19 Weeks to Ironman

As I lay in bed last night, thinking that today it would be 19 weeks until Coeur d'Alene, I could feel my heart-rate start to go up and my breathing quicken a little bit. What I think this means is that I'm nervous. Just a little bit nervous. Or, maybe a lot nervous. Depends on when you ask me. I spent last night on the internet looking for outfits I could wear, what would look good but also be practical. I think I've decided on this purple one.  But then, I have a red and gray bike, so that might clash too much. Maybe something black or gray? But then Pete said, purple would make it easier for him to find me than if I wore a black one. Decisions, decisions. Then I laid down and thought about how many weeks I have left. Ok, my pulse is quickening again as I write this. Just breathe....

This morning we got to sleep in. It was so nice! I didn't set my alarm because I thought there was no way I'd sleep past 8, but when I woke up, it was 9:30! We had to be at my Dad's before 11:30 so he wouldn't be stuck taking the kids to church alone. Actually, he wouldn't have even been able to take them since we had the car seats. We were quick, though, and made it there with half an hour to spare. I kind of thought I'd have to get the girls' hair done before we left, but I don't know why I was even worried. My dad did 3 girls' hair by himself for how many years? I can't say I was the most stylish girl in town, but he did a great job! 

My dad is amazing! For those of you who don't know, we lived with my dad in Heber for 2 1/2 years before moving here to Salt Lake so the kids are really close to him. They miss him a lot, and he misses having them around so everyone was excited for the sleep-over last night. His girlfriend even came over with loads of things for them to do. They made their own personal pizzas, heart-shaped cookies, and decorated picture frames. 

They were all pretty sleepy in church from staying up so late, but I think that's ok every once and a while. Elle actually fell asleep in nursery, then woke up, started screaming and ended up staying with me after that. Mindy insisted on staying with me too because she was too tired to go to primary, but Ethan (who is usually the one to put up a fight) went right in to Primary and had a great time! We were excited about that.

After church, we got to see Sabel and she looked really good! She said she was feeling much better too. She just needs to be careful not to get sick because that is what set her heart problems off. Hopefully she'll just take it easy, but not get too bored! Maybe she's reading my blog right now. Hi Sabel! :)

We also visited my grandparents and had a YUMMY dinner with my dad before heading home.

The last 3 times we've made the trip to Heber, it's been snowing. It makes me feel like Heber is constantly in some state of snowyness. Christmas day it was a total blizzard, but today it was just tiny white specks floating around in the air. It was kind of cool. It is always weird how much colder it is there, though. We were starting to feel like it's spring here because the snow is all melting and it's been pretty warm, but it's 20 degrees colder in Heber! It's a cold, but beautiful place. 

Here is a picture from last year when we really got dumped on in Heber. This year is not nearly as bad. Or I should say as good. Depends on who you are I guess. 

This picture was taken Christmas 2005. I think it was Ethan's first time ever seeing snow since we lived in St. George until then. 

New Saddle!

Today my plan said to do 1 hour on the bike, but I decided to do 2. I kind of was planning to go outside, but I was a too nervous about the stem still being wobbly. That's right, I never went and got that temporary stem from the bike shop.

So I did 2 hours on the trainer, and I had a 2 hour bottle of Perpetuem and alternated drinking it and water every 10 minutes. I tried to keep a cadence of 90 rpms, except when I had to stop the kids from killing each other and stuff like that.

After my ride, I drank a bottle of Recoverite while I stretched. Then I wanted to take a nice hot bath, but it ended up running it too cold, and using up the hot water with the cold, while I helped Elle go potty. Pete told me I need to work on my bath-running skills.

We took the kids up to Heber, and left them with my dad so that we could go to SBR Sports and try out bike seats. The girl working there was really helpful, and I tried out 3 or 4 different seats on their trainer, and I got one that's way more comfortable than the original one. I'm so excited about it!

Then we came back to Salt Lake to go to a party to get to know some people in the ward. It was really fun, and I'm glad we drove all the way back here for it. Now we get the whole night with no kids! Yeah!

Swimming ABCs

This morning my alarm went off at 6 am, and I just sat straight up in bed, amazed that I had actually slept through the whole night! I was worried I wouldn't be sleeping because Elle woke up at about 9:30 last night with an almost 104 degree fever. We don't know exactly what it was because we just have one of those strips that you put on your forehead and it changes colors according to how hot you are, and the 104 box was turning a little bit yellow on her hot little forehead. I gave her some Motrin and juice, put her back to bed and, amazingly, she slept all night!

