tri'ing to balance life

Emotioned out

2010-04-14T21:11:00.000-07:00

There are so many emotions I feel during a day that it wears me out. Every time I look at my precious beautiful twins, my heart swells with gratitude and wonder at the miracle of life. It's still hard to believe these precious girls are mine. I look at their tiny hands curling over my shirt while I nurse them, their little lips shaped into a pout as they sleep, their little eyes looking at their new world, and listen to their coos and squeaks-- noises that I treasure as they so quickly pass from this newborn stage.
Today is also the due date of my neighbor's little girl. It was fun to find out that she and I were due just a week apart. We swapped early pregnancy stories and I anticipated raising our little ones together. My ultrasound was on Friday, and I found out I was having twins. Hers was Monday and she found out that there was no heartbeat. I stopped by on my way to work that night and gave her a tearful hug. I didn't know how she would feel about pregnant me stopping by, but as her RS president and one who sorrowed with her, I needed to. She was on her way to the hospital where she would deliver her baby. That night while I worked I thought often of her and what she and her husband were experiencing, only to find out that it takes a long time to start labor on a body that is not ready to deliver. She was in the hospital for a few days before delivering her little daughter. The body was perfect and they don't know why she passed away.
I also got a call today from the bishop telling me that the sister of a woman in our ward just committed suicide. What an awful, awful day for this family. When my sister struggled in the depths of her depression, I addressed the possibility that I could have this type of phone call. I mentally reviewed the emotions I would feel and what this would mean for her family. Someone close to us attempted suicide, but fortunately was not successful. I remember the visual weight and sorrow this caused the parents. I can't fully imagine the heartache this family is going through.
From the highs of perfect angelic twins to the depths of sorrow at passing to the daily struggles of attempting to keep order in a home with 6 young children, I am tired. What a full experience this earth life is.

Tanner

2010-01-17T19:43:00.000-08:00

Yesterday Tanner fulfilled a dream by going skiing. Rich took Heidi, Ian, & Tanner up to "ski free after 3" at Alta. Tanner did great and came home so excited about skiing. This morning he got up and told me how skiing like a pizza (V) makes you go slow, and skiing like french fries (skis straight) makes you go fast.
Today I asked the kids to help clean in the kitchen for 10 min. Tanner ran and hid, so I told him that he wouldn't be able to eat dinner or have snacks until he helped. A few hours later while I was fixing dinner, he came in and said "You're only going to have 3 children!" Scott asked him what he meant and he explained that he was going to die without food. Luckily the tragedy was avoided as he cleaned his 10 minutes and at dinner with the family.

Salt Lake Half Marathon

2009-04-23T20:47:00.000-07:00

Saturday I finished my second half marathon. The first one I raced was the Las Vegas half when I was 19 or 20. I don't remember my exact time, but think I barely squeaked under 2 hours. This year some of the neighborhood gals were racing the marathon or half, but the Antelope Island duathlon was the same day and I opted for that. Due to some unforeseen problems, the Hess Cancer Foundation changed the duathlon location and date the Monday before the race. I then went out and ran 9 hard miles and decided I could do the half. I figured out a dream time of 1:45, which would mean an 8 min mile. I didn't know my race mileage as it's always at the end of a triathlon and I haven't raced any solo 10ks or 5ks.
Rich helped me figure out nutrition and how long to warm up. I drove up with Page and Stacey, so it was a non stress situation getting up to the race. I did a nice warm up and ran into the girls from the neighborhood and Danielle Crosby, my last mission companion. My Garmin froze up which was disappointing (I still have yet to see my race heart rate). I started about a minute after the start as I knew they counted your chip time, not the start time. I still had to baby step dart around in the crowd trying to find an opening to run though for the first 100 yards.
Even though I didn't have my Garmin, there were times posted at the mile markers. I didn't know how fast I was going, but quickly realized that I was hitting the 7 something mile and keeping it steady. I didn't know if I could make it without blowing up, but tried to keep up the pace by focusing on someone I would try to pass or going over my running form. I took 2 gels and only drank water at the stations because I was afraid of cramping up with the Gatorade. Towards the end my feet started cramping up. I licked my forearms to get salt, but didn't know if this was the real issue. I looked for the family at Liberty Park, but knew that I was there earlier than expected. I had battled for position with some other women and during the last 2-3 miles they caught back up and passed me. I was out of steam and couldn't launch any counter attacks.
I crossed the finish line in 1:35:59 which means I ran a 7:19 min mile. I was thrilled and couldn't believe how fast I had been able to go. Granted, the race was flat or down hill, but it was still a thrilling time. I finished 36th out of 2551 women finishers or 181 out of 4139 overall finishers. Now if I can only get my swim and bike times to be this relatively fast...

