Me and The Boys

We Now Return To Our Regularly Scheduled Programming

So I've obviously been a little preoccupied lately with my two big races - it's been a busy two weeks! - but things are quieting down a little now, which is good. 

I've certainly forgotten to write about a lot of cute/funny/amusing things the boys have done, but here's a random sampling - 

I have been known to mutter comments about how the boys are 'driving me nuts,' and apparently I wasn't muttering softly enough, because Gabe started saying that I was driving HIM nuts (as IF!). And of course whatever Gabe says, Dante is soon to repeat. Only Dante put his own little twist on it, and is now telling me "Don't drive me nuts!"  

Last night we had leftover pasta for dinner, and it was pasta with red sauce, rather than with butter and cheese. Dante, aka the human garbage can, heartily consumed very large quantities of it. Gabe, however, didn't touch it. He said he wanted the "white pasta." And when I told him that this was all we were having for dinner, and he wasn't going to get anything else, he said "That's ok. I will eat dinner tomorrow."   He was perfectly content with that, so we were, too. 

When we got back from the race on Sunday, I thanked the boys for coming to see me and cheer me on, and Dante patted my leg and said "You looked good!"  It's awesome enough that my 2 1/2 year-old son compliments me like that, but even more awesome that I know he's complimenting me like that because he hears his daddy doing it all the time. I am one lucky gal : )  

The boys were so cute, too - they woke up just a few minutes before I left Sunday morning, and they wanted to know where I was going, so I told them I had a race to go to, and they immediately started clamoring to go to the race. "Can we go, Mommy? We want to go to your race and cheer for you!"  I love that they love this stuff!!!!! 

In between all the racing and running and biking and swimming, we've been keeping plenty busy with other stuff, too. Scott's sister has been overseas for work for the past 6 months, and got home last Friday, so we had the family over for dinner on Sunday night, and it was really fun. She was shocked at how much Dante has changed in the past 6 months. Gabe has changed, too, but I think it was more surprising with Dante, because he was barely talking 6 months ago, and now he talks almost as well as Gabe. 

It was a fun night, though. We hung out outside and talked and watched the boys run around like maniacs, and were able to eat outside, too, which was nice. 

Not too much planned for us this week. We'll try to get in some beach time, and we're hosting an Olympics-themed playdate here on Friday morning, which should be fun. We'll set up a little obstacle course for the kids, and do some races, and give them all ribbons. Hopefully the weather will be nice. 

Last night was the final night of the Youth Track series. It was very hot, and a little buggy, but we still had a great time. I wasn't sure if I was going to make it - I came down with a bad cold Sunday night (caught whatever both the boys had last week), and felt absolutely awful all day yesterday. If it hadn't been the final week of the track meets, I probably would have skipped it. But I didn't want the boys to miss the last one, so I pulled myself together and I'm glad I did. I would have been really disappointed if we hadn't gone. It's such a great event, and I'm already looking forward to next year's! 

Thankfully, my cold symptoms have subsided a bit today, and I'm no longer feeling like I got run over by a bus. I actually felt pretty great when I woke up this morning, and even made it to the gym and got in a 3 1/2-mile run. 

I'm not planning any big races for the near future, but I am contemplating doing the biathlon in September. I'm always drawn to that race, since it's the first race that I ever did. I wouldn't even need to do a whole lot of training for it, either - I'm at a great spot with my running, and I feel fantastic about where I am with biking, too. 

I'm going to leave it up in the air for now, though, and just enjoy some more relaxed weeks, and just do what I want to do as far as working out, and just do it for the fun of it. I know my competitive drive will be back in no time, and I'll be getting myself all psyched up for my next race, but in the meantime, it'll be nice to take it easy for a little while. 

Finally, A Non-Biathlon-Related Post (Well, Almost)

Ok, so, forgive me for the seemingly endless biathlon talk. It was a pretty huge event for me, though, and it was hard for me to not bask in the glow a bit. I'm done going on and on about it - all I'll mention at this point is that I'm feeling nicely recovered now. I was actually pretty sore on Monday, and still a bit sore yesterday, too. I've still "got it" in terms of being able to complete events like this, but every year I feel it a little bit more, and I take a little bit longer to bounce back.

