TriathMom

My name is Ada, and I am officially a Triathlete!
Race day was overcast in the seventies. Had a dream just before the alarm went off that I was late, and having to rush Fiona & Gary to get going before the transition area closed.
My first race was a reverse sprint distance triathlon (5k run, 15.5mi bike, 350yd swim). Normally tri's are swim/bike/run, this was run/bike/swim...something I only discovered a week before the race, a fact that also sent me into a bit of tailspin regarding my preparation. But, with a lot of visualization and practice for transitions, I felt much more comfortable with the idea.
Prepped everything Saturday night, got my bag ready, my number in order, visualized an attack.

Race morning, woke up before the alarm with the aforementioned semi-nightmare. Up and eating almost immediately so as to enusure plenty of time between eating & running. Yoga out front 'cause it was certainly warm enough, and I'm trying to keep calm. The hummidity was pretty high, a cold front came in later that day and so we had all the humidity & warmth that preceeds said cold front that morning. Dressed, woke Gary, piled in the car w/ bike on the back. Arrived on scene, athletes milling about setting up transitions, laughing, they're definitely less nervous than me. Saw some kids there, I joked to one that I bet I was more nervous than he was. Dry heaved a couple of times, but didn't vomit--a bonus 'cause I needed to keep the food down for energy purposes. Got the bike checked out, got my body marked 539. After a stuttered conversation with a staffer, figured it's better I just don't talk to too many people 'cause I just sound like an idiot. Wander about some, try to keep warmed up, said hi again to The Man & The Child, seemed like hanging around them the anxiety intensified, so, back to registration. Picked up timing chip, very important, don't forget to pick up timing chip. Then there was a meeting about rules & regs, the USAT guys said a few things, and then it was time to begin. They didn't have a gun or air-horn, so it was a "1...2...3...GO" start. I thought it was cute.

RUN; went fine, I've never thought running was really that much fun and I guess I find it still more a chore than anything, although my endurance has most definitely improved. Got bored toward the end, couldn't wait to get on the bike. 33m 13s
T1: 1m 46s dropped my sunglasses at one point
BIKE; started kick ass, then heart rate when too far up, backed off, tried to stay comfortable, passed a handful of people or more. Should have had more water, humidity was more than usual and felt a headache sneaking in the background too early on. The ride was nice, wet road in some areas, I saw one woman busted up in an intersection, pretty sure she finished though. 1h 9m 28s
T2: 52s easy, strip off everything, pop in earplugs, jog to pool
SWIM; felt fine until the staffer said, "GO". Strokes were relaxed & even, then my breathing went awry and I had to be on my back for 25 yds or so. Freestyle was definitely easier though and I made it all the way, only one person passed me, and I passed one person. At that point in the race there weren't too many people left in the pool. 9m 49s
THEN jog to the finish line, at this point my body started to revolt, sounded like "you want me to WHAT? No way, uh-uh, no more, you're DONE." So I'm searching for the finish line...funny I never saw it until just before I crossed it, I mean it IS A HUGE BLOWN UP GREEN ARCH, jeaz, Ada! (I've learned that part of the challenge for a reverse is using the lower muscles a whole bunch then suddenly switching to upper/full body for a while.)
TOTAL TIME 1h 55m 07s

Gary said the only time I looked as if I was rattled was after the pool on the way to finishing. Well, like I said, the mind had to completely ignore the lamentations of the lungs & legs for long enough to get out there. He said, he was yelling, "SMILE THEY'RE TAKIN' YOUR PICTURE", I vaguely remember hearing that, but I was too involved with getting FINISHED at that point.
And so I became a triathlete.


Links for race results & photos:
http://www.doitsports.com/groups/results/timers-calendar.tcl?group_id=91
click on tri age group OR overall
http://www.partypics.com/ver2/EventImages.aspx?EventID=580301
I'm in there but it's kinda hard to sift through the picks, they don't have finish line pics yet.

Turkey with the Family

It was great! We had a fantastic time all day, prepping for dinner, I made a few pies, finally eating turkey with all the fixins, and then later we got to sit and visit with cousins, who came to visit. Fiona was insane-cute in her slightly too big Thanksgiving outfit. Wandering about Granparent's house...which, exacto-knives aside, proved to be a whole lot of fun for her. She warmed up to Gramma & Pop shortly after our arrival, evidenced by her leading them around by fingers to go look at anything & everything. Sometimes Fiona has a goal in mind when pulling Granpa up from his comfy spot on the couch with just one finger, otherwise Pop is just at the mercy of the aimlessly curiousity in the 19 month old mind.

