Routines keep you regular

I am, if nothing else, a woman who likes her routine. I feel anxious and out of sorts when I don't have my schedule--even if it is a schedule I make up. Christmas break--while a very welcome reprieve-- had me very out of sorts.


Yesterday the kids went back to school and I dived right back into my training regime with a 14 miler. It has been almost a month since I last ran that distance and I won't lie: it was tough.

Mostly because I was so unbelievably sore from my Suicide swim the day before. Those push-ups did a real number on me. I didn't think my sore chest muscles would be a problem since I was running. Wow. I was wrong. It felt like someone was going at me with a jack hammer. And thank goodness Ryan was home when I finished because otherwise I would have remained stuck in my sweaty sports bra. Apparently lifting and pulling it over my head was not something I could manage alone yesterday. But regardless of my upper body handicap I still came away with a respectable 8:37 avg pace. Well, at least respectable in my opinion. Certainly I would have prefered sub 8minute miles but eh, another day.
So yeah, not ideal.
But not terrible either.

Getting the kids up and going yesterday wasn't easy either. We had been backing ourselves last week into their 7:30 bedtime/6:30 wake up routine. But nevertheless it is still hard to go from no routine back to a routine. I read somewhere once that it takes 3 weeks to break a habit but only 2 to form one. Lucky for us we were only off our routine for 2 weeks so it didn't totally wreck us and our morning went fairly seamlessly. But we were well on our way to a habit of sleeping past 7 and doing nothing until 10 am.

Okay, you know what I mean. As seamless of a morning as you can get with a 6 yr old and 4 yr old.

Of course there were snaggles.


Carmella had a bit of a melt down because she felt her shirt-- from her most favorite outfit, an outfit which she picked, not me-- was too short. When she lifted her arms you could catch the teeniest glimpse at her tummy. I told her for me that was usually a selling point in a shirt. She pleaded with me to make her shirt longer. Understandably, after seeing me stitch Ryan's Santa sweater, she sees me as a gifted seamstress who can fix/make anything. After I explained that I couldn't make it longer and she would either have to deal or wear another shirt she decided to stick with her outfit and just wouldn't raise her arms all day. It completely amazes me that I gave birth to such a modest child. Hopefully this modesty will out last her teenage years.

Then there was the task of waking Beau. Really this can ruin my mood for the whole day if he proves particularly difficult. To say Beau is not a morning person is like saying I'm not more than a little self absorbed.

Surprisingly when I went in his room he was already up. But upon seeing me told me "No clothes today! Clothes are stupid."

After a good bit of arguing--on his part-- and a lot of threatening--on my part-- he put his clothes on. But not his shoes. He wasn't ready for shoes.
Whatever.

Amazingly they both ate their breakfast without any prodding so as it turned out we had extra time. Extra time means we get to walk/run to school. Beau mistakenly chose to wear his cowboy boots. I advised against it and told him not even cowboys go running in their cowboy boots but he reminded me that he did win the Chimney Springs tot trot in them.

Halfway to the school Beau told me his leg hurt. I told him that was just the weakness leaving his body and to keep going. Carmella said it was probably the cowboy boots.

We got Carmella to school and on the way back Beau insisted on taking Lola and I's picture--a picture in which I clearly look still half asleep. Hey, looking good takes some effort. And as Steph and I discussed today; often times this effort is not a priority for me. Especially when all I am going to do is run or swim or bike.

Oh, well, at least Lola looks good.

During the photo shoot Beau fell in the mud.

Sigh.

So after an outfit change for him and putting the dog up I was able to drive and drop him at school and get on with my day.

And today I finally got to enjoy some of this awesomely weird and wonderful weather we are having with a bike ride. Hooked up with Steph and we rode around Roswell for 2hours. She is claiming she has a bad attitude lately but don't listen to her. She is always a delight to be around and complains way less than anyone else I know. We finished up our ride with a super short 2 mile brick. The first mile was terrible for me with my calfs all crampy on all those darn punishing hills in her hood but the second mile came in faster and once I finished I felt absolutely fantastic.

I am so happy to be back in my routine of run, swim, bike, drive kids around and do errands. But most of all I am so happy to be feeling healthy and much like my normal self again. I need to remember to try to be careful and not wear myself out too much in my exuberance. Tomorrow I will do an easy day. Probably just a swim. Okay, and probably a really short treadmill run. Really short, like 2 miles.

And yes, I am proud to say I am still streaking. Today makes 10 days of consistent workouts for the Kindzia Challenge.

And at midweek this is where I find myself:
Running: 22 miles
Swimming: 3 miles
Biking: 28+ miles
Kid running/walking miles: 6 miles

Not too shabby for mid week if I do say so myself.

Best wishes to Wes and Dee Dee at Disney! Kick some Mickey ass guys!