You Just Haven't Earned It Yet, Baby

Today I rode 60 miles (61.92 miles, to be exact) around Roswell.


I thought it would be only slightly more difficult than last week's 50 mile ride.


Wrong.


The first 40 miles were fine. Nat, Jamie Corn and I chatted and waved to the other bikers and had a lovely ride. We even saw Kindzia and the lovely Angela down by the river. We even made fun of Natalie because she doesn't like to fuel. Insert foreboding music here.


Hey - did you know that Angela sells marathon and IM finish framing - check out her site here. It was a beautiful day and we all had a great time. After kicking my ass on the climb up from the river, Jamie peeled off to go up Lake Charles instead of down the big hill on Pine Grove (she is tougher than Nat and me). Nat and I made it down the hill and up Shallowford with only a minor stop because Nat's phone jumped out of her bento box and across the road. Nat veered off towards her folks' house at Jones and I headed back down to the river to get my remaining 20 miles, stopping at the park to refill my water/Accelerade bottles.


Here is where the story goes awry. I was OK on fuel, only a little behind on my Accelerade. I had eaten 1 Gu per hour for three hours (plain, expresso love and vanilla), so that was fine. But it was HOT and my mind got a little fried on the Coleman Road rollers. I coasted down to Inverness for my turnaround and had convinced myself that there was no need to eat another Gu. Because I was at 3 hrs 45 minutes and only had 10 miles to go. I even texted Doug at the turnaround that I would be home in approximately 30 minutes.


People, to go 10 miles in 30 minutes, I would need to ride 20 miles an hour. I don't ride 20 miles an hour. Not even in a race. And, the 10 miles I had to go was uphill - because the river is the lowest point in town.


Nevertheless, I convinced myself that it was silly to have a Gu at the turnaround because it wouldn't "hit" until I was home anyway. That would have been true IF I'd been riding at the aforementioned 20 miles per hour. But alas, I was not.


I started to realize the fuel/Gu problem as I plodded (if you can plod on a bike) up Wileo. However, did I mention it was hot? Blazing hot? Know what happens when it is hot? Your heartrate increases. With an increased heartrate, digestion slows or stops. So, with the increased heartrate, my Accelerade and water were not digesting and were instead threatening to reappear at any moment to paint my handlebars. So there was no way I could eat my Gu. I had Gus in my pocket, plenty of them (because I've made the mistake of not bringing extra before), but my tummy was emphatically opposed to any more admissions.


So, I suffered. And thanked my stars that you can coast on a bike. I hoped against hope that I would have only 3 miles to go at the top of Shallowford so that I wouldn't need to go down Stroup Road. No dice. I needed 4.5 miles. BIG sigh.

Good thing that all of the ride after Stroup is in neighborhoods because I wasn't in any shape to ride on the road with cars. Loopy! I hit upon the genius idea to use my water bottle to sprinkle myself to cool off. That helped a lot. And, luckily, the light at 92 took a ridiculously long time so that I could rest a little and get some more Accelerade in me. I made it, though, and learned (or re-learned) some good lessons for the next ride.

1. I don't have enough bike fitness to bust out a 60 mile ride on any given day yet.
2. 1 Gu per hour, no excuses
3. Do not get behind on Accelerade
4. I don't ride 20 mph

The neat thing about endurance sports is that there are so many variables. It's not necessarily about who is the fastest, but who is the fastest without making stupid mistakes. And that is hard! Even the pros barf sometimes in a race because they've made a fueling or exertion error. So, next week I'll try to do a better job because Doug and I are riding in the West Georgia 100. Look out!

And, eventually, I'll be able to bust out a 60 mile ride without blinking an eye. Just not yet.

Home Again

We are back from Walt Disney World! Let the laundry begin!

This was not our first visit to the mouse house. Because of the International Builder's Show appearing every few years in Orlando, we have been able to go several times in the past few years. We've done it the fancy way, staying on the club level at the Animal Kingdom Lodge and eating at the Crystal Palace for lunch every day.

This was not that trip.

Just after receiving notice of our income tax refund (a complete and fabulous surprise), Doug found a great deal to stay in the "budget" hotel (Disney's All Star Sports) and subscribe to the pre-paid meal plan. Game on!

We packed food, snacks and bottled water and drove down in my car. The only big thing that only forgot was Dagny's dresses - we had enough outfits for every day, but I had laid out an equal number of dresses for both girls in case they had wardrobe issues or got dirty. Oops. Good thing they wear approximately the same sized clothes.

I have to say that we had just as much fun in the budget hotel as in the posh one. Yes, the food at the lodge was better and the setting was way cooler, but the rooms were about the same size with similar layouts. Really, at Disney, anything more than a room with beds and a bathroom is extra. We would have been more comfortable in a two-bedroom with Wifi, but it wasn't a big hardship to share the internet cable and be silent while the kids napped. Other than the fact that the meal plan gives you ridiculously large amounts of food and is very dessert-centric, it was a perfect set-up. We ate dry cereal or granola bars for breakfast every morning, had a self-serve lunch and had a sit-down dinner every night in the day's park. The food was all tasty and it was nice not having to worry about how much everything cost, especially since Dagny ate nothing the whole trip.

Coincidentally, Doug's sister Katie was going to Disney the same week. We saw them a couple of times, but their schedules did not mesh with ours because they didn't require naps. Fools. Naps are mandatory at Disney, everyone knows that!

Waiting for the opening of Epcot:


Here is Dagny posing for me in the Magic Kingdom while Doug and Annika rode Splashwater Falls again. We were surprised how much the parks freaked Dagny out. She is a control girl, and usually the life of the party but blankie rode a lot of rides with us and she spent a lot of time in the stroller. You should have seen her vibrating with excitement to meet Aurora and Tinkerbell, though. It was awesome.

We had dinner at the Biergarden in Germany at Epcot one night. The food was awesome - tons of sausages, cabbage, saurkraut, potato dumplings, pretzel bread. Yummo! A polka band played a set every few minutes, including at least one drinking song. As they do in Germany, we sat at a big table with another family. They sang their "hie, hie, hie"s with Coke instead of beer. Needless to say, they were not impressed with our singing and left quickly. Too bad, because the restaurant was really fun. Michael, our delightful server, was super-fast with the beer refills and Doug and I had more than our share. We completed Annika's Kim-Possible adventure and watched the fireworks before toddling home. We had a great time, but really suffered through the "Magic Hour" (and all of the other hours) at the Magic Kingdom the next day.

