Ethan gems & Hilly's big day

My niece Linnea supported me with this cool onesie! Thanks, Linnie!

Ethan cared more about his crackers, but I'm pretty sure he was proud of me in this picture...right after my finish.

Rounding the corner into the home-stretch. I was not a happy camper here (in pink), but then this lady yelled and me and so I kept going!

Oh, Ethan...you make me laugh, sweet boy.

Ethan collects stuffed elephants...before you know it, he will have a whole brigade, like in the Jungle Book. Ernie was the first. Then he received Horton as a birthday gift. And we recently found a blue elephant in the twins' room in their toy bin. For awhile he was known as "Blue Elephant" until I asked Ethan one morning if he wanted to name him. He said, "Yes, his name is Africa"...I thought he said "Apricot"...and when I said that, he firmly told me, "He's not an apricot Mommy, he's Africa!"

Also during this conversation on elephants, he told me, "Horton gives a hoot"...and while I'm sure he does, I think he also "hears a who" as the story goes.

This morning, I was out...doing something...which I will recap below. While I was gone, Auntie Emma came over with Linnea to help Andy with the boys (because we had predicted, and we're ultimately correct, that he might have a hangy after a wedding that we went to Saturday night).

Emma recorded some good ones...

Em: "Your brudders are looking at you, Ethan"
Ethie: "They want to eat me for breakfast!"

Em: "Mommy's going to be running and biking as fast as she can. Doesn't that sound exciting?"
Ethie: "Really, really exciting! I'm going to bring my glove...to catch a ball."

So, aforementioned above...I did something today that I never really thought I was capable of doing. But last June, I was ambitious enough one day to register myself for a race in the end of September. "Hey, it's June 1, I have plenty of time to train for a dualthon in the end of September!"...uh huh, right.

Anyways, I registered for Aflac's Iron Girl in Bloomington...a 2-mile run, 22-mile bike, 2-mile run (the bike route was changed last week to 19-miles, all hills, which I am very bitter about for a multitude of reasons, one being the amount of training I did on the original route) as my "get your ass in gear" motivation to get in shape after having babies, and after a number of years of being....well, just lazy.

I trained, though not as much as I would have liked, but I did train. I ran when I could, I did some long bike rides with Kristy and by myself (on the original course...ugh!!), and started to feel good. The previous times that I have tried to get in shape have bombed. I'd work out regularly for like 2 weeks, get frustrated that the workouts were still kicking my butt, and I wasn't seeing any results...and quit. I got to that stage this time too, but you can't quit when you've spent $95 registering for a race, made a promise to yourself to complete said race, and told everyone on God's green Earth that you are participating in said race. So I plugged forward...and how about that?! When you actually keep going with the workouts, they actually do get easier, and you actually can fit into your pre-pregnancy pants (comfortably, even while sitting! :>)

Recently, I've had a ton of axiety about the race, and the training sessions began to get less fun and I began to get more bitter about the fact that I had put myself in this position...I was afraid. But damnit, there was no way I was going to bail out on this...I would have never been able to live with myself. I had to do it for me.

We went to a wedding last night and I would have loved to have stayed past 9:30, but I didn't. I let myself indulge in a couple glasses of wine, and drank a lot of water too...and then headed home. Slept like crap, got up at 5:15, left the house at 5:30 to bike to Normandale Lake to set up in transition. The energy was amazing...even at 5:30am, in the cold of a MN late September morning. I was there solo, and felt like the only one who was, but found lots of people to chat with...which helped keep my nerves at bay. But next time, I am definitely roping a friend into doing this with me!!

I was in the first wave. I felt great during the first 2-mile run. I don't run fast, so I had a 9-minute split. Then on to the bike...hurray...the part I feel confident about! Those who know the Bloomington area will appreciate this whining...when the bike route changed from 22 to 19 miles (because of construction on Normandale Blvd), the new route changed to start going up the hill on E Bush Lk Rd (by Chalet Rd & 84th) instead of finishing going down it. I made it up without getting off my bike the first time through the route (it's two cycles), but the second time, after 10 miles of hills the first time around, I had to get off and walk it up for a few feet...it was brutal. But the rest of the ride went great. A few raindrops and some nasty wind (which never seemed to be at my back!), but for the most part, it went well. I finished in 1:27. Just like with the first (and second) run, there's room for improvement here...I know I can go faster next time...I just need more training.

I practiced the transition from bike to run once...last Wednesday. And I didn't bike 19 miles before running. I really underestimated how my legs would feel after the bike. Tree trunks comes to mind. I jog/walked the first 1/2 mile...then I saw Ethan and Andy...what a great surprise!! And just when I needed them!! I ran until about the 1 1/2 mile mark, walked for a bit and finished strong, but it took me 24 minutes to do the last run. So, in total, with the transition times, I made it in 2:17:27. For a first time, I'm REALLY happy with that!

I'm so glad it's over, but at the same time, am totally pumped to do something like this again! This post-race high is absolutely amazing!! And now I can call myself an Iron Girl...and that's pretty cool too.