I went to the pool this morning and, despite some issues with my goggles leaking every now and then, I felt great to be back in the water. It felt odd at first, as though my muscles were super tight. But after the 1st 100m, I was back in it. It was supposed to be an easy swim and I was running behind schedule due to a "lovely" morning with Ladybug. She can be rather infuriating at times. I fully expect that she will have had an accident or two today at school merely because she can "control" that situation.
Anyway, I focused on my stroke and reaching out. When I swim "easy" I sometimes swim "lazy" and don't go through my stroke like I should. But, I did a mile in 35 minutes. Not a world record or even as fast as before the 70.3, but I was happy with it as my easy swim. If I had more time, I would have gotten to the 1.2 miles, but as it was I was doing my best to make it to work on time.
It is lovely to be in the water and just swim. The fact that the girls were atrocious at soccer last night (to the point that another mother gave one of the other mothers a look, which was the last straw in an already difficult situation with my children) and that Ladybug was the spawn of Satan this morning (and I'm guessing that I'd have to be Satan in that reference since Mr. Darcy had more patience than I did with her this morning), while still weighing on my mind now was a distant and removed memory while in the pool.
This morning, I wished I had more time to stretch out my muscles and swim for hours. I even wondered what it would be like to spend the time to swim 2.4 miles in the pool, as though I was preping for an Ironman. I bet it's fun... and relaxing... to get into that swim zone where it's just you and the sound of the water as you swim. I think I could swim all day, if you let me.
But that stuff called work, and life, and errands, and ugh - responsibilities - gets in the way. At least I had 35 minutes of splishing and splashing in the pool. A good way to re-start the morning.
Showing posts with label girls. Show all posts
Showing posts with label girls. Show all posts
Thursday, October 22, 2009
Wednesday, October 21, 2009
Sleep & A Doozy of a Morning
Last night I talked to Coach and told her about the wierd pain that was terrible and making me limp in my upper calf near the back of my knee. It's been just a twinge here and there since the 70.3, but nothing I worried about. Not even in Seattle as it was uncomfortable while walking and carrying a 30 pound child. It didn't hurt during the run yesterday but by the evening, I was limping.
She said no running for a few days. Swim for about 45 minutes to 1 hour, easy. Bike easy on the stationary bike with no heavy resistance the next day, and then we'll talk again. I took 3 advil and went to bed. And I slept. Like a log.
I woke up at one point 5 minutes before the alarm clock was set to go off. I opted to sleep for the next 5 minutes, which some how turned into an hour and 5 minutes. I only woke up because Mr. Darcy woke me to ask if I could take the girls to daycare. Forgetting that I had an 8 am conference call for a bar committee I was on, I said yes.
But my leg doesn't feel so bad this morning. I'll have to swim tomorrow and move the bike to Friday, but maybe that's not such a bad thing. I'm still coughing here and there, but it's so much better that it's amazing. And yet I wouldn't mind a bit more sleep. So I'm plotting to spend my lunch hour napping. We'll see how it goes. Hopefully it will give me patience to deal with Ladybug and her attitude of late.
This morning, Ladybug yelled at me (literally) and cried and threw herself on the floor because I cut her yogurt open (it was a squeezer) after she asked me to remove the top piece. Evidently, she didn't want me to open it but instead to just remove a little piece of plastic. I told her she had the option to eat the yogurt or go without yogurt and then said that Angelfish and I were going to get socks. And we walked away. Then Ladybug is screaming "Mommy" as though I've deserted her in a pit of vipers. I ask her why she is screaming and she tells me "You scared me." I ask how and she says she thought I left her. I told her that I said we were going to get socks. Then she lies to me and says that I yelled at her, which I decidedly did not do at any point. I told her that I did not and that I didn't appreciate her making up lies. Ladybug then starts yelling about how she didn't want me to open her yogurt. So I said, "fine, give it to me. I'll eat it." "No, it's mine!" I walked away with Angelfish and put her socks and shoes on. The next thing I know Ladybug is eating her yogurt and singing "Nanny, Nanny Boo Boo. Nanny, Nanny, Boo, Boo. You have zero." I'm sure she's picked this up at daycare because we certainly have not taught her this. I'm grateful it's not the version I know from childhood too - "Nanny Nanny Boo Boo Stick your Head in Doo Doo." That would be a bit too much for me this morning.
We get to school and the girls are angels. They walk in nicely, and we go to their classroom, they start to play with their friends outside. One of the teachers tells them (after they've given her a morning hug) that they make her day and then tells me how sweet they are and how at picture day yesterday they did wonderfully with the pictures and gave beautiful smiles and everything. I thought to myself, at least they are both sweet and wonderful for other people. They are sweet and wonderful at home, but they also will be so silly that you can't get them dressed or get something done (Angelfish) or be so demanding, yelling, and act as though nothing is good enough (Ladybug) to the point that your brain wants to scream. I guess it's as someone told me recently, they know how far they can push you but they don't know how far they can push their daycare teachers. Whatever it is, it's frustrating.
But good news on the potty front... Ladybug kept her underpants dry and clean. Bribery with a token for "good behavior" and a piece of gum will get you everywhere. Let's see if it works again today. Angelfish gets to benefit from this as well, since what rewards one rewards both in this house. It was cute too because yesterday when I got the girls from their different class rooms at daycare, the first thing Angelfish did after hugging me was to ask Ladybug if she kept her underpants dry and clean. When Ladybug said yes, Angelfish said "Yay! Ladybug! I did too!" So I had two cows (girls) chewing cud (sugar free bubble gum) loudly in my back seat on the way home. Happy as can be.
And we finished our witch and cats. We also decided we need to get some orange lights to put out behind them to make them glow a little. So we'll be off to Target at some point in the not too distant future. I just have to find a way to get through this evening's soccer practice first...
Maybe a nap at lunchtime...
She said no running for a few days. Swim for about 45 minutes to 1 hour, easy. Bike easy on the stationary bike with no heavy resistance the next day, and then we'll talk again. I took 3 advil and went to bed. And I slept. Like a log.
I woke up at one point 5 minutes before the alarm clock was set to go off. I opted to sleep for the next 5 minutes, which some how turned into an hour and 5 minutes. I only woke up because Mr. Darcy woke me to ask if I could take the girls to daycare. Forgetting that I had an 8 am conference call for a bar committee I was on, I said yes.
But my leg doesn't feel so bad this morning. I'll have to swim tomorrow and move the bike to Friday, but maybe that's not such a bad thing. I'm still coughing here and there, but it's so much better that it's amazing. And yet I wouldn't mind a bit more sleep. So I'm plotting to spend my lunch hour napping. We'll see how it goes. Hopefully it will give me patience to deal with Ladybug and her attitude of late.
This morning, Ladybug yelled at me (literally) and cried and threw herself on the floor because I cut her yogurt open (it was a squeezer) after she asked me to remove the top piece. Evidently, she didn't want me to open it but instead to just remove a little piece of plastic. I told her she had the option to eat the yogurt or go without yogurt and then said that Angelfish and I were going to get socks. And we walked away. Then Ladybug is screaming "Mommy" as though I've deserted her in a pit of vipers. I ask her why she is screaming and she tells me "You scared me." I ask how and she says she thought I left her. I told her that I said we were going to get socks. Then she lies to me and says that I yelled at her, which I decidedly did not do at any point. I told her that I did not and that I didn't appreciate her making up lies. Ladybug then starts yelling about how she didn't want me to open her yogurt. So I said, "fine, give it to me. I'll eat it." "No, it's mine!" I walked away with Angelfish and put her socks and shoes on. The next thing I know Ladybug is eating her yogurt and singing "Nanny, Nanny Boo Boo. Nanny, Nanny, Boo, Boo. You have zero." I'm sure she's picked this up at daycare because we certainly have not taught her this. I'm grateful it's not the version I know from childhood too - "Nanny Nanny Boo Boo Stick your Head in Doo Doo." That would be a bit too much for me this morning.
We get to school and the girls are angels. They walk in nicely, and we go to their classroom, they start to play with their friends outside. One of the teachers tells them (after they've given her a morning hug) that they make her day and then tells me how sweet they are and how at picture day yesterday they did wonderfully with the pictures and gave beautiful smiles and everything. I thought to myself, at least they are both sweet and wonderful for other people. They are sweet and wonderful at home, but they also will be so silly that you can't get them dressed or get something done (Angelfish) or be so demanding, yelling, and act as though nothing is good enough (Ladybug) to the point that your brain wants to scream. I guess it's as someone told me recently, they know how far they can push you but they don't know how far they can push their daycare teachers. Whatever it is, it's frustrating.