Here is Annika polka-ing with the other kids. That could be Dagny with her - it was hard to catch Dagny because she was so fast. Or, it could have been the beer, I don't know.

Chicken Dance:

We had a blast. Disney just knows how to move large crowds of people. I love them.

In other news, Doug has signed up for the Beach to Battleship Ironman in November. I'll be volunteering because there is no way to get two of us into ironman shape in six months. I'm still doing the Amelia Island race, though, because Aunt Gena has thoughtfully agreed to let us stay with her and Uncle Pat. Now, if I could just get my run distance up.

Doug Rocks

And Natalie rocks too!

They ran the Twisted Ankle Marathon in Summerville, Georgia yesterday. For those of you that don't know, Summerville is in the mountains. We got up early and drove to Sloppy Floyd State Park under overcast skies with sprinkles of rain.

The runners started at 9am. Everyone lined up to hear the instructions. This was a very low-key race, so the RD just yelled "go!" and they were off. The girls and I trekked back to the car and got money and the stroller and lined up for the ($5) kids' race. We ran across the playground and jumped a creek. At that point I decided that my run would NOT be on any trails - hefting a double jogger over a creek (even that dinky one) was too much. When Dagny and I caught back up to the group, Annika was crying and talking to a volunteer. She had fallen and twisted her ankle. I babied her a little and then said "let's go". She blubbered that the other kids had left her. I gave her some firm words about how if she kept crying like a baby and walking with me she would never catch them but she could be running and getting closer every second. And then, she took off. I tried to keep up. We eventually caught the end of the group and her new friend Christina. She was thrilled. Didn't care a bit that Christina sprinted at the end and left us in the dust. The RD made special ribbons from the buttons they gave all of the adult racers so Annika was absolutely thrilled to get one. I gave Doug's button to Dagny and all was right with the world.

Annika complained that her legs were tired so I put her in the jogger with Dagny and we started my run. I had planned to go 4 miles so I decided that would take about 45 minutes. We ran around on the roads of the park, which are not flat. At all. We actually ran for about 50 minutes so hopefully I got to 4 miles. Doug had my Garmin so who knows.

Then, it was back to the car to get the lunches, stow the jogger and on to the playground. Muddy. Ick. The girls had a good time on the playground and we noticed some weird bugs hopping all over the ground.

Turns out that they were toads. And when you picked them up, they played dead so it looked like the kids were smushing handfuls of toads, until they put them down and the toads hopped off. That is Dagny's arm for a size comparison. These toads were about as wide as a pencil eraser.

Dagny was even able to pick them up. Here she is showing them to me. Check out her button from the race.

Then, Dagny got hungry so we made our picnic by the finish line and watched the half-marathoners come in. Do you see the bridge across the lake in the photo from the park? That is the route to the finish line! The runners come across the bridge and the announcer reads their number and announces their name and everyone cheers. Awesome!

Annika and I had a little talk about how she kept going in her race even though it was hard. I gave her big praise for keeping going. Then I explained how that was "sucking it up" and we talked about "Suck It Up, Buttercup." It was a good lesson. Doug reinforced later with the "discomfort is temporary, quitting is forever." Annika has the button on her bulletin board so she is very proud of herself for finishing.

Then, more playground and frogs. The boys were throwing rocks at the girls. Then, the boys got on the merry-go-round on their bellies and spun as fast as possible while trailing their hands in the mud puddles. Whew, boy am I glad I only have girls! I packed contingency clothes for everyone but thankfully didn't need them. Some of the kids were running around with no shoes (squishing frogs!), even.

Then Dagny got tired and needed a snack so I was able to convince her to spread out the picnic blanket and read stories. Just in time because it was 4 hours into the race and Doug had predicted a 4:30-5:30 finish. The lady (Desiree) from the Rogue Runners group that I met thought that was optimistic. I was worried. Just as Dagny and I were almost finished reading "It's Not Easy Being a Bunny" (after she had run around like a crazy girl for 45 minutes and made the boys cry while I chatted with Desiree), we saw Doug! He looked great coming across the bridge! No shuffling and he didn't lose body temp. after the race! Yay! As we got him some fluids, Nat came across too. She wasn't shuffling either and really enjoyed a nice Coca Cola at the end. She said it was the shoes that got her to the finish. She couldn't quit and not get to wear the shoes. : ) hee.

And in other news, here is Annika's swim team doing the kickboard. You can't tell here but Annika was first in line with her kickboard. her lane is the middle one with the blonde coach holding the yellow kickboard.

And here, they are kicking while on their backs. Notice how Annika is crashing into the kid behind her.

Instantly after I took this picture, she started to cry because the kickboard slipped away from her. It was downhill from there. Low fuel, cold water, performance anxiety, and nerves all combined to undermine her confidence. She told the coach she couldn't swim so she had to move to the 4-5 year old group on the steps - you can see them in the top photo. Oh, the humilation. We talked all evening about how to get back to the "big kid" group. And now she only swims with the big kids - all of her friends from school.

Where It's At

For years, my run speed has been increasing. In 2001, I struggled to run just 1 mile in 8 minutes. I would warm up on the treadmill and then set it for 8 minutes per mile and hold on while I ran as fast as I possibly could. Then, I ran more and got faster and could do a 5K at that speed. I remember breaking 25 minutes in the Polar Bear Run 5K in 2002 the week we found out I was pregnant with Annika. I had thought I was just hung over on the day of the race. As I increased my run volume, my speed increased. It was amazing!

Last year at this time, I ran my 5K PR at the Big Peach 5K in 22:45.

On Friday, I ran 3.08 miles around my block in 33 minutes.

Now, I wasn't trying to go fast but it felt really difficult and I was sweating like a pig. It is the first time I have timed my run since the week of Thanksgiving. I should have left the Garmin at home and basked in my ignorance.

It was disheartening to know that all of my hard-fought run fitness is gone. Doug has trained for and raced one marathon (ING) and has trained for and will race a second next week (Twisted Ankle) in the time that I have gone from 17+ miles as my long run to 3 miles.

3 miles used to be nothing!

And now, it's work.

But, 3 miles is still way better than 0 miles - which has been my run volume for the past 5 months. So I just have to keep telling myself that I took time off when I was pregnant and I came back so there is no reason I can't do the same now. And the same thing goes for the extra lbs and cellulite that I've put on. I've taken it off before and I can do it again.

Too bad bathing suit season starts next week.

