Oh my!

has it really been a whole week? So sad to have a little neglected blog! If there are any of you left, here is a less-than-ten-minutes-because-my-battery-is-about-to-die-and-LaGuardia-has -no-stinking-outlets post:

• Ran in Central Park again this morning -- 65 degrees at 5:15 -- AWESOME! slow but I enjoyed the scenery
• Did weights and situps/crunches yesterday morning, then walked around feeling like I just got punched the rest of the day
• Ran 4 miles Saturday, and interspersed a parcourse fitness thing over the park near my house -- I was SO sore the next day, but it was FUN!!
• Saturday starts the official start of our 12-week AvonWalk mileage buildup!!!
• Got the Elder Child an early birthday present -- a Giant Boulder SE. He'd outgrown his old one after not being able to ride at all last year b/c of his foot surgery, and he was grinning like a fool after taking the test ride. "Mom, it's so SMOOOOOTH!!!" I am wicked jealous!! Can't get my own until after we move into the new house -- wah!!

There is a ton more, I'm sure, but I just can't remember it all. My brain is fried and even though my flight doesn't leave for another 90 minutes, I'm stuck, stuck, stuck here. Dang American Airlines and their jacked up flight schedules - bah!

I hope to catch up on all my blog reading over the weekend -- I'll be a commenting fool. Hang tough folks, and have a great day!!

back to the Park

weather was gorgeous this morning -- 46 degrees and dry. So what better way to spend a spring morning than with a run around Central Park? Yeah, I thought so. 6 miles in 60:00:11. I was not by myself, though, or I'd have never posted those numbers. I was with my buddy (who just finished his first half-IM tri a couple of weeks ago, BTW) and he was pushing me, pulling me, prodding me along the whole way. Gotta love it. There are some nice inclines that felt like slogging through mud, but I kept up pretty well and felt great at the end. Very nice. I'll have to do that a lot more now that the weather's nice and the sun is coming up earlier and earlier.

gotta run. have a great day!!

three showings

send me some good Real Estate vibes if you can spare them, before I have to start burying saints in the front yard. The listing has resulted in three showings since Saturday, and the full virtual tour isn't even up yet. Hopefully, we'll get a decent offer somewhat soon, although that opens up a whole new can of worms, like, oh, I don't know --"WHERE WILL WE LIVE???" -- since the construction start meeting on the new house hasn't been held and they haven't even poured slab yet.

Deep breath. One step at a time. I should be used to that by now, no?

In other news, I'm currently enamored with Jillian Michaels, she of Biggest Loser fame. She's awesome (if not a bit scary and tough and intimidating) and no-nonsense and I love her. I've been getting her 20-minute Shred workouts (currently just the first two in the series) on Exercise TV at the apartment. I'm mixing those in with my runs between now and Heels 'n Hills, before we crank up the walking mileage for Avon. I hate doing just straight weights, but I like the approach she takes, mixing cardio, abs and strength moves in a short, intense workout.

I've got so many updates to make, but I must blast, since I've got some heavy-duty editing to do. Peace out, and happy Wednesday!!

Texas, Texas, Yee-Haw!

with no particular help from a particular airline, I am home. Finally. Possibly the most uncomfortable flight I've been on, in terms of the environment. I know, it's unseemly to bitch about the kid behind me kicking my seat the whole way (to be fair, she didn't kick the WHOLE way -- she interrupted the kicking with some whining) when so many people are still stuck, but Oh. My. God! Her little sister had a squeak toy, I sh!t you not. A SQUEAK toy -- like what you'd give a flippin' DOG. On the PLANE! The two guys in my row and I were all wanting to be the one to ask that to stop. And I'm sorry, but as much as my teenaged, much-beleagured MD-80s have been in the news lately, I have to say, the window seats in them are much more comfortable than whatever I was in on the Continental flight tonight. I just couldn't find a good position. And, to top it all off, I left poor little Owen Meany in the apartment, so I had nothing to read ("I CAN'T BELIEVE YOU LEFT ME BEHIND! DON'T YOU KNOW I WANTED TO GO ON AN AIRPLANE?").

