Annabelle Lyn: 6 Months

6 Oct

Our sweet little Annabelle is already 6 months old (back on September 27)!

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It’s hard to believe that much time has gone by already. At her doctor appointment today, she was a little over 27 weeks, 19 lbs 5 oz (91%), 26 inches long (50%) with a head circumference of 17.76 inches (98%). She’s wearing 6-9 month clothes, and has been wearing 9 month sleepers and shirts for about a month already. She has a long torso and short little legs!

Annabelle has rolled over from her belly to her back a half dozen times but a week will pass between rolls, and she hasn’t done it at all for the past 3 weeks. It’s like she forgets that she knows how to do it. (Our doctor said that she is probably just choosing to not do it, and that we won’t worry about it until 9 months.) She has good neck control during tummy time though and is getting close to being able to sit up on her own. She’s also stronger standing up. No attempts at rolling from back to belly, though she does roll onto her side quite a bit.

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The best part about the past month is that her personality has really started coming out.

Things she loves:

* Making funny noises with her mouth — squawking, gurgling, sighing, spitting, farting
* Hearing other people make fake fart noises — one of the things that has made her laugh the most so far was the air being let out of a partially inflated balloon. We did it over and over to hear that cute giggle.
* Watching big sister’s antics
* Having raspberries blown on her belly and (almost nonexistent) neck — this also makes her laugh, but only sometimes
* Hanging upside down
* Swinging and stroller rides
* Taking baths — she splashes herself in the face because she’s so excited
* Nursing
* Chewing on rubber/plastic spatulas and spoons
* Jumping in her jumperoo — it took probably 3 weeks but she’s finally doing some jumping!
* Sitting in the Bumbo or bouncy seat watching mommy do stuff in the kitchen
* Playing with toys that jingle and/or are a good thing to chew/suck on — she’s gotten good at seeing toys she wants and reaching for them. One of her favorite toys is a jingly blue and yellow ball that reminds me of a cat toy.

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Helping mommy with laundry

Annabelle does NOT like:
* Being put down when she’s tired or hungry (she’ll be fine being held for a while though)
* Solid foods — so far, we’ve tried rice cereal mixed with breastmilk, banana, avocado, applesauce and rice rusks. 99% of it came right back out but she really liked the applesauce. We’ll keep trying! Next up will be probably sweet potatoes or butternut squash.
* Bottles — still won’t take one. I’ve pretty much given up on that — we’re going straight to a sippy cup instead!
* Sleeping flat — she will now sleep without vibration so we have made some progress (though I do still revert to vibration on occasion because she definitely sleeps better/longer with it on)!

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Annabelle is still such a happy, easygoing sweetheart. It takes a lot for her to get worked up and when she’s starting to get upset, her pitiful little whimper just pulls at my heartstrings! There have been a handful of times when she was tired and hungry as we were driving home after eating dinner at a restaurant. She would cry for about 5 minutes and then just fall asleep. In contrast, Emma at that age would’ve screamed harder and harder and harder all the way home, falling asleep right as we were pulling in the driveway. 😉

She takes 2 good naps a day, and sometimes a third catnap in the evening. I can almost always time her afternoon nap for when Emma is taking hers so I get a glorious break! She had been sleeping through the night up until about 3 weeks ago, but now she wakes up hungry between 3:30 and 4:30. She goes right back down after nursing though. She also might be teething (who knows?) because she’s had a few nights of waking up 3-4 times and being unhappy (which is unlike her). She still squawks instead of crying 90% of the time. When she actually does cry, you know she has HAD IT and needs to nurse/sleep NOW. What a sweetheart.

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Annabelle likes stroller rides!20150902_192848

Annabelle fell asleep with me holding her during dinner one night. We didn’t realize it until Emma looked over and said “Baby’s sleeping!”
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Annabelle’s passport photo attempts (for our trip to Mexico this coming Feb) — the top one was the winner.

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And that’s Annabelle at 6 months!

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A Recipe for Hunting Season

30 Sep

Hunting season is in full swing here in Minnesota, and Travis’ family’s annual elk hunting trip to Colorado is coming up in just a week. This recipe for elk chili has been a staple at elk camp for the past 5 years or so, AND it won our church’s chili cookoff twice. The first time it won was the first time I had ever made it! So it started off as a great recipe, and after making it three dozen times or so, I’ve made a few tweaks that have only made it better. I almost always use elk meat, but this chili can be made with any ground venison or even ground beef. It’s a great thing to serve hungry hunters after they’ve been out searching for their prey, or a tasty way to cook the fruits of their labor. Best part, it can be made in a crockpot or on the stove. Enjoy!

