Swim, Bike, Run, it's a lot of fun!

A few weeks ago, Jonah competed in his first Triathlon.

The kids got real race bibs, had their numbers written in permanent marker on their legs and arms, wore swim caps. Oh and parents could not help during the transitions. It was the real deal!

It was so cute to see all these kids having a blast but also being so serious. They started the race off by sliding down a huge twisty slide, swimming in a warm pool, then did their bike and run segments.

Jonah was so pumped up after the race that he said, "next time, I am going to save my money for a road bike and train real hard!"

He definitely wants to do it again.

Run? Run!

I had to talk myself into going for a run today. Sometimes I just don't feel like it. But the weather was great, the kids were all in school, I really needed to run so I got dressed. I told myself just two miles. Two miles isn't really worth it for me to change clothes for. I have been running on the weekends with a friend and we go 6-7 miles. However, 2 miles is better than 0 miles.

So, I change into shorts, got my music on and headed out. Suki couldn't go today because she had her shots and they recommended she take the day off. The vets did comment on her muscles and how athletic she is. That made me feel good, atleast someone is benefiting from my running.

I'm trudging along on my run and I get to that point where if I turn, it will take me back home and will make it a two mile run. If I keep going on the trail, it will turn the run into about four miles. The great thing about running is that once you get out there, your blood starts pumping, the music is making you feel happy, all you have to think about is, "right, left, right, left" and the weather is undeniably influencing the need to keep going.

I miss the turn and keep on going down the trail. About 5 minutes after my decision to keep going I start to second guess myself but it would be silly to turn back. Ten minutes after my missed turn, I am half way done and now happy I kept running. I am feeling pretty good but this runners high only lasts so long.

Now, I did run 6 miles Sunday, took a spin class on Tuesday then I did some weights yesterday, fatiguing my legs to no end. Needless to say, when I'm about three quarters of a mile from home I'm really having to force my legs to go. I pull out the big guns to help me run, music is my friend. Even with my legs screaming, I can always muster up the energy to make them go a little higher if the Ting Tings are playing. I dare you to pop this on your I-pod and NOT pump your fist in the air every time she yells, "Hey!"

And if the Ting Tings are at SXSW again this year, you won't be able to keep me away.

Can you say Turkey Trot?








The big kids had their turkey trot today. It was a grueling 2 miles but the weather was perfect for the race. Jonah placed 6th and Chloe was 10th! I am pretty proud of them both. Jonah has been waking up early twice a week for running club and I think it paid off. Chloe went in there cold turkey and still got in the top 10 for her age/gender! That's not bad considering there are at least 100 kids in each of their grades!

Last year I did the Austin Turkey trot which is a 5 miler with many hills. It was fun but I think this year I will have my own Turkey trot and just run the 5 miles around my house. The thought of getting up at 5am to stand in the frigid weather doesn't sound appealing to me this year.

Five miles means I can eat 500 extra calories Thursday. Not sure if it will do much good since the average T-day meal comes in around 4000 calories! Yep, that's not a typo this time, it really says 4000. Then add to that our anniversary meal the day before and Raita's birthday meal/cake the day after and I should really be running a marathon, not some measly 5 miler.

I have a stress fracture....

How? I don't know, maybe my shoes were too tight and it couldn't handle running the 7 miles on Thursday. It was stressed even more the next day after pulling Freya behind my bike for who knows how long. Then I played an 80 minute soccer game on Sunday even though my foot hurt.

To add to that, I couldn't resist playing an indoor soccer game Tuesday. I told myself I would just go and watch the game, maybe play the first half. When I got there all the ladies were so happy because they only had 5 players for a 6v6 player game. I played the whole game with no break. Honestly, it's amazing this is the only thing hurting after all that.

I am sad as I am supposed to run a half marathon in November and I just joined a new indoor soccer team. Hopefully it will heal fast and I guess for now I will get my exercise in the pool, swimming boring old laps.

Yesterday, Geni and I did the Human Race. Freya took some pictures of me in my shirt before the race. It was long and hot (I think it was about 100F when we started running) but surprisingly doable. Everyone had to wear these red shirts because the race number is printed on it. When we were up on a hill and looked out ahead, the mass of people made it seem like a sea of red. It was creepy to see 13000 people in red and very difficult to find your running buddy! Austin came in 2nd for the fastest running time out of the 25 cities that participated.

After running, we had a few beers and listened to Ben Harper for a bit. Like I was telling Geni, it would have been better if every song didn't have a 5 minutes jam session at the end. Maybe if I were tokin' it up like the crowd (the smell indicated that most were), it would have been a much better concert. My favorite part of it was that the stage was right in front of the Capital Building and that Ben Harper played so many different instruments.

Raita and I watched Sicko when I got back home. It is very eye-opening. Let's hope more American's wake up and see how bad the Health Care System is here. I love the part of the movie where Michael points out that the US already has some Socialist programs (library, schools, cheap mail, etc) and those systems work beautifully. I just wonder if people are afraid of Soylent Green happening if Health Care became Free and Universal. I wish we were given the facts instead of the falsities presented by the politicians.

Yesterday we met with some friends, Geni and Natalie. Now that school has started, I can get back into my weekly running/bike riding regime. We usually meet at a trail that has a playground attached and run for 3 miles or so then let the girls play.

Yesterday after watching me struggle with Suki and the jog stroller, Geni offered to put Freya in her 2 seater and push both girls together. I only had to deal with Suki after that.

Let me just say that Geni is freakishly strong. I am not able to push that thing with 2 girls in there, let alone run while pushing it. Well, maybe if Godzilla were chasing me then I could muster the strength it takes to push 70 pounds of kid meat while running for my life. I offered to push it and bailed about 20 seconds into my turn. I was only able to help on the down hill sections. God I suck.

Here are the girls posing.

Thanks for the comments, I am so glad I have readers!