Busy Busy

Even though traveling with a 5 month old is not ideal, we still all had a lot of fun in Maggie Valley to celebrate our 8th Anniversary.  Tassie included - she loved splashing around in the creek behind the cabin.  We made it into Asheville a couple of times and enjoyed some delicious beer. Unfortunately, we forgot the delicious beer in the fridge when we left, including a growler of Oktoberfest from the Lexington Avenue Brewery which was oh so good. I hope the cleaning crew appreciated it.



Twins



You are not allowed to crawl yet!

I'm eating ice cream and Logan is belly-to-the-bar. Ummmmm.

Our little Wolverine

Saturday morning I woke up at 4am to drive to New Bern so I could race in a triathlon that is part of the TrySports series.  The Twin Rivers YMCA Triathlon went well - although it was weird not to know any of the other racers.  I went solo while Marty and Logan held down the fort at home.

Saturday afternoon was spent dying hair and practicing our makeup for Doughman! Like I mentioned in previous posts, we are all about redemption from last years disaster of a race so we are 'angry' and we're 'going goth.'  Gone are our pink costumes with bows and here comes lots of black.  In keeping with the theme, we dyed our hair black and will be spraying in a pink streak for the race.  My hair is already quite dark so the black isn't terribly noticeable, but on Alysia and Kari it is! We'll be taking a lot of pictures so stay tuned to see the whole ensemble.

We are so, so close to getting the 5 minute head start. So far, 3 other teams have gotten that time bonus. We need to raise $1,000 and we are at $820 so if you wanna help us out........click this link!

Tomorrow evening is the first Aquathon if any locals want to have fun doing a low-key cheap event.

What's in a Name?

The Social Security Administration just released the most popular names of 2011. Logan came in at #20, Martin was #262 and Brianne was nowhere to be found. My name hasn't been on the list since 2005, apparently, when it was ranked #994.

Brianna was on the list at #45. BUT THAT'S NOT MY NAME!!! (I may have a slight issue with people adding that 'ah' on the end of my name)

A lot of you know that I was named after my dad, Brian. Marty (Martin Nicholas) is also named after his dad who is from Hungary (Marton Miklos). Logan is Logan Marton. So we're all in the family.

But where did Logan come from? For me, it was always the boy name I liked. Perhaps from my years of reading The Babysitters Club books, I'm not sure. Marty was all aboard because he has always loved Wolverine and his name is Logan. We didn't really have any debate - I think the conversation went something like this:

Me: "I like Logan for a boy."
Marty: "Me too."

If he were a girl I think there would've been more discussion.

In other news, we had our first open water swim race of the Triangle Open Water Swim Series this past Saturday. It was a gorgeous day with calm water and a great temperature (mid-70's). Logan was with me so I wasn't much help at registration; I sort of stood there and ordered people around. Thank god I have great friends who volunteered to help. I am so lucky. 

I did not strap Logan to me so I could swim in the race. We're not at that stage yet ;) I did remember that he actually did do this race last year, though.

Afterwards a handful of us did a nice 40 mile ride on some rolling hills in North Raleigh.  It was fantastic.

Tomorrow we're off to Maggie Valley (all 4 of us) to celebrate our 8th wedding anniversary, which is actually tomorrow.

As Marty would say, that is all.

Pics and Stuff

White Lake is a popular triathlon weekend in NC so there were lots of pictures floating around taken by friends. Here are a few more:

I like this because you can see Jean and Marty taking a picture and Mary cheering me on

Back pictures are great because there's no chance of an ugly running face

If you have any friends on facebook from NC you probably saw a lot of posts about the recent Amendment that was put to vote on Tuesday. The constitution in our state already bans same sex marriage and this amendment would take it a step further and ban civil unions and domestic partnerships. I find it very embarrassing that it passed. A common 'comic' that was posted from someecards read: "North Carolina: where you can marry your cousin, just not your gay cousin"  Technically, you can marry your 2nd cousin, but whatever. We're not all so backwoods and ignorant in this state, I promise.

And for the family, Logan has a lot of fun in his exersaucer (or as Marty likes to call it, Mission Control) so here's a  short video.

