Our Life with 3 Guys and A Doll

Freeze Your Thorns Off Virtual Race

2012-01-28T15:32:00.001-05:00

This morning I ran in the 2nd Annual Freeze Your Thorns Off virtual race hosted by the witty, in a boring way, The Boring Runner.

I signed up for the 1st Annual FYTO last winter but was a big ol' DNS because of my IT band.

I have to admit that my training has been pretty hit or miss around Thanksgiving so I'm in terrible shape, and actually just this week started "Official Half Marathon Training" [said in a booming, echo-y voice].

My training plan called for 4 miles. My children called for...me all night...one with an ear ache and the other with a stuffed nose that made him snore like a diesel engine all night.

I wasn't going to give up so easily though. Sleep be damned! I will run. Plus this weekend is back to back with activities so it was this morning or no morning.

Everything was in place...

Cold weather

Me dressed like a homeless person hovering over a barrel fire

It was a pretty uneventful run other than the fact that I was tired and hungry at the start because I forgot to eat when I woke up. And I had to step off the road twice for oncoming cars, but at least they didn't swerve towards me.

Finish time: 31:29. Not lightning fast, but then even pre-injury I was never speedy. I'll happily take it. Thank you very much. :D

Yes, this is totally staged. I had my oldest son stand on the side of the road taking lots of pictures and this one was the silliest.

I learned two things: These particular tights chaff me at the waist band in one spot. I have to braid my hair because the wind kept blowing it in my face even though it was in a ponytail.

Thank you Adam for hosting the race and encouraging us all to get our miles in even when it's freezing cold out.

I hit publish instead of save before I was done. It has been a little crazy today!

Five for Friday - snake handler's edition

2012-01-27T15:11:00.000-05:00

Warning: There's a picture of Ella petting a snake so proceed with CAUTION!!

Don't say I didn't warn you.

So January has been pretty insane but a lot of fun too. We had a day of 'if we don't get out of the house, there may be blood shed' so we called some friends and arranged a playdate at a nearby nature center.

This particular center doesn't get a lot traffic during the week, and the naturalists are all super nice so they're very happy to take the creatures out of their cages and let the kids pet and/or feed them. They got to feed the turtles and pet the snakes. :shudder:

My baby girl petting a snake. She held it and it slithered around her arm.

I almost fainted so I didn't get a picture.

They have a playground with climbing ropes and rocks. My little man striking a pose.

(He dressed himself; I know you're impressed.)

Next we scheduled Ella for a Wegmans cooking class. If you have a Wegmans near you, definitely check out one of their classes. Very hands on and very fun for only $5 per. She loved it. She and Shane are both signed up for one in February. I may sing a different tune after they toss us out onto the street because Shane was a butt scratching hooligan (my Facebook friends will understand and appreciate that one).

Because only boring people sit at home and do things like vaccuum or do laundry (that's what I tell myself because those things are not happening at my house), we decided it was time for another AT hike. This time we brought along one of Ella's friends from Girl Scouts. I think we'll make it a regular date. We all had a great time and Elizabeth found a very cool fungus.

We had an opportunity for 4 of us to catch a MD game with good friends as well as Bill's dad and his girlfriend. Ella was sick so she and Jake stayed home playing Wii while Bill and I took the little boys to the game. Afterwards we celebrated MD's win with dinner and a Tic Tac Toe tournament at Silver Diner.

As the month is winding down, we visited our library for a Chinese New Year craft and parade. Ella was the only Chinese person attending -which is actually unsual for our little town. She felt a little shy in her Chinese dress but I stuffed Shane into our last remaining boy's outfit so she wasn't the only in traditional dress.

Do you feel out of sorts with too much white space on your calendar? Apparently I do.

Ice Skating at the Sculpture Gardens

2012-01-26T08:21:00.034-05:00

Continuing on our field trip adventure...

We headed across the street to the sculpture garden so that we could use our kids college funds to ice skating with 100's of our closest friends. Ok, it wasn't quite that bad, but it is expensive (~$13 adult w/skates for 2 hours) and it was crowded.

Bill opted not to skate so he could take pictures.

Hank was a little nervous, but once he got started, he was gone

Ella, as usual, took off and did great

Shane and I.... I'm not a great skater at all, but I can stay upright if I pay attention to what I'm doing.
Shane, otoh, had no idea what he was doing. He would crash and just lie there while people zipped around him. I envisioned his fingers being sliced off. So I ended up skating behind him, holding him upright by the back of his coat.

Crazy, I know

Snow Squirrel

Yep my back was a little sore after this

Hank jamming to Funky Town

He came up to me, "Mom! Did you see all my moooves?!"

The sculpture gardens are really pretty and the kids had a great time. Note that they clear the ice every 45 minutes and then Zamboni for 15 minutes. So you're really paying for 2 hours but skating for only 1 1/2 [which was plenty for me].

We went ice skating in Frederick with some friends the next day and Shane did better. It's definitely a 'practice makes perfect' sport.

National Gallery of Art field trip

2012-01-24T08:20:00.000-05:00

Thanks for your patience with my blogging hiatus. Between teaching at co-op, basketball, and scouts my kids' calendars have overtaken my life. I do have some pictures I want to get posted before I completely forget...

We went to the National Gallery of Art for a field on January 2nd. We typically 'go downtown' every year just before Christmas [before it's so crowded you can hardly breathe], but this year for a number of reasons we held off until after Christmas. I'm writing this here so I dont' forget...go *before* Christmas.

The NGA is a beautiful building and they had decorated very nicely for Christmas. Not that the kids noticed, but I did, and I enjoyed it.

We went to see their Renaissance art, but after we did all the 'school' stuff, we checked out some fun paintings...

Tired from counting all the lions in Daniel and the Lions Den

Checking to be sure the end of the violin on the table really does 'follow' you

And making sure their eyes follow you

It began as a nice group photo

And quickly became

an opportunity for

Daddy to intervene

That's better, sort of

One day we'll have a normal picture of Shane. It just wasn't that day

Field trip notes:
- With a large family, it's often cheaper or at least as expensive to just drive and park rather than take the Metro. If you have your car handy, you can stash coats, water bottles, lunches, etc w/o having to schlep them around. Some museums will let you take water bottles in and some won't. NGA has a coat check room so I was able to leave our backpack of food and drink in there.
- Getting through 'security' at the NGA was very simple...open any bags for inspection, walk through the metal detectors, don't sweat or act shifty- oh wait that's the airport. Anyway, there was no hassle getting in.
- The guides, docents, and security folks were all very nice and didn't give us any dirty looks for having a bunch of kids there [we were with our co-op and had ~20 kids from K-12th with us]
- The NGA is very large with lots to see. Definitely do your research beforehand so you have a plan of what you want to see.
- The do have sculptures and paintings of nekid people so be aware if that's a concern.

Caught with my pants down

2012-01-07T18:49:00.000-05:00

for reals

Before we get to the funny stuff though...tomorrow is the last day of Maintain Don't Gain and my free pool pass expires so I headed to Shepherd to swim as well as weigh in.

I lost about 1/2 a pound from Thanksgiving to now which I consider a small miracle considering how I stuffed my face from Christmas to New Years. After that small victory, I did my 2000 yds and headed home. Excellent afternoon if I say so myself.

On the way home I had the wild idea to stop at the Appalachian Trailhead in Weverton and run to the top of the mountain and back down. It's just a mile, but it's pretty steep with lots of rocks and switchbacks. I called Bill to let him know of my plan change so he'd know to come look for me if I did a face plant and couldn't crawl to the car.

I parked and realized I needed to pee, only there's no porto potty and it's winter so there are no leaves to hide behind. I figured I wouldn't be blazing up or down the mountain so I should be ok. ha!

Going up I was pretty much just fast walking. I wasn't wearing my Garmin but my trusty Timex told me it took 15 minutes to get to the sign at the top of the hill. Cool.

I started trotting down the hill feeling pretty darn amazing. There were just a few people out which was surprising considering how nice the weather was. As I traisped along, I realized I had to stop to pee or wet my pants.

Soooo I found a big tree, looked all around and then dropped trou and commenced peeing.

Then I heard people talking and looked up in time to see a dad about 25 yds away. He did a double take and then turned around to stop his preteen sons from going any farther.

photo credit

I yanked up my shorts and ran past them apologizing. The mom smiled like she knew my pain. The boys just thought it was pretty darn funny (so did I actually) and were giggling as I passed.

Bill was grossed out , but I figure we all pee, and even casual hikers pee in the woods so I don't think I scarred anyone for life.

Surely I'm not the only person who's been caught...has this ever happened to you...or anyone you know, or a friend of your hairdresser's cousin's neighbor?

AT Hike Reno Monument

2011-12-30T20:24:00.000-05:00

Today was another completely gorgeous Maryland day so we joined a friend and her son on another AT hike. This time we drove to the Reno Monument and headed south to the Rocky Run shelter.

We piled out of the truck and started getting our stuff together when we realized Shane did not have a coat....and he was wearing a short sleeve t-shirt. Thankfully he was wearing shoes so we weren't a complete disaster. He refused to wear my fleece shirt but we managed to get my down vest on him so off we went.

Waiting for Bill and Shane at the side trail to the shelter

Moseying along through the woods looking for bears and sasquatches

Inside the new Rocky Run Shelter. It was palatial and very nice. We may have to camp there just 'cause

Then we headed down to the old shelter where there's a small creek. Little kids and water can't exist in close proximity without some kind of interaction (that sounds scientificky doesn't it??).

They were trying to dam the creek and make a lake so they could fish. Go big or go home!

The old shelter is in the background. Much smaller than the new one, but still open for camping

Bill had Shane-duty. His primary responsibility to keep Shane from puddle-jumping, one of his most favorite things to do.

Bear hunting

This part of the trail is just mildly rocky so it's a pretty easy hike. We still only went about 2 1/2 miles round trip, but we all had a great time. After that we headed to the creamery so the kids could munch some ice cream.

I love winter hiking and can't wait to get the kids out on the trails more this winter.

Looking forward to 2012

2011-12-30T09:37:00.002-05:00

In all honesty, I'm very happy to see 2011 leave. It has been a very challenging year physically, emotionally and relationally. I realize that simply flipping a page on the calendar isn't going to make all things cheery and bright, but I do think that pushing the 'reset' button is good and necessary and what better time to push reset than January 1?

Physically
Obviously starting 2011 injured and remaining that way for most of the year put a damper on my plans and messed with my head.

For 2012 my Fitness Goals are pretty simple:
~ reach and maintain a healthy weight - I'm on the upper end of 'normal' for my height, but I'd like to be closer to the middle of that range.
~ kick the sugar habit
~ complete a Sprint and an Oly both with OWS - My kids' calendar and my ~~lack of a~~ budget make this tricky, but I'm confident I can do them both.
~ continue to run, bike and swim and just enjoy them
~ continue to heart-rate train and try to enjoy it

Emotionally and Relationally
We all deal with hard things, and none of us skates through life untouched by conflict, pain or disappointment. I have to say that this year seemed to be ripe with difficulty. Some of the larger issues...

~ My Nana died earlier this year.
~ My dad's health continues to decline.
~ Two of our four kids are extremely challenging behavior-wise and being home with them all day, every day is exhausting in every sense of the word.
~ I learned that family members have been trash talking us - me in particular - behind our backs for years because of decisions we've made [legal, reasonable decisions that don't impact any of them].
~ Bill was offered a job with a pay increase. His boss, and his boss's boss, countered with more money so Bill elected to stay at his current job because he likes his job and his coworkers. He has since learned that they lied to him and led him to believe they could authorize the increase. They can't. It has been denied by the powers that be. We're a little upset.

Of course there are things we can control and things we can't. It's important to remember that we can't let these issues - or our response to these issues - define us.

I could feel this happening to me as boulder after boulder landed on me. It's easy to become wrapped up in the negative, and I was definitely not as joyful or fun to be around.

Though in the end, by God's grace,
~ we'll keep plugging away with our 2 challenging children and trust that one day they'll get their act together - or not, but we can only do so much before they have to take responsibility for themselves.
~ we'll continue with the decisions we've made, and if family members want to spend their time being unkind and tearing other people down, then so be it. We can't control what they say, but we won't let it negatively influence us.
~ and I 'm a big believer in 'what goes around, comes around'. Bill's bosses have to live knowing they lied to a good employee, and they have to face him each day as he continues to work hard and give them his best effort despite what they did. And I think one day they'll look back with regret that they treated him so poorly.

My Personal Goals for 2012 are also pretty simple:
~ Whatever happens, conduct yourselves in a manner worthy of the gospel of Christ. Philippians 1:27a
~ Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up. Galations 6:9
~ When a man’s ways are pleasing to the Lord, he makes even his enemies to live at peace with him. Proverbs 16:7

Distracted swimming

2011-12-29T09:24:00.000-05:00

Yesterday was Wellness Wednesday at Shepherd so I loaded up my kiddos and off we went. Because there's no school this week, I figured it would be either really crowded or a ghost town....and crossed my fingers for ghost town. 'Twas not to be....

The place was packed and they had all the lanes up in the pool so 'fun swimming' was limited to the two outside lanes. This meant that people were playing in most of the remaining lanes instead of swimming laps.

I asked two teenage guys who were goofing off in an outside lane if they minded if I swam laps in the section nearest the rope. They didn't, and I started swimming.

Then I noticed that in the lane next to me was a couple who were, um, really happy to be together. They would hang onto the side of the pool *really* close to each other and giggle and slobber on each other. Then they'd swim to the bottom where she would tap a coin or something on the bottom of the pool and he motion something. She would ride on his back while he swam along the bottom and then they'd go back to the edge to tangle up and slobber again.

At a couple of points I was tempted to remind them that we were all wearing goggles so we could see everything, but I figured people who act like that in a somewhat public pool probably don't care.

Eventually one of the middle lanes became open so I hopped into it to finish my laps. Unfortunately the porn stars were still nearby and gettin' busy. To add to the excitement two little girls were swimming the width of the pool, popping up in each lane, playing for a bit and then moving to the next lane.

Being little kids they had no regard for lap swimmers and I almost asked them to please stay out of my lane until I was done. But I looked around and both outside lanes were jam packed, and I was just swimming, not for time or anything serious so they were more of a distraction than anything. And learning to swim with distractions is necessary for tri swim, right?

Maybe I should have asked them to hit me with pool noodles as I swam by? Next time...

Merry Christmas!

2011-12-25T06:00:00.001-05:00

The Adoration of the Shepherds Guido Reni

and if you need a little chuckle

Christmas Activities

2011-12-24T08:00:00.046-05:00

This year, like most other years, we have done a ton of Christmas crafts. This year was different, however, because Ella is a crafty girl, and I pretty much showed her pictures of what to do and then she did them almost completely on her own. The boys are not very interested anymore so it was nice to spend time with my girlie.

The ornaments below are made from shells and sea glass we found on our trips to Broomes Island this summer. Envisioned and created by Ella. Pretty cool if you ask me.

