Another kick to the head

When it rains, it pours.  So I took the little man to the peds for his 6 months check up.  I mentioned again, that we are having trouble with him sleeping still.  Well his sleeping is so bad, that it is now affecting his growth.  He has dropped off in height, weight, and head circumference. 

                                   Before 6 months                            At 6 months
Height                         40-50th percentile                         25th percentile
Weight                        25th percentile                              10th percentile
Head circumference     5th percentile                                2nd percentile

I took him to the ped at 5 months because his sleep was so bad that I wanted to have him checked out (he checked out fine), but they weighed him then and in one month, he actually lost 2oz.  Yikes!!! 

So he is on probation.  He has to come back in one month for another weight check.  The doc is only mildly concerned because he did meet all of his developmental milestones, so his lack of sleep is only affecting his growth currently.  Our doc thinks that because he is not sleeping enough, he is not giving his body enough rest in order to grow, but also, because he is not sleeping, he is burning more calories.  Double whammy!

So we are also on order to start solids twice a day too.  We started solids last week, and he is not crazy about them.  Some days he would eat it and some days no.  Well after the ped appointment, I went home and gave him 1 tablespoon of rice cereal and 1 tablespoon pureed carrots (yes, I make my own babyfood, it's fun really).  He ate it all.  So that was good.  But he had 3 immunizations and 1 flu shot, so guess who had a reaction to the flu shot, yep, the little man.  He got a nasty fever, runny nose, and just didn't feel good.  So, he refused all solids for the past 2 days.  Awesome little man, don't you know we are on probation here. 

And because of my lack of sleep (from his lack of sleep), I felt like the worst mother in the world after that appointment.  I cried in the room after the doctor left.  I called my husband and he asked if this was me overreacting or if it was that serious.  I told him I knew I was overreacting, but I am so emotional right now from my lack of sleep, I just felt awful. 

So since the ped appointment, he hasn't slept well because he is having a reaction to the flu shot.  His fever did break last night, and we instituited a sleep with mom night last night.  The hubs slept on the couch and the little man and I were in the bed together.  Everytime he woke up, I was there to feed him or console him.  The hubs slept much better, but guess what?  We both woke up with sore throats.  No!!!  I can't get sick!

If anyone has any advice on babies and sleeping, please tell me your secrets.  I feel like we have tried them all including some from my own baby whisperer. 

FYI - I did get all my training runs in last week.  I got to run my 9 miles alone on Saturday morning.  The air was cool and it was a great run.  I am hoping to get a nice 10 miles in this weekend if that is at all doable. 

I also have made some good recipes that I hope to post soon, I just haven't had the energy to do much posting period these days.

My less than stellar weekend

I am exhausted. I thought my daughter was a bad sleeper. My son woke up 7 or 8 times last night. I am drained. I have lost it. So no, I didn't get all my runs in. I also had a few unexpected things go on this week, so I could't make it to the farmer's market, which meant not many fresh fruits and veggies this past week, so my meals were not as healthy as they should have been. So I didn't feel my best either. Did I mention that I am having a few nursing issues so it's very painful still to nurse and even worse to pump. Neither kid is sleeping so everyone in my house is cranky. My morning actually started off with me crying in bed. You know when your day starts off like that, it's going to be bad. My weekend started out so great, I don't know how things changed unless it's the lack of sleep that is just getting to me.

On Friday, my brother-in-law had off work, so he went running with me, a lot of fun. Then I spent the night out Friday at my sister's house so I could get a solid night sleep, and I did, but we got up early to get a workout in before we started our day. We did 1 hour strength training class and 30 minutes of yoga at Chateau Élan before we hit the spa for a little R and R. I had a nice massage and a great time, but we tried to do so much that by the time we got home at 2pm, I was ready for a nap (which I didn't get). I could tell my mood was not great.

Sunday, I didn't even think about running. The little guy slept ok, woke up a couple of times, but we have had worse. Sunday night was awful though. And today has just been out of control, so no, another day of no running for me.

On one happy mote, I went to the farmer's market today (by myself) so we have lots of fresh foods in our house now. I had a nice big spinach salad for dinner. I needed that after this week's eating habits. I just feel so much worse when I eat bad. I am just having a "My life is a Greek Tragedy" weekend. I am hoping things are better tomorrow. I just hate when I have a long weekend with my family, that it isn't anything but fantastic. My husband works such long hours that to have an extra day with him and not be able to take advantage of it sucks!

I now have to deal with the fact that my fall racing schedule might not be as packed as I had hoped. I am just not going to be able to get all my runs in, and that is ok, but I feel so good when I get a good run in. Of course it's hard to get a good run in when you aren't sleeping well. I don't know what tonight will bring as far as sleep. I feel like we have tried everything. I don't know what is left to try.

