MoonValley Grasshopper Bridge 5K, Then and Now

I ran this race two years ago pushing my jogging stroller.

I was excited to look back in the blog so I could do a then-and-now comparison, but found myself disappointed when I realized that this blog was not yet created two years ago.  Is time really going by that quickly?  Life before the blog seems like a few months ago.

I went on a hunt for pictures.  I could not find any.  Did we not take any pictures??
I went on a hunt for pictures taken during the month of September in the year 2010. I could not find any.  Did we not take any pictures for an entire month???

This is why I must blog.
Even if I have nothing positive to say, or simply nothing to say, this blog must forever remain in existence in order for our past to remain in existence. Without a photograph or written proof, all you have is a fading memory that begs the question - Is that really what happened?

Curious as to why we took no photos of September 2010, I went on a mission to learn why.  I opened up computer folders and scoured Photobucket and Picasa photos.   I did remember that I actually did blog back then - it was a riveting blog called, Babies Eat Food, that chronicled the early exploration of their palette.

On Sept.7th, Hayden tried and disliked roasted eggplant:


On Sept. 21st, the babies ate meatballs with rotini pasta for dinner and enjoyed it:


The blog then takes a hiatus but I discovered more after remembering I had a YouTube account.  On Sept. 23rd, the babies played hide-and-go-seek.  This was two days before the race:

I have public records of conversations at an online community I frequented at the time (hi guys) and I made this comment at 10am, the morning of the race.  This must have been during their morning nap. Back then, the babies took two naps.  As of now, I need to beg and pray in order to make them take one.

I placed 3rd in my age group - but back then, I never stayed for awards.  I never cooled-down, nor stayed to mingle.

This year, kids at home, I placed 3rd overall.  I did cool down.  And I did stay to mingle.

As much as I loved racing with my babies, somethings are just more fun on your own.  I spend every waking minute tending to my kids - between feeding these two hungry beasts and making sure they stay alive, there is not much downtime in my day.  It is nice to do something for myself and not have to think of anyone but myself.  Selfish? Yes.  But that is the nature of the sport.  Aside from maybe some charities, people race for one person.  No one saves the world by getting a PR.

And a PR was not my goal - I haven't ran a sub-6 pace for not even a minute since August.  My goal was just to have fun.  And, pick up my summer series overall award.

I didn't look at my watch the entire race but I had to set to auto-lap every mile.
-Mile 1 was easy.  I wasn't even breathing heavy.  5:58.
-Mile 2 started getting hard. 5:56.
-Mile 3 was hard.  I hate running in grass.  6:10.
-.15 to finish: 54 seconds.
Garmin final time:

Their final time:  19:05.










And, I did take pictures this time.

It was a bit of redemption after the debacle of a run last weekend.  I can run. I just need to figure out how to run farther, and how to do it after swimming and biking, while fueling, and in the heat, with no socks and without getting blisters and drinking from water stations without stopping.  I can do that!

Time.

I don't know if it is because I don't have enough time, or simply because it goes by to fast, but I am having trouble managing my time to get everything done.

It seems between work, parenting, swimming, catching up on Dance Moms, cooking, eating and running errands, it is somewhat a struggle to update this blog.  And, I know that is not a massive deal since we only get 75ish hits per day (Hello mom and dad and 73 others!) but it's a deal to me since this is essentially the only place where I record memories.  When time goes by this fast, you have to capture and save as many fleeting minutes as you can.  Life is too short to live and forget.

My babies kids are about to turn 3.  It blows my mind that three years has passed since this:

And that Hayden has gone from this little dude:

To this much bigger little dude:

Or that

they used to look like this in the stroller:             And now they look like this:

Brenna has gone from being the "little sister" to being the smaller "big" sister.  Her maternal instincts have already kicked in as she cares for Hayden most of the time.  She wipes his nose and even feeds him food off her plate after he devours his.  

She brings him his blanket when he cries for it, and finds his yellow car when he loses it.  She hugs him when he cries, and holds his hand in the parking lot.

But, despite Brenna's help, they are still a lot of work.

Luckily, David and I were able to escape this weekend to Flagstaff for a much needed break and a very fun triathlon.  I will post the race report most likely tomorrow - I just need to find the time.

