Your Daily Dose of Ainsley

Sorry- have to brag. I get to spend most of my time with this sweet little girl- how lucky am I?

Went to the fair yesterday- I can still smell all the fried goodness in the air. One look at the offerings and it is easy to see why there is an obesity epidemic! Yes I will take that stick of butter, fried, how delicious! ;-) I think this was probably by far the cheapest family trip to the fair we will ever have--- in the future some little lady will want to actually play all those games and ride those rides.

Side confession- I have become an MTV trash tv addict--- the dvr is overflowing with Teen Mom, Jersey Shore, Made, etc. etc. I just finished watching Priciest Cribs countdown. Maybe I should start turning down the couch potato time and actually make an effort to clean the house? Nah, it can clean itself! Perhaps I will tie some dusters to the dogs' tails.

Moms on the Run

It has been a long time since I've written, my apologies. I think I have been so slack lately because I feel like i have to write something enlightening and insightful every time, but then I came across a new blog of someone's this week and realized it can be one sentence- one thought- one picture etc. So I am going to attack this with a renewed vigor (or so I hope).
First- to spare everyone a multitude of posts- I am going to just spill all my random thoughts here. Sorry if it doesn't exactly "flow!"

Moms on the Run---- I think it is safe to say that I am officially now a member of a running group. :) Thanks to Courtney Murphy. What started as she and I trudging it alone on the streets at o'dark thirty has become a posse of 5. It is SO much fun. And it makes it so much easier to haul myself out of bed at 5am knowing that there are 4 other ladies doing it too. We are currently down one runner due to an extremely unfortunate injury, and we all miss her tremendously, but we know that she will be back out as soon as possible, and being the speed demon, super fit member of the group, we are all sure that she will be kicking our butts her first day back.
I have privately dubbed us, Moms on the Run, I am sure that is news to everyone else! Perhaps we should make t-shirts! Regardless, I am grateful to Courtney, Evan, Fran and Leslie for being my support group as I train for Nike. I am sure my training would have been half as effective without them. Two weeks to go, and then I get to run with Palmer through the streets of San Fran.......and everytime I start to drag, I hope that between Palmer's running beside me and her encouragement, and thinking about the gals, and that I don't want to let them down after their joining me in my long run this weekend...... that I will hopefully keep going!
It is amazing how much quicker 8-10 miles goes with so many other people joining you. Sadly, I am probably the least fit of the group and can usually only contribute an occasional grunt of agreement as a response to their questions, but I do enjoy listening to what everyone has to say! I am sure that the other ladies think I am either incredibly unsocial or partially mute! One day, I promise I will have the lung power to contribute to the conversation the whole way!
We are all planning on running a half together in the near future, so I am sure the group will make some recurrences in the blog.

BABY TALK
Lately Ainsley has been a babbling queen. Have you (whoever "you" may be) ever just sat there and listened to a baby talk? When she goes down for her naps, she sometimes doesnt fall asleep for a bit, and will lay there in her crib contentedly talking. She will also pick up her blankie and start waving it around her crib. I like to call it the Ainsley comedy hour- it is so entertaining to witness that little voice develop and try out different sounds.


MOMMY-the HUMAN JUNGLE GYM
Ainsley is spending all her time now "crawling" and trying to pull up. I say "crawling" because it is really an army crawl- all elbows, belly on the ground, and butt in the air. She is content to get her knees under her, but has no interest right now in getting up on her hands. Regardless, this is a very effective method of movement for her- she manages to move quite swiftly now around the first floor of the house. When she isn't entertaining herself in this fashion, she is crawling to me, then trying every which way to use my body to get herself to standing. Once she is upright, she wants to "walk" to the nearest coffee table or ottoman to stand. We literally do this the entire day long!!!! I think by 8pm I am as tired as she is from it all!

Fish Face

Believe it or not, Ainsley is now 7 1/2 months old. WOW!!!! She is becoming quite the performer. It seems, as my mom put it this weekend, that she is now trying out different tricks and jokes to see which ones get the biggest response out of us--- quite the cheese!
Her latest feat is the Fish Face. The child is obsessed with it. She will continuously, throughout the day, pucker up her lips, suck in her cheeks, and make the smacking sound of a kiss. I hear her practicing and perfecting her art in her crib during the night and when she wakes up from her nap. It certainly makes for a good laugh when she does it, and her little eyes twinkle with delight.
I guess this is a sign of things to come-- looks like we have quite the comedian on our hands. Or at least a little diva- because she loves the attention.

