IM Maryland

Ironman Maryland, where to start.  Jeremy had planned on doing this race for months as his final season race.  After Boulder I just didn't feel done and decided that now was as good as time as any to do my first full Ironman.  I already had a solid base, Jeremy was flying out there anyway, and I needed to prove to myself that I could do all 140.6 miles of that crazy race.  I admit, it's been insane having both of us train for a full at the same time.  Our kids were incredibly patient and understanding, but I think they were glad this race was finally here.  My mom flew out to watch the kids while Jeremy and I flew to Maryland.  

By the time we booked a hotel, there was really nothing left.  I found a room on booking.com for a guest house nearby.  I thought that we'd have one room in the guest house but have to share the common space or kitchen.  We were shocked to discover that we had the entire house to ourselves!  There were four bedrooms, two bathrooms, a kitchenette, jukebox, arcade game, pool, and access to their dock, kayaks, and the Miles River.  We totally scored! 

 

Not only did we have all the space we could wish for, but the decorations in the house were so much fun.  This family has done a lot.  I mean, how many couples do you know that have a picture with President & Laura Bush?  

Or a poster signed by John Glenn?  

Or an entire newspaper article written up for you because you walk on biplane wings?  Or newspaper clippings from when you had a live leopard at your bar?  Or a custom made stained glass window just because you like the original painting? It was insane, but very cool.  

When we weren't at the race venue, we were loving life at the guest house.  We took the kayak out for an easy paddle and just floated as we watched the sun set.  

Zipper enjoyed a little paddle time too.

The sunsets there were beautiful!  

We checked out the crabs in their cage hanging off the dock.  

And just enjoyed how peaceful and quiet it was there.  I admit, my butterflies for this race were prehistoric size, so having a nice place to relax was invaluable.  

As a bonus, the hosts, Will and Dorothy were incredibly personable and kind.  We loved checking in with them as we came and went and they were just as excited for our race as we were.  In fact, fast forward a bit to after the race and we had this waiting for us on our door.  Sweet right?

Down at the venue we checked in and everything seemed so real all of a sudden.  I tried to play it cool and took advantage of some photo ops down there.  

My kids can't figure out why I was allowed to write on this car, but when I've actually had a motto during this training session it makes perfect sense.  "If your dreams don't scare you, they're not big enough."  Believe me, I've been plenty scared for this dream of completing a full.

   Jeremy's motto is, "I'm a machine."  He really is.  Have you seen him on the bike?  

Trying to shake off the nerves by doing some cartwheels as we made our way back to our car.  

Too soon, it was race morning.  In some ways I wasn't as nervous as I thought I'd be because I've done the race morning prep many times.  Every part of that morning was completely familiar and that helped a lot.  The final porta-potty line took a lot longer than we expected and we were still standing there through the national anthem and when the first gun went off!  Yikes!  So much for a zen state before the race started.  We dashed off to the starting chutes.  I was pulling on my wetsuit as I weaved through athletes already lined up.  I wanted to make my way to the very front and I'm sure I received a lot of eye rolls since I was wearing my first timers cap.  I barely made it to my wave, but I wish I would've been right up front.  I had to spend a lot of time weaving through swimmers who really didn't belong in that wave.  There were moments when I was free, and that was wonderful.  Overall the swim went amazing well and I came out knowing that I had done my job there.  I took 1st in my age group and 3rd overall!  The transition was so short that I didn't have a chance to get my wetsuit pulled down before the volunteers were there.  Then we tripped over each other in the change tent, which a new experience for me.  

Finally I was situated on my bike and was mostly ready for this leg.  I've never ridden 112 miles before, and I have had a few unfortunate flat tire experiences lately so I tried really hard not to be terrified.  My plan was to keep it nice and even so I didn't blow myself out too early.  I kept it comfortable all right, and as a result I was passed continuously.  The road wound through some gorgeous wetlands, and I can't complain about the scenery at all.  However, because I was just getting passed over and over again, and because it was so flat that I didn't have anything to take my mind off the ride, I started to doze off!  Falling asleep was not part of the plan.  I jumped off the bike around mile 54 to take a potty break and reset my brain.  It worked, and I was able to avoid sleeping.  My training was amazing.  I made it through all 112 miles without any problems at all, and as a bonus I made it under that 6:00 barrier!  

