Just pretending...

I am only pretending to have a good attitude about the race today.

That counts, right?

'Cause when I think about it. I am still mad. So, I am trying not to think about it anymore. Okay, tomorrow I will not think about it anymore. I will allow myself the rest of the day to wallow and stew.

I raced IronGirl today. And I was really excited for this race. It was one of my "A" races. I wanted that necklace. Really did. My mom and dad were there, Mike and the girls came out. They had signs and everything...it was so great to see them all there. Triathlon is a pain in the a$$ to come and watch, especially with little ones. I really appreciated you guys today. Thanks.

Swim was great. Jen told me I needed to get tough and deal with the scary front of the pack swimmers if I wanted to place in my AG. (I normally like to hang back and be a scardey cat.) It was really fine. No contact and I felt like a bada$$ standing right up front and sprinting into the water. Was 6th out of the water, which is good for me.

The bike is where I lost my temper a bit. With myself, with the course, with the "Woo Hoos" of the people whizzing by me while I replaced my dropped chain, with the lady with the flag that told me to left when I should have gone right.

I can explain.

Miles 1-8, I was fine. Right on track. Feeling good. Trying to reel in people ahead of me. Checking my mph and time. I see an intersection ahead and there are no cyclists in sight. Which way do I go?? Flag lady has the flag to the left. Okay. I go left. I start passing a ton of people. (Before it was really spread out. There was no one in front of me before to see.) Now, there's age groupers from the waves behind me. WTF??

Argh. I knew something was wrong. Asked a few people who had no idea if we were supposed to do this loop twice. I knew immediately my race was done. Sprints come down to seconds. An extra 4 miles on the bike (my bike computer had me at 22 miles for what was supposed to be an 18 mile race) does not really help you place in your age group. I wouldn't recommend it.

Enter negative thoughts. Quitting. Cursing. Eye rolling. Thankfully, I was alone on the bike...a very nice place to be to take out aggression. I biked as hard as I could. Shifted like an angry dumbo. Dropped my chain. Replaced my chain. Cursed some more.

Thought about quitting after the bike. Just leave. Take my bike and go home. Thought about it some more and realized I would feel worse if I did that. Felt a bit better. Decided to run hard...good practice for my first Oly distance race in 2 weeks. Even if I wasn't going to have a good race today, I wanted to at least have a good run. (20:53) I am very happy with that. Especially since I took some time during the run to tell Mike my saga of the bike leg and almost break down in tears in front of way too many people. (Today was not my best day.)

So, good swim and run and the rest I am letting go. (This is SO not like me.) :) Let's see if it works. Trying to be an adult here. Or pretend like it.

I have some pics I will post tomorrow. Camera is currently MIA and I am way too tired to go searching.

Found the missing camera. Phew.

E and I heading up to the race expo on Saturday.


I was dying to get a picture of E with these studs, but she was too shy....


So, we got autographs instead.


With the girls before the swim.


Swim exit.

Job Well Done....

...IronGirls PR person. You got me.

Congratulations. I am officially excited for your race this weekend.

After flooding my email box with first weekly emails to get me training, then bi-weekly emails to let me know how cool and fun your event is going to be and now daily ones to give me logistics about race weekend, I get the picture....

IRONGIRLS sprint (1/3 mile swim/18 mile bike/3 mile run) IS ON SUNDAY. AND I'D BETTER BE READY. :)

I have gotten more emails about this sprint than any other race. Combined. Even Ironman.

Actually, the sheer volume of information in all the emails is confusing me. I just want to know where to go and what time to be there. That's it. More than that and I tune out. I am more than likely missing some huge piece of important information, like it is mandatory to race in high heels and pearls. This being an all girls event and all.

Two things that did catch my attention were (1) AG winners get these necklaces as awards.

