1/3 of a cherry

I'm 1/3 less of a triathlon virgin.  If I had been a member of my sorority's "v" club, I would have been "parked halfway in the garage without pulling the car all the way in."  But I digress...

I did a triathlon relay!  A totally spontaneous decision made over Vodka Cranberries, but I'm so glad I did it.  It was when I was in Portland.  I mentioned to a friend of mine from high school that I would love to do a bike leg of a relay and he said he'd do the swim and thought he could find a runner and we were off to the races!

I rode quite a bit in Portland prior to the race (even did a half-century) but hadn't really done any hill climbing.  The day before the tri, we drove the course.  YIKES.  It was a 24 mile course broken up into three, 8 mile loops.  Half the loop was uphill, a fourth or so downhill and the rest fairly flat.  Those of you who know Portland - up Naito, up Barber, up Capital Hwy and then up Terwilliger.  Three times - Ouch.

So the night before the race I tried to be good.  Didn't drink.  Tried to sleep.  Totally didn't work.  I started to get a cough and sore throat about 8 p.m.  Every time I would try to sleep, I would cough and wake myself up.  Then I started to psyche myself out about not sleeping.  All in all I'd say I got an hour.  Wake up time was 5:15 a.m.

On the way to the race I checked my resting heart rate which is an indicator of your rest, health and training levels.  My resting heart rate is usually 57 or so.  That morning it was 93.  In other words I WAS FREAKING OUT.  I think I was more scared of the unknown than the physical challenge of it.  That and my friend from high school drowning because he hadn't swam in over 5 years and was going out with zero training (yes, we're crazy).

We got there and got marked up.  The left side is the bib number, 

the right your age:

The adrenaline factor is pretty amazing.  My tiredness

 seemed to be gone and I really wasn't thinking about my cold either.  Somehow, incredibly, my teammate finished the swim in good time without dying.  It was my turn.  I'll let the air out of the balloon now.  I did not finish in record time.  In fact, I was so worried about finishing that I held back a lot and finished with a pretty crappy time.  But you know what?  I'm good with that.  I had zero in the tank and that 3rd time up the hill was ugly.  But I did it.  Our runner rocked it and we ended up 7th out of not so many more teams (like 9).  But hey, we didn't train, and we did it to finish.

I'm not so freaked out by the whole process anymore and frankly pretty inspired by it all.  There were people out there in the Willamette River who had no business swimming but they were.  There were people 30 years older than me.  There were machine-like humans doing it so fast it made my head spin.  This 39 year old was just glad to be there.

Go Team Mojito!  

...and clean as a whistle!

My husband had to go home to Jersey yesterday but left his travel sized Irish Spring body wash in the shower. My boys found it and were determined to slather themselves up with it tonight in the bath. I tried to dissuade them by saying that it was harsher than the soap they're used to, might irritate their eyes, was a grown-up soap etc. etc. but they wouldn't have it.

My older son gave me the "hey mom I need to tell you something on the down-low look" so I leaned over so he could whisper to me. Suggestively raising his eyebrows he says "I think the ladies will LOVE it!"

The sad thing is he's right. Irish Spring is seriously sexy. God knows how many rats had to die to figure that out but it's the most truth in advertising EVER.

A moment in time

He knew I was working, so he crept in quietly.  He made himself comfortable on the sofa to my left.  With restraint that comes most difficultly to a nine year old boy, he watched me type away without interruption.

I could tell he was staring at me.  Studying me.  I remember doing that with my parents.  Really looking at them when they didn't realize what I was doing.  It's almost flattering, like being appreciated as art.

Finally, he couldn't stand the silence.

"Did you know you have two chins?"

Oregon love

Day 6 of Oregon Summer Vacation:  

Just got back from a weekend at my parents' property on Mt. Hood.  So nice.  They have an annual blueberry picking party & barbecue up there.  My kids had so much fun they are now in a coma upstairs.  Some of my friends from high school and college made it up this year which made it twice as nice.

I also had a great bike ride today with my dad and uncle.  Hint:  If you ever want to feel like an iron woman, go on a ride with a 66 year old who just had double hip replacement and a guy who brought the wrong shoes and couldn't clip in.  I could actually keep up!!!  Seriously, it was so beautiful on the mountain riding winding country roads (with no pot holes or a-holes, "hint hint" Jersey) and actually being able to ride and talk side by side was luxurious.

It's so strange when your kids get to age like that of my older son where you can spend a weekend with them and feel like you never saw them.  He LOVES his cousins so much he gets lost in them.  One of his cousins is a little older than him however, so I'm always wondering what the subject matter may drift to when they're alone.  When we got home tonight he took me aside and said "mom, there's something I want to talk to you about, but I know what you're going to say."  I'm thinking, uh oh, what did he hear/say/do?  He says, "you know how I've become really attracted to...."   wait for it....    fill in the blanks like I did.....

"frozen treats?"

That next sound heard around the world was my exhale.

"Uh huh?"  I say with a relived smile and suppressing a huge giggle .  "Well, I know that I've had WAY too much sugar today, but I can't stop thinking about that Mango stuff grandma has in the freezer."

Lets just say he got lots of kisses on his sweet, 9 year old, sunburned face tonight.

And then the five year old came down the stairs with his pants around his ankles and yelled "hey my shadow looks like it has boobs!"

Vewy Vewy Tired

Hi guys. If it's possible to sleep a negative amount of hours, I accomplished that last night. The boys and I had to get up at 4:30 this morning to get to the airport and I did the whole worry about the alarm clock, look at the searing red numbers thing all night.

But we're in Oregon now (hooray!). I'm so excited to catch up with friends and family and soak in some Portland kindness and weirdness.

I do have another guest blogging installment on Fitness for Mommies today! Please hop on over to catch up on my training adventures if you'd like. I need all the help I can get!