Triathlon

New Years Resolution No 4 has been completed. Yesterday I competed in the MORE FM triwoman event in Palmerston North.

Let me just say this from the outset - it wasn't a race. I wasn't out to beat anyone. I entered it just for the challenge of competing and the thrill of finishing.

I did my first triathlon in January 2005 along with my friend Tess, back when we lived in Auckland and before I had kids. I still remember the incredible buzz I got just from crossing the finish line. It was probably the biggest physical challenge I'd ever done at that stage.

And since then I've always wanted to do it again. But in January 2006 Kathleen was born. January 2007 we'd just moved to Wellington and that's no excuse but I made it my excuse anyway because I was too intimidated to do it without a friend. January 2008 Victoria was only 2 months old. But by January 2009 I had no excuse. Well, I could have used the "I've just moved house and don't have anyone to do it with" excuse, but I've really been kicking myself for doing that last time and I wasn't going to put it off again. So I set myself the challenge and entered.

Training has been a problem. Basically there hasn't been any. I look after the children all day long. And lately if I do get a break I've been busy working outside on the farm, taking care of the garden/weeds mostly, or working inside on unpacking our stuff still. In the evenings after the girls are in bed I'm usually too tired to do anything. A professional triathlete yesterday said she has kids (older), works full time and has a lifestyle block the same size as ours - so she gets up at 5am to train. Well bugger that! I need my sleep.

So I set off yesterday for the triathlon not having done any training at all. I haven't been swimming since the last triathlon I did. I've only ridden a bike once since then, and that was only to the shops and back.

I found I wasn't as nervous as last time. Maybe that's because I kinda knew what to expect.

The swim was six lengths of the outdoor pool at the Lido Aquatic Centre. I expected this to be pretty tough and it was. I can swim well enough, but I don't have much strength so I was pretty slow. Hopping out of the pool and running to the transition area to get my bike, my legs were pretty wobbly.

The bike leg went from the Lido to the edge of town and back again via the riverside drive. There were two laps of this course. Last time around I surprised myself by finding the cycle leg pretty easy and was passing people all over the place. This time around I found it more difficult and people were passing me. I'm wondering if maybe I didn't use the gears on the bike properly. I pretty much stayed in the same gear the whole time and had a very steady rythym going, but it wasn't fast.

Getting off the bike at the end my legs felt like jelly. It was hard to walk, let alone run. But I set off at a very slow jog around the course which wound through The Esplanade to the river, and back along Fitzherbert Ave to the BP and then across Manawaroa Park to the finish line. Last time around I found the running leg the hardest. This time around I was able to keep running for about 90% of the time, albeit at a very slow jog at first as my legs just wouldn't work. I ran the final leg acros the field (500 metres?) and crossed the finish line tired but happy.

I got my results off the web last night. I didn't do as well as I did in 2005 but I guess that's to be expected from not training. I did about the same in the swim, worse in the cycling but better in the running. I'm not sure why that is. I think because last time around I used to regularly do aerobics at the gym once a week, I had more strength. But for the last four years my only form of exercise has been regularly walking around Island Bay, either pushing a stroller or carrying a child. So I think my endurance has increased because pushing a buggy uphill while also carrying groceries is certainly not easy.

Overall though I'm happy with my results.

I would like to challenge my Palmerston North based friends to join me next year. With their buy-in maybe we can find some time to train together and do even better next year!!!

-Megz

Three Years Old

Kathleen is now three years old. This morning we were reminiscing, looking at photos from her second birthday. That feels like so long ago now, much more than a year ago. She has grown up so much since then...

• Physically her hair is much longer, and she has the physique of a child now, not a toddler any more.
• Her language skills are humungous (sp?) (one of her favourite words at the moment).
• She can count to 20 (but misses out 15 most of the time).
• She can read all the numbers.
• She knows her ABC's (the song that is).
• She can read a lot of the letters now, thanks mostly to the letter floor puzzle / mat that Victoria got for Christmas as we spend a lot of time jumping from letter to letter.
• She can run, jump (up and forward), dance, stand on one foot, hop, walk along a concrete wall.
• She is toilet trained and can go by herself (but chooses not to).
• She can undress herself and can dress herself but often gets stuck or frustrated and needs help. Or takes too long and Mummy does it for her.