It was quite serene getting up at 6, before the kids. I was actually less tired then usual. I grabbed half a banana and hurried out, not wanting to wake Elle. I went to the pool, and this is what I did:

• Warmup: 200 swim, 200 kick, 200 pull, 200 swim. (Same warmup we always did in Masters)
• Main: 1 x 1500
• Cool down: 4 x 50, each one slower

I was actually able to count my laps quite accurately by using the alphabet instead of numbers. Once I got to the end of the alphabet, I just needed 4 more, and I can count that many. 

While doing my ABCs, I would think an animal that starts with the letter I'm on, and as I counted my strokes, would think of that many of each animal. This actually gave me an incentive to keep my stroke count low because you don't want to have 24 cats, dogs, or elephants for that matter! Sometimes I would find myself thinking of a small, cute animal like Kittens, and that wouldn't do so I would change it to something that would be worse to have 24 of, like Kangaroos. Of course, I wouldn't really want 24 kittens either, but kangaroos seemed a little worse since they're bigger. The same goes for llamas and lions, turtles and tigers. Most of the time I could keep my strokes at around 20 with this method so it must be a good one. I should write a book! :)

I got pretty thirsty while swimming, but I never bring a water bottle to the pool. Maybe I should, I don't know. It just always seems like it will make me need to go to the bathroom, and I hate to have my workout interrupted.

I got home just in time to take Mindy to school, and Pete had everyone ready to get right in the car. The house smelled delicious when I poked my head in. Pete had made pancakes because Mindy asked for "something other than oatmeal." I guess my kids get sick of having oatmeal everyday? I know, I don't understand it either. Anyway, good job, Pete, for making the morning wonderful for everyone! 

On the down-side, right after I dropped Pete off at work, Elle threw up all over herself and her carseat. The weird thing was that she wasn't acting sick anymore. She was so happy and talkative, then the throw-up just came out of nowhere. She has seemed fine ever since too. I don't know what it was all about. I'm glad she's feeling better, though.

Update on Sabel

My sister, Sabel, gets to go home from the hospital today! The bad news is that her heart is in pretty bad shape. Three out of the four valves are leaking, causing lung pressure. Some of the valves are also too tight. This means that she will be having open heart surgery in a month or two. They say it is not an immediate concern, but that if it's not fixed, it could kill her.  Luckily, the doctors seem to know right what to do to fix her heart now, and they aren't too worried about it. She just needs to take it easy until the surgery. One of the things that Garison said about the doctors is that "they handle stuff like this all the time just with people 65+ years old."

If you're wondering why a 25 year old is having problems that are usually found in 65-year-olds, I think it's because when she was little she got Strep Throat, and they didn't find out about it before she got Rheumatic Fever from it and that damaged her heart. I remember her having to go to the doctor a lot and getting a lot of tests done. Then, afterwards, she was really weak for a long time. I really hope this open heart surgery fixes things for her.

Hit The Road Coke!

If you couldn't guess, I didn't go running last night. Isn't that always what happens when you put off your run? Pete just ended up having to work later than planned, then there wasn't time between that and his band practice. Go Curse of San Pedro!

Today, Elle is feeling sick again. She was asleep by the time I got home from dropping Ethan off at school, then she slept for the next 2 and a half hours. 

While she slept, my awesome friend, Ann, came over so I could go run. She brought her little 3-year-old boy who is also named Ethan. Elle calls him "The Little Ethan" or "The Tiny Ethan." It's pretty cute, and I'm sure she would have loved to play with him if she hadn't slept the whole time. It's probably better that they didn't play though, I wouldn't want to share germs.

I ran 5.6 miles. It was my first run outside since the marathon so I wasn't sure what to expect. I had almost forgotten what running outside was like, especially running in the city. I had my run all planned out, but I didn't realize how big the bridge over the train tracks was. Then I think I turned on the wrong street, or maybe google maps was wrong about there even being a street there, because I ended up stuck in the Gateway. I felt really out of place running through there. One lone runner amidst all the shoppers and people going out for lunch.

I kind of hoped I would chance to see Pete there because I know he does go there for lunch sometimes. But I had to just wave to him in my head as I ran past his building. 

Then I turned onto my second choice street for heading home, and just as I was getting to the train tracks, the gates started to close. I was really tempted to just run across really quick before the train got there, but I knew that was stupid. I ran up and down that block a few times just in case it was a short train, but it wasn't. I headed up to the next street that goes over the freeway. 

