April 8, 2011

A week in review and other things too

Training:
Source
Swimming:  I am REALLY loving swimming mid morning after the aqua classes.  Seriously, it has been awesome!  AND, I feel like my stroke is finally coming along to the point where I can now focus on speeding things up a bit.
I went to a swim clinic Wed. night led by Carol Sharpless [HERE] and it was pretty good.  A lot of the stuff I already knew, but she did have some good tips and training ideas that I'm going to start working on.  I may even look into how much she charges for swim coaching lessons.  I'm just really freaked out about the swim for IMAZ, so maybe taking lessons will give me a little bit more confidence?!
Part of Cherry Creek State Park
Biking:  I was able to ride outside once this week, and it was awesome!  It was in the low 60s, and I only had an hour to ride, so I did a big loop around Cherry Creek State Park.  It felt great to be outside again!  The weather has been weird here, snow one day, warm sunshine the next.  So, I cannot wait for the days to warm up for good!  Riding outside is just so much more fun than riding on the trainer.

Running:  There's not much to say about my running.  My IT band is still giving me some problems, but it IS getting better!  Woohoo!  The other day, I rulked (run/walk) for about 45 min., walking for .25M, then running for .50M.  Total, I was able to run 3miles!  I felt like I could have continued, but I just ran out of time.  Exercising just takes so much more time when you have to take walking breaks.  BUT, if having to alternate between running/walking is what it will take to heal my IT band, then that's what I'm going to do.  It just sucks though...plain and simple.  I MISS running, I really do.

Other Things Too:
Source
 *  So, my husband and I have decided to put our house on the market.  We actually LOVE our house, the neighborhood, and our neighbors.  But, we would just like to be closer to where my husband works and move into a better school district for our boys.  I know you're probably thinking, "but you just did all of those projects?"  Well, part of the reason we did them was for us, but also to make our  house a little more marketable.  After working REALLY hard to get our house ready, it was finally put into the system a couple of days ago.  Now, it's just a matter of trying to keep it clean.  But, with two boys and a dog who likes to poop every 5 minutes, this has not been easy.
It's a little scary for us because right now isn't exactly the best time to be selling a house.  But, it's just something we feel we need to do.  So, it's just a waiting game now.  Wish us luck!!



*  This is a tree in our neighbor's yard.  Do you see the thing way up on the top??  That is our neighborhood Golden Hawk.  Every spring she returns and takes to the sky.  Last year, she had some babies and we don't know if this one is a "baby" or the adult.  But, there are always several flying around.  We love watching these hawks soar through the sky.  They are amazing and HUGE! But, the coolest thing about seeing the  hawk again is that it truly symbolizes the fact that spring is here!! :)





Here is a close up:


My boys doing their "push-ups"

*  The other day, I was playing outside with my boys and we decided to do an obstacle course around the yard.  We would run in a big circle around the yard, jumping over the obstacles (big trucks, a baseball bat, etc..) along the way.  Then, when we got to the picnic table, we did push-ups and step-ups.  The boys had a blast and thought is was so fun!  We may have to do more of these obstacle courses in the future! :)

Step-ups
Jumping over "obstacles"



I hope you all have a great weekend!!  

I know there are a lot of you out there racing this weekend!  I want to wish the best of luck to all of you!  You can do it!!!  





30 comments:

Jason said...

Congrats on getting out there and riding, running. Super happy to hear about the swimming as well. You got the 2.4.....in the bank.

We have our house on the market as well and it is tough to keep clean and we only have one boy and the dog does go outside so that is a plus but it is tough.

Good luck and bury the statue in the backyard ok. I am rooting for you to sell quickly.

Christi said...

Good luck with your house!

I love the obstacle idea for your boys. Brillant!

I, too, am ready for consistent warm days with minimal wind! We just don't need these wildfires!

Have a great weekend and congrats on your gummi bear win!

Heather said...

That hawk is so cool.
I am glad spring is upon you!!

misszippy said...

I'm glad you are seeing some improvement on the ITB front.

Love hawks--we have red-tailed ones around here and I love to watch and listen to them.

Good luck with the house...things are on the upswing in the market, so hopefully that will help!

Big Daddy Diesel said...

Good luck selling the house, how is your winters, I might be interested!!!

Kurt @ Becoming An Ironman said...

Awesome job with the obstacle course!

A Prelude To... said...

We've finally got a nice day here today so I'm hitting the road for a sunny (if chilly) 25 mile ride. HOORAY!!

