Gettin' Some Air

Bill does not want a tramp. Too dangerous. However, our dear friends and neighbors, the Franci (Francis, but we use the plural "Franci") have one and my kids use it probably more than they do. Kind of defeats the purpose of not having one, don't you think? I think one day when it needs replacing, we will need to offer to buy them a new one. So, Easter morning the kids went out and jumped and took these pictures. That's right, the kids took these and I thought they were pretty cool.

Clean Eating: Day Two

I successfully made it through day one of clean eating. I also found two new products I absolutely love. The first is Silk Soy Milk. I had it on a bowl of cooked whole oats with a sprinkle of walnuts, and oh my goodness, I was in heaven.

The next product was this brown rice pasta:

The soy milk is probably nothing new to some of you, but to me it was and oh so yummy. I am going to go back and get the chocolate (not sure if it's clean, but I will read the ingredients and get back to you on that).

The brown rice pasta (found in the gluten-free isle at Wal-Mart) was quite good. Ben and Alex loved it with Ben asking, "Why don't you make this more often?"with me answering, "Well, Ben, I just made it up today!" I served it with carrots and chicken breast I simmered in the crock pot all day.

Now I'm not sure if it had to do with the clean eating, but my 9 mile run this morning felt amazing! I averaged under a 9 minute mile but the best part was I felt so good the whole time. I was holding out at first thinking I would get tired but by the last 2 miles I felt so good I was able to kick it up a notch. Could just be coincidence, but I'd like to think the eating made a difference. I just love The Gracious Pantry.com and have a list to go to the store to try some new recipes. I'll keep you posted!

Clean Eating

Today I am going to try to eat clean. What is clean eating, you ask? Read this. I am one year from turning 40 and, boy, I am finding I can't get away with eating whatever I feel like anymore. So, I am going to take it one day at a time and do a little better with what I put in my mouth. I have a couple of clean eating recipe books and I want to use some websites like "The Gracious Pantry.com" for ideas. When I come across anything earth-shattering, I'll post it!

Back to Training

I should be on the road for a 30 mile ride right now but I'm stalling so the temperature can rise a bit. When I took the kids to school it was 47 degrees. It's an hour later now so it should be at least 50 now. I can be such a wimp sometimes.

Life is starting to slow a bit, which is nice. During the weeks leading up to our vacation, I was working on our elementary school's yearbook, which I have done the last three years. I don't mind doing it, it's just time consuming.

I'm in week eight of my 16 week training for the Ironman 70.3. The numbers aren't too bad yet. My longest rides are up to 30-35 miles while my long run this week is only 8. I did pretty good on our cruise, running about 18 miles total and spinning for a total of at least 2 hours. I ended up gaining about 2-3 lbs which isn't too bad for as much as I ate (we're talking dessert both lunch and dinner and not to mention just the amount of food!) Hey, I had a great time and it was worth it. Now it's back to eating healthy and it feels good.

Training this week:

Monday: 2000 yard swim

Tuesday: Went to spin class instead of hill work outside. It was raining (more wimpiness). To my credit, we did a lot of hill work in class. After class, a guy (a definite cyclist) told me thanks for helping to push him. Hmm, I guess I appeared to be working hard.

Wednesday: I ran speed intervals on the treadmill for a total of 6 miles. I may be one of the crazy ones, but I really enjoy speed and hill work. It's much more interesting than tempo and distance runs. My workouts seem to go so much faster.

Thursday: 2400 yard swim. Swimming is going great. Have about a 45-50 second 50 yard pace, which I am content with. Endurance is feeling good, with my longest set yesterday at 1000 yards, taking about 17-18 min.

Today: I will ride 30 on the bike with a 3.5 mile run off the bike. I think I did pretty good keeping my base over the winter for the bike. I am riding strong (averaging 19mph, which is good for me).

Tomorrow: 8 mile run. My goal will be to get up early and get it done before Austin's soccer game at 8am. We'll see if that happens. I'm shooting for a 8:30 min mile pace.

Ok, that's my training week in a nutshell. And for your viewing pleasure, here are a couple pictures I took on my iPhone on my last brick (both a ride and run). I figured it might be interesting to document my ride/run with a couple of pictures:

Not the most flattering picture of me, but I am posting this in honor of Bill who bought my this awesome helmet for my birthday.

You can see things are starting to green up a bit. So nice.

So there's a little bit about where I am on the training. I really like having something to get me out the door for a good workout.

A Week of Sunshine

I know I've been missing in action (I'm sure not too many people have noticed, except you, Brian!). I will try to keep you posted on my tri training later (it's going great, by the way). We have been out of town taking a family cruise. What a fun time we had! If you haven't already seen them on facebook, here are just a few pictures:

What wonderful memories. Now, back to the regular, everyday, wonderful memories.

Back in the Water Again

Today was my first day back into the pool. It was extra special because Bill came with me today. He's had issues with his back and he's heard swimming can help. Hopefully it will.

I only needed to swim 600 yards today with a few speed sets and I exceeded that by quite a bit.

I say this every time I go a long time without swimming, but, why don't I do this more through the winter? It feels so good. My arms felt weak, though. That will come.

And So it Begins...

Yesterday marked day one of my sixteen week training for Boise Ironman 70.3.

