Easter 2014

Posted on July 15, 2014 by thefasteryoupedal

It was Olivia’s first Easter this year since she decided to take her sweet time getting here last year. 🙂 I was super excited for her to go through all the celebrations. Really though, when a kid is one year old, it is more for the parents than it is for the kid.

We had an Easter BBQ over at the Stewart’s house with a whole bunch of friends and family. I love it when Olivia is around other kids, even if they are older than her.

The Stewart’s were so awesome to have Easter eggs and the kids went on an Easter egg hunt.

I made Mike go with Olivia since I usually make him search for eggs in our house too. The poor guy.

Then on Easter morning Olivia put on her pretty Easter dress from Aunt Debbie and we went to church. It was really funny because she wasn’t walking yet so she hated how long the dress was on her knees and did this weird “spider crawl” across the room.

The Easter loot! I WILL dye Easter eggs next year. I always forget to do that!

Overall, it was a fun Easter to have the family around and to make memories!

12 Hours In The Old El Paso 2014

Posted on July 8, 2014 by thefasteryoupedal

Holy cow! It has been three months since we did this race, but I am going to try to recap what we did. So yes, one of our long-term goals this year was the return of Lady Cluck and the Boys.

Mike, Brent, Jared (and Brad), and I signed up for 4 man co-ed race for the 12 Hours In the El Paso race on February 1, 2014.. It started out with me on the first lap. I have never started a twelve-hour race. In case you don’t know, you have to run to your bike in your bike shoes to start the race. (That was very interesting!!) The other factor I didn’t think about was how we were ALL starting at the same time! It was really hard for me to keep up with the fast people and then I would get stuck behind slow people. I ended up averaging about a 1 hour and 15 minute lap!

Not to jump the gun or anything…but did I tell you that we got first place??? 🙂

Every single person on our team ended up riding two laps and it worked out perfectly. The timing for me was impeccable because the baby took her nap when i went out on my second lap. The boys kind of got jipped because each of them had to do a night lap. I was the last person to go at sunset….so lucky! I am a terrible night rider!

If you look closely, yes I am holding a baby on the podium! Haha. She lasted the whole day!

This is Brent going out on his night lap. The first part of the race is pretty fun because you are doing a section called Lazy Cow that is super windy. Then you hit an uphill climb for a huge portion of the race and then it is all downhill from there…until you head back to camp. This year they added a little more miles to the race and had you come into camp and take off on some more treacherous trail. I hated it! It was pretty hard and mentally hard on me.

We had some friends and family to come out and support us! That was fun!

This last part of the trail is a jeep road that is downhill. It feels awesome to fly down it and hit the finish line!

We did it! We got first place! Lady Cluck and the Boys did not disappoint!

I LOVE Strava!

Posted on January 21, 2014 by thefasteryoupedal

A friend of mine is training for a 5k in February and she texted me the other day to ask me what I used to keep me motivated to run. I know most people like to use Map My Run, which I have nothing against, but I really found an awesome app to use. I immediately told her to download Strava Run (and for you bikers out there, Strava Bike). My husband and I are very competitive people and like to have goals to achieve whether it is going against other people or even ourselves. Mike was the one to show me this app and now I am hooked!

The best thing about Strava Run is that it pretty much is going against yourself (unless you find a course that someone else has run and documented). In my case, my neighborhood has a perfect loop that you can run a perfect 5k. I run this about once or twice a week and it will tell me whether I beat any previous records I set. Mike likes to run a loop at NMSU where other runners have recorded their times, so he can see his records along with others.

I like how it shows how my pace was (I was running with the stroller this day) and how I started off faster and then got slower with my pace. That tells me that I need to pick up the pace at mile 2 and 3.

When you finish a run, it will show your overall pace, calorie burn, elevation gain, and moving time. The moving time is especially good for those times you are standing at the beginning trying to get the music started on your headphones.

Here’s where the competitive part comes in. On this particular bike ride, I noticed I had a Queen of the Mountain when I was done. This means that the people who rode before me had a slower time.

You then click on the trophy and it will tell you the time you did it in and the other times of the other riders. You can add friends (and enemies..hehe) and see an activity feed of their rides. I love looking at what other people did to keep me motivated!

