I hate the treadmill.  OK there I said it.  I have tried everything as I mentioned before.  Until a week ago the most I could muster through was three miles and that was only once a week if I was feeling up to it.  After the half marathon I was without a training plan, but I decided that I would commit to a double digit run once a month until I firmed up my spring race schedule and training plans.  I was lucky enough to be able to run 10 miles outdoors in November, December and January.  With no end in sight to the snow and ice that is piled high on the ground I knew that February’s double digit run would have to be on the treadmill.

So I decided on the day that I would attempt a long run on the treadmill.  I made sure my iPod was fully charged.  I armed myself with a big bottle of water and a small bag of raisins.  And then I confronted my nemesis head on.  I decided that if I was going to complete 10 miles on the treadmill then it would have to be on my terms.  Instead of increasing my speed to my usual 6 mph I held steady at 5 mph until I felt like increasing and even then I only increased in small increments.  I did maintain a slight incline throughout the run.

I allowed the music to motivate my speed.  I increased my speed when I felt like it and slowed it down when I felt like it.  I took a water fountain break after mile 3 and mile 7 and I stopped for sips of water nearly every mile.

At the end I even contemplated going another mile, but I had to pick my son up from school and I would be pushing it for time.  I found that I never felt the dread that normally goes along with my treadmill workouts.  Instead I felt fantastic…dare I say amazing.

I have found a number of possible races for the spring.  Unfortunately a couple of the races I was really interested in running (Lake Placid and the Providence Rock and Roll Half Marathons) are scheduled for the weekends that I have to work.  I don’t have the option to take any time off since our recent extended vacation.  I did find other local races that should be fun.  I hope to register for a couple this week and then design a training schedule.

I really enjoy running.  I have been craving an outdoor run so much lately.  However, by the time the weather improves and the snow and ice melt I just might have made a new friend – the treadmill.

We actually came back on February 12 from our vacation, but life has been quite hectic around here.  For a short time we were here:

Paradise

Now we are here:

Winter Wonderland

There seems to be no end in sight to this winter.  Fortunately I arranged for our driveway to be plowed while we were away otherwise we would not have been able to pull into our driveway.

I was completely disconnected during our 17 days away.  No phone, no computer, no internet, no blogs…it was wonderful.  I read 5 books.  I spent lots of quality time with my family and my in-laws.  I also remembered the art of just simply being.  It is hot where we were, very hot and humid.  Sometimes your only relief from the heat is to sit still and allow yourself to enjoy even the slightest movement of air.

I ate mangoes, pineapple, papaya, coconut and fresh roasted cashews.  I swam in the Indian Ocean. I wore cute dresses, flip flops, no makeup and let my hair air dry.  I slept under a mosquito net and took anti-malarial medication every day.  I spoke another language the entire time.  I greeted everyone I passed in the street.  I saw the Southern Cross constellation every night in the sky.

We had a wonderful time but it is always good to be home again.

I’ve mentioned that I work the 11pm to 7am shift.  I am a nurse on a psychiatric unit at a local hospital.  I actually choose to work this shift for a few reasons.  I have always been a mild insomniac.  I could stay up for long hours with little effect on my health or energy level.  Oddly enough I make more money working the night shift.  The shift allows me to be home to take care of my son.  Unfortunately we could not afford for me to be a stay at home mom so this is the next best option for us.

I work full time but only 32 hours.  I am able to work under 40 hours because I participate in the hospital’s wages without benefits program.  Since I do not subscribe to the hospital health insurance plan I make 20% more base pay on top of my night shift and weekend differential pay.  There is one caveat to this program and it is that I do not get paid time off.  I accrue vacation and sick time but if I choose to take it I do not get paid.  This is not a problem because I don’t take much time off and when I do it is well planned out in advance.  I haven’t called out sick since April of 2007 (knocking on wood right now!).

When people find out that I work nights the first thing they ask is, “well when do you sleep.”  I call this the million dollar question.

First I will tell you that my husband does work during the day but since he is in construction he starts at 7am.  However, he works an hour or more away from home.  We have a babysitter who comes to our house three mornings a week when my husband leaves for work (anywhere from 5:30 to 6 am) until I get home at 7:10.  I work only five minutes away from home which is wonderful.

