My Olympic Triathlon

Way back in January, before covid-19, I was swimming my modified breath stroke (no water in my ears-type modified) and had worked up to a mile. I was even doing it in about 30-32 minutes. My stud swimming brother tells me that's pretty fast, so that's cool. 😊 I had the thought then that I could do an olympic triathlon. The pool I swim at closed on March 13 and hasn't opened since. Fast forward to this summer and we went to Utah and I could swim in the pool my mom swims in. I also swam in some lakes over the summer, whenever we went. 

One of the times we went to the lake where the sprint triathlon usually is and I decided that I was going to mark how far a mile would be. Back and forth from one bouey to another 4 times was a mile, easy enough, and I felt really good swimming it, for not having swam much in the many months of covid. 

I decided that since I was already biking more and running more with my extra time (I ran a half marathon on my own as well), I might as well add some running to the end of my rides to see how I felt. It was great! 

Timing was the last issue for me. I had to figure out the best time to do it before it got too cold. We had some camping trips planned and it seems there was another conflict. The first Saturday after school started was the best. Victoria had plans with a friend, so if Jason and the kids were to come support, they would have had to leave early, which was fine. They wouldn't have seen me much anyhow.

That morning, I ate oatmeal and a banana, which I so enjoyed doing before my "race". It was early enough to digest, but not too early that I wasn't hungry. You can't do that with a real race.  I got to the lake at 9, another good reason for my own race, because it was warmer. However, the sun was blocked behind clouds and it had been colder that week, so the water was almost too cold. I started having doubts, but I knew I would warm up or just remain numb throughout the swim. I had a flouresent bouey trailing behind me so I could be seen, but there was only a fishing boat nearby, so I didn't have to worry about getting run over by a boat. I stayed just where the swim bouey line was, so it wasn't very deep. I could probably have touched the bottom.

When I finished the swim (it's hard to say how long it actually took me because of my few shockingly freezing moments, but it was about 35 minutes), I was very cold and had chattering teeth. I called Jason and told them not to come because our plan of them hanging out at the lake while I rode by and then ran by, was ruined with the freezing water. 

I ate a bar and then got on the bike. I enjoyed not having to rush in my transition, especially because I was frozen and moving a little slower. 

My ride of 25 miles wasn't my best. I hadn't ridden that route in two years when I last did the sprint tri, so I wasn't comfortable with all the turns anymore, but I did okay, completed it about 1 hour and 35 minutes, and I felt great!

The run was my best, averaging 8.5 minute mile for the 10k. I felt really good on the run and really good at the end. I wasn't even tired or sore afterwards or the next day. 

I really liked doing my own tri when it was convenient for me and I could go at a time that worked for my meals. I didn't have a stomach ache or a headache, like I do for pretty much all of my races, for those very reasons. I'm usually nervous at races too, which could also cause the stomach aches. I'm sure I'd be faster with people I can gauge my speed with, but I don't know if it's worth it. I would definitely do it again! I guess I might do an official one as well. 

Now I will try to get through life with no swimming at all. I have no idea when the pool will open, but I have an outstanding High Fit class to attend to change up my work outs. 

After I returned from my triathlon.

Back to School

I've always loved back-to-school time. As a teacher and a mother, it's one of the most wonderful times of the year! This year, knowing we'd be going back virtually until it's "safe" to go in person again, put a slight damper to it, but I still felt more excited for something than I have for a while. A lot of nervousness too. I did not want it to be like it was in the spring. That was just survival mode and we couldn't hang on much longer. My kids thrive on being with people, and I thrive on having a schedule, and my people happily engaged, so we needed something different.

While we are not going to school with friends yet, I have been very impressed, and relieved, to see what is taking place. 

Austin, Karissa, and Victoria start school at 8am. Normally it doesn't happen that way with the bus system and Karissa and Austin go to different middle schools anyhow, but this is nice and uniform. Their teachers take attendance. They see them on Zoom. They have rules about not eating on the screen and being prepared. They break out into groups to work with classmates. They have seen friends in certain classes. It's as good as it can be, for now. 

