TriathaMom

Last spring I was visiting teaching my neighbor Helen.  We were chatting about things and she mention that she was thinking about doing a triathlon.  The more we talked about it the more I thought it sounded like something I could do.  Long story short...because I did my visiting teaching that month, I signed up to do a triathlon.  (We were also able to talk our neighbor Crystal into doing it too.) It was just a Sprint Triathlon, 300 yard swim, 12 mile bike, and 5k run.  Nothing like an Olympic or Iron Man distance.  Once I finished Ragnar I dove head into training for the Tri.  I was feeling really good about the run, and the bike I wasn't too worried about...but the swim, that had me worried.  Swimming for me, for as long as I can remember, consisted of swimming from where your skis dropped you to the boat.  Or from the lake to the shore so you could jump off a cliff.  All very short distances.  I swam, and swam, and swam a lot.
The big day came!  A triathlon is so much more complex than a normal running race.  There is a lot of "equipment." We got everything set up in the transition area.

Then we were off to swim.  I was glad that it was in a pool.  I can't even imagine how crazy it would be swimming with 400+ girls in open water.  It was crazy enough with lanes.

Good thing we had the cutest cheering section ever!

I am a slow swimmer, so I started after all my friends.  It was pretty crazy in the pool.  They started us in groups of 5.  There were a lot of people who were swimming really slow.  I got squished between 4 girls at one point.  Something that I had not prepared for was the stop and go, fast and slow, aspect of a swimming race.  It was hard to try and swim around people...I'll be honest, I was SOOO glad to get out of that pool! (And I haven't been in a pool since. :)

I was so excited to have the swim over!!!  I am so much more comfortable biking and running.  

Next up was the bike.  After a quick transition I was off.

I had a great ride!  Funny story about my ride.  With running, I am use to pushing it hard at the end.  You see the finish and you give it everything you have left, you run as hard as you can until you hit the timing mat.  Well, I was doing the same thing with the bike, pushing it as hard as I can.  Well, I started having all these people yell at me to slow down.  I guess they didn't want me coming into the transition area at full speed.

Side note, while I was running Anna, Nicholas, and Devin were enjoying the carnival.  There were inflatable slides, snow cones, face painting, a park, and all sorts of stuff.  Devin said it was hard to get the kids to come and watch mommy race because they were having so much fun.

Nicholas was fearless and would go down the big slide!

They did make it for my transition from the bike to the run.  My ride felt so good and I had tons of energy left.  I was so excited to run.  I know running.

I had a fantastic run.  I felt bad that as I took off I pushed the wrong button for my watch and so I didn't start my time.  The race was next to the Olympic Oval in Kerns and there were problems with the timing so some of our times were off.  But...no matter what my time, I had a great run.

Here is the finish.

I ended up completing the triathlon in 1:28:30.  I was 9th in my age group and 30th overall.  Most important my goal was to do it under 1:30 and not drown, so I did it!!!
Here we all are after it was done.  (Nicholas just wanted me to hold him.)

And my favorite picture is me and my friends.

So CHECK that one off the Bucket List!  I don't know if I will ever do a triathlon again.  Maybe someday when my kids are older.  It just takes WAY too much time to train.  I like to do too many things, not just exercise.  One important thing that I learned from the triathlon is that I LOVE TO RUN!  I knew I liked to run, but now I really know.  I have also started mountain biking and that is really fun too.  So lots of good things learned.  It was fun.  I love the rush of a race.  You can't beat that feeling.  ...I don't know.  These two kids are just as much fun as a good race every day!

Thanks Anna and Nicholas for cheering me on and helping me become a TriathaMom.

Mobile Moments July 2012

Enjoy the random, crazy, funny July pictures from my phone.
Anna and Nicholas like making trains with the bar stools.  Too bad you can't hear their train noises.

Anna loves to float in her pool.

Here are the Freedom Festival Fun Run shirts.  I guess a small is not small enough.

Here I am with Nicholas's shirt on.  No wonder they are too big for the kids.

