CapTex Triathlon

We got back from Austin, TX on Tuesday night.

Yesterday was spent doing laundry, unpacking, grocery shopping, and all the other catch up things you have to do when you get home.

And man, we are tired.

I took my big girl camera with me, but didn't use it once, so all my pictures are iPhone quality.

Here we go...

Saturday morning we got up, jumped in the car, and were on the road by 6:30.

We had to stop a couple times in that first hour, to tighten the bike and go potty, but soon we were rolling along and the girls were quietly occupied as we listened to Dinosaur Train.

These girls have the best Nana ever, because she sent us a box ahead of time, filled with little presents for them to open along the way.

In no time at all, we were in Oklahoma!

One of the bags the girls opened had jewelry.

Ruby liked to put on her "jewleries" and be Sofia the First. As soon as the earrings were on, she'd shake her head back and forth to feel them swing.

We passed right through Moore, OK and saw the devastation the tornado left in its' wake.

Looking at the aftermath felt very surreal.

What looks like a garbage dump used to be homes and businesses.

It's hard to fathom.

We got to Texas before lunch time and soon after stopped at "Mac Old Donalds".

This is a rare treat for our girlies.

Aleks stopped eating fast food the month before this triathlon so he scrounged up other food while the girls played on the indoor playground.

In Texas we had some rain and let the girls have iPad time.

In the last half hour of our trip, I pulled out the present I knew they'd be most excited about: Princess dolls!

This bought us peace and quiet for the end of our drive.

We pulled in to Austin around 4:30 and got settled in to our hotel.

We took a short walk down the street to a TexMex place for dinner, dolls in hand.

If you know us or have been reading this blog for awhile, you know that bedtime is important and tricky for us.

My girls are not very adaptable sleepers.

On this trip they REALLY wanted to sleep in the same bed. 

I figured it could be a huge disaster or really be something wonderful.

At the encouragement of Facebook friends, we decided to give it a try.

Here's how it went down.

1. 5 minutes after being put to bed, the girls start wrestling.

2. Daddy goes in to try and calm everyone down and ends up lying in bed with them for 10 minutes.

3. A short time later, we hear the door slam shut.

4. We open the door 15 minutes later to find Maia asleep and Ruby taking her princess dolls in and out of the nightstand drawer. It was the sound of the drawer shutting that led us to open the door in the first place.

5. Finally both girls are asleep, roughy an hour and a half after initial bedtime. I think they finally fell asleep around 8:30.

That night they were up and awake between 2:30 and 5:30, during which I was in bed with them hissing "close your eyes" and "stop moving."

I'm sure many of you are thinking, "Well, I'll bet they slept in the next morning."

And the answer to that is, no. They were up at 6:30.

The next morning we took it easy in our hotel room.

Aleks had lots of triathlon related things he needed to do, so for the most part we were on our own.

After nap time, we headed to the Austin Children's Museum with Nana.

The girls had a great time, but it was no Phoenix Children's Museum, that's for sure.

When we were done we headed over to see Aleks do a short swim in Ladybird Lake.

That evening Nana watched the girls while Aleks and I attended the TNT inspiration dinner.

It was a really great time to hear about the LLS and the wonderful things they are doing to help find a cure for cancer. 

The different chapters for this particular race raised over $100,000.

If you donated to this organization through Aleks, thank you.

Together, we're making a huge impact.

That night, the girls shared a bed again and were asleep in 10 minutes.

The next morning we were up bright and early to catch Aleks' wave, which entered the water at 8:45.

The air was electric.

The pros had already started and were onto the bike portion as we made our way to the lake.

They. Are. Fast.

We caught up with Aleks, who told me he had thrown up that morning from nerves, but was all smiles.

By the way, it was already pretty warm and muggy.

There were over 2,000 participants.

Finally, they were off!

We hung around to catch him in transition and he was all smiles.

At this point, Maia was done, so we headed back to the hotel for a little snack.

