20 Miles for James, 18 for Karen!

Yesterday was the longest training run James will do before his marathon. He busted off 20 miles. That's a really long way. He ended up running the river path, from Orange Grove to Dodge and back, plus a little doubling back somewhere in the middle. I ran the final 9 miles with him, and since I was pushing Zack in the jogging stroller the whole time, my total mileage comes out to 18 miles. If you have any questions about this 18 mile calculation ask James, he's a number man.

James is feeling pretty exhausted. Yesterday all he wanted to do was sit on the couch in his underwear and compression socks, with an ice pack on his knee. Today he can't stop eating and has enjoyed laying in the grass in the backyard. For having run 20 miles, he's doing quite well. My biggest complaint after running 18 miles is how bad my arm hurts from the flu shot I got yesterday. Boo hoo for shots. I now realize why Zack is in a rotten mood every time he gets vaccinations.

Speaking of Zack, I think he is going to be a genius, because he seems to have acquired most of my critical thinking brain cells while he was in utero. I used to be smart, I promise!! This week I've had at least 3 "moments" where I have noticed these missing cells.

The first being when James and I were in the car. We saw a large bird of some sort flying, and I wondered out loud if it was an eagle. James then tells me that it's a hawk, and that he doesn't think eagles live in Tucson since we don't have much water here. I kid you not, every time we see a big bird I always think it's an eagle, and James always tells me it's a hawk. Had he explained to me the lack of an eagle population in Tucson sooner, I would not have assumed that every bird I see is an eagle. Or, maybe if I would have paid attention in Earth Science, I would have come to this conclusion on my own.

The day after the "eagle incident" I was a sweet wife and I uploaded the pictures that we have on our camera to the computer. I even put the November 2011 ones in a brand new folder called "November 2011." I tell James via g-chat that I've uploaded pics. Here is how the conversation went.

James: did you click sync on the nov folder?
me: no, I didn't click it....I thought opening Picasa was enough. Just like I thought eagles frequented SO AZ.... I've been sorely mistaken all my life on these matters.
James: Is you serious
me: I'm serious. I thought all I had to do was open Picasa. The Oct pics synced automatically so I figured the Nov ones would too
James: that is because we clicked sync yo

Well, apparently eagles don't frequent the Tucson area, AND simply opening a computer program doesn't do much for you. You actually have to click buttons. I really thought I didn't have to do a thing.

My last "wow" moment involves Elmo. And, a quick google search has actually revealed that this might be more of a "wow" moment for my husband. Zack has an Elmo camera that sings and says slightly obnoxious sayings every time a button is pressed. Zack was playing with this camera and Elmo sounded a lot like a monkey to me, which lead me to ask James what exactly Elmo was. Is he a red monkey? I decided that no matter what Elmo was (a red monkey, or just a weird talking thing), he was a puppet. Only I couldn't remember the word for puppet. So, I started calling him a muppet, and telling James that he was a muppet because he was just a stuffed animal thing being controlled by a human. James was telling me he wasn't a muppet, because that was a different show. I, however, was still convinced Elmo was a muppet, and even grabbed the cow puppet we have to try and give James a visual that Elmo was a puppet, just like the cow was a puppet. Then I realize that I'm calling the cow a muppet, not a puppet, but for the life of me I can't remember the word puppet. James clears things up for me that both the cow and Elmo are both PUPPETS, and that Elmo is not a muppet.

As I mentioned, I decided to do some google research before publicly declaring that I have given my son all of my brain cells. In this research, Wikipedia has told me that Elmo is indeed a muppet. James can hardly believe it, and has demanded to know the definition of a muppet. This still doesn't change the fact that I couldn't remember the word muppet, so just substituted puppet for it. So, I guess you could say that Zack is indeed a genius, and will be until he has his own children. At that point he will give 1/3 of his brain cells to his firstborn child, while his wife will give 100% of hers to this firstborn.

I wonder what's going to happen when we have another child....yikes.

