Triathlete? Ok!

I had SO much fun at my triathlon yesterday! I was so stinkin nervous, only to have an amazing time!!

I suppose I should start at the beginning.

But I can't do that without telling you that I have the most amazing, supportive, and wonderful husband in the whole world. That's right, sorry girls, MINE is the BEST!

We stayed overnight at my brother Austin's house in Denver because it's fairly close to the reservoir where my tri took place. I had to pick up my stuff the day before. I got fairly impatient with the information session, and consequently probably missed some information, but I survived nonetheless. So, we went out to eat with my friend Leslie and saw her new house in Broomfield. That took my mind off things for a good while, and as always, it was great to see my friend (Happy Birthday Leslie!!)

We got to bed a little later than I hoped, but I don't think it would have mattered if I was able to get into bed earlier, because my heart was racing. I finally fell asleep around 11.

We woke up at 5 the next morning in order to try to be at the reservoir by 6. We made it by 6:10, after having to stop to put air in my bike tires. We were greeted by about 1600 of our closest friends, all with the same hopes of being early. We found a spot and were surprised to find that we would have to walk a little over a mile to the transition area. Of course, this would be the trip that we forget the stroller. I want to stop here, and again reference that I have the most amazing, supportive, and wonderful husband in the whole world. He carried our 25 pound child and her bag full of the morning's needs to the transition area. Yes, she's walking, but not well enough to get there on her own. (Obviously.) So I rode ahead on my bike and found a place to be my "home base". Jim found me, and asked a volunteer for my wave's start time and some safety pins since I didn't get any in my packet. He also helped me get re-marked with my race number. Did I mention he's great? :) (He also took all the great pictures you're about to see-thanks honey!)

At this point, we got separated. I pulled on my wet suit and headed down to the beach to wait for my wave and take a dip in the icy water. Not nearly as bad as it had been 2 weeks prior, in fact it was tolerable, at worst! And, I knew my friend Jeff from college was one of the rangers on duty watching for people who might drown. That settled me a little, but I was still pretty anxious.

Upon entering the water with my wave, we were greeted, as all waves were, by Sally Edwards (former Ironman Masters record holder and Danskin Triathlon spokeswoman). Her lighthearted pep talk through the megaphone to me and the other 99 girls in my wave put me at ease immediately. The swim had been shortened from a 1/2 mile to a 1/4 mile because of the water being too cold (lame), and the course that they set up had blown in a good bit. I think the total swim ended up being about a 300m. Oh well. I swam. I got kicked. I kicked others. Apologized. Kept swimming. See, in such a short distance it's impossible for the group to spread out at all. I stayed in the middle of the pack the entire time. No problem! I still couldn't find Jim upon exiting the water, but knew he had to be somewhere. My home base was easily accessible, and he got to me in no time.

Swim Time: 5:37

I wasn't in much of a hurry to put my bike shoes on, but I did. Got onto my bike and headed out. The website wasn't kidding when they called that course "rolling". It certainly had it's share of tough up-hills, but luckily the downhills were just as good. But I've never felt more encouraged in a race before. As I was huffing up hills, the girls coming down in the other direction were cheering for all of us. It was like that the entire time, and of course, the coach in me felt I should pass on the encouragement.

Transition time: 7 minutes
Bike time: 47 minutes

Now, on to the run. I didn't save any legs for it, that was for sure. I definitely wasn't prepared for how hilly it was!! But, of course, I survived, and my time was acceptable, considering I had just swam and biked--hard. Jim tried to catch a picture of me finishing, but that was the time Reagan picked to try out her walking on the race course. I'm so glad she's walking!

Transition time: 6 minutes
Run time: 42 minutes

Total Tri Time: 1 hour, 48 minutes, 3 seconds.

I'm already looking for another one. I love it!

I think Reagan missed me. She fell asleep on my shoulder on the walk back to the car--something she hasn't done in several months.

Oh My!

