4 Years

Happy anniversary Jer-Bear! Love you.

Sicky Sickerson

Norah came down with a cold over the weekend. We noticed that she seemed a bit congested before she went to bed on Saturday, and by Sunday morning, she had a clear case of Booger Baby. She clearly didn't feel good on Sunday and Monday, but her only distinct symptom was nasal congestion, so we have been doing what we can in terms of clearing her nose out *she HATES the aspirator* and making sure she gets plenty of rest and plenty to eat (a plugged nose doesn't seem to hinder her appetite so that's good).

So, then yesterday, I noticed I had what felt like a dry throat, but obviously, it was the start of my own cold. Thus, I woke up last night to my own running nose, and this morning, feel congested and ucky. Thankfully, there's no fever, so the ick seems to be concentrated in just my head, which is more manageable.

But I still didn't run this morning. Instead, I opted to take a Tylenol Cold and spend the extra time in bed with Kleenex shoved up my nose.

**On the strange side, I dreamt that Norah didn't have a cold; instead, in my dream, she had been teething. So, in the dream, I went into her room and she smiled up at me with 8 teeth! (Yes, I counted them in my dream.) So this morning, when I checked on her, I just had to feel her gums. No teeth. Phew!

A Runner's Risk

It seems that within the past week, I have heard -- from several different people -- how running poses such a huge risk. No, they weren't talking about ruining one's knees or having a heart attack while running; they were talking about assault.

And, it does seem true that on the news, runners (especially women) are the victims of violent assault or rape. The stories are often frightening enough to prevent some people from engaging in the sport. Because I'm a runner, and a woman, who often runs in the dark, well-meaning friends and family are often warning me about engaging in such a dangerous activity. Generally, I am appreciative that everyone cares for me in this way, but in the end, I am dismissive of their worries.

Don't get me wrong, I don't run in areas I'm unfamiliar with and I don't run through poorly lit neighborhoods. But while I take such elementary precautions, I also simply trust that when I go out the door, I'll be fine. And that's because I have to. If I started worrying about all the risks I am undertaking by going out for a run, I'd never step out the door.

This idea of a runner's level of risk has been stewing within my brain for a few days, and I wanted to check some statistics about it, and here's what some very basic research has revealed: I can't find an actual statistic that reports a runner's risk for assault (if you can find one, thanks, go ahead and post it in the comments), but I can find statistics for a runner's risk of skin cancer (which is pretty high since only 50% of us reported using sun block on a regular basis); I also learned that while a runner has a low risk of being hit by a car, he or she has a pretty high risk of dying in a car accident in which he or she is either a passenger or a driver; I also learned that while 1 in 78,000 runners do risk having a heart attack during an endurance race, engaging in intense physical exercise, like running, reduced a person's chance of a heart attack by 50%. I also learned that while the number of cases of assault and rape are higher now than they were 50 years ago, statistically, violent crime has remained static. But if you are a victim of assault or rape, your chances of your assailant being someone you know are 84%.

So, is the runner's risk of being assaulted like the elusive urban myth of razor blades in Halloween candy? ("Time" just had an article about parenting fears and the magazine reported that there has never been a recorded report of poisoned or tainted Halloween candy. Never-ever. Oh, and a child's risk of being kidnapped is 1 in 1.5 million; whereas, a child's chances of being killed in a car accident are 1 in 6,668.) I'm not sure. Certainly violent crime with runners as victims does exist, but we run risks by doing nearly everything. Even remaining inactive by staying inside and sitting on a safe couch gives us the fairly high risk of becoming obese and dying of heart disease or diabetes.

So, in the end, certainly it's wise to take head of basic safety precautions (we all wear seat belts, right?), but as is the case with most fears: We can't let them imprison us.

Saturday Morning 8 Miler

This morning, I got up at 4 am in order to be out the door by 4:45 (my previous 30 minute pre-run routine now takes me close to 45 minutes -- I'm getting slower!) for my planned 8 miler. I wanted to be back before Norah got up, and she generally wakes up somewhere between 6 and 6:30, so I had a tight window of time to work with.

The run went well -- it was nice and cool out in the dark of pre-dawn -- with the exception of the fact that I again forgot water (and this time, I even set a water bottle out on the kitchen counter so I'd remember and I still forgot it!). I finished it in 1:25:27, for an average pace of 10:48/mile, and I was back inside the house by 6:15. Just in time to hear Norah grunting and moving around in her crib. Granted, I didn't have time to shower before tending to her, which means she got a sweaty boob, but she didn't seem to mind.

