Tournament

Ted, Mae and I had a TKD adventure this weekend. We drove to Littleton Friday afternoon for some black-belt only competition, and to watch our instructors mid-term. Then we spent the night at a hotel, with the fun swimming, breakfast and TV that my children l.o.v.e.

Saturday Mae competed as a Tiny Tiger while Ted helped out by time-keeping in the rings. We got lunch around 2pm and Ted's ring finally got going around 3:30. Of course, as luck would have it, MY ring was staged while Ted's was on deck.

That was stressful, but the worst was that my ring actually got going right when Ted had won one round of sparring and was about to do another round! He eventually took 3rd place in Sparring, which, with three State Champions in his ring, was quite a feat.

I was bummed to miss his second round, but had fun competing myself. I did my form as best as I could, but didn't place. I did get 3rd in Sparring (ha!) but there were only four of us sparring (out of the seven in the ring) so it's not quite as impressive as Ted's win. I did see that none of the ladies competed in Weapons, so I might as well do that next time! Automatic first place!

All in all, a great experience. This was Mae's second tournament and she did great. Ted is completely jazzed now and wants to compete at Fall Nationals in Orlando, FL. Not sure I can pull that off, but we're going to try. There are three more regional tournaments, and the four medals link together to make the Songham Star. Very cool.

The school's (new) main instructor, Mr. O, wants Ted to start schlepping to Fort Collins on Saturdays. There are three classes he can do, with other black belts his age. He could do a Black Belt class, an XMA class, and a Sparring class. He is very excited about that, though a little nervous too.

His dear friend Pete lives in Fort Collins, so perhaps we can tie a visit with Pete into the day. We're thinking to go twice a month, although if he actually is going to get really serious (you just never know - tournaments get Ted very excited) we may go more often.

Mae's soccer season starts up next week! Saturdays are going to be divide and conquer days! Bring it!

weekending

I'm not sure which of my favorite inspirational bloggers first coined this phrase (it may have been the lovely Soulemama) but I love the sound of it. Weekending has taken on a life of its own during this height of marathon training.

Friday night there must be pasta - there must! We don't eat much pasta; we are more rice and quinoa folk. But you can't beat pasta for the pre-run meal, so pasta it is! Getting to bed at a reasonable hour and wine-free are also key (thought not essential!)

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Saturday the alarm is set for 6am (it will move to 5:30 on the epic 20 miler). I usually wake just before 6 and avoid having to startle post-soccer Paul from his well-deserved slumber. I pack up my make-shift rest stop into the trunk of the mini-van and head to the trail.

Bobolink, or South Boulder Creek Trail, whichever you call it, has been my haven. It is so beautiful and so peaceful, and full of runners (which can be very annoying, or entertaining, depending on what loop of the run I am on). One loop and it's back to the car for a fill-up, re-sunscreen and iPod. Second lap and the bliss of stopping. finally. And stretching. Ahhh....

Home to shower off the grime, then soak the sore muscles. A green smoothie and a rest (not a nap!) on the couch for an hour and then the day goes on. There are errands to run, birthday parties to attend, dogs to be walked ... etc.

Sunday the alarm again is ready for 6am. This bike ride with Sylvie (or a spin class at the gym if she's traveling) really helps work the soreness from my legs and I always feel great after the ride. Another shower and perhaps a lie-down, and the preparation for the week ahead begins. Dinners are planned, laundry is tamed, lunches are pre-made, and schedules are coordinated.

And then the work week starts. For me, the work week means shorter runs, lots of yoga and some down time. To read. To write. To rest. I am so blessed and happy in this life I have been given.

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Besides being the first day of school, last Monday was also the first day of an e-course I'm taking, entitled "30 Day Vegan." Heather of beauty that moves offers an incredible workshop chock-ful of recipes, motivational posts, organization, tutorials, and breathtaking photography.

I have so enjoyed this week of preparing and enjoying our delicious vegan food. We've been vegan before but so missed the cheese. So far, with Cashew Nut Cream, I'm not missing the dairy! Most astonishing to me is my lack of cravings. My body feels fine-tuned, clean and healthy.

