It's December already?!?

Today I had to go to the mall to exchange some things. Wow. Christmas season is full on. Ack. I was just getting used to the idea that Thanksgiving was here.
I must give a shout out to my friends who all crossed that finish line and became Ironmen at IMFL and IMAZ. They all had awesome races and I had such fun watching all of them come across online. I only wish I could have been there in person! Congratulations Molly, Fave, Jill, Trish, Molly W, Mary, Lynne, Annie, Jackie, Kelly, Lisa, Liz, Sarah! So very proud of all of you! Here's the video of Molly crossing the line:

The weekend before Thanksgiving was my third time back on my bike since July. (How scary is that!) Deanna, Jill, SanDee, and I rode on Saturday. I didn't get the memo about someone dropping the hammer, and toward the end of the 30 mile ride I was sucking wind trying to keep up with their 24mph pace. Ooooph. The following day I ran the Turkey Trot course with some IMFL peeps. The weather was gorgeous and warm, and it was nice to spend a Sunday morning running with friends, even running hills.

We had a very nice Thanksgiving weekend. #1 son Jim was able to come home a day early on Wednesday, so we first celebrated his 25th birthday (am I really that old?!) before getting down to the serious eating on Thursday. We love our now-traditional Turkey Trot followed by a tailgate at my car. Very low key race (even if Joe wanted me to try and beat him), and fun gathering of friends before trundling off for family to-dos. I did not beat Joe (he almost got a PR on the course) but was able to break an hour. SanDee's garmin said that the course had almost 1200 feet in elevation gain. No wonder we needed a nap afterwards! This is of me at mile 5:
We then cooked dinner at my Aunt and Uncle's house in Williamsburg. My aunt is battling uterine cancer and is house bound, so dinner came to her. It was very quiet, just the 5 Olivers and them, but very pleasant. We had great discussions about the future of the middle east, given Jim's impending deployment, and especially Iran (my uncle was stationed there during the fall of the Shah) and we watched football.

Sunday I again went riding with SanDee, her husband Gregg and another friend of theirs. 40 miles and 5 counties! The route we took had a little bit of everything: farmland, barking dogs, friendly dogs, lakes, bridges, hills, tailwind and headwind. The weather again was very cooperative, sunny and gorgeous and about 70 degrees. I was a little over-dressed, but better to be taking layers off than freezing. Post ride we all hit the Hanover Tavern for brunch.

I've had my off season, and now the base training is back on. Which means it's time to get back in the pool. I thought I had it well planned when, 3 Mondays ago I showed up at 7:29 for Masters at the Y. John, the coach on deck, said I had a minute to get it done. I thought he meant to get in and warm up, but no. He meant a minute to do the whole workout. Masters, it seems, starts at 6:30, not 7:30, and has since forever. Ooops. Now that Jen also knows that, my Monday workouts in TP say something like "Masters--AT 6:30PM!!" so I can't show up late anymore. I have now made it on time for the past two weeks, and absolutely got my a$$ kicked this week when John put 600m in of both back and breast stroke drills. I really suck at breast stroke, and don't even ask about butterfly. That is NOT in my repertoire. I think I have forgotten how to swim properly regardless of the stroke I'm doing. My shoulder hurts.

I am also trying to figure out how to get in the strength training. I see everyone is enjoying that! I might take Michelle's challenge to heart and see if I can build up to more than 1 pull up (frankly, I don't even think I can do one...that should be fun.)

This coming year I want to nail down my nutrition, both for racing and in general. Joe is in the midst of reading Michael Pollan's In Defense of Food (we've both read The Omnivore's Dilemma) and so he's asking questions about how we can change where/how we get our meat. We are shopping at Whole Paycheck much more and trying to cut down the processed foods that come into the house. It is a challenge with kids--what do you send for snacks other than fruit or pita chips? Joey in particular likes things that are full of unpronounceable stuff, especially the premade frozen waffles, the kind that are chock full of HFCS.

We are looking forward to a quiet Christmas, post party of course. We'll head up to Northern Virginia to see my neice and nephew in the Nutcracker the weekend of the 19th, and then drive to the beach. It'll be our first Christmas holiday actually there for present opening and whatnot. We'll be bringing bikes and games and running gear, and there are always lots of house projects to keep us busy. Sophie will have a great time chasing the birds!