Begin the Begin

It's the first day of school! Annika started kindergarten and Dagny started the preschool program at a local daycare today.

As we trundled Annika out to the bus stop this morning, Doug remarked that it's the beginning of her time. It's no longer in our control and about what we are doing - it's the start of Annika's doings. As you can see, she was pretty excited about it when we left the house but a little nervous by the time we got to the bus stop. Doesn't she look tiny compared to those other kids? That's the Keegan's kid, the Thomas's kid and Maddie (Annika's idol).







Dagny was equally excited to help write her name on all of her stuff and put it in her Wiggles backpack. She digs a backpack.

Here she waxes contemplative in the car on the way to school. She insisted on riding with the backpack on her lap.

To update on the Potty Train, Dagny had zero accidents yesterday and is still wearing the underpants I put her in this morning (Elmo, by the way). If that is not a victory, I don't know what is.

She took to the school very easily and didn't seem to care that it was new or that I was leaving her there. She immediately jumped into the puzzle action and started checking out the kitchen center. The snack was goldfish instead of animal crackers, which was a disappointment but that's the only negative thing we've heard so far.

In other news, since Grammy was out of town yesterday, Doug and I skipped church and took turns doing the Roswell 40 mile ride with Leslie, David and Natalie. Leslie and David did 80 miles! Very fun. : ) I even saw Mark G. out for his run. He's signed up for Kiawah also. Come on, Lotzie . . . you know you want to do it! All of the cool kids are going.

And, I've learned from my social networking activities that two of my old friends are now doing triathlons! Whoo! And my friend Sara called to ask advice as she trains for her first race. I love to hear about the converts. Someone else starting to do triathlons is almost as good as them moving into our neighborhood. One of my cousins will be working at the Forsyth County Northside a few days a week in her new job - she is a more likely candidate for the neighborhood.

Another One Bites the Dust

The Tinkerbell underpants bit the dust yesterday.

Poopy.

Yeah, I know I should have washed them, but who has biohazard clean-up supplies on vacation? Not me. My mom only uses ALL (it's an argument that has turned into a joke, now) so I can't buy Tide for her condo and I didn't bring the Oxyclean. So, those poopy underpants went right into the garbage. Where (amazingly) they will take up less space than a diaper.

Dagny seems to be catching onto the potty for her pee, but not for poop. There is still a power struggle (sometimes physical) whenever we say "time to sit on the potty" but sometimes Dagny will just go in there and sit by herself, announcing "I have to go potty." So, that is good.

But the bad is that all of the "going with the flow" on the potty seems to be using up Dagny's capacity to follow directions. Even if I say "wait right here," she will keep walking as I repeat "wait right here" and "wait right here" over and over. Similar results for "stop touching your sister" and "put your bottom in your chair" and "that's enough crying". Frustrating.

However, if I had made a major life change, not gotten enough sleep and only eaten pistachios, cashews and french fries for two days in a row, I might have trouble focusing and following directions too.

In other news, it looks like a hot one here today. Maybe we will get to actually go into the ocean if those pesky jellyfish are gone. Annika has a new Hannah Montana wave-rider that we need to break in.

Under Pressure

So, the potty training.

It's going OK. Dagny has only peed in her underpants once so far. She's wearing a pull-up or diaper for naps and bedtime and has wet/pooped in those with no problem. Ha!

However, getting Dagny to sit on the potty to "try" is very difficult. She seems to have a lot of anxiety (uncontrollable, almost) about making anything.

This is the opposite of what we thought would be the problem. Dagny is, shall we say, strong-willed. She likes to be in control. We've been putting the potty training off because we were worried she would simply refuse to do it. And poop or pee in the underpants just to spite us. We can't be on the losing side of that equation, so we hadn't started at all.

So, we are being very supportive about sitting on the potty to "try" and repeating (ad nauseum) that it's OK if she doesn't have any pee. That it's important to try so that the pee doesn't sneak up on her.

No dice.

Maybe she doesn't need to go as often as I do or maybe she can hold it like a camel but it's very strange. We haven't figured out how to defuse the pressure of the situation yet. Singing works, sometimes. Distraction, too. But sometimes nothing does. Maybe some wet underpants will be the thing.

In other news, I rode 56 miles on my bike today. Which sounds a lot more impressive than it is because we are in the flatlands, but still. That's a new record for me.

Congrats to all of the peeps doing the Steelhead half-ironman today in Michigan. It looks like a super-fast race (Dan A. did the race in 4 hrs 04 mins) so we are hoping to see some race reports soon to see how the day went.

All Aboard!!

With apologies to The Gap Band,

Everybody All Aboard, the Potty Train is leaving the station.

Dagny and I went on a meet and greet trip to her new school on Wednesday.

. . where they told me that I need to have her potty trained in oh, 12 days. Yes, usually you don't have to have the kids trained until they are in the 3 year old class but they want to put the old 2s (Sept/Oct/Nov/Dec birthdays) together and if Dagny can't use the potty she will have to go with the younger 2s, whose asses she will promptly kick. Trust me on this.

So, before we went home after completing all of our errands, we assaulted the Target to buy the all-important Elmo underpants. Because, you see, it's important that the kids be invested in the underpants. Who wants to pee on Elmo? He's a good guy! We've had several meltdown-causing accidents but some good success so far. Dagny doesn't want to sit on the potty and she certainly isn't telling us when it's time to go, but this is a good start. We even achieved tinkling in the men's room at a Waffle House on the way down here. If she can pee there without touching the potty, we are home free.

In other news, we have the bikes and are at the beach for a last fling before school starts. Thank you very much to mom and dad for the use of their condo. It's hard to get stressed about school or work or potty training when you are sitting on the porch with an adult beverage listening to the ocean.

Doug and I talked a long time about the upcoming SC HIM race on the way down. He stayed awake while I took my turn driving and talked to me to keep me awake. We've concluded that I am unlikely to reach my 6 hour or less goal at this race. To do so, I'd need to go less than 3 hours on the bike and let's face it, I'm not there yet. Doug is closer to this goal, but not optimistic. I think he's wrong and he will kill it, but that's OK. And, Nat has put in nearly double the bike mileage that I have in the last two months, so I won't beat her either. Before anyone gets upset about the competition thing, please understand that Nat and I are friendly rivals - it doesn't really matter which of us wins. We will certainly share some nice frosty beverages to celebrate finishing and whoever turns out to be the winner. By the way, only 169 spaces left for this race, so register now if it's still on your calendar but you've not registered.

And, last but not least, we've taken the plunge and registered for the Kiawah Island Marathon in December. I've studied my running book and if I can get my long run up to 15/16 miles before the SC HIM race in September, I should be able to do the minimum number of 18-20 mile runs to finish the marathon. It won't be fast, but I think it's doable so long as I don't injure myself. So, speed work, schmeed work. I'm low and slow for the rest of the summer/fall. Anyone else in? Lotzie? Joe and Jerry are in.

Ta Daa!

Dagny had her last day of camp today. They got medals and got to stand on a podium with them to say "Ta Daaaa" to their friends. Some of the kids were bashful, but not our Dagny. She raised both arms high in the air and yelled "TAA DAAAA" - I could hear her out in the hallway. Gotta love her.

So, yesterday, before our ride I asked Natalie how she got the RSS feed on her blog.

Once upon a time someone wrote "RSS feed. Get one." in the comments here. I don't know who it was but it was a little upsetting. I asked around but no one fessed up and no one explained what an RSS feed was. Then, Nat asked Anne about it on the mom's board. When Anne explained about the RSS feed and the Google Reader a few months back, I did what any good student would do. I checked on my Google and found the "wiki" for RSS feeds. After about two hours of reading, I learned way more than I ever wanted to know about feeds. The long and short of it was that I needed to set up my feed by (1) figuring out my feed address (different from the blog address), (2) uploading said feed link to my blog with some more involved code, and then (3) adding the orange satellite-looking thing or some other icon. There was some sort of debate about the merits of Atom v. RSS feeds. I don't remember which was better.

Anyhow, I ran out of free time that day and did not start the long and involved process.

When Nat explained last night that she just added the icon in the Blogger "Layout" menu, I was sure that was too easy. Not with all of the complicated strings of letters that I read about.

Yeah, so, I was wrong again. The Google folks had already done all of the legwork and code-copying for me. All I had to do was add the feed from the "Add Page Elements" menu. Easy Peasy. AND, it would have been easy to add all of the blogs that I read to my Google Reader with one simple button if I had filled the reader first. Alas, no. I created the blogroll (instead of the link list) first so I had to fill the reader manually. Oops.