So muah, muah, muah little lady!! Oodles of kisses and hugs to you!

How Rude!

I came across this article a few weeks ago, http://www.nytimes.com/2009/10/23/sports/23marathon.html, and it really ticked me off. For those of you who choose not to read it, which I recommend against unless you too want to be annoyed for the day, it is an article about the snobbish attitude some marathoners are taking about marathons and "slow people". While I do not fall quite into the category of slowness that they refer to in the article, I know I am certainly nowhere near an elite runner either. The article covers both sides of the argument- that it is good to have slow runners and that it is bad...the bad side suggesting that these slow runners are defaming marathons, and that perhaps it would be best to have more exclusive races.
Well I agree with the opposers on this idea. In a world where obesity is becoming more and more prominent, why would anyone want to discourage someone from taking up running and perhaps establishing a goal for themselves of completing a full or half marathon? No matter what speed you accomplish this at, there are still months of training, discipline and hard work involved....and better yet such a tremendous joy and feeling of fulfillment once you have completed it. I thought it was good to promote healthy lifestyles.............
Perhaps the two parts of the article that aggravated me the most were the following, one a quote from a coach Adrienne Wald who said "It’s a joke to run a marathon by walking every other mile or by finishing in six, seven, eight hours" and a part from a Julia Givens who says "If you’re wearing a marathon T-shirt, that doesn’t mean much anymore...I always ask those people, ‘What was your time?’ If it’s six hours or more, I say, ‘Oh great, that’s fine, but you didn’t really run it."
Well EXCUSE me, who named them the marathon police?? If someone said either of those things to me I would smack them across the face. Admittedly yes, when I have run (and yes I did say run although there were walk breaks involved) my previous marathons, all of which have fallen between the 5 and 6 hour marks, I know that I was not moving at a record-breaking speed, but let me tell you, I was working HARD and was good and exhausted when I was finished. And for each of those races, in order to fall into those times, I still ran over 75% of the race. I, personally, still think that is an accomplishment.
Perhaps these people are extremely cold-hearted. I know that when I have not been able to run a marathon, but have sat and watched the racers past- those racers coming in at the 6+ hour mark are still as thrilled and excited about their efforts as the runners coming in at 2 hours. Not only that, but a lot of times if these snots would take a moment and learn about the people in the back of the pack, they would learn that a lot of these people are racing for causes even more important than themselves. Many of the slower folks are first time marathoners who have raised money, in exchange for training, for important foundations such as the Leukemia and Lymphoma society or MS. How dare they try and be do-gooders and have the audacity to sully the reputation of the marathon!!!
UGH. In the words of Stephanie Tanner (yes I did just throw a Full House reference in), "how rude!" And for all my fellow average runners (who may dare to take a walk step or two during their runs), I will quote one of my favorite Runner's World contributors, John Bingham, and say "waddle on friends, waddle on."

My Sisters

Today is the almost halfway point between two very special days--- Palmer and Emily's birthdays!! My sisters had the good fortune of being born a week apart (well okay 3 years and 53 weeks apart....but you know what I mean). This makes for a fun weeklong stretch of celebrating! Or when we were younger it meant some GREAT birthday parties.
As with most kids when we were little we pretty much had the same set of friends, so Emily and Palmer would have joint birthday parties. I honestly don't know how many children my parents would play host to, but they sure were some good times! No party was complete without a game of "What's Missing" (anyone remember that?) or Dad's magic trick performance, a little Duck Duck Goose, perhaps a rousing game of Kickball, and some Slip n Slide action. Some of the fondest memories of those are my slip n sliding naked at one of Em's parties (i was young okay!!), when Em dropped the entire plate of cupcakes on the floor, and the fire truck birthday.
The Fire Truck birthday..........awwww memories. Perhaps the most talked about birthday in Middletown, when my parents actually got the fire men to come to our house! No no, this was not planned as many children wanted to believe. Mom was making pizza (if I remember right) for everyone to have for lunch. Well the pizza got a tad overcooked, setting off the smoke alarms, which sent out a distress signal, which brought the fire truck to our house. Good times, good times.

