Reward if Found

REWARD!

On Monday, September 22 the above pictured bike was stolen

$15 reward, no questions asked, for its safe return.

So last week, Porter's bike got stolen from the school. Pretty sad that someone would stoop so low as to steal a kid's bike. Anyway, I was thinking of posting a sign of my cute Porter on his bike to see if we could get it back. Luckily, it was just a $3 D.I. bike, but I still need to replace it.

Olympic Distance Triathlon, Take 2

So I competed in my second olympic distance tri last week. I hadn't done much tri specific training for it since most of my energy was being focused on the marathon, but I felt prepared.

A week and half before the race, I started swimming in the lake again with friends. I didn't waste too much energy trying to improve because I couldn't get any worse, so maybe I could get a little better. I was able to borrow a friend's tri long-john wetsuit. I credit it for all of my improvement in the swim.

I wasn't too nervous for the race because I wasn't super prepared. I just wanted to have fun and maybe not be the last out of the water and maybe improve my time a bit from the last one.

All three expectations were met and actually far exceeded.

Swim - 1500 m - 40:20
There were actually 5 women behind me in the swim. I remind you, all credit goes to the wet suit. The swim course kind of sucked, though. It was two 750 m loops. And you had to get out of the water and run around a pole between loops. And there was plenty of opportunity for the sprint tri folks to swim right over you like you aren't even there. I just kept saying to myself as they swam over me, "at least I am doing the olympic distance."

I was super happy with my swim time. 12 minutes faster than the last one, but I think this course was shorter.

T1 - 0:53
I love that this transition was under 1 minute, even with the full wet suit which is harder to get off.

Bike - 25 miles - 1:18:20
I felt good on the bike and thought I did okay. I was slower than the last one, but the course was different. I wasn't as fast compared to the leaders as the last one, but I still felt good. I think this tri brought a few tougher competitors. I was less than 5 minutes slower on the bike than the girl who won the Summer Games Tri where I was 7 minutes slower than her. She is from Cedar so I get to see her at a lot of races, so I think she is a good gauge.

T2 - 0:47
Again, happy with the transition, although I would like to get this one closer to 30 seconds. I stopped for a drink, when I should have been hydrating on the bike.

Run - 6.2 miles - 52:56
They changed the run course as well and not for the better. It was way tough! It was in the desert instead of on the road. It included deep sand, steep rocky climbs, loose rocks, and two loops of it all. I was slower than Summer Games, although I was in much better running shape. But I just blame it all the course. Luckily, my training bud was right in front of me getting off the bike so she could be my rabbit on the run. I just tried to stay in close contact with her. But I will admit I walked up the steepest hill both times (but I didn't see anyone running up it) and I even walked up the less steep hill on the second loop (many ran, but not all and I was dying).

Total Time - 2:53:18
All in all, I am happy with this race. I was closer to the winner than Summer Games and it was great fun! Now I just need to get my own wet suit and next year, I may focus a little more on the tris.

click here for full results. And click here for photos of the race. I was number 452.

Reducing my Carbon Footprint, Part III

My favorite way to reduce my carbon footprint also reduces the amount of money I spend on gasoline and my waist size.

Ride Instead of Drive

All summer and even now, in the fall, we try to ride our bikes everywhere in town. Porter is old enough and a good enough biker to ride his bike the few miles it takes to get anywhere in Hurricane and I have a trailer to carry the other two.

My parent laughed at me at the beginning of the summer when I told them I planned to ride everywhere. But we did pretty well.

In the summer, we rode to the gym at 9. Some days we would hit the library for storytime on the way home or the store for some groceries. Later in the day we would ride to Snowcaps for a treat or to violin lessons for Porter. It would get pretty hot, but Snowcaps are a great cool treat and well worth the hot ride.

Now that school has started, we still ride. I take Porter and a bunch of neighborhood kids to school in the morning, then hit the gym with the two little ones. Then, we go to the library twice a week and maybe hit the store. We go out again in the afternoon to pick up Porter and the others. We ride to violin lessons. But I do have to admit, we usually end up driving to dance lessons. I ride by myself to meet a friend for runs in the mornings. We ride to pick up or drop a movie at the Red Box.

I love doing this with the kids. We have saved so much gas. Porter has become a great cyclist. James loves to ride in the trailer. I enjoy the added bonus workouts. (They are short, but the ride home is up quite a steep hill with a bunch of extra weight.) I am teaching my kids the value of riding instead of driving. And I am doing a little bit to save the environment.

Porter's First Race

Sorry for the lack of posting this summer. Life has been crazy, fun, busy.

Porter ran his first race this summer. We all participated in the Washington County Fair 5K and 1-mile run. It was put on by the high school cross country coach, who is also in our ward. Great race Shelly!!

This picture is just the racers from our ward. We were the definite majority.

Tom and I ran the 5K and had lots of fun competing against the high school cross country team. Unfortunately for Tom, the boys team is very fast. We both placed first in our age groups, though and got some really fun pottery vases. Tom finished in 19:58, but had been sick all week. I finished in 21:28 and was ecstatic. Click here for complete results.

