The Diet

Please, please don't be mad at me for this post, or hate me, or tell me that I don't need to lose any weight! You guys have not seem me in a bathing suit recently! This year, one of my resolutions was to try to be better at preparing food in our home, as I am horrible at meal planning and as a result, we eat a ton of food that just needs to be either boiled or reheated. Also, as a result, I had packed on a few unwanted pounds this holiday season, between all the snacks and the general lack of willpower I exhibited when it came to baked goods (the one this I LOVE to prepare from scratch, ironically). This was also the first January since 2006 that I was not pregnant or nursing, and under those circumstances, I don't really need to watch what I eat because I either need to be gaining weight or I need a little extra to sustain someone else. With my "A" running race rapidly approaching, less than 9 weeks from today, I really had to do something as I realized I was up about 6- 7 lbs from my last major race, the Brooksie Way Half Marathon, in October. It was at this point that I made the call to one of my Triathletes In Action teammates, Rick Smith, who is an advisor for Advocare, nutritionist, Ironman, former pro hockey player, and Crossfit instructor. I decided to order the 10 Day Herbal Cleanse, as well as Catalyst, and Meal Replacement Shakes (this was funded by gift cards of mine). I was also provided with dietary guidelines including foods to specifically eat and not eat. Most of the guidelines were things that I should be following anyway, like eat lots of fruits and veggies, lean proteins, and whole grains. The big change was no/limited dairy, and no pop. Not even diet pop.

You can imagine how funny I thought this clip was from the office, when it happened to air the evening after my first day of the diet. I was watching this being hungry next to my husband who was eating snacky foods, I think he was either eating a massive bowl of buttered popcorn or chips. He also does not care for broccoli, but I personally really enjoy it.

I was very good at following the diet plans. I didn't make the kids or Ryan eat anything unusual and kept their food pretty much the same, except we had a larger variety of fruit on hand for choices for them. I made regular pasta for them (and Ryan). The days I ate really interesting things, I tried to do it during the day for lunch, when it was just for me. Probably the most interesting thing I ate came from a former gymnastics teammate of mine who is a bodybuilder/fitness competitor. She gave me the following recipe:
2/3 cup canned pumpkin
5 eggs whites (I used 4)
1 TBSP Cinnamon
1 tsp Allspice
Whip egg whites until peaks form, fold in pumpkin and spices. This was really good, either that or I was just so hungry that it seemed really good. It was also very filling, as that many eggs whites get very large with that much air incorporated into them. I used my huge 4.5 q Kitchenaide stand mixer to make this, and it was a huge volume. It is pretty thick, and I was instructed to eat it like a pudding. I couldn't quite eat the whole thing, as it was just too much for one sitting for me. She had it on her facebook status a while back, so I went ahead and tried it. It really didn't have anything to do with the diet Rick prescribed, other than it fit within the guidelines.
I did have a few deviations, but tried to keep the calories in check on those instances. I ran out of time one night for a big whole grain pasta dinner before my 17 miler in the super cold temps, and just ended up having a black bean and chili dinner that was leftover. I didn't get enough carbs that night and felt it the next day. I also did eat at Baha Fresh and had chicken tacos in corn tortillas, no rice, and only a couple chips (I couldn't resist). We had our 8th wedding anniversary, so we went out for seafood to the Bonefish Grill, where I had seared ahi tuna with jasmine rice and green beans. I did have a couple peices of bread, and I didn't order my beans without butter on them. We also ate at Bagger Dave's on the final night of the 10 days, and I did have a couple sweet potato chips, and the turkey in the burgers is ground, not whole, as Rick recommended, but I did skip the cheese, sauces, and didn't order chips or fries for myself (I stole a couple of Keira's), and our kids don't drink pop, so I did drink the diet coke that came with the kids meals. So overall, I think I did really well and was not completely antisocial. Here are the numbers:

Starting weight: 118.6 (yuck!)
Ending weight: 113.2
Difference: 5.4 lbs Yeah!
I also lost 1 inch from each of my waist, hips, and thighs, as well as 1.5 inches from my chest, and a half inch from my calf. All this in just 10 days! This may be my answer to every holiday season!

