Pizza Night

Nothing to shoot today. Dinner was pizza with goat cheese and heirloom tomatoes.

A new post about Comments

I have made it easier to make comments on the blog. Now, instead of going to another page or getting a pop-up, you should be able to comment right at the bottom of each entry. And, you don't have to sign in if you don't want to. The easiest method is probably to choose "Name/URL" and just enter your name! Go on, give it a try on some of the latest posts...

M

One Photo II

Again, only took one photo today and this is it. We got the living room cleaned and straightened up because my brother-in-law is coming for a visit soon. We are trying out a new furniture configuration (I have to rearrange every couple of months) and the best new thing is that I have hung my backdrop from the ceiling so there's no more backdrop stand to walk around!

One Photo

I only took one photo today and this is it. Completely exhausted from yesterday's race. I napped for many hours yesterday and drank lots of fluids but still woke up today feeling totally hung over and sick and achey and sore. Phew!

Bring your own bags to the store

After the race, we stopped at PCC, one of the lovely hippie grocery stores in Seattle. They had this sign up in the parking lot reminding you to bring in your own reusable bags. I love this stuff! I am kind of crazed about bringing your own bags. I keep a million in the car and have even been known to lend them out to other people to keep them from getting a plastic bag. Has this trend caught on out there in the East yet? Can you guys start it?

Finish!

Everyone got a finisher's medal! Yay! I, of course, wore mine all day but that only really included a trip to the grocery store and a long nap on the couch.

Final result:
9/19 in my age group, 109th overall, 12:33.5 + 1:51.6 + 36:40.1 + 1:09.3 +14:27.8 = 1:06:42.3. I came out of the swim in 190th place (crappy!) but improved that on the bike to around 122nd and killed the run for 88th so you can see where I made up most of the time from tooling around slowly in the lake. Apparently, triathlons are very addictive because I was already thinking "Ok, well, next time I could do..."

Michelle has already begun apologizing to J and Todd for creating a monster!

Finish strong on the run!

The great thing about really being just a runner at heart is that everyone else looked like HELL on the run but I felt great and was able to finish strong. Run = 14:28 for a pace of 9:02.

Bike - 9 miles

Two loops of 4.5 miles. My first time ever riding with multiple bike riders. And, the roads were open to traffic but it wasn't too big of an issue. What was an issue though was that on the second loop, my bike decided not to shift gears while going up a big hill. I lost momentum and had to stop and walk up the hill, which sucked, and once again pissed me off that I have to rely on a piece of equipment that can have its own failures.
But, I didn't let it get me down. Here I am giving Michelle my "I am totally killing!" look.
Bike = 36:40 for an average speed of 15 mph.

Transition I

T1, from swim to bike. Run from the water, while taking off your cap, goggles, and wetsuit. Strip from wetsuit and swim shoes, put on socks and bike shoes, bike helmet. Unrack your bike and go!

1:51

End of the swim

Here's me towards the end of the swim. Didn't J do an excellent job of tracking me through the water? I couldn't believe how good his pictures were. This makes it look like I did a lot more actual "swimming" than I really did. I did about 70% of the race in a crappy modified version of the breast stroke that I hadn't planned on and hadn't trained for. It was very frustrating and exhausting that the swim didn't go "as planned" but that's what this whole race experience was about. I pretty much wanted to die at this point, couldn't catch my breath, and felt like I was literally inching along, but I could hear Michelle cheering for me from the dock and that made a huge difference.

Coming out of the water I said "I don't even want to know how long that took!" It felt like about 20 minutes. In reality it was 12:33. In this picture, my expression is exactly like one of my Dad's expressions.

And, we're off!

This was my first time jumping into a lake with a bunch of other people and it is pretty terrible to tell the truth. I wish they did the race like a time-trial where everyone got their own start a few seconds apart. Everyone just spread out wide in front of me and then proceeded to swim way slower than imaginable so that I was pretty much trapped behind them and couldn't get into a rhythym of swimming. Half way to the first buoy, I thought 'I can't do this" but also couldn't figure out the logistics of quitting so...

Wave

Here's me, waving goodbye before my wave of swimmers is set to go off. Waves are denoted by the color of swim cap so these are all the non-elite younger women.

Pre-race

Before the race, I got in the water to get acclimatized and do some practice swimming. The water wasn't really that cold but the wetsuit is also more about 1) being easier to swim and 2) knowing that you have total buoyancy if you have to stop. In fact, a little boy came up to the water and put his hand in and said "OoooOOooo!!!! That water is SO HOT!" so there goes any whining about water temperature.

Here's M, probably pointing out how the geese are pooping right where I am going to be swimming...

Crew

My very excellent support team / spectators. Michelle is my coach and guru and J is my husband and cameraman. These are the people who will get up at 5:30 in the morning for me.

Nervous

Pre-race nerves. I have nearly identical pictures from my first 5K in 2003.

Triathlon!

And now, finally, the posts you've all been waiting for! My first triathlon, a Super Sprint distance! This race is a first-timer-friendly practice race for my big (and scary!) event coming up on July 21st. I decided I needed to do this race after the big lake freakout.

A mini-educational note here:
Yes, it's a "real" triathlon! I am not sure why people think the only real distance of triathlon is an Ironman. Just like there is an entire sport of running from the 100 yard dash to ultramarathons, there are different distance triathlons ranging from all kinds of "Super Sprints" all the way to "Ironman" (and double Irons and beyond but we aren't even going to talk about that) but they are all very "real", I assure you! So, knock it off with that question, ok people?

This race was 1/4 mile swim, 9 miles on the bike, and a 1.6 mile run. Super sprint! Go all out in each discipline for a total of more than an hour of racing! It's so real!

