He's getting bigger. Still no name

Look at his cute face, if you guys have any suggestions for names we would love your input. What we have so far are:

1. Brady
2. Zeus
3. Vader
4. Percy
5. Obi ( for Obi One Kanobi)

Vacation craziness

ok, so my kids have been out of school since last friday ( they had a half day) and its been and has always been a challenge to try to keep them entertained and unbloodied for the entire day. What makes it even harder is that most of their friends are still in school until today so playdates are hard. We usually make 1 trip to the ER during this time but so far so good. Its also a challenge to get all my workouts in while the kids are home as well ( daddy leaves early and is home late) thus I need to split workouts or get real creative on how to get them in, it actually makes me a little stressed if I was to be completely honest, I hate not following the plan to a "T".

( a few examples of craziness: the throwing of glass ornaments which smashed on the ground, clogged toilet with god knows what clogged it up inside, every room of the house filled with games on the floor, footballs, basketballs and soccer balls even though I've stated a million times there is no ball playing in the house- how does it still happen- Why don't they listen- UGG)

Anyhoo, I've been successful having some playdates on different days, there has been a small little winter camp for a few hours in the morning that my younger two have gone to a few times but my older boys want nothing to do with it. Vacation wouldn't be so hard if my kids could actually get along for prolonged periods of time, usually it lasts about 1-2hrs but thats about it then the mayhem starts and the chasing and tackling and name calling begins and usually lasts for the remaining part of the day. There is only so much monopoly, risk, clue, harry potter trivia, chess, art projects I can do all day, it can be a real challenge. My kids love to go outside and they will play for long periods of time they just don't want to play with each other for long periods of time, I'm hoping that with time this will change, having 4 kids so close in age is a blessing but it is also hard for them.

I am also trying to sneak wrapping presents and still trying to buy some with them around, its a bit difficult but I'm running out of time and it has to be done.

I wouldn't change being a stay at home mom, its the best thing in the world but it has its challenges. I will keep you posted on any ER visits or strange happenings while the kids are home, I'm sure I'll have a bunch.

On the workout front things are good, steadily going along, working a lot of zone 1 stuff getting my speeds up and watts up and keeping the HR where it needs to be, its hard and monotonous at times but I have to say I am starting to like the zone 1 stuff, it never feels like I'm working that hard so I know I'm doing the right thing. I am struggling with signing up for my first official bike race ( the Tour de Battenkill) in April, I really want to focus on my bike fitness this off season and this race will really be a test of my fitness at the time, however I will be coming off of a 1/2 ironman so it might be tough and its another weekend I would be away from the kids. Anyway, still thinking and will make my decision this weekend. At least coach is supportive which is great.

My new baby coming on January 7th

My little man is the one to the far right, the only male in the litter. We don't have a name yet for him but Zeus and Vader are in the top two. I can't wait, its been way too long since Kota passed and I need my puppy.

Mommy Lion in full attack mode

Today was a very long day. Today was flag football " super bowl" sunday for the Furse family. My son Cade was playing in the superbowl for the 5-6yr old division, my daughter Shea and son Alex were playing in the semi-playoffs first and if they won would be playing in the superbowl for the 7-8 yr olds and my son Kellen was playing in the superbowl for the 9-11yr olds.

Ok, game #1 the 7-8yr olds won to make it into the superbowl. My son Cades team won the 5-6yr old superbowl by 3 touchdowns, it was super fun they haven't lost a game for over a year, they are just amazing. Then it was off to the superbowl for my son and daughter. Well, lets just say, two seasons in a row this team has gone undefeated to only lose in the superbowl, its so heartbreaking but the kids seemed to love the trophies they got so they looked happy and it didn't seem to bother them.

Ok, the game of the day, our 9-11yr old Bucs playing the Vikings. Over the last 2 years fall and spring we go back and forth between who wins and who loses the super bowl, we were fortunate the last two times to win but this year the Vikings were stronger, faster and a mighty opponent. Anyhoo, my son Kellen plays quarterback and also defense, he had an incredible first half, a few long touchdowns some great runs it was awesome. The only problem that I was noticing is that the Viking's had a blitzer who came hard at Kellen almost every down and twice in the first half almost knocked him down, he hit him hard and Kellen lost his balance and had to really get his body together to get the ball off, I commended Kellen for his ability to shake this kid off but I was "pissed"that this kid was doing this and there was no call for a penalty and the kids coach didn't do anything about it. I understand the adrenalin of the situation, it very well could of been completely unintentional and just him being full of energy during the plays, that being said I was getting a bit frustrated. This is FLAG FOOTBALL no TACKLE.

Ok, we are up 18 to 12 with just about 8 minutes to go to play and kellen drops back to pass and this kid comes rushing in and completely takes him out, Kellen is down and grabbing his knee, he is crying and just really upset. Phil runs over to him to check on him and now I run out to check on him. Phil said it didn't look good, the way his leg bent back, etc... I looked at the ref and just said, " Are you kidding me, this is the 3rd time this kid has done this to my son and now he is really hurt, how can this keep happening, this isn't tackle football, this is why we play flag". The ref gave the kid a roughing of the passer penalty which gave us a first down but I still had to carry my child off the field and make sure he was ok.

To make a long story short after assessing him and getting him to calm down he ended up being ok, shooken up and I'm sure he'll have a nasty bruise on the inside of his knee tomorrow but he was ok to go back into the game and play. Our Buc's ended up winning 18 to 12 and are the SuperBowl 9-11 champs.


What I was mad about was that the coaches on the other team didn't take the child out for a few downs to make sure the child understood that his actions weren't right, to reinforce and to have the child check in with himself regarding his adrenalin and to make sure he knew what he was doing was a bit " too" aggressive for FLAG FOOTBALL, but that didn't happen, And, it took 3 hits to my son for the referee to give a roughing of the passer penalty to their team, which maybe if each time this happened to my son they were penalized he might not of been hurt late in the game. I also wish that the child who did this to Kellen apologized to him after the game, which he didn't. As a parent my son would of been dragged by his ears to apologize to the coach and the child if he or she ever did that, intentional or not, and to also make sure the kid was fine, its just what you do, its the right thing to do.

I'm not an alarmist parent, I'm one whose daughter was bleeding during the middle of her game today, I wiped off her mouth told her to put her mouthguard in and get back in to play, it takes a lot for me to get pissed and I was pissed today. Don't mess with mommy lion because you don't want to meet her on any field.

6 hrs today at the flag football field, two super bowl champions and 1 runner-up, it was a great day. I am a big supporter of good sportsmanship and that should come first in any situation, its not only the child's responsibility but the coaches, parents, and refs to make sure this occurs on and off the field, thats just my two cents.

" The Race", by D.H. Groberg

I know this might be a bit long but the message is so very clear and pure, I hope you enjoy it as much as I did.


The Race

" Quit, give up, you're beaten"
They shout at you and plead
"There's just too much against you
This time you can't succeed".

And as I start to hang my head
In front of failures face
My downward fall is broken by
The memory of a race

And hope refills my weakened will
As I recall that scene
Or just the thought of that short race
Rejuvenates my being

Children's race, young boys
Young men, how I remember well
Excitement sure, but also fear
It wasn't hard to tell

They all lined up so full of hope
Each thought to win that race
Or tie for first, or if not that
At least take second place

The fathers watched from off the side
Each cheering for his son
And each boy hoped to show his dad
That he could be the one

The whistle blew and off they went
Young hearts and hopes afire
To win and be the hero there
Was each young boys desire

And one boy in particular

Whose dad was in the crowd
Was running near the lead and thought
" My dad will be so proud"

But as they speeded down the field
Across a shallow dip
The little boy who thought to win
Lost is step and slipped

Trying hard to catch himself
With hands flew out to brace
And amid the laughter of the crowd
He fell flat on his face

But as he fell his dad stood up
And showed his anxious face
Which to the boy so clearly said
" Get up and win the race"

He quickly rose, no damage done
Behind a bit that's all
And ran with a all his might and mind
To make up for the fall

So anxious to restore himself
To catch up and to win
His mind went faster than his legs
He slipped and fell again

He wished then that he had quit before
With only one disgrace
"I'm hopeless as a runner now
I shouldn't try to race"

But in the laughing crowd he searched
And found his fathers face
That steady look which said again
" Get up and win the race"

So up he jumped to try again
Ten yards behind the last
If I'mg going to gain those yards he thought
I've got to move areal fast

Exerting everything he had
He regained eight or ten
But trying hard to catch the lead
He slipped and fell again

Defeat, he lay there silently
A tear dropped from his eye
There's no sense running anymore
Three strikes, I'm out, why try"

The will to rise had disappeared
All hope had fled away
So far behind so error prone
A loser all the way

"I've lost, so what", he thought
I'll live with my disgrace
But then he thought about his dad
Whom soon he'd have to face

" Get up" the echo sounded low
"Get up" and take your place
You were not meant for failure here'
" Get up", and win the race

With borrowed will " Get up" it said
You haven't lost at all"
For winning is no more than this
To rise each time you fall

So up he rose to run once more
And with a new commit
He resolved, that win or lose
At least he shouldn't quit

So far behind the others now
The most he'd ever been
Still he'd give it all he had
And run as though to win

Three times he'd fallen, stumbling
Three times he'd rose again
Too far behind to hope to win
He still ran to the end

They cheered the winning runner
As he crossed the line first place
Head high and proud and happy
No falling, no disgrace

But when the fallen youngster
Crossed the line, last place
The crowd gave him the greater cheer
For finishing the race

And even though he came in last
With head bent low, unproud
You would have thought he'd won the race
To listen to the crowd

And to his dad he sadly said
" I didn't do too well"
"To me you won", his father said
" You rose each time you fell"

Race photo's

I have never liked any picture of me from a race, not even ironman, but this one isn't too bad and I was also really proud of the way I performed on this day, it has been a long time since I've been able to say that, maybe 2 years, so posting a picture of the event was a necessity.

Anyhoo, testing is on friday, LT on the bike, getting nervous, wanting to perform well, etc.... I have high hopes for this season if I can continue to stay healthy and follow the core and stay true to the zones I am given. I know I can have more races that I'm proud of and most importantly continue to enjoy what I'm doing, I'll keep you posted.

Back at it......

Ok, since I didn't/ couldn't do IM Arizona due to many family reasons my last official race of the season was the Newburyport 1/2 marathon 3 weeks ago. The 1/2 marathon was a really good race for me and an overall PR of over 3+ minutes. After the race coachie put me on an " absolutely no workout week" which I have never done in over 5 years since embarking on this crazy journey and then 2 full weeks of doing literally 1/4 of the work I normally do and all at recovery paces. To say I'm looking forward to a bit more exercise and a little bit more intensity is an understatement. That being said I have testing coming up this week, a threshold test on the bike on Friday and then my 800 swim test the following week. I'm not quite sure what I'll be doing for the run, either timed mile repeats at the track or a local 5k, we'll have to see what he has in store for me.
I'm a bit nervous about the testing since it feels like I've done nothing for the past 3 weeks and I haven't been fully on the core either so I'm feeling a bit unprepared, we'll see how it goes.

So what's in store for me this season. WEll, for sure I'm scheduled to go to QT2 camp the first weekend in FEbruary in Clearwater, Florida and then following that up with the Hyannis 1/2 marathon at the end of the month. I may possibly be doing Texas 70.3 in early April and then after that I'm not too sure, except for Ironman Mont Tremblant in August of 2012. I need to really figure this out since races are already selling out.

Some goals for me this season are to rebuild my bike fitness and to start performing at where I was two seasons ago but at a better heart rate and where I can run successfully off the bike. I am going to train on a computrainer in the winter and spend some real quality time in volume, f/b a ton of bricks. I also want to do a bit more open water swimming which I wasn't able to do this year which I feel really impacted my races a bit ( not that two races really counts for a season). Anyhoo, psyched to be back at it and can't wait for a full and healthy race season to come.

Happy Training.

I think I have may gone even lower.... Justin Bieber, really?

Ok, I don't have a ton to say on this topic but here is what I know.

1 year ago after one of his concerts at LA Staples Arena a bodyguard of his supposedly picked this lady out of the audience ( age- 19 at the time) and after his show they supposedly had sex that lasted 30 seconds. He was 16 at the time. Statuatory guidelines for the state of California is under the age of 18. She has given birth to a little boy, she has filed and placed a swoon affidavit in the court of law asking for a paternity test and child support.

My issues with this is a few:

1. She legally has stated that she was 19 and he was 16 and her lawyer did not advise her ( so it seems) that she could be charged with statutory rape, we've seen this locally with elementary teachers sleeping with their students, its gone both ways, female teachers going to prison and male teachers going to prison. Her defense was that " Bieber was the aggressor". So the fuck what, your 19, its against the law, your friggin screwed.

2. Why didn't you address it earlier ( if this were true). Why not go to the family in private, discuss with them the issues, I believe there is a way to test paternity while baby is in utero. Then possibly ( again if this is true) she wouldn't be convicted of statutory rape and things could be handled privately.

This is all just bizarre to me, everybody is up in arms in the media about this, can't believe that this could be true, why would this girl lie, " he's promoting youth and a proper up bringing", etc..... He's a friggin kid, he's a boy and if he had a chance to get laid and was ready what normal teenage boy ( typical) wouldn't do it. That being said, friggin stupid that he didn't wear a condom, stupid on his part and stupid on his bodyguards part ( again, if this is true)


Ok, enough of my stupid, crazy entertainment crap, back to doing 4 th load of laundry.

A whole new low, Kim Kardashian

Ok, Ok, this isn't my typical blog but I was so pissed off about this freaking information I needed to say my two cents, even though my two cents aren't worth anything.

First of all, I do like some reality TV but I don't like it as much as I did when the REal World started back about 20 years ago. Today, I think reality TV has just gone too far, the actors/actresses or contestants go to extremes to get TV coverage to get paid, etc... and we the American people continue to watch with then puts money in their pockets. I mention this with regards to a few shows out there, ( Jersey Shore, All of the Housewive shows-sorry people but this stuff is just bad, Tila Tequila, the Bachelor/bachelorette, Rock of Love , 19 and counting, Kate + 8, etc... Need I go on). One of the worst ones is 16 and pregnant.

Television producers wouldn't be putting out more reality shows if there wasn't money in it, and with the economy tanking and jobs at a minimum ( unless you go to North Dakota I hear where the oil is just flowing and 18,000 jobs are just waiting), people want to make fast money. I mean seriously, Pauly D from the Jersey Shore makes over $30,000 dollars to DJ at a club, Snooki gets more money to speak at a college graduation then Elizabeth Dole or Condeleza Rice, seriously, this is just sickening me.

Anyhoo, I will admit to watching some of these shows over the years, besides survivor I am not and have not ever been an avid watcher or any other real reality show since year 2 of the REal World. That being said, I had a soft spot for Kim Kardashian and I actually thought that after watching a few shows over the last 1 1/2 years she was nice, worked hard but otherwise nice. She isn't my favorite sister ( I like Khloe personally) but even Kim's spoiled like behavior and Diva ask needs she certainly didn't piss me off.