I made it out for a run yesterday morning, though, and although my muscles were sore, the run felt great - and check out the nice negative splits -

Mile 1: 9:25
Mile 2: 8:59
Mile 3: 8:00 !!!! 

Not too shabby for two days post-biathlon. I also went for a swim later in the morning (1650 meters, mostly freestyle, with some breaststroke and backstroke thrown in). No, I certainly didn't need to do a double workout, but now that I'm getting a good comfort level in the water, I don't want to lose it, and the best way to keep a good feel for the water is to get in it at least twice a week, so in the pool I went - and had a great swim, so I'm glad I did it.

But, ENOUGH about me already! I haven't updated on the boys in ages, so here goes -

Alright, this is also race-related, but I have to share a cute conversation Gabe and I had on Sunday morning. I told him that I was going to do a race, and he pointed to my shirt and said "Is that your racing shirt?" I said "Yes, I guess it is." He thought for a minute and said "Are you gonna get hot at your race?" And I said "Yeah, I probably will get hot when I'm running." Then he thought about it again, and said "Well, that's ok, you'll have watermelon." At his Youth Track meets this summer, they had watermelon for the kids, so I guess he thinks that all races have watermelon : )

Gabe had his first dentist appointment on Monday. It went pretty well. He let the hygenist check his teeth, and he let her brush his bottom teeth, but after that he refused to cooperate, and she wasn't able to brush any more. She said that was pretty typical for a first visit - and that he actually did better than a lot of kids do.

I learned a few things, too - we need to be better about brushing morning and night (we always do nighttime brushing, but aren't so good about the morning); we should really start flossing his teeth (that should be interesting!); and we should gradually switch him over to regular adult toothpaste, rather than the strawberry-flavored kids' kind. All in all, a good visit - the best news, of course, was that he has no cavities!  And he's on a regular dental checkup schedule now, so we go back in 6 months - at which time he'll be FOUR! 

We had an Early Intervention appointment this afternoon, to review Dante's evaluation and discuss the plan moving forward, which is as follows - he'll have a speech therapist come to the house every other week to work with him, and they'll also give me ideas for things I can do in the intervening weeks to help him with his language development. My first assignment is to work with him to make "m, p, and b" sounds. He can make an "m" sound, and yesterday actually said "boo" for boo-boo, so he can do the "b" sound, too, but that's still something I can work on with him.

In addition to that, I'll be taking both Gabe and Dante to a weekly music class that's run by our EI service coordinator. The class will include a lot of vocal exercises that she thinks will be helpful for Dante, and I think both he and Gabe will really enjoy it. And, um, it's free, so why wouldn't I take them??!!! 

So between the music class and the speech therapist, and just his natural growth and development, hopefully he'll be a bit chattier by the time his 2nd birthday rolls around. He also said "uh-oh" yesterday, for the first time ever, so he is starting to talk more all by himself, which is great. One other thing he says is "phew!"  If he lifts or pushes something that's kind of heavy, when he's done pushing it around, he looks up at you and says "phew!" It's a riot : )

And finally, as is standard procedure for kids with a speech delay, we're taking him for a hearing test tomorrow morning. I don't anticipate any issues, but it's obviously better to get it checked out, so that's what we'll do.

He may not be talking much, but he is making no shortage of LOUD noises, and is a champion roughhouser. Last night we were playing in the living room after dinner, and he was just running back and forth between me and Scott, throwing himself at us and laughing hysterically. And I remember Gabe doing EXACTLY the same thing when he was this age. Something that's really crazy to think about is that Dante is almost 21 months old now, which is how old Gabe was when Dante was born. I cannot even fathom being on the verge of having a newborn right now!!!!!!

Gabe is still a constant source of entertainment, of course. One night last week we were eating dinner, and Dante put a piece of roasted potato in his mouth, decided he didn't like it, and spit it out. I said something like "Well, I guess he doesn't like those, huh?" And I guess Gabe was feeling bad for me, so he said "I love these potatoes, Mommy," and popped one in his mouth and started chewing it...... and then promptly spit it out and said "yuck." At least he tried....

