I'll admit it, it sounds horribly superficial, but one of the main reasons I really wasn't sure if I wanted to be pregnant was that I didn't want to gain the weight. I really wasn't sure if I could handle getting heavy and if I would lose the weight. I had grand plans to be the healthiest pregnant person you ever saw and those quickly flew out the window. I stopped weighing myself once I had gained 50 lbs, who knows in the end how much I actually weighed. All I know is that now, 5 months and 1 week post partum, I only have 5 lbs to go to pre preggo weight. Woohoo. I did it. I got my 5'3 body dangerously closer to 200 lbs than it should ever be and I almost back to the 120s, almost. I'm sure the last 5 lbs will be stickers, but I am okay with that, I know they will come off. I really was scared that I wouldn't return to a life of exercise, but I have. And I honestly think that once its all said and done, I will actually have a better body than I did before, thanks to twice weekly weight classes since Harper was 6 weeks old. There is a little extra skin on my belly maybe, but nothing to be too upset about. It would have all been worth it, even if I stayed in those much lager jeans I bought right after Harper was born, but I am glad that I am back in my old pants. And so happy that all the people who said I'd have a hard time losing the weight because of breastfeeding weren't right, at least for me.

Okay bloggy friends, I want you all to comment, all of you that read have to have something to say about one of these topics! I need opinions/advice on several things. They've all been on my mind and aren't related at all, so let the randomness begin:

1. I want some new tunes to run to. I've exhausted my playlist on all these long runs lately. So, please tell me a few songs you love to work out to. I prefer rap and angry white boy music like Rage Against the Machine.

2. Moms out there, what are your thoughts on the swine flu vaccine? My doc says they will have them in Oct and I can give it to Harper since she will be 6 months old. I just don't know that I want to give it to her or get it myself since I am breastfeeding. I do plan on giving her the plain old flu vaccine, but I am nervous about a vaccine that isn't even FDA approved yet. No history on it, you know what I mean? But then again, how bad will I feel if she does get the swine flu and I didn't vaccinate her? I haven't heard much about it here in Cleveland, but it is all over the place in my hometown in KY...what to do??

3. I can never just focus on the task at hand, so I am thinking past the marathon now. I know I want to do a spring marathon, and then my plan is to not do a fall one and train for the MS 150 bike ride with Gary and some sprint tris (back in the pool ack). Anyway, I want to get faster between Oct and late Jan when it will be time to train for a full again. What advice would you fast ladies give me? How many miles a week should I log? Should I get my butt on the treadmill and do sprints? Should I just focus on losing 10 lbs? I do know that I only want to run 3-4 days a week, I don't want to stop doing my weights classes and spinning classes, I will never be a 6 day a week runner. I think cutting my miles back for awhile and concentrating on losing the pregnancy weight and then some will make me faster for sure.... I have a half marathon in Nov and Feb, and figure I will keep my long run between 10-14 miles after the marathon.

I put another 20 miles into the Towpath marathon training bank yesterday. I was worried about the run. I was feeling under the weather all last week and only had 2 ridiculously short lackluster runs under my belt. I was still feeling aches in my ankles and feet from last weeks 22 miler. But I got down to peninsula at 7, camelback on, granola bars and gus in my belt, tunes in my ear, garmin set (sheesh I run with a lot of stuff) and ready to go. This week I got to run with a very interesting guy that I haven't ran with in awhile, so that made the first half of the run fly by. We had absolutely perfect weather and b/c we started so far south on the towpath (due to construction by boston store) we ran allll the way to Akron. I literally ran 3 miles further south than I ever had, so I had some new scenery. Some of it bad, hello water treatment plant, ughgggg. I felt pretty good on the 10 down and kept an easy enough pace around 10:30, but when we got to the turn around my ankles and feet really started aching. So, the way back was a bit slower and more painful. But with a few walk breaks in there I managed to do 20 miles in a little under 4 hours. So, I really do think I can maybe run with a 4:30 pace group, if I get scared I'll stick with 4:45. What do you think? All my long runs have been around a 10:30-11 min pace, but I think I could go a bit faster for sure.

Now what to do today? I never know what to do with myself the day after a long run. I think I wil take the dogs for a 2-3 mile walk, see how the ankles feel and do some yoga later. I weighed 138 this morning, I have been stuck there for awhile, but I have had countless cookies lately, so I need to get back to watching it. I really want to be as close to 130 as possible for the marathon. It's hard as hell to diet when training for a full, not that I think you should, but I can clean it up a bit.

Oh and I am horridly, unreasonably scared of spiders, they make me cry, make me nauceous. But look was has been living in the window at the top of my stairs all summer. The only reason he's still alive is b/c he's on the outside and that window isn't near anything! He's huge.

