Checking in

Wow, a long time since the last one! Lots has changed. I think. Mom passed away early in 2012 and that put me in a long loop. I finally took some time off work starting in June 2013 and I'm going back to work in August 2014. Still not sure I want to keep on doing engineering, but at the moment it is the only thing I have training to do. Should I go back and be a doctor? A pharmacologist? Open a knitting/cycling/coffee shop? Train to be a programmer? Something else entirely? I don't feel like I'm using my brain much just doing the same old chem eng stuff day after day after week after year. But it will pay the bills for a while...

I'm behind on the taxes, but caught up with my kids. The projects are all still half finished - 3 outstanding kitchen items (for 3 years), the playhouse needs finishing, the trim at the front porch, the tiling of the new fireplace. But I seem to only get time to deal with kids, and paperwork and exercise and cooking and cleaning and then the day is done and the list is still there. Not sure how this will all go down come the fall when the kids are back in school.

Loving my knitting, and just taught the beginner knitting for my Gala donation, it was really fun and the ladies were great. I think I even might have 'passed the bug' to one or two of them. Still have 6 WIPs, but itching to cast on something new!

The kids have just finished school, and we are enjoying a first day of 'nothing' before we head out on our big trip to Portland, OR on Monday. The boy is gaming all day at a friend's house and the girl and I will have lunch and go to the Olds Fibre Festival this afternoon. Scouts has a wrap up party tonight and then only 2 more soccer games for the girl and we are DONE for the season.

Looking forward to some good hiking, camping and relaxing this summer. Kids have a few camps, but not too heavy, so we get some quality time together!

Not sure when I'll catch up again, but this struck me as a good check in point today.

Later 'gators!!

I survived another triathlon!!!

Yay Me! Yes, I survived the Strathmore Women's Only triathlon (www.leapingdogracing.com). I had hoped to finish between 110 and 120 minutes, and I came in 116 min, so I'm quite happy. I must say that the entire triathlon is extremely well organized and everyone is SO supportive, it was a fabulous experience, even given that I didn't know a soul. I did meet Jocelyn, who is hilarious, and did an amazing job at her first tri!

For race report, see my BT page: http://bit.ly/blkY60. I must say that the lack of training for the 2-3 weeks prior didn't help (thanks to the kitchen reno), the new bike DID help, and the lack of almost any running for 2 months prior (thanks, injuries!) did NOT help. I am going to focus on run and Brick for the next 2 weeks in preparation for my last race: the Banff Subaru Sprint (http://triseries.ca/banff/).

My fall goal is now to finish the kitchen and lose some weight this fall through eating right and training 4-5 days a week, plus strength and stretch to avoid injury!! Wish me luck with the open water swim in Banff!

Race Report a little late!

Did my first tri on May 23. It was a ton of fun! Had CJ, Julie and Remi, Carmen and Jo for moral support, and it was many of their first tris as well.
SWIM:
Swim was 500 m in Foothills pool - a rolling start that was a little disorganized - they didn't announce which waves were starting when but it wasn't too bad. I was passed by 3 in a group, but then passed one person myself. Max 4 in a lane, my time in the swim (included entry/exit of water but no transition) was 12:53, or 2:53 per 100 m. I felt kind of sluggish on first 4 laps, so not surprised it was a mite slow. No warmup didn't help. I was 187th out of the water (out of 314).

T1: Swam in tank top, bra and compression shorts. This worked well. Brought towel to pool, wrapped in in on way out. Sat and put on tights, socks and shoes. Removed tank and put on dry shirt, then jacket. No falling over - YAY!

BIKE:
Bike was 4 x 4 km laps around UofC, rolling hills and flats. Was quite chilly on first lap. Could have used gloves as it was only about 3-4 C. I could have pushed harder on the bike. I was not tired at all after the bike. Only problem was that my feet and left hand went completely to sleep. I was 279th after the bike, finishing it in 52:29 (this includes T1 and T2) for an average pace of 18.3 kph, quite slow.

T2: Very easy, just shoes off/on - speed laces rock! Handlebars on my PITA bike were a bit of a problem, as they stick out so far.