We've been listening to some Disney CDs in the car lately, and every time a song starts, Gabe asks me what the song is called and what it's from. He's obsessed with knowing what movie the songs come from, even when he has no idea what the movie is. They're not too bad to listen to - some annoying songs, but most of them are ok.

We went shopping one day last week and got a few Halloween decorations and got Gabe's costume, too. I was going to try to put together a clown costume myself, rather than buy one, but then I saw an adorable clown jumpsuit at the party store for $10, so I grabbed it. It fits perfectly, and he loves it. He tried it on that night, and wanted to wear it to bed!  I love how toddlers have absolutely NO concept of time, though - he kept asking me if it was going to be Halloween after dinner, or after his nap tomorrow. And he's been walking around just randomly saying "Trick or treat!" I guess he's warming up for the big day....

Last night we just happened to dress both Gabe and Dante in Thomas pjs, and they both thought that was the coolest thing. I think Dante was especially pleased to be wearing pjs that were just like Gabe's. They were really getting along particularly well that night, and when we sat down to read books, Gabe reached over and hugged Dante so nicely - it was so sweet. And when they were having their baths, after Scott had washed Dante's hair, Gabe looked at it and said "His hair looks great!"

They're quite a pair. We took them to the park Sunday afternoon, and they wanted to go play in the tennis courts. There was nobody playing tennis, but there was a tennis ball that had been left behind, so Gabe and Dante spent a good half hour running around the courts chasing a tennis ball around. It was a great way for them to burn off some energy, and now Gabe keeps asking to go to the park and "play tennis."

Gabe had me in hysterics the other day, too. He was running around upstairs and dancing - seeing him dance is funny enough,and usually that alone makes me laugh. But as he was dancing, he was also yelling "I'm rockin' out!"  And then he came over to me and yelled "Rock out!" Too funny....

And, as I like to sometimes do, I'll close with a classic Gabe-ism. He pushed Dante the other day at the park, and I made the mistake of saying "Gabe, why would you do something like that?"

His answer - "Because I can."

 

I never should have asked.

My Fourth Shoreline Biathlon

I couldn't have asked for more perfect weather for Sunday - woke up to dry air, blue skies, and a slight chill in the air.

Even though we didn't have to leave until 9:30, I was still up before 6am, and really didn't sleep all that well the night before - too excited and nervous. Luckily the boys kept me busy until it was time to leave Sunday morning, so I didn't have too much time to sit around getting anxious. I had gotten most of my stuff ready the night before, but took a few minutes to go over everything again, and then packed it all in the car. Scott's parents arrived right on time to babysit, we gave the boys hugs and kisses, and headed out right at 9:30.

We got there right around 10:15 - perfect. Just enough time for me to set my stuff up in transition, make a few bathroom stops, and do a very quick warmup jog. My iPod was ready, my Garmin was ready, and I was ready. I always hate those last few minutes before the race starts - the anticipation drives me nuts. We lined up at the start - I'm guessing there were about 70 or 75 of us - were given a few quick instructions, and then we were off.

I did pretty well sticking to my plan of starting out slow on the run. My playlist really helped me keep my speed down, as did my Garmin, which I must have been glancing at approximately every 20 seconds. I'm glad I did, though - Mile 1 came in at 9:18. Perfect. Just about where I wanted to be.

Mile 2 felt fantastic - this is where the course runs right next to the ocean, and the scenery is just beautiful, and the sun was just warm enough - this is the point in the course where, every year I run it, I feel like I could run forever and ever. And once again, my music and my Garmin helped me clock in Mile 2 at 9:24.

I was dying to really kick it into high gear at this point, and I did speed up a bit, but I knew I couldn't go all out just yet, and I took a short walk break at the water stop (right around 2.5 miles), so I was able to keep Mile 3 at a reasonable 9:17 pace.

After Mile 3, I started to allow myself to pick up the pace a bit more, and finished the mile in 8:51. I was still feeling strong, and knowing I was almost done definitely helped.

As I headed into the final mile, all bets were off. I wasn't sprinting, but I was giving it everything I had, and I passed several people on my way down the stretch (which, I have to admit, felt pretty good). As I came into the transition area, my Garmin showed that Mile 5 was completed in 8:47 and the race clock read just over 45 minutes.

