Somehow I feel like time is just slipping away from me this summer. How can it almost by July already?! I feel like I'm behind on blogging on the girls so we'll see what stories come to mind...
Most recently we enjoyed a weekend in Des Moines. Josh participated in the Hy-Vee triathlon and the girls and I got to spend some quality time with Shelly's family. Fun was definitely had by all! I don't think the smile left Makenna's face the entire time she was there :) She was in her glory shadowing her older cousin Josie! When she woke up on Sunday morning she rolled over with a huge grin on her face and exclaimed "I get to play with Josie some more!" She bounded out of bed and ran to find Josie!
Josh had a great performance at the triathlon and really enjoyed himself. It was his best performance yet and he said it is the triathlon he has enjoyed the most so far. He is definitely improving as the summer goes on so it will be interesting to see how he does in the other four triathlons he has planned this summer (yes, he is an overachiever!).
Currently the girls are enjoying swimming lessons. Makenna is really improving on her swimming skills and Maryn has become a little water baby! Last summer Maryn was terrified of the water. Whether it was a pool or a sprinkler, she wouldn't go near it. Now I can't get her out of the water! She is doing great with all of her new water skills and really loves to blow bubbles in the water! The only bad part is that I usually have to deal with a tantrum every time I get her out of the water.
Makenna had her first accident on the her bike. Josh and I saw it coming and I guess you could say it was probably partly our fault because we both started yelling at her, thus distracting her and we probably made the situation worse. We were walking on our trail (she was obviously riding her bike) and we came to a little dip in the trail that was a curve. We were both yelling at her to make sure she would use her brakes and I think we just confused her. She took a tumble, but she is such a brave little girl. You could tell she was sucking it up... no tears, nothing. Her voice was trembling a little, but she just kept telling us that "I'm okay mommy, I'm really okay." I think she was just in a little shock from the fact that she fell. Luckily there were no major injuries, just a little ouchie on her ankle (which she didn't even notice until much later). She kept saying how glad she was that she had her helmet and knee pads and elbow pads on (Mom and Dad were glad too!). And the part that I'm so proud of... we gave her the option of riding her bike home or riding in the wagon with Maryn and without hesitation she chose to ride her bike! What a brave little girl!
Maryn decided to shock us all this weekend by starting to potty train. She came in to the bathroom with me once at Fleischmanns and she was trying to climb on the potty and then started pulling her pants down. Obviously she wanted to try so I sat her up on the potty. She started off by just tooting a little (which still impressed me because she knew to push) and then she peed in the potty!!! I think I was in shock! And the little girl continued all weekend long! I think she peed in the potty at least 10 times over the weekend! She has continued to enjoy pottying this week, but it's definitely fallen off some. I'm not so sure this is the real deal, but I'm willing to explore it with her. If she's interested, then I'm ready to go! Now my issue is going to be finding little enough underwear... anyone know where you can find size 18 month underwear?? Her butt is so tiny I'm thinking I'm going to have to look in the doll section.
Wednesday, June 25, 2008
Sunday, June 15, 2008
Floods of 2008
I, like everyone else in the state of Iowa, feel just devastated by these floods. We are one of the lucky ones considering that our house is completely dry. TrueNorth (Josh's office) took on water and they are still under mandatory evacuation. Josh was able to get into the office a little bit yesterday and check out the damage and he said that TrueNorth was one of the lucky ones. They probably only had 2-3 inches in the Employee Benefits area and LOTS of water in the basement (where Accounting is located). I really feel helpless through all of this. My heart just hurts for the thousands of people that lost absolutely everything. I know many of you have seen pictures on TV or in the paper, but you seriously can't understand the true devastation until you see it firsthand with you very own eyes. Josh and I were out on a date for our anniversary last night and after dinner all I wanted to do was drive over I-380 and see for myself. Total and utter devastation. But as you have heard over and over, this is Iowa and we are proud of it. We will pull together like Iowans do and we will rebuild our community - neighbors helping neighbors.