Now onto the run.  Once again, I thank my training for making it so I completely didn't lose my mind over the fact that I now had a marathon to run!  I felt pretty good the first third of the race.  Jeremy and I passed each other a few times and even he was looking good.  The second third of the race was not pretty.  I started feeling dizzy, nauseous, and my legs hurt so much.  I had to stop and clear my head because I was afraid I was going to pass out.  Unfortunately, Jeremy did collapse on the course.  He was at mile 23 and medics were called to check him out.  Luckily they let him finish the race, but I know Jeremy was disappointed with how that turned out.  The only way I made it over my slump was because I had some ibuprofen in my special needs bag which I took and it made all the difference.  Once it kicked in I felt like a new athlete.  My stride felt strong, my form felt solid, my pace picked up, and I was feeling happy again.  That feeling carried me all the way to the finish line.  Towards the end you can hear Mike Reilly calling out to the athletes, "Congratulations, you are an Ironman!"  I started crying when I heard it because I knew I just had one short mile to go before he'd be calling that out to me.  I had made it!  I sprinted down the finish chute feeling incredible.  I decided that I was even going to cartwheel across that finish line.  (True, I was terrified my arms might give out and I might crumble into a helpless heap...)  But it was worth the risk and I successfully made it up and over.  I couldn't believe it, I was an Ironman!  I am incredibly proud that I was able to perform well.  I had been secretly hoping for some type of miracle where I could finish in the top five, but it was my first one so I wasn't holding out on that.  As it was, I finished 12th and am pretty darn proud of that.  

I read somewhere that you can never understand what the finish line of an Ironman is like until you cross it yourself.  I thought I knew what I'd feel like as I've done plenty of 70.3 races, but I was wrong.  It is a feeling unlike any other.  

AJ's splits: Swim; 59:03, T1; 4:09, Bike; 5:55:59, T2; 4:08, Run; 4:10:13, Final time; 11:13:32

Jeremy's splits: Swim; 1:09:22, T1; 3:48, Bike; 5:03:13, T2; 4:47, Run; 4:27:19, Final time; 10:48:29

I'm so glad that this is a journey that Jeremy and I can do together.  What an amazing life we have.

Every day is a good day

Ready for another splurge of our crazy amazing life?  Here we go!

Molly invited McKenzie to go with her to a Rockies game.  Kenzie hasn't been to a baseball game in years and was so excited to go.  When they walked into the park Molly said, "McKenzie, do you smell that?  That's funnel cake!"  Yes, that it was the girls ate for dinner, that enormous funnel cake.  When she came home around 10 she was completely wired.  She had so much fun.

It's football season which means that the kids have been pulling out their Broncos jerseys a little more often than normal.  McKenzie has some unique homework and one of her assignments one week was to watch a football game.  Jeremy couldn't wait to help her with that one.  

Sunday nights Jeremy and I are going to the self-reliance class offered by the church.  It means that for twelve weeks the girls are watching the boys while we are at our class.  One night we came home and started counting kids, we were missing one.  When we asked the girls where Daxton was they said they hadn't seen him in awhile.  We found the poor kid completely asleep on the stairs.

I managed to win a drawing (which I never do) and won a shirt for Kelton.  I had to buy a matching one for Daxton because he loves matching his brother.  Their shirts make me want to go on a trip to Disneyland!  

Here they are riding bikes to preschool that day.

Kelton now has soccer practice once a week in addition to his games.  His coach is incredibly patient and comes up with some fun games for the boys to play.  It's pretty relaxing hanging out there on the field.  Even better when we get gorgeous evening light like this.

Cambrie sprained her ankle the second week of school.  It meant she was on crutches for a few days and even was able to ride the elevator at her school!  Even with those fun perks, it was hard not playing at soccer or volleyball.  She was on the sidelines acting as team manager and learning the plays from the coach's perspective.  We made the most of it, but it was a bit rough.  She loves her new team.  When they lined up for team pictures the girls tried really hard not to knock her over in the chaos.