This puts me just a couple pounds over were I ended my last season, and I am just now starting my really high mileage Saturday runs. As long as I stick to the diet and my training schedule, I feel like these last couple pounds will just go away on their own. I don't have plans to get back down to 107, where I was when I did my first marathon, as I lost all sorts of upper body strength. I think for my tri training, just another couple pounds is all I should worry about, if that. I feel really healthy after finishing up the 10 day cleanse, and it was a great way to jump start my weight loss. I had a super strong 12 mile run on Saturday, with the path being cleared of snow, and finished with an 8:33 pace. Not too shabby for what was intended to be a long slow run. Now I just need to focus on fitting in all my workouts, as I spent a ton of time at the grocery store and in the kitchen last week! I skipped 2 swims, one so that I could bike more, and one because Soren was sick. I didn't make it up once Ryan got home because I really feel like I run a ton better on Saturdays when I don't swim on Fridays, so I am trying to figure out how to reschedule my week to fit it all in. I think this means tonight will be a bike trainer kind of night. Ugh.

Red Gold Tomato Giveaway- SARM

I am posting to let you know about the Red Gold Tomato Giveaway at Secrets of a Running Mom. Kelly is a fellow Michigander who lives a bit south of me. Head over there to enter and win some Michigan tomatoes! She is giving away a huge prize package, including tomatoes, recipe book, tote bag, and sauces. Hurry, as this contest ends Wednesday, February 2, 2011!

On a side note, I realized that none of my posts here yet has anything to do with a my double stroller, as it is winter in Michigan. The only action my stroller has seen lately has been indoors, at shopping malls and such. We also took it to the auto show last week. We did let them out at the Ford exhibit, but stuck them back in once we left this area, as it was too difficult to manage both of them out, the empty stroller, and see anything.

I did write a lot about my adventures with my stroller over at Team Compex, and will try to do at least do a recap of some of them here shortly. I will try to include some tips for keeping the kiddos happy. Although, I must admit, my kids have been riding around in a jogging stroller pretty much their entire lives, and it is just a way of life for them. It is how they get to play at the playgroup or go to the beach- Mommy runs first, play later. This spring may be a bit rough of a transition from the fun gym daycare to riding in the stroller now that they are getting older (and heavier), and they are becoming more opinionated. I may need to seriously consider engineering a DVD mount for my stroller, or put some movies and shows on iPods for them for those long Saturday runs.

Not a Quitter!

Hopefully this blog won't turn into something where I write about every workout, and how crazy or insane they are, but I really felt that today's very difficult/crazy/stupid? run deserved some attention!

When the week started, I had the best intentions for the upcoming long run on Saturday. I got back from my ski trip, got my diet back on track (I will give the diet specifics AFTER I have decided I am happy with how it is going), rocked my workout on Thurs, swam on Friday, and took the kids to the pool Friday night. I woke up Saturday morning to freezing cold and snowing outside. A friend of mine from college put on his facebook page a while back, "don't run more miles than the temperature is degrees". I read it and hoped I would never run into that situation. Alas, today my schedule called for 17 miles, and the high for Brighton, where I was planning to run, called for it to be 17 degrees from 2pm-4pm. Perfect, except that it will take me longer than 2 hours to do that. Thankfully, I had gotten a call from Cristina, who is an extremely fast runner and triathlete who has really helped me get going in the tri world, and she was up for running with me today (we had talked about it last night). I love it that she is not scared of a 17 mile run in the freezing cold and isn't on a set training plan. I hope to be like that someday.

We meet up around 2 and tried to figure out if what we were wearing was enough, too much, or what. I had brought a ton of clothes with me, including gym clothes if I felt the need to bail and run inside. I opted to wear a Mountain Hardwear N2S Gore Windstopper tight and top, with a fleece over top, as well as my Asics Gelnots (their version of Gore) jacket overtop, hat, earwarmers, visor (instead of sunglasses to keep the snow out of my eyes), and fleece gloves. I totally forgot about my compression socks until I was in the car. I can't believe with all the stuff I had, I forgot those, but it was mostly because I had opted for my thickest non-hiking Smartwool socks. I had fleece pants on too in the car, but I took them off to run. It would have been too much, as I was roasting in the car.

