The Best Holiday Cocktail Evah

If you like cranberry, mohitos, or margaritas, you have to try Southern Living's Frozen Cranberry Margarito. It looks festive and tastes great! Can't ask for more than that...

It has been well taste-tasted and comes highly recommended by Cate, Beanie, and me. The boys liked it too and it helped them get in touch with their feminine sides.

'Cuz it's pink! Perfect for any TriGirl!

Workout Week in Review

I didn't send my kids to live in the woods with wolves, by the way. I did however send them to Grandma's house for a few hours. Which is always a mixed blessing. This time, Taz came home with blue hair and Rainbow's was pink and blue striped. Yeah.

Anyway, onto the ever-exciting workout week in review, or WWiR for short!

Sunday: Ran eight miles with Beanie in the pouring rain. Some freaky dude stopped his car and offered us a ride. I assumed he was being nice; Beanie is positive that we barely escaped a slow torturous death. She's probably right.

Monday: Weights class which was a killer workout! I thought for sure I was going to be in pain for Christmas Day but I was just a touch sore.

Tuesday: Zilch.

Wednesday: Nada.

Thursday: A very slow five mile run. My big accomplishment on Thursday was getting out of bed.

Friday: Zip.

Saturday: Biked 28 miles with Richard and TriGirl40 which was fabulous. TG40 pulled us to faster speeds than we've seen recently: 17.2 for the first 20 miles but down to 16.7 overall. She makes it look so easy while I'm panting to keep up. We missed you, Kermit!

I'm typing this in my running clothes with great intentions of a long run today... but the weather outside is frightful (40 degrees and raining) and the fire is so delightful (that I took a nap in front of it)... so we'll see.

Cheers!

Warning: Not for non-parents or anyone contemplating child rearing

My kids kicked my ass today.

On the surface, we had a fun day which included breakfast, reviewing their Christmas presents, lunch, the movie Enchanted (which is fabulous, by the way) including popcorn soda AND skittles, the book store where some Christmas money was spent, then pizza and ice cream.

Perhaps there was too much sugar and fat.

For me, there was most definitely too little sleep. I dragged my protesting self out of bed to run this morning only because I was meeting Beanie. We managed a drag-ass five miles.

Taz was a smart alack All.Day.Long. He argued with every word out of my mouth. Those that he bothered to listen to, any way.

Except when his sister got in trouble, when he suddenly and remarkably became an angel. Funny how that happens.

For her part, Rainbow announced over pizza and ice cream that I am "a little bit selfish." After I had spent the whole day catering to their many whims.

I swear I almost started crying. Then I bundled their butts in the car and sent her to her room.

I'm exhausted.

I'll blog a happy-face post about our wonderful shiny Christmas when I can put a better face on it. Like when my memory dims and fantasy takes over. And likely, when the kids go back to school and I miss them again.

Or when I leave them in the woods for a pack of wolves to raise.

Perhaps they'd turn out better.

What's Cookin?

Lots, at house o' Tri-Di!

I'm in the midst of a cooking frenzy. Tomorrow's dinner menu includes garlic-crusted pork tenderloin, scalloped potatoes, and sweet potato pockets with hot-spiced bourbon balls and pumpkin pie for dessert.

Christmas morning, we're having apple-cinnamon french toast for breakfast and I'm taking sweet potato casserole to my in-laws for dinner.

Yesterday, I decided on the menus. Today, I grocery shopped and began preparing several of the dishes. Tomorrow, I'll have to finish everything.

I've been through a quart of heavy whipping cream already, so it's bound to be good.

Out of the Mouths of Babes

So last night, Rainbow patted my stomach and asked whether there was a baby in there.

Why yes, darling, there is. It is made of chocolate, cookies, and red wine.

Freeze-Di

Tee hee hee - I'm making myself laugh with my title... but it's really just my same old boring workout week in review. This time! New and improved!!! On ice!!! Man it was cold this week.

Sunday: Beanie and I did our own lights run through our neighborhood, four miles at 9:57 minutes/mile average. We started slow and we picked it up nicely throughout. It was fun to run in the dark for a change.

Monday: Weights class at the Y with Beanie. I'm going to a different Y now and it is cool to have different instructors with different moves. This Y seems to incorporate balance and core strengthening a lot more and I can certainly use that.

Tuesday: Ran 4.5 miles with Beanie, 10:15 min/mi pace. It was 21 degrees - so cold that people at the bus stop told me I was crazy. I layered up but never actually removed anything on the run. The treadmill or the track at the Y were sounding really good! I wore my regular weight running tights. My legs were bright red at the end, and the strips of skin on my ankles that were exposed were even redder and swollen. Brrrrr!!!!

Wednesday: Nothing. Zero, zip, nada. This was the first day of winter break for my kids so we played instead!

Thursday: Ran five miles with the Bean at a dismal 11:15 min/mi pace. It wasn't quite as cold as Tuesday but damn it was still freezing. I wore my winter weight cycling tights this time thank goodness.

Friday: Weights class at the Y. Twice in one week - woo hoo! My hammies and chest were very sore afterwards. I considered staying for the step class afterwards, but managed to talk myself out of it.

Saturday: Yes! Cycling with Richard and Kermit. No way would my bike have moved from the garage if it weren't for these guys. We rode 23.5 miles to and through Ashland and back and stopped at Liz's house for a quick chat and hugs. She offered coffee and waffles so I have to say we deserve brownie points for declining and getting back on our bikes! You could hear my sobs all the way back to the Henrico County line.

Right after we left Liz's house, Richard charged into oncoming traffic and given that I will follow him anywhere, I was right behind him. Afterwards, Kermit and I sweetly encouraged him to consider breaking and signaling, after which time Richard was incredibly solicitous and signaled well in advance of any impending change. I'm not quite sure that the signals he used are exactly standard, unless nose thumbing is acceptable, but I'm pretty sure the car behind us appreciated his middle finger right turn signal.

Today's ride didn't kick my ass as much as the last two weeks so I'm heading into the holidays feeling marginally encouraged that I'm not in fact a complete worthless slug.

Can't ask for more yuletide joy than that! Unless of course Liz had provided bourbon laced egg nog...

No Duh

Chiquita has a new sticker for their bananas: Zero Fat. Zero Sodium.

For some reason, I find this far more entertaining than I imagine the marketing department intended it to be.

Wish List

'Tis the season for lists, ey? Here's what I'd like to find under the tree on Christmas morning. Think the fat man can manage it?

1. Children who get along with each other a significant portion of the time
2. New running shoes
3. A whole uninterrupted night's sleep - no nocturnal Taz, no freaking out barking dog, and no need to pee
4. A massage, or better yet a package of many massages
5. Winter running tights
6. A cool new job
7. A babysitter for New Year's Eve (also the Bean's birthday!)
8. A kitchen phone with working caller ID to replace the one that was fried in a storm last summer
9. Outdoor bike rides throughout the winter
10. World peace (since I'm being completely reasonable with the rest of the list...)

Rock Star

You guys know how obsessed I am with Nickleback, especially their song "Rock Star," right? I actually realized the other day that I hadn't heard it in awhile and started frantically pressing buttons on my car radio as though I could magically make it play my song. Thank goodness for my iPod...

I've got to say, there is little that could possibly be more rewarding as a parent than hearing your six year old daughter belt out the lyrics "I'm gonna pop my pill from a pez dispenser" or your seven year old son sing about dating a Playboy bunny... Pretty soon, Britney and I will be BFFs. Perhaps we'll co-author a book on the pitfalls of child-rearing.

