Cohasett Triathlon

Last fall we were at a friend house for dinner and after a few drinks another women at the dinner party started talking about how she does a triathlon every year for juvenile diabetes and she wanted people to join her group.  After a little encouragement I agreed (note: after a few drinks)!  I tried to swim a couple times over the winter but driving the 15 minutes to the pool to change and swim for 20 minutes hardly seemed worth it.  I put off any training until the spring time.  I continued to run every week but given it was winter I didn't ride my bike either.  I managed to make it to a spin class as the club a few times but the schedule for that often didn't fit with my schedule.  As the tri got closer I decided I needed to actually start to do something or I might just drown.  The bubble came off the pool and suddenly swimming seemed so much easier.  Swimming in the sunshine is very different to swimming indoors.  Sofia finished her swim team for the spring and Ali started the swim prep team.  I decided to swim twice a week just before Ali's prep team practice.  I enlisted Sofia to swim with me becuase 1. she needed to keep up her endurance over the summer, 2. It allowed me to swim while keeping an eye on her, 3. She could set my pace and make it fun for me.  I withstood her mocking me with things like, "only 18 legnths mom? that should be for kids!" and "what is wrong with you? why are you breathing like that?".  Of course she didn't realize she was mocking me since to her swimming up and down the pool for an hour is normal.  She probably swims at least 36 lengths of the pool during practice and probably it is more than that.  She doesn't realize what great shape she is in and what a good swimmer she is.  I raced her one length of the pool and beat her by one stroke.  Had I known she was going to be so fast I would have swam harder the first half of the pool (not that I was going easy but I wasn't sprinting) but as it was a sprinted for the second half of the pool to beat her.  At the end she wasn't even breathing hard!!  It was great to swim with her though.  She made it fun for me to do laps and I'm looking forward to a sport we can do together.  Anyway, I started getting some swims in a month before the triathlon.  Better late than never I guess!  I got my bike tuned up and managed to get two rides in before the race.  I made she one of the rides actually had me ride and then get off my bike and immediately go out for a run.  I'm glad I did that becuase it gave me a chance to see what my legs would feel like during the race for that transition.  It is not a good feeling so it was great that I was prepared for it and knew it would go away after the first mile.  The week before the race I signed up for a triathlon clinic at the race site.  I wanted the chance to swim in the ocean in my wetsuit before race day.  It was awful!  The white caps were out there and the waves were rolling in.  Instead of giving me confidence for the race it made me very nervous.  The night before the race I was a wreck and looked at last years race times.  That didn't help my confidence either becuase I felt like I was going to come in near to last!  I tried to calm myself down and accept that this is my first triathlon and the goal was to finish.  Anyone who knows me though knows I have a competitive streak inside myself that can't accept that.  I got everything ready and went to bed. 


We woke up at 4:30am to be out of the house by 5am to get down to the race.  We arrived with no problems and now that race day was here I was feeling a little better but still really nervous about the swim.  I had to ride my bike 1.5 miles to the transition area which was a nice warm up and served to relax me a little bit.  I found some friends and as we prepared for the race we all gathered together on the beach.  It made me feel better to know that I had friends around me.  The race started and into the water I went.  I was glad for the tri clinic now b/c the water was calm and seemed so much easier.  I swam freestyle out to the first bouy with out any problem and didn't feel to crowded but did have to swim around some people.  Once around the bouy I was all about breast stroke, back stroke, and side stroke.  I swallowed a few mouthfuls of salt water and went to mainly back stroke as it is probably my faster stroke and it meant I didn't have to worry about getting enough air.  Once I reached the next bouy and turned for the beach I pushed hard with my freestyle to bring it home.  I ran up the beach and transitioned to my bike. 
I was one of the few people there with a mountain bike but I didn't want to spend the money on a road bike for my first race.  I knew I would have to push hard to be competitive so off I went and never coasted.  I pushed it hard the whole way and made it back to transition, ditched my bike and started running. 
Once I started running I was golden.  I know that this was the easiest leg of the race for me and I just needed to get past the first mile to work out the stiffness in my legs.
 I forgot my hat so had to accept that I probably looked horrible but what the heck...it is a triathlon after all and not a beauty contest!  As I rounded the first bend in the running race there was a photographer wo I gave him some goofy smiles to which he responded, "You're the first happy person I've seen all day!".  That made me feel good since the only reason to do these races is for fun.  If I can't enjoy myself then there is no point to doing them.  I know that sounds contradictory to my competitve streak but I do enjoy the competition and I enjoy being outside and essentially playing.  Anyway, I continued the race and came in to the finish and was shocked at my finish time.  I thought surely I would be over two hours but my clock time was 1 hour 40 minutes!  I was so excited!!  I crushed my expected time.  I went and checked my official time and came in at 1 hour 32 minutes and 12 seconds!!  I swam the 1/4 mile in 12 min 32 seconds, I biked 12 miles in 46 min 11 seconds and I ran 3.2 miles in 28 min 35 seconds.  I was pretty excited and still am!  I'm not hooked on triathlons but would not rule out doing another one at some point.

