kiddo whatever decisions you decide to make.

I pretty much knew that along with doing the cloth-diaper thing, I planned to make my own baby food.  I am not at all domestic and don't always get a meal on the table for my hubby and me.  So I knew to stick with this it would need to be pretty easy and something I could do in batches (no so much an everyday thing.)  The hubby was on board for the health and cost-effectiveness but didn't want me to feel stressed out about it (which I can appreciate).  We made the decision to delay the boy from getting lots of the gunk that seems to come in canned baby food.  (Even some of the organic baby food brands that don't add stuff to the food still use BPA in part of the lids.)

Well-- now that he will be 7 months old tomorrow-- we have just started with "food" which is more about the skill of learning to eat than much nutrition this early on.  Per what I have researched, Mama's milk contains all a baby needs until about 9 months when it doesn't quite supply enough protein for little ones.  So our goal was to have him at least knowing how to eat with some regularity by nine months so we can more regularly supplement his milk.  I plan to continue to breastfeed (Lord willin' and the creek don't rise) until 12 months give or take and supplement after one or two nursings with some puree.

We started with just breastmilk on a spoon around 6 months "feeding" him about once a week just to see how he liked it.  He'd been watching us eat for a while with great curiousity so he liked it and did pretty well.  We recently added a bit of organic, whole-grain rice to barely thicken the consistency.  I had wanted his first food to be avacado since its easy to mash and has lots of health benefits.  So I bought an organic avacado, mashed it and mixed it with some mama's milk and he liked it too.  BUT he got a little rash on his belly so I stopped just in case it was related to that and not a heat rash after a hot day.

So flash forward to what this post is actually about... 

I made my first real baby food today!  I made spinach and green beans!  I did a bit of research and found that only Hamilton Beach food processors do not contain parts with BPA.  So that determined the brand I got.  I bought this one which is the Big Mouth 14 cup version.  The thing is a monster but it was the only version I could find at a local store and managed to pick it up on a major deal at KMart for only $24!

I bought two bags of frozen organic veggies (spinach and green beans), went ahead and washed them again before cooking and then followed the instructions on the bag to boil/steam them.  I had my little helper in his chair so he could watch the process.

After cooking I drained and dumped the contents of the pan into my HUGE (did I mention the thing is HUGE?!) food processor with some breastmilk and turned it on.  My little helper started crying so I picked him up and talked him through it as we turned it back on.  (It was a lot less scary with Mama holding him!)  The processor is an animal and rocked out at puree-ing the food to a consistency I was happy with in less than a minute.  The picture below was taken in the first few seconds. 

It was nearly my helper's naptime but I went ahead and let him have a taste of each.  He was in love and I am sure he is hardly sleeping as I type this in eager anticipation of his meal after his next feeding! You can see his tiny green mustach below. 

Once I got the items pureed I put them in these BPA free Ball canning freezer jars which I found for $3 for a pack of 5 "cans."  It is actually not what I wanted but will work for the smaller volumes I am making and freezing now.

Oh and since all the parts of the food processor are dishwasher safe the mess I made will easily clean up in one dishwasher cycle. 

So I will just give him one veggies at a time (I will probably start with the spinach) for a week to make sure he doesn't have a food allergy and then move on to the next.  I am planning carrots, peas and squash as they are fresh and organic or that I can find frozen and organic. 

I will eventually do much bigger batches a time to save getting out everything again.  And may do the icecube trays filled with food to freeze and then store (I couldn't find bpa free ice trays at the local stores) but no need to buy that just yet.  So far I am out less than $30 in supplies and can know what my baby is eating.  So that's my experience so far.  I'll add more info as I find a must-have addition or feel free to ask your own questions or leave your own experiences below!

More about baby food making can be found at these great sites! 

WholesomeBabyfood.com  and from this mom's blog who is raising her baby girl on a vegan diet.

 

Hiking, Running and AMAZING weather

It was a simply fabulous weekend here in the Bluegrass State and my family and I spent it hiking (and eating) at Red River Gorge which is one of our favorite weekend getaway spots!  It is best known for it MANY natural arches which are pretty neat, but I prefer the trails that are less known and less trampled down.  One such trail we decided to go on lead us to a beautiful lookout to the "mountains" and river below.  It was also the most interesting place I have ever nursed (hubster got a photo of that below). 

Below is a photo of our little family of 3.  We always look a bit frumpy on these trips, so don't judge.  : )

A shot of the forest is below.  I loved all the vertical evergreens in this particular area of the park...

And a photo of my mom, stepdad, son and I below.  My stepdad is who I run with and we did manage to get in our 8 mile run before hiking on Sunday.  It was not a fun run as there are not many areas that are flat or offer much distance, so it was a lot of back and forth... but we did it!  Plus I have been having a hip issue that I hope works itself out soon as we continue to build longer miles! 