In other news, Annika is still sick with the weird flu. Which sucks because her first swim team practice is tomorrow. I'm SO excited about the swim team. I really hope she likes it. Just wait until I post a photo of her in her fish swim cap. It is awesome.

Easter Photos

In lieu of an actual post, here are some photos from the Heslin's Easter Party.

The hunting begins. . .

And by "hunting," I mean "picking up."

Dagny approves of the candy. Notice that she is dressed as Cinderella. Nothing would do but to wear a pretty dress for the party. And Cinderella is the prettiest of them all when you are three.

Annika begins to enjoy the loot. She did her own hair after a nice trip from Grammy for a trim.

Dagny drives Wyatt's car.

This photo isn't from Easter, but is from Annika's school field trip to the farm on Wednesday.

Price of field trip - $17

Price of pants that might be ruined from mud- $8

Photo that Aunt Katie sent with her phone while I was in an interminable meeting - Priceless

My Way

There is not a lot of time for during-the-week bike riding at our house. With work taking up most of the daylight hours and dinner/dog walking consuming the rest, it's hard to make time for a ride.

This week Doug rode with Neal and the North Atlanta Multisport Club group on Tuesday. Our friend Mark was supposed to ride (his first time!) so Doug picked that day. Mark had to bail because it was his birthday, but Doug still rode. The girls and I had dinner and took the dog for an extra-long walk. We have to do more solo dinners like that so the girls can remember that I'm still the Mom.

Anyway, Thursday was my day to ride. The NAMC peeps were going to do the Bike Roswell ride and try to hang with the B group. That would have been a very good workout for me, but I just couldn't make myself want to do it. I don't like the packs of cyclists on Thursday nights and the blatant disregard of traffic rules. And, I would have been really rushed to get there by 6:15, especially since I was close to talking myself out of riding at all.

So, instead of driving to Riverside Park, I just left from our house. I did the north of 92 part of the Roswell 40 mile ride minus the part where you have to go on Crabapple, then rode throught Alive After Five and down to Coleman, then headed back up Hightower on the regular route and home. I stopped at all stop signs and did not pass any traffic, even though Canton Street was stop-and-go with Alive After Five traffic. With my auto-pause OFF (that means my watch keeps counting the time when I'm stopped), I averaged 14.02 mph for 24 miles. I was racing the dark on the way home, but it was a lovely ride. Pretty good, considering.

I missed seeing the peeps and the possible achievement of hanging with the B group, but I had a great ride and got to follow my own rules. : )

In other news, Doug and the girls and I are running (I'm walking) in the Sweetwater 420 5K race today. I was able to run a few minutes on the treadmill on Monday, but my foot has been sore ever since so I'm back to walking for a while. Maybe I'll only need a week and then I can get back at it, but I'm not taking any chances.

The Facebook

Once upon a time, I used to mull my blog posts for days. During my runs, I would compose and re-write them in my head. Sometimes, I'd even write them up and then delete them because they were too whiney or too political or too drunk or too bossy.

Now, not so much.

When I have free time now (which is way less time that I used to have), I check my peeps on the Facebook. This morning, I looked at Jason's photos of his new baby, watched Yvonne's proposal video, and took a movie quiz. All good things, but I found myself wishing I'd heard Jason's story of the 24 hours his amazing wife spent in labor and seen the smile on Yvonne's face and how her eyes crinkle at the edges as she recounted the surprise video that her fiance sneaked into her "Triplets of Belleville" movie. I like the knowledge of the good stuff going on in everyone's lives - but it's a thin substitute for the real thing.

And, have you noticed that a lot of the bloggers don't blog anymore (me included)?

We are too busy listing our top 5 beers, taking 1980s movie quizes, doling out flair or plants or rising up the Wordchallenge ladder or poking each other.

I miss Colin's long discussions of his bike and his diatribes against George W. Bush's administration.

Do you remember when people used to write letters and send cards? Going out to the mailbox was a treat because there might be a surprise note lurking in there. I used to write letters by the dozens, at least one every few days. And, I wrote little notes to friends that I saw in the paper or met at a luncheon or business associates after a closing.

Not anymore. The mailbox has only ads and bills and the occasional note from my Grammy.

I think I'm finally old enough to miss the good 'ol days.

Excuse me while I get back to see who Brian's top 5 is.

ING Marathon Race Escort Report

Race escorting was a completely humbling experience.


I had prepared for the event by mapping the course on the computer and driving it. Then, armed with my cue sheet I rode 2 loops on my bike, only to find that I had a few of the streets wrong. Later, I did two more loops on the bike armed with a pen to correct the cue sheet. However, I didn't get to do the practice rides with actual wheelers so I was flying blind.


On Saturday night, I called my friend Curtis (a veteran race escorter and knower of all things bike) to get the inside skinny on my last-minute questions. Are there code words? Do I ride next to or in front of the racer? Should I yell encouragement or only identify hazards?


Curtis's number one piece of advice: If my wheeler was a man, I should wear a bikini. Yeah, I think he might have been doing some 16oz bicep repeats on Saturday night. : ) Seriously, though, he gave me some good answers to my questions and I calmed down. A little. Then I had to fold 4 loads of laundry to relax enough to sleep.

So we showed up at Centennial Olympic Park at 5:45 am on Sunday morning. I dropped Doug at the Omni hotel and went into the park with my newly-shod and washed bike, McGyver-ed light setup and ghetto cue sheet taped to my bars but completely lost as the to the actual plan. I avoided speaking to anyone because I was so scared. The wheelers started arriving pushing their race chairs in front of them like jog-strollers. They were very sinew-y and fast-looking. Whew, very intimidating. Luckily, the group of escorts was very nice and welcoming. No one said a word about my tri-bike after the zillion "which bike are you using?" questions from my friends. I rode THE bike. It's a yellow tri-bike with aerobars and red flowers. Not very professional-looking.


We posed for a photo. You can tell I'm freaking out. I do have ING orange and blue dealies in my braids. Check out the GU socks and Moving Comfort running top. Gotta support the peeps!




This is Jett's photo. Link over to his blog and read his race report here. He was a pro at the escorting. The fast guys wanted him to be their escort.



After a short meeting at the State Bar of Georgia headquarters, the escorts lined up and we were counted off like in gym class. I doled out Gus to the people around me - share the Gu love, baby. The national anthem played and suddenly, there was a mad "HERE THEY COME" and big gust of wind whooshed by, preceding a big group of wheelers who flew by us. There was a lot of yelling and noise and confusion and suddenly Leslie was on #20. I had seeded myself towards the back (#25) because I'm not fast, thinking that I'd be a sweeper at the rear. Wrong - a clump of wheelers came by and she got through 26.