But the highlight of the day was when Porter crossed the finish line of the one-mile race.
He ran the whole thing and finished in just under 12 minutes. We were very proud parents. And he is already training for his next race: the Pumpkin Run in November at his school. I'm in charge so he has to do it. He is actually very excited, especially since I promised to buy him Jelly Belly Sport Beans for his next race and he wants to train on the treadmill all the time.

Bryce Canyon Half Marathon

Wow, it's been a busy month. Much has happened since I last posted: a few races, a few meals, a birthday, the start of school, to name just a few.

We took a mini vacation to Bryce Canyon and participated in the Bryce Canyon Half-Marathon with my dad and sister and camped at the luxurious Ruby's Inn RV Park and campground. No tee-pee this year, just our 300 square foot tent and the occasional shelter of my parents trailer. But we did get to enjoy the traditional Bear Fiddling Festival again including the cotton candy, burgers, and homemade root beer.

But the excuse for the whole trip was the race. It is nice course, with the first half being very fast. The course winds down from Ruby's Inn at an elevation of 7652 down to Cannonville with an elevation of 5800.

My dad took 5th in his age group, despite having a less than perfect race.

My sister, Suzanne finished in barely over 2 hours and placed 8th in her age group and looked hot doing it in her super cute running skirt. Apparently they are all the rage now.

Tom, the speed demon, finished 20th overall in a time of 1:27:14. And this was in spite of being at the end of horrible bug that ripped through our family's tummies.

I PR'ed with a time of 1:41:19 and finished 22nd among 400 plus women. I was very happy. My goal was 1:40, but I don't think I could have gone any faster. The first half of the course is much faster than the second half. I was on or ahead of pace until mile 10 and then I just did my best to not fall too far behind my goal.

Click here for all the results from this year's race.

We officially challenge my sister, Rachel, and her husband to this race next year and anyone else who wants to take the challenge. We want to make this one an annual tradition.

Sunday Dinner Standby

There is a meal that I often fall back to on Sundays. It is easy to make. I typically have the ingredients on hand. I can make it in the summer or the winter. The kids will eat it. And most importantly, it is delicious.

Roast chicken with roasted new potatoes is my fall back Sunday meal. Many fall back to a pot roast, but we actually try not to eat beef at our house (ask Tom about it, it's his thing) but we do love a classic roast chicken. Crispy, flavorful skin on the outside protects the inside and keeps it moist and wonderful.

It is meal you can make when it is 30 outside or 100. When it is cool, cook it in your oven and let the aroma and warmth fill the house. When it is blistering hot, cook it on the grill and let your neighbors get jealous as the aromas waft over to their yard while you enjoy iced lemonade in your air conditioned house (83 degrees inside is darn cool when it is 110 outside).

Here are my recipes for

Classic Roast Chicken

1 3-4 lb whole chicken (I love the chickens at Costco. They always seem to turn out perfectly and

they are only 99 cents a pound.)
4 T. butter
1-2 T. minced garlic
salt, pepper, and herbs, to taste

Remove the gizzards, neck etc (if any) from the cavity of the bird. Loosen the skin around the breast with hand. Tuck 2 T. butter under the skin. Place the rest in the cavity. Pile on the garlic and season generously with salt, pepper, and dried or fresh herbs. Place in baking dish, with the breast up (I always do a chicken dance to figure out which side is the breast) and bake in 350 degree oven or preheated grill on medium-low about 1.5 hours or until a thermometer placed between the leg and thigh reads 165. Baste often with the drippings. This is where you get the crispy skin and it helps keep the rest of the bird moist. Let the chicken rest 10 minutes after taking it off the grill. This gives the juices a chance to go back in to the meat, otherwise all the yummy moistness will be in the pan as soon as you slice the bird.

Roasted New Potatoes

2-3 lbs. potatoes (new potatoes are best, but any type will work. I always leave the skin on, even with russets.)
1/2 onion, chopped
A few splashes of oil
2 T minced garlic
1-2 T herbs de Provence (or Italian seasoning)
Seasoning salt, pepper

Cut the potatoes into 1-inch wedges. (I usually cut in half and then cut each half into 4-6 pies slices). Place in bowl, splash on plenty of oil, garlic, and season generously. Give it a good stir and place on a baking sheet or pan in a single layer. The key is a single layer. This lets the potatoes get crispy on the outside, while keeping their softness inside. Bake in 350 degree oven or on the grill with the chicken for about 1 hour. Flip the potatoes once or twice while baking.

Now I need some a good veggie to go with this meal. Sometimes, we do grilled veggies with balsamic vinegar and soy sauce (asparagus, zucchini, peppers). Last week, we had spaghetti squash from a neighbor's garden.

What is your favorite Sunday standby meal?

Apricot Upside-Down Cake

Here is the last of the father's day recipes. Porter wanted to make dad an apricot cake (remember we had an over abundance of apricots) so I found this recipe for apricot upside-down cake. I think I followed it pretty much exactly. It turned out deliciously moist. How could it not, with all that butter.

This might be fun to try in a dutch oven while camping. I wonder if it would work.