Respect The Specs.

Hello world. It's Annika Ruth reporting in. Sorry I've been MIA but I spent the last week jet setting.
6 flights in 7 days, two train rides, 2 airport shuttles and 4 car rides.
 
Post marathon day one: My Mom couldn't keep up. The tail of my backpack was the only chance she had to remain in my zip code.
At the end of a long journey I was at Grandmother's at last.
Don't worry I had a little fun along the way at the Chicago Children's Museum.
What fun! Dolls and Dogs!
We celebrated Grandma's birthday. I ate all the raspberries from the cake. I am certain Grandpa baked the cake himself. Yummy!
As for the marathon ....The above picture is how not to pace yourself. Miles 22-26 fell off the page. Oh darn. Well, no need to obtain a perfect picture. A final time of 3:38 equals a 17 minute positive split. Anyone who knows anything about marathon-ing knows that an even split or a negative split is a race well executed.
My Dad says my Mom just started out too fast and crumpled but my Mom swears on a stack of pacifiers that it wasn't going out too fast that caused the crumpling. Yeah, she would have paid up to some degree but it was the dowhill running in the first few miles and at mile 15. Seriously, her quads started cramping at the base of mile 2. She hoped it was lucky marathon number 7 or that she had the luck of the Irish and things would settle but the cramping just got worse.
My Mom does a lot of math when she is racing. She tried to do the math regarding how long it has been since she ran downhill fast. At least 2 years. Eccentric contraction is great for strengthening the quads but since we have been running together she relies on the hand brake of the stroller while going downhill instead of her quads that's probably a good thing for me. Despite increased run volume, the resistance of the stroller, and a happy accident of  weight loss (that a chart in Runner's World claimed would result in a 6 minute time improvement) her time was only one minute faster than the last go round.  No skiing, little cycling, and no downhill running resulted in some pretty unprepared quads. New M.O.  Respect the Specs.  Funny, I specifically remember listening to a podcast with Deena Castor talking about how she added some more downhill running to her prep. I remember my Mom smiling and turning off her I pod as we arrived at story hour. She was thinking downhills are where I run best. I don't need to worry about that.
She's deeming this experience a quad -atrophy catastrophe.  She says the only thing comparable to the pain in her quads was giving birth. Oh! An epidural for the quads so would have helped. Anesthesia...it's never available when you need it most. The only thing she executed well that day was the ability to disassociate from pain and keep running. Highlights of the race had to be holding out her water bottle after the painful mile 15 descent and having filled with pretzels. Mile 21 sticking her hand out for a cup, hearing cheering upon grabbing it, and swigging a mouthful of beer. Spitting it out because she gave up alcohol for lent, thinking maybe I shouldn't have spit it.Might have done some good.
 
 Don't get me wrong, minus the quad atrophy catastrophe, she really loved running the closed off streets of LA. No intersections to worry about and no stroller to push. Crowds to cheer and tunes to groove to was awesome. Heaven for a person who loves to run. In all fairness the City of LA put on a good show with the marathon and accommodated the 30,000 participants well. Finishing on Ocean blvd close to the pier is awesome.  Things could always be worse. The execution of the race is not something my Mom is happy about, but the current execution of her life is. So be it. The heart that wanted to run faster is healed. Heal the heart and the quads will follow. Right ??? Please?? Ok, getting better day by day.
 
There will be obstacles.
There will be doubters.
There will be mistakes.
But with hard work, there are no limits
 
Seemingly fitting after the race the above photo and caption was posted on Facebook by 1<3 p="">
 



Ain't Nothing Going To Break My Stride.



Howdy folks!
There is a lot going on in my neighborhood.
 
I'm 18 months now and pretty much I run the streets.
 Literally. I run the streets.

 And the sandy beaches.  
My form is perfect. You'll never catch me running around town with my tongue hanging out of my mouth like I'm tired or grinning because I am high on endorphins.

 It's taper week. Sunday's not just St. Patrick's Day. It's the LA marathon. I found out what I've been missing by riding in the stroller instead of a car.
 

 .....Seriously. It ain't much.
 
Can we run back to the Annenberg now?


 
I guess I'll settle for a tea party instead.
My Mom says that carb loading for a short race is a bit overated....I think not.
Homemade pretzels please!
 

Shout Out!

Shout out!
This is my shout out to the great week I had.
Seriously, with weather like this it couldn't have been better.
Well maybe if my Dad didn't suffer plague which resulted in me missing my cousin Rachel's first birthday party. It would have been such a great event and a great daycation! Daycation is my new word for the a one day trip were you actually go somewhere.
 
I was even armed with balloons to bring to the party. OK, it might have been hard to make the balloons last from Friday to Sunday. Especially since.....
My Mom popped one on the run  home. I slept through the incident but I believe she jumped 3 feet in the air. Duh! For the record, she says the run transport of the balloons was far more difficult then the incident where we over bought squash at the Farmer's Market. She says while squash is heavy the balloons blow all over and bop you in the head while you run. I say....put a paci in it. Shout out though to Nordstrom's for the balloons because I really did love them. I did not love the man who attempted to put my foot on a scary medal thing ( hence the sad scared eyes and paci in picture above) My Mom put her foot in the crazy contraption and I bolted for the door. With my feet crammed into some Pumas and balloons in hand I bolted for the door. Man are racing flats fast!
My Mom was quick to pay and strap me in the stroller. However, I am not just on the go. I am on the grow! By Monday my shoes were too small and we had to exchange the for some Nike's. Pink shoes are hard to beat. Shout out to the customer service at Nordstrom's for an easy exchange. 
 And while we are shouting out to Corporate America. Three cheers to story hour Monday at Barnes and Noble in the Promenade. 2nd floor. 10:00 a.m. and it is free. Unlike another Children's bookstore who now charges $7 for story h~~~~... let's be honest, story 20minutes.  Well there is even a Starbucks on the ground floor.  Anyway, it is so the place to be. The article that was even an article in US or People or whatever magazine raving about Jennifer Garner and Ben Afflec's superior parenting. Showing Ben on October 6, spending quality time with his kids reading them books at B&N. However, the story hour Mom's swear he went straight to the 3rd floor not the 2nd. There are not even children books on that floor so perhaps celebrities aren't SUCH superior parents after all.

 I don't know if it's really truely the case. Maybe they brought some books up special to the 3rd floor for privacy. All I really know is I like books. I like to read them with my Dad.
 And I love story hour at the library too. So shout out to Santa Monica for having amazing libraries with great kid's sections. Except do not shout out to the one and only one children's librarian who is always acting like she does not like children and asking if "your child is having problems today?" I got one thing to say to her "RIF" Reading is fun. Ok my apologies, maybe toddlers get old.

Anyway after missing my Daycation on Sunday, I was suprised with a Staycation on Friday. Seriously! I was fed, in my jammies, and ready for bed when my Dad came home. Instead of tucking me in to bed, they buckled me into my carseat and drove a couple of miles down by the Pier. We checked in to Loews Resort. I knew they'd find a way to make up for me missing Rachel's birthday. Ok, so my Dad had a conferance and the room was comped but I can dream. I got to stay up 2 hours past my bed time and go swimming. In fact, I got to go swimming three times before check out the next afternoon. My parents paid for dearly when I couldn't sleep well the next night. They are claiming I was overtired and couldn't soothe myself back to sleep. I'm claiming seasonal allergies, teething, and a growth spurt. Hoping they don't think twice next time because it inspired my latest movie release.
 
Pitter Patter Productions Presents.