Ruby and I wanted to go back to the race, but Maia stayed with Nana and swam in the hotel pool.

I had made a couple of signs to hold throughout the race and Aleks had bought the girls cowbells.

Ruby and I placed ourselves at the end of the bike loop, I held my sign that said,

"Remember, you paid money for this" and Ruby shook her bell.

It was so gratifying to see people read the sign and laugh or shake their head.

I love being a supporter and cheerleader.

In fact, I totally gave myself blisters from shaking the cowbell.

We saw Aleks end his loop and head to transition 2.

We went back up to the hotel for a brief cooling off in the air conditioning and then walked back to wait for Aleks to finish his run.

We caught him on the first loop, and again, all smiles!

Princesses make any wait more bearable.

And finally, there he was in the distance!

Here are some of the finishers on his team.

After I took the girls to the pool and Aleks gathered up all his try-gear and took a shower, we headed to the 24 hour diner.

Which was so good.

And has out of this world milkshakes.

(By the way, that medal is awesome!
It has a magnet on the back and also works as a bottle opener.)

We headed up to the playground above Whole Foods to let the girls play for a bit and when we headed back to the car, they spontaneously decided to hold hands.

That night we all slept well.

The drive home was a bit harder, but uneventful.

We did find Ruby's old pacifier, hidden in the recesses of our car, and boy was she glad to see it!

We let the girls try it out for old time's sake and then made it disappear again.

It was a wonderful trip.

There aren't really words to describe how I feel about Aleks and this accomplishment.

Proud doesn't quite cover it.

One Olympic triathlon behind us and now we're going rest up a bit before the next big adventure!

First year of preschool recap

Yesterday Maia had her last day of school.

I can't even believe a whole school year has passed.

It feels like it has just been a few months.

I guess this is what they mean when they say it goes by in the blink of an eye.

What a great year it has been.

Maia approached her first day of school like she does everything in life: with excitement, wonder, and a  little bit of caution.

This year Maia has learned to be more flexible when things don't go as planned.

Her stutter has drastically improved.

She has made 9 wonderful friends; sweet, kind, funny, creative classmates who come from wonderful families.

Maia can now count to 100, write her name, has mastered public restroom usage, can use scissors, and knows so many new and interesting things.

In the wake of the Sandy Hook and OK tragedies, the nation has been reminded of how important a role teachers play in our children's lives.

We were so blessed to have a teacher this year who loves each and every child entrusted in her care.

Not only does she love her students, but she is creative and patient and interested in the development of our children as people.

Which is exactly what we hoped for when we sent Maia to preschool.

(The thank you card we gave to Maia's teachers)

As this school year ends, I really feel the transition as a parent.

For what seems like forever, I've been the parent of really little children. 

Now I've got a school aged kid.

It's awesome.

Each year just gets better and better.

Next year Maia moves to mornings 5 days a week, which makes my heart ache just a bit.

But, she loves school and really is ready for this next step.

(I may have to keep her home every now and then for some mommy adventures)

This is just the beginning and I'm so excited to be a part of her journey.

Holes, storms, and summer bucket lists

This week, tragedy struck our home.

This precious girl and her sister had some bandaids on various "injuries" and wore her bandaid to bed at naptime.

When it was time to go to sleep that night Ruby broke into panicked sobs.

She had discovered that her bandaid was stuck to the underside of her blanket.

I proceeded to rip it off and in the process left half of it attached.

That sucker was stuck.

Ruby was inconsolable so I got out my scissors.

And proceeded to remove the bandaid and part of the blanket.

To my relief, Ruby didn't notice the new ventilation in her blanket, so I tucked her in and left the room with my fingers crossed.

30 seconds later I heard heart-wrenching sobs coming from the very soul of my littlest girl.

I went back into Ruby's room to find her huddled over the hole in her blanket, huge crocodile tears streaming down her cheeks.

I took her into the rocking chair and calmed her best I could. After several different suggestions, she popped her head off my chest and said, "I lay on top."

