Wednesday, June 8, 2011

Busy Busy week and 70.3 Racing for Recovery Half Triathlon

To say we had a lot going on this week was an understatement. I had my biggest race ever this weekend, and we worked on a lot of relocation business. The good thing about having a big race coming up is that the training right before it is very light, so that helped. It was also good to have the relocation work to do because it gave me plenty of things to think about other than my race.

On Tuesday, we had probably our most low key day of the week. I did a short workout, and then we went to the mall for the storytime.
I spent the rest of the day doing laundry and attempting to get ready to head back to MI for meetings for the relocation. Keira and Soren also had fun biking outside. We put the training wheels on Keira's bike so she can get used to pedaling it. She has the gliding part down, but needs to work on pedaling more.
On Wednesday, we got up and tried our hardest to get in a quick workout and get on the road in good time, but it didn't happen as fast as we wanted. We cut it pretty close, not leaving much wiggle room on the drive. To top it off, we witnessed an oil tanker jack knife on the freeway just to the right of us. A little while later, we also passed a minivan that was engulfed with flames. We felt so blessed that we were not involved with either of these incidents or held up by them. We finally made it home safe and sound, with just a few minutes to spare before we interviewed our first realtor.

On Thursday, we got up and went to the gym for another light workout, and then did some grocery shopping. I was so excited to find chicken on sale!
That evening, we had an early dinner. You can imagine my disappointment when I went out to get my chicken from the grill and learn that it was out of propane and my meal was half done. I got my food cooked the rest of the way in the microwave. After we were done eating, we decided to bike to Stuarts for ice cream. I was really not wanting to go, but I had told the kids we would do it much earlier in the day if they ate their dinners. I gave them huge dinners that I didn't think they would eat, and Keira at the whole thing. Soren ate enough. On our way, I called Valerie to see if she wanted to meet up with us, so she and her family came out too. We also ran into Jen and Bill with Liam. It was a good time, and everyone was really glad we made it out. Keira did great on the bike ride. She had her old bike from last year without pedals, and just flew! Soren rode over in the stroller for most of the way there, but on the way back, he rode the whole way himself. He is really getting the hang of it too, but isn't nearly as quick as Keira yet.
On Friday, Keira was able to go to school. She made a farmer and brought home a vase craft from earlier in the year. Soren and I hung out and did some errands. I got really mad at the grill because I could not get the propane tank off. After Keira was done with school, we met up with Linda so that I could meet with another realtor without distractions, as well as work on the house a bit. I got a lot done, but it still has a lot to go. Ryan came back to MI today, and we met up with him, Kris, and Linda with the kids at Noodles for dinner, our usual Friday night spot.
On Saturday, we did a lot. Soren was elated when he looked out the window and the "balloon truck" was outside. This is what he saw. He said it was like "UP [the Balloons]".
I took Keira and Soren to the Tollgate plant sale while Ryan rode with the wolverines. We will miss the Novi event there in another week or so, but the kids love that place, and so I figured since they were having a public event, we might as well go and check it out. Keira and Soren spent most of their time in the children's garden. It was super hot. We also saw William the big horned sheep and walked around by the pond.
Once Ryan got back from his ride, I headed off with Cristina, Mary, and Robbie from TIA to go to Monroe to get in an open water swim and pick up my packet for my race. While I was gone, Ryan took Keira and Soren to a baptism for a friend in Greg and Ellyn's ward. We met up afterwards for a last minute REI trip, and then I got to work preparing for my race.

Sunday was the day of my first Half Ironman triathlon. The distances are 1.2 mile swim, 56 mile bike, and 13.1 mile run, for a total of 70.3 miles. I did a full race recap here. It has more pictures and details about each specific part.  It was great to have a race with so many friends there. The highlight of the race for me was coming around towards the end of the first run loop and seeing Ryan, Keira, and Soren there cheering for me. This is the picture when I saw them:
It didn't occur to me when I asked Ryan to come down about an hour before the finish to be able to see Cristina finish that I would be finishing up my first loop of the run shortly after, as well as the fact that the course went so close to the finish. It was so great to see them, because before I did, I was running up looking at that finish line and knowing that I had to go and do the whole run that I just did completely over again, and it was hard. Seeing them gave me the best moral boost! My finish time was 6:18:21, within my goal of 6.5 hours. After the race, we went over to Kris and Linda's for dinner, and that was so nice to not have to worry about dinner. Keira and Soren were able to play with their cousins and have fun too, so it was a pretty awesome day.

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