Kristy Maute

Celebrating Nine Months

On October 5th (a week ago, yes! and two days. Life is busy.), we celebrated Chet’s nine month birthday. No. I’m not quite sure how we got here, like always.

He is everywhere. Last month, he was just barely sitting. This month he is almost walking. He’s crawling (although he still prefers army crawling. It’s faster). He’s standing up. He’s falling down. He’s getting good at lowering himself from a standing position to sitting. He is clapping. He gives high-fives. He is dancing. He plays catch and loves to throw the ball. He loves dropping things to see where they go.

If I have learned one thing about Chet this month it is that he has no fear. None. He doesn’t think through the process. If he wants to get to his ball, he will crawl up and over whatever is in his way. The dog, a basket of toys, his brother, nothing gets in his way. If it requires standing and falling, he will do it. He pulls up on the couch, turns around, lets go, and throws his body in whatever direction he wants to go. He is determined. He even figured out how to crawl out of his jumparoo and onto the ground at my mom’s house. Crazy Monkey Baby!

Baby Stats: 14 lbs 13 oz. 27.25 inches.

Chet is tiny. He continues to fall off the growth chart with each appointment. He’s dropped in height too. He now falls into the 20th percentile for height and doesn’t exist on the chart for weight. Both the pediatrician, Christian and I are keeping our conversation open about his weight. The overall agreement is that he is just small. He is gaining weight just very very slowly. Our doctor (who we adore!) has encouraged me to continue with the night-time feedings (sigh of relief! yes! I was hoping I wouldn’t have to have a conversation why I don’t want to eliminate it just yet). She has encouraged us to let him eat as much real food as he wants. She has also encouraged us to incorporate oatmeal (our cereal of choice) into meals as much as possible because it is an easy way to add calories to his diet. We will continue to keep an eye on it (and monitoring diapers for any questionable signs of problems), but I really think we just have another munchkin on our hands.

Chet is also not a sleeper, at least not a good sleeper by text-book definitions. A normal night in our house consists of two wake ups. He is normally asleep by 8pm, nurses around midnight, nurses around 3, and then wakes up around 7:00. He naps in the car on the way to my mom’s house (sometimes). He naps once or twice for my mom. And he naps on the way home from my mom’s house. I’m sure there are millions of studies and books that would encourage me to let him cry it our or to wean him at nighttime, but I’m not comfortable with this option. It doesn’t feel right for my baby (and our pediatrician agrees). He is a great nurser at night-time. I know he is getting at least two solid nursing sessions. For a baby that is too busy to really nurse during the day, I’m glad we have a space in our day for him to receive all his nutrition. His nighttime nursing is efficient so I’m really only up for about 15 minutes. My nights of sleep consist of a few 2-3 hour blocks of sleep. I really feel like I’m functioning fine with this amount of sleep, so we are sticking with it for now. Bad nights of sleep (especially two in a row) have been known to create “I’m tired” tears in mom. Four or five feedings a night are exhausting when you haven’t really slept since last year. Luckily it doesn’t happen often.

Speaking of nursing, we are still hanging on. Really hanging on. I’m down to three bags of milk in the freezer. Eek! I’m still optimistic that I can make it to a year without introducing formula. I’ve got other mama’s milk as a back up just in case (thank you Heidi! thank you Lisa!). Chet is currently nursing when he wakes up, a bottle or two with my mom, nursing when we get home, and nursing before bed. And then nursing as he chooses during the night. The day time nursing sessions are short and normally only on one side. The rest of his day is filled with real food.

Food is hit or miss in our house right now. Some weeks Chet is super hungry. Other weeks he picks (and nurses more). He still loves almost everything we put in front of him. He is a huge fan of yogurt, cheese, and anything I’m trying to eat. Mangos are his favorite when added to oatmeal. Besides pureed fruits, he is eating all whole foods for all his meals. I even introduced him to beef stew the other night when we all had it for dinner. He loved the meat the most. He’s also had shredded chicken.

And finally…our biggest hurdle this month has been sickness. Poor Chetty had his first ear infection. amoxicillin didn’t do anything for him, so five days later we switched to Augmenten. This one seems to be working.

And that is enough for one month!

Did I mention he has no fear? Check out his nice black eye in the photos. He pulled up on a water jug trying to get to footrest in the play room. In his fearless leap, he crashed. And bonked his eye. I’m sure there are many more black eyes in his future.

I’m not sure how many more months he will lay down for photos. This one was a fight!