But good news on the potty front... Ladybug kept her underpants dry and clean. Bribery with a token for "good behavior" and a piece of gum will get you everywhere. Let's see if it works again today. Angelfish gets to benefit from this as well, since what rewards one rewards both in this house. It was cute too because yesterday when I got the girls from their different class rooms at daycare, the first thing Angelfish did after hugging me was to ask Ladybug if she kept her underpants dry and clean. When Ladybug said yes, Angelfish said "Yay! Ladybug! I did too!" So I had two cows (girls) chewing cud (sugar free bubble gum) loudly in my back seat on the way home. Happy as can be.
And we finished our witch and cats. We also decided we need to get some orange lights to put out behind them to make them glow a little. So we'll be off to Target at some point in the not too distant future. I just have to find a way to get through this evening's soccer practice first...
Maybe a nap at lunchtime...
Tuesday, October 20, 2009
The Joy of a Run
I emailed Coach yesterday and told her I was feeling better. She told me I could do a 3 mile easy run, doing 5/1's but if I started coughing or felt light headed to stop. So, this morning, after the kiddies and Mr. Darcy were out the door, I set out on my run.
It felt SOOO good to be out there running again. I have missed it. I even dreamt about running twice in the last 3 days. My loop is 3.2 miles, and it seemed to go by so quickly... 37:10 (11:36 average pace). Not bad for doing 5/1's, one of which was actually a 5/2 because I was coughing a bit during the 1st minute I had a hard time keeping my HR in zone 2, but didn't cough while running. I coughed some while walking, but chalked it up to post nasal drip. I didn't think I was getting light headed, but when I finished up the run, I definitely was. OOPS. I couldn't help but run like I did. I tried to hold myself back some more, but it didn't feel comfortable so I just ran in a way that I felt good. After coughing up my lungs the 5 minutes after I finished and having to stand still and gulp down Gatorade so I could stop feeling light headed, I realized that maybe I went out a little too fast for my first day back.
I won't go as far as to say I shouldn't have run though. It felt much too good to be out there. Listening to my shoes squeak as they hit the pavement. Feeling the sweat beading up (I opted for a long sleeve performance shirt... not sure what I was thinking it was 60 when I left the house... not nearly cold enough for it). Thinking about my arm posture and driving my hands toward the "finish line." Looking ahead and thinkng about the next turn in my route and little else (except for when I had to do the math for the next 5 minutes in the 5/1).
I've never been a big fan of Galloway. I like the idea of being able to run the entire distance and somehow getting faster from there. But, I fully admit that it works. You can cover a distance faster and feel pretty good both during and after. Plus my back doesn't feel as bad afterwards, which is a definite plus.
On the non-running side of things, we've decided that the girls are going to have to finish out their soccer season. They claim that they are "afraid" of playing soccer, of the other kids running at them. Saturday we let them skip their game because I was sick, Bill wasn't feeling the greatest, and we had just gotten back from vacation. But they'll be at the rest of the games. Not sure that they'll play but we'll be there. The Y is now saying that no parents can be on the field with the kids during the game anymore. That's the only way we could get our little ladies out on the field.
On the potty training front, Ladybug is making me crazy. We've been at this for over a year and she'll do great for several weeks (like on our vacation) and then be terrible about it (like this past weekend and yesterday). I have to say I HATE pee and just completely feel like she's never going to be potty trained. I think she uses it as a control thing. So now I'm reverting to making it into a HUGE deal everytime she pees in the potty at the house, cheering and clapping and the whole 9 yards to try to keep from having to do a million loads of disgusting laundry. (Which reminds me, I have to put a load of pee clothes and sheets in today.) Angelfish on the other hand (KNOCK ON WOOD) is potty trained. She has an accident once in a blue, blue moon... like once every 2 months or so. At least I can be thankful that one of them keeps her underpants clean. I hated this stage of having a dog too. Ugh.
The girls are being sweet but WHINY. And Ladybug is trying to order us around, which we (of course) are nipping in the bud. It gets under my skin. Yesterday she ordered me to give her a piece of gum and when I told her no she threw herself on the floor at daycare. On the floor. Over a piece of gum. It didn't work of course, but it was a bit embarrassing. I just told her she could lay on the floor if she wanted but she wasn't going to get a piece of gum and that I was going to get Angelfish from her classroom. Next thing I knew she was pretending to cry and holding my hand. Still no gum.
But then there are those great moments when all they want you to do is hold them and read a story or chat with you. That makes it all worthwhile.
That and getting to go for a run. : )
It felt SOOO good to be out there running again. I have missed it. I even dreamt about running twice in the last 3 days. My loop is 3.2 miles, and it seemed to go by so quickly... 37:10 (11:36 average pace). Not bad for doing 5/1's, one of which was actually a 5/2 because I was coughing a bit during the 1st minute I had a hard time keeping my HR in zone 2, but didn't cough while running. I coughed some while walking, but chalked it up to post nasal drip. I didn't think I was getting light headed, but when I finished up the run, I definitely was. OOPS. I couldn't help but run like I did. I tried to hold myself back some more, but it didn't feel comfortable so I just ran in a way that I felt good. After coughing up my lungs the 5 minutes after I finished and having to stand still and gulp down Gatorade so I could stop feeling light headed, I realized that maybe I went out a little too fast for my first day back.
I won't go as far as to say I shouldn't have run though. It felt much too good to be out there. Listening to my shoes squeak as they hit the pavement. Feeling the sweat beading up (I opted for a long sleeve performance shirt... not sure what I was thinking it was 60 when I left the house... not nearly cold enough for it). Thinking about my arm posture and driving my hands toward the "finish line." Looking ahead and thinkng about the next turn in my route and little else (except for when I had to do the math for the next 5 minutes in the 5/1).
I've never been a big fan of Galloway. I like the idea of being able to run the entire distance and somehow getting faster from there. But, I fully admit that it works. You can cover a distance faster and feel pretty good both during and after. Plus my back doesn't feel as bad afterwards, which is a definite plus.
On the non-running side of things, we've decided that the girls are going to have to finish out their soccer season. They claim that they are "afraid" of playing soccer, of the other kids running at them. Saturday we let them skip their game because I was sick, Bill wasn't feeling the greatest, and we had just gotten back from vacation. But they'll be at the rest of the games. Not sure that they'll play but we'll be there. The Y is now saying that no parents can be on the field with the kids during the game anymore. That's the only way we could get our little ladies out on the field.
On the potty training front, Ladybug is making me crazy. We've been at this for over a year and she'll do great for several weeks (like on our vacation) and then be terrible about it (like this past weekend and yesterday). I have to say I HATE pee and just completely feel like she's never going to be potty trained. I think she uses it as a control thing. So now I'm reverting to making it into a HUGE deal everytime she pees in the potty at the house, cheering and clapping and the whole 9 yards to try to keep from having to do a million loads of disgusting laundry. (Which reminds me, I have to put a load of pee clothes and sheets in today.) Angelfish on the other hand (KNOCK ON WOOD) is potty trained. She has an accident once in a blue, blue moon... like once every 2 months or so. At least I can be thankful that one of them keeps her underpants clean. I hated this stage of having a dog too. Ugh.
The girls are being sweet but WHINY. And Ladybug is trying to order us around, which we (of course) are nipping in the bud. It gets under my skin. Yesterday she ordered me to give her a piece of gum and when I told her no she threw herself on the floor at daycare. On the floor. Over a piece of gum. It didn't work of course, but it was a bit embarrassing. I just told her she could lay on the floor if she wanted but she wasn't going to get a piece of gum and that I was going to get Angelfish from her classroom. Next thing I knew she was pretending to cry and holding my hand. Still no gum.
But then there are those great moments when all they want you to do is hold them and read a story or chat with you. That makes it all worthwhile.
That and getting to go for a run. : )
Friday, September 18, 2009
The Friday 15
1. I realized this morning that in my sleepy state yesterday I missed my 200th post. Well, I didn't miss it, I just didn't do anything to celebrate it. So here's a minor celebration: 200 posts means more than 200 training days. I think I had an extra post in there once when I found out I was going to be in the infomercial. (The infomercial should be coming out shortly. As soon as it is available for public consumption, I'll add it to the blog for fun... if I can figure it out.) Either way, that's pretty impressive. I've swum, biked, and ran all that while... just a little over a year at this point. Yes, I know there are more than 200 days in a year but I don't blog on weekends for some reason, so training days occur more often than blog posts.