The 3 white shells upper left are a disassembled snowman

Borax snowflakes

A mountain of playdough

We had a lot of fun taking a bunch of it to church to give to little kiddos (after asking their parents of course)

Felt ornaments. I cut the felt but Ella did the rest. She loves her new glue gun.

Tissue covered votives. All 3 littles did these on their own and discovered that peeling dried glue off your hands is wicked cool. We ended up covering our palms completely in glue so we could peel them.

Applesauce and cinnamon ornaments. We made these with some friends and enjoyed getting our hands all squishy and gross. One of our little friends licked her fingertip and found it didn't taste nearly as good as it smelled.

Ella's Brownie Troop marched in a local Christmas parade. The girls were elves and the grownups were reindeer. Very fun!

Hank's Cub Scout Pack had its annual Christmas party where the boys were given any awards they earned during the previous month, and....

Santa visited. Our local Santa is really good and the kids just love him. He puts a Santa hat on their heads and if it twirls when he lifts it off, they were good all year. Well, all the adults laughed when it twirled coming off Shane's head. Even he seemed a little surprised, but not as surprised as when he found a big jingle bell in his pocket planted by Santa. Magic, I tell ya

It has been an insanely busy month. Lots of fun, but busier than I prefer. Like many others, I see January 1st as a pivot point for the year so I'm really looking forward to getting into more of a disciplined (for me and the kids) schedule. For now, we're just riding the wave of fun.

Year In Review Ala Miss Zippy

2011-12-23T13:00:00.001-05:00

Miss Zippy has asked us all to do a little year end running report. It's fun to look back and reflect on things so here ya go....

Best race experience? Well, I only ran two races and didn't 'race' either of them. My favorite of the two was the Sprint Triathlon I did the end of Sept. I think I smiled for a week after that baby. Seriously fun stuff!
Best run? That would be the little biathlon I did. I don't count it as a race because it was really more of a fun run for me since I did it just 2 days after I got the green light to run.
Best new piece of gear? I love my YMX shirt that I won...as in I would sleep in it if Bill wouldn't laugh at me. But I think my Saucony Kinvara 2's are the best thing I got this year. Without them, I'd still be in my old shoes which were trashing my hip and flaring my PF in my left foot.
Best piece of running advice you received? Rest days are good, necessary, and beneficial to your mind and your body.
Most inspirational runner? I have 2. Miss Zippy and my friend L. Miss Zippy spent most of this year injured, and L has spent the last 3 months injured. Both stayed in touch with me and encouraged me while I was injured, and both maintained positive attitudes while they were injured, not letting the situation dictate their response, but rather looking at they could do instead of what they couldn't. Long awkward sentence but my brain is fried
If you could sum up your year in a couple of words, what would they be? An exercise in patience and an opportunity to learn contentment in all things.

3 Things Thursday

2011-12-22T20:28:00.000-05:00

1. I am not a good cook. Not even a mediocre one. But I thought it would be fun to make some peanut/popcorn brittle to give folks at Christmas.
Batch #1- didn't heat the sugar goo to a high enough temp and forgot the baking soda so the concoction never hardened
Batch #2 - wasn't paying attention while stirring and *melted* my spoon. sad, I know
Batch #3 - turned out pretty darn good so it's bagged up and ready for St Nick to deliver

2. I went swimming today and it was pretty much a suckfest. I felt awful, sluggish, hungry, tired and my head hurt like crazy. So I swam a slow mile and then aqua-jogged 300 yds.

3. I had weaned myself off coffee earlier this year. But I *love* pumpkin spice lattes. Love them. So around Thanksgiving I started drinking no more than 3 a week. I should have done decaf though because I think that's why my head hurt today. January 1 I start the weaning process again, and hopefully next Thanksgiving I'll remember to do decaf.

Maintain Don't Gain

2011-12-12T08:15:00.000-05:00

Those who know me know that I spend a lot of time in Shepherdstown because of Shepherd U's Wellness Wednesday [the Wellness Center (indoor pool, bball court, etc) is open free to the public the last Wed of each month], my favorite shoe store, Two Rivers Treads, is there [they offer a variety of free running clinics and are generally nice folks], and it's very near the tow path where I do a lot of riding.

So you won't be surprised to learn that when I heard about Maintain Don't Gain happening at Shepherd, I was all over it.

Maintain Don't Gain is a great program designed to keep people active and healthy during the holidays. You go to a participating location to be weighed in and then receive coupons for free visits to area gyms and a weekly motiviational newsletter.

After the holidays in early January, you go back to be weighed again with the hope that you didn't gain any weight which is important since most folks don't tend to lose the weight they gain over the holidays.

I made the trip to Shepherd to be weighed in by a stick figure of a college student and groaned when I saw the number. I knew I had eaten pretty badly the week of halloween and had gained nearly 5 pounds, but somehow seeing it on an 'official' scale - with another person standing over my shoulder - made it all the more horrible. ugh!

And have struggled for 2+ weeks since then to get my butt in gear. They gave us coupons for 5 free visits to 6 different gyms ranging from Curves to Gold's so theoretically I could go to the gym nearly every day in December...except that I have 3 little kids who need an education and who have much busier social calendars than I.

I've used 2 visits so far.... a spin class at Gold's (butt kicker!) and a quick mile swim at Shepherd. I'm happy, sort of, that I haven't gained any more weight, but I would be very happy to see the scale move back down those 4.5 notches.

How do you plan to keep the pounds at bay during the holidays?

So my sense of humor is a little warped

2011-12-02T22:17:00.000-05:00

Our small group from church had its Christmas party tonight. It was Bill's turn to go - we take turns going to meetings, etc since our peeps are too young to stay home alone - so I made the dessert and he gets to go eat all the ~~yummy~~ fattening goodies.

I thought it would be funny to make a snowman cake. I thought it would be even funnier to make it out of red velvet cake. You know like "aaaah, who cut a piece of me off?! I'm bleeding! "

I was a little nervous. Some people don't laugh at weird humor, but Bill emailed me a couple of pictures letting me know that he was well received. whew!

I didn't take a 'before' shot, but his head was attached to his body when he left the house

It's really nothing personal against Frosty. I happen to love the song and think the cartoon is a hoot. However, I don't love snow or cold at.all. So I look at it more as a commentary on my feelings towards those things and not a sweet cartoon character.

Maybe my friends were getting a little too into it??

Do you make off the wall desserts or dishes?

Kids say the darndest things

2011-12-01T10:00:00.001-05:00

So last night I was getting ready to lie down with Shane and read him story. As I waded through a sea of toys and dress up clothes, I told him and Hank they really needed to clean their room because it was gross.

Shane said, "Boys do what boys want to do. *And* they're disgusting."

Hank said, "Yea but good boys clean their rooms when their mom says to." (I love him!!)

Shane said, "But we're not *good* boys; we're *bad* boys and bad boys don't clean rooms!"

I think I have my work cut out for me...

Weekend at Bernie's...uh, Weekend without kids

2011-11-30T19:36:00.001-05:00

After Thanksgiving all 4 of our kids stayed with Bill's mom.

Shane stayed to help decorate the yard for Christmas - he had been asking for months to help her with this.
Ella stayed to play with her cousin.
Hank stayed so he could go to Bill's brother's house to help rake massive amounts of leaves.
And Jake stayed to muck cow and goat pens.

Worked for me!!

Sooooo what should two grown ups do when left to themselves for 2 whole days??? Well, maybe what you're thinking, but we definitely checked out a Maryland game.

Go Terps!

And I couldn't let a gorgeous weekend go by sans kids without a long bike ride so I put on my equally gorgeous YMX jersey and bolero and hit the tow path for 30 miles.

30 miles isn't far to go on a bike...if you've trained consistently for it - you know, like I did this summer. I haven't been on my bike much since the triathlon, and I was sucking wind by the end of my ride. But it felt really good to just ride and ride.

Yes, that's mud - probably mixed with a little horse poo - on my neck. It was also on my front and my behind. It's part of what makes the towpath fun.

Being a bird geek, I was excited to see a pair of Bluebirds that hadn't yet migrated as well as a Pileated Woodpecker. Pretty cool! (Neither is in this picture. I just thought the view up creek was pretty. My phone camera didn't do it justice)

I got home, just a little tired (ha!), and Bill asked if I'd go on a hike with him. Since I'm always nagging him to peel himself away from his work computer, I figured I'd better go. Plus it was still a really nice day.

He wanted to hike from Gathland to Weverton Cliffs, check out the sunset and then hike down Weverton to the parking lot. We left the car at Weverton and then drove together to Gathland. I've never hiked all the way from Gathland to Weverton before (~7 miles). I've hiked about 2 miles from Gathland and gone about 1 mile up from Weverton. Those 4 miles in between were a mystery to me though.

In a moment of complete, absolute, without a doubt stupidity, I chose to wear my old hiking boots. They're excellent boots and in great shape - except - I bought them many years ago, pre-kids, and my feet have grown at least a size since then.

Yes, please rap my knuckles with a ruler. It was a bad, bad choice and I paid for it. About 3 miles in, my pinky toes started to talk to me. Then my heels joined the chorus. Nothing I could do but press on. I couldn't go barefoot because the trail at that point is very rocky and leaf covered. I figured blisters would heal a lot faster than another fracture or plantar plate issue.

We saw this cool woodpecker hang out

Neither of us realized how technical the trail was so we didn't count on it taking us so long to get to the cliffs. We had adequate food and clothing (except my dumb boots), and thankfully we brought headlamps along too.

So it started as a day hike

Bill is having a hard time getting used to these self portrait pictures. He doesn't look like a serial killer in real life, promise.

And it became a night hike

You're loving my Tinkerbell headlamp, aren't you?

We missed sunset at the cliffs, but we did hike down there to enjoy the view for a bit. Then we began the mile of switchbacks to the parking lot. It was a great hike, and I'm really glad did it.

My feet... today [Wednesday] I was able to wear shoes other than flip flops so they're doing better.

Aaaaannnndd, even better, Bill now has the itch to do a 3-4 day backcountry hike (which he used to do all the time before we met). I hope he lets me come along too.

She has a lot of air in her

2011-11-30T17:27:00.000-05:00

It's the last Wednesday of month - I know! already??? - so we went to the Shepherd University Wellness Center open house to swim and play basketball after we finished our schoolwork.

I swam 2700 yards (smidge more than a mile and a half) while the kids played. Then we played basketball, followed by a mile run on the indoor track.

On the way home the kids were talking about how much fun they had swimming to the bottom of the 10ft end of the pool.

Hank said it was hard for him because he 'didn't have enough air.'

Ella said, "Well, it was really easy for me, but I talk a lot so I have *a lot* of air."

Maybe if I talked more it would help my swim??

Wattle Waddle Race Recap

2011-11-28T20:26:00.001-05:00

The Wattle Waddle is a 5 mile Thanksgiving Day race that benefits a Christian shelter for homeless women and their children.

In years past, we've run the Turkey Trot in Frederick, but it has become too large for the course with just a mass start.

We decided that this year we would make the trek to Emmitsburg for the Wattle Waddle, and I'm so glad we did. Emmitsburg is a quaint little town near the MD/PA border so I figured it would be really easy to find the park where the race started. It was pretty funny because we could SEE the park, and the big inflatable turkey; we just couldn't find the road that got us there. After some wrong-way-on-one-way-streets (whoops!) we finally got there.

It was cold, but not unbearable -and- not windy or rainy. Yay! We had plenty of time to spare so we picked up our packets and hung out in the car for a bit.

I asked Hank if he wanted to run with me, and he looked at me like I was crazy. [sad Mommy moment], but I figured I could keep him in sight and then run with him once he petered out. The mayor said GO and off they went.

I didn't have any goal in mind other than to support Hank as he needed me...which turned out to be a good thing.

Hank took off like a cannonball and I quickly lost sight of him. I started off nice and slow and figured I'd catch him at some point. The course is described as mostly flat, and for this part of Maryland, it was mostly flat. It's also very scenic so I enjoyed plodding along checking out the world.

Around mile 2, I saw a cute little guy in a blue shirt. Hank had pretty much flamed out and would struggle for the rest of the race. We stopped at the one water stop and walked and drank. Then I just talked to him, encouraged him and reminded him how strong he was for even being out there.

edited to add this picture taken by the husband of my friend, who was the 4th woman overall. fast!

We took a couple of walk breaks and I continued to encourage him. There weren't many kid runners so other runners and spectators cheered a lot for him as we passed which really helped - spectators, never underestimate the power of an encouraging word or a crazy yell!

We hit the home stretch and I told him to run with all he had left. The little monkey had quite a kick for being so tired. I'm not letting myself sprint anywhere yet so I just plodded on in. We both finished in 50 minutes and change. I thought that was excellent for Hank's first road race and first attempt at that distance.

While we were running, they had some activities for any kids who happened to be waiting around. Ella did a waddle race seeing how far she could run holding an inflatable turkey between her knees. She also played on the playground and did her part to annoy her older brother. Many thanks to Jake for taking pictures and watching his sister while Hank and I ran. Not his first choice for Thanksgiving morning, but he did it, and I'm grateful.

After the 5 mile race, they had a 1 mile walk led by a giant turkey. Though someone forgot to tell the kids it was just a walk because they all took off. So turkey-man had to take off after them because he was supposed to be out front (dunno why but that's what he said afterwards as he was catching his breath).

Ella got a ribbon and a certificate. I also gave her my swag - a pennant and a Livestrong-type bracelet - so she made out pretty well.

It's a great race. A great course. And a great cause. I definitely recommend it to you local folks. And I loved getting a headstart on the calories I knew I was going to enjoy later!

Happy Thanksgiving!

2011-11-24T11:03:00.000-05:00

So thankful I could run the Wattle Waddle 5 miler with my favorite 9 y/o this morning.

Also thankful that my adorable Ella could do the 1 mile fun run/walk. And that Jake watched Ella while we ran. And that we had a darn good time

Now to shower and head over the river and through the woods to Grandma's house

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!!!

Swim, Bike, Fun!

2011-11-23T11:00:00.001-05:00

The past week and a half have been really fun because I had 2 opportunities to swim and 1 nice bike ride. No photos of the swimming because I didn't think to take pictures of myself in my fashionable orange cap.

Swimming op #1 was last week... I tagged along with a friend of mine to a local college with an indoor pool. As an alum she gets a crazy discount on membership and can bring a guest for free. Cool!

Our schedules finally meshed so I could join her. She has a stress reaction in one foot so she's water running (as fast as I can swim so either I'm really slow or she's darn fast and I'm thinking it's the latter!). As I was swimming I couldn't remember if a mile was 64 lengths or laps - so sad - so I figured I'd better do 64 laps just in case. Yes, I did my first 2 mile swim. I felt ok, tired, but not awful...until the next day when my poor, flabby arms were crying.

