Miami Children's Hospital 5K Run

We've been doing more running as a family these days, since we were on our own for about three weeks.  The baby has been getting used to the jogging stroller and can enjoy up to an hour long run thus far in it.  Kudos to him.  Especially if we load the front tray with delicious goodies like watermelon and Cheerios.  Here's some pics of a recent 5-miler where we got caught in the rain!  Luckily it was a nice comfortable rain, that cooled us off on an otherwise pretty hot and humid morning.  We stopped to get some photos under the branches of a shade tree.

Fortunately the dragon has never minded being wet!

As part of our training programs, last weekend, Diego and I ran the MCH 5K run.  It was a beautiful, early Miami Saturday morning.

Mom and Dad had arrived the night before, so they kept the baby with them.  He was still asleep when we left.  We snuck away quietly.  It was like a date!  We had a great time, we talked and laughed the whole way along.  We ran to support the family of one of my patients who has been struggling with a severe illness pretty much since his birth 3 months ago.  He has been a fighter and his mom has been working hard to raise money for the hospital, to give back a little bit for taking care of her baby.  That impressed me because many parents are only interested in what they can get from the hospital and don't ever consider giving something back.

Here are some pics from the run, which began at Coral Gables City Hall and wound through the beautiful Biltmore Hotel golf course.

Before

Heading towards the start line

After!  + medals!

It was a pretty short distance (compared to the races we are used to!) and it felt like we were done in no time at all.

We stretched, grabbed a bagel and a banana, and headed back home to the family.  My aunt and uncle came by to visit that same day from their vacation home in Bradenton, FL and we went out to eat with them and took them to the Riverwalk in downtown Miami.  It was really lovely to see them.

Jerry, Barbara, Rafa, Jean, Peter

Diego has left for Ecuador this week, and we'll be following him to Quito with the whole Loux family in another week to celebrate the baby's first birthday and the wedding of Diego's brother.  We are continuing to run in preparation for the Miami marathon in February 2014!  Our next big step towards that goal is the West Palm Beach half marathon in December, which just so happens to start and end right outside of my sister's apartment building - couldn't be more convenient!!!

Stay tuned for running at 10,000 feet + the dragon turns one + Santy and Cristina get hitched!

Running for the kids of MCH

Most of you know I love to run.  Right?  Hence the blog.

Most of you know I just moved to Miami, too.

We let Rafa drive the first leg.  

Running took a small hiatus during and after the move.  Too much going on.  Working like crazy.  Still haven't completely unpacked.  Dragon sleeping VERY poorly.  And the excuses go on and on.

Moving sucks.  I don't need to go into details on that point, I'm sure you've all been there at one point or another.  It just sucks.  Especially when you're downsizing by over half.

Nice things about the move:

1)  We had a TON of help packing up the house in Pittsburgh.  Thank you to all of you who helped, Katelyn and her mom, Mark and Ola, Dan and Layla, Jim, all of Diego's lab-mates from Carnegie Mellon, Hope and the kids, and many others who I'm probably forgetting now.  We wouldn't have ever been able to leave Pittsburgh if it hadn't been for you all!

2) On our way to Huntsville, we took the Kentucky Bluegrass Highway and detoured to stop at the Maker's Mark distillery for a tour.  Lots of fun.  Took some pics of the old Samuels' family homestead, the distillery, and the beautiful grounds.

The Samuels family portrait.

Apparently, Mrs. Samuels test-dipped lots of stuff in red wax prior to getting the recipe just right for the bottle tops.

Guess we shouldn't have let him participate in the whiskey tasting.  

Aging barrels

3) We stopped in Huntsville for a few days to spend with my parents.  Days in which I essentially nursed the baby and slept.  And did little else.  Much needed R&R.

4) We spent the first day of arrival in Miami at Miami Beach Loews' Hotel.  A one-day visit to paradise.  We had a fabulous time, the dragon loved the beach, we let the sun and sand and sea air soak into our weary souls and sooth our travel-frazzled nerves.

