WhirlWind

The past week has gone past like a hurricane!  Speaking of Hurricanes we are watching one make its' way closer daily at the moment, Irene raising some hell south of us and at the moment Im thinking we here will get nothing but some crappy wind and rain (nothing to be excited about but it messes with my running) of course this could change at any moment. 

So after work last Thursday I met the kids at the pool and Scott showed up without Taylor. ARGH. She was off with someone else and he didnt track her down til it was too late so she missed her lesson and the other two had a shortened lesson; someone double booked their instructor and it took them 10 minutes of their 30 minute lesson to sort that out :(:(:(:( lucky they dont care. So I had 20 minutes of laps and managed 24 laps of 25 m in that time; .6 km done.  It was refreshing :) Omg it is hard to swim with a snotty nose;)

Friday I did a lunchtime run of 5 km with Dara from the college; Im getting better at running in the heat :) It was about 25 C and although hot and sweaty I didnt feel like DYING.  lol. Still sick tho.  The kids were set for swimming lessons and me for laps after work but there was a pool "fouling" and swimming lessons were cancelled.  I just wanted to go home very badly LOL to get some sleep WISHFUL.

Saturday was a rest day. I don't remember much about Saturday.  There just isnt anything on the training schedule. I might have taken the kids to the pool. I might not have.

Sunday I was up early and out the door by 7 (still later than I planned) for a long run. I mapped out 29 km, and Scott met me at aboutn 16 km for a gatorade refil. This 29 map was the one we ran often last year; familiar but not one I do alone. It feels like I was WAY out there.  Scott had the kids at a farm nearby washing and clipping their calves.  At least if I had needed I could have called. The pace was slow; the first hour was cloudy but the sun returned and heat ramped up.  It was a hot hot day.  I left from home and ran to town, to North River, and back to home. It was nice. And long long.  lol  29 is getting to feel long.  I ate half a Cliff Bar at about an hour and a half. Didnt feel like eating the other half ever.

When I was near home I ran out of water and I should have been able to be ok rest of the way home but of course Scott and kids drove by and I was like...water? They had none and I almost melted into a puddle ;) Scott went home and brought me back a part bottle of Gatorade and I drank that on the rest of the way home.  Ran up the soul sucking hill!!!

29 km in 3:17.  Time suck.

Then the chaos began.  Scott went to Ex to get show stuff ready while I took the kids to Lisa's bridal shower which was nice...low key. I was SO tired. And didnt feel like eating; I had an omelet after my shower and that was LOTS.  I drank punch like it was going to be gone forever; I had water as well.  Couldnt get enough to drink.  Maybe the cold, maybe the run; I was never dehydrated but felt parched!  And tired.

After the party we went to Ex grounds where Scott wasn't; so we went home to get 4H projects collected. I layed down for a bit; then remembered my OWN knitting projects I had wanted to enter; I started to block the socks but realised it was after 4 and deadline was 4 pm; no Ex exhibits for me this year.
We gathered projects and entered them in the Ex; Annika's Cloverbud box, Holly's Scrapbooking, Taylor's foods. AND OMG we forgot to make Annika's cookies and I forgot how long Taylor's bread takes; we worked at the display and waited for calves for awhile then I took 3 screaming kids home to bake while Scott got the calves in.  The kids needed sleep. Taylor did not make bread. She made something else; oatmeal Craisin Snack Cake yummy!  Annika's cookies were flat; too much lard.

Monday morning wasn't too rushed; It was day 1 of 4H at the Ex,Scott took kids in,  Calves were in but not showing yet; we got the Guniea Pigs in, they seem fine; finished up and entered the rest of the of the lifeskills projects, and I got there in time for my scrapbook members to do the Scrapbooking Competition; Holly did great once she understood what to do!  One of my members won it!

There was a bit of downtime on Monday, I had to take Taylor shopping for some whites and we also got some pants and shoes for her to show the dog in; We picked up the dogs and got them back to the Ex for the dog show.  (I think Im missing stuff).  The girls took hours to show the dogs in Showmanship and Obedience.  It was fun but a lot of waiting around.  :D Holly was SO terrified!  But she did super well, 5th in Showmanship and something similar in Obedience. Taylor was around 3rd for Showmanship (behind some experienced juniors) and Maybe 4rth ish in Obedience?  I would have to check.
Monday night was a late night. Directly after dog show was tug-of-war and Holly was on that team. I love tug of war.  I find it exciting.  They won their first pull.  Then we settled the animals and went home.