Swim #2 was just yesterday with my friend again. On the way there, I realized I forgot my fashionable orange cap and my goggles. Thankfully I had braided my ridiculously long and frizzy hair, but I knew I wouldn't have a good swim without goggles. Double thankfully they had some 'lost and found' goggles I could borrow. Sadly, they leaked like crazy so it was a frustrating swim. I lasted for just a mile before I decided to leisurely side stroke and chat with my friend. I did find a diamond earring on the bottom of the pool so hopefully that made someone's day. I plan to run a Turkey Trot tomorrow so I was very happy to take it a little easy.

Bike ride! Woot! One of my dear friends is an avid cyclist so we're always trying to plan time to ride together. Sunday, the stars aligned and we were able to go for a 'grown ups only' ride on the C&O canal towpath.

We both felt great and decided 20 miles would be a nice distance to cover.

Dragon's Bend boat ramp

Coming up to Harper's Ferry

I loved being able to just chat and not worry about kids crashing or having to potty. I also loved that though it had started to rain, neither of us really minded.

About a quarter mile from the parking lot, I had a first. My front tire started to feel a little funny. Then I almost crashed trying to lean over and look at it (no one said I was bright or coordinated). Yep, I had a flat tire, like to the rim flat by the time we got to the car. Now my bike is upside down in the basement waiting for me to have time to go down there and figure out how to fix it. But I can hardly complain because I had such a great time.

I'm already looking forward to more rides together...after I fix my tire of course.

What my workouts look like now

2011-11-22T17:28:00.000-05:00

I don't have any goal races on my radar until late March. I have a few that I hope to do for fun, but I'm not looking for PRs anytime soon.

I used Hal Higdon's Novice Half plan to get me through my 2 half marathons so I'm familiar and comfortable with it. I printed that baby and taped it to the wall above my desk so I ~~can follow it religiously no matter what my body tells me~~ have a framework to operate within. If I'm fried and have to miss a day, I don't sweat it too much, but I wake up with a goal instead of wondering what I should do.

I'm also trying really hard to heart rate train a la the Maffetone method which means I'm doing a lot of walking in addition to running [slowly]. I say 'trying really hard' because I really want to just run and run and run. For my long runs I compromise and walk a mile, slowly run a mile and so on, working it so that I walk the last half mile as a cool down.

This past Saturday after working at an aid station for the JFK 50 I headed home to get in a run before Bill had to go to work.

You may remember Bertha's Grandmas from last year. But you probably don't...I tried to forget about them, too. These little darlings are about 3 miles from my house so we were bound to meet again...

Alternating running and walking made them so much easier. I could hardly believe it, and a 7 mile run/walk didn't kill me for the rest of the day. Bonus!

Don't I look happy? :D

So my workouts -
strength training 2x a week,
yoga if my plantar plate feels happy 1x a week and
run/walking 3-4x a week.

Though if I get an opportunity to swim or bike, I swap it for whatever is scheduled that day.

So far so good!

Course Support for the JFK 50

2011-11-21T17:44:00.000-05:00

This past Saturday was the 49th JFK 50 miler. I helped out at an aid station last year which inspired me so much that I've added this race to my bucket list. This year Hank wanted to come along and help out too...except that he hadn't been feeling very good the days prior. So I brought a chair and a wool blanket and bundled him up off to the side so he could watch.

The weather seemed colder this year though the runners seemed to be doing better. The aid station I help at is at the bottom of Weverton Cliffs. The trail down the mountain is pretty technical...add that it's leaf covered and the runners have just run about 14 miles already and you have the potential for injury. Last year folks rolled into our station looking like they had been hit by a car...blood dripping left and right with gashed faces, hands and knees. Seriously hardcore.

We had much less blood this year which was good because I ended up being at the end of the table closest to the first aid stuff which meant I was wiping cuts and applying bandaids to runners who were so cold their fingers couldn't bend.

Several people had icicles on their hats. brrrr! I offered a couple of runners my gloves because they looked so miserable.

Even though the day started off bitterly cold, it really warmed up to be a gorgeous day for a run. So after we closed down and cleaned up, I headed home to go for a little run myself.

The JFK is still on my list, but in the meantime I'm really glad to be able to volunteer for it.

Frosty camping with the Boy Scouts

2011-11-13T13:30:00.000-05:00

As a Webelos scout, Hank will be spending more time with the Boy Scouts learning cool, new stuff and checking off requirements for advancement. Part of those requirements involve camping and cooking with them. The Boy Scout Troop affiliated with our Pack went camping last night and invited interested Cubs to tag along.

You may be thinking to yourself that camping in November, in Maryland is a tad chilly - and you would be very right! Now Cubs are not allowed to camp overnight if the forecast is calling for below freezing weather so we watched the forecast all evening to be sure we didn't land in scouting time out. Nothing to worry about though because everyone's iPhones reported it would be a balmy 38 degrees! Break out the shorts and flip flops!

My and Hank's set up

Cubs and Boys have to set up their tents in separate areas so here's a shot of Boy Scout world. We spent most of our time over there because they had a nice, big, warm fire, and they did all the cooking.

Uncle Toddy gave us some of his old military coldweather gear and let me tell you what a difference it makes when you have the right stuff. At an earlier campout I took a bag that was supposed to be rated to 40 degrees, ha! I froze my patootie off and was miserable. This time, I snuggled into a big, honking mummy bag with my fleece insert (and hand warmers stashed between my 2 layers of socks). MUCH nicer! And Hank slept like he was dead so this was a huge improvement over our last experience.

I think it must have dipped at least a little below freezing (whoops!). We woke up to a very frosty tent and crunchy grass.

Playing football while folks are waking up

Time to grub with the Scouts

Cold? Yes. Lots of work? Of course. Worth it?

For sure

Wee Warrior Dash

2011-11-12T12:46:00.001-05:00

Mark Cucuzzella and company hosted a Wee Warrior Dash today in nearby Shepherdstown. Originally, all 3 littles were going to run, but Shane backed out just before we left so I had just Ella and Hank.

Hank thought it was cool that they had a poster for his shoes at the registration table

They danced at the start line to warm up

And they're off!

They had all sorts of fun obstacles for the kids to go over, under, through, or around if they wanted

It was a 1 mile, low key/untimed fun run with a half mile option for younger peeps

That's my squirrel hopping over the side of the hay bale below. So silly

Yep, that's Dr Mark with Pink Hair cheering on kids at the finish

And Ella Bella climbing the obstacle

They scored some sweet medals (left over from Freedom's Run so they were 'real race medals')

They asked everyone to take home a pumpkin (or 2 or 3) so they wouldn't have to tote them home themselves

Then I walked back through the course with them so I could take pictures of them going through the obstacles

Ella found that being short and quick was quite helpful for some of them.

A very fun way to spend a completely gorgeous, crisp fall morning. Many thanks to Dr Mark and the race committee for putting this together. The kids had a super time!

Edited to add the video linked on RunShepherd (you can see Ella go under the net obstacle around 1:20 and then through the tubes around 2:20. She's in a pink sweater with black pants)

You know you live in the country when...

2011-11-12T08:51:00.000-05:00

a farmer drives by you three times to take another look at.....

a deer!

And then he stopped me to tell me about it! hahaha!

So much for feeling like a hawt mama while plodding in the freezing cold with snot dripping.

Gear I Love: Hydrapak

2011-11-10T12:00:00.021-05:00

A while ago I won a Hydrapak giveaway hosted by the lovely and speedy Tricia. Hydrapak was also speedy because I received my Avila backpack super fast.

I won't bore you with the technical features other than to say it is:

~ very comfortable to wear -for the kids, too
~ easy to adjust the straps between wearers
~ easy to fill and empty
~ easy to drink from - bite valve that doesn't flood your mouth or make you suck a watermelon through a straw

Hank wore it to a day long scout event

There are only two things that aren't completely wonderful for me.

~ The storage pocket doesn't hold much more than my phone and car key. Granted I don't often carry more than those 2 things when I'm wearing my hydrapak, but a couple of times I needed to add hand sanitzer, cash, credit card and ID, and I couldn't stuff it all in there.

~ Stuffing the full bladder into the pack is a little challenging. The opening to the pack is narrower than the plastic clip thingy that seals the bag closed so you have stuff in one end and then the other. Not a huge deal, but maybe they'll consider making the opening a smidge wider for future models.

Ella wore it on a fun run

It's perfect for dayhikes with the kids because I have enough water for all 4 of us and my hands are free to take pictures.

I have taken it on a couple of runs and neither the weight of the pack nor the swishing of the water bothered me. I've also used it on some of my longer rides (before I stole both Bill and Jake's bottle cages) and again, it performed perfectly, and its presence was hardly noticed.

In a nutshell, I love my Avila and use it quite often even though I'm not cranking out any major miles lately. If you're looking for a hydration pack, definitely check out Hydrapak.

Wednesday's Wanderings

2011-11-09T17:55:00.000-05:00

On our way to the Appalachian Trail for some hiking and photos, we passed this

Very thankfully it's just an empty barn so no people or critters were hurt and the neighboring buildings didn't catch fire

Unfortunately they weren't able to save it

We headed to the AT where I took at least a million photos hoping to capture at least one that will work for a Christmas Card.

A couple of contenders...

Ok, maybe not.
I did manage to snag a few good ones though so it will be fun deciding which one(s) to use.

A rooster's tale

2011-11-09T10:40:00.000-05:00

If you've followed our little adventure for any length of time, you know we have our own chickens (as opposed to having our neighbor's chickens which would be stealing).

We've had our share of 'rooster issues' like the time I bought 4 beautiful chicken babies from a local chicken breeder, and all 4 turned out to be roosters. Not good. And then our surprise rooster who was also supposed to be a hen turned on us and began attacking us when we went in the yard.

Roosters are completely unnecessary for egg production in hens so we didn't hesitate to cull them when they became aggressive.

We were rooster free for a time until a friend of Bill's had a rooster who was too loud for the neighbors so Jay asked if we would take him. Andrea Mitchell, the chicken's name (because he was supposed to be a she), is a gorgeous bird- a silver laced something or other. We said yes and promptly renamed him Popeye - as in Popeye's Chicken.

Popeye was pretty well behaved though he had a tendency to cross the road. Why????

One day we realized that we hadn't heard him crow for a few hours. Then he missed bedcheck (when we lock them in the hen house). Two more days passed and we figured Popeye was someone else's dinner.

We've lost a handful of hens over the years to car vs chicken events but we didn't see any evidence of that.

Then 3 days after we last heard him crow, Jake walked down the open the hen house and there was pitiful Popeye lying in the middle of the yard with bloodstained feathers and a broken leg.

If you cover a chickens eyes, they'll hold still and let you pick them up. Dumb but true

I'm not overly sentimental but the thought of him dragging his little self , in the cold and rain, across the yard so he could get in his nice warm house made me want to do my darndest to nurse him back to health.

So now we have a crippled chicken living in a box in our kitchen. We let him rest for a few days before we picked him to inspect the damage. From what we can tell, he has a broken leg and the spur on his other leg is sheered off - the only source of bleeding we could find. Pretty amazing since it was probably car-inflicted.

Now that the days have been warm and somewhat dry, we take him out to the yard to hang with his girls during the day, and then bring him in at night. He can hop around ok on one leg but not great so we aren't ready to leave him out full time yet.

And he hasn't tried to cross the road again so maybe chickens aren't so dumb afterall??

Cub Scout Service Project

2011-11-08T10:36:00.000-05:00

One of the things I like about scouting is that the program works to instill a sense of community service in the boys. Our chartering organization (kind of like our sponsor) is a local church with a number of elderly members who aren't able to get out much. I thought it would be nice for the boys to make Thanksgiving cards for them so I contacted the outreach coordinator at the church to get it all organized.

I know grandparent-aged folks really enjoy kidmade cards and crafts so I looked at my favorite craft site- The Crafty Crow - for some ideas and decided this one would be easy and fun.

Most of the boys in our Pack are younger, and they looked like they enjoyed themselves. I was worried the older boys would be bored, but they really got into it too.

When it was over we created 39 cards.

I handed them off to the outreach coordinator who was completely thrilled with what the boys had accomplished.

A very simple thing that will have a positive impact on someone's life.

Swim, Basketball, Run

2011-11-07T10:00:00.002-05:00

Shepherd University opens its Wellness Center to the public - for free - the last Wednesday of each month. And theirs is a very nice facility - indoor pool and track, basketball courts, raquetball and so on.

Folks under 16 are limited to the pool, track and basketball courts, and that's plenty of fun for us.

On our last visit the we swam for at least 3 hours and played basketball for an hour or so. We also ran a mile on the track which the kids love because it's springy and feels good on your feet.

Our cross country coaches' oldest son did the Thriller dance with a bunch of people. I didn't even think about it, but my kids have probably never heard the whole song and haven't seen the video at all. They were just a little freaked out by the dancing zombies, but once they realized one of them was Don, they were a little less terrified.

At the end of the song one of the zombies ran towards the crowd and made Ella scream. whoops. She looked at me, "Is this supposed to be funny? Because this is *not* funny at all. These people are freaky!"

As we were getting ready to leave, Hank wanted to run another mile 'real quick'. Um, ok. So he zipped up the stairs, cranked out a quick 10 laps and we headed home.

You would think after all that they would have gotten home and gone right to bed. Nope, they were up for hours while I held the couch firmly to the floor. To be 9 again!

If you live in the area, definitely check out Wellness Wednesday at Shepherd U.

TOG Y2U1, Medieval Feast Unit Celebration

2011-11-06T07:54:00.000-05:00

I won't bore you by whining about how far behind I am and how ridiculous my schedule is. Instead, enjoy pictures from our end of unit (like the end of a quarter) celebration.

Our Medieval Feast!

The brave and handsome boys

The beautiful girls

Bill actually dressed up for this one!

Family photo. I'm thinking Christmas card. No?...

A sword dance

wearing his 'dinner crown'

ribbon dance

sword fight in the hall

On our hike today

2011-10-25T15:58:00.000-04:00

We saw

a common garter snake

sunlight coming through the leaves

cool tree fungus

our snakey friend (ha!) on the way back to the car

we thought it might be another snake, but it's probably the same one

and

what Ella and I decided was a fairy swimming pool that is closed for the winter

We hiked 3 miles and the kids hardly noticed because we were so busy looking for stuff to photograph.

Squirrel Scouts turns 100

2011-10-24T17:06:00.004-04:00

Ever since Hank joined Cub Scouts last year, Ella has been bugging me to find a Girl Scout troop for her to join. The troops near us were all for older girls so she and I had pretty much given up hope of her becoming a squirrel scout (Girl Scouts for little girls whose parents call them little squirrels).

Then through a providential set of events, I was put in touch with a Brownie leader in a nearby town, and she let Ella join their troop. Aaaand even better, one of Ella's good friends recently joined. Hooray!

Last weekend, after the Cub Scout bike rodeo, the Girl Scouts had their 100 year birthday celebration in Baker Park in Frederick. Originally daddy was going to attend, but at the last minute he convinced Ella that it would be more fun for me to attend with her.

We paired the younger girls with older Jr scouts. Ella and her friend E with their older 'buddy'.

They had all sorts of little carnival games and crafts

The crime scene unit was there and the girls got to dust their own fingerprints and save them on clear tape

Ella and her friend goofing around on the playground

Ella, her friend E and E's older sister. Cutie patooties!

