I had The. Best. Cheering-section. Ever.

I ran my 3rd 5K race this year and it sure was awesome to cross that finish line to this smiling face. Details about how it went, how awesome is my girl Jenn (her Dad is a rockstar too) and my invisible 3rd place medal later. For now, I think I will enjoy a nice long soak in a hot tub and perhaps a glass of zin

Call me crazy but I can’t wait for the real cool, crisp-ness of Fall and Winter to come this way here in the Central Valley. Yes, that means the fog and the wind and the rain (that we so desperately need). But I am ready. I have boots and turtleneck sweaters that I want/need to wear. So today I say bring it on.

In two or three months, I’m sure I’ll be saying something else. Then you may remind me of today’s post.

Keeping Daniel’s face clean remains a hopeless endeavor. I can’t imagine there ever will come a day when his face will be clean. But I do have to admit that nobody in this circus wears chocolate chip cookie crumbs as well as he does.

For Daniel’s fans, you’re welcome!

As Hazel grows, I am amused with how she imitates her mama, her grandparents. She flatters us. Her latest imitation?

…the butt-sniffing-checking-diaper action

“What? You think I should change my baby’s diaper?”

Over at ModMoms Club today I am talking (in a round-about way) the idea of who should be the one to change the diapers and all the other child-rearing activities that come with it. Oh, and a little bit about Jon Gosselin because he needs to stay in the public eye even if he protests that he didn’t sign on for that.

If you have stopped by the Big Top here anytime in the last couple weeks you would know that I have been sick. I’m not the most pleasant, long-suffering sick person so I complained…a lot…here…on Facebook…on Twitter…at ModMom’s Club …at home…all the time.  I complained so much it was probably even more annoying than my over-use of the ellipsis. I guess that I’m just not the silently languishing in my illness kind of girl. But I did have a lot of downtime and with that downtime I had time to reflect on a number of things including the fact that my next race is just around the corner and how in the world was I possibly going to be ready to run?

I reflect on the really important things here people.

But since is the season of the colds and flu and so many of my fellow Shredheads and Tiarathoners are/have been struggling with more than their fair share of the sickies perhaps we should be asking whether or not we should be working out when sick. Nobody (that I know) likes to get sick. There are so many other things that we could be doing besides hacking up a lung or feeling like our sinuses are about to erupt. It can be all the more frustrating when one is in physical training and conditioning whether it is for a big event or just to get and stay fit. So, do you workout when you are sick? Should you? Are you just a wimp-ass if you don’t?

The general rule of thumb among health and fitness experts is if your symptoms are above the neck (sinus drainage, watery eyes, scratchy throat) you can go ahead and exercise—but only if you really feel like it and if you keep it completely aerobic and if your symptoms are below the neck (coughing, body aches) or involve a bacterial infection (sinus, bronchitis, walking pneumonia) then it is best to take a few days off and just rest. Along with this simple, basic rule of thumb also keep in mind:

• Do not ignore symptoms that could be attributable to the heart, including shortness of breath, irregular heartbeat, fainting, chest pain or lightheadedness. See a doctor immediately if you have any question about the health of your heart.
• Remember to have reasonable and lowered performance expectations after you’ve been ill.
• Listen to your body and practice restraint. Wait to resume training until your motivation and health have completely returned. You have only one body, take care of it.

While it might be tempting to push through the fever, the body aches, the pain, it is important to understand what is going on with your body and why you should just take it easy, rest, drink your fluids and exercise another day. During an infection, the body becomes catabolic (the opposite of anabolic) and breaks down muscle protein. The degree of muscle catabolism and protein loss is related to the height and duration of the fever caused by the infection. Your muscles have many good reasons to ache when you have an infection. Skeletal muscle is the main source of catabolized protein, but heart muscle contributes as well. Skeletal muscle biopsies done in feverish people and laboratory animals during acute infections demonstrate microscopic evidence of muscle damage.  The same chemicals that initiate muscle breakdown during infection also inhibit effective muscle building and repair, making it virtually impossible to build muscle during any infection more serious than a cold. Unfortunately, you can’t even lose body fat while you are sick, as fat metabolism is impaired during infections. This causes the sick person to rely more heavily on muscle as an energy source than it normally would during times of physical stress (e.g., starvation or heavy training). So any weight loss during a febrile illness is generally lean muscle mass.

The way I see it, it just is not worth it to risk muscle damage. I mean I have worked so hard these last nine months or so. Why do I want to tear down what I have built up? I don’t. I also don’t want to set my body up for even more potential damage like viral myocarditis or Guillan-Barre Syndrome. While complications like these are indeed rare, their effects and damage is irreversible. A bad chest cold, a strep infection or the flu is temporary. For me, after considering the advice of health and  fitness experts, I will respect the body I have worked so hard on building up. The way I see it, it is so much more than my 47 year old self looking hot in a swimsuit. I am in this for the health of it all…my health.

Deciding to take a few days off and rest was the best thing but what about resuming my training plan? Fitness experts advise:

• Miss between one and three days of a training plan, just forget about the days you missed and pick up on the next workout, though with these modifications. You may need to cut down the time of your workouts by 20 to 50 percent. Do enough so that you feel good and leave the workout wanting more. If you start a workout and feel worse as you get going, just stop the workout and try another day.
• Miss three to seven days of a training plan due to illness, forget about the days you missed and pick up on the next workout with these modifications. Definitely cut down the time of your workouts by 20 to 50 percent. Do enough so that you feel good and leave the workout wanting more. If you start a workout and feel worse as you get going, just stop the workout and try another day.
• Miss more than two weeks of a training plan due to illness, you’ll need to go back and rebuild lost fitness. Go back and repeat the three or four weeks prior to the onset of the illness. Definitely cut down the time of your workouts by 20 to 50 percent. Do enough so that you feel good and leave the workout wanting more If you start a workout and feel worse as you get going, just stop the workout and try another day. Once you begin to do faster workouts, you may need to reduce the accumulated time of the intensity scheduled by 20 to 50 percent.

