Ladybug fought the playground and the playground won...

Hi, all. Sorry for the lack of an entry yesterday, but I never quite was able to work out and we had a little trauma in our household. It was cold enough yesterday morning that Mr. Darcy told me he didn't want me to swim until it warmed up a little because he didn't want me getting sick (it was 46 out), so I decided to workout on my lunch break. Well, fate it would seem had other plans. I got a call around 10:30 am yesterday from daycare and Ladybug had slipped while playing with Angelfish on the jungle gym thing (which is made of plastic) and hit her head a little bit on the way down. She hit it just right and somehow had a gash on her face below her eyebrow (right where her brow bone is). So, in a panic I went to get her and take her to the emergency clinic the pediatrician's office suggested since none of the doctors who do stitches were in the office at that time. When I got there it didn't look all that bad but it was open (although it wasn't gushing blood like I thought it would be) so I took her to the clinic. They were great with her, but it was a bit traumatic (probably more so for me in the long term than for her) because they had to strap her arms and legs down on to a board (it looked like a blue papoose) and her head had to be strapped a certain way so that they could get the liquid stitches where they needed to be without getting in her eye or her touching it. But Mighty Ladybug is strong enough that she could bust out, so I had to hold her hands down too while blowing on her face while they were putting the liquid stitches on. The whole time she was crying and yelling "I don't like it Mommy." When they cleaned out the area before doing the stitches, I saw how deep the gash was and I almost started crying but didn't want to scare her. Other than a huge black eye (it's not swollen shut but it's pretty bad) and the steristrips on her face, it's ok now and she was in a good mood today and went to school in her Daisy Duck costume. A different type of cardio work out.

Today was a run day, so after we got the girls in the car finally (poor Mr. Darcy was rather late to work today) I went for a 20 minute session. I walked 5 minutes, ran 10 and walked another 5. It's a slow build up but it's a good one all the same. Eventually I'll be able to go longer. We know I can run 22 minutes if I need to, but they say the slow build is better for building the longer distances. I have the day off today, so in a few minutes I'm heading to daycare for the Halloween parade and the girls' Halloween parties, then I'm going to do a little shopping, have lunch and go to the bike shop to get some things (like a tire change kit, lights, etc.) that I need/want to make riding a bit easier and enjoyable. Tommorrow is scheduled to be a 45 minute ride and I may do an hour to make up for missing yesterday... we shall see.

Happy Halloween everybody!

A brisk bike ride...

No worries, I did my workout this morning... I'm just posting later in the day today. Today was a 30 minute bike ride and about 14 miles long in mid40 degree weather. It was a good ride and very cool to see a mist rising from the water retention ponds in the neighborhood (evidently the water was warmer than the air)... rather Halloween like. The drawback? I should have opted for the sweats! I was wondering toward the end of the ride why my leg muscles were so tight today. Turns out they were cold! When I got home and went inside, I realized that my legs were freezing (even to the touch). So, perhaps my "I'll get to hot if I wear sweats" thought before the ride was a little silly. I stretched out really well to make sure that I didn't pull anything, but I have learned my lesson!

BRRR...

It has gotten a little chilly in the mornings these days. We've hit that time of year that I remember from college.... it's chilly in the morning but by lunchtime it's warm again. SHorts with shirts and sweatshirts! You know it's bad when you go for your swim and the water is actually warmer than the air temperature (but thank goodness all the same because I almost didn't go through with it when I got down to just my bathingsuit, swim cap and goggles). I swam for 20 minutes and then ran for 20 minutes this morning.

Unfortunately, a late start gave me no time afterwards to get a good stretch in (although I did stretch some). I'm definitely seeing an improvement in my running. I was supposed to do an alternating 3 minute run 2 minute walk, but the first time I did it it seemed too easy so I just ran for the full 5 minutes the 2nd time around (and I felt like I could have run longer too...)

So why did I get a late start this morning? Miss Ladybug decided that she did not want to get dressed but instead wanted to sit on the counter in the bathroom and put lotion on (over and over and over again) and wanted to watch Mommy floss and brush. WHen I left the bathroom and turned off the light she demanded that I "come back to bathroom and turn on light"... having to stick to your guns with a 2 year old is very frustrating and makes you feel really mean. But, I eventually got her to the point where I could pick her up and tote her into the kitchen (the girls will be good athletes... they both are super strong and when they're having their fits where they kick you need to watch out!), and since Daddy had a meeting at UCF today he got to handle her from there while I worked out. Go Daddy! Angelfish on the other hand was happy to get dressed, see Daddy, Mommy & Ladybug and eat eggs (the girl is on an egg kick at the moment, but I'm not complaining! last week she ate 6 eggs over 4 days by herself!), play with Minnie and give Mommy kisses when she left. At least it wasn't a morning with 2 screamers!

