I didn't quite get the numbers I was hoping for this week. But I guess that is to be expected when you end up with a minor case of bronchitis. I got a cold about a month ago, but it wasn't bad. Then about two weeks ago, it morphed into a cough. The cough has gotten progressively worse since then. It wasn't causing too many problems with my exercise, but this week, it was. I even took one full day off mid-week and did nothing because my lungs just couldn't take it. Then I took Damon to the dr. because he had super labored breathing and couldn't get out more than 2-4 words before having to stop and take a breath. He has bronchitis. (He's doing fine...) Then I made a decision. I have worked too hard for this thing, spent too much money, etc, etc... to end up either not being able to do it, or doing it anyway and being super sick. Under normal circumstances, I wasn't bad enough to even think of going to the doctor. But, I didn't want to take the chance of getting worse instead of better. The doctor I went to understood my desire to be able to perform to the best of my ability in my triathlon. He hooked me up with three different prescriptions to help me. I only went to the doctor yesterday, but the stuff is already helping. Though it is clear after today's workout that I need to give my lungs a few days of rest to recuperate. Good thing tomorrow is Sunday. :)
Anyway, here are my totals. And I tried to add a second swim in this week but arrived to find the pool closed. I will admit, I lost track a bit because I ended up cutting a few of my workouts short and I didn't write my numbers down. These numbers are what I'm sure I actually did. It's possible that I might have done a little more.
Swim: between a half and one mile. I didn't attempt to keep track.
Run: 11 miles
Bike: 32 miles
Anyway, not great. But it will have to do. And I guess it's not terrible considering I was sick and I took one full day off. So the plan for this next week is to get a couple of good workouts in on Monday and Tuesday. Then I will head for Snowflake on Wednesday and mostly relax so I have fresh muscles for Saturday morning!
Saturday, August 24, 2013
Sunday, August 18, 2013
Triathlon progress report
The day of my demise triathlon is coming up very soon. Only 13 more days to go. I've been doing my best to get ready, and hoping it is enough. This past week I've stepped it up and hit the training harder than ever before. On Monday, I was even able to run a full 5K at my fast (for me) starting speed without slowing down at all. I've never been able to do that. I've always had to slow down sometime during the last mile. Anyway, I know these distances are not stellar when compared to an actual exercise enthusiast, but they are good for me. Here are my totals for the week:
Swim: approx. 3/4 mile
Run: 10 miles
Bike: 36 miles
I was only able to swim on one day. I hadn't swam in about a month and a half, and the time off took its toll. It was harder than I remembered. But, it also could be that my muscles had just had it by that point and were more tired to begin with. On Saturday I did a 14 mile bike ride followed, about a half hour later, by a 3 mile run (which are about the distances in the triathlon) for the first time ever. Almost the whole time I was running, I felt like my legs were screaming, "What do you think you are doing?! STOP!!" I'm not sure my legs have ever been so tired. Remember my post a while back where I told you that I thought runners were crazy? Well, I changed my mind. Triathletes are crazy. I think this thing really just might kill me.
Here's to another hard core week!
Swim: approx. 3/4 mile
Run: 10 miles
Bike: 36 miles
I was only able to swim on one day. I hadn't swam in about a month and a half, and the time off took its toll. It was harder than I remembered. But, it also could be that my muscles had just had it by that point and were more tired to begin with. On Saturday I did a 14 mile bike ride followed, about a half hour later, by a 3 mile run (which are about the distances in the triathlon) for the first time ever. Almost the whole time I was running, I felt like my legs were screaming, "What do you think you are doing?! STOP!!" I'm not sure my legs have ever been so tired. Remember my post a while back where I told you that I thought runners were crazy? Well, I changed my mind. Triathletes are crazy. I think this thing really just might kill me.
Here's to another hard core week!
Saturday, August 10, 2013
Who sings this?
A song comes on the radio...
Natalie: "I think this is Lady Gaga."
Damon: "I think is it Michael Jackson!"
Kelton: "Yeah, I think it is Baby Gaga."