Do I ever want one of those. Seriously. That's my goal. Get me a necklace. (well, try to get me one. Hard to make goals based on AG finish, but I have a time goal in my head that I will be completely happy with if achieved.) I want to look like a triathlon Mr(s). T. Layer up my Ironman necklace with this one and pity fools all over Atlanta.)

And the other thing was this.
Today, Iron Girl, the premiere all-women's event-based brand, announces that the third annual Aflac Iron Girl Atlanta Triathlon will be televised nationally on NBC Sports. The broadcast will air on Saturday, Aug. 23, from 1 p.m. to 2 p.m. ET. The telecast will showcase a highly competitive professional field as well as a diverse group of athletes varying in age and fitness level.

As Ella would say, "dats pool".

I am so excited to see the pros race. In person. ON THE SAME COURSE AS ME. Just so excited about that. Yes, I've raced with pros before, but never in a sprint and never with pros like this. I can't wait to see how stinking fast they are.

Michellie Jones
Kate Major
Samantha McGlone
Mirinda Carfrae
Pip Taylor

Yes, some definitely bold face names in that crowd.

The lemonade shill-er and I are heading up on Saturday for the expo and (hopefully) meet some of those fasties.


Then Sunday, as Jen says, I am ready to SUFFER. I can feel the butterflies already. (Nice, lady friendly, pink ones, of course.) WOOO HOOO. Bring it!

Happy Father's Day.

Hope everyone has a great one. Especially all the great dads in our lives, Mike (duh), my dad, his dad, and my brother...hope you all did exactly what you wanted today.

Not sure if Mike wanted to wake up 4 times with Alice in the early, painfully early morning today (will those teeth NEVER come in?!?!) or strip Ella's bed at 5 am due to an "accident". (I heard the whole thing go down since I was in Alice's room feeding her, but couldn't really help E and couldn't really help myself from cracking up either. What else can you do? Exhaustion makes me giggly.) I am also pretty sure that you didn't want to get woken up by Ella, on the one morning that you could sleep in, who insisted you had to open your presents by 7:30. She just could not stand the sight of unopened gifts.

Well, we loved spending the day with you. Fingers crossed we don't all get to spend the entire night together again. Awake.


I love messing around on imovie. This is my third year doing this Father's Day montage as one of Mike's gifts (2007 and 2008). Hope you liked it. We love you. :)

I hope this works...

The dog days of summer are upon us in Georgia.

Woof.

Well, technically, it is not yet summer. But, calendars be damned.

I define summer by asking myself a few questions.

1. Does my first shower after a workout not "take"?

2. Have we taken out a second mortgage for camps to exhaust my seemingly inexhaustible 4 year old ball of energy?
(Gymnastics camp -- check, American Girl camp -- check, Craft camp --check, some other camp -- check...something about dancing and crafting and um, I am not sure, maybe...jousting?? As far as I can recall. Guess I'd better remember what exactly that last camp is about before she gets knighted.)

3. Could we protect all of Roswell from a painful sunburn with the excess of sunscreen that I buy?

Yes. Yes. and Yes.

So, for me? Summer is here.

When the real feel temp is over 100 and I am sweating merely putting the girls in the car, I really wish for October. But, whatever. We're here, let's deal with this the best way we can, right?

I can't change the oppressive Southern heat and humidity (and am fine trading it for our awesome springs, falls and winters).

BUT, I can do something about that pesky "school is out, so I can't knock out a workout out while Ella is in school" dilemma I've been handed.

I've hired a babysitter! Woo hoo. (Really nothing earth shattering here, but I have never done this before. Babysitter, yes. But a regularly scheduled one? Nope.)

Yes, as the title of this post states, "I hope this works..." The plan is for two times a week in the afternoons, I can swimrunbike to my crazy, little heart's content. Hopefully, getting some of the long-ish stuff that I save for the weekends done.

Hope being that Mike and I won't be spending most of those precious Saturdays and Sundays dealing with the logistical nightmare combination of getting 5-7 hours of our cumulative workouts done along with 10 month old nursing, 2 naps a day-er and a 4 year old please-take-me-to-the-pool-for-5-hours-er.