Just to digress further, today I saw on the cover of Star magazine that Britney eloped in Vegas (again) with a bad boy. This right after Rainbow was singing her new song "Gimme" as "Shimmy" - very funny. Oh and her sister Jamie Lynn, following in the footsteps of good genes and breeding of her older sister, is pregnant. At 16. Makes singing Rock Star look pretty lame in comparison, ey? Or "Gimme" for that matter. The most hilarious part of all is that their Mom has put her own parenting book on hold temporarily. Now there's an expert we all need to learn from...

Did I have a point? Do I ever?

'K so anyway where I was going when I started this rambling post was to write about our whole family's new found obsession with Guitar Hero. Do you know this game? It is a video game where the controller is a wireless guitar. The screen shows notes and you "play" them on your guitar. Scouter started the fad in our house. Well, actually, I must admit culpability. I gave it to him for Christmas last year. He finally took it out of the box about a month ago and now we are all hooked.

Scouter has quickly become a pro, but Taz and Rainbow are in the hunt. Taz does a one-fingered move on the keys with his left hand but somehow he makes it work. Rainbow has the rock 'n roll face and accompanying dance moves to go pro. It is hilarious!

I resisted the whole video game phenomenon until last weekend, when Scouter plied me with wine and placed the guitar in my hand. I had a mean Joan Jett working on "I Love Rock 'n Roll" and soon was hooked myself.

If only I could wrestle it out of my family's hands so I could play more.