Showering with Daddy in the fancy bathroom of the hotel!

Who's that baby?  That's baby Rafael!

Eating every last scrap of rice and beans at Havana 1957 Cuban Restaurant

My handsome husband.  What a stud!!

A little sea water wears a baby out

Sandy feet

Photo op in front of some famous hotel from a movie filmed on South Beach.  You'll have to ask Diego which one.  

Since then the past two months have gone by in a flash.  An exhausting whirlwind.  I really like my job, but I am spending very long hours in the hospital.  The two weeks I had in which to move FLEW by, and the guest bedroom was still packed ceiling high with boxes when I started working, so poor Diego has been stuck with most of the burden of unpacking, rearranging, donating, and moving things we absolutely cannot donate or throw out to a nearby storage closet.

Stuffed to the gills.  And the piano hasn't even arrived yet.  

Our guest bedroom doubled as a storage closet for a few days in order to make room for the piano.

Piano movers unpacking the grand piano.  Admittedly a bit of an overkill for a 900 sq ft apartment.

For the first two months, I was exercising once every two weeks or so...and feeling physically ill from lack of moving my body.  Achy, irritable, tight, exhausted, even depressed.

Thank goodness I have not had time to miss Pittsburgh, because we don't know anyone here and I'm sure I would have felt very lonely if I wasn't working such long hours!  And we had such a nice, nice group of friends in Pittsburgh.

In stops and starts, I have been trying to get back to my running program in the past few weeks, and have been motivating myself by dedicating each run to one of you, my fabulous friends.  Picked up at various points in my life, you are all precious jewels to me and when I am at my most weary, I draw from your universal pool of energy (Katelyn - your sleep bank!).  It may be the only thing keeping me going sometimes, and when I forget to use it, I grind to a screeching halt.

On my recent runs, I have been coming to terms with the fact that I am now living in a rain forest, strange sort of magical realism jungle.  The other day I came across something looking like a peacock in the neighborhoods behind my house, with three little baby birds running behind it.  A home-owner who was out doing yardwork confirmed that peacocks in Miami are a protected species and cannot be willfully exterminated.  A few days later, I saw this stunning male, with his brilliant plumage flat out for an evening stroll.

Three nights ago, I saw two green parrots fly across the sky above my apartment.  Every step I take, a (tiny or not so tiny) salamander scurries to move out from underfoot.

Mugen ran with me last night.  We only made it 2.5 miles or so, but poor Mugey doesn't tolerate the humidity of South Florida for more than that.  So if I want to further than 2 miles, I have to leave the Rooster at home.  I, however, LOVE to sweat and do it smartly.  And copiously.  I can't get enough of the hot, moist, tropical air.  It is never too much for me.  Just have to keep hydrated some how.

Last night, I ran for my amazing friend and fellow Team Awesome member, Amanda Brodish, who last weekend fulfilled her grueling goal of completing a HALF IRON(WO)MAN triathlon at Cedar Point.  Give Amanda a huge pat on the back next time you see her!  She is an inspiration to me for so many reasons, but mostly because when she decides to do something, come he!! or high water, by golly, she does it.

This weekend, I have recruited the love of my life and my baby dragon to run 5 miles with me, the most I'll have run in a LONG time, and we'll see how it goes!!

Coming up on September 21, I will be running in a 5K for Miami Children's Hospital.  As you know, I became a pediatric surgery fellow there on July 1st.  One thing that has impressed about this hospital is how forward-thinking it is, with many departments in the hospital being foremost in the nation in terms of excellence for patient outcomes.  Another thing is how much everyone here LOVES what they do, and has a passion for helping children who happen to be unwell, and their families.

I know I ask you all often for money to support my running causes, and I am going to do it again.  Please consider supporting Miami Children's Hospital, a haven of comfort for families of sick children who are terrified for their children and seeking answers.

The team I'm running for was organized by the mom of one of my little patients, a 3 month old baby who has been very sick for the past 6 weeks.  When I think of the possibility of having to spend the first months of my child's life in the hospital like she has, I just thank the universe for being so benevolent to me.  She is using it as an opportunity to give back.  All money donated will be added to the goal for his team.