Activity Days activity.  She's a pretty great girl.

Ashlee went to lunch with the girls one day and sent me this cute picture of Kenzie and her friends.  It has been so fun to watch them grow up together!

Cambrie is trying out the cello this year and is really excited to learn how to play.

Halle came over one night and the girls put together a fancy evening meal complete with waiter service, candle light, and a nicely set table.  It was sweet to see their fun imagination.

Pumpkin chocolate chip pancake pile.  There are never enough!

Daxton loves cruising on his bike around the neighborhood.  He'd getting really fast.

Sometimes I don't know what's going through this boy's head.  He's drinking from the hose.  Attached is a water balloon filler piece.

Ok, this may be the cutest smile ever!

Never enough park days for these boys!

We also decided to completely redo our office.  The girls needed more space to work on their homework and we needed some better ways to keep things organized.  It isn't completely done yet, but it's close.  We have loved our new space.

Mustang Mile

McKenzie has always been the most excited about the Mustand Mile each year.  She can't wait to earn money for her school, she can't wait to race around the peanut, and she can't wait for all of the prizes she wins at the carnival.  It was strange having only one girl participate this year.  We were able to easily jump around to watch her run.  She did a great job.  

After the race she took off with her friends and I only saw her when she came to claim her meal ticket.  

While she was rocking the carnival games, the boys hung out on the bouncy slides and bouncy castles the whole night.  Poor Daxton didn't like waiting in line, but at least he started to figure it out.  Towards the end of the night McKenzie and Brielle joined Kelton on the gladiator house, which was great because Daxton was too little to do it with him. 

Cambrie chose to stay home and hang out with a friend instead of joining us up at the school.  They had a movie night with their American Girl dolls and made chocolate chip cookies.  It was the perfect night for those two as well.

IM Training

This Ironman training stuff is no joke!  With both Jeremy and I training we've had a hard time juggling our long rides and long runs.  As a result, I've done a lot of rides downstairs in the basement starting around 4:00am.  Well, when I'm not finished by the time the kids wake up they come down and hang out with me.  This typically means a lot of messes and sorry excuses for breakfast.  I've kept a box of Quaker Oat Squares by my bike to munch on while I ride, and it works well to distribute to Daxton when he's hungry.  Can you see him carrying around dry cereal in a baby cradle?  Poor guy!   At least he gets a lot of movie time in the morning with mom.

When I'm down there for five hours, I need a lot of fuel.  I have to set up an entire buffet complete with water bottles, granola bars, gels, bananas, and PB&J sandwiches.  What a process!  

I never thought I'd see the day though when I looked forward to my quiet time downstairs after the kids were in bed.  I've definitely gone from dreading the trainer rides to looking forward to them.  Only a couple more weeks before we get a break from this!

Rascal Flatts

For my birthday present this year I requested a reason to wear my new cowgirl boots.  Jeremy bought us tickets to go see Rascal Flatts at Red Rocks, and it was finally time for showtime!  We started with dinner at an Ethiopian place in Lafayette.  It was amazing!  I've never had flavors blend like that and would love to go back!  

We ended up running a bit late by the time we had all the kids taken care of, but we finally made it to the concert just as the sun set.  It was so beautiful.  

I was excited to be there for so many reasons:  I was on a date with my husband.  I got to wear my new boots (which I didn't get a picture of!)  The weather was perfect.  Rascal Flatts is a great band.  And it was September 11th.  I couldn't think of a more excited/patriotic group of people than a bunch of country cowboys.  We had a couple tributes and sang the national anthem as an audience.  It was great.  The concert itself was amazing!  I do a horrible job of keeping track of which country artists sing which songs.  Well, I knew 95% of the music played that night and could sing along which is the best way to spend the night.  They were also filming a promo video for one of their new songs so we were in on that.  With everyone's cell phone flashlights going in the audience it was so pretty.  I mean, look at this venue?!  What a great night.