2. I am looking forward to Augusta. I watched an awful video of people at the Ironman Wisconsin where they didn't make the cut offs, and through my tears for those people, I have vowed that won't be me in Augusta. Let's keep our fingers and toes crossed and send our prayers from our lips directly to God's ears on that one.
3. I don't have my bib number yet, but as soon as I do, I will let you all know so if possible you can follow along.
4. Someone asked me the other day if I was going to do a full Ironman next year. To be quite honest, at this point, I don't want to. I miss the time with my family on the weekends. While I like the training while I'm in it, I miss hearing all the things Ladybug, Angelfish and Mr. Darcy were doing from 7:30 am to 1 or 2 pm when I'm getting home.
5. Besides the thought of 2.4 miles swimming then 112 miles on the bike followed by 26.2 miles running make me want to throw up just thinking about it. I admire all those who chase it and achieve it, all those who train for it and don't make it. It is an amazing feat and people who do it are amazing human beings. I am just not yet crazy enough to want to do it... yet. (I never say never.)
6. I didn't do the run yesterday. I emailed Coach, told her what I've done so far this week and how tired I was and she said to skip the run and if I felt good enough on Saturday to do 3-4 miles of running then. Let's hope that doesn't do anything to my race day karma, but Coach knows what she's talking about so I did what she said.
7. I swam 1500 m as scheduled this morning. I have to say I still love swimming the best. There is nothing like feeling your stretch all the way in your armpit as your reach out in your stroke followed by the sound of the whooshing water. I got in my zone and realized that 1500m felt like childs play today. 22:38 for 1500 m.
8. I decided to sign up for the Disney Princess 1/2 marathon with Coach. This is the reason why I never say never. In a million years, or even just 6 months ago, would I ever have thought I would be willing (or able) to run a 1/2 marathon. And this was kind of my idea. I thought about doing the Seaside 1/2 marathon but that would entail a weekend away from the family, hotel rental, gas, and the entry fee. While there is no Vera Bradley bag at the end of the Disney Priness 1/2 marathon, there are princesses, and a kids 100m run for the little ladies where they even get swag like their Trimommy does for the 1/2 marathon. And Mr. Darcy can be there, and we can (hopefully if reservations go right when Disney will finally let me make them) have breakfast with the Princesses at Cinderella's Castle after the girls' race. I'm pretty excited about it.. and remember, I don't even really "like" running, although I like it well enough these days. Something about it is just calling me, plus the family will be involved. YAY!
9. Another little something to celebrate is that I called Angelfish's pediatrician because I never heard from the nurse about the new blood work from her. Turns out they're automating their files and somewhere there was a mistake and they were supposed to call us (duh). The doctor was really apologetic and I forgave her when she told me that the lab had mistakenly only sent the 1st page of Angelfish's blood work and that a week later she got the entire report with the full breakdown of her cholesterol test and while the total is a smidge high (187 where the highest is supposed to be180 for 3 year olds) that the breakdown itself was really good and we don't have to repeat testing until next year some time and that's just to keep an eye on it. Whoo Hoo!
10. Saturday is the little ladies' 1st soccer game. I can't wait. It should be fun and funny! I've already decided that if they don't want to play that is okay, but they'll have to stay for the entire game with their team. They are 3 after all, and I never really liked team sports until middle school. As a kid, I liked my swimming and tennis. Yes, I was on a "swim team" but other than relays it's an individual sport.
11. I'm looking forward to the weekend. Soccer with the girls, being with the family, some outlet shopping with my friend while our husbands and kids watch football and the kids play together, and a 30 mile bike and 6 mile run. If only the brick resulted in a shiny finisher's medal then I would say that it is the perfect weekend.
12. I've got the idea of that shiny finisher's medal from Augusta in my head and I'm not letting go. But I have promised Mr. Darcy that I would not return from Augusta with a tattoo. Not sure that I have anything that I really want to see on my body when I'm wrinkly anyway.
13. But shiny medals from races are another thing. I need to make a place for them in my office. I have a good idea of where I want to put them, though. Right where I can look up from the computer screen and see the girls' artwork on one side, some pictures of them, and then my medals and of course, my age-group plaque(s) (I only have one now, but I hope to acquire more eventually.)
14. A few minutes ago I got a friendly reminder call from ESI about the 70.3 Ironman Augusta and that I need to attend a meeting before I can pick up my packet. It ended "See you next weekend!" My hands started sweating. Good news is that I didn't want to throw up though.
15. Sung to Don Ho's Tiny Bubbles:
Shiny Medal (shiny medal),
in my hand (in my hand),
Makes me happy (makes me happy)
Makes me feel fine (make me feel fine).
Shiny medal (shiny medal)
in my hand (in my hand),
Make me warm all over,
With a feeling that I'm gonna,
Love you till the end of time.
So here's to the long bike ride,
And here's to the swim -ming,
And mostly here's a toast,
to finishing.
Here's to the hot hot run,
I finished today.
And here's a bliss
That will not fade away.
It came to me when thinking about that shiny Augusta finisher's medal and how great it is going to be to hold it in my hand come September 27th. You may just hear me singing it along the course.
Have a great weekend!
2. I am looking forward to Augusta. I watched an awful video of people at the Ironman Wisconsin where they didn't make the cut offs, and through my tears for those people, I have vowed that won't be me in Augusta. Let's keep our fingers and toes crossed and send our prayers from our lips directly to God's ears on that one.
3. I don't have my bib number yet, but as soon as I do, I will let you all know so if possible you can follow along.
4. Someone asked me the other day if I was going to do a full Ironman next year. To be quite honest, at this point, I don't want to. I miss the time with my family on the weekends. While I like the training while I'm in it, I miss hearing all the things Ladybug, Angelfish and Mr. Darcy were doing from 7:30 am to 1 or 2 pm when I'm getting home.
5. Besides the thought of 2.4 miles swimming then 112 miles on the bike followed by 26.2 miles running make me want to throw up just thinking about it. I admire all those who chase it and achieve it, all those who train for it and don't make it. It is an amazing feat and people who do it are amazing human beings. I am just not yet crazy enough to want to do it... yet. (I never say never.)
6. I didn't do the run yesterday. I emailed Coach, told her what I've done so far this week and how tired I was and she said to skip the run and if I felt good enough on Saturday to do 3-4 miles of running then. Let's hope that doesn't do anything to my race day karma, but Coach knows what she's talking about so I did what she said.
7. I swam 1500 m as scheduled this morning. I have to say I still love swimming the best. There is nothing like feeling your stretch all the way in your armpit as your reach out in your stroke followed by the sound of the whooshing water. I got in my zone and realized that 1500m felt like childs play today. 22:38 for 1500 m.
8. I decided to sign up for the Disney Princess 1/2 marathon with Coach. This is the reason why I never say never. In a million years, or even just 6 months ago, would I ever have thought I would be willing (or able) to run a 1/2 marathon. And this was kind of my idea. I thought about doing the Seaside 1/2 marathon but that would entail a weekend away from the family, hotel rental, gas, and the entry fee. While there is no Vera Bradley bag at the end of the Disney Priness 1/2 marathon, there are princesses, and a kids 100m run for the little ladies where they even get swag like their Trimommy does for the 1/2 marathon. And Mr. Darcy can be there, and we can (hopefully if reservations go right when Disney will finally let me make them) have breakfast with the Princesses at Cinderella's Castle after the girls' race. I'm pretty excited about it.. and remember, I don't even really "like" running, although I like it well enough these days. Something about it is just calling me, plus the family will be involved. YAY!
9. Another little something to celebrate is that I called Angelfish's pediatrician because I never heard from the nurse about the new blood work from her. Turns out they're automating their files and somewhere there was a mistake and they were supposed to call us (duh). The doctor was really apologetic and I forgave her when she told me that the lab had mistakenly only sent the 1st page of Angelfish's blood work and that a week later she got the entire report with the full breakdown of her cholesterol test and while the total is a smidge high (187 where the highest is supposed to be180 for 3 year olds) that the breakdown itself was really good and we don't have to repeat testing until next year some time and that's just to keep an eye on it. Whoo Hoo!
10. Saturday is the little ladies' 1st soccer game. I can't wait. It should be fun and funny! I've already decided that if they don't want to play that is okay, but they'll have to stay for the entire game with their team. They are 3 after all, and I never really liked team sports until middle school. As a kid, I liked my swimming and tennis. Yes, I was on a "swim team" but other than relays it's an individual sport.
