No Oomph

Sometimes, regardless of how much I like to run (or bike, or swim, or do yoga, or lift weights, etc...) it's hard to get my butt out the door. This winter has been so much harder for me than last winter in terms of motivation, and I'm not sure why. Last year, I would uncomplainingly get out of bed at 5:15 in the morning to be in the pool by 5:45. This year? I have only done that a few times, opting instead to swim later in the morning when the kids are at school. Or, as has been the case some days, skipped my swim entirely. I have not been biking as much as I should be, considering I have my second Olympic-distance (Oly) triathlon in March, with a 25 mile bike ride. And while I have been consistent with my runs, it often takes a few hits of the snooze button before I get out of bed to actually gear up.

I'm not sure what's going on. Yes, I'm exhausted, and I'm trying to go to bed earlier these days (I'm usually in bed by 10, but these days I'm shooting for the 9:30 range. Apparently, I'm 41 going on 85). But I'm always tired; that's just a fact when you're a busy mom of two, trying to fit in parenting, chauffeuring, cooking, volunteering, and oh yeah, triathlon training. I think it's more of a matter of my motivation.

When I was training for my first Oly last year, I was on my game. I consistently swam 2 long swims a week, and was on my bike every single weekend hill training for what I knew was going to be a grueling hilly route. For this Oly, however, I'm not as motivated. Don't get me wrong, I'm still working out, almost every day. But the drive isn't there. I know I can do the distances (the race will be a 1500 meter swim, 40k bike and 10k run) if the race was tomorrow. But to do it well, not just survive the race, I need to kick it up a notch.

Maybe I'm feeling a bit burned out. Yesterday I took my fourth yoga class, and really enjoyed it. I think I'm enjoying the challenge of something new. Not that running, biking and swimming isn't a challenge for me---all 3 disciplines are hard for me--but I'm enjoying the mental aspect of doing something new with yoga. However, I'm not burned out on working out...there have been times when I've complained on twitter and dailymile that I've "lost my workout mojo", where I don't want to workout at all. That's not what's going on here...I DO want to work out, I DO try to find the time every day to squeeze it in...but the initial "oomph" I used to feel in the morning to bound of bed and do it isn't there.

I hope this rambling made sense; I think I'm just trying to work it out in my own mind. I have lots of races coming up--4 half marathons and an Oly before the middle of June--and I need to get my mind in shape as well as my body.

Namaste

As I have written on many occasions, I am constantly plagued by injuries. My most bothersome one is plantar fasciitis, although ever since I ran the Silver Strand Half Marathon in November I am bothered by intermittent glute pain (I'm still not sure WHAT it is, whether it's muscle or nerve). Regardless, my plantar fasciitis is much better, although I still have it somewhat. I have tried everything I could think of to ease the pain, from rolling my feet on frozen water bottles, golf balls, specially-nubbed balls, acupuncture, wearing the Strassburg socks to bed, and, most recently, several sessions of ART (active release technique).

While the ART was somewhat helpful (if not the most painful thing I have ever experienced; I cried during most sessions) I did get one piece of valuable insight: that my tight muscles are affecting my feet! I have very tight muscles, from my quads and hamstrings to my calfs and hips, and apparently they are all working together to cause pain in my feet. I've always been inflexible--I've never been able to touch the floor when I bend over, I can only touch the tops of my feet--but I never thought much of it. I guess it's a big problem! They advised stretching the muscles, with the theory that looser, more flexible leg muscles will make for happier, pain-free feet.

With that advice, I decided to try yoga. I have never done yoga before (well, I tried it once, about 15 years ago, and hated it) but know that yoga promotes flexibility, as well as strength and posture. So, three weeks ago, I bit the bullet, bought a yoga mat (I didn't want to use a gross, sweaty one that they provide at the gym) and went to my first class at my gym, a Vinyasa class.

Oh. My. Goodness! I knew that yoga would be hard, but the classes are kicking my behind! Many poses I am able to do fairly easily, but others are too hard for me, as I am too inflexible. Luckily the teacher preaches moderation, to do what I can, and I do my best. I am loving the stretches; they feel sooooo good! And I can see how this will help my strength training. Even though I have strong arms and shoulders--as a triathlete, I swim and lift weights and am pretty toned in that area- holding myself up in Downward Dog gets hard after a while! It's challenging my muscles in new ways.

Today was my third class, and I'm hooked. I truly look forward to going each week, and am trying to figure out my schedule so that I can go more than once a week. I hope that by continuing to do so, my muscles will stretch a bit more and I can run injury-free!

Namaste.

An IEP for the Home?

My daughter has an IEP at school (Individualized Education Program) which is a legal document that lists all of her needs and how the school is going to help. We have an annual IEP meeting, where all of her therapists and teachers get together to discuss her progress, and we make goals for the following year. Here is where her services are set: deciding which therapies she'll be getting, such as speech therapy and occupational therapy, as well as how many hours of each therapy she'll be getting each week.

Also in these meetings, all classroom adaptations are discussed. For example, because of her vision and hearing issues, she needs to sit in the front of the classroom on the left-hand side. Since her vision AND hearing is better in her right ear and eye, sitting on the left side of the class puts her right eye and ear closer to the teacher. Other adaptations, such as giving her special scissors to use and a bench to put on her her feet for stability, are also brought up here in these IEP meetings.

While she is getting such great support in the classroom, it turns out we're not doing as well at home. This weekend we realized that for years, we've had A sitting in the wrong place at the dinner table! Our seating arrangement has always been me on the left side of the table, with A next to me at my right; across from me is my son, D; and next to D (diagonal from me) is my husband, J. Often at dinner A will ask "what did you say?" and we'll repeat ourselves. Sometimes I even check her hearing aide battery to see if it's still on! It never, EVER occurred to us that she was in the wrong seat! Her "good" ear, the right one, was facing nobody. She needed to be sitting in MY seat, so her right ear would be pointing toward the middle of the table. J noticed this issue this weekend, and it was like a lightbulb going off over our heads.

Oh. My. Goodness.

I feel so bad! How could we not have noticed this error in seating? It's remedied now, so hopefully A will be able to hear more at the dinner table. But gosh---sometimes I wish a professional could come in to our home and point things like this out!