Spring Break 2013 (Palo Duro Canyon)

This year for spring break we headed to Palo Duro Canyon.  Did you know that the second largest canyon in America is located right here in Texas!?  Who knew!  This place was absolutely perfect for what we wanted to accomplish.

We got there on Thursday and did some exploring before setting up camp.

 After researching this place online (thank you youtube), we decided it would be a perfect trip to try some mountain biking.  Tyler recently got a new bike with gears and some front suspension, so we thought we'd give it a try!  John and I only own road bikes, so we stopped in Amarillo and rented mountain bikes for the two of us, and we brought Robby's tag-along attachment.  It was PERFECT!

Our first full day there, we set out for the lighthouse.  If you look just to the right of Tyler's helmet in the picture below, you can see the lighthouse feature to which we were biking.

Everyone did fantastic!  Tyler really handled it all so well.  He followed right behind John, and I rode behind him giving him little tips and directions along the way.  He surprised me several times when he would gear down and motor up a really steep hill, or when he would tackle a very technical, rocky portion.  He rocked it!  And Robby held on and pedaled like a champ!  I loved it when he would stand on the pedals for a bum break.  He looked so little perched on his bike with his skinny legs and slender bum.  

The last 1/4 of a mile of the trail isn't accessible by bike so we locked them up and started our hike.  The boys loved climbing over these big rocks.

 Here we are, we made it!

 And of course, John had to scare me to death by climbing to the VERY top (yes, that's him on top of the lighthouse).

I could tell that they boys felt proud of what they had accomplished, and Robby loved hearing the other hikers talk about how cool his bike was as he rode past.  I was grateful that we were able to cover so much ground in a reasonable amount of time.  If we would have hiked that trail, we probably wouldn't have made it all the way to the lighthouse...or maybe not without lots of complaining and a few piggy back rides.

The next day, we did some more exploring and a few smaller hikes.  One hike took us to a really cool, small cave.

 Climbing up all those boulders was the perfect adventure for these boys.

 And when we got to the top, we were rewarded with cool (almost chilly temperatures) in that cave.  Tyler and I wondered how many Indians over the centuries had sought refuge from the brutal Texas heat in the summer here.

 We climbed around the back side and then down into the top shelf of the cave too.  It is so weird to feel all this cool air coming from inside the cave.

We spent a little time checking out the visitor's center and some of the popular viewpoints.  Pretty cool!  We enjoyed being able to leave our campsite by bike to see some of the various attractions.  It made getting around super easy...and fun! 

 The temperatures were quite honestly perfect.  We have had an unseasonably cool spring here and just two weeks before spring break, this place got over a foot of snow, so we were actually worried it would be a bit cold.  The day time temps were perfect.  Mid to upper 70's and at night it got into the upper 30's brrrrrr! But that was perfect for cuddling.  On the first morning there, John and Tyler woke up early and headed out to start breakfast.  When John returned later to see if Robby and I were awake, this is how he found us...both snuggled together in one mummy bag.  Neither of us was brave enough to get out.  It was a bit cold.

Another exciting part of our camping experience happened on our last night.  At about 3 in the morning, John and I were awoken by a pack of coyotes  VERY near by.  We could hear them barking and howling like crazy.  We looked at each other and hoped that we weren't what they were getting so excited about!

 Our last day there, we wanted to do one last longer biking excursion.  We knew the trail we had picked out might prove to be a bit too technical for our group, but we wanted to give it a go anyway. 

 It was AMAZING.  The trail was so dynamic and interesting, but it did prove to be a bit too difficult.  We biked some parts and walked our bikes through others.  There was one point where the trail got very narrow with a steep drop off one side and very poky cacti on the other.  It made my mamma bear heart very nervous to watch all my boys bike through some very difficult terrain.  I would see Robby holding on for dear life as the bike would tip and tilt when John maneuvered it around tight corners or over large boulders.