But it's done and I'm back in the technology. Enjoy the feeding.

In other news, Annika and I did the ritual new shoe shopping and backpack buying today after the school supply shopping on Wednesday. She is getting pretty darn excited about kindergarten.

I, however, am nervous about the kindergarten. And, the 5.5 hours I slept last night was not enough and I am paying the crabby bill today. GRRR.

Oh, and, Jerry has decided that he wants to do the Kiawah Island Marathon in December. So, Doug, Joe, Kendra and I are joining him. Anyone else up for some lowcountry on December 6? That means that we will miss the Holiday Extravaganza at Annika's school, but I think it will be OK this year. Next year, though, we'd better be there.

The Circle of Life

We love the Lion King over here but that is not my topic.

Today, I took a rest day. Sure, I got up at 5 when Doug got up for his ride, but I had breakfast, paid the bills and surfed the internet until the girls got up. We went to church (just Annika, Grammy and me - Dagny stayed with Nana/Papa) and then hung out with my folks for a couple of hours. Then, more bill-paying and tidying. Our house is a complete disaster. I worked out 800 hours last week and that does not lead to a clean house. Then, I accidentally booby-trapped the fridge yesterday so that it avalanched on Doug prior to dinner last night. Ooops.

So today I decided that I would just walk. I sucked my dad into the plan until he realized that it was ridiculously hot and my sister might just stay at his house and hang out with him. So, instead of loading Annika up and heading to the Leita for a walk, I basked in the air conditioning and tidied up our office. I filed, I paid bills, I backed the computer up (it had been a YEAR!), I checked on Jen at Ironman Lake Placid. I watched the Hoyts on the Ironman website, which made me cry. Doug made an awesome dinner and I felt guilty for taking the day off.

Even though I did my 30 mins. I still felt guilty.

That is not right.

Anyway, after dinner, we leashed up the dog and went for a walk. Around the side of our house is an oak tree. This tree had serious caterpillars last year and I noticed an area where the leaves were eaten. Aghast, I went over to take a look. Those bastards had eaten up a whole limb, but I found them. Instead of sacrificing the one branch to the creek like I had planned, Doug carefully twisted it off and carried it with us on our walk.

We skipped the "over the dam" portion of the walk and went over the bridge instead.

So that we could drop the caterpillars one by one (or by the leaf, if you are Dagny) into the creek to the waiting mouths of the hungry fish. Don't you worry. Those caterpillars didn't feel a thing. The fish snapped them up almost before they hit the water.

Two birds. One stone.

So to speak.

I Love the Waffle House

So, if you've been at work today, you've probably been forwarded a link to the Gwinnett Post article about the couple that got married at the Waffle House in Dacula - you know, the lone Waffle House that used to sit all by itself in between the turnoff for Hwy 78 in Winder and Athens. Dutifully, I followed the link and read the article after someone sent it to me.

Instead of the amusement and derisive laughter that I heard from down the hall, it made me feel sad. How nasty of the reporter to write a story about this couple's marriage and spin it to make fun of them. I hope they have a long and happy life together and make lots of money at that Waffle House now that they are famous. If you go by there, leave them a big tip.

In happier news, the girls had a blast at Nana and Papa's house while Doug and I drove to Chattanooga for the BMW Chattanooga Waterfront Triathon on Sunday. We had a great time even though we did not post personal bests at this distance. It was a beautiful and well-organized race, even though mother nature threw a wrench (or a big bucket of water) into the works. Here is a link to my BT race report. It was great to see all of the internet (Wes, Kevin and Sarah) and NAMC friends at the race. We had to leave pretty early to pick up the girls, but got to see almost the whole race and it was great to have so many peeps there.

Next up, GA Veterans Sprint race in Cordele. Possibly also the Hansgrohe Women's Sprint in Acworth.

I Don't Care Anymooorrre

I love Phil Collins.

Anyway, this morning after I paid the bills and made the lunches and cleaned up the breakfast, I suited up to ride and took the girls to camp. After I dropped Annika off (Dagny was first), I made a quick pitstop at the potty.

Where I caught a glimpse of myself in the mirror.

You know how there are good mirrors? This was a bad one.

And, my relatively-see-thru "Team Bachman" bike jersey was clinging to and lifting up to expose my "expanded to hold a human being twice" belly that was poking out over my pink bike shorts which are not low-rise. Note to the ladies, low rise are WAY more flattering to the post-childbirth belly and they don't press on the tummy to irritate the GI.

I did a double-take and mental "UGH!", finished my business in that room, hopped on my bike (time was limited because there was only 2.5 hrs between drop-off and pick-up time), and zoomed away.

Quick aside: while I loaded my gear onto my bike, I noticed lots of moms and dads dropping off their kids and donning their i-pods for a run. It was really cool. I always wonder why none of the parents that drop kids off to swim at 6am at the pool ever stay to swim. None do. Ever. It's really weird because I would be all over that.

Anyway, while I rode I decided that I didn't care if my gut was hanging out, it was a nice day and I was going to have a good bike. Who gives a crap what anyone thinks about my attire or the fact that I always drop my kids off for school/camp without showering and return to pick them up covered in sweat and dirt. They are just jealous of the fun.

I had an awesome ride (27 miles at 15.25 avg mph and 78 avg cadence) and run (20 mins at 9:10 pace) even if I did have to stop for a potty break. It was either the Accelerade or my tummy is still angry from yesterday. Regardless, the endorphins are flowing well today and all is right with the world. Doug has just announced that we will be having Taco Mac for dinner. I'll be having the nachos and carb-loading with some lovely frosty beverages.

You Wear Me Out

This morning, Doug stayed home with the girls so that I could go on a long bike ride. I did the 40 mile Roswell Ride with a guy from my tri club. He was very nice and insisted that I wasn't holding him back speedwise - he said it was the blue margaritas he drank last night. So, we did the 40 and he left to go home because of the houseguests. I did 10 more miles on my own after taking a pit-stop at the park. Ladies, men don't ever stop to pee. I just don't understand this but it's true.

Regardless, that's a new world record distance for me. 50 miles! Whoo!

Anyway, after lunch (but still pre-shower), I took the girls to my parents' house because (1) they wanted to see us, (2) I had to pick up the beer cooler, wading pool and slip-n-slide from yesterday's party, and (3) Doug was brewing so I thought it would be good to give him a break. Note to self - no one drank the Hefeweizen. Apparently, no one else likes Hefeweizen either. I thought that we could foist that part of the Sam Adams Summer Pack off on my family because some of the other stuff looked good (Summer Ale, Pale Ale, etc). Not so.

While we are watched the girls run screaming around the house, my dad engaged me in the "wearing your body out" discussion. Again.

Dad: Aren't you worried that all of this activity (running, swimming, biking) will wear your body out prematurely?

Me: [thinking - "wow, I'm really worn out right now so it's not a good time to discuss this"] Well, theoretically maybe, but I think it's far healthier than being a couch potato and gaining weight.

Dad: Yeah, but couldn't you do some research on what happened to people who used to be athletes are doing?

Me: Well, triathlon is a young sport (30 years?) so there aren't that many old triathletes.

Dad: OK, runners then. There are lots of old marathoners. All of that pounding has to wear out your body. The swimming is probably OK.

Me: Sigh. Yeah, I could do some research on that.

So, I tried to do a little reseach on that and there is a lot of info on the internet about what older runners are doing but not much about whether they still run. Except for Jeff Gallaway, of course. I'm sure that www.tri-talk.com has done a show on this so I'll report back if I find anything. In the meantime, I might get Jeff's recent book for dad to read. Too bad I didn't think of it while we were talking. I'm bad with extemporaneous speaking - always have been. That's why I don't do litigation.

Anyway, I'm thinking that even if I have exercise-related problems sometime down the road, thoughtful training (not injuring myself, getting enough to eat and sleep, etc) is probably going to be a better thing for me in the long run than not doing the training. Of course, I do get crazy without my endorphins so that is definitely part of the equation for me. I should have mentioned that too. And the getting to eat whatever I want (within reason) because that is a huge motivator. I'll bet that elite athletes are not thinking about the delicious cereal and coffee or pasta that await them at the end of their long run or swim, but that is definitely what I'm thinking about.

In the Map

Here is my official race report on BT, but let me just say that the 5K race was awesome. Lake Chatuge is beautiful, the water felt good and I enjoyed the whole experience. I finished, I wasn't last and I finished in under two hours. My super-secret goal was 1 hr 45 minutes - I didn't make that (only 9 minutes off) but I think I could come close to that if I did the race again.