Sometimes that leaves so little time for me and Mike to crack jokes on each other while drinking margaritas, eating enough Mexican food and chocolate chip cookies to make us sick, and watching the Red Sox.

A pity. But, we usually...somehow find time for that. :)

Some recent "summer" shots.

Her sprint next door after hearing that they had a slip n'slide out.


Slipping and sliding away.


E is a non-tradionalist. Rockin' the Rudolph shirt in June.


Yes, I am cute. If cute means not sleeping through the night at 10 months old. Then yes, I am cute. Adorable, in fact.:)




Dora crocs are the must have accessory this summer.

Wow!

Check it out. Here. Super cool. Thanks, Training Peaks!

Oh, that is never a good sign...

That was the thought in my head yesterday after bringing E in to the pediatrician for what I thought was a simple sore throat. (Let me just state up front, that she is 100% fine and her crazy water lovin' self as usual. In fact, playing in the sink (one of her favorite games) as I write this.)

Easy. Kid wakes up with a sore throat. Food doesn't "taste right". Won't eat her cheerios. I check. Yeah, sure...it looks a little on the medium rare side.

Okay. No big deal.
Let's cancel gymnastics camp and head on over to our good friend, the pediatrician's. They haven't seen us in over two weeks...they're probably getting worried. :)

No strep. That's good. But when checking her lymph nodes, the doc lingers. And lingers. And checks again. And then checks some others.

Um, that's not good.

Then calls in another, more senior, doctor.

Never a good sign.

(I am aware what is going on at this point and am hanging on by a very thin thread. Just ready to scream....PLEASE TELL ME IT IS NOTHING. ALL I WANT TO HEAR OUT OF YOUR MOUTH IS THAT THIS IS NOTHING. THAT IS IT! IF YOU CAN'T SAY THAT...THEN DON'T SPEAK.)

I manage to squeak out a small, "Um, what do you think is going on?" on the verge of tears.

The more senior doc says that he would get an X-ray and CAT scan...today and this week, respectively. He doesn't know what it is but is throwing some strange terms at me that I was ill equipped to understand much less retain in my panic-stricken-pleaseletmykidbeokay-frame of mind.

They set up the x-ray for RIGHT THEN.

Again, never a good sign.

Drive over to the radiologist's, stopping off for a minute in "LET'S NOT PANIC-VILLE" after a call to Mike, who lives there.

Me? Not a resident.

My mom (ever my savior) just happens to be close by and is happy to come and hang out with Alice while E gets her x-ray. (Thank you.)

X-ray looks good. Nothing bad. (I couldn't and can't even say the word of what I am assuming they were looking for.)

THANKYOUTHANKYOUTHANKYOUTHANKYOU.....

Radiologist confirms. CAT scan this morning confirms it as well.

Nothing bad. The hard mass where her lymph nodes are was nothing. Just a few extra ribs. Two to be exact. Nothing to worry about. Seriously, the kid has what we (yes, I am now an expert.:) like to call "bilateral cervical ribs". I am sure that there is some sort of funny joke here that if I wasn't so thankful that Ella is healthy that I might be able to figure out or make.

Phew....

They come in threes...

Bad things.

My list for the week.

Number one bad thing. Sugar Free jelly beans. OMG. NEVER, ever eat these. Ever. Unless you like feeling like you have an intestinal parasite or really, really need to get a lot of reading done. If so, then feel free.


This information would have been useful to me before I ate most of the bag. And thought I was going to die. 8 beans? Try 35. Bad move.


Number two. Pool is closed. (Normally a great excuse for me to not flail around in the water like a sinking log trying to get my workout in) Sadly, it was the neighborhood pool. Ella's favorite summer pasttime. If you haven't heard why, you obviously have not been within 3 miles of Ella. "Mommy/Daddy/Mimi/Anyone who will listen...SOMEBODY pooped in the pool!!!" Big news in the 4 year old world.