It was a fun, if not exhausting afternoon. Cub Scouts and Girl Scouts are so very different...yes there's the whole boy, girl thing. But Cubs seems to center around physical accomplishment and eating. Simple stuff. So far Girl Scouts involves a lot of singing, eating cupcakes, and talk about how we feel about our world and ourselves as we live in our world. Not bad stuff at all, just different. And Ella is completely enjoying it.

eta: Squirrel Scouts is what we call the Girl Scouts. We call it Squirrel Scouts because we call Ella our little squirrel. Sorry for the confusion! :)

Cub Scout Bike Rodeo

2011-10-23T16:50:00.001-04:00

Last weekend our Cub Scout District hosted a bike rodeo. Ella was originally going to be hanging out with daddy all morning but then he had to work. So my little squirrel had to tag along and just watch - which was fine with her.

Shane going through the 'skinny' blocks. They had a wider set for training wheels and smaller kids. They had him go through the wider set first thinking he was an ordinary 5 y/o. They didn't realize it was SHANE they were dealing with. He pretty much rode circles around all the big kids.

Hank, while more cautious, is an excellent bike rider as well.

Hank with two of his Cub Scout friends

And my beautiful girlie

Thankfully it didn't rain last Saturday. We did enjoy hurricane strength winds though. I'm so hard to please.

Sizing women's clothing

2011-10-21T16:50:00.000-04:00

You may remember a few weeks ago when I had to go shopping for grown up clothes so I could attend a dinner with Bill. Over the summer I managed to lose about 15 pounds so my dress pants all hung on me like I had a load in my drawers. Not exactly the first impression I wanted to make.

Ella and I spent a very tiring 4+ hours in 4 different stores before I settled on a so-so outfit. Thankfully, my good friend came to my rescue with a gorgeous outfit and all was well in the land.

I noticed something very interesting during my time ~~in prison~~ shopping. Dress clothes are not sized anything like athletic clothes.

At the beginning of the summer I was -what I thought - a consistent size 12 in pants and size Large in tops - at least those are the sizes of the clothes in my closet. After I lost some weight, I broke out my size 10 jeans and a handful of Medium shirts, and life was good. My running clothes still fit just fine, a little looser but nothing crazy.

Party time arrived, and I tried on my size 10 dress pants only to find the crotch hung almost to my knees. I headed off to the store and ended up trying on size 8 and size 6 pants and skirts. Say what??

I'm not a small person, even 15 pounds lighter. My butt still needs its own zip code; each thigh is still the circumference of a small woman's waistline, and I still have my hard earned dun-lop (my waist dun lopped over my belt).

Then I saw this wall post on Run Like a Mother's facebook page:
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Run Like a Mother: The Book

Continuing our clothing theme from this morning, Misty is looking for running clothes in size 16--many XL tops seem to be too tight. "This is very frustrating and sad for me," she says, "I'd like to have clothes that I feel good in, not that make me feel bad for being overweight which is part of the reason why I'm exercising." Ideas?

What is the deal with the sizes for women's clothing?? I have arm sleeves that are size L/XL - my arms are 11 1/2 inches at their ~~saggiest~~ biggest point. Not small but definitely not EXTRA large. I have size large shirts that fit as comfortably as size medium ones in a similar style. A pair of my size 10 jean shorts fit better than my size 12 in the same style.

Why do they do this to us?? I can go into any store on the planet and buy Bill a shirt or a pair of pants with no worries about it fitting him. Me? I have to try on 20 pair of pants in a dozen different styles and lengths to hopefully, fingers crossed, possibly find 1 pair that fits. It's insane.

Did I feel thinner or more fit knowing I was wearing a size 6? Amazed with a smidge of disbelief is more like it. However, I do feel...I don't know...less than amazing when I put on my size Large or Extra Large running clothes.

The clothing industry needs to reverse it's sizing procedure. Athletic clothes should have the smaller numbers which would encourage more people to exercise, and dress clothes should run on the small side so that we're more likely to eat an apple vs. a plate of cookies.

To illustrate the disparity, I thought it would be interesting to take a little trip down Clothing Size Lane...

The skirt I borrowed, purchased probably in the last 2 years:

My size 10 Levi's, purchased when Shane was about 1 y/o in 2007:

My size 12 shorts, purchased circa 1999:

All done, thanks

Ok, gimme the camera

Seriously, you do *not* want to mess with me

You've unleased the beast; prepare to meet your doom!

Is this the case for all women? Or do I have a weirdly proportioned body?

Where does the time go??

2011-10-14T17:34:00.000-04:00

I can't believe a week has gone by already. I'm feeling like a hamster on a wheel lately...lots of spinning and little progress.

I'm in the midst of making 5 costumes for our upcoming Medieval Feast for school. Since I possess only the most basic sewing skills, it's taking a lot of time. I'm resurrecting these costumes and making repairs and alterations which is also time consuming. I'm grateful though that this time I have a sewing machine. The original costumes were made with Stitch Witchery. Crazy, I know.

My grown up dinner went really well and was tons of fun. Not fun...shopping for clothes. I bought an outift and hated spending that much money on something I'll wear only occasionally so I called a friend of mine who has waaaay more fashion sense than I will ever have, and she loaned me the perfect outfit...with shoes and jewelry. Score! The clerk gave me a funny look when I returned the outfit I bought because I told her I'd much rather spend the money on running clothes. I guess some people just don't get it, do they? [And I forgot to take a picture!!! I flat-ironed my hair and wore makeup and I forgot to take a picture??? sigh...]

And finally, because I like to laugh at myself more than the average person...I'll share with you the crazy looking picture that the triathlon sent me. You may remember that the premium was an engraved frame and that I'm supposed to print this picture and proudly display it in my home [or carry it in my purse as I casually mention to strangers that I just did a triathlon]....

Invariably I look like Eleanor Roosevelt in photos. In this one, I look like Eleanor might have looked after a few too many drinks. It's the cross I must bear...though it would be nice to be at least half as intelligent as she was.

Oh and it's raining...again
[it was raining when I first wrote this; I had trouble getting the photo to load so I had to wait until Friday afternoon to post...and it is not currently raining at this moment, but I'm sure it will start again any minute now]

3 TT- Grown up edition

2011-10-06T10:08:00.001-04:00

It's not raining today. It didn't rain yesterday. And it's NOT supposed to rain tomorrow or all weekend. Hooray!!

Bill and I are going to a grown up dinner with some colleagues of his tomorrow. This means I have to comb my hair and dress up. Thank goodness I started digging around in my closet to figure out what I was going to wear because all my winter grown up clothes are too....big. I lost a few pounds over the summer which has translated a going down a size or two. Nice! Ella and I are going into town today to shop for an outfit. My 7 y/o is my style consultant. Hopefully I won't look like a fairy princess or cowgirl when we're done (her two ideas for halloween costumes this year).

I looked at the menu of the grown up dinner place - PassionFish in Reston. And they serve a lot of, well, you know, FISH. Not a big fan of swimming food here. They do have a couple of turf items and salad so I won't starve. And there's always dessert to fill me up.

I'm looking forward to it since Bill and I go out maybe twice a year. I hope he doesn't ask me to cut his food or take him to the potty.

5 For Friday

2011-09-30T07:59:00.000-04:00

This week has been really busy

Monday- Ella bella enjoyed her first Squirrel Scouts (Girl Scouts to you normal folk) meeting where I met some of the moms...who make The Real Housewives of New Jersey look quite tame. Very surprising to say the least. The girls, however, were all really sweet and cute.

Tuesday - My least insane day of the week because all we had was cross country practice. Fun! I ran maybe a mile with Shane's group and had a great time.

Wednesday - Shepherd University opens their wellness center for FREE to the public the last Wed of each month. So we swam for hours, played basketball and ran on the indoor track. I swam an easy mile during our first session in the pool and then swam sprints (ha!) alternating laps for half a mile during our second session. I think I have just two swim speeds. Slow and slower. I tried really hard to make my arms go faster and they laughed at me. More practice is needed. Hank ran 2 miles on the track and Ella ran 1.

Thursday - or Insanity Day. Errands to pick up stuff for Cub Scouts, in the pouring rain. Gathering and cutting firewood for the Cub Scout meeting. Phone calls to borrow a fire ring. Cross Country practice. Trip to get the forgotten fire ring. Set up Cub Scout meeting while other parents stand and watch. Clean up Cub Scout meeting while Hank falls off a table and bruises the dickens out of his heel. Send several emails about future Cub Scout meetings and problems. Fall into bed. (about half the Cub parents are helpers while half are watchers. makes me crazy!)

Friday - Today is our first day of Friday Morning School, or co-op. Shane will go to his K-1 class, and Ella and Hank will go their classes. We'll eat lunch and then go to our Friday Afternoon Co-op. I also volunteered to help at Freedom's Run tonight at their registration table. I was originally going to volunteer tomorrow but I want to be sure I can get the kids to the fun run in time so working tonight will hopefully make for a less stressful Saturday.

YMCA Women's Sprint Tri Race Report

2011-09-26T20:31:00.001-04:00

Unless you've been hiding under a rock lately, you know that I completed my first sprint triathlon on Sunday with an unexpectedly epic time of 1:21:36.

My very long race report...

Packet Pickup- The venue this year was Middletown High School which is nestled in Middletown Valley (which means it's surrounded by hills). This is a change from the previous 2 years when it was held in downtown Frederick (which is mostly f.l.a.t.). Frederick city is trying to make everyone fat and unhappy by giving race directors grief 9 ways to Sunday when applying for race permits.

My friends and I arrived, picked up our stuff and chatted up the RD, who in addition to being one heck of an athlete is also riotously funny.

We overheard a woman ask one of the volunteers if we'd have access to the locker room and showers - because she intends to shower, dry off and change clothes after the swim - because she refuses to ride her bike when she's all wet. I thought that was an interesting approach since the humidity would be hovering around 90-95% the next day and we'd all be drenched in either water or sweat, but I'm a newbie so what do I know??

Luna had a little tent there and were giving away free samples and selling shirts and water bottles. Their team is called "The Luna Chix." How fun is that! They were very, very nice and answered all our nervous newbie questions.

I was disappointed that the swag did not include a shirt because I feel awkward trying to work "by the way, I just completed my first triathlon" into every conversation. I would prefer to let the shirt speak for me. Our premium is a frame engraved with the race name and date. The photographer will send (or email; I forget) our finish line photo for it. Pretty cool, but I can't exactly carry that around with me. Or can I....

Home, eat and head to bed. Only my pesky kids won't let me sleep. And daddy was off duty since he was going to be on duty all day Sunday. Ok fine. Showers and stories.

Finish that, recheck my 3 alarm clocks (phone, clock, watch) and attempt to fall asleep around 9:00. As you can guess, I didn't sleep a wink.

Pre-race morning- I got up at 3 so I could eat and digest well before the 7am start. 1 1/2 pieces of toast with almond butter and 1/2 a cup of tea. Fiddled with my stuff. Rechecked my bag. My friend E was going to french braid my hair for me since I can never get it tight enough when I do it. I figured I'd give a whirl to kill some time. Well shoot, if I didn't do it right. Cool beans.

E and I were some of the first athletes there so we got our pick of racks. We decided to go with the end closest to the pool and farthest from the bike entry so we'd have those extra steps for our legs to feel normal before the run. Not that we had a clue because neither of us had ever done this before, but it seemed logical so we went with it.

As you can see from this terrible phone picture, it was pretty dark out when we got there

Then we walked around looking at other people's set up and I drooled over some gorgeous bikes.

Swim - They had us file into the pool area in [mostly] numerical order. I got to start in the first heat so I didn't have to stand around for a long time fretting. E was in the 4th heat so she had to wait for a while. They had us two to a lane which made me nervous. I didn't want to bump or otherwise annoy another swimmer, but I'm a crappy swimmer and weave all over the place. We bumped hands just a couple of times while one or both of us was doing the breast stroke, but it was otherwise uneventful.

My plan for the swim was to start slow and not drown. I hoped to alternate freestyle and breast stroke evenly, but I ended up doing the breast stroke more than I wanted. My left google kept leaking which was very distracting, but I glanced at my watch on my way out of the water. 7:47. Over 2 minutes faster than I expected. And I wasn't the last one out either. Nice surprise.

Boogy out to transition. Sort of towel off my feet. Shoes, helmet, Garmin, gloves and glasses. I didn't worry about wet feet because the air was extremely humid.

Entertaining themselves waiting for mommy

Bike - The course was advertised as 'rolling hills' which around here means 'hilly enough to hurt you'. One thing I didn't like is that all the turns (right turn loop) were at the bottom of a hill. And the roads weren't closed to traffic so I had to slow down to turn and lost a lot of momentum. But that's my lack of experience and not the RD's fault.

I knew at least 4 other people were ahead of me coming out of the pool. I passed 1 person as I mounted my bike and then 2 more on the course. I ended up riding alone for the entire ride which was hard; I really struggled with a lot of negative chatter in my head. Going up the hills, slowly, by myself. My legs hurt. My heart was pounding and I started thinking

'How am I going to run after this? I can barely get up this hill. My legs are dead. I can't settle down and get my heart rate under control,' and so on.

Thankfully about half way up the worst hill I snapped out of it and remembered my run mantra - 'strength. you are strong' Ok, I'm not gonna die.

And then I started saying outloud, "I can do this" over and over. So it's probably a good thing I was by myself! I hoped to finish in 40-45 minutes, and according to my Garmin, I finished in 42:34. Not bad on my heavy hybrid bike with all the hills.

I saw Bill, the kids and my friend L as I was pulling into transition. It was really nice to see friendly faces at that point. I got off my bike without falling over and somehow ran into transition.

Run - Rip off gloves and helmet. Grab race belt and take off. Originally we were going to run on the grass for quite a bit of the course. They changed the course that morning because the dew was so heavy and the grass was ankle high and soaking wet. We did have to run on the grass for about 50 yards, and I ran for a bit, but slogging through tall, wet grass was more work than I was ready for so I walked.

I alternated walking and running for the whole first loop. I was able to run most of the second loop but I was seriously fading as you can tell by my terrible form below. Hunched over, elbows out. Good grief, did I not learn anything from all the running clinics I attended this summer??

I ate half a Gu on the bike; I just couldn't make myself swallow anymore than that and drank just a little as well. My stomach actually held up and I didn't have any cramping....or crapping. Always a bonus, right?

I forgot I had my glasses on and sweat kept dripping on them making it hard to see. Thankfully my friend L was on the course so I handed them off to her. I was so glad to have people out cheering for me because my legs were done. Doing more than 1 [sort of] brick to train for this would have been really helpful!

I forgot they were taking our picture for our frames so I hope I didn't have snot dripping or a weird look on my face, but who knows... I was just so happy to be finished!

I was still soaking wet when I finished so I was cold. I ran to my car to get my gorgeous YMX tee and arm warmers and Bill took this picture - which is now one of my favorites.

