My (Bobby's) 5k

Susan said that I needed to write a blog post about the 5k I ran last Friday night.

This is at the beginning.  Susan got this one so as you will see in the other pictures there is a distinct lack of branding.  I am kind of hard to see in this picture.  It is probably worse than wheres waldo, but you can see about half of my head and a little bit of my green shirt three heads to the left of the guy with the really awesome hair.  My niece and nephew also ran the race.  You can see her in the front row if you know who to look for.  We ran as part of wave B.  Wave A was for the people who could run the 5k in 24 mins or less.

This is the same location before group A took off.  I am centered in this one.  Again this is a bit of a wheres waldo moment.  It took me a long time to find me in this one.

The race started at 7:30 and it was still light out.  

But quickly turned dark.  It was a little odd because it went through campus town and then number of slightly inebriated college students around make the middle of the race rather interesting.

But I ended with a good time of 24:59.  I cannot compare my time to Susan as she had finished a 1 hour bike ride and a swim before running her 5k.  All I did was stand around in a large group of people for about 30 mins.

In case you want to see the details of the race they are posted here.

Lipid Profile

I've been aware of my cholesterol level since 5th grade. That's when everyone in my class was tested (finger prick) and given a sheet of paper with a traffic signal indicating our results: red=high, yellow=moderately high, green=normal.

I scored yellow. It was the first time I remember being graded/assessed/ranked according to something I had no control over. I felt like I had failed a test.

Fast forward to my young adult life as I am starting to think about grad school in nutrition. Another cholesterol test. Still moderately high, but my HDL ("good cholesterol") was appallingly low. Equivalent to "major risk factor for heart disease" low. And now that I understood what this could mean for me in the future, I was finally ready to do something about it.

I added vegetables to my diet. Biked to and from school. Took stair-hiking breaks in the middle of my work day. Got a pedometer. Lost 25 pounds. Went through my coursework learning the ins and outs of diet and health. It turns out, when I was in grad school, the only method known to raise HDL levels was increased physical activity. When my cholesterol was tested again a couple years later, I had brought my total cholesterol down into the normal range, but those HDL levels were still too low! Sheesh.

So, fast forward to last month when my doc asked if I would like my cholesterol checked again (10+ years after my last test). I said, "Absolutely! But I'll go in after my triathlon." If this amount of physical activity didn't help those stinkin' HDLs, then I'd stop trying to change them ;)

Fortunately for me, I just got my results, and my HDL level is no longer a major risk factor for heart disease. It's just...barely...normal. ARGH! But it's the highest level I've ever had detected, so that's something, right? I was hoping for more, but I'll take normal in this case. I can live with normal.

6th Grade Choice

Alice has taken her middle school choice very, very seriously. She was deciding between our local middle school (Urbana Middle School) and a small, private middle school (Campus Middle School for Girls) nearby. I won't lay out her detailed research notes, hours of conversation/deliberation, and weeks of prayer here. That's the part of the story that's hers :) I do get to say, though, that she was delighted to announce her decision to our family yesterday at dinner: Urbana Middle School!

Go tigers!

I was relieved that the decision had been made. Such a relief. That had been weighing on me for some time. It made me laugh to see Alice so stinkin' excited about it, too. Ultimately, she decided that she preferred what Urbana Middle School had to offer by way of activities, friends, and much lower costs. I won't pretend I was totally thrilled to see Campus Middle School lose out, but I am truly happy that Alice was able to decide what was most important to her.  Yay!

Triathlon!

I am excited to announce that I competed in my first solo triathlon this last weekend and it didn't kill me :)

I finished strong.

And I broke some personal records.

Crazy, huh?!

It started with a great group of folks to race with. I had managed to convince 4 other friends to compete that day and one friend even brought her four kids to compete in the mini tri. We got to be nervous together and cheer for each other and celebrate at the finish. All good things.

My tri buddies (L-R): Becky, Christy, me, Emily, and Natalie

As for the race itself, we set up our stuff in the transition area and strapped on time chips. They had already marked our upper arms and calves with our bib numbers and age, respectively. They had us line up at the pool according to how long we thought we would take to swim the 300 yards. The water was as warm as a bathtub. They had us jump in one at a time, half a pool-length behind the person in front of us. I had to pass the person in front of me, which was odd, but it went pretty well. I swam strong and managed to get enough air.

My time for the swim? Only 6:08! A personal best!

I had a choice to make at that point. Do I jump on the bike right away and head out into the cold wind all wet and drippy? Or do I take a second to towel off and put on a light jacket so I don't freeze? Well, I opted for the jacket. It took forever to get it over my wet arms, then I forgot to zip it up, so it flapped and dragged in the wind throughout my whole bike ride :( Nice ride out, killer headwind on the way back. On some of the downhills, I clocked in at 30 miles per hour! Most of the way back, though, with that wind, I was fighting for 11mph on the flats.