Hurricun

2009-04-07T22:45:00.000-07:00

Actually, that's Hurricane as in near St George, but pronounced Hurricun. The Cholla Challenge was last weekend. Rich had missed the first race in St George because he caught a cold. Cholla has never been his favored course and with iffy looking weather, we were debating about going down. We settled on staying in a hotel instead of camping (sorry Scott that you're still short 1 requirement for your Bear).
The weather ended up being nice, Rich did well in his race on his brand new retails-for-more-than-our-cars-are-worth mtn bike. Rich didn't feel great about his race as he was 10 minutes behind the winner, but that winner (Utah's own phenomena,Bart Gillespie) beat a past national champion who was racing (on his behalf, Jeremiah Bishop did have flat).
Ian and Scott raced. Scott and Heidi played with biking legend Lynda Wallenfell's children, and the only real mishap was by Tanner who after seeing his toilet options chose his leg instead of the port-a-potty. An added bonus to the trip was a warm 10 mile trail run.

Busy day

2009-04-01T21:54:00.000-07:00

Happy April Fools. This year for the most part the kids didn't cry when they tried to eat their frozen cereal.
I was off to a slippery slow commute to SLC for primary training from the general presidency. The main theme seemed to be to simplify and help all the children reverently participate. I then went to Steiner's for a master's swim class. I got a great work out in the next to slowest lane (only non gray haired swimmer in my lane-- it always puts me in my place when I swim there). Technique gets quickly lost when I'm 'racing' even though I practice it and today I lost my dual side breathing during the speed workouts. I then stopped by the SL County government buildings (nice set up) for a ZAP grant meeting (Zoo, Arts, and Parks). I was hoping to apply for a grant for Alta View. They are starting a Spanish immersion program and I thought having an ethnic performance group come and perform at the school would be a great intro into the program. Unfortunately I found out that schools can't apply for the grants. I don't want to give up on that idea yet and am going to see if we can apply for it from the Jordan District Foundation or something.
I picked up the kids from school and from grandma's house. Heidi had an April Fool's happen when she got a call from a friend Haleigh who asked if she could play. Heidi was thrilled and anxiously awaited her arrival. She was surprised when Allie, not Haleigh showed up at the door. She quickly recovered though and had a nice play date.
I attended the BYU CON (College of Nursing) Mary Ellen Edmunds endowment dinner. Chieko Okazaki spoke as did Mary Ellen Edmunds. Chieko is 80 but still gave a very insightful talk on the role nurses can play and the term "gentle heart" also involving a wise and skillful mind.

And the reason for the drills...

2008-09-16T22:49:00.001-07:00

There was a fire in Corner Canyon a few weeks ago. Sunday an article came out in the newspaper about the city reviewing their response to the fire. One problem they found was that there was no communication to the school buses. "City officials are most concerned about two buses full of children who were dropped off at the bottom of the burning mountain during the mandatory evacuation." The children were dropped off even though the roads were blockaded. Although the bus driver did not rise to the occasion and wisely take the children back to the school, the older children stepped in to save the day by safely guiding the kindergartners home.
It is fortunate that no one was hurt and it is prudent that the city is reviewing their actions.

YUM!

2008-09-16T22:30:00.000-07:00

This was a dinner I made a while ago, but one of my favorites. Chicken stir-fry with asparagus, carrots, cashews, and red peppers; fresh berry and banana side, watermelon, and salad from Costco. I feel so blessed to have such delicious healthy food so readily available.

Career Announcement

2008-09-16T22:23:00.000-07:00

Tanner has announced that when he grows up he wants to be the Eagle. We went to a jog-a-thon for Ian's school and the Eagle was there. Good thing the mascot wasn't a banana slug or a cornhusker.

Let Fall Begin

2008-09-16T22:02:00.000-07:00

It's been a beautiful few weeks with the kids back in school and Tanner doing a neighborhood preschool. Heidi and Ian are playing soccer on the same team and Scott is playing flag football. I missed their first game to go to CATS at the Capitol Theater with Rich. We left at half time. I enjoyed the music, but Rich couldn't relate to dancers prancing on stage with no story line. This is one of the reasons I haven't ventured on a cruise with Rich. They'd be harder to ditch half way through.