Here's the link:

http://support.mchf.org/site/TR/Events/General?px=1005020&pg=personal&fr_id=1040



Thanks in advance for your support!!!



While I was unpacking, I found this old photo of Winston and me.  I've put it up on the bulletin board in my office at work.

What a good friend he was.  I don't think he would have liked the climate in Miami - waaaaaay too hot and humid.  Kind of like my little dragon now.  Who was waking up every hour during the night until we turned the thermostat down to cool the house to 72 degrees during the night.  Hot little monster.  As our friend Simon says, it is commonly known that dragon babies MUST be kept refrigerated.  Silly me.  The dragon preservation manual must have got lost in the move.

But Winston would have definitely liked the hustle, bustle, glitz and glamour of Miami, that's for sure!  He was a fancy dog.  Diego and I swear that if he was human he never would have associated with us.  He was way too popular!!  We were so fortunate we got to hang out with him for a short time while he was gracing the Earth with his presence.  We miss him still, a little bit....but life is moving on, and the living demand all our time and attention.  He will forever be in our fondest of memories.  For now, the dragon and the rooster are keeping our hands full and helping us discover and experience the best that Miami has to offer our poor souls!

My three boys having fun in the dog park.  I LOVE this picture of Mugen, my happy sweet boy.

Mugen, Rafa, Diego and I all miss you dearly and hope to see each and every one of you soon!!!

Half Marathoning!

And done.  Thank you Pittsburgh for providing a wonderful venue for a race, and a very well-organized one at that.  They've always done a great job in the past, and this year was no exception.

The weather was cool, refreshing and clear, with no rain!  Perfect running weather.

We got up at 5am, hoping to be out of the house by 525 to pick up Oriana and Amanda.  Of course, as usual, we were running late and this meant we got downtown JUST after the 6am closing time for the downtown garages.  Then, we got barricaded in the race course!  So we ended up parking at a random condo complex in Lawrenceville and walking down Penn Avenue and then Liberty Avenue to the race start.  We were pretty sure we weren't gonna get towed....since no one could get in OR out!!!

Pre-race photo op with the dragon!

Amanda, our very good friend who agreed to be our dragon-sitter

Posing with Oriana, our race buddy.

Walking through the Strip into downtown.

Luckily, since the race starts down Liberty Avenue this meant we got to see the wheelchair start (including one blind man who was running with a seeing-eye runner), always inspirational!!!  These are people who could be inhibited by their disabilities, but who instead choose to overcome them.  Truly motivational!  They make anyone with two good working legs feel happy to be alive and running.  And they remind us of all the possibilities.

We also were late enough to see the elite start, also inspiring!  Lots of REALLY fast runners, with big dreams.  Really cool!

If you squint hard you can see a bunch of skinny (mostly) black people behind the truck.  Those are the elites!

We continued towards the start line as the subsequent runner corrals marched towards it from the other direction.  We darted around barricades and through police lines, working our way towards the start line!   On the fences, people began to leave behind their warmup jackets as they started filing slowly forward to begin their race.

A bit naive if they think it's gonna be there when they get back!!!

We finally passed the start line (backwards) and merged in with the awaiting runners.  We turned around and started shuffling forward with the crowd.  There were thousands of people in front of us, and as it turned out many thousands behind us as well!!!  The sun was starting to come up in front of us and shone through the buildings.

Good luck pre-half-marathon kiss!

The start line!

Almost there!

We were pumped up and ready to go!!  We finally cross the start line and start running!

Look at all those people!

Diego took several photos of us while running - here are a few of the best.

It's such fun to run over the bridges!  Great views of the city!

Add caption

Looking good at Mile 10!

Staying strong at Mile 12!

So close to the finish line!

Finally done, looking back at the finish line!!!

Bottom line - Pittsburgh puts together a great race.  Both the half and full marathon courses are fun, well-stocked with fluids and other necessaries, and it's a pleasure to see almost the whole city in one day.

