My CD0.1's Maiden Voyage

Last Thursday, I decided it was time. I had this sweet new ride calling my name, and I was SO eager to take it out, despite previously described apprehension being 11 weeks postpartum. I dug through my drawer to find a pair of bike shorts that fit me, handed Henry off to Steve, and set out for a quick spin to try everything out. I hadn't been on a bike since May and haven't been able to ride outdoors Since mid-October last year.
Henry and I posed for this pic before I set out:

Henry likes the new ride. Mama likes it more!

It. Was. Glorious.

I only went for 15 miles or so, but I felt great. This bike is crazy fast, and though I was a little nervous that it would take a lot of time to get to know my R2C shifters, it seemed to click pretty fast. My average wasn't spectacular, but given my time away from the bike, it really wasn't that bad, especially considering the number of stop signs I hit.

I felt like me again riding. Although my running is progressing, my times aren't really coming down. I still feel slow and heavy, but on my bike, I felt like an athlete, like a person, not just a mommy milk machine.

I got home with a big smile on my face, and Steve snapped this photo:

Home after a quick fun ride.

I squeezed in another ride on Saturday. Same thing. I felt great, and with that, I signed up for my first and only tri of the season - the St. Croix Valley Sprint Tri.

I have been in the pool twice since Henry's birth, but my swims went OK. I've lost a lot of speed, which I'm hoping to get back once H is not so cranky that he can't go to Kid's Care at our Y. I'm confident I'll be fine in the 1/3 mile swim. The bike is only 10 miles, and the run is 4 miles. It will be my first ever sprint tri, and although it will no doubt be embarrassingly slow, I have to keep telling myself that I gave birth 12 weeks ago and need to cut myself a little slack. I am really hoping to focus on getting my speed back over the winter to see what I can do in shorter distances next year, and this will be a great starting point.

On the running front, I've been increasing my mileage pretty successfully. I logged nearly 30 miles last week with my long run being a 16 miler. My speed just isn't coming back as fast as I'd hoped, but now that I've been able to get back some of the distance, I hope to incorporate some speed work back into my regimen before my marathon in a month. The race this weekend will serve as my "recovery" day. Next weekend I'll put in an 18 miler. The following week I'll shoot for 20, and then I'll taper for 2 weeks and see if I can hit the finish line in the 6 hour time limit on October 2. I'm really hoping that being at the back of the pack will allow me to meet some new people who need a little encouragement. I thrive on getting people excited out there. I LOVE LOVE LOVE the TCM course and will show it off whenever I can.

On the Henry front, things aren't going much better, which makes me really nervous to send him to be with someone else when I start work next week. I mean, if his own mother has trouble settling him down some days, how is a stranger supposed to do it? Fortunately, we have a neighbor caring for him. She has 2 kids of her own, and one of them was a crabby baby. We had a 2 hour trial the other day, and it went really well. He was sleeping when I got there to pick him up. By the end of last week, he was extra crabby. I had cut out ALL dairy for over 2 weeks at that point (save for one day when I had a moment of weakness and ate a cookie with butter in it), but it really didn't seem to help his disposition. We thought it was helping his intestinal issues, but he had another bloody poo on Saturday, so we're back to square one. I ended up cutting out all wheat, soy, and eggs for the last few days, but the LC today told me to forget about it. It's been a really frustrating process. We've seen 2 doctors, a lactation consultant, a Douala (the teacher for our birthing class series where we had a reunion yesterday) and a chiropractor within the last 2.5 weeks, and all of these "experts" think that they know the cure-all and are contradicting the information that the other ones are giving us. By this afternoon, I was really ready to call it quits on all of them. I know that the real "cure" for colicky babies is usually just time, but it's so hard to watch your baby scream and not do anything. I would feel terrible if there were really something wrong, and we just ignored the signs. Then, as if to tell me everything would be just fine, I figured out how to make him giggle today, and that was worth all of the frustration I'd had in the morning.

My last race was one week before Henry was born. My next one will be 12 weeks afterward. I think it's going to be a pretty surreal experience having him at the finish line. Wish me luck!

Spilling the Beans - Big Evotri Bike Announcement

I have been a member of Evotri since last summer. With the help of the super sweet gear from our sponsors, I was able to post a HUGE PR at Rev3 half last September. Shortly after that, I got pregnant with Henry, and racing has been on major hold. The thing is, the gear I was using (my Zipp wheels and Cyclops Powertap) was only a small portion of the things I received as part of the team. I had a box of SUPER sweet components sitting in my basement waiting for a bike worthy of them. Two weeks ago, I got this in the mail...

Um, yeah. This definitely looks worthy.

Presenting, my Quintana Roo CD0.1 I almost fell over when I realized I could lift the frame with two fingers...