Seconds later, she was up again "But my feet get cold, I lay under blanket."

And then "I not cry."

  

I flipped the blanket around so it's not as noticeable and thankfully she hasn't seemed to mind too much.

I don't know how I ended up with two children who care so much about the particulars of life!

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Today we had some excitement on the weather front.

The girls and I went to the zoo this afternoon while Aleks was training about 30 minutes away. The second we walked through the gate, tornado sirens started wailing.

I wasn't sure whether to find shelter at the zoo or head home.

I ran my disappointed kids to the car and sped home.

We were about 20 minutes ahead of the storm and managed to make it into the garage before anything really began.

We went immediately to the basement and turned on the news.

At the worst point we headed into the bathroom.

Maia had brought all her stuffed animals in with us.

Except for teddy. Her favorite.

She started crying really hard that she needed him.

I agreed to run upstairs and grab him, if they promised to stay in the basement.

I opened the basement door, saw hail hammering the windows and that the sky was green.

I immediately went back downstairs.

Maia was not pleased.

Ruby was more concerned about Maia than the storm.

The girls cuddled together on Baia (the bunny).

Thankfully Aleks was able to find shelter in the midst of training and made it home to us, safe and sound.

I'll take earthquakes over tornados any day.

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In other news, my duties at WSU for the semester are officially over and we're getting geared up for summer.

I've seen other people create summer bucket lists and decided to do one for my family this year.

Here's what we came up with:

Some are very ambitious, so we shall see how many things get checked off.

What's on your summer bucket list?

Hard work and results

*This post is kind of a mess. It's taken me a long time to figure out what I want to say and how to say it best. I'm not sure I've been successful. If you want the point without any rambling, head to the bottom of this post for a concise thesis.*

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This week, post half marathon, has been interesting.

I've vacillated between disappointment/embarrassment in my race time and satisfaction in accomplishing something so difficult.

It's silly to feel anything but contentment and pride.

But there's that nagging, lingering, yucky part of me that likes to compare whatever I do to the rest of the world.

See how I measure up.

And the ugliest part of it all is that it affects how I value myself.

Gross.

This flaw is what kept me from joining a running group. I was worried that I would start to compare myself with faster runners and give up.

Ironically, not having support during the race proved detrimental.

This week as I've been processing my race experience, I was also preparing for last night; 

I sang the soprano solos in Mozart's Requiem with the WSU Choirs and Symphony Orchestra.

Let me tell you, I had the best seat in the house.

There's nothing like the physical vibration of sound waves hitting you in the back of the head during the Dies Irae. 

Our school's students did a beautiful job with this masterpiece.

At our first rehearsal with the orchestra, I was overcome with thankfulness that my life is full of so many different, wonderful opportunities.

And it brought some clarity.

8 years ago I "officially" became a singer. I walked that line of pianist/singer for awhile after that, but today, 8 years later I feel legit.

To find peace and enjoyment in this role, I've had to learn to silence those judgmental voices of comparison that run rampant in almost every performer I know.

It's been necessary to find a balance between comparing myself to my peers and having the confidence that what I'm offering is amazing.

(Does that word "amazing" sound pretentious? I'll admit, it's hard to write, but I believe a performer has got to feel that way in the very depths of their soul if they are going to stand up and face an audience).

Preparing for a running event and singing performance are similar in many ways.

1. You think about what you're going to wear. Running requires comfort and chafing worries, while singing involves more bra strap visibility and hair worries. Funnily enough, footwear is equally important.

2. Nutrition. Limited caffeine and sugar. No alcohol. Easily digested food.

3. Physical stamina. Training runs and practice sessions are so important to knowing how your body will respond to the stress of the event.

4. Mental stamina. This is something I am more familiar with as a musician than an athlete, but I've had a lifetime of performing from which to draw experience.

For me, both things require a lot of work.

As a singer, that hard work has afforded me really wonderful opportunities.

But in running, my hard work just barely keeps me from being the last one to cross the finish line.

