REDEMPTION

Redemption is our theme this year for Doughman. Our outfits are almost set and we are getting excited to compete in this crazy relay event. We are once again raising money to get a time bonus (and the money goes to a local Durham charity Seeds)

$250 gets us 2 minute head start and $1,000 gets a 5 minute head start. We're aiming low this year and going to try for at least the 2 minute time bonus so if any of you want to help us and the charity out please click this link! You can also find out all about the race and the charity at that site. Anything will help - we really want to get back on the podium again!

Logan rolls over

Hey, when you're not quite 4 months old, this is a big accomplishment.

Back to Normal

Things have settled down. Logan is almost all better; he still has a bit of a lingering cough but it's not as often and he's eating like a total pig again which is great (even though that means every time we turn around we're feeding him). At 4 months we can try and feed him some 'real' food (rice cereal) so we went ahead and bought some to try maybe this week (he's 16 weeks). After several nights in a row where he woke up in a coughing fit, he seems to be back to sleeping like a champ. Marty put him to bed last night at 8:30 while I was swimming and he's still sleeping now at 7:00 am. Dude can sleep.

He smiles A LOT, but it's so hard to get a picture of it! He's all smile smile smile and then you hold the camera up and he's so serious. We got a bit of video here of him with some small smiles.




On the workout front - eh. I feel like a joe-shmoe fitness person right now. I typically get one workout in a day, but sometimes not, so I'm maybe getting 5 workouts in a week. 5 workouts a week does not a good triathlete make. I jogged on Thursday for 1.5 miles and then again on Sunday for 30min and didn't have any calf pain so I'm hoping I'm over that and can start running again for realz. I've signed up for another triathlon in less than 3 weeks so that is sort of scary.

Monday night Masters works good with my schedule. Sometimes we swim and sometimes we practice synchronized swimming.

We also offer several group workouts during the week for our athletes so I lead those when I can - mostly it's been the biking workouts when I can since running has been non-existent. I'm also trying to make Friday morning masters - Logan comes with.


There are certainly ways in which I could be training more. But a lot of times when push comes to shove, I'd rather hang out with Logan and Marty. I know I'm not going to get these experiences back because he'll grow up so fast (he already is!) and triathlon and racing will always be there. For instance, I could've ridden my bike on Sunday afternoon but instead we decided to have some quality time at our favorite bar, The Flying Saucer.


We joked that if Logan gets a plate on the wall like Marty, we're going to make sure that this picture is in the middle - his first drink at the Saucer! Won't he love that? :)

And before you judge, there were a bunch of kids there on Sunday afternoon.

What a week

The past 10 days have been quite a ride. One that I'd like to not repeat oh how about ever.

Last Thursday after picking Logan up from daycare I started feeling not very good. Marty was helping out at a track meet and I texted him to tell him...and 30min later I called him to let him know that he needed to come home right away. If you read Marty's blog, you know that we were hit with a nasty stomach bug. Imagine the worst stomach bug ever and that's what we had. Marty followed suit a few hours after I started.

Friday we were both totally incapacitated. aAlthough the violent parts of the bug were over, We were both just wiped out. Luckily, Logan didn't get what we had and he was very chill on Friday and slept most of the day.

Saturday we were both feeling much better although neither one of us had an appetite. We still put on a swim clinic at TAC. Logan started a bit of a cough. One week at daycare and kid is already sick.

Sunday we both got our appetites back. Logan's cough got worse. He also seemed to have lost his voice as when he cried barely anything came out. It was the most pathetic thing ever. We called the doctor and they told us we could give him some children's tylenol for his discomfort, but other than that, just keep feeding him.

Monday he seemed worse. I worked from home and Marty and I took turns watching him. We ended up making an appointment for him, but again, there wasn't much that could be done for such a young baby. You could tell he was pretty miserable, and his weight was now down to the 27th percentile (he had been at the 50th percentile at his 2 month checkup).

Tuesday morning he seemed about the same, but I couldn't stay home from work again, so off to daycare it was. When I picked him up, though, he had really gone downhill. He was pale and his eyelids were red and he was just sort of listless. He was having trouble breathing and they said he wasn't eating well.

I called the doctor again, but it was after hours so I had to wait for someone to get back to me. When the doctor called, he said it sounded like RSV and we should go to the children's ER.