Zack the Friendly Runner

Zack is becoming quite the friendly runner himself. He makes me so proud. Whenever we are out running, he does his best to outdo me and my friendliness. I smile and say hi to just about every person I run by. Zack has decided that the best way to brighten the day of those around him is by waving from the jogging stroller, and flashing a big smile. He does this to EVERY car that drives by, and greets nearly every pedestrian. He gets a far better reaction than I do. He has a gift for brightening the day of pretty much everyone who sees him. He certainly does brighten my days! The best waves are the ones when he actually reaches his arm out beyond the sun shade on the stroller. Those ones get a laugh from James and I, as well as the lucky recipient of his wave.

Last week he turned 18 months old. I'm not too sure how he is suddenly a year and a half old....it seems like just yesterday we brought him home from the hospital. But here we are, about to celebrate his second Thanksgiving and Christmas! He's been talking more and more and more everyday. Last month I was convinced he needed speech therapy, as he was really only saying 3 or so words. I had even looked up speech therapy services and was debating doing a self referral. Then, I had a rare rational moment, and decided to wait until his 18 month check up to see what his doctor recommended. Waiting was a good idea. He really does seem to pick up a new word every day, he probably has close to 20 words now. Yesterday's word was blue. He actually learned this one at the doctor's office, repeating "beuuuuu!" after the doctor. The doctor has no concerns with Zack's development, and neither does his mama!

Today, we were out running errands. As an effort to help keep Zack entertained in the car I ask him to repeat words after me. Today I asked him, "Zack, can you say Jesus?!" His response, "Geeeeesaaaaaas." I cried. I don't think I cried when he said "mama" for the first time, but something about hearing my little boy say the name of Jesus absolutely melted my heart. At the next stop light I tried texting James to tell him. I was so flustered and overcome with emotion that I kept spelling words incorrectly, and had to wait until we were parked to send him a text that would be readable.

There is so much power in the name of Jesus. There is no other name by which we are saved. Hearing Zack say Jesus made me realize this in a whole new way. There is nothing I long for more than for my son to know Jesus, and for him to call on his name. For now, I am going to get Zack to say Jesus as much as I possibly can. It thrills my heart to hear him say the name of the man who died for his sins, and who made it possible for him to spend eternity with God. I hope and pray James and I can be good examples of God's love, and look forward to the day Zack decides to follow Jesus himself.

I Ran 16 Miles!

Yesterday I ran 16 miles! At least that's what my husband tells me....

James is currently training for a marathon. I am not. I know my limits. Right now, a marathon is beyond those. In training for a half marathon I need a nap after going on a run over 10 miles. If I were to train for a marathon, I would need a nap after every single long run, cause I would be exhausted. If I were to spend every Saturday afternoon napping, then my house would be a mess, and I would be a crab. So, rather than training for, and running a marathon, I'm helping James with his training. Somehow my house is still a mess. Weird how that happens.

Yesterday James' training plan called for a 16 mile long run. He left the house around 9, and Zack and I met up with him at around 10:30, at the halfway point. When we met James he had already finished 8 miles (which is still a pretty long run, at least to me). He was a little tired, but feeling pretty good, and was excited to have our company. As we set out, James tells me that he doesn't know if he will be able to help push the jogging stroller. I am [mostly] ok with this. He has already completed 8 miles and another 8 will surely be exhausting. And, last year when he was pushing the jogging stroller a lot, he had bad form, and ended up with a bum knee, unable to run for what felt like forever. I didn't want to contribute to any sort of injury, so I press on, pushing Zack in the stroller.

At around mile 12 (for James, mile 4 for me) James starts to become loopy. He begins telling me that he really appreciates me pushing the stroller, and that running 8 miles with the jogging stroller is the same as running 16 miles without it. He tells me that I too, am running 16 miles. Then he gets really loopy. He begins to tell me that he now knows what it feels like to give birth, because running 16 miles is the equivalent to how one feels after giving birth. By the end of the run he had explained to me how he had given birth to 3 coyotes, and was begging for my sympathy. However, I too had just completed 16 miles (remember, 8 miles+pushing jogging stroller=16 miles). I felt nothing like I had just given birth. In fact, I was feeling pretty good. My legs were a little tired, and I needed a shower, and was hungry, but I felt nothing like I did after giving birth.

Later in the afternoon James was explaining to me what it was like to try and breastfeed a new born after having a c-section, because that was how he was feeling.

I love that man. I can hardly wait until his 18 mile run. If it's anything like his 16 mile child birth experience, it's going to be quite the adventure.