I met some neat folks and it turned out that we all finished within about 2 minutes of each other. I guess hanging around in your bathing suit is self-leveling. In some ways, I'm disappointed that I swam the full 5K ahead of time because it took some of the suspense out of the race. There was no "maybe I won't make it" and no "wow, it will be tough to get to the finish before I run out of energy". Then again, it was a good feeling to be out there in the middle of the lake and have confidence in the knowledge that I could do the distance and not worry about the fact that I was completely alone and there were no boats within 200 yards of me. The boats were continually circling around to keep track of us and make sure we were on course but they weren't always within easy reach.

It was really hard to navigate in the lake. Because I'm so terrible with directions, when following a map I have to turn it in the direction of travel to know whether to turn right or left. Doug and I call that "getting in the map." However, in this race I really was "in the map". I think I'd do better with navigation if I were able to give the route another try - maybe even shave some time off. If anyone thinks about doing this race next year and is willing to practice to get comfy with the distance, I'd love to do the race with you.

In other news, I almost got run over this morning. A Honda Accord came up behind me so closely that my arm hairs got ruffled and I screamed. I knew the car was coming because I heard it but assumed (and you know what that means) that it would stay in the general vicinity of the correct side of the road and safely away from me since I was running facing traffic on the other side. Not so. I don't think I'll be going around the loop in that direction again for a while.

AND, as I started down the home stretch, the dog-walking ladies and I heard tires screech and a crash. A teenager had blasted through the stop sign at the dead end, jumped an earthen berm (and bushes) and hit a tree. The tree actually just stopped her because I think she lost a lot of speed going over the berm. So, I had a sprint to get to the neighbor's house to call the police and then some rest while we waited for the cops. As we waited with the clearly inebriated young girl, the neighbor and I were visibly uncomfortable (we didn't discuss this) with the fact that we were ratting her out. We didn't want her to leave until the cops came but we studiously avoided discussing the idea that we had brought the police into the picture and she was now in really big trouble. The kid wanted to walk up to her friend's house but we discouraged that idea. Should we have let her go (so she could possibly avoid prosecution for the DUI) or kept her waiting for the police with the car? I think I would have wanted my kid to face the consequences with the police but that is just me.

Crazy

So, I'm really nervous about my race tomorrow.

Big Props to all of the ladies who are doing Iron Girl at Lake Lanier tomorrow. Annika and I had a blast giving out shirts at the Expo today. It was so cool to see all of the excitement. We saw Wes and Dee Dee, Nora, Courtney, Harmony, Mrs. Jonathan, and Jamie C. Very fun to see all of the peeps.

And, Nat finished her 100 mile bike today - I'll let her tell the details, but it sounds like she did great.

Anyway, here is what I'll be doing tomorrow. And here is the map. I'm supposed to be down here printing out the map so that I can study it and have some hope at navigation tomorrow. My secret weapon is that Doug can paddle up to me and hit me on the head with his oar if I'm going the wrong way. Thank goodness that Jason mentioned that he paddled for his wife one year. It's really going to help knowing that Doug is out there watching out for me. And, since he is doing this big paddle, we get to eat an extra good dinner. : )

Seriously, though, I'm hoping that I'll be able to remember enough of the map details to judge my distance and position so that I can understand how far I've gone, where I'm supposed to go and most importantly - how much longer.

Despite what Nat has told me, it is highly likely that I will finish last. I'm OK with that because the whole point is to finish this endeavor - it's like a swim marathon for me. I'd really like to break two hours, though. I think it's do-able if I don't get lost and don't freak out. Cross your fingers.

Race Photos

Here is a link to the West Point Lake Olympic distance race photos.

I'm bib number 43 and Doug is number 178. If you put C in the box instead of a number, there are a bunch of candid photos from the race. The guys would have liked it better if they had taken the photo of white sports bra woman from the front instead of the back. There is one of me trying to stuff my braids into my swim hat on that page. I look OK from the back. I think I'm going to have to buy the one where we are smiling with our friend Eric. We all look pretty good except that my shirt is all bunched up at the bottom. Check out Doug's abs. He is hot.

Please note, however, that all of the photos (except the one with Eric) appear wider than we are in person.

I'm just saying. . .

Oops, I Did It Again

I had planned to take the girls to run the fun run at the Chattahoochee Nature Center Possom Trot this morning. I looked up the race to find out the details as I was enjoying my post-run cereal and coffee a few minutes ago. The one mile fun run, the one for the kids - started at 7am. Oops.

Seeing as how it is now 8:35 and my little friends are still asleep, we didn't make it to the fun run. Next time . . . It's OK, though, because this was a one mile race and I don't know if Annika is ready to do a whole mile yet.

In other news, here is the list of winter marathons (my first!) we are considering, in no particular order. Lotzie - you could be ready in time for any of these! Miami looks good but might be too hot. Phoenix looks fun but is really far. St Jude might be too early and Joe says that Las Vegas is for fun and not marathons. I may be too old to go to New Orleans for Mardi Gras. Anyway, anyone who has thoughts on these races or has done them, please give me your thoughts:

• Miami Marathon 1/25/2009
• Phoenix Rock-n-Roll Marathon 1/18/09
• Rocket City Marathon (Huntsville, AL) 12/13/2008
• Las Vegas Marathon 12/7/2008
• Dallas Marathon 12/14/2008
• Kiawah Island Marathon 12/6/2008
• St Jude Memphis Marathon 12/6/2008
• Carlsbad Marathon (Carlsbad, CA) 1/25/2009
• Jacksonville Marathon 12/21/2008
• Houston Marathon 1/18/2009
• New Orleans Mardi Gras Marathon 2/1/2009

I can't build to the Chickamauga Battlefield Marathon in time because it is in November and I have to focus on my bike fitness (and just maintain my run mileage) for the SC HIM in September. Therefore, I think it would be a bad idea for me to try to build from the half distance to the whole in one month after doing the really long race in September. Especially given my propensity to injure myself while building to any race. I need extra time and then some more extra time.

Off to shower, happy Saturday everyone.

No Time For Losers

My title is not a slam of anyone. I've just already used "We are the Champions" this month and this video is hilarous. As you can see, I took it in the car with my phone on the way back from Grammy/Grampa's RV where Dagny and Annika stayed while Doug and I did the race on Saturday. This is about the 50th time they sang the song so I'm sure you can imagine how cute it was the first few times and while I was trying to get my phone to record.

The West Point Lake Triathlon was awesome. I really enjoyed the longer distance of the swim and run. The bike, as Nat said, will have to come eventually. I had some dark days out there on the bike. I got all disoriented and discombobulated on the swim and then when I started the bike, I was too uncoordinated to get on the dumb thing without stopping completely. Then, once I finally got started, people passed me like I was not even moving. It was upsetting.

I did, however, manage NOT to drop my GU flask in this race so that is a PR right there. I mounted it backwards, but it is now affixed to my bike and works great.

But on the bike, I was in a funk. I couldn't understand why I was doing the race, what I had been thinking when I thought a triathlon was a good idea, why couldn't I just quit, oh no - my oatmeal might be coming back up, etc. I've never had that problem in a race before and not even much in training. Usually the race day adrenaline and endorphins just ease me right through the day. Not so this time. The first third of the bike was a real struggle for me.

Then, we got to the turn-around and the leaders came by. Well no wonder they passed me before - their arms in aero looked lilke they chiseled from marble. Very nice eye candy. And then, I got to wave to people and cheer for them. Way more fun than biking all by myself. I sang some "Ba-Wit-Da-Ba" and said "Whee" down some hills and then the bike was over.

The run started with the tummy issues but as soon as people started coming back at me, I was able to yell for them and it buoyed my mood. That and the knowledge that there were porto-potties available only about 600 stairs away. It's amazing how eliminating the danger of poison ivy on the bottom system will relax a person. So, I was able to avoid the potties and hold a pretty good run pace for the 10K. I'm really happy about that because my runs have been sucking lately.

So, next time. Hm. I don't know how to avoid the death spiral of negativity that happened to me on Saturday. Maybe I need to fuel better on race morning or wear my i-pod pre-race to "get in the zone." At least I'll be on guard for it next time.

Doug did awesome despite being "unmotivated" on the run and the bike. He still averaged over 20 mph so that is smoking fast. He beat me my 4 minutes!

In similar news, Sarah has a post up about what words you use to get through the hard times in a race. A lot of folks posted some really neat stuff. I, of course, do better with the bad words, angry metal or rap lyrics. Maybe it's a Napoleon complex or something.

