Teeth and Bragging

We'll start with my baby girl; she has TWO teeth! We had an appointment on Thursday the 8th to re-measure her head (don't know if I mentioned it here, but at her 4-month appointment she had a 5th percentile head so we had to go back in after a month to re-check it). Her head is now up to the 15th and she is perfectly fine. Well, on our way out the ped said "and you know she has some teeth coming in, right?" We knew she was teething, but didn't realize how close she was to popping a tooth; the first one was out the next day, and the second followed on Saturday. My poor girl is a whiney, non-sleeping mess. This baby who has slept through the night almost since birth is now waking several times a night, and last night was every hour. She is currently napping and has been for three hours, with one short wake-up to nurse. I'm hoping her being able to sleep now means that the pain and fussiness is starting to subside and we can both get some rest tonight! I spent a little while on Friday crying and feeling sorry for myself since my baby is growing up. I didn't expect her to get a tooth so early, at just shy of 5 1/2 months. I'm going to miss her beautiful gummy grin, and I just don't know if we will have another baby to experience that with. I'm not crying anymore, so I guess I'm feeling better about it.

Now, for my brag. I ran 9 miles yesterday. Seriously, RAN a full 9 miles. No walking. Just running. It was AMAZING. I have been training for my half marathon for 11 weeks now, and I have been so discouraged. It is hot here in Texas (haha), and people kept trying to tell me that the heat is HARD to run in. I didn't believe it, I thought I was just not trying hard enough or that I'm just not made for running. I wasn't having fun AT ALL. I was having difficulties running for more than a mile without walking. Then, last Tuesday, the evening temperature dropped into the 80s. I set out on a 4-mile run and it felt great! I was so surprised and I felt like I could run forever! It got dark and I got afraid (and some jerkwad honked and yelled at me just to scare me while I was running), so my run was cut to 3.11 miles but I ran the entire thing. It was a first and I was so giddy afterwards.

Thursday was my next run for the week, another 4-miler, but this time I tried taking the kids in the jogging stroller; it was horrible. Ian whined the entire time and I could only run about .6 miles before needing to walk. That stroller gets heavy with two kids totalling 60lbs sitting in it! And then on Saturday I woke up feeling awful, but had a 3 mile run that I needed to do. I made it just over a mile before the dizzyness and nausea hit. I did just over two miles and slept most of the day. I was really fearing for the nine mile run that was waiting for me the next day, especially since the previous week I'd had a 7-miler that I walked half of. No fun!

I got to the base (only place I feel comfortable running in the dark, and if I don't want to die of heat stroke it has to be done in the dark), and I felt really good. I started off thinking "If I could run 6.25, that would be awesome. That would be double what I ran on Tuesday." So I ran, and ran, and ran and I just wasn't tired. I was breathing easily, my body wasn't hurting, no cramping. I just listened to my music and ran all over, looking at everything and getting myself pumped up. At mile 5 I had my first GU experience (a gel that endurance sport people use...full of carbs and caffeine to fuel and energize your body during strenuous exercise). That stuff was interesting, I tell you. I'm so glad I was completely alone when I took it because I'm sure my face was horrendous. Swallowing it was so difficult...definitely going to have to get used to the texture! At that point I realized "Wow! I'm still not tired...I think I'm going to run this entire thing!" I kept going, and going, and still felt great. My iPod died at 6.25 miles which was just depressing. I was stuck with just my thoughts then, and I am not the most interesting person to talk to...all I could think was "I hope the baby doesn't wake up hungry, I hope the baby doesn't wake up hungry" since she adamently refuses bottles of pumped milk (going to try a sippy next...I'd really like her to accept one of those before my next long runs and before the race!).

Finally, with 7.75ish miles completed, the fatigue started to set in. The GU had given me a huge energy kick from the caffeine, and I was struggling for those miles to not go too fast. That eighth mile actually ended up being my fastest, at 12:05. I kept staring at my Garmin, and the mile just went soooo sloooowly. Once it beeped that my eighth mile was complete, I told myself there was no way I was going to run that far and walk the last mile. No way. So I made myself go, despite the fact that my legs and chest were starting to burn. I finished in an hour and 57 minutes, with a 13:05 average pace. I suddenly feel like a "runner" and feel pretty confident that I will finish my race next month, and I will finish it with a smile on my face. I can't wait.