Lady Track Shack - making a comeback!

The Lady Track Shack 5K is one of my favorite races of the year! Lu, Maddy and I registered months ago to celebrate our comeback after Lu's baby, and Maddy's first 5K - together! It all felt like a bit of a fantasy after a whole year of not racing but I completed my Couch to 5K training on schedule and managed to complete a couple of practice runs. I laughed my head off when I saw the email that Track Shack sent out this week to promote their next event...

I thought it was one of those clever personalized emails until I got a whole bunch of texts from people who got it too. How hilarious!

On the big day I felt really nervous and out of sorts but ready to try a race again. It felt so strange to get ready at 5 a.m. when it was still dark and I was thrilled that Maddy decided to come (I wouldn't have blamed her if she had wanted to stay in bed!) and Lu pulled off the small miracle it takes to leave a 2 month old princess and get out of the house!!

The T-shirts and tutus were so cute and it felt really great to be among 2,700 amazing pink ladies running to provide free mammograms within our community:) And to be back with Lu was really special - we took a million pictures just like the good old days!

And with Maddy too this time!!!

 I have waited so long to share a day like this with my baby...

The weather couldn't have been more perfect and I managed to run (slowly) the whole way just like I had planned. We had beautiful medals at the end and I was super happy with my performance:)

But Maddy stole the show and managed to pull in a sub-40 minute 5K without trying or training!  We were all really proud of ourselves and each other!

What an amazing day!!! Now I need to take my own advice (!) and "Stay Motivated" - it's going to be a great year!

March for Meals

This morning was a *landmark* moment because we did our very first event together as a family :) :). We supported Meals for Wheels at their 11th Annual March for Meals walk by beautiful Lake Monroe in Sanford...

 

They had a great network of volunteers, sponsors and participants that all showed up despite the overnight rain to support their mission to feed homebound seniors in the local community...

 



 

Since I got my Fitbit for Christmas, I've discovered just how sedentary my lifestyle is:(. It's been a big wake up call actually - I've learned that when I am not running or working out, I am basically sitting which is something I need to change by incorporating walking into my daily routine.

 

 

And I'm also learning that I really like walking:). You can explore a new place in a different way, see new things and have some great conversations too! We also have a walking group now at work to stretch our legs during the workday:).

 



 

We saw a ton of ospreys :)

 

 

Too cute :)

 

 

After we were done I ate my first Meals on Wheels breakfast (which was really good) and one of their volunteers played guitar. He was amazing and only 11!!

Mike loved his shirt!

 

And I won one of the drawings! A Target gift card - yes please!!

 

 

Great cause, beautiful scenery and my little family all together - feeling so grateful this morning :)

 

 To find a local Meals on Wheels program, here's the link:) http://www.mowaa.org/findameal

Swim, Bike and Run like a Mother...

Today was Mother's Day in the states and Lu and I did the Women's Danskin Super Sprint Triathlon!

The only triathlon I've ever done had a pool swim so my goal was to do one in open water. For this event they had a Sprint (0.5m swim, 12m bike and 3m run) and a Super Sprint (0.25m swim, 8m bike and 2m run) so we opted for the shorter distance since the swim seemed a bit more achievable for our first time in the dreaded open water. To train for the event, we have been working out about 4 times a week and each Sunday we've managed to get out of bed at the break of dawn to do a swim, bike and run at the pool in Celebration to practice all three together. We've worked really hard but were still really nervous.

We got up at 5am to get over to Clermont in time to do all of the transistion set-up. We loved the body mark-up and in particular the sign calling us 'athletes':)

Don't let the smiles fool you - once we were ready to go - we wanted to cry...

Look at beautiful Lake Minneola - I didn't expect it to be just like the beach!

We were the second wave with a 7:19 start time...

Here goes...

The Swim...I am amazed to say that my swim was so much better than I expected! I started at the back and stayed wide of the turn points and didn't get kicked or pushed at all. I felt strong and was able to beat a couple of swimmers in the first wave too! The Bike...it was so beautiful biking all the way around the lake although it was hilly in places. I was really pleased with how it went and it was so much more comfortable now that I've been biking regularly (and have a gel seat :)). It was also really nice to get so much support from the other ladies on the course. Everyone was cheering everyone else the whole time:). The Run...I was dreading the run the whole time I was on the bike. I had worked really hard and my Negative Nelly brain started to make me question if my legs would be able to run at all when I got done. When I got started out with the run I saw so many people were walking and was really tempted but pushed through and just ran as best as I could!

The ending was phenomenal. The spectators were just the best and we got a flower, a goodie bag, a great tech shirt and a gorgeous medal too!

Mike bought me a 'bad ass' biking shirt for Mother's Day - I love it!!

Maddy came to support me for Mother's Day too which made the whole thing extra special :)

I came in 10th out of 27 in my age category which was awesome! Lu came second in hers and won a free entry for next year! Go Lu!!!!! My results looked like this:

Yeah!!! But regardless of the times, I felt strong and healthy and happy. And ready to take on the full Sprint distance and an open water swim next time :)

Hiking out west

Despite the fact that I didn't see the inside of a gym or put on my running shorts for a week, we did manage to stay pretty active on our vacation out west. We got up early, went to bed early and hiked almost every day. Hiking is much more challenging than I thought at high elevations with that thin mountain air. The Navajo trail at Bryce Canyon was probably the most difficult - Maddy loved the trip down but was miserable on the way back up :(. After about a half an hour, she admitted that she was glad she'd done it though:)

I also managed to take 'that damn bike' out a couple of times before the trip and felt a bit better about the whole thing:). My goal for the month is to get to the point where I can do 10 miles on the new bike relatively comfortably.