Coffee Date

Let’s catch up with a virtual cup of coffee. If we were to go to a coffee shop together and talk about life, here’s what I’d tell you:

I decided during the New York Marathon that I would not run Mountains 2 Beach Marathon. I was in so much pain and it seemed pointless to sacrifice time away from my family to run another one and be miserable again. Can you tell I have some baggage from previous marathons still? The Marathon and I have had quite the love-hate relationship, and the saga continues.

As you can probably guess, I’m already reconsidering that pain-induced decision. I am giving myself one month to decide. I’m having coffee with my potential new coach on Thursday (he runs a training group called the Seaside Striders – it would be more of a group coaching/individual coaching hybrid, not one on one coaching). If anything, I want to pick his brain a little bit on why my race in New York was so painful.

Siena has transformed into a toddler before my eyes. I can’t even believe how well she communicates already (she is very good at saying “no!”). I actually decided to continue my “Dear Siena” posts because I enjoy writing them, my family enjoys them and they are basically Siena’s baby book since I have failed to write much in her actual one. Look for a belated post later this week!

Our trip to New York was wonderful. I can’t thank Mike’s family enough for watching Siena so that Mike and I could have five baby-free days together. We left our laptops at home and focused on each other for the majority of the trip (besides the whole marathon part). We enjoyed hours of walking around the city, incredible food (hands down best bagel, cookie and possibly pizza I’ve ever had – jury is still out on that one), and great conversation without interruption. Our hotel, The Refinery, was spectacular – we were greeted with two large glasses of wine and marathon welcome bags full of water, snacks and gu and I got a free congratulatory drink at their trendy rooftop bar the night of the race.

While in New York, we didn’t work (I work many evenings and every weekend), do dishes, change a diaper, drive a car or cook a meal (and watch it get thrown on the floor by our daughter) for five days. I normally don’t enjoy plane flights but quite enjoyed reading my book and doing the sudoko puzzle in the American airlines magazine for five hours.  We had a celebratory dinner with my friend Melissa and her husband and a great steak dinner with Mike’s cousin and his wife. But more than anything, Mike and I enjoyed lots of kid-free conversations. We lived it up in New York! Though I did miss Siena a ton, we needed this vacation!

I’m on day three of 21 Day Fix Extreme and loving it! I forgot how challenging the workouts are – they are seriously kicking my butt in a good way. Last week all I did was walk and do a couple hours of yoga – I let myself just truly recover and do whatever felt good (including a few naps!). I wanted to commit to 21 Day Fix Extreme because I know that I thrive on routine and challenges but I also knew I would need a break from running. I’ve never actually done all 21 workouts as intended in 21 Day Fix (usually I sub out some for runs), so I’m excited to see how much stronger I can by following the program this way. I do plan to run a few times week, but probably nothing longer than 6 miles. As for the nutrition plan, I am trying to stick to the Level 2 plan (more calories than the most restrictive plan) and giving myself a few cheat meals (party on Saturday, Thanksgiving of course, another party the weekend after that).

If we were having coffee I’d also invite you to my next challenge group and tell you that the holidays aren’t an excuse! You can still see results on this plan, even with some cheat meals for holiday parties. You’ll see a big difference from the strength training and from avoiding the cookies your coworker brought in that aren’t even that good anyway! We start on November 28th and will be done well before Christmas. Head into the new year with great habits established already!

We would certainly talk about the election, about how shocked we were by the results, and I would tell you that I spent countless hours last week learning more about our country and why half of Americans support someone like Donald Trump. I’d tell you that I understand more about that decision now, although I still don’t support it. Instead of dwelling on what I cannot change I will choose to focus on things that I do have control of, such as how I treat others and the organizations I will donate to.

I am pretty excited for the holidays! Although I’m sure Siena won’t be able to fully grasp the concept of Thanksgiving or Christmas, it’ll be extra special having her with us this year. It’ll also be nice to see family and not have to worry so much about when she will or won’t sleep or when she’ll need to breastfeed during family parties or car rides.  We are lucky to have the majority of our family here in Southern California and I’m looking forward to quality time with them.

What would you tell me if we were having coffee together?