Holy Crap! What next?


I got a little in front of who I thought my wheeler was and promptly forgot whether the guy in the blue shirt or the yellow shirt was mine. We went down Marietta Street. The guy next to me (Paul, maybe?) had the other guy. Paul(?) told me which one was his and I promptly forgot again. I stayed with the guy I thought was mine. Then, as we turned left and went down Piedmont I noticed that Paul and I had only guy between us. Crap! I listened to him tell Paul about how this was his first race and how he has only been in his chair for 10 months.

I started to slow down to look for the other guy when Leslie rode up and asked me to stay a little closer to my guy. "OK," I gulped, with tears in my eyes. Jeez, we haven't even been a mile and I've lost my guy. I SUCK! I'm totally ruining his race!

I found my guy (turquoise blue chair, yellow jersey). You can see a photo of him here (enter photo number 36339 and he is the 4th from the left on the top row). I explained that I was confused about which guy was mine and apologized profusely. He grunted. We were going uphill so that wasn't rude - he was working hard. When wheelers go uphill, you can see how gravity is making their wheels want to reverse and go back down. Then, we got to Publix and the turn onto North Ave was upon us and I had to tell him about the turn and how there is a really sharp right onto the next street at the bottom of the hill (danger spot #1) so there was no chit chat. I told him about the next hills - not steep but long and he grunted. I thought that he hated me. The racers had spread out a lot by this point in the race as we get closer to Sweet Auburn. I pointed out the road construction on the right on the way down Jackson. As we motored up that hill, I told my racer about Curtis's advice, thinking that I'd break the ice. "Not today," I quipped "too cold. Maybe next year." Big grunt. Maybe a laugh? We went past the King Center and I notice all of the homeowners sitting on their porches with their coffee and dogs. It was really neat and the sun looked so pretty as it rose over the houses. I wanted to point this out to my racer, but it was an uphill so he didn't look like he wanted any crap about coffee and sunrises.

We turned right on Randolph and left onto Edgewood. Then, sirens. Not blaring, just honking like when they want you to pull over. The first marathoner was coming through.

Let me just tell you that runners and wheelers do not go the same speed. Wheelers FLY down the hills but going uphill is an inch-by-inch struggle. Runners seem to step along at mostly the same rate at all times - their strides get shorter on hills but they are still turning over at the same pace.

Four motorcycle cops came by on Edgewood and took up the whole road. I had to whistle them. I was very hesitant to whistle at them at first, because they were the police, but they wouldn't get out of the way. My guy was about to go downhill and they were in the way. And then there was the pace car (SUV). So, 4 cops, an SUV, me, my guy, the woman escort with the glasses, her female wheeler (if you looked at the photos, she is the racer to the right of my guy), and the first marathoner all riding together at different speeds. What a cluster $%^$#. Finally, I strapped on my big girl panties and got more insistent with my whistling (copying glasses woman) and the cops pulled away as we got to the place where Euclid veers off and there was sea of cones - it was very confusing. I was worried about what the cones meant. Maybe they changed the course? Which way to go? I knew we needed to stay straight, so I sucked it up and told my guy to go straight and follow me. That darn SUV stuck, though. I just tried to be a buffer between my wheeler and the car because I didn't know if they could see him. I whistled them several times. They were mad. The marathoner passed us on Euclid - he looked free and easy loping away and whew - the pace car was gone too.

We turned onto Moreland and had new smooth pavement down to the turn onto Freedom Parkway. I told my racer and he grunted. Whee! We sped down the hill, turned and hit the hills. As he motored up the hills, I told my racer about the downhill past the Carter Center and the bad right turn there. 4 wheelers crashed there last year because it was wet. I did NOT mention this to him. The glasses woman escorting the female wheeler was a non-stop encouragement machine. They were close to us on that hill. The woman (whose name I've forgotten) was all "whoo" "you look awesome" "way to go" "keep it steady". Was I supposed to yell like that? If my racer was like Doug, he would have wanted to strangle me. I told my racer that I was going to yell, but that he could tell me to shut up. Grunt. Again, we were going uphill because you have to talk in the uphills because there is too much other stuff to worry about in the downhills. Then it occurred to me that maybe English was not his language. Aha!

Then, the downhill and turn. I kept yelling about it and hoped my guy heard me. I cleared the turn and waited around the bend. It was wet, but he made it through just fine. Whew.

We turned right again onto North Ave and then went up a looooong hill to turn left on Highland. I think I told my racer that this was the worst hill in the course. If not, I should have because it was the steepest. We turned and zipped down Highland. I whistled a lot of runners here "wheeler coming through" - we were near the front of the half-marathon pack. One guy in light blue clothes would not move. I was a little hesitant in my whistling and talking, though, and may have confused him by being on the right. I should have been more forceful and gone by on the left to lead my racer - people respond better to the "take charge" directions than "hey I'm going by on the right but my wheeler is coming on your left so move" discussion. I had to apologize to my racer for that too.

We turned left on Virginia Ave and then went down the hill past Inman MS. Sharp right turn here. Then a lovely stretch on Park Drive. We went really fast here and didn't have to slow down for anything. After crossing Monroe, there are four speed humps. I called them out to my racer and the big bump going onto the bridge. Then a hard left into Piedmont Park. It was so beautiful in there. We had smooth sailing in the park and I took that time to prep my racer for the hard right turn and long uphill out of the park on 10th.

It was getting cold as we turned onto Juniper. I told my wheeler that this section wasn't steep, but very long. Then as he motored up the hill, I warned him about the tight and bumpy turn onto 5th Street. That turn always feels like the beginning of the home stretch to me. We labored up the hill to Peachtree and all of the police started yelling for my guy - cheering him on with every stroke. I wanted to hug them all. My racer grunted really loud for them. : )

We took the right onto Peachtree and then the fast left back onto 5th and then we were in GA Tech. I warned my wheeler about the downhill turn onto Techwood and then we started the long climb back up to the finish. We turned onto North Avenue and lots of people were there to cheer for us going up the hill. We did the Tech Parkway section, the quick left onto Means Street and then Marietta Street was upon us. I yelled out whenever there were holes in the street and when to go into the other lane and yelled encouragement in between. Marietta isn't a steep hill, but it grinds on you. The female wheeler and glasses woman passed us here - that woman was tough. She did awesome! And then it was the last three lights and I told my racer we were almost there and directed him into the finishing chute. Escorts can't cross the finish line, so turned wide and exited thru a hastily opened gap in the fencing, stage-right.