Rich did a 12 hour mountain bike race on Saturday. He hadn't really planned on going, but Reed and Brad were both doing it. Friday night he told me, "If I wake up at 5:00 and feel like doing it, I'll race." Sat we woke up just after 5:00. Rich informed me that he had 15 min to pack and if he could pack in time, he'd race. Last year he spent days planning and prepping for all his feeds, so I was surprised he could pull it off. The morning was spent at soccer and football practice and the kids and I got there 7 hours into the race. Rich did great and finished feeling pretty good (he was running dry about 8 hours into the race and couldn't breathe very well. He increased his water intake and we treated him with an inhaler. He did much better after that). Reed dropped out after being attacked by wasps and turning into one great big hive. Brad won the race which was a great ending to his biking career in the US. He and his family are being booted back to Canada. We will miss them and feel like the country is making a mistake sending out a family who owns a business here, attended US colleges, and have been contributing citizens here for the past 6 years. Above is a picture of Rich 7 hours into the race. He doesn't look green like he did last year. I guess his body is getting used to the torture.

Snoqualmie Washington

2008-06-15T21:08:00.000-07:00

The kids and I spent a week with our cousins in Snoqualmie WA which is near Seattle. We drove up on Wed after Scott's last day of school. Besides Tanner throwing up 5 times, the drive there was thankfully uneventful. I went running Thursday morning in the most beautiful wooded area, Whitaker Park. Everything was so green-- ferns, tall trees, moss, it looked like a fairy land. Snoqualmie has extensive trails to run on and they are wide and well maintained . We visited Snoqualmie Falls, Twin Falls, the Seattle Aquarium, rode on the Snoqualmie train (where we ran into a family that lives by us in Draper), visited the Snowqualmie Candy Factory, shopped at the outlets, visited the Ballard Locks (unfortunately there were no boats going through as they were doing repairs. We did see some baby salmon going down the salmon ladder though), made fudge, visited Pike's Place Market and played and played with our cousins (there were 8 kids age 10 and under). My mom was also there visiting from L. A. and she gave the kids little jobs and rewarded them with money. It was a great trip.
I also ran several times in the rain and biked for the first and second time in rain. My feet were sloshing in my bike shoes by the time I was done and I learned why people who bike in the rain put fenders on their back tire-- to avoid the black muddy wide wet streak up your backside. Snoqualmie is beautiful and a very training friendly area, but the rain really got to me. Temps in the 50s with rain all day doesn't feel like June to me.
We drove back to Salt Lake on Wed and listened to lots of books on tape. It was nice to see the variety of beautiful landscapes and geographical differences. The kids did remarkably well staying buckled in for the 14 hour trip. I drank too much Mtn Dew on the way home and had trouble sleeping that night. At least we got home safe though.

My 200 Have and Have Nots!

2008-06-12T02:37:00.000-07:00

We just got back from visiting cousins in Snoqualmie WA. I will blog about our trip later as the camera is still packed in the van. I have been unable to sleep after driving for 14 hours as I miscalculated the half life of the caffeine in my Mtn Dew. Blah. Anyway, this was a cool list that Laura found and posted. Here's my list.