Natalie: "No, it's Lady Gaga." (she mispronounced the Gaga part)
Kelton: "Uh, that doesn't make any sense!"
Me: "Guys it's not either of them. And Natalie it's pronounced 'Ga-ga.'"
Natalie: "Oh. Mom, that's a really stupid name for a person."
Kids sure have a way of putting the humor back in life.
And for not really knowing who Lady Gaga is, Natalie and Kelton pretty much have it down.
And Natalie was relieved to find out that someone did not name their child Lady Gaga and that she has a "real" name.
Natalie: "I think this is Lady Gaga."
Damon: "I think is it Michael Jackson!"
Kelton: "Yeah, I think it is Baby Gaga."
Natalie: "No, it's Lady Gaga." (she mispronounced the Gaga part)
Kelton: "Uh, that doesn't make any sense!"
Me: "Guys it's not either of them. And Natalie it's pronounced 'Ga-ga.'"
Natalie: "Oh. Mom, that's a really stupid name for a person."
Kids sure have a way of putting the humor back in life.
And for not really knowing who Lady Gaga is, Natalie and Kelton pretty much have it down.
And Natalie was relieved to find out that someone did not name their child Lady Gaga and that she has a "real" name.
Thursday, August 8, 2013
Savings, schmavings. Here's to our new car!
Apparently we don't think we need a savings account, because every time we start really building one up, we end up needing to buy something big. Last year's example was a house. This week's example is a car. But I guess it's for things like this that we have the savings account in the first place...
We knew that Nate's car, which he drives about 50 miles round trip every day, was going to need to be replaced sometime in the near future. It was a 2004 Ford Focus, so it was about 10 years old(depending on when it was first purchased), and had 130,000 miles on it. And it was starting to have problems. In the past couple of years we have had a few $1000+ repairs on it, along with some that were more in the couple-of-hundred-dollar range. We've always fixed it and moved on. Well, last Friday or Saturday the car started smoking and making a noise. Nate thought the AC compressor was going out, and he was right. We took it in and found out that it was going to cost $800-$900 to fix and, totally unrelated, the water pump had a slow leak and would need future attention.
We knew that on a good day, with everything in the car working, we would only be able to sell it for maybe $2000. So, instead of fixing the car, we decided to call it quits and just trade it in and get a new car. We had hoped to wait until the new year to start shopping around for another car, but decided now was going to have to be the time because we couldn't justify the expense to fix the car when we could use that money on a newer one. And the dealership ended up giving us $500 for it as a trade in. So, it ended up breaking us almost even with what we could have sold it for, after paying for the repair, without the hassle of actually having to find someone to buy it.
On Saturday, we drove into Tucson at dinnertime/bedtime to go car shopping with all four kids in tow. In case you are wondering, it was as super fun as it sounds. We got some ideas, then came home. Then on Monday, after the kids got home from their first day of school, we took the three oldest kids over to a neighbors house (we kept Arie with us) so we could hopefully go purchase something. But this time, we went to the local Jim Click dealership here in Green Valley instead of driving in to all the ones on the automall. They even brought one of the cars down from Tucson that we had been looking at so we could test drive it. We didn't end up getting that one though. We stopped considering it the minute we found out it didn't have cruise control. It was a 2012 automatic car, with no cruise control! The salesman told us that cruise control doesn't actually come standard on a lot of cars. I couldn't believe that. It seems so crazy! Who voluntarily wants a car with no cruise control?
Anyway, we ended up with a 2012 Ford Focus SEL with 22,800 miles. If you can't tell from the picture, it is a dark silver charcoal color. I don't know the actual name of the color. And I think Nate is having fun with all of the extra features the SEL (as opposed to the more standard SE) model has.
It was a little more than we were wanting to spend (aren't they always?), but it had half as many miles as the other cars we were considering for only about $1500 more. Lower mileage was the one thing we were willing to pay a bit more for, since Nate will be putting so many miles on it. And then we ended up paying to extend the warrantee, which is something we never do. But our Costco membership made it almost half price. So, for about $1000 we were able to extend the manufacturer's warrantee of 3 yrs or 36,000 miles to 5 yrs or 100,000 miles. The warrantee will pay for basically anything that ever needs to be fixed, except for things like tires and breaks. With all the car repairs we have paid for in the past several years, we figured the extra money would be worth the peace of mind of knowing we won't have to pay for any car repairs with this car for a long time.