At the end of the bike ride, I had ridden 13 miles in 52:58 (14.7mph avg). The last time I had ridden 15mph for a solid hour, I had wanted to die. Why was the race so different? I dunno. I even managed to run alright immediately afterwards. My legs were only a little bit jelly-like. Adrenaline? Powerful stuff.

At the start of the run, I just wanted to see how far I could go without stopping. My body found a groove. It felt SO slow compared to the bike ride, but I didn't have any technology with me telling me how exactly I was doing or how long I had left to go. I was racing blind. Which helped me, I think, just to find a groove that worked for me and keep chugging along. Every step was progress. I didn't stop running the whole time. Even up and down the hills. That surprised me. A lot.

My final run time was 30:20 for a 5k (3.1 miles), with an average pace of 9:47/mile. A new pace record for me! I usually hover right at 10:00/mile.

My total time for all three events and the two transition periods was 1:32:16. That put me 4th of 5 in my age/gender group and 66th of 94 overall.

I wasn't sure how to measure my success in this event. I had fallen short of a "medal", but "just finishing" wasn't nearly satisfying enough (I didn't learn about my new personal records until much later). So, as I wandered around after my race, knowing I was the last of my friends to have finished, and that my time was fair to middlin' (at best), I felt kind of disappointed. That's when my friend Emily said something really simple that struck me. She's all kinds of sportsy and athletic and competitive, so she knows something about physical accomplishment. She said she could tell that I had trained well for the event.

That was a lightning bolt moment. She was right.

My body could handle this because of all the work I had put in over the last few months (or maybe the last 2 years?). I wasn't sore the next morning, just tired. My body could handle stuff like this and keep going. It was used to it.

That, my friends, was a serious accomplishment that I could be proud of. I didn't just finish, I had finished strong.

What will I do differently next time, if there is a next time? I will train on my bike (in the road and wind) a lot more. I will work to get my running pace faster...is 8:00/mile too ambitious? Probably. I will also pick a race that is much closer to my house. This one was 2 hours away :( And a finisher's medal is always a plus ;)

What will I keep the same? Invite friends to join me. Maybe even my kids, if there's a mini-tri option.

Numbers

1 week until the triathlon.

You can't really "cram" for something like that. The tension is getting to me. I feel the urge to swim, bike, and run harder than before. I also feel the urge to give up the training altogether and say "I've done enough". The best road is probably somewhere in the middle.

I officially started training for this event 11 weeks ago. Since then, I have logged 10 miles in the pool, 163 miles on the bike, and 67 miles on foot. My body has grown stronger and more oxygen-efficient. My weight hasn't changed, but my body shape has changed, and I'm happy with that. I like feeling stronger.

Now that the weather has turned warmer, I can do more of my training outdoors. That has been a welcome change.

Trying not to freak out about next Saturday. If I see it as the pinnacle of all my hard work, then I'm super stressed and want to get a really good time. If I view it as a pleasure cruise where finishing is the only goal, I feel a lot less stress, but I know I will be disappointed in myself.

Somewhere in the middle.
Somewhere in the middle.
Somewhere in the middle.

Argh! I don't do this "moderation" thing very well at all ;)

Robert is 8!

Happy Birthday, Robert!

So glad to have had you with us these 8 years. You've grown into yourself more than ever this year, and I've had fun watching you be your many different selves in all the different aspects of your life.

You're a Child of God. You don't talk much about your spiritual learning or experience, but you often know the answers to the closed-ended questions and have thoughtful responses to the open-ended ones...as long as you don't feel like you're being put on the spot, that is. You decided to get baptized at age 8. That says something, even in a culture that expects 8-year-olds to make that choice. I get the sense from you that you want to do right. And right now, that's enough. That's a good place to be. Your relationship with God is young. We'll do our best to help you feel His love and learn to hear His Spirit so that you can grow up with Him as your guide and friend.

You're a son. Right now, you like to wrestle and do puzzles with Dad. You guys also team up for extra swim practice and the periodic technology project. With me, you like to do one-on-one dates, read Harry Potter out loud together, and be the last person to hug and kiss me before I leave the house. Every time. Yesterday, you were bored and made me a miniature coupon book that I can cash in for extra hugs, kisses, shoulder massages, and no fighting with siblings. I asked you what you wanted for your birthday breakfast, and you said, "Anything that won't give you too much hassle." I didn't realize you noticed or cared about how much work I do. It's interesting that you didn't want me to do anything extra on your account.