Now, what I will tell you is that I also too thought this romance was a bit awkward between her and Kris Humphries, it was so fast, so quick and where the hell did he really come from? Do you think that E Entertainment went searching for a mate for her? Do you think the guy from the Knicks was asked and he refused so they went to the Nets? Wouldn't this be absolutely crazy if this is actually true. Did Kris Kardashian put this into action, did everyone know including friends and family about the false wedding? Do you think people signed a confidentiality agreement before the wedding as to not disclose the true nature of the wedding? All the news coming out is saying that they never loved each other, they did this to promote their new reality series, Kim and Kourtney take NY. The other funky thing that has been flying on the internet is that Kris Humphreys wasn't liked by the public and TV didn't like him so Kris Kardashian fired him and so they just got rid of him, wrote him out of the reality series. Is this true? I'm not sure but with the NBA lockout I am sure the amount of money this bench warmer made during the 8+ months he has been with her and from the wedding he is set for quite sometime.


Now let me tell you one more thing about why I am so disgusted and why I chose to write about this stupid topic, I watched the first part of the wedding on E while riding my bike on my trainer ( see I did write about my workouts) and there was one scene that Kim Kardashian was with Bruce and she was crying while holding one of her dads shirts and she said that she was going to cut a piece from his shirt and put it in her dress and then she cried and was all emotional and then she brought Kris Humphreys to his grave, etc..... This was really touching and if this is all false which I believe it is I think it was an all time low, it just never should of gone that way.

I hope that reality TV takes a big hit from this and that people take notice that they are tired of being duped and don't want to see this shit anymore. No more Kardashians since we know what we see is mostly not true, no more bachelor or bachelorette-because they never get married anyway ( well 99% don't) and who wants to really see one girl kiss all those guys or a guy kiss all those girls unless its in an adult film) I mean its disgusting and stupid. I won't even walk down the Jersey Shore track, I mean watching the domestic abuse that occurred last year was so upsetting and that they continued to video it and nothing happened and no-one did anything about it,the alcoholism, the possible unprotected sex- this is crazy shit and kids are watching this and and saying, " I can make money doing this too".

Just one more reality show that is absolutely disgusting is " 16 and pregnant" Do you see all the girls in People magazine making money off of this, boob jobs, plastic surgery, more babies,drugs, etc... You think teenage girls around the country see easy money by just getting pregnant- NOT THE RIGHT MESSAGE TO BE SENDING THSE DAYS.

Anyhoo, I can tell you this, I will not watch E entertainment anymore, I'm bitter at Ryan Seacrest for producing the show and besides Survivor I will not watch any reality TV. I am mad and I hope something happens to the Kardashians, there has to be some consequence, some apology to the TV viewers for duping them to just make money, I don't know. Hopefully canceling of the show will send the right message.


Just my two cents... Whats yours.

Newburyport 1/2 marathon

Untitled by donnafurse at Garmin Connect - Details

( click the above link to view my Garmin file)


Today was a good day, it was great to hear coach say, " Race Executed perfectly" pace and heart rate, still waiting on my grade but I think I may have gotten at least a B+ or A-, I'll keep you posted.

The Green Stride 1/2 marathon today had a beautiful course, some good hills with some good downhills, the weather was perfect, nice and cold with a slight wind and some sun, great day. If there was anything negative about the course it was that they only had water for 10+ miles and the water stops were about every 2 1/2 miles. I train with sports drink only and I make sure to drink pretty consistently, on a hot day this would not of been good for me, I was very lucky. Pre-race was uneventful, nutrition during race was spot on, I kept my pace were I felt most comfortable, I definitely felt a little struggle at mile 11 ( where on my garmin you'll see my slowest mile, 8:21, but there was a very long hill at that point as well), my HR was consistent in the low 160's but I was happy I could engage my heart at the end and get the last two miles up to 173. My last solo 1/2 marathon was in 2009 were I averaged 8:19 per mile and I felt like death over the last 3 miles, my pacing was completely off and my times were not consistent. ( Hyannis 1/2 2009), that course if very flat but it can be windy and cold. My final time was 1:48:59.

Today I did 1:46:03, Avg: 8:03 ( by my garmin, 8:06 on their timer), so 3 minute PR and if you look at my garmin file very consistent miles, I didn't cave at the end, I stayed strong and actually had some good miles for 12 and 13. I know I worked as hard as I could, I couldn't of done more than I did today so in the end I am happy.

PW was happy too, he noted to me that I executed a very good race. I'll take that from coach. Now on to making more improvements and moving on to a very successful 2012.

Whats in your purse today?

Ok, in my purse I have:

1. my 2011 calendar book that contains all my mail, important papers, kids immunization shit, stickies, you name I have it in my book.

2. car keys

3. tape ( don't ask)

4. mouth wash ( free sample at last hotel I stayed at, just didn't take it out)

5.my sons football glove and mouth guard ( it now has sand in it, again don't ask)

6.stretchy band for resistance training

7. powerbar gel chocholate and caffe late

8. motrin bottle

9. Synthroid medication

10. 4 pens

11. Hammer nutrition small bottle with 2 salt tabs in it from IM syracuse ( seriously)

12.chicken bone from my sons dinner tonight ( so gross, he threw it in my purse, really)

13.daughters broken glasses

14. wallet with change and credit cards

15. hair bands

16. garmin watch and heart rate strap

17. receipt from Shaws supermarket

18. The Son of Neptune ( my son's book that I'm currently reading)

ok, really, I knew my purse was heavy but there was no reason for me to have all this shit in my purse.

What do you have in your purse?

Happy 43rd Birthday to me and other random thoughts

So another year has passed, it seems like they just fly by now. I can't believe this will be my last year in the 40-44AG, so weird. I wish this gave me some hope that it would get easier as I got older but the women keep getting faster, no kidding. That being said, I will enjoy this year one day at a time.

Anyhoo, birthday was good, had a great run and tempo bike, my paces are going well, its hard to be at the end of your season and feel like your peaking. Im in my last build that was supposed to be for IM Arizona just to give me some miles on the bike and run, I don't feel burned out since I really didn't start my season till late August but after next weeks 1/2 marathon it will be break time, recover and re-test.

I'm excited/nervous about next weeks 1/2 marathon, I haven't done a straight out road race since the Black Cat 10 miler last February. I'm not expecting miracles but I am hoping to put in a good performance. Baby steps, right?

I am also in the process of trying to figure out my race season for next year with the end race being IM Mont tremblant in Canada. I may try to race a bit early this year ( i.e., April) and then another 1/2 in June, throw in a sprint and an Olympic on the alternating months then follow it up with the IM in August should all work. I'm also going to try to convince my hubby to let me go to QT2's camp again this year which has been changed to February, we'll see.

Anyhoo, the big part of my birthday yesterday was my 8yr old was secretly practicing Happy Birthday on his Violin all week and he played it for me last night, what a great present for me. I may not of gotten a cupcake or cake or had a traditional birthday celebration but that was pretty awesome and he was sooooooooooo proud of himself for keeping it such a secret.

Well back to finishing up the dishes and laundry and getting the kids at school. We are going to a corn maze this afternoon, lets hope we don't have to call the police to help find us if we get lost like that poor person in Danvers. Me and 5 kids, good gracious, wish me luck.