So there it is. Now we are feeling the weight of purchasing something so expensive, and hoping we made the right choice. But at least it's nice to know that Nate is now driving something reliable.
*As a side note, I haven't even driven this car yet. We ran out of time when we were purchasing the car (Nate drove it, of course), and Nate has been working so much since that the car hasn't been here at any reasonable time of day for me to take it for a drive. :)
We knew that Nate's car, which he drives about 50 miles round trip every day, was going to need to be replaced sometime in the near future. It was a 2004 Ford Focus, so it was about 10 years old(depending on when it was first purchased), and had 130,000 miles on it. And it was starting to have problems. In the past couple of years we have had a few $1000+ repairs on it, along with some that were more in the couple-of-hundred-dollar range. We've always fixed it and moved on. Well, last Friday or Saturday the car started smoking and making a noise. Nate thought the AC compressor was going out, and he was right. We took it in and found out that it was going to cost $800-$900 to fix and, totally unrelated, the water pump had a slow leak and would need future attention.
We knew that on a good day, with everything in the car working, we would only be able to sell it for maybe $2000. So, instead of fixing the car, we decided to call it quits and just trade it in and get a new car. We had hoped to wait until the new year to start shopping around for another car, but decided now was going to have to be the time because we couldn't justify the expense to fix the car when we could use that money on a newer one. And the dealership ended up giving us $500 for it as a trade in. So, it ended up breaking us almost even with what we could have sold it for, after paying for the repair, without the hassle of actually having to find someone to buy it.
On Saturday, we drove into Tucson at dinnertime/bedtime to go car shopping with all four kids in tow. In case you are wondering, it was as super fun as it sounds. We got some ideas, then came home. Then on Monday, after the kids got home from their first day of school, we took the three oldest kids over to a neighbors house (we kept Arie with us) so we could hopefully go purchase something. But this time, we went to the local Jim Click dealership here in Green Valley instead of driving in to all the ones on the automall. They even brought one of the cars down from Tucson that we had been looking at so we could test drive it. We didn't end up getting that one though. We stopped considering it the minute we found out it didn't have cruise control. It was a 2012 automatic car, with no cruise control! The salesman told us that cruise control doesn't actually come standard on a lot of cars. I couldn't believe that. It seems so crazy! Who voluntarily wants a car with no cruise control?
Anyway, we ended up with a 2012 Ford Focus SEL with 22,800 miles. If you can't tell from the picture, it is a dark silver charcoal color. I don't know the actual name of the color. And I think Nate is having fun with all of the extra features the SEL (as opposed to the more standard SE) model has.
So there it is. Now we are feeling the weight of purchasing something so expensive, and hoping we made the right choice. But at least it's nice to know that Nate is now driving something reliable.
*As a side note, I haven't even driven this car yet. We ran out of time when we were purchasing the car (Nate drove it, of course), and Nate has been working so much since that the car hasn't been here at any reasonable time of day for me to take it for a drive. :)
Monday, August 5, 2013
Back to School
Today was the first day of school!
Natalie is starting 3rd grade at the intermediate school and has Miss Ramirez.
Kelton is starting kindergarten and has Mrs. Vaterlaus.
They are both so excited for school to start. They have a dress code, but the Primary School sells shirts that are dress code approved. Kelton has hardly been able to wait to wear his Owl shirt.
Headed off to school. Normally they will ride the bus, but Nate always takes them on the first day of school.
Natalie is starting 3rd grade at the intermediate school and has Miss Ramirez.
Kelton is starting kindergarten and has Mrs. Vaterlaus.
They are both so excited for school to start. They have a dress code, but the Primary School sells shirts that are dress code approved. Kelton has hardly been able to wait to wear his Owl shirt.
