Training Day 3

Another mostly successful day. I was regretting my late workout yesterday when I was back at the gym less than 12 hours after my run. Saturdays are usually my early days anyway,  but today was even earlier.

I biked 3.6 miles in 15 minutes before my yoga class started.  Yoga was wonderful, as always,  but a bit harder than usual. After class I swam 400 yards, including a 100 yard set. I was gone for about 2 hours in total, so I got big hugs from my kids when I got back. Then Rosie tried to do yoga on my mat.

It makes Rosie crazy when I do headstands, but she wants to do them.

I was supposed to walk for half an hour but I hiked Multnomah Falls instead. I will share pictures when I get them off of my real camera.

Training Day 2

Running. My Achilles heel. Except it's my knees and ankles. But I did it anyway. Barely.  I headed out to the gym at 7:30pm and the daycare closed at 8:30.

It was a short run anyway. Again,  I altered the training regimen. I walked 5 minutes to warm up. Then I ran 1 minute, followed by a 4 minute walk. I repeated the run/walk intervals 4 times. The total was 1.64 miles in 25 minutes. Pretty slow, but I made it.

I'm going to be feeling it during yoga and my training tomorrow.

Triathlon Training Day 1

(I'm not promising to be better at blogging. This has always been nothing more than a journal to me and I intend to keep it that way and use it however I want. It will be a good place to keep track of my training for the next few weeks though.)

I'm going to do a triathlon. A tiny one, mini sprint is the triathlon term for the distances. A quarter mile swim, 10k bike and 5k run/walk. Probably more walk than run in my case. The stake (a small region composed of about 10 LDS churches) women's organization puts it on every year. At least one of my friends is going to race with me and I'm trying to talk a few more into it. Race is probably the wrong term. They aren't even timing the triathlon and are emphasizing that it is just for fun. If you can think of a better term, let me know. 

From what I've read and heard, most people struggle with the swimming portion of a triathlon. Fortunately for me, swimming and rowing are my cardio exercises of choice, so I'm already a decent swimmer. Running has always been a struggle for me and my only biking experience is riding less than a quarter mile down the hill to my piano lesson every week. 

I found a nice beginner triathlon training plan that should have me ready in 10 weeks. Unfortunately I only have 9 weeks until the triathlon and next week is pretty much a bust while I'm on vacation. (I'm determined to run trails and kayak. I might get a swim in if the water is warm enough.) 

With all of that in mind, I'm modifying the training a little. Today I should have done a fairly easy 400 yard interval type swim (which is the same distance in the mini- tri) but it was a little too easy for me. Once I realized that I could do better, I took shorter breaks between the intervals. I also added a 2.2 mile bike ride. It was supposed to be an "easy" ride, but I live at the top of a hill- so the first part of any bike ride for me is easy and the 2nd leg is always hard! 

In the locker room at the gym after my swim

Wish me luck and dedication!

Dreaming of a White Christmas

A white Christmas isn't in the cards in Portland, but we did get our first little snow on Friday.

The view from my bedroom window first thing in the morning. 

It was really coming down for a while, but had lightened up by the time I got Rosie down for her nap and Liam bundled up to go outside to see it. He thought it was pretty cool. I was probably even more mesmerized than he was though.

Oregon is full of Christmas tree farms. We found one just a few miles away from our house. Dan and I picked the biggest tree that we thought would fit in our living room. We were a little off and had to chop a few inches off of the base of the tree.

Liam was just a tiny infant during his first Christmas. We spent his second Christmas in California, so we didn't put up a tree that year. Rosie is really breaking me in to having a baby and a Christmas tree. She cannot get enough of it! I finally put chairs up in the hallway to block her off.

We went to another tree farm today so that the kids could meet Santa without the crowds at a mall. Meeting Santa last year did not go over so well. Here's what it looked like:

He did so well this year! After watching a Charlie Brown holiday movie, he wanted to write a letter to Santa. This is what it "said."

Santa comes tomorrow. That lines says, “Don’t say anything until Santa comes, okay?”

A cement truck and a car, I want both of them.

I am a good boy. I’ll tell him if I want to go pee pee. This is Santa Claus’s potty.

We talk a lot about the potty, can you tell?

Anyway, Liam brought his letter to Santa with him to the tree farm and gave it to the Big Guy.  

2 happy kids?!?! A Christmas miracle! 

Halloween Photo Shoot

Rosie is my little doll. Liam gets harder and harder to photograph every passing day.

Happy Halloween!

Birthday Shenanigans part 1

We don't really have any friends here yet, so Liam isn't having a party for his upcoming 3rd birthday. Instead, we drove to the coast last weekend to take a ride on the Oregon Coast Scenic Railroad. Since it was close to Halloween, there was a special "Pumpkin train" where the kids dressed in their costumes and got to choose a pumpkin in the freight car.

We started off in the dining car and had the most amazing view while we ate ice cream.

 After our snack, we made our way to the outdoor seating and enjoyed the views. The train would honk its horn when crossing the roads though. Liam and Rosie didn't car so much for that, so we went back inside after a while.

The whole ride was an hour long, which was the perfect length for the kids. 

Happy Fall

We are having such a gorgeous autumn here in Oregon. The weather has been sunny and warm and the leaves on the trees are slowly turning red, orange and yellow. Liam gets a kick out of tromping through them during our afternoon walks. 

I tried to get a picture of Liam throwing the leaves up in the air, but they all turned out like this: