Chattanooga and 3 State 3 Mountain Ride

This week was a really big week for us. We spent the week getting more acclimated to the area and getting out and about more. We spent the weekend in Chattanooga, TN, so that Ryan could do a century ride called the "3 State, 3 Mountain". We really enjoyed the trip.

On Monday, we didn't do a ton outside. The weather was pretty dreary and wet. Keira and Soren had a blast dancing around listening to the clock radio in their room. Sadly, we had to take it out because they couldn't listen and have fun at the same time. They were just too loud for an apartment.


Tuesday, we made it to the storytime at Pottery Barn Kids in the mall. It was pretty short, but Keira and Soren enjoyed it. We had planned to hit the drive through and take it to the Ford dealership to get the oil changed. When we got there, there was a huge wait, and we ended up just bringing our food home.




Wednesday was a pretty big day. We got up and hit the gym. I had a free personal training session for joining. It was a lot shorter than I expected, but was fine since I was able to still get in a decent swim as a result. After the gym, we went to the St Matthews library for their storytime. This was a lot more like what we were used to in Novi. They had a great storytime room with stadium seating and it was decorated with Eric Carle's "The Very Hungry Caterpillar" flags and paintings. Ms Emily did a great job of keeping the children entertained, and they finished up with a short craft.





After the library, we met up with my former gymnastics teammate, Stefanie, and her son Liam for some lunch at a breakfast/brunch restuarant called Wild Eggs. It was great to catch up with her and learn more about the area.

That evening, Ryan did a group ride and I took Keira and Soren to Cherokee Park for our first stroller run here in KY. The park is pretty cool, and similiar to Central Park in that it has roads for cars and people, as well as paths for just people and recreation. It was very hilly. We did 2 loops of the scenic drive for just under 5 miles. On our first loop, we passed a guy on a steep decent in the stroller at sub 7. He seemed pretty embarassed by that, but didn't go all the way around to pass me again on the uphill, which was really tough and slow. The stroller practically dragged me down the downhills, but it was so heavy to push uphill. Keira and Soren played for a little bit afterwards, but it was getting late and the ground was pretty wet so it limited where they could play.


On Thursday, I got in a long run before getting the oil changed in the truck. I am really glad I got it done because we ended up taking this to TN. It was a really nice day, and so we explored our neighborhood a bit. We checked out the clubhouse and played in the grass between the buildings. It looks like our pool should be opening soon, because it was already filled with water.


That evening, I went back to Cherokee park to ride on my own. I am behind on my riding, so I was glad to get this ride in.

On Friday, I got in a short swim before heading out to Chattanooga. Keira and Soren were very excited about the hotel room. We got in before Ryan's friends, Kent, David, Austin, and Mike, so we hung out in the room a bit.


Once everyone was there, went to the expo and then to Fazoli's to carbo load. Both Kent and David ordered 2 plates each of pasta.

On Saturday, the guys were up early to ride to the start of their ride. A tornado had hit the area with this past round of severe weather and so the route was modified to shorten it slightly, so they rode to and from the hotel instead of driving to get in the full 100 miles. The ride took them through Tennesee, Alabama, and Georgia. The final hill was not included.
Here is the group before the ride.

Austin got bib #1 since he was first alphabetically.

While the guys were riding, the kids and I did some sightseeing. Our first stop was the Chattanooga Choo Choo. It is a hotel. The station was the hotel lobby, and you could sleep in a train car as your room. The kids enjoyed the grounds and Soren was thrilled when the conductor came out. We were there too early for anything to be open other than the restaurant, but that was fine with us. It made this stop free.

Next, we went to the Tennesee Aquarium. It was very cool, and probably the best aquarium I have ever been to. You started on the 4th floor and wound yourself down to the ground floor. Each floor was dividing into two halves, with the middle of the building being huge tanks with a series of ramps that took you down each level. Very impressive. The kids had a blast. We spent several hours here, and didn't even realize we missed the second building until much much later.

It was fine, though, because we enjoyed playing outside the aquarium. We had some lunch at a fun pizza place called the Mellow Mushroom. They had great pretzel breadsticks. We did a litte more walking and running around downtown waiting to hear from Ryan. We went back to the hotel for a bit and then back downtown with everyone for some barbeque ribs (and chicken) at Sticky Fingers. We caught the Derby there. It was a bit weird to have left Louisville when so many people were coming into town for the Derby. Next year we will stick around. We finished off the night with ice cream at Ben and Jerry's.

The next morning was Mother's day. We had breakfast at the hotel and then got to sightseeing. Our first stop was the Incline Railway. It went up to the top of Lookout Mountain. Soren loved it because it was a train. It is the steepest commercial rainway in operation. We pretty much just rode it up, checked out the view, and then went back down.

Our next stop was Rock City. It was a scenic walk through gardens that provided a view of 7 states and a waterfall. It was pretty cool and the kids had fun. We were able to walk through some "slots" in rock along the way. They also had a little fairy tale land that was set up inside a cave that you walked through.

Our last stop was Ruby Falls. This was pretty spectacular. It was a waterfall inside a cave inside Lookout mountain. The caves were used by the Native Americans and by the US army during the civil war as a triage center. They were then closed up to make way for the railroad to go through. In the late 1920s, Leo Lambert wanted to drill down to make this accessible again to the public. He discovered the waterfall during his exploration. It was opened to the public in 1930. We traveled in an elevator down into the mountain and were guided on a tour taking us back to the waterfall. As we approached it, there was mood music and we could hear the waterfall, but not see it. Once we were all there, the lights illuminated the waterfall. It was very cool. We were able to walk behind it too and look up at it. The kids did not like getting wet, but enjoyed it. Soren was extremely upset when they turned the lights off (they were on a timer for the tours).

After that, we were on the road back to Kentucky!

First Week in Kentuck, Derby Mini Marathon

This week was the first week we spent in Kentucky as a family. It was pretty rainy and stormy this week, but we were safe from any severe weather. For the most part, we worked on getting settled in and finding the important things: bike store, gym, grocery stores, and Graeter's Ice Cream. I was also able to get into the Derby Festival Mini Marathon on Saturday, so we had a visit from Grandma already in our new temporary home!

On Monday, we did a bit of exploring. Our first stop was the VO2 multisport store, where Ryan had been doing some rides. I figured I would come here first to get the lowdown on the local gyms. The reviews online were conflicting. I was also able to get some information on the Derby Festival, and learned that there was a good shot that I would be able to get a bib from a person who was unable to run instead of trying to get a charity bib. After leaving the store, we checked out the local Y, which proved to be very expensive, and then went to Urban Active. While the reviews were not as good, it was in my price range and is a lot like Powerhouse Elite. I didn't join anything today and wanted to give it a think. We also found Kroger. My team Aquaphor kit arrived today, just in time for me to throw it on for a group ride at VO2, but it was cancelled due to rain. I did go over there and reiterate that I was interested in a bib, and things were looking good for me to get one. We also went to Costco and really stocked up on things. I feel like we won't have to do much shopping for a while, except for fruit and milk.



On Tuesday, I joined the Urban Active gym and got in a workout. Keira and Soren seemed to have a good time at the playroom. We left the gym a little later than I wanted, and headed over to the Oxmoor mall to attend a story time at Pottery Barn Kids. Sadly, being 5 minutes late meant that we missed it. It was only 1 story. We did get the booklet stamped and will try again later. We didn't find a play area at the mall (perhaps we missed it), but we did find a fountain.





Ryan did a group ride that evening, and we went to Meijer while he rode.

On Wednesday, we didn't do a ton. We went to the gym, and then to Target. I did find out that I was going to be racing in the mini marathon, which meant that it was sort of OK that I wasn't able to bike this week and I could justify a "mini" taper before the race. We pretty much just hung out at home until Ryan got back from work. It was raining again, so neither of us could ride. We had dinner and then went to Graeter's for ice cream. On our way out, we saw a sign that it was buy one get one free sundaes on days that it rained in April. Darn! How did we miss that? It would have been cheaper to get 2 BOGO sundaes that 4 single scoops!