If they come out with a version that includes "Rock Star," game over. That baby's mine! All mine!

~~~~~
UPDATE: BigDaddy just "Electrified the Garden" with 99% of notes hit and a five star performance.

My chances of getting to play ever again just decreased exponentially...

Things that made me happy today...

1. The last day of school before winter break! Two weeks of play time... yippee!!!
2. A happy little wine buzz. Completely unrelated to #1.
3. Christmas caroling at a nursing home and having three of the residents become "aunties" to my kids. Happened before #2.
4. Getting my run in today. Even though it was 21 degrees when we started and all of, oh, maybe 23 when we finished and notwithstanding the frostbite on my ankles and cheeks. (Both sets.)
5. Having a job interview tomorrow.
6. Freshly baked cookies.
7. A dog who acted reasonably normal and tolerant today (for a change).
8. Finishing my Christmas shopping. Well, almost... And getting some surprise gifts that I think will thrill my children.
9. Mailing Christmas cards... finally.
10. The prospect of sleeping in tomorrow morning.

Weekend, Weekend!

I love the weekend!

We spent Friday night elfing all our friends and family. It doesn't get much better than that! Oddly, I received many inquiries as to the extent of my intoxication. Admittedly, I did have a little Cabernet but really it was the kids egging me on, not the alcohol.

We knew that Friday was going to be the calm before the storm. The rest of the weekend was one activity after the other, filled with leaving one event early to arrive late at the next.

Fortunately, my friends were able to accommodate my crazy schedule to fit in a bike ride on Saturday morning. The fabulous TriGirl40 joined Richard, Kermit and me for a 20 mile trek. My cycling fitness is pathetic these days. I was struggling. Every time I tried to draft Kermit, he sped off. TriGirl40 made it all look so easy. As I was huffing and puffing, she would glide beside me, chat for a few minutes, then take off. Richard kindly let me ride his back wheel for the last five miles. He is a true friend, always there when I need help. Whew!

We are planning to ride outside all winter so I can only imagine that they will continue to push me far harder than I would go on my own, assuming I would go on my own at all. Good stuff. If anyone is up for a Saturday morning ride, just let me know and I'll add you to our email list. I'm hoping DL will be able to join us next week, and DB may become a regular. Yeah!

Annnn, as much as I love you, you are NOT allowed to ride with us until Dr. Dec gives you clearance to bike outside. No more emergency room visits!

After the ride and a quick shower, the day's events piled up. I met a group of former co-workers for lunch at a Japanese steak house. The kids ended up going with me and they were fascinated by the tabletop cooking. Then I passed Taz off to Scouter for a Cub Scout event, while Rainbow and I headed to my cousin's house for a family holiday gathering. I could have attended longer, but four passes of their neighborhood on Huguenot Road really ate into the time allotted. Grrr. Back home, I picked up Taz and dropped my two babies at a party. Raced back, met Scouter at a neighbor's holiday cocktail party. I was literally there for five minutes before I had to snag Scouter and head out to meet Beanie and Bryan.

Ahhh, finally... time to relax with good friends. We went out for drinks and dinner. It was so nice to chill out for a little while during the holiday bustle.

Today, we went to a Santa Brunch at our country club and Theatre IV's Christmas Story production with Beanie and family. Theatre IV does a great job of producing plays with local talent and I love going down there. The kids especially enjoyed the show, particularly getting the casts' autographs afterwards.

When I got home, I found out that my two running partners for tonight's TriGirl holiday lights run were not going and I quickly decided to bag it, too. I would have had a great time, I know, but I have a hard time motivating myself to be away from home for two or more hours on a Sunday night. At least, that's my excuse for skipping TG swimming all the time! Beanie and I opted for our own four mile lights run around our neighborhood instead. I don't run at night much so it was a fun treat that helped us both de-stess a bit.

Now I am vegging in front of the fire with a cup of hot cocoa and my laptop. Ahh...

Elves

It is CRAZY over here in house-o-Tri-Di tonight. Just check out this action:

http://www.elfyourself.com/?id=1413267251

And this one is even better:

http://www.elfyourself.com/?id=1411061201

Toots

There are two little people who look a lot like me running around my house. And they are flat out crazy.

One of them just referred to me as "Toots." As in, "Bring me some popcorn and a water, toots."

Week in Review

Man I thought I was going to have all kinds of time this week... what happened?!?!? And I know I owe you something but sadly this is all I've got! If you're looking for entertainment, you would be better served to move on. Otherwise, welcome to my boring life.

At the beginning of the week, I was at home with a sick Taz. He was not snuggly cool sick like he usually is either. He was whiny annoying sick. I'll admit that Scouter gave me the opportunity to work out Monday afternoon, but I collapsed in a heap and took a two hour nap instead. It was lovely.

Monday and Tuesday, we did manage to finally do this:

Finally, Wednesday I got to go to the Y for spin class. Yes! I definitely don't push myself as much in Y spin as I do in Maramarc cycling but it is what I can do right now. After spin, I did some power shopping. I am usually the obnoxious person who has most of my Christmas shopping done by Thanksgiving. I hate the crowds and I hate being pressured into buying something/anything just to have a gift. This year? Not so much. I started freaking out that I have to mail gifts to my brother's family and we are seeing my cousins this weekend and I had NOTHING.

Wednesday was beautiful! Temperatures were in the high 70s and it was a gorgeous sunny day with clear blue skies. It would have been a nice day for an outdoor bike ride...

Thursday, I ran five miles with the Bean then met Annnn for lunch which was a nice treat. Seeing her inspired me to try to dry my hair straight on my own. It looked much better when Mary Jo did it, but since I have my camera back now, here goes (with a bonus shot of the little wily mule):

So now you know I was a big fat liar last week. Not about Mary Jo's goddess status but about my gorgeous status. hee hee

.

After lunching with Annn, I did a bit more shopping. I finally found gifts for my mom and dad! They are a stretch but I definitely got gift receipts. It's really hard to buy for people who need nothing.

.

Today, I did my weights class. The instructor is a triathlete. I don't know her personally but I saw her at the two local sprint tris I did over the summer. She is super fit! Today she did a "no excuses" workout. It was all with the band to show us that even if we can't get to the gym over the holidays, we can still stay fit. Hopefully, I will be able to make it to the gym! No excuses, but I will not do that workout on my own.

Then I met a high school friend for lunch. We started keeping in touch after my 20 year reunion and see each other once or twice a year when he is in town for business. Then I wrapped the gifts I need to give tomorrow and mail urgently. Progress!

Somehow there was no time this week for job hunting. I guess that tells you where my priorities are right now!

Tomorrow, I am meeting Kermit, Richard and possibly TriGirl 40 for a 90 minute ride. Want to join us?

Who IS this florid man in red and why is he heckling me?!?

Somebody Hep Me!!!

I have been confined to my house for almost 48 hours with a sick child. My only escapes have been a three hour visit to the pediatrician and the pharmacy (which doesn't really count I think) and a six mile run yesterday with the Bean. Somehow, the long run day was very very welcome.

Taz and I just finished making pizza. As an activity, I give it a D+. Mainly because my kitchen is now covered in pizza sauce and shredded mozzarella.

This is not how I envisioned my first day after my consulting engagement ended.

Workout Week in Review

This week was better than last week anyway! I even managed to bike for the first time in a long time!!

Monday: Weights class with my favorite teacher. She is not only a great teacher, she is fun. My butt wasn't quite as sore as last week but I really need to gain some consistency here!

Tuesday: Ran five miles with Beanie, 10:18 min/mile average which is pretty good for us. It was cold!!!

Wednesday: Spin class. It was a good class but I really need to get used to the tedium of cycling indoors again.

Thursday: Ran 4.5 miles with Beanie, 10:08 min/mile pace. We're getting better!

Friday: Weights class at a different Y than usual. It is fun to see different moves at other gyms. I got a great workout and was definitely sore afterwards.

Saturday: Surprise, surprise I went out on my actual bike with Richard and Kermit. I had to blow the spider webs off of it and pump the tires first. Plus find my cold weather gear again. But I really had no excuse - they met right in my driveway. We rode further than I would have on my own... although admittedly, on my own I would have done nothing. Our loop was 28 miles at a 16 mph average pace. I have definitely lost some of my cycling fitness, and I think I slowed them down today. We are hoping to ride outdoors all winter. I love riding with those guys.

Not too shabby for the off season!

Sleepovers and Growing Up

Last night, we attended a dinner with our relatively new supper club. Anyone who reads about my social activities will not be surprised that it is comprised of Beanie, Cate, Beth, me and families. We had the first event in October and another last night at Cate's house.