This may have been one of the most fun races I've run.  Despite an IT band that was starting to seize up around mile 4 (it finally gave up and relaxed by mile 12 thank goodness), I just kept plodding along.  Diego stuck with me, and we just really enjoyed the run.  We had a great time.

I hope to actually do the full Pittsburgh marathon again at some point, we'll see how the cards lay.  For now, I'm proud that I can say I did a half marathon 7 months postpartum, while still actively nursing the little man.

Diego and I sincerely appreciate all the friends who donated to our cause!!!  Winston thanks you!  Mugen thanks you too!!!  Someday, (hopefully soon), when things slow down a bit, I am going to get back to running, and I plan to keep using this blog as a forum to chronicle my running victories and epic fails....

Thanks Diego for sticking with me!  For reminding me why.

Thanks to Amanda for dragon-sitting!  I'm glad he was a pretty good baby for you.

Thanks to Oriana for accompanying us as well.  You can never have too many running buddies.

Thanks to all those of you who read my at times lengthy meanderings - you are my true friends.

Keep in touch!  Don't let Miami swallow me whole!

Creatures of Habit

I am a creature of habit.  So is my Mugen.  This is one of my favorite things about my Mugen.  Mugen is, in fact, such a creature of habit, that he still refuses to use the front steps of our house.  See, when Winston was alive, after his bad knee injury, steps were REALLY hard for him.  Because of the injury his back right leg was so stiff it was hard for him to bend it at all.  So steps were pretty difficult.  Our house has two sets of steps leading up to the front door, with a landing between.  From the landing, you can either choose to go up the second set of steps to the front door, or you can talk the walkway around the house to go in the back door, which requires zero steps.

After his injury, Winston would always go around the house to the back door to avoid using that second set of steps.  And of course Mugen would follow him.  Whoever was walking them would usually go in the front door, walk through the kitchen, and meet them at the back door to let them in.  It is our coming home ritual.  (Occasionally said person may have absent-mindedly forgotten once or twice and left them outside waiting....)  The funny thing is, even now that Winston is gone, Mugen still goes around to the back door, even though he has absolutely no trouble negotiating stairs.  We've tried to encourage him to go up the front steps, but no dice.  My sweet little rooster.  Creature of habit.

Surgeons are also creatures of habit.  We are taught by our revered mentor surgeons one way to do things (sometimes out of many possible ways), and this is the way we do it.  Many times even without thinking why it is the best way to do it.  That's why I love it when a medical student asks me, "So why do you do (fill in the blank) like that?"  Sometimes I have the answer right away, but other times I honestly have to wrack my brain for a reason.  Sometimes I outright admit that I don't know, that's just always the way I've done it.  This generation of medical students is generally not ashamed to ask questions when they don't understand things, something my generation would never have dared.  It is a good thing.  It makes me re-evaluate the why every now and then instead of mindlessly monkeying forward.  But at the end of the day, I enjoy the comfort of a routine; it soothes me to have a series of steps to follow for most things.

My husband, on the other hand is a "novelero," which in Spanish means someone who likes participating in new things (he gets this from his mother, Betty).  Seriously, he is a "fad of the week" kind of guy.  One week, it's "Honey, I want to buy a kayak."  The next week it's a (seriously overpriced and interestingly frayed as if it had been used hard by someone else) new A&F jacket.  You can see how it would be hard to keep someone of this nature on track towards a goal!  It keeps my life interesting though, because he always has the latest gossip, whether it's international politics or who is pregnant right now (and nobody else knows, so you can't tell anybody, do you understand???)

There are two things my husband has been really serious about:  his motorcycle and his studies.  He has worked very hard for both of these things.  And he's stuck with me for 13 years (so that's really three things)!  He is a creature of curiosity, of novelty and innovation.  I am a creature of routine, of nesting, of ritual.  My Mugen and I, we are very similar in this way.  He loves to know exactly what is going to happen next at any given point in time.  Likes to know where we're going to turn, what route we're going to take.  This soothes him.  Makes him feel grounded.  Anything out of the ordinary is very disturbing to him.  I understand these sentiments.  I am this way as well.