Victoria has seminary on Zoom T-TH at 7am and does a M and F independent study, like she did last year. She still gets up early (6) in order to get ready, but at least it's not 5! She's been on task and happy to talk to her friends through various means after school. She's even led some of them in a work out routine a few times, since dance hasn't started yet. 

Karissa and Austin, who normally would have gone to the high school for orchestra before school at 7am, now have orchestra M, W, F after school, virtually, from 2:15-3:15. Middle school and high school finish around 2, so they have a quick break before orchestra. That started just this week and they don't need instruments yet for the 6th graders, but I'm not quite sure how the music part is going to work out. For choir either, but I know something is planned with breakout sessions, so maybe they'll be playing/singing in small groups for now. 

My 3 older kids have lunch together from 11:15-11:50. They have Periods 1-3 on M and Th for 60 minutes each in the morning, then lunch, then 40 minutes each in the afternoon. The afternoon times are for support and if the teacher specifically asks certain students to get on, otherwise they can work on assignments from those classes. The same thing for Periods 4-6 on T and F. W is all classes for 45 minutes each, for teacher-led and small group activities. There are 5-minute breaks between each class.

Though Austin is adjusting to middle school and having 6 different teachers, he does like working from his Chromebook all the time for his assignments. He's not a paper and pencil kind of guy! He had a couple problems getting onto his choir and LME classes, which was weird because he's so techy, but it's all good. Everyone is being very patient!

Karissa has been able to hang out with a friend a couple of times in the evening since school started. She needs that in-person connection and I'm glad it's working out for her. Her cheer season was cancelled, but she's been doing a lot of bike rides and some stretches/indoor exercises to stay active.

Erik and Austin get to play soccer, so they get some socialisation and exercise rolled into one! I'm sure the masks they have to wear are annoying, but they're happy to be out. I make sure we ride bikes or do something else active outside in the evenings, even still.

Erik's school day starts at 8:50 and ends around 3:50. The class meets together on Zoom for checking in and morning routines for 30 minutes, then they get a 5-minute break. They do a reading lesson till 10, then have a 20-minute snack and movement break. They get instructions from the teacher about their independent reading, before doing that for 45 minutes on various platforms through Canvas. I'm sure the kids who need to work more with the teacher do so, but so far Erik hasn't needed to yet. They have a read-aloud before lunch, which is 11:40-12:30, just after his siblings do lunch. They have to log back in at 12:35 for attendance and then have a math lesson for 30 minutes. Independent math work follows until 1:45. They have links for their daily specials (art, P.E., music, language, media aka. library). Then they do independent science and social studies from 2:35-3:40 (usually a video or game/activity through a learning platform). At 3:40, Erik always makes sure to log back into Zoom for the 15-minute closing discussion of the day. 

I started teaching the 3rd day back so I could make sure things were running somewhat smoothly at home. Jason is at home, but working from the basement. He's available to help the kids if they have a problem getting on, for some reason, but it was good for me to be home to help them learn their routines. I'm not very helpful with technical stuff anyhow, so it's better I'm teaching preschool and doing something to stay out of the way so I don't go crazy with boredom or frustration at my kids being home for school. It's going really well, but it's just not ideal and that's hard for me swallow. I can't stand around watching them. When I come home from work, they are really on task, but are somewhat like zombies, even though they have breaks. It's different than getting outside with friends at recess or walking to another class. 

I only have 10 students. 5 are pre K and 5 are in the Young 5's program, which is basically slightly older kids who need another year before Kindergarten. They're great kids and well-behaved. I have a new assistant, who is great, so my job is very easy, and FUN, as always! I have to wear a mask inside, but I'm used to that now. I got scrubs to wear so I can just change right when I get home so I don't have to worry about my little friends' germs on my clothes in my house. 

