2011 IronKids Tri

3 months later, we finally did the video! Ted is in the 9-11 year old division now, and looks very small compared to the kids around him (in the bike leg, at least). He didn't have a very fast time this year, but he also didn't feel much pressure and had a great experience. He's in the red shirt and black swim trunks. Enjoy!

Settling in...

The kids are back in school. My sprint is done; CF ride and 1/2 Marathon are on the horizon. It's nice being back in a routine. My sprint was a truly awesome experience. I was slower than HECK (9 full minutes slower than last year?!) but really enjoyed myself. The swim started out a little crazy. They had the first-timers in their own wave, so when my wave went off, everyone knew what they were doing. There was less swimming around near-drowning people and more being swum around, and I probably drank half the reservoir on the way to the first buoy because the water was so choppy. But somewhere around the halfway point I really started to enjoy it and and remembered again why I like triathlon. I enjoy doing all 3 of these things, in a non-competitive manner. More on that later. The bike ride started out ... not so good. I crashed. For some reason, they have us mount the bike on gravel, about 5 feet from good solid blacktop. I spun out on the gravel and really ripped up my right arm pretty well. My whole right side is bruised too, but it wasn't that painful so I was up quickly but had a race director person check my bike. The last thing I wanted was to leap back on and have there be something wrong that I didn't see. So I lost some time on the bike with all that drama, but the ride itself was good. I stayed between 19-23 most of the ride. The run was awesome. Slow as heck (32 minutes?! guess I only get sub-30 with track work!) but I didn't have that weird leg jello feeling and ran comfortably the whole time. It was great! Sylvie and I had lunch today and we both agreed to opt out of TriBabes next season. We'll stick with our swim classes with Anna Scott, our bike rides together (and spin classes in the winter) and our running. We can do this without having to get all serious about it. Boulder is such a weird place because 9 out of 10 athletes are really intense about it, and I need to remember what my priorities are (have fun! stay fit!) and stick with them!

I am always ready for new running shoes in August, and I try to get them early enough to wear them for the 1/2. I went for Newtons this time, on the advice of pretty much every runner and triathlete I know. I wore them for about 2 hours this afternoon and my calves hurt. But that is normal, as I adjust to the different foot strike. They are very loud shoes - no mellow white for me! I also got a cute running skirt (my first running skirt!). The weather today, cool and drizzly, was perfect for a recovery run. Since my watch broke, I'll go by the route and guess I did just over 3 miles - nothing big. Just to stretch the legs. I've been biking the kids to and from school each day and taking Ole on nice long walks. I'm going to the noon yoga class tomorrow and I hope my sore arm will be OK. It'll be a conversation starter, anyway!

The kids are all very tired but very enthusiastic about school. Apparently they are studying India in Ted's class and he was talking about a river that goes all around the world. Hmm. Sam is busy writing books (the newest edition: Baby Poops Up - The Final Flush) and Mae needs more work on her letter sounds (oops). Everyone is happy and tired. Life is good!

Breaking the Tape

Ted, busting it home at the Tri last week. He got in just ahead of the 1st and 2nd place winners of the girl's division. He ranked 13 out of 30 in his division (8 year old boys) (5th in the swim!). I like how they let the kids break the tape like in the IronMan. ;-)

Tri Video!

Ted's Triathlon

Video coming soon! In the meantime, here are pics of Ted's 4th triathlon.

the end of my racing career?

That sounds so dramatic, doesn't it? Last night I did the Boulder Stroke N Stride. I had swam that morning (~2000 meters) and ridden to and from the Rez (about 15 miles roundtrip). Then I went on a nice mellow hike with Ole and followed that up with 2+ hours in the pool with Mae, Aria and Chloe. I had nothing left for the swim - my arms felt like lead. I forced myself to get to the 1st buoy and decide then if I wanted to turn back. I did. My rotator cuff was snapping again (which it hasn't done in ages but happens when I'm sloppy in my form). Anyway, I came back, which was a disappointment but I was so tired I didn't care. The race people were super nice and let me do the 5K anyway so I headed off with the elite men that had already swam and did a very hot but fairly pleasant 5K in 31:34 (Wendy thinks the course is short, though it felt long enough to me!). Since I was one of the first to finish (I was able to see all the other people who had swam the 1500 meters going out on the run when I was coming in) I got a quick massage that made my very tight quads feel fantastic. We enjoyed our pizza and soda and came home.

