Yellow Crayon

Spring in the Suburbs

This week we’ve been blessed with beautiful weather – right now it’s a 62 lovely degrees. So, like every other house in my neighborhood I’ve got every window in my house open. About a half an hour ago the Rap music started. Shortly thereafter the Country music started.

For awhile I paid little notice…but in the last five minutes a power struggle has erupted. First the Rap music got a little louder, then the Country was turned up…then the Rap, then the Country until I finally had to stop what I was doing and figure out which houses I needed to direct my evil eye towards.

After walking through my whole house and standing in front of every one of my windows with my hands disapprovingly placed on my hips, I’m pretty sure the music is coming from the same place. Evidently the teenagers that live in the house east of my own don’t share a combined love for Toby Keith songs.

Welcome to Multi-Sport Training…Get Out the Tide

Swim. Run. Bike. There is quite a variety of clothing and equipment that accompanies each of those sports. There is the obvious stuff like the bike and the swimsuit and the shoes, but think about it…swimming requires big fluffy beach towels, goggles, swim caps, flip flops (as to avoid the barefoot “walk of shame” to the locker room). Biking requires the fancy pants to protect your “undercarriage”, helmet, gloves, jersey and for a few brave souls (not me) pedal clip-in shoes. Running…yeah, that’s straight forward, top, bottom, shoes. Plus the trusty heart monitor.

Most of this is newly acquired (or borrowed, Thanks Mom!) stuff is strewn about the house so I can keep it all straight. Yes, I realize that is what the garage is for, but my husband has been known to craft ACTUAL furniture in the garage so unless I want sawdust in my stuff, it’s best to keep it strewn about the house.

The clutter doesn’t bother me so much…for a few days I had a great time chasing the dogs with the Yakima bike rack from eBay. Oh, don’t feel back for the dogs…they like being chased around the dining room table. Shut up, they do.

What bothers me is that this much stuff requires constant attention and sometimes special TLC when laundering. If the article in question doesn’t require hand-washing, at the very least it needs to be hung up to dry.

Truth in advertising, people. I agreed to swim, run and bike. I didn’t agree to spend my remaining free time ringing out my bike shorts.

Wave Goodbye to Winter

This whole early Daylight Savings Time thing could have gone badly. We could have found ourselves with an extra hour of sunshine and an extra few inches of snow, it’s Utah after all. But Mother Nature smiled on us and is giving us what appears (by a local forecasts) to be a beautiful week. So get out there - defy the last week of Winter…throw the ball for the dog, dust off the bikes (road, mountain or motor), crack open the windows, buy some new houseplants, go to the driving range (woo! I’m a “natural” according to my husband) or take the kiddos somewhere neat to tucker them OUT.

Overheard in the Restroom

Older sister to her clearly uncomfortable little brother in the women’s restroom– “If you get stolen Mom will kick my butt…I’LL get in trouble if you get stolen, not you.”

I love kid logic.

No issue with the fact that if little brother gets stolen, it will suck for him…oh, no. Big sister will get in trouble and that’s just unacceptable.

Mama’s Mix

Once upon a time a girl that loved music (but possessed ZERO musical ability) landed a job at a radio station and felt the joy of working in the relative vicinity of folks that made actual musical decisions. That girl was me and after many years of unbridled radio joy, I bumped into Rachael and landed a gig working for her at TodaysMama…one perk, out of what seems like hundreds, is that I get to manage the Mama’s Mix section of the website.

One feature of the Mama’s Mix section that I am particularly passionate about is the “Staff Pick of the Week”. Our hope is that this feature of the site will serve as a virtual conversation about music between friends – no music degrees here, just a few recommendations in terms that (hopefully) the average music lover will find useful. Here are a few…

Corinne Bailey Rae, Corinne Bailey Rae

Did you see the fabulous woman that performed along side John Mayer and John Legend at the Grammy’s? That lovely songstress was my new favorite female artist, Corinne Bailey Rae. Her self titled album makes me feel instantly refined and stylish – the vibe of this album makes any activity feel classy, whether you’re hosting a dinner party or dusting the living room. The track list offers a well rounded album in both content and style, it’s too hard to pick a favorite track…so I’ve settled on four; “Put Your Records On”, “Trouble Sleeping”, “I’d Like To” and “Butterfly”.

The Killers, Sam’s Town

I’ll spare you the “best album ever” comments that are being tossed to and fro about the latest Killers album because I don’t want you to think that we at TodaysMama are just a bunch of bandwagon jumpers. Having said that, the album is darn good and it’s become one of our favorites around here…meetings have been delayed as we argue about our favorite song on the album – we’ve come to an impasse on “Sam’s Town” versus “Read My Mind”.

Ok Go, Master the Treadmill with Ok Go

Consider this album the most awesome two-for-one deal ever to cross your path. Why? Because it includes 12 individual tracks that are perfectly arranged for cardio interval training AND a 31-minute continuous mix where you are coached to treadmill mastery by Ok Go lead singer Damian Kulash.

If you’ve ever had a bad group class experience and find the idea of some spandex clad person shouting things like “Yeah, pump it!” repulsive then you’ll love the “Master the Treadmill” track. It’s like having your very own private trainer -Kulash guides you through the interval training in terms that novices and marathoners alike will find helpful. If your not a treadmill fan, the individual tracks work equally well for stationary bikes, elliptical machines, stair masters or even cruising through the neighborhood behind a jogging stroller.