The Iowa City/Coralville area, just about 20 miles south of us, is getting hit just as hard if not worse than Cedar Rapids did. This is just as hard for us as Josh and I called Iowa City/Coralville our home for 7 years of our adult life. The most devastating part of this for me is the absolute destruction of our beloved former church Parkview. I don't think I can put into words for you what this church means to me... I really grew as a person at this church. I guess you could say maybe that I really formed my true identity as a Christian there and matured in my faith. This is where Josh and I spent most of our dating/engaged/early married relationship learning how to build our relationship on Christ. We dedicated Makenna to the Lord at this church. We built incredible, life-long friendships at this church. The people at Parkview are truly amazing and they let that shine this week in their efforts to try and save the church. Unfortunately despite their superhuman attempts to save the building, it is now gone. With all that said, I know Parkview and I know they are staying strong. They see this as God's will and that God will use this for good. They look for every opportunity to share God's good news and they will continue to do this even through their own devastation. They know that God is sovereign and that He will give them the strength to get through this tragedy. Please keep Parkview Church in your prayers.
Two of the pastors were allowed in with a CNN crew to take a look at the damage on Saturday afternoon. I took all of these pictures from the Parkview website. Keep in mind the water won't crest until late Monday or Tuesday....
Taft Speedway is the street leading into Parkview's parking lot
The view from the parking lot, looking at the building
Another shot of the church
The doors leading into the Parkview church offices
This is looking at the doors as you walk into the Worship Center
Random debris floating through the office
The toddler nursery where I volunteered and Makenna spent many of her Sunday mornings
Inside the Worship Center looking back at the balcony that houses all of the technology
The atrium
To give you some perspective, this is a picture of the Atrium as they were trying to evacuate everything on Thursday. Amazing how much can change in just a few hours.
I just thought this shot was appropriate...
The Iowa City/Coralville area, just about 20 miles south of us, is getting hit just as hard if not worse than Cedar Rapids did. This is just as hard for us as Josh and I called Iowa City/Coralville our home for 7 years of our adult life. The most devastating part of this for me is the absolute destruction of our beloved former church Parkview. I don't think I can put into words for you what this church means to me... I really grew as a person at this church. I guess you could say maybe that I really formed my true identity as a Christian there and matured in my faith. This is where Josh and I spent most of our dating/engaged/early married relationship learning how to build our relationship on Christ. We dedicated Makenna to the Lord at this church. We built incredible, life-long friendships at this church. The people at Parkview are truly amazing and they let that shine this week in their efforts to try and save the church. Unfortunately despite their superhuman attempts to save the building, it is now gone. With all that said, I know Parkview and I know they are staying strong. They see this as God's will and that God will use this for good. They look for every opportunity to share God's good news and they will continue to do this even through their own devastation. They know that God is sovereign and that He will give them the strength to get through this tragedy. Please keep Parkview Church in your prayers.
Two of the pastors were allowed in with a CNN crew to take a look at the damage on Saturday afternoon. I took all of these pictures from the Parkview website. Keep in mind the water won't crest until late Monday or Tuesday....
Taft Speedway is the street leading into Parkview's parking lot
The view from the parking lot, looking at the building
Another shot of the church
The doors leading into the Parkview church offices
This is looking at the doors as you walk into the Worship Center
Random debris floating through the office
The toddler nursery where I volunteered and Makenna spent many of her Sunday mornings
Inside the Worship Center looking back at the balcony that houses all of the technology
The atrium
To give you some perspective, this is a picture of the Atrium as they were trying to evacuate everything on Thursday. Amazing how much can change in just a few hours.
I just thought this shot was appropriate...
Thursday, June 12, 2008
Maryn - 21 Months Old
Nicknames: MarBear
Weight & Height: So I really don't think she has gained much weight. She weighed 22 lbs 2 oz. the day of her surgery. She is eating better since she got her tubes in so maybe if we're lucky she's pushing 23 lbs.