1. Touched an iceberg
2. Slept under the stars
3. Been a part of a hockey fight
4. Changed a baby's diaper

5. Watched a meteor shower
6. Given more than you can afford to charity
7. Swam with wild dolphins
8. Climbed a mountain (Climbed Mt Whitney with Rich in CA-- the highest peak in the continental USA and I think the only mountain I've summited, although with altitude sickness and other discomforts I didn't enjoy it.
9. Held a tarantula
10. Said "I love you" and meant it
11. Bungee jumped (Only once, but I did it upside down and backwards to which my date had to borrow money from me to jump again so he could top my jump. I didn't enjoy getting my head jerked around though)
12. Visited Paris (Stopping by on a lay over to Israel doesn't quite count)
13. Watched a lightning storm at sea
14. Stayed up all night long and watched the sun rise (too often working nights at Primary Children's)
15. Seen the Northern Lights
16. Gone to a huge sports game
17. Walked the stairs to the top of the Statue of Liberty (too late-- I was there after they closed it down)
18. Grown and eaten your own vegetables
19. Looked up at the night sky through a telescope
20. Had an uncontrollable giggling fit at the worst possible moment
21. Had a pillow fight
22. Bet on a winning horse
23. Taken a sick day when you're not ill
24. Built a snow fort (enjoyed watching the kids build one this year though)
25. Held a lamb (does petting one count?)
26. Gone skinny dipping
27. Taken an ice cold bath (right after crossing the finish line at one of my last triathlons. It actually felt really good)
28. Had a meaningful conversation with a beggar (in LA at the LA airport. It gave me some insight into mental illness).
29. Seen a total eclipse
30. Ridden a roller coaster
31. Hit a home run
32. Danced like a fool and not cared who was looking (In NIA classes at the Treehouse)
33. Adopted an accent for fun (I'm terrible at this. I took a speech class at BYU. It was my lowest grade of my college career. I couldn't pronounce the difference between Merry, Marry, and Mary)
34. Visited the birthplace of your ancestors
35. Felt very happy about your life, even for just a moment
36. Loved your job 90% of the time
37. Had enough money to be truly satisfied
38. Watched wild whales
39. Gone rock climbing
40. Gone on a midnight walk on the beach
41. Gone sky diving
42. Visited Ireland
43. Ever bought a stranger a meal at a restaurant
44. Visited India
45. Bench-pressed your own weight
46. Milked a cow (twice with the cub scouts)
47. Alphabetized your personal files(files? I should have files?)
48. Ever worn a superhero costume
49. Sung karaoke
50. Lounged around in bed all day
51. Gone scuba diving
52. Kissed in the rain
53. Played in the mud
54. Gone to a drive-in theater
55. Done something you should regret, but don't
56. Visited the Great Wall of China
57. Started a business
58. Taken a martial arts class
59. Been in a movie (Does a TV show count? I danced in a 70's green dress in Wonder Years for a stake youth fundraiser)
60. Gone without food for 3 days
61. Made cookies from scratch
62. Won first prize in a costume contest (Ii did win a New Order record at a dance contest)
63. Got flowers for no reason
64. Been in a combat zone (kind of-- lived at the Jerusalem Center for 6 months and some of the areas we visited I think were part of a combat zone)
65. Spoken more than one language fluently (if ASL counts as a "spoken" language)
66. Gotten into a fight while attempting to defend someone
67. Bounced a check
68. Read - and understood - your credit report
69. Recently bought and played with a favorite childhood toy (bought Heidi a Mandy doll and Scott a Rubik's cube)
70. Found out something significant that your ancestors did (I have an ancestor who named their children after the alphabet-- my ancestor was NO (Nahum Oscar). They even had an XYZella which has made it into the weird names of Utah books. Malan's peak in Ogden is named after them.)
71. Called or written your Congress person
72. Picked up and moved to another city to just start over
73. Walked the Golden Gate Bridge
74. Helped an animal give birth (if people are considered animals. A dog of ours gave birth, but she seemed to do nearly everything herself)
75. Been fired or laid off from a job
76. Won money
77. Broken a bone (a slight chip to my finger)
78. Ridden a motorcycle
79. Driven any land vehicle at a speed of greater than 100 mph (rode in a car with my friend's brother who drove at faster than 100 mph on a CA freeway. I wasn't that impressed)
80. Hiked to the bottom of the Grand Canyon
81. Slept through an entire flight: takeoff, flight, and landing
82. Taken a canoe trip that lasted more than 2 days (if rafting counts)
83. Eaten sushi (don't enjoy it although it's one of Rich's favorites)
84. Had your picture in the newspaper (cover of the Church News while on my mission)
85. Read The Bible cover to cover (I don't think I made that one)
86. Changed someone's mind about something you care deeply about
87. Gotten someone fired for their actions (I did write an incriminating letter recently, but the person was not fired)
88. Gone back to school
89. Changed your name (just when I got married)
90. Caught a fly in the air with your bare hands (as a kid)
91. Eaten fried green tomatoes (I think)
92. Read The Iliad (I think I finished that one)
93. Taught yourself an art from scratch
94. Killed and prepared an animal for eating (watching Rich do this to a fish is the closest I've ever gotten)
95. Apologized to someone years after inflicting the hurt (if this includes confessing years after writing a love note to Jill M from Jeremy in Jr High. I confessed in HS after seeing that she still had the note pinned to her bulletin board in her room.)
96. Communicated with someone without sharing a common spoken language (in Jordan and Israel we were able to communicate with some deaf people. We were able to have some very interesting discussions using some signs common to the three sign languages-- French sign is where ASL was derived from. We were able to communicate about whether or not using an elevator on the Sabbath was kosher)
97. Been elected to public office (in high school and just voted on the Community Council board for Alta View)

