Hush Little Baby, Don't Say a Word

Sleeping Beauty: Sophie

Sleeping Beauty: Lauren

Little Flirt: Sophie

Singing Baby: Lauren

I've been home for only a few days, and I miss these little girls so much! They have an aunt that is so in love with them. My only problem right now is that they literally have EVERYTHING they could possibly need/want, so I can't even spoil them rotten yet! I had the best time with them and realized while I was in Colorado that there is NO way that I am waiting til July to see them again. I'm just gonna suck it up and get myself a serious frequent flyer account and go see these little squirts every 6-8 weeks for this spring/summer. They literally grow right before your very eyes. Sophie caught up with Lauren in weight and as of last Wednesday they both weighed in at 7 lbs, 3 oz. I think Tina said it's about an ounce a day that they grow!

The Vardos (minus Tina - the photographer)

As I was thinking about coming home, I was excited about getting started on the "real" training. I was ready for a long run in Minneapolis with Roehr and to do some bike shopping in Long Lake. Of course, things didn't workout quite as I would have liked. As I was in the airport leaving Vail, I got word that my grandfather had passed away eariler that morning. My plans changed from Minneapolis to Burlington. Plus the weather decided to prove that winter was not in any way over with yet. In Iowa, I was greeted with a bunch of snow and temps from -10 to 10 above, with 10-20 mph winds. Not exactly my ideal running conditions. So, I hit the treadmill for 4 miles on Friday after work and the bike in the basement for rides of 45 minutes (Saturday morning) and 90 minutes (Sunday afternoon). It wasn't ideal, but I figured I'd start fresh on Monday morning.

I bravely set my alarm for 5am, so I'd have time to snooze once before getting to the pool at 5:30am. I never realized how cold the house is at that hour, til I had to try to convience myself to get out of my warm cozy bed. I did it, though, and got to the pool in time to walk in with another IM Wisconsin athlete (done it twice in the past and doing it again this year). Bad news when we got inside and found no lifeguard. Bitter is the best word to describe me at that point! We waited around til 6am then gave up. I went home and changed into some running clothes and went into work to run on the treadmill.

I finally got my swim workout in over lunch, but the pool was so packed it was hard to get even part of a lane. My schedule was for 2500 yards, which is about 1000-1200 yards more than what I've been doing for the last 3 months, and I about died after the main set. I ended up cutting out the second set of drills and wound up with 2100 yards. It took me about 50 minutes to do that and I was pretty well pooped. It would have just ended up being a sloppy workout after that point, so I called it good.

Now, I'm just tired: both from the early morning and the harder than usual swim workout. I am looking forward to the rest of the week and getting some training under my belt. It's another busy week in the life of this triathlete!