In the operating room, there is a dance that happens before the operation can begin.  In my mind, I chant "Gloves, lights, lead, loupes, antibiotics, radiology, pager, position, prep."  To keep me from forgetting any of the necessary things I need to do before I scrub.  Once these tasks are complete, I scrub my hands.  The same way.  Every time.  Then I gown and glove.  Apply the drapes.  Down first, then up, then sides.  Time out?  All agree.  Ask the anesthesiologist, "May we begin?"  "Of course."  "Marking pen.  Knife.  Incision."

Each operation is a ritual.  A different prayer to the gods of the hernia, the gallbladder, the appendix.  There are certain steps which are followed over and over each time.  In each person the basic anatomy is the same.  It is soothing to KNOW WHERE I AM, what is my purpose, what to expect next.

Unfortunately, since the dragon hatched, there has been very little routine in our lives.  Every day is something new.  I work for so many hours each day and every remaining minute, every remaining drop of energy is focused on what the baby needs.  Little sleep.  Lots of firsts.  Almost impossible to stick to a routine in any way.  Our lives have been essentially consumed by this (not-so) tiny creature.  So, I will be honest.  I have not trained for the marathon.  It may have been naive for me to think it was possible.  The best I have done since the baby was born is 2 runs in a week.  My longest run since said baby has been 7 miles.  Not quite marathon material.

So, unfortunately my friends, you (and I) will have to be satisfied with the half marathon (I'm not even sure I'm going to be able to pull that off!!!)   But in the words of the immortal master Yoda, I will DO.  For there is no TRY.  My Mugen deserves it!

The (half) marathon is only three days away.  Please, if you can find a few dollars to spare, donate to help rescue retired racers!  This is my reason for running!!!


Follow this link to donate!  Thank you!

http://www.crowdrise.com/TeamSteelCityGreyhounds2013/fundraiser/taraloux

Winston Churchill ca. 2008

Mugen turns 8!

After losing Winston, we realized we did not celebrate his life enough while he was with us. We knew when his birthday was; all adopted racers have extensive pedigree records that are accessible using the numbers tattooed on their inner ears. We just were always too busy to celebrate it, and it seemed to pass us by quickly without realizing it.

So in late January, we started making plans to celebrate in style with Master Mugen having successfully completed his eighth year on this planet!  Mugen's birthday is February 27, but we decided to celebrate on March 1, which coincided with a Friday night.

We sent out invitations to all his friends!!

People came in from all over to celebrate with him.  Edison, Betty and tío Dany were visiting from Ecuador. Oma and Opa came from Alabama and Auntie Kimmy flew in from Hoboken. Good friends came from Washington, DC and all around Pittsburgh.

Brother Rafa with Abuelo Edisson and la Abueloca!

Tio Dany visiting from Ecuador

Friends from near and far!

Auntie Kimmy representing!

Auntie Katelyn brought party hats and decorations.  Many people brought delicious food and drinks to share.

Mugen wore his fancy purple sport jacket to the party.  His guests brought him all sorts of birthday gifts, delicious doggie treats and fun squeaky or fluffy new toys to play with!

Thanks for the soft furry turtle Laura!!

Oma baked him a special doggie cake and we put eight candles in it.  Auntie Kimmy helped him blow them out.

We turned off the lights so the candles would stand out - not great for a photo op though!

We are fortunate to be blessed with this very gentle, sweet and special pup.  We thank all of our very special friends who made the effort to celebrate with us!! We are so blessed to have such a diverse group of interesting, intelligent and warm people to share our time and our lives with.

Happy birthday Mugen!!  May we celebrate many more with you, my friend.



Please, please consider donating to my marathon effort!  I am running May 5th!!!  See link below to donate!!

http://www.crowdrise.com/TeamSteelCityGreyhounds2013/fundraiser/taraloux