Elk Chili
Adapted from this recipe
Serves 4-5 hungry hunters

INGREDIENTS:

1 lb ground elk meat
1 large yellow onion, diced
1 tbsp butter (only if cooking on stove)
30 oz tomato sauce
1 (14.5 oz) can diced tomatoes
1 (15 oz) can kidney beans, drained and rinsed
1 (4 oz) can diced green chiles
1 1/2 tbsp chili powder
1 1/2 tsp ground cumin
1 tsp dried oregano
1 tsp salt
1 tsp black pepper
1/4 cup brown sugar

DIRECTIONS:

1. Brown elk meat in a large skillet and drain excess fat.
2. (Skip this step if using a crockpot.) In separate pan, melt butter over low-medium heat and saute onion until tender.
3. Combine drained meat, onion, and remaining ingredients in a crockpot or in a large pot on the stove. Stir well.
4. If using a crockpot, set temperature on low and cook 6-8 hours. If cooking on the stove, bring to a simmer and cook 1-2 hours.
5. Serve hot and enjoy! We like to eat ours adorned with sour cream and cheese, with a side of yummy cornbread, but it’s delicious on its own too!
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Happy Hunting!

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Evangelism Is a Means, Not an End

23 Sep

Last Sunday in church, one of the songs we sang was about building God’s kingdom here through evangelism. One of the lines said, “We are the hope on earth.” While I understand the idea, I emphatically disagree. Jesus is the hope; we are not. We simply relay the message of hope found in Him.

I realize that I’m probably more sensitive to this kind of thing than most people, because I spent years dissecting my Christian faith down to nuances and colloquialisms. However, I can’t help but comment on this phrase — because even though when I heard it now, I could put it in its proper context, if I had heard it then, it would’ve sent me into a massive tailspin of guilt, failure and despair.

Why? Because it confuses people like me about who is responsible for what.

Nothing sends me into guilt-trip, “I need to do better” mode faster than a sermon on evangelism. I’m guessing that a lot of people feel the same way. What ends up happening is that we feel the responsibility to bring others to know Christ and see how we fall short. In an effort to bridge the gap between what we “should be doing” and what we are actually doing, we determine to be bolder in sharing the gospel. We share with a few people but over the course of a month or two, fall back into our old habits. When the next evangelism message comes along, we get pumped up again and resolve to share the gospel. We do for a bit, but again gradually fade back into our old habits.

“So what?” you say. “At least the gospel is being proclaimed!” Yes, that’s true, it is. And it may even be that some of those people who heard the gospel came to know Jesus, and that is something to rejoice over. But is that ALL that God cares about? Is He only about the bottom line? “The only thing that matters is that people hear the gospel.” After all, in Philippians 1, the apostle Paul didn’t care that some were proclaiming the gospel out of faulty motives – he only cared that it was being proclaimed, right?

I believe that God cares about more than the bottom line. We are not just His pawns in the game of world domination. The Westminster Catechism says, “The chief end of man is to glorify God, and to enjoy Him forever.” Or as John Piper would say, “The chief end of man is to glorify God by enjoying Him forever.” It is possible to focus so much on the mission of evangelism as an end that we forget it’s really just a means of enjoying God.

When evangelism becomes an end, it’s often used as a gauge for how seriously we’re living out our faith, or for our success as a Christian or a church. If that happens, we will quickly find ourselves defeated and suffocated under a fatal burden of guilt and legalism. We are not strong enough to shoulder the weighty responsibility of growing God’s kingdom.

And the good news is: We are not responsible for growing God’s kingdom. We are not responsible for people coming to know Jesus. God is.

I wholeheartedly agree that God uses people – like us – to accomplish His purposes, and that we have a role in evangelism. But it’s far smaller and more personal than most people realize. Our role in evangelism is primarily in being faithful to God’s leading.

It’s not our responsibility to share the gospel; it’s our privilege. Telling someone about Jesus isn’t something we do for God; it’s a gift He gives to us. It’s for our benefit. We get the grace!

When evangelism stops being an end, and becomes the means to glorifying and enjoying God that it was meant to be, we can stop focusing on all the ways we’ve failed, stop resolving to Do Better! and instead, walk through today in faith, as God’s chosen ones, forgiven and justified by the blood of the Lamb, expectantly awaiting the Spirit’s prompting.

We are not the hope on earth — Jesus is. Come, Lord Jesus!

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I Write, Therefore I Am (A Writer)

4 Sep

20150904_063656I’ve done 6 sprint triathlons and 1 Olympic. But I’m not a “triathlete.”

I’ve ran 6 half marathons, 1 full marathon, a 15K, a 10 mile, and a slew of 5Ks and 10Ks. But I’m not a “runner.”

My first-ever blog post was on January 15, 2008. Since then, I’ve written over 850 posts. I even have my own domain! But I’m not a “blogger.”

All my life, I’ve dreamed of writing and publishing a book. Growing up, I spent my free time writing short stories and novels. Majoring in Journalism and Spanish meant I did a LOT of writing in college. After graduation, I settled into being a marketing copywriter. But I’m not a “writer.”

