the super friends

feeling good

so today i am feeling pretty good. could it be the frosty beer? maaaybe. but maybe it has to do with it being friday!

plus this week has been a little different. it had seemed that after races this past year i would be good for a day then get really depressed. i had been told to get out and moving sooner rather then later after a race to combat that but i was generally too tired or stressed to do that. but this time, i headed out to do some open water swimming with xtie on tuesday, did a group ride on wednesday then ran home from work on thursday. today i rested but tomorrow i am running with feather and dave. my knees are feeling better and the weird loosy goosy feeling i was having with my left knee which i blamed wearing flip flops on move day seems to be better. i have also resolved to try and eat better, which i did all week except today. i have been having terrible allergies and yesterday it was the WORST! i was hitting up 3 different tissue boxes and had to have gone through a least an entire box among them all. i was worried that its the new house, then i was thinking it was my sweater. then i was thinking, could it be the yogurt i have had every morning this week? internet - can yogurt cause sneezing, runny nose and severe miserableness? i didn't feel sick but miserable. today - no yogurt and back to the PB&J and what seems to be recovery from the allergies. internet - what is the deal? but then i through a personal pan pizza hut pizza from target on top of that, and now eric is threatening me with carrot cake and ice cream. can i resist and stick to my pretzel rod and beer? only time will tell. sirus is so funny. i told him that if he went poopy on the potty he could have spencer the train, one of thomas's friends. he thinks this is a great idea and is constantly telling me how we can go to target to get the train, because that is what they have at target. xtie came over the other day and brought him a red bucket and shovel. he asked her where it came from and she replied asking him where he thought she got it. he thought long and hard then asked "target?" nooooo, "home depot?" noooo, she said she got it at safeway to which he replied "safeway! i know safeway!". he has been really cute lately and super chatty. he really hadn't said a lot or much in complete sentences but now he is just talking up a storm, mostly about spencer at target but some about seamus and what she is up to and also what he has been up to during the day. as an added bonus, he has been super huggy and kissy. i hope that never ends because i love it.

i am so happy in our new house. its the greatest and i think it and my totally awesome commute is helping with my happiness and my ability to this week to keep going after the race. but, for 4th of july there was a 2nd annual celebration and fireworks show. we weren't sure if we would go but decided to try it out, how could we not, it was two miles away! we headed out of the house at 8ish. seamus walked the entire 2 miled even with two hige hills. sirus walked most of the way but opted for some strollering for the hills. we got to the site, the kids played and then we got ready for the show. seamus and sirus were ready for the show, and then it started and it was an entirely different story. it was loud and bright and right in our faces, so much so that sirus's little hand went up to his eyes and didn't leave them until the show was over. seamus on the other hand thought it was great. and really it was! i am so happy to be in our new neighborhood so close to such fun stuff! we didn't get the kids into bed until midnight!!

this weekend we are going to a parade! and there is a kids parade before, so today we made costumes for the kids and stuff to decorate their bikes! wait patiently for some photos - they will be well worth the wait!

abba is so good, too.

Carrie's Lake Stevens 1/2 Ironman report

Last year when I finished this race, my exact words were "its over!! finally! it has come and gone and now i don't have to worry about it or ever do anything like it again!" That lasted about a day or two then I started planning for 2008.

I had great plans for the race in 2008, but as you know a month or so ago we decided to put our house up for sale and move. While "paint the fence" worked like magic for Daniel in the Karate Kid, it didn't work quite as well for Carrie in real life. Regardless I was totally excited about the race with a goal of just finishing the race.

July 6 - Race Day
The alarm went off at 3:45 AM. Eric and I did a quick packing of the car, made some PB&J and headed out the door. We got to the race site at 5am and found a great parking spot. We grabbed most of our stuff and headed to transition, set up then headed back to the car to change into race gear. The it was off to the potty and over to put on our wetsuits.

The Swim
I spotted eric in the sea of black suits with orange heads, gave him a kiss and wished him luck. It was a little less sureal then last year when it seemed like he was headed off to the meat factory. Then it was off to find the other LUNAs and wish them all luck. There is something incredibly calming about heading to the water for triathlon start. Running races and mountain bike races I am generally a nervous wreck, but at triathlons I am always very calm. Our group headed out onto the dock and into the water. It was warm, my goggles fit well and the horn went off. I was dropped by the pack instantly, which didn't suprise me. Almost as instantly I was caught by the group that started 3 minutes back, then the next group, then the next, etc. I wasn't thrilled with the swim, but with my lack of training, I was happy to finish and not be exhausted and even have enough gas in the tank to run into transition.

Swim Time: 55:04 (almost 4 minutes slower than last year)

The Bike
I was sort of concerned about the bike. I knew I could cover the distance, I just wasn't sure how quickly I could do it and how painful it would then make the run be after. I have been pleased with my bike portions of races this year as I have finally learned how to push my self.. I didn't go all out on the bike, but I kept a steady pace and I definitly worked. Although hillier, I liked this bike course better then last year. I liked that it gave more opportunity to get lapped. Did I just say that? Yes, because it is so cool to hear the pros coming up behind you with the whoosh whoosh of their disk wheels and seeing what amazing athletes they are and then leave you in their dust! I was so happy to see Renee's little pony tails and smiling face at the end of the first lap. The second lap was somewhat uneventful. I stayed well hydrated through the bike - I went through two bottles of Pink Grapefruit LUNA Sport Electrolyte Splash AND a bottle of water. At the end of the 2nd lap I caught up to Charity. She was looking great although working through a pinch in her shoulder. A few miles from the end I was caught by a 67 year old woman. Wow!! She was amazing!! As I rode into town the cheers of the crowd made me want to keep going, but alas, the bike was done.