Selfishness, Selflessness and Swimming

I witnessed a conversation yesterday where someone commented that runners were selfish.  Without delving into too much back story, here is the gist of the situation:
   - woman has small kids
   - husband discovers running
   - husband feels entitled to run as much as he desires and is gone from his family numerous nights per week and on weekends.

Most of my friends are runners so obviously I do not agree with the blanket statement, "runners are selfish."   But, I understand the sentiment.

Running is a selfish sport.
Although perhaps on a micro-level other people benefit (i.e, it puts me in a better mood so I am more enjoyable to be around), ultimately running is only about one person: me.

I think it's okay to have a selfish hobby.
I think most hobbies are selfish.
I think we are worth doing things that bring us pleasure and fulfillment.  But the question is - at what expense?

Although I was not really part of this conversation, it is essentially what this entire blog is about:  balancing a selfish hobby with one of the most selfless things in life - motherhood.

Clearly I believe, and hopefully demonstrate, that it can be done.

But, I think the selfishness comes with entitlement.
You know how they say it takes an entire village to raise a child?
It also takes an entire village to create an athlete.
As grateful as I am to have running in my life, it would mean nothing if I did not have my behind-the-scene team.  These people would move mountains so that I could run.

I have given them a shout out before, but it's nearly a year later so I think it's time to do it again.

There is my husband who pumps up my bike tires for me every night before a ride.  I know, I know...he has dreamy eyes.


There is my mom, who watches them when I race.  We also refer to her as "G-Ma".


There is my dad, who is the best cheerleader/photographer.  And he is always coming over so that I can run, or bike.  Oh yeah, or work...I do that, too.


And of course there are my kids.  I couldn't be who I am without them.
They are always willing to sit the jogging stroller...especially if there are cheerios.
They don't mind it if I am all sweaty when I give them a hug.
And they go to the gym-daycare so that I can swim. We went for my one "pre-triathlon" token swim today - as expected, the kids were delighted.
And even more so when we ate at the cafe afterwards.
I know some toddlers are picky eaters, but mine will always eat the $4 special. Today they gobbled up pesto!


Once again, they showed-off their classy and refined etiquette by using forks:


Regality is just a bite away - we just need to work on keeping our mouth closed.

Running Errands, Part 2

You know what they say:  When you have a good idea, run with it!
We decided to do that literally, since we had so much success the first time.

We've been running all over - the BOB has a lot of storage space so short of large screen televisions, we have few limitations.

 There have been a few times I wanted to dash to the grocery store, but I am unsure how frozen items would hold up during the ride back.




As mentioned earlier, Brenna has ambitiously taken over the task of putting her shoes on her feet.  To quell her of any frustrations, I have been making sure there are plenty sandals available.  A few weeks ago, Target had a sale on sandals for just $6.  I asked Brenna which pair she wanted...there was a variety of pink sandals, sparkly sandals, pink AND sparkly sandals on sale - but she turned her nose up at all of them.



She ended up picking out a pair that were $15.  But, I was okay with it because I am desperate to get her to stop wearing her brother's shoes.   I was taught to buy a size too big since kid's feet grow so fast...but unfortunately, I bought them two sizes too big.

Of course Brenna was not happy with this situation.......................................


But, like all good moms, I have a stash of emergency shoes.  You just never know when you will need a new pair of new shoes immediately.


















These were also too big, but just the right amount of too big.  She has been wearing them almost every day.




Last week, we ran to Anna's Linens and Things.  David and I finally figured out that if we have more sets of bed sheets, we can do laundry less.  That is one thing about having young kids - you have a perpetual amount of laundry.  There is never a single moment in the day when you don't need to do laundry, except for those moments when you've spent all day laundering and you look in horror at the mountain of clothing, towels, sheets and mismatched socks that need to be put away.
Sometimes I pretend that I don't see the mountain of clothing (despite tripping over it numerous times a day) but ultimately that fails because a few days later, it's always still there.

Anyway, we got new sheets - they are gray.


We also have ran to Walgreens a few times.
Walgreens is one of my dirty pleasures, I can always find a reason that I need to go to Walgreens.

The kids are rather ambivalent about it.

