Outerbanks!

 We have been busy....and it has been awesome!  We spent the first day and a half traveling and spending some time at Water Country.  We met Ryans parents at the airport in Virginia and then headed back to Watercountry to spend the day before we checked into our rental house for the week.

We arrived in the Outerbanks late Sunday...and we have been having a blast.  We rented a house with our good friends, Brian and Susna and the kids have been go, go, go.  This is truly what vacation is about.  There is nothing really around, some small shops and some little stores but we can see the ocean from both the front and the back of the house.  Combine that with a pool and hot tub and we are golden.

We spent this morning at Avon Pier and the kids liked watching the fisherman. 

 

Then this afternoon we headed to the beach, where we had this sand castle building contest.  Aly build this castle complete with a moat so she smoked us all.  I believe mine was the first to surrender to the waves.

Then we headed back to the house to roast marshmallows



Steelman Race Report!

I love this race....it is local and fun and right by our house.  In the past year, I have managed to meet quite a few local triathletes which has made training and racing much more fun.  We have a little tri club that is here and a bunch of us traveled to Lake Placid to volunteer and sign up for next year - WAHOO!  I am stoked about that one.

Getting back on topic..this weekend I raced my last tri for the season.  I wanted to make it a good one for sure.  I had felt good during the course of the week leading up to the race.  Most importantly, I slept a WHOLE lot, like more than 8 hours per night which is really not normal for me at all.

I was not nervous at all.  Jen and I checked in during the course of the week and had a little plan just to run well off the bike...since that has not really happened all year.  YIKES

So race morning came and we were still up at 3:45 to get out the door.  We got there and there were so many people I knew which was so much fun.  I told Ryan when I got home it was the first time I really felt like I raced at HOME...which is important. 

The water was warm 80...so no wetsuits...first time all year I think.  They called our wave and we were off.



I swam hard the first little bit to get clear water...but the issue was they were only leaving about 3 min between waves...so that meant that we soon caught the wave in front of us, and then the wave in front of that, and on and on.  The swim ended quickly...boo and I was out of the water in 22:xx...which makes me laugh because it was less than a minute difference between last year with the wetsuits.

Onto the bike...you have this monsterous climb out of the park and then there are two loops of the course.  It is rolling all the way.  They did shorten it this year to make it more of the Olympic distance.  I was faster this year but only because of the change in distance....1:18:xx.  I felt good throughout and just tried to stay as even as possible so I would be able to run.

Onto the run...oh I really, really wanted to run well.  I swear that is all I thought about all week.  The course is relatively flat and two out and backs.  It is partially shaded and there were plenty of water stops.  My garmin was not working right and I did not want to play with it so I just let it go and ran by feel.  The only problem with this race is it gets really crowded.  The first loop of the bike is fine but after that the Sprint and Oly use the same course.  The run while nice is still on a bike path that is not that wide and people are in both directions.  So there was quite a bit of dodging around and weaving in and out.  I finally found at women and just got in behind her and tried to run with her.  It worked and the miles seemed to click off rather quickly.  Soon we were approaching the final mile and I decided that I would just go hard...so the run was a HUGE PR for me.

In the end, I was eight minutes faster than last year, which shows me that the work we did result in some positive gains.  It was AWESOME to have a great day locally and be able to come home and spend the afternoon with the family...although...I might have encountered a disaster upon arrival home...

So that will wrap up the tri season which I am a little sad about - BOO!  But I owe some big thanks to many people for this year...

First, Ryan and the kids...somehow we managed to get through this year with a ton of changes and challenges along the way.  New jobs and commutes aside he is great about allowing me to continue to pursue this sport even when he would rather be sharing cheeseballs on the couch!

Jen for your support and guidance...you are amazing at what you do and a super role model.  Thank you for everything.

The Lansdale tri peeps - George, Rosanna, Chris, and Joe Guerra.....IMLP will be a blast...and it is so much more fun to share this with others!

Fun in the rain..

While the girls are at day camp this week, we had a little fun of our own.

The trademarked non matching shoes.

Rolling Along

This is what Jackson is using as a weapon these days.  I realized as soon as I took it out...there was a reason why we hid the foam roller.

The girls have their last week of day camp this week and Aly brought home gimp....so she has been crafting keychains galore.

This weekend I get to race my last tri of the season...I am excited.  We head to the Outerbanks in a few weeks and it will be nice to focus on running.  It is hard to believe that summer is winding down so fast and school is just around the corner.

August Updates

Everytime I sit down to write someone needs something or I decide going to bed is a much better idea....

So bullet points it is.

We spent last week in NH which included our annual trip to Storyland.  We stayed in a condo and while packing our car, a bear decided he might come along.  The kids were playing in the van while we were packing...we promptly locked them in the van and Jack started to play on the horn which sent him on his way.

The seven cousins!

The girls started playing soccer.  Two different leagues on the same night which is interesting.  Both of them seem to be enjoying it so far.



We had our first experience with stitches.  Brianna fell while on her scooter.  She split her forehead open and need a whole lot of stitches to close it up.  Luckily she was wearing a helmet so it was just the cut.

She did like the emergency room enough to declare that she would like her birthday there next year...all you can watch cartoons was the deal sealer!





Running, Running

Most of our summer is on the road....really.  We have been home for only a few weeks and I can't believe that August is approaching!  We left PA yesterday and headed to NH for some time with the cousins and family.  I LOVE HOME!  It is super nice to be back and chill with everyone.

This afternoon after my workout I was met at the door by this crew....ready to go running!   Recently Aly has been asking to go running with me when I return.  She likes to go just the two of us and it is fun to have her interested.  But today it was a party....a running party...and it is super fun to have them want to do this since I know it won't be forever. 

I think we made it to the end of the driveway....but Jackson...he was right there with them....little trooper!

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.....