·:[ The Healthy Mom ]:·
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I did it! I did it!

I hiked to the top of Pikes Peak today with my new friend Layne.  It took us 6:28:19 to get up there at a comfortable pace. 

The bad news is that my sciatica bothered me. The good news is that it didn’t kick in until the last two miles. 

Last night I prepared by doing all my stretches for half an hour in the evening before going to bed. I also took some Ibuprofen.

I filled two of my hydration belt bottles with Gatorade and the other two with water. I froze them. I packed a protein bar cut in thirds.

In the morning, I dressed, grabbed all my stuff, and took more Ibuprofen.

May hiked with Layne and I up to Barr Camp before she turned around. She hiked to the top two days ago.

Layne was the perfect companion. Good pace. I wasn’t interested in running at all. I just wanted to get a feel for the full course, and what I would be able to consume to get to the top. We got to know each other on the trail. Danced down the slight downhills after treeline. Stopped and stretched when we needed to. It was really a great experience.

I packed well, but I could have used a bit more fuel closer to the top. Thankfully, Layne had her “feedbag” and shared her goldfish crackers with me.

At Barr Camp I bought another Gatorade and refilled two of my bottles.

I ate my first part of the protein bar around French Creek. Another around the 7.8 to Peak sign. The last I ate before the A-Frame. The last few miles, I was motivated by the thought of a cheeseburger at the top.

Throughout the last 3-4 miles, we were trying to stay motivated

“Trudge, trudge, trudge” (with each step)
“Just keep moving, just keep moving” (think Dory from Finding Nemo)
“Cheeseburger. Cheeseburger”

Layne sang great little songs that made us laugh. And told me motivational and horror stories from marathons past.

Right at the 2 to go mark, my sciatica finally kicked in. With a vengence. I mistakenly did not bring another dose of Ibprofen with me because I THOUGHT I would finish before 6 hours, which is when the dose wore off. I had to stop frequently to sit and stretch. It was more annoying to me than anything else. Especially since that mile marker starts the most boring leg of the journey.

After we hit the 1 to go mark, I was feeling good that it was only one mile to go, but that mile seemed to take FOREVER. After we were halfway up the 16 Golden Stairs and finally saw the top, I was so relieved!

At the summit, we each had a cheeseburger, soda and shared some kettle chips. After admitting we were both still hungry, we split another cheeseburger and order of kettle chips. That hit the spot!

Now we needed to find a ride home.

We queried all conductors The Cog railway was full. Time to hitch a ride. Nearly every car was full on the way down. At one point, I thought I had hit the jackpot as I saw an older couple get into a sedan. Just as I started to walk up to them, three teenage boys ran towards the car and into the back seat. Great.

I saw this Camaro, then I saw a guy taking photos of the scenery. So, I asked him if he wanted to be IN his picture. After I took photos of him, I asked if he could do US a huge favor and give us a ride down.

He said he had to re-arrange stuff to help us fit in. He had the t-tops off, so it was a topless ride LOL! We stopped a few times on the way down to take pictures. He even took a picture of us poking our heads out of the t-top. He was a sweetie. He had his girlfriend’s picture on the dashboard. She was a cutie, too.

We smelled his brakes heating up on the way down. I had just been bragging about how well I do at brake check point (the two times I’ve driven down). Sure enough, Jesse’s brakes were at 483 degrees! The cut off was 300 degrees. They made us park and wait. After browsing the gift shop and eating a chocolate eclair ice cream bar, we headed the rest of the way down. Jesse drove us all the way into Manitou and to the Cog Railway. Such a gentlemen.

We paid for his highway fee. Then we got some tourists to take a picture of the three of us. Layne and I gave him our email addresses, so we hope to get some of the photos when he’s back in Missouri.

Jesse just graduated from college and is a graphic design artist/screen printer. He would LOVE to live in Colorado. We told him that we’d help him do that!

But enough about Jesse, let’s talk about me. I did it! I did it! Yay for me! I rock!

yay!  Our flight leaves tomorrow morning at 6:25 AM, so the party’s over, but it’s been SO much fun!

We did call the boys about every 12 hours.  They seem to be doing fine.