All in all, weekending has been a pleasure lately. How about your weekends?

Announcement!

Well. I finally did it. I registered for my first marathon. It's on Sunday, October 9th. It's the day after Yom Kippur so I figure I'll fly in to Chicago Saturday afternoon, after the first 3 services (skipping the Afternoon Service for the first time in 3 years!) and fly out again on Monday morning, or late Sunday night. I am so excited. I've trained for a marathon before, in 2001, and got injured in the 17th mile of a 20 mile run. I was so mad, except that the morning of the marathon, it snowed. We had trained all through the hot summer, so snow was NOT what anyone expected. I handed out hot chocolate to the runners and was thoroughly glad to have an excuse not to run. I learned a lot from the injury. I was fitted for orthotics and have worn them faithfully ever since. I've learned what running shoes work for me (Saucany Grid Stabil) and that I prefer running skirts with shorts sewn in to prevent chafing. I know how to walk one minute out of every 10 and how to fuel with GUs and Gaterade. I think I'm in a much better place now than I was then. I also have 2 (and it will be 3 by October) Half Marathons under my belt, which I've really enjoyed. I am really looking forward to the training and can't wait to get out there and increase my mileage. Of course, on my first long run day, I woke up sick. Figures. I'm going to stay with Rosa (whose husband is running it too!) and I hope my parents can come out to cheer me on - and maybe we can all get some food afterwards too! That is a big memory of long runs - crazy hunger. In the meantime, I'm planning to gradually build up my weekly mileage til I hit the ground running (ha) with good old Hal Higdon's Marathon Training Program. Cross training will be easy in the summer, since I'll need to swim in the Rez on Tuesdays and I can also bike to yoga. Super excited! Here's the race plan leading up to the marathon; I've only put money down on the marathon and the IronGirl Tri, and I know I'll do the Boulder Half, so the rest are in the maybe category:

April 12 Dash 'n Dine 5K

May 30 Bolder Boulder 10K

June 9 Uni Hill 2K

July 21 West End 3K

August 11 Pearl Street Mile

August 20 IronGirl Tri

September 5 Boulder Backroads Half Marathon

October 9 Chicago Marathon

We may be in Moab for Memorial Day (I hope so!) but if not, I'll run the Bolder Boulder. I do like that race. Last year we were moving on Memorial Day!

I can't wait til I feel better! I am itching to run a 10-miler, which I haven't done since October.

Goals for 2011

I spent some time on SimpleMom.net, a favorite site of mine, before the new year, but never got around to posting my goals for 2011. Two of them are going to be true challenges. Can you guess which two?

1. Parent with love and intent.
2. Take time for Yoga and Running.
3. Be productive! Get the household chores done while the kids are at school.
4. Maintain the Mediterranean diet!
5. Schedule Date Night once a month.
6. Keep to the budget.
   

Answer: Numbers 1 & 5 will be the toughest, I expect. Interesting that those two are the two that require interaction with the people I love most in the world. It is far easier to work alone. Perhaps that is why schools do all that group work these days, to better equip the younger generation to work together.

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!

6 months

My 2 week intro was up at yoga today, so I signed up for a 6month package, while canceling the gym. I figure the weather will hold so I can bike outside, and I can do drop-ins with Anna when I want to swim. We'll see in February if I want to continue with this practice or re-join the gym, which might be good winter tri prep at that point. I am really in love with this yoga. My arms are getting ripped, my flexibility is increasing daily, and now I realized I can bike there. Between long runs and yoga, I think I can take the end of the year to trim my waistline and get back in shape from the winter of Pioneer Woman. *ahem* It will be tough to get there in August, but once the kids are back in school it will be easy. Luckily Paul is willing to take them over the lunch hour so I can get to class in August. Wow - yoga - who would have thought... Paul and I took yoga while I was at CU but it's been years. I really like it and I really really like what it's doing for my arms. Now, if it would just get rid of my tummy too...