St Patricks Day 5K Race Report

I ran a small 5K on St Patricks' day (hence the green font, lets call it "festive").  I was lured by the nearly non-existent price tag and free breakfast.  I sandwiched it between a 4 mile run with my friends, and a 4 mile run "cool down" to make it my weekly long run.


The very exciting thing about this race was that David ran it as well - and to make an unusual event even more noteworthy, he ran it with the kids.  It was our first family race!


Awkward pose with the sun in our eyes:



Much better, except the kids look miserable:



At first, I longingly wished I was pushing the stroller. It was a fleeting feeling though since the course was hilly and the air was windy. I know I have said it before but I will say it again - the only thing harder than pushing that stroller up a hill is pushing the stroller in the wind.  It just doesn't move!


There was not any competition at the race, which was disappointing. I like racing, and I would have been satisfied with a woman or man or even a dog. I won but without anyone chasing me so it was more like a tempo run.  It was still fun though and good training for upcoming events.


I did wear a Garmin and took the occasional glance at my avg pace. Mile 1 was 6:19. Then there was a very steep hill to the turn around, slowing my average pace to 6:40. But, what goes up must come down so I was back down to 6:20 by Mile 2. Crossed the finish line with an average pace of 6:19 - final time, 19:37.


After my win, I turned around to go find David.




He looked miserable but the kids looked delighted! I made this collage to help savor the moment.  I may have gotten a little carried away with the Snagit Editor.  It brings me back to my childhood days when I always made collages as gifts for my mom.  Of course back then I used magazine clippings and Elmer glues and they probably looked better.



Afterwards we feasted on the post-race buffet of eggs, yogurt, fruit, green jello and pomegranate smoothies.


And then David took a well-deserved nap until one of Brenna's tantrums woke him up.  We will talk about that some more perhaps another day.

Yes, We Still Do That

Although we are still hitting up the paved road as a dynamite triad, it's been less frequent than usual. This is partly because I have been indulging in my own fitness and partly because we have been busy doing things.  Fun things!

For example, this week we went to the train park to ride the train.




We also went on a playdate with Michael. Here he is being chivalrous and cooking a pasta meal for Brenna:


But of course he is doing it wrong. Poor boy.


I do think with potty-training looming in the foreseable future, that running will become more challenging. I am not sure that I can fit two potties in the stroller, not with all the cheerios and whatnot that we carry.

But I would love to squeeze out one more race.

We did a fartlek style run yesterday.
I find that this is the best kind of speedwork to do with the stroller because it is so random. You can stop and start each interval at your convenience - and sometimes with the stroller, you need to stop at the drop of a hat.

Or should I say at the drop of a sippie cup.

In between stopping to pick things up and cross the street (we do not jay-walk)
  patiently waiting...........


we did lots of intervals. The longest was 4:20 and the shortest was 2 minutes. Most were between 2:15-3:15 and our pace hovered under 6:30. We got into the low 6:20s for the shorter intervals.

A sub-20 5K, assuming the course is not long, would require a 6:25 pace. I do think that we could pull this off on the right course. But the "right" course is a tricky thing to find:
- It must be wide
- It must be paved
- It must be flat
- It must not have sharp u-turns
- It must be a small and uncompetitive race where people do not mind of we start in front

I have recently turned my focus to duathlon training - I am not sure I want to divide my focus.
But my kids love to run.


And I think they would like to do one more race.

We will talk about it.

Gender Roles

I think one of the interesting things about having boy/girl twins is watching them independently fall into their specific gender roles.  David will tell you  that I have coached Brenna to be a typical "girl" by dressing her in pink onsies as a baby - but it's not like I only dressed her in pink.  For example:


Looking lovely in brown: 

And can  you even tell which one she is?

I buy the kids a lot of toys, everything from dolls to matchbox cars to coloring books.  I never dictate who plays with what - but Brenna has never shown interest in a matchbox car, whereas these are Hayden's favorite thing to play with.

The discrepancy has been put into a true light as I have finally gotten around to decorating their rooms.  Being a mom has forced me to get my hands dirty in areas that are not my forte (ie, organizing and room decorating).  I think that is why it has taken me 2.5 years to finally get around to it.