Why do I not consider myself a triathlete, runner, blogger or writer? Isn’t the definition of a triathlete “a person who competes in triathlons”? Isn’t a runner “a person who runs”? A blogger, a person who blogs? A writer, a person who writes?

I’m hesitant to assume those titles for the same reason I feel the need to dispel any notions of my athletic prowess with the caveat “But I’m slow.” To describe myself as a triathlete, runner, blogger or writer, I feel like I should be doing those things in a big way. I should be winning age group awards, making money through endorsements and affiliate links, and publishing articles or books. Instead, I’m consistently in the last third of finishers, have a small (but wonderful!) blog following, and haven’t published anything.

I’m 99% okay with all of that. Admittedly, there are times when jealousy rears its ugly head. But I do think this mode of thinking – go big or go home – might be holding me back, especially in the area of writing. I don’t take writing seriously because I still just view it as a “hobby” that probably “won’t ever amount to anything.” When I tell people I’m working on a book (very, very, very part-time), I feel like a kid telling an adult that I want to be an astronaut when I grow up, expecting them to pat me on the shoulder and say, “Oh, that’s nice, Kathy.”

Just the other day, I was talking to my aunt’s sister at a birthday party for my cousin’s daughter and she said to me, “So you’re a writer?” I fumbled for a response and ended up saying, “Um…yeah…sure.”

But that stops now. I may never be a published author (though I hope to be) or earn money from my blog (eh, whatever) but I am a person who writes. Therefore, I am a writer.

For a while now, I’ve been convicted that I need to carve out time for writing my book. I need to prioritize it – obviously not over taking care of my family, but over other stuff I do during naptime. Or wake up early. Stay up later. Writing with little kids can be done! And I’m going to do it. Because this book about what practical faith looks like isn’t just my dream. It’s my calling from God. I honestly believe that other people are meant to benefit from this book, that this message needs to get out there. If it helps even just one person, it has accomplished its purpose.

I’m on Day 4 of working on my book and let me tell you, getting my thoughts aligned and rolling together is a heck of a lot easier when I don’t take 3 month breaks in between each session.

I’m letting you know this 1) Because I’ll probably be blogging less 2) You will be the first to know about my book when it’s done! I may seek publishing (that’s a LOOOOONG way down the road, and a total LOOOOONG shot) but I plan to offer my blog readers the eBook for FREE!

Here goes nothing.

Annabelle Lyn: 5 Months

1 Sep

Annabelle was 5 months (22 weeks) on August 27. At her well-child visit on August 11, she was 17 lbs 2 oz (90th percentile) and 25 inches (59th percentile), with a head circumference of 17 inches (99th percentile!). To compare, at 6 months, Emma was only 16 lbs 6 oz and 26 inches. Annabelle is a cuddly little chubbers!

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This little girl is so smiley and happy. It seems like she loves everyone, though if a bunch of toddler strangers surround her carseat, she’s not afraid to voice her disapproval!
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This past month, Annabelle had a few ‘rough’ evenings of not wanting to go to sleep. She usually nurses to sleep for naps and bedtime (I think it’s mostly just a comfort thing because she nurses plenty of other times too) and every once in a while lately, she is too squirmy or distracted to nurse. I chalk some of it up to her age and just being more interested in what’s around her. But other times, it seems like something’s bothering her. I remember one night, I couldn’t get her to nurse anywhere except when I sat on the floor, so I thought maybe she didn’t like feeling cramped. But the next day, she seemed fine with nursing in a chair where her feet touch the side, and has seemed fine since then, so who knows.
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Speaking of nursing to sleep, that’s the main way she likes to go to sleep. Emma wouldn’t fall asleep nursing to save her life, but Annabelle prefers it over bouncing, rocking, anything. She doesn’t have to nurse to fall asleep, but does about 90% of the time. Proof that the child’s personality and temperament really make a difference!

I am slightly embarrassed to admit, though, that Annabelle still sleeps in her swing with the vibration on for her naps and bedtime. My plan had been to get her used to sleeping in the swing without the vibration first and then transition her to the crib, but she hasn’t liked that idea much. Plan B was buying a vibration pad to put under her crib mattress to see if we could get her to transition that way, but she hasn’t been a fan of that either (she’ll wake up after only 15-30 minutes). We’re going to keep trying because I just think she’s too old to still sleep in a swing. Seems like she might be missing out on some developmental benefits or something. She has ditched the swaddle, so at least there’s that. (It helps when they find their hands.)
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These days, Annabelle usually wakes up around 7, takes an hour nap around 8:30, take a longer afternoon nap (1.5 – 3 hours) around 1, sometimes takes a short catnap in the evening (depending on how long her afternoon nap was), and goes to bed around 8:30. She sleeps straight through the night 99% of the time. A few times, I’ve had to nurse her around 5 am, but that’s not typical. I have appreciated her going to bed earlier because that means I can get her to bed and then focus on getting Emma to bed. Putting them both down at the same time is usually a disaster!