Cate completely outdid herself. We started the evening with delicious cranberry mint margaritas and shrimp dip, followed by a fabulous dinner of beef tenderloin with marsala wine sauce, rice, salad, and monkey bread with roasted garlic. Yum! Dessert, which was my task, kind of sucked. I made lemon bars and they really didn't turn out very well. Scouter tasted one, turned to me and said, "Did you try to make these healthy or something?" I didn't - they just weren't very good.

Anyway... as the eight adults were drinking and eating with wild abandon, the eight kids were playing hard. They kept calling us upstairs to see their performances. In one, Rainbow and Bean's daughter did a tango complete with dips and spins. In another, Rainbow, Bean's daughter and Cate's daughter did a little skit which included a planned Taz fly-by. He zipped into the scene, scooped Cate's five year old daughter up in his arms, looked at the audience and said, "I really don't like this part" right before he planted a big kiss right on her lips! They both giggled and fled the scene. Too funny.

The big girls, at age 11, were chatting and plotting a sleepover for that night which the little guys overheard. They immediately jumped on the bandwagon and started begging for a sleepover. Taz has had one sleepover and while it went well, I have not encouraged others as he rarely makes it through the night without waking me at least once. But last night, we finally agreed to leave Rainbow at Cate's for her first sleepover ever, and we brought Cate's son home with us. It went well and they were thrilled. It seems so grown up to me though and I don't know that I'm ready for this stage. I missed my baby girl this morning.

Tonight, she wants to have a sleepover with me. Hopefully they are still my babies for a little while longer.

Book Review

Right up front, let me just tell you that if you want a literate book review, check out Richard's comments on A Thousand Splendid Suns. I loved the Kite Runner and can't wait to read this one.

My book review, on the other hand, is on Deceptively Delicious by Jessica Seinfeld. I am one of those crazy people who can sit and read a cookbook and be completely engrossed. I enjoy cooking and it is my simplistic way of showing people I care about them. Mainly, I love eating good food so reading about it is entertaining to me.

This cookbook has generated a lot of controversy. Jessica is married to Jerry Seinfeld which some pundits are saying is why she got on Oprah. She is also being accused of copying a similar concept in a book called the Sneaky Chef. Personally, I have a hard time believing she stole a concept that just came out in April. I've never seen any industry move that quickly.

The book contains recipes using pureed vegetables and fruits in dishes that don't typically contain them. Like mashed potatoes. Or brownies. Another criticism is that the author is not teaching her children to eat properly by hiding vegetables in their food. If you read the book, that is not the case. She advocates serving healthy selections like fruits and vegetables alongside the other dishes. This is a way to get an extra dose of veggies into kids without creating battlegrounds over food. Which in my limited experience is a sure fire method of ensuring that kids hate whatever food it is you're fighting over.

I've tried a few of the recipes, including mashed potatoes with pureed cauliflower, a variation of the scrambled egg recipe using pureed cauliflower in an omelet, pancakes with pureed sweet potato, brownies with pureed spinach and carrots, spaghetti sauce with pureed carrots, and banana bread with pureed cauliflower and banana (go figure). I've been pleased with the results. But it is a lot of work to steam and puree veggies before even beginning the recipe. Once I have a stash in the freezer, it is much easier to cook on a regular basis.

In some cases, like the pancakes, the addition of the pureed vegetable changes the color. Taz thought they were delicious and liked the orange color. In fact, Taz has eaten and liked pretty much all the things he's tried... well, except the brownies. But that's mainly because he saw me putting spinach in them.

The brownie recipe warns cooks not to eat them warm as the spinach taste apparently is evident until they cool completely. Scouter and I liked them but they were definitely not as sweet as any of the brownies I've made before. Next time, I will probably add some honey or brown sugar to sweeten them more. I may add frosting to this batch.

Rainbow is my picky eater and so far, she won't eat any of the food I've made from this cookbook. Which is not unusual, veggies or no.

Would I recommend this cookbook? It depends. If you want to add vegetables to your daily diet without visibly eating more vegetables, the recipes are good. If you have a picky eater, he or she will probably not eat these dishes as the consistency and taste change somewhat. I haven't tried the mac and cheese or chicken nuggets yet, so I am hopeful but not optimistic that Rainbow will eat them.

Scouter and I like it though. So if I accomplish nothing but adding more nutrition to the meals he and I eat, then that's okay.

Just So You Know...

Have you seen the comic Funky Winkerbean in today's newspaper? (I would show it but I can't find it anywhere electronically. I guess I could scan it... but that might require me to figure out my printer/scanner/copier in agonizing detail.) Anyway, one of the characters calls the other a media whore and he replies that he is in fact a media connoisseur.

I am a bike connoisseur.

I am a draft connoisseur.

I am a traffic connoisseur.

Are you listening, Annnn and Richard?!?!?!?

And oh yes, I am most definitely a wine connoisseur.

Mary Jo is a goddess

I had my follow up appointment with hairstylist extraordinaire and TriGirl Mary Jo today. The goal for today's visit was to fix my color. I had to wait a few weeks since my cut because... well, it was just going to take that much time. I guess several years of coloring my own hair from a box caught up with me.

My hair was a big sweaty mass of Scary Spice goodness when I arrived immediately following a spin class. (Spin class is NOT FUN by the way.) Mary Jo did not appear to be bothered although I have to wonder if she felt unappreciated. Because in all honesty, this is how my hair looks much of the time.

Let me just say that I have so damn much hair that it took both Mary Jo and her colorist John, working together, a very long time to get the color on my hair. The goal was to get closer to my natural color with highlights. It came out a bit lighter than Mary Jo wanted, much to my secret delight. She'll go a little darker next time. Before you know it, I will look like my mother.

It wasn't quite time for a cut but Mary Jo had a new hairstyle called "long sexy" or something like that, and she wanted to try it out on me. I'm game. Voila, my hair has lots of nice layers. She said I can wear it straight or curly.

Now my hair hasn't been straight since... um... well... let's see... forever. But Stephanie gave me a blow out that is to die for. I asked her if she could come to my house every morning to fix my hair. It is gorgeous. I will never in a million years be able to do it myself.

Unfortunately, I left my camera in Wintergreen so I can offer you no photographic evidence.

You'll just have to trust me.

I am stunning.

But only for today.

And only if you are so captivated by my long straight flowing beautiful sexy locks that you can't tear your eyes away to look at the rest of me.

Working

I decided in my infinite wisdom to work from home today.

My morning started like any other Tuesday. Beanie and I ran five miles, of course chatting the whole time. I love running with her. We were stretching and chatting after our run, and since I was in no hurry to get to work, we came inside, had a Propel and chatted some more.

After she left, I showered and put my jammies back on. I came downstairs with wet hair and no makeup, fixed myself a bowl of oatmeal, and ate it by the fire. It was so toasty warm over there that I brought my laptop over and proceeded to have a lengthy email conversation with a friend. Then I ate a bag of Cheetos.

Time to get to work! Finally I connected to my office, checked email and opened the file I'm supposed to be finishing. I actually worked for awhile.

But look! It's lunchtime! I rummaged through the refrigerator and found some left over Chinese food. Is it still good? Smells okay... ate that.

Since I'm going to throw up anyway from eating week old chicken, I may as well have the popcorn I wanted. Wait - do I want popcorn or leftover pumpkin crisp? Popcorn? Pumpkin Crisp? Popcorn. Definitely popcorn.

Then pumpkin crisp.

And a little more work. Maybe I should go into the office tomorrow.

Um, excuse me.... I'm not feeling so well...

Happy Anniversary, Baby

Scouter and I celebrated our 18th wedding anniversary today. It's hard to believe. I have officially known him for longer than I haven't. Yeah, that's it, we were mere babies when we married.

In hindsight, we really were incredibly young although no one could tell us that at the time. I was 23 and he was 24. We dated for 2 1/2 years before we married and were very good friends for a year prior to that. We are so fortunate that we have grown up together instead of growing apart.

Quick side note: Why is it that sporting a "41" on my calf doesn't faze me - in fact, I'm kind of proud to be out there competing as a newby to the sport of triathlon in my 40s - but saying I've been married 18 years makes me feel old?

Anyway... to celebrate, we went to Wintergreen for an overnight trip. We rented a cozy little condo with a wood burning fireplace which was lovely. We watched the Tech game (ACC Champions - woo hoo!!!) and had a very nice dinner at the Devil's Knob grill, complete with shared desserts of lemon custard and cappuccino creme brule. You can tell we've known each other forever. When I passed on dessert, Scouter selected and ordered one for me because he knew I wouldn't be able to resist a bite - or two or three - of his. The kids were very supportive, telling us "happy anniversary" and "have fun" multiple times.

It was nice to get away and spend some alone-time together. And it was nice to come home to the life we have created, together.

