They Make Me Keep "Tri"ing

The kids enjoyed a rooftop meeting happy hour last night where we gathered with a bunch of my old teammates to talk about starting up a new tri group/club in our area. We have at least two large tri clubs here in Portland already, but this one will have more of a TNT infused flavor. I'm pretty excited. A part of our group is already doing Canada 2011 but a bunch of the team are gearing up for Canada 2012 and the rest of us are going along for the ride.

This summer has already gotten away from me. I haven't been on my bike since my 83 miler on July 4th, unless you count the little trek Mai and I made down to the waterfront the other day. I've pretty much determined my 100 miler is off for August 13th. The kids and I head out camping this week and I have no idea the next time I'll have available for my butt to meet the seat. I think that's too much time off - 5 weeks - to then try to ride 100 miles. IDK...what do you think?

Life got busy. We're moving the house around to accommodate the kids having separate rooms, which entails re-carpeting, repainting and redecorating three rooms, and all that goes along with that...like throwing away stuff we found in closets that we haven't looked at in a decade. We've added a new client to our regular business, we're trying to launch the towel business, and a good friend just got my butt in gear with my non-existent personal training business and I've now got a PT client :-)

...and I still want my kids to have a great summer with things like a camping trip!... So... I'm doing what I CAN do through Monday and then I'm forgetting it all as we head South to camp with my family and meet-up with this fine blogger friend: Raina from Small Town Runner over the next week. We head straight from camping to a wedding and then immediately back home because the kids start camp the next day. I was just thinking the other day how busy I thought my life was back in my 20s and early 30s BK (before kids) and I laughed my head off reminiscing the silliness of that thought.

Do you belong to a tri club or running club? What's your favorite part of being on that "team"?

I'm Spoiled For Any Other Mode Of Transportation...

...at least on sunny days.

I think I'm done with bicycles...  ;-) 
 

Do any of you ride?

5 Minutes Of Good Compliments

While I was working yesterday, Mai got busy being her creative self and set up a stand to raise money for The Leukemia and Lymphoma Society (...and also a bit of a profit for herself).

I took her up on the 5 minutes of good compliments and I have to tell you it was the best $1 I ever spent. She was GOOOOOD at it...and I walked away feeling amazing about myself.

What's the best compliment you've ever received? The one that had you walking on air for a for a while...

Summertime Summertime Sum Sum Summertime

Birthday Slip 'n Slide Party

Birthday Bowling

Wait for it...

Lefty Bowler

C'mon - get that split!

Bee Whisperer

Skate Park

Besties

Bathing Beauties

Cool Gym Towels Winners!!

The winners of the Cool Gym Towels are Jeanette @ Journey to Health & Happiness and Kristen Brodie Sparks! E-mail me at julie@coolgymtowels.com within 48 hours to collect your prize.

Like A Dang Chicken With It's Head Chopped Off

I've suddenly found myself with very little time and lots of stuff that needs to be done. Between the pet fish dying this morning :-(
and celebrating the birth of the one that was in this tummy in 2002...

today...and celebrating the birth of the one that was in this tummy in 2004...

next week, I'm throwing a slip 'n slide birthday party for them both tomorrow (and it's raining right now!), working, trying to finish the family room we just painted, re-carpeted, etc...and planning in my head what I need to pack for my trip down to SoCal. I leave on my jet plane Thursday morning and I imagine it will be with a suitcase half full of wrinkly washed clothes and half full of wrinkly dirty clothes...because the laundry situation right now is just plain wrecked!

Off to do a little bowling and eating some birthday cake now and I imagine that I'll not be back to the computer much this week, so I'll announce the Cool Gym Towel winners next week and hopefully get around to Q & A with moi sometime soon.

In the meantime, if I survive the next 36 hours, I'm home free with some time alone with this girl...

 ...who has been my friend for 26 years...

I haven't been on a vacation on my own in forever...and this mama is in love with the idea...and heartsick at the same time.

Monday Morning Dance Party

Once in a while you might start thinking you're the odd one out...that all your friends have a signature dance move....

...and then you conclude they've got nothing on YOUR signature move of throwing your hands in the air like you just don't care and belting out a nice HOLLA...

...but whatever you do...just sing it baby...'cause remember...
Groove Is In The Heart...

Your groove I do deeply dig. Do you have a signature move? E-mail it to me and I'll do a MMDP post on all my groovy friends.