Ok, enough of the pity party. I hope everyone is/had a great long weekend.

Training updates - 2 weeks worth

I have been battling with this lack of sleep for the past 5 months.  It's not getting a whole lot better either.  2 weeks ago, I was just not feeling well, so I just couldn't get a lot of runs in (only 1 to be precise).  Last week, I tried to get back into things and did pretty well, but struggled at the beginning of the week.  Not sure if it's due to my diet or lack of calories. 

So I switched up the past 2 weeks of my Runner's World training plan, and hear is how it worked out. 

Suggested Monday: Rest/Cross Train
Actual Monday: Rest

Suggested Tuesday: 4 mile easy run
Actual Tuesday: Rest

Suggested Wednesday: Rest/Cross Train
Actual Wednesday: Rest

Suggested Thursday: 4 mile easy run

Actual Thursday: Tennis practice (1 hour)
Suggested Friday: 4 mile easy run

Actual Friday: Rest
Suggested Saturday: Rest/Cross Train
Actual Saturday: 4.04 miles with the jogging stroller

Suggested Sunday: 4 mile easy run

Actual Sunday: Rest
Suggested mileage: 16 miles
Actual mileage: 4.04 miles

 
This past week was much better, but sleep, diet, etc. are still contributing making working out a struggle some days.
 
Suggested Monday: Rest/Cross Train

Actual Monday: Rest
Suggested Tuesday: 6 mile tempo run (warm, 4 miles @ 8:39; cool)
Actual Tuesday: 5.17 miles with 4.17 miles @ 6.5-7.0mph pace, ab wheel + pilate exercises
Suggested Wednesday: 3 mile easy run
Actual Wednesday: Rest

Suggested Thursday: Rest/Cross Train
Actual Thursday: 3.01 easy miles with jogging stroller, Tennis practice (1 hour)
Suggested Friday: 4 mile easy run
Actual Friday: Rest

Suggested Saturday: Rest/Cross Train
Actual Saturday: 5.16 miles with jogging stroller, ab ripper X
Suggested Sunday: 8 mile easy run @ 10:08
Actual Sunday: 8.34 miles @ 9:44 pace

Suggested mileage: 21 miles
Actual mileage: 21.68 miles

I am trying to eat more, upping my protein as much as I can, and eating whole grains.  Hoping this week, I have more energy, but the little guy is making sure I don't.  :)

Off dairy again and the stuff that goes along with it

Several weeks ago, during the time when the little guy wasn't sleeping at all, we also noticed he had some tummy issues. I did some research and found that moms consuming dairy whole nursing can affect their little ones. That was the only thing that had changed about my diet. I had limited dairy while trying to lose the baby weight and it seems to give me more energy too. Well after the baby weight came off and I was running more, I added dairy back in for the calories. I was able to maintain my weight, but the little guy didn't approve. So now I am back off dairy, and I thought this would be a good time to try veganism (so no eggs either). I got the book (from the library), Veganist. I read it cover to cover in just days (that's pretty good when you don't have a lot of free time). She doesn't think eating soy is bad for you (something a lot of vegans and vegetarians have opposite opinions on). She also has some sample menus which included a good bit of fake meat (another controversial topic). It appears to be her way to get the protein you need.

So I have been doing the vegan thing for the past several weeks (a couple of slip ups), but for the most part, I have done pretty good. I am pretty hungry and have a difficult time getting that full feeling. Thing were going ok, until this week. I had serious troubles with my run on Tuesday and was sore for 2 days, aka not recovering well all of a sudden. Also, some of you may know that after you have a baby, your hair falls out, well mine has been falling out still. I was reading a post from Matt at No Meat Athlete about protein consumption. He mentions hair falling out and having a hard time recovering from workouts. Now I am concerned I am not getting enough protein to sustain my lifestyle (nursing my son and running 20-25 miles a week, cross training 1-2 times a week). I am getting so much conflicting statements, do I eat soy and fake meat to get my protein up, and how much protein should I be eating? Any good tips on foods with proteins that are easy that I might not be eating? I know there are people more active than me that have a vegan diet and perform well.

I hope to get a lot of comments and advice.

Best Vegan Pesto

Well the little guy has some really bad gas when I eat dairy, so I am back off of dairy.  So I have been playing around with some recipes.  Here is one I love. 

Best Pesto Sauce/Spread

Ingredients

1 bunch basil (1 1/2 - 2 cups)

1/2 cup EVOO

1 cup raw almonds, toasted

1/3 cup nutritional yeast

5 cloves garlic, chopped

3/4 teaspoon kosher salt

1/4 teaspoon black pepper

3 tablespoons low sodium veggie stock

Directions
1.  Toast almonds at 350 degrees for 5-10 minutes.
2.  Throw almonds into the food processor first, and chop.  I like to do this first because it gets harder when you have all the other ingredients in there.
3.  Throw in the rest of the ingredients and combine.