Hair: Light brown hair. She got her first hair cut about a month ago and I just had them trim up the back, but it already seems to have grown back. She's slowly but surely getting more hair on the top and sides. Her hair does the most darling thing though and it will curl up in the back so you will see two little wispy curls framing the side of her face :)
Favorite foods: She has developed a love for drinkable yogurt (as long as you give her a straw) and condiments. She will eat so much more if we just let her dip whatever she's eating in some kind of dip (ketchup, mustard, veggie dip, etc). Last night she was even dipping her slices of red pepper in ketchup. Good thing Daddy was out mowing :) She seems to have a thing for anything salty foods.
Favorite Drink: She only drinks whole milk, water, and water with an ounce of apple juice in it.
Favorite toys: Slides! She has discovered slides this spring and is in love with them! She will go round in circles going down our slide, back up the stairs, down the slide, back up the stairs, etc. And if we're at a park, she has to try every slide in the park and gets really mad when Mommy tells her "no" to the big ones. She thinks she should be able to go down the huge slides like her big sister.
Favorite books: Right now she's really into a library book that has pictures of farm animals. We will point to the pictures and she will make whatever sound that particular animal makes. She could seriously go through this book a half dozen times in one sitting. She also likes the "Foot Book" by Dr. Seuss.
Favorite Game: Makenna has taught her how to play tag and she thinks this is lots of fun. I'm not sure she fully understands what she's doing but she likes to run around and shriek with her sister! She also likes Duck, Duck, Goose but doesn't understand how to play it appropriately. The other day at Bible study I found her hitting one little boy on the head repeatedly while screaming "Duck, Duck, Duck!"
Favorite stuffed animal: Always and Forever Pup Pup
Favorite Person: In Maryn's own words "Nenny"!
Bedtime: Approximately 7:30 pm (we finally were able to move it back a little without negative affects on her mood or sleep patterns)
Wake-up time: Approximately 7:15 am
Naps: She typically goes down for her nap between 12:30 and 1:00 pm and sleeps for 2 - 3 hours.
What she's saying: More and more everyday. She tries to say almost everything but not all of it is understandable. Josh, Makenna and I understand a lot of what she says but I'm sure other people just look at us like we're crazy. She says "thank you" and "excuse me" at all the appropriate times.
Latest Accomplishment: Most of her recent accomplishments involve talking. We have a long list of animals and we can just say the name of the animal or point to a picture and she will make whatever sound they make. My favorite is when she meows like a kitty cat because it sounds like the meanest cat ever! She also thinks that anything as big as a cow that stands on four legs says "Moo"! She has also mastered pointing to the various parts of her body when asked. She can do hair, eyes, mouth, nose, ears, belly button, feet and hands.
Likes: playing outside, building with blocks, coloring, playing with whatever toy Makenna has, stealing bites of Mommy and Daddy's food, Veggie Tales, using big people utenstils
Dislikes: having someone else try to brush her teeth (she wants to do it herself!), putting in her ear plugs in the bathtub, sitting in her stroller too long
What gets said about Maryn most often: "Look at that dimple! Oh Daddy you're going to have your hands full!" I think we hear that at least a few times every week.
Best known for: The twinkle in her eyes. It doesn't matter how naughty she's being, all she has to do is smile and twinkle those brown/green eyes at me and Josh and we just melt
Health: Maryn had tubes put in her ears on April 24. All went well and she is so much happier now! She had a little cold since then but no ear infections! Yeah! She's had two outdoor ouchies resulting in a scab on her forehead and a scab on her knee.
How she's like Daddy: Extremely focused and determined... if she wants something you better believe she's going to try everything she can to get it. She also has absolutely no fear. She'll try anything and even if she gets hurt, she'll try again!
How she's like Mommy: Very social child! She makes it a habit to hug or cuddle with every mom at each playgroup and Bible study we go to. She cases the room to find the mom with an empty lap and she'll make her way over to them and cuddle with that mom until their child comes back. Then she'll move on to the next one. She usually makes it to every mom every time! It has become quite the conversation piece at these groups!