Tuesday morning was early for Taylor and Holly; they got up and to barn by 6 am to wash and ready their calves.  Annika and I slept in, did laundry and tidied yard, and then just before we were ready to go in to see the Dairy showmanship start, ZOEY disappeared!  Brat. we couldnt find her so we left her out. ALL DAY.  I don't think she made a lot of chaos in the neighborhood. At least no one mentioned it to me.

Dairy show was excellent. Showmanship was a nail biter; Taylor was in first place at the start; the judge could not decide between she and Lane, he had them switch calves and the deciding moment I believe came when Taylor didnt set up the front feet so well; she ended up second place :(   Holly was disappointed with her 6th place finish; I try to remind her it's only her second year and she was 6th out of...I dunno, 22 juniors?  But she takes this all very seriously.
There was a tug of war between the dairy classes Which the team did not win.  they pulled very hard!
 After lunch there were Dairy Conformation classes; these went well, with Holly's calf pulling a surprise (for me anyway) close second place; could have gone either way.  Taylor's calf was first in it's class (not so much a surprise).  Taylor's calf ended up Reserve Champion Holstein and Calf overall. A good day for Taylor :)  Both calves are going to Pro Show.

 

In the midst of the Dairy Calf class the girls showed their Guinea Pigs with Taylor getting second in showmanship and Champion piggy; she was thrilled with Trufflebutt!  Holly got third place ribbons for her Guiness! 

There was some more tug of war with a win and a loss; putting the club in third place overall.  there was a Grand Champion Showmanship class that Taylor was in; It was long and she babbled all the way through, no idea where she placed but her Guinea Pig sure did have quite a time; no one knows how to show Guinea pigs!

And there was a 4H parade and awards; the club did well and it was all fun and thankfully, over!  We got home relatively early (7? 730?) and dealt with the neglected house and collapsed into bed.

So no running on Monday or Tuesday at all!  SIGH.  It's all good, I was on my feet ALL day.

Wednesday was the Open Dairy show where the girls showed their calves and Annika had a calf to show as well, Gossip ;) Happy results all around; Holly's calf beat the calf that beat it the day before, Annika got ribbons for her calf and for showing, Taylor's calf was Honourable Mention Junior. 

After I went back to work I had a run with Dara!  Running again was nice; the temps not so much. It's been a hot sunny week!  5 km in 31:43.  After work I had the kids into the pool for lessons and went for a run; not so much a run as a hill workout ;) I ran down trails to Jacob's Ladder; 175 stairs straight up.I did this 3 times; ran (gasped, gagged, walked parts) up it and then took the road back to the bottom, back up again, back down. The third time I got to the top and ran down the road only a little way then grabbed a trail back up and around past the pool; finished 4.3 km of stairs (which Garmin ignores) and hills in 31:07.  GAG!  A nice 16 laps of the pool to cool off, 20 minutes.  Then Holly and I were off to soccer practice where I was cold and annoyed at the mosquitoes and unbelievable, dealt with an abscess on one of the soccer players arm. Who can say they did THAT in the run of a day?  OMG it was something else. 

feast or famine I tell ya. Wednesday was a busy day! I have a feeling Im heading for a crash. IF I GET TIME.

So here we are back at Thursday and other than looking after the animals, the chaos that is the Ex week is over.  I feel like we enter a vaccuum when we are into the 4H show; I have not seen the news, have NO idea what is going on with friends, completely oblivious to anything except survival of the kids and their animals LOL.

This morning I was up early and hit the park for running with the Cross Country kids. This is the third week; Ive not seen the same runner twice! LOL Sheesh. 2 kids this morning, they were both faster than me and ran summer track so they are also in good shape; I was tired, stiff, and really behind them for the first 10 minutes when I finally caught my breath and worked out the kinks and got comfortable.  SHEESH. the joys of being this close to 40 years old. BLECH. I need a gentler warm up. 6.5 km in 43:12 which is NOT great but we did SO many hills in that park Im starting to feel quite intimate with them. we Did see the view from the lookoff at WoodStreet which was nice since I had just read about it.  THAT is where I am going to watch the next lightening show.  If Im free. Which chances are, I will not be. SIGH.

Before lunch Dara and I headed out for a somewhat easier and less hilly run; we ended up way out and finished 6 km on the trail in 38:55 then walked to 6.8 in 47:25.  Again the heat was up but so is the wind so it balanced to be quite nice.

Im awfully tired now; need some rest before the long run this weekend LOL Maybe a sleep in? never can tell. But today there are more plans to be carried out including swimming, and softball this evening.