RUN: Run was 3.3 km, with 3 x 1 km loops, 1 hill down, 1 up. First km was hell due to sleeping feet. Ditched jacket with DH after first km. By the end of the 3 km, I felt that I could have done at least 1 more km. I was 287th after the run, with a time for 3.3 km of 25:53, or an average of 8:38 per km. By my Nike+ though, I was under 8 min per km. Pretty happy with the run.

I was expecting to take 90 mins for the tri, I did it in 91:14, so pretty much bang on! The after lunch at our house was SO much fun. And I was not too stiff on Monday, pretty much back to normal on Tuesday. Ready to get training for the next one! Strathmore Women's only, here we come!!!

Kickin' it!

At least on the exercise front - in the tri club, made the bike AND swim this week. Bike is getting SO much better - those threshold wattage workouts don't kill me as much. Of course the 30 pushups between speed sets just about did! I do need some cycle shorts/pants though, my butt is SO sore!

I killed my swim times on the 100 m and 50 m yesterday too! Base line 100 m was 2:20, improved to 2:05. Base line 50 m was 1:05, improved it to 0:55! Was an awesome swim! Now I gotta focus on the nutrition aspect - Need some plan that doesn't leave me starving on Friday afternoon at 4:00 and ready to eat anything (not healthy) in sight. Well, looking forward to a good run tomorrow and here's hoping sensei does not kill us too badly at karate tomorrow night - my pecs already ache!

A High-Intensity child and (not) managing...

Our DS is trying our patience lately. He is a high-intensity child, strong-willed, not good with change. I thought 7 would be easier, but it is harder than 6! We are getting to our wits' end some days with trying to get him to comply, and one can no longer pick him up and make him go when he says 'no'. Sigh. I hope this is simply a phase and we will grow out of it - all of us!

On the fitness front, I ran last Sunday, it was good, then went skating Monday (even better), but on Tuesday managed to badly turn my ankle in the kitchen, of all places! I can walk on it without pain now, but running on Thursday at the tri-club may be an issue. I had hoped to get to the gym and calibrate my Nike+ sensor this weekend, but I'm going to give it another few days to heal. Really brilliant move...

Trying to keep my head above water work-wise and get through January when I hope to have more time to focus on family and exercise and me for a while - what a change that would be! More soon...

Back to 'Normal' ?

I've been a slug. There I've said it. Not a whit of exercise and WAY too much food in December 2009. The holidays have been fun, but the kids *and* the adults have had WAY too much sugar and nowhere near enough exercise.

Well, that is about to change. I've registered for the Tri-Club at Mount Royal U starting in January, and with Karate and Flamenco, that means at least 5 bouts of exercise a week, I need to add in an extra run and cycle, hopefully on Fridays. I'm looking at the 'Tri-It Tri' in Calgary on May 23, 2010 to start and the August Women's Only in Strathmore. How I'm going to do all this with crazy work and Gala and kids, I'm not sure, but I need to make it happen somehow. Keep watching this space for my updates :)

Back at it - September is here!

Was a banner week, but man, am I SORE. I've been reno'ing the home office this week (think prybar, falling 2x4's, drywall patches, ripping up carpet, etc. Lots of manual labor, fun but hard work. Then, dance on Tuesday was brutal. Think she was trying to prove to us how hard we have to work to be in the Level III class - but I think we did ok (even with my cramped left hip flexor!). Then Thursday at Karate, Sensei tried (but failed) to kill us, first a run, then drills, then the actual karate stances!! Then Friday morning was my first actual 'Triathlon' event - a Tri-swim class. Good coach(es) and learned one crucial element that helped a *lot* - I was not keeping my head down in freestyle and was not breathing properly as a result. Had a couple of 'ah ha' moments when I actually felt like I was going fast through the water!

Testing out the knee

Ran 2.5 km today. Did it in 3 min run followed by 2 min walk. Not great, but knee only twinged me once half way and when I walked for 3 minutes it was fine until I was almost home. I think when I turned 40 the warranty ran out ;). Fun thing was I got to sync it with my new Nike+ monitor (pink and white, my DS would be proud of me!). So far no snacks in the evening, only have 1.5 hours left to go. And some boring computer work (yawn). But tomorrow is Flamenco, I'm always up for that!! Not too inspired tonight. Just feeling old and out of shape.