West Point Lake Olympic Triathlon

Here is the link to my race report on BT. My goal was to finish in under 3 hours and I did it! Whoo!

Will update with report info later.

Might as Well Be Walking on the Sun

It's hot here folks. After my bike ride yesterday, I was pouring so much sweat that my eyes were filled and stung so badly that I couldn't see.

Today, the girls and I went to the mall. I loathe the mall, but it was a for a birthday party so off we went only a little late because I forgot to get the carseat out of Doug's car and had to stop to get it. Build-A-Bear is not a bad party, really, except that:

1. I forgot the stroller and didn't have time to return home to get it once I remembered.
2. Dagny wasn't invited to the party.
3. None of the other moms shopped while the kids were in the party so we had to stay within earshot of the Build-A-Bear.
4. Dagny likes to ride the escalator.
5. Dagny thinks taking off to get on the escalator while Mommy sprints after her is a fun game.
6. The mall is too much walking for Dagny so I had to carry her on my shoulders. A lot.
7. The air conditioning in the food court was apparently broken.
8. Annika took a miniature stuffed cat from the Build-A-Bear with her in the box with her party favor.
9. Build-A-Bear doesn't explain to party guests what they get as part of the party so "mistakes" like this or wanting an outfit for the new doll are inevitable.
10. Annika lost her marbles twice during the party, again when I told her we had to return the pilfered cat, and again while returning said cat.
11. Dagny spilled her milk while we were taking a drink break on the way to the car - all over herself, the bench, the floor, and off the edge of the balcony to the floor below us.
12. The car was blazing and we all almost exploded when we got in it.

It was a nice time to see Annika's school friends again, though, and I had a nice time talking to one of the other moms in between Dagny's escape attempts.

In other news, I finished watching "Little Miss Sunshine" this afternoon. Hilarious. I can't wait for Doug to watch so we can talk about it. This is a spoiler question, but did anyone think of "As I Lay Dying" when they were watching? Ripping off Faulkner for a road trip movie is not too shabby. And, the dance performance which does blatantly what beauty pageants do through gauze and flowers (and hairspray, apparently) is priceless. LOVE it.

In still other news, yesterday's bike was hill repeats in my neighborhood. It was actually pretty fun and I didn't suck nearly as much as I thought I would. I only averaged about 2 min slower than Doug which is HUUUUUGGGE for me.

And, it turns out that I have been swimming ridiculously more than necessary to prepare for my upcoming race. See, I did some conversion work and determined that approximately 1,800 yards = 1 mile. So, to practice for my 5K (3.1 mile) swim, I made 6,000 yards (3 miles) my long swim goal. It's a little long, but I had to account for that 0.1 mile and an open water swim is harder than the pool so I didn't think the extra few yards would hurt.

Fast forward to these past two weeks, when our pool switched the lanes to "long course" which means that they are now 50 meters long instead of 25 yards. Who cares, a meter is not much longer than a yard, right? I swam my usual 6,000 last week and this week - only, it was 6,000 meters instead of 6,000 yards. I was a lot slower, which irritated me because my workouts lately have all been very slow. Very frustrating.

So, I discussed this with Doug after I log my workout at BT and discover that 6,500 meters (I did the to 500 warm-up) is actually just over 7,100 yards. Oops. Then, I slowly came out of my elaborate conversion chart fog to realize that the 5K in my 5K swim means 5 thousand meters.

Duh. So, anything over that is purely overkill. Won't be swimming 6,000 meters any more.

We Are the Champions

Here are the girls as we got ready for their first race at Team Ford of Alpharetta. It was sponsored by the dealership and Big Peach Running Company and The Bert Show on Q-100.

Then we stretched it out . . .

In addition to the race, there were jumpy castles, healthy food, drinks and face painting. I think the idea was for us to stay and play all day but that didn't work out for us because it was blazingly hot. It looks like The Bert Show is sponsoring a lot of these type of events with the local Ford dealerships - next one this weekend at Team Ford of Marietta.

Way to go, Bert Show.

We were late for the race (duh! what was I thinking?) and had to sprint across the parking lot (very big at a car dealership) and through the building to get to the start line. So the energy levels were not high and low fuel plus overheating = meltdown. Next time, we will get there early for a leisurely snack before the race.

This is the post-race jumpy castle. What more could a girl ask for? You can tell from here that Dagny isn't feeling like herself. No photo of Annika because she was pouting because of mom's "must wear socks in the castle" rule.

Immediately after the start, I started the video. I tried to get footage of both girls while they were running but Dagny ran approximately 25 yards and then walked before insisting that I carry her. She was OK on my shoulders so we caught up to Annika in time for the aid station. They had Fortis Water and Cliff Shots. Because fueling is very important in a 1/2 mile race, we stopped for both. The girls shared a chocolate Shot and each had their own cup of water. Annika took off again run/walking to the finish while I carried Dagny and the water.

Because we passed one family with several children (who may have stopped entirely) and everyone else was finished when we got there, Annika thinks we won. She rocks. Glass half-full, definitely.

Here are two really short videos from the race, in reverse-chronological order. In the first one, I'm trying to get video of Dagny running. In the second one, I tried to get both of them running while keeping up with them.

In other news, Dagny is still sick with the bottom flu so she hasn't been swimming yet but Annika is loving her "pre-team" and her clay camp.

And, look out world - next Thursday my office buddies and I are hitting the Leita trail at lunch for a run. We ran at the Oxbo trails yesterday and it was very nice. I'll be lucky not to have poison ivy but still, a run in the middle of the workday is still a found workout.

I'm still fatigued from the blood donation on Sunday so my workouts are sucking. This is disappointing because I always pooh-pooh those people who say that blood donation knocks them back. Hopefully, I'll be OK by Saturday for my long run.

No Going Back

This morning, after my run while I was full of cereal, coffee and endorphins, I registered for two races. These have been on the radar and in the plan, but now there is no turning back.

I also registered Doug. So no turning back for him either.

The olympic distance race in Chattanooga is do-able, I think. We will know in two weeks after the West Point Lake race. The half iron distance race in September. . . another thing entirely. I will have to get my bottom on the bike to get ready for that one. I'll be hopping on the trainer tomorrow during Dagny's nap because I don't think it's a good idea to ride on the road in the heat after I give blood. That's OK, I have a movie to watch and a BT friend lent me some spinervals DVDs.

It was, however, nice to see at least 10 people from Roswell/Alpharetta on the SC half-iron distance race participant list and Wes and Sarah on the Chattanooga list plus some other NAMC folks. Inexplicably, it made me feel calmer knowing there will be "peeps" there.

And, while I'm on a registering tear, anyone with suggestions for a good December/January marathon, please chime in. Doug and I are considering a destination marathon if we can convince some peeps to join us.

Lotzie, I'm talking to you!

Otherwise, I think it will be Rocket City or somewhere else close.

In other news, we are finally rid of Doug's sister's dog because they come home from vacation today. Whew! I had forgotten how difficult puppies were. And this dog is a springer spaniel so she is high-strung. Having a nervous puppy here really made us appreciate our good old dog. Annie doesn't need for everyone to be seated before she eats, she heels, she knows not to eat crayons, she doesn't chew up markers, she understands the "give" command, and she doesn't bark unless someone walks by while she is looking out the window.

I Like Cold Beverages

Here is a photo of Annika from her last day of school party. It was a picnic and we had a great time playing outside and eating pizza. Note the cool charm bracelet that the teachers gave everyone - quite a hit with the kids. And, here. Is what is going on in our bathtub. For those of you who don't know, this is the beginning of beer. : )
As you can see, it's going a little slow because it's chilly in the bathtub but in about 2 weeks we should have some beer to drink. When we went to my cousin's wedding in Orangeburg, one of my relatives by marriage made the BBQ and the beer and it was awesome. So, Doug's interest in making beer was reignited. Whoo! He is GOOD at making beer.



When we were in college, Doug and Mike used to get together every few months to brew together. Some brews were better than others (usually because of the amount of cold beverages consumed during the brewing process) but they got really good at making beer. When we were first married, Doug got the kegging system (using old Coke kegs) and we had lots of good brews for every holiday and event. But lately, no brewing.



So I'm glad that the yeast is back growing at our house.



In other news, I got new running shoes (Saucony) after a visit to the Big Peach. They tested me and said that my Adrenalines might have been a little too much motion controlling. So, check these out - they are even purple. First run was good. Tomorrow's long run will be the test.

And after that, the girls are running in their first race at Team Ford. Watch out.

A Three Hour Tour

We were supposed to load up the kids, the bikes, the trailer and the ride-a-long and hit the Silver Comet this morning.

