Longhorn Ironman 70.6

Okay, for those of you who facebook, this will b repetitive....& for those of you who don't (DADDY!!!!), here you have it!!!

FINISHED!!! 5 Hours, 34 minutes!!!

Transition 1... thousands of bikes! (Someone asked and no, that is not me in the photo!)

Contemplating throwing in the towel.... just by looking at the hefty swim!

The swim waves were in age groups and a different heat went every 5 minutes

SO, I LOVED THE RACE!!! LOVED, LOVED, LOVEEEDDD ALL 70.3 MILES OF IT!!! Even the swim; which I totally suck at! It consisted of a 1.2 mile swim (my time=43 minutes), 56 mile bike ( 2 hours, 51 minutes= average speed of 19.6 mph) & 13.1 mile run at the end (1 hour, 52 minutes =8:33 average minutes per mile.) 22nd place in age group/wave & 96th overall!

Running into the arena for the finish! I love the sign that is being held up in the background... "Enjoy the Moment!!"

The only downfall to all of this is that now, I have my heart set on completing a full Ironman=140.6, in Arizona, as soon as next year. That is also the dilemma. I'm having an inner battle trying to decide what is best for my family. I felt good on Sunday when I finished, GREAT! Had it been the full, I think I could have done it, for sure.!! BUTTTT... I won't lie! I trained my tail off, REALLY! I tried my hardest to have it take away the least amount of time possible away from the fam., but there were just days, especially on the weekends, that I couldn't get around being gone during the day for 4 hours or more.... AND THOSE DAYS SUCKED!!! It's one thing to be gone for an hour or so run (I like to call it "free therapy"), but being gone for HOURS, brings a tremendous amount of guilt and stress on. Again, the feeling of completion is amazing, but it came at a huge expense.... emotionally, financially, physically... and I realize all those things. This isn't a poor mans sport! U know you're f-d in the head when you start selling things to buy race running shoes or those hefty entry fees ($280 for the Longhorn!!!) I know, $280 to RACE, that, in itself, is CRAZY!!!

So, a lot to think about and ponder during this "off season." Now, marathon training will kick in and I'm planning on running the Austin 26.2 in February. I know this will come as a shocker, but I'm going to take a huge (for me) hiatus from Thanksgiving- January 1st off and spend every minute with my family... they deserve it!!! I think Andrew is more relieved that it's over than I. For me, I feel as if I checked that goal off and now what's next???.... obviously the 140 miler!!!

Any takers on buying me a tri-bike???? What, it's only like $4,000!!!!

Catching butterflies!

Okay, I hope you're all in need of a good laugh this am because this, THIS, was comical!!! With a million butterflies swarming all around, you would THINK it would be an easy task to get ONE, just one damn butterfly, in the freakin' net!!! No, hell-to-the NO, we were out there for an hour, and I think we succeeded MAYBE 3 times. Andrew attempted first.... until I got completely frustrated with him because HELLLOOOO they were all around us and he was taking FOREVER to catch one!! So, I took the net (in a pissed off "I'll show you fashion") & went at it myself. Mmmm.... as you can see, it was way more difficult than I initially thought and found myself spinning in circles while the kids/Andrew laughed out load behind me!

Oh, and in attempt to do so, I knocked Salem over, sent her into a crying frenzy, pissed Andrew off for doing so/not having more SA &....... eventually threw in the towel... after I caught my precious butterfly a flippin' butterfly of her very own!!

Next time, I'm buying a bigger damn net!

Ahoy, Matey!

I decided to dress Tavin up in one of his Halloween costumes over the weekend... just to make sure it would fit!!! I even taught him to "growl" (not sure what else to call it that they do), "Rrrrrrrrrrr", like a pirate!

Comal County Fair

I LOVE THIS ONE!

I ventured out and took the little ones to the fair this past weekend. Much to my surprise, Salem LOVED riding the rides.... so much so, that Andrew, had to take her back the very next day! The smiles, laughs & photos, are well worth the overpriced tickets & overall ambience one has to deal with when making are cupcakes happy!

Uncle Tanner!

Me and my mommy!

My brother, Tanner

Yaya came and left... again!! She also brought a special gift along with her this time... MY BROTHER, Tanner.!!! We did a few local trips to Austin, Fredericksburg, River Walk, etc. ; but most of all, we just hung around su casa and chilled.... my favorite! A couple nights, we busted out the scrapbook goods and went to town... just us 3 girls! Fun times!

1st Day

They BOTH have the Daddy side-grin!

Salem and her teacher, Mrs. Savtora (she's French.) Oh, and some annoying classmate who never let up on the crying...seriously...get a load of yourself kid..what r u 3 or something!??