You should try it out! It’s really a great app!

Liz’s Week In Review

Posted on November 16, 2013 by thefasteryoupedal

So when a week gets too busy that you start to jumble everything into one blog post, you just have to call it a “Week In Review”. I really want to try and document as much as I can while I am staying home since this will not be a permanent thing for me, but I have found I have been MORE busy than when I had a job!

First off, how cute is that when I toss a binkie at my daughter and she immediately puts it in her mouth?

I have been a little disappointed in myself for not riding well this week. I really want to get this weight off! We are very lucky to have family in town to watch Olivia on Tuesday nights. Even though it is getting dark early, we still want to make it out to the Dona Ana’s. This week I didn’t do my usual route because I was so tired, so I went and explored Chutes and Ladders, which is a really hilly, technical part of the coarse and had a blast! If you look closely a the map…you can tell when I got lost. (Bottom right hand corner..)

P.S. I just learned how to screen shot (I am so behind the times) and I just had to show you by putting my Strava links on here. 🙂

P.P.S. I love these shoes by the way AND they are on sale at Kohl’s. (I took a picture to send to Mike as a hint for a Christmas present!). I also was able to run this week and actually got my 5k under 30 minutes…woot woot! Only 20 more pounds to go and maybe I can get a faster 5k time! 🙂

Olivia had her six month check up too this week. I was glad to get some answers to questions I had. She didn’t grow too much height-wise this past couple of months, but she made up for it in weight. And let’s just say her head is in the 90 percentile, so I have no worries about her head growth. She still is a long thing at almost 26 inches (25.8 to be exact). She was a champ!

I felt like I was in the kitchen the whole week. I was making soup for an Enrichment activity and then I made Mike some corned beef and cabbage, which is an awesome fall/winter food. (Too bad our house stunk. People kept walking in and asking if Olivia had pooped. Ha!) We had a youth activity this week where we made hygiene kits for charity. It reminded me of when we went to the Ronald McDonald house back in April and they had the kits available for us. It makes me feel good that we can give back. I’m always so appreciative of what they did for us.

Transitioning to crib. That’s all I have to say. And let’s just say that it was been a LONG week when it comes to sleep. This girl sure did like her Rock and Play and this mom misses her not sleeping through the night. She is getting better though. She only woke up twice last night!

When in doubt on where to put a baby, laundry baskets work well.

We started off the week with colds. It made for a very fussy mom and child (poor Mike!). Thankfully, we are both out of the clear now, but it sure is nice to get some cuddling in! Remind me that I will not have these times back!

We ended the week by going out on a quick date to a coworker’s wedding. I don’t even remember the last time Mike and I went out and dressed up. It was fun to hang out and have some time together and talk. He sure was a trooper!

And I got to see my lovely friend Stephanie and as we were leaving, I saw my fellow seventh grade science teacher Britt. I sure do miss them! (But not the job…hehe). Hope you all had a great week and Happy Friday!

Question: Do you think wearing black at weddings is bad luck? I was feeling a little guilty tonight about wearing black (mind you that my wedding was black and white) and I swear I have heard that people frown on it. Is that true?

Happy Halloween 2013!

Posted on November 12, 2013 by thefasteryoupedal

I love holidays! For the past five years, I have been cramming the holidays down my husband’s throat! 🙂 Mike isn’t one to celebrate them, but since we have been married he has been a good sport about it. This year we had to continue the holiday extravaganza because now we have a kid to share it with!

There are so many awesome things to do in Las Cruces around Halloween! And we had to dress the part for all the things we did!

Of course we had to bust out with Barney’s hot dog costume, just so I could get a good laugh. He looks so ashamed..

So then I put him in this monkey suit to make him feel even more ashamed!

Speaking of costumes, Mike’s mom was able to make a “Little Peck” (Olivia’s nickname since she has been in my stomach) costume to dress her up in!

We gave it a little try on the trunk or treat we took her to…it was a little too late at night to have too much fun.

We went to the Mesilla Valley Corn Maze and Pumpkin Patch too. Love that place! I look forward to it every year!

