Milestone

Today, I sent my little boy into the big world. :(  But, it's not like I haven't spent the last year dreaming of this day. I have.  But as the beginning of kindergarten rapidly approached, I was getting more and more nervous while J. was, strangely, getting less and less nervous.

This is the very kid that I had to physically carry into preschool on more than one occassion last year.

I was sure we were going to have a nuclear meltdown when the bus showed up.  If I could even get him out of bed.

Last week, we started practicing getting up early and so far, it's been good.  He's been going to bed at 8:30 and that leaves more time for me to do my stuff in the evening.  He's up at about 7:30, which is a far cry from his usual 9:30.

So this morning, he woke me up at 7:25 by running to the bathroom and announcing that his teeth were brushed.  Then in the time it  took for me to go downstairs to grab something, he was dressed and standing at the window.

It was so cute, yet about an hour earlier than the bus was scheduled to come.

So, we bided our time by waiting at the window.  I got him to pose for this picture:

I don't know that I've ever seen him so excited!

This is the backpack he picked out.  Are you surprised?

And then I couldn't contain him any longer and he went to stand outside on the driveway:

When the first kids started lining up at the bus stop, J ran over there.  A and I came over to make sure J made it on the bus okay.  I mean, I was nervous.  J was taking everything in stride.  And A knew something was happening, but she didn't know for sure:

J's best friend, who's in 2nd grade, came over and took J under his wing.  Then the bus pulled up and they got in line:

And then before I knew it, he was getting on the bus:

AND HE DIDN'T EVEN TURN AROUND AND WAVE.

It was like I was invisible. :(

I was so shocked that I couldn't cry.  Besides, I had cried more than the event warranted last night.  I can't believe that my little guy is a kindergarten.  Where's my little two year old monster who I couldn't get out of his pajamas?

I have about a four hour stretch of J-free time four days a week.  One day a week, they only go to school for something like an hour and a half.  Which hardly seems worth the effort.  But whatever.  It's an hour and a half and I'll take it.

I'm going to like just me and A hanging out.  She's so easy going as long as things are going  her way and there's no one trying to get her to scream.  My stress level declined dramatically the minute J. stepped on that bus.

So, when J came home, he bounded off the bus and ran over and exclaimed "I love kindergarten. It was so fun."

The real test will come in about a month when the novelty has worn off.  However, I'm just happy I won't have to force him on the bus tomorrow.

#85--Keep a Running Log for a Whole Year

Admittedly, when I sat down and wrote down my 100 Things To Do Before I Die, I had to stretch to make it to 100.  This is one of those entries.  However...

Upon further review I can see how cool (by cool, I mean, if you're me) this is.  I have an entire YEAR worth of running miles logged, which means that I ran for an entire year through four very  distinct seasons.  I can also check back to see how much I've progressed on particular routes.

So here's the breakdown:

From August 28, 2009-August 28, 2010, I ran 708.10 miles.  Which is roughly from my house to St George AND back.  I ran 159 days out of the year's 365, which is about 44% of the year. 

I have run for 107 hours and 2 minutes (or 6422 minutes),  which makes my per mile average 9:12.  Crazy!  Must have been all those track workouts.

My longest run was 20 miles I did a few weekends back and my shortest recorded run was 1 mile on February 23.  It was freezing cold with a windchill that was brutal and after a mile, both me and my training partner just looked at each other and said "we're done!"

I ran six miles in -1 degrees on 12/09/09.  In hindsight, we were dumb for running in weather that cold.  We ran in snow storms and rain storms and in fog so thick that we had to walk because cars couldn't see us despite our headlamps.

The majority of our runs have started before 6 am.  "Our" meaning I have run very few of these miles by myself.  I lack self motivation that early in the morning. 

My fastest run was the 2010 July 4th Freedom Run, where I finished a 5k (3 miles) in 24:33. 

So, again, what's the allure of keeping a running log for a full year?  Well, aside from seeing my progress, I've pretty much isolated what foods I can't eat before running.  This next year (or as long as I keep running for the next year) I'm going to isolate what foods are my "superfoods" by listing what I ate beforehand. 