In all honesty, it's difficult for me to work really hard at something and still be in the bottom percentage.

But, there's something in that comparison between myself and the world that spurs me on toward progress.

I'd be lying if I said that I haven't already thought about doing another 1/2 marathon. Or that I'm not already thinking of how to train better.

I guess what I've come to realize this week is this:

I need to find contentment in the work, not in the result that work brings.

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What I've been trying to say with all that rambling is this:

I'm better at singing than I am at running.

When it comes to running, I have to work really hard to be mediocre at best.

And I'm learning that it's ok to work hard at something and not be really good at it. I'm learning that there is value in the process too.

Prairie Fire Spring Half Marathon

As I've been thinking about how I want to tell the story of this epic day, it feels a lot like it did when I wrote birth stories about my girls.

Honestly, running 13.1 miles was the hardest thing I've ever done.

So I suppose it deserves it's own birth story.

First things first.

I finished.

I wasn't the last one.

I had a goal of finishing under 3 hours, with a secret desire to run it in 2:36.

Official time for my first half marathon: 2:54

As I think about how the day played out and my reaction to those events, it might appear as if there is a bad guy in this whole thing. 

But I assure you there isn't.

I had no way of knowing how important certain things would be and consequently the effect they would have.

I slept great last night, of which I am so thankful.

I ate a half a banana before I realized I hate bananas and threw the rest away.

I drove myself to the race to get there early and find parking. I told Aleks that he and the girls didn't need to come to the start. I also left him a map of the course, my sunglasses, and half of my bag of energy chews to bring to me at the halfway point.

I wasn't sure if I was going to run with my water belt, but ended up wearing it, mostly for the cell phone storage. I also packed a bit of toilet paper. I knew there would be toilets along the way, but what if they were out of toilet paper?! That would be the worst thing ever.

A lot of us runners huddled under a tent in the runner's village waiting to line up. There was coffee and hot tea, which was so tempting since it was 45 degrees and misting, but there was no way I was going to speed up any kind of digestive process.

I started chatting with another runner next to me and asked what her finish time goal was. She said that originally it was 2:15, but that she had been in the hospital this week and was just hoping to finish. She got released on Thursday with an ok from her doc to run. I only saw her once on the course, she ran out of a port-a-potty ahead of me around mile 3. 

I've been thinking about her a lot this afternoon and evening.

Most of the people around me had a running team with them or were surrounded by family. There was a poster for a first time marathoner created by her twenty something daughter.

I was glad to blame the wind for the water that kept leaking from my eyes.

I realized I had left my watch at home and texted Aleks to see if he could bring it to me along with some ear muffs.

I ate the other half of my energy chews and lined up. 

And heard an awful rendition of the national anthem. In her defense, it was 7:30 AM.

Then we were off!

I found myself behind the 2:30 pacer and decided to follow her awhile and see how it felt.

The first 4 miles were amazing.

There was talking and joking and music and I was feeling good.

Aleks and the girls met me at mile 4 chanting "Go Mommy go! Go Mommy go!" By this point I had warmed up and didn't need the earmuffs and decided to continue without my watch. I had been running with the pacer pretty well up to this point and was feeling great.

Around mile 5-6 I had to pee so I stopped off at the nearest toilet.

When I came out, I wasn't able to run fast enough to catch up to the pacer. I figured once I saw Aleks in the next couple of miles and ate my chews, I could speed up a bit and catch them.

Well, I hit the halfway point and saw no sign of my family.

I continued on. The next water station offered gu. I was hurting pretty badly by this point, having run for over an hour and needed energy. However, I've never used gu before and have heard mixed reviews. I knew Aleks had my tried and true organic chews so I bypassed the gu and just drank water.

Mile 8.

I finally had to stop and walk. I took that chance to call Aleks and see where he was. He and the girls were at the finish line and seemed unable to hook up with me.

Panic set in. Not having the chews and seeing my family affected me psychologically and physically. Somewhere between mile 8 and 9, I experienced muscle pain like I've never felt before. I began to think that I wasn't going to be able to finish.