Shane really, really wanted my Pringles. Stinker

Bill and the kids headed home while L and I stayed on to cheer for my friend E - who had no time to train at all (no swim, 2 bike rides and 1 run in the last month) and still finished in 1:50. Some people are just naturally bad a$$!

So my official time was 1:21:36 which put me at 12/26 in my age group and 25th overall...I stink at math but I think that means that almost half of the top 24 finishers were in my age group. There are some hard core, hard workin' mamas in the 40-44 AG! Go girls!

Everyone who told me tris are addictive are RIGHT. If my piggy bank allowed it, I would be in line for a road bike and a funny-looking tri suit today. It was hard. Really hard. But it was also FUN.

And everyone, from participants to volunteers to bystanders, was so encouraging. They cheered as much for the last woman as they did for the first. It was a very positive experience and I'm so glad I did it!

And yes, I'm looking at least one more tri next year. I'd like to do an open water swim, and maybe an Oly. Fun, fun!

The unicorns were peeing rainbows!!

2011-09-25T10:37:00.000-04:00

1:21:36

woot!

report with photos to come!

Goals for my first Tri

2011-09-24T12:01:00.019-04:00

I considered titling this "What not to do to train for your first tri" because nothing about my training for this has been remotely normal.

1. I got the OK to run on August 11th. If you count backwards, that'll be 45 days before the race. Of course I didn't hit the road on day one and crank out an easy 5 miler. It has been a slow but deliberate process, and my longest run so far is just 3.11 miles. Slow but pain-free so I'll take it, very happily.

2. I've had zero free weekends in that time. I've had days here and there where I could crank out some long rides, but I've had to cram them in around a very full calendar.

3. I did 1 brick workout, sort of. It was a hilly 10 mile ride followed by a hilly 1 mile wog.

4. I've been able to swim 3 times since Labor Day.

What I've done right though should help me:

1. Stayed hydrated and have eaten [mostly] clean
2. Slept in when I felt like I needed it
3. Took rest days when I felt like I needed them.
4. Have not done too much too soon (I don't hurt anywhere so I'm guessing that I'm progressing at a healthy rate)

I sound lazy, hmmmm....I really hope these will balance each other out and I'll be set to survive and complete this thing on Sunday and not experience this:

So my goals? Ah yes, the point of this post....

Goal #1 is to complete it on my two feet with no injury

And if I get out there and unicorns are peeing rainbows, I think I could finish in 1:30. That's a decent swim, solid ride and a pain-free, adrenaline-enhanced run.

I'll skip a B goal and go straight to my

C goal of 2:00 because that's what I put on my registration form...and under that I wrote "SLOW swimmer" and under that I wrote "this is my first Tri" I want the race director's expectations of me to be reasonable. haha!

Obviously if I hop off my bike and my foot or hip hurt, I'll be walking me a 5K.

I'll be sad and disappointed, but further injury is *not* the objective here so I'll have to put on my big girl underpants and deal with the disappointment (after eating a bar of chocolate and polishing off a bottle of wine).

So this time tomorrow, I'll either be hiding in a porto potty or I'll have completed my first triathon! Any and all virtual cheering is much appreciated!

REI Giftcard Giveaway

2011-09-23T21:12:00.000-04:00

So I just entered about a bazillion giveaways for an REI giftcard. I did it for Bill who complains that I never win anything he can use.... like a million dollars or a trip to Tahiti (where the topless babes live).

I hope I win one so he can shop at REI and stop whining about how desperately he needs new hiking boots and all the money we blow on dr appointments and physical therapy visits for my running ~~addiction~~

My fingers are crossed!

Webelos Woods Campout

2011-09-23T18:06:00.000-04:00

Last weekend was Webelos Woods, a fun camping opportunity for Webelos Cub Scouts and their parents to see what the local Boy Scout Troops are learning and doing. The Webes all camp in an open field while the Boy Scouts camp in the woods on the mountain.

Each Troop has a 'station' where they show and/or teach the Webes a scout skill....open fire cooking, knot tying, zip line (fun!), first aid, or crossing the creek on a monkey bridge (ropes strung across the creek). All very fun things for a 9 y/o boy.

We have 2 tents. Hank and Shane's kid tent, and our giant 8 person family tent. I can't put the big tent up by myself so I took the kid tent for Hank and I. I used an extra tarp to make a rain fly and a little lean-to area (right behind Hank in the picture) where I could store our water resistant bags of clothes and gear.

Bill completely scoffed at my idea when I first told him about it. But it totally worked and lots of hardcore-camper-looking people walked by and complimented me on my resourcefulness. I'm basking in the glory of it because I won't come up with another idea like that for a loooong time I'm sure!

Lining up for the first round of activities

3 of my 4 Webelos

We had a great time and the boys learned a lot. They're already looking forward to next year!

Fila Toning Wear Review

2011-09-20T11:42:00.000-04:00

A couple of months ago I received an email from Lauren of FILA clothing congratulating me on winning an entry to the Escape To Miami triathlon. I was a little surprised because I don't enter contests that have prizes I can't use, and heading to Miami one month into the schoolyear is definitely not an option for this mom of 3 littles! Though I worked every angle I could imagine because I really, really wanted to ~~tri~~ try!!

Turns out I hadn't lost my mind, it was a Facebook contest and since I was a fan of their page, I was automatically entered. Lauren very, very graciously offered to send me clothes since I couldn't use the original prize. Score!

She sent me a pair toning resistance shorts and the space dye toning resistance tank. The sizing on the shorts is accurate. I wear a 10/Large on their chart and that's what I ordered. The inseam is 4" which is a little short for my thunder thighs, but wearing them makes me feel hardcore.

I've worn them on three long, 20+ miles, bike rides and they do ride up a little, but they aren't bike shorts so I wasn't expecting them to act like bike shorts. They don't ride up while I'm running though. Admittedly my 'runs' are short and slow right now, but these shorts worked nicely.

The seams in the crotch are not flat so I was concerned about chafing. Very happily, I didn't chafe at all on any of my rides or runs (and I forgot my Body Glide).

there's always one in every crowd...whose kid is that???

The tank was a little tricky because I have no boobs but the rest of me is proportional. I crossed my fingers and ordered an 8/Medium. It's snug, no doubt, but it fits. It has a built in shelf bra which actually works as a bra. I've run in it without a sports bra and it worked well. I love that it has a longer cut and doesn't ride up. My stomach is nothing the world wants or needs to see.

I'm wearing a bra under it in this picture

I've also worn it to swim in. The front did drag a little exposing some cleavage so a faster swimmer might be bothered. But overall it performed well really well for me and wearing a sports bra the next time helped keep everything in place.

Both the shorts and the tank are really comfortable to wear...not too tight and they don't bind or cut into me.

I think FILA created this line for yoga, pilates and strength training, and I've worn them for everything but...and have been quite happy with the fit and function.

So I biked, swam and ran it...yep this is what I'm wearing for my sprint tri on Sunday.

Five more days!

Crampton's Gap Shelter on the AT

2011-09-19T15:55:00.000-04:00

On Thursday afternoon we decided to head to Gathland State Park and go for a hike on the AT. We circled around to Crampton's Gap Shelter and then back to Gathland for an overall hike of about a mile. Not far, but very pretty and fun.

I somehow had my phone on B&W

Looking for birds and bears

At Crampton's Gap

The face they'd make to scare away a bear

Stinky potty

Signing the guest book. It's fun to read it and see how many folks stop by there. It's an oft-visited shelter.

Friday's Fret, Fact and Fun

2011-09-16T10:30:00.000-04:00

I'm totally copying Jen this morning....

Fret: My first (ever, in my life) sprint Tri is next week. Like in less than 9 days I'll be hopping in the water and trying not to drown. I'm so undertrained, it's not even funny. I have taken it extremely easy, particularly with running so I don't reinjure myself. Because of that, I'm not beating myself up for taking a rest day or choosing an easy workout over a tough one. While my goal is simply to finish, I don't want to look silly out there so I'm a little nervous.

Fact: Funny enough, I'm claiming Jen's fact for myself, too. Thanks Jen for doing all this work for me! I am beyond exhausted. We've had some crazy weather- lots of lightning and such - which has me tossing and turning (from the light show and the noise). I've also been insanely busy and can't seem to shut it all down. Maybe I shouldn't mention the night I stayed up really late so I could finish The Glass Castle. What a great book. You should read it.

Fun: I'm going camping with my little Webelos den this weekend. We leave tonight to meet up with 100 of our closest friends so we can all camp in a field with no showers and only porto pots. There is a McD's within walking distance so I figure I can hike up there to use their potty occasionally. We're leaving the campout Sunday morning and coming straight home to shower so we can go to the kids first cross country meet of the season. Should be a fun, if not tiring, weekend.

Friday Photos

2011-09-09T17:36:00.000-04:00

Today was the first day of our history and literature co-op (homeschool speak for families who get together and teach classes as a group). We're studying from the fall of Rome to 1800 this year and today's lesson was about the Celtic barbarians who invaded Rome as well as their own country to regain it from the Romans. Fun stuff!

One skeery barbarian

For some reason Shane wanted to go for a run 'on the road' so after co-op we put on our shoes, and fuel belts and reflective vests so that we could wog about 1/2 a mile out and back.

The boys put water in the containers which made the belts too heavy for them. Ella was content to just wear the hydration pack without filling it. It was like playing Runner Dress Up...why be a princess when you can be a runner?
Exactly.

It continues to rain or mist practically nonstop, and it's warm out so it's not the best running weather in the afternoon. We originally planned to wog to the stinky farm and back which would be about 2 miles.

Not even close. The wheels fell off Shane's little world at less than 1/2 mile so we walked most of the way back with him screaming for me to carry him...which I can't do for very far because it kills my back.

In spite of Napoleon's outburst we had a good time. It's nice to run with my pipsters again. Happiness.

3 Things Thursday- Juggling Edition

2011-09-08T22:00:00.002-04:00

I don't know if I'm coming or going lately, and I can't imagine how much busier I could possibly be before I spontaneously combust

1.Outdoorsy Things - We just spent 3 days at Rocky Gap with a 100 of our closest friends. On Sunday the heavens opened up and it rained. A.Lot. Everything we own is hanging/set up in the basement with box fans blowing it all dry.

Next Week Hank and I will camp in an open field (no showers, only porto pots) for 2 nights with a bunch of Webelos and Boy Scouts. I hope it doesn't rain.

My first triathlon is the weekend after that. I need to swim, bike and run more often than I have been.

2. Homeschool - Last year I taught *maybe* 3 classes for our co-op, the whole year. This year... I get to teach history and literature to K-5th graders for two 9-week quarters AND PE to 4th - 5th graders for two 8-week semesters. Two separate co-ops. I'm teaching subjects I love so I'm not worried about that. It's just that I'm a compulsive perfectionist so my lesson planning consumes my life...or at least what's left of my life when my other obligations have finished devouring me.

3. Volunteering - We enjoy Cub Scouts. It really fits what we like to do as a family...be outdoors and teach our kids reverence to God as well as service in the community. But this time of year Cub Scouts has tons of stuff going on. Tons. And in a small Pack with just a small handful of active parents, there is a lot of work to do.

I agreed to serve on the Board of our youth athletic association earlier this summer. It was supposed to be a small, easy to manage role as 1 of 2 financial secretaries. Then the other FS stepped down. Then the treasurer stepped down. And I don't know beans about Quickbooks or online banking. And it is requiring more than the 1-2 hours per week they told me. And we're getting ready to open the floodgates of fall registration.

It's a little overwhelming right now. Especially with triathlon training hanging over me and the ever-present threat of re-injury.

If you've read this far, you earn a gold star. I blathered all this more to just vent a bit as well as write it out so I can look more closely at what I'm doing and possibly re-evaluate it all, particularly #3.

I'm painfully aware that I'm human and can only do so much. I guess my 'problem' is that I hate to disappoint people and want them to think well of me (or at least as highly as I think of myself, which is often too highly).

And it's a fine line between persevering through hard things and knowing when to throw in the towel.

Fun stuff on a Thursday. Must be the rain and lack of sleep!

We really are different

2011-09-08T08:00:00.000-04:00

On Facebook I saw a link to an old blog post at Kdays that talked about the Adidas ad campaign from 1999/2000 which illustrated a runners passion for the sport in ways that only other runners understand.

The ads were all spot on and quite funny, but this particular one stood out to me

I haven't run any real miles in forever, ok, December. A few weeks ago we were driving somewhere and passed a corn field, and I suddenly felt wistful.

I turned to Bill and told him I really miss pooping in the corn field on my morning runs and that I wouldn't mind running into the field now just to pretend.

yes we're still married though he looked for a moment like he wondered about that decision

Because just sitting around is boring

2011-09-01T13:00:00.001-04:00

A little rewind of my weekend...Saturday morning bike ride and running clinic. Saturday evening Cub Scout picnic. Sunday morning church. Sunday afternoon shoe giveaway. Since I survived all that and was still standing, I thought I should call up a friend of mine and go for a bike ride.

She's a new, 'later in life' athlete who is going to do the same tri I am. Our boys are in Cub Scouts and cross country together so it's nice that we get along and enjoy doing similar things too.

The bike course for our tri is 'rolling hills' which around here is generally nothing to sneeze at so we've been trying to ride a hilly course nearby as often as we can.

I had planned to go home right after our ride, but we started talking about the importance of brick workouts and decided to do a quick hike up to Weverton Cliffs. Going from the parking area up to Weverton Cliffs is anything but a quick hike- its' about a mile up with lots of rocks and switchbacks. But I didn't know that because I had never been up there before.

It is a nice hike, and I really enjoyed it. And the view from the top is just stunning. I took the picture below with my phone. Even a dinky camera can't mess up a view like this!

It's ok to be jealous. I would be too.

By the time I got home, I was really tired! I declared Monday a rest day and slept in!

My little Webelos Scout

2011-08-31T22:00:00.002-04:00

After my bike, run, bike adventure I got home in time to shower and chill for a couple of hours before heading off to our next adventure...The Cub Scout Welcome Back Picnic.

Because of Irene we had to move to an indoors location which meant we suddenly needed indoor games and activities for about 20 boys. No problem. Ha!

I already drove Bill crazy with my rant about how people in volunteer organizations complain about things but never step up to help. And then the same handful of people who always do everything, end up doing everything again. Yea, I won't go there right now, but it continues to be the reality of my busy life.

In the meantime, my little squirt....He went to summer camp where he earned about a bazillion belt loops and pins for all the activities he did. We also do a bunch of stuff at home because we're geeks.

I'm the Webelos Den Leader this year (heaven help us all!) so I got to give the boys in my den their awards. It was really fun to give Hank his. He has worked really hard so it's nice to be able to publically pat him on the back.

Great job Hank!!

A nolhtaud and My weekend at Two Rivers Treads

2011-08-31T18:08:00.000-04:00

A nolhtaud (nahl todd) is a backwards Duathlon. I'm such a smarty! ha! Two Rivers Treads has a running clinic each Saturday morning in Shepherdstown. Since I need to be really, really careful with my footstrike right now, I consider myself a 'new runner.'