I had a sort of epiphany out there on the run though. I really don't like to race. Really don't like to race. I need and enjoy the motivation a race provides; I am a very goal-oriented person. But...

This month I've swam (swum?) at the Rez a handful of times and loved it. When it's 6:30am and you're out in the middle of the reservoir, there is nothing to do but enjoy it. And I do love it, when my arms cooperate. It's so restful and mellow and beautiful and peaceful.

And I do love to bike, though I HATE HATE HATE hills and don't relish killing myself on them (yes I am panicking about Old Stage - done it 3x and it was so so hard). But I do love the 12+ miles roundtrip to and from Paul's office if I want to meet him for lunch, or the 15 miles roundtrip to and from the Rez. I love biking the boys to HHS every day and tooling around the bike paths of Boulder figuring out what connects to what. I love the rollers on 63rd and all the beautiful road rides near Nelson Road etc. But I don't like hills.

And oh how I love to run. I should probably just call it jogging. I enjoy a mellow 11-minute mile. On Wednesday I ran for almost 2 hours on the trails, just because it was so beautiful. I had my water and my gels and I stopped to walk every 10 minutes, for 1 minute, to take them in when I needed them. I would have kept going if my left quad wasn't complaining. I do love to run. I don't like running fast. It makes me panicky. And my fast isn't even fast anyway!

I may continue to "race" the Half Marathon distance. It takes long enough that I don't bother killing myself and I really enjoyed last year's Boulder Backroads. And I will do the CF Ride each year in support and also because it's a mellow ride (I will stick with the short distance to avoid Old Stage!) I also hope to continue riding on the weekend with my riding partner, because we have such a great time together, especially at the Starbucks pit stops. :-)

So, I have committed to two more triathlons this season: the Boulder Peak (Olympic) and the Outdoor Divas (Sprint). I will do them because I put money down on them, but I don't think I'll do any more. I just want to enjoy myself. Isn't that what it's about? I'm not competitive enough or determined enough or whatever character trait it is that gets people to constantly strive to improve themselves. I just want to be out there, outside, taking it all in and loving it.

hellooooo.....

Sorry for the long absence, but I wanted my CF plea post to remain up for as long as possible (i.e., until my mother demanded an update! :-)

It's still a month away, so if you can, please donate to our team. I'll be doing the bike ride in September too, so if the time isn't right, I'll be sure to beg you in the Fall as well. :-)

Training has been going well. I fully admit that I was a complete, yet very happy, slug this winter. I was sick a LOT and when I wasn't sick I was cooking. While I did run, swim and do spin classes, it wasn't with any regularity and I was worried I'd really be suffering when these first few weeks of training kicked in. But I've been fine. And I am so shocked by how fine I am that I can only wonder if it's the iron.

Last year, if you recall, my friend Wendy encouraged me to have my ferritin levels tested. Being vegetarian, it was possible that low ferritin levels were contributing to my utter and complete exhaustion after a long workout. Sure enough, they were ridiculously low. I had one IV (very painful - don't plan to do that again) and began adding meat back into my diet. I laid off the meat in the winter, since I wasn't training, but re-introduced it in April. Now I bake a (Whole Foods! happy chicken!) fryer once a week and eat chicken with vegetables for lunch. I also make chicken soup from the carcass (Rosa showed me a delicious simple chicken soup recipe that I've been using) and enjoy that for snacks. Once a week I treat myself to a LarkBurger, which is Angus Beef and makes me both incredibly happy and incredibly guilty. I may bump the red meat to twice a week in June. I've had no problem completing workouts. I've not needed a 4+ hour nap after a long workout. I have enough energy to stay up til 10 or 11 at night (I was hitting the hay with the kids last year.) I am so happy!

I rejoined the TriBabes last week (to encourage myself to stay true to the schedule and not skip things.) So far, so good. I feel like my biking is a little weaker than last year, as I have more trouble on the hills, but that might be due to lack of spin classes (the spin classes at FAC are at 6am - maybe when we're in Boulder I can make them.) My swim is as it was and my running seems slower yet easier. Not sure what's up with that but I'm sure Andie's killer track workouts will help, anyway. My first 5K of the year was a dismal 32:50, which leaves plenty of room for improvement! (It was windy. And cold. And at night. And it was my first one of the year. Oh, who am I kidding - I need those track workouts!)

