SLO in Arkansas: March 2012

Saturday, March 24, 2012

This Is How I Roll

Today I am giving you a glimpse into the glamorous life of a triathlete in training. On the schedule, one final long session on the trainer (2 hours 5 minutes) followed by a 10 minute transition run to shake out my legs. Of course I can't follow directions, nor can I only run for 10 minutes, so I ran 2.13 miles, but who is counting?

The alarm was set for 6:30am, which is pretty late for a workout day for me. But hey, it was Saturday so I felt the need to sleep in! Of course my precious children know that it's my day to sleep in, so they don't:) We hear footsteps running around upstairs around 6:20am and then Jace toddles in and states..."I pee peed on the couch." Oh good grief!! I knew I shouldn't have started trying to potty train that kid until this summer:)

My sweet husband stumbled out of bed and dealt with the kids, so I could get my ride going. Then I hit the bike and the 2+ hour sweat fest began. I know it's disgusting, but man I am a sweater. I soak through my shirt and had to take my visor off before I was even finished because it was so soaked that the sweat was just dripping off the brim and grossing me out. That poor hand towel on my handle bars gets a workout on bike days!

I watch HGTV while I ride (on mute) and jam to my ipod. I was really feeling it today and sang along pretty loudly to a lot of the songs. In my head, I sound good!! The boys came down after about an hour to check on me. I had actually texted Silas to come down and visit because I was getting bored:) He brought the camera to document what our typical Saturday mornings look like around here. Of course the boys were wildly jumping on my bed while all this was going on.

Dude. Check out my arms in these next pictures! That looks crazy!

I do absolutely zero weight lifting at this point. I do however, lift a 37 pound toddler about a million times a day, which apparently counts for something. I attribute my arms and shoulders to swimming though. They didn't look like that before I started swimming, and now they do:) If you want some crazy arms, swim!

I finished up the ride, had to change my entire outfit into something dry, and headed out the door for a run. Oh my goodness the weather was perfection today! It was 56 degrees with a slight breeze and gorgeously sunny. I could have run forever. If only race day could be like this, everyone would be smiling like I was today:) I thanked God for the beautiful day while I ran, and just soaked in the green grass, budding trees, blooming flowers, and smells of the fresh spring air. I quit being so thankful when a pit bull appeared in a front yard and I thought it might chase me down, but luckily it ignored me and I was very thankful for that! I finished my workout happy and feeling great. If only every workout could be the same:)

Little monkey boy jumping on my bed.

Boys jumping on the bed.

My sweet little messes:)

Friday, March 23, 2012

Endurance

en*dur*ance

~The fact or power of enduring an unpleasant or difficult process or situation without giving way
~The capacity of something to last or to withstand wear and tear
~The act, quality, or power of withstanding hardship or stress

stamina-durability-patience-staying power

Endure
Go through the darkness and come out the other side. When you think, I can't stand another minute of this, know that you can. When you can't take another moment of the pain or the fear, take another moment anyway. Like a diamond in the making, endure the heat and the pressure for what seems like eternity, and emerge with a new brilliance and clarity. When you think you've come to your end, dig deep and endure.

(adapted from a book I have called 365 words of well-being for Women by Rachel Snyder)

Maiden Voyage

I got my new wetsuit in yesterday and had fun trying it on at lunch.

Silas said I looked cool and like a super hero. Of course he wants his own wetsuit now! The boys weren't sure what to make of it and just kept trying to touch it.

Excuse my dorkiness but if you have to wear really strange things for your sport, at least you should have fun with it!! I had a swim scheduled for this morning so I packed up my new suit and headed to the pool to try it out. The verdict: Not sure! It definitely made me swim a lot faster than my usual slow pace, but it positioned me a little differently in the water and it threw my breathing off a bit. Every time I turned to take a breath I seemed to be sucking in water instead of air. And that silly strap on the zipper kept wrapping around my arm and freaking me out while I was swimming! The only other weird thing was how tired it made my arms feel. I felt like I was fighting really hard on every stroke and it made my arms wear out really fast. That is not good when I have to swim 1.2 miles! I didn't wear it long as the pool temp is kept at a nice 81-85 degrees and I felt like I was cooking after a while. I guess I will take it back to the pool and try again and am hoping the more I wear it the more comfortable it gets. I have already learned my T1 time is going to be super slow because it is nearly impossible to get out of this thing!!

