Best brick ever

Last week we had an awesome family vacation down at the shore. My parents rented a house for the week so they went down there and we joined them and my sister and her husband as well. It was so great to get up in the morning and not even put on my shoes, just walk about 200 steps to the beach. I got out for an early morning run one morning and it was beautiful. I could really get used to running like that in the morning, but it didn't work out more than once. We all spent about 75% of the time barefoot, I love being barefoot. It wasn't the most relaxing vacation, trying to keep three kids occupied away from all their stuff and their normal routine is difficult. But we spent all five mornings at the beach and made a trip to the playground just about every afternoon. Such a great time together, we were so lucky to have that time and those memories.

Now we get to last night's brick workout. Hot Wheels is very excited for the triathlon in September. (We tend to go through the year waiting for each next major event. The triathlon is after the start of school but before Halloween, and it's getting much attention right now.) So, we pulled out Hot Wheels' bike the past few nights and last night we decided on a two loop ride. The hardest part is the getting started. Right now that still requires a curb to step off from, but we've moved up from requiring a push so we should be able to get up to a no-curb start come September. I pulled out the $25 mountain bike that we got at a tag sale last month. A nice little buy, especially since my road bike is still on the rack in the garage- and yes- I have a triathlon four weeks from tomorrow. (yikes) We were cruising along at about 15- that's minutes per mile- and we rode about 1.25 miles. Then he decided to take a break and Spiderman came out for his turn riding the loop. He's still got the training wheels so starting up isn't as difficult, but the speed is an issue. We got four houses down from ours and I realized I just couldn't go slow enough on the bike to stay upright so I ditched it on some understanding neighbors' lawn. They chuckled and said they remembered those days well. I was walking with Spiderman and after about 15 feet or so he looked up and me with these big eyes and said "But mom, you're not running to keep up with me". So, I started running. Or really, I started bouncing to give the appearance of running. We held a blistering pace of about 2mph, so the 1 mile loop took half an hour. My legs were actually sore from the weird run after 30 minutes of bounce-running-without-really-moving. It was a great time, though, and I'm just so glad the boys are excited about biking, running and fitness stuff. Just to brag about Spiderman for a second, we went to the playground earlier yesterday and he crossed the monkey bars on his own- seven monkey bars- which seems really good for a four year old.

I did get out for a run on Monday, a regular three mile run. This morning I headed out for a hill workout, it was 3.4 miles, and of that about 1.2 miles was 6 hill repeats. It was tough but felt strong compared with recent runs. Less than 11 weeks until the half, I think I'll be alright.

Did you hear that thud? And then a bump?

That was me falling off the wagon and then being run over by the wagon as it rolled away with my motivation on it. Ugh. Since the last week of May I have squeaked out maybe two runs a week. Strength workouts? None. Bike and swim workouts for the triathlon I have SIX weeks from today? None. I've got a run tomorrow morning and that will end the LAST lazy week! I've got 12 weeks from Sunday to be ready to rock the next half. Or at the least not want to curl up into a ball and cry for the last three miles. That's my real goal.

On a super-cool "I'm so much more excited for this than I should be" note: Hot Wheels is going to be registered for his first triathlon in September! He'll be competing at the minimum age of 6, and I keep telling him how jealous I am that he'll do his first triathlon 26 years earlier in his life than I did mine. I mentioned it to him in passing to see whether he was still interested and he jumped at it. His age group (6-8 years) will have a 75 yard swim, a 0.75 mile bike and .25 mile run. The bike and run distances aren't too tough for him, but three lengths of a pool is not something he's done yet. It's an open water beach swim, though, and it's all staged in the shallow area where they don't encourage the kids to walk but they are allowed to take breaks and stand up if they need to. He's very excited and I can't wait.

Here are the kids from a recent trip to the children's museum.