Actually, I am assuming it was poop in the pool. Or hoping. The lifeguard told me that the pool was closing due to "fetal matter" in the pool. Please let her be wrong. Please let that be poop. She meant poop, I know.


Number three is done. Trainer at the track. That is never a good thing. But, now is (thankfully) done. Thanks for keeping me company, Lou#3. (Good run out of you, too!).

Snap back...

....to reality.

Or more like a slap. To the face.

Yep. The 5 am iphone alarm "strumming" me awake this morning for my swim with Michelle was in stark contrast to vacation mode where I had all. day. long. to get my workout in. Poolside. Or beachside. My choice.

Follow that up with a glance at Training Peaks where Jen's comments for the week include the following.

"Well, this week's training will snap you back to reality fast! HAHHA" (sadist)

oof.

Now the A/C is broken. And I am about to melt. Hot as heck in here, I tell ya.

Just the temperature I prefer for folding and putting away mounds upon mounds of laundry.

G-L-A-M-O-R-O-U-S....We flying first class, up in the sky....In the fast lane.

Home at least

According to my family's lore, that was my quote after car trip to Disney World from NJ (and back) in a station wagon with 4 kids. (My parents must have been nuts.)

We're back from our first family vacation and that is how I feel....we're home. At least. Seagrove, FL -- Parkers are OUT. :(

Sad to be back to our daily life. Sad to be away from the beach....I LOVE the beach. Just feel at home there. Sad that Mike has to go back to work on Monday. I (and the girls) loved having him around, all day, for an entire week.

I know, I know, boo hoo for me, right? :)

Our trip was great. So much fun. The routine that we fell into after the first day was the stuff of dreams....

7:00 am -- E and A would wake up. Mike or I would sleep in a bit (trade off days). Make a quick breakfast. Take the girls (or just E solo) to the beach before it gets hot and crowded. Anger the fisherman with E's joy filled screams down at the water. Make some sand cookies and/or a pool for E's (plastic) friends. Alice would sample the morning sand for taste and texture.
Pool construction in progress.


Tasty sand.

9:30am-- Walk the 3 minute walk home from the beach. Alice naps. I would do my workout for the day (only 1 a days. Rest week for me -- Thanks, Jen! It was nice to have only one to get in a day...although the heat killed me. SO not used to that.) Runs would be either on the beach or on 30A (20 miles of FLAT bike/walking path) through gorgeous beach towns with tons of people watching and houses to drool over. Can't ask for better than that! Or bike would be on the trainer while E would play in the pool (and I would literally melt. OMG, the heat!) I think I had a dehydration headache most days I was there.

I would run by this post office in downtown Seaside. So tiny!




Mike would P90x his face of in the mornings before beerthirty would hit the clock every day. No one wants to be working out when beerthirty hits.

LUNCH

1:30pm -- Beach and/or pool.



2:30pm -- Alice nap again. Ella would finally crash after being in the water literally all day long at this point and watch a movie. I would take advantage of a few quiet minutes to devour more pages of the Twilight books (on New Moon right now). These are way addictive. Wow.

3:30pm -- pool again. And beerthirty, I believe. (I am not the expert...you'd have to ask Mike when it was. I get all confused being that we were on central time and all....)

Beerthirty...for sure.


Ella does not idly lounge around in the pool. Ever.




DINNER

Margarita O'clock was at dinnertime.


6:45ish -- beach walk with the girls and treasure hunt for shells for E.

BED for the girls.

9:30ish BED and more Twilight speed reading for me (I am so anxious to see what is going to happen, I totally am skipping unnecessary dialogue and description)

And repeat x7.

I could get used to that.....

Thankful for such a great trip.

Loud (and precious) cargo

We've been tooling around on this thing all week. (I follow behind on
my tri bike making sure no one falls out!)

It's awesome. Way more fun than the Honda Pilot.

Popsicle time