It has been a challenging week around here. Salem started preschool 2 days per week..... and I'm not sure how I feel about this. Mixed feeling is a better way to describe it. I love her going because she loves it and is all around ready to be in a school environment; however, I am struggling with her not being in arms length away from me. It's a WONDERFUL, local, montessori school... and other than me not being "right there" if need be, I don't have any other complaints. She goes 5 hours twice a week, and even gets in an hour of gymnastics on Thursday mornings ( one of the high-roller families @ the school paid for ALL the kids to have this every week ALL year long!!!.. CRAZY! Meaning.... they pay the local gym facility to come to the school for lessons and utilize the gymnasium equipment THEY bought the school!) We're very grateful for this, for we forfeited this extracurricular activity when Tavin came along.

Other than that, we're all around crazy-busy... as we all are! My mom is flying in tomorrow, girls night out in the PM (with some bowling action), my Lance Armstrong Team olympic triathlon is in Austin on Monday, brother coming to town Tuesday, driving to Arlington next weekend to watch my cousins Texas Ranger baseball game, home for a few days, then flying to

LA for the weekend after that. HOLLY COW!!! Not to mention the IronMan is approaching at a hight rate of speed & training is kicking into high gear!!! Life is good, life is good.... I can't complain a bit... Other than I still wish I had a nanny to do complete random tasks that I don't feel like doing. Oh, and one that would work for under minimum wage is also preferred!

Tavi is busy motoring around these days and getting into anything his fat-rollie hands can get into! He is also cutting teeth...that's all I'm going to say about that!

3

Her and her BFF, McCoy

I REALLY cannot believe my precious baby luvs is 3!!!! Today, 3 years ago, we brought her home to our sweet, little house (that I miss like crazy), in the North Pole. There are days (many of days), where I wish I could turn back time and relive those 3 years. Make better decisions, slow down a bit, videotape her growing up more, RELAX, not worry about keeping up with daily expectations, but just CHILL out and do nothing with my family. Yepppppp........., but THATTTTT won't happen; and as usual, our week is jam packed with things to do, apts., errands, play dates, must-haves, to-do's; aahhhh.... if only we had a nanny to scrub our kitchen floors after every meal with a toddler, 8 month old, and hairy-ass dog!!! Then, I think life would be much more manageable!

So, I leave you with photos from her 3rd birthday pool bash at the YMCA. I will be hosting all parties from here on out outside of the home; I cannot even begin to tell you how nice it was to not have to clean before and after a par-tay'! Genius!

Tavi crashed out on mama

The butterfly cupcake-cake..with her name, nor age, written on it what-so-ever! I'm a terrible mother!

And what would be a party without the kids making/decorating their own visors????? I'll tell you...not a party!

My girlfriend Cathryn (from Alaska), with her beautiful daughter, Vika

Indy

Okay, I HAD 2... a bar downtown Indy

Catching up, catching up, catching up.... I'm pretty sure that has become my life story!! I try my hardest to stay 2 steps ahead, but it seems to be the opposite 99% of the time! Haven't I said this all before??? I sound like a broken record..really!

In case you were wondering...yes, he is still fat!

So..... two weeks ago, our jet setting trip began! I flew with the kiddos to Orlando, dropped them off with Andrew's parents, flew to Indy to spend the weekend with Andrew, then pressed for a 4 day girls trip from there, then back to Orlando, picked up the kids and flew home! I must also mention that I had a triathlon the day after I got home; which I would never recommend doing after being on vay-cay for 2 weeks... What was I thinking??? I did end up doing better than I thought I would, so I guess I can't complain!

Downtown Indy

Now, we're gearing up to have Salem's 3 year birthday party on Sunday (tears!!), Andrew's parents flying here on Monday, then we fly out (again), to Manhattan for 5 days... ALONE!!!

Andrew is #2



My girlfriend, Alex

Indy..... Andrew went there to do the Nascar flyover at the Brickyard 400. I had never seen Nascar before, and I can't say I have any desire to see it again! Sitting in the bleachers as a "normal spectator" sucked, but once we were able to get into the Pagoda/press boxes with the boys, things took a huge turn..4 the best! It was an experience I will never forgot (mostly involving the clientele) and it was touching to see how grateful thousands of fans were to the guys military service. They had little kids, all the way up to the high-rollers in the press boxes, asking for autographs and taking pictures with them. I mean, WOW, it was a sight to see!!!

Kissing the bricks...the winners tradition! I HAD to do pushups on the them...would you expect anything less from me???...I think NOT!!
Jimmie Johnson's trophy


View from the Pagoda Winner!! I won't lie...he touched me.... and I won't complain!

We also had some tennis connections, that allowed us to hit up the World Tennis Championship, that was (oddly enough), being held that same weekend in Indy. We watched Samurai Sam defeat his Canadian opponent in the semi-final match. Below are pictures of his traveling entourage that sling-shot headbands, t-shirts, etc. into the crowd during breaks; it is classic!

And this is what Salem did the entire time I was gone.....

Rumor has it, that she only changed out of the princess dress to go get in her bikini for some pool time!

Now, I'm off to the doctor to get her ruptured eardrum looked at from all that swimming! My guess is that they'll ask me to keep the fishy out of water. Hhhhmmm.... the princesses pool party on Sunday should be interesting!