White Lake Sprint Race Report

Marty had signed up for the White Lake Sprint, but since he has yet to run after hurting his foot in the Cary Duathlon I got to take his entry - not happy Marty is hurt but very happy I got to race :)

We had high hopes of going to White Lake on Friday so we could watch the Half on Saturday, but we just couldn't make it happen. Too busy and too worried about having Logan outside in 90 degree heat for hours on end...we drove down Saturday evening instead.

We stayed in a plush trailer with Erik and Andrea. I'm not even joking, this double wide was nice!! Definitely the nicest place we've ever stayed at there. 

When I decided I was going to race this I had an internal debate about whether I should race in the Open/Elite category or age group. I bounced it off Marty who I think half listened and told me to do what I wanted. I've always raced Open in the North Carolina Triathlon Series, but I just am not feeling super speedy right now and didn't want the pressure (which I realize is all self imposed) of starting at the front. I thought it would be more fun to race age group and actually have people around me (the women's open field can be pretty small and get spread out quick).

Here are the results. So you can see that I ended up finishing 2nd overall (to some young stud) and ahead of all the Open girls by just a bit. I sort of feel like a tool for not racing with them as I'm always frustrated when girls don't race open when they should. But looking at the splits I would've had my butt handed to me in the swim and then just started to see people on the run - so that wouldn't have been fun and of course it changes the dynamic of the race. Also, none of my splits are that impressive. My bike is all right, but my swim and run are just kind of eh. I look at them and can't figure out how I got 2nd.


Enough of that analysis! The swim was choppy and wetsuit legal. I didn't really know what I was doing out there and there were kayaks right in the way I guess helping people who weren't doing well in the chop. Even though the wave ahead of us started with a 6min headstart, I still ran into a lot of side stroking men. Got on the bike and felt good. Sort of windy out there but it was fun to keep passing people on the two loop course. Off the bike and onto the run where my legs felt okay but not great. Now that all the little post pregnancy injuries seem to be healed I'm ready to start really running again!

We didn't stick around for awards as the little man and big man were both tired. Next up: DOUGHMAN!! Thanks to all who have donated so far! We have the 2 min lead - can we get the 5 min lead? Maybe! If you'd like to help us get there, please click this link. As you can see, your name will be in lights on the website :)

Heading down with one happy Logan sitting next to me

 

I have a funny look on my face because I couldn't get by these people - move it!

Logan started off the morning like this

And ended up here

A bit of a sprint to the finish

Race Report!! Riverwood Golf & Athletic Club Triathlon

Please help Team Victorious Secret get back on the podium on our quest for REDEMPTION in the Doughman race! Click this link to donate to a local Durham charity and get us a head start.



My first triathlon in a year and first race post-Logan is in the books.  My last triathlon (where I was 7-8 weeks pregnant with Logan) was almost 1 year previous at the Triangle Orthopedic Sprint. I did a couple of 5K's and open water swims while pregnant but I wouldn't really say they were races so they don't really count. Here are the results if you'd rather just see them and not hear me blah blah blah about the race.

Last year I decided that the Riverwood Sprint Triathlon would be a great first race back. It was a small race, with a pool swim, that was geared more towards beginners.  Sign me up. Marty did and put in a really fast pool time which 'earned' me the right to start the race in first position. Let's be clear about something - my swim stinks right now.  While pregnant I kept swimming, but pretty much just splashed around and since having Logan I haven't been swimming all that much. Swimming has never been my forte and I'm getting to the pool about 3 times every 2 weeks - this leads to a competent swim, but by no means fast. Anyways, my biggest concern was getting passed in the pool, but luckily the guy behind me was around my speed so in the end I exited the pool still in first position.  I hit the wall in just under 4:00 so for 300 yards that is right around 1:20 pace.  Oh yeah.

But back up. Racing a triathlon with a baby in tow adds a whole new element to everything. Triathlon is already very gear intensive and then add in a baby and you've got a whole bunch of crap to pack up.  I did most of this on Friday so I didn't have to worry about it in the morning.  Then of course I have to add in time to pump. Then I got ready, ate, did last minute prep and then got Logan up. Poor kid, who wants to get woken up from a deep sleep at 5:30 am? We were sort of hoping we could transport him right to the car and head out but he wanted to EAT.