Friday was fun.  Just got on the con floor, caught the presentations for Eureka and Babylon 5: The Lost Tales.  Had a great dinner with some clients!  After dinner, Doug asked if I wanted to go somewhere for a drink.  “Nope.  I want to go back to the hotel now.”    

We totally slept in this morning - until 10 AM!

I had a lot of ups and downs as far as the convention today (Saturday).  Waited an hour to try and get in to the Heroes presentation, but couldn’t get in, same for Battlestar Galactica.   BUT, I did get into the Supernatural presentation.  Jensen Ackles is so much hotter in person!  But I wasn’t able to get an autograph or photo with him. BUT I did get some great photos of him  .  Then, I was wandering around and saw the actor who plays Chief Tyrol (Kali’s husband) on BSG.  I took a photo of him, and then he gave me a huge smile, and then I got someone to take a photo of me with him.   

I’m a big geeky fan girl and I’m not afraid to show it.

I picked up some goodies for the boys from Cartoon Network and some Buffy cards for my friends (you know who you are).  I even got a Vote Petrelli pin, even though I didn’t get a chance to see Milo Ventimiglia (Peter Petrelli) in person

Tonight we had dinner with two other comic book store owners, who we are friends with at a yummy seafood restaurant.

All in all a great trip!  Yay for us!

Envy me!  I’m in the airport with my hubby and no kids.

The good byes with the boys went well at Grandma & Grandpa’s this morning.  Whew!

We didn’t have to check any luggage.  We used express check in.  Security was a breeze.  Free wireless for me, and more Harry Potter reading time for Doug.

La la la la la la!     That’s my happy dance

This is me on my way down:

This is my on my up:

Any questions?

Today was literally a walk in the park. With my friends. And our kids.

Life is good.

So, I drove to the top of Pikes Peak for the first time in my life. It’s a pretty drive. But long. And yesterday was the Pikes Peak Hill Climb, so there were remnants of that left. The starting line, for one. That was a little surreal.

There’s a well known 3-2-1 workout where runners go down 3 miles and come back up, then down 2 miles and back up and finish up with 1 mile down, and 1 mile up.

I wanted to make the most of my workout, knowing that I probably would only do one leg, and wanting to see more of the trail, so I decided to do 4 miles down and then come back up.

Ouch. Going down, even at that altitude, felt good to me. Coming back up, not so much. After my 1st mile on the way up, my sciatica kicked in. By the 2nd mile, the pain was excruciating. I had to stop every 15-20 minutes to rub out the tightness in my calf and hamstring. It was brutal. Keep in mind that I took 800 mg of Ibuprofen before I started. I can’t imagine what it would have been like without it.

So now, I have some serious misgivings about running the race. I’m REALLY worried. I need to see Jessica (my physical therapist) this week and see what she thinks.

I finished it today. Wow. It was great.

Note to self… when reading The Most Recent Posts, read the title of the thread before reading the thread.

I missed the very big Spoiler Alert subject line that was so graciously put there as a warning and totally spoiled myself by reading Joy’s post when I was halfway through the book. 

No matter!  I really enjoyed it.     Yay!

SPOILERS BELOW

(more…

It’s 17 days later and Zevan has pooped in the potty again!  The funniest thing.  I was laying in bed, and I heard Zevan muttering, “C’mon, c’mon, c’mon” in his super cute voice.  I got up and found him sitting on the potty.

“Whatcha doing?”
“Trying to poop.”
“Why are you saying ‘c’mon’?”
“Because it won’t come out.”

*This* time he called me when he was done.  I sang a little song and praised him for going on the potty.  He said, “I pooped and peed AT THE SAME TIME!”

So cute!

I gotta say, it was *super nice* to have the cute guy  from the climbing gym get my attention yesterday at McDonalds and ask me if I’m coming back to the gym.  That was a nice ego boost. 

And my husband  said I looked skinny this morning - so I’m cataloging today’s outfit as a skinny outfit.   

Of course I had to bring myself back to reality in the changing room at Ross, but I did find a couple pairs of shoes, a top and a pair of khakis that fit!   

I got up at 4:30 AM and started at the race starting line (Manitou Police Station) by 5:23 AM. Crazy!

May and Jeanne started 15 minutes later than I did, and I kept wondering when May would catch up with me. First, I figured she would catch me at the top of the Ws. Then I thought, Rock Arch. Still no May. I even passed No Name Creek with no sign of her. She caught up with me shortly afterwards.