Tuesday, June 10, 2008
Red Pancakes
One of the girls' favorite weekend morning traditions is making red pancakes with Daddy. Makenna calls them red pancakes because they are made from a mix in a red box :) The girls always devour the pancakes. Makenna can easiliy put down four good size pancakes and will continue to ask for more until we stop her! Red pancakes happens so frequently at our house that I just had to capture it in pictures. Here are the girls helping Daddy make some red pancakes this past Saturday morning...
Friday, June 6, 2008
Pigman Pictures
My very sweet mother surprised me this week by putting all of our triathlon pictures on a CD and mailing them to me. And thanks to my dad for taking all of the pictures! It has been fun to look through all of them! Here is our race day in pictures....
Josh coming in on the bike (white jersey). He's too fast... all you usually see is his backside as he goes by :)
Josh going out on the run and waving to the girls!
Once again, Josh is too fast for pictures...
The girls being so good at the "Piggy" race
Me coming in on the bike (pink jersey)
Me going out on the run and waving to the girls
Another of me going out on the run (I'm a lot slower than Josh so it's easier to get more pictures of me :)
Only 3 more miles to go!!!
Josh after the race!!
The girls with a very sweaty Daddy waiting for Mommy to come in on the run
Yeah!! I'm almost done!!! I think I actually said that out loud!
"I'm not gonna walk, I'm not gonna walk!"
Me and the girls after the race (note the girls were less than interested in getting their pictures taken)
Josh sharing his water with Maryn
Our TRI family :)
We did it!!!
Training and competing in this triathlon has been an amazing experience and I couldn't have done it without everyone's support. I have been overwhelmed by all the support Josh and I have received both before and after the race. Countless emails, phone calls, cards, and people stopping by the house to wish us luck and to find out how the race went afterwards. We sincerely appreciate each and every one of you!!
Josh coming in on the bike (white jersey). He's too fast... all you usually see is his backside as he goes by :)
Josh going out on the run and waving to the girls!
Once again, Josh is too fast for pictures...
The girls being so good at the "Piggy" race
Me coming in on the bike (pink jersey)
Me going out on the run and waving to the girls
Another of me going out on the run (I'm a lot slower than Josh so it's easier to get more pictures of me :)
Only 3 more miles to go!!!
Josh after the race!!
The girls with a very sweaty Daddy waiting for Mommy to come in on the run
Yeah!! I'm almost done!!! I think I actually said that out loud!
"I'm not gonna walk, I'm not gonna walk!"
Me and the girls after the race (note the girls were less than interested in getting their pictures taken)
Josh sharing his water with Maryn
Our TRI family :)
We did it!!!
Training and competing in this triathlon has been an amazing experience and I couldn't have done it without everyone's support. I have been overwhelmed by all the support Josh and I have received both before and after the race. Countless emails, phone calls, cards, and people stopping by the house to wish us luck and to find out how the race went afterwards. We sincerely appreciate each and every one of you!!
Wednesday, June 4, 2008
Popsicles
Today at the grocery store I bought our first box of popsicles for the summer season. After dinner the girls just had to indulge in the sticky goodness of the popsicles! I think Maryn only had maybe one or two popsicles last summer (with a lot of help from Mom and Dad) so this was quite a new experience for her! What a stickey, gooey mess! We seriously had to hose them down outside afterwards!
There were three flavors of popsicles to choose from and I held all three out for Maryn to pick from. She blatantly looked to see what Makenna had and then of course had to pick the exact same kind :) She definitely wants to be just like her big sister!
She looks so sweet and innocent!
This mess looks manageable, right???!!!
Starting to look not so manageable....
First of many times the popsicle was dropped... I wonder if she knows that popsicles aren't suppose to have a crunchy coating on them!
Yes she has now officially entered the "total disaster" category. I told Josh that if someone would've just randomly walked into our backyard they probably would've thought she was bleeding from the head - it looked like she had a head wound.
Of course, why not slide when she's covered in popsicle goo?! She left a big puddle of popsicle juice at the bottom of the slide thus accounting for the purple diaper bottom!
Another shot of the mess...
And yet another...
Total kid freedom! She LOVED every second of it! I think Daddy might have been starting to chase her with the garden hose by now though.