And it was done. Whew. Glasses-woman and I held each other's bikes for a potty break and then I defied the access nazi to cross the road that the kids would be crossing, lifting my bike and hopping two fences to get out of the park. In the confusion, I forgot to get my shoes from the wheelers' tent. After making it out and back around the park to put my bike in the car, I realized my mistake and had to walk the half-mile back to the tent in my bike shoes. Oops. Had I gone to the bike tent (only 1 fence-hop required), I would have gotten to meet my racer, Muhammad, from the Dominican Republic. He was pleased with his race and had his girl friend there to help translate for him. : ) Go Muhammad, you rock!

If I can run again by next year, it will be a really hard choice between running this race and escorting. It was the best. I loved every moment of it.

Who Rocks the Atl?

I do!



So, you know how I volunteered to be a bike escort for the ING 1/2 Marathon? Well, the group is doing two fun rides to get escorts used to the course and allow the racers to practice on the course. These fun rides are Sunday, March 15 and Sunday, March 22 at 7:00am. The actual race is Sunday, March 29.



Do you see a problem here? I take Grammy to church on Sundays. Attendance at these fun runs would require 3 weeks in a row of rescheduling for Grammy. Not very fair. So, I emailed the escort coordinator and he said that I can still escort if I go down and ride the course at least 2 times. OK!


So, the plan was to go do the first lap last Friday. Annika was home sick, so we rode the course in the car. It was painless and except for the gas wastage, I think we did a good job. I was able to pull over several times and make notes on the course so that I would be prepared on my bike.


Then, Sunday came along. Time to try it on the bike after I took Grammy to church (minus Annika because she was still sick).

I parked at Centennial Olympic Park. It cost $10. Don't park at Centennial Olympic Park on a Thrashers Game Day. Park at Georgia Tech or Marietta Street instead. I took a picture so Doug would know I made it.

Here is my very fancy cue-sheet holding device. You can't read it, but I have every turn listed on this piece of paper. You can even flip it down to see the other side of the ride. Pretty snazzy, huh?

I emailed Doug after lap 1 so he'd have an ETA. Then I saw these guys. They offered me a job. It sounded good until I saw the two very large ladies that the guy had to take all the way to the World of Coke. On a recumbent. Whew!

I took a finishing photo before heading home so Doug would know I wasn't dead.

Mission accomplished, sort of.

I corrected my cue sheet and emailed it to the coordinator who sent me last year's cue sheet.

Not the same. The differences are not major but it will be interesting to see which is the correct route. At race speed, no less.

So, today is my last Wednesday off before I go back full-time at work so I drove downtown again (parked on Marietta St this time - only $5) and did another two laps with what I think is the correct route. My phone apparently keeps only 4 emails at the time so I couldn't look at the one the coordinator sent. I spent 10 mins in my car trying to figure it out with a map, but no dice.

I have to report several things from my downtown riding experiences:

1. Downtown/Midtown/Little 5 Pts/Ga Tech/Va Highlands/Piedmont Park is way more bike-friendly than Roswell.
2. I only got honked at once during the two rides and that guy was from out of state. I think he did it just to let me know he was there because he didn't look angry and had plenty of room to pass me.
3. No one yelled at me on either ride. No yelling at ALL. One guy gave me the "hey baby" once over, but that was kind of nice. No one ever gives me the "hey baby".
4. In-town riding is easier because the cars treat you like a car (which is the law, people). Some of this may because the traffic moves slower so I'm about the same speed as the cars, even from a dead stop.
5. Once you start acting like a car, it's not so scary.
6. There are some beautiful areas of town that I never get to see.
7. I really want to run the whole ING marathon just so I can see that much more of the city from the ground.

That is all. Huge biking victory for me. : )

You, Yes YOU!

Cyclists, you need to follow the laws of the road.

We had a family birthday party last night and two different non-cyclists illuminated the car driver's point of view on cyclists for me:

1. They HATE cyclists.
2. Cyclists don't follow the rules.

Legal or not, if a car is scared to pass you and finally they have gotten by and are breathing a sigh of relief because they didn't run you over, how do you think they feel when you blithely right up past them at a stoplight so that they must try to pass you again?

Or, how about when a driver cannot pass because you are riding in the middle of the road talking to your bud Susie about what kind of nachos to get at the Taco Mac on the way home? Can you drive two abreast in a car and talk while you drive? Don't you honk at people who do that in your neighborhood?

Same thing with buzzing through stop signs. If the car must stop at a stop sign, so can you. I've done the Roswell Ride both ways and the "come-to-a-full-stop-and-put-one-foot-down" method was only 2 minutes slower than the "roll-through" method over 40 miles. That is nothing. Think of stop signs as a part of your interval training.

Share Schmare

Doug thinks the whole "Share the Road" idea is part of the problem. He thinks it gives car drivers the idea that they are doing cyclists a favor by letting them use the car drivers' road. One of the family members above said as much to me last night and also pointed out that bicycles are not licensed and therefore don't pay taxes to maintain the roads. Extemporaneous speaking is not my strong suit, so I was stumped for a witty comeback to that ridiculous argument like "You mean the taxes that I already pay on my car?" Jeez.

But the hatred was palpable.

The one lady, who is admittedly not the best driver, wanted to know what she is supposed to do upon encountering a cyclist. She doesn't want to endanger herself by crossing the yellow line to pass and resents a cyclist "forcing" her to do it. When I pointed out that she could just slow down for a little while, she said "to 20 miles an hour?!?!??" like it was unthinkable.

That is the problem.

It is unthinkable for car drivers to slow down to the speed of a cyclist for any length of time.

That is why I'd like to live in Colorado, where it is not a weird thing to ride your bike and you aren't taking your life in your hands every time you do it.

I'm going to ride the ING half-marathon course today to get familiar with the course so I can be a wheelchair athlete escort on race day. Please nobody run over me.

Sometimes it Snows in March

I know the song says "April," but cut us a little slack. It's pouring snow here. Two days before the Ride to the Capitol. Wow, I hope it warms up fast.

As you can see, the poll for the 5K group is up at the top. Group - don't forget to vote! There has been good news from all of the 5K folks. I'm so proud of their progress!

