Busy, Busy, Busy

It's been a crazy weekend, full of family fun and visits and beach time and parties, and we are a very tired household this evening as a result. 

It was a fabulous weekend, though, so well worth it. 

Will write more tomorrow, but I want to jot down a few things while I'm thinking of it - 

Friday, I was running around getting stuff ready for Greg and Diana's arrival, and Gabe and Dante were at the table coloring. Gabe asked me to draw him a spaceship, and I said I didn't have time, but that we could take out his spaceship stickers. He replied "Yeah, that's a great idea! I can count on you, Mommy!" 

Just a short while ago, I went upstairs to tell Gabe to get back in his bed - he's having some trouble getting to sleep - and when I came upstairs, he said "Mommy, why don't you have your jammies on? You should be to bed!" 

Last night at dinner, we put the 4 kids at their own table in the kitchen while the 4 adults ate in the dining room. It's pretty awesome that they're all old enough now that we can do that!  They did pretty well, and at one point Gabe actually took charge, very sternly telling them in turn "Dante, you sit down in your chair! Hannah Rose, you eat your cheeseburger! Mason, you be quiet and eat your dinner!"   

There's nothing like spending the weekend with 4 kids all under the age of 5 - the laughs (and the insanity) are nonstop. 

The organizers of the Olympic distance tri (the one that I had planned on doing, but that ended up selling out) emailed me Friday to tell me a spot had opened up. It was a little tough doing it, but I emailed them back to tell them I wasn't going to register. 

I was tempted, but the race is only two weeks away, and frankly, I'm enjoying not going full-tilt with training right now, and I don't really want to be thrown back into that craziness at the moment. And after completing the 580m swim last weekend, I know just how much of a challenge a 1500m swim would be for me, and it would require at LEAST several open-water swims in the next week and a half, and logistically, that would be really tough for me to fit in. 

Overall, I just felt like the whole thing would have been too rushed, and I'd be under-prepared, and as a result, wouldn't enjoy myself as much. And as much as I love racing, I'm starting to feel like our summer weekends are really dwindling, and I want to spend as much time as I can just hanging out with family and friends, rather than spending an entire day in another state at a race. 

I'm happy with how the sprint went, and I loved it, and I definitely want to do another triathlon. But not in two weeks, and not at longer distances. Not right now. 

My focus for the next few weeks/months is going to be running. We are trying to get pregnant, and I'm hoping that that happens sooner rather than later, but if it doesn't, and if I'm not pregnant by September, then I'll be setting my sights on finally tackling the full marathon that I was supposed to do last year. 

To that end, I've been basically following Hal Higdon's novice training program, which included a 15-mile long run for this weekend. I wasn't able to get out until 8am today, since we had guests, and although it wasn't brutally hot, it was pretty darn uncomfortable by the time I was finishing up. 

I kept my pace very slow (9:20 average), and wore my fuel belt, and took a Gu, but I was still seriously running out of steam at the end, and ended up going just under 14 miles. The last two miles were not fun at all, and I took a lot of walk breaks, especially on the hills. 

I wouldn't call it a terrible run, but it wasn't one of my best. Things I learned - 

1. I need to eat more before these longer runs. A banana and some coffee is fine before a shorter run, but it's not enough when you move into double digits.  

2. I need to stick to just half a cup of coffee. My stomach felt ok, but I had some heartburn, and I'm fairly certain it was from the coffee.  

3. I should take my Gu sooner. I waited until just after 8 miles today, and I think it would have been better to take it around 7 miles.  

4. When I stop at the gym for my bathroom/water break, I should top off my water bottles. I ran out of water around the 12-mile mark, and although I never felt dehydrated, I would really have liked to have had some water during those last 2 miles.  

And hopefully I'll be able to head out a little earlier next weekend, so it's at least a tiny bit cooler. 

That's what the training runs are for, though - to work all of this stuff out before race day, and figure out what works and what doesn't. 

I did learn today that I really like the Chocolate Cherry flavored Carb Boom gels. And if you have to eat those things, it's good to find a flavor you like! 

I'm pretty proud of myself, though, as that's my longest run to date. Not for long, though - next weekend's scheduled long run is 16 miles! 

Comments

[Wes]

I really like the Power Gels. I've been using Gu lately though, cause they are free. Can't beat free, and I've gotten used to them.

[J-mom]

I can't eat Carboom for some reason. I do like the GU like Wes though. I wonder where he gets it for free? LOL