Here is the basic schedule:

Mon: recovery day
Tue: swim/track
Wed:bike
Thu: swim/run
Fri: off or bike/swim
Sat: long run
Sun: Brick

(Saturday and Sunday workouts may flip around. In June, Sylvie and I want to start riding with the group, but at this point don't feel quite up to it.)

We've made great strides ourselves, doing a lovely loop around my neck of the woods. I'm going to try Old Stage this Wednesday and see how that looks. We start swimming in the Rez after Memorial Day (brrr...) and I have to remember to sign up to volunteer at the Summer Open. Watching Wendy complete that last year is what motivated me to sign up. It will be fun to watch again this year and help out. (There is NO WAY I would race this early. Brr!!!)

In kid news, Ted's play is this Wednesday night and we are all very excited about it. He is very in to the Diary of a Wimpy Kid series right now and I love-love-love that I have to yell at him nearly every single night to stop reading and go to bed! It's the best. :-)

Sam loves OT and wears his glasses like a champ, when he remembers them. Yesterday he had a little tummy bug but didn't tell us because he wanted to go to Sunday School. He loves Sunday School so much - it is so sweet. Heather was going to bring my kids home and ended up taking them with her, after picking up their bikes, and Sam and Eliot had a great time together, biking from Heather's to the ice cream store and then doing laps around the park. As babies, they spent nearly every day together, so it is very sweet to see them reconnect.

Speaking of bikes, Mae is ready for the next size up. She was whipping around the park yesterday on Sam's bike like a pro. She is also an amazing pumper and can go for a loooong time on the swing. I am very curious to see how it all plays out for her - whether she'll be the athlete or the scholar - the artist or the actor - etc. She is getting ready to give up her bedroom for our beloved babysitter/good friend Heather for May & June. She'll room with the boys - she is so excited about that! She's signed up for summer camp with her little friend Zoey at the YMCA in Boulder and I think they are starting preparations for Graduation at preschool. She is very excited and ready to be in Kindergarten. While it will be a rough transition for her, I think she'll love "being one of the big kids." As of now, I plan to keep her in half day as I've done with Sam. Sam loves school but also loves our one-on-one time together when I pick him up at 12:15. Mae already talks about her mommy day (no school on Fridays for K's) so I think I can handle one more year of half days. Everyone in one school - priceless!!!

All 3 kids are doing TKD and seemingly having lots of fun. I'll have to get a picture of them with their doboks on.

Well, that is our update. We are loving spring and hoping the house sells soon - showings continue so we are just cleaning and hoping - hoping and cleaning... :-)

Moving on to more intensity

No, not the house (for once) but triathlon training. I've had a lovely winter, leisurely running when and if I chose, without any real effort - just enjoying myself. Today was a bright sunny day, and much warmer than usual. It jump started me a bit and I'm moving on to a more intense routine, though still not the craziness that ensues in early summer. Here's my plan:

Monday: 30-60min swim (on my own)
Tuesday: 40min run - 60min swim class (Anna at Flatiron)
Wednesday: 60min spin class (6am at Flatirons - oy)
Thursday: 40 min run
Friday: off or 30-60min swim (on my own)
Saturday: 60min spin class (8am - hooray!)
Sunday: 60+ min long run

I had a great run today and (*yawn*) already signed up for the 6am spin class tomorrow. So I guess I'm committed. Here's to late Feb- early March for getting more tuned up for the season!

Another fun thing I planned out today were my races. My "A" race this year is the Boulder Peak Tri, which is an Olympic distance (1.5K swim, 42K bike, 10K run). According to the powers that be, I should have a B and a C race this season, 4 and 8 weeks previous to the A race. My B race, 4 weeks out, is a tough call because there isn't much going on that particular weekend, so I think I will do a mock tri on the weekend of June 13. We did this twice last summer with good success, plus we did it on the course of the race, which helped a lot on race day. The C race, 8 weeks out, could be in Fort Collins, on May 16. I've never done an indoor swim race before - should be interesting. I'm waiting to hear if my friend Tawnya will do it too - if so I'm in!