busy busy

Excuse the stock photo, but my rear isn't nearly as attractive. *Ahem.*

Besides training (or not training, but that's another post), my other focus this week has been building and organizing. LOTS of building apparently. I found Sam a sweet simple desk at Tar-jay and darned if I didn't put it together. It's not as smooth as it should be, so I hope Paul can work on it a bit when he comes home, but I was pretty darned proud of myself! I even have the blisters on my hands to prove it (the directions explicitly showed a picture of an electric screwdriver with a big red X over it. *sigh*)

I also built an hysterical shoe spinner (yes, really) and re-organized the pantry closet so it now fits the cleaning supplies that were continually falling over in the bathroom. That and lots of cleaning (we haven't cleaned since we've moved in) have filled my days. Ole is enjoying his two walks a day and we're both loving the early afternoon nap.

This morning I went to Rabbi Rose's 2nd son's bris (and am thoroughly grateful that I am past the baby stage. They now have a newborn and a 2 year old. Oh, those days were hard. Beautiful and wonderful, but hard.)

Soon I'm off to dinner with Wendy (my crazy Ironman (IronWoman?) friend and an evening of catching up. And tomorrow I'll bike to the Rez and do a lap or two, then run in the early evening. Oh my. I am severely under-motivated.

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... :-)

Another fun winter race

I received 3 separate emails regarding this morning's race. All proceeds, including photos if ordered, will go directly to Haiti. I've never done this race before as it is a rather famous "elite" race for runners prepping for the cross country spring races. But I emailed my two new runner enthusiasts (is there anything more fun than brand new runners? I love the enthusiasm, the trepidation, and the glowing pride of finishing that only new runners have, before PRs come into play...) and we ran it together. Slowly. But it was a great run on a very blustery cold day with a lovely brunch afterwards (I had oatmeal - mmm - and I think I started feeling the tips of my fingers again).

Today begins what I like to call my birthday week. Today was the race and brunch. Tomorrow I'm meeting up with an old friend and going to a girl's night. Tuesday (the actual day) Paul and I will have my birthday sushi lunch and we'll pick up an ice cream cake to celebrate with the kids at night. Wednesday I'm having brunch with a friend at The Kitchen. Thursday and Friday should be free from birthday festivities, and the painting will be done, so we will be taking that time to box up anything that is left in the house that we don't need and prepping the basement to serve as "the lego room" and storage facility for things like pictures, extra large giraffes (*ahem*) and the boxes that have been packed. What a week! No subbing on the agenda this week, but I'm on for the following week, so I plan to help myself out by doing my octuple batch of GF pancakes (yes, octuple is a word - I had to check too) and a loaf of bread for the week. We have plenty of leftovers for dinners this week so I'm not even going to think about it til Thursday, which will probably be a crock pot chili, since I have beans I need to use up.

Have a wonderful week, everyone!

an e-mail vacation

Is turning off my email a vacation or a stay-cation? Hmm. For one week, beginning Monday morning, my email will be off. This means that an 'out-of-the-office' type of message will be sent to anyone who emails me. The emails will be deleted, not read. My hope is that my friends and family will call me at home or simply wait til next week to email. I feel that I am too distracted by the computer when I am at home, and I plan to be home a lot next week, prepping our house to get it on the market by Feb. 15. Much cleaning needs to happen, as well as more de-cluttering (though I'm pretty good with that) and some storage in the crawl space. I simply don't have the time to constantly be checking email, Facebook updates and my blogroll. I love these things and enjoy them immensely, but I need to focus. I think this will help.

It's a little weird - I'm so connected to everybody through the internet that I hope people won't be offended if I don't "like" their status or reply to a quiz. It's only one week, and I hope I will be refreshed and ready to sit back with my chai and catch up with the world when I return.

See you next week!