Workout Week in Review

I'm only posting this to embarrass myself into doing a better job next week. After taking 11 days completely off, this is all I managed to pull together this week:

Saturday: Nothing. Talked about running all day long as I lounged and napped in my pj's.

Sunday: Nothing. Didn't even talk about it.

Monday: Weights class. We did some one-legged-squat exercise in a lunge position with our back feet up on a step and the toes of our front feet turned in. My butt was sore for four days. Tuesday, I winced every time I had to sit down.

Tuesday: Ran five miles with the Bean at a dismal 11:03 min/mi pace. Hey, we had a lot to talk about since we hadn't seen each other for an entire week.

Wednesday: Yoga. Personal space girl didn't crowd me for a rare treat but she did set her mat up right between me and the mirror, once again forcing me to move. Do you think I can get a restraining order requiring her to stay at least 10 feet away from me in class?

Thursday: Ran five miles with Beanie and Alison at a 10:03 min/mi pace. Planned our training run schedule for the Shamrock Half.

Friday: I have my gym bag packed but will probably not get there today. Today is my pseudo last day at my consulting job and my boss is taking me to lunch. (I say pseudo because in actuality I will be here a little bit next week to finish a project.)

Well I am embarrassed which hopefully will lead to just a smidgen of motivation!

Welcome

We have some new bloggers and a new blog site among the TriGirls... welcome! I look forward to feeling like I know you better than I really do by stalking your sites! (Just ask poor TriGirl40 about conversations I try to pick up in the middle with her after reading something on her blog. She must think I'm nuts.)

Bethany: tri-ing races not cases (how cute is that?!?)
Kate: it's kate's turn
Susie Q: boston/brazil bound (new blog for new goals after nailing IMFL)

These are all listed to the right for future reference. There's also a not-so-secret TriGirl blog hidden over there somewhere... I think she's been fully outed by someone other than me already. And it's a good one...

Crazy

My husband emailed me this picture today, with a note that said "When did you have time to pose for this?"

I love that man, even though he's a big fat liar.

The Parks

I've been planning a trip to Disney World since the kids were little, wanting to go when Taz was 7 and Rainbow 6. It turned out to be the perfect time - they are young enough to be into the characters and the magic but big enough to have the endurance for each day's activities and the height to ride most of the rides. Although I suspect that Disney has enough to offer for all ages that any time can be the perfect time.

I decided upon a seven day park hopper pass because I wanted our vacation to be leisurely. Frankly, I was envisioning a morning at one of the four Disney theme parks followed by some lounging at the pool. I pictured myself reclining with a People magazine while the kids frolicked, or perhaps even napping.

Didn't happen. But I will say, we made the most of our park passes and did pretty much everything we wanted to.

We arrived in Orlando around 1:30 p.m. on Friday. By the time we got to the hotel, checked in, and found some much needed food (it was early in the trip, after all, when we still had appetites), it was almost 5:00 so we decided to forgo a park that day and to explore our neighborhood instead. We were on a lake with other hotels, restaurants and shopping. Scouter and Taz became quickly enamoured with the ESPN restaurant/gift shop so that's where we spent much of our time. Friday was quite chilly and we wondered what arctic climates bred the people who were in the pool.

Saturday dawned sunny and beautiful. We walked to Epcot, which was about five minutes from our hotel. I had purchased and studied the Unofficial Guide to Walt Disney World, so we entered the park with a plan of action. It worked quite well, and we were able to do the three major rides very quickly: Test Track (twice), Mission to Mars, and Soaring (twice). While we were in line for Soaring, a Disney Dream Team popped up and awarded us FastPasses for six of the major attractions at Epcot, good for that day. Score! This is Disney's year of a million dreams, and the special FastPasses are one of the dream gifts. One of the Dream Team members chatted with Taz for awhile and reminded us of Scouter's brother Mark.

Taz and Rainbow were anxious to see some characters, and our longest line of the day was to do just that. We were rewarded by a host of characters, one after the other, including Mickey, Minnie, Chip & Dale, Donald Duck, Pluto, and Goofy. We got autographs and plenty of pictures.

In the middle of the afternoon, Taz said he was tired and ready to go. I could have coaxed him through it, but Scouter jumped on the opening and scurried off with Taz in tow to hit the ESPN zone to watch the Va. Tech/Miami football game (which we won by the way). Rainbow and I opted to use our Dream Team passes to hit Test Track, Mission to Mars, and Soaring yet again. Soaring was her favorite ride of the whole trip - it was a really cool simulation of gliding over many locations in California, including Napa, San Fransisco, the desert, LA, San Diego, and of course, Disney Land.

We swung by to pick up the boys on the way to our next adventure which was dinner and an Aloha Luau at the Polynesian Hotel. Dinner was much improved by the inclusion of wine and beer. The show included Hawaiian and other South Pacific native dances including a flame thrower. Taz and Rainbow even went on stage to learn the hula after much encouragement (aka bribery) from Daddy. Rainbow put her sweet little head down on the table and fell sound asleep before the show was over, so I carried her back to our hotel. That was my one and only workout of the week.

Damn at the rate I'm going, this trip post is going to be longer than one of my race reports even! I'll try to summarize...

Sunday, we went to MGM which is setup like a real Hollywood studio and actually functions as one although of course we didn't see any of the real stuff. We saw Donald and Daisy Duck while there and got the requisite autographs and pictures. Also Stitch. Taz and Scouter hit the Rock and Roll roller coaster and the Tower of Terror (Taz's two favorite attractions of the week) while Rainbow and I took in a condensed Beauty and the Beast show. We all enjoyed the High School Musical pep rally, several stunt shows, and the abundant Christmas lights after dark.

Monday, the kids were wiped and we all slept in a bit. We then went to the character breakfast at our hotel which featured Minnie, Goofy, and Chip & Dale. Rainbow decided that Minnie was her favorite while Taz preferred Goofy. Then Taz realized that he and Dale are both missing their two front teeth. Much excitement! I have a cute picture of Dale pointing to his mouth and Taz's.

We headed off to Animal Kingdom which was very crowded. Due to our late arrival, lines for the major attractions were too long for our children's tolerance. We ended up walking through several animal displays and seeing two shows, Lion King and Finding Nemo, which were excellent. Lion King featured interpretive dance to pretty much all the songs in the movie, while Nemo summarized the story with large puppets. That description totally doesn't do it justice! We saw Rafiki from Lion King and Pocahontas characters while we were there.

My book had warned us to save the Magic Kingdom for last since the other parks would pale in comparison. Tuesday, it was finally time to go. We got there right when the park opened and followed the book's itinerary almost exactly. It worked really well. We were able to ride Space Mountain and tons of other rides plus see shows like the 3D Mickey's Phiharmagic, Rainbow's favorite. She was also a big fan of Space Mountain and said she "cut her teeth" on that roller coaster. We saw Captain Hook, Mr. Smee, Peter Pan and Wendy for autographs and photos. We even snuck in some day two activities such as Pirates of the Caribbean and Big Thunder Mountain for the boys. We had a character dinner with Minnie, Goofy, Chip & Dale. I was a little disappointed to see the same characters again but the kids were thrilled so all was good. Our restaurant was right on the parade route so we popped out a few times to get a glimpse. Then we enjoyed a fantastic fireworks show.

Wednesday, we returned to the Magic Kingdom and we all rode Big Thunder Mountain. Twice. The kids begged to ride Splash Mountain, much to my dismay, so we finally did it. Rainbow's butt got soaked! We did a few other things then we actually returned to the hotel for some pool time! At last! Somehow though instead of relaxing in a lounge chair, I ended up going down this huge cool water slide into the pool with the kids. Repeatedly. Then we returned to the Magic Kingdom, rode Space Mountain again and did a few other things, then saw the parade in full and watched the fireworks again. Scouter is a fireworks connoisseur and deemed these among the best he's seen.

Thursday, we were on a mission to return to Animal Kingdom for the activities we were shut out of on Monday. Both were excellent. The Kilimanjaro Safari was so realistic, and we saw tons of animals - lions, giraffe, elephants, hippos, rhinos, monkeys, and more. And the Everest Expedition roller coaster was my favorite ride of all. It was good and long with several big drops and a backwards segment. Fun! We saw Pooh, Tigger, and yes Kermit, Eyore! We also caught some more shows including Flights of Wonder with live birds and a funny 3D bug film. Animal Kingdom was Scouter's favorite park. It definitely had the best shows. Taz and I agreed that our favorite park was whichever one we were in at the moment!

Thursday night, we headed back to MGM to see Fantasmic which was quite an experience. The staff at Disney is unbelievably creative. This show featured Mickey in a dream sequence with many of the characters in his imagination. The bad guys from many of his shows stage a coup but Mickey prevails. Many of the graphics were displayed on huge vertical shooting sheets of water. Rainbow found it to be frightening, but it was Taz's favorite show.