11. I'm looking forward to the weekend. Soccer with the girls, being with the family, some outlet shopping with my friend while our husbands and kids watch football and the kids play together, and a 30 mile bike and 6 mile run. If only the brick resulted in a shiny finisher's medal then I would say that it is the perfect weekend.
12. I've got the idea of that shiny finisher's medal from Augusta in my head and I'm not letting go. But I have promised Mr. Darcy that I would not return from Augusta with a tattoo. Not sure that I have anything that I really want to see on my body when I'm wrinkly anyway.
13. But shiny medals from races are another thing. I need to make a place for them in my office. I have a good idea of where I want to put them, though. Right where I can look up from the computer screen and see the girls' artwork on one side, some pictures of them, and then my medals and of course, my age-group plaque(s) (I only have one now, but I hope to acquire more eventually.)
14. A few minutes ago I got a friendly reminder call from ESI about the 70.3 Ironman Augusta and that I need to attend a meeting before I can pick up my packet. It ended "See you next weekend!" My hands started sweating. Good news is that I didn't want to throw up though.
15. Sung to Don Ho's Tiny Bubbles:
Shiny Medal (shiny medal),
in my hand (in my hand),
Makes me happy (makes me happy)
Makes me feel fine (make me feel fine).
Shiny medal (shiny medal)
in my hand (in my hand),
Make me warm all over,
With a feeling that I'm gonna,
Love you till the end of time.
So here's to the long bike ride,
And here's to the swim -ming,
And mostly here's a toast,
to finishing.
Here's to the hot hot run,
I finished today.
And here's a bliss
That will not fade away.
It came to me when thinking about that shiny Augusta finisher's medal and how great it is going to be to hold it in my hand come September 27th. You may just hear me singing it along the course.
Have a great weekend!
Tuesday, July 14, 2009
An Odd Morning Run...
My morning run was, well, odd. Actually, the entire morning before I started work was odd.... the run was odd in kind of a bad way, but the morning was odd in kind of a good way.
Last night Ladybug decided she would be a night owl. She was playing in her closet while Angelfish slept, and only was discovered when she came out into the playroom for more toys. But I'm not sure she went to sleep when I turned off the lights and told her it was late at night and she needed her sleep as I tucked her into bed. All I know is she was up late. I caught her at 10 pm as I was headed off to bed myself, and then some hours later (I didn't have my contacts in yesterday) she arrived in our bed and slept the rest of the night with us.
About 5:30 am, Angelfish arrived and wanted to be with her Mommy, who was starting to get ready for her day. Mommy (of course) stopped and snuggled with her for a bit and once Angelfish was sleeping, I returned to getting ready and having my breakfast.
Mr. Darcy, who kept himself up until about 11:30 last night reading his FDR book (he says it's finally gotten good because the war has started), was not motivated to get up and get going this morning. But we had a nice chat and agreed that I would do Team in Training again in the Spring season (which starts in January, I believe) and aim for the St. Anthony's Triathlon in St. Pete. Mr. Darcy even agreed that if they'll have me, that I'd like to be a mentor. So fingers crossed! But it took some doing to get Mr. Darcy moving along so I could run.
And then (brace yourselves, or look away for a moment because this may be Too Much Information) as we were talking, I sneezed and pooped at the same time. Clearly not expected and a bit gross and unsettling. I ran off to deal with that situation.
(TMI is over.) Angelfish sprung out of bed and was in a happy, silly mood. Racing herself to the potty, dancing around naked, singing songs, and using her toy stethoscope to pretend her belly was a doctor but that she wasn't. I asked her if she had a nightmare and that was why she slept in Mommy and Daddy's bed. She said, "No. I opened my eyes and I was all alone. Megan not there. Mommy and Daddy not there. I was sleeping on my floor and even Minnie wasn't there. So I decided not to be alone." (She sleeps with a stuffed Minnie Mouse as her lovie, but why she was sleeping on the floor is still a mystery as she didn't seem to know either.) I thought that was pretty good reasoning for a 3 year old!
Ladybug on the other hand was very sleepy and very precious sleeping in our bed. We really do have beautiful children! When I got Ladybug up, the first question she asked was "Are we going to stay all together today?" I had to tell her no, but promised that we'd spend the weekend together. She was OK with that, went potty nicely, and then evidently had a meltdown with Mr. Darcy about wearing shorts and a shirt instead of a dress... and the next thing I see is Mr. Darcy carting a fully dressed Ladybug (in shorts and a shirt) out to the car. Ladybug is wailing and gnashing her teeth. I got Angelfish out to the car by luring her with her bag of muffins and chatting.
Mr. Darcy went back in for the girls socks and shoes and the little ladies and I discussed that sometimes Mommy and Daddy get upset because they don't listen but not just because we're in charge but because we're trying to keep them from getting hurt or to keep them safe. That seemed to calm Ladybug down a bit. Angelfish even gave her example of how she didn't listen the other weekend when she was playing with the rope and she fell down and hit her head (this was back when she got the staples) and that Ladybug gave her a toy flower to make her feel better. The memories these kids have is amazing! I told her that was a very good example.
Then Ladybug told me that she wanted to stay home with me. I told her that it was a school day and that Mommy and Daddy had to go to work. That was when she said, "Angelfish can go to school. I want to stay home with you, Mommy, please." Talk about heart wrenching. I told her that we couldn't do it today but that we would do a Mommy-Daughter day soon. I felt so loved and so torn all at once! But, I'll be looking on the calendar to find a date for us.
Everyone was finally out the door, and I set off on my run. I was supposed to do a 5 mile run alternating easy and hard. And that's what I started out doing. But my back had other plans. I did the 1st mile at a nice pace in Zone 2, and the pain started radiating from my back into my butt and across my quad and down around the base of my knee. I ignored it. Mile 2, I stepped it up trying to run pretty fast but the pain got to be excruciating so I probably wasn't running nearly as fast as I could if I wasn't in pain. Mile 3, I walked at a brisk pace trying to keep my HR up to around 140. I haven't had to walk in a long time and I must say, I didn't like it. I felt like a woosie girl. I knew I could be running but when I tried the pain was so bad I knew I shouldn't run. At this point I decided that 5 miles needed to be turned into 4 miles because I wanted to be able to do a 6 mile run on Sunday during my race and that listening to my body today would let me tear it up on Sunday. But I didn't completely give up. I did my best to run fast (and was at least running in Zone 3) for that last mile. It hurt like hell, but it got done. And I even surprised myself. My time for the entire 4 miles? 47 minutes and 46 seconds. Less than a 12 minute mile pace on average... even though I walked about a mile of it!
So the pain was bad (and still was for a bit afterwards, but seems to have subsided a little bit), but my time was still decent. I wonder what I could do if my back situation was better? The mysteries of it all...
Last night Ladybug decided she would be a night owl. She was playing in her closet while Angelfish slept, and only was discovered when she came out into the playroom for more toys. But I'm not sure she went to sleep when I turned off the lights and told her it was late at night and she needed her sleep as I tucked her into bed. All I know is she was up late. I caught her at 10 pm as I was headed off to bed myself, and then some hours later (I didn't have my contacts in yesterday) she arrived in our bed and slept the rest of the night with us.
About 5:30 am, Angelfish arrived and wanted to be with her Mommy, who was starting to get ready for her day. Mommy (of course) stopped and snuggled with her for a bit and once Angelfish was sleeping, I returned to getting ready and having my breakfast.
Mr. Darcy, who kept himself up until about 11:30 last night reading his FDR book (he says it's finally gotten good because the war has started), was not motivated to get up and get going this morning. But we had a nice chat and agreed that I would do Team in Training again in the Spring season (which starts in January, I believe) and aim for the St. Anthony's Triathlon in St. Pete. Mr. Darcy even agreed that if they'll have me, that I'd like to be a mentor. So fingers crossed! But it took some doing to get Mr. Darcy moving along so I could run.
And then (brace yourselves, or look away for a moment because this may be Too Much Information) as we were talking, I sneezed and pooped at the same time. Clearly not expected and a bit gross and unsettling. I ran off to deal with that situation.
(TMI is over.) Angelfish sprung out of bed and was in a happy, silly mood. Racing herself to the potty, dancing around naked, singing songs, and using her toy stethoscope to pretend her belly was a doctor but that she wasn't. I asked her if she had a nightmare and that was why she slept in Mommy and Daddy's bed. She said, "No. I opened my eyes and I was all alone. Megan not there. Mommy and Daddy not there. I was sleeping on my floor and even Minnie wasn't there. So I decided not to be alone." (She sleeps with a stuffed Minnie Mouse as her lovie, but why she was sleeping on the floor is still a mystery as she didn't seem to know either.) I thought that was pretty good reasoning for a 3 year old!