Don't know about the rest of you, but I'm looking forward to Halloween on Friday! Ladybug and Angelfish can't wait to go "trick treat"... we'll see how it goes!

It's Monday!

Well, my Sunday workout didn't happen but since Mondays are supposed to be "off" days, I just switched them up. Today was a brisk 35 minute bike ride. Fall weather actually sort of arrived this morning here in Orlando. While biking it was about 57 degrees... I was actually wearing a light sweatshirt! Whoo hoo! It was about a 7 mile ride, so it was a nice way to start the day.

Of course, the girls refused to wear sweaters or long pants on their way out the door this morning. Ladybug is sticking to her color theme of orange lately. She leaves the house almost always wearing something orange these days. Yesterday was the exception - she insisted on wearing a pink Minnie Mouse dress. Perhaps it was because we spent the day with her grandparents in Mount Dora and she wanted to dress up? Today was blue and purple plaid shorts with a peach colored top. She is definitely no slave to fashion! Angelfish was happy to wear a purple shirt with flowers on it and a pair of jean shorts. She accidentally left her lovie - Minnie Mouse - on the kitchen table so ol' Minnie got a much needed bath today while she was at school. : )

This week should be a bit of a quiet one. But then, you never know!

The day after Gator Gallop...

It's the day after Gator Gallop and I can still move! I wasn't even achy. I ended up staying the night at Lauren's (Mr. Darcyis super cool) because she had an extra ticket to Gator Growl - I haven't been in forever. It was a lot of fun, but a little strange to be on the alumni side of things. Steve Miller Band did a good job and the comedian was pretty funny too, but the ones "back in the day" are still my favorites. So, this morning Lauren and I did a 3 mile walk before I left to come home to Bill and the little bits. When I got home, Mr. Darcy and I decided to take Angelfish and Ladybug to Animal Kingdom. We had a blast. I'm a bit tired from all the walking with that, but it was great. The girls loved the animals (although Ladybug wasn't overly thrilled with the end of the safari ride when you go at 35 mph and there are gun shots because you're supposedly chasing poachers) and we were able to get some more great shots of the girls with the characters. It's still a little old for them in many ways, but we had a great afternoon there. Then it was dinner, playing at home, and bedtime for the ladybugs...

Tommorrow is a "brick" day (working out in 2 of the 3 sports in the tri in the same session) and then shopping with a friend. Also, I've decided definitely to do the International length triathlon in May to support The Leukemia & Lymphoma society (and Mr. Darcy is fully on board with it too). So there will definitely be more postings.

Go Gator Gallop Go!

It was a dark and stormy day... okay, it wasn't dark but grey and it wasn't stormy just rainy... but still! Today I ran in the Gator Gallop with my good friend Lauren. We got up and got ready, set up chairs along the parade route (it's Homecoming weekend at UF), had an egg with cheese and toast & some water, and then walked 2 miles to the UF track. We signed in and got our t-shirts, did a good bit of talking and stretching, and then they shot the starting gun! (3 minutes early, but hey. I wasn't in charge.)

I met my goal of running the entire 2 miles without walking once. I may be slow, but (using my best Forrest Gump impression) I was RUNNING! I finished in 22:21, which is a little over 11:10 per minute. So, I was pretty happy... I may not be fast but I ran the whole time. : ) Then we walked a bit to cool down before we sat and watched the parade. It was a little disappointing because a few floats (including Albert and Alberta) chickened out because of the rain. What's a little rain? By the end of it, we were rather stinky and wet. So, we picked up Lauren's soon to be step-daughter, Lexi, who was in the parade with her gymnastics team (she was doing cartwheels, walk overs and splits all down the parade route and is cute as can be!) and then headed to publix for a sub and an apple and then headed back to Lauren's for a well deserved shower. PEEE UUUUU! I was one smelly girl!

But happy all the same because I met my 2 goals for the race: 1) finish and 2) run the entire race! (Yes, I know. I aim rather high don't I?)

