Busy Backson

There are a few times when you are in the midst of moving through this crazy existance that you realize...holy crap I am WAY too busy! For the last five weeks, I have had that realization more than a few times. I really feel like I was just hanging on and hoping that I would make it through everything.

So many things have changed. Eddie has successfully navigated first grade without too many bumps and scrapes. I am really proud of him because he had some tough times this year and despite all that came home crying because he was going to miss his teacher, Mrs. Petik and being in first grade. Oh how things change!

Before:

and After:

Claire has been whoopin' it up at preschool and seems to really like spending time with her new friends. Her vocabulary is jumping by leaps and bounds and she truly is a fascinating little person. She has a very firm interest in how to avoid bugs without hurting them. It is pretty cute.

Doug started working again at Lifecycle Motorcycles as the Parts and Accessories manager and seems to be having a good time out in the world again. I can tell that both he and Claire miss spending more time together but they seem to be adjusting.

I have been racing...a lot. Since my last post I have done three sprint triathlons and a 5K run. My most recent race was the Kalamazoo Klassic 5K yesterday. After five long weeks of racing it was really great to run with my friends from the Y. This race was much different from last year as I had a coach (props to Phil Carter) with excellent advice for the course and the most upbeat running buddies a person can have (Carol, Brian, Angie, Dawn, Artis, Diane, Greg, and Kathie). We were all aiming for a time pretty close to one another so we were running relatively near one another. The encouragement that I received while I was dragging my sorry butt down the road was more valuable than any energy drink I could have consumed. Thanks to them I found myself coming across the finish line almost a minute faster than the Borgess Run for the Health of It seven weeks earlier. Here are the results. My time (24:02; 7:45/mile pace) was only 8 seconds slower than the second place finisher in my age group which just blows my mind! I know I worked it too because my hamstrings feel like globs of mushy pain today.

My triathlons started this year on May 19th with the Kalamazoo College Triathlon. This race is put on by the Student Commission and is in its 22nd year. The swim was in the pool (500 yds) followed by a 12 mile bike (but is rumored to be slightly longer) and finally a 5K with two loops through the hilly West Main neighborhood. My newbie time was a respectable 1 hour and 27 minutes and I finished in the middle of the pack (keep in mind this was a mix of students, faculty and staff but predominately students). I immediately realized that my run was going to be my weak leg (so to speak). Later races would confirm this.

My second triathlon was a couple weeks later on June 3rd. The Seahorse Triathlon is a local race that attracts folks from as far away as Chicago and Wisconsin. I enjoyed this race very much because many of my friends from the Y Triathlon training group were there. I ended up dropping 10 minutes from my Kalamazoo College Tri time. I was first out of the water in my age group, with a finish time of 1:17 and I placed sixth in my age group. The big drop in my time is mostly from the bike leg because it was a mile shorter. The drop happen even though I dropped my water bottle and stopped to pick it up (newbie mistake). Even with the course being a mile shorter due to construction, my miles per hour was considerably faster. I love my little dragonfly rocket bike.

Next came the Ann Arbor Triathlon on June 10th. Steve's description of our antics and his experience are nicely posted on his blog. My personal experience with this race was great. Swim: Great (first out of the water in my age group). Bike: great (passed some but maintained a good pace). Run: umm. The race description of the run reads as follows:

T2 AND THEN THE RUN:  AH YES....THE POTO.....for those of you who are first timers, this is the run the athletes "LOVE TO HATE"  Please be reminded:  THIS IS A TRUE TRAIL RUN....... A RUGGED, CHALLENGING 5 MILES....Roots, Sand, Hills, Ruts, Single track.......MOSQUITOS

My run was a flash back to last year's pace, pain and anguish. Ok it wasn't that bad but I was seriously ready to cry happy to be done when I crossed the finish line. I spent most of the time as far over to the right of the trail as possible to enable people to readily pass. Very difficult run. I took a vow that morning to start building brick workouts into my routine more often. Photos of Steve and I racing can be found on his Flickr account.

I have six weeks until my next race while I am opting to forego the worst heat of the summer and concentrate on improving my run and bike legs. August 4th is the Steelhead Half Ironman where I am part of the rockin'est coed tri-team ever! Doug, Carol (my speedy runner neighbor) and I make up the 4th Street Tri-dogs. I am facing a 1.2 mile swim in the big lake (Lake Michigan). Doug will be taking on the 56 mile bike leg and Carol will be doing the half-marathon. Our goal is to place so we'll see how we do!

What an exciting summer so far and it technically hasn't even started.