Blessed

It has been a busy, busy week.  My good friend, Tara, was in visiting from Alabama.  We had such a nice time.  I have been battling this upper respiratory junk this week and she is AMAZING with our kids.  She might just let them get away with so much more than I do!

So today was the first day I felt good and we packed up the car and headed to the beach.  I went with a great friend and her three kids who are the same ages.  It was a blast!  The waves were big and none of the kids were scared.  They were just getting pummeled by them and loving every minute of it. 

and there happened to be an ton of shells...so we alternated from the ocean to the sand and back again.

 

they did not sit down once...we had to beg them to get out for lunch. 

They dug these huge holes and played for hours in the sand....they did not fight, they did not complain once, and they did not want to come HOME!

As were were there, I got to thinking how incredibly lucky our family is.  We have three kids who LOVE the water (this makes me smile), are happy and most importantly healthy.  I have great friends here....who will do crazy things like pack six kids between the two of us and head to the beach.  I am amazed at how many memories each day creates.  I love that I am able to be home with them even though there are just really tough days. 

Weekend Fun

We had our first weekend at home with no visitors for the summer...and I think it might be the only one!  We picked a bunch of vegetables from the garden and went to work!!!

Eight loaves of blueberry zucchini bread later and some vegetable chili...we were good for a while.  Somehow when I went to put the bread in the freezer, we were already missing one...hmmm

We took the kids to the pool since it has been so hot and Aly passed her deep water test.  So she hit the waterslides.  Brianna wanted to try...and bless her heart she did not want to give up!  She is close to making the length but she is only 4...and she needs a little more endurance.  Poor thing was determined she did not want to quit!

Jack...he just enjoyed having his daddy all to himself! 

I did get in to help with the swim tests...and I swam with Bri for a while after so she could practice...but other than that I have been laying low...I got hit with a nasty upper respiratory infection and it is not letting up.

Regrouping

This was from the little Sprint that I raced in Iowa...it was hot and fun...not that fun on the run but fun to have our family there!

Sometimes having no fear is great....please note the depth of the water...1 foot...Jackson thought he was in the deep end!

After Eagleman, I was not sure what my plans were going to be.  I had not scheduled much since we were not sure if we were moving....and if we were going to move, my focus needed to be on getting everyone acclimated to a new state and new places.

Fast forward...we are staying put in PA.  I had no races scheduled and had gone back and forth about what I really wanted to do the remainder of the season.  I had a couple of long and encouraging conversations with Kelly who happens to be a good friend and my mentor extrodinaire in this sport...she is great at helping me see the bigger picture and keeping me in check.  After talking with both Kelly and Jen, I decided that I am going to run this fall.  I will race a small local olympic in early August and then it is onto marathon training...WAHOO!

Trying to manage the kids at home all summer, traveling for summer trips and family visits, and entertaining guests was going to make training another long course event difficult.  I was not entirely sold on racing another half ironman even though I did not hit my goal at Eagleman.  I hopefully have a lot of years left in the sport and the time will come to hit that.    Secondly, my run is my limiter by far...so to spend the fall knowing that I am going to focus on running lit a nice little fire.

I had missed riding with others and training without such intense focus.  This choice gives me a little breathing room which I needed. I have fun plans for 2013 in the works and I want to make sure I stay healthy. 

So onward we go....ready to run, run, run!

Iowa...the rest of the trip

Gosh it is good to be home!  The kids had a great time in Iowa, visiting family and friends...but is it always nice to sleep in your own bed.  Our last days were spent on the other side of the state...visiting Ryan's grandma and his brothers family.

Honestly....I really wanted Jackson to spend the day at the farm....and we did.  He was in HEAVEN.  Tractors galore...he had such and awesome time.  He drove them and sat in them all.  This was the best!

Brianna loved the pigs...go figure!

Ryan had a great time making the kids scream while driving the gator!

Can you see who is leading the charge here?  

Fun in the midwest!

We arrived Wednesday evening after a LONG 17 hours in the car.  We powered through most of the day and made it without staying overnight which is a first.  For the most part the kids did great.  That is a long time to be in the car when you are little, especially for Jackson.  The girls were able to keep themselves more occupied but Jackson is just so little to keep entertained.  Once we hit the midwest he was enamoured with all of the tractors and trucks.

Since we got here it has been go, go, go.....the kids are loving visiting with all of the cousins and exploring all of the new places here.  We headed to Reiman Gardens yesterday morning.

Then we spent the afternoon at the pool which resulted in tired kids all around.

Summer Fun!