Bike Time: 3:37:48 (3 minutes or so faster then last year)

The Run
I was in a pretty good mood on the run. Maybe it was the complete costume change in T2? I was moving better then I thought I would be and I was chatting away with everyone I came across. I walked through every water stop, a plan that worked well last year and took a potty break at mile 1. I walked some on the big hill around but then ran most of the way back down where I saw both Renee and Charity. Heading out onto the first loop of the 2nd lap my knees were pretty achey and I started walking a bit more. On my way back through town I spotted Eric and Charity's husband. I walked up that big hill again but there were some enthusiastic spectators on the hill so I told them I would looks fast for them and run up the hill. At the top and through the turn around I was going what felt to be really fast and I was feeling really good. I saw Sarah from the tri team while going up the hill and I saw Marne on the way back down. But my knees - so I would stop and walk from one cone to the next, then run for a bit, then repeat. This worked really well and I continued to chat with everyone I passed in either direction. Once I got into town though I was running and so happy to be almost done! I crossed the finish line, found Eric and gave him a huge hug! Then I went to the pizza tent. :)

Run Time: 2:10:38 (about a minute and 1/2 faster then last year - with considerably more walking!)

Total Time: 6:49:58 (about 2 minutes faster then last year!)

All in all it was a great race. I was calm and collected. I had great support at the race from my husband, teammates and friends and I even got a tan! I am especially proud of both Charity and Renee. I knew they could do it and I am so happy that they did it!

lots been going on

sheesh its been crazy times.
we moved. to the suburbs. in these bad days of selling houses, we managed to sell ours in 5 days! we put an offer on the new house, they accepted then we had to boogie to get our house ready to sell. we put it up on friday night then on tuesday morning we were accepting an offer - at asking price even! eric is really the super star in all that he did in that week before putting the house up - painted pretty much the ENTIRE interior, painted all the moulding, finished the moulding around 3 doors, installed all the shoes.. and a ton of outside work, too. our friend doug came over and helped, too which was great and i think eric enjoyed the company.

the drama i was bitching about a post or two ago was because the inspection came back kind of bad. and really, for a house that age, it wasn't bad, they just made some kind of rediculous requests, like $300 to prune a tree. whatever. all in all, it worked out well and wecame out well ahead of the game.

the week before we moved was super busy, i think i mentioned previously. here is photographic proof - xtie's law school graduation and seamus's preschool graduation, too. she had her hair up in curlers the night before, hence the curly hairs!

moving day was nutty. seamus and sirus had a ton of fun. they picked flowers and tucked them behind their ears. it took sirus a few tries - he kept sticking them right in his ear. feather and dave, eric's parents and craig all came to help load the truck AND they helped unload at the new house, too. total troopers and i can't thank them enough. good lord, had it been just me and eric, it would have taken forever.


finally we got into the new house and i love it. i think we all do! the kids have been non stop running and playing. they have a play room which sirus will spend all day in if we let him. we even had a visitor or two in the backyard!

the kids think its pretty neat to see deer in the yard, and so do i. later seamus and i saw a bunny. when i told sirus about it, he said "no, its a deer" and i said, no, its a bunny, and he said "no, deer."
sunday, the day after the move, i woke up at 430am and went to the airport, got on a plane and headed to SF. allie's hubby called me earlier in the week to let me in on a secret suprise bday party and he asked me to come down, so of course i did! i wouldn't ever miss it! they picked me up at the airport, much to allie's surprise and then headed out for a run. i was exhausted from the run and since i haven't had many workout since making the offer on the house, i was not doing very well. to give me a little credit though, allie and her friend stacy are pretty speedy so i had to keep asking them to slow it down. later we had dim sum in the city then off for some shopping while the party was getting arranged. then back to the house to celebrate! so much fun and it was great to see some of the people i had met 2.5 years ago at zachary's 1st bday but then to also meet so many of allie's peeps that i had heard so much about. it wasn't until 2am that i was able to crawl into my bed, but at least i had taken monday off already! i popped awake at 630 and spent the day unpacking at the new house.

i know there are other things going on now. but i continue to love the house, the commute and am pretty much enjoying things. PLUS its been warm and sunny out! but the lake stevens 1/2 ironman is this weekend which is concerning! the lack of swimming is most concerning i think, but the lack in running is a bit bothersome, too. i had hopped to take about 1/2 hr off my time but now i am just hoping to finish around the same time as last year. i did go for a 71 mile ride this past weekend, that ended in 92 degree heat and hitting the steepest of steep hills up to the house at mile 68. ok, so i had to stop 3 times. really i should have only stopped twice. next time i will try to make it at least to the 1/2way mark if not all the way to the top.
here is a photo of me at the onionman with eric hiding in the bushes:

an zipping up at the issaquah triathlon. i actually wound up stopping to finish the zip.

and seamus in her race. she might do another one this summer!