On Thursday, I did a light workout at the gym and we had to go back to Target to exchange a defective rubber ducky. It filled up with water in the tub today, and I bought that kind specifically because they do not fill up with water.

Ryan got all set to do a ride that evening, and then I got the kids ready to take their new bikes outside! We rode over to a small pond. Keira and Soren had a great time. Then, we got caught in the rain. Both kids were destroyed when I made the head back to the apartment. That was a proud moment for me (as was making the rule, "no riding your bike in the kitchen", which happened this week too). I took the kids home and made dinner. When we finished with dinner, it was POURING! I figured that we should head back out to Graeters and get our BOGO sundaes, since this was our last shot at these. I didn't want to get ice cream the night before the race, or for it to rain on race day. They had a kids sundae, and I got one for each, and got Ryan's to go. Poor Ryan, he got caught in the downpour on his bike. It was the worst rain he had even ridden in. He arrived home freezing and soaking wet. It took him a while to thaw out enough to enjoy his sundae.





On Friday, we headed into downtown Louisville to go to the expo. I was going to be picked up "my" packet from the VO2 booth since I couldn't pick up someone else's packet. It was a nice sized expo, and the kids got some fun freebies. I was really glad that I went down, as the exit that I mapped out to take was closed due to flooding. It gave me the opportunity to drive around downtown a bit and get a little familiar with it. I did not think to drive to the start/finish area, but was able to map directions that did not require the closed exit. We grabbed some lunch downtown and Keira and Soren enjoyed playing outside around a fountain.





My mom came into town that night after the kids went to bed. Ryan had planned to do an early morning group ride while I raced.

On Saturday, I woked up early to head down to the race. I got there in plenty time and was able to get a parking spot very close to the start/finish area. I was in corral D by my number, and tried to change it, but then decided to not worry about it. I was able to get into corral C with some people I talked to before the race, and then moved up and into corral B. I was still no where near my goal pace, but at that point, the crowd was pretty thick and it was too close to the start time. It took me about 5 minutes to walk to the start line after the official start. The race was HUGE. I really didn't have a good concept of how big it was until I saw how far back the corrals went. I played catch up the whole race, constantly passing people. It was a fast course, very flat. The highlight of the course was running through Churchill Downs. We ran on a path around the infield. The hillies part was going under the tunnels to get in and out of the infield. There were lots of spectators all along the course which also made it more fun. I finished with a PR of 1:38:39. I was very pleased with this time, and with the race in general. It was very fun and I would love to do this race again.

I got home and realized that Ryan's group ride had been cancelled. Instead, he rode 4 laps of Seneca Park to get in 60 miles with hills added into the route. While he was finishing up his ride, my mom and I took the kids on a bike ride around the complex. We were able to see lots of ducks and turtles. The kids had a blast enjoying the beautiful day.




Once Ryan was back, we had lunch at PF Changs. Soren napped and everyone else rested. We had pizza for dinner, and then everyone went to bed early after a tiring day.

On Sunday, we were attended the Louisville 1st ward, which is the one where our apartment falls. It was at 9:30, which is a great time. It is a small ward, with mostly younger children. I was excited to learn that members of the ward volunteered at the water stop at mile 23 of the marathon yesterday. I bore my testimony on how grateful I was to be here and what a blessing it is to have the Church everywhere. Keira enjoyed Primary. Soren did OK for the first half of nursery, but then got sad and I joined him for the second half. It was a pretty busy group of mostly boys, a lot different from his group of mostly girls in MI.


We did a webcam call with Nana and Papa after church and hung out around the apartment for the rest of the evening. We had thought about going for a walk, but we had more rain, and it got too late after dinner to do any more exploring.

Up for next week, we will hopefully have some better weather. Both Ryan and I need to do a lot of riding. We also plan to do some more exploring.