Where Have I been...

It is pretty unbelievable how attached we grow to this thing called ‘technology’. You have not seen a post from me in a while, truth be told I have been busy with life, training, kids, getting ready for the Holidays but most importantly I had no computer. Yup, in a matter of two weeks we lost two of our PCs. At the end of November I was getting ready to send Xmas cards when all of a sudden I realize my PC upstairs was fried. I still had my laptop but the whole idea of sending Xmas cards early this year kind of fell through the cracks since my file with addresses was in the so called fried PC.

Less than a week later my laptop decided to join our PC and the screen just went blank. We were able to hook it up to the screen upstairs but let’s be honest having your laptop downstairs where you spend most of your days is a lot more convenient than having to go to the office, not to mention I would have to trust my kids to be by themselves for a long period of time which we all know when it comes to 3 and 5 years old that is NEVER a good idea.

Somewhere in there was my new laptop

So, thanks to Sami and Santa Clause I got a new toy. I am back on the blog wagon and hope to have this new puppy for a while. With that said not much has gone on in my life since my last post, if you ever wondered what I was doing during that time the answer is probably running. As I put the highest run volume ever (for me) on the last couple of weeks, I feel as if my body has just been trying to recover from one run to the next.

We have also added a second swim, which it started with a shorter one and this past week just got up to my regular 4K. I have been doing 99% of my rides indoors, nowadays my longer rides are 2hours max and sometimes with the kids and the Holidays is just easier to get on the trainer and get it done early in the am rather than waiting for the craziness starts.

I think I mentioned on a previous post how I never get sick… well apparently my body decided to get better at that; back in November I got sick when my asthma flared up, it was a short downtime and I think I only end up missing one day (two workouts), the second time was two weeks later, the kids, Sami and then Raquel took their turns at the stomach bug. I thought to be invincible but I guess that is not the case, end up in bed for a day and sick for four days, this one kept me off the workout routine for a day and a half; With all the running I’ve been doing I just thought to be ‘normal’ that my legs were to feel like concrete blocks, so yesterday when I went on my long run I thought the feeling of having bricks instead of legs was just normal. Unfortunately when I got back from my run I started feeling achier, so for the third time in a row I am sick.

Hopefully wont be seeing much of this guy again

As we start the New Year it just makes sense to me that I ask for a healthier one, obviously I rather get in all my sick time now than once we get closer to race season but it would be nice to be able to go more than two weeks without ending on a virus or anything that keeps me away from having to skip a workout.

Tis' The Season

Not sure who came up with that expression, but I like to think that they were thinking on people like me who just happen to love this time of the year.

Growing up Christmas was a big deal, we are a big family and during the Holidays we always had an even bigger crew. I always wish the Holidays lasted longer, but it just seem as if the older I got the shorter those were.

Moving to the States changed things a bit, instead of starting the Holiday Season a week before Christmas we get to enjoy it a bit longer with Thanksgiving.

 Following the tradition Pilgrims...

and Indians

For the last four or five years we’ve driven to Baltimore to spend Thanksgiving with Sami’s family. Traveling during Christmas is not an option for us, our kids are little and we want to make sure their Christmas memories are at home, with mommy and daddy and not packing suitcases to visit either side of the family.

So for the fifth year in a row we got in the car and made the drive up the weekend before Thanksgiving. Every year on the way up I tell myself how I am going to behave and not stuff my face with everything is in front of me. And every year I do the same… stuff my face with everything is in front of me, or in the pantry :).

So for the fifth year in a row we drove back with some extra weight and sick as a dog. I try to do as much running outdoors as I can and while up there that is all I did since there is no treadmill available to us. Somehow I always manage to get a cold and by the time we got back home my asthma flaired up.

I am a grown up woman, I will be 39 Christmas Day, I hate whinny people and I can assure you that I would NOT like ‘me’ when I am sick. I always miss mom and her cooking, but when I am sick it seems as if she is the only one that could make me feel better, well her and her chicken soup of course.

It is very VERY rare that I skip workouts, some days are easier than others, but they always get done. Sunday after Thanksgiving though was one of those days that I just couldn’t get myself to run or swim as I was suppose to. I was out of breath just getting out of bed and I was using my inhaler way too often. I decided to stay in and try to cure what I had.

Four days later and I am still fighting it, my workouts this past week have been all but pretty. A combination of my inhaler and the antibiotics has had some crazy effect on my HR, my muscles ache and I just want to be done with the medicine. So, right now, I am just looking forward to get and feel better.

 

Happy Training,

Carmen.