As we were heading back to our hotel, Rainbow - in very dramatic manner - started asking WHEN WHEN WHEN she was going to be able to get some sleep around here. She cracks me up. Taz and I strolled hand in hand as he regaled me with his vision for our family Christmas card, which by his plan will be a collage of all his character pictures and rides.

Friday morning, we hit Epcot one last time. The highlight of this visit was lunch in Italy at a restaurant called Tutto Italia which was by far the best meal we had. We would have liked to spend more time in the World Showcase area of Epcot which featured a number of countries from Japan to Mexico, but alas, we had to leave for the airport.

It was a great trip. The kids are already asking when we're going back.

Food Plan, Baby

In preparation for our trip to Disney, I pre-purchased their food plan which consisted of one table service meal (sit down/waiter), one counter service meal (walk up), and one snack for each of us per day. I was actually concerned that this wouldn't be enough food, but my goal was for Scouter to open his wallet as little as possible. Better for everyone if Daddy stays happy. And thinking about what this trip cost does not equal a happy Daddy.

One the first day, we discovered - after ordering lunch for each kid - that a counter service kid's meal is along the lines of 9 chicken nuggets, large fries, a huge drink, and a large ice cream sundae. In fact, every meal included dessert. We soon realized that we could order one meal for them to split and let them eat reasonable amounts more frequently as opposed to throwing away a lot of food and listening to whines about starvation a few short hours later.

Our meals were equally absurd. A counter service might be a personal pizza, side salad, large drink, and dessert. A table service meal was even bigger - appetizer, entree, drink, and dessert.

Early in the week, I was fairly well behaved and ordered desserts like fruit or Mickey rice crispy treats that I saved for the kids. By the end of the week, I was snarfing down carrot cake and cannoli like nobody's business, and shaking violently if I didn't have a sugar fix every four hours.

I'm pretty certain that all the visitors to our great nation shook their heads knowingly when they saw me walking by, laden down with trays of food that could feed a starving nation but really only destined for our family of four. Add in a breakfast buffet and two family style dinners and we really had more food than anyone should eat in a month.

To top it off, I cooked a massive make-up Thanksgiving dinner yesterday: turkey, ham, dressing, mashed potatoes, gravy, green bean casserole, sweet potato casserole, rolls, and pumpkin crisp with vanilla ice cream.

I now look like I'm about three months pregnant with my big pouch.

I call it my food plan baby.

Disney Pics

Here are some photos from our vacation last week. Enjoy! (BTW, still no run. I have, however, unpacked, done a million loads of laundry, and cooked a belated T'giving dinner...)

Cinderella's Castle at Magic Kingdom

The tree of life at Animal Kingdom. It has cool animal carvings all over it.

Up close and personal at Animal Kingdom

Me, my extra chin, and Minnie

All the characters in Fantasmic at MGM

The tree at Animal Kingdom

Two cool dudes

Pooh is such a gentleman! This is right before he kissed my hand.

Animal Kingdom Safari

Me at the end of the trip

I'm Baaaaack!

We got home late last night from a week long trip to Disney World. A fantastic week of eating, rides, shows, and family togetherness.

Must.Go.Run.

More later!

2007 and some preliminary thoughts on 2008

I started reflecting on this year and geez... no wonder I'm tired! I did an event every month from April through November!

April: Monument 10k - a PR for me.
May: Capital to Capital cycling event, half century (actually ~ 56 miles) - my longest distance at that point in time; Race for the Cure
June: Power Sprint triathlon - PR
July: Run leg of sprint tri relay with Annnn and Thomas - fun!
August: Luray Olympic - my first
September: Heart of Virginia cycling event (metric century Sat followed by 40 miles Sunday) - the first time I'd ridden that far or two consecutive days
October: Giant Acorn sprint triathlon
November: Luter Family YMCA Duathlon - my first and possibly only

My training volume increased significantly this year, especially on the bike. And I learned to love my bike. Which is great because 2007 was my year of the bike!

Even though I didn't swim nearly as much as I should have this year, swim volume was up significantly too. Run volume was down but I expected that. Something has to give, right? Plus, I was running four days a week for awhile last year and that's just too much for my old body and for my general interest in the sport.

Weight workouts and yoga suffered this year, in part because I couldn't do them for awhile when I broke my finger and in part because I just couldn't fit everything in this summer.

So what to do next? I'm starting to think about next year. For big overarching goals, I'd like to continue to focus on cycling while also paying more attention to the run. Consistency and a bit more speed would be great.

As for races, there are quite a few variables at play and I definitely won't do this many events, but the potential options include:

March: Shamrock half marathon - already committed and registered. The only definite on this list!
April: Monument Ave 10k - what the hell, I do it every year and I'll already be trained from Shamrock
May: Cap to Cap half or full century; White Lake half IronMan - extremely tentative.
June: MS150 cycling event - this is a very personal cause for me and I really want to make it work this year; Power Sprint
August: Luray Olympic with Jennifer - I have something to prove after last year. Okay, this may have to be another definite.
September: Heart of Virginia cycling; Naylor's Olympic - if something goes really wrong with Luray plans
October: Giant Acorn - because I think Jennifer will make me do it again. Maybe she'll let me get away with volunteering. That water was cold!!! But then again, the bike route was really nice...

Lots of fun events to think about and training to anticipate. I will be able to commit once I get the rest of my life figured out.

Now about that break...

See ya on the flip side!

Workout Week In Review

I know, I know... it's only Thursday. But I have decided that I deserve a little break. I am officially off through Thanksgiving.

Mkay, I may not deserve a little break, but I definitely need it. I am burned out!

Anyway... back to the subject at hand...

Monday: Weights class. Not good. See previous rant. BTW, I have complained about this instructor to the Y but the response was that all of their instructors are appropriately trained. I suggested that someone monitor her class to validate proper application of said training, to no avail.

Tuesday: Ran five miles with the Bean, 10:41 min/mi average. We were slow, but we had fun! It was sprinkling, so we didn't want to slip on wet leaves and hurt ourselves or anything. That's my story.

Wednesday: Yoga. Unaware-of-personal-space-violations-girl was on the other side of the studio. Thank God. I had a good practice and my abdominals are sore today.

Thursday: Ran 4.5 miles. It was raining. Apparently all that needs to be done to end the drought is for me to run more. (But I'm taking the next week off anyway... sorry, Virginia.)

I registered for the Shamrock half marathon yesterday after talking myself into it through my own blog post on the subject, and I figured out my paces for the FIRST training. So today, I ran a one mile warm up followed by a three mile tempo run and a half mile cool down. My tempo pace is 9 min/mile based on my most recent 5k time. I ran the first mile in 8:55, the second in 9:06, and the third in 8:36. I need to work on getting a feel for the right pace, especially when I start feeling a bit tired. Then I got home, looked at my training plan and realized that my tempo pace is actually 9:15 min/mile. That's a relief - gives me hope that I can sustain pace on longer tempo runs. Or perhaps I'm just sandbagging?

The FIRST plan is a ten week plan, so I don't officially start it until the beginning of February. But it was fun to have a goal for an individual run and I will keep playing around with speed work and tempo runs for the next two months anyway.

Now for a little break...

Watcha doin' for St. Patrick's Day?

Alison put the idea into my head and Beanie and Annnn helped it grow... I'm thinking about running the Shamrock Half Marathon in March. It's sponsored by Yuengling, so it's got to be good right? I'm pretty sure that was the hook for Annn!

Alison even told Scouter about it for me and it is already an approved event. I didn't even have to open a bottle of wine (although I probably will).

I ran the Army 10 miler last October and swore that I'd never run any further. Kind of like doing a sprint triathlon and saying that was a good distance, then doing an Olympic. And still contemplating a half IM.

I'm thinking I'll follow the FIRST half marathon training plan which is a three day a week running plan with cross training mixed in two days a week. The kicker is that all runs are timed with speed work, tempo and long runs once each per week. The Bean is doing it with me, so we will have to work out our goal time together.

There's an 8k on Saturday with the full and half marathons on Sunday of Saint Patrick's Day weekend. All events are in Virginia Beach, starting and ending on the boardwalk. Beer and food at the end.

Doesn't that sound fun?!? Who else is in?

Rant Alert

So I was incorrect about my exercise class instructors last week, as I was rudely reminded because I had the instructor whose class I don't like for today's weight class. She is a very nice person; I just dislike her classes. Especially her weights classes.

