Bear Lake and THE BIG YELLOW TUBE

If you are ever feeling down and out all you need is a good ride on the yellow tube! I am a firm believer in “Just Add Water” for many things, a good smoothie, a great pancake mix, and of course, kids, just add water and the fun is endless. But if you throw in the YELLOW TUBE, you are in for a guaranteed good time. Put on a life jacket, get two buddies and jump on, this ride consists of being hurled through air and water at top speeds, while bouncing uncontrollable over waves that have been special made to give you air!! All the while laughing and giggling like school girls, holding on for dear life, you are having so much fun but you also have the added element of terror. My two buddies happened to be Steve and Brent and when I say giggled like school girls, I was referring to them, I have never in my life seen two grown men laugh and giggle so hard over being bounced and thrown wildly around, but again these are the effects of the YELLOW TUBE. So if your husband is a stick in the mud (which mine is not) get him on the YELLOW TUBE.

Well, add that with a great family, and you are defiantly in for a great time, I was sad that this was probably our last bear lake trip this year, we have such a great time on the beach, in the water, on the boats and just hanging out together. Thanks Dad & Mom for putting up with all 8 of us, our kids and our kid like spouses.

Traithlon Training Con't

Biking

I fell, and really that is stating it nicely. When I say I fell, I mean that I fell as if someone had dropped me off the roof of a house and apparently I must have thrashed like a fish in the process because there is not one inch of my body that doesn’t hurt and have a bruise from the incident. But luckily I had time in the falling process to angle my knee precisely to slam it directly into the asphalt, absorbing the majority of the impact and inflicting maximum pain and bruising while simultaneously taking my other leg and scraping it against the bike pedal, leaving six scrape-bruises (that’s what I like to call them), bleeding and sore, all the while whimpering like a baby and cursing like a sailor.

I did get up, peel the bike off my battered body, get back on the bike, and proceed to fall immediately off, having just enough time to stick out my hand and hip to take the impact the second time, leaving those few remaining body parts that were unharmed from the first fall now pained, bruised and bleeding!!! Hey, I have an idea, let’s invent something that can go 30-plus miles per hour, let’s make the seat so uncomfortable that people have to wear tight pants with a pad in them so it feels like they are wearing a diaper, let’s make the tires so skinny that when they ride over a crack in the road there is the added danger of the tire getting wedged, hey, then let’s change the pedals so they have to wear shoes so they are clipped onto the death trap and CAN”T GET OFF. Stupid people, stupid me. As soon as this triathlon is over I am heaving the bike off a cliff.

PS Still not loving the biking!!

The Contest

Well do to some extreme exhaustion I slipped into a slight coma state last night, therefore losing my position in the contest. But I am going to proceed as planned and hope that Kim was unable to locate a tent that she was looking for and that Matt gets called out of town, gets some extreme fatigue, or that Dave finally breaks and goes to Lorena’s for a smothered burrito. If something miraculous does not happen, there is no way that I am going to win, which is ok, it has been a fun event. In spite of my best efforts I did not get the lawn furniture that I wanted, but did negotiate for “some” lawn furniture, But I have to say the POWER!!! It is amazing AHHH HEEE HEEEE (that is my evil laugh).

My friend Becky was never in the contest, she gave up after the first day, (which I have to say, she better try harder next time, because I can not crack Kim and Jodi by myself, she needs to put in a little more effort.) I have another contest starting when this one ends that will prove to be the POWER winner of all time, we will see how that one plays out. (or if the POWER thing is really just in my head to make me feel better about having absolutely no control what so ever). We shall see! AHH HEE HEEE HEEE (Evil laugh again)

Thin Lizzie

Thin Lizzie—this is the name of the torture that I received on Tuesday during my training session. “Thin Lizzie” was a BRUTAL workout, this was definitely one of the hardest workouts yet!! It consisted of step back overhead lunges, a crunch ball roller thingy, and the worst of all, the bear crawl overhead push press, which is when I started whimpering like a baby. It is never a pretty site, but I do believe I looked as if I had been dragged to the depths of hell. It felt that way as well, as all my muscles were burning and shaking on the verge of uncontrollable spasms, and I was sweating profusely, hoping that she will be merciful, but she is not. I picture hell to be the same.

Kathy said that this is working my “CORE”, I think that she may have forgotten that my core is similar to a jello mass, so working something that doesn’t exsist is really hard and makes me want to cry! I do feel that I am getting stronger, but she knows and so she puts on more weight or makes me do it faster or more reps so it always will be painful (I picture hell to be the same).

Despite all my complaining, when I am done and crawling to my car, I am grateful that she is my trainer and that she pushes me harder than I would ever push myself. My weight training before Kathy consisted of hauling kids around, doing laundry, pushing the stroller, etc. Now I can do these things without breaking a sweat. And I will do the “Thin Lizzie” again and again if I can look like Liz when I am done. If you want to see and try the whole workout, go to www.fitzoneradio.com and go to the fastloss workouts, then Thin Lizzie. Let me know what you think (or if I am just being a wimp!).

Triathlon Training

Biking

I have been taking spin classes for quite a long time. I love spinning, and I feel rather confident in the class, doing the jumps, hills, sprints, etc. without a problem, and while I am in the class I can visualize myself actually out on the road doing similar things. When I run I see packs of bikers riding very fast all in unison, like they are almost connected to each other and know each others moves.

I envisioned my biking experience to be similar to what I had seen and experienced in the spin classes. To start out, I do not have the proper biking outfit, which is fine, and I don’t have a helmet yet, so I had to use Bailey’s, which was a little snug and made me look ridiculous, not that I need much help with that. The first three miles were completely downhill and there was smoke coming off my brakes, because I did not want to go too fast, and all the while my husband was yelling at me to “STOP RIDING YOUR BRAKES”, “PEDAL”, “SHIFT INTO ANOTHER GEAR”, “YOUR GEARS ARE BY YOUR HANDS”, “WHAT ARE YOU DOING”, “GET OUT OF THE MIDDLE OF THE ROAD”, “YOU HAVE GOT TO GO FASTER”, “STOP”, “STOP”, “PULL INTO THAT PARKING LOT”, “SHIFT”, USE YOUR BRAKE NOW”, “STOP DOING THAT”.

In my mind I had a few choice things that I was yelling at him as well, but could not vocalize them for fear of falling off the bike. Well, to summarize, there are a lot more dangers out on the open road than in a spin class, little rocks, cars, cracks in the road, pot holes, bugs, all of which could send you head over heels, sprawled on the asphalt with my daughter’s pink helmet protecting only a small portion of my head, and my husband shaking his head in embarrassment. So, needless to say, I am going to require a little more practice on the bike.

Fathers Day Food

The old saying is that a way to a mans heart is through his stomach, I believe that is the second way! But,I have been thinking of what to do for Fathers day, our church is painfully early (8:30) and we are usually shoving fishy crackers down our kids as we race out the door, screaming and yelling at each other and the kids, becuase we can never seem to get up in enough time to find shoes and comb hair let alone have a nice breakfast. So here is my solution for Fathers day, two recipes that I know Steve loves and I can do the night before, pop in the oven in the morning and voila, a grab and run breakfast that does not even require utinsels

Hawaiin Meatballs

Hawaiian Meatballs

1 can crushed pineapple
¼ Cup Brown Sugar
1 Table Vinegar
1 Tablespoons Soy Sauce 1 tablespoon cornstarch

Combine ingredients in a bowl and pour over cooked meatballs in your pan, simmer until sauce thickens and is hot. Serve with rice or noodles
You can use the Costco meatballs or make your own, I have done both and they taste about the same.