I'm trying erase all the bad muscle memory and replace it with good muscle memory. I tend to run high on my fore foot which is bad. Bad for my calves, achilles, plantar plate and toes.

I live near the C&O Canal tow path, and Shepherdstown is on the tow path as well so I thought it would be a great idea to bike there, do the clinic, and bike home - bike, run, bike - a reverse Du!

I started really early because I wasn't sure how long it would take me. I arrived in time to change my shoes and wash my legs which is good because I must have ridden through some horse poo. Stinky, stinky!

Tom led the clinic and it was really good. He talked about many of the basics Dr Mark covers during the injury prevention clinics. He told us he wouldn't critique us, but I asked him to please tell me if I was up on toes at all. After some barefoot running drills we headed over to the Bavarian Inn where he showed us how to run uphill. The road to the Inn is definitely UPHILL!

Then we ran over the bridge into Maryland and then went back to the store. All told we went about 2 miles. I am so out of shape! Thankfully it's a beginner clinic so we were all close to the same pace and they didn't leave me in the dust! I have to say it was really nice to run with people again.

We finished up, and I hopped on my bike and headed back hoping to beat the wrath of Irene. I was tooling along, totally zoned out and suddenly there was a huge tree across the path and some people standing around wondering how long it had been there.

I thought I must have gone past where I parked so I had to confirm where I was. Turns out that I had not gone past my car so the tree fell some time between 6:45 and 10:30ish. So scary! It's a huge tree and a lot of people are on the path during that time on the weekends. Thankfully no one was hurt and we were able to tromp down the branches on one side so folks could get through.

In the end I biked 16, ran 2 and biked 16 again. It was really fun, and I plan to do it again this weekend!

Earlier in the week, I got an email from TR Treads saying they were GIVING AWAY -as in for free - kids VivoBarefoot shoes on Sunday afternoon. You didn't have to tell me twice; I was there!

They gave away about 150 pairs of shoes. So cool! After measuring the kids, they had shoes to fit Ella and Shane. Hank's boats were just too big.

I was completely thrilled and very grateful. Vivobarefoot shoes are top notch and will survive anything these two can throw at them. We'll be passing these shoes on to their kids I'm sure!

I don't know if the folks in Shepherdstown know just how blessed they are to have a store like Two Rivers Treads. I know that I'm very glad we live close enough to go there often!

Here's Dr Mark's video of it (I'm about 22 seconds into it, white tank, blue and white skirt. Thankfully you can't see the sweat running down my legs. I swear it wasn't pee.)

Not thrilled about my new neighbor

2011-08-26T08:42:00.000-04:00

This morning Hank was in the kitchen minding his beeswax while eating his breakfast when he started frantically motioning for me to 'come here *now*' I walked over to see a hawk on our deck.

It's times like this that make me wish I carried my camera on my neck 24/7. I tippy toed to get my camera and by the time I returned the hawk flew to a tree just off the deck.

I apologize in advance for the picture quality...our back door is covered in dog slobber and the kids' hand prints.

I looked in my Peterson and Audobon guides, and I looked online. It looks to me like either a Sharp-shinned or Cooper's Hawk. We actually saw this guy sitting on our fence earlier this week.

Eyeballin' my babies

Some folks may think it's cool to have a hawk visitor; I am *not* thrilled. Both birds tend to eat song birds like Jays or robins while a Cooper's Hawk will eat small mammals if the food supply requires it. Or maybe my chickens....

Chickens are friends, not food

If you're my friend on Facebook then you've heard about my bear woes. Yep, a bear has been spotted on our near our property a few times.

The bear is an anomaly. He came off the mountain looking for food, didn't find here so he moved on- well, no sightings in a while so we're guessing he moved on.

The hawks however, have changed their migrating habits over the years. Instead of 'going south' they're hanging out at bird feeders for easy food. We're bird watching geeks, and I'm not excited about the idea of some stinkin' [though beautiful] hawk eating all the birds we'd like watch.

We're going to have to do some reading to figure what we can do to safely and legally discourage our new neighbor from taking up residence here.

Remember Mr Hawk, chickens are friends, not food!

3TT

2011-08-25T09:06:00.000-04:00

E and H just happened to wear the same shirt

1. Tuesday was the first day of School Lite which is just Latin, math, spelling and science. Our history, literature and geography co-op begins in a couple of weeks. Theoretically this allows us to ease into the school year and still enjoy some last minute summer fun.

They 'walk to school' on the first day out 1 door, around the yard and in the other door

2. It has only been a couple of days, but with the start up of school, cross country and cub scouts, I can see I'm going to have a hard time fitting in my workouts. While injured and not running, I got into the habit of staying up late and sleeping in. It's not an easy habit to break, but I'm going to have to. The school day goes a thousand times better if I've worked out, showered and eaten *before* the kids wake up at 7.

3. I thought the earthquake was my washing machine going off balance. I lived in the San Francisco bay area for a year and we had 2 (maybe 3?) earthquakes while I was there. They weren't severe so they were more 'cool' than scary - but I was a knuckleheaded teenager so what did I know??

Anyway, I later heard about friends who did all the right things- stand under a doorframe or run outside - while my kids and I sat there wondering what in the world could be so wrong with the washer that it would make such an awful noise and shake the whole house?

My next guess was a large airplane flying too low over the house.

After that I wondered if 2 semis had collided on the highway near us.

Earthquake never entered my mind. I guess I'll have to add that to the list of things to wonder about.

Now we're battening down the hatches for a hurricane. We need the rain so I'm not complaining as long as I get my bike ride in on Saturday.

And how has your week been? Anything new, cool or exciting happening in your world?

Running clinics and my confidence level

2011-08-19T14:37:00.000-04:00

Since getting the green light to run, I've done very little actual running. Coming back after an extended injury is as much -if not more- a mental challenge as it physical. Quite frankly I'm skeered to run because if I reinjure myself...I don't know...

[Bill told me he had a dream/nightmare that I hurt my foot again, and everyone's life was hell so he asked that I please not re-injure myself because he's not sure he can take another 8 months of non-running me. I didn't realize I had been such an ogre, but maybe I was in a chocolate and wine induced haze???]

Anyway, I run pretty high on the balls of my feet- thus the extremely tight calves and plantar problems, oh and that pesky stress fracture in my toe. I obviously need to change my footstrike to a more mid-foot strike before I lace up my kicks and hit the road again.
Monday night I attended a Chi Running clinic hosted by the running club I belong to. The instructor was our club Presidente Mark Lawrence, and it was a small group of about 6 runners. He spent almost 2 hours with us and since it was such a small group, he could give us each specific feedback. It was an excellent class and covered the basics of Chi Running - if you haven't read the book, I highly recommend it, and if you're local, take some time to hang out with Mark on Monday evenings.

Yesterday, after a completely insane afternoon of errands and dr appts, we made the trip to Shepherdstown so I could participate in a running clinic at Two Rivers Treads. The injury prevention clinic is typically led by Laura Bergmann but Mark Cucuzzilla was at helm instead.

My ortho's response to my questions is always 'you're an aging athlete.'

Ok, fine I'm old [I don't really think I'm "OLD" but whatever].

I can't undo aging, but I *can* change my form and properly strengthen my body to PREVENT injury, right??? What I love about Mark's clinics is learning that YES I can. He [and Laura] explains things like how having feet that don't adequately dorsiflex pull on the plantar plate which in turn can cause calf pain and tightness and plantar problems.

I guess the average person is content with just getting better. I... athletes in general??... want to know HOW the injury occurred and WHAT can be done to avoid it again. Having access to knowledgeable people who are passionate about the sport and willing to answer those questions is a godsend.

Anyone who has attended a clinic led by either Laura or Mark could write pages about what they learned. The best thing to do is just attend one - if you aren't local, check out the running stores listed on the Natural Running Center website [right column].

After 4 hours of running instruction this week, I feel like I'm on the right track to smarter, stronger, healthier running. I won't be cranking out serious miles for a while and that's ok.

I have already considered this year a wash in terms of speed building or racing. It's about getting stronger and healthier and staying positive regardless of what comes.

I'm still a little nervous about reinjuring myself - but - I didn't get my big butt off the couch and across the finish line of a tough half marathon by thinking about it or reading about other people doing it. I'll be out there again....just a little more cautious and [hopefully] more in tune with my body.

Wordless Wednesday- blowing up balloons

2011-08-17T09:26:00.000-04:00

He has his 'ear mops' [earmuffs] on just in case

Love this

2011-08-17T08:42:00.000-04:00

When my children were young, I ran for my sanity, I ran for myself, I ran to set a good example because they watched me move. Today they move alongside me. We run because we can.

~Kristin Armstrong, Author and runner

[Sort of] Race Report

2011-08-14T06:00:00.023-04:00

*edited to add pictures that I swiped from the Brunswick Area Rec Council's FB page. Thanks, Bob!

Hopefully you all read about what a great job my pipster did at the Biathlon yesterday. Now I'll share with you my sort of race report though I guess it's more of a 'participation report' since I didn't race it.

there were just 15 participants last year. 28 this year so the event is growing!

On Thursday afternoon I got the okay from my ortho to run the bi on Saturday morning. He agreed mostly because the run was on a cross country course and not pavement, and I promised to walk if my foot or toe hurt. So the last time I ran was 14 weeks ago. That's about 3 1/2 months. Yes, I've biked and swam during that time, but I knew I was probably not going to be a blaze of greatness on the run [and I was ok with that].

My friends assured me the event is very lowkey and almost recreational. Um, sure. There were some seriously hardcore folks there and my stomach felt like a washing machine churning away. I ended up in the last heat of the morning with two other women so I had plenty of time to stand around and worry.

Which is completely silly because, honestly, my only 2 goals were to (1) finish alive and uninjured; and (2) have fun.

I stood there and watched all the grownups do their dive start for the swim. Well, shoot. I didn't practice that - but - I know how to surface dive so what the heck.

First mistake.

Well, really mistake #1.5 because I didn't first get in the water to warm up. So I do the dumb dive. My goggles slip down and instantly start leaking. And my brain and lungs get a nice cold shock which causes me to breathe in gulps and that causes me to panic which creates a nice vicious circle of gulping, stuttering breaths and more panic.

Thankfully, I realized I needed to change strokes so I could calm down. I started to side stroke which allowed me to keep my face above water so I could just breathe and calm down.

I finished the swim, pulled on my skirt (felt weird running in just my suit) and shoes and took off.

Having a great time!

The skirt was my second big mistake.

It was another thing I didn't practice beforehand. I guess it was because I was wet, but the darn thing kept slipping down, like to my knees. I almost stopped to take it off but figured I'd end up getting my feet tangled in it so I kept on hiking it up while running.

darn skirt! I need to alter it so it doesn't end up around my ankles again

The run was harder than I thought it would be. I realize having a psuedo panic attack just minutes before probably affected my run, but I hoped I would be able to at least plod along without having to stop and walk. I had to stop twice and walk which is frustrating - but - my foot *didn't* hurt!! Happy, happy.

I didn't wear my Garmin and didn't even look at my watch so I have no idea what my time for any of it was.

Oh and I won 4th in my age group....out of 4. lol! Humility is a *good* thing!

I count it a successful morning because I learned some good lessons and accomplished both of my goals. Such a great way to start the weekend!

Sometimes Just Showing Up is the Hardest Part

2011-08-13T11:39:00.001-04:00

*edited to add pictures that I swiped from the Brunswick Area Rec Council's FB page. Thanks, Bob!

A few weeks ago in this post I talked about how Hank dug deep and worked hard to conquer his fear of the water at Cub Scout Camp. And we've continued to work on swimming with him and just generally being more comfortable in the water.

This morning was the 4th Annual Heart of the Potomac Biathlon in Brunswick. It's a very small, low key fundraiser event. But it's still a biathlon which means you have to swim and run.

I told you it's a small event! I think were 28 people total

Hank was on the fence about entering and decided to give it a try as we were walking out the door. His age group, 8-10, had to swim 50 yards and run a half mile. Thankfully the Race Director didn't care if folks doggie paddled or were Olympic swimmers as long as they covered the distance (pool swim, not sharing lanes, plenty of folks watching so no drowning danger).

My little guy got in the water with kids who are on swim teams, and he did his thing. He did some freestyle and breast stroke but the majority of his forward motion was the doggie paddle.

I'm so proud of him for even getting in the water. It was evident by watching the other kids warm up that they were experienced, strong swimmers, but he didn't let that stop him.

And his tenacity was rewarded. He was the only boy in his age group so because he finished the race, he won first place.

I know some may poo poo such a victory, but I am darn proud of my monkey for getting outside his comfort zone and pushing himself to do something he wouldn't have even remotely considered just a couple of months ago.

Great Job Hank!!

Funny Foto Friday

2011-08-12T21:16:00.000-04:00

While at Broomes Island, I attempted to take some pictures of the kids to use for gifts. You may notice that one of my kids is a real Comedian

He's crossing his eyes on purpose and kept saying "look mom what I can do!"

At this point I just started snapping.

He was dancing on the jetty and singing a 'rock and roll song' that he made up

He's got the moves, baby!

And then we snagged a keeper

My right foot

2011-08-12T09:55:00.002-04:00

I saw my ortho for my regularly scheduled follow up yesterday

My foot has been feeling pretty good - except - when I'm barefoot and step on uneven ground on the ball of my foot it makes my already injured 2nd toe ache but nothing terrible. So when the nurse asked me how my foot was doing, I said it was pretty good and hurt just a little.*

The dr had me jog on the balls of my feet down the hall and then on my heels and then a little faster on the balls of my feet again.

I showed him the spot on the ball of my foot that was tender and where on my toe the pain radiates. I was totally thinking it was an issue with my stress fracture.

He thinks I have 'attenuation of the plantar plate'...I know, WTH???? I didn't know if I should laugh or cry, and he made the 'aging athlete' comment again.

The [sort of] good news is that my stress fracture seems to have healed, and I can run as long as I'm in a cushioned shoe. If my toe hurts, stop. Pretty simple. And lots of incentive to stop because if I rupture the plate I"ll need surgery which may or may not work.

Enter the mental aspect of all this. Because of my ITBS and then my stress fracture, I haven't run any significant miles since DECEMBER.

My run/[mostly] walk total for the year so far is 126 miles. This is August, the 8th month, 126 miles. sigh...

The idea of running is skeery and I don't know quite what to do with it all. I want desperately to run, but at the same time this hasn't exactly been a stellar year for me so I'm nervous as all get out.

He gave me the green light to participate in a small biathlon tomorrow. The run is only a mile and on a cross country course so I won't be pounding any pavement. It's a local charity fundraiser so a lot of folks do it for fun and walk the mile which means I won't look like a total doofus if I need to walk.

So there's the latest on the running front for me. Hopefully I'll have a rockstar race report for tomorrow... a girl can dream, can't she! :D

*My brain is still on vacation. I mentioned this because when I was checking out the nurse asked me if he casted me. I told her if I was wearing a cast, I'd be crying. So anyway, I guess if my foot still hurt, in a stress fracture way, he would have put me in a cast. So glad that was not the case!