Annabelle has gotten better at tummy time — she can hold her head, neck and shoulders off the floor — but has only rolled over from belly to back once. She hasn’t rolled the other way (back to belly) at all. I’m trying to be more intentional with mat time but it’s hard with a toddler! That’s another reason I want to move her out of the swing.
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We like to joke about how mild Annabelle’s crying is. She just has the cutest, most pitiful little cry, and it takes a LOT for her to get worked up. She’ll be woken up from a nap early, kept up an hour past bedtime, wait 45 minutes to eat, play by herself while I chase Emma for a diaper or clothes change, chill in the Bumbo watching me make dinner, swing in the infant swingset swing while we go down the slide with Emma and just take it all in. She squawks a lot (especially when she’s getting tired), laughs and coos at Emma’s antics, and reacts with surprised disgust when anything plastic or rubber goes in her mouth…

Which means she won’t take a bottle. Her only flaw. We’ve tried a handful of times now with a few different bottles — no luck. Since I stay home full-time and she’s on the verge of starting solid foods, I’m not too worried about it. I gave Annabelle a taste of mashed banana while making banana bread one day and she revolted. So I might try baby cereal mixed with breastmilk in a few weeks.
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One other notable thing, we finally bought an Ergobaby. Zulily had them for half off, which motivated us to pull the trigger. So far, I love it. It’s comfortable to wear (no more hurting shoulders!) and Annabelle seems to like it fine. It’s a little tricky to get on by myself, but I think I’ve figured it out. I didn’t get the 360 version because I didn’t think that being able to wear her on the front facing forward was a big enough reason for me to pay more (the Classic still has 3 different positions).

At 5 months, Annabelle:

LIKES
* Watching Emma and the dogs
* Swimming / taking baths
* Sleeping in her swing with vibration, or in the baby carrier
* Sticking her tongue out
* Squawking and cooing
* Grabbing whatever’s in her reach
* Sucking on her fingers
* Drooling

DISLIKES
* Spending very much time in her carseat
* Being left alone (in a safe place) for very long
* Getting her feet tickled, nails trimmed or face/neck washed
* Tummy time, for longer than a few minutes
* Sleeping flat on her back
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Annabelle’s Newborn and Emma’s 2-Year Pro Photos

19 Aug

Way back when Annabelle was 7 weeks old, we had professional photos taken of her and our family (since Emma was just past 2 years old too). It was kind of chaotic and took us meeting 2 different times, me nursing Annabelle several times mid-session to calm her down, and Emma holding on to a plastic baseball she had found in the photographer’s car (random) in our family photos to stay happy. But all you need is a split-second of everyone looking happy!

Here was the result:10475445_980834938594907_3082657565790053818_o 10914950_980828621928872_1653972813925739179_o 11145270_980828665262201_297409411428702661_o 11265574_980828611928873_5341966412947857647_o Kluthe (13 of 1) (Large) Kluthe (22 of 1) (Large) Kluthe (27 of 1) (Large) Kluthe (28 of 1) (Large)

Kluthe (38 of 1) (Large) Kluthe (41 of 1) (Large) Kluthe (50 of 1) (Large) Kluthe (56 of 1) (Large) Kluthe (68 of 1)-2 (Large) Kluthe (73 of 1) (Large)In the past, we used our friend Jen Jacobs from Kitestrings Photography for our photos. But since she’s all the way down in Minneapolis, we decided to try out a local recommendation, Sarah Larson Photography. Sarah was great and worked well with Emma and Annabelle. She also has a lot of props, backgrounds and lighting options. My only frustration was that instead of getting rights to all the photos like we did with Jen, we had to either buy prints from her, and or buy the rights to the digital files. So we ended up buying the rights to 10 photos, and ordering a few more prints of the ones we liked, but not enough to buy the file for. It ended up working out though and I love how the photos turned out!

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A {Real} Day In The Life

16 Aug

Today was one of those days.

I had moved to Emma’s room around 3 a.m., after she woke up twice quite upset — whether overtired from our whirlwind trip to the Cities that day or irritated by a diaper rash on her bum, I wasn’t sure.

Annabelle woke up to nurse around 6 a.m. I snuck out and nursed her quietly in the glider in her room. She fell back asleep, I put her back down and snuck back into Emma’s room, only to discover she was already awake and unhappy. A few minutes later, Annabelle’s squawk came through the monitor. I got back up, brought Annabelle to Travis and went back to bed with Emma until 8.

We got up, ate breakfast while we “watch movie”, and made it to church only 5 minutes late for the 9 a.m. service. I even had time to dry my hair and put lotion on my legs! I still did my makeup in the car though.

