Time Off

Marriage before baby and marriage after baby are two very different things. Before we had our son Santino, my husband and I did everything together. We rock climbed, went to yoga, took dance classes (this was before we got married), ice climbed, went to wineries, etc. We were best friends. Post baby, things changed. I became less active in order to spend more time with our son. My husband, Michael, and I get upset because we want to spend more time together and it gets difficult. We've compromised and have days where I'm off and he's with our son, or when he's off and I'm with our son. Still there's nothing like the time we're together. Family time is best, in my opinion, but it gets tough to do things outdoors in the winter with a one year old. So this past weekend, we took time off. We spent a much needed night away in the Catskills.

Saturday morning, we dropped Santino to his grandparents, got some breakfast and were on our way. Two hours later, we checked into our hotel, changed and went on a hike. We were prepared for snow. We put on our snow boots, gaters, made sure we had layers on and took our hiking polls to hike up Overlook mountain. The 5 mile hike was absolutely beautiful. The hike wasn't as easy as I thought it would be and we were sweating half way through. Thankfully we had layered appropriately (more about that later) and were able to really enjoy our trek up the mountain. On our way down, we ran into an old man who was staying at the monastery nearby and had done the hike 22 days in a row. He had one trekking pole and a limp yet he was smiling his way up the mountain!

Saturday night we had a 4 course dinner at the hotel. Pre-dinner, I had my indulgence -  a Grey Goose dirty martini with extra olives. Perfection! Though I ended up eating more of Michael's meal than my own, the food was delicious and well earned. Bellies full and exhausted, we went to bed at about 9pm.

On Sunday, we hired a guide to go on a half day ice climbing trip. When Michael called to get the guide, he mentioned that I don't like long approaches and a full day would probably be too much for me. Years ago, our first ice climbing trip was in the Catskills and I was exhausted after walking up to just get there. On the way down, it was getting dark, it was steep and it pretty much ruined my first ice climbing experience. The climbing itself was exhausting so spending even more energy to hike down just wasn't worth it. This time Michael made sure to plan something I would enjoy and he nailed it! I kicked the crap out of the ice, was sore as hell and really had a good time.

That brings us to the weekend gear review. I realized the importance of cold weather gear this weekend. If you are outside freezing, you're most  likely not going to enjoy anything you do! Michael loves everything Patagonia and I am very lucky to have a bunch of zip ups and Patagonia hoodies that I use for layering. That said, I usually wear an Under Armour mock neck for winter activities. If I had worn my mock neck base layer on Saturday's hike, I would have been way too warm. It was in the low 40's and it got hot hiking uphill. I wore a vented long sleeve run shirt from Lulu Lemon and it was perfect. I was warm but not hot and the vents really kept me from sweating. Lulu gets a bad rep as a stay at home mom line but I found the top functional and fashionable and I am definitely going to wear it again. So to all you Lulu haters, buy something, try it on and see how great you feel in it. If you're a guy, I think you should stick to Patagonia, the Lulu guy line looks a little..well let's just say it may not be for you.

Weekend grade - A+. The weekend was amazing and much needed. We had a great time and I have spent the last two days with my son making up for my time away. I'm still sore and a little run down so I haven't run  but plan to get back on track Thursday. At least my off days were full of activity so I don't feel guilty!

Well rested, sore and happy,
Renita

Hike up Overlook Mountain in my new fav Lululemon base layer

Climb on Ren!

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