Okay, well this post has gotten a little off track since I got immersed in memory land. My point was to honor my sisters for their birthdays. So here goes it: Happy Birthday to two of the best sisters in the entire world! I love you both so much and am so honored to be buffered on both sides by such wonderful women. Although I am slightly jealous that my birthday wasn't so closely aligned to yours, how fun would it have been to have them three weeks in a row??

Palmer first, since your birthday is first: you are the family comedian, you are also a go-getter, dedicated, hard working, loyal, loving, honest, ambitious, talented, athletic, inspiring, creative, smart, warm-hearted..........tall and blonde! Haha had to throw those last two in. You are a tremendous joy to have as a sister, and an inspiration to my lazy butt to stay fit and get fast so that perhaps someday I can run an entire race with you. You sail through the ranks at work because of your dedication and hard work. You have a lot of love and healthy respect for the animals you work for, and they are lucky to have you. There is never a dull moment in life with you, and I truly cherish that. And I miss you so much being way out there in Seattle, but Ainsley and I will be there soon for a visit.

I thought I would throw in a few of my favorite Palmer moments, just because- a little chicken soup for Palmer's soul. :) Cutting off the popples tails, cutting your hair and then trying to reattach it with Crest gel toothpaste, when you injured your jaw and said you didn't want your picture in the newspaper, your ability to create cameras out of McDonald's nugget boxes, our countless hours of driving together to and from the barn and to and from horse shows, spending two weeks together at Brownland-training ourselves the second week!, playing Lonesome Dove around the Breezeway at Lochmoor, riding Top Thrill Dragster at Cedar Point (after our failed first effort), watching you ride at Junior Finals, seeing Duke win the NCAA Championship game with you, your being one of my two Maids of Honor (and the wonderful shower you and Em threw for me), seeing you with Ainsley, yearbook camp (we are so cool!), our two miles of running together during the Flying Pig this year, and perhaps my all time fave: touring the museums together in Rome when you couldn't see from the sweat pouring into your eyes! Happy birthday once more, I hope 26 is a fabulous year. And I cannot wait to run San Francisco with you.

Emily- the big sis. You are so kind-hearted, family-oriented, loyal, loving, sweet, honest, dedicated, smart, caring, talented, considerate, and indecisive (which is a GOOD thing) because you are waiting for what you really want. :) You have always been a challenge to follow through life because you have set the bar so high on everything, I always had to match your grades and efforts! You have developed an amazing skill set of massage therapy and athletic training. Where would I be without my personal athletic trainer keeping my sore muscles and bones together? I've always felt safe because I've known that you are looking out for me. And I have so enjoyed embarking on our running career together many years ago, and the countless miles we have ran together. You are such a wonderful caregiver, I know the numerous athletes that have had the joy of working with you count themselves lucky to have had you tending to them.

Here are some favorite Emily moments for you: when you got Blitz, being on our first "track" team together (I believe we were 6 and 8? or 8 and 10?), finding Fonzie, all the times you came to my rescue in college, the night you sprained your ankle at Duke and we spent forever in the hospital-- while they wheeled a dead body past you!, our Belmont apartment with Rudy toots, running that path in Durham every Sunday, good times at Looney's with Red and Dunn, Emo (nuf said), seeing you and Jeff Mayne studying together (will NEVER forget that), having you as my other Maid of Honor and the great shower you threw, sharing Ainsley's baptism with you, and running our first full and half marathons together. And I am eternally grateful to you for somehow coaxing me through our second Disneyland half when I pretty much had a monumental collapse at mile 9-- I don't know how you got four more miles out of me! Here's to 30- may it be a wonderful year!

I am sure I have bored the heck out of anyone besides Emily and Palmer who may have read all the way through, but I felt that this was the most opportune time for a fitting tribute to my sisters, whom I love so much. I would not be me without the both of you. So once more, happy birthdays to both of you!

Ainsley and the Boys

One of the highlights of the past few weeks for me has been watching Ainsley play with her cousin Henry. More watching Ainsley with all three of her cousins. She is at that point now where she is really able to watch them and interact (as much as a near 7 month old interacts). And each of them have their own special relationship with her.