Finally, use common sense. If you are sneezing, coughing and carrying on with your illness, most people (including you, if the roles were reversed) would prefer you stay home until you’re healthy. I know I feel that way. As always, health (yours, mine, ours) first, performance second. Get well soon!

Daniel age 9 weeks, 31 weeks adjusted age

November just so happens to be the month that focuses on two of my most favorite concerns: prematurity and adoption. It’s a very good thing that they are both focused on in one month since these days I am just a little too distracted. I thought the anti-depressants were supposed to help me be better focused. Note how I refuse to accept that it just might be me getting older and just a tad feeble. But the fact remains that this month is Adoption Awareness Month AND Prematurity Awareness Month.

Today I want to share with you that prematurity awareness is not just my passion, but the passion of at least 252 bloggers all united to fight for preemies.

Our objective is a simple one: Every year, 20 million babies are born too soon, too small and very sick ― half a million of them in the United States. In half the cases, we simply don’t understand what went wrong. We need to fight for answers. And, ultimately, prevention… prevention that is accessible for all. Over the nearly two decades of my practice as a neonatal intensive care nurse, many advances have taken place. We (I) have learned much about the support and care for the tiniest and frailest of babies. Babies I see born into our unit that I care for today I would have never imagined surviving when I first began my career in the NICU. Yet for a number of these preemies, surviving the NICU is no guarantee because their premature birth often remains still a life and death condition. It’s the #1 cause of death during the first month of life. And babies who survive face serious health challenges and risk lifelong physical, mental, emotional and learning disabilities. Children like my Daniel are indeed miraculous and lucky. While I won’t hesitate to celebrate just how lucky and rare he is as an ex-24 weeker, I still am very much aware that his challenges remain many. What I wouldn’t do to just snap my fingers and make them all go away for him. I can’t. But I can be here to support and guide him through as he faces them down one by one AND I can unite with the March of Dimes and other bloggers to make more people aware just how serious, scary and life threatening this can be.

This month I invite all of you to join this support and fight. Many of you are a fan of Daniel so I can tell you that you must join. Yes, you must. How?

• Learn about premature birth at marchofdimes.com/fightforpreemies
• make a little time to check out one of the 252 other united bloggers
  
• Put a badge on your blog during November, Prematurity Awareness Month®
• On November 17, blog for a baby you love and to help others

We may not wipe prematurity and all of its complications out overnight but I do know we are moving forward, and trust me, every baby step forward counts.

No tricks, just treats. The best way to celebrate Haalloween. One thing I noticed, there were quite a few “nurses” attending the Halloween party Bill and I went to. Maybe I tried too hard. But then again, green is my color.

Thanks to a local Tweep of mine, Ruben Porras, I have a new adventure to add to my personal juggling act: a actual, real, paid writing gig. MY very first article is currently up and for your viewing pleasure. Because Sunday is the start of National Adoption Awareness Month I am kicking it off sharing a short list of famous and natural families. Go and check them out. You just might be surprised.

…who will bring you home-made chicken noodle soup, chicken pot pie and potato soup and let you ooh and aaahh over her sweet, delicious, newborn grandson and listen to you whine and whine with you about how life can suck sometimes and laugh with you over the fact that social media does sometime make our life less challenging and more fun.

She also can forgive you for writing that incredibly long run-on sentence in the previous paragraph.

It’s good to have a friend like that.

Yeah, I know, I’m blessed!

There are some things that I have done in my younger, more foolish years that I have kept from my parents and will carry to my grave. It’s not that I was some sort of bad seed or delinquent but there are some things that my folks will never find out about. No, I’m not going to share here. MY family, whether they admit it or not, does read this blog. Like I said, I’m taking some things to my grave.

On the other hand, my kids just don’t seem to have that kind of skill. It’s a good thing. But even if they had inherited this trait of mine, I would still find out because I am an accomplished sneak. It’s my job to be as their mother. I will admit Holly challenged me a lot during her adolescent years. I do enjoy a challenge. But these days, thanks to social media, this sneaky mommy gig of mine can be a cakewalk. Even if they do remember that that they friended me on Facebook and MySpace or that I follow them on Twitter, their friends have asked to be a part of my social network. It’s just too easy sometimes.

Don’t believe me?

I give you exibit A:

• Circus clown asks permission to spend Saturday night at a close friend’s house.
• parentals give their consent
• but wait, circus clown #1 is having a Halloween/housewarming party at her new place.
• parentals ask if darling clown was wanting to go to big sister’s party.
• circus clown tells us no , really wants to spend the night with and hang out with best friend.
• okay then
• but then parental discovers while checking out her Facebook friends’ updates…
• “new house and halloween party
  31 new photos”
• hmmm….let’s see what pictures Holly’s friend posted…

• click…

cute costume, of course it's cute, it's Holly!

Holly and friends never looked better, especially Amber and her beard!

oh look! it's Bob Dylan at her sister's party!

awww....sisters!

You know HAD she asked, we would have allowed her to go. My social network makes this too easy. But then again, this sneaky mom knows how to use all the tools at her disposal. I have to. We’re talking about my kids. Give up kids!