Update

Yesterday I did another marathon, this time in Richmond Virgina.  It was very cold out, around 25 degrees at the start and warming up to a sunny 37 by finish time. I had a good time but I am much more sore than after my previous marathon just 3 weeks ago.  Overall I am very happy and proud of all the races I did this year and look forward to next years races!

When I came home from Richmond I was greeted with a very colorfully decorated Christmas tree - tons of colored balls, lights and tinsel!   I know the boys had fun setting it all up :)

Today we finished making our family tree project for school.  This is Dexter's first big Kindergarten project.  Last week we selected the pictures of the family and printed them out, then we wrote on the back their name and place of birth.  Then Dexter and Dan found some tree branches and we attached everyone to the family tree.  Dexter will present his tree to the school on Wednesday so we have a bit of practicing to do to remember which state everyone was born.  We have Connecticut, Wisconsin, Illinois, California, Florida, Massachusetts, Maryland and Ohio represented on the tree!

Race Day!

 This morning we woke up bright and early to drive into DC and have the big race!  I was very excited to wear my race shirt and my number.  It was however kinda boring waiting with Daddy for the adults to finish and let me do my kids race. 

Here we are before the big race - Nana walked 3 miles, I ran/walked 1 mile and Mommy ran 6 miles.

Sweaty and Stinky mommy - it started to get pretty hot towards the end

We all did great!  Mommy finished in 56:34 (17th of 98 in her division).  Nana finished in 51:36 (5th of 11 in her division).  My race was not officially timed, but mom's watch said I did my mile in 20:30.  We all got medals, water and bananas after we finished.    I wasn't sure what to expect with my kids run - but I did great.  I sprinted out the first 50 yards and then I saw I had a long way to go and alternated walking with occasional bursts of runs or splashing in puddles.  I never asked to be carried and finished strong with a dash into the finish line to collect my medal. 

Olympic Triathlon

I kicked it up a notch this weekend and did a Olympic distance triathlon. My goal was to finish between 3hours 30min and 4 hours - well I did just that with a time of 3:45:54 The race conditions were pretty perfect for New Mexico - it was hot in the 90s but amazingly there were clouds out (usually there are hardly any clouds here) so it was a bit of a break from the intense heat. The race elevation varied from 5200-5700 feet above sea level.

My breakdown times were:
0.9 mile(1500meter) swim: 38:56
25 mile bike: 1:44:01
6.4 mile run: 1:16:59

Each leg was about 10-15minutes longer than if I only did that single event in training but I was trying to pace myself and just finish more than anything else. The swim was definatly the hardest part for me. Swimming in a lake with waves and other people is kinda overwhelming, the first 500 meters took a lot out of me and I found myself just flipping over to my back several times to just relax and breathe easier.

My next race is back to a sprint distance (400meter pool swim, 15 mile bike, 3.2 mile run) and is in 2 months. Although it is a shorter distance this one is in the foothills of the Sandia mountains so it is going to be very hilly for both the bike and run. Also part of the run is on trails so it will be a different type of challenge!

The picture is of my friend Kim and me right before the race. Kim kicked my butt and finished in 3:28:45!!