Hey all, it's Spencer. Molly informs me I must be a contributor on this whole blog thing, so the way I see it, if I throw in a line or two once a quarter, I'll be good to go. It's hard for me to imagine anyone out there would want to sit down and read what I have to say, but I've learned that there is a sick, twisted subculture of 30-something stay-at-home Moms and other sorts of folks who will read just about anything if it's written in a blog. My own dear sweet 30-something stay-at-home wife and her friend recently admitted to reading several blogs from people they didn't even know--just for the fun of it!
Not to leave the guys out of this: I'm sure there are quite a few blog-addicts among the men-folk ranks. I'm not sure they're reading random people's blogs, but they probably waste some amount of productive work-time writing, reading, or surfing blogs. Right now I feel like I'm wasting time just writing a blog, but since I'm doing it, I guess I'll just blog away.
Molly probably had a more eventful (and definitely more entertaining to you readers) experience in our weekend triathlon. My experience started out well . . . that is until I bumped into some other swimmer whom I couldn't see through the pea-green murky water (I should probably say "pee-green"). I came up for a look to see where he was and got a mouthful of water that ended up sliding right on past my food pipe into my air pipe. A few panic-stricken seconds later, I was doing the upside-down breast stroke on my back trying to catch my breath and feeling like the wetsuit I was wearing was slowly but surely shrinking around my ribcage effectively limiting the ability to expand my chest and draw air in. It seemed like it took my quite a while to settle down and get back to swimming.
Eventually I made it out of the water and onto my bike where I felt much more at home. I even chased down and cruised past my first two victims right out of the chute. I didn't feel so cool when I realized they were both riding mountain bikes. Pretty soon I settled into a nice cadance and thought I was doing fine until I got passed by like fifteen or twenty riders doing Mach 10 in full time trial gear and high-tech, multi thousands of dollar bikes. It was amazing to me that even though we were riding on the same road, I was going uphill and they were going downhill.
I was dreading the run, but right from the get go I fell into a good rhythm and actually felt like the run was my strongest leg. It was fun to watch for Molly (who'd started a couple heats after me) and see her cruising along. I was very proud of her!
Overall, I had a great experience. I wasn't fast, but I wasn't dying either. The best part was how hot I looked with my race-number-tattooed, ripling arms glistening in the morning sun as I crossed the finish line amidst throngs of admirers and cheering fans. And that doesn't even mention the looks I got as I ripped the moistened wetsuit off my bronzed body as I came off the first stage swim. No wonder Molly wanted me to do this race with her!
So now life is back to normal. Babies, work, babies, work, babies, work. Sometime this winter I'll have to do another memorable event or something so I have a reason to blog again. Otherwise, life will sound very monotonous. I do hope everyone enjoys reading Molly's updates on our life and family. We sure are happy and blessed.
Sunday, August 5, 2007
Saturday, August 4, 2007
TRIPLE THREAT
SWIM! BIKE! RUN! That's right, Spencer and I just participated in our very first triathlon this morning in Hyrum, Utah--the Cache Valley Classic! Now, before you start being really impressed, I have to confess that the race was a sprint, not an Olympic, distance. But...we found that a 1/2 mile swim, a 12.4 mile bike ride and a 5K run all in one morning was challenging enough for us this year! We had a great time participating together and were happy to have finished in respectable times. I must admit that there were several times during the race that I was wondering why in the world I would chose to venture into triathlons 10 weeks after giving birth to twins. That question remains unanswered. I am not exactly in what I consider to be tip-top shape and I'm sure I would've done better had I trained more diligently. But, I SURVIVED! And I had a great time. Spencer will have to report on his own experience but I can share two highlights/lowlights (depending on your perspective) from the morning:
1. I survived the swim in the Hyrum Resorvoir (swimming that distance in open water with people all around you--kicking and scrambling--was quite an experience) and made my way to the transition area where I quickly switched my gear. I was feeling pretty good until as I was exiting the transition area a spectator yelled from the sidelines laughing "Hey! Your helmet's on backwards!" I lost major cool points at this point in the race as I stopped and turned it around before heading off on the bike. How humiliating! :) Everyone must've known I am a major amateur at that point!