We checked Emma into the toddler room and I watched the whole service on the closed-circuit TV in the nursing room while nursing and then holding Annabelle while she napped. I don’t get to do that much, so it’s a sweet time when I do.

After church, we stopped by Walmart to buy Emma new shoes (we discovered upon arriving at church that her tennis shoes from the spring – the only ones we had along – are now 3 sizes too small…) and chips to bring to the all-church picnic. We ate lunch at the park with church friends, watched Emma and the kiddos play on the playground and bouncy house, and then headed home for naps around 12:30. I figured Emma would be ready for an early nap because of her rough night (she usually naps around 2).

It was working out perfectly. I nursed Annabelle and put her down around 1:15. We watched a few minion mini-movies (this girl is obsessed) and then Emma and I went to her room for a nap. After two trips to the bathroom for water and a tissue for her “nose boogers”, she laid down on top of me and fell asleep. I was *almost* asleep when Annabelle started crying. Travis was out mowing the lawn so I rolled Emma off me and made sure she was still asleep before sneaking out.

Annabelle hadn’t slept very long, even with the short nap she’d taken at the picnic, so I changed her diaper and set up on the bed, hoping she’d fall back asleep nursing, still giving me a chance to nap too. It worked! Annabelle was sleeping and I was getting drowsy when I thought I heard Emma… I got up to get the monitor then saw the door to our room was open, which meant I could hear Emma if she was crying. So I crawled back in bed (still holding a sleeping baby) and settled back in.

Then I heard Emma again. No question that time. She was quite upset. So I put Annabelle back down and went back in to Emma. If Annabelle woke up again, I’d just have to go get Travis. I cuddled with Emma until she calmed down. She seemed to be almost back asleep when Annabelle cried again. I watched her on the monitor for a bit and she went back to sleep, thank goodness. Unfortunately, Emma didn’t go back to sleep like I had thought so we got up to cuddle on the couch while watching TV (we don’t usually watch this much, I promise!).

As I was laying in Emma’s room, feeling overwhelmed and frustrated, not just because of the nap debacle but also because Travis was going fishing that night for the third time this weekend, I decided that I needed a break, and not just in the form of wine (though that was definitely needed too). And I wanted to do something relaxing, not go on a bike ride like I had planned.

So that’s how I ended up here, getting a pedicure, drinking a coffee and blogging from my phone. I’m going shopping at Kohl’s after this and then picking up a Papa Murphy’s pizza for dinner to go with my wine. After dinner while Travis goes fishing, the girls and I will play outside on the swingset, watch a movie and go to bed early.

Hey, a momma can dream, right?

Race Recap: Northwoods Triathlon

12 Aug

On Friday before the race, we packed and headed up to Nevis in time for packet pickup and the spaghetti dinner benefiting the Nevis football team. My parents met us there. Packet pickup wasn’t busy at all so it only took me about 5 minutes to get my bib, t-shirt and swim cap (no bike numbers at this little race!). This race is capped at 250 participants, so it’s a nice size – and it sells out FAST every year!

After dinner, we headed back to Travis’ parents’ house. Ironically, his parents were down at my parents’ house in Rochester because Al had had heart surgery that day at the Mayo Clinic. (He’s doing decently well, if you’re wondering.) I put Annabelle to bed and we watched Jim Gaffigan’s Mr. Universe standup on Netflix while Emma bounced off the walls. She was hard to get to sleep that night, and Annabelle woke up a few times because she was too hot and had to burp. Every time I got up to tend to Annabelle, Emma got wound back up. Finally, Emma crashed around 11:15 and we moved Annabelle downstairs to where it was cooler.

I slept decently well for a pre-race night. I woke up to thunderstorms sometime in the very early a.m. and was more worried that the thunder would wake Emma or Annabelle up than I was about doing a race the next morning.

PRE-RACE

Finally, it was 5 a.m. and time to get up. I nursed Annabelle a bit longer than I had planned – until 5:45 – and put her back down. I quickly showered and changed into my tri shorts. I decided to wait until right before the race to put my tri top and sports bras on, because I planned to nurse Annabelle again around 7. Nursing definitely presents a unique challenge for race day!

I ate a bagel with cream cheese for breakfast, made a cup of coffee, and Travis, Annabelle and I took off for the transition area around 6:30. My parents planned to wake Emma up around 7.

We easily found a parking spot and walked the 2 blocks to transition. I set my bike up near my friend Emily’s and we chatted for a bit while I set my stuff up. I went to get body marked (they just did bib number on both right arm and right leg – no age group), which only took about 3 minutes.

By then, it was about 7 so we made our way back to the car so I could nurse Annabelle before the pre-race meeting at 7:45. She must’ve been completely full though, because she wanted nothing to do with nursing. So I just put on my Body Glide, sports bras, and tri top and we headed back to transition around 7:30.