It was a little bit frightening crossing that bridge with so many cars coming from so many different directions, most of them strait from the freeway. Plus, when the big trucks drove by, the ground shook! A little scary, but I made it over, and back home in almost exactly an hour to find that Elle was still sleeping. How nice.

I downed a bottle of Recoverite as soon as I got back, then stretched and did some quick ab work and took a shower in time to pick Ethan up from school.

Thank you, Ann, for making this run possible!

Barrel Racing

This morning I decided to just do my swim workout so that I wouldn't rush it and cut it short again. I'll do running tonight. 

Again, I forgot my plan so I used my photographic memory to see what I needed to do, and you know what? It actually worked! Here's what I did:

Warm up: 4 x 75, last 25 in each is backstroke. 

(I hate backstroke, I always get water in my nose!)

Main: 3 x 400, each one a little harder. 

(The weird thing about this is that, though I was pushing harder at the end, it was actually harder for me at the beginning because I wasn't warmed up yet or I wasn't in my groove or something yet. By the end, I was having fun just flying through the water. I probably pushed a little harder than I was supposed to.)

Cool down: 100 easy with every other 25 being backstroke. 

(My plan says 150 easy, but I'd say I did pretty good at remembering everything!)

After my workout, I just had a drink of water, and half of a waffle with butter on it when I got home.

On my way home from the gym, I was a couple cars behind a guy who hit one of those construction barrels with is right side-view mirror. I couldn't believe how much it shattered, and how high it flew into the air. It actually took me a minute to realize what was going on when I saw all this debrey flying in front of me. Pretty crazy. It was an old man too, and I felt sorry for him. It was one of those instances where something happens so suddenly, then it's gone. He doesn't have a right side-view mirror anymore. Of course, just because I felt sorry for him, didn't mean I wanted to drive close to him anymore. 

Note to self: Do not hit those construction barrels when you're going 65 mph. Not good.

New Parts

Today I did an hour on the trainer. I decided that I really do need to get a new saddle because it was hurting so bad, I just wanted to cry after like 20 minutes! There's no way I'm going to be riding for 7 hours on that seat! You've got to be kidding me! As soon as I got off, I went and looked up tri bike saddles online. This, of course, helped me be late picking Ethan up from preschool. And I was late dropping him off because I was so busy cleaning the kitchen. His teacher must hate me! At least he's been going to school happily and enjoying it lately, though.

Back to saddles. It looks like there are several out there that people really like, but Pete says that it's such a personal thing that reading what other people think isn't really going to help me. We are going to try to go to a tri shop so I can try some out maybe this weekend. 

I had one of my wonderful readers ask me about my nutrition, so I'm going to start posting what I eat/drink during my workouts. Today, I just had a water bottle and one serving of Hammer Gel. Apple Cinnamon. Yummy! I ususally would just do power-aid for an hour-long workout, but since I didn't have any (I need to add that to my list...) I wanted a little more so I added the Hammer Gel. I need to be used to using the Hammer Gel every hour or so anyway. I probably didn't need it today, though. Afterwards, I also drank a little bit of Recoverite. Just half a bottle. Again, for an hour-long ride, I usually don't do that, but I'm trying to get into good habits.

I've got a new stem on order at Contender, but there aren't any of the smaller size in the 60mm so I'm getting a 70 mm. I hope it works out well. They're pretty cool over there, they said I can bring my bike in and they'll put something on for the time being so I can ride it until the part gets there. Pretty awesome. I might do that tomorrow because I really want to get out on Saturday, and it's pretty wobbly right now with the broken stem. Mike (The Fit Right guy) thought it was pretty crazy that Pete was riding on it like that!

"There is no happiness...

...except in the realization that we have accomplished something."

Henry Ford

No Sleep Day

Last night was one of the longest nights I've had in a long time - not caused by Elle. I don't think I got more than 2 or 3 hours of sleep. Pete would look at me and say, "Of course you slept." But I really felt like I just laid there all night. I'm wondering if my body is getting too used to working out every day so when I take a day off, it's just not tired. Maybe I should start taking Sunday evening walks or something. I did take a nap yesterday, but again, I don't think I slept, I just laid there for an hour or so. Pete's laughing at me again, I'm sure.