Unfortunately, at 5am Annika came into our room to say that she felt like she needed to barf. We got her a bowl, put her hair up and she heaved a little but nothing came. Back to bed for Annika and me - Doug got up and did some dishes from last night's BBQ.

So, no Silver Comet. After we cleaned up from the festivities, Doug went for his run and I got to bike when he returned. I did a tour of the local area with the intention to hit 40 miles. There is a 40 mile route for our area, but parts of it are not appealing to me so I did a modified version.

I loaded 2 water bottles (one with water and one with electrolyte) and my aero-drink bottle, filled my newly-affixed GU flask, and ate a Cliff bar as I was leaving the house. Still, I ran out of fuel. Should have filled both water bottles with electrolyte and brought at least 3 GUs, possibly 4. That's OK - I'm going to get this one day. The aero-drink was great, though. I got splashed on some bumpy places but only right after filling and it felt good because I was hot. And, I only put water in there so I wasn't sticky - see, I'm trainable.

It was an awesome day. I saw a billion people out walking, running, biking, doing yardwork. One little girl doing yardwork with her dad yelled "go biker, go biker" at me. : ) There were tons of triathletes and bikes on the bike lanes down by the river and some passed me on the way there.

I decided to do the neighborhood portion of the 40 mile route first to avoid having to come through my own neighborhood twice (too hilly). Was doing fine and had my first shot of GU at one hour once I crossed 92 to head to the river. As I did the turnaround in Inverness, there was another guy in there turning around. I let him go first and would see him about three more times during the ride - not passing ever, just in the same vicinity.

I stopped to potty and refill all of my bottles at about 1 hr 40 mins. This was not a good sign. It was really hot. I stopped for a phone check at the place where Nat and I usually GU but I wasn't to two hours yet so it wasn't time for GU. As I did the big hill up Wileo, I was disappointed to realize that this ride was going to take me 3 hours. Well, duh! Of course it would - I usually do 3X miles in 2.5 hours so simple math should have told me this. The realization made me sing the Gilligan's Island theme all of the way up the hill so it wasn't all bad.

Anyway, I was (distantly) following a couple as they went up Wileo and Hightower (think I had the other GU here). I caught the woman on the way down the hill on Pine Grove - it's a great downhill and I know where all of the bumps are so I can fly. I fell in with the woman on Shallowford and joked about riding the brakes on the downhill since that is what Nat does. Turns out, the woman is on BT too (Aimster) and I know her in that world. I leave her but say that I'm sure she'll pass me on the uphill, which she does. : )

We hang out and chat all along Shallowford and I was trying not to hang on her wheel on Jones. I peeled off to do Nat's folks' street and lost her and the guy in there because I didn't want to draft all the way home. It felt like cheating - plus, what if they thought I was annoying?

Anyway, after I got back on the regular route, I had drunk all of my electrolyte and sucked every bit of GU out of my flask and I was cashed. Coming past the bottoms on the street, I stated to feel shakey. "Suck it up," I said. "Just one set of hills to go and then it's all downhill." I struggled through the last neighborhood and made it to my 'hood by talking to myself a lot and avoiding the brakes on the downhills (use the hill!). Whew! Once there, I found those couple of bikers again. They were having a drink break. Turns out the guy is also on BT (atl_runner). This was their first time on this route. How cool is that? I offered water/potties, but they declined. Apparently, not everyone needs to pee as much as Nat and me.

I didn't have the energy for a run-off but was able to rack my bike without incident (it's above my head so I have to lift the bike up really high) so next time I'll fuel better and do a run after the bike. I've showered and am clean now and I feel like $1M.

46 miles and change at a 14.XX pace (including the potty break, the water, stoplights, etc). Whoo! It's a new record distance for me!

Annika is feeling better now and is enjoying Miss Spider on TV. I had to put the kaibosh on SpongeBob. He's just not very positive.

Again, the most thoughtful drivers on my ride today were the landscapers. I'm guessing that this is because people buzz them or honk or yell at them too so they know how it feels.

Who Are the People in Your Neighborhood??

Tuesday, I was supposed to get up early and run so that Doug could swim. And I overslept.


I went to work, had instant noodles + frozen spinach and a banana for lunch and my tummy was off. And then I got tired. Luckily, the machines at work have Diet Dr. Pepper in them. Yum-o. Anyway, I drank my nice bottle of tasty but not caloric chemicals and felt much better. Caffeine is my friend. The tummy, not so much better.


So, when I called to tell Doug I was on my way, he said "why don't you come home and put on your running clothes and go out for a run?" "I'll feed the kids and we can eat together when you get home." Well, I certainly am not one to skip a gift workout so I changed clothes like Superman and went out on my run.


Into the blazing heat and humidity. Punishing. This run was punishing. The hill loops I did on the bike on Monday left me with aching calves and quads. The heat did not help the tummy. I now totally understand why everyone blew up on the run at the Gulf Coast Triathlon and Florida 70.3. The possibility of this kind of heat makes me glad that we are doing our first HIM in the fall. Luckily, on this run, I could stop at the clubhouse and again at home to use the potty. I wanted to quit for all of the first loop (2.85 miles). Then, I almost returned to the house after my short out-n-back at the beginning of the second loop for aoother "break" but told myself to HTFU. Clouds started to roll in just after that pep-talk and the run was instantly more bearable. Whew!


About a mile later, I was coming up a hill while a guy in a Honda waited for me to pass. "You didn't have to wait on me," I joked, "I'm not going to beat you." This is funny because I was sucking it up the hill. "No," the guy said, "I wanted to see if you needed a ride home - there is bad weather coming." Then, as he passed me on his way out the guy said that there was a tornado warning for Woodstock. I thanked him and said that I was close to home. After that, I picked up the pace. Fear is a good motivator.

With a mile to go, I passed another guy. This one was out walking his dogs. We chatted about the lightning and he, too, offered me a ride home. See, this is why I love our hood. There is the dark-30 club that says hello when I run in the morning (counted 7 this morning, not counting drivers and landscape/construction workers) and in the afternoon everyone wants to help out.

I had planned to run for 60 minutes with a goal of 6 miles. I got the 6 miles but only 59 minutes. The weather got so ugly that I couldn't even run right in front of the house so I raced inside. So I could have dinner with Doug while we watched the trees bending over and the hail raining down on the yard. It was a nasty storm. Will post the photo when it migrates from my phone - soo slow to do that!

Death of a Disco Betta Fish

Our fish Shelley passed over to the big flush yesterday. Here is a link to my only photo of him.



No one liked Shelley and he was regularly ignored at our house. I fed him every day, but his bowl only got cleaned on special occasions. He even spent some time in the wine chiller when I accidentally broke his bowl while cleaning it. But he really most preferred the plastic "O" bowl he started in - the one in the photo. We thought it was too confining for him, but those luxurious glass bowls were too spacious or too exposed or something. He didn't like them. I don't know why. He was a mystery.



So anyway, Doug changed his water and we dropped him off at Aunt Katie's house when we left on Friday. By the afternoon, the phone calls began:



"Shelley isn't looking good - he's just sitting there." He always does that. He doesn't move much.



"He's swimming upside down now." Really? Because his mouth turns up so he can gulp insects from the surface (or beta pellets, but whatever).



And finally, he was just floating. No tapping would rouse him.



He was a good fish and probably just got old. According to the internet, Bettas only live for 2-3 years and let's face it, a fish's life at my house is hard. You will note from my perusal of the blog archives that we have had him for 2 years.



HOWEVER, to further prove that we should not have fish. . .



Doug, Uncle Robbie and the girls caught a bunch of sand fleas, angel wings, what I think was a spindle and various tiny fish at the beach today. Aunt Jennie and I instigated a catch and release program which worked OK when Dagny and Sophie didn't drop the fish into the sand. But Annika wanted to keep the fish in her bucket until we went back outside this evening.



Fine. SIGH.



So, we went down to Jen/Rob's condo for lunch and upon our return tucked our exhausted children into bed for their naps. And went out onto the porch to find a bucketful of dead fish. Oops. So much for catch and release. Doug released them back into the ocean and hopefully we can avoid bringing any more away from the water.



They were really cool to watch, though. The spindle put out his foot and climbed up the top of the bucket and the angelwings opened and put out their stalks while we watched. And those sand fleas were fast! They can burrow into the sand faster than you can blink your eye.

Take It Easy

You know how I joined the streaking challenge on Paul's blog?

Well, I've been sucking at the streaking. Things come up, you know?