There are three basic sleep scenarios.  One is if I am working back to back weeknights.  This only happens twice a week.  I go to bed as soon as my husband gets home and showers.  I am in bed on these days no later than 5:15 pm and I sleep until 10:30 pm.  On my back to back days I am usually successful at getting Carlos to take a nap and I do take advantage of the opportunity to catch a quick nap if I am feeling really tired.  However, this can backfire and make sleep more difficult when my husband gets home.

Scenario two is when I have worked all night but have the next night off.  Example: I go into work on Monday night, get home Tuesday morning and have Tuesday night off.  I stay up all day and go to bed at a regular time.  Regular is usually early to most people and can range from 7pm after I put Carlos to sleep to 9 or 10 pm.

I work every other weekend.  Since my husband is home on the weekend my sleep schedule is largely up to me.  I tend to revolve it around any plans we have.  I generally go straight to the gym after work on the weekends.  I then prefer to come home and stay up until about 3 or 4pm.  I then go to bed and sleep straight until 10pm.

I do not hesitate to ask for help from my mother or sister if I am feeling sleep deprived or on the verge of getting sick.  I know my body.  I am not a martyr when it comes to sleep.  I am very vocal if I feel that I need more sleep.

With that said today was not a great sleep.  We are going to my aunt’s at 6 tonight for my mother’s birthday dinner.  I worked last night, went to the gym this morning until about 9, came home and had breakfast.  I played a quick game of Bingo with the little guy before heading up to bed around 10:30.  I just couldn’t fall asleep and then kept waking with some tummy trouble.  Too many beans and greens lately!  It is now around 4 and I have had a chopped up almost 5 hours of sleep.  I will take a nap before work tonight and tomorrow I will likely include extra rest time.

Do I look tired?

Just joking!  This is an old photo.  I almost never look like this.  OK who am I kidding.  Off to shower…

We are leaving on Wednesday for a big trip to visit my in-laws.  This is not your ordinary vacation.  Our first flight is roughly 16 hours straight.  We made this same trip two years ago when my son was 2 years old.  I was completely unprepared for how my son would eat while on the trip.  He is a picky eater to begin with despite our attempts to introduce all of the wonderful healthy foods we eat.  Unfortunately he reminds of me when I was a child.  I didn’t eat a vegetable until I was well into my 20s…GASP!  It’s no surprise that I’ve struggled with weight issues for so many years.  I am no longer picky by any means and eat just about everything under the sun.

Needless to say Carlos wanted nothing to do with airplane food.  Really who does?  I had packed a minimal amount of snacks and the rest of the flight he subsisted on juice, crackers and lollypops the flight attendants kept giving him.  Sugar high anyone.

During the actual trip he refused to eat the delicious foods prepared by my mother-in-law.  Even plain white rice that he would normally eat at home he decided he no longer liked.  He ate scrambled eggs, bread and peanut butter.  That’s what I remember.  I was sick watching my baby lose weight right in front of my eyes.  We were visiting for an entire month and it was by far one of the most stressful months since my otherwise very healthy son was born.

Well it’s been two years since that trip.  I’m older and wiser.  My son is still very picky, but he does consistently try one new food each day.  He is a fairly healthy eater mostly because I don’t keep sugar laden foods in the house.  His favorite snacks are fruit and air popped popcorn.  He will eat yogurt, Cheerios, egg whites, whole grain toast, cheese and occasionally rice and beans.  He is still what I call bland and prefers things like noodles with butter and grated cheese.  He drinks milk and juice is limited to OJ, Fruitables which have a half serving of vegetables in each serving, and other 100% fruit juices (no high fructose corn syrup).  We encourage him to grab water bottles in the refrigerator whenever he is thirsty and he does.

Carlos is an extremely healthy and active 4 year old.  His weight is not a concern as he is at a very healthy weight for his height.  However, I took a different approach to packing this time.  I’ve learned a lot over the last couple of years from all of the healthy living blogs that I read.  Now it’s time to put it into action.