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After the pre-race meeting, I made my way down to the beach and got used to the water. I swam around a bit and then the first wave was off. I was in the fourth wave – women 34 and under. The waves were 3 minutes apart. The leaders from the first wave started coming out of the water. Finally, the purple caps were up!

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SWIM

I was a little nervous as the director counted down our group, but once he said “Go!” and we all started swimming, I willed myself to settle down and “race my own race.” I kept my sight on the buoys, which actually didn’t seem that far away since the swim was only 400 meters, and focused on breathing deeply and evenly. There were a handful of purple caps swimming around me – several of us were doing the breaststroke. The only somewhat eventful things that happened during the swim were that I swallowed a mouthful of water once (but didn’t panic!) and I told an older gentleman who was doing the backstroke that he was going off course.

Finally the swim was over! I stood up when the water was below my waist, and walked up the beach and giant hill to transition.

OFFICIAL SWIM TIME: 10:53

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T1

There was a kiddie pool to use for rinsing your feet off, but I had brought my own wash basin to use. I rinsed my feet off and tried to towel my legs and feet off, but I was dripping water so it didn’t really help. The second sports bra I wore isn’t one that I’ve worn during a race before – I usually only wear one for triathlons, to minimize the amount of fabric getting wet. But since I’m nursing, I knew I would be a lot more comfortable on the run if I wore two. And I was, but that bra definitely held a decent amount of water! I had to wring it out on the bike, and my shoes and socks were soaked by the time I started the run. I was worried about blisters, but it didn’t seem to matter.

Anyway, after toweling off a bit unsuccessfully, I put on my socks, shoes, sunglasses (in case of bugs, not sun), and helmet, grabbed my bike, and away I went.

OFFICIAL T1 TIME: 2:43

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BIKE

The bike course was a loop, starting out going west from Nevis, then north, east and back south. The first half was rolling hills. I played leap frog with a few people. Whenever I passed someone going up a hill, I thought, “Either I’m in better bike shape than I thought I was, or I’m being an idiot and these people are being conservative and saving themselves for the run.”

By about mile 7, I was thinking that maybe the right answer was the latter. My legs were starting to feel tired. Lucky for me, the last 5 or so miles were mostly flat. Other than my butt hurting for the last 4-5 miles, feeling like I had to pee, and the wind picking up a bit, the bike was very enjoyable. The sky was overcast, the scenery was pretty (farmland, trees, lakes and rolling hills), and the volunteers were helpful.

We climbed one last hill coming into Nevis and then it was back in to transition!

OFFICIAL TIME: 52:24 (16.3 MPH)

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T2

I had toyed with the idea of parking my bike near the portapotties and making a quick pit stop, but by the time I got to transition, the urge had passed. So I re-racked my bike in the correct spot, took off my helmet and sunglasses, grabbed a Gu and headed out on the run.

OFFICIAL T2 TIME: 1:08

RUN

After being on the bike, it always feels like I’m running at a snail’s pace, even though I’m usually not. So my strategy for the run was to just find a comfortable pace and keep running. Maybe I was running slow, maybe I wasn’t. I wasn’t going to worry about speed.

A little after Mile 1, I started feeling a little sick to my stomach so I started eating the Espresso-flavored Gu I had grabbed. I ate about 2/3 of it by the time I reached the water stop at the turnaround. I grabbed a cup of water and walked until I drank it all. I discarded the cup and my Gu, and started running again. The sick feeling had gone away and I was feeling good.

By Mile 2, I started getting goosebumps from the pure joy and excitement of being out there and having the race go so well. I guess you can call that the triathlete’s high! The finish line was in sight, but I felt like I could’ve kept running.

I picked up speed for the last .1 mile where all the spectators were standing, and finished strong.

OFFICIAL RUN TIME: 31:58 (10:19/mile)

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OFFICIAL RACE TIME: 1:39:05

Considering my A Goal was 1:41, I have to say, Booyah!

It’s an awesome experience to have the stars align for a race. You go out and crush your goal, AND have fun doing it. Doesn’t get much better than that.

I saw my dad, mom, Travis and Emma as I was coming in to the finish line, so after I returned my chip and grabbed some food and Gatorade, I went and found them. We chatted for a while and then our friends Brenda and Jake arrived via bike with their 2 kiddos. They had tried to time it to see me finish but I was too speedy! Haha. It was fun seeing them anyway.

We tried to grab lunch in Nevis, but only 1 of the town’s 4 restaurants were open, and it was packed. So we decided to meet at Zorbaz in an hour, giving Brenda and Jake time to bike back to their car, and me time to go back to the house for a shower and nursing session.

My parents headed back to their cabin instead of coming out to lunch, so it was just us 4 adults and the 4 kiddos. Travis and I had been wanting to go out to eat with Brenda and Jake sometime, so it was fun to get to do it. Brenda is one of my awesome running buddies!

