Resolution much?

Shown above, the Rebels and I henna our hands while BabyBrown naps. Henna kit available from Madison Waldorf School Store and also available at novanatural.com.
Nothing like death of a loved one on New Year’s Eve to scramble one’s New Year’s Resolution list. I have been feeling a bit adrift, like my keel is broken.For the first time I am not desperately trying to cling onto goals and outdated life milestones and markers.
I love New Year’s Resolutions. I make them a few times a year, once in January,one in June on my birthday and then another in September. It must be the teacher bloodline in me that thinks in semesters, or maybe the farmer bloodline that turns my focus internal after harvest.
Here are the Resultions that came from Harriet’s passing:
Let it ride Mondays; Popcorn for dinner, sure. Kitchen sink is broken, use the bathroom sink. Don’t want to get dressed, fine by me. No laundry. No groceries. No school. No errands. I need to enjoy just being with my kids and husband, and dog for that matter, and stop trying to be the constant Event Planner.
Take a digital photography class with my mother. We are both smart and know how to use technology, but we just can’t let go of f-stops and meter readings. Time to bond and admit that we will never, ever, figure this out on our own. Time to take the fancy camera off the green “auto” button and she what she can do.
Not do a triathlon; Don’t want to train that much. I don’t want to figure out what to do with the kids or how to fit two long workouts in on the weekend. Do I ever want to do an Ironman? Maybe, a half, when I retire and have 20+hours a week to devote to training. I want to train for more life events, like long bike rides, running in the arboretum and getting stronger. I won’t lie, I still need to lose that baby weight. And I do love food. So move I must if I ever want to see my waistline again.
The year of the Sock: I have outfitted the entire Brown clan with hats, now I must move on to socks. In search of a easy sock pattern that I can adjust to different people.
Meditate; 2500 years of buddhism can’t be wrong. It is the first religion I have come across that makes total sense to me. Running in the morning is slowly becoming a form of meditation, and I would like to explore this further. Don’t worry, I am still keeping the Jesus fire burning, but I don’t think that I have to trade in one religion for the other.
That is it. Not very glamorous. But it is all I can handle until June, when I make my New Year’s Res. List v.1.2 for 2011.

Accenture Tri Recap

First wave starts as the sun comes up

The night before: feeling like it’s the first day of school… or am I about to get schooled?

3:30 a.m. Madison and Milwaukee TNT head down to rack our bikes

glorious sunrise over the harbor and thousands of nervous triathletes.

6 a.m. two-and-a-half more hours until I race.

6 a.m. Bad lighting due to the fact that the sun hasn’t risen yet.

gearcheck for the racers and another wave enters the water

8:30 Only 15 minutes until I get into the water. Yay!

View looking South in the harbor

Sporting our numbers

I feel as tired as I look. Go Team!

bib #6748

swim 29.23 T-1 3:54 Bike 1:16:48 (19.3 mph) T-2 2:20 Run 59.11 (9.32 min mile)

overall time 2:51:39. 28 out of 193 in my age group. 1477 out of 4089 overall.

So I did it. I have pictures to prove it. The 2008 Accenture Chicago Triathlon was a success. I surpassed my fund raising minimum for Team in Training and came in with a very respectable time. Oh, and I had fun.

To review, I swam .9 miles, biked 24 miles, and ran 6.2 miles. The swim started in the Chicago harbor, headed south, then turned around and headed north. The first transition (T-1) included a 1/4 mile run from the water, wearing my wetsuit, to my bike. I peeled off my wetsuit, put on my helmet, sunglasses, and clipped in my shoes and headed north on the Randolph ramp on Lake Shore Drive. We did the loop twice, then headed back to transition 2 (T-2) where I racked my bike, replaced my road shoes with running shoes and headed south to run past the Shedd Aquarrium and the McCormick Center. With a belly full of Gu and water, I finished strong and happy.

The race was great, but it was huge. With 8,000 participants, the area to rack your bike is acres of bikes. I ran right past mine in T-1. Waves of 150 people left the swim start every 4 minutes for hours. Like all festivals, there were lines everywhere, especially to the port-a-potty, where everyone was hoping to release a bit of pre-race ballast. By the end, I was happy to be leaving the big city for my little college town.

Much thanks to Laura. She was an awesome roomy and pal. Quite a girls weekend, but next time, let’s just go for a jog and enjoy our fluffy beds a bit more.

Goals for next tri, and yes there will be more: improve my run. Or just like running more. Get some Tri Bars for my bike, and race without socks.