They say time out should be as many minutes as your child is years old. 2 years = 2 minutes. I have a digital timer that I use, so I can set it at 2:15 for Zevan and 3:45 for Zander.

It doesn’t sound like a very long time, but it can sure feel like it.

Pick a spot that can be a designated time out spot. A chair they need to work to get out of, the sofa, the bottom step, our bed… one place on each floor of the house is good. Where there are no toys or books.

So, if Zander hits me, I say clearly and as neutrally as possible, “No hitting. You are going in time out so you can calm down.” Then I sit him firmly time out spot.

The microwave timer works if I am in the kitchen. Or I can even program my cell phone if I’m in a pinch. I set the timer or look at a nearby clock/watch. He knows when the timer beeps, his time out is over. He can read digital clocks, so I can tell him, “When the clock reads 5:33, your time out is over.”

Oh, and if he gets out of the chair before time out’s over, he gets a warning, “If you get out of the chair before time out is over, you get another minute.” Same penalty for talking back to me.

Beep, beep, beep… Then I come back all cheery … “Okay, time out’s over!”

I usually ask, ” Do you feel better now?”

Here’s a typical post time out conversation with Zander.

Me: “Why were you in time out?”
Zander: “”Because I hit you, mama.”
Me: “Please apologize.”
Zander: “”I apologize, mom.”
Me: “For what?”
Zander: “”For hitting you.”
Me: “Okay Zander. (hug) It is not nice to hit people. Please don’t hit again or you will go in time out.”
Zander: “Okay, mom.”
Me: “I love you.”
Zander: “I love you, too, mom” (on a good day)

Zevan is responding to time out as well, although he isn’t as eloquent. He hates time out. He used to cry the whole time. Now he just cries for the first minute or so. Now, he goes in time out very often for hitting Zander. So, when his time out is over, it’s like this:

Me: “Tell Zander you’re sorry.”
Zevan: “Sorry fah hit you, Zanneh”
Zander: “That’s okay, Zevan.”
Me: “Now, give him a hug and a kiss.
They hug and kiss. It’s very cute.

That’s what works for us most days.

Turns out my long run on Tuesday was 5.5 miles. I took the van and drove along the parts where I ran and did a fairly accurate estimate. Translates to a 13:17 minute mile. I really have no idea how to pace myself when I’m by myself. Well, I don’t really push myself when I’m by myself. From my race times, obviously, I *can* run faster.

A big part of my problem is that I am never well rested on a daily basis. tired I make an effort to get sleep before a race, but I don’t do so otherwise. I’m so not a morning person.

I think I’ll have more time once school starts for Zander and I figure out a schedule with Zevan. Of course, I could be wrong. Dead wrong.

I’m doing okay with my eating. I have passed up many temptations today. We went grocery shopping today so I tried to buy foods that are convenient and low calorie. Some Lean Cuisine and another brand of tv dinners under 300 calories. I also bought baby carrots and snap peas to crunch on. And nectarines.

Tomorrow I have a short run on my training schedule, so I am going to try and get up early to do it before Doug leaves for work. It’s only 2 miles, so I should get it done in about 25 minutes or less. Nice short workout.

Today’s my brother’s birthday.

I’m poor, so we just called him on the way to Grandma & Grandpa’s for breakfast.

He’s at work. He doesn’t like birthdays in general. So, I prep the boys.

Me: “It’s Uncle Fran’s birthday today. Will you say Happy Birthday to him when I call him?”

Zevan: “No”

Zander: “Okay, mom.”

What?! Holy role reversal, Batman.

I call my brother. We chat and I wish him a happy birthday. I hold the phone up to the boys.

Me: “Say ‘Happy Birthday, Uncle Fran!’”

Zevan: “No…”

Zander: (singing) “Happy birthday to you, Happy birthday to you… happy birthday…Uncle…dear…happy birth…” he falters a bit.

Fran, “Maybe this birthday thing isn’t so bad.”

Me: “Wait until Ash (his son) sings happy birthday to you!

Me: “Can you sing ‘Happy Birthday’ Zevan?”

Zevan: “No.”

My brother and I talk more. Before we hang up, I hold the phone up to the back seat.

Zander sings the whole birthday song, not missing a note. I can feel my brother beaming through the phone.

Pretty cool.

Lucky for me, I still had Candy’s MP3 player this morning. That made the run much easier. I’m going to buy one for myself this week. I found that Apple sells a refurbished IPod Nano 2GB for just $129.00 with free shipping. That’s better than anything I’ve seen on eBay.

Oh, and it was nice and cloudy this morning. Perfect running weather.

May is always trying to get me up The Incline. My friend Lanel is doing The Ascent in a couple of weeks. She doesn’t run on the trail, but still… Her friend Angie is actually RUNNING it. Craziness.

Of course, I think people who run marathons are crazy, and look what I decided to do.

My next run is Thursday Easy Run: Dist: 2 mi @ 12:13. Woo hoo!

I had two eggs, two 3″ pancakes and 6 oz of orange juice for my late breakfast. I’m already thinking about lunch, just 1 1/2 hours later.

My training pace is WAY slower than my race pace. I like to run a 12-14 minute mile pace overall when training. I know it’s a wide swing, but it usually evens out in the end. Before the 10K, the longest distance I ran was 4.6 miles in 1:02 just 5 days before the race. That’s a 13:30 minute mile.

I have to say I was shocked that I could keep up a 10:22 minute mile pace during the race. SHOCKED

I pulled a training program from Runners World. I wanted my long run to be on Tuesdays, so today it is. Today’s workout called for Long Run Dist: 6 mi@12:13

Hmmm…seeing that I ran 6.2 miles for the first time EVER last Saturday, we’ll just see how far I can get today.

I ran somewhere between 5-6 miles this morning. I need to drive the route to get a better estimate. Most of it is on the road, but then I got on a trail.

Here’s the thing. I often run along Mesa Road for convenience sake. So I start at Mesa Rd & 19th Streets. It’s a mile to Fllmore, all on a slight incline. Then another mile to Hill Circle, again, most of it uphill. Then it’s my best guess after that. I ran down to the trail that parallels 30th Street and turned around at the parking lot at the trailhead in front of The Navigators. Lots of little hills on that trail. I had been running for 38 minutes so I figured I must have gotten reasonably close to 3 miles. I need a GPS to figure this out.

I turned around at 38:09.2, got to Hill Circle at 47:56.0, then to Fillmore at 1:02.04, and finished up at 19th at 1:13:48. On the way back, it took me 35:35.8. So maybe I did about 5.5 miles then. I did walk here and there for a bit, maybe 3/4 of a mile total.

Is it weird that I haven’t eaten yet and it’s 10:30 AM? I should go eat, right?