Want to see how he has grown? Check out…

Don’t let the photos above fool you. He is such a happy baby! He just knows what he wants and when he wants it. Today he did not want his pictures to be taken! So he was entertained with my camera lens cap cover and a lego man 🙂

Seeking Solitude

This morning I had a recovering run to look forward to – eight or nine miles of easy running to help shake out the leftover half-marathon funk. It’s a beautiful fall day. The trails were calling my name. As I made my way to the park, I remembered that today was my sister Jennifer’s birthday. She would have been 37 years old today.

Happy to be running, happy to be living, happy to have two wonderful boys at home to love, I set out to run. The main trail was crowded. Runners passed me. I passed runners. I couldn’t get to “my trail” soon enough. I needed solitude. I needed to be away from everyone. A mile in I arrived at the trail. A quick turn off of the main trail, and I was alone.

It was a simple run today. I finished right after I felt like I started. There is something magical about being alone on a trail in the early morning hours. I could hear the sound of the bird’s wings flapping. I could hear each and every acorn that fell from each tree. I could hear each leaf crunch beneath my feet. As I finished my run, I felt quiet. I felt content. It wasn’t a run filled with excitement or an overwhelming feeling of pride for finishing. I just felt quiet. Happy. Satisfied. Still.

For nine miles I ran, and I felt my sister with me. A sister I have never meet but will always love. She smiled at all of us today. I smiled today knowing how lucky I am that my family is full of love. Happy. Content. Still. And definitely satisfied with the quiet.

Crawlin Crab Half Marathon Race Report

Oh were to begin………

Let’s talk logistics first. This was, hands down, the best race course I have ever run. Beautiful course. Lots of changes in direction to keep things fresh and new. A few bridge crossings to mix things up with a little elevation (a rare treat at flat sea level Virginia Beach). Perfect size. It sells out at 5000. Great start/finish line. It was so nice that the convention center was open before the start so we could use their bathrooms. Easy parking right by the start/finish line. I will run this race every year if I can.

And now the good stuff…..

I PR’d. I PR’d. I PR’d. by six minutes and thirty-five seconds. And I broke 2:15. Did you hear me? I did it! I broke 2:15. And I did it with a smile on my face all the way up until mile 9. I can not even begin to tell you (but I suspect you already know) how good it feels for everything to come together the way I had hoped. All my summer training, all the hot long summer runs where 11 minute miles felt hard, my 2:35 half-marathon five weeks ago, it all finally paid off today.

I woke up this morning at 5am to stumble through my morning routine. I had hoped for a better night sleep, but I know better. Good nights of sleep are far and few between in our household (if they exist at all). Chet was up at 11:15, 2:45, and 5:45am. In spite of my lack of sleep, I woke up ready to run. A blueberry muffin and a banana later, my friends picked me up and we were off to the start line. We got to the race around 7:00am, one hour prior to race start. The convention center was open, so we were able to use the bathroom inside. Considering it was SO COLD outside. And raining. And Windy. This was a nice treat.

At 8:00am corral 1 was off. We were a few minutes behind them in Corral 3 (yes. I snuck up a corral to avoid being in the walkers corral and to start with Heidi.).

The first few miles were all about warming up and settling into the run.

Mile 1: 10:28

Mile 2: 10:06

Mile 3: 10:10

Heidi and I were running together, and although we settled into a comfortable silence between the two of us, it was so nice to not run solo. Because of the weather (and perhaps since this was the first year for the run), spectator support was hard to find. There were very few people out on the course. It was also very quiet.

One of my goals for this race was to ignore my garmin. I set it to just show mileage, but when it beeps to signify the completion of a mile, the pace will pop up for a few seconds. At mile 2, I am guilty of looking down. I wanted a reference point. I was feeling great. I felt like I was running, but I wanted to make sure I wasn’t too comfortable. When I saw 10:06, I was thrilled. I also reminded myself that I did not want the number determining how I ran. I made a mental note of how I was feeling, worked hard at holding on to that feeling, and didn’t look at my watch again until Mile 8.

Mile 4: 10:23

Mile 5: 10:18

Mile 6: 10:37

I started the race off with a long sleeve layer on top of my tank top. Mile 5 was my checkpoint to allow myself to take it off. So much of running is mental. I try to set tiny milestones along the course to keep me motivation. Mile 5 was designated as shed a layer of clothing checkpoint. It felt amazing to take it off. I had anticipated seeing Christian at mile 6 to hand of my jacket, but he was no were in sight. Heidi and I kept on running.

