Non-running Activities

Even though I kind of hope that one my kids will love running like I do, my main hope is that they just love something.  I am very lucky to have passion.  And, no matter what happens in my life, I know I have my running to make me happy.

It remains unseen what Hayden's first interest will be, but Brenna has blatantly fallen in love with ballet.  I think its a wonderful first sport since it includes her other two interests:  pink things and mirrors.

Her 30 minute dance is comprised of three components:  tap, changing shoes, and ballet.

Luckily we have all the equipment required for her to practice at home - a floor and full length mirrors:

The only problem with dancing (if she decides to take seriously once she realizes she looks good in other colors) is that it is hard on the body.   I watch Dance Moms so I know a little about it.  And, I relate to it because if anything is harder on the body than dance, it is running.

I am extremely proud to say I have managed to make it through the entire year of 2012 without a single injury. 

For a split second, I forgot why I did not get injured.

I forgot why this blog is called Twins and Triathlons, not Twins and Tons of Running.

Even though I enjoy biking and tolerate swimming, at the end of the day, I rather run.  I mean, at the end of the day, I rather run do just about anything.  I continuously and conscientiously must keep myself in check to maintain self control.  But lately, things have felt so good and have been so fun, I started to question if I wanted to do triathlons.  Why not just run?

I canceled my cycling coach and skipped my swims to frolic at South Mountain.  My heart thought it was a brilliant idea but my body thought otherwise.  Only after two weeks, my hip started to hurt.

I refuse to be sidelined so I immediately returned to my normal schedule.

I went back to hot yoga.

I went back to Masters class.

And I resumed my cycling coach.  

I am lucky that my body lets me run over 40 miles a week without injury.  I will never be an elite marathoner with that mileage but I dont even like marathons anyway!

On the bright side, it is rewarding to get better at three sports vs one sport.

Well, at least I think I am getting better at swimming?

And I think I am getting better on the bike?

At least better outside - not so much better on the rollers.  I am going to call this the Before Video because I am hopeful.  And obviously do not embarrass easily.

Update on my Leg

Hopefully no one has lost any sleep over this - I assure you guys that my leg is OK.

I did an easy test run yesterday, 6 miles at around an 8:10 pace. There was no pain, but there was significant tightness. I made the decision to take the rest of the week off.

Being injured is my biggest fear - I rather rest now and feel great next week than push it now and be injured next week! It's a bit hard because my leg is a lot looser today. I can jump and skip with glee...but, the pain during the race was very real, so I want to remain very careful.

There is smart. And there is silly.

In life, I tend to be silly. For example, the other day I took my daughter grocery shopping dressed like this:


Mommy Tip #285: When taking your toddler out in public, dress your child so ridiculous that the only conclusion is that your child dressed themself. This way, no matter how much they run


or how loud they yell


they wont get a single dirty look. Even the bitter old lady wont have the heart to do so.

But anyway, it comes to training, I dont want to be silly. I want to be smart. Since I dont have any races right now, it only makes sense to take a few days off...even if I think I feel fine.

So, I put Mr.Coach on hold for two weeks. That gives me this week to recover, and next week to vacation.

Since Mr.Coach is on hold, I decided to go to Mr.Bike Man. I am a relatively new cyclist. Not that long ago, I didnt even consider myself a real cyclist. In the past few months, I have gotten much faster and now not only am I a "real" cyclist, I am an arrogant and cocky cyclist.

One of my favorite things to do is play the game: Find a Man on a Fancy Bike and Pass Him. The more they resist, the more fun the game is. Sometimes I even play Find the Group of Men on Fancy Bikes and Pass them All. I never lose, and I return home feeling like I have done a service to women everywhere by proving that skinny girls in pink bike shorts can kick ass.

However, I keep hearing from my friends that I can be an entire mile per hour faster with aerobars. One of my friend even gives me aerobars. They say "Ironman" on them and this makes them cool. I figured, If I put them on my bike, I will be cool too!

So, hence my visit to Mr.Bike Man.
Unfortunately, he did not think they were cool. They were on his "unacceptable parts" list. However, he said he could "make it work."

He also did not seem convinced that I was ready for aerobars.
Mr. Bike Man is very wise - he knows there is more to being a good cyclist than going 22+ mph. There is skill.

To prove his point, and rightfully knock me off my pedestal, he made me put my bike on rollers:


Based on this single experience, I have concluded that rollers are stupid.

In order to balance on the rollers you have to use your hips - which is the same concept of aerobars. I lasted a whopping two minutes.

Regardless, I know I have aerobars on my bike.


This means that I am either now a force to reckon with,
or a disaster waiting to happen.

I'll let you know!