In honor of this weekend's IronGirl

Image from Mapmyride.com

You know when you've got a race coming up, and you think to yourself, "I have done the training. I've worked hard and put in the time." And even if you're not exactly sure how it's going to go, you can feel confident in your preparation.

Yeah... this weekend is not going to be that race.

For reasons not really worth disclosing at this point, I ought to just say I haven't been real motivated. Which kind of blows, because after the SHAC triathlon I got a taste for how fun and how much potential I have as a triathlete.

Likewise, I kept thinking I was going to piece together my videos from SHAC, and then just post that with a few snippets of typeface; but it never happened...

(The following is the long-winded version of my memories from the race...which could've been showcased in with 3 excel columns and a bunch of videos, only one of which I'm including.)

OK, so here's the breakdown from the triathlon on April 2:

Final Time: 1:13:13.7

400 yd Swim: 7 minutes and two seconds

T1 (that's tri speak for transition 1, apparently): One minutes 37 seconds

10 Mile Bike: 36 minutes and 40 seconds (Help me with the math... is that pacing at 16.4 miles/hr?)

T2: 1 minute and one second (I only had to rack my bike and throw on my running skirt)

3 mile Run: 26 minutes and 50 seconds (Under a nine-minute mile which is pretty decent for me considering I couldn't feel my legs or get a deep breath for the first mile!)

The final results showed me missing a medal by one minute...but it's all smoke and mirrors because the 1st and 2nd place finishers in my division also happened to be the leaders overall for the women (so I technically took 6th out of the 30 - 34 yr old ladies).

Here are some of my fonder memories:

• Comparatively speaking I did pretty good in the swim (4th in my division). But my older sister heard I did it in 7 minutes and was positively embarrassed for me... tough crowd at the Suite house. (If you look in the far right corner of the video you can see me 'trot' to my lane and then dive in... Danny get's a flip turn and calls it good. He also says he hates hearing his voice on the video, so if you're watching this and he's sitting next to you turn down your computer volume).

• The fact that I don't wear bike shorts because there's NEVER enough padding for my sit-bones and girl parts; so I opted for one of those awesome foamy-blubber-seat covers instead and just rode in my one-piece swim suit and Vibrams (that's right; those clipy-foot pedals scare me). Yes, I looked pretty classic in a short-bus kind of way.

• Making the second loop on my bike, in front of LOADS of spectators and my husband, I did not shift appropriately for the hill out of the parking lot and managed to make a few horrible sounds with my bike, a lot of grunting and a cadence that would barely register as actual movement. A guy even yelled at me "PEDDLE FASTER!" (Thanks for the motivation sir.)

• I am kind of a pathetic biker overall. Danny will tell you that while I can rally on the hills ... it's the straightaways, and the slight declines that I struggle with. (OK so not so much downhill...I mean, everyone rallies at that right? But I mean just enough of a decent to not qualify as straight.) Hubs says I look like I'm out for Sunday ride on a cruiser--my body moves all around, I smile a lot, my elbows are out and my form's totally ski-wampus... so there's room for improvement obviously. Again, I don't use clips. Which reminds me...

• The nice thing about Vibrams is that you don't really need to have dry feet to wear them so your transitions go faster... especially if you're wearing them FOR THE BIKE AND YOUR RUN

• There's just too many wobbly bits with all my lovely-lady-lumps to run in a swimsuit; so I opted for a running skirt for the last transition. But I'm sure some of the spectators had wished I'd covered up a bit before the run, because I think the one thing missing from my bike transitions was pineapple (you know, to go with all my cottage cheese?)

• When I got off the bike and actually started my run, my ear were plugged and I couldn't get a deep breath. I felt like I was plodding along at a 12 - 15 minute mile pace. And it was at that point I thought to myself "WHAT THEY HELL WAS I THINKING WHEN I SIGNED UP FOR THIS?!?!"

• I am happy to report, I think Yoga translates well for triathlons since I didn't really train for the SHAC either and did ok. As I mentioned on facebook and a few of you, I can only hope the same proves true with Pole Dancing classes and the IronGirl. It's a different kind of cross-training, but a transferable skill nonetheless.

Happy Earth Day, of course

Happy Tree Hugger Day Friends! What a GOOD FRIDAY it is!

We have been celebrating all week.

• It started with Meat-Free Monday (and Tuesday, Wed, Thurs and today, actually.)
• Read The Lorax -- again and again and again and again.
• Started my first 'official' bit as a regular contributor for Make & Takes talking about living more sustainably for your family and the planet. If you didn't check it out yesterday, just head on over via HERE.
• And Holden and I spent a good chunk of the day in the dirt and mud and with the worms getting part of our garden prepped. We also got some seeds in the ground; but who knows how they'll do with this weather being so awful.

So last year for Earth Day I did a post about what we were trying to do as a family to be more green. It's funny to look back at that now and see how we don't really 'try' anymore with that list...it's just a part of us. Like Yoda said (paraphrased): There is no try, only do or do not.