Mile 7: 10:49

Mile 8: 10:16

Mile 9: 10:23

At the next water stop, Heidi needed a moment to apply ointment to her knee that had been giving her grief. I took this as an oppurtunity to text Christian. I didn’t want him coming out to cheer me on in the rain and missing me. I let know we our mile marker.

As we made the turn after the water stop, the Chesapeake Bay opened up in front of us. It was beautiful. We had a completely unobstructed view of the bay for the next few miles. It was gorgeous. I lost count of how many times I said to Heidi how pretty the course was.

These miles were may favorite miles of the whole race. It felt so good to be at mile 7, mile 8, and mile 9 feeling good. We laughed. We high-fived the few people we saw. We sang along with the local radio station. We cheered with the band. At this point, I knew I would PR. I had no idea of my overall time, but I knew I was going sub 2:20.

Mile 10: 10:16

This was my toughest mental mile. I really wanted to get to 10. I wanted to get to the point where we could say “only a 5k left”. Thank goodness for running partners. I think I may have crumbled a little if Heidi hadn’t been running by my side. My hips started to ache. I could feel a clicking in my knee. I just wanted to get to double digits.

Mile 11: 10:25

This mile felt tough too, but I really felt like I was running fast. When I looked at my watch to check out our pace, I was slightly disappointed to see 10:25. That disappointment lasted for a few seconds. I reminded myself that a number did not define my success in the race. I felt strong. I felt fast. Mission accomplished.

At mile 11, the 2:15 pacer caught up to Heidi and I as we said hello to Christian again. I knew they started in the corral behind me. Based on this information, I guessed we were running a 2:17/2:18 half marathon. I was okay with that. As we settled in behind the pace group, my legs wanted more so we quickly passed them and kept running.

Mile 12: 9:53

Mile 13: 9:32

Final Stretch: 8:30 pace

Somewhere between mile 11 and mile 12, I lost Heidi. She was next to me, and then she was gone. As much as I wanted us to finish together, I knew I had to keep running. I needed to run my race. I had two miles to go. I can run 2 miles. At mile 12.5, I saw Christian again. He gave me a few words of encouragement (Get your ass moving!) and a sweet smile. I ran. I ran hard. I ran until my stomach started to hurt. As soon as I passed Christian, I felt like I was out of steam. I kept reminding myself that I did not just run 12.5 miles to slow down now. Run. Run. Run. Run fast. Finish strong. As I made the final turn to the finish line, I knew I gave it my all on the course. I wanted to fall over, or throw up, or never move again.

As ran under the finish line and hit stop on my garmin, I didn’t care what my watch said. I just ran my perfect race for that day. I loved every single second on the course.

After collecting my medal, my water, a banana, and many other snacks, I looked at my watch.

13.16 miles. 2:14:49. (10:15 pace)

Sub 2:15 (but close). I wanted to celebrate, but I wanted official results. Did I really break 2:15? Did I really meet my best case scenario goal?

After sharing a beer (or two) and a bowl of soup with Christian and Heidi – while shivering under a tent because it was now pouring and freezing – Christian and I head home. Official results posted while I was taking a nice hot shower.

Official time. 2:14:45 (10:17 pace)

I might have a smile on my face all week!

Other fun race superlatives:

My run included my fast 10k post-baby! The last 6.2 miles of the race!!!

My fastest mile was the last mile of the race!

Out of 2240 woman, I was 671.

In my age group, I finished 94th out of 232.

Although I plan on enjoying this race success, I already know I can find more in me. Next goal: a half-marathon with an overall pace of 9:xx.

Setting Race Goals

As I sat at work today pumping for the first time, I had a few rare moments to think. It was quiet (if you ignore the sound of the pump and the milk dripping into the bottle). No one was going to interrupt me. I finally had time to think about running on Sunday.

And I want to be excited. I’m not quite there yet, but I’m finding it. I’ve worked hard all summer. I suffered through a hot-as-hell half marathon five weeks ago. I ran that race smart so I would feel stronger at this race. Yes, my brain is thinking about 26.2 miles already, but this weekend is all about 13.1. Just as I let my brain wander to the “best case scenario” outcome for Sunday, I checked my google reader and I found this post on Another Mother Runner.

We thought this would be a good opportunity to talk about how to set race goals for yourself. It can be tough because you don’t want to set them so high, you end up feeling like a failure at the finish line, but you also don’t want to short-change your training and effort.

