Watch Out It’s Messy In Here

Yesterday I chaperoned The Big One's 8th grade class field trip to Darien Lake. Since I am trying to eat healthy, and make better food choices I decided to pack my own food to bring. I went to Wegman's Friday night to buy some easily portable, yummy, non-crap food. Came home, packed the non-cold food in my bag, and put the need to stay cold food in the fridge until morning. When I got up I put the food all in a small cooler, and put that in the top of my bag. When it was time to leave, the skies opened up and oceans of water started falling. The Big One and I ran to the car, with our bags, and headed out. I had to stop at the ATM to get cash for the day, so I had The Big One grab my wallet out of my bag. When we got to the school, we again grabbed our bags and made a mad dash for the school to check in. After check in, we got on the bus, and headed out for the amusement park, hoping the sun would shine by the time we finished our two and half mile drive. While on the ...

100 days until Syracuse 70.3! (85 until Skinnyman an 57 until Iron Girl Syracuse)

Things I am not good at: Thank You cards RSVP'ing Sending out invites Making appointments Paying bills on time Returning calls/emails Refilling prescriptions These things all have one thing in common, procrastination. It's not that I don't want to thank people for awesome gifts, or that I want to leave you hanging when you invite me to a party. I just put it off. I'll think about it, and know it needs to be done, and then that fleeting thought leaves my overcrowded brain, and it may never come back. When I was in school, I always did my homework at the last possible minute (or not at all). I have spent many a night typing a 10 page research paper due the next day. I am one of those crazy people Christmas shopping on Christmas eve day. Sometimes it bites me in the ass. My lack of a road bike is evidence of that. Last year, when I decided to do my first tri, I borrowed a bike from a friend who had done the Lake Placid IM a few year earlier. It was hanging in his...

Guess who isn't going to be doing his homework tonight! Goldfish, in a kindergartner's backpack do not always survive a bus ride home. Oh well!

I either need to win the lottery, find a sugar daddy, or have an extra hour or two added to my days. 24 hours is not enough time to work my 8 hour job, take care of my house, attend my children's school and sports functions, and get a work out in. And sleep. I need to sleep somewhere in there. And a meal or two might help. As my training progresses, I'm finding harder and harder to fit it all in. Especially my swims. I can run and bike just about any time of day. But the pool only has open lap lanes at certain hours. And sometimes those hours don't fit in with mine. Add to that the fact that the two pools near me have closed, forever, and I'm really running out of options for pool time. How do people work a full time job, raise a family, and train to be semi-successful in triathlons? If anyone out there in bloggy land has the answer, please clue me in!

When I started training last year, I also made some dietary changes. First I cut out red meat, and then shortly after I cut out all meats. Finally, I went vegan. (This lasted until I started bruising way too easily, i.e. first hickey since high school!) My husband was making some changes as well, so we cut out red meat from our family's diet in general. We are still not eating red meat more than a year later. I don't miss it one bit, and my husband is suffering through it. The children are a different story! My boys miss red meat. When we eat out somewhere, they almost always order a burger. And if we make burgers at home, we will usually let them have hamburger instead of a turkey burger. But they still are not satisfied. Last weekend, The Big One and I were out of town on a school trip, so Hubby and Bubba were on their own for dinner. When Hubby asked Bubba what he wanted to have, his response was "I want cow." To clarify, Hubby asked him, "You m...

How did I become a runner? I was quite satisfied with my life of leisure. The only thing that interrupted my tv watching schedule was The Big One's sports and music events. Thank goodness for DVR! I could easily get down to my desired weight with a crash diet of some sort every Spring. Why did I need to exercise? What kind of crazy person runs, on purpose, regularly? The answer to how I became a runner involves my sister-in-law. She had very unexpectedly lost her sister, who was also her best friend. The way she finally chose to deal with the overwhelming grief was to start running. She was the last person I would have thought would ever run. But, being on the road, alone, was good for her. One family gathering in December of 2008 we were talking about when and where she ran. She told me how she almost got hit once, when lost in thought, running at night on a busy road. She didn't wear any reflective gear, so the car didn't see her until it was almost too late....