Pool Time

School is out and it has been HOT!  We have been heading to the pool every chance we get.  The girls love just being able to play in the water.  Their friend Mia has been at the pool as well which has led to endless entertainment.  It keeps the kids having fun and in the water endlessly and gives me a chance to relax in the pool and chat with my friend Stacey.  I have done my laps of the pool as soon as we get there so I can feel like I'm still actively training for my triathlon and then I can lounge about guilt free!  This week I have given Sofia some time off from swimming laps with me since it is her first week of summer vacation.  I had been making her swim with me under the guise of keeping up her endurance over the summer for swim team but really I was just utilizing my eight years swimming ability to set my pace and to make it more fun for me! She humors me and swims with me when I tell her I want her to set my pace but really I could have used her in the ocean last week when I went for my tri clinic!  The kids will both be swimming laps this summer to ensure that they are ready for swim team in the fall but I plan on taking advantage of having some swim partners to make my swimming better as well.  I'm looking forward to a fun summer at the pool!  Her is a video of the girls with their friend Mia having fun together.



Prep Team

The girls and I spend a lot of time at the pool.  Once Sofia's spring swim team wrapped up it dropped down to two days a week for Ali to be on the prep team.  I put Ali into the prep team now because it was only four weeks long and meant I would not have to be at the pool five days a week which would have been the case if I had waited until the fall for Ali to do prep.  She wasn't sure if she wanted to do it but given our schedules this was her opportunity.  She was a little nervous on the first day but once settled in she loved it.  It was amazing to watch her move through the four weeks.  She started her laps zig zagging across the lane to being able to swim straight and not be so tired.  Her diving improved as well as all of her strokes.  She is still working on her breast stroke kick but overall she did great and the coach passed her so she can start the swim team in the fall with Sofia.  She is quite proud of herself.  Here is a video from about the middle of her time on prep team.

Piano Lessons

Sofia has asked about taking piano lessons but we weren't really sure if she was ready for them or when we would even fit them into her schedule.  She has been playing piano on her little Melissa and Doug piano though and learning songs.  We were impressed by how quickly she could figure out the notes for songs just by sound and teach them to herself.  When we would go to her Grammie's house she would spend time playing on a proper piano and would ask me to teach her different songs. (I don't play the piano either but taught myself how to play some songs on the piano from my flute music when I was little).  She picked things up so quickly.  After speaking with a friend whose daughter takes lessons in town we decided it was time to sign Sofia up for lessons.  Her teacher is great and she really likes him.  He seems to really see talent in Sofia and on her second lesson already has her playing with both hands!  Here is a video I took during the first lesson.  I couldn't keep the video going becuase Sofia caught me doing it and it was distracting so I had to just go sit back down but at least I was able to capture some of her lesson.



Father's Day

This year we went down to Rhode Island for Father's Day.  I was looking forward to being with my dad on Father's Day since I haven't been with him for the last few years while we were abroad.  My brother goes out on the boat with my Dad every year and this year we were able to join them.  We asked the kids if they wanted to go on the boat or go to the beach with Grandma and Michael since Michael gets seasick on the boat.  Even though our kids would love to go on the boat they would rather spend their time playing with their cousin so they went to the beach while Jason and I went on the boat with my Dad, Joe, Jenn, and Pat.  I haven't been fishing in years.  The skies were blue and the sun was shining but it wasn't quite warm enough for sunbathing so I got a fishing rod and started fishing for flounder.  I brought in five fish but only one was a keeper.   Between all of us we caught enough fish for everyone to bring some home.  After spending the morning on the boat we spent the afternoon at my brothers before heading home.  I dropped some bluefish off with a friend since no one in our family eats bluefish and took home some flounder for us to enjoy. I panned fried it like we had when I was a kid and it was delicious! I can't wait to go fishing again this summer...I definitely have missed time on the boat and fresh fish.

