Red socks?!  Got ’em!

Husband got them for me as a surprise, what a guy!  So here is the status of my race:  I am going to TRY to run Broad Street tomorrow.  BUT in light of my recent health issues, I am going to be TAKING IT EASY, not attempting to PR and doing some things differently:

1.  I bought a Nathan hydration belt that is bomb.com.  One bottle I have filled (and refrigerated) with water, and one with G2.  I will run with it and drink BOTH bottles DURING THE RACE

2.  BEFORE the race, I WILL eat something so that I don’t bonk.  I will try pb on half a bagel. YUM!  This will lead me to…

3.  DRINK WATER before the race.

4.  DRINK A TON THE DAY BEORE. I have consumed about 2.5 liters of water today. WOW, was just googling how many ounces are in a liter.  The recommended water intake is 64 ounces (8/8oz cups), about TWO LITERS!  I will prob drink half a liter more before I go to bed.

5. I carbo-loaded today (thanks to bagels today)!

So, hopefully all of the aforementioned things will help me have a successful race, which for tomorrow, to me means to simply finish. I did NOT run this week, save for two miles yesterday in an attempt to try out the hydration belt.  The last run I had was last week’s race, and then last Friday a long run of 9. So, I probably lost a bit of fitness, but I am truly doing the race tomorrow for the experience, the joy…and FOR BOSTON.

Hi everyone!  So I did a post similar to this one when Zach was younger.  Now that he is a little older, I thought I’d do another. By the way, this is the stuff I think about when lying in bed before I fall asleep at night 😉 hehe.

-I DID think I would make ALL of Zach’s baby food. HAHAHA He had other plans.  Seriously, the kid would NOT eat my purees!  I even threw a little magic milk (breast milk) in there.  All the girls in my mommy group said “go to Whole Foods and buy Earth’s Best puree and see if he will eat it.”  “Pish,” I thought. “He just isn’t yet ready for solids.”  HAHA polished the ENTIRE jar off.  Nice, Zachy.  Earth’s Best it is (and has been).  On the contrary, though, I do plan on giving it another go.  I recently saw this post by Fitnessista:  One Month of Baby Food, one hour, 2o dollars and will be getting on that asap.

– I thought I would stop breast feeding by a year.  Still going…strong.  Truly.

– I thought I would loosen up as time went on. HAHHAHAHAH laughing out loud.  For real.  I mean, don’t I know who I am?! TYPE A, girl!  Not going anywhere.

– I thought I would be (long) back to work by now. The plan was that I would (have gone) go back this past fall (September 2012).  I wrote a post about Stay-at-home-moms vs working moms here and my “confessions of a new stay-at-home-mom” here.  So, my thoughts definitely waiver day-to-day on the topic 😉 but overall I am SOOO unbelievably thankful to be able to stay home with my son.  Do I miss working some days?  ABSOLUTELY.  But am I extremely happy that I chose to stay home for now?  For sure.  I do so for many reasons (I can do a post on this later) and truly thank my lucky stars every day that I can.

– Along with the above “bullet point,” I thought staying at home would be easy (haha) and relaxing.  Yes, I am known to over-schedule (again, for another post), but in reality, there are very few days that Zach and I have with NO planned activities.  It is definitely a lot sometimes, but the idea of not having this is also daunting.  Maybe I need to search for a better balance?

– I thought I would never be the one with “sweet potato caked into my hair, banana mashed into my pants and finger paint on my purse.”  Boy was I wrong.

– I thought I would have a ton of mommy friends.  And that we would all get together for picnics in a circle at the park.  Hehe. Really.  You know the things you daydream.  I have gained a few GOOD mommy friends, and that has turned out to be just lovely.

– I thought I’d find other things to talk about…but alas, it is ALWAYS my son 😉

– I thought I would slowly become less enamored with being a mom…specifically Zach’s mom.  But no, each day I fall more and more in love with him and with being his mom. Corny but true.

Cuteness of the day (from yesterday when I took him to the park for his one year pictures:

Hi everyone! Hope your week is going well!  Anyway, I wanted to write a post singing the praises of one of my favorite places, Nest Philly. While I do, indeed, teach a few classes there, I am a member myself and have taken some classes with Zach.

We both LOVE it. Nest is a place where you can go that is entertaining for your child, promotes interaction among the kids, (and adults; we ALL need this!) is clean, modern and offers a TON of cool classes. Aside from the classes, the play area is AWESOME, providing an area for non-walkers like Zach which is SO rare and appreciated.