We drove to Austin for the weekend to visit Richard & Sally expecting baby #1 this month. And got a late lunch visit with my dear friend Nicolette who has purchased her first home, congratulations! We fit in a trip to visit Great-grandma Miimi, and Chris & Lisa. Fiona was mostly interested in the Christmas tree set up in the foyer, but she did try to drag Miimi out of her she at least once to discuss the ornamentation. It's heartbreaking for me to see Miimi aged & slightly befuddled, she's such a neat lady. I love her so, I wish that I were able to visit more often...I think she remembered me for the brief moments after we found her dozing in a chair before tiring her with baby & conversation, but such is old age. *sigh*
Back at the Grandparents' Bowman house we had a rather uneventful week after thanksgiving, I was concentrating on my triathlon, and mainly caring for babygirl. (I'm putting the Tri in a separate posting) Fiona took us all out one at a time and at least once a day to visit the kitties, dog, horses, chickens, & turkeys in the back. She thoroughly enjoyed all the space and most definitely the animals.
All in all it was a fine trip, Gary & I really enjoyed watching Fiona expand her familial horizons. Yesterday, she pulled some family photos off the fridge, wandered about the apartment talking about the people she misses. It's really amazing to witnessed all this development, nothing will ever compare.

Titans @ Broncos!

Broncos 34, Titans 20.
What a fantastic game!

Firetrucks & Tri-run races

Last week we visited a fire house. Fiona was really into "driving" the truck when she got the chance, and was summarily disappointed when I had to pull her out for other kids to take a turn.
She's added a couple of words, sometimes indistinguishable from jibberish, but it's a comforting noise to hear in the background of the mundane daily things. It's like birdsong. When she's too quiet for too long I always go look in on her, if she's in her room, usually she's concentrating wholeheartedly on something or maybe just sitting look at books. One day last week, she was too quiet, I went to her room to discover she had fallen asleep on the floor! I guess I mistimed the nap that day.

I did a practice race today in the gym, just to check my progress, to see where I stand. I feel SO much better knowing that when race day comes I'll be completely prepared.
Tomorrow Gary & I are going to Monday Night Football, Titans @ Broncos! We found a highly qualified sitter that we are both comfortable with, and Fiona took a liking to immediately. So it'll be grown-up time, yay!
Then Tuesday, super-early, we are leaving for North Texas, supposed to make it in one day. We'll be trading off driving to break up the monotony, and I'm trying to make a mental list of everything Fiona might want or need for the 2 weeks we're staying with Gammie & Pop.
SO, if you're in the area, give us a holler! And HAPPY HAPPY HAPPY THANKSGIVING!

Mean People, Peas, & 18 month check in

Miss Fiona says "No".
It's not really a big "no", kinda more like "nope" with a shake of the head...and it is the answer for everything. Even if I were to ask her about something that she is doing, the answer is still an endearing "no". It's entertaining, obviously more a practice than a real refusal. She also nods her head in big dips, practicing a "yep" or "yeah", her yes is more like a "djess" and it's rare. Other words, Mamma, Pah-pbah, bee-bee (baby), and many more attempts at much used words. Today we saw Dr. Katz for Fiona's 18 month check-up. She is 22 lbs 10 oz (35th percentile), 34 inches (95th percentile). We both got flu shots and the doc says that she's on target for growth although definitely tall and "thin" by baby standards.

Yesterday we visited the Children's Museum again, was a nice morning for it, until another little girl hit Fiona. Gary was with her, I was savoring some coffee nearby, apparently the offender didn't hit her too hard but several sharp smacks and Fiona's feeling were so hurt that she didn't want to play anymore at all. It dawns on me while I'm consoling her that I have to explain to her about mean people in the world. Some kids are just mean or haven't learned how to behave. It can hurt our feelings and is sometimes scary. She did a good job of not reacting, the slightly delayed response was intense though, fear filled sobs and fat baby tears. We went home shortly after that.

Lately Fiona's in love with green peas. It was peas for breakfast one morning after Gary offered her choice after choice of food. Amidst eating them she's a fan of smushing the peas one at a time with just one finger, it's the small things that can sometimes feel so powerful. Sometimes I smush one with my sock on the kitchen floor, that's less than pleasant.

Halloween was rather quiet. No parties to attend and no trick or treaters beating down the door. I considered Fiona dressing up, but she didn't really understand the costume thing yet, next year will be a bunch of fun! I did carve a pumpkin though, I do love my pumpkin carving!