Training
Triathlon training.
It’s not going so well.
It’s not really going at all.
This is the hardest time I’ve ever had training for an athletic event. I just can’t get in a groove.
I’ve always been a morning exerciser. Not necessarily early morning, but before the day really gets going. Once that moment passes, it’s gone. I can say I’m going to do it in the afternoon or evening, but it never actually happens.
My problem, my self-made problem, is that I can’t put my workouts ahead of baby’s schedule. Naptime interferes with morning gym time and then it all goes downhill from there. Unless his friends are there he hates the childcare and it’s so stinky hot I feel bad dragging him along outside with me. I know I could make it happen, I just haven’t been. That’s life.
We recently got back from 3 back to back to back beach trips: one with 10 kids under 2, one involving a 103 fever, and one a wedding weekend with friends. While I did exercise some on vacation, it hardly counts. It was enough to get me raring to go when we got back.
And then I potentially broke my toe. You know when you innocently stub your toe really hard and you drop to the floor, clutching it in pain, yelling “I broke my toe, I broke my toe!”, but really you just stubbed it and you’ll get over it in a few minutes?
That’s what I thought happened until I finally let go of my toe and the husband pointed out it was facing the wrong direction. Oops.
I don’t really think it’s broken, but it doesn’t feel great. It’s just another thing to add to the long list of things I let get in my way.
There’s not really a point to this post except to say that not everyone who does triathlons {or marathons or 10Ks or whatever} finds it easy. So if you ever thought about doing one, don’t let that be the reason that’s holding you back.
Luckily I get a pretty good daily workout hauling my adorable 24+ pound weight around every day, but that’s not exactly helping with my biking or swimming skills…
Roundups
So I’m almost a month behind on triathlon training. Who’s surprised? #notme
But I have good reasons. It’s summer. It’s hot. It’s rainy. I have a toddler with a mind of his own that does not include enjoying the gym, stroller, or naps. #excuses
BUT but but. It’s not too late for you to join me:
SUMMER SAVINGS! This week only! It’s not too late to become a TRIATHLETE in 2013! There are still 4 Ramblin’ Rose Women’s Triathlons that YOU CAN DO!
ROCK HILL – July 14
WINSTON-SALEM – August 18
CHARLOTTE (HUNTERSVILLE) – September 22
CHAPEL HILL – October 6
Use Promo Code SUMMER to Save! The code will get you $10 off individual entries and $25 off relay entries. WAHOO! Code Expires Sunday, June 16 at midnight!
Another good excuse? I spent last week at the beach with 10 kids under 2 1/2. It was way more awesome than it sounds. Needless to say, triathlon training wasn’t the only thing I slacked on- I also wasn’t reading anything so I have nothing good to share with you.
I did however {almost} keep up with my Babble posts because let’s be honest, I want to keep my job. So here’s a few of those for ya:
9 Sizzling Hot Summer Workouts
How to become a better runner without taking a single step
10 things no one tells you about hot yoga
The most ridiculous thing I heard while pregnant
Foods that burn belly bulge.
How many adults do you think meet the recommended exercise guidelines? You might be surprised.
What’ve you been up to lately?
LookBack
I realize these “look back at the year” posts are really only meaningful to the people writing them, but what better time to reflect and appreciate the year you’ve had before you jump into a new one. Plus, it’s fun digging through old pictures. 
So here are some of the great things that happened around here in 2011:
Kicked off the year with my college sorority’s 30th anniversary celebration, meaning a fabulous reunion with friends.
We celebrated the arrival of new babies…
…and the marriage of friends.
We turned our rickety deck into a screened in porch…one of those projects that you think will take 3 weeks but really takes 3 months.
In April came my only race of the year. It was an absolute blast- one of the best I’ve participated in, the Rugged Maniac mud run.
I skipped drinking these:
when we got our biggest news of the year.
A baby!!
Which was followed by this:
Baby blog time.
Turns out we weren’t the only one of our friends expecting- lots of babies coming soon!
Spent the summer in my favorite place: on the water. An early summer of wakeboarding and a midsummer beach trip.
Followed by my 2nd 24 hour bike ride. I’ll use the term “24 hours” loosely this year. 
I worked on my photography skills.
And grew my business.
The husband and I celebrated our 5th {6th?} post-graduation college homecoming. {yikes}. And I graduated with my Masters.