Ladybug on the other hand was very sleepy and very precious sleeping in our bed. We really do have beautiful children! When I got Ladybug up, the first question she asked was "Are we going to stay all together today?" I had to tell her no, but promised that we'd spend the weekend together. She was OK with that, went potty nicely, and then evidently had a meltdown with Mr. Darcy about wearing shorts and a shirt instead of a dress... and the next thing I see is Mr. Darcy carting a fully dressed Ladybug (in shorts and a shirt) out to the car. Ladybug is wailing and gnashing her teeth. I got Angelfish out to the car by luring her with her bag of muffins and chatting.
Mr. Darcy went back in for the girls socks and shoes and the little ladies and I discussed that sometimes Mommy and Daddy get upset because they don't listen but not just because we're in charge but because we're trying to keep them from getting hurt or to keep them safe. That seemed to calm Ladybug down a bit. Angelfish even gave her example of how she didn't listen the other weekend when she was playing with the rope and she fell down and hit her head (this was back when she got the staples) and that Ladybug gave her a toy flower to make her feel better. The memories these kids have is amazing! I told her that was a very good example.
Then Ladybug told me that she wanted to stay home with me. I told her that it was a school day and that Mommy and Daddy had to go to work. That was when she said, "Angelfish can go to school. I want to stay home with you, Mommy, please." Talk about heart wrenching. I told her that we couldn't do it today but that we would do a Mommy-Daughter day soon. I felt so loved and so torn all at once! But, I'll be looking on the calendar to find a date for us.
Everyone was finally out the door, and I set off on my run. I was supposed to do a 5 mile run alternating easy and hard. And that's what I started out doing. But my back had other plans. I did the 1st mile at a nice pace in Zone 2, and the pain started radiating from my back into my butt and across my quad and down around the base of my knee. I ignored it. Mile 2, I stepped it up trying to run pretty fast but the pain got to be excruciating so I probably wasn't running nearly as fast as I could if I wasn't in pain. Mile 3, I walked at a brisk pace trying to keep my HR up to around 140. I haven't had to walk in a long time and I must say, I didn't like it. I felt like a woosie girl. I knew I could be running but when I tried the pain was so bad I knew I shouldn't run. At this point I decided that 5 miles needed to be turned into 4 miles because I wanted to be able to do a 6 mile run on Sunday during my race and that listening to my body today would let me tear it up on Sunday. But I didn't completely give up. I did my best to run fast (and was at least running in Zone 3) for that last mile. It hurt like hell, but it got done. And I even surprised myself. My time for the entire 4 miles? 47 minutes and 46 seconds. Less than a 12 minute mile pace on average... even though I walked about a mile of it!
So the pain was bad (and still was for a bit afterwards, but seems to have subsided a little bit), but my time was still decent. I wonder what I could do if my back situation was better? The mysteries of it all...
Tuesday, May 19, 2009
A Little Too Much Excitement
Last night we had a little too much excitement around the house. I had gotten home from my evening swim (a 1500 m ladder in about 45 minutes, I was pleased and tired), was greeted by extra happy girls with hugs and kisses (which always puts a smile on your face), ate some food because I was starving, and the girls began to play "cowgirl" with a rope they found while we tried to convince them to chat with their Grammie and Papa over the internet video cam. All seemed to be shaping up for a delightful evening. Then as Mr. Darcy was winding up his video call the girls' started barreling through the living room at top speeds. Just as I was telling them to slow down, Angelfish tripped and fell. As she fell, she hit her head and then her arm on the corner of a little dividing wall that we have between the living room and the breakfast nook.
She was screaming and holding her arm, and I thought it might be broken. But I got to her, scooped her up and discovered her arm was ok. Angelfish had full range of motion, it was scraped up, and all seemed ok just a painful ouchie. Then all of a sudden I had blood on my hands and I had no idea where it was coming from. I freaked out. I am generally good in an emergency, but when I couldn't see where the blood was coming from, I was useless and screamed for Mr. Darcy to come back. I had yelled for him when I heard her hit the wall and she started screaming immediately (the view was impeded by the sofa so I wasn't sure what hit the wall at first). He said that it came from her ear because there was a scratch there. I told him that couldn't be it because I had too much blood on my hands. So I took a deep breath and calmed myself and asked Angelfish "did you hit your ear on the wall?" "No." "did you hit your head?" "Yes, mommy. It hurts." "Where, honey?" "Here." And that's when I saw it - an inch from where she put her hand, there was a cut. I moved the hair away and found her scalp had split open.
I told Angelfish and Mr. Darcy that we needed to go to the Emergency Clinic to see a doctor. Mr. Darcy looked at it and agreed that it was an open cut that probably would need stitches. Angelfish matter of factly said, "I need to go to the doctor. The doctor will give me stickers." Ladybug was very sweet to her sister, very concerned and wanting to help in making her feel better. Once we determined that she needed to go to the doctor, Ladybug walked up to Angelfish, put her hand on her back sweetly and asked "Are you ok, Angelfish?" Angelfish replied, "Yes, but I need to go to the doctor." Ladybug then said so sweetly and sincerely, "I love you so very, very much." It was the sweetest thing, especially because Ladybug is not one to say I love you but on a rare occasion.
So, we packed everyone up into the minivan and headed to the Emergency Clinic where we waited 1 1/2 hours to be called back into the back room, and then another 20 minutes for the doctor to appear. The doctor told us that she had to put staples in because with stitches (liquid or otherwise) the wound would reopen and not be able to heal. The wound was deep. I could see the fatty tissue under the skin. Then she was off to get a nurse to assist. Our Angelfish is one tough girl. I told her that the doctor was going to need to help her head and that it was going to hurt a little but it would be ok. When the doctor came back, Mr. Darcy and Ladybug left the room (because we didn't want Ladybug to see what was going to happen). Angelfish laid right down on the table on her side, held my hands, and she and I sang "Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star" twice. She winced when the doctor put in the 2 staples, but never cried. When she was allowed to sit up, she clinged to me but was a brave, brave girl. And once the nurse brought her stickers, she was back to her usual happy self and headed off to the car with a joyful trot. I think it may have been harder on me than it was on her. It's hard to let someone do something to your child that you know is going to hurt them, even if it is to help in the end.
We got home around 11:30 pm last night. Poor Mr. Darcy hadn't had dinner before we left so he ate when we got home and after we put the girls in bed (they had fallen asleep in the car). I went to bed immediately too. I was exhausted!
Today, Ms. Angelfish is at home with me and I will be taking the afternoon off from work. For some reason, she's able to play and let me work in the mornings but not as much in the afternoons. Besides, it's a chance for a little one on one time that we rarely get.
I am hoping the rain will subside at some point too as I have a 5 mile run that I need to get in and I'd rather avoid doing it on a treadmill if I can. I get so bored on treadmills. The open road is so much better for a run. If the rain subsides, Mr. Darcy plans to run with me (although he has expressed concern that he might not make all 5 miles) - which means the girls will be riding in their blue car (aka biking/running stroller type contraption). So let's keep our fingers crossed!
She was screaming and holding her arm, and I thought it might be broken. But I got to her, scooped her up and discovered her arm was ok. Angelfish had full range of motion, it was scraped up, and all seemed ok just a painful ouchie. Then all of a sudden I had blood on my hands and I had no idea where it was coming from. I freaked out. I am generally good in an emergency, but when I couldn't see where the blood was coming from, I was useless and screamed for Mr. Darcy to come back. I had yelled for him when I heard her hit the wall and she started screaming immediately (the view was impeded by the sofa so I wasn't sure what hit the wall at first). He said that it came from her ear because there was a scratch there. I told him that couldn't be it because I had too much blood on my hands. So I took a deep breath and calmed myself and asked Angelfish "did you hit your ear on the wall?" "No." "did you hit your head?" "Yes, mommy. It hurts." "Where, honey?" "Here." And that's when I saw it - an inch from where she put her hand, there was a cut. I moved the hair away and found her scalp had split open.