Summer is here....and we have been BUSY!  We returned from Eagleman to have a full house for the next week.  My boss Myse, from Fleet Feet and her family came into town.  The kids had a great time playing together.  Aly and Drew are months apart and were practically inseparable.  

We visited the Crayola Factory while they were here and had a ton of fun just playing and hanging out.  

Up next was Brianna's preschool graduation.  She did a great job and we are proud of her.

We leave on Wed for Iowa.  I am driving with the kids and we will spend a couple of weeks out there enjoying Ryan's family.  YIPEE for summer fun!

Eagleman 70.3 Race Report

I was super excited to race this past weekend at Eagleman for several reasons.  First, the venue is pretty close to our house so it made the trip really manageable.  Second, we did not take the kids...it was too long a day for them and given the predicted temps and heat it would have been a disaster for Ryan.

We stayed at a cute bed and breakfast that was really close to the race site.  We arrived Friday night and headed straight to bed.  It was glorious to wake up at 8:30 am the next morning with no one to feed, change or entertain.  We had breakfast at the inn and then we headed over to registration.

Saturday afternoon I met up with some friends who were also racing and we did a little ride of the run course and and short run.  I did not get in the water because I am SCARED TO DEATH of nettles/jellyfish/anything that is going to sting me while I swim.  I decided I would wait and fight that battle in the am.

Sun morning came too fast and I was up and out the door early.  Logistically it was easy to set things up and then we just sat around and waited.  I met up with Bethany and Kate, and we chatted to pass the time.  Soon enough my wave was called and off we went.

The swim was great.  I am pretty sure I swam so fast in fear of getting stung.  I started in the front and to the left and decided that I would swim at a slight angle towards the first buoy to avoid some of the mayhem.  It worked...I caught and hung with the lead caps in our AG and too soon the swim was over.  My goal was to swim under 30 min and it ended up being 27:40.

The bike was flat and fast...and I went too hard early on.  I think a combination of nerves, inexperience, and trying to figure out how to race in HOT HOT weather.  I picked up a couple bottles of water but in hindsight I should have slowed down and gone a little easier...I would pay for this on the run for sure.  The bike was 2:47.54 and I was hoping to go under 3 hours.

And then I got off the bike and felt like death, the heat was stifling and there is NO shade anywhere....I knew I was in trouble...I had horrible cramping and was not running.  I saw Ryan during the first mile and said I was not feeling well.  I hit the first aid station and got water and immediately got sick after drinking.  So I walked, ran, and puked the first six miles.  Finally, around mile 5 I had pepsi and that was a lifesaver...immediately I felt better.  A different person.... as I hit the turn around....I started to run...I ran back.  It was not the run that I hoped for by any means but I have never raced in the heat and there were a lot of things that I learned from this.  I was hoping to run under 2 hours but came in at 2:20..

Overall, it was a PR by over 10 minutes so that was great!

Summer FUN!

When it gets hot....we can just pretend we have a pool at home!  We have had a mini heat wave here and the kids are ready for summer swimming.

So in the end we got a proper little pool which they think they can jump into like it is 5 ft deep.

and there is the face of TROUBLE.

Missing Daddy

It is no secret in our family that Ryan is the fun parent.  He buys the ice cream, cereal and all the fun stuff.  This weekend we were supposed to travel to CT but for a variety of reasons, I ended up staying home in PA with the kids.  They are missing daddy.....big time.

There was no weekly trip to Target today to get slushies...that probably tops the list.  I mowed the lawn with Jackson and he kept reminding me that I was driving Daddys tractor.  Thank goodness he arrives home tonight and there will be two sugar filled days with him.

Tonight we made black bean salsa for dinner with some stuff from our garden....Aly had a great time putting it all together!

Jackson Chronicles

There is never a dull moment with this one...for sure.  He routinely picks Aly up from the bus stop in his tractor.  She is all about riding in style.  

So the terrible twos have hit and not only is Jackson obsessed with all things moving.  He is also quite into vaseline.  Twice he has found where I have hidden it and rubbed almost an entire container all over himself.  This morning in Walgreens - he beelined to the vaseline.

Last week I was putting away laundry and I left him playing the in playroom.  Soon after, I heard this banging sound.  I looked over the foyer balcony and the floor was all shiny and he was sitting in the middle.  He tried to get up and immediately fell down.  Apparently, he got a container of dish soap and squirted it all over the foyer floor!  One soapy mess.

He is also really into garbage men.  Immediately when they come into the yard..he runs outside to check it out.

Preschool FUN!

This Spring, we enrolled Brianna in the North Penn Preschool Program.  I will fully admit it was not my first choice and for a while I was not sure how long we would last.  The program begins at 7:45 am and our kids are NEVER really up and moving by then.  So it meant a large adjustment and the hours were not really conducive to getting things done.