Aleks called back and asked if I wanted him to be at mile 11. I said yes without hesitation.

Just 2 more miles and I'd see my family and get some energy.

Those two miles were awful. I had fallen behind the mass of people who were going to finish in the 2:30 mark. I was ahead of those who had started off much slower and there were almost no runners around me. I no longer knew how fast I was going or how much distance I had covered.

I felt alone and abandoned.

I put in my ear phones and listened to a mix tape that a friend shared with me and that I had been using during training.

"We don't give a d---, we don't give f---" matched the rhythm my tired feet were pounding into the ground.

At the mile 11 water station I looked around for Aleks, but didn't see him anywhere. I tried to keep running, but my legs were sore in a way that I didn't know how to deal with. As I hobbled to mile 12, there was Aleks. 

I blurted, "I don't think I can do this" while trying not to burst into tears. I grabbed my chews and handed him my belt.

Maia and Ruby were clamoring for my attention, but I had no energy for anything but putting one foot in front of the other. 

Aleks said "You can do it. You don't have to run."

I think hearing that permission gave me the tiniest of boosts and realization that I could finish, even if it wasn't in the way I had dreamed.

As I walked majority of the last mile, volunteers and police officers would shout encouragingly "You're almost there! It's the home stretch!"

Surprisingly, I didn't feel a sense of relief or rejuvenation at their kind words. 

One more step was almost too hard, I couldn't even fathom one more mile.

As I came into the real home stretch I started trotting along once more. There was no way I was going to walk across that finish line. Aleks and the girls had walked from the finish line back to mile 12 and so they weren't there for me to see as I crossed and heard that glorious beep of my timing chip activating.

I was handed my medal, wrapped in one of those shiny silver sheets (what are they for???), and grabbed a bottle of water.

I tried to stretch, but was mostly in a daze and felt disconnected from what was going on around me. Aleks and I finally met up after a couple minutes and I just started sobbing into his chest.

I think this is the first time the girls have seen me cry. Maia told several people today, with a sly glance my way, that there were tears coming out of my eyes when I finished the race.

And then the aftermath got bad. I started to get really lightheaded and Aleks insisted that he drive me home. I also started to feel the need to go to the bathroom, but felt I could make it home.

I was soaking wet (half sweat, half mist) and my legs were still causing me agony.

I couldn't walk to the car or even stand to wait, so I sat on the sidewalk and tried to look perky as people walked past us.

We were almost home when I had to have Aleks pull into a Burger King parking lot so I could use the restroom.

I was very close to having things come out both ends.

We made it home and I immediately got into a hot shower.

Wrapped in my robe and tucked into bed I tried to get warm, but I was cold to the bone and could not stop shivering. Aleks insisted I needed some protein, but I couldn't even fathom putting something into my stomach while I felt so awful. He forced me to drink a small glass of chocolate milk, which I did reluctantly.

I finally drew a hot bath and began to warm up after 15 minutes of soaking.

I finished the race just before 10:30 and it wasn't until 1:30 that I started to feel normal again.

I wasn't expecting to feel this way. After my other long runs I was sore, but nothing like the pain and weakness I experienced.

In all honesty, until this evening, I felt pretty defeated about the whole thing.

I felt like I could have run a better race.

But,

Aleks' coach said something to him the other day that I think is so true.

We can train and plan and do our best to prepare for a race. 

Then on race day things happen that throw our good intentions off track and we just have to deal with things in the best way we can. 

And that's what makes us athletes.

Today, things didn't go how I had envisioned.

However, I finished, and I'm learning that counts for something.

Two years ago I couldn't run a 1/4 mile without stopping.

Today I did 13 point 1 miles. In a row. By foot.

So yeah, I guess that feels pretty good.

So, where does this experience leave me and running?

I'm not going to say that I'll never do another half marathon.

But I'll never again do one alone.

So, anyone need a new running partner?