Ironman Muncie 70.3

Well, I did it.

I completed my first half Ironman on July 7th in Muncie.

On a record-setting day of heat.  In fact, it was so hot that the Ironman committee made the call to shorten the course due to the extreme temperatures.  (the shortened distance was 1 mile swim, 30 mile bike, 10K - or 6 miles - run)


Which is the first time in it's 30-year history that the Ironman has had to do this.  Sure, they cancelled races due to inclement whether such as lightening and thunderstorms.  But never have they had to shorten a race due to such extreme heat.  AND, these races are held all over the world....so they know how far they can push it when it comes to heat and humidity.

At first I was disheartened.  Then I became pissed.  I didn't go through all these months of training just to complete a gloried Olympic distance triathlon.  I wanted the chance to endure the pain, the strength, the mental toughness it takes to complete 70.3 miles.

But you know what?  During the run-portion of my race, after running only one mile.  I wasn't so pissed. 

Have you ever swam a mile, biked 30 miles, then run in 105-degree heat, with a heat index of 115 and a humidity level in 90 percentile?!?

Pardon my French, but that shit's hard. 

Do I still want to complete my 70.3 miles?  Heck yeah, I do.  And will I?  No doubt about it!  But am I disappointed that - after all these months, all the blood, sweat, and tears I endured - I wasn't given the chance to do so?

Absolutely not.

Because you know what?

I became an athlete.  I put my body and mind through a test that not many can do.  I dove deep within myself.  When I wanted to give up, when I wanted to sleep in, when I wanted to spend more time at home, when I wanted to watch TV or when I wanted to go out with friends.  I didn't.

I trained. 

And I trained hard.

And I can't wait to do it all over again.

Yes, I know this is gross.
But in a sick and strange way, I've never been more proud of a blister in my life.
You know the saying "Power through the pain?"
Well I did, baby.

Fourth of July

Wow, the 4th of July came and went faster than a firecracker!

Because here I am, on July 31, almost a whole month later, and I've yet to blog about it.

Shameful.

Aaaanywho, the 4th seems to be a fun holiday for me, purely from a decoration/DIY/crafty point-of-view. Because, quite frankly, I'm not a fan of the actual fireworks part. I decorate my house from top to bottom in red, white, and blue decor. I make festive t-shirts for the kids. I even make tasty treats to celebrate our nation's independence. But hearing fireworks go off at all times of the night - continuously - for 2 weeks straight?

Ughh.

Annoying.

What is it, about this holiday, where our nation's finest feel it's perfectly acceptable to light their money on fire? But yet, they can't fathom paying the grocery bill to feed their children's hungry bellies?!?

Whatever. That's a separate issue. This post is about my crazy crafting skillz and to flaunt the adorableness of my kids.

I need to work on my photography skills. Here's a shot of the kid's bathroom.
I LOVE decorating the bathrooms for the holidays!

My crazy, awesome, fun, obnoxious, loud, but always CUTE kids!
With homemade tees by mom, of course.

Thanks to Andy, Emma now makes ridiculous faces whenever I ask her to smile for the camera.
Drewbie's obeying.  Can't you tell that he's saying "Cheeeese."

Painting Emma's flag tee.

Here's the USA "template" I made myself, for Drewbie's tee.

A healthy alternative to a banana split:
strawberry Greek yogurt smeared over a banana, dipped in sprinkles (or chocolate chips) 

Independence Day Punch

My Doo-Doo.
Undoubtedly the cutest little man.
In my world, at least!

Symphony on the Prairie

Seeing as this is our 3rd or 4th year in a row, we seem to have started a tradition of attending Symphony on the Prairie every summer. This year was the music of Queen, and I'll be honest. I wasn't thrilled about going this year. I'm not really a fan of rock music....let along rock music from decades ago. I'm more of your typical Top 20's/Pop type-of-a-gal....with music from the 90's being my favorite. Put on some Salt-N-Pepa sprinkled with a little Bone-Thugs-N-Harmony, topped with Mariah's Dreamlover and I'm all set!

But I digress....

Despite my lack of initial enthusiasm, I sucked it up and headed out to Conner Prairie on a hot and sticky night.

And I'm happy to report that I'm glad I went! The show was really good and the singer was amazing. Even though I'm no expert, the guy who was covering Freddie Mercury (his name is Brody Dolyniuk) was uh-maze-ing. Vocally speaking, he really was a dead-ringer for him! If it wasn't for all the 60-something adults in the audience, you'd think it was him and we were back in 1972!

M.I.B.

Missing. In. Blogging.


Get it?!? GET IT?!?

My blogging take on M.I.A.

God, I'm crack myself up.

Things have been a liiiiiiiiiiittle hectic lately, to put it lightly. Turns out, being a full-time working mom [with a demanding job], training for a 1/2 Ironman, dealing with the death of a close high school friend, planning a fabulous baby shower, going on vacation, all while doing it by myself for 2 out of the last 3 weeks while the hubs is traveling for business....takes a toll on one!

So needless to say, blogging hasn't quite made the priority list.

But I'm back.

And boy, do I have a lot to update you on!

Let's just ease back into this thing niiiiiiiiiiiiice and slow though, whaddayasay? One post at a time.