 We finally decided it would be best to enjoy this trail by foot, so we locked up the bikes and headed out.  It was definitely worth seeing, and I'm glad we continued; although, John and I secretly wished we could ditch our kiddos and attempt this cool trail on the bikes :0

It was very neat, and I was again very proud of everyone for attempting something that was difficult and challenging.  I could tell that Tyler really felt a sense of accomplishment, and Robby just felt cool cruising along on the back of Dad's bike.

I wish I would have taken more videos of them pedaling and grinning from ear to ear, but this and one other sketchy video is about all I got.  Bummer.

It was absolutely one of our favorite memories as a family.  I love getting my kids away from the hustle and bustle of life and escaping to be together.  I loved watching them scamper and run, climb and play, explore and experience.  I loved quiet moments in the tent discussing our epic adventures of the day.  I loved being together in nature and experiencing the grandness of God's creations.  

This is what memories are made of.

Ironman Houston 2012

The big day had finally arrived (or should I say, the big weekend).  John and his friend Marc (whom he trained with) decided to drive down to Houston very early on Thursday morning so they could get checked in, get acquainted with the area, and attend a mandatory race meeting Thursday night.  I wasn't scheduled to arrive until late Friday afternoon- the next day.  The logistics on this event were mind boggling.  I wish I had taken a picture of all of John's gear that he worked for about a week to organize and make sure it was ready.  He had it all laid out in our dining room and would add things as he went along.  It was a lot of stuff!  From clothing to nutrition to tools.  The next step was to organize where and when people in our group needed to be certain places.  John had race meetings and gear check in, I had kids with schedules, and we had guests all flying in at different times.  Plus John wanted to drive the course and participate in an open swim time in the lake.  We had things pretty well outlined for how things should go.  

Needless to say, everything did NOT go off without a hitch.  The race wheels that John rented did not arrive in time for him to pick them up, so I had to do that for him and then make sure I got them to him down in Houston before gear check in was closed and the transition area was locked down.  No sweat, right?  Wrong.  I left as early as possible and still arrived with only a half hour or so for John to test out the wheel set, which functioned properly, but the power tap wasn't reading.  We were all a little stressed at that point, but it worked out okay.

John got his gear checked in just in time.  After 3 o'clock this area is locked down for security purposes.  It was pretty impressive seeing all those expensive bikes lined up in the transition area.  Along with bike gear, John dropped off his transition bags and special needs bags.  Each bag is assigned a different color, indicating it's purpose.  These bags contained each individual athlete's gear, nutrition, etc that would be needed at different times during the event.  Again, the logistics were impressive- making sure all the right stuff gets put in the right bags so that you have the stuff you need when you need it at the right places.  It is all carefully planned out (which only means more spreadsheets for John).

Here he is in the yellow giving the final go over of his bike.

 After that, it was time for an early dinner.  By this point, John's dad and sisters had arrived and were in ready for a pre-race party!  We all wore the "m-dot" headbands that I made for us and we sang a song that John's aunt wrote to the tune "Go Johnny, Go."  It was very fun and we hoped a little embarassing for John! 

 We went to bed early at our hotel, but didn't sleep well, of course.  The next morning started bright and early. I think John left around 4:30am and we followed about an hour or so later.  We knew traffic was going to be horrible as it had been all weekend, so we decided to park at the mall and walk to the swim start.  Time was tight and it was looking like we weren't going to make it in time, so I left my kids with John's sisters and took off running so that I could wish John luck and send him on his way (not to mention I needed to pick up his bike pump, wallet and cell phone).  I couldn't stand the thought of not seeing him before he started his big day.  I barely made it in time to snap a photo before they headed into the water.  I don't know who was more nervous, John or ME!

 Here is the calm before the storm.  All the swimmers lined up ready to begin their journey of 140.6 miles.

I got a little emotional as they started out on the 2.4 mile swim. All that preparation and training would boil down to this.  It was all out of my control.  All I could do now was wait (and worry).

 We saw John after the swim at transition 1.  It was good to see that he had made it and was still smiling, but who wouldn't smile with these awesome kids cheering you on?