I don't usually think I look a lot like my mom but the photo above makes me think we definitely look alike.  And I don't have any photos with my sister and her family because we never went on a hike with them.  But my two nieces could not get enough time with their favorite baby cousin... and will be getting their own baby brother around July of this year!

A photo of one of the lesser known (and not quite as pretty) arches.  If you look closely you will see my stepdad and niece in the photo.

A fun weekend was had by all... now back to the real world.

Hallelujah kinda-run

Yesterday was an amazing run.  The weather was literally PERFECT!  Sunny and warm.  A great excuse to get out and run!  So. I. did.  Hubster watched the kiddo and I laced up the running shoes.

My running buddy was out of town (my step-dad) so I managed to get 6 miles in alone.  (I'm all for about 3-4 alone but above that I usually like to run with someone just to keep my brain busy.)  SO instead I strapped on the trusty ipod and arm band and cued up the new music I bought from Amazon (have I mentioned I buy everything from Amazon these days?  I even had TP delivered a while back.  HA! : )

Anyway-- yesterday's music was Third Day's Move CD.

 

I know Christian Music is not for everyone but I was seriously having me a worship session while I was running-- singing along (to words I really didn't know) and all.  It was probably pretty funny to watch or hear.  A lot of the lyrics seemed to pump me up for running!  And with the beautiful weather I was in a Hallelujah kinda-state.  I've found as I get older I care a lot less about what other people think, so I was jamming out while I ran.  (I will totally be one of those crotchety-crazy old ladies because of my stubbornness and reasons like this.)

Bad (or flat out dumb) running ideas for the day--

Forgetting to throw any water in the car (luckily I live close to the park where I run) but I use water as my motivation to hurry and get back to the car!

Wearing thick wool socks to run in!  Hello dumb idea.  My feet had been cold earlier, I was wearing pants and it seemed like a good idea to forgo changing socks before my run.  I regretted that as soon as I hit about mile 3 and my shoes were feeling too tight and I had a few toes going numb!  Did I also mention it was about 70 degrees out??  Wool socks?! 

So yeah, great run and 6 more weekends before the half marathon race.  Here is what our weekend runs will look like just based on scheduling or travel.

3/19- 8 miles
3/26- 6 miles
4/2- 10 miles
4/9- 12 miles
4/16- 13 miles
4/23- 8 miles
Race Day- 13.1 miles

Have a great week!

PS-  My little drooler has two little starts of his bottom teeth!

Nursing/Running Questions Answered

I had some great questions asked from a friend on Facebook and thought they were worth sharing here with others who may have similar questions about running as a nursing mama and running with a new baby!

First-- she had a question about nursing bras and running bras...

For my nursing bras I use hand-me-downs from my sister-- they are pretty much all the sports bra type.  I find them most comfy since I sleep in a bra too-- do other people do that or is it just me??.  After one night of sleeping without a bra and having a milk incident I decided to keep wearing one to sleep in. Anyway-- to handle leakage and just because it feels more comfy I use the disposable pads that stick into your bra (I like the Lansinoh brand the best because they feel the softest on the headlights and have two sticky tabs instead of one so they stay in place in the bra too).

While running I actually wear a normal running sports bra over my nursing bra/pads. This gives me extra support and also means I can feed the kiddo and then quickly get dressed to run.  I didn't have to buy any new sports bras because I had some that fit better than others anyway so I just wear the bigger ones over my nursing bra.


When to find time/motivation to run with a kiddo who spits up a lot and a kiddo on a schedule?
It is really hard to get motivated to run! If you have a kiddo who has a nap where he seems to sleep a bit shorter than another-- use that nap to run.  I would put baby boy in his carseat right before his nap and let him sleep on the run. The side benefit to this is that it motivated me to run long enough for him to get his full nap in.

Help these help others as well!!  Feel free to share if you do something different or have other tips!

Pictures, Pedometers and Sunglasses

First-- for those of you viewing in a reader-- I changed my top banner to one of my preggo running photos instead of the ultrasound pic.  And no, that is not my belly hanging out at the bottom-- that was before I was smart enough to tuck my support band into my shorts so it totally looks like my belly was hanging out.  And as I discussed early on-- the camelbak was a great investment for running during pregnancy!!

Ran a nice WET and COLD five miles last night.

My husband's work place has this thing going with Virgin Health where we wear a pedometer for a year (stop me if I have mentioned this).  If we get so many steps in a year, we get some kind of monetary prize.  So since I have been wearing this ped since September of last year, I have realized how few steps I get in a day if I don't excercise.  We're talking like maybe 5000 steps if I don't do any formal running.  That's awful!  THey recommend everyone get at least 7000 a day.  When I ran my 5 miles last night and had a pretty normal day otherwise, I was at 13,000 steps.  I just find it interesting to track since I had not really worn a ped before.