I Promise To Tell The Truth, The Whole Truth, And Nothing But The Truth

My super triathlon friend, Julie at You Just Have To Tri bestowed the honor of this award? game? blogger silliness? upon me and so now you get to ask me any questions you've been dying to know about me. Do you want to know what sleepwear I wore every night for four years straight before my husband put his foot down and made me throw it in the trash? Are you wondering whether I ballooned up when I was preggers or was I cute and petite? Wonder what my job is or what I dream of doing? Am I always cheery with my kids when they interrupt my post run stretching?
Ask away. As proof that I will be honest and straightforward I am posting a video my daughter took of me this morning when I wasn't looking...she caught me picking my nose. See...would I post this if I wasn't going to offer it all up to you?



I wish I could have posted the video in it's entirety...it was actually of my son - I just played a cameo role - and it was H.I.L.A.R.I.O.U.S...but alas, he was in his tighty whiteys and he wouldn't let me put it on the old interwebs :-(

Ask and it will be answered...sometime next week.

In the meantime, my nominees for this award are so cool they don't even need real names...they just go by an inital or two and everyone knows who they are!!...
P @ Adventures of an Average Athlete
Q @ Q on the Move
AJH @ Age Groups Rock
BDD @ Big Daddy Diesel
EMZ @ If I Can't Convince You - I'll At Least Confuse You

How Many Licks Does It Take To Get To The Center Of A Tootsie Roll Pop?

Don't ask this boy...

...or his mama...we're more into crunching than licking. So after a fine afternoon down by the river after church on Sunday...eating things like Tootsie Roll Pops and sugar with a little ice to go with it...

...we got ready yesterday to hit up the dentist...

...only to find out that we've got some "spots". Hmmm. I am not a perfect mother (GASP!...I know!) and there are some things that I just don't worry too much about. For instance, I'm not big on making people wash their hands before meals. Sue me.

I do make them wear bike helmets and buckle up in the car. They have to do their homework and be respectful to themselves and other people. Brushing their teeth? Well, I require it at least once a day so I can stand being near enough to them to kiss them. Apparently, this is not enough. According to the dentist, not only do they need to brush twice a day, but I need to help them. On top of that they are supposed to be flossing! What? Oh wait...I'm supposed to be flossing too...sigh.

So after a talking to (that I rightfully deserved) we headed to the local frozen yogurt place to eat sticky gummy worms on top of our froyo...

 Ya...I also let them put their dirty shoes up on other people's furniture (unless I remember I'm the mom...and then I tell them to get their stinkin' feet on the floor!!!)

and then on the way home we flossed with the floss sticks they gave us.

I haven't made this brushing and flossing thing important to them...and I should. So as of today...I'm a flosser...and I will lead by example.

Is there anything you are embarrassed about in your parenting duties? 

What do you let slide? 

Or do you head in the other direction from this mom here and tend to take it all a little too seriously? Is there even such a thing as being too seriously dutiful as a parent? The floor is yours...

Don't forget to enter my GIVEAWAY!!!

Because My Daughter Is Watching

Yesterday was to be my first track day of Run Less Run Faster and so I figured the more the merrier and invited the wee girl to go along. After a mile warm-up and some dynamic stretching, I started my 12x400s. According to the pace chart based on my recent (and only) 5k in March, I was to be doing my 400s in 2:04. My first 400 was about 1:45, the second 1:47...and on and on. When I've previously done track workouts I've used my HR monitor or gone on feel rather than actually paying attention to my times. I'm NOT a #s person...
However, I was intent on doing this right. But again...I'm not a #s person and looking up things on charts and stuff is not my strong suit, so I could possibly have been looking at an entirely wrong chart, but it was a great workout nonetheless. Half way through Mai wanted me to time her doing a 400 followed by stairs. She had been running laps, running stairs, and running up a grassy hill during my whole workout. This girl was making the peewee football camp boys look like wimps. They all kept staring at her like she was a maniac...which she is :D



My 2nd half, I finally got into a groove and hit my 2:04 pace within a second or two every time. Yay me! It sure felt better than the 1:45s I had run for the first 6 400s.

So here's the thing. I started having some pretty terrific left ?IT Band? trouble on the drive to Sunriver. I've had continuing trouble with it, my left glute, my left hammie, my left ankle since then. I have had manageable trouble with my left side all season actually. My right leg feels FANTASTIC...my left leg feels not so great. During my workout it didn't really bother me after I got started, but boy...after the workout, I had some serious achiness until I went to bed. Today it feels better, but not great.
I'm playing this by ear for now...not sure what to do.