Swim Time is not too bad

Went in the pool at lunch today. Did 800 m in 20 minutes. A few hard laps, a fair bit of resting. Methinks with some stroke/breathing improvements, I could definitely shave 2-3 minutes off that time, maybe get close to the 2 minute mark for 100 m. I think I forgot a lot of stuff the coaches on swim team taught us (or maybe they didn't?). Like, I get all out of sync with my breathing, on crawl and breaststroke and it kills me by the end of a few laps. And how to properly do a flip turn, I'm either too close (ouch!) or too far and only my toes touch the wall - fat lot of good that does!! Definitely need to sign up for a tri club, I think - have to talk to DH when he is back about joining the club at Mt.Royal in the spring. Maybe get some personal training between now and then. But in the meantime, find a doc to get this thyroid in order and maybe address the recent knee pain...
Gosh, I seem to be falling apart! Like I hit 40 and the warranty ran out :)

The Art and Exhaustion of Kids Birthday Parties

Well, it is done. My 7 y.o. ds's birthday party. Pirate themed, backyard, hot sun, water pistols, chips, cheezies and cake. The amount of noise 7 boys and 2 girls can make is astounding. The silence tonight in the house is fabulous... I'm exhausted (30 degree heat will do that to me), but satisified that things went very well, no crying, no fights, every one seemed happy. Even the kid who didn't want to get wet was soaked in the end ! Gotta upload photos and vids for dh to see, as he is overseas in Manchester UK. THink I'll go for a swim tomorrow, and pick up a new Nike+ band on the way home!

Getting Back on The Bandwagon and ...

Did 2 bootcamps last week, plus bike riding. Starting to feel like I'm getting back in shape. But Need to register for a fall run or I won't keep up with the running! And then a tri next year will be hopeless!

We had a fun weekend camping with the kiddies at Cataract Creek, but did I take any pics? No! Funny how a weekend away seems like a lot longer. But the mound of laundry seems like more than 2 days as well - how is that???

Back to work tomorrow, although only a regular weekend, feels like I'm coming back from vacation :)

Success!

Almost a year since the last post. Nothing like being up to date.... I did run that 5 km in May, and in less than 8 mins/km. Haven't hardly done a speck of exercise since but am trying to figure out which run to sign up for next. I'm thinking a triathlon either next summer or the following one.

School is done, summer is here, I think its going to be a great one. Lots of bike riding and exercise classes (6 am??) and running, hiking and playing :)

New toy and new exercise stuff...

It's my new toy! My NIKE+ Sport Band. Cool toy to track my success (or lack thereof) with learning to run. I want to run the 5 km in the Mother's Day run next spring. Maybe I can get there. Seems a long way off at the moment. I'm up to 2.5 min. running with 2 min. walking in between. The old knees complain a bit, and I'm sure the extra weight doesn't help, but I'm working on that too... :)

To Dress up or Not??

Funny thing, us humans. My son (5) asked me on the weekend "Why do I have to wear my good clothes for my piano recital?". Great question. Why do we get dressed up to get in front of other folks. For adults, sometimes it is about confidence, and we say that we feel more confident when we have our 'good clothes' on. But when we're little, and getting on stage is presented as a normal process and part of learning, we don't need a special 'costume' to feel confident - we KNOW we're good !! Wish adults could retain that confidence.

And then there is the 'respect' line. That is that you respect the other person (or your audience) by taking care to dress up and look nice. This one makes a bit more sense to me - if you respect yourself (e.g. taking time to look good), then others will respect you as well. But to explain that to a 5 year old... Not sure I can actually put words around what respect really means even to myself!

Which brings up another point - is it OK for a 4 year old to tell her family and herself that she is pretty and beautiful? I think so! We tell her that all the time, why shouldn't she repeat it? The trick is, how do we get her to not repeat this to other people and sound boastful or proud? Tough line to draw....

My First Blog

Holy cow. i actually feel like i'm in the 21st century. now to go add this to my facebook page...