April 17, 2016

The Caveman Tri was the most insanely wild weather race I have ever experienced! It was supposed to start at 7am, but was delayed until 7:45 because of lightning. They were trying to determine if they would cancel the whole thing, cancel the bike portion or let it all go as planned. In the end, they let it go as planned and told people that they could decide on their own to do the bike portion or not. 

I thought I would make a last minute decision about the bike. I jumped in the water around 8:15am and by the time I finished 5:36 minutes later, I was on auto-pilot and ran straight to my bike. It was pouring!! I took the bike slow, and just kept thinking my weather motto ('there's no such thing as bad weather, only soft people"). I was slower than my last tri on the bike (obviously) coming in around 14.9 mph, but I crushed the run compared to last time!! My tri in September clocked me at 8:45/mile and this time I was at a 7:56!! 

In the end, I couldn't really compare this race to the last one because of the weather. I did cut a little time off my swim and a ton of time off my run, but my bike was much slower. I couldn't actually believe how fast the winners were still able to bike in the rain (20+ mph!!) By the time I sign up for my next tri, I would love to be confident on a road bike instead of racing on a mountain bike. Definitely a once in a lifetime experience!!

Final results: 1:18:27

275 Swim, 10.8 Bike, 3.1 Run

Age group: 9/21

Women: 54/177

The best part of waking the kids up at 5am for a race is when they fall asleep on you mid-afternoon : )

April 16, 2016

Garrett's last soccer game with the Panthers! This team has been a great fit for him over the last three seasons and it was been so fun watching him improve and get more confident in his skills. And he's pretty cute in his uniform too : )

(Back) Si, Samuel, Jacob

(Front) Ethan, Asher, Garrett, Daniel

December 5, 2015

Deck the Trails!!

Last year, I ran with Owen and Charlie ran with Eli. This year, Charlie wanted me to go all out, so he started with both boys and I started close to the front of the line. Owen wanted to run by himself, and he did for more than two miles! I finished in 23:53, 1st place for my age group, 7/420 women and 36/677 overall!! The first ten places for women were all between 23:05 and 23:59. Unbelievable!

I waited at the finish line with Grammy, Pappy, Garrett and Dylan and we watched Owen come in (on his own!!) at 30:15 (last year he and I ran together and he finished in 31:40!) and Eli and Charlie finish together at 34:04 (last year they finished in 31:30). Owen said that he ran around the first field with Charlie and Eli, then took off on his own. 'I didn't walk at all, I didn't stop at the water stop and I ran right through the water in the Splish Splash zone!' He looked so strong and confident running to the finish line : ) Eli has been sick with a pretty terrible cough for about two weeks. It was a race-morning-decision for him to even run! So proud of both our competitors!!

Sleeping with Santa ; )

November 25, 2015

Going for a three mile run with this turkey on Thanksgiving ; )

September 26, 2015

Owen and Eli's 2015 Soccer Team : )

August 8, 2015

It's National Bowling Day! Eli and I won a couple BOGO bowling games for rolling strikes and we all had a blast! It's so fun now that all four boys can participate in family fun activities!

This is what Dylan thinks the hand dryer is for!

April 12, 2015

Small group afternoon at the Rough Riders Game! It was the mot perfect afternoon - great weather, fun friends, good food and tons of kid friendly activities for when they got bored with baseball. 

February 14, 2015

We're reading through The Story of the World for our social studies curriculum and just finished the story of the ancient Greeks and the first Olympic Games. What better way to celebrate than to put on our own games! We carried the Olympic torch relay-style all the way around the track, then had a 100 meter dash, a long jump competition and 'discus' throwing. I had made felt medals for each event, too! Owen took first in the running race Eli was first at jumping (5' 4"!) and Owen took first in throwing.