But, hey, I'm home now. And just about de-wired enough for real sleep, in my own bed.

Oh, another thing -- when I pulled up to the house today, there is a "For Sale" sign on the front yard. Holy crap -- this is for real!!

Toothless!

Toothless!, originally uploaded by ccervant_99.

Snaggle-toothed no more! Had to snap this of him when he returned from his godmother's house on Sunday afternoon. It's currently quite fun to hand him an apple (his favorite fruit EVER!) and watch him try to eat it!!

#5 done

not too fast, but not as slow as Austin. A few hills, nothing major, but definitely hillier than I expected. Total time on my watch was 2:21:33. I averaged closer to 11:00 miles instead of 10:00 early on, which contributed to the slow time overall. But, considering I've not run at all since last weekend, I'll take it.

Splits below, for posterity. I didn't make a chance to write down my splits from last weekend, so those are lost for the ages, sadly. So here are this week's:

Mile 1 - 9:43.26 -- too fast, nice downhill stretch
Mile 2 - 10:13.40 -- starting to warm up
Mile 3 - 10:52.57 -- UGH, getting hot -- had to strip the outer shirt here
Mile 4 - 10:23.88
Mile 5 - 10:53.50
Mile 6 - 10:49.65
Mile 7 - 11:18.78 -- hills
Mile 8 - 11:28.33 -- more hills
Mile 9 - 10:57.24
Mile 10 - 10:45.85
Mile 11 - 10:50.37
Mile 12 - 10:58.29
Mile 13 - 11:01.59 --are we DONE yet?
Mile .1 - 1:15.96

Overall, it was a nice race, well-organized, with well-spaced water stops and a spattering of crowd support. Weather was muggier than you would have expected, especially since it was in the 50s early in. I didn't have a chance to get back to the car after late registration, and I didn't see a bag drop, so I wore my cotton t-shirt over my tank. It got a little hot once I got moving, with three layers on, so I was almost regretting that choice, but when we got around the lake and then headed back toward the finish, we were in pretty strong winds most of the time. So I was glad that I had the extra layer on me at the end. Nice medal, which makes the 4th of the spring (no medal last weekend, but a nice finisher's tee), and a nice blue shirt that I'll wear pretty often, I think.

Gotta run. The big boys are headed to the Stars game this PM, and TDP DinoBoy is still with his godmother, so I have the whole afternoon ahead of me. What to do? What to do? Right now, the couch is calling me for a short rendezvous before I head out and enjoy the rest of the afternoon. Peace out!!

race tomorrow

#5 of 6. Around that dang lake again. Geez I hate that lake. But the weather should be good, nay, perfect for it. I need a good run -- between recovering from last week's whirlwind of activity and a hellish week at work, I did NOTHING in the way of exercise all week. Walked some, but nothing intentional. I think I needed that.

Not much to do on the homefront this weekend -- amazing how easily the house is maintained once we got rid of 80% of our junk. Landscaping is done, carpets are cleaned, and it's ready for the realtor to come by and stick the sign in the yard.

TDP DinoBoy and I did a scout outing this morning, wherein we collected ridiculous amounts of garbage from a local park. In 40 minutes, the boys gathered a pickup truck full of trash, including a grocery cart, a manhole cover, a pay phone box, a pair of pants (!) and assorted other items. Nobody fell into the creek, although a couple of them tried mightily! It was a good way to spend the morning. Now he's headed to his godmother's for the rest of the weekend, leaving me to finish the 500-piece Star Wars puzzle that's 40% done on the kitchen table. Thanks, dude -- nothing like an unfinished puzzle to make your OCD mom kee-ray-zee.

Gotta go -- Elder Child has more hockey playoffs this weekend, for the league championship, not just the House cup, so he's got at least one (hopefully two) game today. Have a great Saturday.