98. Thought to yourself that you're living your dream (currently)
99. Had to put someone you love into hospice care
100. Sold your own artwork to someone who didn't know you
101. Had a booth at a street fair (for the church on my mission)
102. Dyed your hair
103. Been a DJ (brother was though)
104. Rocked a baby to sleep
105. Ever dropped a cat from a high place to see if it really lands on all four feet (watched a sibling do it though.)

106. Raked your carpet (My aunt used to and I've raked it for my parents. I don't even iron clothes now though, much less rake carpets)
107. Brought out the best in people
108. Brought out the worst in people
109. Worn a mood ring
110. Ridden a horse
111. Carved an animal from a piece of wood or bar of soap (not that you could tell what it was)
112. Cooked a dish where four people asked for the recipe
113. Buried a child (buried a boyfriend when I was 17 though who fell asleep at the wheel on the way home from our date. It was a life changing experience, although not as life changing as burying a child would be)
114. Gone to a Broadway play
115. Been inside the pyramids
116. Shot a basketball into a basket
117. Danced at a disco (sort of-- in Jordan we went to a night club. It was very interesting to see the main dancers. Their revealing clothes included skirts to their knees and three quarter length sleeves. The thing that bothered me though was that several of them wore crosses to show that they weren't Muslim. From what I understand, technically if you do things with a Christian woman it's not really breaking the religious law. I think we might have shown the group we were with some American moves. I've danced at a lot of other places though including on a Kibbutz, on the field at a LA RAMS game, for a professional cheer company, etc.)
118. Played in a band (does an orchestra count)
119. Shot a bird
120. Gone to an arboretum
121. Tutored someone
122. Ridden a train
123. Brought an old fad back into style (if the question were Worn old fads that were out of style I'd have to answer yes)
124. Eaten caviar
125. Let a salesman talk you into something you didn’t need (we ate some expensive meat one year. Luckily Rich was around when the Kirby salesman did his pitch)
126. Ridden a giraffe or elephant (and a camel)
127. Published a book(if my thesis counts. I've written my grandfather's history but never have had that one published)
128. Pieced a quilt
129. Lived in an historic place (boy my visit to Jerusalem counts for a lot of these)
130. Acted in a play or performed on a stage
131. Asked for a raise
132. Made a hole-in-one (only at miniature golfing)
133. Gone deep sea fishing
134. Gone roller skating
135. Run a marathon (trying to decide if an Ironman or ultra marathon should be on the list. Not for this year, but in a few).
136. Learned to surf
137. Invented something (just a chart combining Maslow's hierarchy of needs with Ericksen's stages of development for a college thesis. )
138. Flown first class
139. Spent the night in a 5-star luxury suite (in Cancun with my parents)
140. Flown in a helicopter
141. Visited Africa (hope to this Dec)
142. Sang a solo
143. Gone spelunking (In college to the Nutty Putty caves. When I told my grandfather, he said, "My grandkids don't go spelunking." I haven't since then)
144. Learned how to take a compliment
145. Written a love-story (just the one I'm writing right now with Rich)
146. Seen Michelangelo’s David (just replicas)
147. Had your portrait painted
148. Written a fan letter
149. Spent the night in something haunted
150. Owned a St. Bernard or Great Dane
151. Ran away
152. Learned to juggle (attempted, but never learned)
153. Been a boss (just of my own children)
154. Sat on a jury
155. Lied about your weight
156. Gone on a diet
157. Found an arrowhead or a gold nugget
158. Written a poem
159. Carried your lunch in a lunchbox
160. Gotten food poisoning
161. Gone on a service, humanitarian or religious mission
162. Hiked the Grand Canyon
163. Sat on a park bench and fed the ducks
164. Gone to the opera
165. Gotten a letter from someone famous (mostly political)
166. Worn knickers
167. Ridden in a limousine
168. Attended the Olympics
169. Can hula or waltz (actually past tense would be more appropriate here)
170. Read a half dozen Nancy Drew or Hardy Boys books
171. Been stuck in an elevator
172. Had a revelatory dream (I've had many many strange ones though)
173. Thought you might crash in an airplane
174. Had a song dedicated to you on the radio or at a concert (just at a dance)
175. Saved someone’s life (all in a night's work as a nurse)
176. Eaten raw whale
177. Know how to tat, smock or do needlepoint
178. Laughed till your side hurt
179. Straddled the equator
180. Taken a photograph of something other than people that is worth framing
181. Gone to a Shakespeare Festival
182. Sent a message in a bottle
183. Spent the night in a hostel
184. Been a cashier (was a janitor though)
185. Seen Old Faithful geyser erupt
186. Joined a union
187. Donated blood or plasma
188. Built a campfire
189. Kept a blog (I guess that's debatable)
190. Had hives
191. Worn custom made shoes or boots (nope in this family Rich has the custom expensive shoes-- some fru fru bike shoes. Before they were well used, they looked like they came off a stage production of the Scarlet Pimpernel. Actually, I did have some custom shoes with orthotics made when I was a child)
192. Made a PowerPoint presentation
193. Taken a Hunter’s Safety Course
194. Served at a soup kitchen
195. Conquered the Rubik’s cube (I think I got up to 2 sides, but never the whole thing until we figured out you could take the cubes out and put them back together. We thought this was better cheating than those who took the stickers off)
196. Know CPR (even taught it)
197. Ridden in or owned a convertible
198. Found a long lost friend
199. Helped solve a crime
200. Responded to a NJP newsletter (NJP is the person who came up with this list)