After my exciting A race, I can chill til Sept. 19, the Boulder Half Marathon, which I really enjoyed last year and the CF Ride, Sept. 11 (45 miles this year!). I plan to volunteer at the Outdoor Divas Sprint Tri on Aug. 22 (my good deed of the season) and perhaps at the Summer Open on May 23 (brr!). All in all, I am glad to be readying myself for another season. (Yes, too many Girl Scout cookies may have helped me with my decision!)

Back into the swing

With the kids back in school yesterday, I mapped out my schedule for the semester too. Lots to do. Workouts, homemade meals, laundry, cleaning the house in preparation for listing it (someday soon! I hope!), subbing at Horizons and all the schlepping! Oh, it will be lovely next year when all 3 kiddos are at the same school at the same times.

So, back to my pre-holiday Winter Maintenance program. It's really just my normal program but with reduced mileage/times. It will start getting intense in May. Til then, I can chill. Mondays, Wednesdays & Saturdays I spin. There is a great spin class at FAC on Saturday mornings that I love. I scored a $20 spin bike yesterday at the consignment store and spun for 40 minutes today, to the Season 8 Biggest Loser Finale. I know the streets are dry, but I'm chicken and won't ride alone yet.

Tuesdays, Thursdays & Sundays I run. Tue/Thu are easier short runs where I work on pacing while Sunday is just long and slow. I love long runs. I'll only go for an hour for a few months, til the program ramps up in the spring.

Swimming is tough. There are 2 great classes at FAC on Tue/Thu evenings. It's just very difficult to make them with Ted's TKD schedule. There is also a Thu am swim class with Andie, but that is too late since I have to get the kids to school. So I'm in a quandary. Til I figure it out, I swim 30 minutes on Tues/Thu after my run. It's boring but it works. I'm just not ready for Masters yet, or at least not at FAC. I might watch one in the early spring and see if I can survive in the slow lane.

Anyway, that's the schedule and it should work well. I'm looking forward to this season. Last year I was so scared of the very idea of a triathlon that I spooked myself a lot. But this year I know what's in store and I know that I enjoy it!

Now, how about some more pumpkin pie? :-)

*Update* Paul wanted me to add that we have been doing Jillian's 30 Day Shred since late December. I'm not sure but I'd guess we're somewhere into Week 3. I have some great definition in my arms and am enjoying the challenge of following Nat as best I can. So I guess I can tack on those 20 minutes of insanity to my daily exercise log. Yes, definitely more pie.

food, training & knitting!

I took my first knitting class on Wednesday. It was really fun. I made a little square. My homework is to finish it into a scarf. I am having a hard time making it loose enough yet tight enough so that it doesn't slip off the needles (size 11). All in all, I love it. I can't wait for the 4 week class that starts up next month.

In food news, I am a recipe follower. I do not deviate. To that end, I have 4 sets of measuring spoons. Today, with copious CSA veggies in the fridge waiting to be used up, and a hungry tummy, I set to work - creating lunch. I have done stir frys and egg scrambles, my only forays into recipe-free cooking. So, I decided to make a veggie bake, with an egg base. I sliced up some zucchini, onion, eggplant (from the CSA) and layered them into a square pyrex. I poured 3 whisked eggs over top and then a thick layer of Parmesan cheese, then topped that with sliced cherry tomatoes (from our garden) and some salt and pepper. It baked for 30 minutes at 350 and is delicious! Hooray hooray! I served it over a hodgepodge of leftover rice and quinoa and am so proud of my efforts.

Today's CSA pickup included potatoes!!! I'm so excited for our first Aloo Gobi of the season. I'm also going to do a Bengan Bharta with the scruptious eggplant.

And, my "off season" maintenance program is shaping up over at Flatirons Athletic Club. My swim class (Intro to Swim Training) meets on Tuesday and Thursday nights; I'll also run Tue/Thu mornings. I'll take the 9am Wednesday and 8am Saturday spin classes (unless the weather is good and then I'll bike outside.) Monday and Friday will be rest days; Sunday will be a long run. Hooray hooray! I love routine and structure.

P.S. I found a pic from the Half Marathon!

phew!