Another day in the Pool

It was supposed to be a running day, but I'm running in the 2 mile Gator Gallop in Gainesville, FL tomorrow as part of UF's homecoming festivities so I decided to switch tommorrow's schedule swim with today's scheduled run. The pool was actually warmer today than yesterday, but then it was probably about 10 degrees warmer outside this morning than yesterday morning too. It's Florida, folks, it doesn't stay cool for long in these here parts!

I tore up the pool today too (or at least it felt that way at the time). I did a quarter of a mile in about 9 minutes flat and a half mile in about 17 minutes. Watch out Michael Phelps! HAHAHAHAHA! To give you an idea of how slow that is, the women's world record in the 400m is 4:01.53 and in the 800m is 8:16.22. So basically half my time. Of course, now I'm wondering if the pool is as small as I think it is and maybe I'm swimming more than I think at a time... I'll have to get out the yard stick and get back to you. There is the possibility that I am just that slow, though.

Today, I'm having lunch with someone I met through the Alpha Xi Delta Alumnae Association here in Orlando and then this evening I'm driving to Gainesville to hang out with my friend Lauren and run in Gator Gallop with her tomorrow. GO GATORS! When I get home Friday afternoon, we'll be taking the girls to a movie on the lawn here in our neighborhood. Bill couldn't be more excited because the movie is "Back to the Future" one of his all time favorites. So, if you need to find me the next few days try my cell!

A Cold Pool and Evil Ants

Today was a 30 minute swim and a 20 minute bike ride. It was great, but a little surprising. How? Well, this is Florida and it's been HOTter than I could have imagined. It's almost the end of October and the highs are still in the low 80's for goodness sake. I'm still wearing shorts and short-sleeved shirts and wondering when Fall is going to start... until I remember that I live in Florida now and there are two seasons - summer and spring. Last night the lows were in the low 60's and they were suggesting that people wear a jacket on the radio! (You just need a sweater... a jacket??) Anyway, the surprise was a nice cool morning and a rather cold swimming pool. So cold that when I dunked myself to try to acclimate a hair before starting I wondered if I was going to give myself a heart attack. Luckily, no heart attack.

Then, I got out of the pool and headed to the bike (not wearing contacts this morning so I was a bit blind). Only to discover that evidently my sneakers smell good to ants (I checked for snacks from the liliputians but found none) because I had to knock a ton of them off my shoes before being able to bike and one of them had the audacity to actually bite me! But the ride was good once I conquered the ant army...

Angelfish and Ladybug had their pictures taken at school yesterday and wore dresses to school that they picked out of their closet. Amazingly they coordinated with each other... they were really cute. Hopefully the pictures turned out well. I'll keep you posted. Ladybug wanted to wear her dress to bed last night, but when we told Angelfiah we were having pasta for dinner and she needed to keep her dress clean the next thing we knew she was running around in her pull-up shouting "I'm naked! I'm naked!" After dinner we played in the park across the street from our house - the girls were playing frisbee with us (if only I was about 2 feet tall, we might be able to get something going), and Ladybug kept telling us she wants to put on her bathing suit and go to the beach. This is day 3 of her talking about the beach, so we may try to head to Cocoa Beach this weekend (barring rain). That will be interesting, so stay tuned!

The Orlando Years begin...

We moved from Atlanta to Orlando and several friends said that I should start a blog for people to be able to keep up with us and especially since I'm planning on training for and competing in triathlons. I'm not sure if the latter is for moral support or comedy relief for my friends, but either way works for me really. All I have to say is living in Florida is great for triathlons. The pool is not cold, there's no smog to keep me indoors, and the weather is great (give or take a few hurricanes/tropical storms).

So far, I've signed up for my 1st triathlon (2/1) in the town I grew up in, began training and gave my self shin splits, and lost a few pounds. My shin splints seem to be gone and I'm easing back into the running (I've been speed walking in the meantime). I even went to the Track Shack and got myself fitted for a new pair of shoes. Turns out my old ones were worn out AND they were a full size too small. Their guess was that giving birth to twins made my feet grow a size. Hmm... wonder if that had something to do with the shin splints!

Why a triathlon? Well, I'm a glutton for punishment, I love to swim and ride bikes, and I can survive running (I think). Plus, as a mother of twins who works full time I don't have enough to do already! So stay tuned for more installments on the mysteries of my life - including why I'm crazy enough to sign up for a 2 mile run tomorrow in Gainesville (good wholesome fun with my friend Lauren for homecoming), a 5K on Thanksgiving morning (yes, I'll still be cooking the turkey no worries!), and another 5K in December (I just liked the name - "Reindeer Run") when I'm not a big fan of running!