There is also an indoor playset in a treehouse theme and a MILLION fun toys!

I personally LOVE the dress-up nook and have been tempted to go “be a princess” for an hour…who hasn’t?!  Seriously!?!

And Zach is a HUGE fan of the play Supermarket section.

I mean, I CLEARLY trained him well 😉

At first, I will admit, I was a bit skeptical; Zach puts EVERYTHING in his mouth and I wasn’t sure how the Nest staff kept everything clean! Yes, I am type A, but I will tell you that it works! There are bins for the dirty toys and THEY ACTUALLY GET CLEANED!  For real, guys.  Trust me, I know!

From the website:

NEST is a kid-centric, parent-friendly enrichment center and indoor playground located in the heart of Center City Philadelphia. Refreshingly far away from the chaos of traditional playrooms, NEST creates an inviting childhood-meets-neighborhood oasis inside over 12,000 sq. ft. on three levels. Focused on nurturing creative stimulation, NEST provides plenty of space for kids, ages 6 weeks to 6 years, to play and learn while parents lounge, shop, and dine with them in a comfortable, modern setting.

With room to park double-wide strollers, NEST’S easy-access ground level gives young urban families much to explore. A welcoming staff directs visitors to a professional portrait photography studio, kids salon, specialty toy and clothing boutique, latté-laden yet juicebox-packed parents lounge, and a full-service Green Eggs Café serving up eco- and kid-friendly fare. Hop one level down, and there is a 3,000 sq. ft. nature-themed playspace “NEST Play” with dedicated party and playdate areas. Thoughtfully designed, NEST Play is a comfortable place to gather, make new friends, and pack in some serious playtime. NEST’S top level serves as a top-notch activity hub for developmentally rich educational programming where kids can take classes designed by local leaders in occupational therapy, early childhood development, and the arts.

NEST boasts a bustling class roster. Children can participate in innovative courses in early enrichment, movement, music, dance, arts and crafts, language, cooking, and more. Prenatal yoga, “Mommy & Me” classes, and parent-child book clubs give parents a place right alongside the little ones in the activities loop.

OK, so here is my open invitation:  ANYONE is welcome to join me at the Nest for a free tour to witness the amazingness yourself!  email me at jessdownes@yahoo.com (contact page too) I’d LOVE to show you around!  OH, and for those lovely expectant moms-to-be, we are having a FANTASTIC baby shower on May 19th from 1:30-4 pm.  

Register on the Nest website via THIS LINK 🙂  Hope to see you there!

Hi friends!  Seriously sorry I’ve still been down for the count since Sunday!  Argh.  Dehydration.  I HAVE to fix this for next race.  Unfortunately, my next race is Sunday, Broad Street, the PINNACLE of my racing season, the one I REALLY wanted to RACE, to speed, to beat, to pound…to only not know if I can run it this year.  My friends, I really busted myself up these last two races and still am not 100%. I am completely concerned that I will end up on my a$$ again, back to square one or even worse.  Here is what I think might be happening, as I alluded to before.

-Not hydrated enough prior to the race.  I am a busy mom who frankly forgets to drink water…and coffee is needed more…but also SUPER dehydrating

-NOt eating enough prior- so I am eating up all of my glycogen stores during races- I dont really carbo load before races, which I should, and i dont eat prior to running- I worry it will mess with my stomach. BOth are probably contributing to my post-race bonking.

-Not refueling post-race- I usually want a….you guessed it, coffee post-race, and I indulge and often don’t eat right away; not hungry and running around after a little one, again a sure-fire way to bonk post-race big time

-Not drinking enough during races- at home when training, I will drink at least a liter of water during my long runs because I am at home on a treadmill and I can.  Not at races. So I am going to have to start wearing a Camelbak or belt with bottles of G2 or water.

AAANWAY, I will keep you posted on the status of my race.  So it seems everyone is going to be wearing RED SOCKS to the race in honor of Boston.  I, myself, had planned on wearing my new Boston Adidas shirt…

Blue Running skirt, and neon yellow Zensah compression socks.  And to be honest, I can’t really afford another pair of compression socks; those babies are NOT cheap!  So, I hope that my own form of tribute to Boston will be fitting (and that I won’t get beat up; Philly folks can be rough :)).  What do you guys think?!  

So, here is some Zach sweetness to end your day/my post:

UMMM can you handle the cuteness?! Save the snack for later, Zach 😉 Note the snack in his pocket lol