I exercised 11 hours the week before last, but still had a goose egg (that means I didn't manage at least 30 minutes of exercise) on Friday. I had to get up early to pay bills and didn't get them finished in time to do some working out before it was time to get ready for work. And then we went out for dinner after work and I was too tired to bother when I got home after bathing the kids. Dagny melted down when it was time to walk the dog so I didn't even get to do that.

And then, when I did my bills this past week I noticed that my computer needs backing-up and I haven't filed anything in about a month. And, I am short-tempered and had the freakout mentioned in the previous post when I wanted to pull my hair out. So, what I'm saying is, though I enjoyed the big training week and seizing the day when each swim/bike/run opportunity arose, I don't think I can sustain the 11 hour training weeks right now. When I read about evaluating your average training volume in Joe Friel's Triathlete's Training Bible, I didn't quite understand what he was talking about. But now I think I do. I can't do 11 hour weeks every week and still maintain my job and a reasonable degree of organization in my house. And that is OK.

Every hour spent training is good. Just like every hour with my kids is good. There may not be enough of either of them so it's good to appreciate what I get.

And, goose eggs on Thursday, Saturday and Sunday last week. Because of the packing and the wedding and what always happens at work on the day before vacation. But, you know what? This week is a whole new week and I got to run 6 miles this morning and it was lovely.

Wastin' Away Again in Beer-ville

I had a whole bunch of posts in my mind on Friday, which I thought of during the trail run Doug insisted I take after I freaked out about not getting everything done in time to leave for our vacation on Friday. Sure, I got up at 4 and paid the bills. But I didn't get any of the filing done and there is that other pile of "things I need to address" plus the pile of work in my backpack and the suitcases that I hadn't yet packed.

But, he insisted I would feel better after a run and he was right. I ran up to the good park and ran around once (3 potty breaks because freaking out + nervous tummy = lots of stops) and then came back home. I ran almost 7 miles if you count the walking in mile 5/6 to get to one of the stops, which I do. I saw some runners who weren't very friendly to me, even though I said hello. Maybe it was because I took too long at the water fountain. Dunno.

Anyway, we made it. The suitcases were packed and we left right on time. Sure, we forgot some stuff but nothing huge. And, Annika was beautiful at the wedding even if she didn't stand still and the party was great. My aunt and uncle's house is a little bit of heaven for my family and they pulled out all of the stops to make a super party. Their nephew (Barney) made the BBQ and the beer and it was awesome. The bride and groom did a slideshow of photos from their lives and one of the bride's songs was "Boondocks". I was a little worried about her using that song since the groom's family appears to be from town but I think it says a lot about her and her family. Maybe we'd all be a lot happier if we'd stop trying to keep up with the Joneses and just be who we are.

And today?

We've made it to the beach after checking out all of the bikes driving home from the Gulf Coast triathlon (I asked a guy at the Whataburger how it was and he said "hot") and are gearing up to go to the Irish pub for dinner tonight before my sister gets here with her family, when we will switch to Margaritaville or Gin&Tonic-ville. And I haven't even checked my work email yet.

The Tracks, Redux

So, today I rode past the tracks again with Nat and Doug.

It's unanimous. Those are bottoms.

Hope they washed off before getting back in the car!

Take the Dumbass Biking

Earlier this month, we signed up to ride in the Roswell Mayor's Ride - 20 mile loop. It's part of the Roswell Criterium festivities. Doug was going to take Annika on the ride-a-long and I was going to pull Dagny in the trailer.

So, you can see where this is going.

Dagny has been feeling icky since Friday. She has a cough and a lot of phlegm. On Friday at Annika's soccer game, she choked on the phlegm and vomited on the field. Oops.

This morning, she apparently choked again or she has some kind of stomach thing. It could be either one because she has a horrible, gagging, old smoker's cough and she hasn't eaten any appreciable amount of food since Thursday. Remember, this is Dagny. She eats everything.

So, after she barfed, I bathed her and put her back in bed. She seemed completely fine with no trace of fever, so Doug and I thought we could still ride. We readied the bikes and car and I went upstairs to get the girls ready. While I was braiding Annika's hair ("just like Aunt Matalie"), Dagny coughed and it made her barf again. OK, bike ride off.

But she was so excited about riding in the trailer. She calls it her stroller.

So, we decided I would take her on the 6 mile family ride in the trailer and just bring a bowl with me in case of more upchuck. She was fine. She is weak from the lack of food but she sipped her ice water during the whole ride with no sicks. Then, she ate a whole bag of cheerios while the I was busy doing some tire work. She is napping now after a cheese quesadilla so I'm hopeful we will be able to make it to the race and possibly the party at Nat's folks' house tonight.

So, the tire work. SIGH. Just let me tell you. . .

We were LAST on the family ride. There were 3 year-olds who passed us. My bike was so heavy and hard to pedal. I couldn't figure out where all of my bike strength had gone. And something was making a rubbing noise. I checked my brakes and the back ones were rubbing so I adjusted them to no avail.

Once we finished the ride and returned to the park (after enduring much ridicule from the other riders), I realized the problem. Not only was my back tire really low (so low you could see it poking out on either side of the rim), the whole wheel had come out of the bracket and was rubbing against the frame. Oh! So that was the noise. No wonder!

I took the tire off, checked the whole tube and reinflated it with my C02 cartridge after I read the instructions again. The repair kit tire levers were flimsy but I made them work. After I got the tire back on, Dagny and I decided to ride to Starbucks after a quick detour to the potty. However, when we went to get back on the bike after the potty, the tire was flat again.

Maybe I should have used a fresh tube. But it wasn't leaking! Ugh. I took the tire off and put the new tube in while other Bike Roswell folks walked around me in the set-up/potty area. Then, I got the tire and new tube back on the wheel and tried to complete the refilling. I was pretty pleased with my handiwork. However, as I was working on the refilling (with some difficulty), some guys came to my aid and tried to fill it for me. Oops. That didn't work - they didn't do well with the C02 either. One guy went and got his "real pump" and set me right. They put my tire back on and I was on my way. Back up the hill and to my car to go home because Doug and Annika finished the 20 mile ride about that time.

And, no ride tomorrow because I have a work meeting. On my day off. SIGH.

But, the family ride was a lot of fun and we will definitely do it again next year. And I've had a yet another reminder that I need to check that back wheel on every ride or at least if it's making a rubbing noise.

The Tracks

HA! Dorothy asked about the tracks I posted a photo of last week. This reminded me of a song that my friend Yvonne liked in college called "The Slacks". It was by Trip Shakespeare, a band that she thought was the next big thing.

I wore the pants
I said relax
We did the dance
They call the slacks

It really was a good song, though.

Anyway, I thought the tracks were moons. If you know what I mean.

They looked like someone sat their bottom in paint, crabwalked forward and sat down. Again and again. I could be wrong and Doug thinks I am wrong but that is what I thought. They are on the way out the Hwy 92 entrance of Waverly Hall if you want to make your own inspection.

Sing a New Song

Since Annika was a baby, we've been agonizing over whether to do the private school thing or send her to our local public school. Having swum the sea of mediocrity ourselves, we firmly believe that public school is more "real world" than private school. Nobody holds your hand and makes sure you do all you need to do to graduate in public school. Nobody reminds you at UGA that you need X,Y,Z classes or that you have to take that test. If you don't graduate, tough for you.

When it came to Annika, though, we thought maybe it would be good to be in control of the brainwashing that occurs in school. Sure, religiously-based schools have brainwashing and biases too, but at least you know what you are getting. If you go to Catholic school, you are getting the Catholic party line. It's pretty easy to know what that is. If you go to public school, though, who knows what whims they may be following. Like when my sister was in elementary school and they stopped worrying about spelling - "whole language," I think it was called. Thank goodness for spell-check. . .

Similarly, if you pay for the school you have more say in what the school does. No one is going to put your kid into World Geography instead of Economics just because it is convenient or because "freshmen don't take Economics". Also, you have license to complain if your kid gets put in the class of the teacher who hates her job and thinks that her big writing break is always around the corner.

That's the idea, anyway.

So, we made our application back in the winter, and have been worrying about it ever since. Would she get in? How do we pay for it? Is it the same academic standard as the other school? Would it be OK that we aren't the world's greatest Catholics?

But alas, Annika was not offered a spot at our chosen school. Rumor has it that there were only 8 non-sibling spots available. I don't know if that is true or not.

So, today we registered for kindergarten at our local public school. And it was fine. There was a lot of beaurocracy, but we saw Annika's favorite neighbor (Maddy) and another neighborhood friend whose brother is also starting kindergarten in the fall. Annika is pretty excited because Sarah Anne is also going to this school. And next week, we have the open house.