I prepared myself (all night as I lay in bed trying to sleep) to be really tired this morning, but I really wasn't. Maybe if you're not asleep to begin with, it's not as hard to wake up.

Today I started on my new training plan (which my coach, Pete, has now approved). Well, I'm going to be basically using it, but moving things around a little so that I can still have Sunday as my rest day, and Saturday as my long ride day. I'd also kind of like to stick to the pattern I've been doing because that's what I'm used to.

I went to the gym and ran for 45 minutes. I was supposed to be doing a "very easy" 45 minute-run, according to the plan. I tried to run easy, but my heart-rate stayed at around 160 which is pretty high, and I would look with longing at the lady who kept breezing past me. I wish I could run that fast! She ran for as long as me too, so it's not like she was just sprinting. Then my heart-rate monitor lost it for a few minutes, and Muse came on. Uh oh. When I got my heat-rate back, it was 174 so it took me a while to get it back down.

This is something Pete keeps telling me I need to work on. I need to learn to hold myself back a little. There's no way I'm running for 5 or 6 hours with my heart-rate at 174. Oh well, it wasn't a long run, and I'm trying to get faster so I think it was ok. Plus, if I can run faster, I won't have to be running for 5 or 6 hours, it will be more like 4 or 5.

I also did about 6 sets of strides towards the end of my run. I did about 4.5 miles. You know me and counting, I could be off by a lap or two, but I think that's right. I need to get a new battery for my watch with the lap counter.

After I stretched, I did some supermans, planks, metronomes, and bridges. Then I ran downstairs to the pool.

I did 2 kick board laps, 4 paddle/pull buoy laps, and 2 slow swim laps to warm up. I'm still not quite used to the swimmer terminology. I should say, I did "100 kick board, 200 paddle/pull buoy, and 100 slow swim." It just seems easier to me to say how many laps I did, but then I guess it's easier to figure out distance if you do it the right way.

Of course, I had forgotten to bring my training plan so I didn't know what I was supposed to do other than that it was a speed day so I did 3 sets of 3 trying to do it on the :55. I should have done more, but it was really hard to even get those times. Plus I was in a hurry to get the kids out of the daycare before much longer than 2 hours.

I would love to take a nap right now, but I don't want to risk not being able to sleep tonight. I guess I could clean out my fridge... Or I could have a brownie. :)

20 Weeks to Ironman!

Not even sore when I woke up this morning! Wahoo!

Today I taught the Young Women (girls 12-18) in church. I was so worried that the lesson was going to be terrible because I didn't look at the lesson until 8 or 9 last night, and the bulk of the lesson was to be from me getting a guest speaker. Well, I don't know very many people who I could call for that, and I didn't think I should call someone with such short notice so I just ended up looking up some conference talks. The lesson was "Finding Joy in Our Divine Potential." The speaker was supposed to talk about the joy of being a woman so I looked for things relating to that. Here are the talks I used:  

If We Want to Go Up, We Have to Get On  

My Soul Delighteth in the Things of the Lord  

Celebrating Womanhood  

Now, I didn't read the entire talks to the girls, but I took some parts out of the first and second one, and paraphrased a little of the third. They are all really good, though, and I would recommend reading them if you have time.

The lesson actually ended up going really well. I cried practically the whole time because the Spirit was so strong. I let them all know how much I love each of them, and bore my testimony that I know Heavenly Father loves all of us, we are all his daughters, and that being a woman is something special and wonderful, no matter what our circumstances are. That we shouldn't just disregard the nurturing abilities we were born with. They are not a weakness. We are not weak, we are strong. 

I'm not very good at expressing how I feel, but the Spirit was there and it did the teaching. At the end I gave them time to stand and bear their testimonies, and several of them got up and bore their simple witnesses of the the Atonement and the Young Women's program in the Church.  

It was a wonderful meeting, and I just really felt I should share a little of it. Questions and comments are welcome, as always. :)

So tired, so tired

Today I did 3 hours on the trainer again. I don't know what I did differently, but I am so tired and sore tonight! Maybe it is the fact that last time I did the ride while the kids were asleep so I was able to just relax, drink my recoverite, eat my PB&J, take a bath, and go to bed afterwards.

Today I did the ride after I put Elle down for a nap at around 2. I tried putting my new stem on, only to find out, after I've taken my bike all apart, that it's too big. I will have to go exchange it. At least I was able to put it back together so I could still ride. (Mindy took this picture, I'm so proud.)