I had hoped that Miles 4 and 5 would be a little faster for me (closer to 8-minute miles), but given that I only started running again a few weeks ago, I think I put in a really good effort, and I'm really happy with an overall run time of 45:17, which is actually 24 seconds faster than my 5-miler in Boston on Memorial Day weekend (the last race I ran before the shin troubles began), so I guess that's something to be pleased about.

I ran right over to my bike, said a quick hello to Scott as I slipped out of my sneakers and into my bike shoes, got my sunglasses and helmet on, and decided to skip putting on the gloves. I'm not sure how long I took in transition - won't know until the official results get posted - but I sure felt like I was in and out of there pretty fast.

The first 2 miles of the bike were rough. My leg muscles were screaming in protest, and it took me a few minutes to find my rhythm (the price you pay for not doing any bricks in training, I guess). But once I got through those first 2 miles, things started to click, and I started feeling much more comfortable and picked up the pace a bit.

The course is very flat, with just two inclines. Neither of the hills is terribly steep or long, but on the first 8-mile loop, they both kicked my butt. I just didn't have it in me to attack them, and I really slowed down as I came up each hill, and took way longer to recover than I would have liked. But luckily, those two slight uphills are countered with a loooooooong downhill, so I was able to recoup some of that time.

And for the first time ever, I felt better on the second loop of the bike. And I really, really pushed myself on that second loop. I pushed myself on the first loop, too, but I really pushed myself on the second loop. Every time I wanted to slow down, I reminded myself that that 3rd place finish (in my age group, of course) could be within my grasp, and it kept me going. (And, I have to add - having the aerobars on my bike helped a lot - I spent probably 85% of the ride on the aerobars, and I'm sure that it helped improve my time.)

But boy, was it good to head into the final mile. As with the run, I gave it my all and passed a few people coming down the stretch, and I'm not exaggerating when I say there were tears in my eyes when I saw 1:37:29 on the clock as I headed into the chute. I didn't yet know if that was good enough to place in my age group, but I knew it was a PR, and that was (and is) reward enough.

They were posting the results every 5 - 10 minutes, so I learned pretty quickly that I had just missed the 3rd place prize. It's disappointing, but like I said, having that 25-second PR almost makes up for it : ) 

All in all, it was a pretty perfect race. Could I maybe have pushed it a bit more on the run?  Possibly - but not enough to put me in that third-place bracket. And could I have pushed it a bit more on the bike? Absolutely not. I put EVERYTHING I had into that bike ride. I didn't have my Garmin on, so I don't have the splits for the bike, but I know I finished the 16 miles in just over 50 minutes, which is right where I was in training - and let's not forget, all my training rides were on fresh legs; not on a pair of legs that had just run 5 miles.

Perfect weather, a really fun race, and a PR - what more could I ask for? 

Official results are finally posted. There were 80 participants - I came in 56th in the run, and 42nd overall.

A New PR!!!!!

No, I didn't win third place in my age group. BUT, I did come in 4th in my age group, and I did set a new biathlon PR, coming in at 1:37:29, 25 seconds faster than my 2002 PR.

It was a fabulous day for a race, and I had a fantastic time, and although I'm a little bit bummed that I missed the 3rd place prize, the PR is a really great consolation prize.

A full report coming soon....

Ready to start.

Heading into transition

Taking a quick breather before heading out on the bike

The finish!!!!!

Whew!

Glad to be done : )

Crunching The Numbers

Pretty much all I can think about today is the biathlon. It's all I've been thinking about since Wednesday, actually. I'm going over the course in my head, remembering how it's gone for me the three previous times I've done it, and thinking about the many variables that will affect my finishing time.

The first time I did this race, back in 2002, I came in 6th in my age group. Not too bad, really, considering it was the first race I had ever done (not even a 5K under my belt - I went straight for the multi-sport challenge!), and I was riding a bike I had borrowed from someone, so it really wasn't fitted to me, and I had absolutely no clue about pacing myself during the run, or how best to get out of transition quickly, or any of that stuff..... truthfully, I don't think I even knew it was called "transition" - I just thought it was "the place where I have to put my bike."   