Makenna being the big girl that she is, knows how to appropriately eat a popsicle without making a gigantic mess. Thus I was chasing her sister around with the camera and I got this cute shot of Makenna :)
There were three flavors of popsicles to choose from and I held all three out for Maryn to pick from. She blatantly looked to see what Makenna had and then of course had to pick the exact same kind :) She definitely wants to be just like her big sister!
She looks so sweet and innocent!
This mess looks manageable, right???!!!
Starting to look not so manageable....
First of many times the popsicle was dropped... I wonder if she knows that popsicles aren't suppose to have a crunchy coating on them!
Yes she has now officially entered the "total disaster" category. I told Josh that if someone would've just randomly walked into our backyard they probably would've thought she was bleeding from the head - it looked like she had a head wound.
Of course, why not slide when she's covered in popsicle goo?! She left a big puddle of popsicle juice at the bottom of the slide thus accounting for the purple diaper bottom!
Another shot of the mess...
And yet another...
Total kid freedom! She LOVED every second of it! I think Daddy might have been starting to chase her with the garden hose by now though.
Makenna being the big girl that she is, knows how to appropriately eat a popsicle without making a gigantic mess. Thus I was chasing her sister around with the camera and I got this cute shot of Makenna :)
Monday, June 2, 2008
Frog Pool
Last year at the end of the summer I bought the girls a little frog kiddie pool on clearance and Makenna has been talking about it ever since. She has been asking for weeks to put up the pool (I actually think she probably even asked a few times during the winter!). Well yesterday afternoon we thought playing in the new frog pool seemed like a fun, relaxing family activity to do after the triathlon. This hit the spot and everyone had a blast. The water was freezing cold (despite Daddy being so sweet and getting pitchers of hot water to try and warm it up) but the girls didn't seem to mind. They had a blast!
It's amazing what becomes a fun toy when you use it in water (ie. the pitchers)
Loving the pool!
Big girl!
Maryn couldn't get enough of the little water fountain that came out of the top of the frog's head
It's amazing what becomes a fun toy when you use it in water (ie. the pitchers)
Loving the pool!
Big girl!
Maryn couldn't get enough of the little water fountain that came out of the top of the frog's head
Sunday, June 1, 2008
Pigman Triathlon 2008
Warning: This post is a little long-winded ;)
I am happy to report that everything went very well this morning at our triathlon. Most importantly, we both made it through safely and uninjured! Josh knocked 9 minutes off his time from last year (impressive!) and I had a good showing for my first time out.
The part of the triathlon that I was probably the most nervous about, the swim, I actually did fairly well with. I had a game plan and I stuck to it and it seemed to work out for me. When my wave hit the water I just ran out and let everyone else dive in and I just watched to see where there was an opening and then I pretty much had a straight path the rest of the way! I tried to stay a little left of the buoy line to avoid all the super fast people going straight down the middle (as I didn't want them swimming over the top of me) and that seemed to work out well. The water was almost balmy today compared to last weekend so the temperature really wasn't an issue. I felt very comfortable in the water and never had any issues (no kicking, swimming over, etc). One lady accidentally swam into my side and she was very apologetic. At least she was nice about it! My time on the swim was almost exactly where it was at during all of my training so that was very reassuring to me.
I then jumped out of the water and ran up the beach into transition. Josh was there very shortly after me (even though he started the wave after me!) and our bikes were right next to each other so we got to exchange a few words. I then started the bike and realized almost immediately that the pace for the day was going to be fast. And I mean extremely fast. There was pretty much no wind to speak of so people were flying. Not even kidding, I was up to speeds above 30 mph at one point in time going down a hill and was getting passed like I was standing still. Only one person tried to run me off the road and I almost didn't make one corner, but it all ended just fine. I felt very strong on the bike, minus the last hill, and was pleased with that performance. My time was 10 minutes faster than it was on that exact same course about 3-4 weeks ago.