Headed off to school. Normally they will ride the bus, but Nate always takes them on the first day of school.
Thursday, August 1, 2013
Pioneer Day Celebrations
Just a quick post because I seem to be getting so behind...
We spent this past weekend in Snowflake for the Pioneer Day Celebrations. It was fun to get away for a quick weekend trip to visit with family. Nate played in the golf tournament with my Dad and Melanie on Friday.
I woke up at 5:00 a.m. (gasp!) on Saturday so I could take part in the Pioneer Day Run out at the golf course at 6:00. It was a two mile run and Melanie and my Dad did it too. It should have been a lot easier for me than it was, but then again, the altitude is about twice as high as what I am used to. So, it was a bit hard to breathe. But, I did just fine and was able to actually run alongside my dad for the last mile or so. I did get a little behind at the beginning when I shouldn't have though, because the course wasn't clearly marked. All of the "faster" people, including Melanie, ended up going the wrong way and I was right behind them. I started following them when I heard someone yelling that the two mile course was another way. I debated what to do and ended up turning around and backtracking, all of which ended up costing me about 45 seconds and some extra energy to run up a hill to get back on course. It's a good thing I did go back, because the group in front of me got disqualified for going the wrong way. That part of it was too bad, but it was fun to get out and run with my dad and sister.
A few hours later, we went to the parade. It was fun because we got to sit with both families. A lot of Nate's family was in the parade (in a band), but his mom and grandpa sat with us and my parents and Melanie. My dad was able to drive Nate's mom, who just had surgery for breast cancer, and his 96 (I think) year old grandpa right down to our spot at the front of the parade in his golf cart. After the parade, we made it back just in time to not get soaked by a monsoon storm. Well, almost. Nate stayed behind with the chairs and arrived back at the house looking like he had just stepped out of the shower fully clothed. Melanie took some pictures at the parade, but I don't have them yet to post. (*hint, hint... :) )
Haha, ask and ye shall receive.... Here are the pictures.
Jade, Natalie, Damon, and Kelton. Great Grandpa Webb gave each of the kids one of his hats to wear.
All of us at the parade, minus Melanie who took the picture.
We spent this past weekend in Snowflake for the Pioneer Day Celebrations. It was fun to get away for a quick weekend trip to visit with family. Nate played in the golf tournament with my Dad and Melanie on Friday.
I woke up at 5:00 a.m. (gasp!) on Saturday so I could take part in the Pioneer Day Run out at the golf course at 6:00. It was a two mile run and Melanie and my Dad did it too. It should have been a lot easier for me than it was, but then again, the altitude is about twice as high as what I am used to. So, it was a bit hard to breathe. But, I did just fine and was able to actually run alongside my dad for the last mile or so. I did get a little behind at the beginning when I shouldn't have though, because the course wasn't clearly marked. All of the "faster" people, including Melanie, ended up going the wrong way and I was right behind them. I started following them when I heard someone yelling that the two mile course was another way. I debated what to do and ended up turning around and backtracking, all of which ended up costing me about 45 seconds and some extra energy to run up a hill to get back on course. It's a good thing I did go back, because the group in front of me got disqualified for going the wrong way. That part of it was too bad, but it was fun to get out and run with my dad and sister.
A few hours later, we went to the parade. It was fun because we got to sit with both families. A lot of Nate's family was in the parade (in a band), but his mom and grandpa sat with us and my parents and Melanie. My dad was able to drive Nate's mom, who just had surgery for breast cancer, and his 96 (I think) year old grandpa right down to our spot at the front of the parade in his golf cart. After the parade, we made it back just in time to not get soaked by a monsoon storm. Well, almost. Nate stayed behind with the chairs and arrived back at the house looking like he had just stepped out of the shower fully clothed. Melanie took some pictures at the parade, but I don't have them yet to post. (*hint, hint... :) )
Haha, ask and ye shall receive.... Here are the pictures.
Jade, Natalie, Damon, and Kelton. Great Grandpa Webb gave each of the kids one of his hats to wear.
All of us at the parade, minus Melanie who took the picture.
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