There were countless fun Junior League events.
And lots of spending time with good friends.
I’d say it was a pretty good year. How was your 2011? How will 2012 be different?
Travel
Guess how much The Great Fundraising Act raised yesterday in a single day?
$26,432
Yeah, you read that right.
If you didn’t believe in the power of social media before, or you were losing faith in kindness and charitable giving, you were wrong.
$23,210 came from winning bids on auction items, and another $3,222 came from straight monetary donations. It’s so impressive it blows me away. I’m so proud to be a part of community that has both the thought and power to do something this amazing.
If you didn’t get a chance to bid, or you didn’t win an item, don’t worry- you haven’t missed your chance! Stayed tuned for “After the Act” details on how to buy items at a set price.
Now on to significantly less important things. Like taunting you with beach pictures.
Imagine my surprise when the temperature increased about 20 degrees on the drive home. It was actually cooler at the beach than it was in the middle of the state. Thank goodness the ridiculous heat wave hadn’t yet reached the coast, because it was certainly hot enough for me to be hiding in the shade all day, every day.
We stayed right in the middle of two beaches: Oak Island and Caswell Beach. So much in the middle that the beach was zoned as Caswell Beach and the condo was officially in Oak Island. They were a dune and a parking lot apart.
Either way it was a quiet, un-crowded beach that was so safe everyone left their awnings and beach chairs out in the sand every night. Let me tell you what a difference it makes to lug all your stuff to the beach day after day when you don’t have to carry a chair or giant tent!
I spent most of my days curled up under the awning with one of my 13 books {shame on me, I only made it through 8} and periodically running into the progressively rougher & rougher waves when I couldn’t stand the heat. Or had to pee. You know.
After the husband talking about going fishing every single day of the trip, we finally made it over to the pier for some night fishing on the last evening of our vacation. Of course we chose to stay by the pier with the NC record for largest tiger shark catch. Oh my.
It’s not as easy as it looks to tie hooks to a clear line in the windy darkness, but eventually everything was all set up.
There was a lot of sitting…and only one fish caught. I really don’t relate to the appeal of fishing for fun…
As much as I love vacation and the beach, I’m happy to be home. Technology was not my friend on the trip {my family will likely tell you this doesn’t surprise them in the least} so I have lots of catching up to do!
Posts were sparse on the trip, but here’s what you missed:
– Ready to Ride?
– Crab cakes at the Dead End Saloon
– My 7 Links of beautiful, controversial, and surprise posts…aka my rare participation in a meme. If you haven’t done 7 links yet considered yourself tagged in my post because I’m having fun reading them. 
There’s also some fun things coming up over the next week or so:
– An insanely delicious {yet messy} treat. Hint: Lesson learned- don’t attempt to make caramel during the hottest week on record.
– A HUGE bike ride. Please everyone cross your fingers that the forecasted 98 degrees for Friday and Saturday is extremely wrong. I’m thinking 70 sounds good…but I’ll take something in the 80s. 
– Some fun news that I will now make you wait in suspense for, because that’s really the only way to make it fun.
– Surely I’m forgetting something…
What exciting things do you have going on this week?
Other
Nothing says welcome to the beach like seafood…
and a sunset!
It’s pretty much a requirement to eat fresh seafood when you’re in such close proximity to the ocean.
On recommendation from the rental agency owner, we headed to Dead End Saloon Fish Factory Grille, a restaurant known for it’s water front views. The road to the restaurant literally dead ends into the sound. The “fish factory” in the name had us wrongly assuming there might be a large choice of fish on the menu.
The restaurant offer outdoor-only seating, which is perfectly ok in my book, especially when this is the view from your table:
The seafood choices were limited to a catch of the day and several crab cake dishes. Being as I don’t paricularly enjoy whole fried flounder, I opted for the crabcake sandwich.
{I really, really don’t care for tails on my plate, thankyouverymuch.}
Unfortunately the crab cake left much to be desired- it was old and fishy tasting. I suppose I should know by now to leave the crab eating to Maryland.
The fries, however, were surprisingly tasty- spicy and crunchy without being overly greasy.
So while our seafood requirements were quite fulfilled, our sunset views were. Not a bad way to start vacation.
What’s your favorite beach meal?