I am feeling better, in case you were wondering :) Harper still has a nasty cough, but is better for sure. She kept having coughing fits last night though and that led me to run into her room every time and make sure she was okay...she was. But just to be safe I am not taking her to the gym daycare. So this week is just creeping by, it's amazing how long the day seems when you remove the 8:30-10:30 chunk that was consumed by gym commuting and working out. Then I would come home, shower, eat lunch and the day was half gone. Gary is sick too. So we're not having a lot of fun around our house this week. I took a few days off of working out, but I finally ran last night. I took Fonzie for a really nice "fast" (for me) run. I plan to run tonight and tomorrow morning and then have a 20 miler on Sat. So, I should still get close to 40 miles in for the week I hope. I have made sure to walk the dogs 2-3 miles each day, so at least I am getting out there. It's amazing how off it makes me feel when I don't work out. It's weeks like this where I know I need to learn to relax and not worry so much about working out, but it's hard when it's ingrained into your everyday life. So many people out there just work out 2-3 times a week and are fine with it, yet if I don't get 6 days in, I feel like the whole week is lost. So silly.

I am feeling pretty good about the marathon. I don't think it will be fast, but I have no doubts in my ability to finish it. I really hope to finish in under 4:45 b/c that will at least be a PR by a few mins. But as long as I am under 5 hours, I will consider it a success. I have a 20 miler this weekend, then I am out of town next weekend, so I am doing my long run next Wed. I am going to shoot for one last 20 miler, but b/c it's so close to my Sat run, if I am hurting I will stop anytime after 16. Then the next weekend in my half marathon at Akron. I am going to do a 1-2 mile warm up and 1-2 mile cool down to make sure I get at least 16 miles in that day. Then it's taper time. woohoo.

Oh boy Harper had her first real cold this weekend, it was awful, for her, but probably more for me :) I was just so worried about her. Her nose was basically full of concrete snot and there's not really anything you can do about it! The bulb sucks, the saline is hard to get up their nose. But she is much better today. So, 1 bad night and 2 bad days and the cold is on its way out. Not too bad. But today I woke up feeling horrible. My throat hurts and one side of my head is totally clogged. Ugh. I guess I better find out what if any meds I can take. Fun, but it was a nice holiday weekend regardless.

I started it Sat am with a 22 miler! Yep I made it through it. Can't say I felt as strong at the end as I would have wanted, but I got through it and I got through it in a time that makes me feel like I may be able to try for a 4:30-4:40 marathon. Afterwards I felt pretty good. I went home and got a hour nap, and that night we went to dinner with the in laws. Gary's sister and her husband are in town from OR for the week. So we went to little Italy. That night Harper was up all night, so I was a zombie on Sunday and of course we had a party at our house! So, I was not a happy camper. I was a mess Sunday, sore, tired and an unhappy stuffy headed baby to contend with. But the party was fun, everyone seemed to have a good time. Harper got up from sleeping a few times, but she slept most of Sunday night so I was thankful for that. Yesterday we went to G's dad's house, they had a get together for that side of the family for his sister. So, I got to see a lot of family this weekend and its been fun.

This week's running is going to be hard. I didn't run Sun on purpose and missed my Monday run b/c we got home too late from his dad's. So, I pretty much need to run everyday this week. Today I will be lucky to get 2-3 done, I feel like shit and I'd probably be better off resting I guess. I don't feel like I should take Harper to the gym daycare until she is 100% so this week is just going to be off. I hate off workout weeks.

I love 1's, the first of the month, the first of the year, the first of a training plan. I am all about calendars. I thought when I had the baby I would loose a bit of that "obsession" but no, now I get to plot her growth on the calendar too! Anyway, I decided to start the 100 pushup challenge over so it coincides with the start of Sept.

Last week was a "rest" week and I barely ran. The week just got crazy and with the 14 hour round trip car ride to KY for the wedding, I just relaxed. But I started my week off right. Yesterday I hit spinning class and worked the heck out of my abs and then that night Ilana met me and we took Fonzie for a 6 mile run. This is the best running weather. I ran in a long sleeved shirt and capris, my fav thing to run in. I got up this morning and went to the gym for my Urban Iron class. I usually take it on T & Th, but they are changing up the schedule at the gym and I am going to have to change my workouts. I am excited about that though, there are some new classes I want to try and some older ones I've never gone to. I think I want my week to look like this:

Monday:
Beamfit & Hardcore class - 45 min class on a beam and then 15 min of abs on beam, run in the pm
Tuesday:
Spin class or Power Playt class (30 min class using weight plates)
Wednesday:
Urban Iron, run in the evening
Thursday:
Spin class, run
Friday:
Urban Iron
Saturday:
Long run
Sunday:
Rest of yoga