CF Ride

Wow, this week has vanished too! It was everyone's first full week of school. Ted is loving it - so enthusiastic and WAY excited for Outdoor Ed week (the 2/3 class will go to Keystone Science School for 2 nights/3 days, coming up in 2 weeks!). Sam LOVES Kindergarten and thinks it's too short and that Fridays are boring. I think he'd love enrichment, but we're keeping it at half day for this semester. He is REALLY into drawing lately and has become very prolific. Our fridge is well decorated! Mae requested to go to school every day but not do enrichment, so we switched that up for her. I think she really enjoys the Tue/Thu class because she's with her little girlfriends. On MWF she's in a class with kiddos she knows, but that aren't her "group." (This may be on purpose, but it's still a bummer.) This way, she'll be with her peeps twice a week and making new friends the other 3 days. Plus, they DO keep the doors between the classrooms open most of the time and they do play outside half the day.
I am looking forward to a good week ahead. Last week was my recoup week from the tri and it was a pleasure to chill out. I had a lovely long run on Tuesday (prepping for the 1/2 marathon on 9/20) and a great ride up Left Hand Canyon on Thursday with Wendy (not all the way to Jamestown - we turned around at Buckingham Park, but I'm going to try to go a bit further this week.) That was good prep for Saturday, which was the 29 mile CF Ride. Similar to the Walk, this is a big fundraiser for CF and it's the first year I've been able to participate. Biking was so foreign to me that I couldn't imagine doing such a thing in years past. This was a beautiful ride, full of amazing scenery, great aid stations and a gorgeous day to boot. A GREAT experience. Then this morning during Sunday School (Sam's 1st day of Sunday School!) I did an 80 minute run. I was tired but it felt fine and comfortable. Next week is 100 minutes. I'm really enjoying running longer - I've missed it!
Tuesday begins the TriBabes membership (elite athlete status - ha ha!) at Flatirons Athletic Club, so I'm going to investigate their spin classes, pre-masters swim classes and perhaps even some yoga. I'm excited.
The house is clean, groceries are in the fridge, dinners are planned for the week and lunches are made for tomorrow. I plan to do laundry tomorrow (they should be finished with the basement SOON, they say. I miss my washer/dryer). Can't ask for a better start to a fresh week.

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.

Catch Up

It has been a whirlwind of a week - bullet time!

• The weekend was great! Flew out Friday, had a restful night with Rosa & Bernhard, worked out on Saturday (B took the 1.5hr spin class with me!), ate at a wonderful cafe & gelato place (twice! love gelato!) and then we all took a delicious nap.
• The reunion was SO MUCH FUN. It was fabulous to see everyone, and SO FUNNY to read all about our "predictions," what we said, what our hobbies were etc. A seriously fantastic time. Can't wait to do it again!!!!
• Monday was back to the grind. Paul had jury duty and it ended up being an important medical marijana case that made front page news in Boulder every morning. He couldn't talk about it til it was over (today) but it made for a tense week!
• Tuesday I successfully swam the Rez for the 2nd time. I am so psyched. I am having some serious rotater cuff pain, but hopefully I can get through the tri and then do some PT off season. Whew!
  
• Wednesday was Mae's 4th birthday. We went to Build-A-Bear, where she picked a pink bear (of course) and named it Sam. Hee! I can't believe she is 4 already!!! I also had my first rehearsal for High Holy Days at Temple Sinai. Good music. Annoying commute.
• Today, Thursday, the kids and I had swim lessons and took Ole to the dog park to swim. This was a nice day, mellow and not too much fighting. We also picked up Ted's race packet for his triathlon on Saturday. He is very excited for that!

Now I'm hearing all the details of the case (poor Paul - he didn't get any sleep worrying about it. And I had no idea he was on such a major case!) and catching up with everything. Tomorrow - errands, tidying and grocery shopping!! (And Horton Hears a Who at RMTK! My voice student is Horton!)

Top pic: the group, about 2/3 of the class.
Middle pic: me, Yasmin & Rosa - the 3 Muskateers!
Bottom pic: Brian and me. One of my hobbies, apparently, was "bothering Brian." He and Rosa dated in 8th grade, so I think it was my official duty as her best friend. SO FUNNY!

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*

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.

I did it!