On a musical note – this album is made up of genuine hits; don’t be surprised if you find yourself listening to it off the treadmill. Just remember, speed intervals behind the wheel of your car are a bad idea. (Available only through iTunes & Nike+)

John Mayer, Continuum

Every so often you get lucky. The stars line up perfectly and you purchase an album that becomes more than just background noise, more than just a catchy collection to tap your toe to. It becomes the CD that you drag from house to car to work and back again every day for weeks. Continuum by John Mayer one of those rare treasures. I was urged to purchase by my friendly neighborhood Starbucks Barista, who proudly deemed it “the best EVER” and if you think for one minute I got duped into a $17 up sell, think again. This girl had the kind of wide eyed enthusiasm for this album that I haven’t seen since my college roommate burst into our apartment waving around Sarah McLachlan’s Surfacing.

Continuum has a nice variety in sound and themes – the writing is clever, reflective and wise. It’s tough to pick a favorite track, the more I listen to the album the more I find to appreciate in every song. But if someone threatened to delete every John Mayer song off my iPod except for one, I would save The Heart of Life from Continuum for its realistic and optimistic take of life.

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I’ll be posting new picks weekly – if you have an album that you think would make a great addition to the Mama’s Mix page, shoot me a comment.

Minivan Motivation

From the Mamas In Training Blog...

We each now have our “official” training schedule from Coach Dave and all I have to say is…um…wow. The schedule outlines what I’m expected to do everyday for the next eleven weeks, right up to May 19^th that reads “Race Day” in red. Now that’s not to say that we’re all training every single day, but on days we’re not required to train, we’re required to “rest”. Sweet.

Yesterday I tackled my first run, which I’ve been avoiding since I LOATH RUNNING. It was a simple run – 30 minutes at a reasonable heart rate. So I slapped on my running shoes, had a whole clothing issue (42 degrees, will I be cold?), had where-do-I-put-my-house-key issue (no pockets in my fleece-lined pants) and off I went to run through the neighborhood.

As I began I realized that a 30 minute run was simply not going to happen for me, so I settled into a 2 minute walk/3 minute run interval. Here’s a fun fact – when I use the cardio machines at the gym I have my iPod blasting, so imagine my surprise to find that I’m a WHEEZER! I literally wheeze like an old man when I run. Sweet.

The first 15 minutes of my interval run went okay. But as I turned towards home the intervals got harder. The wheeze got louder. The long-sleeved black t-shirt and fleece lined track pants got warmer (here’s a tip – 42 degrees, yeah, that’s shorts and t-shirt weather if you’re running). And the positive thoughts that had sustained me through the first 15 minutes were LONG GONE…replaced with frustration and anxiety.

As I was running and hating every part of my body that was jiggling as I ran, a light blue minivan past me and slowed to a stop about a 100 feet in front of me and rolled down the passenger side window. I figured that they were lost and wanted directions so I happily slowed to a wheezing walk as I got closer. When reached the van, the driver, a woman not much older than me, leaned over and said “I just wanted to tell you that you’re awesome! I should be out here with you!” I was stunned. It was the last thing that I expected to hear.

I was red-faced, wheezing and surprised, so I didn’t muster much other than a very grateful “Thank you! You just made my whole day.” She really did.

First Miracle of 2007

I did not, in fact, die of embarrassment at swim training last week! You can see my Triathlon training update at Mamas In Training.

But while I’m at it, here are a few things I learned at the pool last week…

1. A Swim Cap does not keep your hair dry. It keeps your stupid hair out of your eyes and mouth.
2. Swimming is a SERIOUS calorie burner. If you swim and then don’t eat for, say, seven hours you will get a blindingly painful headache.
3. Even in the dead of winter, pack some damn flip flops in your gear bag. Walking barefoot through the gym from the pool to the locker room because your feet are wet and you don’t want to put on your socks and sneakers doesn’t make you an athlete. It makes you white trash.

Up For a Swim?

Oh. Well. CRAP. I did not realize when I agreed to do a Triathlon with my employers that I would have to show up in the dead of winter in a bathing suit to train for the swimming portion of the race. I don’t know why that fact didn’t ring big ‘ol loud warning bells in my head. I thought I would be able to die of bathing suit mortification in the privacy of my very own community aquatics center. I was under the impression that the only time my dang bosses would see me in my swimsuited glory would be on race day.

I was wrong.

They will see me in my pasty white glory approximately 25 hours from now. Oh and to top of the hotness, we’ll be training in super cool swim caps. Maybe I’ll get really lucky and find a swim cap is some god-awful color that will attract attention AWAY from my thighs…perhaps one with blinking LED lights and a propeller. That would definitely do the trick.

This is starting to appear official.

What started as an extracurricular endeavor to get Rachael, Stephanie and me in shape has turned into a 12-week program involving an ACTUAL triathlon coach. Tanya, who’s personal motto seems to be “I do more before 9:00 A.M. than all of you jokers do all day”, has convinced Dave Pruetz at In Training to take on our motley crew of wannabe Triathletes and get us ready for the Women’s Sprint Distance Triathlon on May 19^th.

To be honest, I thought he might turn us away when he saw the project facing him – all three of us are at different fitness levels (or lack thereof) but he pretty much brushed that fact off with “I got a guy ready for Iron Man in only two months.”

Yeah but did that guy have my ass? Doubt it.

A Challenge Has Been Leveled

It started as a business planning meeting…it ended with “We’re doing a Triathlon”. Um. What?

How did I let this happen?  Steph made this happen, with her unbridled enthusiasm for sports and activity. I let her woo me into thinking I could do a triathlon with her big encouraging smile. This must be how crack addicts get started, some joker with a glint in their eye says “Come on, you can do it!” The only thing is that Steph will ride my butt to train with the intensity that could buckle a drill sergeant.

So…it looks like I’m doing a Triathlon with a nine time marathon runner. Oh and lest we forget…Steph is one of my bosses. This ought to be good.