I think it's going to be OK.

John Tanner State Park Sprint Triathlon Report

Nuva Nos! It's the first race of the season!





Doug and I dropped the kids at Nana/Papa's house on Friday after dinner and left home at 5am on Saturday to drive to Carrolton, Georgia. In case you didn't know, Carrolton is near Bremen.



I have a new immodium protocol courtesy of my sister and brother-in-law (the doctors) so I ate one before bed on Friday, ate some oatmeal and gulped a half-cup of coffee before we left the house, and ate a bit more oatmeal at 6:00 (2 hrs before race time) - as much as I could stand.



The sun was up when we got to the park and we set up our transition area in a leisurely fashion after the obligatory potty break(s) and another immodium. Race numbers were assigned in alphabetical order, so it was very nice to be next to Doug. We made friends with a nice guy named Daniel A. who gave me good wetsuit advice. In the linked photo, Daniel is the All-3-Sports guy on the right. He looked like a pro and came in 3rd overall in the race. We tested the water and it was 74.5 degrees. Doug never wavered in his wetsuit-wearing decision (on), but I was worried about getting mine off. When we practiced last week, I had to sit down in the water to pry it off of me. Daniel said that if I was a decent swimmer and not good at getting the suit off, I'd waste any time gains from wearing the suit in trying to get it off. That sealed the deal for me. Wetsuit back to the car.



We searched for and met Pop, who is on the BT board and was doing his first race. We saw some of the NAMC crowd and Annika's soccer coach from last fall (Coach Steve). It was nice to see so many familiar faces.



I Gu-ed up (Expresso Love flavor, in the flask) and we picked our way back down the hill to the lake for the pre-race meeting. The announcements were loud and coherent - super organization at this race. We met a woman doing her first race (Heather-Nicole) who was nervous about the swim. She was nice and I only left her when it was time to wade into the water. I seeded myself towards the back (AGAIN) because I wanted to wait as long as possible before getting deeper into the cold water but I miscalculated and was late. So I had to wait for the crowd to clear before actually starting to swim.


Swim




The first 100 yards were tough. I was in a crowd and people were all around me and bumping. I tried to just do my regular breathing and stroke while avoiding the other swimmers. At the first intermediate buoy I realized that I was just chopping with my forearms and not stroking with my hands at all. Well, duh - no wonder I was getting tired. I gave myself a pep-talk with some bad words and switched to a regular stroke and concentrated on finishing each stroke all the way to the hip. The water was very calm so it was a breeze to check position on my breaths without much lifting of my head. Thank goodness I stuck with the bilateral breathing last summer! I still need to work on actual sighting if there are waves. I did much better going around the back stretch and up to the finish line. After I rounded the final buoy, however, I got a big smack to the head/ear. I don't know if it was a foot or an arm, but it hurt! No lasting damage, though, so I was able to stay strong on the back side. There were 2-3 pink caps in front of me at the finish so I knew that I was pretty far back in the pack.


12:47 - almost 2:00 per 100 meters



My transition was slow, as usual. 1:51. What the heck was I doing? My Team Zoot/Gu uniform was already on - all I had to do was apply helmet and glasses, put my flask in my shirt and put on my shoes and socks. Jeez. I'm going to have to practice this.



Bike



So, I was hoping that all of the trainer rides and my recent bikes would have translated into a blistering bike leg. Alas, not so much. It wasn't horrible but I really struggled to keep a high cadence and go fast. I was awesome on the downhills and passed lots of people on those. But those folks almost always got me back on the next uphill. Only three women passed me, but two had 37 on their calves. RATS! I was able to pass the other lady and I think I got out of transition before the two 37s. I also would have been faster if I hadn't had to stop after I dropped my Gu flask shortly after the mount line. Yes, I know I said I was going to mount it on my bike - I've had the bike mount for months, but it just isn't on the bike yet. And, in the last mile, there was girl in front of me in a red shirt with a number 4 on the back on a MOUNTAIN BIKE. But could I catch her? No!



37:36 for an avg of 17.87 mph



The whole last half of the bike I was telling myself (out loud) "shoes off, hat off - shoes on, get visor and number". So this should have helped me get this transition done in record time. Again, not so much. The NAMC folks have advised that I need lace locks so that will be my next gear purchase. Transition to run was 1:11.



Run



I didn't have heavy legs to start the run the way I usually do in a brick. But, my left calf acted like it wanted to cramp up. I didn't stop but babied it a little. The around-the-lake part of the run wasn't bad - it was shady and though the path was bumpy, it was nice. I maintained a fast pace but was at the top of my heartrate range. I know this because as much as I'd like to think that I am delicate and graceful and silent like a panther on the run, almost invariably, the other racers all turned to look at me as I gained on them. I told one guy "I know, I sound like a freight train". I don't think I was gasping or wheezing but I was certainly breathing hard (what's the motto? "In a sprint, if you aren't hurting, not going fast enough!") and my footfalls are pretty heavy. Oh, well. Maybe they could just hear all of the water that I drank on the bike sloshing around inside of me. As we passed the bridge to the finish for the out-n-back portion of the run we started seeing other racers coming towards us. FUN! I yelled for everyone and had a great time. I think the run is my favorite part. I yelled for Heather (NAMC buddy) twice, which I thought was weird. Turns out that the first Heather was actually Rebecca. Oops. Had to apologize for that! I saw Doug and he looked good. Shortly behind him was Coach Steve, who looked very fresh while I was starting to wane. The turnaround was way up a hill and I've never been so happy to see a volunteer. I told the guy so and we laughed about it. I walked through the mile 2 water stop (I know, what a wuss) but I needed to rinse my mouth and the lady with the 45 on her calf in front of me stopped too. The last mile was more rolling but more downhill than up. I yelled for everyone and had a great time. I was redlining the whole time so the run was tough but I tried to ignore that part. I passed a guy from our neighborhood (Danny) whose family I had seen coming out of the swim. He was trucking right along. I didn't tell him about the hills coming up.

I found the mountain bike girl (#4) as we crossed the bridge to the finish. I poured it on but couldn't catch her. Rats! I made sure to stop and tell her how awesome she did.

22:39 for the run which is a 7:19 pace. I can't complain about that at all.



So, my total time was 1:16:06 and that was good enough for 3rd place in my age group. Courtney and the real Heather both did 1:15 or under so I felt guilty getting the hardware when they didn't get it for better times. I was 5th on the swim, 5th on the bike but 2nd on the run. That run saved me in a big way. So, next time I know what to work on. I feel much better about the open water swim, too, so that is a good thing.

What Happens At Nana's

Our girls spent the night with Nana and Papa last night and played with cousins Sophie and Julia until after lunch today. Needless to say, they didn't sleep much, ate a half-package of Twizzlers and have been napping now for almost four hours.



That's right. Four.



And, Doug is on his way to get our babysitter now so that we can have dinner with some friends.

Methinks that getting to church in the morning will be tough tomorrow.


Anyhow, in other news:

What do you think those prints are?

I saw them on my bike ride Wednesday and thought "Hm, they must have run over something and their tires got it all over the road."

Then, "Looks like butterflies."

However, as I went up the hill out of the neighborhood, I thought of something else it might be and went back for a photo. I know the photo would be better without my shadow, but my heart rate was up from biking and I was nervous about the guy who was innocently doing yardwork across the street.

I'll post tomorrow what I thought they were. Doug didn't agree. You'll notice that the prints are not as regular as you'd think they would be from tires.

And, I got 3rd place in my age group at the John Tanner State Park Sprint Triathlon today. Whoo! My time wasn't awesome (placement depends on who shows up in your age group, obviously and the faster 35-39s must have stayed home!) and the bike and run were HARD, but it was a really fun race and we saw all sorts of NAMC and BT folks and a guy from our neighborhood at the race. Doug beat my bike time by over 4 minutes. He kicks ass. The youngest racer was 13 and the oldest was 87. That is not a typo. That guy is a BAMF. I'll post a race report with a photo of my cool team ZootGU uniform once the official times are up because I still haven't learned to use the multisport function on my Garmin and Doug read my times off to me so I don't remember them.

Nuva Nos!

My Grammy is Ukranian and her husband (Grampy) was Lithuanian. At their house, every time a different vegetable or event occurred for the first time in a season, the family would yell "Nuva Nos!" and smack each other on the forehead with the heel of their hands. It looks like the "I coulda had a V-8" smack. BUT - you have to be the first one to notice the item or event or it doesn't count.