Wednesday's Words

2011-08-10T06:00:00.001-04:00

Supervising Grandpop and Uncle Hervey

Lotsa crabs

The fruit of their labor

Daddy's Work Picnic

2011-08-09T09:45:00.001-04:00

Friday was Bill's work picnic at Hain's Point in DC. It's a very pretty park on the Potomac and is a nice spot to see planes land and take off at National.

Someone hadn't seen Daddy in 5 whole days

They have a fun bubble machine.

Someone crammed half his burger in his mouth so he could be done w/ lunch and go play

Tug O War is always fun

(I forgot I had the camera on BW)

Someone made a friend almost as soon as we arrived and played the whole afternoon

Sno Cones. Yum!

My little squishy

Moments like this keep me from selling him to a traveling circus

They gave everyone little ducks for some reason.

[the Mountain Dew isn't ours, the Germ X is]

This is the 3rd year they've had this picnic and we enjoyed it once again. The food is always very yummy and they have lots of great games and activities for the kids.

It also gives me the opportunity to test myself by driving into and out of DC without becoming hopelessly lost [my special hidden talent]

Calvert Maritime Museum

2011-08-08T09:43:00.000-04:00

We love this museum without reservation. It's relatively inexpensive; they have fun interactive displays, and the docents are so nice and relate to kids really well.

Ray and Skate Tank

In the 'kid room' where they can touch a variety of sea creatures

We took a boat tour on the Tennison, and I *didn't* get seasick!!!

Friday's Photos- learning to crab

2011-08-05T18:00:00.001-04:00

Aunt Amanda stopped by yesterday to teach the kids how to crab with a line. Crabbing this way is definitely an exercise in patience...which a certain little boy does *not* possess

In a nutshell, you tie your bait- raw chicken wing or neck- to a string, let out the string until the bait is on the bottom of the river...and then wait

You know you have a bite when the string is taut and starts moving. Crabs like to take their meal away from where they catch it before eating.

Then you slowly, slowly start reeling in your line and your partner in crime uses a net to snag the crab and toss it into a waiting bucket of water.

Ella was the champion by far. She's also the most patient and methodical of the 3. The boys would toss their bait in and yank it up a dozen times while she slowly caught several crabs.

We also baited the traps and left them overnight. As of this morning, we're up to 26 nice sized crabs so the kids are going to cook them for Grandpop and Lisa for lunch tomorrow, and they can't wait!

Will paddle for ice cream

2011-08-05T06:00:00.000-04:00

One of the funnest things to do here in Broomes Island is kayak. It's such an equal opportunity activity; everyone - young, old, fit, or couch potato - can enjoy puttering around in a kayak.

On the other side of the river from us, about half a mile away, is Glass Beach. So named by Ella and Aunt Sally because sea glass tends to wash up on it. Ella has a nice glass and shell collection from our last trip here, and she's gathering more and planning craft projects.

We made the trip over on Tuesday morning (or was it afternoon? I love being on vacation because it doesn't matter!) and found quite a bit more.

If you look closely, you can see that Hank's kayak is tethered to mine. He's a pretty good paddler, but I feel better knowing he's not going to drift off to sea...well, not unless I do, too.

That evening I had a hankering for ice cream so I tried to convince the kids it would be a great idea to kayak the 2+ miles around the point to the marina. Then I realized the time and opted for Plan B.... we paddled across the river, lifted the kayaks onto someone's yard and walked a couple of blocks across the point to the marina. We would have never made it before they closed if we had paddled all the way around.

The Machen homestead is directly behind the kids

Yum!

On days like this I can totally envision us living on a island and paddling or boating to get places. Then I remember that it gets really cold in the winter and having to boat through a storm for a gallon of milk isn't so appealing afterall.

But we're very happy to enjoy it while we can!

Crabs!

2011-08-04T08:45:00.000-04:00

On Tuesday Aunt Amanda stopped by to cook up some crabs, and she shared her bounty with us

When we stopped by to return her tray, she was still enjoying her crab lunch so the kids sat down and munched some more with her.

Today she's coming over to show them how to crab with a line (I grew up in Texas and have NO idea how to crab and certainly never ate crabs other than the legs they offered at Red Lobster during our trips to the 'big city')

The kids are going to need a 12 step program to recover from their crab addiction.

The kayaks are calling us

2011-07-31T14:03:00.000-04:00

Tomorrow we head back to Broomes Island so we can

Kayak

Swim

Fish

And maybe eat a crab

or two

See you when we return!

Friday's Photos- camp wrap up

2011-07-29T20:46:00.000-04:00

Today was the last day of Cub Scout camp and let me tell you, it was hotter than hinges of ...well you get the idea.

The boys were fried. I was fried. And we had stuff we had to do so they could finish their requirements for different belt loops and pins. And I'm proud to say my little den of Bad News Bears [my Facebook friends will recall some of the ridiculous things they did this week] persevered, dug deep and got it done.

Great job Den 7!

Now to brag about my boy....

This squishy little love tends to be shy, cautious and reserved, especially in new situations. He was brave and made new friends even though he was the only boy in our Den who didn't know any of the other boys on the first day. By Day 2, he was making fart noises with the rest of the gang.

This sweaty little pipster made great strides at the BB and archery ranges scoring several bulls-eyes. By the end of the week he was doing a great job of slowing down to aim and then fire - boys this age often aim-fire without taking the time to aim.... and then fire which means they're quite inaccurate. No worries though, BSA has *very strict* safety guidelines in place and injuries on the firing range are rare. Most of the injuries this week occurred as a result of goofing around while walking from station to station.

This "almost a young adult", as he likes to refer to himself, did some hard things this week. You may have noticed the quote I have in the header of the blog. I put it there to remind me to step outside my comfort zone, but Hank really excelled in that this week. Particularly in the pool.

He wants to swim but he's afraid of the water and he doesn't like to get his face wet - at all, like not even in the shower. I was in the water with him (thus, no pix), but he is the one who had to put on the life vest and jump into the deep end, pop up and swim to the rope and back. And he didn't freak out about getting his face wet so he *can* do it!

I was right next to him, but he had to fight like crazy to tread water for 30 seconds (if the test required 32 seconds, he wouldn't have passed). He wouldn't float face down (not sure why that's a requirement anyway), but he floated on his back.

The station leader worked with him quite a bit to teach him the back and breast strokes. I'm glad I was able to be there so I can ~~try to remember to~~ use the same techniques. Because he can't actually swim, he didn't earn his pin - but - he made such personal progress that I am so very proud of him. Great job Hankster!

Being knighted by the king

The theme of the camp was Medieval Adventures so the Director had some knights and the king from Medieval Times come to knight the boys. They did a short sword fight - it was too hot for them to do it for very long, and then they autographed posters for the boys.

about half of my den

For me, this was a hard week. I've never done anything like this before and I really had no idea how to handle some of the situations that came up (thank goodness for the experienced parents and older siblings who were there to help!). I was on my feet from 8:30 until after 4 in the blazing heat herding boys from point to point. Encouraging them to stick with the hard things and stay awake for the boring things. Cheering for them when they succeeded and patting them on the back when they didn't. They were a fun, if not mischievous, group of boys.

I'm so glad I did it, and I'm actually looking forward to next year.

Cub Scout Camp by the Numbers

2011-07-25T18:47:00.001-04:00

93 degrees and a million percent humidity. Yes I was one hott mama out there

4 miles walked in the insane heat

1.5 gallons of water I drank

1 time I had to pee...sweating buckets has new meaning

16 boys in my Den

9 - 10 years old, the ages of those boys

15 boys who were fun to watch and hang out with

1 boy who may earn me a special seat in heaven if I don't feed him to the bears

4 days to go

Heritage flocks

2011-07-25T07:28:00.026-04:00

We got to visit a 'self sustaining organic farm' in St Mary's county while we were on our Broomes Island vacation.

This couple is amazing. The husband has a bazillion food allergies so they started growing their own food so he could eat. Then they got sheep and started shearing them to spin the wool into yarn which she uses to knit everything from socks to hats and sells them internationally.

And why not grow your own heritage plants for fun and even make soap (using tallow from the sheep they butcher) while you're at it.

Then they decided to raise heritage breed turkeys so they now have 40 of the world's 80 of some sort of turkey (I don't recall the name...New Jersey Buff something or other).

He's a physicist and she's an accomplished painter. Oh and she wrote a children's book about her pet turkey to raise awareness of heritage breed animals and built her own row boat which she and her husband rowed across the Potomac from Md to Va (the river is crazy-wide at the mouth into the Chesapeake).

It was really hard for me to be in the company of such slow-minded, uncreative people for an afternoon. Ha! Honestly I was touched by her willingness to let us tag along and follow her around while she shared volumes of information with us. And the kids were so well-behaved she actually let us pet some of the turkeys and then tromp around her garden.

Very good day, indeed.

Summer is flying by

2011-07-24T07:26:00.000-04:00

I'm not sure how it happens, but time flies, zooms, zips by in the summer. Right now I'm working like crazy to prepare for the coming schoolyear so my days are filled with reading, xeroxing and hole punching. Cub scout camp is this week....and I volunteered to help out all week (yikes!) and then we head to southern MD again for 10 days after that.

In an effort to catch up on posting photos, I've decided to just post my favorites with little or no explanation. Ella has a phenomenal memory so she can tell us what's going on in each picture when we look back in 20 years. ;)

These are from an afternoon at Jefferson Patterson State Park, a favorite of ours because they have a visitor's center with a hands on 'kid room', a Native American village that you can walk around, and beach access. Can't wrong with any of those!

A day in the life...

2011-07-16T07:22:00.004-04:00

Lately Beth is all about having us share things with her... like our SHT (special hidden talent) - I'm very special and have two- I can pick things up with my toes AND I can touch my nose with my upper lip. Crazy, huh?

She also asked about the day in and day out of our lives. I mean, we can't all run, bike or swim 24/7 can we? Can we??

Our days during the schoolyear are busy but pretty much the same: schoolwork, sports teams, cub scouts, lather, rinse repeat.

During the summer, however, every day is a new adventure. Very fun, but a little hectic sometimes. Take this yesterday for example:

6:35: !*#@ I overslept. Hustle to the basement for 30 minutes on the bike and 20 minutes of strength training.

7:25: Breakfast, wake/feed/dress the kids. Finish packing the cooler for the splash park. Load the car.

8:05: Jump in shower

8:40: Jump in car [with kids]. At about mile 2, realize I don't have my phone, turn around, get phone, back on the road.

9:05: Skid into pew at VBS with Shane and look at his adorable feet

Different shoes and both are Right shoes

12:15: Pick up kids, hand out food to prevent whining, and head down the road

1:00ish: Our first errand was a stop at the credit union to make a deposit. I didn't take any pictures because they're a little skittish at our CU because it gets robbed quite often. No joke. Bill and Ella stopped by one afternoon a couple of years ago. In and out, no biggie. The next day the County Police called and asked him if he had seen anything or anyone suspicious because *minutes* after he left (with my baby girl in tow), they got robbed. Now they often have a policeman sitting in a marked car in the parking lot. Fun times.

1:45ish Our second errand was to the Boy Scout store in Bethesda. I needed to get a Den Leader For Dummies (that's me) book and a couple of things for Hank's uniform.

Pleasantly surprised to see some Nuun on the shelf

I asked the clerk if, since they carry Nuun, they had considered partnering with other companies like Road ID since older scouts do a lot of overnight camping and even extreme hiking. He had no idea what I was talking about so I just smiled and changed the subject.

And then I walked out leaving behind the poster I had just purchased. I didn't leave any of the kids so I consider it a successful errand.

Toy Story 3 on the TV in the lobby = Hassle-free shopping for mom

2:20ish: We were supposed to meet our Families with Children from China playgroup (or China playgroup) at the splash park at 2. Thankfully they're an understanding group so it was no biggie to be 20 minutes late...especially since I was able to snag a coveted empty table as I was walking up to our group.

Love these kids!

the woman in the background is not a stalker, she's one of the moms in our group

Earlier in the day, Bill asked me if we wanted to meet him at the train station near the splash park, and I said no because we'd have to leave the splash park and rush home so he could make it to a men's Bible study that evening. I preferred to just leisurely enjoy the park and mosey home. He was fine with that so we played until after 6.

I often forget to check my phone so I wasn't surprised to see 2 text messages, 1 voicemail and 4 missed calls from him. I called him and learned that the train he was on fatally struck a pedestrian. So obviously the train wasn't going anywhere, which means neither was he.

Very thankfully no one else was injured. He was only 6 or so miles from the park so we headed over to the next town to rescue him at IHOP. We figured we might as well eat dinner since we were there. So we did.

Yes, Bill ordered the Rootie Tootie Fresh and Fruitie just so he could say it out loud

We rolled in the door after 9. To say that I was beat is a huge understatement, but we had a great time at VBS and the splash park and I enjoyed seeing my friends and spending time with my monkeys.

So what did you do today?

3 TT

2011-07-14T14:55:00.000-04:00

As usual, we've been crazy busy and I've neglected my blogging duties. I had grand plans to add more pix of our Broomes Island adventure, but life got in the way. Funny how that happens when you have kids.

So here go our updates

1. Bill and the little boys scored free Nats tickets for Saturday night where the boys got free baseballs and then Ian Desmond's autograph, and some nasty stomach virus which they shared with Ella. Thankfully they got the mild version. Bill and I however were lucky enough to get the please-let-me-die-quietly-while-I-puke-my-guts-out version. My stomach is still sideways and my head still hurts. It didn't kill us so we must be stronger and just don't realize it yet.

2. I found out today that another friend of mine will be participating in a duathlon that I really, really hope to be able to do. It's a low key, community race. If my memory serves me correctly, it's a 200 m pool swim and a 1 or 2 mile run on a cross country course. No pounding the pavement, which makes me hopeful to be able to do it. I see the dr 2 days before the race (I'm coming back from the beach early to see him) so I won't know until the last minute. My goals will be to have fun and complete it w/o dropping dead or injuring myself ~~again~~. Fingers and toes are firmly crossed!

3. And last but not least....Today is

Bill's Birthday!

Happy Birthday to the man who puts up with way more than any guy should have to. But we're so grateful that you do!

Today is also Bastille Day so we like to tease him that we'll manage to squeeze in a celebration of his bday as we celebrate Bastille day; like anyone really celebrates Bastille Day??? ...I told you, he puts up with a lot.

Mr. Toad's Wild, Muddy Ride

2011-07-05T17:38:00.000-04:00

Yesterday I dragged Jake to the tow path for a 15-20 mile ride...that turned into 30 miles, but who's counting??

We hopped onto the tow path at Brunswick a little after 5 and headed north. We made it to the Antietam Aquaduct (15 miles) around 6:20ish. Not too bad all things considered, but the sun was definitely on its way down.

We threw down some fuel and started south.