Kona showdown for the F 40-44 AG

So, I first want to say how proud I am to be part of this amazing age group and that what it shows you is that with hard work you can continue to go fast and even go faster by training smart and listening to your body. And having the right coaches around you. I know some of these women but not all but from the Northeast region of the US we have some incredible talent going to Kona this year, Becky Paige, Angela Bancroft, Mary Holt Wilson and Marybeth Romagnolia ( ? spelling). That's who I know right now, I may be missing someone but these are the names I know.

Becky I met at Providence 70.3 she not only won our AG but I believe she placed top 10 OA including Pro's. She went on to do a 9:57 I believe at Ironman Germany, won her AG and qualified for KONA. I'm thinking she's gonna be competitive, don't you think?

Angela Bancroft from Maine, had an amazing race in Lake Placid and won her AG by over 30 minutes. Heading out to the run in LP she was first overall amateur on the course but I believe she passed around mile 16 or so, not sure, that being said, she had a race of her life, absolutely incredible day and earned her KONA slot there. I believe she was also in the top 10 for women including Pro's, crazy, crazy fast. Absolutely a force to be reckoned with.

Mary Holt-Wilson- local hero of mine, tremendous talent, only getting faster, had an amazing Boston Marathon this year, Top 3 at Mooseman 70.3, had a PR at Pumpkinman half this year and if she wasn't ill starting IMLP she probably would of had her sub 11 on that day but the GI bug and puking on yourself during the swim doesn't make for a pleasant day in LP. That being said she has the mental fortitude of nobody I know and based on her race report from IMLP it sounds like she doesn't remember much of the last part of the race and spent a ton of time in medical. She still finished in the low 11's and got her KONA slot, VERY MUCH DESERVED and i believe she is going to have an amazing day in KONA and I can't wait to follow her.

Marybeth Romanolia, QT2 athlete is going to KONA after qualifying I believe at IMLP, she also had a great time and is getting faster everyday. I believe she is from the NY region.

These 4 ladies are going to represent the NorthEast in amazing fashion and I predict all of them are going to be in the top 25 if not top 10 of our AG.

I am so very proud to be in this age group. Kick some major ass next week ladies, make us all proud, bring home some hardware.

syracuse 70.3 race report and random other stuff

My race report will be quick regarding Syracuse 70.3, as I've mentioned in previous race reports and over the last 3 months I am a work in progress. Over the past 8 months, I've worked countless hours with my non-profit, bought and sold a house and lived in my mother in laws house, had to deal with moving mostly on my own while our new home wasn't quite ready, etc....

Training has changed as I switched coaches, so all of that being said this season has been slim pickings, ( 3 tri's in total since IMLP 2010) huge learning curve and whatever I could do with training at whatever god forsaken time I could get it in. Life is starting to slow down a bit, the kids are getting settled into school so as my final race is coming near ( newburyport 1/2 marathon) in late October I am starting to focus on next year.

A brief note, I am not participating in IM Arizona this November as previously hoped, with all my responsibilities over the last 8 months and with the new house being a bit overwhelming, my husband and I decided that he would prefer for me to focus on IM Mont Tremblant next August and just forgo this ironman as he would like to stabilize our homelife a bit since its been so crazy lately. I had a lot of trepidation with this decision initially but at the end of the day Family has to come first and if he feels this would stress him out and wouldn't be good for the family it was the right call to just back off and refocus on next season and looking at how I can improve on my fitness/body composition by race time next year. Oh well, it will have to be IM Arizona for 2013 I guess.

Anyhoo, PW and I have decided that we should end the season with a 1/2 marathon and then we would re-test and figure out some training numbers going into the winter. I'm looking forward to this and hopefully we can figure out a good race schedule that I can actually compete in next year to be successful at IMMT.

So in short, Syracuse 70.3 was a really fun race for me, for one, I got to race with my dear friend Maris who ( God Love her) drove all the way up and back to Syracuse, Thank You, Thank You, Thank YOu. It started out with us getting stuck in traffic on Friday and ending up in a not such good part of Albany, lets' just say, we decided to find a hotel and sleep the night instead of trudging ahead to Syracuse that night.

We ended up getting to the Holiday Inn in Syracuse by noon and checking in. Talk about a low key affair, my kind of race, not a ton of people and minimal vendors, it was great. We then checked into our room and drove the bike/run course. Well, lets just say we were in for a dandy of a day, both the bike and run were very challenging and with lots of hills, that being said the course looked absolutely beautiful and even though the forecast was for chilly weather it looked also to be sunny so pretty much ideal conditions.

We finally found a decent place to eat a late lunch and then we headed to the mall to try to find some disposal clothes we could wear to the swim start since the temps were going to be in the high 30's. It was so weird being at the Carousel Mall, I haven't been there since I went to school in Syracuse in the 90's, just crazy. Anyhoo, we got back to the hotel and we were in bed by 9:30p.

Having Maris to chat too and have fun with was amazing, never did I feel nervous or concerned, she made the time fly and I had such a good time I really didn't think of the race that much.

Race morning was uneventful, I let Maris sleep in, it was great that the race start was fairly close so we knew it was going to be cold so we held off going to the venue till we really needed to. Temp was 38 at the time.

Got to T1, got everything settled, got dressed, realized it was so cold my feet were so numb walking on the ground it was painful, we ended up standing in the water because it was warmer than standing on the sand. Funny how 62 degree water can feel warm when its 38 degrees out. My swim wave was going off before Maris was, I gave her a big hug and was off.

Swim-water was warm for me, had no feet to swim with, fog was going away but my sighting wasn't great, lots of people to swim through which was a bugger, I either really sucked at my sighting, my swim isn't back where it should be, too many people to swim through or the course was about 200yds too long, whichever, my swim was slow 33:15, 1st AG, that being said it just sucked seeing that time.

Long run to T1- I couldn't feel my feet, I couldn't get dressed I was so cold. 5min + in T1 crazy slow

Bike- well what can I say, I was supposed to Average 170 watts, I averaged 159 or 160 normalized, 17.8mph, stupidly slow, again, not being able to go over 220 watts and keeping my HR in complete check no higher than 136 is certainly a work in progress for me. The course was very challenging to say the least but oh well. I'll get back to my 20mph days next spring, I just need to work on my shifting and get more time back in the saddle. The key is to be able to run off the bike to your best ability so for right now, this is where I'm at.

T2- 2+ minutes, again too long, my left foot was still numb, it took a while to get it going. My HR monitor wasn't working so it just was giving me my paces.

Run- interesting, hard, decent hills and some good downhills. I definitely went out too fast, I was supposed to keep HR in check but because of the temps and most likely keeping my HR a bit lower because of it we were really looking at pacing, well, I felt so good coming out of T2 I ran my first loop with an 8:35 average, it definitely came back to bit me in the ass the second loop but really only on the two significant climbs, otherwise my flats and downhills were still in the 8:20-8:40 range. I ended up seeing and playing tag with #5 and 6 girl so it was a bummer that I couldn't catch them on the run, oh well. 8:53 average on a tough run course, I'll take it.

5:47 overall time, better than Providence, not my PR, that being said my PR was on a very flat course with a very short swim.

My fitness will only get better, my zones will only get faster, I'm believing in my self and liking to run. I miss being the killer on the bike I was for the last two seasons but that will come back and my run will only get better. I will need to do some more open water swimming next season as my sighting was terrible in both races and I believe it was because I didn't do any this season, just no time.

Life is good, my hubby and I just went away on a quick weekend trip to Bermuda which we haven't done in almost 7yrs ( just the two of us, no kids), it was amazing and we just had an amazing time. I was able to run there which was great but most of all we got to spend quality time together.

Anyhoo, I'm looking forward to the up and coming races for my friends, Maris is doing IM Florida in November and a few of my friends are doing Kona in October. I am so psyched for PW doing Kona he is a true talen and I look forward to see how coachie will do.