I watched Failure to Launch with Mindy and Ethan. Of all the things to ask me about while watching that movie, they would just ask me why the various animals kept biting him. Elle woke up around the time it ended, then we put in Holes, and Mindy was the only one to really sit and watch that with me. (Poor girl, now she's getting sick.) That's such a good move. An even greater book. You should read it if you haven't. 

I was amazed at how well Ethan and Elle just played, even though they did eat most of the fruit leather.... Elle didn't even have an accident! All day! Yay! I was worried she would while I was riding, but I think Ethan helped her remember to go potty while I was on the bike. 

I got off just in time for dinner in the crockpot to be done. It was Mole, which I didn't really like last time I ate it so I don't know what possessed me to make it. I just knew Pete liked it, and I thought he'd be home in time for dinner, but he wasn't. None of the kids liked it, and I didn't really love it, but I ate it anyway. There is a TON left so if you want some, come on over!

Pete got home at around 9, just before I finally got Elle to sleep. Now I am so tired and my legs are already sore. I wonder if it was not drinking the recoverite when I finished. I don't know. I can't imagine being on the bike for at least 2 times the time I did today. I hope I get used to it! I looked at saddles while I was in the bike shop yesterday, and the one the salesman recommended was almost $200! Would it even make that much of a difference? It didn't look too different than what I've got. Seriously, I need a nice padded one or something. I don't think a small, aerodynamic one is going to really help me that much.

Not The Best Day

This morning my dad called to tell me that my little sister, Sabel, is back in the hospital. As soon as I heard the phone ring, I knew something was wrong, because who would be calling me at 7:30 am?

Calling her my little sister might be misleading. She is 25 and married, but she'll always be my little sister.

She was in the hospital for a week and a half back in October with her heart pumping double what it should have and gaul bladder problems. She was released just in time for Halloween, and she's been doing really well. Or so we thought. Here she is on Christmas with her husband, Garison.

Her heart is working too hard again, and now her lungs are having trouble. They don't really know why. They've got her in the ICU, and they've got something helping her breath. Garison has been up for the past 36 hours watching and waiting with her. He's amazing, we're so glad she has him! He says that she's looking much better than she did yesterday and sounds very positive that she'll make a quick recovery. We all hope that is the case, and we will keep her in our prayers.

Yesterday Pete went down to St. George with some friends from work to go mountain biking. That just leaves me and the kids so I couldn't go to the gym early. Elle is still sick so I couldn't take them in to the daycare either. The only thing I did today, exercise wise, was walk/jog the 2 blocks to the store with Elle in the stroller and Ethan on his bike. It was fun for him to get his bike out, and he only tipped over....well, let's say not as many times as last time. :) There was a lot of snow to run into on the sidewalks, though. I'm very proud of him for being able to ride his bike without training wheels at all. I didn't learn how until I was 7!

I did find a training plan that I think I will start following on Monday. It is even a 20 week plan, so that works out perfectly! And I did go buy that new 60mm stem for my bike ($80 wow!). I'm so excited to get it on, but I'm a little nervous to do it myself. I don't think Pete will be home in time to do it before I need to ride tomorrow, though. I might just have to get the tools out and have some faith in myself.

I might do some core exercises before bed, just to get something in. Maybe I'll run in place for half an hour. Ha. I'm a little jealous of those people who own treadmills at the moment.

New Dimensions

Last night I went to Mike Mamales' house from The Fit Right to get my bike fitted to me. Pete told me it would kind of be like going to the eye doctor, and that's how it was. He kept asking me how I felt and I'd just say, "good." Then he'd change something and ask me which one was better, but I wouldn't even notice a difference. I had that same kind of nervousness I get when I get an eye exam that I'm answering wrong because it's too hard to tell. I don't want to end up with the wrong prescription, and I don't want to end up with the wrong fit either. 

I was also a little nervous having this guy watch me ride as I looked at his little shelf with probably close to a hundred medals, trophies, several plaques saying "1st place," and stuff like that. Not to mention all his Ironman memorabilia on the walls, and tattoo on his leg. It was good, though, and he gave me a lot of good advice. 

I need to relax my hands when I'm in the aero bars or I will get off the bike with tired arms. 

He said my training should peek 3 months before the race, so around March 21. That's way sooner than I had planned, so I really need to get ramping up the miles. That makes me a little nervous, but Pete didn't peek until about a month before his race so I think I'll be ok.