Fun to think back about life's events. Now I'm hoping to sleep....

Way out of Fear Factor

2008-05-30T21:06:00.000-07:00

Scott was invited to a Fear Factor birthday party where they ate boiled frog legs, stuck their hands in a container with live crickets to get keys to unlock teammates from a dog kennel, ate octopus, green hot dogs, licked dog food off of M&Ms, etc. Scott wasn't feeling well before he went to the party and got sick and threw up before all of the fun games happened. Maybe it was the day. His teacher in school blacked out and went to the hospital to see if she broke her arm. Maybe Scott's throwing up actually saved him from having to try all of the gross stuff. Scott's queasy about taking Tylenol. I don't think he would have fared well.

The Details of Our Lives

2008-05-22T20:32:00.000-07:00

I believe it was Neal A Maxwell who said that God was involved in the details of our lives.

Yesterday Heidi's friend came over to play. This little girl had tried to come over on Monday and Tuesday, but things didn't work out for her to come over until Wednesday. After she had been here a while, I got a phone call from her neighbor telling me that this girl's mom had had a seizure (her first) and was now at the hospital. Needless to say, this girl ended up staying at our home for several more hours, for the most part blissfully unaware of what was going on (her dad did talk to her and tell her that he was at the doctor's with her mom).

During this time I thought about how scary it would have been for this girl to see her mom having a seizure. Watching someone have a seizure is unnerving to say the least and only after 10+ years of seeing them on occasion at the hospital have I been able to remain calm and clinical without my heart racing at the sight of uncontrollable writhing. I think this could have been emotionally damaging for this young girl. Her younger brother was with the mom during the incident and as soon as I saw him, he immediately told me about his mom shaking. Although this incident has obviously had a short term impact on him, he is pretty young and I don't think he is emotionally mature enough to imagine the worst case scenarios like his older sister would have done.

This incident brought to mind the quote about God being involved in the details of our lives and I thought about how He had helped this young girl. If she had been able to play with Heidi earlier in the week, she would not have been with us on Wednesday and probably would have been with her mom. I think we often underestimate how much God is involved in our lives and how much He watches out for us and cares for us individually.

Carbs vs Protein

2008-05-18T01:01:00.000-07:00

Tues 5/20: Today I rode my bike for 1 1/2 hours focusing on 2 20 min intervals with my hr in the 150s-160s. I then did a 1/2 hr trail run with my hr in the 160s. I was pretty tired after my workout. I came home with just 20 minutes before I needed to pick up Scott from school and was hurrying to eat, stretch, and shower within that time frame. I focused on getting some protein to replenish my muscles and so ate a pork and vegetable kabob along with some pineapple.
By the time I got to Scott's school (a 15 min drive) I felt completely sick. I had a horrendous headache and got nauseous and started sweating all over. It was all I could do to drive back home. I couldn't figure out what was wrong. After explaining the situation to Rich, he asked what I had eaten after my workout. When I told him he was not surprised I had gotten so sick as I basically had not eaten any carbs. He said the post workout carbs to protein ratio should be 7:1. I was glad to find a simple answer and also surprised that I didn't already know this. Normally I have carbs after a workout, partly because they are so accessible-- a P & J sandwich, Cliff bars, etc. Once again I've had to relearn a basic training lesson.