We got off to a FAST start, like last week, because Cristina is crazy fast, only this time I knew we needed to slow down. I was feeling tired (partially due to the new diet limiting my carbs somewhat), the snow was falling and starting to cover the path, making it just a tad slick/squishy, and I was feeling rather warm. We ran 6 miles before taking a bathroom stop, where I realized I was probably getting dehydrated somewhat, but enjoyed the warmth of the building. We ran back to where the cars were and the other bathroom, and I just felt beat. The wind was blowing snow on the path, and my legs felt heavy. I could feel how my tights (which only have some stretch to them to make them windproof), were fighting me too as they stretchy panels were not wanting to stay over my knees since my large calves were pulling them down. I wanted to be done. I had brought a flask of Hammer Gel with me, which had gotten really thick, and I took some at 5 miles, and then a bit more at 8, because I worried I didn't have enough at 5 but figured I was going to be done at the car, a little under 12, so I didn't worry too much about taking too much more. I thought I needed to go to the bathroom again, but perhaps it was just my body/mind wanting an excuse to stop, so we hung out in the bathroom by the cars for a bit, and then Cristina tells me she is going to do the full 17. She has what she calls an issue with doing less than what she set out to do, even though she didn't really plan to go 17 anyway. I walked with her back to the junction where the cars were one way, the path continued the other, and I told her I was done. Then she said "see you later", and I realized that I couldn't let her finish my 17 mile run that I had planned, and my head just got back into the game (for the most part). I had some more gel. It was tough, but we gritted out another 5.5 miles to get to the full 17. Our pace was BAD, and in any other conditions, Cristina would have been really mad at herself for being that slow. Instead, we were just happy to have beat mother nature. I am so grateful to her for sticking it out with me and giving me that push to get in my miles. I had just read this week on my friend and former teammate Meredith's blog about things she was using to motivate her, and it pepped me up a bit. She had written, "you will quit and no one will care, but you will always remember". I am glad I followed through, and was not a quitter.

It was 16 degrees according to the car when I got in at the end. I wish I would have known the windchill. The "realfeel" had it at 0degrees. I also realized that I had way too much gel left over. I should have had a lot more of it, and probably grabbed some water when we passed the cars. Those two things would have gone a long way to make this run less bad. I do know that since next week is a step-down week, if it is like today next Saturday, I will likely just be doing 10 on a treadmill and calling it good. The kids didn't get to do anything terribly exciting today, so that was a bit of a bummer for me. In the summer, we used to do all sorts of adventures while Ryan was riding before I ran, or I would run at the same time he rode so we would do cool stuff in the afternoons on Saturdays. Not today, we didn't even go to the grocery store to get 2% milk for Soren, and he had to drink skim today. It was just too cold to take them out for something that small. We did have a nice family dinner out, though, once I was finally all showered and warmed up.

Here is a picture of Cristina and I from the much warmer end of summer at a casual run for Martha Stewart's show moving on TV (hence the spoons)

Arthritis- Raynaud's Phenomenom

Since it is really REALLY cold where I live, and I just got back from a ski vacation where it was EVEN COLDER at Crystal Mountain Spa and Resort, I thought I would give everyone some information on Raynaud's Phenomenon. My mother was seriously grossed out by this picture, and refused to let me post it on facebook, but here is a photo of my hand during an event of Raynaud's.

It is caused by the blood vessels constricting and limiting blood flow to the extremities. The crazy thing about it, was that this picture was taken inside my house, after I got home from my 16 mile run this past Saturday. The temps were in the 20s. My hands were nice and toasty warm while I was running, as blood was pumping hard. However, once my heart rate slowed down and my core became chilled after stopping, the vessels started to constrict. It doesn't take super cold temps to do this either. For instance, in the summer, after a cold lake swim, my hands will turn this ghastly pale color after I am out of the water, especially if I am holding a cold water bottle, if my body is starting to get cold. It has also happened inside an air conditioned building before in the summer, when typing at a cold computer. It doesn't hurt, but it does cause me some dexterity issues. It used to affect my feet too in gymnastics, but they are not affected as bad anymore. I have had this since I was a teenager, perhaps even earlier.

For more information, please check out the Arthritis Foundation's web page, and perhaps you can include a Jingle Bells Run for Arthritis on your 2011 race schedule. I didn't realize it was considered arthritis until this past year, although I did know the name of it.