The finished product is pretty thick, so if you like it a litlte thinner, just add more veggie stock.  I like mine thick so I can use it as a spread for sandwiches.  I thin it out with pasta water when I use it with pasta.

Today, this was a little more of a pain for me, because I have a Junior food processor.  My blender has broken.  Any recs on which one to get?  

MIA

Well this past week has been really tough to put it mildly. Finally, after 5 months of not sleeping well, trying to take care of my family, work, and run, I finally got broken down. I started to feel terrible. Despite all my healthy eating, taking my vitamins, etc., I was starting to feel ill. My throat was sore, my body felt spent. I couldn't shake it. The little man was not sleeping well despite our attempts of sleep training. I read a lot of different books on babies and sleeping and we came up with our own method when our daughter but she was older, so I didn't feel so bad. Out little guy though is a different story. He is tenacious to say the least. I won't go into our sleep training method right now, maybe another post. Well what we were doing was not working so he was waking up every 1.5 to 2 hours at night. From that, my immunity was starting to go down and fast. I woke up last Sunday and nursing hurt, and I mean hurt bad. I had at least one bad crack, maybe more. I thought it must be thrush. I talked to a lactation consultant and decided to start treating myself. Something had to be done. The little guy had no symptoms but I couldn't figure out why all this would be happening after 5 months of no problems. The treatment was going slow, especially when I had to nurse every 3 hours. The pain was excruciating. I wanted to cry every time I nursed. I talked to another LC and she added a few things to the list and I started pumping more (which I hate and it hurt too). Within a couple of days, it started to heal, but then I got a clogged ductfrom not fully emptying during his feeds. This was Friday morning. I hadn't run all week because I felt so bad and had planned to do an easy run on the mill that morning. It hurt so bad there was no way I could bounce around on the mill, so I took a hot shower to try to loosen it up. Of course, a clogged duct calls for lots of nursing and pumping to get rid of it. Awesome! By that evening I was able to get rid of it. I took the little guy to the ped on Thursday to make sure he was feeling ok. Between me having thrush and a sore throat, I thought it was best to make sure he was ok before continuing on with any type of sleep training. He checked out just fine and we discussed his sleeping. He weighed in at 15 pounds exactly and he is big enough to go all night without needing any milk. She thought he probably enjoyed having mommy all to himself in the dark quiet of night. He does seem to enjoy his mommy that's for sure. I was able to get out for a short 4 mile run with just the little guy yesterday. I wanted to more but I am glad I didn't. It was hot and my throat is still sore. I plan to get out again today, since I am feeling better again, but it is going to be really hot. Oh well. It's either that or run on the mill I guess. We will see. The little guy is sleeping better, but I am still recovering. I was suppose to do at least 21 or 22 miles this past week, and next week is supposed to be an easy week (16 miles). I am usually a stickler for rules and that includes training plans, but my body just said no this week. I am hoping to back next week.

So this is the reason I have been MIA the past couple of weeks. My meals have been boring and my exercise regimen has been non-existent. Being a mom and not feeling well sucks!!!

Training Update

Lucky for me last week went well for training, because this week has been bad.  The little guy is killing me with his lack of sleep.  More about that in another post though.

Like I said, last week I stayed on track and got all of my runs in.  Not too bad.  I do well with training plans.  I am usually pretty diligent about getting all the runs in and then when it comes time to run the race, I feel very prepared and it's usually an easier race for me too.  I have started to change up my speedwork runs though because trying to do them at the end of the week made it tough to power through.  Doing them after a rest day is much more doable. 


Suggested Monday: Rest/Cross Train
Actual Monday: Rest

Suggested Tuesday: 5 mile tempo run (warm, 3 miles @ 8:34; cool)
Actual Tuesday: 5.2 miles with 3.35 miles @ 8:34 pace, ab wheel + pilate exercises

Suggested Wednesday: 3 mile easy run
Actual Wednesday: 3.2 miles on mill increasing speed (6.4-7.0)

Suggested Thursday: Rest/Cross Train
Actual Thursday: Tennis practice (1 hour)

Suggested Friday: 3 mile easy run
Actual Friday: 5.15 miles with JS, Ab ripper X

Suggested Saturday: Rest/Cross Train
Actual Saturday: Rest

Suggested Sunday: 8 mile easy run @ 10:08
Actual Sunday: 8.43 mile run  with JS, little abs

Suggested mileage: 19 miles
Actual mileage: 21.98 miles
 
I am taking it easy this week and hopefully will be back on track next week.