 |
| (Cruising the lake with Mom) |
 |
| (Standing.) |
Lilyana is now a crawling pro and has figured out how
to pull up to standing. She will grab onto anything to stand even if it moves,
like a rocking chair. I have to constantly be on my toes with her! It is still
hit or miss on learning to fall straight to her butt. She has definitely given
me mini heart attacks when she pulls herself up to standing, finds something to
distract her, let’s go of the object she was holding onto (seeming to forget
she cannot stand without assistance) then comes crashing to the floor. I have
to keep my reaction in control otherwise she will think she will start crying
when she is perfectly fine.
She has started eating solids now and I have been
making my own baby food. Right now it is very manageable as I can only
introduce a new food every 4-7 days. She started off with oatmeal, bananas,
avocado, and sweet potato. Next up I will give her carrots then some other
fruits. I use my NutriBullet Blender and it works awesome for making homemade
baby food
 |
| (Homemade baby food) |
 |
| (Oatmeal everywhere!) |
My training has been going pretty well. I have to take
things a bit slower than I would like with my knee still healing and needing
strengthening but that probably is not a bad thing for my long term health. It
does make things a bit trickier for trying to get ready to race this outdoor
season which will be starting up in a couple weeks. I know I shouldn’t try to
force myself to race this outdoors if my knee is not ready but I feel an
obligation to my sponsors who believe in me and have chosen to sponsor me for
the 2014 season after having taken 2013 off due to pregnancy.
I have started doing workouts and I am eager to do
them. The longest workout I have done is a 3 mile LT (lactate threshold) run
and I was pleasantly surprised to run it in 18:50 (6:22, 6:21, and 6:06). I
felt really smooth during it and it gave me confidence for the upcoming season.
However, on the way home from my run I stopped at an intersection and upon
starting again once the streets were clear to cross, I had a stabbing ache pain
in my knee. It was strange. It almost felt like a growing pain of sorts. I
limped home confused. The next day my knee was feeling achy and I took the day
off. I was scheduled for a long run of 10 miles Sunday but knew I would have to
play it by feel. I had done a very hilly run on Thursday with Lily in the
stroller and wondered if that might have been too much up and down on my knee.
I was sore the next day from it and vowed never to do that run again with the
stroller.
Sunday morning things felt ok so I started out for my
run. I jogged really slowly the first mile and my knee was aching slightly. I
stopped and stretched and decided to try to run a little more. After another
half mile things felt fine and I ran effortlessly for ten miles. Yet again
though, on my way home, when I stopped at an intersection my knee began to ache
again upon starting. I decided to send an email to my Doctor to see if any of
this seemed unusual. Monday I took things easy. I was going to take Tuesday off
when I received a message back from my Doctor. He reassured me this was
perfectly normal and that I may see some swelling after I introduce a new
activity (like my hilly run and tempo run) into my routine. Until I get that
leg stronger I will most likely feel these aches.
 |
| (Ready for the sun!) |
The morning I read that I called my coach (John
Ricardi) and told him what the Doctor said and that I wanted to try running
instead of taking a day off. It was a beautiful sunny, warm day outside so I
couldn’t pass it up. I decided to run what I was originally scheduled for the
day before, 4 miles with 6x100m strides with an exercise after each stride
(i.e. pushups, lunges, dips, jumping jacks, burpees, mountain climbers, and
squats). It is amazing how much less my knee hurt when I knew that it was o.k.
(or so I am hoping). The ache was still there but it didn’t feel as sharp. My
strides went fine, though I didn’t run them that fast. I focused more on form
so as to not aggravate my knee. At this point I can tell I will have to take
things on a day to day basis with my knee. If it flares up I will need to cross
train, no sense pushing through pain. I did that for nearly 3 years before I
finally had the surgery and I am not doing that again! I want to enjoy my life
and not be in constant pain. After my run I met a friend and we walked the lake
with our babies. I want to keep my body healthy so I am able to enjoy moments
like these and be able to play and keep up with Lilyana as she grows.
I could learn a thing or two from Lilyana. One week
she couldn’t crawl, the next she was on her hands and knees, the next crawling
and shortly after standing! If I am just patient and don’t try to take short
cuts my body will become strong and will be ready to perform when I need it.
Right now my left knee cannot handle steeple barriers but it will in time.
So exciting and great to be training again, right? I know you're looking forward to racing. I absolutely love your pics of Lilyana. She is so adorable. And I'm a to-be mom that looking into making my own baby food, too. Keep up the good work in your training! Run Happy!
ReplyDeleteSo far making my own baby food has not been difficult! It's nice knowing exactly what is in her food and being able to buy organic, plus it's affordable! I usually make a week's worth at a time except for her oatmeal. I make that for her each morning from milled up oatmeal (I guess I do that in advance in my blender) while I make my own. Her's only takes a couple minutes to make since it's such a small amount. I'm definitely learning as I go and all I can say is thank goodness for the internet! That's where I find most of my information on how to make baby food :)
ReplyDelete