Me being gone at work means my own children have to get their lunches together. We try to make a plan beforehand, but they pretty much do it and clean up after themselves, which is so good for them! Victoria made everyone chicken nuggets last week and even wrote a little note for Erik for when he came down later. Erik is just surprising me with his motivation to stay on task. He kicked me off the computer a bit ago so he could do his special for the day (he likes to do the specials on the kitchen computer to change up the scenery and because he doesn't have to use his Chromebook for that.) I leave for work before he gets on his class, but he's always excited to get on right when he's supposed to.

Note for Erik from Victoria.

I'm so proud of all my kids for doing so well for a whole week!! I hope I'm still singing the same tune next month! This is a school year to remember for sure.

Playing a game after their first day of school, which was a half-day!

Wearing spirit wear from each of the 4 schools we go to!

Ready!

Victoria and Bethany on Bethany's 16th birthday!

Erik actually drew a picture for art class willingly, which he never did in the spring. Art is probably his least favorite.

He likes having his cars nearby for break time!

The Thumb

 I love how everything in Michigan relates to the layout of the "mitten". A few days before Labor Day weekend we met Jason's parents in the Thumb for a camping trip. We stayed in Caseville, just to the west of the tip, which is Port Austin. It is the only place in the US where you can see the sunrise and set over a huge body of water. We were on Saginaw Bay, which is in Lake Huron. We saw the sunset the first night we were there, in case the weather got in the way on the other nights, which it did!

Sunset 

The sunrise from where we were at was somewhat blocked by a little jut of land. It's better from Port Austin, right at the tip, but we got a pretty good view. 

Sunrise

Facing west.

Another cool thing about the area is that there is a dark preserve there, where you can see the night sky without other outside lights getting in the way. It was amazing, except for that there was a full moon that night, so that did make it harder to view the stars. Jason showed us all the constellations on an app, so we could compare it with the night sky. We also saw a satellite, Saturn, and Jupiter. When we realized that the reason we couldn't see as much as we thought was because of the rising full moon, we went to a better viewing spot for the moon and found some telescopes there that we could use. It was amazing! We could see craters and mountains on the moon! The pictures of everything weren't great, sorry to say we can't share it with you.

Rising moon

Moon with a star above it.

Besides really enjoying the sky, we enjoyed the very cold lake water, the beautiful towns and farmland (they grow sugar beets and corn there), the Japenese gardens in Saginaw, and the ice cream! We had to adjust some things for the weather. We got some thunderstorms, very high winds, and some crazy waves as a result of both. Luckily, the morning we went to the beach, it was calm and we left as it started to get rough. It turned out that the high winds were expected all week. We were going to kayak out to Turnip Rock, a 7 mile ride out to a rock in Lake Huron, and back, but the rental place had to cancel everything that week because of the high winds and waves. We were disappointed, but we'll definitely do it next year because the Thumb is my new favorite place and only 2 1/2 hours away from our home!

Before the winds and waves picked up and nobody was there!

The campground was nice and not busy. The kids had fun exploring it.

We found frogs.

They were very helpful setting up. Austin's injury was healing, slowly. He got it from the camper in our driveway. Skinned his entire shin and knee on the metal bumper. It was extremely painful to look at, especially seeing him writhe with pain!

My view from my run.

Japanese gardens.

Karissa loves all things Japanese!

In Saginaw, there were these copper statutes, painted to look real life, all through the town. Some were playing checkers, some were selling things, some just "walking" around.

Rose gardens.

Thunderstorm rolling in.

We got some ice cream on two different days. 

You can't see how big this is, but the single scoops from this places were the biggest I've ever seen!!

Port Austin

After we returned home, we learned that people couldn't go out on this dock, or even in any of the Great Lakes, over Labor Day weekend, to swim or in their boats because the waves and winds were so bad. What did you expect from 2020??

After we returned, we redressed Austin's leg, again. I finally managed to take a picture of it, 11 days later. If you want to see the real gory picture of when he first got his injury, you'll have to contact Jason!

We picked raspberries with Gramms and Abuelo and got cider and donuts on their final day here. It was such a fun visit with them!!