Monday, November 23, 2009

The Dude-a-Man get's down

So the last post was all about Haley, in fairness, it was time to put one up of just Kale. Lately the kid has really wanted to dance, and when that urge comes up, it's hard to suppress it. It's okay buddy, we understand. So, here is some choppy video of that. Also, every time we have a camera out, he thinks it's time to pose so you'll see some video of him "Cheesing" - there's no doubt, it's the cutest thing on the face of the planet. Like I said, it's choppy, but, I'm sparing you some Dramamine needing footage, some screaming children, and other kinds of useless-cute only to parents-debauchery, you should thank me. Enjoy!

Monday, November 16, 2009

Cross that off the bucket list... oh, wait!

One thing that I've always wanted to do was run a triathlon, now, we're not talking anything about the Iron Man, that's just madness, who would really want to swim 2 miles, then bike over 100, and then, just for good measure, run a marathon! Really! But the sprint ones are always something I thought I could do if I could only get into running. Well about 4 months ago I ran a whole mile for the first time since, oh, about 5th grade. Game on! This month our gym hosted an indoor one and I finally had a goal. I managed to pick myself up a training buddy, Ashley (a friend that we knew when we lived in California and happened to run into again out here, who, coincidentally has run a few of these before), and off we went. For about two months I hit the gym daily, doing rotations of biking and running, swimming, and Pilates (because I want my stomach to be flat one day).


Saturday was the big day and I had big goals! The swimming was only 200 yards so I was hoping for a 2:15, then there was a 10 mile bike that I wanted to do in 30 minutes and the 3 mile run that I wanted to do in 35 minutes, I also had goals of placing in swimming and running the entire run (walking is for wusses).
I am proud to say that, while I didn't make my goal time (as you can see in the picture above I did a 2:45), I did win the women's swimming by 26 seconds... Ya'll TWENTY SIX SECONDS!! That's no small amount of time when you're talking about just 200 yards. It's nice to know that competitive swimmer is still in there somewhere. After swimming we hit the bikes for 10 miles. I had a good lead in my heat but my transition was less than stellar (it's no small feat to put workout pants on wet legs, plus get your shoes and socks on.

Again, I missed my time goal on the bike, and did about 32 minutes for 10 miles, not fantastic but a really good starting point. And now I know where my weakness is and am implementing a few spin classes into my routine. Live and learn right?

After the bikes it was on to the treadmill for 3 miles. I ran a pretty steady 5.5 mph and finished it in 32 minutes, three minutes under my goal time, and I'm proud that I was able run the entire three miles.
Ashley, my training buddy and I with the final times. I pulled in a total of 1:15, Ashley was 1:13 and we took 11th and 9th place. Not too shabby!

Now, onto the next goal. For sure (as of right now) the Tri for the Cure August 1st (a 750 swim, 13 mile bike and a 5k), and I'm also hoping to be able to hit the Seattle Rock n Roll half marathon. Oh, and the Briargate Turkey Trot on Thanksgiving morning, and by next summer we will have shirted in the Jack Quinn's Running Club, we only have 2 more left till we meet the requisite 10 5ks. GO ME!!

Friday, November 13, 2009

Haley

Today on our way to Kale's doctor appointment I made a stop by Starbucks for my seasonal favorite (peppermint mocha with soy), and decided that at almost three Haley was plenty big enough for a drink of her own, and a chance to share in what has become known as Red Cup Joy! She got a gingerbread warm steamed milk and really enjoyed drinking "coffee" with mommy. Just another example of how my little girl is getting bigger and bigger every day.

A couple of days ago she was being silly for the camera, and this is what we captured.

Her "cheese" face (with a little bit of laughing).

One of my new favorite pictures of her, I think she looks like such a beautiful little girl here.

And our goofball Haley. She's learned to "look at her nose" and this is the silliness that we get. I love it!