It's been a LONG time since I've posted--sorry!
I was laying in bed last night and decided that I HAD to post today because there is so much news, and now I don't have much time, so I'll just give you the Reader's Digest versions:

BRECKENRIDGE:
We went to Breckenridge last weekend with Jim's family. For the most part, we had a great time! Jim's mom was sick part of the time, but she seems to be doing much better now. We took Reagan swimming, played a little tennis, and I went for a 14+mile bike ride on the wonderful trail between Breckridge and Frisco. On my ride, I came up with what I've decided ought to be the metaphor for government. Since I'm not in the habit of posting unwanted political commentary, if you're interested, let me know. :) In addition, Jim was able to go fishing with Bill, and we were successful in getting Reagan to go "right to sleep" in her pack and play. Here are some pictures from our trip!


Here is the panorama from the suite's room.


This is a picture of stars and the town at night.



This one is a video of Jim taking Reagan under water for his first time.



Reagan and me walking into town from our hotel.






BIG NEWS!:
This one speaks for itself! Very exciting news, indeed.


Push play! Push play!!

TRIATHLON:
My triathlon is already here. It's hard to believe! I feel ready, but still very nervous. The day we left for Breckenridge Jim and I did the local annual June race here in the Springs. I ran if not the fastest, definitely one of the fastest 5k times ever (for me). Turns out I may live to tell about this thing after all! I'm hoping to be able to complete it in 2 hours or less, not counting transitions. I figure no first-timer should have to factor transitions into their total tri time! :)

VACATION:
We are taking our first "just us" (and Reagan) vacation since our honeymoon next month! I'm SO excited! We have decided to head to California. The only place I've ever been in California was LA and I swore I'd never go back. Then, I reconsidered because I decided that probably wasn't being fair, considering the size of the state. That would be like someone judging Colorado on a place like Pueblo. So we'll be flying into San Jose, driving to Santa Cruz, staying 2 nights, then driving to see Carol and Mike (Jim's aunt and uncle) in San Francisco for the other 2 nights. Did I mention that I'm very excited??

TALKING:
Reagan has also started talking much more. She still calls everything Dad or Da, or some varion of the word, but she makes an effort. Any time we're out and I mention coming home to see Scout she says, "DAO!"

RELAY:
Tonight was the Relay for Life event put on by the American Cancer Society that I posted about a few weeks back. Thank you very much to everyone who donated! I was able to exceed my goal of $100, receiving a total of $160. So thank you VERY much!! It was a truly amazing event. If you ever have the chance to participate in a Relay for Life in your area I highly recommend it. It is a touching event. Reagan got to come, and stay up extra late on account of it. She was very good and had a great time. The theme this year is "There's no place like Hope".








(I love my state!)






Hope your summer is going splendidly!

Happy Father's Day, Jim!

Today marks Jim's second ever Father's Day.

We went out to my parents house to celebrate with my family. And, speaking of fathers, thanks to all of you who have been asking about my dad. I feel especially lucky to have such a great one this year. In case I haven't mentioned it, he is officially in remission! (YES!)

As usual, I digress.

Here is a little collection of pictures I wanted to share that display what a great dad Jim is.



Jim bringing Reagan back after her first bath and shots.


Napping with Reagan


Reading The Lorax.


In the park after football.


Pushing her on her tricycle.



Playing in the park.



Happy Father's Day Jim! We love you!

Reagan is having a blast!!

Last Saturday, I went with Julie and 2 of her other bridesmaids to go try on dresses for her upcoming September wedding. While we were there, Reagan and Jim went to Bill and Debbie's house for dinner. Debbie had recently been to a garage sale and gotten some fun things for Reagan, including this tricycle. From what I understand, and can see from the pictures, Reagan really enjoyed it!

On Sunday, as I mentioned in my previous post, I decided it should be Jim's turn to go to the zoo and see all the animals. If you've ever been to the Cheyenne Mountain Zoo, you know it is quite an amazing place. It is literally on the side of a mountain, and they have some very neat exhibits there. For example, as you've seen, visitors can feed giraffes wafer crackers, but they can also pet baby a wallaby as they go through. There is also a bird exhibit where you can have birds land on your "seed stick" (a popscicle stick with seeds stuck to the end of it). It's a very neat place for kids, and Reagan loves it. Jim got to be the designated photographer of the day. The picture of the Giraffe is of a baby that was born just a couple weeks ago. They seem to be keeping the baby from the other giraffes, I'm guessing because he is SO MUCH smaller than the others. He was aparently 5'8" and 140ish pounds at birth. I'm so grateful our children don't come out that big!