My hip was bothering me after No Name Creek. I was totally on target for most of the way, until I passed the 7.8 mile to summit sign and totally bonked. I stopped to take some ibuprofen and a bite of the protein bar that I brought with me.

After I ran with Jeanne a while (she caught me near the 7.8 mile to summit sign), I slowed down and couldn’t pick up the pace anymore. My sciatic pain, which I don’t normally feel while running, was bothering me, my right toe was numb, etc, etc…

I ran into some friendly hikers around the 0.5 mile to Barr Camp sign and paced with them to Barr Camp.

I stopped at Barr Camp, ate a little (brought a protein bar with me), stretched and drank some gatorade. I felt fine on the way down. It took me 2:43 to get to Barr Camp, and 2:15 to come back down to the police station.

I think if I had been more prepared (slept better, ate better yesterday, drank more water the days before), and didn’t pace with the hikers, I would have been able to cut the minutes I need to get to Barr Camp by 2:32:24. I also stopped a few times to take pictures with my phone.

This was also my first day of taking the thyroid medication. I swear it gave me more energy.

I’m feeling pretty good about the race and my goal. I’m a little nervous about the top though. That’s a BIG altitude adjustment.

I went to see Dr. Kania today for a host of things -

1) Follow up on Lexipro: so far, so good.  I feel more even keeled anyway.  But I’m still tired a lot.

2) Sciatic pain: well, she says my left leg is 3/16″ shorter than my right. And I need to wear a lift in my shoe.  So I’ll try it.  I’ll try anything at this point.  The pain has been getting worse.

3) Blood test results: This was for my vision, to see if I might be diabetic.  My blood sugar is good.  But my thyroid was low, so she prescribed me some thyroid medication.  And once we get that settled in, we’ll revisit the need for Lexipro.  I still need to get seen by an optometrist.

I missed my run today because of jury duty.  I missed a couple last week, too.  I’ve been running some short runs.

May is going to the top tomorrow.  I want and need to go, but I also don’t want to miss playdate and I’m nervous about hiking that long.  I’m torn.    I will likely compromise and just run for 3 hours up and then come down.     I plan on going to the top next week anyway.

I gained some weight, and I’m not happy about that.  I’m hoping that the thyroid meds might help that along   

Okay, I went in at 8:30 AM.  I sat around until 10:40 AM, and got my name called to come back at 1:30 PM.

I came back at 1:30, got into the jury pool for a criminal trial, and was there until 5:00 PM.  AND I have to go back tomorrow morning at 9 AM because the jury selection isn’t final yet.

I had to cancel a physical therapy appt that I had at 3:30 PM today.  AND I had to cancel a doctor’s appt that took me 2 weeks to get.     I can’t even work or read because I have to pay attention to the proceedings as they decide on the final jury selection.

   ARGH!

It was too frakkin hot to run outside today at noon. So, I ran on dad’s treadmill with the A/C on me. Just a constant incline. Which was good because my sciatica has been pretty bad lately.

This is not MY first trip without the boys. I’ve taken two. A 3 night trip to Vegas with the girls last October, and a 2 night trip to NYC with Candy for a client’s party this past May. Once I’m on the plane, I’m fine. It gives me extra assurance that they are with their dad.

They have done overnight stays with my parents. We drop them off at 6 PM for our date night. We pick them up at 10 AM the next morning.

This is OUR first trip away from them for more than 16 hours. We’ll be okay once we get there, and are distracted by the events of our trip.

I totally trust my parents and Doug’s parents. They spend a lot of the time with the kids and see them every week.

Also, I think I’ll suggest that my parents take them out to dinner on Saturday night - Zander loves Old Chicagos.

They have been loving the audio books from Wendy’s kids meals. I ordered a CD with 7 new stories on it, and it came today. I won’t let them know its here until we have to leave.

I did find out that Joshua probably won’t be here the weekend that we are going to be out of town. But, they always have a good time there anyway, so I’m sure they can be kept distracted.

I’m not worried about the daytime. Both grandparents homes have lots of toys, let them watch tv channels we don’t normally watch, and have outdoor toys as well. My mom and dad have a little pond with a waterfall, and the sprinklers, of course. Doug’s parents have a small wading pool and a motorized kid size golf cart.

