Inspiration......

So, what's new?

Just a few quick snaps to share:

First up, me before, then finishing, the Tipperary Hill Shamrock Run (4 miles in 36mins55, 49/193 in my age group)



Next, a quick clip of Finn being presented with his end of season medal for services to the world of Hockey.

A couple of Meg: reading a magazine, helping with the laundry, and showing off her physical prowess!

The text from the newspaper article can be found here......

Skaneateles Journal

Making the news this week.......

It seemed like a good idea at the time.....

I don't know how many of you are aware of my propensity for having  'good ideas'. Every now and again one pops into my head and sooner or later I find myself on the brink of potential catastrophe and up to my neck in foolhardy-ness. The first time this happened, in about July 2005, I had a collaborator (you know who you are!) and thus some of the responsibility must be on another's shoulders. This time however, the blame lies completely and utterly with me. No-one else, just me.

And before you start panicking, Mother, this does not involve the producing of any more grandchildren, rest assured.

So the first idea? Well, it went something along the lines of: I've done a bit of running now, I can manage 14 or 15 kms in one go, why not run a MARATHON? It's not such a big leap up to 42.2 kms, is it? Oh my, you have no idea how much of a big leap that is. I do. I can tell you in graphic detail how much of a leap it is, how much training is involved and exactly how painful it is the next day.

Which brings me onto my second 'good idea'. The one that I can't blame Grandpa Irv for. It goes like this; I need another challenge, after all staying at home looking after 2 small children is not quite challenging enough for me, so before my daughter is 8 months old, I will start to train for a TRIATHLON. Good one. For the uninitiated, a Sprint Distance Triathlon (or at  least the one I am training for) involves a swim of 750 metres, a bike ride of 14 miles, and a run of 3.1 miles (5kms). One after the other, with as little time as possible for changing kit in between (transitions). And the swim is in a lake. Yuk.

I know what you're thinking, after a marathon this should be a walk in the park, or at least a gentle uphill jog. I thought so. But when you factor in 2 small kidlets, one of which still wakes up every night, and training that must be done as soon as the gym opens at 5.30am, it's a little trickier. (These are all excuses of course, the real problem is that I am a shockingly bad cyclist!)

I'm expecting it all to get a bit easier when the snow has gone so I can run and bike outdoors, and when Meg turns 1, she can go into the childcare at the gym so I can have some later mornings. Neither of these things mean that I will suddenly be able to cycle up hills pain free, however.

Having said all of that, training on Saturday morning was fab: I ran 4 miles, cycled 12.5, then swam 1 km. Then did a pilates class for good measure. I'd love to say that I then skipped home and was the life and soul of the household for the rest of the day, but truth be told I was absolutely bushed. Exhausted doesn't really do it justice, and there was a fair amount of sympathy seeking. OK, whinging.

Still, the Tri isn't until August, so I'm hoping for some improvement. And if any of you have any 'good ideas' in the future, please keep them to yourself.

In a cabin in a wood.....some more

The cabin in the wood

Snowshoeing

 

The ski jumps

Gulp!

Double gulp!

The bobsled track from the top of the ski jump tower

On the speed skating oval



Getting a taste for lycra!



BABY IN A BAG!

In a cabin in a wood.....

Our trip to Lake Placid was fabulous - not as cold as everyone predicted and no overgrown crocodiles picking off tourist at random, somewhat disappointingly. We visited some of the more impressive Olympic facilities (if you haven't been up to the top of a ski jump tower, put it on your bucket list) and even sampled a couple of them. Finn and Jodi skated on the outdoor Olympic speed skating track, in nigh on blizzard conditions, and Jodi and I did a bit of 'sliding' as it is known on the circuit. The first clip is of Jodi on his 'skeleton' luge - listen carefully to the announcer. Jodi asked them to call out Finn's Dad instead of his name to delight a certain small boy watching up in the lounge, but the silly deaf old biddy called out Sinbad instead! Luckily Mummy had the foresight to keep filming, mainly because Jodi was virtually the last to slide and we picked out his red coat as he was preparing to lie down on his glorified skateboard. The bobsled pictured may or may not have me in it but as you can hear, a large contingent of French people had showed up by then and Jodi was hard pushed to hear himself think let alone decipher the announcer's mumblings!  Click on the link below.

Jodi's Skeleton and Sarah's Bobsled videos

There are of course many pictures, so keep watching this space.