Here we are with all our stuff- signs, t-shirts, head bands, temporary tattoos, whistles, and cow bells.  The boys were such good sports.  This was a very long day- and it was HOT, but they were super excited to watch their Irondad (the boys' shirts said "daddy's transition team" and mine said "I heart my Ironman").  They were pretty cute!  In hindsight, if I had to do it all over again, I probably wouldn't have brought the kids.  It was a very long day and I felt torn between trying to support John and help him with the process and still be a mom.  I was beyond grateful to have some of John's family there.  They were very supportive of John and could step in and help out with the kids- plus, I always enjoy hanging out with them.  They are so much fun.

The swim went well, considering the murky water and congestion from all the other swimmers.  The bike went very well and John hit his goal pace.  It was his strongest sport of the three and he said he loved it- riding fast and tactically.  In fact, he came in sooner than I had anticipated and we totally missed seeing him on the bike or at transition 2, which I was bummed about.  But it was okay because that meant that things were going well for him.  I knew all his projected times for each checkpoint and I was happy that he was ahead of schedule.  

We also knew that we would have a chance to see him a few times on the run since the run course did a couple loops.  We found a spot in the shade and waited for him to come.  By this point, I knew the run wasn't going as well as he had planned.  When we finally did see him, we walked with him and chatted for a few minutes.  He said that his stomach was starting to cramp and he was having to do a run/walk to keep it from cramping too badly.  

The day was hot (in the mid 90's with full humidity) and he had a minor glitch with his nutrition plan which caused his stomach to spasm every time he started running, so half way through the marathon, he was mostly walking.  I knew he was disappointed, but I had hoped that he would still feel good about finishing.  

(here he is stopping to talk with us for a minute during the run) 

And finish he did! It wasn't exactly how he had planned it to all go, but I think he was still happy to have accomplished the whole thing.  He also told me later that he felt most successful about his training.  He was consistent, careful, and strong in all of his training efforts and that was where the victory was for him.  He didn't go into this wondering if he was strong enough to finish.  He knew that had he not had the stomach problems, he would have finished at a competitive time. All his training had been strong and consistent and he had confidence in what he had accomplished there.

I'm so proud of John.  He really did a fantastic job- he worked hard, learned a lot, and remained committed to his family during the entire process.  He is a strong athlete and he was careful about his training.  I was so proud to watch him push hard and attempt something that to someone like me, seems impossible. But I have to say, watching him finish felt like a huge accomplishment for both of us- and our kids too!  It was fun to be a part of the whole process and to watch such an amazing event unfold from beginning to end. 

So what's next?  People always ask me if he's hooked and wants to do another one.  The answer is yes and no.  Our motto when it comes to Ironman is "too big to be fun."  First you put almost an entire of year into training for one day.  But that one day turns out to be an exhausting and stressful three day event (travel, gear check, race meetings, etc), and then if one small thing goes wrong (heavens forbid you should ingest 500 calories 30 minutes too early on the bike) then everything you've been working towards kind of gets flushed down the toilet.  See what I mean?  Too big to be fun.  BUT on the other hand, he does feel like he has some unfinished business.  He did learn a lot- experience is always the best teacher and he feels if he did it again he would be more prepared and more successful.  So really he has no plans to attempt this again for a while (thankfully), but I do think he is itching for a fast half ironman or something along those lines.  And to be honest, that sounds totally manageable after this.

It really was fun and inspiring.  I loved watching the faces of the athletes as they crossed the finish line.  What an accomplishment.
I am so proud of my Ironman.

One last picture.  While we were gone, I had some friends hang this banner and put these signs in the yard.  He was very surprised when we got home.

