Triathlon

I don't know what it is about me: Either I have a look about me that says I will not complete a race or I have steel screws in my leg that mess with the timing systems. Hopefully it's the latter. Well, hopefully it's just the timing systems and a freak coincidence, but it is rather irritating. I completed a triathlon on Saturday and absolutely loved it! It was a bit tiring, but SO MUCH FUN! A triathlon is a swim, bike, and run. I did a "sprint' triathlon, which doesn't necessarily mean there is any sprinting going on, but it does mean the distances are a lot shorter than normal. The swim was a quarter of a mile, the bike was 14.6 miles and the run was 3 miles. The timing chip around my ankle beeped and recorded my time each time I went through the transitions areas and started a new leg of the race, but the final (and probably most important) result was not read. The reason I think there's something wrong with me is because this isn't the first time it has happened. I got a big old "DNF" (Did Not Finish) on the Sound to Narrows 12K run, too, because my chip didn't read at the end.

Well, I am impressed already with the organization of the triathlon I just did. After the race, I looked at the results sheets but I couldn't find my name, so David went to one of the people who were organizing the race and asked about it. She said there were three backups she would check and worse case scenario, she would check with the photographer when he took my picture at the end of the race and get the time from him. I got a call this morning saying that the 3 backups didn't work, but she had already emailed the photographer and will wait to hear from him.

The race was in Issaquah, very close to where David's sister and her family lives. So we stayed the night with them before the race so that I wouldn't have to get up quite so early. The race started at 7am. I got there at 6, got my bike set up and then found my friend Emily who was also doing the race. We stood around for a long time waiting for it to start. It felt frigid that morning, I was shivering (which might have been a little of nerves) but surprisingly, once I stepped into the water it wasn't all that cold. It was a little difficult swimming because we were all so close to one another, so I swallowed a bit of water but didn't get any black eyes from elbows or feet. I got out, ran to my bike and got my socks, shoes, helmet, and shirt on took off for the longest leg of the race. The people who do these triathlons are serious bikers, man. They would pass me and then I would look up and they'd be GONE! I felt like I was standing still or something, but my legs were definitely not feeling like I was standing still! Thankfully there weren't too many hills - only 2 - and they weren't too steep. I got to the end of the bike race, loaded my bike back into the transition area and took off running. I saw my sister-in-law with her family when I came out of the transition area, but felt like I was moving at a snail's pace. My legs were pretty tired from all that biking, but I kept going and ran (jogged is probably closer to the truth) the whole three miles. I wore my watch for the bike and run, so I know how long it took and the chip recorded my swim, so I guess it took me about an hour and a half. I had so much fun, I'm thinking of doing another one in a couple weeks.


After I was done with my race, my nephew Jack did the kids triathlon. It was a lot of fun watching them! He did great, especially with having learned to competently ride his bike just a week before the race!

Weekend Fun

A couple weekends ago my friend Kimber and I ran in the 5K race in Gig Harbor to kick off the weekend of festivities. I'm not really sure what the festivities were all about, but there was a pancake breakfast, a parade, and a whole bunch of other things going on that day. We had fun running the 5K, and then Micah and David showed up a little later, as did Kimber's husband, Matt, and we stood around and watched the parade. It was a fun parade. Micah mostly enjoyed it from the backpack carrier, but soon got antsy and wanted down.

As you can see from the winter clothes we are wearing, June was having some trouble finding the sun. This past weekend started getting a little nicer. I ran in another race just this past weekend in Tacoma. It was 12K (7.46 miles) called the Sound to Narrows. It's a really popular race around here and I was really nervous about it because I hadn't run anything longer than 4.5 miles since my half marathon a month ago. Also, this one was very hilly. I read on a crazy ultra-marathoner's blog that the Sound to Narrows is "referred to as one of the most difficult 12k's in the country and Matt Downin who is an elite runner for New Balance agrees with that statement." I didn't like the hills too much, but I am glad that I had trained (albeit only 3 miles at a time) with my friend Ketra in her hilly neighborhood because I didn't feel too bad during the race. There were two negatives though: 1. I didn't have a friend to run with and 2. I forgot my ipod and headphones so I was only thinking about how horrible I was feeling with the ache in my side and the racing chip digging into my ankle. But I am so glad I did it and I had fun, and I felt pretty good afterwards!