Thursday, March 22, 2012

Small Victories

Today I am celebrating small victories. We celebrate around here with Jelly beans....red jelly beans. Those little suckers worked like a charm in potty training Tyson, and they seem to have retained their magic with little stinker #2. I have been in no hurry to get Jace potty trained, other than the crazy expense of diapers and a kid that drinks like a camel every day. I was bored out of my mind this morning and decided it would be a good day to work on our toileting skills since we had no where to go:) (Now I know staying at home with your kids is not boring at all, but it was 8:30am and I had already been to a spin class, showered, dressed, had breakfast, watched TV, played Candy Land with the kids, started laundry, picked up the kitchen, etc, etc, etc). It was shaping up to be a loooong day. I took Jace potty while changing his diaper for the morning and he went...score #1! Red jelly bean for Jace, and red jelly bean for mom!! I managed to remember to take him every 45 minutes or so the rest of the morning and he stayed dry the whole time. He is currently napping, but so far he has gone tinkle in the potty 3 times and one #2....which of course earned him 2 jelly beans:) I could take the kid potty all day every day every hour and he could stay dry, but who in the world has time to do that?? So my small victory came after lunch when I was in the laundry room folding clothes. My sweet little man came down the stairs and said, "Mom, I need a jelly bean!" Of course in toddler speak that means...mom, I need to go potty! So we ran to the bathroom and he did his thing. Whooo Hoooo! We both had 2 jelly beans each to celebrate this step in him actually telling me he needed to go!! Of course we go back to school next week so who knows if this will continue, but at least it is a good start. And I have no clue why in the world I thought it would be a good idea to start trying to potty train a 2.5 year old a week before we leave for a huge trip to Texas and over 20 hours in the car!!!

Tuesday, March 20, 2012

Spring Break

Today was supposed to be a rest day. As in, I have worked out hard 7 days straight and my body really needs a day off, to rest. I swam 2,400m at the pool yesterday morning. Since the boys are out of "school" this week for Spring Break, we decided to take advantage of the fact that our friends are also out and hit the park for a fun play date. We met up with Brooke and her 4 kiddos late morning (along with every other kid in town!) at the park to play, talk and enjoy the beautiful spring weather. We had packed a picnic lunch which the kids loved, and then let them play another hour or so before heading home for naps. Except my kids didn't really feel like napping, so they had a very short rest time. This was also the 3rd day in a row I had taken them to the park to play....you would think they would be tired by now! Anyway, I had some nervous energy to work off, and since I didn't have to work we all headed outside for some yard work and playing once Silas got home. We raked leaves, cut and hauled bamboo, I mowed the front and back yards, edged, and swept. We worked hard! I adore yard work and was so excited to be back at it:)

We topped off our evening with Silas grilling us burgers....yum! Needless to say, we were all really tired and ready for bed early. I always look forward to my "rest days" and the fact that I don't have to set the alarm for 4:30am:) I was still barely moving when Silas left for work before 7, but I didn't hear the boys, so I fell back asleep. I went into a little panic when I rolled over and saw 8:15 on the clock! My mind started racing as to what the boys could have gotten into, since they were being awfully quiet. Quiet is not something I am used to in this house, and it makes me nervous! I heard laughing and talking when I got upstairs coming from the bathroom.....the locked bathroom. Tyson let me in and I found Jace on the counter, covered in dripping liquids of all kinds! Proud big brother announced that they were busy making Jace "look like a clown!" This consisted of an entire bottle of hand soap, lotion, a tube of blue toothpaste, 3 travel bottles of lotion and shampoo, and dad's hair gel all mixed together and dumped on his head. They were painting him with a toothbrush. I am so glad they didn't get the bright coral bottle of my nail polish open or it would have been much worse! They were so proud of themselves and what they had done.

Luckily I was still half asleep and too tired to be mad, so I just took some pictures and threw Jace in the tub:) It took me a while to bathe him, and clean up the entire bathroom from the mess. Lesson learned.....it is NEVER worth it to sleep in a few minutes!!

My favorite part of the morning was at breakfast when we were saying our weekly Bible verse from BSF. Jace only remembers bits and pieces, and said a few words from our verse last week....God comforts us in all our troubles. Tyson yelled, "yeah! God comforted us when we got in all that trouble this morning!" It made me laugh:) So we have had a fun and amusing start to our Spring Break this year. I am happy to be home more this week and finally get some things done around the house that have been piling up. The spring weather is fabulous and we are all loving it:)

Sunday, March 18, 2012

I am NOT Lance Armstrong

So I finally got my bike out of the house and on the open road this weekend. I was excited, and a bit nervous. I only managed 40 miles, but that was about what I had planned, so it was ok. There was some good, some bad, and some really ugly out there.

The Good: I had a plan, and I executed my plan perfectly.

The Bad: My plan. I have no idea why I thought I was Lance Armstrong and should be riding my bike as fast as my legs could possibly go for over 2 hours in the 20-25 mph wind. In a gear I haven't been practicing in. Stupid, stupid plan!

The ugly: The allergies, aka, the snot. It was everywhere, and it was disgusting. My mental attitude was also downright ugly the entire workout. I have a lot of work to do on not beating myself up in my head and staying a tad more positive when I get frustrated.