Off for now. I promise to blog more often with whats going on with my training and all my other crazy try mom stuff.

Where were you 10 years ago on 9/11/2001?

10 years ago, Phil and I flew out of Logan Airport in Boston at 8am on Monday, September 10th on United Airlines on route to San Francisco, Phil had a conference to go to and one of his home town high school friends was getting married the following weekend so it all made sense. flying on Monday was no problem, San Francisco was beautiful that day, we had an amazing dinner that night on the ocean, life seemed so simple. I was also 6 months pregnant with our first child at the time.

Speed forward, 6am, Tuesday, September 11, 2001, Phil kissed me goodbye to go to a breakfast meeting, I slept in and then casually woke up a bit later and put the T.V on, I can't recall the exact time but watching everything happen live on T. V. as it was happening and seeing all the News casters live was crazy. I ran downstairs to check in with phil to see what was happening downstairs, it was mayhem, this was a financial conference, a lot of people were flying in from NY and Boston this morning to attend the conference, ( who could of been of some of the planes that crashed), a lot of people worked in NY that were already at the conference and worrying about their coworkers and friends/families back at home, it was the most unbelievable, surreal experience. All people wanted to do was go home, they rented cars, got on buses, anything, there were no flights leaving SF anytime soon.

With the cell phone lines down and being unable to contact family some of our families thought we flew on Tuesday morning to San Francisco instead of Monday, which unbeknownst to us was the exact United Flight that took off from Boston on Tuesday and crashed, again, a very surreal experience. We eventually got in touch with our families and friends later in the day to make sure they knew we were ok, it took several days to find out that our friends and family in NY were ok, but as you know the fallout from 9/11 went a lot deeper to everyone.

Our friend did get married that weekend but unfortunately a lot of people didn't make it that day, non the less we all tried to make it a special day for them.

I hope everyone takes time out on Sunday to remember all the people who lost their lives that day and to also give praise and thanks to all the people/fireman, policeman, doctors, nurses, lay people, anyone who helped on that day and the days and months and years after the fallout. I was proud to be an American on that day and ever since even more, we bonded as a nation that day even with the awful circumstances.

My thoughts and Prayers go out to all the families out their that lost their loved ones on that day. God Bless.

Salmon River Rafting Trip

Again I have been gone for awhile here on blog land. This time my family and I went on a river kyaking and rafting trip down the lower fork of the Salmon River in Idaho, the trip was absolutely amazing from Start to finish. With a ton of research we decided to go through a company called, ROW based out of Couer d'Alene, Idaho which caters to families all across the world. They actually have what they call a river Jester that comes on the trip to help with entertaining the kids. We kyaked or rafted pretty much most of the day, swam in rapids and in the cold river a ton of the time and they cooked 3 square meals for us on the beaches that lined the Salmon River. We camped under the stars every night and the kids slept longer than they ever did in the past, at least 10hrs a night. I guess the fresh air and the continuous sun and exercise was really good for them.

Unfortunately, I had to come back early with my little 5 yr old because we are moving really soon and tons of things needed to get done to both houses over the next week before we close on our current house and move out officially so another week in Idaho was not in the cards for me. Life has been very different for me this year, little racing, some decent training and lots of other things going on. That being said, I can't wait to move to our new home and finally get settled.

More pictures of our family and the kids rafting when I get my camera.

Wow, I actually like to run now......

So, its been about 10 weeks since I started to train with heart rate and to listen to my body and follow a good nutritional plan both on and off training. Swimming seems to be fine, biking I still need to work at but I'm getting there but the running is what I'm seeing the most change in over the last 2 months.

Back in May when I needed to do a recovery run based on my heart rate you could say I was basicaly walking, if I was on a treadmill I would be at a level of less than 5.0mph, it was so hard to see that but my HR was high even though I was chatting and talking and didn't feel out of breath it was high so if I had to walk to keep my HR down I did, man that sucked. My zone 1 HR was a little bit better but not much.

In the past I would go out and run my runs always in the 8's somewhere and if I did tempo's they were in the 7's, I was working hard, and very rarely did I record my HR but I was always pushing and out of breath and working really hard, all the time. Well, 2 months ago my zone 1 ( or endurance run pace) was just about 11 min a mile- seriously, it was no joke, crazy slow, I was like you've got to be kidding me this is awful. But I listened to my body and I kept my HR were it needed to be, it sucked, but I knew if I wanted to make changes I had to do something drastic.

After 4 weeks of no speed work and nothing more than zone 1 runs, I went out and did several runs at 9:40 pace and kept my HR were it needed to be, 136 and no higher than 138. Wow, in just 4 weeks I was able to drop well over a minute per mile and keep my HR low, this was good news for me, I was very happy. Now, there were still several runs that were in the tens with the heat or with very hilly runs but overall I was getting to be pretty consistent with that pace and HR. What was also noticeable was that I was never really tired after a run, my body didn't feel like I just beat it up, I felt good. So onward I went and continued this process. Still, no speed work except for one track workout ( which had me do 4 1 mile repeats at 7:08 and faster) when I have only been running in the high 9's and 10's, it was crazy.

Then it was Providence 70.3, now as I noted before swim and bike completely unenventful ( so slow on bike but again just training and getting my HR to where it needs to be) but my run really came around and I felt great, and I negative splitted the run. I was really happy.

So, to today, (I biked long yesterday in the heat and did a 35 minute T-run ( zone 1- avg 9:49s off the bike), felt great), today was a zone 1 run of 1hr 14 minutes with 19 minutes of a zone 2 effort at the end. F/b some TRX and a recovery bike ride. I ran early today, 5:30am so it was cooler and much more comfortable to run in than what we've been running in over the last few weeks, that being said, I felt great and in the end I averaged an 8:55 pace with a HR of 137 ( spot on).

So, in 10 weeks I've taken off over 2 minutes per mile and kept my HR at 136-137. My long slow runs when I looked back in my files from last year where I was running 13-20 miles averaging 9:35-9:45 pace my HR was up to 152-156, that's a 20 beat difference and my pace now is faster on my slow long runs, this shit is crazy. No wonder I couldn't run off the bike in ironman or in 1/2 ironmans, I had completely wasted myself on the bike probably keeping the same high HR and then tried to run fast off and my HR was off the charts, I couldn't sustain that and that was why I falted and couldn't run. Retraining my body is helping me get faster and everytime I know I need to run I am so excited to do so. I am so excited to run off my bike. I'm really liking running now and am starting to believe that it might be possible I can turn myself into a decent runner. I'm looking forward to seeing what I can do.

Someday.........

I love watching and following Ironman, watching Lake Placid yesterday and following several of my friends was so inspiring it gets me emotional just thinking about it. Now don't get me wrong, I have a love/hate relationship with that course and hopefully someday I will return and do some major damage on that course or at least feel successful out there but yesterday i was glad to be just a spectator.

I was so excited that my good friend Maris was racing, we train together sometimes and she has really kicked it into high gear this year turning out some major performances in her recent races, however she came down with a pretty significant chest cold requiring antibiotics and she certainly wasn't 100% going into yesterday, that being said she kicked "ASS" and still came in top 25 in her age group and ran a super fast marathon. Watch our Ironman Florida this girl is going to crush you like a bug.

I was also excited to follow local 40-44 year old ladies Mary Holt-Wilson and Ange Bancroft who both got Kona Slots yesterday with their exceptional performances, great job ladies so very proud of both of you. Also, Kat Donatello, holly crap, what a bike and run after your issues on the swim, what mental tenacity and strength to come back that strong after what happened to you, Holly Shit is all I can say, Way to Go, and 12th place AG you ROCK.