What it's like being married to an Ironman

Last month John did Ironman Huston (which I will post about soon).  The preparations for this event were extensive and lasted for well over nine months.  I write this post so that if John ever asks to do it again, I can refer to this post to remind me of how much work goes into this whole thing.  So here goes, some thoughts on what it's like to be married to an Ironman triathlete:

1.  You will make a lot of food and your grocery budget will double.  Goodness, keeping this man fed was almost a full time job toward the end when the volume of training dramatically increased and he was consuming close to 5,000 additional calories a day.  Each day he'd pack himself breakfast (to eat after he hit the gym), a protein shake, a mid morning snack, early lunch, lunch, and late afternoon snack.  Then he'd come home hungry and hit the pantry while he helped me finish up getting dinner ready.  Then there was another protein shake and a green smoothie and maybe a dessert to top it all off.

Some days at the gym when he'd be spending a few hours on a spin bike and a few more hours on a treadmill, he and his training partner would bring in the most ridiculous snacks...just because they could.  One of them would usually stop by at the bakery next door and pick up a bunch of donuts.  Then they would each set a stack of donuts and sometimes a bag of Sun chips right there on the treadmill stand.  Can you imagine how mad that must have made some of the other gym members?  

The other part of the food thing was trying to figure out what would work best for his event nutritional plan.  Sometimes he looked like a chemist mixing different concoctions.  He had to try various mixes and powders to see what would work for him because as they say, "only a triathlete would consider a few bottles of sugar water their nutrition for the day."  Oh, and you should see the spreadsheets he has for all of this- this many calories for this many hours, this many grams of sodium and potassium, this many carbs and this much fluid etc...

 And many times your dishwasher will be half full of water bottles.  Something's gotta hold all that "nutrition!"

2. You will do a lot of laundry.  I'm lucky that I have a husband who does most of his own laundry.  If you can imagine the amount of laundry that can accumulate as a person trains for three different events at the same time, it's pretty crazy.  I'm also lucky that when we first moved in, John installed all of these hooks in my laundry room (in our bedroom closet and garage too), but I never thought they would be full.  All the time.  Swim gear, bike shoes, gloves, shorts, running shoes, jerseys, jackets, sweat bands, running shorts, socks, towels, towels, towels.

And even with all those hooks, there were times when our bathroom still looked like this (I think this picture was taken when I was in the middle of training for my sprint triathlon- double the mess).

 3.  You won't mind when your living room gets turned into a gym.  John did a lot of his long simulations on the trainer- like 6-8 hours at a time.  It was nice having him around while Ty was at school during some of John's Fridays off (he has every other Friday off- that helped a lot in all of this).  I'd chat with him a bit, we'd catch a movie and I could slip away to run a quick errand while Robby was sleeping because John was home.

Robby also loved this plan as he got in on the action sometimes.  He seriously pedaled on that little bike and watched cartoons for almost an hour.  He was sooooo cute!

On this particular Saturday, I was heading out for a ride (hey, I get a turn too sometimes) and John needed to get a long run in, so he got up early to start on the treadmill and when the boys woke up, he finished his run while they watched cartoons.  He decided that it would be better if he pulled the treadmill out where he could be with the boys while they played and watched cartoons.

When people ask us how we make it work, I tell them you gotta get creative sometimes.  John did all of his training in the early morning hours- sacrificing sleep for family time.  And then we did things like this as well.  

4.  You will laugh at some of your husband's tan lines (or burn lines).  I think John forgot to put sunscreen on his neck and given the geometry of the tri bike, he rides with his head all tilted up and his neck kinked.  I don't think he realized how bad his zebra stripes were the next day.

You'll also laugh when your husband's new helmet arrives in the mail and he's so excited to try it out right when he gets home from work.

And then you'll have to let your three year old try it out too.  He's totally the fastest kid on the block when he wears that thing.

5.  You will get super excited and want to support your ironman with lots of posters and other fun stuff.

 Here are the boys making their sign for dad.  They had matching t-shirts, whistles, and cow bells to help cheer dad on as well.

 And since John had some family coming to town to watch his race, I made each of them an Ironman gift bag as well.  We might as well make it a party!!!

 And now it's done and life has settled down a bit, but I really didn't mind helping John achieve his goal.  It was fun to be a part of the process and watch it all come together.  I'm proud of John and how he approached his training.  He never took time away from his kids and he never trained on a Sunday- neither were even an option.  He worked hard, got creative, and made sacrifices- that's a true Ironman.

