A Brief Trip

Mack and I are in Texas for 6 days. We are visiting Doohickie and my sister PennyCandy. Doohickie had a spare bike waiting for me, so I got to go on a club ride with him. Check out his blog for some photos!

We went to the stockyards on Sunday, where Kenz saw some real cowboys.




More photos will follow, once we're home in chilly NY!

Thinking Positive: A List

This is sort of a morphed version of a recent blog from http://windchasers.blogspot.com/, where she started to develop a "Bucket list". I like that idea, and I'm sure I'll do a version of it in the future.

But for now, I'm feeling like it's a good time to reflect on some of the best things in life. So, my goal is to list 100 things that make me happy.

Here's the start (I doubt I'll get 100 all in one sitting)

Things That Make Me Happy:

1. Watching a thunderstorm roll across the sky
2. Hearing the uncontrolled giggles of my children.
3. Watching Jack learn to swim.
4. Listening to Mackenzie read to Jack.
5. A heartfelt conversation with Shayna.
6. Camping in the Adirondacks...even if it rains.
7. Spending an afternoon at the Clark Art Institute.
8. Hiking to the Top of Mount Sleeping Beauty.
9. Painted toenails.
10. Holding hands with Kevin.
11. Cheering Mackenzie on as she caught her first fish.
12. Shahi Paneer.
13. Sharing Shahi Paneer with shayna.
14. Sharing a bottle of Wolf Blass Chardonnay with friends.
15. Taking a walk with Kevin.
16. Birthday cake!
17. My moms Strawberry upside down cake.
18. Kevin playing the saxophone
19. A long bike ride by myself.
20. A long bike ride by myself on a Saturday morning, while every one else is asleep.

Okay-That's 20! Maybe I'll do 20 at a time.

Does any one else have a list?

Re-Evaluating Goals

As I've mentioned before, my big Tri goal for this year has been to compete in the Fronhofers Olympic Tri. I'm taking a realistic look at where I'm at with training for it, and what it will take to finish the race. At this time, I have to concede that I don't think I'm ready.

Here's the deal: The Fronhofers race is on August 2. The didstances are:
a 1640.42 yard swim,
24.85 mile bike,
and a 6.21 mile run.

I'm not there. Not even close. Okay, I can push the the swim. And the bike distance isn't an issue, but I understand there are some serious hills on the course, along with a time cut-off. But,it's the run that'll kill me! I can not get off the bike and do a 10k. Not yet, anyway. And definately not without walking.

So, "what's the new plan?" you ask.

Well, thans for asking. And since you asked, I'll share my new plan with you! There is a Crystal Cove Sprint Tri on August 29.
http://www.cdtriclub.org/index.php?PHPSESSID=cb626f0a0cfb901f05103a9f2d3810ef&page=Crystal%20Lake%20Race

Crystal Cove is in Averill Park, and the bike course actually goes past my parents road.


Here are the distances:
Swim .5 miles (That's about 900 yards)
Bike 18 miles
Run 5K

The bike course is still incredibly hilly. But the swim and run are half the distance of the other race. I already swim that distance in training, so now I can work on getting faster. Running after a bike ride is always painful, but I can run a stand alone 5k now. This gives me time to get stronger and faster at it.
So, this will be my first ever- official Triathlon.

This will be the race that allows me to claim "I'm a Triathlete!"
-Peace!

Spiral Staircases

I love Spiral staircases. Not sure why, but I do! I have an almost irrisistable urge to charge up them, when I see them.
While I was running around for work today, I went to 2 new places. Both of them had spiral staircases. What are the odds of that?
When I grow up- I'm going to have one in my home. It might just lead to nowhere!

Just thought I'd share.
-Peace.

A Birthday and a Graduation!

Last Friday was a big day for our family! Mackenzie graduated from Kindergarten and it was Jack's third Birthday!

Here are some pics of the special day!

Graduation morning! Kenz was so excited to wear this outfit. She picked it out for herself.


Shayna and Kenz, after Graduation.


Our family, after graduation.


Before leaving the school, we stopped to see Dana


From there, we went to lunch to celebrate. Kevin and Jack enjoyed some 'nuggles while we waited for our food.