But alas, a couple of girlfriends who have kids kept raving about the program and so we went with the 

majority and started it.  It was AWESOME.  It is at the high school and it cost $35.00 for the entire semester.  The best thing was she was there for four high school periods and each period she had two buddies.  

She loved the attention and she came home with the best projects.  This week they had their little graduation fair.  Each high school student - there are 80, had to make a game or craft the kids could play or do.  We spent almost 2 hours going through all the activities.

Here are some pics.

Tomorrow she gets to say goodbye to her buddies..she is so sad that it is over!

Patience

I could write a dissertation on developing patience in parenting...I have had six years of practice and the last two years have been the most challenging...thanks Jackson!

Instead, I will tell you about how I am learning to be patient with the sport of triathlon.  I only started racing and seriously training for triathlons a little over a year ago.  There is so much I still have not figured out.  On Saturday, I spent a good hour in the grass in our yard practicing getting on the bike while my shoes were still clipped.

Needless to say, when I raced Sunday...I did not start with my shoes on my bike....


Patience


After my little sprint three weeks ago, I was discouraged....it was not the race I thought I was capable of and indeed I was slower than last year.  At the time, I felt like it was an indication of where I was and that was unsettling.  What I did not take into account, was that all three of our children were super sick the week before.  On Thursday of that week we were talking about admitting all three of them for dehydration.  It was scary and exhausting.  I was worried about them and there was little sleep that week.   By Saturday, they had turned the corner and I was determined to race on Sunday.

I did not take these factors into account after the race, I just looked at the results.  Jen said something that is 100% true....you cannot out run stress or lack of sleep...it will get you every time.

Patience


So Sunday it was time....I raced the Upper Dublin Sprint Tri.  A great little race that Fleet Feet helped with.  We rode the course before with several new triathletes.  Our little tri club had a bunch of people racing for the first time.  It was a pool swim, 2 loop bike course and a 5k.  I slept 11 hours the night before the race.

On Sunday morning, I met up with our little group and my boss Annmarie...she asked if I was nervous and honestly I was not.  One of the most helpful things I have learned from Jen, is to develop a plan prior to the race and then just do the job on race day, do not think....just do the plan.  I have been working hard at doing this in my workouts for Eagleman.

We were off quickly....the pool swim was great since it was a 10 lane pool....we swam up a lane and back another so there was little confusion.  Out of the water and on the bike...swim was about 5:3x..

The bike starts downhill and then you wind through Upper Dublin.  The nice thing about being a stronger swimmer was the first loop of the bike was empty...the second time was a little more crowded but soon we were done.  My goal was to avg 20 mph on the bike.  My garmin had me at 19.8 but the results show 21.2.

The run....when it started I had a cramp in my side and I felt sick....I just kept repeating...3 miles...all it is is 3 miles...get to the turnaround.....I had two males pass me on the bike....but no females.  I wanted to place in the overall women but with a TT start you have no idea how it is all going to play out.   After the first mile, I did start to feel better and then you hit the turnaround loop.  The course was a little hilly but there was shade and since it was so early it was not that hot.  Each mile I ran was faster and then I before I knew it I was done!

Ryan brought the kids....there was tons of Fleet Feet people, and we were able to just have fun after the race.  When they posted the results, I was second overall..mission accomplished.  I raced from the sprint...over to work.

After work, we were checking the results and I had gotten a couple of messages via FB....Apparently the women who won...really did not finish...I am not sure what happened but they adjusted the results this am...

YES YES....this was a great day.  I WON a triathlon...never did I really expect that to happen.  I totally appreciate the fact that much of this has to do with all of the stars aligning correctly.  I had a great race and worked really hard.  Sometimes, you can work hard and there are other factors that can influence your performance.  Some you can control and others you can't.

In the end....I will have many races that do not go as planned...mistakes I learn from and lessons to help me become better.  The ones where it all comes together make it worth it 100% of the time!

In case you did not know....

There is going to be a cereal shortage.....SOON...so if you are not prepared GET OUT now and stock up....

For Mothers Day, Ryan did the grocery shopping...and this is what he brought home....general mills sent me a personalized thank you note today!

Ice cream is out...and cereal is in.....sadly this does not include the additional boxes that he bought to store at his NJ apartment for the week.  Even more amusing is I don't like cereal. I think there were over 20 boxes...the kids think he is the best dad EVER!  This morning Brianna wanted the one with the Bunny on it....

So now I know what I am serving for breakfast, lunch and dinner this week.....

Pictures!