After lunch, we grabbed our stuff and the dogs from Travis’ parents’ house and headed back to Brainerd. I nursed Annabelle and unpacked only to repack for a somewhat impromptu trip to Rochester by way of St. Cloud. We stopped by Fleet Farm for Travis to buy some fishing tackle and then were on our way down to St. Cloud by about 5 pm.

We met up with our friends Eric and Holly at a park in Sauk Rapids. Eric and Travis went fishing in the river while Holly, her 2 girls, my 2 girls, and I played at the park. After an hour, we ladies ate dinner at Noodles and headed over to Holly’s house, where we put the babies down for the night and the older girls played way past their bedtimes. The guys didn’t get back from fishing until 10! Unfortunately, they didn’t catch a single fish. We finally got on the road to Rochester – a 3.5 hour drive – at 10:30. Oy. It would be a late night after a very long day.

The drive was kind of dicey (due to us being so tired) but we made it to Rochester a little after 1 a.m. Thankfully, Emma went right back to sleep after we brought her in, and Annabelle nursed and went right down too. I crawled into bed around 1:45.

The next morning, Annabelle woke up to nurse at 7 and Emma woke up at 8. We had coffee and breakfast and then headed over to the hospital to see Travis’ dad. The girls and I stayed until around 1:30 and then headed back to my parents’ house for naps. After tag-teaming the girls, I finally got a short nap in myself. Glorious. Emma woke up from her nap around 6, I nursed Annabelle, we ate dinner, headed back to the hospital for an hour and then called it a night.

Monday, Travis had to work in the morning so my mom and I took Emma to a park in town while Annabelle took a 2.5-hour nap at home (Travis manned the baby monitor). It was fun – and so much easier to be at the park sans baby! We ate lunch back at the house and then went to visit Al for a bit. After packing up our stuff and the dogs at the house, we ate dinner at Panera with my parents and headed back up to Brainerd, getting back to our house around 10.

Whew! We have been here, there and everywhere for the past month and a half. Poor Annabelle, you can tell she’s ready to not be in her carseat so much. I’m hoping to be a homebody for a while now. Well, maybe.

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Training Update: Northwoods Triathlon

6 Aug
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From back in the day (2009)

Well, it’s finally here. The sprint triathlon I registered for back in January is this coming Saturday – only 2 days away! I posted about my training plan a while back… and haven’t mentioned anything about it since. So here’s the down-to-the-wire update:

Long story short: I didn’t train as much as I had planned or wanted to, but I feel ready enough to give it a go.

Short story long:

Swimming

I failed miserably at going to the pool to swim (I went 4 times all year). I just couldn’t often find the 1.5 hours it took to drive to the pool, swim, change and drive back. BUT being as I live in northern Minnesota and am literally surrounded by lakes, I did swim in open water 4 times. They weren’t long swims (probably 400-800 meters each) but they served their purpose: strengthening my mental poise. The swim in this triathlon is only 400 meters, so the biggest hurdle for me will be mental. My natural instinct in open water is PANIC because I can’t touch the bottom, or worse – the seaweed might touch me. One of the open water swims I did was in the lake I’ll be swimming in for the race, so that helped even more.

Biking

After discovering that the beach we usually go to is only 6 miles away and that there’s a back way with less traffic, I biked to and from the beach a couple of times, for a total of 12 miles each. Those were my longest rides. Similar to my excuses for not swimming more often, I found it hard to carve out more than an hour for a workout. Also, biking and swimming both require additional things to make them happen – a bike and water respectively. July was a crazy month for us – we were out of town or had out of town guests for all but a week. So I’m not as strong on the bike as I would like to be, but it is what it is. At least I have been biking a fair amount of hills so I’ll be ready for those!

Running

Ah, running. My favorite because it’s just so convenient. You can pack everything you need in a duffel bag and use it practically anywhere. I was definitely the most consistent with running out of the three. I went on a handful of runs with Annabelle on Emma’s daycare days, went on at least a handful of runs with friends (at the crack of dawn no less), and ran by myself a few times. I mostly ran 2-3 miles at a time, but I did run 4 once. Also, after my longer bike rides, I ran up and down our driveway just to get used to the feeling of running on bike legs. (I liken it to the feeling of trying to jump on the ground after you get off a trampoline – you feel like you can’t even jump a centimeter.)

With training behind me, it’s on to race day preparation and goals. I feel about this race like I felt about having a second child – I feel confident because I’ve done it before, but that feeling of confidence can lead me to forgetting the basics, like needing to buy diapers or bring my bike to the race. I’m mostly worried about forgetting the small things – like my race belt (that old chestnut) or tape to use for attaching shotbloks to my bike.