Into transition 2, I think I was in shock that the bike and swim had gone so well that I was trying to pace myself and probably too much. I re-tied my shoes, blew my nose a few times, took a few sips of gatorade and basically just wasted too much time in transition. I was afraid that my legs were going to be too burnt from the bike so I was trying to give them a little rest. In retrospect, I now know that I could cut almost a minute off each transition time easily. I think I was trying too hard to pace myself and I'll know better next time :)
I then headed out on the run. The first mile after a bike ride is always extremely hard for me. My feet were numb and I just didn't feel like I had my legs under me. The run was long and hard and I motivated myself to keep going by just saying "I'm not gonna walk, I'm not gonna walk." Seems to have worked... I didn't walk which I'm very proud of. My run time was probably 3 minutes slower than I was planning on but I did it all running so I'm satisfied with that.
All in all, I am very pleased with my time and performance. I beat the time goal I set by 2 minutes and placed in the top 10 (#9) in my division. And even better, I felt good for the most part and was actually having fun while I was doing it!
The most shocking part of the triathlon experience for me was the lack of nerves. I thought I would be a mess, but I was actually very calm and felt comfrotable with my game plan. The day before I was actually more nervous than the day of! Even standing at the start line on the beach all the girls around me were freaking out and I was just like "Whatever, this is what I've trained for the last 9 months, I'm ready!" It was nice to feel that confidence even though there were a lot of unknowns at the time. Unfortunately I think Josh was nervous enough for the both of us... he tried not to let me see it but he was extremely nervous and worried for me. I guess the first thing he asked his brother as he raced up the beach is if he had seen me get out of the water yet. He said once he knew I was out of the water then he relaxed a little bit.
The best part of the race for me was the three times I got to pass by the girls on the race course. To just see their faces light up as mommy biked/ran by and to hear Makenna's little voice yelling "Go Mommy!" was so incredibly motivating.
As for after the race, I'm really not that sore other than the nice sunburn I have on my upper back and shoulders (which I'm really ticked about because I'm always so careful in the sun). But I am tired due to getting up so early this morning and not sleeping well the night before. I'm sure I'll sleep hard tonight!
So final report, I'm so glad I did it. It had always been a goal of mine to run a road race and now I've done it. I never competed in athletics so this was quite a step out there for me and I have to say that I really enjoyed it. I think I'm hooked now too!
In all seriousness, I owe a huge thank you to three people. First, my parents. They are such troopers and helped with the girls most of the weekend while we were doing all of the triathlon stuff. This included getting up early this morning and hauling the girls out to the park to watch the race which I'm sure was challenging. Josh and I really appreciate it so thank you!
And to my husband, thank you for being my number one supporter and always encouraging me! You were always my biggest cheerleader and always had words of praise for me even if I was down and out about training or whatever it may be. It was so tough getting our schedules to work out and to squeeze two training schedules into our already busy lives, but we somehow managed and I couldn't have done it without all of your help. I realize that you had to sacrifice a lot of your own training time so that I could train but you never mentioned a word about it because you were always so supportive of what I was doing. You made it possible and you made me believe that I could actually do it, so thank you! I love you and can't wait to do the next race with you :)
Note: Triathlon pictures will be coming in another post. The only pictures we have are from my parents camera so I'll post them when I get a chance to download the pics from their camera.
I am happy to report that everything went very well this morning at our triathlon. Most importantly, we both made it through safely and uninjured! Josh knocked 9 minutes off his time from last year (impressive!) and I had a good showing for my first time out.
The part of the triathlon that I was probably the most nervous about, the swim, I actually did fairly well with. I had a game plan and I stuck to it and it seemed to work out for me. When my wave hit the water I just ran out and let everyone else dive in and I just watched to see where there was an opening and then I pretty much had a straight path the rest of the way! I tried to stay a little left of the buoy line to avoid all the super fast people going straight down the middle (as I didn't want them swimming over the top of me) and that seemed to work out well. The water was almost balmy today compared to last weekend so the temperature really wasn't an issue. I felt very comfortable in the water and never had any issues (no kicking, swimming over, etc). One lady accidentally swam into my side and she was very apologetic. At least she was nice about it! My time on the swim was almost exactly where it was at during all of my training so that was very reassuring to me.