Rest break at Dragon's Bend

(Dargen Bend if you don't have a 5 y/o)

And it began to rain

and rain

The tow path is a dirt trail. Dirt + Rain = Mud.

I wasn't too worried though because the trail is slightly downhill going south so we'd be nice and dry in the truck in about an hour. Not!

Our happy little world started hiccupping...

Hello world!

It rained enough that I had to take my glasses off. And it was getting darker because of the clouds. Neither of us has a headlamp on our bike...we don't usually ride in the dark so we've never needed one. This made it hard to tell if the dark spot ahead was a pile of leaves, a rock, or a hole. I hit some puddles and got very sloshy wet and muddy.

We made it to Harpers Ferry and I was silently rejoicing...only 5 miles to go!

Then Jake's pedal

BROKE

as in it whirled around and both of them were pointing down...at the same time.

And neither one of us brought the tool kit...because, you know, we never need it and there are always plenty of cyclists on the trail. ha! The trail was deserted.

So he did a combination of walking and scootering (standing on the pedal w/ one foot and pushing off with the other). Bike pedals are taller than scooters so this was killer on his already tired quads. I tried it for a short bit, but it killed my foot.

2 miles south of Harpers Ferry is a parking lot-Weverton, and we were parked 3 miles south of that-Brunswick. We made almost to Weverton, and I told him I would ride ahead, get the truck and pick him up at Weverton.

By this time it was pretty dark. Wearing my glasses was still pointless because of the rain. But I hauled biscuits as fast as I could so he wouldn't have to hang out in a dark parking lot by himself.

30 miles of wet, muddy fun!

I got to the truck and my hands were so muddy that I didn't want to touch anything valuable, like my phone or keys. But I had to hurry because I could hear a train in the train yard moving, and I didn't want to get stuck on the wrong side of the tracks.

I get things loaded and

I can't find my

keys

Argh! I just had them; what the heck did I do with them?? I check and recheck all the places I might have put them and finally found them in my

jersey pocket

with a lot of mud to keep them company. Sigh...

After this was smooth sailing though. I beat the train, got Jake, bought him a pizza for being a good sport and went home to shower and crash.

I was covered from head to toe with mud. I had mud up my nose, in my teeth, in the folds of my rear. I had to wash my hair twice to get it all out. My socks were dripping and I had a solid mud stripe up my back. Crazy!

But

It was also kinda fun...

my phone takes sad pictures in the dark

Chris McDougall's Visit to Two Rivers Treads

2011-07-03T13:19:00.000-04:00

Barefoot running rockstar, Chris McDougall, visited Two Rivers Treads in Shepherdstown this past Thursday. I'm on the TRTreads email list and was excited and surprised to read that he would be in town for a short visit and participate in the Thursday evening clinic.

If you ever have an opportunity to participate in one of these clinics, I seriously recommend that you go. Dr Mark Cucuzzella is extremely knowledgeable about minimalist running as well as running in general....being a 2:37 marathoner will do that for you.

Chris mentioned the importance and wide reaching affect of what Mark is doing at TR Treads. I'm not sure there's any other place in the country currently with a community of minimalist runners. Sure you may have a handful here and there, but in this area, if you're wearing a pair of Newtons, Vibrams or Evos, folks will ask you if you bought them from 'Dr Mark' and the answer is usually yes.

Mark and Chris talking to the group

My pesky foot fracture kept me from participating in the clinic so I sat at the edge and watched and listened. I also had Shane with me so I had to bail early. But I did garner some nuggets to share with you.

~ CaDeNcE- Why the magic number of 180? Stand on the balls of your feet and bounce up and down like you're jumping rope. You'll bounce about 180 times in a minute. It's our natural recoil cadence. And when running more naturally, you'll get closer to that number nirvana.

~ "Experts" resistance to minimalist and barefoot running - Mark talked about this. In the medical community, most lifestyle and health recommendations start at the top and trickle down. A panel of experts decide that something is good/bad for you; then the information flows out to the masses.

Barefoot running began from the bottom and trickled up. Runners realized they could run more efficiently and with fewer injuries (cept knuckleheads like me who do too much too soon) so they started telling other runners and so on.

Mark shared that he and Chris have participated in a number of high profile panels around the country, and there have been varied responses to their schpeal. In some places, their message was well received, the information fairly considered, and they were invited to participate in future panels.

Other times they have been treated poorly and not invited to speak again in future discussions. Sad reflection on the arrogance of some 'experts.'

I stink at estimating, but I think there were about 60 people there. Very cool

~ Nifty jump rope trick- Mark demo'd this and then had one of the older (~10-11 yrs old) kids do it. Run forward while jumping rope. You can't overstride and your foot has to land under your hip, otherwise you'll get tangled in the rope. It's a helpful trick when working on proper footstrike.

~ Your core is core, essential, central, foundational to proper running- Stand up straight, put your hands on your side just above your hip bones, and cough. That muscle is your transverse abdominis, and when it's strong, it's your best friend. Mark had everyone engage their abs and then try to hunch over forward (the way many of us look when we finish a long run). No can do, Kemosabe.

pc: http://www.unm.edu/~lkravitz/Media/transverse.gif

He gave some practical tips like ditch your chair for a ball so the hours you spend hunched in front of your computer will be spent strengthening and engaging your core. Or move your computer to a counter top so you can stand...and then you can do things like stand on one leg and do leg lifts to strengthen your gluteus minimus.

I would have loved to hang around afterwards to meet Chris, but Shane was quickly falling apart so I had to skedaddle before they finished the clinic. It was very cool to see so many people there, all ages, shapes and sizes, and I look forward to future clinics when I can actually participate!

Fairies in the Garden

2011-06-30T13:35:00.000-04:00

While on vacation to Broomes Island, we took some time to visit AnnMarie Gardens. Driving down I saw signs that said something about Fairies and Garden but never caught the whole thing. Once we arrived at AnnMarie, we got the scoop.

They have a special exhibit in their outdoor sculpture garden right now...Fairy and Gnome houses. How fun is that! Members of the garden made fairy and gnome houses...some really simple and some really elaborate... which were then placed here and there around the garden.

We received a flyer that listed all the houses (but not their locations) and then we walked around the garden looking for them. The path was about a quarter mile long, shaded and paved so it was a nice relaxing walk.

As an added bonus, they had a dress up trunk so the kids could borrow fun costumes to wear while searching for the houses. Shane wanted to be a gnome and the other two opted not to dress up.

The kids thought this sign was hilarious for some reason

If you look closely, centered above the house is a crow that had picked all the shiney decorations off this fairy house. I got really close to take a picture of him, and he didn't fly away so he must have been very determined to get his treasures!

This is the coolest thing ever. Numerous trees had paintings on them where branches had been cut or had broken off. Makes me wish I had a molecule of artistic talent!

One of our favorite houses

Ella's favorite because it's a My Little Pony house

If you're in the area and have an opportunity to check out Fairies in the Garden, we highly recommend it. Very fun!

Wednesday's Words

2011-06-29T16:25:00.000-04:00

Green Light

My little man got the OK from his ortho to resume normal activities. His compression fracture did not further compress which means it's healing as it should. We go back in 5 months to make sure the bone is 'reconstituting' as it should.

The complete healing process can take 6-12 months for a compression fracture of the vertebrae. Who knew? Thankfully he did this when he was 5 and not 25. It would have been a whole 'nother story otherwise.

Red Light

My new ortho said - the MRI shows multiple micro fractures in my second metatarsel. It should take 12-16 weeks to heal. No running until there's no pain, and he recommended swimming and pool running in the meantime. I can bike as long as it doesn't hurt so I'll have to fiddle a little with my foot placement to be sure I'm not putting any pressure on the ball of my foot.

He also said that as an 'aging athlete' it will take me longer to heal than it would have 20 years ago so don't push it and try to run before it heals or I'll be in much worse shape than I am now- like surgery.

He and his wife are triathletes and he believes a late September sprint tri is completely possible. Happiness. Now to find a pool to run in...

Preliminary MRI Results and other randomness

2011-06-27T11:11:00.000-04:00

I started the day with an MRI of my foot...you know the one I hurt 52 days ago. The tech suggested that I not do any running until I see the dr on Wednesday.

Apparently there's "a little something going on in there."

I'm relieved that the pain isn't imaginary...and unhappy that there's still 'something going on in there' 3+ weeks after it should have healed.

Hopefully Wednesday will bring some answers.

I've still been swimming with no pain and biking with minimal pain. A friend and I did 33.5 miles Saturday which is the farthest I've gone on a bike. We took it pretty slowly as my friend is still building confidence on her bike. I felt really good during and immediately after the ride. My foot ached a bit afterwards though.

VBS started last night so Bill and I had 2.5 kid-free hours. Woot! I dragged him out on his bike for 14 miles. He's still building butt callouses so I didn't press him to go farther.

This week will be a little hectic with VBS, Shane's follow up for his back and my appt so I probably won't make it to the lake to swim.

The neighboring town has a small pool, 25 yds, with 'adult swim' the last 15 minutes of each hour so I may go there. Though I've been told by a friend who has a membership that there is no lap lane, and there are folks who will get in and just stand in the water not moving for lap swimmers. I may need to save that adventure for a day when I'm feeling very patient and forebearing. haha!

Broomes Island Vacay

2011-06-24T18:49:00.000-04:00

The first of several posts...

Broomes Island is a gorgeous, peaceful little stretch of land along the lower Patuxent River about 20 miles north of Solomons Island. [Neither is an island though.] We *love* going down there, but as the family grows our turns for space in the house get farther apart.

Bill's great grandfather (or maybe great, great) bought a bunch of marsh land to use for hunting and fishing. Then they built a little cottage and later added indoor plumbing and even a kitchen. Then more family built houses on the land and Machen Point was born. I think most everyone who still lives there/has a house down there is still related at least by marriage, save one or two houses. Pretty cool.

walking up the drive to the mailbox

We're not far from the Chesapeake Bay so the river is wide; the water is brackish (salt and fresh), and it has mild high and low tides. We also get sea nettles/jelly fish...but they don't arrive until July so we didn't have to contend with them on our visit, happiness!

looking down-creek towards the river

there are sea walls and jettys to help slow the erosion caused by the tide

The house is almost at the end of the road so there's very little traffic. I originally planned to take the kids' bikes, but Shane's back breaking adventure x-nayed that. We'll try again when we go in August.

I'm pretty sure the land on the other side is St Mary's county.

Some folks like to kayak to the other side where they find all sorts of cool shells, fossils and shark's teeth. I didn't feel comfortable having Hank paddle himself that far, but in retrospect, I really think he could do it. We would just need to take it slow. We did kayak to the other side of the creek (about 100 yards or so) to a nearby beach so Ella could 'treasure hunt.' That particular beach is a magnet for sea glass which made her little heart very happy.

One of the days we were there was a little chilly for swimming so we went to the Cypress Swamp nature center. It's very cool because there's a boardwalk through the swamp and you can see the trees up close. The trees are very cool because they have 'knees'...their roots come above the surface and bend back down underground and they look like knees sticking up.

You'll notice I didn't take a lot of pictures and the ones I did take are only so-so. Being the only grown up, chasing 3 little kids - with a painful foot to boot - I felt like I was barely keeping up the whole time we were there!

They're rehabbing a red-tailed hawk

The boardwalk...Hank was very good about making sure they hadn't completely left me in their dust.

We left Cypress Swamps for AnnMarie Sculpture Garden where they have a fairy house exhibit....

3 Things Thursday

2011-06-23T17:24:00.000-04:00

1. We arrived home this afternoon from southern MD after deciding to extend our stay by almost a week. We had the.best.time.ever and seriously considered becoming squatters and never leaving. Pictures are a comin'

2. Unpacking is more exhausting than packing, cleaning and driving 3 hours with 3 sad kids in the backseat. I stopped to feed them which improved their mood only slightly...until we pulled in the driveway and then they were very excited to be home.

3. My foot still hurts like heck so I'm having an MRI done Monday morning and see the dr Wednesday afternoon. Happily, my ITB seems to be a happy camper which is a good thing because this girl has plans that involve running, biking and swimming.

Gone Fishin'

2011-06-10T08:00:00.001-04:00

We're headed to southern Maryland for a week or more. See you when we return!

pc: http://photos.igougo.com/images/p154739-Tunisia-Fishing_boat.jpg

Wordless Wednesday

2011-06-08T06:21:00.001-04:00

My beach chair is calling me

On Sunday

2011-06-06T08:21:00.000-04:00

Ella

and
I

went for a 20 mile bike ride on the C&O Canal towpath while

the boys

went fishing with daddy at the boat ramp at Dargan Bend.

Love Sunday afternoons with the fam

Our Life with 3 Guys and A Doll

Freeze Your Thorns Off Virtual Race

Five for Friday - snake handler's edition

Ice Skating at the Sculpture Gardens

National Gallery of Art field trip

Caught with my pants down

AT Hike Reno Monument

Looking forward to 2012

Distracted swimming

Merry Christmas!

Christmas Activities

Year In Review Ala Miss Zippy

3 Things Thursday

Maintain Don't Gain

So my sense of humor is a little warped

Kids say the darndest things

Weekend at Bernie's...uh, Weekend without kids

She has a lot of air in her

Wattle Waddle Race Recap

Happy Thanksgiving!

Swim, Bike, Fun!

What my workouts look like now

Course Support for the JFK 50

Frosty camping with the Boy Scouts

Wee Warrior Dash

You know you live in the country when...

Gear I Love: Hydrapak

Wednesday's Wanderings

A rooster's tale

Cub Scout Service Project

Swim, Basketball, Run

TOG Y2U1, Medieval Feast Unit Celebration

On our hike today

Squirrel Scouts turns 100

Cub Scout Bike Rodeo

Sizing women's clothing

Where does the time go??

3 TT- Grown up edition

5 For Friday

YMCA Women's Sprint Tri Race Report

The unicorns were peeing rainbows!!

Goals for my first Tri

REI Giftcard Giveaway

Webelos Woods Campout

Fila Toning Wear Review

Crampton's Gap Shelter on the AT

Friday's Fret, Fact and Fun

Friday Photos

3 Things Thursday- Juggling Edition

We really *are* different

Because just sitting around is boring

My little Webelos Scout

A nolhtaud and My weekend at Two Rivers Treads

Not thrilled about my new neighbor

3TT

Running clinics and my confidence level

Wordless Wednesday- blowing up balloons

Love this

[Sort of] Race Report

Sometimes Just Showing Up is the Hardest Part

Funny Foto Friday

My right foot

Wednesday's Words

Daddy's Work Picnic

Calvert Maritime Museum

Friday's Photos- learning to crab

Will paddle for ice cream

Crabs!

The kayaks are calling us

Friday's Photos- camp wrap up

Cub Scout Camp by the Numbers

Heritage flocks

Summer is flying by

A day in the life...

3 TT

Mr. Toad's Wild, Muddy Ride

Chris McDougall's Visit to Two Rivers Treads

Fairies in the Garden

Wednesday's Words

Preliminary MRI Results and other randomness

We really are different