But this year, I've got a much bigger list... With the help of Practically Green and a five minute quiz you can see where you rank: somewhere between "barely green" and "wicked green." I didn't make the top cut, as my "Solidly Green" ranking comes with PLENTY of room for improvement; but living sustainably is not an overnight process.

Once you've taken the quiz and your score is tallied, you can earn badges of green honor in different areas of your life. I've gotta admit, I dig my "Natural Baby Badge." I totally double dog dare you to check it out.

Just in Time for Earth Day!

Welcome friends! Come join me and the crafting-mommy-blog world of lovelies over at Make & Takes today. I'm their newest contributor, and I'll be offering challenges and talking about sustainable living for you, your family and the environment every 3rd Thursday of the month.

PS. With Earth Day tomorrow I just wanted to remind you to pick up your copy of Dr. Seuss's "The Lorax." Holden and I have been enjoying it all month!

Intro to Pole

Oh my goodness you crazy people. It is soooooo not what you think. There is no way I could become a firefighter!

Nah, I just started taking some random pole dancing classes in Sugar House to get more in touch with my feminine grrrrrrr... (or girrrl, depending on how you view that.) As if Danny and I didn't learn our lesson from the (primarily) unused copies of Carmen Electra's Strip Tease Aerobics...but this new dance class seemed like a good idea: five lessons, one month to turn me into a raging sex goddess.

The "Groupon" technically came in my Christmas stocking from Santa Clause (dirty old man). Now that I think about it, so did the Carmen Electra DVDs years ago (super dirty old man).

I've got a few friends that have taken the classes. Ok, one friend (Hot Courtney, but she never blogged about it, so I think she may have wanted to keep it a secret... don't tell, ok?) And my sister-in-law swears by the classes. She's a leggy blonde with zero inhibitions (and that's sober).

After Monday night's "Intro to Pole" bit, I've decided I might do better in class if I came with my hair "Victoria Secreted Out," red lipstick and a boob job... either that or a tranquilizer. You've really got to own your feminine wiles in there. I mostly owned a bruise on my inner thigh from mis-shooting a 'spin' (yes, they teach you that your first night!). But I'm sure it will come.

One of my favorite parts of the class is how the instructor kept referring to our ta-ta's as "the sisters." It saddened me that my sisters had relocated south for the winter and had made no indication they were ever coming back.

Danny says it doesn't seem like I liked it. I mean, I did, It's just not what I was expecting. I mean, they literally teach you to dance on a pole. (I know right, like what else would 'pole dancing' be?) But for some reason I wasn't expecting the blatant references to dollar-bill tips and 'only getting hundreds.' Sure I thought the whole bar-dancing thing was tacitly implied, but not blatantly expressed. They're really teaching a skill-set here, people.

It's like a vocational school for exotic body movement (and I'm not talking about the kind with bongo drums and the phrase 'interpretive' they use on So You Think You Can Dance.)

The ridiculous truth is that I think I actually want to be good at this. I don't know what for (I've never been a good dancer). And it's not like I've got a fireman's pole in my house to just practice/show off on. But I get so competitive with things. Like it's a skill I really ought to have in my back pocket? So I can change my facebook bio to something more like this:

Enjoys parenting her adorable and spirited toddler Holden, saving the planet, barefoot running, triathalons*, yoga and pole dancing (not necessarily in that order.)

*PS. Tri went great on Saturday. Details coming soon... mostly when I can figure out how to piece the video footage together. And yes, that makes 2 triathlons in 12 years. I am practically a triathlete - no?

Tri, Try Again

So tomorrow I am 'doing' a triathalon. It's just a sprint -- don't be too impressed. I signed up months ago thinking that would give me a little extra boost before the IronGirl Sprint Triathalon at the end of the month. I'm not much of a biker, cyclist... whatever. Last October Danny and I did a 30 miler in Sun Valley a week after the SG Marathon. My running was what saved me. My butt thought it would never be the same... even with one of those cheesy foam seat covers for losers. I haven't been outside on a bike since then. I know it's usually the swimming portion that makes people nervous for tri's; but I was a swimmer growing up and through most of High school. You can get away with a lot through form when you're swimming less than a mile. This is not the first time I'm attempting such a challenge. More than 10 years ago, armed with a serious case of exercise addiction, and an adventurous whim I attempted my first Sprint Triathalon. I trained on a mountain bike, only swam about 3 times in the 3 months prior to the race AND made a decision at the last minute to use my 10-speed from my childhood as my official race bike. I was so nervous I was going to lose a chain (thus why I had trained on the mountain bike), that I did the whole thing in the same high gear.... But catch this: I won my division. The caveat is that there was also a 'pool walkers' division. And I think some of the walkers passed me on the bikeride and the run...but they didn't swim. So different divisions... and, ha! I am reigning champion. Turns out tomorrow morning there is no pool walkers division... so I'm not really expecting to come home with the gold. PS. There is something wrong with my paragraph "enter" key. Apparently it is out of com-ish.