Kathleen's favourite game at the moment is "Grandma Bunny", a game she made up herself. The game starts off with Kathleen being Grandma Bunny and I am the good little girl coming to visit Grandma. I come in and Grandma shows me the toys to play with. We then proceed to play with the toys. Sometimes Grandma and I go different places and play with the toys there. Sometimes Grandma will cook me dinner and we will eat then go to bed. That's my favourite part of the game ;-)

For her birthday this year, Kathleen got two presents - a dolls house and a castle. The figurines for the dolls house and the castle go visiting each other quite a lot. Kathleen has always loved dolls houses. At playgroup or creche or Playcentre, the dolls house has always been the first thing she goes for. So we really should have bought her one a long time ago. But we waited to get a really nice one and then gave it to her for her birthday. It is a large wooden house with four rooms. She loves it. Every day whenever she has downtime (i.e. whenever Mummy is busy) Kathleen can be found playing with the dolls. Victoria loves it too.

In the afternoon, the girls and I drove to Palmerston North and we had a birthday lunch at Lollipops with some friends. Kathleen had a lovely time. Afterwards we went to ToyWorld so she could choose some dolls to go with her dolls house. We had pancakes for breakfast and her favourite Moroccan "Ramoccan" Lamb for dinner. And a rainbow birthday cake.

So this year the goals are to continue learning to recognise letters, learning to write letters and to read simple words. Continuing learning to dress herself. This is more of a goal for Mummy - stop trying to help and let her do it herself. The same goes for things like cutting her food, buttering her bread, brushing her teeth, etc.

We will also have the challenge of finding a new preschool for Kathleen, and I would like to think that by this time next year she will have a friend or two in the area. It has been hard on her not having any friends. She had friends in Auckland but then we moved to Wellington and had trouble meeting anyone her age. Then when she started creche at the beginning of last year we made some tentative friendships. Only for us to then decide to move house again and so we held back from making more friends. But I would really like for my girls to start getting to know other kids now.

Three is an amazing age. So much a child now, no longer a baby. Someone famous said something like "show me the child at three and I'll show you the man". (Actually I just googled that and it's a Jesuit saying and about 7 year olds so not quite what I had in mind. What I meant was that at three your true personality becomes apparent). It's so true. Kathleen's personality is well and truely set in. She's a quiet, indoor girl. She likes to be entertained, in the form of TV, books or computer games. But at the same time she's a big show off and loves to be the centre of attention, whether it's dancing, telling stories or just being a goofball. Her whole focus of attention is toys. Whenever we go somewhere her only concern is whether or not they have toys there. I would like to hope that this means she will have a happy childhood, as so far she is pretty easily pleased ... as long as there are toys to play with!!!

First Birthday


Second Birthday


Third Birthday


-Megz

Potty Training Part III

Kathleen's toilet training has been going pretty well. She stopped wearing nappies during the day in June and although she still has the occasional accident, most of the time she will announce in a loud voice when she needs to go, or else I will ask her if she needs to and she will say "yes" or (usually) "no".

She's still been wearing nappies overnight though. A lot of the time they are dry when she gets up in the morning. So at New Years I decided to take the plunge and stop wearing overnight nappies. We put a potty in her room and explained that if she needed to go she should get out of bed and use the potty.

The first week went really well and she would get out of bed before going to sleep and use the potty, just for the fun of it I think.

But then she started wetting the bed. Not every night. But in the last three weeks she has done it five times. That's about a quarter of the time.

Should I be worried? I don't think so. I think she'll get the hang of it eventually. What I'm not sure of is if she's losing control while she's asleep or not. Because if so then I don't know how we teach her otherwise.

Luckily we've got a new washing machine now and the weather has been good enough to be able and wash and dry the sheets so often. Our old washing machine broke down just before we moved and was going to cost $6,000 (!!!) to repair or $600 to buy a new one.

-Megz

New Years Resolution

1. Blog more often. At least once a month on this blog, and once a week on my farming blog. Plus help Kathleen and Victoria to blog once a month too.

2. Find more time for myself to relax, play Sims, read, etc. Victoria has dropped down to one nap a day now. Her bedtime is now coming into line with Kathleen's at 8 o'clock. It used to be when she had two naps a day that her second nap would be quite late in the afternoon, waking up around 5pm. Therefore not being ready for bed till 9pm or later. Now she's usually shattered by 8.30. So there is an extra hour in the evenings that I didn't have before and can schedule some 'me' time on a regular basis.

3. Toilet train Kathleen at night. More to come on this in another post.

4. Complete the women’s triathlon in Palmerston North on the 24th of January. I've officially entered, so keep an eye out here later in the month to see how I did.

-Megz