Cue the suitcase:

Snack Pack Check In

This will be one of our checked suitcases.  It is loaded with granola bars (I tend to make my own at home but these will travel better obviously!), Fruitable juice boxes, Annie’s Mac and Cheese, apple sauce, pudding, dried fruit and nut mix, oatmeal packets and gold fish crackers.  The yoga clocks and syrup are for a friend.

This is all well and good for when we arrive at our destination, but what about the plane ride you ask.  Cue the carry on:

Snack Pack Carry On

I ♥ Trader Joe’s!!  Fruit strips, bars, almonds, raisins, pop corn, more bars underneath, and a big bag of Welch’s fruit chews round out the carry on.  We are all going to go through security with empty water bottles which we will then fill at a water fountain or restaurant once past security.

I feel better prepared for Carlos and also for myself and my husband.

Oh and we are bringing clothes too!

See the bathing suit and flip flops!!!!  I packed Carlos and I into the smallest suitcase.  My husband packs his clothing in the largest suitcase we own because, well, let’s just say he brings everything but the kitchen sink.  As long as I don’t have to wheel it then I shut my eyes and let him do his thing.

So there you have it.  We are just about packed and ready to go!

Last week it was nearly two feet of snow and yesterday an ice storm.  My outside running days are over for a little while.  I avoid the treadmill like the plague at the gym.  When I do get on it I am so bored within minutes that I usually set the time at 10-20 minutes.  I’ve tried the intervals, covering the clock with a towel, listening to music, listening to the television, and people watching.  It doesn’t matter what I’m doing because all I can think of is how much longer I have to go.

I miss running.  This morning I was determined to run a 5K on the treadmill.  I cranked up the music and hit the belt.  I maintained a six mph pace picking up the speed as I felt inspired to do so by the beat of the music.  I finished in about 29 minutes and followed with a brief walk to cool down.

I didn’t do anything different today.  I simply set my mind on running on the treadmill. I will never be a treadmill fanatic.  I am fortunate to have a gym membership and I have decided to make the most of it this winter.  I’ve added 2-3 days of strength training to my routine.  I also switch up my cardio activity with the acr trainer and the elliptical.

I hear that we have more snow coming this weekend.  They are predicting either a couple of inches or nearly a foot depending on the direction of the storm.  We haven’t seen a winter like this in ages.

Although I can’t run outside I am enjoying winter like never before.  We are sledding regulars.  Carlos had his second ski lesson on Monday and I can’t wait to be able to take some lessons myself.  We have yet to try ice skating but we probably will.  As if all of that doesn’t channel the inner child don’t forget snowmen, snowballs and snow angels.

I no longer see winter as an excuse to stay inside and eat.  Winter is beautiful, refreshing and fun!

Enough about my car being broken into.  Moving on…

Today I spent the day with my mother, grandmother, son and sister at my sister’s house in Eastern Massachusetts.  We went bowling!  Not unlike sledding it is nearly impossible to put on a pair of bowling shoes and not smile.  We allowed Carlos to have bumpers on his turn and he kicked butt.  He smoked us all.  We had such a great time.  Then we took a trip to Whole Foods for lunch.  We packed up an array of salads and took them back to my sister’s house for a mini feast.  I love sampling a little bit of everything.  My sister also heated up some of her famous spinach artichoke dip and carrot chips.  Mmmmm!

We will be heading back home soon.  It’s all about the Patriots tonight.  I am hoping for at least an hour snooze before work tonight.  There is lots to do this week in preparation for our big trip.  We leave on January 26.

For some reason writing about the recent break in into my car has helped me so much to process what happened and move on.  It has also helped me remember things that still need to be done.  This concludes the list of steps that I took to cover everything that was stolen.

Wallet

For some reason a few years ago I made a list of what was in my wallet.  Although I hadn’t updated it in a while, it at least gave me a rough guide to follow.  I immediately contacted my bank to cancel my debit card and Bank of America credit card.  I made sure to give them a new contact phone number.  My husband and I made a trip to our local Bank of America branch and changed our account numbers just to allay any fears.  This probably wasn’t necessary but we felt better doing it.