Some of the other locals Chaz, Jay, Janet, Tim, Kelly, congrats to all of you so happy for your performances.

Anyhoo, everytime I watch or read about an ironman event I get so excited about it, I dream about it, I think about all the hard work I do to train and my dreams of making it to Kona someday, ( I really don't want to wait till i;m 65, really), but I know I have it in me, I know once I get this run thing sorted out things could go in my favor, I just have to train the right way, work hard, continue to get a bit leaner and have a positive attitude, my time will come, maybe not this year or next but I know it will come, I have faith.

Right PW? Work hard, follow your plan, things will fall as they may. This is my motto.

Tri-active: Local nonprofit spurs at-risk families to get in shape

Tri-active: Local nonprofit spurs at-risk families to get in shape

A 5:51 is OK to me, really.......

Yesterday I did the Providence 70.3 ironman event for the second time. The first time I did this event was 4 yrs ago right after my bike flew off our car and smashed into a million pieces. The course is a logistical nightmare and still is but it has significantly changed since I did it 4 yrs ago.

As you guys know my life has been crazy for the past 6-8 months and training has gotten in and not gotten in and I've changed my training focus a bit. I've been a decent swimmer and over the past 2 years and gotten stronger on the bike but the one thing I have never been able to do is run or even have a run off the bike that felt good and not a shuffle that makes me suffer. So I've decided to really concentrate on those reasons why that happens and work on them.

1. Too much power on the bike, push too high of watts and burn out my legs before the run.
2. My HR is too high from the swim and bike that I've already tapped my body by the time I'm on the run
3. Nutrition has always sucked in the past and I've suffered for that. I need to follow a more rigid nutrition plan on the bike and run to be successful.

So with the above I decided to swim my normal swim, try to grab some feet if I can to get some drafting, taper back my bike power and try to keep my Hr at 136, no higher and keep my watts between 160-165 and then run off the bike keeping my HR around 150 ( which took into account the heat stressors on my body) and not take out the first mile too fast. And if possible, negative split my run ( which I have never, ever, done.)

The course is still a point to point and a 2 transition area race ( SUCKS). This year the swim was at Lincoln Woods Park in a beautiful lake, which was 84 degrees and a non-wetsuit swim. I don't mind that so much but I just tend to use my legs a bit more when I don;t have a suit in open water. Anyway, the transition area was fine and it wasn't a too long run from the beach to get to TI.
the swim was uneventful, it was really sunny, the water was soooo warm, I worked with 2 girls during the swim both of whom didn't know how to sight well so they kept running into me which was pissing me off, I didn't want to exert myself to go around them so I just tried to keep to their right and use the draft that way. I knew that 2 girls were far ahead ( 2 college swimmers) so we were in the second pack. We all came out 4-7th, I was in 6th coming out of the water-36 minutes, youch, I normally would do around 30-31 min, but I was fine with the swim

The Bike: Well lets just say, I could of knitted a blanket, picked my nose and made a whole thanksgiving day turkery meal while riding, it was that easy, that being said, riding 17.4mph should feel that way. However, the goal for me today was to not go over 210 on any hills, to keep a good cadence and to ride and average 160-165 watts and my HR needed to be 136 and no higher. I will say it was very hard to see lots of my ladies pass me when I knew I could ride with them, I knew I could go sub 3 on this course, however, it was a significantly more difficult course than before, all rolling hills and some good climbs thrown in with some short fast descents. There was never a period of time that you could really go aero and rebuild back some speed that you lost on the climbs, plus the road conditions were so bad I didn't want to go aero most of the time because you were afraid you would kill yourself. Oh yeah, and the dead animals on the road, are you kidding me, crazy how many.

Anyhoo, the bike was uneventful, thanks to Nancy thompson she was able to set my watch to go off every 40 minutes to remind me to eat, I ate 1/2 power bar, 2 gels, 6 cliff blocks and 3 1/2 bottles of endurance, plus one succeed. I peed at least 4 times, so I knew I was well hydrated. My legs felt great because I didn't kill the power on the bike so I was really hoping for a descent run, but it was hot.

Well, a 3:13 bike really sucked, I hated seeing that but I knew my goal today was to just try to run. The course again changed this year and we didn't have to run up steeple street, we had to run a much harder one in my humble opinion. Olen street is a much long and the climb starts around 3-4% grade and goes up to maybe 7-8% but it keeps going for at least 3/4 of a mile maybe longer, tons of switch backs and crazy quad descents and then more climbs, it was just bizarre, this whole course just doesn't make sense, so stupid.

Well, I felt great, I ran, ran, ran, I kept my HR at 150 for the first few miles, my legs were turning over I was passing people, it was awesome, going into the second loop I felt even better, this was when most people were walking, especially up the hill, I was cruising, keeping my HR in check up the hills but just pounding the flats and descents. I hit my mark, 8:59 avg first loop and then 8:49 average second loop for an 8:55 overall. Now if the course profile was just a little flatter, still with some hills, I so would of averaged 8:30s or better, that one hill really crushes your time, I was definitely running in the high 7's for alot of the good parts of the course.

It was just awesome to run and feel like a runner. I past 6 women in my age group, I was smiling I was so happy, I never felt out of control, my HR was in check, it just felt good.

So yes, my mission was completed, I came in 16th, so what, my time was 5:51 so what, I need to sacrifice a little up front so that I can rework my body to beable to bike to my ability and run to my ability and I will get there. Yesterday was a good day in the office for me, I told myself I was a runner yesterday and I believed it, it was fun.

Slowly but surely its coming together....

Over the last 6-7 weeks I've trained a bit differently than I have over the past 4 years, a lot due to my time constraints and limited free time and a lot to do with finding the enjoyment again and letting my body recover from what I think may have been a bit of overtraining. When you think of overtraining it wasn't necessarily just the workouts it was the time I was doing them ( 4am or 9p at night) or trying to fit them in while working crazy hours or in between a million other projects, never giving my body a chance to truly recover. Unfortunately, that caused my body to not perform well in races and to feel like I was pushing the envelope in every practice, it wasn't fun anymore, I needed to find my mojo again and I needed to find my way back. Well, its a slow process but I look forward to every workout I can get in, I listen to my body, I try not to do things at absurd hours, and in the end if everything gets in it gets in, well so far I've been able to get in what needs to get in and my body is doing well, no rebellion. I'm swimming very consistent times in the pool without killing myself, the track and road work is coming along ( I still have a ways to go) but I'm running some good times on some rested legs and my biking is pretty stable. Hopefully, life will continue to work in this direction and I will continue to see progress.

So lets hope for some final good workouts and then RI 70.3 here I come.

Yo Adrian...........

This is how I felt today, I felt like Rocky Balboa climbing up the stairs in downtown Philadelphia, successful because I've worked hard, successful because I finally didn't let my head play me, successful because I did it myself. Now, lets get this straight, I'm no speed demon ( not yet anyway) but I'm not getting slower, I'm getting a bit faster and more consistent. Maybe this year has taught me a lot about me and my body, maybe taking some time for so many other things, not making training such a big focus and actually liking what I'm doing again has made a big difference, I don't know, but whatever it is I'm happy and that's all that matters. It also might be because I'm not in full ironman training like I have been for 2 years for IMLP, those 10 extra hours a week available to my job and family makes a difference, however, I might feel differently come the fall when full IM Arizona training comes into play.

That being said, going out today and nailing a TT ride and mile repeats at the track all by myself in the rain made me smile, nobody around me and I did it, so proud today. Time to go to bed with a happy face. Night all. Happy training.

