An Update

"I acknowledge that a Multi-Sport Event is an extreme test of a person’s physical and mental limits and carries with it the potential for death, series injury, and property loss. I HEREBY ASSUME THE RISKS OF PARTICIPATING IN THIS EVENT. I certify that I am capable of completing all disciplines of the event, and that I am physically fit and that I have sufficiently trained."

Well, maybe not sufficiently trained yet. But I still check 'I agree" and registered for the Olympic Distance Triathlon! Eek! 

I've been training slow and steady. I took a weekend off for my ski trip, which was both awesome and painful, and I've had a chest cold that's kept me on my butt for 5 days and counting. But I've passed the time by scouting out bikes and clip-less pedals/biking shoes to buy for my birthday and I joined a local triathlon club. 

The kids are growing like weeds. They love to take family bike rides and watch Spiderman cartoons. I found Liam having a solo tea party in the play room before bedtime. He told me, "Tea parties are only for big boys." Not quite, dude. Rosie loves to color and is talking so much. On the way home from our ski trip, we picked up some burgers. A few minutes later, Rosie said, "It came apart! Oh goodness, momma!" I love these crazy kiddos. 

The aftermath of my attempt to ski.

a confidence boost

I had a nice conversation with an old friend a few nights ago. I confided in him my hopes (and fears) of doing an Olympic distance triathlon this summer. He was very supportive and encouraging.

I also had my first long swim of training this morning before work. The kids were already at daycare, so I wasn't as conscious of my surroundings as I usually am when I swim half expecting an interruption from the gym's kids club. I was totally focused on my swim and it was awesome! My training called for swimming for 40 minutes to build endurance, but didn't provide any additional guidance, so I took it one lap at a time. I felt good enough to swim free style without any breaks the entire 40 minutes. I really pushed myself the last 8 or 10 laps so that I could swim an even mile (32 laps). I'm really impressed with myself and feeling much more confident about an Oly Tri.

Happy 2015!

I'm not going to get all sentimental about the new year, but 2014 was so full of changes for me that it is worth a recap and the opportunity to put some of my goals in writing.

Fitness. 12 months ago, I would have never believed that 2014 would be the year of fitness for me. I discovered my inner athlete and haven't looked back. Even though it scared the pants off of me, I am so glad that I put myself out there and signed up for that triathlon. Since I started keeping track in September, I have run 113 miles, biked 89 miles, swam 6 miles, completed a triathlon and 2 5ks. I probably did 50 hours of yoga this year, too, including learning to do headstands, side crow and bird of paradise.

I've come a long way with learning to play the piano this year, too. I am still not good enough to share on the interwebs, but I'm getting there. Maybe this year.

Work was another surprising addition in 2015. It was one of those things that just happened so unexpectedly and with miraculous timing. I'm so grateful for my job and the wonderful people with whom I work. Ask me how I feel after tax season though. :)

Goals for 2015

Play the piano 15 minutes per day. (I'll give myself a little bit of leeway during tax season though.) I'd really like to learn "Do You Want to Build a Snowman" and a nice version of "Come Thou Fount."

Scripture study or similar every day with no exceptions. I started listening to readings on my phone while I would get ready for bed. That really helped me. I could also start listening in the car on the way to or from work.

I feel kind of sick to my stomach to write out my fitness goals. They become official when I put them in writing. My big goal is to do an Olympic distance triathlon. (Eeek!) 0.93 mile OPEN WATER swim, 25 mile bike, 10k run. I've only found one race that works for me. The Clackamas Cove Triathlon is June 21st. Tax season is going to be hard on my training, so I'm starting tomorrow.

I would also like to do 2 more sprint triathlons, the annual RS tri at the end of September and the Wahine Women's Tri (also an open water swim) at the beginning of August. The Wahine Tri also has an option for a kid's triathlon. That's going to be amazing for Liam. He will be so excited.

I may run the Lake Run 10k in May if I feel up to it. I don't know yet. It's not a priority, but would fit with my training. I'd mostly do it so that Liam could do the kid's run. If we go to Florida for Thanksgiving, I would LOVE to do the Space Coast Half Marathon. Mostly for the bling.



I don't know if I can make that happen this year. We'll see.