So, it was always a big deal to realize that we were eating the first hamburgers, beets, radishes, corn, etc. of the season so you could be the one to yell "Nuva Nos!" and smack someone on the forehead. My internet searching has not revealed which language this phrase comes from and I'm sure the spelling is wrong, but I'll report back after I ask Grammy.

Anyway, the point is . . .

Nuva Nos! It was the first bike ride of the season today!

I rode from school and got a great 30 mile ride in. It was beautiful outside, no cars tried to kill me, and the Lemon Sublime GU I ate was actually pretty good. The vanilla is always good, but I was a little worried about this new flavor. I'm still afraid to try the Strawberry-Banana. Jerry swears by it, but I'm not convinced.

THEN, after a stop at the Peak Sports Nutrition store to buy some electrolyte drink and use their potty, I ran 3.11 miles and finished just in time to pick the girls up at school. SO much fun! I can't wait until Nat gets her bike back so we can ride together. However, I may need to eat more on the bike. I think I was OK on fluids since I had to stop for the potty break but maybe some more calories would be good. Hopefully my GU2O will get here soon and I can start trying that out.

AND, Doug and I took the girls to the lake yesterday to try out our wetsuits in preparation for Saturday's race. It was the maiden voyage of the new Zoot wetsuit that I got for Christmas. The link is not a photo of my actual suit because mine is not this cool-looking but I felt super-cool in it, not at all like the neoprene-covered cow I was when I tried it on four months ago. When you unzip and roll the top down, so you look like a real pro (HA!), you can still read the Zoot because the logo upside down is exactly the same. I'm sure I looked just as ridiculous and ungainly as before, but it's all about how you feel, right? I forgot my camera to record our swim for posterity, but I'll get a photo at the race.

However, as I flailed away in the lake trying to talk myself into going close to the buoys I wondered what in the heck was I thinking signing up for a 5K swim. Open water swimming is HARD. I thought I was a bad-ass because I've gotten up to a 6,000 yard continuous swim in the pool. Not so fast, bad-ass - more like candy-ass!!

In other news, the girls and I are off to Aunt Jennie/Uncle Robbie's house for dinner tonight to see the baby. Hope everyone had a super day today.

What We Did for Spring Break

Many of the neighbors went on trips for Spring Break. I know this because there was zero traffic and our neighborhood was a ghost town last week. We didn't go anywhere so we got to enjoy the girls' company all week.

Because I had a giant allergy attack on Tuesday, the girls and I had to bail on Nat's playgroup and do indoor things on Wednesday. We went shopping and baked cookies. Below, you can see my new and improved cookie cooling method - keeps the crumbs off of the counter and the floor. We made a double batch of Nestle's Tollhouse Cookies (the recipe on the back of the package) and did half with chocolate chips and the other half with mini M&Ms and cashew pieces. The cashews were very tasty in the dough but were lost in the finished cookies. I guess their flavor was too delicate or too much like sugary buttery flour.



Our niece, Julia Ann Williams, was born on Tuesday afternoon (April 8). She weighed 7lbs and was 19 inches long. Doug dropped me off at the hospital after we went to the Masters Practice Round in the morning. Julia is my sister (Jennie) and her husband's second daughter. She is very cute and huuuuungry. That's her dad (Robbie) holding her in the photo.



Here are some gratuitous photos of Dagny playing on the playground at Annika's last soccer game. She pulled the clips out of her hair, so it was all aflutter.



In other news, we are the house of pee again this week. On Monday, the dog let loose during her nap and created an ocean under our kitchen table, where Doug, Annika and I were sitting (I was going to call this post "Ocean Sized" but decided against another bathroom-focused post). That's 3-4 loads of laundry to clean the towels we sopped it up with and my computer bag which was also doused.

Then, Dagny's diaper leaked during her nap yesterday and again last night. 2 more loads of sheets.

And Annika wet the bed last night too. 2 more loads of sheets/comforter.

Luckily, I forgot to pack underwear to put on after my swim this morning so I still have clean ones to wear tomorrow because there is no telling when the next load of actual clothes will get done.

Ba-Wit-Da-Ba

What! Camping out for football tickets?

No? What about Rolling Stones or Smiths tickets?

Nope.

Camp.

I camped out for summer camp registration this morning. You know that you are jealous. I arrived at 5:30am in the freeeeezing cold and was number 9. I got all of the camps I wanted (alas, with no price discount for being early) so that is a good thing. Met some nice neighbors and we've already planned who is to bring the warm beverages for next year.

In other news, now that my kids' camp aspirations are fulfilled, we trekked to IKEA yesterday and bought Dagny her new big girl bed. Actually, it is bunk beds. I don't remember if I posted about the harrowing trip to IKEA a few weeks ago in which I picked out linens with both kids and nearly killed myself. Will post photos once I've washed/ironed/hung drapes and removed the extra furniture and cardboard boxes from the room. Dagny is alseep in her big girl room RIGHT NOW only two hours after I laid her down to nap,

And, I scored a big goose egg on the Challenge yesterday because Doug and I spent the entire afternoon assembling the bunk beds and the beautiful blue dresser. My fingers are sore today, though, which should count for something.

God Save the Tween

Annika has informed us that she no longer likes the music in her i-pod. She has requested new tunes.

Out go those darn Disney songs. Ariel, Wiggles and Laurie Berkner - you are chopped liver. You've been supplanted by the offspring of none other than Billy Ray Cyrus.

That's right. We are in the tween world now.

The world of Hannah Montana.

For those of you who have not recently wikipedia-ed Hannah Montana (because I have), Hannah Montana is a show on the Disney Channel about this pop star named Hannah Montana. Only, instead of the rock-and-roll lifestyle, she wants to live like a regular kid. So, she is incognito and living in Malibu as Mylie Stewart and only her family and close friends know. The show is squeaky clean and pretty cute. Mylie is always getting into some kind of jam and making faces at her predicament, which somehow works out in the end. Typical sitcom material. But Annika LOOOOVES it.

Actually, for car audio, Hannah Montana is a good bit less annoying than the Veggie Tales. "So we've got that going for us, which is nice." Don't get be wrong. I really like the message of the Veggie Tales a lot and if Annika wanted to sing "He's Got the Whole World in His Hands" all day - I'd do it. I even sing along. But after one time through that CD, my head starts to hurt.

Interesting, though, is that Dagny can't keep up with the words on Hannah Montana. She is still Laurie Berkner speed. "Hey Victor," "Hey Freddie," "Let's eat some spaghetti." So the "kids" mix on my i-pod alternates between the oldies and the new stuff. That Doug, he is smart.

Anyway, my point is not necessarily that Annika is a tween because i-village says (and you know they know everything) you have to be ten to be a tween, but she WANTS to be a tween. Which is almost as scary. Suddenly, the music on our i-tunes is not the only music she hears. Next thing you know she will be wearing black and listening to the Cure and the Smiths and Bob Mould . . .

Or not, because now all of those guys are old like me. She'll be listening to some other whiney wankers. Sigh.

Wuss

On Tuesday, after my easy swim on Monday and recovery run/walk in the morning I rolled my ankle. No, not the one that I rolled before my 12 miler a few weeks ago.

SIGH. Really, Grace is not my middle name.

Doug and I had just been talking about how the nightly dog walk (he Garmined it at 0.5 miles) with the girls would have me goose-egg free for the rest of the summer, even if it wasn't a "workout" per se. It does make me sweaty but mainly that is because Dagny poops out halfway and I have to carry her. So I don't think it really counts. The ankle went over as I was carrying Dagny on my shoulders down the rocky, pebbly, grass-clippings-covered hill. Doug had followed Annika back on around towards our house (Annika likes to run and beat all of us, which is why we had to Garmin). I thought the shoulders would be better so Dagny's weight would be evenly distributed and so I could see my feet. Dagny disagreed - she wanted to be held in my arms. Turns out she might have been right. Luckily, I was able to keep Dagny on my shoulders so she didn't fall. She's still talking about it, though, so I think it was scary.

No matter. My activity for Wednesday was my endurance swim. Made extra fun because it was only arms. On Thursday morning, I didn't get to run as planned because of the ankle. No matter, a bike ride or a yoga in the evening would suffice for purposes of the streak. Except that my naggy cold symptoms turned into a fever and I couldn't breathe. Thursday was a goose egg. Unless the paint fumes from upstairs stop searing my lungs, today might be too because now it's raining. I know that Nat would have exercised in this situation but today I'm a wuss. Sissy. Wimp.

But tomorrow, boy howdy, I think I'll be able to run. My ankle is still a little swollen but it looks much better and I have a full range of motion. : )