Life just passes you by sometimes

Sorry for my delay in posting, life just passes by and things get so busy. I have so many things to talk about and trying to figure out what to write sometimes slows me down, so I'll break it down into parts.

1. Family: LIfe is crazy, end of school craziness for 4 kids, two schools, being the class parent in 3 classrooms ( and you know what that means, gifts, party planning, etc...) Its nuts. I thought having 4 kids under 4 was hard but as they get older it gets harder, so many things going on, so little time.

Also, we are in sports hell right now. Actually, I love the fact my kids are sporty and that they love to compete and play in everything, however, trying to cooridinate 4 soccer games, 3 flag football games,throw in a swim meet to Dover, NH for two kids and music lessons its crazy. This past weekend we had 4-5 hrs of flag football on saturday ( All Stars) and then on to Harvard Stadium for the finally on Sunday for 6hrs. My 9yr old's team won the whole thing and my 8yr olds team came short by one game. It was a very long and rainy day and trying to entertain my 5 and 6yr old was trying for 7+ hours.

Anyhoo, if life wasn't busy I don't know what I would do with myself.

2. The house.We have our house under agreement, so great and after only 2 days. It was hard to keep it clean and keeping the kids from destroying the place, I can't imagine what it would of been like to do this for a long time, I would of went insane.

3. New house- Fire trucks at new house today, alarms went off, security system activated, my GC called and asked if I knew the code, I had no clue, the previous owner didn't give me anything. Anyway, firefighters were able to fix it. I went to the house, introduced myself and said, " IM SURE THIS WONT BE THE LAST TIME YOUR AT MY HOUSE,YOU HAVEN'T MET MY KIDS BUT IM SURE YOU WILL DEVELOP A GREAT RELATIONSHIP WITH THEM OVER THE YEARS-HE DIDN'T LAUGH". Anyhoo, I dislike people who don't have a sense of humor.

4. Training: Things are getting done, here and there, when I can, doing the best I can. Satisfied is all I can say. I miss some of my training partners and working out with people but hopefully come fall when we move into the new house and the kids are back at school life will slow down a bit and I can get back on schedule.

OK Conundrum: 5yr old still wetting bed at night. Holding fluids at 5pm, making sure he goes potty before bed and sometimes waking him up when we go to bed to just make sure-still wetting bed. So, he's back in diapers at night and looking for any other solutions, would love anyones input.

Hope all is well with everyone, getting a bit distracted with the Bruins playing in the background.Gotta go, they are up 3 nothing, lets GO BRUINS

F'in Mooseman, F'in Bronchitis.......

This is what I would like to do to the Mooseman race. I swear this course will be my demise. As I wrote a few times before it was the first 1/2 ironman that I signed up for 4 years ago of which I registered, sat on the beach and then freaked out and walked away. I have since had a wedding, 2 ironman training camps that have prevented me from doing it since and now I have bronchitis and will not beable to race at my potential on Sunday so I decided not to do it. I feel like this is so unfair, friggin race. Anyway, after not being able to sleep, having difficulty walking up stairs to try to breathe I think I'm making the right decision.

I wish all my friends luck who are racing this weekend, Keri, Mary, Ange, Pete, Thomas. Enjoy the course, kill it, have a great time.

My wishes for this race: keri to either win her age group, 35-39 or place top two to go to las Vegas, and have Mary and Ange have Stellar performances and compete with the elites, make our 40-44 year old girls proud ladies.

I wish my friend Pete a great first olympic triathlon experience, he has trained so hard and has made such great strides this season, I only think great things are ahead of him in his future in triathlon. Good luck my friend.

Thomas enjoy your first 1/2 ironman, take it easy up that climb and enjoy the downhill. The water really isn't that cold, just believe.

Have fun guys, I will be racing with you in my hearts and looking forward to my first 1/2 of the season at Providence 70.3 in July.

The Heart of the Matter

Its been over 20 years that I've been diagnosed with Familial hypercholesterolemia. I got this wonderful disease from my mothers side of the family. One uncle died at 39, one at 49 and mom has had 2 heart attacks and an angioplasty before the age of 55. The highest my cholesterol has gone has been 256. What's also wonderful about my family history is that we have elevated levels of lipoprotein A which increases our risk for plaque build up in our vessels as well as blood clots. Unfortunately, their is no treatment for elevated lipoprotein A levels so you are either put on strict dietary control with exercise or put on medication.

Over the past 5 years I have done everything in my power to not be put on medication. The Statin medication for high cholesterol can cause severe muscle pain especially in endurance athletes and unless my cardiologist tells me I have no other choice I will do my best to not go on the pills.

3 yrs ago I underwent a stress test to see whether or not I was in immediate danger or heart issues. i also underwent a calcium ion CT scan to check for plaque build up in my vessels. Both tests came back great and along with my blood work my cardiologist gave me a 3 year bye on pills.

Last week I went to see my Cardiologist, Dr. Sydney Alexander at the Lahey in Burlington, he again told me that he expected to put me on pills by the end of my visit. My blood work showed:

TC-228
HDL-80
LDL-138
Triglycerides-48

All other blood work including CBC and electrolytes, thyroid, etc.. were within normal limits.

My examination was normal, my weight was lower this visit than last and my body fat percentage dropped to 14.3%. Again, Dr. Alexander told me that since I am an endurance athlete and the risks associated with taking the Statins outweighed the literature to support me going on it right now isn't good, I got yet another bye for 3 years. He even told me that there was no literature to support me taking a baby aspirin a day. Good for me.

However, even with this good news with my family history and my still borderline blood results I get a bit nervous that I may still be building plaque and could have an early heart attack based on my family history.

Whats even more sad is that all 4 children of mine carry an elevated lipoprotein A level as well as being diagnosed with high cholesterol at the age of 3. They are also followed by a cardiologist in Boston who has been monitoring them since that age and with dietary changes ( except for one child) they are doing great and only need to be seen every 3-5 years.

Its so hard to know that as a parent I passed on this potential deadly disease that if you don't watch what you eat, if you don't exerise and even if you do all the right things in life, you may still be subjected to having a heart attack. Its very scary. That being said, I don't live by this disease and I do everything in my power to fight it everyday and to educate my kids, family and friends. Life is too short to not do something that you may have control over. I want to be around for many years and I want my kids to be around much longer than myself.

To my friends and family, do what you can to be healthy, enjoy your treats but get good exercise, eat well, get your yearly physicals and blood work so you know both your inner body and outer body are doing well and most importantly educate your children about health. We all want to live a long time.

ROK-a-5K Road Race | Hamilton, Massachusetts 01982 | Saturday, July 16, 2011 @ 7:00 AM

ROK-a-5K Road Race | Hamilton, Massachusetts 01982 | Saturday, July 16, 2011 @ 7:00 AM

Kids-ROK Off-Road Triathlon | Hamilton, Massachusetts 01982 | Saturday, July 16, 2011 @ 9:00 AM

Kids-ROK Off-Road Triathlon | Hamilton, Massachusetts 01982 | Saturday, July 16, 2011 @ 9:00 AM

JCC sprint Tri, as a spectator

It was soooooo much fun to be on the sidelines this past weekend watching my dear friends race, I also loved being able to give pointers, help change flats, blow up tires that were low, etc... I get so excited watching that it always reminds me why I love this sport and the people in it. I want to congratulate Kevin Reen, the 1st male overall, Vinny and Marty Misrendino, 2nd and 3rd overall and my good friend Marnie who got 2nd overall female, just a tremendous effort out there by these amazing athletes.