So the other night while I was waiting for Emma to fall asleep, I mentally rehearsed the race and my transitions. Back when I first started doing triathlons pre-kids, I actually practiced my transitions. Now, I’ll have to settle for my imagination. It definitely helps anyway though! I remembered that I want to bring 2 big towels – for putting my stuff on in the transition area and to wrap up in until my wave starts – and 1 little – for drying off my legs after the swim (I hate having water drip down into my socks). Oh and a wash basin to rinse my feet. Races usually provide those, but your feet still get stuff on them between the tub and your bike.

I also realized that oh yeah, there will probably be packet pickup the day before the race (they do have it race morning too though). Oh and I’ll have to get body marked. What if my sunscreen causes the body markings to smudge like that one time? Are they going to have swim waves because the website doesn’t say anything about that. But I can’t imagine them having 250 swimmers start all at once. Though that is how Ironman does it, right?

You see that I have some race day jitters. Never mind that I’ve done 5 sprints and 1 Oly, or that I worked for a triathlon company for a year and have worked over 20 triathlons. Race day is both exciting and nerve-racking… and that’s what I love about it!

So my goals. I swore up and down that I just wanted to finish and who cares about my time. But I can’t help it. Nevertheless, I am leaving my watch and bike odometer at home so that I can’t worry about speed or time while out on the course. Out there, I am just going to focus on keeping an even pace, enjoying myself and cheering others on.

But after the race, I can dissect my times. 🙂 This race is a 400m swim, 14 mile bike and 5k run. I’m hoping to do the swim in 12-15 minutes, the bike in 50-60 minutes, and the run in 35-40 minutes. Add in 3 minutes for T1 (there’s a GIANT hill between the beach and transition area) and 1:30 for T2 and that puts me at 1:41:30 and 1:59:30. I realize that’s a big range but I really have no idea how the race is going to go. Even my previous times (from back in 2009 or 2010!) don’t really help because I was in WAY better shape back then. So we’ll just have to wait and see!

I do know, though, that for me, being obsessed with my speed or time for an entire race takes all the fun out of it. So similar to when I ran my full marathon and did my Oly tri, my main goal is HAVE FUN and remember why I love endurance sports in the first place.

Wish me luck! I’ll be back in a few days with a race recap!

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A Weekend Sans Emma

4 Aug

It occurred to me earlier this summer that we haven’t been taking full advantage of having grandparents so close by. So we scheduled a weekend of Emma staying at Travis’ parents’ house, while we enjoyed more than a few minutes of being able to “get stuff done.”

We were already up in Nevis after the storm so Friday night, we headed home and after getting food put back in our refrigerator and freezer, the car unloaded, some laundry started, and Annabelle to bed, we vegged a bit and headed to bed ourselves.

Saturday morning, we headed out garage sale-ing. Both Travis and I love going to garage sales but Emma, being the toddler tornado that she is, makes it challenging (though we did take her along the other 2 times we went out this summer). We found some good stuff – I bought a handful of picture frames for the photo collage I want to hang up someday in our living room. I also found some fall/winter clothes for Emma, some craft supplies, a running vest for $1 (CW-X brand!), a scarf and some flip flops. Travis’ purchase of the day was a small table saw for $30, with an extension cord and long-handled window squeegee thrown in for free.

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After our shopping spree, we ate lunch and then Travis did stuff in the garage and yard while I nursed Annabelle and got our house back in order after hosting the reunion and being gone for a week.

That night, we went out for dinner at Jake’s across from Gull Lake.

wpid-img_20150718_202421.jpgWe sat out on the patio and it was a little chilly, but our food was amazing. I had lobster and shrimp tacos and they were the best ones I’ve had since first eating them in San Diego. Mmmm… Travis ate half of a small chicken, which he said was delicious.

Sunday morning, we got up bright and early to go for a hike in Crow Wing State Park before church. Well, rookie mistake – we both forgot to bring bug spray. We lasted about one minute before deciding to bag it for the morning. Instead, we went to church, ate lunch and then headed back to the state park. The trail was actually mostly in the shade and there was a light breeze, so the hike wasn’t as hot as we had feared. There were still bugs but we didn’t get bit after putting bug spray on. We learned a lot about the history of the town Crow Wing and the dogs enjoyed getting out. Annabelle slept through the whole thing.

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After our hike, I nursed Annabelle while Travis went out and worked on the car. When I was done nursing, I brought Annabelle and her bouncy seat out to the garage and she watched Travis change the oil while I went on a bike ride. When I got back, Emma was back from her weekend with Grandma and Grandpa. We talked with Travis’ mom for a bit and then she headed out. I can’t remember what we did that night, but I’m sure it was some variation on eating dinner, playing outside in the driveway or on the swingset, and then the bedtime routine antics. Travis and I had a great weekend, and it was a good mix between fun and productivity. Can’t wait to do it again!

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