I told Angelfish and Mr. Darcy that we needed to go to the Emergency Clinic to see a doctor. Mr. Darcy looked at it and agreed that it was an open cut that probably would need stitches. Angelfish matter of factly said, "I need to go to the doctor. The doctor will give me stickers." Ladybug was very sweet to her sister, very concerned and wanting to help in making her feel better. Once we determined that she needed to go to the doctor, Ladybug walked up to Angelfish, put her hand on her back sweetly and asked "Are you ok, Angelfish?" Angelfish replied, "Yes, but I need to go to the doctor." Ladybug then said so sweetly and sincerely, "I love you so very, very much." It was the sweetest thing, especially because Ladybug is not one to say I love you but on a rare occasion.
So, we packed everyone up into the minivan and headed to the Emergency Clinic where we waited 1 1/2 hours to be called back into the back room, and then another 20 minutes for the doctor to appear. The doctor told us that she had to put staples in because with stitches (liquid or otherwise) the wound would reopen and not be able to heal. The wound was deep. I could see the fatty tissue under the skin. Then she was off to get a nurse to assist. Our Angelfish is one tough girl. I told her that the doctor was going to need to help her head and that it was going to hurt a little but it would be ok. When the doctor came back, Mr. Darcy and Ladybug left the room (because we didn't want Ladybug to see what was going to happen). Angelfish laid right down on the table on her side, held my hands, and she and I sang "Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star" twice. She winced when the doctor put in the 2 staples, but never cried. When she was allowed to sit up, she clinged to me but was a brave, brave girl. And once the nurse brought her stickers, she was back to her usual happy self and headed off to the car with a joyful trot. I think it may have been harder on me than it was on her. It's hard to let someone do something to your child that you know is going to hurt them, even if it is to help in the end.
We got home around 11:30 pm last night. Poor Mr. Darcy hadn't had dinner before we left so he ate when we got home and after we put the girls in bed (they had fallen asleep in the car). I went to bed immediately too. I was exhausted!
Today, Ms. Angelfish is at home with me and I will be taking the afternoon off from work. For some reason, she's able to play and let me work in the mornings but not as much in the afternoons. Besides, it's a chance for a little one on one time that we rarely get.
I am hoping the rain will subside at some point too as I have a 5 mile run that I need to get in and I'd rather avoid doing it on a treadmill if I can. I get so bored on treadmills. The open road is so much better for a run. If the rain subsides, Mr. Darcy plans to run with me (although he has expressed concern that he might not make all 5 miles) - which means the girls will be riding in their blue car (aka biking/running stroller type contraption). So let's keep our fingers crossed!
Monday, May 18, 2009
A Weekend of Growth and Choices
This weekend was quite interesting. After a very angry shouting session where I fully expressed myself, and settling down a bit, Ladybug asked me, "Are you happy with me Mommy?" To which I replied, "Yes, honey. You make me so happy. You are wonderful and I love you very much." And made the choice to stop being angry.
A little bit later, Mr. Darcy decided he wanted to go with me for my 45 minute run. So we packed up the girls with snacks, drinks, and got them into the "blue car" and finally set off (about 1/2 an hour later), with Mr. Darcy pushing the car that seems to go by itself. 15 minutes into the run, I hear heavy panting behind me and being generous, I told him we'd walk for 3 minutes. Then we ran another 15 minutes, walked 3 minutes, and ran out the rest of the 45 minutes. Unfortunately, I had purposely skipped 2 sets of 500 calorie meals the day before to prove a point, a stupid point that showed nothing but that it would pay me back on the run. I was able to do the run because I ate some breakfast before the run, but being short on 1,000 calories from the day before doesn't help in the heat and I almost vomited the emptiness of my stomach during the run.
So, afterwards I made the choice to never do something so stupid again. I announced that I will eat what I want, when I want and if that wasn't acceptable then too bad. You have to fuel your tank to do what triathletes do, and you harm yourself when you don't.
I also explained that we all have choices in this world. I do my best to be the best me I can be every day. That is my choice. I chose to eat healthy, whole grains, vegetables, fruits, and lean meats and fish, and train for triathlons, and if that is not enough for my body to become acceptable for others that is their choice, not mine. I am the best me I can be. The others have the choice to accept me as I am and for that to be enough for their own happiness, or they can choose to be unhappy. I cannot control others happiness, nor am I going to spend my life trying to do that. That choice is up to them to make.
The growth that came from that choice was amazing. I always was taught that you should always work at self improvement but to never allow yourself to be proud of yourself. I chose now to no longer believe that. I realize now that I have to be my own best cheerleader because as a dear friend said to me, "Nothing others do is because of you. What others say and do is because of their own reality, their own dream. Your best is always going to change from moment to moment. Under any circumstances, simply do your best." And I also found some inspiration from Triathlete Life magazine of all places. It was talking about the idea that some people have about who should do triathlons, and really it was up to each person to decide that no matter what shape or weight they start at that they are triathletes and take up the challenge. It all kind of came together.
I can be proud of myself as long as I do not reach the crazy mode of thinking that I am wonderful and can never improve or that I am the absolute "best." So that day I chose to be proud of myself. And I realized that all these years, my dearest friends who have been telling me I'm wonderful are right. I am pretty friggin' awesome to be quite honest. I'm even more lucky to have met people who challenge my notion of myself and inspire me to always improve, to value the wonderful in people, and to learn from others. I have met some amazing people, but I realize now that I am pretty amazing too.
I am smart, hardworking, friendly, kind, caring, a champion of those I love - friends and family alike. I am dedicated to my children and their happiness and their growth into caring and responsible people but without crushing their spirit and what makes them unique. I am supportive of my husband's dreams even when I don't necessarily want the same for myself. I love, honor and cherish my husband for all his faults and opinions, even those that I disagree with. I am accepting of people for all their faults and all their positives, but those that I truly respect are the ones I let into my life. I want to make this world a better place by being in it, and that's why charitable works and being a good friend and a good person and helping those who need it are so very important to me. I believe that we all deserve and have a right to be loved for who we are and that should be celebrated every day. I have endured many hardships in my life but I never want to be a complainer and I try to live each day with happiness and joy. I have my faults too. I am not perfect or a supermodel, and I never will be - no matter how hard I try. But I am the best me I can be on every day that I am on this planet. Some days this means I will be better than other days, but I am the best me I can be and I'm proud of me.
Coming to this realization and this belief made it a lot easier to have a nice rest of the weekend. After our run on Saturday and my epiphany and sharing my epiphany, the girls cracked me up because they wanted to take a shower with me. So we spent time playing in the water, just the 3 of us, which was a hoot. Angelfish and Ladybug truly are little water babies. I think, like their Momma, if they could spend all their time in the water or either on the pool deck or the beach, they'd be happiest of all. Poor Angelfish got shampoo in her eye and claimed that it burned for a good long while, even after I flushed her eye with water a few times. I think she was wanting some Mommy attention, personally. So I bundled her up in a towel and rocked her and snuggled with her on the bed. The next thing I knew Ladybug was trying to wake us up and Mr. Darcy was stopping her. So we napped a little longer.
After our nap, we played until Ladybug got up from her nap and then we played some more until I needed to make dinner for them. Mr. Darcy and I went to a restaurant in Winter Park called Chez Vincent for our anniversary. It was delicious! Perhaps the best meal I have had in an extremely long time. I had venison with sundried cherries and a sauce that was so tender and delicious that it was like heaven. Mr. Darcy had a filet mignon that he said was rather scruptious as well. For desert, we shared a Grand Marnier souffle with a little bit of chocolate sauce. Yum!
Sunday, we finally found a church that we love and plan to become members. Angelfish and Ladybug are to thank really, as they asked (completely unprompted) if we could go to church. I figured, out of the mouths of babes... So, All Saints Episcopal Church is the winner. It too is in Winter Park, but definitely worth our 30 minute drive. Then we had some lunch, did some errands, the girls fell asleep (and so did I) in the car, so we headed to try to buy honey from our local beekeeper forgetting that they are closed on Sunday. Then it was time for the wrap up party for my Team in Training team.
We had a blast - it was a pool party and all were there with good food and their families. Ryan had been raising money for TNT by raffling off a new Orbea bike - either an Onix road bike or the Ora tri-bike, winner's choice. I had already bought a ticket, but the way Ryan was asking for any more interested people for tickets right before the drawing, I was worried that he might not have sold enough tickets to cover the cost of the bike. I told Mr. Darcy that he needed to buy a ticket and Mr. Darcy resisted. Then I told him that he needed to go buy the ticket because I was worried that Ryan might not have sold enough to cover the cost of the bike and that I knew he had a $20 bill in his wallet. Mr. Darcy bought the last ticket.