This afternoon I am off to see New Moon with the chicas, so I'd best be off! Hope everyone is enjoying the weekend!

Jibber-Jabber

Thanks for the advice/comments about the clogged milk duct; it's good to know you guys are so invested in my boob's health!

And BTW, it cleared up just fine. I was kinda hoping there would be some kind of satisfying feeling like when you plunge a toilet and you hear that "thwop!" and then the water just drains away; instead, the pain and swelling decreased overnight, and then this morning as Norah was nursing, it just suddenly felt completely normal again. So, its un-clogging was rather anti-climatic.

So, with normal feeling boobs again, I think I will get a short run in this evening when I get home from work, and then tomorrow morning, I would like to do something long-ish. I was thinking 8-9 miles, but we'll see what the morning holds.

Also, I registered today for the Turkey Trot 5K on Thanksgiving! I can't wait. I seriously love this race, and this will be my 5th year running it!

In general, I am SO looking forward to next week: Short work week, Jerry and I's anniversary on Wednesday, Turkey Trot and Thanksgiving on Thursday, and then on Friday, we plan to decorate the house for Christmas! Ack! So much to look forward to!

Dr Apts, Flu Shots and Clogged Boobs

I like this picture. It seems as if she's thinking, "Seriously, Mom? Seriously?" Norah had her 3 month check up today and here are her stats:

Height: 24 inches (so she grew another inch)
Weight: 13 lbs 2 oz (so she gained about a pound and a half)

Both her height and weight are just slightly above average (both were 60th percentiles of some kind -- I don't remember exact numbers, percentiles don't mean much to me). In general, she continues to be a healthy girl, and is on track for her developmental milestones. So, really, there wasn't much to report from the doctor visit, which is good. She got two more vaccines, so two more shots that I couldn't bear to watch, but she just cried for a moment, and was a real trooper about them.

After her doctor appointment, Jerry and I had appointments to get our flu shots. I've never had a flu shot before, but it's recommended if you have a child under 6 months (since they can't get one), so I bit the bullet and took the needle in the arm. It wasn't so bad.

So it was a busy morning before dropping her off at DC and heading to work.

On the running front, I didn't run this morning even though I had originally intended to. I woke up with what I believe is a clogged milk duct, so I have a painful lump in my left breast, and I figured that running would probably aggravate that. I'm treating the clogged duct as best as I know how from what I've read (basically two principles: apply heat and pump or feed as often as possible), so I hope it un-clogs soon enough. It hurts.

Run, Run Wednesday

I got up early this morning for my run, and I feel like I've been "running" ever since -- phew another busy day! It broke down like so:

• Got up at 4:45 and went through my normal pre-run routine and then headed out the door at 5:20 for my run.
• Ran my 3 miles in 31:45, which has got to be one of my faster morning runs to date.
• Showered.
• Fed Norah.
• Played with Norah.
• Got her dressed; then she, Scooter and I went for our morning walk.
• Graded papers while she played in her activity gym.
• Then, you can pretty much recycle the following activities throughout the morning: feed Norah, change Norah, play with her.
• She took a (too) brief nap, and while she slept, I read more papers.
• Before we left, Scooter threw up on the bed. Again. He did this on Sunday as well, and I don't know if something is the matter with him or what, but I was a bit peeved with both his timing and his target because with just 15 minutes before I had intended to walk out the door, I had to strip the bed's sheets and start laundry.
• Drop Norah off at daycare.
• Go to school.
• Grade papers during my office hour.
• Teach class.
• Grade a few last papers in my office.
• On my way home: Stop to get gas, stop at ATM, stop at cleaners.
• Get home: Put Norah to bed, make dinner, empty dishwasher, continue laundry cycle that I started before leaving for work and which Jerry had picked up when he got home, take out recycling, play with Scooter, eat dinner.
• Finished laundry and made bed with puke-free sheets.
• Now, it's 7:38 and I am finally sitting down to a moment to myself.

The plan for the rest of the evening? I think at 8, I am gonna crack open a much-needed beer and veg out in front of the TV: I could use the light humor of a mindless barrage of sitcoms.