Today, we started with biceps then moved onto inner thigh followed by triceps. The absolute last muscle groups we did were hamstrings and quadriceps. I have an issue with working smaller muscle groups first because it becomes virtually impossible to adequately exhaust larger muscle groups when the small ones are pre-fatigued.

And I know from experience that this is a good way to get hurt. I pulled my rotator cuff in this instructor's very class several years ago because my shoulder muscles were exhausted before we did upper back. Now I am careful to use light weights on the early sets of small muscle groups so I don't get hurt. What I should do is check the schedule and skip class in favor of the weight room when she teaches.

My other issue is that this teacher provides very little, if any, instruction on proper form. Today, I saw several participants doing lunges with a narrow stance and knees jutting way over their front feet. I also saw people hyper extending their knees and elbows in various exercises and pulling too hard on their necks during sit ups. Incorrect form is another recipe for injury.

I learned what I know about weight lifting at Mike's Olympic Gym in Mechanicsville in the early 90s. Scouter's brother Mark was living here at the time and he thoroughly researched gyms before joining Mike's. He recommended that I try it, and I went there for about a year until I changed jobs and the commute was too much. Although I was intimidated by the overabundance of testosterone there, I stuck with it as long as I did because of Mike. He took the time to show each member the correct way to perform every exercise, and he and his staff were vigilant about proper form always. My program changed every three months; it was like having a personal trainer for every workout.

Now I don't expect Mike's level of customization and attention from the Y, but I do expect to take a class that doesn't set me up for injury. Am I wrong?

Workout Week In Review

Dang, I haven't blogged about workouts in a long time. Since that is the purported reason for this blog, let's wrap up last week, shall we?

(Notice the "dang." A girls gotta keep her PG rating, you know.)

Last week, I essentially returned to my pre-triathlon addiction workout schedule. And I felt like a big fat slacker.

Sunday: Nothing to see here. Ate a lot of Halloween candy. I did clean my closet, swap my summer and winter clothes, and took three bags of circa 80s clothing to Goodwill. Clearly, a long overdue task.

Monday: Weight class. The teacher I don't like taught but she didn't start with the small muscle groups like she usually does (calves before quads, biceps before pecs...) My butt and upper hammies were sore for days afterwards. Not weight training all summer really hurt my hamstring and upper body strength in particular. I have a lot of work to do this winter.

Tuesday: Ran 4.5 miles with Beanie at a fast clip (for us) of 9:54 min/mi. Solved the world's problems. Or at least b*tched about our own. And planned our fun evening in Charlottesville for the Police concert which caused us to run 1/2 mile further than planned. Good stuff.

Wednesday: Yoga. I had issues with personal space but otherwise enjoyed the class. I'm getting a little better since I've started going more regularly again.

Thursday: Ran 5 miles with the Bean. My Garmin battery wasn't charged so I don't have statistics. We planned our upcoming roadtrip and tailgate party for the Redskins game on Sunday.

Friday: I missed my weight class as I had a work function during lunch but I got to go biking with Richard later in the day. Yeah!!! We road a 20 mile RABA route to Ashland at 16.5 mph average. We hit a little rain and it started getting dark earlier than we anticipated, but it was still great to get out on my bike and to see Richard. Afterwards, I met Liz and Sharon for drinks in my lovely cycling clothes. No way would I go out in public in bike shorts if I didn't love those guys so much. Thank goodness I didn't see anyone else I know. I think I scared people.

Saturday: Squeaked in a 4 mile run by taking Rainbow with me. She biked beside me. We had lots of stops including one where she played on the playground while I ran around the parking lot three times. I did some speed work when she flew down hills then walked with her uphill. It wasn't much of a workout, but we had fun. Then we showered, ran some errands, and got pedicures at her suggestion. We now sport matching hot pink toes.

Sunday: Zero zip nada on the exercise front. Cocktails at the Skins game. Lots of sleep in the car on the way home.

I want to figure out a way to get more biking into my week. And I've actually even thought about maybe just possibly getting back into the pool. We'll see what happens...

Skins

Being a Skins fan is a lot like being a Tech fan. You can never be certain of victory until the game is totally completely over.

Take today's game for example. Scouter and I went with Beanie and Bryan. We had a blast! But the Skins gave up a touchdown, a two point conversion and a field goal with less than four minutes in the game. Hey, they were winning when we left!

The best part of the game was hanging with our friends at our tailgate. We arrived at the game early to find a big crowd with the same idea. We had music, football, and some guy riding around on a mobile cooler (seriously). We also had chillies and a nice tailgate buffet. Here's Bryan, Beanie, Scouter, and me:

Our seats were great for both game and people watching. Here's Scouter trying to scrunch in so we'd all fit in the camera frame. Think he tailgated too much perhaps?

And here's the beautiful threesome that were blocked in the previous photo: Beanie, me, and my extra chin:

One of Beanie's friends wanted to know if we thought we were still in college, what with the concert on Tuesday and the game today. It was a good week!

Just wastin' time

Margo posted a link to a fun time waster last week, and I've been dying to check it out. God knows I've got tons of time on my hands. Plus, I really wanted to know what my blog rating is. So what did I find out?

• I don't know as much about Disney as I thought I did, scoring only 57% on the Disney Trifecta.
• My blog is rated PG because I wrote "ass" twice and "dangerous" once. Guess the tool didn't check comments.
• Ray Charles, Louis L'Amour, Spencer Tracy and Alexander the Great died on my birthday. Not the same year though. ; )
• I am 64% addicted to blogging. That's a relief. I expected much higher.
• I'm only 38% geek. That's not good considering my profession is IT.
• My current level of ability in 8th grade science is only a D+ at 69%. Thank goodness it was better when I was actually in 8th grade.

Pre-Concert Pics

We had a fun dinner at Baja Bean Company in Charlottesville before the Police concert last night...

Here are the girls:

Sue, Jennifer, Beth, me, Cate, Corinne

I'm only posting this photo because Bryan was being an ass about getting his picture taken. Here's my revenge! That's a lesson he won't soon... um... even know about...

Wood, Bryan, and Scouter

A good time was had by all!

Don't tell Scouter...

... that I'm completely in love with Sting. Again.

I saw the Police in concert the summer between my sophomore and junior year in high school. It shocks me now that my parents permitted me to spend the day at Virginia Beach with my boyfriend, then go to the concert at Norfolk Scope. They were on the Synchronicity tour. A then-little known band called REM opened for them. It was amazing. Given the band member's animosity towards each other, I never thought I'd have the chance to see them in concert again.

But, it happened! And we went to the Police concert last night with a big group of friends. (I'll upload pictures tonight). Andy Summers looked like an old curmudgeon (and sounded like one in the pre-concert interview in the RTD's Weekender section last Thursday) but played flawlessly. Stewart Copeland was particularly amazing during "Wrapped Around Your Finger" when he not only played the drums but some cool chime kinda things as well. Total aside, but I didn't know he was from Virginia - he ran to the mike at the end of the concert and said so as a seeming afterthought. It was the most enthusiasm either of them exhibited all night.

But Sting... ahh Sting... he made the show. His amazing voice, weather beaten good looks, yoga sculpted body, and cute little dance bob were mesmerizing.

I'm pretty sure when he sang "Every Little Thing You Do Is Magic," he was looking right at me.

Another kind of training...

Yesterday morning as I was upstairs getting ready for work, I heard Scouter in the kitchen, chatting away. The kids had already gone to school, so I knew he was talking to our new-to-us dog.

As I came downstairs, I teased him that he never chats with me that much in the morning.

His reply?

"I still have hope for training the dog. I gave up on you a long time ago."

Shoulda stalled a little longer...

Here's Margo's fabulous race/ER report.

Duathlon Race Report (aka I am in awe of Annnn)

Jennifer, I'm doing this for you. My inclination was to wait for Margo to report then add my own race details. But I know you can't wait any longer so here goes! (ha ha)

Annn and I arrived in the cute little town of Smithfield, Virginia, at about 4:00 on Friday afternoon... after I got us lost twice just trying to leave Richmond. I really don't know my way around at all once I get south of the James River. Sad, I know, given that I've spent my whole life here.

Anyway... packet pickup didn't start until 5:00 so we took the opportunity to ride the course. And by ride, of course I mean drive. There were a few scary notations on the route maps. First, we took a look at the blind hairpin turn followed by a steep uphill on the bike course. We hit the turn following a fairly blind s-shaped downhill section, and it was very sharp. Brake hard and ride slow kind of sharp. But then there was a little flat before a mild uphill. We rode the downhill leading to the turn again as Annn plotted her strategy, then we scoffed at the "steep" uphill. We were happy to be prepared for that turn on race day and hoped there wouldn't be much traffic on the narrow roads.