I then jumped out of the water and ran up the beach into transition. Josh was there very shortly after me (even though he started the wave after me!) and our bikes were right next to each other so we got to exchange a few words. I then started the bike and realized almost immediately that the pace for the day was going to be fast. And I mean extremely fast. There was pretty much no wind to speak of so people were flying. Not even kidding, I was up to speeds above 30 mph at one point in time going down a hill and was getting passed like I was standing still. Only one person tried to run me off the road and I almost didn't make one corner, but it all ended just fine. I felt very strong on the bike, minus the last hill, and was pleased with that performance. My time was 10 minutes faster than it was on that exact same course about 3-4 weeks ago.
Into transition 2, I think I was in shock that the bike and swim had gone so well that I was trying to pace myself and probably too much. I re-tied my shoes, blew my nose a few times, took a few sips of gatorade and basically just wasted too much time in transition. I was afraid that my legs were going to be too burnt from the bike so I was trying to give them a little rest. In retrospect, I now know that I could cut almost a minute off each transition time easily. I think I was trying too hard to pace myself and I'll know better next time :)
I then headed out on the run. The first mile after a bike ride is always extremely hard for me. My feet were numb and I just didn't feel like I had my legs under me. The run was long and hard and I motivated myself to keep going by just saying "I'm not gonna walk, I'm not gonna walk." Seems to have worked... I didn't walk which I'm very proud of. My run time was probably 3 minutes slower than I was planning on but I did it all running so I'm satisfied with that.
All in all, I am very pleased with my time and performance. I beat the time goal I set by 2 minutes and placed in the top 10 (#9) in my division. And even better, I felt good for the most part and was actually having fun while I was doing it!
The most shocking part of the triathlon experience for me was the lack of nerves. I thought I would be a mess, but I was actually very calm and felt comfrotable with my game plan. The day before I was actually more nervous than the day of! Even standing at the start line on the beach all the girls around me were freaking out and I was just like "Whatever, this is what I've trained for the last 9 months, I'm ready!" It was nice to feel that confidence even though there were a lot of unknowns at the time. Unfortunately I think Josh was nervous enough for the both of us... he tried not to let me see it but he was extremely nervous and worried for me. I guess the first thing he asked his brother as he raced up the beach is if he had seen me get out of the water yet. He said once he knew I was out of the water then he relaxed a little bit.
The best part of the race for me was the three times I got to pass by the girls on the race course. To just see their faces light up as mommy biked/ran by and to hear Makenna's little voice yelling "Go Mommy!" was so incredibly motivating.
As for after the race, I'm really not that sore other than the nice sunburn I have on my upper back and shoulders (which I'm really ticked about because I'm always so careful in the sun). But I am tired due to getting up so early this morning and not sleeping well the night before. I'm sure I'll sleep hard tonight!
So final report, I'm so glad I did it. It had always been a goal of mine to run a road race and now I've done it. I never competed in athletics so this was quite a step out there for me and I have to say that I really enjoyed it. I think I'm hooked now too!
In all seriousness, I owe a huge thank you to three people. First, my parents. They are such troopers and helped with the girls most of the weekend while we were doing all of the triathlon stuff. This included getting up early this morning and hauling the girls out to the park to watch the race which I'm sure was challenging. Josh and I really appreciate it so thank you!
And to my husband, thank you for being my number one supporter and always encouraging me! You were always my biggest cheerleader and always had words of praise for me even if I was down and out about training or whatever it may be. It was so tough getting our schedules to work out and to squeeze two training schedules into our already busy lives, but we somehow managed and I couldn't have done it without all of your help. I realize that you had to sacrifice a lot of your own training time so that I could train but you never mentioned a word about it because you were always so supportive of what I was doing. You made it possible and you made me believe that I could actually do it, so thank you! I love you and can't wait to do the next race with you :)
Note: Triathlon pictures will be coming in another post. The only pictures we have are from my parents camera so I'll post them when I get a chance to download the pics from their camera.
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