I think this also means that I've officially crossed over to serious runner.

Bits and Pieces

• I won table topics tonight at Toastmasters.  It was contest night, and though I had my eyes set on the humorous speech, I was pleasantly surprised at my win in the extemporaneous speaking part.  I came in 2nd for the humorous speech, which isn't bad considering I had written the speech this afternoon at McDonald's Playland.  What does this all mean?  It means that I move on to the next level of competition in a few weeks and compete against people from other clubs.
• As a sidenote, I did have three people come up afterwards and say that I should've won for humorous speech.  I have my theories as to why I didn't, but I'm staying mum on them.  I can't say I'm that disappointed because I really didn't invest that much time into the process.  Last night, I was freaking out because I've been feeling a little stressed with the triathlon and the marathon and I probably shouldn't have signed up for such a large undertaking.  But it is what it is.  I'm changing one of the entries in "the list" to be "win speech contest".
• The marathon is in 5 weeks.  Eek.  I can't believe it's almost here. 
• While I'm looking forward to a little down time after the marathon where I'm not scrambling to get out the door at 5 in the morning, I'm a little scared of what's going to happen.  I've mentioned before that the pathway was pretty clear (we call it Aunika) after the marathon in 2007 but it's not so clear this go round.  I thought it was, but then I've been having doubts and we all know what that means.

What does that mean, exactly?

• Our Honda Pilot became the best investment we've made since buying our home.  When we went into the credit union to get a lower rate on the loan (because we could), we were told the value of the car was $3000 more than what we paid for it.  18 months ago.  How does that even happen?  Who knows.  Who cares.  We could sell it and buy something else, but I LOVE my car.  There's only one way it would go and Wade knows the conditions.  You are not privy to that conversation.
• One conversation that you are privy to is that we only have the Pilot left to pay off and then, aside from our house, we're debt free.  Debt free by January 2011 is our goal. 
• I keep telling the neighbors that once our house is paid off, we're just going to up and move in the middle of the night.  They'll ask themselves a few weeks down the road "hey, has anyone seen them lately?" and we'll be long gone.  The neighbors think I'm kidding.  But, shhh, I'm not. 
• Remember the Dream House?  Still on the market.
• I've been a little stressed, hence why there haven't been any new recipes up lately.  And please call and give me warning before you come over unexpectedly lest you think this is how we live.
• I almost hit the neighbor kid the other day in my driveway.  It was 100% his fault and I have four adult witnesses to back me up.  But, I can guarantee when KSL puts up the story about how a four year old got ran over by the neighbor, they will helpfully omit the fact that it was 100% his fault.  I confronted the mom the next day--nicely.  Go me!
• J starts Kindergarten in 5 days!  I'm both parts excited and nervous for him.  However, we've spent some time the last few days hanging out at fast food playlands (don't judge!) and he's been making friends left and right.  It makes me feel a little better that he does possess the ability to make friends with strangers because I lacked that for a long time.
• I was at the school today waiting for J to get done with his final kindergarten assessment.  I was sitting outside the lunchroom with A and realized that though it's been 20 years since I've had school lunch, it still smells the same and I pity the children who are eating it.
• My mom took J overnight tonight to do some pre-school bonding tomorrow.  I'm elated that I don't have to answer questions that are fired at me all day.  I think maybe A. and I will just sit on the couch and watch tv. 
• I signed up to be J's soccer coach, mainly because if I coach then he plays for free.  Besides there's not much coaching when they're six. 
• The other day I ran 20 (yes--20) miles faster than I ran ANY training run the first marathon go round. 
• Remember how I was writing a book?  I'm still writing, I promise.  Going to post something new this weekend.  Promise.
• Boston is a longshot this year, but a sub-4 hour marathon is completely in the realm of possibility. 
• I'm really excited to go back to running the shorter distances. 
• Sometimes I wish the really hard decisions would just take care of themselves so I wouldn't have to screw them up.
• Ah...life.  Isn't it grand?

