Friday, September 26, 2014

4 year olds

Lately, Hannah has been struggling with sleep which means I don't sleep either. When she was two the train that she could hear during the night even if she was passed out scared her. Last year it was the cars driving down the street. Now, it is the smoke detector. I kid you not. The smoke detector. The red light on it scares her. She can't see it from her room, but she knows it is there and it bothers her. She peed her pants last night because she was too scared to leave the room to go to the bathroom. (The smoke detector is next to the bathroom.) It took me two hours to get her to settle down so she could go back to sleep. This is happening every night, and I am starting to go crazy. The only way she will go back to sleep is if I am sleeping near her. One night I slept on the couch and she slept on the love seat. Most nights, though, I end up sleeping in her bed until she falls asleep and I use my stealth ninja skills to sneak out of her room. This child has always struggled with sleeping. I was full (and still am) of irrational fears as a child so I am trying to be patient. My parents addressed it by saying I could sleep on their floor if I felt scared. Unfortunately, E isn't too keen on that idea which means I am stuck trying to find ways to keep her in her bed. His solution is to let her cry until she falls asleep. That way doesn't work because she always wakes Meeghan with her crying so then I have two children awake at 2am and a sleeping husband who isn't helping. I am at a loss. She won't go to her room or the bathroom during the day unless I go with her. Anybody have any suggestions? We have discussed that the smoke detector won't hurt her. I am about to cover the lights on it to see if that helps. I don't want to disconnect it or cover it completely.


Wednesday, September 17, 2014

Virtual 5K

This past Saturday I participated in the #djv5K hosted by Macke Monologues. My goal for this was to run a 5K in 27:49. It did not happen on Saturday. I woke up feeling off. I just didn't have it in me that morning. I had a good run, but not the run I planned. I did break the 27:49 time on a run earlier in my training so I will count the training as a success.

My time on Saturday was 28:43 so I missed it by a full minute. However, I like the pace so I will take it. The top right was from a week ago. I meant to run a full 3.1 miles, but I was so excited when I saw the miles turn to 3 that I stopped early. I realized after I hit 'end run' that I meant to do another tenth of a mile. Oh well. I am very pleased with that time. That is the first time I sustained a pace under 9 minutes for a run over 1.5 miles. The bottom right picture is from 2 weeks ago. I ran 5 miles that day, and I set my PR for a 5K during that run.

During this training, I did learn a few things about myself. I always thought I was better when I ran solo. My fastest 5K time came during a run with E. We decided to do our run together, and he could push the stroller. I told him to start out, and I would try to keep up. I found it helped chasing him. It gave me something to strive for. He kept pushing me when I was tired, and it worked. I was able to maintain a pace I was happy with. If I had been by myself, I probably would have slowed down a lot. I know there are times to slow down, but there are times when you need to push it. Which brings me to my second point. My biggest hurdle with running isn't the physical aspect, it is the mental part. I screw myself a lot thinking I can't do it. I need to train my mind to think like I can instead of just telling me to give up. When the marathon training starts pushing into those long runs, I am going to need to be physically and mentally strong.

Am I the only one that struggles with the mental aspect of running?

Wednesday, September 10, 2014

Back to School


Florida has a free Pre-K program for 4 year olds. I took full advantage of this to enroll Hannah in school. She has been begging to go to school for a year. The minute she turned 4 she has been asking how long until school starts. She finally started last week, and she was so excited. She had a cold a few days after school started, and I told her she had to stay home. There were so many tears from her. She was crushed that she had to stay home. Thankfully, it was only one day at home and she happily went back to school the next day. I am glad she is loving school. Meeghan isn't too happy about it. She doesn't like leaving Hannah at school, but she squeals when we pick her up. I hope the happiness about going to school keeps up since she has 9 more months of it.