The Jack-Man in the traditional "Barcomb Family Birthday Hat"


It was a fantastic day for all of us.

Race Update

I ran the "Teagans Run 5k" today, as scheuled.

What an inspiring morning. Teagan is a little girl who was diagnosed with Leukemia three years ago. She also has Down's Syndrome. Fortunately she is in remission now!

Her family has continued to organize this race for the past 2 years for other children with Leukemia. This years honored child is Ava. Both Ava and Teagan were at the run today, with their families.

These little girls are both absolutely beautiful! I felt very fortunate to be able to take part in this event.

As for the event itself, it was held in Saratoga State Park, and the weather was fantastic. The course is very enjoyable, it runs along the Avenue of the Pines, which is very peaceful. There were several mother/daughter teams out there, doing a walk/run together. The run was completely casual, no time clocks or chips. Luckily I had my watch with me.

The only complaint I had was that it ended on a grass field. I don't like to run on fields after a 3 mile run. My legs are too tired, and I don't trust my foot at that point in the run. So, that slowed me down a little for the last couple of hundred yards.

Even so, my final time was 33:14- A new PR for me!!

And here I am, in my Team Teagan T-shirt

Now I'm psyched for summer- I'm ready for Kevin to be done with the school year so that I can run in the morning before work! Time to pick the next race.

The Next Race

I've signed up fo another 5k. This one is in the same state park as the last race I did, but a slightly different course.

http://www.teamteagan.com/

The race is to benefit an area family who's little girl has Leukemia. All of the proceeds go to Ava's family. The entry fee is higher than anything I usually consider, but supporting this family is worth it.

There are lots of area races, so I choose which ones I'll participate in by 3 criteria: What is the cause I'm running for? What is the entry fee? and what is the actual course?

If there are 2 races close together that are appealing, then I resort to my tie-breaking question: "Who has the cooler race t-shirt?"

I'm curious, if you are a runner/triathlete, how do you choose your events?

3 Milestones in One Day

Yesterday was the first ride on my new bike!! It's a great bike! It still doesn't have a name though. Not even a gender yet.

I did the same route today, that I did on May 15. It's the Krumkill to Route 306 out and back route. Here are a few comparisons between the two rides.
On that day I did it in 1 hour 44 seconds with an average pace of 13.39. Today I did it in 56:04- which is an average pace or 14.50. My fastest speed today was 30mph! Downhill, that feels pretty darn fast.

There were 3 highlights on this ride today!
First- On the long Krumkill hill, I never had to granny gear it! Middle ring the whole hill!! This hill is .6 miles. I have no idea what the grade is, but it's fairly steep.

Second- I took 4 minutes and 40 seconds off my overall time!! That's a significant amount of time on a short ride.

Third- I MADE IT UP THAT STEEP LITTLE HILL ON THE RIDE HOME!! I've never made it up that hill without stopping/walking!! I think I could've done it faster, but I was being a little conservative, with the goal being to just get up it!!

I love having a road bike!!

Fuji Bordeaux

Finally!

I found my new bike!

Last week I came to the conclusion that The Bea was definatley not the right size for me, and it was time to let her go. She found a new home last Friday night, with a young guy who's been riding his Dad's 1973 Schwinn something. He even liked her name! So, I was sad to see her go, but I think she's being ridden now.

Then, I sold CLick at a garage sale on Saturday. And my ancient Ovation Accoustic guitar at the same garage sale. And a bunch of other ridiculous cra...I mean products that other people desperately needed andwill love dearly.

And, I had enough for some serious bike shopping. I almost bought a Bianchi from CL, but my gut told me to hold off. Then, I almost went for a Trek 1000. Again, my gut said "wait". Both were very nice bikes, but they were showing their age.

So I waited, and hit a few bike shops during my lunch breaks every day this week, to try out some brands and sizes. Tonight I picked up a 2005 Fuji Bordeaux! Here she is... (with the awesome Mack-Attack helping me out!)

At 19.5 lbs, she's very light and fast. I have to get used to the shifting system, but that's okay. The shifting is smooth. It's a great fit, and the woman who owned her was the same height/ general size as me.

The best part is, it didn't wipe out my whole budget! So I still have (a little) spending money for my trip to TX in a couple of weeks!!