In other news, my MRI was done on Thursday. We hope to have the results for discussion on Monday. It's really hard to keep still in the machine. I told myself that I was tough and it would be easy, but no. I had to sing songs and ABCs to keep from twitching even though they tied my foot down. The CIA should think about using that machine to help convince recalcitrant terrorists to reveal their secrets. I think it would work. Seriously. Then again, those guys are probably a good bit tougher than I am. Worth a shot, though.

She Rides

She flies, she flies, oh baby when she rides, she rides.


Annika decided a few weeks ago that it was time to ride without training wheels on her bike. We've had several "learning" sessions which consisted mainly of me pushing her down the hill in our side yard and her coasting until she fell over.



Until last week.



Doug took her out onto the golf course because there is a flat path there. In 30 minutes flat, Annika was riding solo. She can even start off by herself now and come to a stop without falling over. It's amazing.

Here is a side view.




And a view from the back as she pedals up the hill. She goes a little further each time and can make it within about 20 yds from the top now.

Here are Annika and Sarah Anne on their bike date. Aunt Katie chased them up and down the road and sent me this photo.

Now, if I can train her to stop and look both ways before leaving the driveway, we will be in good shape.

In other news, I walked up and down the biking road with Annika 3x today. That's about 0.7 miles. The foot is a little sore but not bad. Just in time for my MRI tomorrow. Still, 0.7 miles is way better than zero. Way better.

At this rate, I'll get to wear my new running shoes (Brooks Adrenaline 8s that I bought in September) before summer!

It's All About the Races, Baby

Nearly a full month after I started this post, here is a list of the choices for the 5K race for the couch-to-5K team. It is not an exhaustive list so if you know of a race I forgot that folks might want to do, please say so in the comments.

In the 5K group, everyone is doing awesome and a lot of folks are exceeding the plan minutes by a huge margin. Way to go, runners! Racers, please comment back with your top 3 races and I'll make the next post a poll so we can vote on them. There were just too many races to vote from this huge list.

Saturday, April 18

Gwinnett Ecological Heritage Center 5K. This race appears to be a trail run at the Gwinnett Ecological Heritage Center in Buford near the Mall of Georgia and starts at 9:30 am. There is no info on the website yet.

Granite Grinder 5K. This is a 5K trail race at the Georgia International Horse Park in Conyers and it starts at 8am. It is done in conjunction with a half-marathon distance trail run. I could easily talk Doug into the trail run.

Eye Run - Chart the Course 5K. This is a 5K in McDonough (just south of metro Atlanta) that starts at 8:15am. Early registration is $15 and the proceeds benefit http://www.onesight.org/.

Covington YMCA Cheerios Challenge 5K. This race benefits the Covington YMCA and is part of the Healthy Kids Day Celebration. It appears to be a family-oriented event and General Mills is one of the sponsors so that means free cereal. There is a 5K, a 10K and a fun run. The 5K starts at 9:30am.

Phinizy Swamp Stomp 5K. This race is in Augusta and benefits the Southeastern Natural Sciences Academy. They have not listed the race on their website yet, but the start time is supposed to be 9:15am.

Sweetwater 420 Fest 5K - This is the 5K race associated with the Sweetwater 420 Fest in Candler Park. It starts at 11am on Saturday, April 18. The Candler Park location is a draw, but it may be difficult for everyone to park because the festival is going on at the same time.

Terrapin Beer 5K plus One More Mile. This race is actually 4.1 miles. Get it? 5K plus One More Mile. The registration fee includes a brewery tour and free samples. The race starts at the brewery in Athens at 4pm. Mmm, beer. I love Terrapin's Rye Pale Ale.

Water for the World 5K. This race starts at 7:30am and is located in the Johns Creek Area. It benefits Mt. Pisgah United Methodist Church (the big one on Old Alabama Road) and clean water projects. There is a 5K, 10K, 1mile fun run and a tot trot.

Sunday, April 19

Radiant Systems Sprint for Cancer 5K - This race is at Atlantic Station at 8:00am on Sunday, April 19, which means that there are lots of food options for after the race. They also have a 5K and 10K at the same time.

Chickamauga Chase 5K. This is a 5K race done in conjunction with the half-marathon race at the Chickamauga National Battlefield outside of Chattanooga. It starts at 8:30am.

Stray Pet Strut 5K. This race is in Gainesville and benefits the Humane Society of Hall County. It starts at 2:30pm.

Saturday, April 25

Arbor Day 5K. This race is in Augusta, GA and starts at 9:15 am. There is no web info yet.

Fig Leaf 5K. This race is at the Paradise Valley Resort in Dawsonville and is clothing optional. It starts at 10am. I'm not running naked and am not taking my kids. No offense to any nudists, but my kids are a little too grabby to be around a bunch of naked people.

Grayson Day 5K. This race is a part of the Grayson Day festival in Grayson (north of Lilburn). The race director was my middle school algebra teacher. His daughter goes to Grayson High School, which is putting on the race to fund a trip for their cross-country team in the fall. The race starts at 8am and there is a fun run.

Jay Cullen Share the Roads 5K. This race is in Cumming and benefits the First Baptist Church of Cumming. It is done in memory of Jay Cullen, a cyclist who was killed while out for a ride. It starts at 8:30am.

Race for Riley 5K. This race benefits the Joseph Sams school and is in Palmetto. It starts at 8:30am.

Run the River 5K - This is the 8th Annual Homestretch Challenge race by the river at St. Andrew Catholic Church in Roswell. It's a good race, very flat and fast. They have a 5K (7:30am), a 10K (8:00am) and a fun run (8:30am) all on the same morning. Because there is a 10K race, the faster folks tend to do that one and it's easy to place in the 5K.

Pebblebrook Junior Falcons 5K - This race is a fundraiser to benefit the Pebblebrook Jr. Falcons athletic association on Saturday, April 25 at 7:00am. I've never done this race, but it is located in Mableton, which is near Smyrna.

Athens Twilight 5K Run - This is the 5K race associated with the Twilight Criterium race in Athens. It is on April 25 at 8:30am in Athens, Georgia. The Gambler bike race/ride (50 or 100k options) is also scheduled for this morning at 10am.

Sunday, April 26

Run for a Reason 5K. This race is in Cumming and benefits college scholarships for Cumming high school students. The race is at Cumming City Park on Pilgrim Milll Road and starts at 8am.

Out of Practice

Doug went out of town for a funeral yesterday. He will be home tomorrow. He was all worried about how I would fare without him. "I did OK when both kids got the throw-up virus the last time," I said, in reference to a trip he took a few years ago. "What could be worse than that?"