Anna wanted to practice running before the race. She loves running on the treadmill.

There have been so many fires this summer.  One fire up in Alpine was really close to us.  Here are the pictures from my front porch and Anna's window.

Devin loves to read to the kids and they love it when he reads to them.  It is always a good time to snuggle up with Daddy and a good book.

Nicholas was all ready to go and run his first race.

I love this picture from the Freedom Run.  It says, "I love my brother, but I just haven't figured out how to hug him in a nice way."  Hug / headlock, they really aren't that different right?

We have had many people ask us why we bought a van when we only have two kids.  The reason is we somehow end up with extra people in our car all the time.  It is nice to have room for extra friends.  Here is one example of 3 cute little people that wanted to ride in our car one day.

Snaps to whoever can tell me where this chair is at.  I remember sitting in this chair when I was a kid.  I'm glad they haven't gotten rid of it.

Grandma and Grandpa Baldwin came down with Missy to drop her off at the airport.  Anna loved doing puzzles with Grandma.

Nicholas loved playing with Grandpa.

Anna had a really hard time saying good bye to Missy.  She was a train wreck.  She just cried and cried.  After Missy left she drew a picture to mail to her.  She wanted to draw a taxi car to bring Missy back.

Anna like to play with my old check book slips. ...Does anyone even use those anymore?

Because we have been playing outside so much,  Anna gets really tired.  I have been trying to bribe her to take "naps" or at least lay down and close her eyes for a while.  Sometimes I am lucky and she even falls asleep.  One day the bribe was finger paints.  Lay down for 30 minutes and you get to finger paint.  We both scored that day!

I am creating a little monster.  One day I came into the bathroom.  Anna said, "Mommy I am busy organizing my hair things.  I just can't take the mess anymore!" Oh, I think she has heard me say that one too many times.

The Baldwin kids still like to be swaddled.

We enjoyed lots of yummy peas from our garden.  Maybe next year we will have enough to freeze.

I am grateful that Anna and Nicholas like playing with the kitchen toys together.  They usually get along very well when they are playing kitchen.

My brother David's kids are always asking when they can sleep over at our house.  Marthe had Girl's Camp and David was taking Mark to Day Camp so we finally got to have Tommy, Spencer, and Sadie sleep over.  5 kids, that was an experience.  I was even brave enough to take them all to Discovery Park, BY MYSELF!   Snaps to any woman who has more than two children.  You are my hero!

Nicholas loves tools and he loves to help Devin build things.

Our cute little tomato plants are coming around.  They may be small, but we have some really healthy looking plants.  (They are MUCH bigger now.)  Thanks to Dr. Pam the Gardening Wizard for helping us with our garden.

Our neighbors asked us to water their flowers while they were out of town.  Anna and Nicholas loved playing on their amazing swing set each day.  Someday we will save up enough money to buy a cool swing set for our yard.

Anna and Nicholas love to help make breakfast.  Anna likes to shred the potatoes for hash browns and Nicholas likes to mix anything.

Each week my two friends help me do the grocery shopping.  This was a good moment when they were not trying to kick each other or push the other person out of the car.

Anna is getting really good at doing puzzles on her own.  She loves the big puzzles.

Talk about multi-tasking!  I guess this is one way to have Nicholas watch Devin shave.

Devin was nice and let Nicholas "drive" the car into the garage one day.

Anna has been fascinated with writing lately.  I found one of my old white boards and erasers and Anna has been in heaven.  It is such a fun way to practice writing letters and drawing.

My wonderful Aunt Leslie found some more Beatrix Potter books for Anna.  The pictures are amazing. The stories are so cute!

I wish I could remember what Anna was packed up and ready to do in this picture.  I am sure it was fun!

This is my new favorite picture of Nicholas.  I can't help but laugh every time I look at it.  Can you say, "Wedding Video!"

Ikea cups, plates, and bowls are not only the best deal for $2.  They are the best $2 toys ever!

Nicholas loves babies.  He is so sweet with them.

July was loads of fun, don't you think?