Taking all that into account, my only goal that year was to finish in 2 hours or less, so I was thrilled to come in at 1:37:54. Thrilled!

The second year (2004), I had barely trained at all. I think I ran 3 or 4 times, and biked 2 or 3 times, and not once did I even come close to running 5 miles. I was in terrible shape, having had my first baby 6 months earlier, and I just hadn't gotten back into the swing of things with working out, and it showed. I walked nearly half of the 5-mile run, and was lucky that I was able to get through the 16 miles on the bike in a somewhat respectable time, so that I ended up coming in at 1:53:52.

And last year, after baby number 2, I knew it was time to get serious about getting in shape again, and I got bit by the running bug - bad - and once I started running again in earnest, I knew I wanted to do this race again, and although I didn't train a lot, I did get in more training than I had in 2004, so I was fairly well-prepared, and made a decent showing with a time of 1:47:56 - not the best time, but considering that I had now birthed TWO children, and had only had about 4 1/2 weeks to train, not too bad, either.

So this year, I'm approaching the race, once again, from an entirely different place. I'm in what I would consider the best shape of my life, but due to my persistent shin splint issue, I haven't been able to do nearly as much running as I would have liked to do this summer. But I have done a lot of biking, and although I know that I could have trained harder for this race, I still feel very well-prepared .

I've looked over the finishing times in my age group for the past four years, and times for the third-place finisher in that age group are as follows:  2003, 1:37;  2004, 1:38;  2005, 1:38;  2006, 1:34.  So if I can meet - or beat - my PR of 1:38 for this race, I will have a shot at third-place in my age group. A long shot, but a shot nonetheless. I don't think I've ever wanted to win third-place in something so badly : ) 

So this year, I'm not just doing this for fun. It will be fun - I know that, and I'm looking forward to having fun and enjoying myself. But I am also RACING this thing for the first time ever, and it really puts a whole different spin on things. I have a veritable flock of butterflies in my stomach already, and like I said, can't stop thinking about how things are going to go tomorrow.

My main priority is to start out slow in the run. I have a big problem with starting too fast and paying for it later, so I'm really going to be relying on my Garmin (and my playlist - yes, I have created a playlist with songs chosen specifically to help me achieve negative splits) to keep me in check for the first 3 miles. After that, all bets are off.

And transition - no stopping to chit-chat with Scott this year. I'll wave and say hi, but that's all I'm going to have time for. I'm even debating whether or not I should put my gloves on before I get on the bike, because I'm worried it's going to take me too long.

I have to admit, it's strange to go into a race feeling this way - which sounds like a dumb thing to say, because a race is a race, and aren't you always competing on some level? But for me, every time I've done a race, I've just been competing against myself, trying to beat an old PR. I've never felt like I was competing against anyone else. It's odd, but also pretty exhilirating - really gets the old heart pumping; even before the actual race day!

Weather looks good. High of 67, dry, and partly sunny. It's going to get pretty windy this afternoon, so I'm hoping that the wind dies down before race time tomorrow, because at this point that looks like the only thing that could really slow me down. 

My shin feels good, I'm having a nice rest day (felt odd to not work out this morning, though!), and I had a nice, relaxing bike ride yesterday morning. So relaxed I didn't even bring my Garmin - just relied on my bike computer, which informed me that I rode 9 miles in 32 minutes. It was nice to ride a bit slower and enjoy the scenery.

So there you have it. I'm ready, I'm excited, and I cannot WAIT for tomorrow!!!!!!  I like that I don't have to get up at the crack of dawn for this race (start time of 11am), but I know I'll be up with the sun anyway - I'll be too excited to sleep.

I hope to post a full report Sunday night. May the best 30 - 39- year old woman win (third place in her age group, that is).

A Sign Of The Times

It's that time of year again. The time of year where the first thing I do when I wake up - if I haven't stayed up late enough to watch the end of the game - is check the Sports section to see not only if the Red Sox won, but if the Yankees lost. And I have to tell you, I am very, very nervous about this weekend's games....