2. I borrowed my Mom's 10-speed bike for the race because it was better than riding my cheap-o Costco mountain bike with the child seat mounted on the back. Her bike, however, proved to be a major liability during the race. For starters it has a kickstand and that is another loss of cool points and a red flag for beginning bikers (that's right, I said "biker." I don't think you're even allowed to call yourself a "cyclist" if you ride a bike with a kickstand). The gears never really engaged the whole time I was riding it and it rattled like it was going to fall apart into 75 pieces the entire 12.4 miles. At one point early in the ride, the chain popped off the gears and got wedged between the gears and the bike frame. I spent 5-10 minutes on the side of the road trying to jimmy it free and eventually resigned myself to the fact that I wasn't going to be able to finish. I was so annoyed! Then, one final pull and it miraculously came loose and I was back on the road! Wahoo!!! Unfortunately, I lost major time and my hopes and dreams of a medal and spot on the winner's podium were dashed (haha). When my mom loaned me the bike, she failed to mention that the rear brakes completely don't work. That would've been a helpful piece of information to have when I got to the huge sign on the course that read "Sharp Turn Ahead." Needless to say, I didn't quite make the aforementioned "sharp turn" and ended off the road onto the shoulder and into the beginnings of some farmer's pasture. How I didn't lay the bike down is still a mystery. Ahhh--what an experience. I was happy to hop off the bike and start running!
Anyway, that's probably more detail than anyone wanted or cared to read. But it was quite a morning! This afternoon my legs have been complete Jell-O and I wonder if I will be able to crawl out of bed in the morning. Man, the things I sign myself up for! But we can't wait for the next tri! We'll post pictures when we get digital copies from our friends who snapped pictures for us...seeing us decked out in wetsuits and swim caps will make it worth the wait!
1. I survived the swim in the Hyrum Resorvoir (swimming that distance in open water with people all around you--kicking and scrambling--was quite an experience) and made my way to the transition area where I quickly switched my gear. I was feeling pretty good until as I was exiting the transition area a spectator yelled from the sidelines laughing "Hey! Your helmet's on backwards!" I lost major cool points at this point in the race as I stopped and turned it around before heading off on the bike. How humiliating! :) Everyone must've known I am a major amateur at that point!
2. I borrowed my Mom's 10-speed bike for the race because it was better than riding my cheap-o Costco mountain bike with the child seat mounted on the back. Her bike, however, proved to be a major liability during the race. For starters it has a kickstand and that is another loss of cool points and a red flag for beginning bikers (that's right, I said "biker." I don't think you're even allowed to call yourself a "cyclist" if you ride a bike with a kickstand). The gears never really engaged the whole time I was riding it and it rattled like it was going to fall apart into 75 pieces the entire 12.4 miles. At one point early in the ride, the chain popped off the gears and got wedged between the gears and the bike frame. I spent 5-10 minutes on the side of the road trying to jimmy it free and eventually resigned myself to the fact that I wasn't going to be able to finish. I was so annoyed! Then, one final pull and it miraculously came loose and I was back on the road! Wahoo!!! Unfortunately, I lost major time and my hopes and dreams of a medal and spot on the winner's podium were dashed (haha). When my mom loaned me the bike, she failed to mention that the rear brakes completely don't work. That would've been a helpful piece of information to have when I got to the huge sign on the course that read "Sharp Turn Ahead." Needless to say, I didn't quite make the aforementioned "sharp turn" and ended off the road onto the shoulder and into the beginnings of some farmer's pasture. How I didn't lay the bike down is still a mystery. Ahhh--what an experience. I was happy to hop off the bike and start running!
Anyway, that's probably more detail than anyone wanted or cared to read. But it was quite a morning! This afternoon my legs have been complete Jell-O and I wonder if I will be able to crawl out of bed in the morning. Man, the things I sign myself up for! But we can't wait for the next tri! We'll post pictures when we get digital copies from our friends who snapped pictures for us...seeing us decked out in wetsuits and swim caps will make it worth the wait!
Friday, August 3, 2007
Here goes nothing...
Okay, anyone with any kids at all has to have seen Disney's "Finding Nemo" right? Well, I think Dory is pretty much hilarious in that movie. Probably in large part because I think Ellen Degeneres is one of the funniest people on TV, but also because there are just so many classic one-liners! I couldn't resist choosing "Just Keep Swimming!" for the title of our blog because it captures so perfectly our life philosophy these days. With the recent addition of the twins, Jake & Emmy, and the three other little rugrats we're trying to keep alive, things seem pretty crazy most of the time. At times I feel like we are hanging on by a thread...but at least we're hanging on! So, as Dory says with her sing-songy mantra we "just keep swimming! just keep swimming!" and doing the best we can. That said, what better time to attempt to maintain and update a blog?!? Wish me luck!
What better way to start things off than with a cute picture of the kiddos? This photo was taken when the twins were 3 weeks old (they will be 3 months old next week). I look at each one of these sweet faces and feel so lucky to be a mother...
We hope this blog is a good way to stay connected with friends and family and keep you updated on our lives! Please feel free to comment...we'd love to hear from all of you! Oh, and JUST KEEP SWIMMING!
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