Because it will probably be another year before my next tri, I thought I'd do the play-by-play version. Short story: hard but fun!
We all got up at 5am. I had packed the car up before so we were on our way by 5:45 (yes, the whole family came - isn't that sweet? Not required from now on, but sweet for the 1st time.) Got to the rez around 6:30 and set up our transition area. I was right next to Namino and Sylvie, which made for nice pre-race chatting. We headed to the water around 7:30 and did some swimming in the warm up area. It was great in the water but breezy and cool on shore. The water was a little choppy, but no one swam over me and I didn't get kicked in the face, so I think it was a wonderful swim! I did it in 18:35, which is about 2 minutes faster than I've done it before. Woot! I was a bit disoriented getting out of the water and had to be directed to the correct side of the transition area, but I did run out of the water and to my bike, rather than walk - which felt cool. My transition was really slow, but I got to the bike section eventually and it was a good ride. My pelvic area fell asleep completely without bike shorts on, but no pain, so that was good! My right hand also fell asleep, which made shifting impossible on the last lap but otherwise, I'd say I picked off at least 30 people, which feels so good, especially when they're in their 20's!
The run felt the best but was surprisingly slow (29:55). It took about a mile to get into a non-gasping state, but then it felt soooo good and relaxing. It was also a special treat to see Missy handing out the water and Wendy at the turn-around point. After running it in and seeing my peeps, I went back out on the course to run Sylvie in. That was really fun - she did great too! Then we enjoyed the post-race expo and the kids got some yummy Wahoo's, yogurt and ice cream.
We had to really rush once we got going since I had choir rehearsal in Denver at 1! I showered quickly and got there just in time. I came home and tried to collapse, but Sam lost his first tooth! So we had to ooh and ahh over that. Tomorrow is Sam and Mae's 1st day of school and they want zucchini bread for breakfast, so one last chore before I can rest.
Summary: I think the sprint is a good distance for me. While I could have run longer, I can't imagine doing much more than 1:30 as a total. I was so tired! But it was very fun and I do love the training, so I'll stick with it. I don't think I'm one of those who is going to rush right in and sign up for the rest of the season though. I'm done! I'll take a rest tomorrow and then Saturday is the CF Ride. The 1/2 Marathon is coming up on Sept. 20 and then we'll head into Winter Maintenance. I plan to take the winter to heal my rotater cuff and improve my speed in the swim!
All in all, a GREAT experience.

As ready as I'll ever be, I suppose

WOW the nerves are shot! This morning Mae and I joined Sylvie and her daughters for a trial swim at Union. It was fine. I had some nervous breathing issues, which I hadn't had since my first try at the rez back in July. Weird. The kids had a blast playing in the water and sand - we could hardly drag them out of there. Tonight I pumped up my tires (go me!) and got everything all ready. I am excited, nervous and (TMI) just started my period. N-i-c-e.

Ted's Tri

Feeling tired

Well, it had to come eventually. This week, I am not particularly motivated to train. Monday I did a 12 mile bike ride, nice and easy. This morning I ran and tonight I did my swim class. Tomorrow I'll do my 6am spin class. And Thursday morning I'll swim with the group (hopefully at the Rez) and run in the afternoon. Friday I plan to do the 5:30am spin class before heading to Chicago for the weekend - where Rosa and I plan to visit her health club on Saturday. And I'm just not all that psyched about any of it. All I want to do is sleep. Sleep late, nap, doze, go to bed early ... being horizontal is the key. And it's not that I'm particularly tired, btw, just lazy. Interesting. Someone said that it's 20% training and 80% mental, this training/racing thing (not that I'm in it for the racing anyway, so it's mostly just the training part - getting through it.) On good mental days I am PUMPED that I am doing this (and thanking Wendy every day for introducing the concept to me!) but on lesser days, I'm tired before I start, mentally, and have to really kick myself HARD to do the workout. I guess this is normal, but it sure is annoying. I much prefer remaining pumped at all times. Ah well. *yawn*

home safe

My boys are back! Everyone had a BLAST camping. No one remembered syrup or flashlights and the camera battery died after one picture, but everyone was filthy, tired and happy when they returned today. I'm so glad they weren't snowed or rained out this time! Here's the one pic - Sam digging for dinosaur bones.

