Success

The last few weeks have been a little rough in the Madsen household. For instance, today Danielle had three victories over mommy. My victory was getting her to take a nap- in your face Danielle. Probably not the best thing to tell a child.
Right now baby Mark is asleep- I think for the night. He will wake up again around one in the morning, then at five and finally for the day at seven. I think our friends Mike and Diane helped by watching Mark in the morning. He wakes up and after trying to keep him away during the day I just couldn't do it some mornings. I usually want to sleep all weekend. Well on Sunday I got to sleep but baby Mark didn't. Thrilling.
It's nice to have friends who seem to like babies. I thought I was just feeling pretty bad from lack of sleep but after Mike and Diane left and I threw up a few times I called the doctor. A new breastfeeding milestone for me was getting my first breast infection. Since I pumped with Danielle I didn't go through teething and getting sore again. I don't know if it is normal to have trouble at teething but Mark has been quite the fussy boy. I was feeling guilty that John stayed home one day and then Thursday Melissa came over and watched Danielle and cleaned my house. Seriously? how nice is that?
I always thought I wanted lots of kids but it seems so hard. I don't know how people do it. I miss living near my family when I am sick. Carlie is coming out to help me next week even though she has a baby- so nice. I am excited to see another squishy little baby and let John catch up on school (hopefully).
But in the positive news I ran 4 miles last Saturday and I am still alive. NOT DEAD FROM RUNNING THIS WEEK. Shocking I know- I took a few days off for the breast infection but I am still training for my half marathon. Danielle is loving our new favorite treat of carrots and hummus. When she can't climb up on the counter top and get the nutella out and hide under the table and spread it everywhere.

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Running

Workout Plan
I have always liked to work out and suddenly find myself a little wobblier and floppier than before. I guess having a child does that to some of us. So I made a goal.
It involves something I am terrible at- running. Claire signed up for the Provo Half Marathon. Who does that? She blogged about it. I have always wanted to be a runner. I feel like if I even look at a treadmill my heart rate shoots up to 180 bpm. My throat closes- my feet go numb- my mind screams- how much longer. I proudly step on and after a warm up bump the speed to a whopping 5.5mph. I go as long as I think is humanly possible- almost an eternity.
It is twenty seconds. I almost never go more than twenty seconds without checking the time. Has anyone in the world ever made it through an entire ipod song without checking to see how far they have gone. In theory I know I can't run three miles during one Linkin Park song but that doesn't mean I'm not surprised when it doesn't happen.
I have always wanted to be a runner. My obvious lack of talent leaves me with girl crushes on runners. Once I had a friend who asked me if I wanted to go on a 50 mile run with him. I wasn't sure if I should just die in shame or question his intelligence. I want to be a runner- I want to fake it. One of my most vivid London memories is going running in Hyde Park with Nancy. After a few moments Nancy said- "boy, you really are slow," and ran without me. Not the first time it has happened.
But one of my life goals is to run a marathon. I made it in High School so I know it is important. I signed up for a run on May 1st here in PA. (It is only a half marathon) Claire pointed out that it doesn't matter if I am bad at it. She claims she is not a good runner. I know she is lying but it made me feel good. If I really want to do this I will have to practice. I am doing a training program. It is going horribly and I hate every minute of it. But I am confident that I will hate it no less in five years.
Maybe...

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