I am planning to post about the Women's Tri after I get some pictures. We went with the family to TGIFriday's for Heidi's birthday dinner and had a nice time. Yesterday a paraglider crashed into the side of the mountain behind our house. We watched the rescue quite closely. From the report of other people, it looks like he had a shoulder injury, but his head was fine as he was wearing a helmet. The Life Flight and News helicopters were flying for a long time. I wondered how the little fox family was doing with all that noise. I was surprised that with all that coverage I didn't see anything about it in the Des News or the KSL website.

Meet the Candidate Night

2008-05-18T00:46:00.000-07:00

4 the number of candidates running for district 7 of the new East side Jordan School District who came to our home.
24 the number of chairs borrowed and set up.
700 the number of fliers sent home with students from Oak Hollow, Channing Hall, and Summit elementary schools.
19 the number of guests who came.
90 the number of seconds each candidate had in turn to answer a question from the audience.
100% the percentage of confidence I will have on voting day that I voted for the right candidate.

St George Tri

2008-05-12T23:17:00.000-07:00

The St George Triathlon 2008 will be remembered for the wind and the whitecaps and PW (personal worst) swim times. 1500 athletes were signed up for this race. I raced the Olympic or Intermediate distance (1500 m swim, 40 k bike, 10 k run).

SWIM The women intermediate distance were the 3rd wave to go after 2 waves of male athletes. It was so cold waiting to go into the water, even with a full wet suit on. We huddled and chatted until we were called up to get timed in with our timing chip. I did a tiny bit of warm up in the water. The water was so choppy that I chose to swim breast stroke for most of the swim. Someone said that they pulled 28 people out of the water. I haven't been able to verify that number, but I saw some of the men being pulled out before we even started. The water was so bad that the race directors canceled the swim for the sprint distance racers, turning their tri into a duo.
Mentally I didn't even really race the swim. It's hard to keep focused when water is rushing into your mouth and you can feel the water recede, knowing that a tall wave is coming right at you. I've never attempted an ocean tri and wonder if that's how the swim is.

BIKE I felt sluggish in transition as I tried to strip off my wet suit, but was able to get on the bike and focus. There were several spots where the wind howled as we rode, and one spot where sand pelted us just after the "Beware of Drifting Sand" sign. At the first turn around about 10 miles into the race, I turned too wide and went into the sand where I slid out onto my elbow and hip.
I thought I was doing fairly well on the bike as I didn't get passed by many women and actually passed several men. There were a few guys I played tag with-- I'd catch them on the hills and then they'd fly by me on a turn. The vast majority of my riding has been indoors and I don't have technique down. Anyway, my biking turned out to be my weak point as always.

RUN The run was 90% on the sand. I passed lots of people on the run although my time was average. I finished 23rd woman out of about 100 finishers and 155th over all out of 335 finishers. I didn't feel like I had trained enough for this race-- I still feel like I'm working on technique for the swim and the bike-- but I had a lot of fun. While I was racing I kept thinking, "I love racing. This is fun, miserable, but fun."

As I crossed the finish line, my friend was sitting in an ice bath. They had some metal tubs full of water and ice that were full of water bottles they were handing out to finishing athletes. One tub was empty and she was sitting in the ice water to help her legs. I was extremely sore and tired and decided to try it. It wasn't as bad as I thought it would be. I sat in there for a few minutes before going over to the medical tent. They painfully cleaned my wound and were debating on whether or not I would need a stitch on the cut on my elbow. I went over to Amber, a teammate who is an ED doctor, and she came over and finished cleaning it and put a butterfly bandage on it.
After the race, the wind died down, the water was calm, and it was warm enough that you actually felt like swimming.