This morning we went to Lakeshore and I ran the Bolder Boulder ... on the treadmill. B-O-R-I-N-G! Luckily I had my music with me. The course was very good - it knew all the hills and everything. I do NOT like running on a treadmill but it was better than nothing. Mae played happily with Elise (our neighbor) at daycare. Then we took Ole back to the dog park where he played even more enthusiastically than yesterday. Mae OFFICIALLY is off training wheels - she rocked today. I will try and get some video tomorrow. She played in the little water park too. I took a nap (ahhhh...) while she watched (the very same) Kipper and then we did a quick grocery store trip for the week and came home to chill before the boys got home. It's great to have them home. Next week: the last week of summer camp for all three! And my 8th grade reunion over the weekend, so a short week for me. Fun!

a good saturday

The boys are safely camping and Mae and I had a great day today. Heather arrived at 6am so I could drive to Denver to do my brick with Sylvie. We biked 21 miles and ran for 30 minutes. I am abnormally sore afterwards (I haven't had any soreness after bricks) but she was going at a pretty good clip on the run, so that may have been it. It was cool and gorgeous this morning. I came home and walked Ole since Heather and Mae were not at home. They returned and I put Kipper on for Mae while I took a nap. She was especially kind and let me sleep for 1.5 hours. After Kipper, she got herself a cheesestick, some goldfish crackers and a fruit leather and got her water bottle out of her backpack. Then she colored up a storm in her My Little Pony coloring book. It was a delicious, lazy nap. Then I did some much needed cleaning (I had lost the kitchen entirely but I found it again - whew!) while Mae played with the hose in the backyard. She washed her dishes, gave the dump trucks car washes and watered the garden and trees. She had a BLAST out there. Then we took Ole to the dog park in Louisville (he swam a ton - loved having the ball tossed out into the water) and then Mae played in the little water park area in the kid park. When it started thundering, we took off for home. We watched the Mae & Ellen in China 50 minute video that we unearthed in the basement last week. It is soooo precious. MAN she was adorable as a baby! Cutie pie. She was yawning by 5:30 so I put her to bed at 6 and she was OUT in 5 minutes. I finished up the last of the decluttering and tidying and plugged in to the laptop. Ahhh.
In the morning we'll head over to Lakeshore so I can do my long run and then we plan to return to the dog/kid park. This time I'll bring my camera!

whew

The boys are off to Veedavoo (sp?) to camp with friends while Mae and I hold down the fort here. I had planned to go on this one with them (it is car camping, after all) but after a week on vacation, I am still feeling behind on my training. After we saw the boys off, Mae and I went to Lakeshore where she happily (!) went to daycare while I swam (1000 meters, but I had to rest almost every 50. I know my coach would tell me NOT to rest. Oy.) Then we had dinner at Noodles (where else?!), DQ and a quick romp in the dinos (that girl can climb! what a monkey.) She, of course, put up a major fit about going to bed, but passed out in 5 minutes .. ahhh. I went through the boys' room eliminating paper clutter and books we don't read. Tomorrow I'll attack Mae's room and the linen closet. I found some of Mae's bday presents today - she is going to love the doll crib. I can't believe she's almost 4. I mean, in some ways I can't believe she's NOT already 4 since she acts so mature, but the Pre-K piece is still a shock to me. This is her last year of preschool ... I guess it goes by more quickly when it only takes 2.5 years (she started Caterpillars in January.) Nuts!
Tomorrow my sitter comes at 6am so I can do a brick with Sylvie. I think we'll do some cleaning in the afternoon and maybe dinner at the pool tomorrow night. The basement is being worked on so I'm very encouraged by the forward motion! Hopefully we can list the house as soon as it's finished. Happy weekend, all!
Mom, this pic is actually from China in '06. Happy memories of that day, our first tour day.

bloodwork

My bloodwork came back with a ferritin level of 18 and low Vitamin D, so this morning I had an iron IV and picked up some supplements. It wasn't that fun and I am soooo groggy from the Benedryl they gave me, but all in all, a quick and easy way to get the iron (it would take up to a year of serious supplementation to get the same amount as from one IV.) *yawn* There is track practice tonight but I am going to my swim class. I've decided that I need to devote 3-4 days per week to my swimming or it's going to be a problem. Time is running out and I need to get the mileage in SOON!
I also had a Vitamin B-12 shot last week, since I was in the throes of my cold. It worked like a charm! Less than 12 hours later and I felt great. I think I'm hooked! I'm also going to bump Ted's VitB and see if he can kick the sniffles he's acquired.