We’re fans of multi-tiered approach–some time goals, some race-related goals, and maybe even some more personal goals–you are pretty much guaranteed to hit at least one of them, no matter what the clock reads or how you feel when you cross the finish line. Which means you have the respectful answer, “I met my goal,” to use on anybody who asks about your race but you don’t feel like digging into the nitty gritty.

This was a great opportunity to talk about setting race goals. I have been short-changing my training and my effort.

I’ve avoided setting goals for this run………well, if I’m being honest, because my last half left me confused. I know the weather was a huge factor that day, but I would have never thought I’d run the pace I ran. So I’ve been cautiously moving towards this race. If I avoid setting a goal for this run, I won’t be disappointed? Easy enough, right? I have a feeling this will leaving me at the finish line feeling disappointed regardless.

Taking the advice from the blog post I read, these are my goals for the run.

Time Goal:

Best Case Scenario: Sub 2:15 with my final miles in the 9s.

Normal Day Scenario: Sub 2:20. If I’m being honest with myself, I’ll be disappointed if I see anything over 2:20. I want a PR. And I’ve run PRs in training runs, so I know I can do it during the race.

Race Goal:

I run my version of strong that day. When I’m feeling strong, I give it everything I’ve got. When I’m feeling off, I hang on. I want to feel like I’m running strong. This happens for me when I’m running in the low 10s/9s. Anything slower than a 10:30 starts to feel like a shuffle. I don’t want to shuffle.

Personal Goal:

I want to ignore my garmin. I want to run by feel and not let numbers determine my mental strength on Sunday. I want to cross the finish line feeling like I left my race on the course. I want to hurt and push through it. Yes, I want to hit my time goals above, but they don’t mean much to me if I don’t meet this goal.

And I can’t believe I haven’t even focused on a Race Day Mantra. I have seriously been distracted this week. I always run with a mantra. I’m stealing this one from my good friend Amanda at Running on Waffles. When the miles get tough, because they will get tough as a set my new PR, I’m running for every single mile I’ve missed over the past few years. I’m running for every single mile I may miss in the future. I’m running for race day.

And now I’m officially excited! And ready to run down a PR. Running for every missed mile.

Distracted

While Sunday has been marked on my calendar since the beginning of summer, I’ve somehow ignored that I’m running a half marathon this weekend. The 1st annual Crawlin Crab half-marathon is this Sunday in Hampton, Virginia (just a quick 30 minute underwater tunnel drive away). This raced is put on by a the local running group that hosts a handful of great fun races so I’m sure it won’t disappoint.

I can come up with a handful of reason I haven’t found my normal prerace jitters/excitement –

Chet has been sick this week for the first time. He has an ear infection. It has definitely kept me preoccupied.
Having just run the Rock n Roll half marathon five weeks ago, race day has lost it’s luster?
I’ve mentally transitioned to full marathon training, so I view this race as a training run instead of a race?
Having run 14 miles two weekends ago, 13.1 seems “easy”?
My lackluster run at the Rock n Roll has left me content with simply just running?

While I do know my sick baby has got all my attention this week, the rest are just guesses. Who knows why this race is seeming so uneventful in my head? I’m sure I’ll feel differently as I line up Sunday morning in Corral #4 waiting for my turn to cross the start line.

Now to pump myself up for race day:

The weather is looking much more promising for my run this time around. According to our local weather, a big blast of cold air is arriving on Sunday: high of 70, low of 55. National news is predicting rain. Cold and Rain are my perfect running conditions, so I will take either one.

The course looks like a good one. I’ve never run in Hampton, so I think the newness will be good for me. It also follows the Chesapeake Bay for a good chunk of the run.

And the big questions? Can I run down 2:15? Just like the Rock n Roll half, I feel pretty confident that I can PR. The question is by how much? As I have learned the hard way, only race day will tell!

There are also free Peroni beers waiting at the finish line AND crab and corn chowder in a bread bowl! I’m more excited about the soup!

And the things I still need to decide:

What to wear? I love my running choice for the Rock n Roll, but it didn’t bring me any luck at the race? Redeem the outfit or find a new one?

What to show on my Garmin? Pace or no pace? To be honest, I think I run stronger when I don’t know my number. The question is can I let go of “caring about my number” during a race. I ran eight miles on Saturday without pace showing on my watch, and it was a good strong run for me. 10:19 pace and it felt comfortable the whole way (10:18 is a 2:15 half). I ran 4 easy miles on Monday night without pace showing with perfect negative splits and a 10:01 overall pace.

I think I might just try to run without it this time….maybe???