Had a good swim today. Did my usual 1 mile, but I swam it a few minutes faster this time. I'm going to start incorporating some drills - reading up on that now - but I am feeling that I'm doing pretty well with my technique. I know there's still plenty of room for improvement, but I also know that I've come a long way since my first swim class in June. It was nice this morning, too - I had an entire lane to myself. I don't mind sharing a lane, but it's awfully nice when I don't have to!

I was asked why I'm not doing a triathlon this year, with all the swimming I've been doing. The main obstacle at this point is that I haven't done any open-water swims, and every triathlon that's taking place around here in the next month (which is basically the final month of tri season in these parts) has an open-water swim. There is one that I was very tempted to do, because the swim is in a lake, rather than the ocean, but I think even that would be a stretch for me right now. I know myself, and I know full well that I will panic the first time I swim in open water, and add all the chaos that comes along with a large group of people entering the water and starting to swim at the same time, and I'm fairly certain I'd be an absolute mess.

I also know that even once I DO get some open-water experience, I'll probably still experience some of that panic in my first race, but I think if I've at least swum in open water a few times, the panic will subside quicker, and my confidence level will be a lot higher. And as for tris nearby that have a pool swim, rather than an open-water swim - no such luck. The only ones I found (you better believe I looked!) are at least a 6-hour drive away, and although I'd love to do a tri this year, I'm not that desperate.

So I'm looking on the bright side, and figuring that this is all for the best. I now have an entire winter to really improve my swimming, read my new book (which just arrived today), and to learn more about wetsuits and trisuits and all the fun gear I'll get to buy! And I'll go into my first sprint feeling like I can do really well, rather than just "getting through it."

In the meantime, I'm thrilled to report that the weather forecast looks pretty near perfect for Sunday's race - a high of 68, and nice and dry. Now all I have to hope for is calm winds. I would really love to go for a short run tomorrow, but I don't think my shin is up to it, so I'll just hit the gym instead, and Saturday will maybe just take the boys for a walk or something very low-key.

Speaking of the boys, Dante had a bit of a rough day today. He's teething pretty badly, and he's still got the runny nose, and he was just not a happy little boy - i.e., there was a LOT of whining going on.
He also totally freaked out when I dropped them off at the gym daycare. He's done that the past few days, and it's really bumming me out, because it's been sooooo long since he's given me any trouble about that at all. I don't know if it's just the teething that has him all out of sorts, but I hope it passes soon - when we go tomorrow, I'm going to try sitting him down with a snack, and see if that helps distract him.

Gabe has his first Arts & Crafts class tomorrow morning. I can't wait to see what he makes! We got our Amazon order today, so after his nap he worked on his new puzzle, and he did really well. I had to help him a little - it's 48 pieces - but he did quite a bit of it by himself. He loves the puzzles - and I really like doing them with him, too, so I think he'll be getting some more puzzles from Santa in a few months.

A Good Day

Ok, so I said I was going to stick to 2.5 miles or less today, but I ended up doing 3 miles. I was just having so much fun, I couldn't stop. It was hard to stop at 3, to tell you the truth.

Since I wasn't running far, I didn't make much of an attempt to run really slow, and at the 1-mile mark, my Garmin was just clicking over to 8 minutes. Of course I knew that was way too fast a start, and there was no way I'd be able to sustain it for 3 miles, but I didn't care. I was just running how I felt like running and having a whole lot of fun.

And sure enough, Mile 2 came in at 9:40 and Mile 3 at 9:15. But I was still thoroughly enjoying myself, and my shin felt good, so that's all that matters to me right now.

I still have a goal in mind of 9-minute miles for the race on Sunday, but I won't be terribly upset if I'm a bit slower than that. I have to cut myself some slack, considering that I wasn't able to run for most of the summer, and the fact that I even feel capable of running 5 miles (and then biking 16!) is enough for me right now.

Nothing terribly notable to report on the boys today. It was a much quieter day than yesterday. Gym this morning, and some time outside this afternoon. We broke out the new Play-Doh toys before lunch, too, and they both had a lot of fun with that.

I'm fairly certain that Gabe came out with some good Gabe-isms today, but I'm drawing a blank right now and can't think of any of them. What I do remember, though, is how cute Dante was when I just put him to bed a few minutes ago. He had on his beloved baseball cap - yes, he is so attached to it that he even wears it to bed - and when I asked him for a kiss, he was careful to remove the cap so that he could lean over and kiss and hug me without the hat whacking me in the forehead. 