I went to check the results of my race and didn't see the time listed on the website, so I emailed the support team and they said the chip registered my start time, but not my finish time. My watch, though, said I finished at 1 hour and 10 minutes - about a 9:20/mile pace. Fine with me on "one of the most difficult courses in the country!"

David taught Micah how to roll down the hills. Micah loved it! He giggled and ran up to do it again and again.

Micah ran in the little Diaper Dash race for kids after my race was over. He's looking pretty determined (or distracted)!

I know it's been more than a week since I ran, but....

Bodies are amazing things. I am amazed at how my body could go from pretty much no physical activity to running 13.1 miles in a relatively short amount of time. I’m sure if I had pushed myself I had enough time to train for a full marathon, but that would have been a lot of stress on my body and a lot of extra hours of training. I’m glad I didn’t do one and I doubt I ever will, but I won’t say that I NEVER will. I’m halfway there at this point and could probably keep training the way I have and work towards a full marathon which is coming up in November in Seattle. My knees were sore from running the half and my muscles were a little tight the next day. My knees were only sore from the pounding on the pavement, which is quite common with street running. They were not sore from the surgeries I have had to fix my torn ACL.

I was always amazed at how I could keep going after the first couple of miles and feel fine. I don’t understand how the body works. With all the training we did, my heart was strong and my friend and I were able to talk almost the whole way through the race without feeling too winded. It is incredible how a body can work itself up to running for 2 hours straight without feeling too tired and sore. I have never really been a runner, besides running a bit of cross country in elementary school. I played soccer all through high school and college, but since having Micah I was only playing once a week, and that was only when someone was around to watch Micah for us. It’s amazing to me how I could start by running a couple miles, and then add a few more on to our longer runs each week. I was running 3 miles consistently a couple mornings every week and was a bit nervous about trying to add anything longer than that, partly because it was harder to figure out when I would be able to do it and partly because I wasn’t sure I’d be able to make it. I certainly wouldn’t have been able to do it if I didn’t have a friend meeting me each morning.

I was surprised at the race by how many people of all shapes, sizes and ages were there. There were some people with prosthetics, and even a man in a wheelchair who was pushing himself through the half marathon course! The older people that were running were truly inspiring to me! It makes me believe that absolutely anyone can work towards doing a half marathon!

I survived!

Now that this morning is over I don't know what to do with myself. I have been training for so long to run a half marathon in Tacoma with my friend Ketra. Up until about a month ago, this half marathon was something in the back of my mind that I was possibly going to do. We were jogging in the mornings for short runs together and then we'd go on longer runs on the weekends. At first I was doing it to help get in shape but as we ran farther I started thinking I just might be able to run 13.1 miles. So I had May 10th in my mind but oddly enough, I felt like I had nothing beyond this date. I didn't plan a life past it! It's like I was planning on not making it through.

Well, we made it through! And we ran faster than we have ever run before! Our longest run up until this point was 11 miles, but we made it all the way to the end without walking. We ran an average of about a 9-minute mile, which is a minute faster than our usual pace. We finished the half marathon at just over 2 hours, which was about 15 minutes faster than we had planned.

The last 2 miles were tough for me. Ketra ran a little ahead of me at the end. It was especially tough because the last 3 miles were mostly uphill. Not the easiest part of the race to have hills! But we finished well and I'm so proud of us! It feels so good to have accomplished something like this! Like my friend Jill said, who ran the 10K this morning - we still got it! Happy Mother's Day to us!

Edited to add: My time was posted on the website yesterday: 2 hours and 2 minutes. I came in 27th in my age bracket and 343rd overall. There were about 1000 male and female runners in the half marathon. It being my first race, I'm fine with those results!