Ty's tri

Yep. Tyler got in on the action this summer too! Every year our community hosts a running event that benefits our community storehouse. They have a fun run and a 5K. Several schools in the community compete to see who has the most number of participants, so it is pretty widely advertised and promoted at the school level. After hearing about the run for a few weeks at school, Tyler came home and told me he wanted to do it.

Now let me say here, Tyler hates running. We have never pushed him into this kind of thing because in the past, he has told us how much he doesn't like running and we completely respect that. He likes other sports and outdoor activities and he's an active kid, so we've never really pushed him into running. So after his persistence in asking to do the run, we figured, why not? We would happily support his desires to give it a try. To be honest, we were just hoping he'd have a good time. Sure enough, he had a great time and surprised us all by running the entire mile without stopping. I think he really enjoyed the feeling of accomplishment and of doing something that is difficult for him.

Here are my two handsome finishers...all smiles!

A few weeks later we learned of a kids triathlon being held in our area. When we told Tyler about it, he was all kinds of excited, especially after having had success at such an event and having just watched my triathlon experience (along with all of John's tri training as well).

The event was perfect for him. He still qualified for the youngest age group (4-6 years old), which would mean his tri course would be very easy for him to accomplish and since our main goal was for him to have fun and feel successful, that was important. At packet pick up, Tyler was very excited to get all of his numbers for his helmet, bike and shirt. And John and I laughed at the fact that we had to buy him a USAT (USA Triathlon) license and we wondered if we could get a family pass next time since three of us are now licensed.

The night before the event, Tyler and John very excitedly got all the stuff gathered and ready and then John took a moment to go over the event with Tyler. Here they are looking at the map and discussing transitions and rules. They were so cute.

The big day arrived and Tyler was ready. He woke up bright and early...and very excited. I have to say that this whole thing put the biggest smile on my face. Seeing all those little kiddos all lined up and waiting their turn to start was beyond cute (keep in mind, some of these kids are only 4 years old)! This event was so well organized and both parent and kid friendly. For Tyler's age group, almost anything goes. The kids were allowed to use life jackets, fins, or the help of the lifeguard (there was one for each lane, just in case) to complete their one lap. Yep, that's all he had to do was swim from one side of the pool to the other! I was glad that this would be easy for Tyler and that he would easily feel successful. It was just as much fun watching some of those other darling, little kids with their tiny arms just going as hard as they can in the water and their big goggles propped on their tiny faces. I loved how they each had a lifeguard coaching them along and helping for those little ones who needed it. They were adorable!

Here is Tyler all set to go! (He decided that he wanted to use his fins for this. I think it just helped take the edge off his nerves knowing he would get to the other side really quick with them on). Oh, and don't you love how they even ink the numbers on their arms and legs just like the real deal? Ty thought that was pretty cool.

After the swim, he set off for the bike. Like I said, this event was very parent friendly and one parent was allowed into the transition area to help. Thank heavens because most of these kids can't even tie their own shoes! In fact, the transition area was pretty fun to watch. Where normally you'd see rows and rows of expensive bikes and equipment, this time you see rows and rows of bikes decorated with cartoon characters like Lightning McQueen and Barbie and even lots of training wheels! It was very cute.

The bike was the one part Tyler felt the most confident in. He loves riding and knows he can go fast. I was mostly worried about crashes. Can you imagine sending 50 4-6 year olds out on a one mile bike race?!? But again, it was so well organized, and they had volunteers stationed every 50 feet or so to help out. Tyler finished the bike rather quickly and he told us later that he passed most of the other kids.

And finally, the run. John met up with him and helped him finish the run. Again, I was so impressed with this event. Even the finish line was awesome. They had an official race announcer that announced each participant as he/she finished along with music and other race commentary that was typically quite upbeat and funny. And even a race arch that each finisher got to pass under.

I was so proud of him for attempting something that appeared to him to be difficult and I'm so thrilled that he felt happy and successful. He sure is a cutie!