Oh, and there is good news to report on the potty front. After three days of pooping in his pants - and cleaning it up (mostly) himself - Gabe finally got with the program and pooped in the potty today. I'm no fool - I know he could very well go back to the poopy underwear routine again tomorrow, but I'll take any small success I can get at this point.

Because a day where you don't have to help your 3 1/2-year-old clean poop out of his underwear is a Good Day.

The Running, Biking, Swimming Week In Review, 9/3 - 9/9/07

A great week : ) 

Monday - 2.63 miles, 25:25
Tuesday - 1700 meter swim, 1 hour
Wednesday - 2.73 miles, 24:28
Friday - 1650 meter swim, 55 minutes
Saturday - 3.53 miles, 32:12
Sunday - 19.39 mile bike ride, 1:05

I'm backing off on the running this week. I felt some shin soreness after Saturday's run, so my only run this week will be Wednesday, and I'm going to stay at 2.5 miles or less. I know I'm in good enough shape to complete the 5 miles in the race on Sunday, and I'd rather go into it rested and pain-free, so I'm playing it safe. Probably won't bike at all before Sunday, though. I feel totally ready for the bike portion of the race. I feel totally ready for the whole thing, actually, and can't wait for Sunday to get here!

My Goofy Guys, And A Great Bike Ride

We went down to the beach this morning and saw the first wave of swimmers come out of the water and head to transition. I have to say, it was pretty awe-inspiring - especially when they got close to us, and I saw just how FAST their arms were moving through the water - and then when I looked at the clock and saw that the leaders had swum 1.2 miles, in the ocean, in TWENTY-FOUR minutes! And let me tell you, 1.2 miles looks like a loooooooooooooong way to swim. I honestly cannot imagine how someone can swim that far that fast. It was pretty cool to see, though.

After that, in true spectator fashion, we stopped and got donuts and coffee to bring home for breakfast  : )  But I got in a 20-mile bike ride this afternoon, so I don't feel too bad about having a donut this morning.

Speaking of that 20-mile ride - it was fabulous! Just under 20 miles in an hour and 4 minutes - I averaged 18.4 miles per hour! And I hit the 16-mile mark in 50:54, which is right on target with my goal for the biathlon next week. I went on a new route today, too. My usual route that I take in the early mornings is not a good one for a weekend afternoon ride - just too much traffic, which makes me nervous. So I headed into new territory, and I'm glad I did. I discovered a great, more rural road to ride on - rolling hills, lots of flat stretches, and a very wide bike lane.

I'm glad I was able to get one last long ride in today, because it definitely helped me feel like I'm completely ready for the race next week. And extra-excited, after watching the triathlon this morning, too.

The boys are good, too. After our triathlon viewing and donut breakfast, we just came home and puttered around, and since the boys had both woken up very early this morning, I gave them an early lunch and got them in for early naps. While they napped, I went for my ride, and after I got home, we paid a visit to Grandmom and Granddad, which was nice. All in all, just a really nice, quiet Sunday.

Dante still has a runny nose, but seems ok otherwise. He definitely seems to be teething, too, though, so the poor kid has been a bit needy. He's such a cutie, though. I bought him and Gabe each a baseball cap a few weeks ago, and Dante now wears his constantly. He has even gone in for his nap a few times with the baseball cap on. We also keep a few books in his crib, and one of the books in there is one of those "Baby's First Photo Album" books, and we've got pictures in there of various family members. And when I went to check on him last night before I went to bed, the photo album was open, so he had obviously been looking at it before he went to sleep. I just think that's so adorable.

And compared to the few books in Dante's crib, Gabe basically has an entire toy store in his bed at night. It doesn't start out that way - usually when we leave his room, he has his stuffed animals and maybe one or two books. But by the time we go to check on him before we go to sleep, he's inevitably dragged half the toys in his room into his bed. Last night he had all his stuffed animals, his Buzz Lightyear action figure, several matchboxes, some plastic blocks, a few pieces from his doctor's kit, and a bunch of legos.

