good presentation

the day before

a short hike to look down at the lake

extra photos

Em right now "hey, that's somebody with a monkey swimming! that's two monkeys! and that's a monkey..."
anyway, here they are still close enough to see in the photo and still close together because ti just started. And, a running shot.

editorial note- my race blogging is now done. If you read while I was still posting and making them appear in the right order, you may have missed something.
Also, If my parents send me good stuff to fill in what I didn't show, I'll add it tonight.

Ironman

I just got back from watching my brother in his biggest race yet- an Ironman in Couer d'Alene Idaho.

Before the photos come, here are the basics:
2.4 mile (3.86 kilometer)swim
a 112 mile (180.2 kilometer) bike ride
a 26.2 mile (42.195 kilometer) marathon

from wikipedia:
Although thousands of athletes worldwide compete at an Ironman event each year, the vast majority aim simply to just finish the course if they are first timers, or set a PR (personal record) time if they've raced this distance before. Only very talented athletes realistically compete for a spot in Hawaii, and just finishing an Ironman race is often the highlight of many triathletes' career.


He DID finish! The race started at 7AM and he crossed the finish line at 9:10PM. Photos below. HorninF and the kids were able to watch the live coverage video online throughout the day and saw all his time updates. (The athletes all wear a little chip that registers their time as they pass key areas)

It was very inspirational and reflective to see everybody go and to cheer them on. I stayed out there all day, but you'll not hear a complaining peep from me. It was wonderful.

Also, I just realized my amusing choices in the 2 books I finished this weekend - they were Kite Runner and You Shall know Our Velocity. They were nice.

But - and this may still be on topic- I more strongly recommend that author's first book, a Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius.
Ha! There you go, brother!

So, on to the pictures!

Sunday morning

So, here you see my brother about 6AM setting out some last things on his bike before going to the beach to start the race with a swim (click to enlarge and see the ~2100 swimmers).

This is right before he realized a crucial item was forgotten back at the hotel, causing me the most important and adrenaline-fueled run of MY year!

Also, you can see how beautiful the lake was. The photo doesn't capture the COLD well but yes, it was an amazing location. They allowed wetsuits and neoprene caps and socks for the swim because of the water temperature, and it was that second neoprene bootie that almost went wrong. Right after I handed it to him and he ran for the starting line, they announced just 2 minutes!

finished the 2.4 mile lake swim!

the video screen in the top left is made by my dad's company.

biking

This is my only bike shot. I cheered for him passing I think 3 other times but no pictures. I hope it is safe to say biking is his best/favorite part. Again, the ride was 112 miles and longer than he'd ever done in training.

I meant to get a nice video of him going by fast, from which I could isolate some good still pictures.
Instead- he stops with a message to dad- he doesn't think he has socks for the run!
I walked to a nearby Fleet Feet, told them I needed socks for a marathon and they had just the thing, which my dad ran over to the transition area and got a volunteer to put it in his bag, and all was well.

running past

This is brother running past - a short clip of the one time I didn't scream wildly.
This is just about the halfway point of the marathon, it's 6:05PM
11 hours of racing done, and 3 hours before the finish!

superhero painted faces

I did this for them last week. E had a makeshift cape too.

 

Em and the feltboard set

 

Washington post column

touches a frustrating and sore spot about the war funded entirely by debt.

or, putting aside the debt angle, you can use this calculator to see what else could have been bought for the same price.

the fall

You probably know I wanted Em home next year. Or, I completely agreed preschool would be great for her and she was eager to go but considering the price, considering that they're full, and considering that we're so happy at home together, we were going to pass it up for a year.

But now, Em is #1 on the waitlist to be in my favorite class within E's amazing preschool. Don't know when she'll start or how many hours/days a week, but pretty soon they'll get her in. The classroom little M would belong in is over-weighted with boys so even at the top of the list I don't expect he could get in until fall 09.

This preschool thing has been complicated because it's not simply weighing the expense versus how much she'd love it versus whether I need a break, and then finding a good enough school and debating a more convenient location versus a better program. that's been hard enough.

(long ending of post deleted, here's the summery: E's having a hard time already with the move to kindergarten, acting out more, and the worse it gets the more important it is that Em be off doing peaceful, social enriching things somewhere else while I handle E. Better for both of them. So very thankfully-yet-regretfully, she is starting school ASAP)

iphone

anybody else following the conference live blogging? they've been talking about features, good stuff. Just got to the part about price. I'm in.

books read Q2 2008

it may not be a lot, but this batch was way more worthwhile than the 1st quarter books.

A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius

Case Histories: a novel

Icy Sparks

Interpreter of Maladies

Life of Pi

The Complete Guide to Buying a Business Nolo press

The Perfect Stranger

Women in the Material World

check out this post for enviable photos of other people's (bike) commutes

cover story

Good article at Brain Child magazine about weighing vaccination decisions