Happy Birthday Alessandra!

Alessandra turned 7 on June 16th!!! I can't believe my baby is seven years old!  We invited the family over to celebrate her special day.  Jason and I had done as much prep on Friday night after coming home late from hanging out with our friends as possible.  Saturday morning was a bit hectic as I had a triathlon clinic to attend and Alessandra had gymnastics to go to and Jason had to get the house clean before everyone showed up at 2pm.  I could have skipped the tri clinic but I wanted a chance to swim in my wetsuit in the ocean before my race so we squeezed everything in.  Jason did a great job getting everything together for the party.  Everyone showed up and the weather was great (although it was awful down by the ocean).  Ali had decided she wanted a carnival theme so we had the kids play bean bag toss, held egg and spoon race and had a sack race.  After burgers/dogs and different salads the kids were off and playing.  The girls have a good time with their cousins and always look forward to being with them.

Thanks to everyone for coming and celebrating Ali!

Fun with Friends

On the last Friday before school ended Sofia went to her friends house for a playdate while I brought Ali to gymnastics.  After gymnastics we headed home and changed and went over to our friends house to meet up with Sofia and hang out for a BBQ.  Our friends live right down the road from us so it didn't take any time to get there and they are very laid back so we had a relaxing time chatting with our friends while the kids played.  Sofia had a couple injuries from the blow up water slide but she didn't seem bothered by them and kept playing.  Ali joined in the fun as well.  It is nice to be at an age where we don't have to worry about what the kids are doing every second and it is nice to have good friends around for us to hang out with.  Having moved here a year ago it was a concern but one I can now put aside as we have made some good friends.  We stayed until after it was dark and sat around the fire pit roasting marshmallows.  I snapped this picture (not the best quality) of Sofia sitting with her friends by the fire listening to her friend Kiki tell a ghost story.  It struck me as another stage in her growing up...the beginning of her solo friend time without mom.  She is getting so big!

First Grade Field Day

Ali school held a field day for first graders.  Field day, at least for first graders, is not the competitive athletic event that I remember from child hood.  It is more of a fun day filled with games.  The kids had ten different stations that they moved through as a class.  The had a bag toss, sack race, egg and spoon race, leaky cup race etc.  The kids were very excited at every station.  I had volunteered to help on field day and ended up at the Popsicle station.  Not a very athletic station but one of the kids favorites!  It didn't take them long to suck down their Popsicles though so we filled the time with bubbles and Simon Says.  Since we had a break in our station I took the chance to run over and video Ali in her sack race.  She is a good hopper!

Golf

We decided that this was the year for our family to pick up the game of golf.  Jason has wanted to play for years but it is such a commitment I have not been willing to get into the game.  This year I realized that we make the time and money commitment for so many other activities that there is no reason we couldn't make room for a sport that interested Jason so here we are picking up golf.  I took my golf lessons while the kids were in school.  Thanks to many years of chipping and putting in our back yard I wasn't a complete newbie.  I played my first nine holes with Jason and played it with a final score of 59.  Not the best score but not bad for the first time on the course.  We took the kids out to play nice holes with us.  We weren't sure how it would go but figured we had to start somewhere.  We chose the course were I took my lessons (and where the kids will take their lessons this summer) since it is nearby and on the weekends kids play free after 3pm (with an adult).  The course was empty at that time so we had no pressure to play fast.  We let the kids hit off the tee and then picked their ball up and dropped them near ours.  The guy who works at the course told us that we should let the kids hit from anywhere on the fairway with their tee and if there was a top of a hill the kids could hit from to let them so that they can also fee some satisfaction of seeing their ball go a good distance.  We thought this was great since we weren't expecting such a family friendly attitude.  By the time we made it to the sixth hole the kids were pretty much done playing golf so Jason and i played on while the kids watched.  On the seventh hole the guy we spoke with on the first hole came buy in his cart and asked us if we wanted him to take the kids club and leave them up at the house on the first hole so we wouldn't have to carry them.  Again we were surprised at the helpful family friendly attitude.  It was great.  We all had a great time playing and we are looking forward to many days on the course this summer.