one week back and getting into the swing again

Our vacation was fantastic. Although we missed our flight out and had to return the next day, it was an easy flight and a fun 2 days in Cinci. Then we all drove out to Indiana to spend the week at Patoka Lake. We hung out on the party barge, were treated to delicious dinners, and had smores almost every night. The kids got to fish, swim, game with their cousins and spend time with their aunts and uncles. I had a minor breakthrough with swimming. On day 2 on the boat, we came to a nice swimming spot that had an island about 400 meters away, or so. So I swam there and back 3 times, nice and easy, focusing on keeping my legs straight and being mellow. It was really good for me. I also got some good runs in, but no biking. So, once home, I jumped in full force and have been doing double workouts most days. These means that I am wiped at night, but I'm hoping to up my iron intake and improve my energy. Today Sylvie and I did a brick in her neck of the woods, up to Golden and back from Denver. It was lovely, and it stayed nice and cool for us. The run went well too. Thursday's swim at the Rez was disappointing. I had hoped to do the full 1000 meters, as slowly as it took, but I got some ear pain after the 1st bouey and only made it to the 2nd before turning around. I still got about 600 meters in, but it was a bummer. Tomorrow is the long run (I'm going to do a 7mile run I used to do with the marathon group - haven't run it in years so I'm looking forward to it) and I plan to get in some pool time in the afternoon to try to crank out 1000 meters to PROVE to myself that I can do it! Tuesday's track workout was INTENSE. It was about 95 degrees and we were doing 1200s. Oy! I felt like puking the entire time, but I did it and that's what matters I suppose. I do think the track workouts are helping me run a touch faster than my normal slog, so that's good. All in all, an intense week (Wednesday and Friday I biked on my own) but a very motivating one. It was nice to have that break; it refreshed me enough to give me a breath of fresh air.
We took some pics (on moeltini) from our vacation, but we mostly just enjoyed each other and forgot to even get the camera out.
Today we spent the day emptying the basement into the garage. We thought it would be a two day ordeal, but it took just under four hours and we have a lot less stuff than I thought we did - always a pleasant surprise! They start on the foundation tomorrow, so it's the hot laundromat for me til this is over. Oy!

Fun with G'ma & G'pa

We had such a nice visit. Sam warmed up by the time we got home from the train station and Mae, who knows they adore her, was fine from the get-go. Ted showed his typical affection for my mom (his hugs are multi-million dollar ones! Wish I got those hugs!) and they thrilled the kiddos with books that they loved. I think Sam's pop-up Peter Pan book was the biggest hit. The kids LOVE "big kid" pop-up books! I hope they had as much fun as we did and didn't get too tired schlepping around all day long. Can't wait to see you again in August!

Ted started 2 weeks of camp at HHS and is loving it. Mondays and Wednesdays they have camp at the temple, doing crafts, games, water play, stories etc. Fridays they bake challah for the oldsters at the nearby retirement community and take it over and sing with them (so cute!). Tuesdays and Thursdays are field trip days, on the RTD. Today they went swimming and Thursday they are going miniature golfing. Seth, Jaron, Bennet, Corbin & Max are there, so Ted is happy as a clam. What a sweet camp.

I've had a good week of training so far, but am perplexed as to the fatigue. I took Monday off and today I ran my 50 minutes in the am and did my 5:30 skills n drills swim class. I actually feel better tonight than I did most of the day. I am going to try and improve my diet, more protein and veggies and less carbs and fruits, and see if that help with the energy level. Tomorrow is spin class and Thursday morning we are supposed to do an open water swim workout. Yikes! That will be good for me. Then I'll have to squeeze in a run at night, which will be challenging because the kids have swim lessons til 5:15 and then we have the farm pickup. I might run Friday morning instead and fit the bike in later that day. All in all, week 4 is going well. I still am doubtful that I'll be able to do the distance in the swim (tonight's set of 4x100s at the end of class nearly killed me) but I'll keep at it. I bought flipper booties and that made a huge difference for my poor scabby heels and toes-hooray!