Olivia had a good time hanging out with family and going on the hay ride.

Not to mention, Dad had to take her down the slide for the first time. (No reaction by the kid!)

I am looking forward to Thanksgiving in Las Vegas with my family and spending Christmas here with Mike’s family! Happy Holidays!

San Diego 2013

Posted on August 9, 2013 by thefasteryoupedal

Our summer has been full of road trips! Our first one was to San Diego, California at the end of July. We have to go every year as tradition and this year was OIivia’s first time of many trips to come!

When we got there the first night, our first reaction was to go to Mission Beach and touch the water! We were lucky to stay at The Beach Cottages at Mission Beach. I highly recommend them. We just walked straight out to the boardwalk from our room…so awesome. Thanks to my dad for hooking us up with reservations because you have to plan a long time in advance.

We went down to Old Town and ate at the Coyote Cafe and then did some browsing along the shops. You find some very interesting things…

Olivia was so good about travelling around. Thankfully she was going through a sleepy phase and slept a lot while we were down there. I like to say the sea breeze is calming for babies… 🙂

We have always wanted to ride the roller coaster at Belmont Park in Mission Beach. Believe it or not, it is awesome! It looks so small but it packs a punch! We followed up with a Tilt O Whirl ride too. We got soo sick, but it was worth it!

We went down to the Seaport Village and took some family pictures and ate some Ben and Jerry’s Ice Cream. It is pretty sweet to watch the boats move in and out of the docks.

We also rode our bikes up La Jolla Parkway (also known as the Scenic Route )over to Mount Soledad, where you get an awesome 360 view of the city.

My sister and her daughter came along for the trip as well as my dad and his wife. It was really nice to have family along to help out, especially when I am not used to having a little baby on a trip like this!

Aunt Jen bought Olivia a San Diego hat….which she loved!

We took some time over at the Mission Beach park and played on the swings!

This is the view from our hotel room. Sarah and I were walking over to 7 Eleven to get some slurpees. Nothing says summertime like a slurpee!

Our ride back was great! Olivia slept most of the way and was a trooper. We had to make a few pit stops to feed her and change her, but other than that we made it in good time!

It’s a great trip with a lot of FREE things to do when you are there! I love that it is a family tradition!

A Day At The Park

Posted on March 24, 2013 by thefasteryoupedal

The nice thing about this time of year is that we are starting to get out of the winter slump. Thankfully, we live in a town where we don’t get crazy, snowy winters. We have major wind, but on some days you will get the perfect Las Cruces weather, which is the reason why Las Cruces is one of the “Top Ten Places to Retire”.

http://www.lascrucescvb.org/las-cruces-named-a-top-10-sunny-city-to-retire-by-aarp/

And we had one of those days the other day, so Mike and I headed out for a little frisbee playing (courtesy of a frisbee-obsessed hound) and some walking for me. (I have been told to do 20-30 minutes of cardio a day…not counting the million steps I take walking around my classroom all day!)

Every fall the Rio Grande is dried up to preserve water for the irrigation needed in the spring. It is kind of sad because I guess the water levels are pretty low here, so I am curious to see how high it gets when they release the water again.

There is something about the outdoors with your family that makes everything better. It’s so fun to go on “family dates” to the park.

Doesn’t he look like a little kid ready to go to Disneyland??

Mike and Liz Picture A Day

Posted on January 20, 2013 by thefasteryoupedal

A year ago Mike and I decided to do a “picture a day” blog and we were pretty successful from January to April. Then Blogger had to make things difficult on my life and change so I had no idea how to post pictures (I still don’t, but thank goodness for an IPAD with an app that I can semi-figure out).

Anyway, we both have been a little sad about not doing that blog or the old blog from before we got married up until last year (AGAIN…thanks to Blogger. Can you tell I am bitter?). So I am working on it! I was able to get the Mike and Liz Picture A Day blog up again, so here we go again! It’s not centered, but it does the job!

If you are interested….here is the link:

http://mikelizpictureaday.blogspot.com/

I’m excited to do this pre-“baby girl” so we can take pictures leading up to the day. I know that it will be harder once she is around, but it’s worth a try!