I bought the kiddo some sunglasses (I have crazy light-sensitive eyes and red about UV damage to baby's eyes) so I bought him a pair from Amazon.  Here is a pic with the tags still on.  : )

Wet runs and looking back

Ran last night and attempting to keep up my two "during-the-week" runs and a long weekend run.  I have plans to run tomorrow with my stepdad and ran last night with some gals after our small group.  One gal is planning to do her first half this spring.  The other is working up to do her 5th half.   There was quite a bit of walking but its worth the trade off to have someone to run with and motivate me to get out there.  And it was cold and rainy here -- but I secretly LOVE rainy runs!  After the first mile or so I think they feel GREAT and it brings me back to playing in the rain as a kid!!  (Which I will totally be doing with the boy when he is big enough!)

As much as it was a drag to get out and run sometimes when I was pregnant, it is often A LOT more coordination and preparation to run with a baby-- especially when you are still a nursing mama.  Yes, I am totally willing to leave the boy with dad and a bottle.  BUT I don't like running with a full load if ya know what I mean... so I do usually try to time runs for after a feeding.  If baby boy is coming along on the run I try to run when he is awake after a feeding... if he is not coming I try to go right when he goes down for his nap.  

(Disclaimer-- yes, I am a schedule-following mom and will do it again with a future kiddo.  Big believer in it!  Helps me plan my days and schedule and he knows whats going on and is such a happy baby!)

WHy do I share this? Out of full disclosure for a piece of the real life of a running mom. 

I will say, my speed picked back up after I was no longer carrying my additional 25 pound baby bump!  And I will totally take seeing his smiling face instead of feeling his big feet poke inside me.  Ha!

Gummy

In other news-- baby boy is officially losing his gummy toothless grin. Today two little red dots have popped up on his bottom gums. Sniffle.

Neat Giveaway

Here is a neat giveaway for compression socks I am crossing my fingers to get!!

Soapbox and 8+ miles

Ran 8.3 miles yesterday.  We ran at a 10:25 pace.  It was a cold run but felt pretty darn good.

Will you allow me a rant for a minute?  I am around several pregnant ladies again lately and find they fall into two catergories of people.  The happily pregnant catagory shall go unmentioned.  The other I shall take the opportunity to vent about now... Because I ran during my pregnancy along with doing other "normal" people things I am finding that I don't have much apathy for young healthy people who suddenly think they are disabled the second they become prego.  (I am not talking being 9 months pregnant when you may start to feel "done" with the whole thing or if you genuinely have health problems!) 

I was out pulling weeds and mowing the lawn when I was VERY pregnant.  I was sitting on hard chairs and sweating my widening bootie off during the hottest summer in (Kentucky recent) history and I like to think I did not do much complaining about suddenly not being able to handle doing anything normal because I was in such a pregnant "condition."  Other than the very sick weeks of 6-14 in which I mostly was not telling anyone I was even pregnant and trying to hide my puky episodes... I don't think I felt disabled by the whole thing.  I feel annoyed when people feel the need to have their spouses accomodate them because they are now pregnant and are actually as healthy as they were just a few weeks before.  People, if you get pregnant and keep moving on with your life-- you'll find you don't feel miserable and might actually feel pretty darn good again after the baby is born too.

Ok-- side stepping off the soapbox for a less grumpy note to this post. 

Have I said lately that I LOVE being a mom.  LOVE it.  There is really no comparision.  I have had the honor of designing buildings and spaces. Seeing them come to life really is a cool feeling for about 5 seconds.  My wedding day was amazing for day and weeks around it.  Marriage is wonderful.  Having a baby grow inside of me, giving birth and nurturing a kiddo that I can watch grow into a boy and eventually a man is downright the coolest, toughest and most rewarding experience I have had to date.

Runs and Cookies

First the good news--

I managed a fabulous long run on Saturday (7.5 miles) and a run last night (guessing around 5).  Felt GREAT both runs.  I think I have entered into that training zone where running actually starts to feel good.  I wish I could stay in this zone but usually I end up slacking and having to get back here again.

The bad news--

I had about 15 Thin Mints (well an off-brand of the well known girl scout variety) earlier in the day.  Ugh.   I don't know what my deal is with craving chocolate lately but I just can't get enough.  I despise that I am putting such ickiness in my body and would gladly accept some help from anyone who can offer advice on detoxing from sugar.  Seriously.

(Photo Source)

I am all worried about making sure kiddo gets breastmilk over formula, I buy/eat organic, do preventative health (such as the chiropractor, excercise and taking JuicePlus) ... so in many areas I look like I have the health thing down -- so I am not sure why I cannot break this horrible habit of wanting and eating desserts.

Then I get on the scale and I am still losing weight (thanks to breastfeeding) so the only immediate motivation I have in that regard is getting this belly in shape again.  Otherwise, I like my weight just fine and can't seem to grasp that this junk is horrible for my future self and the kiddo who feeds off of me.  

So there we have it... brutal honesty from this Running Mama.  Any tips/tricks are welcome and will be appreciated.  What are your tips on overcoming food temptations?