Monday, December 10, 2012

Tis the Season to Feel like Butt

First off, let me apologize for my lack of blogging lately.  I just haven't really been up to the task, quite honestly.  It's been a bit messy around here, and I've had a really hard time trying to motivate others to be healthy and fit when I can't even get my own house in order.  Basically, this is the past month:

Daughter has ear infection
Daughter has nasty cold
Son has nasty cold
Both get better, I get nasty cold
Husband has nasty cold
I get fever and son gets another cold
I get really bad strep throat
Daughter gets fever
Son gets stomach virus
I get stomach virus
Husband gets strep throat
Son gets strep throat and double ear infection

And that's where we are now.  The poor boy is feverish and covered in hives.  Fortunately for him, he doesn't have any actual pain in his ears.  They simply look like they're on fire inside.  He does fairly well through the day, only whining a bit about the itching.  But the night is when it hits the hardest.  I'm personally not a huge fan of overprescribed antibiotics, but in this instance I feel it's absolutely necessary.  In fact, they've both had their first rounds of antibiotics EVER this season.  I guess it's because of kindergarten and the introduction of all the new germs, but it's still completely depressing.  They've been sicker the past month than ever before in their lives.  And I've been persistent with the vitamins, Emergen-C, probiotics, and allllll sorts of healthy foods.  Hopefully it will all pass soon and we'll all be well for longer than one day at a time.

And of course with a month like that, it's kind of hard to maintain a decent workout schedule.  I've spent most nights dealing with coughing, vomiting, or crying.  So my weekend long runs have been replaced by sleeping.  And my weekday workouts haven't happened because I can't take a sick kid (or my sick self) to the gym.  I've lost a lot of endurance and strength, but I'm determined to get it back.  Once everyone is healthy, of course.

I've gotten a little done in the past few weeks, craft-wise.  I've managed to get our house fairly cleaned and decorated for the holidays.  I made a brand new Advent Calendar this season, because my old one was three years old and looking a bit shabby.  This new one is made from free designer wallpaper samples.  I rolled them, sealed the bottom, and put numbered ornament stickers on them.  Then I simply hung them from twine above the fireplace, and voila!  Every day has a different activity, like "bake peppermint brownies" or "learn about Winter Solstice".  Today we'll be making snowflakes from yarn and popsicle sticks!  It's an excellent way to count down to Christmas, and it can be done relatively cheaply with a little thought (or some Pinterest inspiration)!
Each little "cup" has a cute family activity, easy peasy!
I've also made my first ever Christmas wreath, which I'm quite proud of.  And this weekend I was tired of sitting around and felt the need to have new clothes, so I even sewed myself a cute little jersey knit mini skirt!  The boy also has a new stocking made from a sweater I accidentally shrunk and didn't want to give up.  Being cheap can sometimes be SO fun!

So now, I move on to my next phase--getting back into shape for the Spring race season.  I have my next Spartan Race in March, which will complete my Trifecta.  I'll also be doing the Hurricane Heat before my race, which will be about 4+ hours of grueling pain with a team of other crazy bastards.  I can't wait!  I have a few local marathons that I'm doing as well.  I'm working on finding fewer races, closer to home.  And the cheaper, the better.  I don't need a lot of bells and whistles, just a start line and a finish line.  Although a medal is really appealing!  On my list as of now is this for next season:

Spartan Sprint & Hurricane Heat--March 23
Too Slow for Boston Marathon--April 14
Kings Mountain Marathon--April 27 (my birthday!)

And if I have the money/energy, I'd love to run my first marathon again, the New River Marathon on May 4.  It would put me as a qualifier for Marathon Maniacs, which would be super duper cool.  But then again, that just costs more money.  So we'll see.  The only ones I'm officially signed up for now are the Spartan and the TSFB, and that's a good start! 

I'm hoping that although the end of the year is usually a time of overeating and being too busy to work out, that I'll be able to do exactly the opposite.  It's been a long time coming, and I need it.  I need it bad.

How has the season of sickness been treating all of you?  Did you also fall off the wagon, or were you able to stay on?  If you did--tell me your secret!!

2 comments:

  1. Hey girl!

    We haven't had any sickness in our house (knock on wood!), but I have definitely fallen off the fitness wagon. Or I guess I never fully jumped back on! I have had good intentions, and I DID run the 8k on Thanksgiving, but have only done one measely hamster wheel mile since then! A lot of it has been due to work...I accepted three independent contracts and have been working on those the past two weeks...but it's also a lack of motivation now that the winter months are rolling in.

    I'm hoping, like you, to get back ON that wagon very soon!!

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  2. Yuk, what a month. Hope you guys are all on your way to being healthy now.

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