Timlin 5K

The girls have really enjoyed running road races in the past and we have done a couple with them in Prague.  They had a lot of fun and surprised us each time we did a race with how well they ran.  With Sofia's school having the marathon fitness challenge the girls and I have been running more together and with all my races they wanted to be able to race also.  We decided that we would run the Timlin 5K race together as a family.  As in past races Jason paired up with Sofia and I paired up with Ali so that the girls could each run their own pace.  In previous races we have ended up really separating since Sofia liked to go really fast and then really slow and Ali always kept a very consistent pace.  This race was different.  Since the girls and I had been running together and I was able to teach Sofia more about having a consistent pace and forcing her to keep pace with me since we were running on roads she seems to have found her natural stride.  So while we stayed paired up we were always really close to each other during the race.  The longest run the girls had done before the race was 2.17 miles so we still figured they would end up walking some of the 5K but again the girls surprised us with their ability and determination.  They ran the entire 5K (3.1 miles) without stopping to walk at all and ran it at an 11:45 per mile pace.  They did AWESOME!  We are so proud of them!!  Above is a picture of Ali and I coming into the finish line with Sofia right in front of us.  We are still waiting to see if the photographer caught Sofia's finish.  All the other photos we have missed Sofia...she is so little that she is behind someone in every photo!  The kids had a great time running the race and loved being able to run in a race with us as well as their cousin Michael, Aunt Jenn, Aunt Carrie and Uncle Joe.  Running the race in town meant we knew some people running the race and cheering on the sidelines which was fun to see and to be cheered.  Grandma and Grandpa also came to the race too so it was a real family event.  With the whole family in attendance for the after party we headed back to our house for a BBQ.  We look forward to running it again next year! 

Birthday party with friends



Back Row: Amisi, Amisi's sister, Raelyn, Maggie M, Sydney, Natalie
Front Row: Erin, Jas, Ali, Maggie J, Sofia, Chloe

Since this is our first year back in the States we decided that the girls could have a friend party and a family party.  We wanted them to be able to make good friends this year and have time to play with them but we also wanted a chance for the family to celebrate their birthdays since we haven't been able to do that for the past four years.  Ali decided she wanted the same party as Sofia which meant back to the gym where the girls do gymnastics.  This was fine with me since it meant I had to do very little work for the party.  The gym does such a nice job with the kids that the kids have a blast.  The hour on the gym floor is over very quickly with the kids wanting more time but since the gym time is followed by cake and ice cream the kids eagerly leave the gym floor.  After cake and ice cream Ali opened her presents.  I'm always surprised at how eager the other kids are to watch someone open gifts to which they are genuinely excited for the birthday child.  It is nice to see all the kids happy and having fun.  We finished up the party by giving everyone Chinese jump ropes.  I'm hoping for a resurgence in Chinese jump rope playing on the playground at the kids school next year :)!

Pollen

For our friends and family who don't live in the area I thought I would post about the pollen this year.  The pollen this spring was unbelievable.  Over the long weekend (and our rib making) the pollen was definitely at its worst.  We could see clouds of pollen floating in the air towards us.  Everything was coated with a layer of yellow and we cleaned off our patio table three times before we had dinner!  We had a short rain storm and I thought it would wash the pollen away but it just washed it down the driveway.  I took a picture of the pollen on the driveway because I have never seen anything like it.  Here is the picture so you can get a sense of the amount of pollen flying through the air.  Fortunately none of us have a serious allergy to pine pollen!

Memorial Day Weekend

To kick off the summer we decided to start with yummy BBQ ribs.  We hadn't made ribs in a long time and Jason wanted to make them start to finish on the grill.  So he manned the grill and I made the BBQ sauce.  Yes, we make our own BBQ sauce.  We make it for a couple reasons.  First off it is way better than any store bought sauce we have ever tried and secondly I make it with out any onion product so I can enjoy it without feeling awful after.  The ribs turned out great and made for a nice BBQ dinner out on our patio.  Ali cracked us up when in the middle of eating her ribs she turned to me and said, "mommy, I love pig!".  We definitely do not have vegetarians in our house!  Sofia also made us laugh when she realized while she was eating her corn on the cob her tooth came out and had stuck right into the ear of corn.  We finished it off with s'mores. Yum!

After a relaxing Saturday we headed over to our friends house in Sunday to hangout with them by their pool.  The kids had a great time playing in the pool with their friend Chloe and made new friends with the other kids who were there as well.  The kids played well together and really had fun.  Jason and I had a nice time hanging out with our friends and meeting a another couple from town.  It is nice to feel like we are finally settling into to our new town.