Maybe I'm just out of practice, but it is really hard to take care of the kiddos and go to work. Sure, I cleaned the stove and got caught up on the laundry, but I stayed up too late watching TV and doing my physical therapy (and facebook) last night. Then, this morning, I got up early, made Annika's lunch, got the Valentines packed and the grapes cut for Dagny's party, but we missed Annika's bus because I lost track of time while on the phone getting work advice from my friend, Steph. I must mention that I was also curling my hair and applying make-up at the same time as I was on the phone, lest you think that I can't multi-task. I also think I dropped the f-bomb when I realized what had happened. It was not my finest moment.

Then, while Steph and I were on the way to a post-meeting lunch, Dagny's school called. Dagny was coughing and feeling badly so we picked her up and took her to lunch at Moe's with us. She had 1 chip and a cookie. We dropped Steph back off at the office, picked up my computer and work and headed home. Dagny took a long nap, but we will be going to the store now for some medicine. That party we are all supposed to attend tomorrow is looking iffy. Poor old Dagny.

In other news, my foot is worse after all of the activity on Sunday. I'm sucking it up and still walking from my regular parking space this week because I'm done being a close-parker. I refuse to do it any longer. I did make another appointment to see my dear orthopaedist on Tuesday, so maybe he will have the magic bullet for me.

Also, I'm really enjoying the Brooks ID group. I'm living vicariously through all of the neat races the other members are doing and the discussions of all of the shoe models. Couch-to-5K folks, the Track Club still does not have their April race list up, so that is why I've not posted the poll for your race yet. Maybe over the weekend it will appear. I have a prelminary list, but want to be sure we don't miss a fun race because I posted too early.

One Man Down

Annika is with Grammie and Grampa at the GymDogs meet this weekend. Dagny, who falls out at 7pm (which is right about the time the meets usually start) was not invited. So Dagny and I have had a lovely day on our own. We watched some shows, we had Dagny's favorite breakfast (cereal) and a picnic lunch at the park before playing on "all of the playgrounds" as requested. The queen is currently napping off all of the activity.

Doug and I have been invited to not one, but three (three!) adults-only events this evening. Doug is going to our friends' child's wedding, and we had to beg off of both the 30th birthday party and my cousin's girls-dinner. Dagny and I will have some spaghettios or other similarly simple dinner before reading books until bedtime. We might even shower. Or not. There is always tomorrow for a shower.

It's strange how much easier it is with just one kid. We didn't have to negotiate anything today - we just did what Dagny wanted to do, which is very similar to what I wanted to do. Except that she gets to nap while I go downstairs to pay the bills.

In other news, all of the couch-to-5K peeps are doing great. It's really cool to see everyone's minutes total growing each week. The April races are STILL not up on the Atlanta Track Club website, so I haven't posted the race-picking poll yet. Maybe next week.

In still other news, here is the link to the Georgia Bike Ride to the Capitol on March 3. Any of you readers who ae also bike-riders, get out there and ride with us.

Miss Independent

Dagny wears underpants at night now. My Grammy can't understand why we didn't take the pull-ups away sooner, but Grammy isn't the one who has been changing and washing Annika's sheets 2-3 times per week for the last two years.

Anyway, Dagny told us last week that she was ready to wear underpants at night. Since she has been getting up to use the potty at night and taking her pull-up off anyway, and we were out of pull-ups, it seemed like as good a time as any. And so far it has worked well. She wakes up in the middle of the night, takes herself to the potty, and gets back in bed.

Awesome, right?

Unless she has a bad poop or runs out of toilet paper.

This morning she came downstairs and confessed to having dropped a washcloth in the potty.

"I'm sorry I dropped the washcloth in the potty, Mommy."

"Did you flush it?" [Eyes widening in alarm]

"No, I put it in the sink"

"After it was wet from being in the potty?"

"Yes." [thinking: where else would you put it?]

SIGH.

Yes, she peed and pooped in the potty, wiped herself with at least one and what looked like several washcloths, dropped one in the potty, carried it over to the sink and then went right back to bed. I disinfected the whole room. Ugh. I'm ignoring for now the idea that she brushed her teeth this morning in the sink where the potty washcloth was.

Just Like Honey

Last week there was a thread on the BT board about Accelerade powder and whether folks liked to drink it during their longer workouts. Many people posted that they couldn't stand the taste or that they couldn't handle the lumpy texture or the protein in it. Doug and I discussed this at length and agreed that folks who have GI issues aside, the folks who couldn't stand the taste were just not working hard enough when they tried it.

Because on my bike ride today, that orange Accelerade was HEAVEN. Just like honey. And I've had rides where the lemon tasted like my Grammy's lemon bars. I am not kidding.

I was a trifle under-fueled today from what I would ordinarily take on a bike ride (1 bottle of Accelerade + 1 Gu per hour), but I'm a little over-fueled internally so I figured it was OK. I'm a little loopy now but not bonky so I think it was a good decision.

Further evidence of how good a decision was the uncomfortable moment when I saw what the elastic in my bike shorts was doing to my mid-section when I stopped for a potty break. Sigh. All that work from last year is gone . . . gone . . . gone.

Anyway, big thanks to Doug for changing the tire on my bike while I was at church with Grammy. I REALLY needed the endorphins of a ride today. It was yucky-looking when I started but the sun came out on my way home and more than made up for the fact that I couldn't go up the good hills. I got to wave to lots of nice bikers and told one cute young man (you know you are old when you think of cute boys as "young man") that his shoelace was untied so he wouldn't fall. What a difference a ride makes.

Last weekend I was so angry that I wanted to punch all of the walls and kick stuff. And there was no possibility of a run to even me out. And it was too cold to go outside. It got worse all week. By Friday, I was just foul.

But now I've had my ride and I'm doing better. Thanks Doug.

The update on my awesome 5K group is in the previous post. Still trying to think of a way to show everyone's progress and making a list of possible races.

Here I Go Again

Overcommitted, swamped, busy. Wah, wah, wah. I'm just slack and haven't posted the chart about the progress of the fabulous couch to 5K group.

I've been having a hard time coming up with a good chart that will accurately highlight the achievement of each athlete. The group is all over the map on their activity levels so while it's a HUGE accomplishment for some of us to finish the plan minutes, others were doing more than that before the plan began so their minutes make the first person's minutes feel bad. You see my problem?

