Playdates, Top Flight Gymnastics

We had an open gym play-date with our local Mom's group this morning at Top Flight Gymnastics in Fremont.

It was our first time there and the kiddies had a blast.

They even had a bouncy house, multiple trampolines of varying sizes, stuff to climb on and jump into.

Gigi most especially loved this ring where kids could swing like Tarzan and drop into a foam pit. Nifty and fun ;D

Gavin pretty much followed Gigi around but enjoyed the bounce house with a slide the most.

The group had a pre-arranged rate of $5 per child for one hour of play (10 kids or more) which I thought was fantastic.

Gavin, 2 years, 4 months

Gigi, 3 years, 3 months

********

The hour flew by and besides the slight smell of feet (I can't help it) I really enjoyed this place. We will definitely be returning here because the place is a huge air-conditioned indoor play-area which we all enjoyed!

Blog game plan

It has been two and half months since my last posting..boo :(

If this blog were a plant it would be completely dried up, shriveled, and gone by now..double boo :( :(

I am comitting to putting some life back into this lovely little space of mine so that I can retreat, reflect, and indulge in the therapy of writing = )

Below is a list of blog topics I would like to write to about. (If any of the topics interest you, let me know and I will place them on the top of my "To Write" list.)

Family
Wifery
Gigi's developmental progress & her 4th birthday
Gavin's developmental progress & his 2nd birthday
Gavin's 1st day of school

Travel
Aulani 2012: travel planning-  9/19/12, activity breakdown, recommendations, & reflections
Las Vegas 2012: travel planning, activity breakdown, recommendations, & reflections
Disneyland 2012: travel planning, activity breakdown, recommendations, & reflections

Racing
Bay to Breakers 10k
Stanford Scamper 5k
See Jane Run Half Marathon
Kids for Sports 5k


Social
Mom's groups, playdates 9-17-12  , & community
Book Club 10/11/12
Girlie Outings

Other
PROact training
Personal challenges/hurdles
Planning system & fortune making

Blog Housekeeping
Organize blog articles by themes/groups
Create standalone pages by themes/groups to allow for easier navigating within the site
Network with other niche bloggers



Buckle your seatbelts people, with a game plan in hand, things are going to get interesting around here ;D!

Running progress 2012

Sometime last year I wrote about my progress in running and it seems fitting that I follow-up on my progress this year.

A sub 8 minute mile and a non-stop 10 mile run

I must say, I really feel like a runner now. Everyone has a different definition of this and to me, the moment I became (a more serious) runner was when I met two personal running goals. (1)The first was to be able to run an all out mile in less than 8 minutes, more precisely at a 7:40 mile/minute pace. (2)The next goal was to be able to run 10 miles, non-stop. This I was able to do at about a 10:40 mile/minute pace.

Racing, 13.1 & 3.1 mile pacing, & personal records (PR's)

As you would imagine, the pacing for a 13.1 mile race and 3.1 race are vastly different. I learned that the proper way to run a half marathon should feel no harder than an effort level of about a 9 from a scale 1- 10. Additionally, most of the race should should be ran at slightly below one's lactate threshold. Lactate threshold can be defined as the "point during exhaustive, all-out exercise at which lactate builds up in the blood stream faster than the body can remove it." During my most recent half marathon I was completely focused on running as much of the distance as possible and trained so that I wouldn't have to make any bathroom breaks. My efforts were rewarded with a half marathon time 30 minutes faster than last year and which I happily PR'd :)

A 5k or 3.1 mile race is a totally different animal. There are a number of strategies to run this race but the one that made the most sense to me, at my current fitness level, and lack of racing experience, was to do a proper warm up, some priming, and start out hard and fast without bonking. By the time I got tired, I'd slow down and do my best to hang on, not bonk, and not throw up. Even if this race is significantly shorter, it is significantly more intense. From a scale of 1 to 10 my most recent 5k was ran at an effort level of about a 9.7. I felt slightly nauseous and dry-heaved at the end of this race. I first trained for a half marathon and immediately after trained for 5 weeks to get my 5k under 30 minutes. I met my goal, shaved off seven minutes from last year's 5k, PR'd, and was extremely ecstatic.

Just yesterday I learned that out of 102 female participants in my age group I came in at #15! Since this is the first season I introduced formal speed work into my training, I was absolutely over the moon about this!

Consistency, learning from mistakes, my current plan, & injury prevention

I have been running consistently for a little over a year now. A good part of this time has been invested in building an aerobic base of slower paced, long runs as a recreational runner. I've just recently started implementing running plans and racing. And by racing I mean running for time and not just distance anymore.

The biggest mistake I made last year was to do too much too fast in terms of introducing a strength training program. Coming off from the high of completing my second half marathon in Kauai last year, I lifted too much, too soon, and hurt my knee. I had to take over a month off from running and I was royally pissed. Never again I promised myself.

