I Can Run A Mile

I wrote this post 2 1/2 years ago after I had Rylan and today I was reminded of it. Today I ran a 5k on the treadmill without walking and in 30 minutes, my personal best and only 4 months after having Miles. For a lot of people that's not a big deal, but if you read on you'll see why it means a lot to me.

I can run a mile. I can do it without stopping. I can do it without slowing down to walk. Most people would say what's the big deal? The big deal is that this used to seem like one of the hardest things for me to do. It used to feel like some one was stabbing me in the back with every stride. I could only go a few yards, maybe a quarter mile on a good day, before breaking down in tears from the pain. And now? Now, I can run a mile with no tears. I can run for two or three miles if I really feel like it, and I'm starting to feel more like it every time I go for a run.

So for those of you that are a little lost, here's the back story. Back when I was a diver, I was in great shape. I had six pack abs and could bench press my weight. I was strong and you could see it by looking at me. What you couldn't see was how weak my back was. About 18 years ago - wow I'm getting old - I injured my back diving platform. And instead of letting it heal properly I continued to dive platform until it got to the point that I was in tears on a daily basis and the physical therapist told me I had to stop because I had a partially torn muscle in my lower back. I took the time off and healed, but never fully recovered. My back was weak.

When I returned to diving I was still strong, maybe even stronger, in my arms, legs, stomach, but not my back. The doctors told me everything was fine it was just going to hurt until I was able to strengthen the muscles in my back again. I worked to get it stronger, but I still had pain. It was much more manageable, but it was still pain. And the doctors said that was how it was going to be, keep trying to strengthen it, but I'd probably always have to live with some degree of pain. Fun right? Not so much.

So until about 5-6 years ago I had pain, it was so much better than before, but I still couldn't run a full mile without stopping. And you ask what happened 5-6 years ago? I got pregnant with Jake. And I had TERRIBLE back pain throughout the pregnancy. I got massages every other week to help manage the pain. My back felt almost as bad as it had when I had the torn muscle. But something funny happened after I gave birth to Jake, my back felt better. It felt stronger. Now I don't have anything to back this up, but my theory is that for the first time since injuring my back, and maybe the first time in my life, my stomach muscles couldn't pick up the slack for my weak back. My back HAD to get stronger. And with each pregnancy my back hurt a little less during and felt a little stronger after.

And so now here we are, three kids later, and I'm able to run a mile. I'm still a terrible runner, a 10 minute mile seems fast to me, but I AM a runner. I was actually able to run almost all the way through my pregnancy with Rylan. I started running again a few weeks ago. I'm only doing it a few days a week at most for right now. And when I am able to, I am running 2 or 3 miles at a time and doing a total workout of 4-5 miles. I'm starting to do sprint workouts as well to hopefully improve my speed. I have to say that I'm really enjoying it and feel bad when I don't have time or am just too tired to get in a workout. Who would have thought? Its amazing how much more enjoyable running is now that I don't have pain.

So running a mile might not seem like that big a deal, but to me it means a lot!

Weekly Weigh In: Weeks 9 & 10

Weeks 9 & 10

Weight: 143.8

2 Week Total: 0.2

Overall Total: 7.6

Am I disappointed? A little. Am I frustrated? Yes. Am I giving up? No.

As much as it's driving me crazy seeing the scale staying the same, I am seeing a difference in the way I look and feel. I've been working out 5 days a week doing running, walking, the elliptical, and group exercise classes. I'm pushing myself in ALL of my workouts. I haven't taken a day off because I just don't feel like working out. I'm starting to plan my days based on getting a workout. So even if I'm not seeing the WEIGHT results I want, I am seeing RESULTS. I look better and feel better and I feel like this is becoming a way of life rather than just for a short term goal. And that is definitely a good thing.

I also know that while nursing my body tends to hold onto 5-10 lbs, so until I'm done with that I may just have to wait for the pounds to finish coming off. So once again, I'll just keep at it and hope for the best!

Wednesday Weigh In: Week 8

Week 8

Weight: 144.0

Total for week: 2.0

Overall total: 7.4

And we're back on track! At least I hope that's the case, but this week will give me quite a test. I tried a group fitness class on Monday called Tabata. Needless to say, it kicked my butt. Or more accurately, it killed my legs. I'm still in a lot of pain and walking around very slowly. And so I haven't been able to workout since Monday and I'm leaving for Nationals on Friday so I don't see many, if any, workouts until next week. I do remember being told once that it is good to take a week off every so often to let your body reset so you don't plateau. I guess I'll see at next week's weigh in if the week off was good or not.

My Other Kids

In case you didn't know, I have 3 other kids besides Miles :) I know most of my posts are about my latest addition, but I do have 3 other pretty spectacular kids that have been doing great as well.

Jake and Brenden started soccer this week. Brenden is on the same team from the fall and Jake is with the same coach, but only one other kid from his fall team is on the spring team. The boys did really well with their coaches and teams last fall so hopefully this spring they will be able to pick right up and keep learning and progressing.

