Running Into The Snow

Posted on January 8, 2011 by Coco

Today I went for a 9 mile run from my house (instead of on the bike path) and ended up running into the snow that I thought had passed. I plotted a route out on runningmap.com last night. It is much harder to figure out a 9 mile loop than an out-and-back route, but I figured one out that only required me to get through one busy intersection.

I had more new running gear to try out: a new Polartech jacket from L.L. Bean that my sister-in-law gave me and new running pants I got on sale from Land’s End. I wore a short-sleeved tech shirt under the jacket and added my Nike iPod hat and medium weight gloves. And my Garmin, of course.

I saw that there was a light dusting of snow on the cars, so I figured that the snow “they” called for had come and gone. I selected my new “Best of 2010” playlist on my iPod Nano and started walking to where I would start running.

The first 3.25 miles of my route were the same as my usual “neighborhood hilly route.” Still, the hills felt particularly challenging today–maybe my legs are tired from the lunges and squats I did yesterday. At the top of the third serious hill I turned right instead of left, and got to enjoy a downhill stretch and then a flat stretch. Then I noticed how the road rose up again, and realized that this long, flat segment wasn’t really flat! At about mile 5 there was another killer hill–long and steep–but I plodded along. When I was climbing yet another long, steep hill at mile 6, I cursed myself for planning a route that is “just too d@mn hilly!”

Just as I was getting whiny, it started to snow! It went from zero to heavy snow in just a few minutes and it was pretty. We don’t usually get a lot of snow in the D.C. area–except for last year’s snowmaggedon blizzards:

Today, the snow coated the road and sidewalk amazingly quickly, but didn’t amount to much.

I had to be extra careful through that dangerous intersection because cars were being stupid–driving without their headlights on–but I made it safely to the other side.  When I got to my last steep hill (number eight I think!), the sidewalk was slippery, so I ran on the grass.  The rest of my route was flat (thank goodness!) and I only had to cross one more busy road.

 I had to run almost all the back to my house to hit 9 miles, so I decided to walk on the treadmill for a few minutes to cool down more. After that, I stretched and used my foam roller.

After a shower, I was ready for breakfast:

Adding raisins and a spoonful of peanut butter to my oatmeal is my absolute favorite way to enjoy it these days. Yum!

Do you like to run in the snow?

What is your favorite way to fix oatmeal?

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Because My Daughter is Home

Posted on January 6, 2011 by Coco

Because my daugther is home, I need to keep the pantry stocked with her favorites.
(Ginger Ale, Multigrain Cheerios, Bagel Bites)
Because my daughter is home, I need to run the dishwasher every day.
(Don’t you already have a glass somewhere?)
Because my daughter is home, our laundry hamper is always overflowing.
(Do you think this is a fancy hotel with towel service?)

Because my daughter is home, we can bake our favorite recipes together.
(Snickerdoodles,  brownies, peanut butter kiss cookies)
Because my daughter is home, I have someone who’s always up for a Starbucks run.
(White Chocolate Mocha for her, Peppermint Mocha for me)
Because my daughter is home, her beautiful smile brightens my day.
(and I will miss her so much when she’s gone)

Posted in Life | Tagged , , , , | 3 Comments

Stress-Reducing Resolutions for Work

Posted on January 3, 2011 by Coco

I’m not so keen on diet or fitness resolutions this year–I am doing pretty well on those fronts–but I am been thinking about resolutions that could make my life at work less stressful and more productive.

  • Stop multi-tasking.  With my dual monitors, it can be hard to ignore new emails while I am working on something else. I knows those “three second” distractions add up, sap my efficiency, and make me feel fragmented. If I have both monitors showing screens relevant to what I am working on, I will finish my project more quickly and then can give my email my full attention. If my project will take more than a few hours, I can take designated email breaks.
  • Complete one project before starting the next one. My days can be full of interruptions, and I am tempted to handle new requests right away if I think I can complete them quickly (reviewing a draft, signing a letter, etc.). This often means that I will have several files open and in-progress at once, and several interrupted projects that I will have to re-orient myself to when I return to them later. If I take a few minutes to assess the relevant urgency of projects and decide if a new item can wait one more hour while I finish the one at hand, I will feel less scattered and may even get more done.
  • Deal with emails right away. Recently I realized that I spend too much time every day scrolling through my emails to find the one(s) that I need to read again or respond to. Since then, I have been trying to deal with emails right away. If I don’t need to respond, I read and delete. If I need to respond later, I set a reminder/flag which moves the email out of my regular in-box stream. If I will need to refer to the email later, I will move it to a folder. At the end of the day/week/month, I review the emails that remain in my in-box, and see if they can be deleted, flagged, moved, etc. This is saving me time every day and reducing the chances that an important email will be buried in my in-box.
  • Take notes. I need to get into a habit of taking notes during all telephone calls. When I am on a conference call, I process the information and understand the next steps, but if the matter isn’t urgent or if I get interrupted before I take care of it, I can lose track of details. If I take notes–even if I don’t think I need to (and this is key)–then I won’t have to spend time wracking my brain to remember those details.
  • Heed biological needs. This may sound ridiculous, but I have days when I am thirsty and feel like I am “too busy” to refill my water bottle, and often test the limits of my bladder because of the time it takes to walk to the restroom. We all have days when we eat lunch late or skip it, but with my mild hypoglycemia waiting even an extra hour for a meal or snack can wreak havoc. I won’t say that I’ve never been under such a tight deadline that these 5 minute breaks would have made a difference, but it certainly doesn’t happen very often. Unless its one of those days, I need to get water when I’m thirsty, eat when I’m hungry and go when I need to go!
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Bedtime Prayers

Posted on January 1, 2011 by Coco

As a child, I said my prayers as I went to sleep. Not on my knees by my bedside, but lying comfortably in my bed. I’m sure my parents said the prayers to me at first, and then listened to me say them as I got older, sealing the “Amen” with a good night kiss on the forehead.