2008-05-12T22:35:00.000-07:00

Mother's Day 2008:
-Pretending to stay asleep long enough for Heidi and Ian to make me breakfast in bed which consisted of the heels of a loaf of bread made into a p&j sandwich and a cup of water. An 8.5 for effort and minimal mess, a 1.3 for taste.
-Sweet gifts from the kids including a framed self portrait from Scott, a pencil holder from Heidi, and a note from Ian. Looking at the presents, I realize that some of these might be keepers-- ones my grandkids will look at and hold.
-Snuggling with the kids and reading stories.
-Continuous wailing from Tanner that kept me out of the chapel when they handed out big yummy Symphony bars, oh well-- I guess it helps me keep my nutrition goals.
-A nice breakfast and dinner made by Rich, plus a weekend down to St George for a triathlon while he watched the kids.
-Spotting a Vixen and at least 2 cubs on our mountain with the binoculars.
-Feeling deep gratitude for my husband and children.

I'm 264

2008-03-16T20:50:00.000-07:00

Yesterday Scott had a state chess tournament. Before we left, Rich played the song "I'm Too Sexy." Scott took 3rd out of 56 2nd graders after playing 6 matches (he only lost 1 to the guy who took 1st). When waiting to hear the results, he said, "I hope I come in 264th." When asked what he meant, he said, "Because then I could be '2 60 4 my shirt, 2 60 4 my hat...'" The trophies they give at these tournaments are so huge that he couldn't be accused of being too sexy or is that 264 his trophy. I finally met Fritz, the guy that runs the chess club at Scott's school. He is a retired school teacher. I'm so grateful to people like him who serve in the community. I wish I could find a way to thank him.
During the long tournament, I took the other kids to Primary Children's Hospital for the Surgical Open House. It was fun, but super crowded. Heidi and Ian enjoyed it and Ian's been wearing his mask and hat around.
Love this little test

In case the bad guy comes...

2008-01-14T21:11:00.000-08:00

Tonight at the dinner table the kids were discussing what they would do if a bad guy came. H (6) said she'd hide under the car toddler bed which has a space between the mattress and the floor and is completely covered. I (4) said that he'd jump on his bunk bed and throw the mattress at the bad guy as he came through the door. S (8) said that he'd open the window and throw out a sheet and jump on the roof and get away. Then, 2 year old T spoke up and said, "Bad guy come in? Lock the door!" We all laughed and decided that his was the smartest answer.

Go Scotchos (rhymes with Nachos)

2008-01-14T20:51:00.000-08:00

Scott had his first gymnastics meet on Saturday. He is competing at the entry level, level 4. He has been doing gymnastics for 2 years. It was so fun to watch him compete. He is extremely competitive and takes things very seriously. He did well at his meet and got his highest score on the rings which was a 9.0. Here are 2 pictures, one of him warming up on the rings and one of the team lining up with Scott in front. It was an inter squad competition, so it was more for practice and for pointers from the judge. His first real competition will be in 2 weeks. Way to go Scott! BTW Scotchos is his gymnastics nickname given to him by Hayden who was craving nachos but accidentally said "Scotchos."

Christmas letter 2007

2008-01-03T02:13:00.000-08:00

Family 2007 Top 5 Lists
Rich:
1.Racing as a mountain bike pro and placing 3rd in the finals.
2.Hiking in the Tetons for a week with his Dad and brother Rob.
3.Buying a motorcycle.
4.Racing 2 endurance (12 hour) bike races.
5.Spending time with Grandad before he died.
Kim:
1.Competing in 11 triathlons and racing on a sponsored team.
2.A week long training/ date trip with Rich to AZ.
3.A girls' trip to NYC.
4.Grandma's visits to help me with projects (but we miss grandpa).
5.Finally understanding cub scouts after working in it for 3 years.
Scott:
1.Getting baptized.
2.Reading Harry Potter books.
3.Competing in mountain bike races.
4.Becoming a cub scout and having mom as my leader.
5.Competing in chess tournaments.
Heidi:
1.Losing my 2 front teeth.
2.Spending time with my cousins during their visit to my house.
3.Riding my bike without training wheels.
4.Playing with friends.
5.Boating up at Grandad's cabin.
Ian:
1.Becoming a “serious” mountain bike racer.
2.Sledding down our side hill.
3.Having a built in playmate when our cousins stayed with us.
4.Playing in the stream at Grandad's cabin in Island Park.
5.Breakfast dates with Dad.
Tanner:
1.Wearing my “cwoks” (crocks).
2.Swimming at the gym or at Grandma's pool.
3.Seeing Dad ride his motorcycle.
4.Being able to express my feelings through words.
5.Tussling with and feeling like one of the big boys.
Merry Christmas! We wish you health and happiness in 2008.