We rode the rest of the bike route to become more familiar with it and noted false-flats, some sandy and muddy areas. We got a kick out of "Easy Street" around mile 9 and commented that we would look for it on race day for a quick giggle.

Next we decided to check out the run route. We ended up behind a car carrying a gorgous Felt tri bike with Zipp wheels and paid more attention to that than the actual route. They turned off before we did, so we caught the cobblestone section, a store called Cloud 9 (to go along with Easy Street), and the "steep downhill" followed by a "steep uphill" that was supposed to give us a "sense of accomplishment" at the end of the race. The hill was steep but short. We scoffed again.

As we headed to the B&B, Annn noted that our day had gone remarkably well and that something better go wrong soon or she would be very worried about the race - thereby initiating a series of little mishaps. The B&B confused our reservation, and when we finally got a room, it was still dirty from a previous occupant. Our next room was clean but bore the room number 2213. Lucky 13. Whew, at least we got all that out of the way...

We hooked up with Margo and Rcat for packet pickup, which went smoothly, and dinner at the hotel. The B&B had a beautiful view of the Pagan River and dinner was quite delicious. Annn selected the best meal with sweet potato crusted rockfish, and my seafood medley covered in cheese and bacon was a tasty indulgance. Pretty much everything on the menu contained ham or bacon - we were in Smithfield, Virginia after all. I had my usual pre-race wine but fortunately not in vast quantities this time.

The wind had picked up by then and the weather had turned very chilly. We watched the weather channel and saw that Hurrican Noel was still tracking off the east coast with a forecast for a cool windy morning and the liklihood of overnight rainfall. Annn and I flipped on the gas fireplace and snuggled into our king size bed for the night.

Good grief Charlie Brown, I haven't even gotten to race day yet! Moving on...

The race started at a civilized 9:30 a.m. so we had plenty of time the next morning. A quick check outside revealed cool temperatures but no rainfall. Local weather showed temperatures in the mid-40s with a high in the 60s expected later in the day once the hurricane cleared the area. I layered on most of the clothes I brought to give myself options during the race, we took a few pictures, and headed to the race site.

Annn and I had excellent rack positions in this small race, right by the bike exit/entrance. We set up our transition areas then headed inside the Y for timing chips and warmth. I decided to start the first run in my tri shorts and a light long sleeved running shirt. I froze my butt off beforehand but it was perfect once the horn sounded.

With less than 100 participants, we all started together. The pack broke up pretty quickly. About 10 yards in, I looked at the guy beside me and said that I was already tired. He laughed, we started chatting and ended up running together for the whole first 5k. My new friend Ken pushed me to a 26:59 minute first leg. (8:42 min/mi, 4/5 age group, 16/27 overall women)

My transition was slow as usual. I changed shoes, threw on my cool new TriGirl cycling jacket, gloves and helmet, and had a conversation with the girl beside me about my Newton running shoes. Saw Ken leaving T1, telling me to hurry up so we could stick together. Finally took off. Realized that I still had my running visor on, dumped my bike, ran back to transition and peeled it off. Tried again. (2:10, 4/5 AG, 23/27 women)

There were a lot of cyclists leaving transition at the same time so I put the hammer down to get around them. I passed most of them including Ken by the 1 mile marker. For whatever reason, I was entertained that there was a one mile marker. I saw one or two more bikers on the course leading up to the hairpin turn, but the run had really seperated the field more than I expected. It was very very windy - a swirly wind that was a headwind one second and a cross wind the next. Funny, I never noticed a tail wind. The turn was at about 3.5 miles and it wasn't bad since I was prepared. There was a truck coming the other way which could have been ugly if I had been a few seconds later, but the course was well populated with friendly volunteers so I'm sure I would have been fine.

The next stretch was kind of boring. I was feeling all alone when a woman blasted past me. She looked like she could have been in my age group so that motivated me to pick up the pace a bit, but pretty soon I was by myself again. There was some jack weed-whacking his yard and blowing crap all over the road around mile 7. I muttered an Annn-patented "martha focker" at him as I rode by. I made a turn and saw a biker on the side of the road. "You okay?" I called. "Cramping," he replied. After I passed him, it occured to me that I should have offered a Gu. Sorry, dude.

My own nutrition/hydration plan was going well. I had most of a Cliff bar and a bottle of water when I woke up, followed by a Gu before the start and Accelerade on the bike. I stopped drinking around mile 10 on the bike so my stomach wouldn't be sloshy for the second run. It worked well for me.

Around mile 9, I saw a guy on the side of the road with a flat. Been there, so I commisserated and told the next group of volunteers that he was back there. I saw Easy Street and smiled thinking of Annn and hoping she was having a good ride. As it turns out, our ride times were only 12 seconds apart! Sweet, partner!

Somewhere around mile 13, I flipped my bike computer to check my pace so far - 16.8. That's not acceptable, I thought to myself as I got a little more serious. I hit the long final stretch and gave it all I had to raise the average to 17.3 mph by the end. As I dismounted the bike, a friendly volunteer said, "You made up a lot of time on the bike!" "I tried!" I told her although I thought it odd and wondered if she mistook me for someone else. (56:53, 3/5 AG, 11/27 women)

I was more efficient in T1, dumping my jacket and gloves, changing shoes, grabbing Garmin and visor, jogging out. No chatting. I wondered how far behind me Ken was and if he'd catch me on the second run. (1:18, 3/5 AG, 16/27 women)

The run route had a lot of turns and therefore a lot of volunteers. I tried to thank each volunter I saw on the course all day. On the second 5k run, I kept saying, "It's harder this time!" The volunteers laughed and offered encouragement. I could see a few people in front of me but like the bike, I felt alone.

This wasn't a USAT event and the web site hadn't said that iPods were forbidden. I wore mine to the race start but Margo told me they had announced that they weren't allowed so I tucked it in my shirt for most of the race. After the first mile of the second run, however, I decided I needed the distraction and pulled it out. For the next mile, I listened to Scissor Sisters and Hootie. Then I needed me some Nickleback and started flipping through my tunes to find Rock Star. As I approached the steep downhill/uphill section, I settled on Nelly's Hot in Herre. Then I decided to flip one more time then I'd flip back to Nelly if necessary. I accidentally skipped two songs, went back one, and found Rock Star. Yes!!!! The hill was definitely feeling more significant at this point. I hit it happy, turned the corner to the home stretch, and jogged it in with all I had left. (28:05, 9:04 min/mi, 3/5 AG, 14/27 women).

I walked around a bit, actually stretched which is rare for me in a race, grabbed a bottle of water and saw Margo. She told me about her tough day (poor thing). We headed back to transition to grab cameras. I checked results and saw that I was third in my age group (14/27 overall women), which I thought was also last. I didn't realize until I checked results this morning to give you all these lovely statistics that there were actually five of us, so I feel a little better about my podium win. (HA!)

The race director started announcing awards near the finish line and we saw Rcat finish. We were chatting and waiting for the women's results when Annn approached the finish line. We cheered like crazy, and she called, "I'm going to need medical attention" to the volunteers. That's when we noticed the dried blood all over her right leg and the huge gash on her knee. Volunteers swarmed her with a first aid kit. She fell at the 1.5 mile mark on the second run, rolled around a bit, and kept going. I am in awe.

As Annn gimped to the curb, I heard the race director call my name and I zipped through the small crowd to pick up my Luter Family YMCA Duathlon pint glass. I quickly returned to Annn who was getting iced and wrapped. That's when I heard the race director call her name as second place Athena. I ran to get her pint glass, and Margo photographed her with injuries and award.

The volunteers recommended that we take Annn to the closest emergency room. Despite her protests that all she needed was a little peroxide, we quickly gathered all our stuff from transition and bundled her off to the nearest hospital. Four hours, two x-rays and eight stitches later, she hobbled out of the ER on crutches and whacked on pain killer. I never saw her cry or heard her complain.

I am in awe.

New Pup

Last May, we lost our sweet dog. She was our almost-18 year old black lab, and we were so fortunate to have her as long as we did.

We weren't really ready to think about another dog yet, although Taz and Rainbow have been asking for awhile.

Then a friend at work told me he was looking for a new home for their six year old cockapoo. A one year old baby, a cranky mother in law, and the dog were too much, and the dog was not getting the attention and exercise she needed. After some discussion, Scouter and I agreed to take her.

Meet Duchess!

(And yes I am still stalling on the race report, but here's a tease...)

Pre-Du Pics

Smithfield is a really pretty town. We stayed at a nice B&B on a river inlet.

Annn, me, Margo and RCAT

Notice Annn's face as she pinches our ass

We're all happy now

And, yes, now that you mention it, I am stalling... it will be much easier to link to Margo's post once she blogs. tee hee