I don't know how he manages to sleep with all that stuff underneath and around him. I extracted most of it, but he was still rolling around on some pieces of plastic. But hey -  if it doesn't bother him, it doesn't bother me.

In closing, here are my goofy guys - wearing the aviator sunglasses that came with a stuffed Snoopy from Chu-Chu. It's tough to say who looks cooler.....

   

This And That

First, mommy stuff -

Swam yesterday - 1650 meters in about 55 minutes. The last few times I've gone, I've just kind of been churning out the laps, but this time I was very careful to try to slow down and pay more attention to my form, and I definitely noticed a difference. I just felt like I was swimming much more efficiently. I also threw in several laps of breaststroke and even some backstroke, just to mix things up a little.

Ran this morning - 4.12 miles in just over 32 minutes. I think it was actually a little less than 4.12 miles, though. My Garmin lost its signal at one point, and I think the overall mileage was a little messed up as a result, because I've run that same route on other occasions and I remember it being more like 3.8 miles or something. Either way, it was a great run, and a great way to start the weekend.

Hopefully I'll get out on the bike tomorrow. I went to the bike shop today to get my flat fixed, and the very kind local bike shop guy gave me a quick lesson on changing a flat. It's really pretty simple - my biggest concern is when it's the rear tire, because taking that off is a little less straightforward than just popping off the front wheel. But he showed me what to do to make it go as smoothly as possible, and I plan on practicing a few times at home, before I have to attempt to do it on the side of the road. But the tire is fixed, and I will also now be taking along a spare tube and a pump on every bike ride.

And lastly, I ordered this book from Amazon the other day, and I'm dying to delve into it. I've got a long way to go before it's triathlon season again around these parts, but I plan to be ready to start training next spring. And there's so many triathlons once the season does start up, it's going to be hard to figure out which one I want to do! Speaking of that, the local Half Ironman is taking place tomorrow. The swimmers hit the water at 7am. We may drive down to the beach to try to see at least a little bit of it. We were there today, and they were setting up the transition area in the parking lot. Seeing all the bike racks lined up got me excited for the biathlon next week : )

We had a low-key day. Ran a few errands with the boys, and got some stuff done around the house. Dante has a little bit of a cold, and was super whiney fussy pants when he woke up from his nap, but once that passed, he was fine for the rest of the afternoon and evening.

Ever since Dante discovered the joy of dipping his food (in ketchup or ranch dip, etc.), he wants to dip EVERYTHING. When you give him a plate of food, he points to it and says "eh, eh?" as if he's asking where the dip is. And yesterday, he decided to make some dip of his own. I had given him and Gabe each a small bowl with some cut-up watermelon in it  with their lunch, and of course they ate the watermelon first. Then Dante was eating his sandwich, and he started dipping it into the bowl, where there was a small puddle of watermelon juice. And tonight, he put a bunch of his peas into his ketchup, and was dipping his french fries in the ketchup, while also scooping up peas with it. A true gourmet.

He's a great eater, though. I was giving him a snack the other day, and he pushed away the cheerios and started motioning toward the big bowl of grape tomatoes, and proceeded to eat at least a dozen of them. The front of his shirt was covered with tomato seeds, but I love to see him eat veggies, so I didn't care. Gabe, on the other hand, put a grape tomato in his mouth, chewed it for a minute, spit it out, and said "I don't like tomatoes. I don't feel so good." 

Something I keep forgetting to write down - just a funny little Gabe-ism.... Whenever Gabe hears a sound, and he doesn't know what it is, he says "What sounds that sound like?" 

And yesterday, he was sitting at the table at lunch and he said "I'm tired. So..... What are we waiting for?"  I have no idea what on earth he was talking about. Sometimes he just comes out with stuff like that, and I think it must be bits and pieces of things he's overheard on TV, or from random conversations, and then he just strings them together in ways that make no sense whatsoever. It makes for some very interesting dialogue.

This afternoon we were all in the car, and Gabe and Dante started playing this little game of throwing a stuffed animal back and forth to each other. Normally, I'd try to discourage throwing of any object in the car, but there was no way I was going to stop them from playing this game, because they were having the time of their lives, and who am I to stop a steady stream of toddler giggles?