IRONMAN

Eric completed his first Ironman on November 20, 2011

(almost exactly a month after the twins were born)

This is the only picture we have from the event. I was alone with both babies all day and never had a free hand to take any pictures of Eric as he raced the course. Most of the time I was nursing a baby or running from place to place trying to catch glimpses of him as he zoomed by. He was incredible and did an amazing job. Such a huge accomplishment!

utah half ironman

E raced in the UT Half Ironman the same weekend we were in Park City.  He rocked it! The goal was to complete it in under 5 hours and he came in at 4:56.

I love watching E race. Although this time, being 30 weeks pregnant with twins was a little hard on the body. But it was still great. I couldn't help but think of November when E does the AZ Ironman, the boys will get to see their dad race too.

Good job E, you inspire me!

splash and dash

Eric has done this race once or twice. It's a short swim in the Tempe Town Lake and a short run next to the lake. I got to go watch him once a couple weeks ago, it was fun. I always love watching Eric race.

the race

The race went well, I finished.















When I originally started training for this half marathon, I set my sights on completing it in under 2 hours. As the race neared, I decided that my goal should be just to finish. So on race morning I felt good and relaxed with no expectations. Miles 1-3 went fast and I felt great. When we hit mile 8 and were still holding a 9:00 min/mile pace, I felt elated. I think I said to Jess several times, "If I can keep this pace, I will be able to do it in under 2 hours". Then came mile 11... I slowed down considerably and my thoughts changed too. I went back to my motto of, "Just finish the race". The last 2 miles felt like forever and I was determined not to walk {I didn't}. I crossed the finish line with a time of 2:02. My running partner, Jessica, finished in 1:57 {she's amazing and fast... could not have done it without her}.























Immediately after I finished I felt weak and wobbly but emotionally I felt happy and strong. The race was a great journey of discovery, empowerment and determination.

Next time I will finish under 2 hours.

it all comes down to this

race is tomorrow
i am excited
and a little nervous


this is big for me
i will be so happy
when i'm done


think about me
tomorrow at 7:30
i will need it

la marathon

he did it and he did it good.

redlands classic

We got home from backpacking just in time to see the last leg of the Redlands Bicycle Classic. It was pretty sweet to see all the bikers riding around the roads of our town.

story: This leg of the race was a loop course and they had to do 12 laps. We decided to walk along the road and see them at different points all along the course. At one point we happened to be walking next to a huge bush. At this exact moment the peloton swooshed by. Next thing I know, a full coca cola can is being hurled at me... hits me right in the tricep and explodes. I was in total shock, it was hilarious. The bikers throw stuff off to the side all the time, we just happened to be in the perfect spot for some soda to be thrown at us. It was pretty sweet. I had a red rectangle mark on my arm the rest of the afternoon and Eric couldn't stop laughing at the fact that I got hit with a coke can.

race day

The race was really low key. Only 28 people participated in the 10k. But it was still great. I loved running on the boardwalk along the beach. It was such a beautiful day. Jessica was a great running partner. I don't know that I could've kept my pace without having someone to do it with.

After the race we hung out at the beach for a couple hours. I fell asleep immediately and of course got sunburned. Eric and I walked around 3rd street promenade in Santa Monica and ate some really good pizza. Because the race was so low key there wasn't a race tshirt or a prize for finishing. So I bought this in dark charcoal and called it my prize. Plus it's a lot cuter than a race tshirt.

results

My pace was 9:22 min/mile. My finish time was 57:31. I accomplished my goal and that's all that matters. It was a great race.

Now onto the half marathon. Hopefully running 13 miles will start appealing to me more as we get closer to the race in May.

My pictures of the race will be up tomorrow(not that anyone is dying to see them, but I'm sure my mom will enjoy them). If for some reason you can't wait for mine, you can check out the event photos here.

Tour of California

We finally had people come visit us, yeah! Mike, Paul and JD came down for the Tour of California and it was lots of fun. They played tennis on Friday morning and we layed out by the pool in the afternoon. We also played lots of Wii.






















Saturday we went to Pasadena to watch Stage 7 of the tour. It was awesome. They did 5 laps around the rose bowl and we watched them zoom by each time. We saw Lance Armstrong, Levi Leipheimer, Floyd Landis, Dave Zabriskie and many more. I loved it and I think everyone else did too.

Here are Levi and Lance. Levi is in the yellow jersey in front and Lance is behind him in the yellow helmet.




























Mike and Eric played Tap Defense (app on iphone) non stop. no joke. We got Mike hooked.

Sunday we drove towards Escondido and stopped in the Palomar mountains to see the cyclists again. We got a great spot right as they were turning a corner.

We got real close... as you can see in the picture below. I was inches from Lance's face, it was great. It was such a rush to see these cyclists racing, I loved the experience.

I was a cooking machine over the weekend... Blueberry muffins, 2 batches of home made salsa, Salmon and brocolli, Root beer freezes, Lemon poppyseed muffins, Cinnamon french toast, Chicken enchaladas with rice and beans, Smoothies and Cinnamon strussel. I loved it! It was great to have people stay with us, we had a really good time.