What I've Been Up To (After the Marathon) (Part I)

Baking. Lots and lots of baking. Within the last ten days...

Birthday cake for G's birthday party. Vanilla cake with vanilla frosting, covered with fresh blueberries and strawberries. Utter and complete hit with my guys. Me, I'm not wild about buttercream frosting, I may need to do more experimenting if I'm going to keep baking them cakes.

Cowboys Cookies for Monday Night Supper, to fulfill a pledge towards my Chicago Lights marathon fundraising. These are a favorite in our house: oatmeal cookies with pecans, coconut, and chocolate chips. I make some without chocolate chips for G, who's not fond of chocolate. Though he keeps trying it, bless his heart, since he doesn't like feeling left out.

I wasn't planning to bake again until Thanksgiving, but we all happened to be home on G's birthday, and he asked for cake. What? You just had cake! But that was for the party and now it was his birthday and he wanted cake (and we'd eaten nearly all of the first at the party). And it was early afternoon and I had nothing pressing to do and so I looked through my pantry and looked through my cookbooks, and I improvised a gingerbread cake with lemon glaze. The flavors were a little strong to start with, although G liked it just fine which was all that really mattered, but in subsequent days they mellowed and I think we may have a new holiday favorite. I've made a note for next time to be sure to bake it a day ahead of when I want it, to give the flavors a change to settle.

Then it was Thanksgiving and I made pumpkin pie. And we all enjoyed it, and then enjoyed having it for breakfast, and then again the next day. And then it was gone and we all felt we hadn't gotten enough pie, so on Saturday I made another one. Because, why not? And also, was I really going to make another pumpkin pie later this year, when there are now Christmas treats to be made? I didn't think so. Better to just make that pie now.

And then it was Sunday and I had a brownie recipe I wanted to try out (since I haven't found a completely satisfying plant-based one yet) and a colleague at work to bake for (another marathon pledge). That one, alas, was an epic fail. Well, maybe not epic - it tasted good enough - but it didn't hold together well enough to even consider presenting outside of the house. It will work very nicely at home for brownie sundaes at some point though, so I froze a portion of it and we'll nibble on some this week. And I didn't sacrifice really good chocolate or cocoa on it (just because I didn't have any of the fine stuff in the house) so I'm okay if we end up tossing whatever's left at the end of the week...

...Since clearly I'll be baking again next weekend. I've already made my schedule for December...

With sugar and spice and everything nice,
Annie

The Garden Runs Amok

Because, why not?

This summer it seems all our rain is falling on the weekends - exactly the days I have to work in the garden. So things are a little... chaotic back there right now.

However, I did go out in the rain to harvest cilantro and thyme for two different recipes. It's wonderful to be able to use herbs I grew, makes me very hungry for more.

I think zucchini plants are in my future. I felt very silly buying them in the store when I know I could have an abundance of them at home. (Yes, I realize I would still have to buy them most of the year, but still.)

And I just got this book from the library:

Nom, nom, nom.

Experimenting,
Annie

National Museum of Mexican Art

On Sunday, to celebrate my birthday with the kids, we went someplace new to us, the National Museum of Mexican Art. I can barely tell you anything about it because we walked through so fast (G was not happy being there and was very loud and agitated about it), but D and I are new fans.

So much so, that I had to promise to take him back soon - without G, that was his stipulation. Also, he wants us to bring our sketchbooks and pencils with so that we can "draw our favorite things".

(Plus, they have an awesome gift shop that I would have liked to spend more time in as well. The Dude did buy me a very cool mug that I can now use for my Mexican hot chocolate.)

The gift shop, not the museum.

And then we came home and ate chocolate zucchini cake. A yummy day, all around.

A year older,
Annie

Watching Myself - With Love

I'll admit, it's been interesting to watch how I react to this withdrawing from some aspects of social media. If I do a long run, but don't put it up on DailyMile or write about it in one of my Facebook running groups, did it really happen? I notice I sometimes experience a certain anxiety about not sharing my workout information.

At the same time, I'm also experiencing a sense of freedom in my day. No more rushing to the computer right after a run to log it. If I don't announce a particular goal, then I am accountable only to myself about it, and can change it if I like. And never mind the sheer amount of time that's been freed up for me. I truly could never have realized just how much time I lost online until I made a deliberate attempt to curtail it.

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I do have some ideas about my training for the next months, and for the year. I'm not going to call them goals - I have concrete goals for myself this year but none of them are running-related. One is financial (to reduce my credit card debt by a third). One is practical (to get my drivers' license again). One is my ongoing effort to eat in a healthy, mindful, and joyful way. All are about increasing freedom in my life, so I can live in ways that better serve myself and those I love.

My initial training ideas are quite audacious, so I will wait to write about them until I have a better sense of whether I'll be able to fulfill them. I will say that so far, so good. And that I am enjoying both my running and my gym time.

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One article I wanted to share: Nutrition, from iRunFar. Here's the quote that best sums up the article, and nicely articulates what I've been thinking about recently (but only vaguely):

To me, the healthiest diet has nothing to do with never eating specific ‘bad’ foods, but instead with eating the foods that provide us with the most overall health in the given situation.