I've been a little busy.

I took a few days off after my triathlon, and I just felt lost at the gym in the days after my recovery. I no longer had a goal or a training plan to follow. I decided to sign up for another race- the Suntree Turkey Trot 5k. It's a Thanksgiving morning run back in Florida. A few family members and friends will run it, too, so I'm highly motivated to train so that I don't embarrass myself. 

I've been running 2 or 3 days a week, swimming 2 days a week and I've thrown a little biking, lifting and yoga in for good measure. I learned at the end of my tri training that I actually love running outside. It's a little harder to schedule since I have to find someone to watch my kids. Plus it's getting darker, colder and much more rainy. In fact, those factors caused me to fell on Wednesday when I was out on a run. My knee got scraped up, my wrist still hurts and I have a gnarly bruise on my shoulder. 

Last week, I decided that I didn't want the Turkey Trot to be my first 5k race, so I signed up for the Regatta Run 5k, which I ran this morning. 

I went in with the single goal of beating my 5k time in my triathlon of 31 minutes. I was a little nervous that my knee would start bothering me from my fall a few days ago, but it was fine. The weather was pretty good, too. About 59 degrees and calm, cloudy at first, but the sun came out after about 15 minutes. 

I underestimated the crowd. I meant to start near the top 25% of the pack, but I was actually more like the top 10%. As a result, I got passed by dozens of people in the first quarter mile. I ran it too fast, too. A 7:30 pace, which is way too fast for me, especially since I wanted to do negative splits (ie running the second half or the race faster than the first half.) My RunKeeper app updated me on my mileage, current split and average pace, so I knew I was running too fast and settled down. 

The course was lovely, much of it the same as my triathlon's 5k running course. It was fairly flat (for Oregon) and had a lot of variety- wooded paths, parks, under the footbridge, along the river and by the dog park. I was glad that I finish before the trains went by though- the course was right next to the tracks! 

After settling down the first half, I picked up the pace around mile 2. I passed a small herd of runners around mile 2.5. I was getting tired, but kicked it the last stretch to sprint to the finish. I was exhausted! 

I forgot to check my time as I finished, but I think it was about 26:15, a 8:39 pace. 

Splits:

Mile 1: 8:22

Mile 2: 8:48

Mile 3: 8:28 

(Last 0.1: 7:27 pace)

In other big news, I went back to work! I am working as an accountant at a local tax and accounting firm 2 days a week. (I'll work full time during tax season.) It's been manageable. The kids are doing well at daycare and I am enjoying my work and the people with whom I work. It's getting hard to fit everything in though. I still make it to the gym or run outside most of the days that I don't work. (Dan's business trip, my fall and scheduled rest in preparation for the Regatta Run have made the first 2 weeks weird.) The kids go to bed earlier now, so there isn't time to go to the gym on the days that I work. I'll probably end up putting my membership on hiatus during tax season. 

I realize that I can't do everything that I want, I have to make choices. I only watch tv on the iPad while doing dishes, folding laundry or cooking. I'm still playing the piano enough to keep up with my lessons, though I won't be making the gains that I have seen in my first 9 months of lessons anymore. It's hard to be an adult, right? Someone tell Rosie to slow down and be a baby for a little bit longer. 

   

College Race Day

Liam has been talking about racing ever since I told him about my triathlon. I looked around the internet for a local kids run and found one on Sept. 27th. With Dan travelling so much, we didn't pre-register in case something came up. Saturday morning arrived and everyone was happy and excited for the kids race.

The "college race day event" had a tailgating theme and all of the proceeds from the event supported the athletic programs at a local high school, so everyone was encouraged to wear their college gear. We were sporting orange and blue, of course!

Rosie outgrew her Gator gear. She'll fit into Liam's jersey soon and he's getting too big for it anyway. 

I bet you are wondering why Dan has a race bib, too? We had planned to just run along with Liam on his 1k and cheer the 5k and 10k runners. On the way over to the park, Dan randomly decided that he was going to run the 5k also. This was seriously like 20 minutes before the 5k race started!

We rushed to registration and Dan stretched and warmed up. Then it was time to go.