Charts aside, everyone in the group is kicking ass. I'm so proud of you guys! You rock!

Here is an update on the crew:

• Aimee and Steve are probably going to Ethiopia next month to get their adopted daughter and Steve's foot is still sore from his surgery so their running has not been as frequent as they would like but that is OK! Babies are more important. Keep your fingers crossed for their court date!
• Barbara keeps forgetting to send her run minutes but I know from Jen that she is doing great. : )
• Elena is making a huge comeback to running after her year off last year.
• Jen was sidelined with the flu and her oldest daughter had the throw-up virus so she had a bad week last week. However, Jen is going to run at the park with Julia in the stroller tomorrow while Sophie plays with Annika, Dagny and I at the playground. Or maybe I'll have all 4 kids and beer after!
• Joe is still working up to running, but he is doing awesome on his 30 mins of walking and his healthier diet.
• Lauren has made her 30 minutes of run/walking a habit and is frequently exceeding her goal minutes.
• Lynn started late with the group, but has made a great start so far. She is a new runner like Jen so give them both some love!
• Michele ran 24 minutes yesterday and her brother was able to come home from the hospital so it's all good news from her.
• Ryan from my office is still thinking about whether he wants to join the group. C'monRyan!
• Steph F. has been traveling a lot but I think she went to the gym a lot too. I keep forgetting to ask about her minutes but will do it on Monday.
• Trish is exceeding her goal run minutes every week by a lot already, so she is going to be superfast by the time we get to race.
• Me. I'm still not even walking for 30 minutes, so until my foot gets better I'll just make everyone look good.
• I've not heard from Cindy, Charlie and Sara this week, but I'm going to predict that Cindy and Sara got all of their run minutes done even with the cold temps and that Charlie has surpassed 30 minutes per day of running already.

I'll be scoping out some races for us to do in April. Any suggestions are welcome.

In other news, my 2009 race plan is shot all to heck. I was supposed to do the Red Top Rumble trail race in February and the ING half or whole marathon in March. Not to mention a defense of my second place AG finish (and chase of Natalie) at the Chattahoochee Road Runners race. Sigh. These have all turned into volunteer opportunities, though, so it's not all bad.

The Red Top Rumble race director says that they have the perfect water stop for me to cheer on the racers and still get back to the finish AND I get to use my entry fee for next year. I was so excited for this race. The GUTS group is really neat so I hope that I get to do more of their events next year.

A friend forwarded me a link to a lady soliciting bike volunteers to escort wheelchair racers at the ING Marathon, so I made my application and I'm in! How cool is that? Do you know how fast a wheelchair racer does a marathon? 1 hr 30 mins! WHOOO! So it will really still be a race for me!

I've got an email in to the Chattahoochee Road Runners too. Doug is going to do this race so I'll definitely find a job to do there.

So, it's not racing, but I still get to play outside a little. And, volunteering is way cheaper than racing.

You Say You Want a Resolution

I'm still not running. Heck, my foot hurt just walking the dog yesterday (less than 1/5 of a mile).

So, I googled and googled and googled. The best answer that I could find on the internet was from the Google Scholarly Articles database: stress fractures in a 320 person study were diagnosed in an average of 12-14 weeks and the average recovery time was 11-12 weeks. So, assuming that I am average, and I can't count any recovery time pre-Thanksgiving because I likely re-injured myself by running too early that week, I'm looking at mid-February before any kind of return to running.

Add to that the 10% rule (no increasing mileage greater than 10% in any one week), and it will be mid-April before I can go even one mile. The PT lady and I will be discussing this at my next appointment. She's tabled any discussion of running, but I need to know what my limit will be, even if it is vague and may change for the worse. I'm also interested to see how quickly I'll be able to add mileage back. Clearly the Rock-and-Roll-Man HIM in May is now looking questionable, if not impossible.

Sigh.

After much whining in my BT logs about my physical therapy and how it sucks, I realized that I just need to get over my bad self. Yeah, so what if I can't run. Or bike. And can't kick when I swim. What difference does it make?

It means I have to actually moderate my food intake. Which sucks. The whole point of exercise is to be able to eat a handful of nuts or a cookie in the afternoon or beers with dinner. It also means that I feel removed from my triathlete/runner friends (and Doug) because they are all gearing up for their 2009 race seasons and running/biking/swimming together while I'm gearing up for another 40 minutes stretching with the exercise band.

But it's not the end of the world. It just means that I'll do more race volunteering in 2009 and maybe I won't take my running for granted again.

Oh yeah, the resolution. Sing along if you know the tune:

Ac-cen-tu-ate the POSITIVE and E-lim-i-nate the NEGATIVE

POSITIVES

1. 12 buddies doing the couch to 5K plan. I'm already getting emailed progress reports.
2. Annika ran a whole mile with Doug last week
3. I'm saving a lot of money on race fees and Gu
4. Volunteering at races is a really a lot of fun
5. The economy has to turn around sometime
6. I'm getting to spend more time with the kids

Let's Get Ready to Rumble!

It's time to start the Couch to 5K plan!

Two more recruits have joined since the last post:

Lauren (the "Butterfly") Starks from Transition - Here to Fe. Lauren is my internet and BT buddy and while she is not just starting out running, she is interested in the structure of a plan.

Barbara ("Crafty") Croft. Barbara is my doctor and is one of Jen's partners at Piedmont OB/Gym. Barbara has been out of running for a while and might want to get back in. We can certainly encourage her along the way.

So that brings our total number of participants to 12! Yay! It's still not to late to join in. And, if you know of any folks that might want to start (or start back) running, please feel free to forward the blog link to them. If they don't want to be included in the public group, I'll send encouragement privately too.

This week's plan is to switch the 30 minutes of walking on our 3 days to 27 minutes of walking and 3 minutes of running. All runners are supposed to report back after the end of the week on their progress towards the 9 minutes of weekly running and I'll update the blog on Monday with this information and a new chart.

I'm still not cleared to run so the pressure is off for everyone else. You can't do any worse than me. In fact, I'm still sore from a 30 minute walk on Friday, so it's not looking good for me to even walk 3x this week. But as soon as my foot is better, I'm going to catch up!

In other news, Santa brought a Wii to our house and we are all nursing muscle soreness from our virtual sports. Doug is the champ at boxing and tennis, but I'm killing everyone at bowling. I was the worst at bowling until I copied Annika's style and now I rock! She is not getting the "imitation is the sincerest form of flattery" yet.