Fun Friday

I've had a great Friday which started off with Dylan sleeping really well overnight (even if Nancy did steal him off me). He woke every 3 hours to feed and went straight back to sleep afterwards - wonderful.

Then I had an early morning run and a few laughs downtown with some friends which always gets the day off to a good start. I drove home, took Gavin to daycare and stopped into the office to get a few things done. After a lot of "coooing" and "oooing" and "aaahing" I headed off home again to find Dylan in a super happy mood.

We're so lucky he's a very well-tempered baby.... unless he's hungry. Then you'd better get out of the way. This morning he head-butted me and kicked me in the balls in quick succession, much to Nancy's amusement. Must be the feisty Welsh side of him :-)

Yes, the boy loves to eat - and let's face it, never has a Richards been known to go hungry!!!

This afternoon I made another batch of kolaches (which always disappear really quickly), and did some stretches on the stability ball to loosen up for tomorrow's 60k race. We're about to head out to the store and then we'll pick up Gavin, who I've promised will get ice cream tonight because he's been a good boy. That means I get some too.

For supper I have some wholewheat pasta dough ready to roll into broad noodles, homemade marinara sauce to go with them, and I will roast some veggies to finish it off. While I wait for the noodles to dry and the veggies to roast, I'll do some light pilates to relax and loosen up a bit more. With any luck, Gavin will join me.

Yes, life is good.

Running through the Fog

Ok, last night was not pretty, though it's amazing how many laps of the living room the "Dylan train" can do through a sleepless night!!! We finally got him down around 3am, the little rascal :-)

Then my alarm went off an hour later for me to go run hills with some friends. Let's just say the run will not rank amongst my all-time favorites - I am so not looking forward to the 60k on Saturday night.

But it could be worse - I could be eating Casu Marzu (thank you Gordon Ramsey for that enduring image).

Enough of stinky cheese. On the plus side we've booked our hotel in Alpine for the marathon in October. The rooms look really nice, with mountain views, sitting areas and full breakfasts. I'm really looking forward to this trip.

Dylan : 1 week old today

As I did my run this morning, I realized that this time last week we were at the hospital. I can't believe it's been a week since Dylan was born, though it seems that a lot has happened in that time. Here are a few more of my favorite pics from the last few days.

Brothers in Arms : Dylan takes a nap while his big brother watches over him

Wave of the future? Dylan with daddy's credit card - oh shit!!!

"I have drunk and seen the spider". Exploring the trails at the old Mueller airport yesterday evening. We had a great time - it wasn't too hot, there was a lovely breeze blowing, and Gavin was super excited to explore some of the sculptures. We need to go do it again.

Practice Races for Cactus

Because when I arrive
I, I'll bring the fire
Make you come alive
I can take you higher

- Kevin Rudolph

Challenges - I thrive on them. They drive my training, fuel my motivation and pique my curiosity as to what my mind can push my body through. I am a firm believer that the biggest attribute a long distance runner can have is heart and guts, because that can drive you to keep going long after you should have stopped. That spark has been largely missing throughout the summer, but this morning I tried to re-ignite it by signing up for marathons in each of the two weekends prior to the Cactus Rose 100.

Some folks may think I'm ruining my chances at Cactus by not tapering beforehand, and maybe they're right. But I like to think I know myself, and I wouldn't sign up for them if I didn't believe I could finish all three.

Back in January I set a PR at the Texas marathon and ran a really good 100k at Bandera the week later. I think stretching my legs out over 26.2 played a big part in that. Then in February I ran a 21:35 100 miler and followed up a week later with a 3:48 marathon on sand. My one physical running gift is the ability to recovery quickly, and by making these three races into the "Mark Challenge Trilogy" series in my head, that gives me an extra incentive to finish Cactus. Sure it may all backfire, but if so I want it to be on my terms.

And besides, I really love to break rules :-)

Anyway, here are the races I signed up for. First up is the marathon 2 marathon race out in West Texas. It is on October 17th and goes between the towns of Alpine and Marathon. I've never been out to West Texas and Nancy is excited to make it our first road trip with Dylan. She tells me the towns are beautifully nestled amongst the Davis mountains. We will take a few days to go exploring and I'm looking forward to seeing the Marfa lights while we're there (as well as a few other places in my Haunted Texas Vacations guidebook).

Then a week later is the inaugural Frankenthon Monster Marathon at Brushy Creek near Austin. This looks like a fun Halloween-themed event and I really want the tech race shirt and socks. It is a trail I run on regularly and one I am familiar with.

As well as these I have signed on to do some coaching with Round Rock Fit again (though I will not be able to attend the three race weekends in October, and possibly several others toward the end of the season if another opportunity pans out). Last year I had a very successful training strategy of getting there early for the Saturday long run, doing 10 miles by myself and then going out again with the group and forcing myself to keep pace with the fast guys.

Yes, stupid male pride can be a very useful asset.

A Set of Firsts

I haven't run a single mile since last Monday, been kinda busy with other things. Not ideal preparation for next Saturday's "all nighter" 60k, but that's ok - I always finish (maybe not very quickly, but I always finish), and sometimes other things take precedence. Instead I've taken the opportunity to do some weight training at home - something I haven't done as much of as I should. Anyway, when you have an infant car seat and a newborn who loves to be swung in it, you don't need kettleballs. Boy do I have sore hamstrings right now!!!

And while I'm definitely feeling the effects of sleep deprivation, I'm also enjoying the delights of being a new dad again. Yesterday, Gavin and I took Dylan for his first walk in the stroller. We took turns pushing him around the block and enjoyed our first "boys time".

We have also "enjoyed" several sleepless nights. Dylan loves to be held, but definitely does not like to be laid down in his crib. Nancy and I spent the last few nights taking it in turns to hold him, and of course he needs feeding every few hours. Right now he has night and day swapped around which means he sleeps a lot more during the day than he does at night. Hopefully that will correct itself in a few weeks.

No Place like Home

Nancy and Dylan got discharged this morning and we finally got to bring him home. We're both tired because Dylan has turned out to be a night owl - he sleeps during the day and parties all night!!! I think things will get so much easier now we're home though.

I've spent a lot of time with Dylan cuddled up to me, and I love looking at him - I keep spotting faint echoes of myself in his little face. He also brought back great memories of Gavin at that age - they looked so similar. I lay down on the sofa this afternoon and Dylan fell asleep on my chest - I just lay there enjoying the "new baby" smell and good times.

And speaking of Gavin, he's been wonderful with his new brother. He's very gentle and very protective. I don't think he quite believes us when we told him he used to be that size though.

Since I can't help with feeding Dylan yet, I've been busy cooking since we got home - putting together stuff that we can use to make easy meals for the next few days. I grilled a whole bunch of chicken fajitas, baked some banana bread, made the sponge for some rustic Italian bread (which I'll continue tomorrow) and made some of Clea's yummy spinach quiche. Tomorrow I'll make some kolaches and a key lime pie - I also have some squash and mixed vegetables ready to grill and stir fry. I think we're covered on the food front.

And finally, back when Gavin was a baby I kept a count of how many times he peed on me. I stopped counting when I hit 30. So far, Dylan's nailed me twice.

And both times he grinned :-)