For me that includes taking "health" in the broadest possible context, to include my social and emotional health.

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It's been a bit of rough start to the year, between the weather and the challenge of my youngest moving into the "terrible twos". I love him dearly, but he is a frequent, ah, opportunity to practice personal growth. The good news is that we can see the fruit of our labor with him as he develops, so that is a blessing and encouragement in our efforts. The other good news is that, by him being the second child, I know from experience and in my bones that all things change, and that what may seem interminable in the moment is truly just a heartbeat of time. We are truly so blessed in both our children.

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And to brag on my oldest - he's currently in thrall to Harry Potter! (He's not reading on his own yet, The Dude reads it to him before bed. We're already on the second book.) This is several steps up in complexity from what we were reading to him before. I am amazed at his ability to visualize what he hears (I'm not very good at that) - the next day he draws out what we read about the night before. When he's not designing helicopters for a building unit at preschool, that is. Truly, my kids amaze me.

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With hope and gratitude -
Annie

After The (Long) Run

Homemade potato salad makes an excellent post-long-run snack.

This was my first time trying out a liquid nutrition system (Tailwind) on the go. I liked! Much easier to use, light tasting and refreshing, and I probably came a lot closer to what I should be consuming in liquid and calories. The main disadvantage is in carrying all that liquid with me. For today's run I should have brought 48 oz. (or even more), but the bottles I had for my vest only held 36.  And in longer runs I'll need to bring yet more. And of course going with that method means I'll be relying solely on my own provisions at races. I'm considering getting a bladder for my running vest (100 oz.), which means I'll be joining the ranks of the seriously geeky. Oy vey.

I have been stressing about the time that my training is taking, as my long runs get longer and even my mid-week ones get longer too. ("Stressing about the time" is probably too lightly stated.) I thought briefly about giving up doing the marathon this year and I may still leave that as an option. For now, though, I've gone back and reviewed my training plan, taking out a couple of the long runs and planning to do more of my runs as part of my commute to work. I won't be saving a lot of time, but I think it will ease things just enough so that I don't feel overwhelmed. This should be fun, after all.

And this week, along with trying out the new nutrition system, I also took seriously my post-long-run tender tummy woes, and planned to have lots of little snacks that are super easy to digest. Still healthy but not as robustly healthy as I usually eat (ie. I ate mostly fruit and lower amounts of protein and fiber than usual). Success! No ouchy tummy.

The only other thing I'm longing for now is new compression calf sleeves... the ones I have are great but heavy, and I've seen some lighter ones around...

Lay of the Land

Status report from the great Midwest... snow. First real snow of the season. Thick enough to be pretty (for a while), but not so thick (or icy, or blowy, or slushy) to be a huge nuisance... yet. At least not to those of us traversing it by foot. I can't speak for those who have to dig out cars or on unplowed streets, which is a perennial problem here in Chicago (not all neighborhoods receive equal attention, and yes, a mayor has been voted out in the past because of this).

Most of the visitors have left (one more trip this weekend). So I am home with the baby. Who is easy... if I am right with him at all times, including naps. When carrying him everywhere gets to be too much he will sleep in a front carrier, but that still leaves me with a limited range of motion, and an aching back. Well, this will pass quickly enough.

What I am also hoping will pass relatively quickly is his big brother's upset, expressed mostly in potty "accidents" and playing at being a baby (lying down, "crying") when faced with something he'd rather not do. Like sit at the table. Or brush his teeth. Or any one of the daily activities of life.

I hold on to two phrases I've been told... one, that as hard as this transition is for Buddy, in the end a younger brother is a gift to him as well as to us. And two, that by the time we get to next Christmas, not only will things be easier all around, but Buddy won't remember what it was ever like to not have Champ in his life.

The other thing I hope will feel easier by next Christmas is the work/childcare equation. Right now we are faced with not having a place for Champ at daycare until September. I had been scheduled to go back to work in five weeks. Uffda. So we're looking for a nanny-sharing deal, while continuing to cross our fingers that some member of The Dude's family might be able to come live with us in our already tight quarters and take care of Champ during that time. I've requested a month's additional personal leave so that we have 1) more time to find something, 2) Champ is a bit older, and 3) we have one less month of care to pay for. We have talked about what our alternatives might be... but I don't feel like giving voice to them here, not yet.

Small pleasures in my life right now... I started running again last week, which makes me very happy. I bundle Champ up and place him in The Green Monster (a ginormous "all-terrain" stroller that can pass for a running stroller if I don't go too fast) and go carefully and slowly through the neighborhood, alternating walking and jogging --- he sleeps, I get out and feel like myself, good news all around.

And I've been baking bread for church, for communion, just a plain whole wheat following a recipe from the Tassajara Bread Book. The recipe I have makes more than is needed for Sundays, so we've been enjoying the extra. It's been easy enough and successful enough that I am thinking of starting to bake bread more often, just for us. Makes me feel productive... saves some money too. Both things I need, the longer I stay home by myself.

Thankfully I do get out everyday and we have been blessed so far with a pretty mild winter. And no one is sick! (Knock wood.)