Exceeding Expectations

At the annual family reunion, I was discussing my affection for triathlons with an uncle of Wade's.  He kept asking why I did them if there was no chance of me winning.  He was wondering if I could actually win one if I hired a coach and if I put in more time training.

In short, he thought it was silly that I would pay money and devote time (but apparently not enough time) to something that I knew I wasn't going to win.

I sorta shrugged it off, but the truth is that the conversation has bothered me for most of the summer.  I was signed up to do my annual triathlon out here in Stansbury, but I knew I wasn't going to win.  And I did spend some time wondering if I was just wasting time and money.

But, oh well.  I love the race and I love the competition and I'll probably keep doing it because of those factors and not because I have any hope of winning.

So Saturday was the annual triathlon.  I had one goal--take 1st place in  the age category.  Since it's such a small event, it's the same competitors--more or less--every year.  For example, I know who the top three women are going to be.  And there's no glimmer of hope to break into the top three.  But, my main competitor in the age category had taken the year off to have a baby--the joys of being in the 20-29 age group--and I figured this was my year to take the top seat there at least.

Last year, I was pretty middle ground in all three events.  I was expecting the same thing this year.  I had put more time on the bike but I wasn't expecting any big leaps in that area.  I had a specific time goal for the bike, but it was pretty lofty and dependable on weather conditions being perfect.

So Saturday, it was a gorgeous--windy--morning.  Wind not really being your friend in the biking department, but at least it wasn't raining like last year.  I arrived at the lake, pumped up and ready to go.  My parents came out to watch and took some  good pictures for me.

This is my training buddy, C (the other one, H, was out of town).

I had borrowed a wetsuit from a friend to see if that really helped in the water.  The jury is still out, but part of the problem was that it wasn't a triathlon-specific suit. 

Wetsuits have a way of making everyone look hot!

There were two waves of swimmers and I was in wave 2.  Wave 1 started and then we got into the lake to get ready for our turn.

About three minutes after the first wave of swimmers left, the buzzer went off for us to go.  I had forgotten to take off my watch and lost it in the first 5 seconds of the swim. :(  But, overall, the swim went as well as can be expected.  It's the event that's the toughest for me.  I did a little bit better than last year, but not as well as I had wanted.  I'm not sure what the key to becoming a better swimmer is, but I'm going to have to research it. 

I swam along, gulping lake water like it was fresh spring water and praying that the ducks that had so serenely passed us right before we started didn't lay anything fresh in the water. 

On the last straightaway I finally found my groove and was able to pass the guy that I had been swimming neck to neck with the entire way.  Eventually I made my way to the shore and the race was on.

Hey where is everyone else?

The funny thing about triathlons are those silly transitions.  You can know what you're suppose to do in your mind, but unless you practice the transitions, you really don't know.

And since I didn't practice those silly transitions, we can all guess how I did in those.

The swim to bike transition was a little chaotic.  I had to peel of the wetsuit, put on my clothes (Ha!  Made you look.  No I wasn't nekkid under the wetsuit, I was wearing bikini bottoms and a sports bra), put on my biking shoes and my helmet and get going on the bike.

The top ladies--40 seconds.  Me? 2:48.  Could use some work here.

Finally, after what felt like an eternity, I left on my bike.

Just a reminder:  My bike was one of the cheapest road bikes I could find anywhere.  I wrote about it and the reasons why I chose it here.  And I can't say that I've been disappointed in my bike, but I do know there are a lot better bikes out there. 

So off I went on my bike.  The wind had started back up and it was a little hard to get in a groove, but it really helped that there were cops and crossing guards at all intersections so I didn't even have to slow down and obey traffic laws.  It also helped that I knew the course like the back of my hand.  I could ride it with my eyes closed.  To date, my fastest time on the course was 41:40 (12 miles).  I was really hoping to go sub-40 minutes for the race, but I figured with the wind, it was a long shot. 