As far as running goes for this week, I had 3 days of cross training- SKIING! We put both kids on skis this year, Keira (4) was in lessons, and Soren (2) was in the harness. Skiing the kids down the hill was actually much more strenuous on the legs than any of the other runs, I felt, since I had to snowplow most of the way down to control my/their speed. We spent a lot of time on the bunny hill with the kids, but did get to do the harder runs. Skiing in Michigan isn't anything like our ski trips pre-children out to Utah, but they are still very fun. I sometimes feel bad that I don't have Keira in dance or gymnastics, but watching her ski down the beginner hill all by herself made me so proud, and realize that I am not depriving her at all, but just providing her with different experiences than many of her peers. What other 4 year old has been in 2 mountain bike races and skied 3 seasons?
I did hit the treadmill did 6 miles at slow marathon pace of 8:20 (as opposed to goal marathon pace 8:00), swam 1.2 in 48:07, blech- SLOW, and plan to run 17 tomorrow at a more reasonable pace than last Saturday's 16 miler done pretty close slow race pace at 8:34. What was I thinking? Oh yeah, it was FREEZING and I just wanted to get it done, plus I was pleased that I had found a snow free path at Kensington, and so it felt way easier than running on snow or a treadmill.

Run for the Bling of It!

I found this site through Leslie @ Racing it off. She is running a "Run for the Bling of It" challenge, where you challenge yourself to complete 12 races in 2011. It is intended to be 1 per month, but it is OK if they don't work out that way. I went ahead and signed up for it, as when I looked through my race recaps from last year, I had over 12 races, plus a few "events" that could count in a bind (like the Martha Stewart Fun Run). She hopes that they mostly be running related, but said I can still count my tris and mountain bike races. My schedule last year consisted of half as running events. I haven't really hashed out my schedule for the year because of some unknowns in regards to our housing situation here vs launch in Lousiville, KY. Needless to say, it makes it hard to plan much past April. You can check out Run for the Bling of It for more details on how to be involved. The cut off date for joining is 1/31/11!

Thank you USA Triathlon!

I joined USAT last year because I saved $1 over the course of last year. I paid $39 for the annual fee because I had planned to do 4 triathlons, and a day pass for the cost of $10 per day is required to race in a sanctioned triathlon. It also gave the me freedom to "impulse" enter additional races, which I ended up not doing. I follow USAT on Facebook, and noticed that they had a contest to win a bike rack from Rola to the USAT member (# required on the entry) for the best/worst bike road trip story.

Here is my entry:
I would love to win a Rola bike rack for my car, a Mazda6 hatchback. These photos are of my mountain bike, but every Wed this past summer, I would have to do the same thing to my road bike when I would drive from Novi, MI to Brighton, MI, to train with Triathletes In Action for the group swim, ride, and run workouts (we do all three on Weds). I need to remove both the front and rear wheels of my bike to get it to fit in the "hatch". There is not a safe route to ride to the workouts, and it would still leave me with the issue of having my bike secure while I swim or run. It adds to my transition time on the group workouts, as most of the other athletes either have bike racks or vehicles large enough to stow their bikes entirely assembled. I get dirty having to fuss with the chain, and also (when mountain biking especially) get the interior of my "hatch" quite dirty from having to carry it inside. I really need a reliable rack system for my car, and I have had trouble finding something to work with it! I would love to win a Rola rack to help keep me cleaner and keep my teammates from having to wait for me to get my bike situated before we can start our run!
I also included the following pictures (of my mountain bike, not road bike)


Can you imagine my amazement when I actually won! I was very surprised, but then I started to wonder how many USAT members are there that have such issues with bike transportation. Triathlons are a pretty expensive sport, and if you are going to do at least 4 a year to make it worthwhile to be a member, you probably have your bike transportation issues down. I do have friends who have had problems getting lots of bikes to out of town races, so perhaps the other winner(s) were in that category, which was sort of the idea of the contest anyway. I was notified back in Dec that I had won, and my new rack came this past week. Yeah! It came in a huge cardboard shipping box from Cequent Performance Products that contained a much smaller box (pictured at top).

It said it assembled in 10 minutes, and even though I can tell you how to assemble the brake system for just about any Ford van, I was a bit worried when none of the parts were labeled, nor was there a list of tools required. A quick call to tech support (which was just down the road from me in Plymouth, MI) confirmed my assumption as far as the top vs the bottom supports, and it went together very easily, and installed to the car just about as easily.


It isn't a perfect fit, the hatchback caused me to need to swap the side straps for the top straps for the sake of the photo, but I plan to get some longer webbing to extend the top straps before spring. I was just very happy that it cleared my spoiler, which had been the holdup with other brands of racks (Yakima doesn't make one that fits, nor Thule, and the Saris one that said it would fit was questionable once I saw a photo). I can't wait for the snow to melt and the weather to warm up so I can get myself (and my bike) out for a ride!

