Just an update

Haven't blogged anything down in a while, so thought I'd offer an update of the family and I over the last few weeks.

On Labor Day, Brady and Alex ran a 1K race. This was Brady's second race and he's getting faster each time he's done one. He's really getting the hang of pacing and racing. Didn't get his final time, but he's getting pretty quick. And Alex did his first 1K...ran the whole thing and didn't even walk once! Not bad for a 2 year old!!

Melanie has gotten the triathlon bug. She's picked up swimming pretty fast, which was her biggest unknown. She's quite good on the bike, but the run is her limiter. She just didn't grow up as a runner, but she's getting much better for someone who hasn't/doesn't run a lot. I like that she's getting into it, and she's been able to keep a great balance between work, family, training, and finishing her last 2 classes before sitting for the CPA exam. I think the hard part for me is to sit back. I'd love to just tell her what to do and when to do it, but I'm only offering up advice if she wants it. Her first race is coming up next weekend, October 4th, and then we'll do a race together: the Monster Tri on October 25th in Keller, TX.

Our race together has prompted me to start training again. Wow, am I out of shape! But I'm having fun and setting realistic goals. I'm trying to get in 3-7 hrs of training per week, which I don't think is too much to ask of myself. Bike and run are going okay, but I have yet to swim since April!!! Swimming is on my list this week.

Brady and Alex are getting hooked on running and riding bikes. We usually go out every Sunday and ride around Lake Benbrook with me toting the boys in the trailer. They love it and it gives Melanie and I some time in the saddle. It's definitely a good workout for me...not so much for Melanie as she has to slow down to wait for me a lot. Hauling an extra 100lbs up hills is hard! In addition to our regular family ride, the boys ask to go ride bikes or run around the neighborhood a lot. Brady will run a mile with me around our neighborhood, and our neighborhood is pretty darn hilly. Brady is signed up to do his first real triathlon on October 24th!! He's done a small, mock one I set up for him in our neighborhood before, but this one will be the real deal. He's so excited, and I'm excited for him. It's going to be so much fun.

Brady started soccer back up again. He's not quite as much of a standout as he was last season. Last year in the games I kept track of goals, he scored 12 of his team's 18. He was a force to be reckoned with! This year, he's got about 3 or 4 other kids who are all really good. But he's still the fastest of the bunch!!! The coach said to me after his 2nd game, "Wow, he is really fast." I don't know what to say...that kid loves running. But he's done well in his first 2 games so far. Scored 3 goals in his first game, but I wasn't happy with his attention span. I mean he was twirling all over the place in la-la land, falling down just to fall down...sigh. Surprised he even scored at all! I don't care how "good" or "bad" he plays, all I ask of him is to pay attention and try his best. Saturday's game, his second, was much better. He put real effort into paying attention and he was outstanding. Scored 6 goals and came back on defense to steal the ball numerous times. I think the other team only scored 1--maybe zero, actually--and Brady's team had about 20 (told ya he's got a bunch of good kids on his team!). I felt bad for the other team, but they still looked like they were having fun, which is all that matters. Their goalie was so cute...everytime he made a save, he'd run over to his dad with the ball and say how many times he's stopped the ball so far. "Dad, that's the fifth time I stopped it!" Too cute. And he was pretty damn good at goalie, too. Made some really good saves.

Well, that's some of the highlights over the last few weeks. More to come I'm sure now that soccer season is in full-swing and Melanie and Brady have triathlons coming up. Poor Alex gets so frustrated because he wasn't to do a triathlon and play soccer, too. Maybe when he's 3 he can get started.