My current training plan calls for weight training & running. My strategy this time around is to remember that I am a Runner. To me this means my lifting as it pertains to my lower body needs to be done at a moderately-light effort level, executed slowly, and with impeccable form. My upper body and core workouts are done moderately-difficult, executed slowly, and with equally good form.

Safety and sustainability is extremely important to me as well as injury prevention. I take the time to complete a proper warm up and cool down. I take rest days after hard workouts. I can be stubborn but I absolutely listen to my body, always. When I've had a hard run and feel discomfort I back off and ice that body part and rest up.

For the first time my fitness has improved to the point that I can actually perform and sustain fairly hard runs.This in and of itself feels absolutely amazing. My favorite running workouts are at my local middle school track where I unleash the inner athlete I never knew (but getting to know and really like) emerge, grow, and kick some major a$$. Mine :)

I pray that I continue to receive the gift of good health and fitness for many years to come and be able to compete and grow until I'm a great grandmother, gray, but still luminescent because I am filled with life, light, and most importantly love :-)

I'm hoping that whoever reads this will find that you and yours will always be healthy, charmed, and blessed!

:)

Packard Summer Scamper

Niko, Gigi, & Lorenzo clutching their prized medals :)

We participated in our first family fun run last June, jogging strollers and all, in memory of our JuJu (Julio DePerio) at the 1st annual Stanford Scamper in Palo Alto. We had such an awesome time we decided to make this run an annual event. This event is perfect for a first-timer or pro because it was SUPER organized, VERY family friendly, and:

-they served coffee, water, & snacks before and after the race
-they gave away essentials like sunblock and lip balm before the race
-they had a professional DJ (star 101.3) & an enthusiastic MC
-the course was flat and very easy to maneuver with a stroller

Here are some pics:

GOOOOOOD morning!

racers snacking before the race

thank you for the sunblock & lipbalm too

you rock!

you do too!

No bandits here, we're all legit with our race bibs ;D

Families greatly benefit with an event like this because it beautifully blends family togetherness, an active lifestyle, and a winning attitude!

We hope you can come out and join us this year :)

Here is our team page: Juju's Grace Team Page

Lorenzo, Julio, & Lattie, October 2007

Event Details
Date: Saturday, June 23, 2012
Time: 8:00 a.m. start
(Packet pickup and day-of registration begins at 6:30 a.m.)
Place: Oak Road and Stock Farm Road, Stanford, California

My Runkeeper

http://runkeeper.com/user/millierose79/activity

ABC Flip Book

From poster to flip book:

I cut up the poster section by section

Then letter by letter

Cut the corresponding overlay that would serve as the book's cover

Hole punching

I printed a picture of the original poster and put it on the cover. I bound the flip book with a binder ring, tied a ribbon around it, and project is done = )

Mini Scrap Book Journal

I have been a little obsessed lately about mini-scrapbooks. Last night's task was to create a hybrid..a mini-scrapbook-journal. I really like projects I can complete in one sitting, (the creation of this one took about an hour.) 

My idea was to enable myself to create one super easy page a day. This is an ultra condensed version of Project Life. What I came up with was a 3x5'' inch book, pre-layed out, and all I have to do is:

1) take a photo and print it on my Polaroid Mobile Printer, 2) do a quick write up of the memory I want to remember, 3) add a couple doo-dads and other embellishments and I'm done =)

Each book has 30+ pages that allows for one month's worth of documenting, made simple :)

 ***

Last week I made the following mini-scrapbooks just for kicks and ended up giving them to Gigi, Alina, & Lily (my 3 year old daughter, 4 year old niece, and 2 year old niece.) You can find pics from a previous post here Mini Scrap Books Prototypes

The ones I worked on last night I tweaked and made better. I got some overlay paper from Our Paper Place and picked up a 6 x 6" paper pad with coordinating patterns by Lawn Fawn which together, I thought worked very well.

First I cut the yellow partially see-through overlay (the book cover), then cut the paper (the pages of the book).

I didn't want to waste paper so the leftovers I decided to intersperse throughout the book to give it a whimsical feel. I found it useful to binder-clip ''pages'' of the book in stacks so that hole-punching them would be easier.

Next, I used a single hole puncher and hole punched the overlay and paper.

I found it helpful to use this chopstick to keep the book temporarily bound while I punched away.

First, I used ribbon to bind the book but I felt this look was a bit much. Kid-like and too much going on so I opted for some sewing string below.

I measured the string and weaved through the holes a couple of times, tied the front, then tied the back, then cut the string.

Here's the near-finished product..I wanted my journaling and designing to be easy so I used the following post-its below and inserted them throughout the book. That way there is enough visual interest, a space for me to write, and space left over for a picture.

The first entry and layout of my mini-scrapbook-journal is below:

When I'm done, I secure a binder clip to keep the pages protected and voila! Mini-scrapbooking-journaling done quickly & efficiently ;D.