This is how Brianna insisted on going to preschool this am...nevermind that it was not warm enough for this but she told everyone she was a ROCKSTAR....

If you missed this on FB, Jackson dumped a 50 lb bag of dog food for the dogs while I was showering!  The dogs LOVE him...

Our neighbors across the street own this tractor...imagine Jack's delight when he got to sit on it...I fear that if he was able he would be stealing it for joyrides on a regular basis.

HELLO slumber parties!  Aly is a great big sister to Jackson.

The tractor obsession seems to be contagious.

Broad Street Run

Yesterday I ran the Broad Street 10 miler in Philadelphia.  Originally, I was not going to do this but when we thought we might be moving, I decided to try to get in and check it off the bucket list.

The race was huge! and it sold out in 5 hours I think.  Ryan spent a good 1.5 hours trying to register me when it opened, they had server issues and it kept crashing...

Onto the race..the course is flat and a net downhill I think.  We got there plenty early and hung out on the bus until about 1/2 hour before the race was going to start.  The weather was perfect, there was no sun and the temps were in the 50s I think.

Since UMLY did not go so great, we decided that I would just train through the week and not rest for Broad Street.  Sun am...I was ready to race though.  The plan was to start out conservative and descend the miles.  The crowds were awesome and the corrals moved pretty quickly once the race got started.

I had heard that you could end up walking most of the first mile due to the crowds but that was not the case...once we stepped over the timing mat it was GO time...this race went by fast.  Each mile was quicker and   the entire run is really a straight shot.

The only issues we had were the last mile, the course starts to narrow significantly to get everyone into the Navy Yard...so we really had to work to keep the pace we wanted.  At the end, you come to a screeching halt...since there are so many people and not a lot of places for you to go...you literally crossed the finish line and put the brakes on!

Overall it was a great race for me...I finished in 1:23 and that was 15 min faster than my last 10 mile race!

Jackson's Birthday

What a fun fun weekend!  We celebrated Jackson's 2nd birthday on Saturday with a tractor bash!  Given his current obsession with tractors and trucks he was over the moon.

We went old school and had a pinata, tug o war and bubbles!

He put all of his new trucks to bed...

UMLY triathlon

A little season opener is always fun...right?

I raced this last year as my first real triathlon.  I was looking forward to doing the same race again.  Except when I arrived on Sunday am they had changed the bike course since there was a bridge out...so it would not be an exact comparison.

I should have known from last year that this race NEVER starts on time...in fact I think our wave was 40 minutes late....and it was the 3rd wave.

So I got in the little warm up pool and warmed up....I swam and swam and swam....and they still were not calling our wave.  So we swam some more....Finally it was time to go out...so we ran to the outdoor pool and jumped it.

Swim...7:11- slightly faster than last year but not close to what I should be swimming....

The bike course added more hills to an already hilly route.  It was full of some fun turns and a few downhills...overall I was 33:xx.

The run...this was where I thought I would do better last year and I did!  It is up up for the first 1.5 miles and then you run back.  I think it was 25:xx..which was a minute faster than last year.

Overall, my time was slower..but the bike was longer...so it is hard to compare.  I thought there were a lot of things I would do different for the next one..in terms of transition and going out a little harder.  It is hard when training for longer stuff to remember the sprint is only an hour...

Thanks Fleet Feet for the fun gear!

The Gator

First, everyone is on the mend...but it was one LONG week and stomach bug!

All the things you swear you would not do as a parent...and then you have kids....

I am not a huge fan of these battery powered cars...but I can tell you who is...Jackson.

He is obsessed with all things moving...

He turns two next week... and quite honestly as the third.. he gets really nothing new.  He is still riding the purple and pink bike that the girls first rode.  So we decided we would break down and get him a truck..

Here is where he first saw it on Sunday.

Since then, we have driven it to the bus stop, picked up the morning paper, and moved mulch around. He loves his truck!

Coming up for air....

Germ free air that is....we have been hit HARD with the stomach bug.  In the short 6 years of parenting this is by far the worst I have ever seen it. 

Jackson started on Friday night...Ryan was awesome.  I never even woke up...I was out of the house early for a long workout and when I got home mid morning, I picked up Jackson and he promptly puked on me....it was forshadowing for the days to come. 

We thought we might be clear....as no one else seem to get it over the weekend...but poor little Jack is still puking....and Monday morning rolled around and Ryan left for the week.

Within two hours of his departure both girls started....and we have been homebound ever since.  Thankfully by some miracle I have been spared and have not gotten sick, which is pretty amazing since by this morning there were two kids in our bed with me.

Hopefully it will let up soon.  Until then we will feast on crackers and gingerale.