We made it to the site in plenty of time, and I had already picked up my packet so no worries there. I had to make sure to fit in another pumping session because I wanted to be sure everything was out before the race. So maybe this is TMI but it's my life right now and it's quite a commitment! But since we're on the subject, this milk factory is beginning it's shutdown this month. My goal was to breastfeed for 6 months which would be Jun 12 -- and I have a bunch stored so I should get there. I am so ready to be done though, and can't wait until I am. Breastfeeding is great and I applaud women who manage to do it for the whole year but I am so over it and will be glad to be done.

Back to the race. My friend and athlete Cari decided to race at the last minute and it was fun to have her right next to me on the rack and in the pool to warmup. It was also handy since she had an extra cap for me when mine broke right when I went to put it on. I did a short jog warm up and the calf felt okay - a bit tight but not debillitating.

So I already talked about the swim. The mat for the split was far away so all the swim times look about :30 slower then they really are. My transition was fine and I decided to put on socks since it was a bit chilly (mid-50's). I always put them on for the run anyways. The 14 mile bike was through rural country roads and it was a bit hilly on the second half.  I felt all right - again, my training is super low and my intensity is pretty much non existent so I was very surprised to have the fastest bike time.  I had cut my finger the day before and it had opened up and was bleeding all over my hand so I was more concerned about whether or not I had wiped my face with it and now had blood all over myself.  If Cari caught up to me I was going to ask her to take a look -- but she never did. So yeah, I can't say I was too focused while I was out there. There were a few hills at the end and I just remember thinking, ooh, these are sort of hard I think I will back off.  Race pace also doesn't exist yet :)

Onto the run and this is what I was most worried about since this stupid calf injury has cropped up. Not only had I not been running very much but I had pretty much done only one workout (on the Thursday before the race). Luckily, the calf held up. It was tight but not bad. The run course was nice, on a greenway along a river for a bit, then into a neighborhood and back on another greenway.  It was hilly coming back so definitely not a fast course. The last hill before the finish line was a killer and it was impossible to get your speed back up after it. 

I can't complain about winning the race - it was so fun and I'm so happy to be back out there. Of course, I'm nowhere near where I was once but I wouldn't expect to be.

And now, pictures.





Getting some extra sleep the night before.



Heading off to set up my junk.




Gearing up to cheer me on

 

Swim start

  

Swim finish

Off the bike

Please, calf, don't hurt!

Glad to be done with the hills



Family portrait. Where's Logan?



Getting my award

Best cheering section ever

Two posts in two days!

Please help Team Victorious Secret get back on the podium on our quest for REDEMPTION in the Doughman race! Click this link to donate to a local Durham charity and get us a head start.

I know, it's crazy I'm actually writing another blog post. But this is just a Logan quickie for the family. 4 month stats: (he's 6 days older than 4 months, but this is when he had his checkup).

Weight: 14lbs 7.5oz (26th percentile)
Height: 25.5 inches (62nd percentile)
Head circumference: 17 inches (89th percentile)

I always think he's finally chunking up but apparently not as much as most babies his age. Tall and skinny with a giant head.

On the Mend

Please help Team Victorious Secret get back on the podium on our quest for REDEMPTION in the Doughman race! Click this link to donate to a local Durham charity and get us a head start.

Well. My calf is starting to cooperate. I've been doing a hodge-podge of things to get it feeling better including: rolling it with The Stick like a mad woman, stretching a lot, wearing my hot pink compression sleeves under all of my pants, playing with my biomechanics and footfalls, sacrificing a live goat, and drinking tonic from a witches handbook.

They seem to be helping and I've now jogged 2 days in a row with very little pain. Now it's onto a crash course of "Bri needs to get fast in less than 6 weeks" so I can help my Doughman team (I will be doing a run leg. I will never, ever do the bike leg there again).

Honestly, I'm just stoked that I can run without pain again, knock on wood. Anyone who knows me knows that I am a runner at heart, and could take or leave biking and swimming when it comes down to it. Just let me run!

Speaking of, I have a triathlon in less than 2 weeks. That is going to be ugly....and I can't wait!!

I signed up with Instagram which allows you to take pictures on your 21st century phone and make the photo look like it was taken a long time ago. Something is wrong with this premise but the pictures look pretty cool, so I won't dwell on it too much. I'm just learning and here are my first ones:

Logan sleeping in my arms:

Tassie! We haven't forgotten about our daughter.


Logan trying to hold onto his bottle.