I called Discover Card and was able to institute wallet protection plan that I pay $2.99 a month for.  Unfortunately I wasn’t using it to its fullest potential since the only card listed as being in my wallet was the Discover Card and an American Express card.  Essentially what the plan does is it contacts any credit card company listed and has those accounts cancelled and new cards issued.  It also monitors your credit report at the three major credit bureaus for 90 days and will contact you in the event of any suspicious activity.  I will also be reimbursed up to $100 for a new wallet.

I alerted my health insurance representative.  My husband is in a union and we have a union rep that handles any health insurance concern.  This is extremely helpful because I have developed a friendly phone relationship with her over the years.  New cards are being issued and I was told to monitor my explanation of benefit statements for any unauthorized services.

My license was replaced online by ordering a duplicate license.

Lessons learned:

• Keep an updated list of what is in your wallet including card numbers and drivers license number
• Having a wallet protection plan is worth the money just make sure to list all of your credit cards
• Lock wallet up in the glove compartment or utilize a spy belt or something similar to stash a credit card and ID if errands need to be done after a run
• Credit report monitoring is essential if you are at risk of identity theft
• Keep at least one credit card at home so that you have some source of money (For some reason I feel that I should note here that we do not live off credit cards.  In fact we pay ours off each month and have not accrued one penny of interest in nearly 9 years.  However, we charge just about everything and reap the cash back rewards.)

Broken Window

I contacted the insurance company to inform them of the broken window. We recently switched our car and home owners insurance policies to Liberty Mutual.  Each time I have had to call the company I am so impressed with their customer service.  First I filed a claim regarding the window and I was offered an appointment for someone to come to our home the following day to replace the window.  I asked about a temporary solution due to impending snow.  I was told to take the car to the glass company and they would weather proof the open window.  When my husband took the car they were actually able to install the window at that time.

Then per the suggestion of the customer service representative I was transferred to a claims agent from the home owners division.  They took some information and told me that a representative would contact me later in the day to file a home owners claim for the stolen items.  He called me just a couple of hours later and walked me through the claim process.  As of right now the value of the items stolen is less than the deductible, but I have since remembered gift cards and a couple of other things that might just push the value up enough to receive a small reimbursement.

Lessons learned:

• Windows can be replaced

It’s been two days since my car was broken into while I was out on a run at my favorite reservoir.  Last night at wok was a quiet night with lots of time to get lost in my thoughts.  Unfortunately my thoughts were racing as I berated myself over and over for being such a fool.  I am college educated.  I worked at the Better Business Bureau for a time listening to story after story of identity theft.  I am well traveled and have lived overseas.  How could I have been so stupid?

Sure I put my pocketbook under the seat, but it doesn’t take a rocket scientist to figure that out.  I left my iPhone in the pocket book.  I am not a technology novice.  I had my phone password protected for a while but it was proving to be a little complicated for my son and since we don’t have a home phone I rationalized not having a password because Carlos wouldn’t be able to make a call in the event of an emergency.  I could have taught him how to access the phone with a password.  He uses a computer for crying out loud.

When I first bought my iPhone I had set up the Find Your Phone feature through my Mobile Me account.  I have since been given two replacement iPhones because of continued problems I had with the phone.  Foolish me didn’t realize that I had to set up the Find Your Phone feature with each new phone.  I didn’t even think to ask.  Why?

My wallet contained the usual credit cards and a drivers license but it also contained something that I should have known better than to carry around with me.  I had my social security card in my wallet.  Yes I did.  I put it in there a while ago for a specific purpose and after using it I never took it out.  By doing that I single handedly put myself at the utmost risk for identity theft.  The thief now has all the means to assume my identity with my drivers license and social security card.  I knew better and I didn’t protect myself.

While pacing the halls at work last night I ran these thoughts and many more over and over in my head.  I know that beating myself up over this will not change things.  I have never been one to make others responsible for my actions.  I did not take the proper steps to protect myself from identity theft.  I alone am responsible for whatever the outcome is of this situation.  So far there is no indication that any action has been taken by the thief to open accounts in my name or do any other harm that I know of.  But it will be a long time before I will feel confident that nothing will come of this incident.