I also want to congratulate my friends, Erica, Jason, Nicole, Keri, Jill, Christine, Dean, Josh, Stacey and many more I'm sure I'm forgetting for putting in major efforts, some PRs and just showing me again why I love this sport and that each and every one of them showed the true spirit of competition and good sportsmanship and even with the terrible elements that were handed to them on Sunday they raced their hearts out.

Thanks guys for continuing to inspire me and making me want to be a better athlete and person. Here are just a few pics.

Alex's 8th Birthday and the Crazy Cake Lady...

I love to make my kids birthday cakes, it is so much fun and I get great joy out of my kids smiling and feeling like mom is the "queen". Alex wanted me to make him Hogwarts Castle from Harry Potter, it was a daunting task but fun. Here are a few pictures of some of the cakes I've made for my boys.

chaos

This is my life right now, I think the picture says it all, enjoy.

Getting my shit together, literally.....

As you guys know, life has been crazy for me lately, training has been ok but certainly not where I would like it to be. I need to prioritize other things in my life right now (kids, hubby, TriROK, house) and if workouts get in they get in. That being said, there are some things that I can do to try to make the training that I do easier and that is, yet again, BIG SURPRISE, looking at my diet.

I recently had my body fat tested, 14.3%, weight 144lbs. Based on these numbers I am a bit too muscular and need to lean out a bit. I've known this for awhile but have chosen not too really make substantial efforts in controlling things that go into my mouth. Now, I eat very healthy but I do like a few glasses of wine, some cheese and crackers here and there, you get my drift. Well, if I am going to maximize my training I really need to focus here, the time I get in to train can be better if I'm lighter and leaner.

So, this is day #2 of really watching what i'm eating, drinking plenty of water, no caffeinated beverages ( no coffee or diet coke) and making sure I'm getting in all of my fruits and vegetables. It's a lot of work to make sure to eat many times a day and carrying a cooler around of food isn't the coolest thing but at least when I got hungry I wasn't trying to snack on the closet thing, i had my healthy options.

So, in 5 weeks I will get my body fat retested and go from there. The least I can do is make any training that I get in more efficient by getting my body as lean and strong as possible. I'll keep you posted.

Poor little guy......

Life has been super busy lately, crazy is more like it. We are in the process of trying to buy a new house, all the kids in ten thousand different sports, end of year parties, projects, plays, field trips, etc, you get the drift. I'm also very involved with my non-profit organization and we are 3/4 of the way through our families tri program which I am one of the coaches for. I am also involved in putting together our first Families Fitness Festival at Patton Park in Hamilton on Saturday, July 16th, 2011 which will include a festival, a 5k road race and an off road kids triathlon . This has been an amazing experience trying to put this together but also very humbling. I was so excited about doing all these wonderful things but nieve to think that it wasn't going to be as involved as each one of these things are. I'm so excited about seeing the end results but in the meantime I need to put my nose to the ground and get things done. All these different adventures has put my training at a bit of a disadvantage, that being said I do my best to get everything done to the best of my abilities. Training is good but I do miss my training partner Maris, hopefully we can get together real soon to bike or run, it still remains hard to do 80% of what I do alone.

Back to the title of my blog, my poor little guy. so with life being so busy I can't be everywhere that my kids need me to be everyday. I try to go to everything that they do, I try to make home meals every day and night, be at every performance, etc.... but sometimes it just can't happen. Today was my son Alexs swim meet ( not his first) but a big one, there were some expectations of his performances because he has been swimming so well lately. It was also my daughter Shea's first swim meet which included her diving off the blocks for the first time. Well, unfortunately mommy wasn't able to go today because she had to work, I was at the track with my tri families and Phil was at the pool with the kids. My mom was kind enough to come up and bring my little guy to his soccer game and hold fort at the house until I got home. Well, I guess Alex had a tough morning, he was really nervous and scared to swim, he didn't want to go. I got about 10 phone calls throughout the morning and in the end he didn't swim. It was hard to talk to him because he was crying. I told him I would speak to him when he got home.

The reasons why he probably didn't swim:
1. Late practice yesterday to practice starts and turns, it was over at 8pm, he didn't go to bed until after 9p
2. He had to wake up early to go and he was exhausted
3. I wasn't going to be there
4. His friend and co-swimmer Stephan wasn't able to swim

I think all of these factors played into him not being mentally prepared for the race and my heart broke for him that I wasn't there to help him through this.

What I did:

I gave him lots of hugs and told him I wasn't upset. I told him that I took some responsibility for what happened today and that in the end swimming and sports are supposed to be fun and not be upsetting. That not only do you have to prepare yourself physically but you also have to prepare yourself mentally and I failed at helping him with this. He gave me lots of hugs, apologized to me and said he will try real hard the next time. I said as long as he " tries" and that he is having fun that its all that matters. The main thing he needed to know was that mommy and daddy love him and are not mad at him but very proud that he stayed to watch his sister swim and support his team and in the end he still wants to swim and he wants to try harder. This was a very proud moment for mommy and hopefully a good lesson for both of us. In the end he is still only 7 ( soon to be 8) but very young to take sports so seriously. Life right now is supposed to fun for them, I was so sad I couldn't help him today.

Anyway, its better now and hopefully it wont happen again.

A nice run tomorrow followed by many hours of flag football, back to the grind.

When Mommy is away, what happens?

Okay, so I left on Wednesday to go to a triathlon camp, I am one lucky girl to be able to do that ( not denying it), I made sure before I left I did:
1. clean the entire house, change everyones sheets
2. Finished a total of 20 loads of laundry for the week by Wednesday and put all the clothes away for them
3. Went food shopping to make sure they would be completely stocked
4. fed and cleaned all the animals and their cages
5. wrote out all the kids itineraries, cooridinated rides/playdates, cooridinated my mother in law and babysitter to make sure everyone was on board.

This is what I need to do before i go away. Do you know what my hubby needs to do to go away, Zippo, NADA, Nothing, a big fat 0.

When I came home this is what I found. ( I got home at 1am in the morning)

1. No food in the refrigerator, maybe a little milk, but no real food. You think someone could of done a bit of food shopping so that with April vacation I didn't have to take the entire brood in the morning to get food at the food store.

2. Laundry that was attempted to be done but found all of my clothes in my kids drawers, so it took me tons of time to go through all the rooms to reorganize the clothes, get them to where they needed to be, plus there was still a ton of laundry in the laundry room. Now I'm sure your saying that at least someone did it, well it wasn't my husband doing it it was his mother and all I ever ask is to just put the laundry in the baskets and I;ll put them away, it took over 2hrs to figure everything out, it isn't worth it.

3. My husband says to me last night, " Do you know where Alex's toothbrush is", I say, " In the bathroom", he says, no it hasnt been. He says, " Can you go out and buy him one?" I said, " you mean Alex has been using someones elses toothbrush for 5 days and you didn't go out and get him one, I mean really, its a fucking toothbrush. Why do I need to buy a toothbrush, why couldn't you just go out and get him one.

4. The cats were basically shitting on top of their shit and their was no food in their bin. Couldn't someone smell it, didn't anyone care.

5. The guinea pig cage was overflowing with crap and my boys room smelled so bad that I was surprised they could sleep in it, do you think someone would of done something, NOPE.


Anyway, you get the jist, its so great to beable to go away, I'm so fortunate but sometimes the crap I usually have to deal with when I get home puts a bit of a damper on the fun I just had. It also sucked that I couldn't get in a small recovery swim yesterday and I'm going to try to get on my trainer today but with the kids home from vacation and no-one really able to sit it really sucks. Life goes on.