I had six friends doing the triathlon with me this year.  When I left on my bike, there were four ahead of me on their bikes.  I passed two of them on the course and started thinking it would be cool (for me, not them) if I passed the other two on the bike even though they were (a) in the first wave of swimmers, so an automatic 3 minute head start and (b) considerably better swimmers than me.  So they had about a 7 minute headstart. So I hunkered down and rode as fast as I could.  I passed one more and caught sight of the last one right at the turn around.  It took a little bit to catch up with her because it was downhill, but at 28 mph I did.  I passed her and then just kept chugging along.  As I was coming down the last little bit, I realized that I was going to be really close to breaking my 40 minute time goal. 

As I crested the last little hill, I saw my mom and waved at her.  She just kept looking at me and then it finally dawned on her that it was me and she did manage to snap a picture of me coming in on my bike.

Here's another funny thing:  Somewhere in the last few miles of the bike ride, I made the conscious decision to push it as hard as I could despite knowing that I would probably pay for it in the run.  It was then that I knew I had crossed over into a true racer. 

You see, beforehand, I would've ridden more conservatively so that I could save some energy for the run.  However, as any true racer will tell you, sometimes reaching a time goal within the race is more important than doing your "best" overall.  And I wanted a sub-40 minute ride more than I wanted a few minutes (seconds?) shaved off my run.  I had a good grasp of who my competition was for 1st in the age category and provided that there wasn't someone lurking ahead of me I had discounted, I pretty much knew I had it in the bag.

And I did it, crossing at 39:23. 

The bike-run transition was another slow one (top ladies: 40ish seconds again, me: 2:11).  I was really winded and my asthma was flaring up.  So I took my time to get going on the run.  And then I ended up having to walk up the first hill and then walking a little more because my legs were cramping up from the bike.

The run course had us run to the elementary school, run around the parking lot, and then run back to the clubhouse.  At about a mile into the run, I started seeing the top ladies coming back.  I was really excited for them  and waved and shouted encouragement like I was a freakin' parade attendee.  I was a little miffed that no one was returning my sentiments.  So to entertain myself I was counting how many women had come by.  I was at #5 when I turned to go to the elementary school and it dawned on me that unless there was a herd of women hanging out in the turn  around spot, I was in the top ten of the women finishers.  Top ten?!?  #6 and #7 passed and then I was running around the parking lot and headed back to the finish line. 

I didn't really think much about my possible top ten finish because there's no way to know depending on swim times and bike times.  Really, all I wanted was the 1st place in the 20-29 age group.

I headed back to the finish line, where Wade managed to snap a picture of me with BOTH feet off the ground.  Except for I still have what he lovingly refers to as chicken wings.  While I crossed the finish line 3 minutes faster than last year's run, it certainly wasn't my fastest run on that particular course.

At the finish line, they handed me my official finishing card.  I immediately honed in on what I wanted: 1st in women (20-29).  And then I caught a glimpse at my overall placing: 8th!

I was 8th OVERALL for the women.  Out of 54 women.  Un-freakin-real.

I got my medal, sharing the podium with two friends:

Of the seven of us, four of us took home medals!

Afterwards, I looked up the results online and found that I was the 6th FASTEST woman on the bike.  The 6th!  Though my swimming times and running times were pretty dismal, I'm still stoked that I was the 6th fastest woman on the bike.  I guess we know what event is my forte.  And where I need to concentrate.  And this proved my theory that you can make up some serious time in the biking portion of a triathlon.

The Rebirth of the Food Wars

We were doing so good with J and his food. 

So good.

But the thing with food wars is once you decide you're ready to engage in combat then you have to be diligent in your efforts.  You can't take a day off.  You have to be hard core all the way.  

And when you have more pressing matters to attend to like who's getting kicked off So You Think You Can Dance and your son's nutritional needs takes a back seat, then the war rages on and slowly you lose all the gain you made.

And then you're back at square one.

Which is precisely where we're at right now. 