I need to keep my rpms around 90-95, and I need to get some half-hour to hour long bricks in after my long rides, but that my long runs don't need to be more than 20 miles or so. I already knew these things, but it's nice to have them reinforced. 

He made a little mark on the side of my knee with a marker that is the color of dried blood. Today I even saw it and thought, "what did I do to my leg?" It took me a second to remember what it was. Overall he made me a lot more comfortable on my bike, but it still needs a new stem since the one on there is broken and too long for me.  Really the bike frame is just one size too big, but he said it should work. That's the price you pay for a hand-me-down bike. I really don't feel like shilling out a couple thousand dollars for a new one at this point so this one  will have to do.

I didn't think I would try it out today because I was planning on going to Spin class and Yoga afterwards, but that was not in the cards. Elle got sick with a cough and runny nose, and was awake for most of the night (or so it seemed to me) because of it. Well, I can't really take her to the day care like that so I was stuck with riding the trainer. This was probably good, though, because I need to get used to being on my bike. A LOT.

Elle went down for a nap really easily so I had some nice quite time to get on the trainer. I did it for an hour and made sure to do 90 rpm or higher the whole time. It was a good workout. My arms and shoulders felt pretty good, but I was still really uncomfortable on the saddle.  Maybe I just need to get a new one, Mike told me this one is more like a road bike saddle. I wonder if I can get one of those fat, padded ones like they have on the spin bikes. I like those!

And Elle woke up just around the time I got done, in time to tell me she had pooped and peed in her underwear. How nice.

"Anything is possible."

"You can be told that you have a 90-percent chance or a 50-percent chance or a 1-percent chance, but you have to believe, and you have to fight."

-Lance Armstrong

Core Work and Drills

I told myself that when I stop being sore from running, I would start doing abs. I was only really sore for my first week, so now I'm ready to throw more in. I started going through my running magazines, and I picked out a bunch of things I want to start doing. There was one about abs, but apparently doing crunches doesn't really help runners. You've got to really exercise your core. Not only will that make you stronger and faster, but it will also help you avoid injury. I like the sound of that.

Here is the article and the exercises I'm going to start doing.

The other thing is doing drills, which is kind of along the same lines as improving strength and speed and minimizing injuries. I read one article about doing strides, and one about drills (I can't find this one online, but here are some videos of some of the things I read about). I think strides are really a kind of drills so I should just say drills. Doing this speed work will help increase your stride rate (how fast your feet move). "By increasing stride rate, you not only increase your potential to run fast but also reduce the likelihood of injury." Now doesn't that sound wonderful?!

I want to incorporate these drills into my running workouts. The one about drills, that I only have in magazine form, said that you should start doing them about 20 weeks before your race, and that's exactly where I'm at so let's get started!

I went to the gym this morning, equipped to go running and swimming, but I decided to just do running because I was not feeling well and I didn't want to push it. Of course, I left my magazines with my new drills and core exercises sitting on my night stand so I had to go off my memory. We all know I have a terrible memory, but I think I remembered enough. First I ran a mile. Then I did "Superman", "Metronome", and some "planks" though I didn't really know how many to do. I did some lunges, then started running again, to finish out my 3 miles. I also did 6 sets of strides at the end of my run.

It took me about an hour to do all this, and I was totally ready to go home and shower when I was done. Maybe next week, I'll be up to swimming and running in the same trip again.

I'm going to get my bike fitted tonight, and I'm not exactly sure what that will entail so I had that in mind when I skipped swimming too. I'm excited to see how much more comfortable I am on the bike once it's fitted to me. Pete said it made a huge difference for him. I'll let you know!

Stress Relief

It's that time of the month where I start to get depressed, stressed out and lazy. I've found a new fix for this. Baking. Specifically, baking bread since that is kind of a necessary food item that you can feel good about making for your family. Plus you get to work out your frustrations in the kneading. Also you get something yummy to eat if you still need something to make you feel better.

I was feeling pretty stressed, then I made bread, and it just all went away. Now tell me that making bread takes too much time. Wouldn't that kind of time be worth it?

Skipping School

Today I did an hour on the trainer. It was a pretty boring workout, but it was still a workout. Ethan and Elle were watching cartoons and playing around me while I rode, and that gets a little distracting.

I've been so tired lately, and I've been waking up with sore throats. I really hope I'm not getting sick again. Just when I'm getting my training routine down.