We took all of my boxes of parts out to Gear West Bike and Tri, our local tri mecca. They are a bit of a drive for us but totally worth it. We have so many bike shops within a couple of miles of us, but none of them have the level of expertise of Gear West while maintaining the feeling of a small shop. I just prefer a shop where I know their names and they know mine...

Lots and lots of parts ready to be put together. Good thing somebody knows how to do this!

A few days later, we went back to pick up my new beauty. It's a good thing I never had bladder issues after having a baby, because I almost peed myself when I saw my new bike. I still can't believe this is mine. They did a really quick fitting so they could cut my aerobars down and string the cables, and Steve snapped this picture.

All smiles while trying out the new ride

I'll go back for a more thorough fitting once I don't have a 10 pound tire around my midsection and have regained some of my flexibility - hopefully this winter.

While I was getting fitted, Henry sat by the Quintana Roos on display there. He definitely approves of their products!

Henry's content face. He likes Mama's new toy :)

So I'll be saying goodbye to my current tri bike - a QR Tequilo that I've had since 2007. It has treated me really well, which is a big reason I'm excited that we're going to be working with Quintana Roo. I love that it's a small company with a triathlon focus. It's right in line with our Evotri mission.

I have been really slow to get back on my bike postpartum. Apparently prolapsing your urethra on top of all of the other damage that results to your lady business after 36 hours of labor will do that. I'm thinking this will be just the incentive I need to get out and enjoy a few rides before winter hits. Oh, and I'm still considering squeezing in a very short tri in a couple of weeks.

I am already starting to look at potential races for next year. I'm really thinking that it's time to focus on shorter races and trying to bring down my times. I can't wait to see what I can do with my CD0.1.

Marathon Training New Mommy Style

Nine seems to be the theme of the week...

Nine was my long run on Sunday. My plan was to run the first 5 with the BOB and then circle around home to drop off Henry and finish the last 4 miles solo. We didn't get started until after 7 PM, and it took Steve a little coaxing to get me out the door - I was tired and knew that nine miles would take me close to 2 hours given my current slow pace. Henry was having his evening crabbies, as usual, but he passed out cold in the stroller before I could even make it 2 blocks. He was so passed out and content that I actually contemplated trying to take him the whole way, but my sore groin muscles were screaming by 3 miles, and I knew it would be stupid to do all 9 with the stroller. The BOB is SUPER easy to push and doesn't really feel like I'm adding another 40-50 pounds to my run, but I know it alters my stride a little, and I'm trying to avoid injury since I'm already pushing the milage uppage 10% rule. I tacked on an extra mile to make my "with stroller" run portion 6 miles to give Steve a few more minutes at home and then ran the last 3 by myself. By the end, I was pooped but felt OK except for the groin issues. I'm aiming for 11 as my long run this week. I've still got my eyes on the Oct 2 marathon. I also squeezed in a 5 mile run Tuesday (with the stroller) and 2 runs yesterday - 4.4 miles and 3.6 miles. Henry had his 2 month checkup, which meant shots and an extra sad, crabby baby. Between Steve's long run in the morning and my runs in the afternoon and evening, he logged around 18 miles in the stroller for the day. Man does he love that thing! He either sleeps in it or is very awake and content, so Steve and I both try to take him whenever we can to give the other one a break.

His "I'm looking around but am content" face

Nine is the number of weeks pospartum I'll be in 2 days. I am still surprised how long it takes to heal after giving birth. I got the all clear to go swimming at my MD visit last week, and I did get in a 1 miler. It was slow but actually felt pretty good. I'm hoping to get in a few more swims before our pool closes for maintenence in two weeks. I've been toying with hopping on my bike for a couple of weeks now. My lady parts are still healing up, but I do want to at least try a short ride. Biking is about to get WAY more exciting around here, too. Big Evotri announcement coming soon!

Nine is the number of ounces Henry gained over the 9 days between his doctor visits. He's now up to 11 pounds 6 oz - right in the 50% for weight, though he's quite below average for height - that's my chubby baby! We took him in last week to discuss starting reflux medication for him. Feedings were getting pretty traumatic, and although it has helped a little, it wasn't a magic bullet. We really didn't think it would be. Henry's doctor agreed that he fits the definition of colic to a T. We're going to keep the reflux medication for now. Since he's also having some other concerning GI symptoms, I'm also going to try going dairy free for a week or two to see if it helps. Dairy and soy tend to be the most likely offenders, but if that doesn't work, we'll have to keep trying to pin down the culprit.

Nine is also the number of pounds I have to go to get back to my pre-pregnancy non-super fit weight. I was down to 139 when I got pregnant, but my usual wt is closer to 143. My goal is to be below 150 before going back to work in just over 3 weeks. Keeping my fingers crossed!

Finally, here is a two month picture of Henry, just a couple of days short of nine weeks:

Happy little guy on his changing table, courtesy of Steve :)