My daughter would have loved your obstacle course!! What fun! Maybe we'll set one up in our back yard today.

Good luck on the house!

Julie said...

Welcome to my world with how long thing takes when you are slow. :)

Exciting stuff on the move. May not be a great time to sell but a good time to buy so it all works out right? What area are you heading too?

Yea for the good weather here!

Angela and David said...

Love the obstacle course! And I hear you on the walking making workouts take forever. I miss running too!

teacherwoman said...

Good luck with the house! I just met with a realtor a couple days ago and am hoping for a quick sale!

Beth said...

Good luck with your house! It sounds like a great week, looks like crazy weather again this weekend :/

Triathlon Benchwarmer said...

Love seeing the kids working out.....that is one of my big reasons for doing a triathlon, provide a good example for my kids.

Emz said...

well you have good luck with Gummy Bears -- so you'll have luck on the home sale! ;) says me! ;)

CautiouslyAudacious said...

I'm loving my swim class because it helps me practice what I know I should be doing! Good luck with the house.

Michael said...

I wish I could feel comfortable with the swim. It is such a struggle for me. And this year, the bike is going to be too for awhile as I'm trying to transition to clipless pedals without killing myself. Glad to hear your IT band is healing! Great pics!

Unknown said...

Good luck with the house! I can't imagine trying to keep me house clean enough to sell right now!!

Dawn said...

AH! Another girl who I would love to train with!!!!
I love the swim...just so worried about the open water. ack!

Loving the outdoor play. I'm bringing my 2 younger guys over today:)))

DRog said...

Best of luck with the home sale! hopefully goes okay for you..
also great news on the swimming and improved ITBAnd
I had a massage therapy yesterday and had a bunch of work done on my throbbing itb's!

D

Unknown said...

I love hearing that you are enjoying swimming! And the more you do it, obviously the more comfortable you'll be in the IM. And I love Carole... she's great!

Your boys are too cute!

Keeping you guys in my thoughts with the house selling! :) With all your renovations, someone's going to get a steal I'm sure!

Anne-Marie said...

The obstacle course sounds fun - I used to love doing stuff like that when I was little! Cute pics too!

Glad to hear the running is coming back. Did you ever look into the trigger point therapy massage kit (http://tptherapy.com/) for the IT band? I know a few people who swear by it and I just purchased one myself with the hopes of injury prevention/better recovery.

Kristin Bradfield said...

Don't be freaked by the swim, it actually ends up being a really great part of the Ironman day. It's long but if you put the time in you'll be fine! Lessons help a lot. I'm a terrible swimmer and I do ok :)

That hawk is amazing!

Doreen said...

Yeah! I found you! I love your blog! What fun!!1

Doreen said...

You're added to my blogroll team mate! Hugs

Running and living said...

Awesome, you are getting into training. Weather is turning, too!

About the paddles. I strongly encourage you to get some. I have seen huge progress since I started to use them. They really help you see where the problems in your stroke are, as they exagerate these problems.

I got a pair of plastic paddles from swim outlet. They come in sizes, and I got small. The size has nothing to do with your hand, rather, it is the size of the paddle. Eventually I will get some mediums, but I did not want to risk getting shoulder problems so I went for the lowest risk. Good luck! And keep up the great work!

goSonja said...

You met Sharpie! She is the bees knees. I love that girl. And if you are going to listen to any one voice when it comes to swimming, Sharpie is the one to listen to. She is awesome and very much about baby steps and keeping information manageable. Too Cool!

Amanda@runninghood said...

Okay this answers my question about the weather in Colorado. :) And wow, selling your house! This is big big news. Good luck to you on that! Always hard to move in several ways. Glad your training seems to be going well. One day I will try a tri and come back here and reread all the training you do! ;)

Suzy said...

Thanks so much for the kind words about my recent half marathon. I love the pictures of your kids doing their exercises. Mine do the same thing.

Sage said...

You live in a great area regardless of the house. Good luck on the sale and new home search.

KC (my 140 point 6 mile journey) said...

I hope your house sell quickly! I hear ya on the swimming. Just hired a coach to help refine my swim and he has me doing drills, drills and more drills. Definitely worth doing. Glad to see your running is coming along and that the weather is such that the trainer is going to collect dust.

Regina said...

Good luck selling your house. We went through that about three years ago.

We have red tail hawks here in NYC. They are huge and eat the pigeons (yes!). A pair of them just had babies. It was on the news; exciting times in the city!