IronMatron

I haven't yet shared the acrostic poem Jordan (age 6) wrote for me for Mother's Day.

Must go to the food store
Ofin (often) does the lundre (laundry)
Thotful of us
Helps me with the dishs
Espesholly nice
Really nice

I lose sleep thinking my kids believe I'm an absent mother because I spend so much time thinking about and training for triathlon.

As this poem reveals, however, my worry is slightly misplaced. Apparently I am, in fact, thoughtful and nice. If I am absent it is not a result of training, but because I am busy going to the grocery store, doing laundry and forcing my children to do the dishes.

I feel better. That makes me a pretty typical suburban mom, wouldn't you say? Admit it. Isn't that how you viewed (perhaps still view) your Mom? She is thoughtful of you, very nice, and she spends her whole fucking life doing chores, specifically laundry and grocery shopping, and she was the taskmaster who made you do chores.

I'll have to have her write an acrostic for the hub. for Father's Day. I'll report back as to how the two differ. You can be sureeeeeeeee they will.
___________________
I had a great weekend in terms of training. I went on a 61 mile ride (that additional mile is muy importante) that took me out to Upton, which I'm super proud of because Upton is wicked far away. I was psyched to stop a nice couple walking a pug when I got to Upton to ask for directions. I casually mentioned I had come out from Westwood and I wasn't sure how to find blah blah road. They were satisfyingly impressed. "Westwood? How long did it take you to get out here?" they asked. I was very pleased with their incredulity.

I also got in a long run this weekend with my running buddies from GNRC (my running club.) They seriously kicked my ass. I need to run with them more often. They keep me pushing. This wasn't what I wanted when I was doing all zone 1 training, but now that I am allowed to sprinkle in significant zone 2 mileage, I need to begin running with them again.

I have the Mooseman International Tri coming up in three weeks, and because I am obsessed with goals, I'm going to write them for this race. (drum roll, please.....)

1. SWIM: To get with a lead pack on the swim and hang on for dear life. I'd like to go under 22:30 for the swim. I did a 23:45 at the only other Oly I've ever done, but that was an ocean swim. It was a cove, though, so they are similar, right?

2. T1: Get out of my wetsuit without making a complete ass out of myself and getting all dirty with grass and grit. To get out of there under 2:30. That would beat my old Oly record of 2:34.

3. BIKE: I know it's hilly. I'd like to average at least 19.5 mph. That's a real reach, but I think I can do it if it's a perfect day and the wind moves around so it's always at my back. Anoher goal is to smoothly take sips from my Aero bottle. I always have to slow to a crawl, hold the straw and wiggle my lips around to actually get a drink. As you can imagine, this slows me up quite a bit.

4. T2: To dismount without falling. I plan to try NOTHING fancy. I plan to stop. Breathe. Swing my leg over and get off the bike. If I lose time, fuck it. Better that then fall on my ass again.

5. RUN: I'd like to go under 45 minutes. I know it's hilly, but I know I can do this if the conditions are good and I've eaten properly during the ride.

Overall: Place in my age group. This will be very hard, because this race is super competitive (at least in my book it's competitive...) Ange is in my age group, but I'm relying on her to actually PLACE in the top three, so she won't take an AG spot. So go fast, Ange! None of this 4th place overall 1st in your age group stuff! :) I already know there are some super fast Mainers coming down for the race who also happen to be in the 35-39 AG. eek! I'm getting pretty psyched!