September 26, 2014

My “fan” playing with her car while I was out racing….

It has been a while since I have updated our races around here on the blog. Unfortunately I haven’t raced a lot since we are down to one paycheck right now while I stay home with Olivia. Only one of us can race at a time, so I usually push Mike to race!

But, I was so excited to do my first duathlon back in April! Last year Mike signed up for the Joker Duathlon knowing that Olivia’s due date was the same weekend. We figured she wouldn’t be on time….boy were we wrong! I started going into labor that morning. Mike and I were trying to decide whether or not he should just go since we knew it would be a while, but we didn’t want to chance it.

Now a year later….in honor of Olivia…mom had to give it a try!

Considering I am still twenty pounds up from my pre-pregnancy weight, I knew I would have some difficulty, but I really had a lot of fun. This was taken at the starting line at Holloman Air Force Base. I was so nervous! I had never done a duathlon before.

And we were off. The first run was an 8k and we took a path out to a cone and turned around. I actually liked how flat it was and was holding a pretty steady pace at around 9 minutes per mile. I didn’t want to overdo it because I knew the bike was coming up.

Transitioning was a little hard for me because I couldn’t get my shoes on and I was worrying about Olivia (which I shouldn’t have!). But I was soon off and on an awesome bike route of 18 miles. We went around the super nice roads of the base and then turned around and came back the same way we came so I could see who my competition was ahead of me.

The road was a little windy going out and I was super hesitant about going fast. I made it my goal to do the bike in under an hour. I really wanted to beat all of the girls!

I passed a lot of people on the way out. I give Mike the credit of coaching me on how to TT even without a TT bike. I was in the middle of the pack on running but was catching up to some of the faster runners on a bike. By the end, I was around two girls that I knew I had to get on the run. All three of us came back on the bike at the same time.

I took off running for the next 5k making sure to watch the girls. We all kept a pretty similar pace out and then made the turn around. I was able to pass one girl, but the other one was pretty fast and was gaining speed.

I made it to the finish line….seconds…behind the girl and got 2nd place because of that! I was really happy with my effort and glad I was able to do it. I also was able to bike in just under an hour. I definitely will race this again! It was awesome!

Stats: Around 22 pounds. I know this because she likes to stand on the scale in the bathroom like it’s a stage. Doctor’s visit next month! She is a tall girl.

Favorites: She loves to dance, and by dance I mean she likes to stand stiff legged and rock back and forth or twirl in a circle a million times. She loves her rings that stack. She is really into stacking right now (dad taught her). She loves to go out front and play with the hose and helps me to pick up weeds. She loves to go “bye bye” and waits at the door for me when I say it. When it’s bath time, she starts climbing the stairs knowing right where to go.

Lifesavers for Mom and Dad: Nothing’s changed with Bubble Guppies..she is such a huge fan (always says “Bubble?” asking for me to put it on). I also love this age because she is a lot more independent with play and can spend a few hours in the play room playing with her toys while I do chores and take care of things around the house. I am also signing up for a gym with a day care which will be very nice!

Dislikes: Being on the other side of the baby gate, being left alone in the nursery at church (we will definitely work on this!), cutting her nails

Facts: She definitely understands a whole lot more. I can say things to her and she is putting two and two together. I’ll tell her that it’s time to say prayer and she will say “Amen” or if I ask where is mom’s ears, she will look at my ears instead of hers. She knows the different types of foods she is eating if I ask her to point at her peas or her turkey. I’ll ask her to go get a specific toy from the other room and she will bring it back. I am excited to have her go to nursery and to start day care at the gym so she can learn to be a little more independent in public.

Sleep Habits:She is hit or miss still. She has a night or two of sleeping through the night but the other nights she wakes up at 11 and 2 screaming her head off and I sit with her until she goes back to sleep. She goes to bed around 8 and gets up about 7. When it’s time to go to bed, she says “Night Night” and tries to say “Sleepy Sleep”.

Doctors Visits: None this month.

Eating Habits: She eats more in the morning than the evening. She loves to eat out. Aunt Jen and Grandpa came to visit and she was loving herself some mexican food. She was gobbling up the beans and meat. No vegetarian here.

Milestones: More talking, more understanding, can climb DOWN stairs now (she was afraid before), loves to run and loves shoes that make her run, asking and pointing to what she wants, asks for mom and dad, called my dad “Papa”, loves to use the words: flower, ball, Jesus, shoes, socks, ears, milk, night-night, star, moon, bubble, etc..

Looking Forward To: Not being sad when I leave her in nursery or day care! FREEDOM!