My legs were screaming at me by the time I finished and I was on the verge of tears, mostly from frustration. I did manage to get a little over a mile transition run in as well which made me feel better. I was convinced when I was done I had ruined my leg muscles and wouldn't be able to walk for days. Apparently I recover fast because I was out the door running at 5:15am this morning and managed to get in 9 miles before church at a little over a 9 minute mile pace. I really de-railed myself mentally yesterday, but thank goodness my sweet husband (aka head coach) talked me out of my funk. We talked through what I did right, what I did wrong, and what lessons to learn from it....and to move on. So I am ready to tackle this week's workouts to the best of my ability and try not to think too much about the fact that I will be in Texas at the end of next week for the race!!!

Sunday, March 11, 2012

Warning Signs

I have been feeling run-down for the past few weeks, and it just seems to be getting worse. At first I chalked it up to seasonal allergies, then just pushing myself in my workouts, and finally decided maybe I was a little bit of sick too. I bit the bullet and went to the doctor on Tuesday hoping that would help. I have been taking antibiotics since then, and have actually felt worse all week!

My whole head is shut down, I can't breathe, I am not sleeping well, and I am EXHAUSTED. I keep pushing my body to get my workouts done and trying to rest as much as possible, but that is hard to do with a job and two extremely active pre-schoolers at home, and trying to take care of the house. I finally hit the wall this weekend on my run. I was up and running by 4:40am and was hoping to get a good 12-14 miles in. I felt awful when I woke up and had to make myself get dressed. I am amazed I even made it out the door!! That's why I have a running partner! We headed out and I seemed to feel better after a few miles. Our pace was good, but about half way through my body just decided it was done. I just didn't have any energy. I couldn't breathe through my nose and talking was difficult.

Somehow I managed to push through 11 miles, but I decided to call it a day after that. I hate hate hate cutting a workout short, but I know when my body needs to rest. I soaked in a hot bath to warm up and headed down stairs to take a shower. That is when I discovered water pouring out of the ceiling in our bathroom...ugh! This is the 3rd time we have had to cut the ceiling open in there and replace the ancient pipes that are rotting. What a great start to the weekend:) Silas packed the boys up and headed to Lowes to get what he needed for the pipes, and I crawled back in bed for a 3 hour nap:) Silas had the pipes fixed by late afternoon (he is AMAZING) and we got the bathroom cleaned up and back in working order thank goodness. I have been resting ever since, and plan to take the day off tomorrow as well. I can't stay run down like this, and I don't think my body can heal if I keep pushing it so much. I sure am hoping to feel better soon, or at least be able to breathe out of my nose:)

Wednesday, March 07, 2012

Little Rock 10k

I ran the 10k in Little Rock this past weekend. As usual, it was a great race and well organized event. I have never run a 10k before so I didn't know what to expect!

We headed to LR Saturday around lunch and hit the expo for packet pick-up and a little shopping:)

We headed inside the Peabody Hotel so the boys could see the ducks, and take our usual ride up the big glass elevator. The boys were so excited to be staying in a hotel!! They ran and jumped on the beds and were crazy wild. Luckily it wore them out and they both slept the entire night, thank goodness!

My rockstar supporter and best friend! I love this guy so much and the fact that he gets me where I need to be, makes sure I have the best gear, and cheers me on while running around the city lugging the boys and taking pictures! He is awesome and I couldn't do any of this without him:)

Race morning was perfect. 41 degrees and a beautiful sunny day.

I had no plans to race this race since I am getting close to the end of my half ironman training. I just wanted to enjoy the run, take in the sights and have fun getting a workout in:)

Thank goodness I didn't want to race! It was way too crowded for me to run fast and I did a ton of weaving just to stay moving. My time was not great at all as a result, but you just can't run with thousands of people around you! My first mile was a 9:50 and it totally killed my whole race, but there was nothing I could do...too many people. The 10k finally broke off from the marathon and half marathon around mile 5 and I finally got to really run. I think my last mile was a 7:52. It felt good to finally be moving:)

Silas caught me about a 1/2 mile from the finish line here for pictures. It was so fun to see him and the boys:)

My official time was a 53:46 or something close (I forget!). Not nearly representative of what I know I can run, but that is what I get for running a huge race and starting in the back! The funny part is that I managed to finish 4th in my age group out of 129 women, like 23 out of 676 total women overall, and 58th out of all the men a women. Not bad for not really racing:)

The best part is that it was short and sweet, I had my family with me, I had fun, and it was a beautiful day to run. I had lots of friends running the half and full marathons and it seems that it was a perfect day for almost everyone....they all did amazing and I am so proud of all the individual victories:) I am constantly thankful for the blessing of being healthy and able bodied and the gift to run and do what I love. God has truly blessed me and I am loving every step of this adventure.

Monday, March 05, 2012

A Day in the Life....

I managed to get 8 hours of sleep last night. That in and of itself is a great thing, but remember that I get up at 4:30am most days:) So there you have it.....a day in the life of half ironman training and I am very happy to be in bed by 8pm and asleep by 8:30:) Some nights we even put the kids to bed early because mama needs to get to bed too! I would like to say this will change once the ironman is over, but I am thinking I actually like my schedule and will keep it up for a while:)

SLO in Arkansas