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August 18, 2003
Tuesday, August 19, 2003
Wow…what a week!
Let’s see – I didn’t post an entry last week – I just ran out of time. Well, not entirely, I was intending to post on Friday afternoon, but as a ‘summer treat’ my office closed at 3:00 and rather than writing my entry, I bolted for the train! Sorry!
Racing:
My parents came to visit for the weekend. The main reason for their visit was that my mom was participating in the AARP triathlon that was held in Naperville on Sunday the 17th. My mom is 60 years old and started riding a bike a few years ago in order to lose a little weight and just to generally take care of herself. Well, she’s now on her second bike (we upgraded her for her birthday/Mother’s Day this year) and she rides at least an hour everyday – usually closer to two hours! She is AMAZING! Earlier this summer, I asked her if she wanted to participate in an all-women’s triathlon with me and to my surprise, without even a bit of prodding, she simply said ‘sure’. We both did that race and after I finished, I went backwards on the run course and ran her in. What a wonderful day that was. A week later she called to tell me that she wanted to participate in the AARP triathlon at the same venue.
So, mom and dad arrived on Saturday morning just as I was returning from my long ride/run with my training partner. We all had lunch, Mac headed off to the bike race he was doing that afternoon and Jake, my mom and I headed to pick up her packet for the race and then to watch Mac at his bike race. My dad stayed behind to do some work on the house…more on that later.
It was close to 100 degrees out on Saturday and I wasn’t so sure about keeping Jake out in the sun for the time we would need to watch Mac’s bike race. He was participating in the Downer’s Grove Criterium – his second criterium ever. The conditions were miserable for everyone. Jake, though, insisted that he needed to see his dad race and I couldn’t refuse him. Jake has grown up (in all of his 4 long years!) watching his mom and dad and now his grandma participate in sporting events. He is one of the few four year olds that I know who knows that in a triathlon you swim-bike-run, in that order. When we are outside playing, Jake has his own triathlons. He ‘swims’ in his pool or in the sprinkler, then rides his bike on the sidewalk up and down our block and then runs the same distance. He has me set up a volunteer table to hand him water – one cup goes over his head and he drinks one. Thus, when I say he insisted on watching his dad race, I truly mean it.
This might also be a good time to explain what I will be doing in a few weeks. I don’t generally talk about it – but I want a good record of it for Jake. On September 7, I will be participating in Ironman Wisconsin. The race takes place in Madison, Wisconsin and consists of a 2.4 mile swim, 112 mile bike and 26.2 mile run. I participated last year and when I finished, Mac and Jake both asked me to do it again – they had so much fun watching. I signed up for this year and it has been a hard year to get the training in. At the time I signed up for the race (last September), little did I know that over the coming year we would renovate and sell our townhome, move to a new home and that I would switch jobs. All the while though, Jake has been my little training buddy! He loves to hang out in the kids room at the gym while I swim and he accompanies me on most of my runs in his jogging stroller (though he wouldn’t be caught dead in a regular stroller at this point, his jogging stroller is still OK). I will periodically ride on the bike trails near our house with Jake either on his trail-a-bike or in his bike trailer, but I would never ride on the open roads with him for my longer rides. Thus, I leave the house at dawn every Saturday and Sunday in order to have my riding and running done by the time Jake wakes up – usually around 10:00 – thankfully he is a late sleeper. I will probably update a bit more about my road to Ironman in another entry. I’ve never documented much about it, though I probably should have.
This will be my last year of long distance racing. After Ironman, I am participating in the New York Marathon in November and then I’m ‘hanging it up’. I will still train and participate, but only at lesser distances. This year has been challenging to say the least and we all need a break!
So anyway – we roasted in the sun and had a blast watching Mac race and by the end, Jake was pretty done in. He slept the entire way home. Then we just had a relaxing night at home…dinner on the grill and early to bed. On Sunday we all got up early to go to my mom’s race. Jake was SO proud of his Grandma. He told anyone who would listen that HIS grandma was racing! I met my mom and did the run with her…let me tell you – she has arthritis in her hip and her feet give her some trouble, but darned if she didn’t run the entire three miles! My mother never ceases to amaze me. She finished strong and it turns out that she won her age group! Go mom!
Then we made a quick stop at Starbucks – treats for everyone including Jake – he loves to have a ‘kids apple juice, no ice, please’ and then a quick stop at Target (don’t you just HAVE to go to Target on Sunday?) then we went home to do a few more things around the house before the birthday party we were attending that afternoon.
The Birthday Party:
My former boss has a little boy who is also named Jake. He was celebrating his 2nd birthday and we were invited to his party. My Jake was so excited and kept asking when we were going to see ‘the other Jake’? They held the party in their backyard and it was great! No worries about spilled food or drink and a nice breeze was a bonus. I met many wonderful people and Jake loved having so many new children to play with. It was a very nice, relaxing afternoon. My Jake was one of the oldest kids there and it reminded me of just how much he has changed since he was 2 years old. Don’t get me wrong – I have loved every stage of his growth, but he is so independent now and it amazes me. Sometimes I do miss my ‘baby’ – but to see how he has grown…wow!
Having a ‘handy’ father:
Thank goodness for my dad. My husband, bless his heart, isn’t very good with projects around the house. I don’t say that to be mean – it is just a fact, one that he will readily admit to as well. With my parents visiting over the weekend, we (well, my dad) accomplished a lot around the house. Jake has blinds in his room now, we have shelves in the garage, we have a rod w/ tab-top curtains on our sliding door, our kitchen clock is mounted and the cord is hidden in the cabinet below and our shower head actually sprays now (the builder was required to put in a ‘water saving’ shower head – that literally trickled…I’m thrilled that I can actually rinse my hair out now!). So a big thanks to my dad!
Husbands Who Travel:
Anyone else have a hubby who travels for work A LOT? I do think that it makes us appreciate each other more – but wow, sometimes it is really hard to have him gone. He left early Monday of this week and will be back late Wednesday – but then he is working through the weekend this weekend at the Chicago Triathlon. The nice part about this weekend is that Jake and I will spend the weekend in the city with him. While Mac works, Jake and I will play. I have to admit that sometimes I resent the time he spends away, or the weekends he has to work (and there are many of them, especially during the summer) but then I remind myself that he loves his job and is happy doing it, which is more than some people can say. Mac used to have a job that he hated – and he was miserable and therefore sometimes we were all miserable. I would definitely rather he be happy but I do get burnt out with him gone almost every week…but enough whining!
A Weekend in the City:
I’ll follow up next week about what we do this weekend – but here’s what I’m thinking for now – if the weather is good and the bacteria counts are OK (Chicago beaches have been closed a lot this summer due to high bacteria counts – yuck!) we’ll probably spend part of Saturday afternoon at North Avenue Beach. Then I think we’ll hit the Chicago Children’s Museum at Navy Pier. Sunday morning Mac is participating in the Chicago Triathlon (formerly called Mrs. T’s Chicago Triathlon) so Jake and I will be out bright and early cheering and then we’ll have a quiet Sunday afternoon/evening at home – I think by then, we’ll need it!
Well – I think that is about it for now. Once again, I am running to catch the train…someday I will slow down a little (maybe!).
Take care all…
Kristi
Mom to Jake
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