You're a brother. Alice is your best friend. She declares you her best friend, too. You sometimes stay up late laughing out loud and reading books together. She doesn't always want to play the same way you do, but you guys are figuring it out. I love how you loosen her up a little. You've given her a lot of practice learning to take a joke and make a joke. Your relationship with James is still strained, but you connect over Legos and playing outside. With Matthew, you are almost always gentle and considerate. He's come to trust you as a safe person and someone worth emulating.

You're a nephew. Now that Erin lives nearby, you have another adult right here who loves you and wants to understand you. She's someone you can play with and be yourself around. You talk to her frankly, honestly, and more in detail than you talk to me sometimes. I love that you are coming to trust her and love her as much as I do.

You're a friend. At your birthday party, I saw you interact with your friends from church. You didn't want to invite school friends to the same party. I kinda get that. As soon as you were with a friend, though, you opened up and smiled and joked around. It's not a side of you I see at home much, since Alice is your friend, but she's also your older sister. With these peers, you fell right in with them and it was comfortable and equal and silly and clever. You enjoyed their company. You contributed to the comraderie. I love that you have a good group of boys to be with at school and at church. Maybe you got lucky, or maybe you have a sense for making good friends. I can't tell yet ;)

You are you: a kid of few words who likes to do well and have fun. As far as your relationship with yourself, I get the sense that you are confident and curious. That means you like to be right, but also enjoy learning new things. You like yourself. You are proud of your creative work (art, cardboard construction, music, Lego) and seem to approach challenges with the idea that you can handle them. When there's something you want to buy, you are instantly committed to raising the funds via extra chores, trading in screen time, and saving allowance. It's almost like it's no big sacrifice once you've decided what to do and made a plan for it. You don't like to be interrupted or misunderstood. You don't like to be hassled by pesky little brothers. You don't like working alone. You do, however, understand your obligations and work to meet them. That, my boy, will take you far.

Now for pictures :)

Just after your baptism and confirmation.

Your birthday party at the indoor Archery Range

More archery fun.

And here is a 90-second video of you, Will, and James having fun with Photo Booth. Poor Uncle Bill got in it somehow. Hilarious!

Alice Exam

Alice is now old enough that I don't think I can talk about her life and experiences freely on this blog anymore :( Not without her permission, anyway, which would give her free access to this blog of my life and experiences that I'm not ready to share with her yet.

Yes, I'm aware of the irony.

So, you will be reading fewer details about Alice's life here. That's okay. I can still talk about my process of being her mom, right?

Hm.

Let's see if I can tell this story today without crossing any privacy boundaries. The State of Illinois requires a medical exam to register for 6th grade. And they want a couple of vaccinations. The thought of a medical exam and shots filled Alice with incredible anxiety. I worried a bit how to handle it. She told me that she had been praying hard over the last couple days (she only found out about the exam 3 days ago) and she had felt comforted but still really nervous.

Well, our insurance just changed, so her appointment was with a doctor I had never met, at a clinic I had never been to. I went to the wrong clinic.

Twice.

The third clinic was the correct one *sigh*

Alice said all these false alarms were only making it worse, but she said it half-teasingly with a laugh. This couldn't have been fun for her. I was grateful for her good attitude.

When the nurse was done taking our info, she asked Alice to change into a hospital gown. Alice asked if it would be alright to stay dressed. My jaw dropped. I was SO stinkin' proud of her for asking. Even in an anxious, vulnerable state, this girl is so much more confident and empowered than I ever felt as an 11-year-old. Wow! The nurse started to say no, but then decided to ask the doctor. She left for a moment and I couldn't help but give Alice a big hug and a high five and an astonished congrats for her bravery. I got the sense she thought I was overreacting a bit, which made me even happier: talking to adults isn't as big of a deal for her as it always was (and still is) for me. Whew.

The doctor said she could stay fully dressed. This relieved Alice's anxiety a bit. When the doctor came in, she briefly shook my hand and then spent the rest of the time chatting directly with Alice. Alice asked all of her questions right at the front. The doctor answered them honestly, warmly, and with humor that seemed to ease Alice's discomfort. The exam went well. She told Alice to be proud of how strong she was and how she was growing. Then came the shots. Alice had decided on a few strategies ahead of time to help her endure the experience. It wasn't a breeze, but she was surprised at how fast it all happened. The Care Bear band aids just made us laugh.

Afterwards, we went to brunch at Panera Bread.



This girl. How'd I get so lucky? How'd she get so strong and confident and capable? She was truly brave today. Not brave in a "fearless" sort of way, but brave in a "feeling fear, but doing what you have to do anyway" sort of way. Maybe that's courage. Either way, I learned a little more about Alice today and felt our relationship nudge a little more in a new direction.