To make things fair, Ryan mixed up all the tickets in a box, shook vigorously and mixed them by hand as well, and then had little AJ, a 3 year old Leukemia survivor whose Mom Hope was on our team, select the winning ticket. Mr. Darcy won the bike! He says that he is only starting to try to workout and I have been dedicated to my training so I should have the bike. I told him he could have the bike, but he insisted. So, I will be the proud new owner of a gorgeous Orbea Ora Tri-bike. (Pic below for those of you who love bikes...) I am super excited!
A great end to the weekend! This morning I hit a 4 mile run, and ran the entire thing with energy to spare, and this evening I'll have a swim workout as well. My swim gear (kickboard, paddles, buoy, and zoomers) was just delivered, and my heart rate monitor I ordered is in at the bike shop! 70.3 here I come!
A little bit later, Mr. Darcy decided he wanted to go with me for my 45 minute run. So we packed up the girls with snacks, drinks, and got them into the "blue car" and finally set off (about 1/2 an hour later), with Mr. Darcy pushing the car that seems to go by itself. 15 minutes into the run, I hear heavy panting behind me and being generous, I told him we'd walk for 3 minutes. Then we ran another 15 minutes, walked 3 minutes, and ran out the rest of the 45 minutes. Unfortunately, I had purposely skipped 2 sets of 500 calorie meals the day before to prove a point, a stupid point that showed nothing but that it would pay me back on the run. I was able to do the run because I ate some breakfast before the run, but being short on 1,000 calories from the day before doesn't help in the heat and I almost vomited the emptiness of my stomach during the run.
So, afterwards I made the choice to never do something so stupid again. I announced that I will eat what I want, when I want and if that wasn't acceptable then too bad. You have to fuel your tank to do what triathletes do, and you harm yourself when you don't.
I also explained that we all have choices in this world. I do my best to be the best me I can be every day. That is my choice. I chose to eat healthy, whole grains, vegetables, fruits, and lean meats and fish, and train for triathlons, and if that is not enough for my body to become acceptable for others that is their choice, not mine. I am the best me I can be. The others have the choice to accept me as I am and for that to be enough for their own happiness, or they can choose to be unhappy. I cannot control others happiness, nor am I going to spend my life trying to do that. That choice is up to them to make.
The growth that came from that choice was amazing. I always was taught that you should always work at self improvement but to never allow yourself to be proud of yourself. I chose now to no longer believe that. I realize now that I have to be my own best cheerleader because as a dear friend said to me, "Nothing others do is because of you. What others say and do is because of their own reality, their own dream. Your best is always going to change from moment to moment. Under any circumstances, simply do your best." And I also found some inspiration from Triathlete Life magazine of all places. It was talking about the idea that some people have about who should do triathlons, and really it was up to each person to decide that no matter what shape or weight they start at that they are triathletes and take up the challenge. It all kind of came together.
I can be proud of myself as long as I do not reach the crazy mode of thinking that I am wonderful and can never improve or that I am the absolute "best." So that day I chose to be proud of myself. And I realized that all these years, my dearest friends who have been telling me I'm wonderful are right. I am pretty friggin' awesome to be quite honest. I'm even more lucky to have met people who challenge my notion of myself and inspire me to always improve, to value the wonderful in people, and to learn from others. I have met some amazing people, but I realize now that I am pretty amazing too.
I am smart, hardworking, friendly, kind, caring, a champion of those I love - friends and family alike. I am dedicated to my children and their happiness and their growth into caring and responsible people but without crushing their spirit and what makes them unique. I am supportive of my husband's dreams even when I don't necessarily want the same for myself. I love, honor and cherish my husband for all his faults and opinions, even those that I disagree with. I am accepting of people for all their faults and all their positives, but those that I truly respect are the ones I let into my life. I want to make this world a better place by being in it, and that's why charitable works and being a good friend and a good person and helping those who need it are so very important to me. I believe that we all deserve and have a right to be loved for who we are and that should be celebrated every day. I have endured many hardships in my life but I never want to be a complainer and I try to live each day with happiness and joy. I have my faults too. I am not perfect or a supermodel, and I never will be - no matter how hard I try. But I am the best me I can be on every day that I am on this planet. Some days this means I will be better than other days, but I am the best me I can be and I'm proud of me.
Coming to this realization and this belief made it a lot easier to have a nice rest of the weekend. After our run on Saturday and my epiphany and sharing my epiphany, the girls cracked me up because they wanted to take a shower with me. So we spent time playing in the water, just the 3 of us, which was a hoot. Angelfish and Ladybug truly are little water babies. I think, like their Momma, if they could spend all their time in the water or either on the pool deck or the beach, they'd be happiest of all. Poor Angelfish got shampoo in her eye and claimed that it burned for a good long while, even after I flushed her eye with water a few times. I think she was wanting some Mommy attention, personally. So I bundled her up in a towel and rocked her and snuggled with her on the bed. The next thing I knew Ladybug was trying to wake us up and Mr. Darcy was stopping her. So we napped a little longer.
After our nap, we played until Ladybug got up from her nap and then we played some more until I needed to make dinner for them. Mr. Darcy and I went to a restaurant in Winter Park called Chez Vincent for our anniversary. It was delicious! Perhaps the best meal I have had in an extremely long time. I had venison with sundried cherries and a sauce that was so tender and delicious that it was like heaven. Mr. Darcy had a filet mignon that he said was rather scruptious as well. For desert, we shared a Grand Marnier souffle with a little bit of chocolate sauce. Yum!
Sunday, we finally found a church that we love and plan to become members. Angelfish and Ladybug are to thank really, as they asked (completely unprompted) if we could go to church. I figured, out of the mouths of babes... So, All Saints Episcopal Church is the winner. It too is in Winter Park, but definitely worth our 30 minute drive. Then we had some lunch, did some errands, the girls fell asleep (and so did I) in the car, so we headed to try to buy honey from our local beekeeper forgetting that they are closed on Sunday. Then it was time for the wrap up party for my Team in Training team.
We had a blast - it was a pool party and all were there with good food and their families. Ryan had been raising money for TNT by raffling off a new Orbea bike - either an Onix road bike or the Ora tri-bike, winner's choice. I had already bought a ticket, but the way Ryan was asking for any more interested people for tickets right before the drawing, I was worried that he might not have sold enough tickets to cover the cost of the bike. I told Mr. Darcy that he needed to buy a ticket and Mr. Darcy resisted. Then I told him that he needed to go buy the ticket because I was worried that Ryan might not have sold enough to cover the cost of the bike and that I knew he had a $20 bill in his wallet. Mr. Darcy bought the last ticket.
To make things fair, Ryan mixed up all the tickets in a box, shook vigorously and mixed them by hand as well, and then had little AJ, a 3 year old Leukemia survivor whose Mom Hope was on our team, select the winning ticket. Mr. Darcy won the bike! He says that he is only starting to try to workout and I have been dedicated to my training so I should have the bike. I told him he could have the bike, but he insisted. So, I will be the proud new owner of a gorgeous Orbea Ora Tri-bike. (Pic below for those of you who love bikes...) I am super excited!
A great end to the weekend! This morning I hit a 4 mile run, and ran the entire thing with energy to spare, and this evening I'll have a swim workout as well. My swim gear (kickboard, paddles, buoy, and zoomers) was just delivered, and my heart rate monitor I ordered is in at the bike shop! 70.3 here I come!
Thursday, March 5, 2009
Swimmy Swim Swim
Today was a nice mile long swim, consisting of a 100 warm up, a 200 swim, 3 sets of 100 swim, 100 pull, 100 kick with only enough interruption to change gear (which was pretty easy since I forgot my kickboard today... too bad that made it harder to do the 100 kicks...) and then what was supposed to be a 200 swim and a 200 cool down that I turned into a 400 swim and out of the pool. Have I ever mentioned how much I love to swim? What? Only a few zillion times and with poems on occasion? Oh, well, then consider it said again.
Angelfish this morning was really amusing. She found a plastic cup, put a balloon on top and started singing "Happy Birthday" and at the end, she blew out the pretend candles on top. The girls are all about birthdays right now because a lot of their little friends at school are turning 3. I asked them what type of birthday party they wanted in June, and Angelfish said "a really big one!" and Ladybug said "one with cake!" (That's my girl!) Ladybug this morning was very stuffy as the latest victim on the head cold circulating the household. When she said her lips were chapped it took us 4 times to finally figure out what she was saying. Let's hope it's short lived... kind of like today's blog entry.