There's still snow on the ground so for now my bike workouts will consist of spinning on my trainer and I have yet to get myself in the pool. I was supposed to swim yesterday but I just got my hair colored and want to wait a few more days before I expose it to chlorine. So, I'm a vain triathlete. Today's run workout was 5 mile interval training on the treadmill. Nothing too exciting.

My big goal this year is to enjoy myself. There is a reason why I do this. I love the way I feel after a great swim, bike, or run. Also, I enjoy the mental toughness required for a long race. Your body will only carry you so far. When it gets tough, it's your mind that carries you the rest of the way. And then there's that feeling of extreme joy when you've completed your training and finished your race. That's me here after my last 70.3. I'm preeetty happy.

I also want to smile. It really helps you get through the tough times. Chrissie Wellington is one of my idols. Not because she is a three time Ironman World Champion, but because she has an amazing attitude and is a class act. She regularly smiles during competition. It is her secret weapon.

I may not crush the competition, but at least I can smile like Chrissie.

My Athletes on Canvas

For Christmas this year my mom created these amazing portraits of my kids. The large originals hang in their bedrooms while I have prints in the family room. The detail is amazing down to the uniforms, shoes, and socks. My dad is an expert mat cutter and framer so you can imagine the finished product is awesome. These will be cherished for a lifetime. I'm sure you can just imagine how much we love them!! Is this not the best present ever??? Thank you Mom and Dad!

Carl Bloch - BYU Museum of Art

A couple days ago, my mom called and said she and my dad were going to go down to the BYU Museum of Art to see the Carl Bloch art exhibit and wondered if I would like to go. I had about a hundred reasons why I shouldn't. I had mounds of laundry to fold, a PTA newsletter and yearbook to work on, and we were low on groceries.

But, something told me I needed to go.

It was amazing and inspiring.

Carl Bloch was a nineteenth century Danish artist that is recognized by many as the greatest artist ever to interpret the life and death of Christ. He considered his religious paintings to be the most significant accomplishments of his career. I learned that it was Bloch's tender and sensitive soul that enabled him to portray the life of the Savior so beautifully. The exhibit includes five altar paintings, 11 etchings and 21 other works from around Denmark and Sweden. You can find out more about the exhibit here: Also, I found this video very interesting. It is well worth watching.

I am not very knowledgable about artwork and painting like my mom, but, I could tell I was in the presence of masterpieces. Some of the artwork is very large, enabling you to really appreciate and feel the pieces. I was moved by every one. One of my favorites was this:

It is titled: The Daughter of Jarius. Here, the mother sits by her daughter's lifeless body, despairing - a tear running down her cheek. Christ has arrived at the doorway as the sun is rising behind him as a foreshadowing the miraculous miracle that is about to occur.

The Doubting Thomas.

Here, Bloch captures the moment after Thomas has touched the resurrected Christ and his overwhelming realization of who he really is.

Christ and the Young Child

I remember the beautiful eyes of the child and the Savior in this piece.

Christ The Consoler

This piece depicts how all may come unto Christ. Bloch used his own family in this painting.

Christ Healing the Sick at Bethesda

This painting is actually owned by the BYU Art Museum. It is considered their greatest piece. It is truly breathtaking. Here one feels drawn into the painting as the man in the red scarf makes eye contact with the observer. Also, I couldn't help but notice that so many in the picture are too busy to see the Savior. I am so grateful I took the time to see this beautiful and sacred exhibit. I plan on taking my family down to see it and anyone else who wants to go.

It is at BYU until May and then the art pieces find their way back home to churches all over Denmark and Sweden.

Winter Break = Good Times

Winter break is over, the kids are back in school, and the house is quiet. Today I'm taking down the Christmas decorations. Feels good. I'm taking a minute to post some pictures from the last couple weeks. What a good couple of weeks we had:

We enjoyed the lights at Temple Square.

The home teachers came and brought some Piroutte cookies and the kids immediately started smoking them like cigars. Nice. I'm pretty sure that's not what the home teachers intended.

We were able to attend a couple BYU basketball games. One at Weber State and one down in Provo. I can't believe it has been 16 years since I was a student at the Y. The ol' Marriott Center brought back so many memories. Pretty glad I'm not having to write papers and take exams, though.

Ben turned twelve on Christmas Eve. I love that boy. Such a good kid.

Ben informed me recently that he would love to try hockey. (Yeah, I'm sure we could fit that in between football, basketball, and baseball. Not.) So, he decided to go ice-skating on his birthday.

I think this is where he is thinking hockey is definitely out. In fact he told me that ice-skating was pretty much the dumbest thing he could've done on his birthday.

Here's Jordan, our "fourth" son hitting the deck. I'm glad he found it funny.

I'm happy to report everyone (including Ben) had a great time in the end after they caught the hang of it.

What a great Christmas we had. Here Erin was pretty happy to receive the "Diary of a Wimpy Kid" Book set from Grandma Bailey.

Over the break, Ben and Alex worked on and completed their Carpentry Merit badge for Scouts at Grandpa Bailey's house.

Alex and his good friend Alex working on some masterpiece, I'm sure.

Erin serving a meal to her new pink Sock Monkey. I think she must be very hungry.

I hope everyone had a wonderful Holiday season. I was pretty lame and didn't send out any cards this year. I've never done that before. Everything just came at me too fast so I apologize if you were waiting in anticipation for our card. I also hope 2011 will bring much happiness to all my family and friends. I know it will for us.