It has been spring break and Jake has a bet with Chris to finish the first Harry Potter book by the end of break. Jake has been great about reading it everyday and seems to enjoying it and the bet is only an added bonus to keep him going. I'm just so impressed that I have an 8 year old son that likes reading and can read a 300 page book on his own. He's definitely his father's son when it comes to this one.

Brenden can read! I have been so impressed with his improvement. I'm able to grab just about any of our kids books and he can read it. He's doing a great job of sounding out new words and asking for help so he doesn't get frustrated. He's also asking me all the time what a word is if he sees it on a food box, TV, etc. It's so nice to see him doing so well and enjoying it!

Rylan......Rylan, Rylan, Rylan. She's 2 and VERY good at it! Like the rest of us, she is very stubborn and head strong and must do EVERYTHING herself. I just keep telling myself that its who she is and she's not doing it to torture me, but there are days/times where it is hard to believe. In all seriousness, she is pretty awesome. She's learned her ABC's, she can count to 10, and when she's had enough of this crazy family she runs away to the neighbors :)

And some pictures to show you just how awesome all 4 of my kids are!

3 months for the Miles Man

Miles just keeps growing despite my pleas with him to stay tiny for just a bit longer :) Can you believe its been 3 months already? Its all flying by and taking forever at the same time, those of you with kids probably know exactly what I'm talking about.

The Miles Man is doing great. He doesn't have a doctor's appointment until 4 months so I don't know exactly how big he is, but I do know he is growing by all the baby clothes he keeps going through. He's not a huge baby, but he is long and he gives off a big vibe. He's been eating and sleeping great. For about 3 weeks or so he's been going 8-10 hours for his first stretch at night and then goes back down for 3-4 hours which has been awesome. It would be more awesome if I went to bed at a decent hour more often than I am, but I do when I can and its been nice to get more than a couple of hours before getting up.

As for what he's been up to? Lot's of smiles and laughs! He is starting to "chat" with me too. We have had more than a few times of back and forth cooing, laughing, smiling, and just making noises at each other. It's been a lot of fun and he's starting to do it with the Jake, Brenden, and Rylan too which is lots of fun. He's also able to sit up on his own if he's leaning forward with his hands on the bed or sofa. And he's busy moving his arms and legs around during tummy time, he just needs to figure out how to push off the floor and he'll be crawling in no time. I'm guessing he'll be like the others and crawling in the 4-6 month range, although with all of the hardwood in the house it could be longer after if he starts hitting his head on the floor - we'll hope that doesn't happen too much :)

So basically the boy is doing great! And we are all enjoying our little Miles :)

Weekly Weigh In: Week 7

Week 7

Weight: 146.0

Weekly Loss: +0.4

Overall Total: 5.4

Yup, another gain. Boooo! But its actually better than I thought it was going to be, not because I ate horribly or didn't work out. I just happened to get on the scale a few other times over the week and noticed things were yo-yoing. For 3 days I watched the number on the scale climb up and now for the past couple of days I have seen it steadily come down. Hopefully, it will continue to come down. I have been working out almost everyday and eating about the same, at least I don't think/feel like I"ve done anything different with my diet. However, I'm pretty sure Miles has had a growth spurt and that would affect my milk production so that could have had an impact on the rest of my body. Who knows, I'm just trying to stay optimistic. I'm still fitting into one of my larger pre-pregnancy pairs of jeans and my legs look like they're getting in better shape from all of the running so those are are two HUGE things going my way. And I'm really looking forward to trying some of the classes at the gym next week to stake things up a bit.

So I'll just keep plugging along and hope this trend changes and the scale starts to reflect all of the work I've been doing!

1 year in Cincinnati

That's right, its been a year! Can you believe it? Now it won't be an actual year until Friday, but I thought it fitting to write about it now since we started the year with Easter just 3 days after moving in and now we will close out the year with Easter just 5 days before one year.

I think if you've been keeping up with this blog or me on Facebook you'll know that since our move the Eby family hasn't missed a beat. We have been happy and felt comfortable from day one. And thinking back to when Chris told me in our first year or two together that we might have to move to Cincinnati, I never thought that would have been the case.

I pretty much told him no way we would move to Cincinnati. I said anywhere else in Ohio, even Columbus, would be better than Cincinnati. I had a very misleading image in my mind of what Cincinnati was based on coming here when I was around 13 for a dive meet. I could not have been more wrong because now I'm so happy we're here. Everything has just fallen into place so nicely and its felt like this is where we are supposed to be. I do miss Michigan from time to time, but that has more to do with missing people and restaurants not my day to day living.

We love our home and we have done lots over the past year to make it ours. We could not have asked for better neighbors. They have welcomed us from day one and have become wonderful friends. Rylan has even tried to weasel her way into their family by running away a few times and making herself at home at dinner time :) The kids have enjoyed their new school and friends. Work has been good for Chris. And I'm happy coaching my new team. I couldn't have asked for more!

So Happy 1st Year to the Eby Family and looking forward to many more!