Melissa

PS: My weekend run went much better this past weekend. It was MUCH colder, and we had snow on the ground. At least this time I checked the weather, and was ready for it. I was actually a bit warm running with the wind, but chilly into it. Valerie and I did an easy 10 in the neighborhood. We didn't want to take our chances driving to Kensington and having the path not cleared yet when we knew that the major streets where we lived were OK. We ended up doing a lot of back and forth on the same roads to avoid running in slippery snow that was very similar to running in sand. It wasn't deep, but just enough to absorb a lot of force and work the calves and ankles extra. We only did 2-3 miles in snow, and the rest was clear/wet slush.

Sporty Girl Jewelry GiveawayS!

While this blog is too new for me to be hostessing any of my own giveaways yet (aside from maybe some Marathon bars or Goody hair ties if you are local :) ), I am happy to be able to share the news of TWO separate sites doing a giveaway for Sport Girl Jewelry!

The first contest is through Sporty Girl Jewelry's own blog: www.sportygirljewelry.blogspot.com

It is for a YOUR WORD NECKLACE. You need to include your word on your entry and explain what it means to you. The word that I would select is "Endure", as in, "To Endure to the End" I feel that this has a lot of meaning to me. I hear about this phrase all the time at Church, meaning to stay faithful and follow Jesus Christ your whole life. When I did a search on LDS.org, it had 22 references in the Scriptures alone. Also, with this being a big year for me in terms of stepping up my distance plans, it will be a major test for my endurance. I personally really want to win this drawing, and posting about it here gives me an extra entry :) This contest ends on January 7th.

The second contest is through Secrets of a Running Mom's blog (www.runfastmommy.com)

She is giving away a $50 giftcard to Sport Girl Jewelry to use towards your own selection. Posting this contest here also gives me an additional entry to this contest, which I would also love to win. Maybe I will win both! This contest goes until January 15th

Good Luck!
Melissa

PS, the bike trainer hates me. I felt like I was riding through sand whenever I tried to stay in my big ring- I am a wimp and have a triple on the front. What the heck?? It is way harder than spin class! Apparently I am not working hard enough in spin class, as 20 miles on the trainer last night was as much as I could "endure". Neglecting biking (on my bike) since Sept has NOT been a good idea.

Pink Legs New Years Day Run!

For Christmas, I received new running shoes, Mizuno Wave Creations, a pink road ID, and pink CEP socks. I got a great deal on the previous model of shoes, so my mom sprung for the socks too from Road Runner Sports. They have a store near her home. I was very anxious to try out my new compression socks, and was even more excited about them when the weather forecast for New Year's Day was a high of 47! I had also made arrangements for my husband, Ryan, to ride with Valerie's husband in the morning (inside), which opened up the afternoon with the SUN and the warm temps for us to do our 14 mile run that I needed to do per "the Plan" (my marathon plan). With a freakishly high of 47 for a January in Michigan, I could totally wear a skirt to show off my new pink socks! I picked up Valerie, and by the time we got to Island Lake, it felt a bit chillier, so I donned my hat, headband, jacket, and gloves with my baselayer. In the beginning, I felt almost hot, and unzipped a bit. We figured we would run from Island Lake (since I don't have the new 2011 metropark pass and my car is covered with the state park pass until the move/my birthday with my vehicle registration) and then run to Kensington, around until we hit 7 miles, and turn around. This way we wouldn't have to pass the car at any point until the end, forcing us to go the entire way regardless. It was all good until we hit mile 6 or so, and were in front of one of the beaches. THE WIND WAS AWFUL, and we were not ready for it. We focused on making it to the trees. We finished the exposed beach and had a few more tenths until turning around at 7, and then headed back. It was a bit better going back, as the wind was more at our backs, but the temps were dropping. By the time I got to mile 8, I was just counting down in my head until I could have my next slug of hammer gel at mile 10. At mile 10, I could not take the cold anymore mentally. Valerie thought my legs matched my socks, and she was about right! I was bright pink! I just wanted to be at the car at all costs. My legs were cold, my feet were numb, and what I did feel hurt. I totally switched gears and busted it back to the car as fast as I could, cutting a minute or so off each of those last few miles. It was a good run overall, cold, but good. Any long run outside without snow is considered good in January. I did decide that I do not really like running with the camelback and jacket together, as it was too much fabric to get bunched, and I have a really nice painful raw spot on my back. I actually missed the jogger today since I didn't have it to stash my water and gel flask, as well as add the extra effort to make me warmer. It would have been tough to handle in the wind, though. The kids would have hated it today since the water was smelly and they wouldn't be able to swim afterwards. They were much better off with Ryan at his parents house watching the bowl games. Hopefully I can be better dressed for my 15 mile run scheduled for this Saturday.