 

There have been times in my adult life that I was in a habit of saying bedtime prayers. When I was pregnant and worrying over the health of my babies. When my children were worrying me with their teenage antics. But usually I collapse into bed exhausted and am asleep without even the thought of a prayer.

But this prayer is so beautiful. When I remember to say it, it perfectly captures everything I want to remind myself of, pray for, and give thanks for. 

Nighttime Prayer from the New Zealand Book of Common Prayer

Lord, it is night.

The night is for stillness.
Let us be still in the presence of God.

It is night after a long day.
What has been done has been done;
what has not been done has not been done;
let it be.

The night is dark;
Let our fears of the darkness of the world and our own lives rest in you.

The night is quiet.
Let the quietness of your peace enfold us,
all dear to us,
and all who have no peace.

The night heralds the dawn.
Let us look expectantly to a new day,
new joys,
new possibilities.

In your name we pray.

Amen.

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Wrestlemania!

Posted on December 31, 2010 by Coco

Yesterday I spent 9 hours in a highschool gym. Voluntarily. And I wasn’t taking a CPR class.

This is my son’s third year on the varsity wrestling team, and yesterday was his school’s big annual Holiday Classic tournament. There were 10 schools competing, and with only 2 mats (some schools with bigger gyms have room for 4 or even 6 mats) and 14 weight classes, we all knew it was going to be a long day.

wrestlers

 

My son’s day got off to a rough start, but it ended well. He lost his first match, getting pinned after being slightly ahead points-wise. He won his next two “consolation” rounds, which put him back into the semi-final rounds. He won again, and qualified to compete for third place. The boy who beat him in the first match lost at some point during the day, so the final match ended up being a re-match of the first. I know my son was surprised to have been beaten in the morning, but there is no question that the other boy was a good wrestler. It was a very close match and came down to the last points and the last seconds. The whole team was on their feet cheering and I was doing my best to twist and grapple to help my son from the sidelines. When the final buzzer went off and my son was ahead, I jumped for joy.

 

The win was awesome, but even more special was seeing the big grin on my son’s face. He was so thrilled and proud of himself. He got a big congratulatory hug from his coach, many back-pats from his teammates, and congratulations from the other parents. And, he got to celebrate with a big steak dinner with his teammates, who don’t have to weigh-in for a full week. (Thank goodness my son is wrestling “up” so he doesn’t have to worry about making weight.)

The first year my son wrestled, I wasn’t into it at all. I didn’t really enjoy watching the boys, and felt so barbaric cheering them on. As the season wore on, I understood the sport more, could follow the scoring, and figured out why you need to “lift his head!” when you have your competitor on his back (to force the shoulders on the ground to earn a pin).

By last year, I was totally into it. Well, I still don’t like it when the boys seem to bend their necks more than they should be able to go, or when arms and shoulders get twisted back too far, but for the most part the boys wrestle “clean” without hurting each other.

What I have really come to appreciate is how demanding wrestling is as a sport. Sure, a round may only last for 2 minutes, but you try keeping your shoulders off the ground for even 30 seconds using only your core strength while someone your weight is on top of you using all of his weight to try to push you down.  I’m not even sure that I can hold a plank for 30 seconds with only gravity working against me!

Wrestling offers so many lessons:

  • It ain’t over until it’s over. You can be way ahead in points, but if you get careless, or tired, or the other guy gets lucky, you can find yourself on your back with the referee counting out a 3-second pin. The good news is that this holds true when you are behind. There is always a chance that you can pin your opponent and win as long as you stay in the match and keep trying.
  • Every second counts. A match can change direction so quickly. The wrestler who initiates a take down may quickly find himself flat on the mat. The wrestler on the bottom may be able to flip around if his opponent is too high up on his back. Once the referee starts counting a pin, you have 3 whole seconds to escape and it can be done. Sometimes it seems that sheer determination earns a win.

 

  • The number on the scale doesn’t tell you everything. Each weight class is separated by 5-17 pounds (at the higher weights) and most boys try to be at or near the high end of their weight class. That means that boys in the same weight class should weigh about the same, but they often look very different. There are boys with tall and lanky builds, boys with short and stocky builds, and every build in between. It’s not clear that either build necessarily has an advantage. More often it is skill (and maybe a bit of luck) that determines the winner–I’ve seen boys with different builds dominate their matches.
  • You need to work with what you have. If you are tall and lanky, you need to use that height (and leverage) to your advantage. If you are short and stocky, you need to make that strength and stability work for you. No matter what your size, you can hone your skills and agility so you will be able to respond to your opponent’s strengths.

Another thing I really enjoy about following my son’s wrestling team is the team “family.” Parents (and grandparents!) make an effort to come to the matches and everyone cheers on each wrestler. It is fun to watch the boys grow and mature as the season goes on, and it is great to get to know the other parents as we pass the time between matches during the day-long tournaments.

Tonight, we are putting that “family” to the test. Our boys are going to one wrestler’s house for a New Year’s Eve party. We have used our bleacher-born connections to make phone calls, verify itineraries, and do what we can to make sure that everyone makes it to practice on Monday.

Have you experienced Wrestlemania?

Posted in Fitness, Life | Tagged , , , , , | 6 Comments