Henry and I practice our pterodactyl calls just in case.
[videojs mp4=”http://rduran.org/wp-content/uploads/2009/04/2009-02-henry-or-013.mp4″]
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Merry Christmas 2008!
As you may recall last year’s holiday post was all about the building or shall I say ‘rebuilding’ of our nest here in New York. As you all already know, this year was all about filling our nest with a special little someone…Henry Alejandro. This year more than others, Robert and I are overwhelmed with gratitude for our son, stable jobs, a warm apartment to come home to and most importantly our loving family and friends. Your outpouring of kindness after Henry’s birth continues to amaze us.
This Christmas we’ll be heading upstate to the Catskill mountains for an old fashioned Christmas in the woods with Robert’s family including all six of Henry’s cousins. Three are even making the trip from Switzerland with their parents, Dario and Esther. December 28th we will return to New York for Henry’s baptism. My family will stay after the baptism to celebrate the New Year with us here in the city.
The rest of the blog has our usual travel and triathlon updates from 2008. Robert has added a new Henry section so check back throughout the year for more photos and videos.
With Love,
Robyn & Robert
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Henry Alejandro has arrived (ok 2 months ago)… his birth story
If there’ one thing we’ve learned about Henry during the last two months it’s that he likes to be on time or even early as the case was on October 12th a week before his due date. Promptly at 5am that morning my water broke and I woke Robert to tell him his son had finally chosen his birthday. After a quick call to our midwife (fellow YSN grad Barbara Sellars), we rode in a cab to the birthing center at the hospital for a quick checkup. Afterward, we were sent home for a few hours so we took the subway back to our old neighborhood for breakfast at a favorite diner. Mid-morning we returned to the birthing center for another checkup. By then the contractions were getting stronger but I decided I wanted to walk a little more…perhaps it was optimism or denial. Needless to say, I only made it two blocks in about 40 minutes leaning on Robert with every contraction. (It’s amazing what you can get away with on a crowded New York street!) We returned to the birthing center around noon and I was admitted. That’s when the work of labor started (after all it’s called labor for a reason, right?) Robert and I labored on the floor, on the birthing ball and finally in the tub. After about three hours, Barbara could tell I was having back labor (Henry was turned around and facing the wrong direction, still head down but with the back of his head against my tailbone). After much discussion and some necessary and gentle urging from Robert, I decided to receive a dose of pain medication through my IV. Three restful hours later the pushing started. An hour later at 7:17pm Henry arrived with his left fist next to his temple . (We’re not sure if he was trying to raise his hand to signal he was ready to be born or if he was just trying to say “Go Mom!”…Nine weeks later he still holds his fist there when he sleeps.)
From the moment Barbara placed him on my belly I was reassured he was a healthy weight. However, we were all surprised when he tipped the scales at 9lbs 11oz. Our first decision as a family was what we would call this new son of ours. After he voiced no objection to Henry Alejandro, the phone calls to family and friends started. The following afternoon we returned home in a cab to start our new life together. Now many sleepless nights later, I can say it’s been a wonderful journey so far that has taught us to experience a new depth of love for each other, a love so strong nothing could have prepared us for it! We look forward to the adventure that lies ahead and hope to share the better parts of it with you our dear family and friends.
Posted in Oh Henry!
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Not that cold of a winter in San Francisco
Maybe it’s global warming or maybe we were just lucky, but Robyn and I spent a week in San Francisco and Sonoma after the triathlon and it was beautiful. I remember the days when I’d sit on the deck of the apartment I shared in the Castro and watch the fog roll in and blanket the northern end of the City. During the 4 days were we in San Francisco we didn’t see a lick of fog or feel the afternoon winds pick up. We had a great time traipsing around the city and visiting our old neighborhoods and favorite restaurants.
Surprisingly, much has remained the same in Noe Valley. The video store is still where it was and still rents VHS tapes and gives out free popcorn. The used music shop and book store are still thriving. The chocolate shop on 24th Street where I use to by Robyn Valentine’s chocolate has moved over into a larger store front. Saturday evening we went to St. Philips Church where we got married 11 years ago. We then went to dinner next door at Bacco‘s, which was a favorite of ours when we lived in the neighborhood and still as good as ever. We had a great dinner with our friends Patty and Walt in the Presidio. Patty and Walk are also expecting a child shortly before us so it was nice spend a night out before we have to figure out how to entertain two children while trying to eat.
Click the More link below to read about the rest of the trip
Escaped from Alcatraz (but wouldn’t mind going back)
Over the past few years I’ve done a few triathlons mostly in New York and California and all Olympic distance (as opposed to an Iron Man which is about 4 times longer than the races I do). While doing these races I saw a race in San Francisco the Escape from Alcatraz and decided it was the one race I really wanted to do. To get a spot in the race you either have to qualify for a spot by winning your age group in one of the qualifying races, a highly unlikely prospect for me, or take a chance on a lottery. Two years ago I put in for the lottery and got a spot. Robyn and I were in the middle of our remodel of our apartment and I didn’t think I’d have the time to train for the race so I gave up my spot. Last year I put in again for the lottery for the race this June. I was lucky enough to get a spot again and this time I took it.
The race is pretty amazing a 1.5 mile swim from Alcatraz to Marina Green, a 18 mile ride through the Presidio to Golden Gate park and back and a 8 mile run to Baker Beach with a climb up the Sand Ladder.
I had a great swim and stopped about half way to look around. The view of Alcatraz, Golden Gate
Bridge and the rest of the Bay was truly special. I was wearing a wetsuit, but by the end of the swim my feet and hands were a bit numb and getting on a pair of shoes for the half mile run back to my bike was a bit of a challenge. The bike wasn’t nearly as bad as I thought it might be and some of the downhills were a blast to fly down. The run was my big worry and the area I spent the most time training for. Overall I felt strong through the first half the run out to Baker Beach. I ran about a half mile on the beach when I reached the Sand Ladder. The Sand Ladder is about 400 steps up the cliff on logs that are buried in the sand tied together with cables. Needless to say it was tough and I like many didn’t run up them. My legs were starting to burn when I got to the top, but the hard part was done. I continued the run back to the finish line when with about a mile left my quads started to cramp up. I thought stopping and stretching would help. That thought lasted about 20 seconds after I stopped and my legs started to tighten up. At that point I told myself that I run about a mile to the gym every day and that I could finish this. I started running again and as the finish line got close I kept increasing my pace.
I finished in just about 3 hours and had great times in each stage of the race. Kevin, an old and good friend from when I lived in SF years ago, recently was diagnosed with leukemia. He and his family are fighting hard and aggressively treating the disease. I found out about his illness just before my race. During the race when things got tough I thought about what Kevin is going through. So this race was for you Kevin.