Hiking and Biking The Ocho

Posted on October 17, 2012 by thefasteryoupedal

So I have been taking it easy the last couple months now that school has started (stay tuned as to why I haven’t been racing…I’m sure you can guess!). So I decided to go on a hike while Mike biked the Ocho course. Love that course! I love how it has an awesome, long, drawn-out climb, and then once you get to the top….it’s all downhill from there!

I could barely geta hold of Mike on the downhill because of his super speed down the hill!

Meanwhile, Barney and I decided to take a stroll, and of course had to play a quick game of fetch.

We then proceeded to go the top of the hill and see what was on the other side. Since it was close to sunset, we heard a pack of coyotes VERY nearby. If any of you know me, I am insanely afraid of them, plus add the fact that my dog is miniature in size and well…we booked it!

It was nice to get a little jog in on the hike to make it feel somewhat worthwhile. I can’t wait to get back into the exercise routine again.

P.S. Here is Barney’s Halloween costume this year:

My First Triathlon

Posted on September 10, 2012 by thefasteryoupedal

So I finally sucked it up and tried my first triathlon. It just happened. Every month I get an email from White Sands Missile Range letting me know about half marathons, triathlons, or other events going on in town. The Yucca Triathlon popped up a few weeks ago and I talked Mike into doing it considering on our vision board Mike had put “to do a triathlon or duathlon”. When it comes to that board, we can not let anything pass. 🙂

First of all, we only trained a week. The bike has been an ongoing training, but I have to admit the running and the swimming made me a little nervous. I love running in races, just not every day (unless I had a running buddy or something to train for). I knew I was in trouble when we did the Color Run 5k in Albuquerque and I felt like crap. And well, let’s see, the last time I went swimming was…..I can’t even remember. 🙂

The Yucca Triathlon starts out with a 8k run, a 45k bike, and ends with a 400m swim. Mike and I had googled 8k and found out it was around 4 miles, so the whole time we kept thinking it was only a little more than a 5k on the run. Piece of cake. We didn’t look at the decimal until the night before and realized it was 4.9…5 miles! Mike was bummed because of all the rain, they had to shorten the ride to 14 miles. There was a terrible headwind, so it ended up working out that way.

Judging by the picture of me coming in on the bike, you can probably guess what the weather was like! It was cold, rainy, and windy, which made it a memorable experience for the both of us. Mike took off on the 8k with no trouble and stayed with the group. His buddy Jason and I ran together in the back of the group (which was my plan all along). The transition to bike was pretty easy…grab a helmet, and put my bike shoes on and I was off! I’m guessing that part felt awesome to me because of all the biking I have done, but really, it felt awesome. The headwind decreased my speed in half on the way back. I was hitting almost 30 mph on the way out, but on the way back, it was 13-15 mph. The rain also decided to act up at that point too and the other riders looked so mad when I came up on them.

When I came back in, I was SO NERVOUS about the swim. It’s not that I didn’t think my muscles can’t do it. It’s my breathing. I can’t control it enough to go under water and I panic!

I am so glad it was NOT open water. I like having the mental image of eight lanes to go up and down. Since I had a pretty good gap on the people behind me on the bike, I was glad to not have people behind me in the pool. I know this is normally first in a normal triathlon, and I wonder how people do it. But hey, I made it, even after stopping a few times for a few seconds to get my breath.

I did it in 1:52 minutes while Mike finished in 1:28. The cool thing is that they print out all your times so you can compare them to all of the other racers. If I wasn’t so slow on the swim, I actually could have gotten first in my category (30-34)! I ended up in second place and I will take it!

I love the no makeup and crazy swimming hair picture. Mike was making fun of my curly hair trying to escape. It was way crazy!

Mike was in the category called Clydesdale, for guys above 200 pounds. He actually had one of the fastest bike times, so I think he would have done great in his normal category. He rocked it!

We are very addicted and I had a lot of fun! Mike is sitting here right now asking me when is there another one we can do and I am wanting to do it again. Don’t get me wrong, we look like a bunch of 80 year olds walking around today, but it feels so good.

P.S. I am taking a huge liking to swimming too! Mike and I are getting memberships to the local aquatic center. I am so excited!