It’s the nighttime I’m anxious about. The boys will share a full size bed at each grandparents house, and they know they are welcome to come into the grandparents room if they get scared or lonely. We’ll call each night around bedtime to say good night.

Doug’s parents don’t have a lot of luck getting the kids to go to bed (we came home from a party at 11 PM and they were still awake!), but my dad is really good at it.

I know that they will be okay, and that I will be able to relax more once we leave. I mean, it’s not like I’m going to turn around and come home once we get on the plane, so I might as well enjoy it, right?

It’s over.     I was excused because I was unable to remain impartial about this case.   

So now I can divulge some more information.   

So, it was a domestic violence issue, the charges were first degree attempted murder and second degree assault.  With a knife.

Clearly, I am unable to be impartial in this case.  Particularly since it sounded like the defendant was going to claim that he “abandoned” his attempt to murder the woman.   

Like tried to stab her, changed his mind, said, “Call the police” and that’s supposed to excuse the attempt.  Sorry, no.

But I was sitting around other potential jurors and we were joking around the whole time.  It was kind of fun this morning.  Each time a juror got excused, becoming the next potential juror got closer and closer to us, we would make the Spy danger music “ un dun DUNNNNN”  If you’ve seen the Backyardigans spy episode, you’ll know what I mean.

I got out at 10:15, just in time for my doctor’s appt. 

Okay, I booked the plane tickets and reserved the hotel room.  Doug and I are going to San Diego for the Comic-Con July 27-29.  Our flight leaves Colorado Springs on Friday at 10:00 AM and we arrive back in Colorado Springs at 9:40 AM on Sunday.  48 hours.

I’m slightly panicked now about the boys.  As you know, Zevan thought I DIED last time I left.  Oddly enough, though, now I think Zevan will be fine. 

It’s Zander I’m worried about.  He’s been very clingy whenever I have wanted to go somewhere without him.    The night out with Dani & Shanyn.  The last VI night I had with the girls.   It’s okay if he goes somewhere, but its not okay for me to go anywhere.

And tonight.  I just wanted to run to the grocery store while the boys were eating dinner (Doug was home).  As I walked out the door, Zander said he was okay with it.  As I’m pulling out of the garage, I look up and Zander is at the door between the garage and the house, crying.  He wants to come with me.  I argue that I’ll be back in 20 minutes.  He wants to come with me.  I tell him that if he comes with me, we won’t have time to play Monopoly Jr (he’s been asking to play all day).  He doesn’t want to play that game, he wants to come with me.  I tell him he needs to eat his dinner.  Can’t I just wait 5 minutes?  You have to eat all the food on your plate.  He heartily agrees and runs to his plate and starts chowing down.  I add another helping of food.  He eats it just so he can come with me.  By this time, Zevan wants to go to.   

I tell them, if you come with me, you have to stay in the cart.  Zander counters, “I promise I won’t fool around.”  Zevan repeats the promise.  So they both eat the food I ask them to  and they come to the grocery store with me.  I’m strict at the grocery store.  No running.  No snacks or candy, only the stuff on the list.  They don’t care, they’re just happy to be with me.   

So, we are actually going to lie about where we are going, because if Zander finds out we are going to San Diego, he is going to want to go with us.  He *loves* San Diego.  So we’re going to go to meetings with clients.    We haven’t figured out what town we are going to say we are going to.  Even if I say California, the jig is up. 

The plan is to try and get their cousin Joshua down to the Springs that weekend.  Then they can stay at Doug parents’ house on Friday, then my parents on Saturday.  I’m concerned about the transition there, but hoping it’s enough to keep them distracted.  Maybe my parents can take them to the zoo on Saturday or something fun.

This is the FIRST time Doug and I are going somewhere without the boys.  It’s exciting for us, and we really want to do it, but we’re also worried.  Doug is haunted by the memory of Zevan thinking that I died when I went to NY in May.  And these tantrums that Zander has been throwing the last two weeks whenever I leave.

Candy and I went for a long walk today in Monument Valley Park. I had intentions of doing a tempo run, but never followed through. Plus I hit pause and forgot to resume my workout, so I missed tracking about an hour! Dagnabit.

But it was good to walk and talk and catch up with one of my best friends