Until tomorrow!
Angelfish this morning was really amusing. She found a plastic cup, put a balloon on top and started singing "Happy Birthday" and at the end, she blew out the pretend candles on top. The girls are all about birthdays right now because a lot of their little friends at school are turning 3. I asked them what type of birthday party they wanted in June, and Angelfish said "a really big one!" and Ladybug said "one with cake!" (That's my girl!) Ladybug this morning was very stuffy as the latest victim on the head cold circulating the household. When she said her lips were chapped it took us 4 times to finally figure out what she was saying. Let's hope it's short lived... kind of like today's blog entry.
Until tomorrow!
Sunday, January 4, 2009
Catching up...
Sorry for the failure to post the past few days... I got a short lived (thank goodness) stomach virus that started later in the morning on Tuesday. So, Wednesday I did not work out but slept alot. Thursday, after chasing two 2 year old streakers around the house and finally getting them dressed, I went for a walk/run with Ladybug. (Angelfish and Daddy started with us too but Amanda was grumpy and they ended up heading back, even though Angelfish wanted to run with Mommy originally.). It wasn't super intensive on the way to the park, but little Ladybug helped with some interval training by running and then getting distracted and stopping and then running some more, then a little walking and then Mommy carrying her (she's 30 pounds so I'm calling it resistance training) the rest of the way to the park (it's about 1 mile away from the house) where we "raced" each other and then ran the bases on the baseball diamond. She is adorable when she runs - when she's thinking about running she does this thing with her arms where she holds them bent at her sides and swings them wildly left to right, but when she is just running without thinking about it, she has pretty good form! For some reason she didn't want to play on the playground when we got to the park, but when we were done racing on the soccer field and done running the bases, she said, "Mommy, I tired and want juice. Please go home now?" and two steps later asked "Mommy please pick me up." So the last mile of the workout (Mommy walking briskly while carrying Ladybug) gave me a good sweat! Ladybug had been intent on running with Mommy that morning, and I have to say it was a lot of fun!
Friday I did a 40 minute bike ride and then we took the girls to Sea World and had a good time (until the tiredness set in for the girls) riding rides, seeing the animals and watching Shamu and the dolphin shows again. Both Angelfish and Ladybug are obsessed with the idea of riding a roller coaster. We tried to get them onto the kiddie roller coaster, but they had to be 38" tall and they're both at 36" right now. (So, the good news is that Angelfish had a growth spurt and caught up to Ladybug... we'll see how long that lasts.)
Saturday I did another tri-brick. I did a 3/4 mile swim, a 40 minute bike at heart rate level 3, and a 10 minute run. To cool down I did a 10 minute walk and lots of stretching afterward. It was great! I tore up the pool that day to the point that another swimmer told me I was really tearing it up... I talked to her a few moments while putting on my shoes for the run and she had done 2 triathlons herself. Pretty cool! Although, I have to say I hate doing these tri-bricks at the gym, but the pool is too cold right now to attempt it in the neighborhood and it's a lot easier on my legs to train on the treadmill. Usually when I'm on my bike, 40 minutes is over and I think to myself - already? Biking on the stationary bike is boring because I don't get to see anything! But, I did 9 miles on level 5 and at a level 3 heart rate, so I can't complain all together. The 10 minute run was really a 4 minute run, 2 minute walk, 4 minute run but only because of my shin splints which were REALLY not happy with me this past week after last weekend's 10 minute run at the end of the tri-brick. I'm starting to wonder if my shin splint issues are really because of the fact that I naturally suffer from really tight hamstrings. I don't know if physiologically the two can be related but I have noticed that when I'm running, especially as part of a brick, that the pain I get while running isn't in my shin but in the calf muscle down by where my hamstring hits my ankle area at the back, and then the pain shift to my shin afterwards. It's a mystery, but I'm having fun while trying to figure all this out.
I'm not sure if I mentioned that Mr. Darcy bought me a book Women and Triathlons for Christmas. It's a good book, but rather technical for a beginner like me. I'm glad it wasn't the first training book I read (I highly recommend Your First Triathlon by Joe Friel) because I think I would have been scared off. But, it has some good tips, history, and information for training. I think I may get a heart rate monitor because it explained about training based on heart rate and (again while technical) made a lot of sense to me on how you can really improve by training at different heart rate intensities and I've been trying that when I'm on the gym cardio machines and I notice what the author means when she says sometimes it's surprising when you're in say heart rate level 3 because you don't necessarily feel like you are. And of course, since Christmas I think people in my neighborhood have gotten some bikes from Santa because I keep noticing people I haven't seen while biking on these great road bikes that look brand new. Maybe if I'm really good this year I'll get one from Santa next year... although probably not since they are not an inexpensive item and it's not like you can get a trade in on your old model like you do with cars. A girl can always dream of a lighter bike that you can put aerobars and have a more aerodynamic form and allow for more power in your pedal!
Today, is Sunday and I have shifted my training schedule so that Sundays are my days off from training instead of Mondays... that way I am home with the munchkins when they wake up on at least one of the weekend mornings. Our friend Bryan is visiting and we are taking he and the munchkins to Disney. I think Mr. Darcy may be just as excited as the girls are about it because now he'll have someone to ride the rollercoasters with while I watch the munchkins! It should be a good time!
Friday I did a 40 minute bike ride and then we took the girls to Sea World and had a good time (until the tiredness set in for the girls) riding rides, seeing the animals and watching Shamu and the dolphin shows again. Both Angelfish and Ladybug are obsessed with the idea of riding a roller coaster. We tried to get them onto the kiddie roller coaster, but they had to be 38" tall and they're both at 36" right now. (So, the good news is that Angelfish had a growth spurt and caught up to Ladybug... we'll see how long that lasts.)
Saturday I did another tri-brick. I did a 3/4 mile swim, a 40 minute bike at heart rate level 3, and a 10 minute run. To cool down I did a 10 minute walk and lots of stretching afterward. It was great! I tore up the pool that day to the point that another swimmer told me I was really tearing it up... I talked to her a few moments while putting on my shoes for the run and she had done 2 triathlons herself. Pretty cool! Although, I have to say I hate doing these tri-bricks at the gym, but the pool is too cold right now to attempt it in the neighborhood and it's a lot easier on my legs to train on the treadmill. Usually when I'm on my bike, 40 minutes is over and I think to myself - already? Biking on the stationary bike is boring because I don't get to see anything! But, I did 9 miles on level 5 and at a level 3 heart rate, so I can't complain all together. The 10 minute run was really a 4 minute run, 2 minute walk, 4 minute run but only because of my shin splints which were REALLY not happy with me this past week after last weekend's 10 minute run at the end of the tri-brick. I'm starting to wonder if my shin splint issues are really because of the fact that I naturally suffer from really tight hamstrings. I don't know if physiologically the two can be related but I have noticed that when I'm running, especially as part of a brick, that the pain I get while running isn't in my shin but in the calf muscle down by where my hamstring hits my ankle area at the back, and then the pain shift to my shin afterwards. It's a mystery, but I'm having fun while trying to figure all this out.
I'm not sure if I mentioned that Mr. Darcy bought me a book Women and Triathlons for Christmas. It's a good book, but rather technical for a beginner like me. I'm glad it wasn't the first training book I read (I highly recommend Your First Triathlon by Joe Friel) because I think I would have been scared off. But, it has some good tips, history, and information for training. I think I may get a heart rate monitor because it explained about training based on heart rate and (again while technical) made a lot of sense to me on how you can really improve by training at different heart rate intensities and I've been trying that when I'm on the gym cardio machines and I notice what the author means when she says sometimes it's surprising when you're in say heart rate level 3 because you don't necessarily feel like you are. And of course, since Christmas I think people in my neighborhood have gotten some bikes from Santa because I keep noticing people I haven't seen while biking on these great road bikes that look brand new. Maybe if I'm really good this year I'll get one from Santa next year... although probably not since they are not an inexpensive item and it's not like you can get a trade in on your old model like you do with cars. A girl can always dream of a lighter bike that you can put aerobars and have a more aerodynamic form and allow for more power in your pedal!
Today, is Sunday and I have shifted my training schedule so that Sundays are my days off from training instead of Mondays... that way I am home with the munchkins when they wake up on at least one of the weekend mornings. Our friend Bryan is visiting and we are taking he and the munchkins to Disney. I think Mr. Darcy may be just as excited as the girls are about it because now he'll have someone to ride the rollercoasters with while I watch the munchkins! It should be a good time!
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