Then I went to take Ethan to school, and he would not go in. Yesterday he did the same thing only the teacher dragged him in, and he ended up kicking one of the kids. Man, I would not want to teach preschool. He said he was sorry about it, and the teacher told me that he was good after that, but who does he think he is kicking kids? I just don't know what to do about it. So today I said, "fine." and just took him home, but I told him he doesn't get to watch a movie for a week because of it. He just gets into his little mad moods and I just don't know how to get him to change his attitude. Any suggestions?

Let's multi-task!

Today I dropped Mindy and Pete off, then went up to the gym where I did running AND swimming. We decided it was worth paying a little extra in daycare for me to do both my workouts at the same time for several reasons.

1. It saves on gas (though, this one kind of gets canceled out by the extra daycare cost).
   
2. It lowers my driving which saves me time and is better for the environment. (We'd prefer no more smoggy days, thank you.)
3. It's good for me to get used to doing cardio for longer periods of time (uh, like 14 hours of cradio...).
4. Running is a good warm-up for swimming (I mean, I swam my best last time after running!)

RUNNING:

I remembered to bring my ipod today, but I still don't have a new battery for my watch so I was stuck counting my laps and watching the analog clock they have on the wall. But acording to that watch, I did my 3 miles in about 29 minutes! See how much an ipod can do? It's really hard to run slow when Muse comes on. It's actually really hard not to run so fast that your head explodes when Muse comes on. If you don't have them on your running playlist, I suggest adding them.

SWIMMING:

I went strait to the pool after I finished my 27 laps so my 1 lap with the kick board and 4 with the paddles and pull buoy were kind of a cool down from running AND a warm up for swimming.

After that I rested and stretched for a while until I felt like my breathing was back to normal. Then I attempted to do 10 laps on 1:00 keeping them under around :55 each. I was worried I wouldn't be able to recreate this, but I did it! In fact, when I got done with 10 and it was still on :55 I decided to make it 11.

I rested for a little while then decided to see how many more I could do. This time I only did 3 before I fell behind so I stopped there. Then I did 2 more sets of 3, but this time on :55. That was pretty hard, but I could handle it for 3.

So, overall that was....25 laps.

I got the kids out of the daycare in a little less than 2 hours, so that cost me almost $8. It is nice that I'm all done for the day, though, and I don't have to rush through family night and getting the kids to bed so I can go back this evening. What will I do with myself with all this time?

Oh yeah, I still have the 4 or 5 loads of laundry to do, the dishes, the house to clean, dinner to put in the crockpot (Chicken Makhani, YUM!), kids to pick up from school, ballet to take Mindy too.... It never ends.

21 Weeks to Ironman

I was so tired when my alarm when off this morning. I pushed snooze for 45 minutes. Of course the kids sleep in when we have to get up and get ready for church.  Why can't they sleep in on Saturdays for crying out loud? I should try to start my 3 hour ride earlier next time.

I love Sundays. They are wonderful days to rest and be spiritually uplifted and re-filled. We also went up to Heber today to see my dad, and the kids always love that.  We also got to meet his girlfriend, and she was really nice, very pretty and lots of fun. We like her a lot. 

I made apple crisp, and tripled the topping. It was delicious! Of course, we only indulge like this every once and a while. Or twice.

The kids fell asleep on the way home and stayed asleep when we moved them into their beds. What a perfect day.

3 Hours

The air is MUCH clearer today! We were so happy when we saw blue sky! The sad thing is that smog is still out there somewhere.

Today I did 3 hours on the trainer. I listened to music for the first hour while Pete put the kids to bed, then he came down and put Gatica on for me. Great movie. Thank you Shane and Molly for letting us borrow it.

The movie ended just before my time was up. I tried to keep 90 rpm the whole time, though I'm sure it got a little lower while I was watching the movie. It seems like the hardest part was the last 20 minutes because at 2:40 I told myself, "10 more minutes to cool down." To my legs, I guess that means, "You can stop now." But, I kept going and finished out the 3 hours.

Riding on the trainer is a lot different than spin class and they're both different than riding on the road. I just hope my legs can't tell the difference.

When I got done I made myself some Reoverite and drank that while I stretched. Then I said, "I don't think I've had a peanut butter sandwich today...Oh wait, yes I have. Oh well, I'm having another one." I'm a big fan of the PB&J.

The trouble with starting a 3 hour bike ride at 7 is that you don't get done until 10. Now it's Midnight and I still need to go over my lesson for Young Women's tomorrow. Goodnight.