Happy Mother’s Day!

My wish for Mother’s Day-my 2 girls do not argue with each other for this one day (yeah, right!)

The homemade gifts children make for their moms on Mother’s Day can be quite revealing.  Since I have a 13 y/o I know that my years of receiving these special homemade gifts from my 7 y/o are limited…and while Hallmark cards can be quite nice, they just don’t make the ones that say things like this…

 My Special Mom: by Hanna

My mother’s name is Kim.  I call her Mummy.  She is 8 feet tall.  She looks pretty when she wears dresses (and not her workout clothes).  The thing my mom cooks best is CHICKEN NUGGETS.  My mom likes to run, bike, and swim.  My mom does not like to do dishes.  My mom is the queen of the world!

Have a good one Moms! 

Last Wednesday evening, I ventured down to a great bike shop in Golden called The Bike Station to meet with my good friend Brett who is the local rep for Bell/Giro, Sharkies, Craft and Look. It is a small, quaint and family owned shop that has such a great vibe to it. I love shops like those. You always feel so comfortable walking in and get the best service and advice EVER!

Brett asked me to come by because they were having an all women’s event with a great presentation by some of the folks from Trek and of course, lots of good food. For those of you who know me well enough, if there is food involved…I’m there! So after committing to attend and do a little presentation and mingling about Timex, I knew I couldn’t come empty handed. I brought with me a brand new Timex women’s specific Bodylink GPS watch and data recorder for the raffle which I had been informed there would be.

It was a very hot item, as it should have been sitting next to bike parts and apparel, and was won by a woman who will be doing a ride across America this summer! It couldn’t have been more perfect. We exchanged contact information and she’s sooo excited to learn how to use it and to let me know how the trip goes. I was also able to give several other ladies information about the other health and fitness products Timex has to offer which was lots of fun.

It’s so rewarding leaving events like that knowing that you can help others become involved in a sport that is not only challenging, but quite intimidating for beginners. Life is just too good sometimes :)

I won’t be so ego-centric to actually think that you know about my “eating disorder” as my dad teasingly calls it.  The bottom line scoop is that for as long as I can remember, eating+exercise has always been a tough combination for me.  My dad thinks I’m nuts.  When we were riding in Italy, he’d put sandwiches and pizza in his bike jersey pocket.  I’d have potions and shakes and my latest experiment.  Last year, it got more challenging. 

Let’s suffice it to say that on a daily basis, my body began rejecting food it didn’t like at the time.  I tracked, counted, researched; I received advice from dieticians, nutritionists, doctors, coaches.  Blah Blah Blah.

On January 20, Autumn and I watched SuperSize Me.  Autumn is my 8-year-old daughter.  Fascinated, she proceeded to watch it over and over (not exaggerating — like 10 times over the next several weeks).  As a side note, I had to ask her to watch it with headphones on in the car because I get so agitated over our decisions (as an economist, it is fascinating and unnerving) on eating and ‘voting with our dollars’ on items we eat.  And what the heck is up on our acceptance of advertising to kids — I envision that some day we will revolt (like we did with cigarettes) against advertising that pushes unhealthy food-substitute (I can’t even call it food) items on our children.  Maybe some day I’ll get on my soap box on that topic, but not right now.  I’m going to attempt to stay on topic.

On January 21, inspired by the concept to do an eating experiment, I began “Purify Me”.  I decided to put only natural, unprocessed food in my body.  Previously, I thought I didn’t eat many processed foods — but I found that when I was tired (frequently!), I grabbed pretzels or ate rice cakes instead of making rice.  

Wow.  I feel better.  I wish I had done some measurements to share with you — but I can tell you that I have thrown up only twice.  And both times I was experimenting - once with meat and once with number of calories per hour on the bike.  I was able to move beyond my ‘Monster’ addiction.  I stopped opening the car door at the stop lights to puke on the street (not in line with being a good role model for Autumn).

Autumn supports me, but hasn’t totally joined up.  It does make my heart smile, though, that she understands the concept that she is choosing what to use to fuel her wonderful and perfect body.  The night before I left for California, we went to the local weekly bike race (she races, I spectate).  She chose water to drink when she was thirsty instead of the other options and said, “Mom, I feel good choosing water.  I know it is the healthiest choice.”

FYI - my staples:  Egg whites, fish, veggies (including my infamous “Skinny Soup”), fruit, rice, beans, oats, and yerba matte tea.  When I work out, I eat homemade ricebars - eggwhite, white rice, and salt; and Clif products (my exception to non-processed).

So, I share this not because I think it is “The Answer” for you.  I share this as an idea, a seed that you may plant. 

:) J

So, I have a lot of time on my hands now….too much time. All of this time has caused me to do something I generally try to avoid, thinking. While doing some “thinking” today, I decided this blog needs some excitement, especially now that the race reports will be slowing to a trickle. Living in Boulder, I have made some interesting friends, and by interesting, I mean FAST. I decided to post a weekly interview with these interesting folks. To start with, I interviewed Amanda Lovato….

LT: Do you ever feel like your athletic accomplishments are overlooked, because people are so focused on your looks? Kinda like how people dont realize that Brad Pitt is a great actor, because they cant see past his super hot bod.

AL: Considering that I raced three ironman races that did not go as I would have hoped this year, I want to be noted for something.  And if that “something” happens to be the VISION ad that I was in or my skimpy SPLISH suits or my apperance at races, I’m ok with that.  Even if my race doesn’t go well, at least people think I look good!

LT: Have you ever been arrested? Feel free to elaborate.

AL: Yep.  I was arrested in June of 1990.  I had just finished my senior year of high school and a bunch of us girls went to “beach week” in Ocean City, MD.  Being 17 years old and “free”, we got ourselves in some trouble.  To make a long story short, I punched someone and got arrested for asault and battery.  If you ever want the full story on how I was booked and how my dad had to drive 3.5 hours to bail me out, call me.

LT:  If you could put an Ironman race in a new location, where would it be?

LT: Would you rather have a pet squirrel, monkey or penguin?

LT: Have you ever hit a prairie dog while riding your bike?

LT: Anything else you would like to add? 

LT:Thank you, that is all of the questions I have at this time.

Congrats Kim & Kevin on baby Nora!

Kim, my friend Bree’s only goal going into her first ironman this October was to beat her labor time - maybe that’ll have to be your Hawaii goal this year..
I’m just here to link to Bree’s Blog about training for triathlon as a mom and how it changes things. See it here at breeweehawaii.blogspot.com

Hawaii moms - Bree Wee, Ingrid Rolles & me