Not the White Christmas I was dreaming of

I have some cute pictures from before Christmas, but I still want to share them. Micah was trying to be ever so helpful while I was baking, so he brought me the powdered sugar from the cupboard. Little did I know, the bag was already open! And within his reach! As you can see below, he got it all over the floor and himself, and later I found it was all over the back of my right leg, along with a tiny white hand print on the front of my leg. I think maybe we were listening to "I'm Dreaming of a White Christmas".

I'm happy to say that I have cut back on the baked goods and have been much healthier lately! I am still keeping the idea of Hawaii in the back of my mind and I am not wanting to scare away our family. So I have still been running lately. The friend I go running with in the mornings and I took a little hiatus from our early morning jogs during the holidays, but we started up again on Wednesday and now plan to go every Wed and Friday mornings. It's a good 3 mile jog, but I did go 4 miles once by myself. I would love to work my way up to running farther and possibly run a half marathon sometime (there's one coming up in a May in Tacoma), but I haven't committed yet. A marathoner-friend told me if I sign up I'm committed and I would be driven to work towards that goal. It's a good idea. But still something I'm afraid of!

Fun Times

Pumpkin patches and farms. Halloween dress-ups. Falling asleep in comfy Target shopping carts. Walking on cold but sunny fall days. Playing with birthday toys. Micah has had a fun couple of weeks. I was able to get my tulip bulbs planted! I am excited to see what will happen in the spring! I imagine it will be like a $20 bill in my jacket pocket that I had put away for the summer and then taken out again in the fall. How exciting! "Ooh, the flowers are popping up and I forgot I even planted them!"

We had fun at the Pumpkin Patch. It has been so nice here for the past couple weeks. The weather has definitely turned cooler, but the sun has been shining and the leaves have been turning beautiful colors. I simply love this time of year.





Micah was an astronaut by day on October 31st and a Fireman by night. He was both the cutest little astronaut and fireman I have ever seen! We went to our church for a Harvest Party after handing out some candy at our house. I bought so much candy that I was afraid we were going to have a ton of it left in our house (especially with Dave's candy-nazi method of handing out candy - "take only ONE!" I grab a handfuls and fill each kid's sack with it. That would be why we ran out so quickly last year, but this year I was prepared with LOTS of candy, even though we don't stay here all night.). However, we did not have any left over because when we left to go to our church, we set it out in a box with a note: Trick or Treat! Please take ONE! I wish we had a hidden video camera on our front porch to see if that many kids came, or if the older ones just dumped it all in their bags. Well, it's fine because if we had any left over, we all know who would be eating that.... and we all know who does not NEED it. Ahem.



I have been running lately. A friend of mine from the home group that we are in ran a half marathon a couple months ago and she wants to keep in shape, so she invited me to go with her one morning. I met her at her house and we ran the loop she normally does. No. We ran PART of the loop she normally does because it is ALL HILLS and I hadn't done anything for a couple weeks, so I was DYING with the hills. But, since then, we've met and ran around my neighborhood and I've been able to do 3 miles with her. My neighborhood is completely flat. One of these days I'll attempt her dreaded, hilly neighborhood again.



Back to the Harvest Party. I liked Micah's costume the best because all the other boys were either animals of some kind, or cowboys or indians. His costume was borrowed from his cousins. With him being so little still, there weren't any games that he could do, but he did have fun in the Toddler Playroom with all the balls. He even tried coloring a little - and by that I mean tapping the crayon on the paper. I'm glad he's still too young to understand that he has a choice on what he could eat and that Halloween means CANDY and that it is yummy and delicious and horribly bad for you. I'm glad that he doesn't demand to eat only candy or nothing at all and I hope that he is never like that. I do cherish this time, because he is open to eating anything, and likes everything. Especially veggies like broccoli. And tofu. One day he will not be so open. However, as Dave says, he IS a Wolfrom, and if you've seen Papa Wolfrom's belly, you'll understand that a Wolfrom will eat anything. :)