Today, Jim decided to come to the first 15 minutes of Reagan's swim lesson. Again, he got to take the pictures. Unfortunately, the lighting isn't very good in there, and it's hard to get very close. But, he did a good job.









And, I'll leave you with her eating her lunch today--cheeseburgers and fruit.

Ever Wonder How...

I realized after I updated my last blog that it didn't show up as a new entry in my RSS feed.

Then I realized that there may be some people out there who don't know what an RSS feed is, or how to get one. So, let me help!

Obviously, if you already know what these things are, then please, don't waste your time. However, if you are frustrated because you keep coming back to this, or any other blog only to find that you're behind by 2 or 3 blogs, then an RSS feed reader, such as the Google Reader is the thing for you.

All you have to do is sign up for a google account, and you will have access to google reader. You can even get your google reader to show up on your iGoogle homepage. Once you have an account you can customize it any way you want. Then, you don't have to constantly check Lambs Lines for a new blog--you'll know exactly when it happens!

Good luck, and let me know if you need further instructions. I or Jim will be happy to help!

(No, google didn't pay us to post this blog. Although, maybe they should?)

And, since I'm not crazy about pictureless blogs, here's one of us at the zoo AGAIN today. We decided Jim ought to get to go. :)

Summer Vacation: Week 1

*********UPDATED! 6/8/08***********

Hooray for summer! The weather is warm, and I'm off work for 2 months! YES! (If you look closely you may notice that Reagan now has 3 teeth!)

Our first week was a busy one. My nephew Tanner came to stay with us for 4 out of the 5 days. So, here's what we did all week!

Monday:
Reagan and I are taking swimming lessons this month! It's very exciting, and Monday was her first day. We also had a beautiful sunset on Monday night, and we couldn't help but take some pictures.

Tuesday:
On Tuesdays in the summer, the Sky Sox, our local Rockies farm team, has $2 Tuesdays. It's a pretty good deal. They have $2 parking and admission. Bill treated us and Mikey and Julie to a game. The mascot is Sox the Fox. We didn't know if Reagan would be at all interested in him, but she saw him running on top of one of the dugouts and decided she needed to meet him. So Jim took her over.




Wednesday:
Reagan had swim lesson #2, and this time she learned how to go under water. The face she makes coming out of the water is absolutely priceless, but unfortunately I haven't been able to catch it on camera yet! (It's tough when there's no one around to take our picture.)

Our friend Kim was in town and she wanted to take her kiddos to the zoo. Luckily, Jim and I are members, so I took her as my guest. Reagan loved seeing the animals. She would point and grunt as soon as she saw one! She had a blast, and even got to feed the giraffes by herself this time.



Thursday:
We had some cold weather come in. It truly didn't get much over 50 all day. So, we mostly stayed inside, and Tanner helped me occupy Reagan while I tried to clean. Given my background with having 4 older brothers, I sometimes worry about Reagan not having anyone to look out for her. There is a story in my family of my brother Austin pulling me up and down our 1/4 mile long driveway in my little red wagon during the middle of the summer. According to legend, at one point Austin went inside and requested a glass of ice water, and umbrella, and my favorite teddy bear because I was hot and thirsty. By the way, this driveway led to our house that was on the side of a mountain. Sometimes, I worry that no one will pull Reagan in her proverbial Red Wagon. Seeing this put all my fears to rest.

Friday (today):
Tanner had been wanting to go to the zoo, so we took a second trip. I had also been promising him a chance to go swimming, since he had been such a trooper through Reagan's lessons, a time when the pool does not have open swim. So, we went, and we all had a blast.
Tonight, Reagan further proved that she truly will do anything for a Popsicle. Still not walking by herself, but I don't mind holding her little hand until she learns how.



If you're a person who doesn't like sun glare in pictures, you'll have to excuse these. Personally, if it's done correctly, (that is, detail is not lost in the foreground) I really like it. (And yes, Leslie, if you're reading--I did like the sun glare in your pictures of your house where you said please excuse the sun glare.) :)