The kids 1k started about 30 minutes after the 5k, so we went to the playground. This was at Cook Park, the lovely park where I ran the 5k portion of my triathlon. At the playgound, we ran into our neighbors! The same family who had come out the previous weekend to cheer me on. Turns out the wife was running the 10k! 

When the finishers from the 5k and 10k races started to trickle in, the kids and I lined up along the finish line to cheer on the runners. As we waited, Liam was getting more and more excited for his race. He told me, "I'm going to run really fast! There aren't going to be any yellow lights!" So cute! 

I thought I would see my neighbor first, but Dan really surprised me when he finished the 5k in 24 minutes! Men! 

My neighbor finished shortly afterwards. She was really surprised to see me and the kids cheering her on the the finish line. 

Then it was time for the kids run. We had planned to all go, but the path was not conductive to pushing Rosie in the stroller, so Dan and Rosie stayed behind while Liam and I went. Not all of the parents had finished their races, so there were just 4 in the first heat of kids. 

Liam's a sprinter. He took off and passed everyone, including the girl who was leading the course! That didn't last long, but he did run the whole route without stopping. The group kind of spread out. I kept encouraging Liam on. He was focused and pretty quiet when, about 2/3 of the way through the course, he let out a loud "Meep meep!" 

The road runner is pretty much his spirit animal. 

There were quite a few people gathered around the finish line and the event organizer announced Liam's name over the loud speaker and he made his way to the finish line. It was awesome! I'm so proud of my little buddy! 

Done

I did it, I finished the triathlon. I am exhausted and overjoyed and so many other emotions that I can hardly process.

Last night, I set some goals for my race. #1 was to finish. #2 was to finish in under 2 hours. #3 was to run the whole 5k (with exception for hills.) I accomplished the first two and came very close to the last one.

I loved the way they set up the swim. We had 8 lanes, so  woman would start at the last lane, swim out and back, then move to the next lane. They started swimmers about every 30 seconds, so a woman also finished every 30 seconds or so. All of the waiting swimmers would cheer every time a swimmer finished and came out of the water. It was cool.

I passed a few people during my first few laps. My friend,  Liz, was my triathlon buddy. Her sister was also competing. I had to book it my last lap so that Liz didn't pass me!

I think the pool at my gym is actually shorter than 25 yards, because this swim felt longer, but I finished in 10 minutes.

The first transition took some time. I wanted to get pretty dry so that I wouldn't have to worry about chafing. It also took a few minutes to find out where to leave my bag.

Eventually, we set out on our bikes. The first portion was downhill, so it was nice. A few red lights lights really slowed us down though. There was a big hill about halfway through, but it made for a nice downhill at the end of the biking portion. I finished the 10 mile ride in 47 minutes.

We were much quicker in the second transition. I did text my neighbor and friend so they could be there when I finished. I was surprised then to see my neighbors cheering me on at the beginning of the running course! I was really excited to see them and it really lifted my spirits.

Liz really pushed me on the run. We lost her sister after about 1/2 a mile. Liz also had an app on her phone to track our distance and pace. We were both surprised to know that we had run a 9:22 mile!

There were a few hills that we walked and we slowed down a bit at the end, but still finished at just under 31 minutes, exactly the 10 minute/mile paced I had hoped to achieve.

My neighbors, friends and kids were waiting at the finish line. Liam had a small fit when he didn't get to run with me, so we did a small lap together. He keeps saying that he's going to try really hard at his swimming lessons so that he can do a triathlon, too. He also keeps asking if I won. As far as I am concerned,  I did.

It just got real.

I have been a ball of nerves and excitement ever since I picked up my race shirt on Thursday night. It's real. This is happening!

I had some nice "easy" workouts this week. I swam, biked and ran on Tuesday and Thursday. My Thursday workout was actually kid of crazy. I biked 2.5 miles, took a 5 minute break, then went out for a mile run. I was already warmed up from my bike ride, so my goal was to do my mile in 10 minutes, the pace I am aiming for on the 5k portion. I did it in 8 minutes! That is crazy fast for me. Too fast. I probably shouldn't have run so fast on race week.

I have to remember to chill out and not exhaust myself on the swim or bike portions tomorrow. I have to believe in myself and not let my mind talk me out of a good run.