While most moms "nest" during their third trimester by doing laundry, painting walls and buying expensive bedding, I spent my last weeks watching episodes of Rock of Love.

Brenna's room is filled with things that interest her: fake flowers that she picked out at the dollar store gladden her wall, as well as sparkly butterflies in matching colors.  Pictures of ballerinas line her crib for her to look at night, and I dipped my thumb into a metaphysical paint can by applying decals:

Excuse the bad lighting, photography is also one of those inept, yet required, "mom skills" I am working on.

I also made this interesting collage made out of baby shoes:


I just moved onto Hayden's room - shoes and flowers and butterflies will take no place on his walls. His interests include cars, trucks, trains and dinosaurs. He also has a particular fondness for buses, in fact, "school bus" was one of his first words.

When we go on playdates, I often will see a boy playing with a doll or another girl-designated (aka pink) toy. But just like I have never seen Brenna pick up one of the 50 toy dinosaurs we have in our house, I have never seen Hayden show any interest in anything remotely "girly".

Well, I take that back...
a few days ago he did put on Brenna's high heels for a brief second:



But the moment lasted only long enough for me to snap some pictures, and then he took them off and pretended that they were cars.


I guess the saying "Boys will be boys!" is true in our house.

School

As I mentioned a few weeks ago, preschool was on the horizon! I specifically was trying to get Brenna into a developmental preschool program - but all I managed to do was get her on the waiting list.

So as we wait, I enrolled both kids in an ASU pre-school course. It's two hours every Monday and Wednesday morning. Half of that consists of snack time, because two hours is too long to go without food.


They encourage kids to eat their snacks with the appropriate utensil, and also encourage kids to drink out of cups (as opposed to sippies or straw cups). This means that Hayden comes home very dirty every day but aside from that, preschool has been very successful!!

In fact, ever since they started 2 weeks ago, Brenna has not thrown a single tanrum when I dress her. Sometimes she will pick out her outfit, encoaching on what could perhaps be considered "couture".


Although I am not claiming that I dress her any better, the other day I winced when I saw her backside in a pair of pants leggings that I selected for her. Leggings need to be layered, even on the best behinds:



It just makes me giddy when I say, "Brenna, would you like to get dressed?" and she smiles and comes and sits in my lap.
So easy!
So simple!

The ASU toddler preschool program is fantastic. It is run my grad students so each child gets a lot of attention - and ASU itself makes for fantastic stroller running...so much pavement.  You just need to watch out for all the other wheels (cyclists, skate boarders, rollerbladers, electric scooters, segways - it is quite crowded out there.


I am not the only one who has been running, the kids are still training for their upcoming 100 meter race. We were sidelined over the weekend when Hayden got sick. I knew he was sick when he fell asleep watching Dance Moms:

  Because,
   A. He has not fallen asleep on the couch since he was 3 months old.
   B. Who can fall asleep during the riveting and addictive drama of Lifetime reality TV???

Babies Train, Session 2

The babies and I hit up the park for our regular exercise training.

I could tell it was going to be a good day when everyone allowed me to put on their shoes and socks. I won't say that there was no resistance, but it was minimal. These days, "minimal" is as good as it gets.


After playing, I asked, "Who wants to run?" and both kids dashed over the sidewalk. And just like that, Brenna flew off in an impressive sprint, leaving Hayden in the dust sand.


Pacing is a learned skill and Brenna quickly tired out, giving Hayden the opportunity to catch up:



And then Brenna become distracted by something on the ground, something so minuscule that only a toddler's eye would be interested. Perhaps it was an ant, or a piece of grass.


Hayden decided to steer clear of the course to run down a hill. Brenna gleefully followed.


As we all know, downhills are fun but uphills are work. Hayden got fatigued and Brenna sprinted forward once they returned to the sidewalk. Just like her mom, she sticks her tongue out, revealing her deep concentration.


Unable to resist his urge to peer over the overpass, point and say, "car", Brenna made the final pass:


And like nothing short of a rock star, Brenna gave it her all until the end:


Although it wasn't technically the end - we still had a little longer until we returned to the park - but in the life of a toddler, the end is when you feel like being done. It's where you sit down.


After all, when you are two, logistics are not your problem.