Off we went. They tested his snot (yup) and he did in fact have RSV, which is a super common respiratory virus. We all get it: kids, adults - it's everywhere. In babies, it can be very hard because their immune systems are so immature and their lungs are small. They gave him a breathing treatment but his oxygen saturation was still lower than what they would like, so they admitted him.

We were there from Tuesday evening to Thursday evening and as you might imagine, Marty and I were exhausted by the end of it. Logan is fine - they had him on oxygen and regular breathing treatments. It's what they call 'supportive care' as it's a virus and really you have to let it run it's course.

He still has a wicked cough but is much happier. Our biggest issue at this point is the coughing fits sometimes enact his gag reflex which causes a fountain of milk (pretty much everything he has drunk) to come back up. He lost more weight when I went to see the pediatrician on Friday. We're hoping he can keep most of it down so he can get back up to his normal weight.

Needless to say, I didn't end up doing the triathlon this morning I had planned on. Not only was I way tired, but my calf has been giving me problems and I really haven't been able to run for 2 weeks.

Here's hoping this next week is better.

Also, I still haven't seen The Hunger Games and I really, really want to.

Maternity Leave

I started back to work on Monday. 13 weeks sure did fly by! At least on one hand - when I think back to Logan being newborn it seems so long ago, but I can't believe my maternity leave is already over. It wasn't so bad going back into the office; I layed low and went through my hundreds of email without anyone really bothering me. Yesterday was more of the same and today I'm off (I'm working Monday/Tuesday/Thursday).

I made Marty do the daycare drop-off on Monday, and it looks like he will do that most times as its just easier while I get ready for work. Last week I had to go there to give them diapers and stuff and I started tearing up then, which is when I knew I would be a basket case if I tried to drop him off first thing - I totally didn't think I would be like that! I guess you never know.

He was super tired after his first day at daycare and for the first time in 3 weeks woke up in the middle of the night. I imagine it will take some adjusting but the next night he was back to sleeping a ton which was great.

I've managed to slightly strain my calf. I guess there really is something to this post-pregnancy-nursing-hormone thing. I was just running easy! On a flat surface! Argh. Hopefully, I can still do the triathlon I'm signed up for in a week and a half.

It's just I love running and the weather has been so ridiculously nice. I can still do other things so I guess I'll have to be okay with getting in shape and not necessarily real triathlon shape for awhile. Since I'm back at work, I can take advantage of the gym on campus. Which I did yesterday. I'm sure I'm very weak in many places that could contribute to all these little niggles that keep cropping up.

And like father like son. Logan is already interested in tasty brews.

few pics and video

Training

I'm getting back into the swing of things as far as training is going. I did my first run 'workout' this morning since Marty is down in Florida and we have a group run every Thursday morning. Nothing great, but my heart rate was up and my legs were burning. Today I'm planning on getting out for a bike ride - its going to be 77 degrees and I can't miss out on that! I signed up for a race at the end of the month; an all women's triathlon: Girls Run the World here in Raleigh. There will not be any miracles taking place and I doubt I will be able to hold even a 7min mile for the 2mile run, but I am so excited to get out there and compete again.

How am I able to get this training in right now while Marty is running our camp in FL? Mom-in-law is in town helping me out. It's awesome to have time for myself again.

I am however, incredibly sad I'm not down in Florida with everyone at camp. This is the first time I've ever missed going to one in the past 7 years. Even though I have family down in St. Pete that offered to help, logistically it still seems like it would've been a nightmare with his eating schedule and all things that go with being 11 weeks old. Next year, though, we will make it happen.

Last week I was able to ride the trainer 2 days during the week while Kari came over and watched Logan. This was great because Marty got to keep working, Logan was happy, and Kari and I got to catch up. Even though we may have seen each other the day before, there are always multitudes of topics we can cover. So that was awesome.

We also made it to our first hockey game up here last week and had awesome tickets given to us from one of Marty's athletes. We had our first real babysitter come and watch Logan and she told us he was good. I hope he was so she'll come back :) It was a great game, too - the Canes shut out the Capitals. I really don't know much about hockey but was glad we were close enough so we could actually see the puck and goals and all that. It didn't hurt that our tickets were in the swanky section with comfy seats and free food and drinks.

And lastly, Team Victorious Secret will once again be vying for a top spot at Doughman in May.
Some of you may remember the debacle of last year's race where I flatted on both the front and rear tires while leading and ended up hitching a ride back to the race site. If you have a lot of time and want to read the entire story, you can click here. We had some stressful moments thinking we may not get in this year, but my fast typing skillz got us an entry.