Don't forget to enter my Cool Gym Towel GIVEAWAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

So, I'm wondering...What do YOU do because your daughter (or son) is watching you?

Test Your Limits GIVEAWAY!!

All profits from this TNT towel go directly to The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society

In anticipation of testing my own limits today with my first track workout from Run Less Run Faster, I'm introducing our new gym towel line and offering two of you a chance to win one of our plush motivational gym towels. Each of you who originally gave us input on our first three designs will automatically receive an extra entry, but no worries, there are plenty of ways for everyone to enter before the drawing next Monday July 18th...

You can put these all in one comment if you want :-)

1) "Like" Cool Gym Towels on Facebook HERE and leave a comment on the Cool Gym Towels wall on where you would use your cool gym towel the most - Do you prefer the gym or home workouts?... and let me know you've done so. +2 points (MANDATORY)
 

2) Tweet about this giveaway or post details about it on your own blog and let me know. + 1 point

3) Be or become a follower of this blog. + 1 point


4) Visit the Cool Gym Towels webpage and take the poll on which new towel you like the the best HERE. +1 point
 

5) Let me know...does your gym supply towels for you? Ours does, but they are super scratchy and as I go through my workout, I have no idea which side I've been wiping down the equipment with and which side I should use on my face. With Cool Gym Towels, I can tell which side I've been using for which and they are so soft... no more scritchy scratchy. +1 point

NOW GO GET YOUR SWEAT ON!!
Julie

Monday Morning Dance Party

We repainted the family room this weekend to a little Earth Wind and Fire...and Mai asked for this song to be on MMDP today...

When you feel down and out
Sing a song, it'll make your day

The Family That Slips And Slides Together...

Remember this most awesome slip 'n slide my dad put together for our Family Camp Out Last Year?
Where little girls rode down with their chickens...

...and the little kids played hard...

...and the big kids too...

Well, my parents dropped off part of the most awesome slide at our house the other day and now we're in slip 'n slide heaven in our own back yard...



My training has been hit and miss since Pac Crest. I took the week off completely after the race. I've lifted weights once, ran two miles twice, did the epic 83 mile bike ride, and last night went for an open water swim at my new favorite swimming hole - Clackamette Cove - with friends. We thought it might be pretty frigid since it's the river, but it was surprisingly pleasant and we'll probably be meeting up there once a week all summer. It's nice to not have such a full training schedule and to just do what I feel like doing...however, I just received notice from the library that the book

that Kim recommended is in and waiting for me. My plan is to focus on my running right now. I really loved doing my first 1/2 marathon this year and I think that it may be "my" distance. Unless I get totally caught up in something crazy, I would really like to focus on the 1/2 marathon distance and the OLYMPIC triathlon distance and see if I can't be more competitive.


What is YOUR race? Which distance or sport do you feel at your best?

The 83 Mile Journey

Bike rides should only be 30-50 miles if you're asking me. Anything within that range is perfectly acceptable. 83 miles...well, that is just stupid.

I met Nik and Justin and Erica and Diane and Laura yesterday morning to "assist" them in their training for Canada Ironman. Seriously...I'm still not sure why I was there, but there I was.

While the boys did boy stuff...I don't know...talking about expensive bikes or something, the four of us girls headed out knowing they would shortly catch up. Although we had all looked at the cue sheet the previous night and noticed what we wanted to notice (for me it was the direct order to stop at Subway at mile 51 and FEED MY FACE and also the ferry ride towards the end where I might be able to dip my feet and/or head in the water to cool down)...but none of us really paid much attention to the start where it clearly states we would be entering I-5 at mile 0.6 and not exiting said highway until mile 1.7

We ride on highways around here all the time...little ones, like the St. Paul Hwy we hooked up to at mile 14 or Hwy 213 in Molalla at mile 50...which probably still isn't smart...but it IS legal. Riding on I-5...well...not so much.

So as we entered the highway (sorry, Dad!), we moved about as fast as 4 girls terrified for their lives could ride. When we weren't dodging gravel being flung at us by car tires or trembling as big rigs and mid-life crisis men in corvettes sped by at lightning speed, we were praying and hoping and wishing and praying some more that we wouldn't get a flat and have to stop. YIKES!