Right freakin' now.  In fact, I'm arguing with J AS I TYPE THIS about how he has to eat 3 more spoonfuls of oatmeal.  Not big spoonfuls.  Like spoonfuls the size of a pencil eraser.  Not a big pink eraser.  An eraser on the end of a pencil.  And a half-used one at that.  I mean, nothing that small even has a taste.  But, whatever.

We're on hour one of what's going to be a very long day.

We've tried bribery (Wade had taken the day off so we could play, but somehow we're stuck inside because an emaciated five year old won't eat 3 more "spoonfuls" of oatmeal), we've tried threats.  I even demonstrated what would happen if "they came and took you away and forced you to eat." 

The most frustrating part is that J will sit next to mean and WHINE about how hungry he is.

I KNOW you're hungry.  It's because you won't eat your three oats.  If you ate your three oats then you could have something else.  And then you wouldn't be hungry.

It's round and round we go.  Who's going to fall, we don't know.

Seriously.  I didn't know frustration until I had kids.

I also didn't know stress, or no free time, or selflessness, or no privacy until then either.

Interesting Side Effect

So, I've been training for a marathon.

Yes.  A marathon.  26.2 miles of pavement pounding.

Luckily, it's a marathon that the first 20 miles and the last 6 miles are downhill. 

(Note to nonrunners:  Downhill is brutal.)

Not the point of this post though.

So, I've been training.  And I've been doing considerably better than I did three years ago when I trained for the same marathon.  Which is encouraging.  But I have noticed an interesting side effect.

You'd think I would be sore and crabby.  And surprisingly, I haven't been.

That much. 

What the interesting part is that on Sundays, in primary where I teach six year olds--annoying six year olds--about Jesus and being nice and all good things associated with church, I want to rip their heads off. 

Weird.

And, like the cat that immediately hones in on the one person sitting on your couch who DETESTS cats, these kids have smelled my disdain and latched on to me. 

Literally.

One girl snuggles up close and climbs into my lap with her bony little butt that pierces the muscles that carried me 20 miles the day before.  She rubs my arms incessantly (petting?) and plays with my hair.  Another little boy will try to tickle me by jabbing his fingers into my ribs (weird?).  And I'm not much of a touchy-feely kind of gal nor much of a lover of other people's children on a good day, but the day after running 20 miles, I'm a little sensitive as well.

So on these particular days when I'm beat up before I've even stepped through the door of the meetinghouse, I will sometimes stand in the back of the primary room.  Besides, sometimes my legs don't ache as much when I'm standing.

If only I would have had a camera today to catch the face of the Primary President when she asked why I was standing in the corner and I replied:

"Because I ran 20 miles yesterday and I don't really appreciate some six year old telling me my arms are fat."

Good Idea or Bad Idea

Today, my mom and I went to lunch at The Mediterranean Market in Salt Lake.  We've been going to this place for many years now--20 maybe--and only recently have I actually looked around at what other businesses are around.

For example, in the same parking lot is a nondescript (no really.  Nondescript, meaning that there is no name on the building, marquee, or, well, anywhere) building that employees a large number of people based on the parking lot:

Numerous drive bys over the years have not brought us any closer to what  this mystery business is.

Inside the shop, there's the ethnic market where they have just about any weird food you could think of--we spent today by the canned snail aisle.  But, there's also a cute little cafe set up.

They serve great sandwiches and  salads.  And their bread is to die for.

In fact, there really is only one downfall to this eatery.  One that I can overlook for the sake of the food, but it's been very hard to do so ever since I realized exactly what it was I was looking at.

Across the street is a storage unit business and a hot tub business.  Nothing sinister about that.  Until the last time I was at the Mediterranean Market and I took a closer look at their sign (click on picture to enlarge):

Say it with me folks:

Ew.

Now, I have been in the position before where I've thought "I would do just about anything for a hot tub right now."  Like after Kings Peak or an 18 mile run.  But, I can honestly say, I've never thought "I would even go down to 3900 State Street and rent a room with a hot tub."

I'm shuddering even now.