William and Pierson are the entertainment- they delight in making her laugh whether that is tickling or talking to her or making funny faces. She reciprocates by screeching at them. We will have to work on our interactions with the opposite sex for the distant distant future! William is programmed to make sure we do not miss any of her firsts--- so much so that he likes for us all to see everything she does all the time. Everytime I hear William start screaming for us to come quick when he is in a room with Ainsley and I am not, my heart drops. Have no fear, he is just delighting in the fact that she has rolled over, spat up, sat up, smiled, or laughed at him. I don't have the heart to tell him that these activities have been a part of her repertoire for a while now.

Pierson is the cuddle bug, he loves to give her kisses and hugs. And really seems to like holding her, with assistance of course. He and William also like to tell me when she 'talks'- according to them she has already mastered the words 'Baby', 'William', 'Pierson', 'encyclopedia', 'supercalifragilisticexpialadocious'......okay I jest on those last two.

However the true highlight is watching her and Henry together. I have included a picture of her with him, however this one is almost two months old now, and their interactions are a lot more advanced now. It is so heart-tickling to watch them sitting side by side playing with a toy. Or more likely, Henry showing Ainsley how to play with the toy. They will alternately put their arms around each other, give each other kisses, or just hold on. Ainsley has figured out that Henry is mobile, so everytime now he tries to crawl away, she grabs his shoulder or his clothing and holds onto him--- leaving poor Henry to look at the nearest adult with the most pleading eyes, begging to be released.
Of course, his being 5 months older than her has not seemed to translate to Ainsley yet, she seems to believe they are equally capable of everything, although I do suspect she is a little frustrated when he crawls off or pulls up. Henry likes to be a little show off for his cousin too, last weekend Ainsley and I sat on the floor of the Murphy's game room while Henry used his walker and motored circles around us. Count both of us awestruck with his ability!

It truly is a ton of fun watching them all interact and develop their own individual relationships with each other. So now, Emily and Palmer, it is time for you all to contribute some more cousins for Ainsley to get to know. :-D I know I cannot wait to see the little beauties you all will have and for them to grow up together as well!

**DISCLAIMER- NEITHER of my sisters are pregnant- I don't want to freak anyone out by thinking that I have let a cat out of the bag! Nor are either planning to become so in the immediate future (at least that I know of)! I am just looking into the years to come, at some point in time...........**

Runner's Block

Whoa I have been remiss in not writing in a while. Oops! Guess life interfered again.

Okay time to vent..............I have a serious case of Runner's Block and it is driving me crazy!!! I am to the point fitness wise where I really don't have any excuses for not putting forth my best effort and being able to conquer each run and feel good about myself. And yet. And yet. And yet...........I keep getting stuck!

Take this morning as a case in point. Yes, it is HOT here in good ole Greensboro, even at 5am when we were starting our run. But it has been hot for a while now, so that doesn't count anymore. I was determined to have a good run, I didn't even wear my watch because I figured I would finish the exact same time as running buddy Courtney so what would be the point of us both timing the same thing?? Good intention, poor execution!

I held up just fine until about halfway through, when that little voice in the back of my head started saying we should reallllllly take a walk break about now. You know that voice, the same one that says we could reallllly use another glass of wine, or we would reallllllllly enjoy another cookie...........yep that one. I guess I need to start shutting that voice up a little more- because there I was, with only 1 mile of running to go, giving in and walking. ARGH! And then, to add insult to injury, I gave in and walked again! Again!!! With only a half mile to go! I mean really legs and brain, you couldn't carry me just a little further??

This all probably wouldn't be upsetting me so much if it wasn't training time! The Nike Women's half is looming-- a little less than 3 months away, so there is no time for excuses. No time to be stymied by some silly mental issue! And trust me, those hills of San Francisco are not going to look any easier than anything I've encountered here in the 'boro, so I better get a move on. Although I am counting on some cooler weather- I certainly hope that San Francisco doesn't decide to have an October extreme heat wave! If that is the case, I will be waving bye bye bye to that PR hope.

So anyway, it is time for me to tell my doubting Thomas that he needs to be quiet and have a little faith........the road to PR-ing awaits me, it is time I get on it.