With a collective sigh of relief, we exited the highway 1.1 miles later, and continued on our way...just a little more sweat stained and with the smell of fear rolling off of us. The boys quickly caught us and we listened to their similar stories of terror while we made our way into and then out of Champoeg Park. It was at this point that we realized we were one rider too many. No one seemed to know this "Patrick", but he had somehow become part of our group...and he stayed with us until we reached that Subway shop 40 miles later. Weird.

Um...where was I...oh yes...what a beautiful ride. We made it through several small towns...past hops fields in St. Paul, the vineyards in Scotts Mills, the parade in Mt. Angel...yep...we made the rounds. The funniest place I found myself was back out in Molalla riding by the very rodeo I had been to the night before. And to think I was complaining about how far we had to drive to get there. HA!...and now I find myself stinkin' biking to it. Oh brother.

We were all pretty happy after the lunch stop at mile 50. After we ate, Justin's wife met up with us to reapply our sunscreen before taking her husband off our hands to go see the rodeo and drink ice cold strawberry lemonade while we continued on another 33 miles. BOO Justin ;-)

Down to 5 now, we found ourselves suddenly riding in what seemed like circles and slowly approached a fence...with shade...and... is that a camel? No. It's TWO camels. Camels? In Oregon? What is standing under it? Oh...an ostrich. Of course. And wait a minute, are those ponies? NO...it's a bunch of miniature horses surrounded by llamas. Are we having heat stroke? Ohhhhhhhhhhhh noooooooooooo...there goes Erica...over and down. First crash of the day...and it was standing in the middle of a country road looking at camels. Who can blame her?

Erica bruised, the animals looking at us looking at them...it was time to keep on keepin' on. After what seemed like an eternity... ETERNITY I SAY...we came to the Canby Ferry. We had tried to call them earlier in the morning to see if they were even running on this Star Spangled Holiday, but no one answered the phone. Not a really good sign, huh? It occurred to us that we might find ourselves at mile 75.3 of an 81.2 mile bike ride with no way to finish it...or with a way to get back to our cars. I thought we could all probably draw on our inner Abby and turn it into an adventure race where we would have to swim across the river with our bikes on our backs, but fortunately when we got there...

...the ferry captain was working hard.

He was a little grumpy and yelled at us...and because of that we were too afraid to ask him to take a picture of all of us...so here's one of just us ladies (ha! I called us ladies) with Nik behind the camera...

I was so very done with the ride at this point. I should have just jumped overboard, but I knew that we were to the final countdown and I had to finish this... this my longest ride ever...so up up and up we went. The hill directly out of the ferry was RI.DI.CU.LOUS. We wanted to ask the ferry captain if he would let us get a running start off the ferry, but again...he was a little too grumpy to be doing any favors, so we exited his fine ride. We whined about the hill for a bit and then Nik took off to see if he could make it. As I started after him and saw him take a corner and keep going WAY up looking like he might barf down the hill on me, I almost got off and walked. Instead I got out of my saddle...which I never do...but it got the job done. The hill was not too very long but it probably took me 3 miles more before I finally caught my breath and then we cruised on in. I think it was around the parade, way back in Mt. Angel, that we got a little lost... so we came in with a little extra mileage and an exact 83 miles.

The end.

Monday Morning Dance Party

We headed out to Mollala last night for some Ro-de-o...you know...that place where they sell 3 foot long corn dogs (seriously) and elephant ears served on humongous pizza platters. That place where they won't let you bring in any water and yet the line to buy water is over an hour long. I'm perfectly dehydrated for my 80 mile bike ride I agreed to do in a drunken celebratory blur the other night.

Mai had her giddyup on hours before we left...

Cousins...

Everyone loves fighting for the attention of the t-shirt gun guy...

Self portrait...

Goofing around...

Me and my guy...

A little run in the bull poop and dirt. All the little kids "got" to go out into the horse and bull poop and put their shoes in a big pile in the middle of the ring. They then all went back to the fence and did a mass start to go find their shoes, put them on, and return to the fence. I particularly LOVE the little girl who is back of the packing it in this video. I think she's trying to keep her socks clean =D

...ya...my kids' shoes and socks are looking and smelling Fanfreakintastic.

It all ended with bombs bursting in air, of course...

And in honor of the guy who got his nuts stomped on by a bull.... (OUCH!)...
I'm dedicating this week's MMDP to him...click below 'cause the girls they are so pretty...

SAVE A HORSE RIDE A COWBOY

I've got my own saddle to go get on today...wish me luck and yet another distance PR on the bike. Happy 4th of July!!