Welcome to the Double Jogger Diaries!

I wanted to welcome everyone to my new training specific blog. For 2010, I was blogging for Team Compex approximately once per week on my training and race experiences with their product. I really enjoyed blogging for Team Compex, and would like to have my own home for my race recaps and training adventures.

2010 Summary:
Last year was really a great year for me. I was sponsored by both Team Marathon and Team Compex, and was able to work out with Triathletes in Action on a regular basis, the tri club I joined in 2009.

Triathlon- It was my second year of triathlons. I made huge strides since last year when I could barely swim and my main bike training was for mountain bike races. I was able to achieve the goal of completing an Olympic distance triathlon. I did the Island Lake Triathlon on May 29, 2010. I also completed the T-Rex Sprint Series, finishing 2nd in my age group for the series. I finished my final sprint tri within the criteria to start as "elite" status for next year, achieving my stretch goal for the season.
Island Lake Tri (Olympic) 5/29/2010 3:02:35
Triceratops Tri (Sprint) 6/23/2010 1:25:51
Pterodactyl Tri (Sprint)
T-Rex Tri (Sprint) 8/18/2010 1:21:42

Mountain Biking- I completed 2 mountain bike races. My team, the Tu N Tu Bellas, took 2nd in the Open Sport Women category, however, I sprained my ankle during the race which put a kink in my running season. I also placed second in my age and the beginner class in the Maybury Time Trial, receiving a monetary award for my class placement, my first cash payout!

Running- I had a great running season, however the mountain bike injury made it hard to feel successful as I was unable to run a fall marathon, so I was unable to try to qualify for Boston. I had a hard time finding peace with this, and the fact that Boston filled so quickly did convince me that it was the right decision to wait until next year, and not try to find a Nov or Dec race in hopes of still qualifying.

April 10, 2010 Martian Half Marathon, PR 1:42:21 5th in my age group
April 28, 2010 Run Fit 5K INSANE PR 21:19, 2nd in age group
May 1, 2010 Live Like Andi 10K PR 46:15, 1st in age, 2nd female
June - Ford Corporate Cup Relays- did the 10K and then 5K, no PRs here, but great day for racing 9 miles.
September 13, 2010 Martha Stewart Fun Run- no times or places
October 3, 2010 Brooksie Way Half Marathon PR 1:42:08 5th place age
November 17, 2010 Hines Drive Lightfest 8K no times or places, about 40:22 mins
November 25, 2010 Pilgrim's Progress 4 Miler, PR 29:10

That wraps up my 2010. For 2011, I have two major goals. The first is to qualify for Boston with a time of 3:40 at the Martian Marathon on April 2, 2011. I would actually love to beat 3:40 comfortably, and shoot for a 3:30 pace to start, and see how it goes. I am on track with my marathon training so far, using a cross of Hal Higdon's novice and advanced training plans. My second goal is to complete a 70.3 distance triathlon. I have 2 races tentatively scheduled- Racing for Recovery on June 5th, 2011, and Ironman Steelhead 70.3 on August 14, 2011. Aside from the time goal on the marathon, I would like to be able to repeat another sub 22 5K, as well as improve on my swim in the sprint tri series. I feel like I am focusing more on increasing my endurance, and with that, hopefully I will gain some speed in the shorter races. The other big item of 2011 will be a move to Louisville KY for my husband's work. The details are not nailed down yet, but we do plan to be here through the Martian Marathon, so I can continue to train with my regular schedule until then. It is unclear how the move will affect the rest of my training due to the fact that I won't have anymore family to help with babysitting. I can swim at a gym and run with the stroller, but biking continues to be a challenge. My race schedule is fairly up in the air, although I will be coming back for at least one of the T-Rex races, and most likely the Tree Farm relay again.