This morning I met Sylvie for a 12 mile ride up to Eldorado Springs and back. It was awesome. I did have my share of adventure; I threw my chain. A kindly older gentleman stopped to help us and I learned how to maneuver it, rather than force it on, which is what I'd done in the past. Note to self: don't shift to the lowest gear when already on the lowest gear on the other side. Now I know. We made it up, admired the GORGEOUS scenery and had some water (still not confident enough to grab water while riding on the road) and rode back. The last hill on Marshall Road was fine! I really like this bike. My right hand did fall asleep, so I'll mention that at my fitting next week; it just means my reach is too far. All in all, a fabulous ride that left both of us wanting to go farther. Next week we'll either start at my house or do something else. Woo hoo!

Then we ran, which was a weird experience. And we saw a snake - not a rattler, but still! It was much harder than I thought it would be, so we ran-walked it. I came home, showered and took a 2 hour nap (!), then went to my final rehearsal for the Jewish Festival tomorrow. It's been nice being alone all day, I have to admit. I love the quiet. Now, before my family gets back, I should fold some laundry. What a great day.

Day 2 of Summer Break

Can you believe it is cold and rainy? Still? What an annoying start to summer vacation. Oh well. This week begins the Tri Babes training, and also my free month at Lakeshore. Because of the weather, it's very good timing! Monday morning I ran for 45 minutes on the treadmill (conveniently, our HHS House Band set is 45 minutes) and this morning had a half hour swim lesson and then spent another half hour on what I had just been taught. Interesting stuff, this swimming business. Tonight we had a strength training session, which was mostly talk and very little strength, but the coach showed us all how to do everything and she'll mail out the drill for us to do at home a few times a week. Nothing I didn't tackle with Jillian, so I'm good there, if in desperate need of improvement nonetheless. Tomorrow is a bike ride. So, while I'd love to go out on my new road bike with the peppy Tri Babes jersey, I'll probably just wake up early again and go over to Lakeshore. I thought I could do a 30 min swim workout (if I last that long...my legs and lungs are not used to it yet) followed by a 50 min spin on one of the stationary bikes. We'll see .. it was amazingly difficult to even walk when I got out of the pool today. I felt like jello. I wanted to sit in the hot tub for a treat but I was afraid then I'd really not be able to walk!

Yesterday the kids and I swam at the inside pool at Lakeshore and Ted had TKD. Today we swam at Paul Derda with Jack and Jason and then more TKD. Ted is ON FIRE lately with the TKD. He knows his entire form (46 moves) already (testing is on the 19th and he is usually still struggling right before) and is totally confident. He's like a new kid! It all started when he went to brown belt. My parents will be out for testing, so I hope they'll want to see him. It's pretty impressive to see such a little kid doing all that. He also has been reading up a storm. I think his confidence has shot way up lately. He's very in Dr. Seuss and read Cat in the Hat and the knock-off Ten Apples Up on Top today, all the way through. Tomorrow he starts a 10 day Reading Camp at Horizons with this teacher from K/1 and three other entering 3rd graders. He is the only entering 2nd grader in that group, so that's encouraging. It's only 2.5 hours long so it should be fun. Now, what to do with the other two in the rain! I had planned to bring bikes and play on the playground. Hmph. 

It's 9:30 and I am wiped. Off to bed. Happy Hump Day! (They're fun, but summer days are loooong!) 

a high energy week!

The weather was fantastic this week. Highs in the 70's, sunny and warm. Perfect! Every day (except for Thursday, my day off), I ran for about 40 minutes with Ole, then came home and did a Shred workout. Today was cold and rainy, so I did the 45min Jillian as well as a 30min, but that 30min one was a new DVD (from Netflix, luckily) and I didn't like it. I didn't count it as a workout because there was so little explaining going on that it took more than half the time to figure out what the move was. Dumb. So, I'm sticking with Running + Shred or what I now call "the long Jillian." Sam calls it Level 99. Hee. I don't know how long this enthusiasm will last, but for now, I really am getting a kick out of "discovering" muscles in my stomach. Who knew?! I love Jillian.