This picture shows my transition area. You have a small little space, set up amidst hundreds of virtually identical spaces of your competitors, where you bike is racked and all the items you might need are waiting for you. You come in from the swim, strip out of wetsuit, put on socks and bike shoes, bike helmet, and you grab your bike off the rack and run out with it. When you return on the bike you change bike shoes for running shoes and run off again. This is the hub for your entire race.

Jason did an EXCELLENT job manning my camera for the entire race so you'll get to go along with me on my adventure (and you didn't have to get up at 5:30 in the morning!)

Mini-overhaul

Todd installed my new bright blue bar tape, with race-required end caps, and gave the bike a good once-over before trusting it to carry me through tomorrow.

Before the Big Race

My bike, before the big race tomorrow. The swim is the scariest element, by far, but the bike is somehow the biggest variable for me because it's a huge piece of mechanical equipment that I am relying on. Coming to this sport as a runner, I am used to only having to rely on myself and my body. There's very little that can happen that would mean I couldn't run my race. Shoes? Check. That's what I am used to. Now I have this thing to worry about - with its own quirks and issues and personality.

Heirloom Tomatoes

Just a photo of the day...

Greeting

I don't think anyone would believe us so I've attempted to get some pictures to prove it. When J comes home from work, Fergus runs to the door to greet him. And, here's the ridiculous part, he stands up on his back feet with his front legs stretched up in exactly the way a two-year-old says "UP! UP!" to be picked up by Dad.

Then, he will climb up on J's shoulders or any where else he can get comfortable and the lick-fest begins!

Just J

Uneventful trip back home, and I missed this guy a lot. We got to just hang out and talk tonight. You know how much I love to hang out and talk.

Zonked

We were going to do more portraits, trying to get the two sisters together, but Charlotte just couldn't hold out any longer and she completely zonked on my shoulder. She's wearing the dress I made her. Cut me some slack on my looks here...it's like 6:30 in the morning!

New Favorite

New favorite photo of Jules.

Big Sis

I didn't even pose this at all (I almost never pose kids), she did this cute thing on her own. I realized here that she is holding her hand to her face almost exactly the way her mother does, here.

Best

Cutest shot of Charlotte to date, if you ask me. And it's my blog so I can say things like that if I want.

I love her simple little open face and content smile.

Sitting, not crawling

Char appears to be just on the verge of crawling. She knows she wants to be able to move to get things she wants, and she's certainly strong enough, she just hasn't put two and two together yet. We kept putting enticing toys just out of reach to try to motivate her but no luck yet. I know she'll be walking by the next time I see her though...

Triptych

1) Excitement is a stuffed cow on your head. 2) Pout 3) Stick out your tongue.

Morning

It's morning. Just a very simple, every day, work of motherhood shot here.

Pattycake

After a bath, Charlotte played pattycake with my mom. She really seemed to enjoy it (Charlotte too).

Rainbow

We were walking down the road, back from the ice cream store, when I noticed a rainbow near the silos. We stopped to appreciate it and I joked that "Just when the farm couldn't get any more perfect, it throws in a freaking rainbow! Now watch, it will become a perfect double rainbow!" and it did!! It stretched from the silos to the heifer barn.

I only had my 50mm on though so I couldn't blip the entire arc. You can just make out the second arc to the right of the brighter one.

Another completely magical evening at the farm.

Play

But, when work is done, it's time to stomp in puddles.

Work

Brian working. Julia in her girly wellies. Apparently she's old enough to know now if you assign her a "bullshit job" and she'll protest. She wants to do real work, necessary work, and be helpful.

#708 and #709

I liked the look of these two girls.

Heifer Barn

Before ice cream, a walk to the heifer barn to help Brian feed the cows.

Char

Char in the backpack again. God, isn't she beautiful. This is a very weird thing to say...but she reminds me of my Grandmother, my mom's mom, the one I never met. Charlotte has an old soul and that's something I can totally appreciate.

Back to the farm

Sunday was a very long day of driving, from Maine to PA. But, at the end of it...the farm was waiting again.

We got to spend the evening with Brian and Dana and the kids again. Once again, the usual...long pretty walks, millions of photographs, and ice cream.

Brian and I joked that I take so many pictures of the farm and the kids that we could probably do a stop motion video of them growing up. I could already do a slide show of "Here's the farm in 2001, and here again in 2002. And now we have the farm in 2003, etc. etc."

Night

From there we pretty much danced and partied all night! My ears were ringing for two days after the wedding and Jason was very jealous when he heard he missed one of the rare occasions where I danced like crazy all night. I was bummed that I didn't get to say goodnight, or goodbye, because I don't know when I will see these two again next. Another east coast trip might be in order soon because I can't let another two years go by again.

The best

This is my favorite photograph from the wedding. I think it's just about perfect. It's one of those "Shasta and Henry shots" for those of you who know what that means.

These are the photographs that just break my heart in the best way... I'm always ready to get my heart broken like this - a million times over for the rest of my life. These moments seem like they practically never existed until I've shot them. In a way, the photograph makes the experience more real.

Mom

My mom was absolutely thrilled to be my date to this wedding. She wouldn't have missed it for the world.

Toasts II

James gave a great toast about the "Old Tray" vs. the "New Tray". Everyone laughed and hollered and cried - especially Tray and Kirsten!

Toast I

One of the downsides of big weddings is that you don't always have time to see every one, speak to every one, hang out with every one. The bride and groom are wanted in 150 places at once.

Before today, I hadn't seen Tray in a little over two years. And there's no time for catching up or reminiscing.

But, there was this great moment, during the toasts, where Tray spotted me in the crowd with my camera and looked right at me. I will always have the photograph to remember it.